2017-09-30 - Warp Tour
| Warp Tour | |
|---|---|
| Summary: After Steven saw something mysterious in the warp stream, and was unable to get the Crystal Gems to believe him, he calls upon his allies in the magical girl community to investigate. What they discover is something much bigger -- and much more serious -- than anyone wanted to believe. | |
| Who: Steven Universe, Yumi Ohzora, Sailor Moon, Fuu Hououji, Garnet GM: Utena Tenjou, feat. Pearl | |
| Where: Tokyo Bay | |
| OOC - IC Date: 09-30-2017 - 02-21-2015 | |
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ Tokyo Bay +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ Once known as the "Inner Sea," the shelter Tokyo Bay once provided for merchants and fishermen helped Tokyo develop into the powerhouse that it is today, nor is it less useful today. Japan's largest shipping ports operate out of the Bay, as does its own navy and that of the US Forces. Herculean efforts dredge up its silt to create artificial islands, and factories drink its water to soothe their smoky throats. To most residents, however, the Bay is simply blue water glittering, salt-seasoned breezes, and gently drifting sails. The aptly named Rainbow Bridge crossing the bay enhances rather than damages its beauty, its white towers lit many nights by an artificial rainbow. A provincial visitor might consider Tokyo Bay to be trimmed like a garden hedge; it has a number of oddly geometric islands with arranged greenery, and any land touching the water often makes the best of it with a park, intake valve, or other imposition on nature. To a city-dweller, though, it is a miracle of open space and calm.
COMBAT: Usagi Tsukino transforms into Sailor Moon! Garnet walks over from Shitamachi Low City.
<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
It's early afternoon at the Temple, and the sort of brilliantly blue-skied late winter day where the air is chilly but also pregnant with the green flavor of oncoming spring. Dusty light streams through the many chinks in the rough wood of the shack that comprises Steven's home, curling onto soft things like the couch, and the bed, and the scattered stuffed animals, making them seem warm and inviting.
But it also makes the shadows seem long, and dark.
At the far end of the house is a conspicuously magical artifact: a sparkling blue-silver dais, like a huge faceted gem with a vast flat top that cries out to be stood atop, perhaps for declaiming a speech. It is quiescent, but has that sort of world-holding-its-breath property all around it, as though the magic within it could spring to life at any time.
OOC: As Steven is putting this event together ICly, I leave it to him to pose next to establish how you all knew to get here! <Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.
"Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this. I know it sounds silly, but trust me."
After the events of last night, a very grumpy Steven has decided to head up investigations on his own, while hiring a few deputies! So! One way or another, the boy has managed to round up those he knows, whether by calls, or messages, or even by Lions.
It entailed the same take-- a strange person or object was in a place the suggests something foreign might be using it. It was quite vague, but a better explanation would be provided on-site. Which was actually at his house!
A lovely beach home that appears to have been attached to some crystal cave in the back, this place still feels like somewhere you could relax, even with the oddity in the back. "Okay! Welcome you guys! Thanks for coming!" says to boy in his usual outfit. "I have snacks and drinks if you need them in the fridge. Plenty to go around!" Various juices and candies are at the ready, of all varying kinds. Steven does his best to try and sound welcoming, but it is clear that this is bothering him, or he hasn't got enough sleep.
Maybe both.
"So... see this thing here?" he says, standing on the dais. "This is a Warp pad! Now, this is a secret, but we use this to get around! Like, really around. You'll see what I mean in a second."
"Basically, only Gems can use it... but I saw something else the other day in it too! The others don't believe me though." A pause. "When everyones ready, jsut let me know and we can go!"
He might get in soem trouble for showing people this. But he has to be sure of what he saw.
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
Yumi got a call from Steven rather than a message or a Lion, which is generally for the best. She listened, thought about what she had to do... And snce she didn't have to work that day, she was pretty nterested.
She's been to the house before, and by now has chosen a spot on the couch, lookng curously at the beautiful artifact ahead. Snacks sound pretty good but she's more interested in information. So she lstens... And thnks about it. She coughs, after a moment, and then a couple more times. "Okay, I've gotta try whatever this is," she says. "Though are you sure you shouldn't tell your moms? I don't want to do anything they'll get mad about..."
She stands up after a few moments, goes to the fridge to grab a bottle of tea or water or whatever she can find, "Thank you!" and moves over closer to Steven. "I might as well be ready."
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Previously at the Fortress of Catitude - Under the Game Center Crown.
Luna hears the buzzer at her door go off as her cat paws type at a cat capable keyboard. "Did he forget the passcode again? Well he can wait..." The buzzer goes off again and she cringes. "I'm busy!"
And then it sounds like it's just being held down for a long stream of annoying buzz.
"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT ALREADY!" Luna hops off her stool to the ground, heads for the door, and hits the key which causes it to raise with an airlock like whoosh. Only to be face to face with a very large. Very pink Lion. Luna shrieks and falls on her back immediately trying to back up, as the lion leans in to sniff her once. "P-Please don't eat me. Nice lion. Good lion. I promise I taste bad..." And then-
-lick. "EUGH!" The lion then turns in a circle and pads off. After she recovered from the scare of her existence and rubs off the spittle from her face- "How did it know where to find this place!? Better look into it..."
Much Later. After Steven's explanation.
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"
BGM Change: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEsGj0tCT4E
At the open door of the house is a silhouette, brilliantly backlit by the blue-sky of winter- the very image of a Pretty Guardian of Love and Justice.
Until her colors return out of the initial glare and you see Sailor Moon holding a bag of donuts, a tiny dab of dark frosting on her upper lip.
BGM Change: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHwtxMYnXcg
"I didn't miss it right? I'm not too late to go? Oh you're serving snacks! I didn't know- so I stopped at the donut shop nearby. And the line was just super long and they were out of chocolate frosted with sprinkles and donuts without sprinkles doesn't feel right. Like why wouldn't I want a fantastic rainbow of delight on my snacks-"
She holds up the bag, pointing at it with a happy grin, "-but long story short I brought a few extra to share with everyone just in case we got hungry on the trip. Anyone want one?"
She missed the whole explanation. But maybe it doesn't matter too much if she got it...
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
When somebody invites you over (by phone, in Fuu's case), proper etiquette dictates bringing *some*thing, even if it isn't much more than a token snack - a gesture of appreciation for the hospitality of the one who invited you. So when Fuu reaches the Temple, she's carrying a bag from one of the stores near her family's home in Tama. "I'm not sure if this is really to your liking, or Garnet's, or the others'," she says apologetically as she offers the bag to Steven (hey, it *was* his invitation), "but I hope they'll find their way to somebody who appreciates them."
Once her contribution has been squared away - either added to the snack table or tucked away in the refrigerator - Fuu retrieves a bottle of olong tea and returns to the main room to hear the boy's explanation of the Warp Pad. "So, it's a teleporter for the Gems' use?" she wonders. "Is it something that a Gem could take non-Gems through safely, or ..." She pauses, then shakes her head a bit, smiling ruefully. "I understand, it's for your missions."
Or quests, thinks the part of her brain which she normally uses most while playing RPGs. Which reminds her, when the Warp Pad bit is done, she *should* ask Steven what he's been playing lately ... she's curious, *and* she knows he's a fellow gamer.
<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Once everyone is safely arranged on the warp pad, they... warp!
It happens all at once; Steven must have done something, but there's a sharp, bell-like sound, resonant with power, and then blue-white light explodes! At first it seems like it's everywhere, but it's not; the living room is still dimly visible, and its shadows are starker than ever, having all reversed direction. No, this light is a column, a column pouring upwards towards the ceiling, and it brings with it some force, or maybe lack thereof.
Hair tugs gently upwards, the first sign of this sublime moment of antigravity -- then collars -- and finally feet leave the ground!
They don't go through the roof, though. No, there's a sizzlingly strange feeling, and then, with a ZAP! that may be more a zap of the heart than a real sound, they're soaring at marvelous speeds, upwards and... elsewhere.
Floating, soaring, zooming -- in the midst of the warp, it's not an instantaneous experience. There's time to talk, to laugh, to scream.
And visually, it's blue, glittering vibrant blue, everywhere. The blue of these warp energies. They're beautiful, both like and totally unlike ocean, or sky. Otherworldly. But not scary, not really.
<Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.
"They are all busy," Steven responds with to Yumi. There is an charged tone to the comment that implies he may be somewhat frustrated with them at the moment. "S-Sorry! I just-- don't worry. They did want to keep this a secret, but, ah-- I feel like this could be more important!"
Especially when a stranger can just show up in your house via teleportation.
The boy has been having a hard time keeping his composure since Sailor Moon stepped IN HIS HOUSE OH MY GOD. "Th-Thank you, Sailor Moon! No, you aren't late! Thanks for coming!" The boy's eyes dart to his lofty bedroom, then back to the group. THe comics are right up there. But sadly, mroe important business was afoot. It can wait!
"Yes it is! And yes it can!" he replies to both Fuu's questions. "A Gem just has to be there to sorta, uh. 'Wish' where you wanna go! Its weird. But anyone can go inside!"
Fuu may be astute enough to spot a Lonely Blade Tournament Advent 2 poster in his loft bedroom from her position, as far as games are concerned!
The boy waits for everyone to scale atop the platform, and he holds his hands out sidewats, and WHOOSH. Energy begins ascending from the pad to infinity, and after a few seconds, everyone is lifted up and away! "This is Warp!" he says to everyone. "There's pads everywhere! We gotta check to see if someones landed at these places."
Hopefully the nice ladies tha tdecided to answer his call will be okay. It certainly was a little disorienting the first bunch of times. His plan is to check the major locations he knows how to get to. Such as the strawberry battlefield, and the giant geode thing. What was that called again? Uh. Well, whatever it was, good place to look too!
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
"OH," Yumi says, "They're..." She pauses again, and does worry a little bit. "Okay... Besides, I can't let you go along. Garnet-san'd kill me."
Hold it? Yumi blinks at Sailor Moon. She for her part is untransformed, still wearing her Infinity uniform, with her phone close to hand. And now she's staring at... "Donuts!" Yumi beams. "Yeah I'll totally take one," she says, "I need to make sure I keep some food in my system."
Yumi doesn't look so great, but that's honestly not particularly strange. "I like the sprinkles," she says. She smiles over at Fuu for that matter. ...And then there's... hmmm a bag. Well that's fine. A teleporter...
For her part though, Yumi is entirely game for whatever this is going to be. So when it happens, her gray hair floats up first. Her tie is held down by her blazer, but her glasses try to float up before she points to them and speaks a couple of words under her breath. Feet! Yumi is verylight. But her heart ZAPs and... doesn't hurt as much as when that usually happens.
As they soar through, Yumi laughs aloud. "This is so cool!" she says, staring around at these blue energies, not her color but, "I've got to paint something like..."
She twirls around in place, "Wheee! This is great, Steven! I wonder how it works?"
By the time Steven is saying what they need to do, Yumi has a donut in her mouth, nomming away. "Mm? Mm! Mm-hm!"
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Oh thank goodness! I was worried I might be!" Sailor Moon says as she munches on a donut happily, and holds out her bag for Yumi to take one, "Here you go Yumi-chan!" Before nodding happily, "Right, right? And hey Fuu-san! Good to see you!"
After a moment she gives Steven a long look as she's stepping over to the warp pad, "Oh hey I know you. You helped me out in a tight spot once- when I was fighting that terrible guy at the warehouse. You and your lion totally tried to pounce him!" She gives Steven a pat on the back, "Just wanted to tell you thanks a lot! Glad I can return the favor."
Sailor Moon gets onto the warp pad. She still has the bag of donuts. She's in the middle of biting one when suddenly light envelops her, moving all around her. Twintails billow upwards, and she's struck by the warmth as her feet leave the ground.
And then it's too wonderful to even think about donuts for a while. It's like the time the Senshi jumped into space, only to find it was a marvelous place of infinite warmth and possibility.
Sailor Moon laughs, giddy from the sensation, as she does a flip mid-warp stream, her twintails becoming like blonde ribbon streamers. "Ehehehehe-wheeeeeeeee!"
As Steven explains, she's still giggling as she turns in circles. And then the donut finds it's way back into her mouth. Yumi and her might look like twins for a moment, at least in donut eating while warping.
She nods with her mouth full as Steven explains what's going on.
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
Sailor Moon's presence prompts a somewhat sheepish look from Fuu - but it's not an unwelcome one. And donuts are almost never unwelcome; Fuu is glad to collect one for herself when she has a chance. "It's good to see you as well, Sailor Moon-san," she states while taking the offered donut. In any case, Fuu bows politely to Yumi as well - an upperclassman, from Infinity's high school, although Fuu doesn't recall her name off-hand.
Oh, they need to gather *on* the Warp Pad. That makes more sense. Fuu makes sure she has her glove-jewel in her pocket, joins the others on the pad, aaaaaand then they Warp. It's actually sort of familiar for Fuu; getting pulled between worlds to Cephiro was vaguely similar, although the Gems' version is still enough to set her heart to racing. She doesn't freak out, but there's a distinct smile on her lips (and a hand keeping her skirt from fluttering around too much) as they ride out the Warp. "It seems quite efficient for getting from one place to another," is all she initially states aloud. Internally? She's geeking out a *lot* that such a common plot device for quick travel in games has a real-world counterpart. She even wonders if some developer ran into the Crystal Gems, or secretly *was* one, when the whole idea of 'teleporting in pillar of light' to save tedious trekking across the world map was a thing ...
.... probably not, it's more likely to just be an interesting coincidence. "How far from the Warp Pad do we need to reconnoiter, Steven-san? And ..." She pauses, her typical smile ebbing a bit. There are other Gem-related beings that aren't as friendly as Steven or Garnet, after all - but she's not sure how to word that more worrisome question.
She just takes a bite of her donut, then opens her bottle for a sip of tea - re-capping the bottle after, beign very careful not to leave crumbs or other litter scattered around.
<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
There's no view of the ground coming up from above or anything -- one moment they're in the Warp and the next moment they're on another warp pad, in another place.
A very different place.
Wild strawberry vines, as far as the eye can see -- and the strawberries are enormous, bigger than a bread box and quite sliceable in that manner. They curl towards a bright horizon where the sun is just peeking over like a friendly neighbor; this must be on the other side of the world somewhere.
And, scattered among them -- incredible weapons, fantastical, surely of magical origin. There are cleavers as tall as an elephant. Axes tipped in some sort of gemstone-like substance. Blades utterly unwieldy and inappropriate for humans to lift -- though, also some more normal-sized weapons too, many carved with mysterious runes and other sigils.
A great and terrible battle must have happened here, who knows how long ago. It feels like equal parts garden and graveyard, in that way that a battlefield suffused by overgrowth can.
Even in the modern day, the pollen is also terrible, for those who are sensitive to it.
OOC: We're gonna do a round here, and then next round we will embark on a montage-round that ends us up back at the Temple, just to give you a sense of the pacing! <Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.
Steven certainly appreciates the sentiment Yumi is offering. "I appreciate all of you helping!" Honestly, those that responded he feels like Garnet would be okay with them knowing this. He could be wrong, but Yumi, Fuu, and Sailor Moon are all always there when bad things happen and helps to stop them.
"I'm not sure! he adds to Yumi's comment. "These Warp pads have been around forever! They are even around all the ancient ruins and stuff. I have no idea how they work." A strange comment for sure. How long have Gems been around, then?
The boy flushes when he recieves priase from Miss Love and Justice herself. "Thank you!" he says quickly. And in warp, she seems to be well at home! Maybe it has something to do with her powers!
"Well, I don't know all the possible locations," Steven tells Fuu as he rests a hand on his chin, thinking. "It is weird. I can't go somewhere I haven't been. I only know so many spots. We can probably check a little ways out. Each Warp pad is at a specific spot for a reason. Usually something big or important is there!"
The Warp comes to a halt in one of his favorite places-- the Strawberry Battlefield. This is where Steven is taught a great deal about Gems. Something life-changing happened, and the remnants remain among nature, who fights in its own way to reclaim the land. And boy is it winning! "Hum." The boy tries to not stray too far from the pad. He doesn't need another pollen assault and look silly! At least he can stay away from the flowers.
"If you see something weird, just holler!" he calls out, searching near some strawberry bushes. "Also the berries are good!"
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
Here, and then there. Yumi is very happy to have Sailor Moon with her eating donuts, and she finishes hers in very short order, well in time before they end up somewhere else.
"Ancient? Now I'm totally more interested. I hope Garnet-san says it's okay because I want to ask her tons of stuff. My family gathers and studies magical objects, so..." Yumi is geeking out right along with Fuu, with a thumbs-up her way over the trip. Back when they met she got a bow, of course.
Except that almost as soon as they arrive at this beautiful place full of strawberries, before Yumi spots all the weapons, roughly the instant she breathes in, Yumi is suddenly sneezing. She's sneezing hard, and painully. "Aah--" Pretty rapidfire. The pollen is something that gets to her, and she scrambles in her purse until she pulls out a little pink object that could be recognized as an inhaler and uses it on the spot with deep breaths in.
She wheezes. "Ugh, this place..." Her eyes are watering. "The... those are really pretty strawberries," she says, and then suddenly--
"Eh? What's... What's all these weapons? Whoa... Do you think it'd be okay if I--" She stops, and her face falls. "Looks like that would be graverobbing... Nevermind." She sneezes again, and sniffles, but seems to be doing better after a little while. "S-shouldn't we all stay together...?"
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Whoa!" As she gets a view of the strawberry fields, she suddenly looks at the bag of chocolate frosted donuts, "I don't think I have enough chocolate for even one of them..." The weapons barely even register until later, as she steps off the pad and starts to get a sense of what actually happened here.
It's different from the surface of the moon- but it still brings a poignant pang of sadness to her.
"You've got it." She sounds a bit more subdued. Taking on Steven's direction, she just walks with Yumi, in silence, even after her third sneeze.
"You okay Yumi-chan? I wish I had a tissue to give you... Oh wait!" She pulls out the little piece of paper used to hold donuts at the bottom of the bags. It has some dabs of frosting on it but is mostly clean. "Here you go."
But then about the weapons, "... I dunno. Places like this. It doesn't feel right? It feels like you should only take what you're meant to take."
On the Moon she took home nothing but a single rock and a broken pocket watch... though Venus got a sacred artifact.
"Don't worry about it! I'll stick with you! I mean what's the worst the two of us could run into?"
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
"Goodness," Fuu says as they arrive at the garden of strawberries and weaponry. The dense pollen actually makes her nose twitch a bit - not that she's usually susceptible to hay fever, but after the immense storm of pollen back around entrance-exam time, just a tickle in her nose is enough to make her wedge her tea bottle in a pocket, switch her donut to her other hand, and fish out a handkerchief to hold over her nose and mouth, breathing carefully through the improvised filter. "I suppose I should have asked, are these locations all on Earth ... ?"
She probably ought to finish her donut before she goes looking around; she works for a couple of moments on doing exactly that, her bespectacled gaze slowly sweeping over the visible nearby surroundings while she munches away on the delicious confection so thoughtfully provided by one of Tokyo's (and Earth's) strongest protectors. Those weapons are impressive, to say the least; she's tempted to see if any of them might be salvageable, because surely she knows people in Tokyo (and Cephiro) who'd love to take a look.
But no sooner does the temptation flicker to life in her mind than she snuffs it out again. She has no way of knowing ahead of time whether any of these weapons are cursed, or otherwise enchanted, or possessed of their own wills. There's also what Yumi-san just observed about 'graverobbing' ... and that actually puts a far more disturbing spin on the strawberries. "There's a saying, or a bit of folklore, that the blossoms of a cherry tree are brighter red if there's a body buried beneath them," she muses. "I wonder if these strawberries are nourished by something similar?"
No, she's not trying to freak out her travelling companions. ... Not *really*, anyway.
Once she finishes her donut, she steps off the Warp Pad to take a bit more of a look around - but she's being careful not to touch anything, whether blades or berries. Yes, they *do* look delicious, and Steven says they're good, but she doesn't have a good way to cut out a piece for snacking. (Not without transforming and using her sword, anyway.)
<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
There's a lot to see and experience -- the scent of the berries, the flapping wings of the unexpectedly massive butterflies that surge out of nowhere to meet the group face-first, and, of course, the pollen.
But there's nothing mysterious, or at least, any more mysterious than usual.
The same is true of their next stop; they're but a warp away from a massive crater that seems to be buried beneath a perpetual thunderstorm. Lightning strikes an immense boulder (like... city-block-sized) at its heart, which is unnaturally round and smooth.
After that, a brief trip to what looks like some kind of tropical island; it might be Okinawa. The flora is familiar. The nearby structure, crumbling ruins of some mysterious green rock, is not even vaguely Japanese, however.
The sky is always Earth's, the sun and sometimes Moon familiar as one's own name. But every time, it seems like rolling back the page a little, to a more ancient and more secret piece of history. Maybe more than one piece, at more than one time.
But there's never anything else there -- or anyone else in the Warp, which remains blue, floaty, and weirdly wonderful. In the end, they wind up back where they started, in the Temple. A couple of hours have passed, and the sun is starting to set.
<Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.
"Steven finds him a succulent strawberry to take back with him. They are so good! Wonder how they grow so big here? "Really?" the boy asks Yumi. "I bet she would be happy to answer some questions. I know Pearl would love to tell someone too! If she will tell other humans." He is unsure if she would be for teaching friends about everything.
Desite his tiredness, being around good friends makes him feel better and better! At least they are willing to humor him. But he understands his caretakers' disbelief. "Might be a good idea!" he says to Yumi. Ugh, the pollen is starting to get to her as well now!
"Yeah, just for now. Maybe we can ask later!" he says toward Sailor Moon and Yumi. "They are!" he responds with to Fuu. "I think. Warp pads do seem to go to all sorts of strange places.
"Well, you won't find any bodies or bones here," he comments to Fuu with her folklore bit. "When defeated, Gems don't really leave bodies. They retreat into their Gem and heal, and eventually reform. Kind of a neat thing, though..." Steven looks down at his stomach. "I don't know if it applies to me."
"I don't know what happened to everyone in this fight after though." Maybe they were captured after being defeated? Could have been bubbled. So many unanswered questions! "Doesn't seem like anything special is here unfortunately. Let's go check the next stop!
The group proceeds to hit extra stops, each with Warp.
At Mask Island, full of beautiful palms and giant bisected geodes. Despite scouring the insides of all these wonderful crystal formations, nothing. "Man. No sign." He seems to be getting frustrated.
A few more stops, and Steven is out of locations, and teleports them back to the Gem Temple. He seems a little down and out. "Thanks everyone for your help," he says, demoralized. "I know I saw something. I know it is otu there. There is no doubt!" He motions toward the Warp pad. "I know it will come right through there too when I am least expecting it!"
A long sigh is given as he stares at the platform.
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
"Yeah?" Yumi asks Steven. "That's be cool. Really cool." She's a little subdued. It's very sad, on that battlefield. But the presence of Sailor Moon is nice; it helps, in its way, to be around her way of being. "I'm fine," Yumi says, looking up a little haggardly. "Oh... Y-yeah, thanks!" It's not... much of a tissue, but Yumi takes it, blows her nose, and balls it up in her little trash baggie back in her purse.
"I think you're right," Yumi replies to Sailor Moon. "I just thought Mother would like it if I brought her something back." But she hears Fuu's suggestion about it and she grimaces. "Fuu-chan, don't say stff like that..." She shakes her head, "I'm not used to non-witches being that morbid..."
Then there are butterflies, and Yumi lets out a shriek of surprise and covers her face as she sees them come toward her. She is mmbling thing the whole time, except when she parts her fingers to peek out at how beautiful the giant butterflies are. ...From the ground, because she fell over. "on't leave bodies...? Huh..." It still felt like there were bodies.
But they move on soon enough. Yumi steps carefully, more gunshy about the next location that plants her somewhere. She wishes she could've enjoyed the plants more, but the lightning at this stone... "Whoa..." A sudden grin. Yumi, no. "That's really shocking, huh?"
Whether she is seen out or throws herself out, she finds the next soon, and the tropical island is incredible. She stares all around, beaming. "Whoa..." She trails off, and then sees the ruins. "But what's...?"
The sky Yumi does look at, but despite the friends she keeps she is no expert in astronomy. There are so many places, ancient and secret. So many places...
Yumi looks physically worse by the time they arrive in the Temple, but her eyes are shining. Even fatigue can't do away with, "That's beautiful, Steven-san..."
"Hey, you're welcome," she says, and pulls her drink to finish it off, a nice bottle of tea. "But goh I'm sore. We walked around so much..." Yumi starts moving to the couch.
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Well - everything out here is pretty weird! But nothing stands out as being extra weird!" Sailor Moon eventually calls out.
Next stop-
Sailor Moon's mouth drops open, and then she almost leaps out of her boots from the sudden unexpected lightning strike. Once she stops quivering, she looks at it, "I- I wonder if it has an antenna like Jupiter-chan's on top of it..."
Next stop-
Sailor Moon smiles, "Ooo it's really warm out here..." She says as she rubs her arms from the pleasant sun beating down on them. And then she sees the ruins of mysterious green rock, "Pretty..." She declares with a note of quiet awe.
And then back at the temple. Sailor Moon walks over to the couch and then dramatically flops down on her side right beside Yumi, "Well I'm bushed after all that hard work- even if it was really fun!"
Turning onto her side, she flaps a hand Steven's way, "Hey don't worry about it! You had us look in places all over and it just wasn't there! Nothing to do but wait until it just... shows up right?"
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
If there's nothing else to say about their expedition via Warp Pad, Fuu thinks, it's that there are no end of wonders to be witnessed.
She actually jumps about a foot in the air at the crash of lightning and the roar of thunder, and while she doesn't comment beyond her reflexive leap, she's quite relieved when they move on.
The jade (or is it something else?) of the tropical island draws a long and wondering look, and if Fuu can get away with snapping a quick photo of it on her smartphone, she will. She doesn't even *try* to upload it, just saves it to the memory card. (The roaming charges would probably ruin her for a few months' worth of allowance, in any case - assuming that Warp Pad location even *has* cellular service.)
That's one of the few photos she even tries to take - and if Steven catches her at it and tries to stop her, she doesn't argue, just deletes any photos she *did* take and turns her phone off until they're back in Tokyo.
And ... eventually, they're back in Tokyo, and Fuu peers out the window, taking note of the approach of twilight. "I'm sure you saw what you thought you saw, Steven-san," she says reassuringly to the younger boy. "I suppose the question is whether way you saw will turn out to be a friend, or a foe ... or," she adds, "a foe to begin with who becomes a friend. That *does* seem to happen every so often in our circles, doesn't it?" she muses, thinking back on a handful of enemies who've become allies.
<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed. <SoundTracker> Final Jeopardy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3lLYOGDsts
'I know it will come right through there too, when I am least expecting it!'
'Nothing to do but wait until it just... shows up right?'
The anticipation is raw. The feeling is real. This is the moment.
- crickets*
Nothing happens. For five minutes. Ten minutes. An hour...
OOC: Let's see some stakeout hangout montage! <Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.
It would be nice of Pearl would open up a bit to more humans. Especially ones eager to learn about Gems. But he can understand if they want to keep their past a secret from others, though it bugs him when they keep secrets even from him. "I'll ask Garnet when I see her!" he adds toward Yumi. "Feel free to hang out for a while to get some strength back," he offers.
The boy can only nod toward Sailor Moon. it was true. They might just have to wait until it shows itself. "Thanks again, Sailor Moon. It meant a lot that you showed up. Who knows? It might no even be something bad!"
If Fuu had tried to take a picture of some Gem ruins or something he might have stopped her, but of the Mask Island scenery, no. There are ruins on the island, but the half-geodes are natural. Maybe. He doesn't stop her though!
"That does seem to be the plan." Steven takes a quick look around. "I know! I have some games and stuff, like board games, video games, cheesy movies and such, if you wanna relax for a bit!"
The boy hustles to a closet located under the stairs to his loft. It is filled with old VHS tapes and board games of all types, from popular name brands such as Monopoly and Risk, to way more obscure titles. "Got tons to do!"
The boy begins to go upstairs and make sure the television and the games and tape player is still working.
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"No problem - and that's right maybe it was nothing bad at all! It might not have even been anything! You know I think I see things all the time and it turns out to be nothing whatsoever... and Mars-chan just calls me a scatterbrain and I argue with her a bit then move on with my life!"
Sailor Moon snacks.
Sailor Moon paints Yumi's nails, applying lightly with the brush, "Yumi-chan you have such cute nail polish... I'm really jealous."
Sailor Moon loses at Monopoly. She goes to jail four times. She has to resist the urge to flip the board like a first grader when it comes up a fifth time.
Sailor Moon's legs kick idly as she gasps in awe at the villain of the movie turning out to be the janitor- "Who would have thought it'd be that guy!?"
Sailor Moon flips through Steven's comic collection, laughing uproariously.
Sailor Moon naps.
She's really good at napping.
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
Yumi nods twice in an authoritative sort of way when Sailor Moon says it was tiring and fun both. "Definitely," the gray-haired girl says. She stays there on the couch for a little bit, stretching her feet, and making sure to actually take off her shoes this time.
"Yeah, we can wait," Yumi says. Steven encourages her to hang out for a while though, and Yumi gives a wan smile back. Having a kid say it is something, but it's true, and the concern is kind. "Yeah..."
But soon, "Oh, thanks! Hey, I can share some with you; I love this kind of thing. I'm kind of into some low-key nail art lately..."
Yumi spends a lot of time on that couch in the next little while, kicking her bright green stockinged legs back and orth for a few one she's feeling a bit better. She asks Sailor Moon to grab her a drink, and leans on her for a few minutes despite herself because Sailor Moon is warm and Yumi is cold.
As she stares forward, she pulls a little sketchbook and starts sketching out the warp pad at some point, mostly for something to do. It's an awkward angle though and she can't see it that well from here.
She pops a few pills later on, one and then two more in about an hour. There's a lot of time with Sailor Moon, but not only with Sailor Moon. She doesn't go for Steven's games, but she smiles at him as he plays them. She's happy to nerd out with Fuu about what kind of magic the Warp Pad must use, and gets around to...
"So Fuu-chan," Yumi says, "I'm Yumi Ohzora, grade 10. You probably figured out I'm a witch... so please keep that secret, too!" She will figure out at some point that they're both in the Magic Association.
Mmmostly Yumi manages to stay awake, except for a stretch during which she falls asleep on Yumi's shoulder, both of them napping. Yumi at least has emerald green nails.
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
Fuu has to agree as well, that it was tiring as well as fun - more the latter than the former, in her opinion, but she can agree to both parts of that assessment. And her tastes gravitate more towards video games than board games ... but, four *is* an optimal number for quite a few board games, and when Yumi demurs, three is still better than two; board games are also much easier to be social over than video games, so she's an eager participant in Monopoly (where she has only moderate luck) or Risk (where she fares quite a lot better).
"I suppose I never *did* introduce myself properly, did I?" she says ruefully when Yumi introduces herself. She actually stands up so that she can bow properly to Yumi. "Fuu Hououji, grade 9; I'm in the archery team and the Library Island Exploration Club, plus I associate often with the Computer Club - they've been helping me work on an independent RPG when times allow. And your secret is safe with me, of course."
She may also wind up playing Tales of Symphonia with Steven for a little while - it's a rare RPG which actually lets multiple people play together, but the Tales series DOES have that feature, and Symphonia is one of the better ones. The volume is kept down so as not to disturb Sailor Moon or Yumi, though ... and Fuu frequently looks away to see if there's any sign of activity from the Warp Pad, or to check her phone for texts or missed calls. At least it's a nice peaceful evening, and not much to worry about for the next morning ...
<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
- POW*
- CRASH*
The pow was the sound of it blowing a hole in the roof.
The crash was it splintering floorboards on impact.
A falling star? A fairy? A bird? A plane?
An... orb.
It's like a metal bowling ball, complete with the little circular holes in it.. except that little spindly legs are unfolding from those holes, to float below like legs, as though the air between legs and sphere comprises the joint.
It's across the living room from the warp pad, and although it has nothing even vaguely resembling eyes, the ball seems to look left, look right -- and then starts skittering straight towards the pad, at top speed!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou transforms into Flask Robonoid!
<Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.
Steven does his best to be a good host for a group of ladies kind enough to hear his plight. He even makes a bit of hot green tea at one point for everyone! Thankfully it seems to be enough to help entertain everyone.
The point that Sailor Moon reads some of his comics is one he will never forget! There is just something about her acting like a normal teenage girl that is... difficult to describe, but in a good way. Down to earth is a good way to put it. Yeah.
Yumi getting her nails done is actually fascinating! He watches from afar how it is done. Seems like a multi-layer process. There seems to be an art to it, too!
Steven is glad to hang out with Fuu and check out some video games! As with most kids that play games, he catches on quick. "Thanks for hanging out with me," he says kindly to her during the game. He is appreciative of all of their efforts.
A sudden crash.
The boy peers from his lfot with Fuu at the television to see a small round green object. The boy begins to laugh as if a maniac has recieved recognition for being correct. "I KNEW IT!" he yells, pointing at it.
The... whatever that was begins skittering for the Warp pad. "Its running for the pad! We gotta stop it!" The boy summons his shield forth, and begins to hustle for the stairs.
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Sailor Moon is mid-nap when-
- POW*
- CRASH*
Suddenly Sailor Moon jolts up. "Wuh-wah- just a few more minutes Luna... I'll study for exams later..."
But Steven says he knew it. And then she sees it- "Whoa it really is real!?"
No time to wait for answers though. Steven says to stop it. "You've got it!"
Leaping up from the couch she breaks into a run, "MOON-"
And sweeps down a hand to the floor, onto a certain object which is doubtless only there due to Pearl's fastidious tidiness.
"-BUCKET-"
Holding it upside down with both hands, she dives-
"-ACTION!"
And tries to simply slam it right onto the thing to trap it beneath.
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
"You're entirely welcome, of course, Steven-san!" Fuu replies with a smile. And then they're most rudely interupted by a UFO.
This is, among other reasons, why Fuu makes a habit of saving at every opportunity. The sudden commotion of an Unidentified Flying Object crashing in through the roof makes her jump again, but she doesn't even take time to hit the Pause button as she bolts up from the GameCube, barely leaning over the loft's rail to take a look below. And then she simply vaults over, yanking something out of her pocket and onto her left hand. "Belief becomes power --"
How is she going to finish her invocation before she hits the floor? Well, there's an updraft which *wasn't* there when she started her jump ...
"-- Winds, guide me!!"
And then the updraft escalates into a full-blown (no pun intended) miniature whirlwind, catching the glasses-wearing gamer girl inches above the main floor ... and when the whirlwind abates, she's still wearing her glasses. But her casual-if-nice clothes have been replaced by armor over what looks like the Infinity middle-school uniform of a couple years back - the garb of the Magic Knight of Wind. She's never been one to worry as much about her identity as some magical girls do, and in a pinch, with only people she knows and trusts to see, there's little point in hiding her transformation. And anyway, Steven DOES know her identity already.
Her feet have barely touched the floor before she aims a hand at the robonoid, calling out, "Winds of Admonishment!" and trying to bind the skittering magi-machine in place with another localized whirlwind ... this one rather more intense than her transformation's side effect.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji transforms into Wind Knight! COMBAT: Sailor Moon has used Moon Bucket Action! on Utena Tenjou. COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Admonishment on Utena Tenjou. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly dodges Sailor Moon's Moon Bucket Action!, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Utena Tenjou's Fade ability activates! Utena Tenjou's Flash ability activates! Tangle applied to Utena Tenjou! COMBAT: Utena Tenjou perfectly counters Fuu Hououji's Winds of Admonishment, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! COMBAT: Utena Tenjou's counterattack, Skitter Scamper, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Fuu Hououji! COMBAT: Steven Universe transforms into Steven Quartz Universe! COMBAT: Steven Universe has used AND STEVEN! on Utena Tenjou. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly dodges Steven Universe's AND STEVEN!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Steven Universe is Psyched! Utena Tenjou's Fade ability activates! Utena Tenjou's Flash ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
Yumi is trying to pay attention, but is also pretty fatigued even after a rest. Or was, anyway.
"Oh nice, formal. Sorry I'm not standing to bow." She does seem a little regretful of that. "I didn't even think to say, I'm in the Art Club and the Fashion Club."
But that was then. Now she's... Napping. Napping with Sailor Moon. But there goes the sound and Yumi wakes up too. "Huh wha huh--Oh!"
She blinks twice, comically, and scrambles to get her phone from her purse, tapping a couple of times until suddenly her other hand is occupied by a tall white staff with a green glowing tip.
"Staff of Lost Ivy! In my hard remembr'd be!" She calls it out groggily, standing up, and it works; in an instant she is glowing green and then a perfect witch in all black, her hat shadng her eyes.
"Okay!" She points her hand forward, "You're in our way, so right there you'll... stay!" She lets loose her curse and ivy grows up from the floor towrds the creature to try to slow it down.
COMBAT: Yumi Ohzora transforms into Witch Ivy! COMBAT: Yumi Ohzora has used Ivy Binding on Utena Tenjou. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou perfectly counters Yumi Ohzora's Ivy Binding, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! COMBAT: Utena Tenjou's counterattack, Skitter Scamper, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Yumi Ohzora!
<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
- BONK*
- WHOOSH!*
- CRUNCH*
- SKITTERSKITTERSKITTER*
Sailor Moon's bucket bounces off the ball (*BONK*), leaving a little scuff mark behind. A moment later, papers, game pieces, snacks go everywhere (*WHOOSH!*), sucked into the mighty whirlwind of the Magic Knight of Wind, while ivy erupts straight out of the floorboards (*CRUNCH*) to try to entangle and entrap.
The little robot thing seems impervious to it all though, or maybe just too darn fast to pin down (*SKITTERSKITTERSKITTER*) -- by the time the vortex forms, it's already past the center; by the time there's enough ivy to get a handle on it, it's practically to the warp pad and the vines catch only air. Mostly fast moving air. Now the shack is full of wind-whipped vines...
The only one physically between it and its goal now is Steven, and it doesn't hesitate -- it tries to pile drive straight into him, knocking them both onto the pad. In the same moment, a panel opens on its backside, and a little nozzle emerges.
A nozzle that blasts sticky sparkly blue-silver goop at the pad, at the others, all over the place.
A moment later the pad activates, Steven and the robot already on board. There are only seconds to get on in time to follow!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Linebacker Tackle on Steven Universe. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used GOOP SNOOT on Sailor Moon. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used GOOP SNOOT on Fuu Hououji. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used GOOP SNOOT on Yumi Ohzora. COMBAT: Sailor Moon narrowly dodges Utena Tenjou's GOOP SNOOT, taking 12 Fatigue damage! Sailor Moon's Fade ability activates! Sailor Moon's Flash ability activates! Cripple, Tangle, and Trap applied to Sailor Moon! COMBAT: Steven Universe narrowly braces Utena Tenjou's Linebacker Tackle, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Steven Universe's Block ability activates! Steven Universe's Parry ability activates! Stagger and Stun applied to Steven Universe! COMBAT: Fuu Hououji perfectly dodges Utena Tenjou's GOOP SNOOT, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! Fuu Hououji's Fade ability activates! Fuu Hououji's Flash ability activates! COMBAT: Yumi Ohzora perfectly counters Utena Tenjou's GOOP SNOOT, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! Yumi Ohzora's Reverse ability activates! Yumi Ohzora's Tactician ability activates! COMBAT: Yumi Ohzora's counterattack, Witch's Mirror, bursts all the way through, doing 34 Fatigue damage to Utena Tenjou! Critical Counterhit!
<Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.
It is the same round-like shape he saw in the Warp stream! This has to be it! Boy, if they catch this, he can show the others he was right! Something is using Warp! "We got this! It's just a little robot thingy!" The boy moves in to intercept the creature, keeping it from reaching the pad!
The ladies move into action quite effectively. Perhaps a little too effectively. Some stuff is knocked around due to intense winds and plants! Not that anything is really damage badly. Easily cleaned up.
Well, hopefully cleaned up before Pearl sees. But Steven can cover that bit later!
The little robonoid dodges, skitters and rolls out of the way of most attacks, heading right for the pad. "Nuh uh! I got you!" Or rather, it has him. The small robot is strong, and tackles Steven onto the pad, which it promptly activates! "Ahhh! Oh nooo!"
The boy is whisked away via Warp, and hopes his friends can give chase. Steven pushes away from the robot, and swings at it with his shield! "That wasn't very nice!" What sort of devious plan does this little goop bot have?!
COMBAT: Steven Universe has used Shield Bash on Utena Tenjou. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly braces Steven Universe's Shield Bash, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Steven Universe is Psyched!
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Deflected off, Sailor Moon clangs to the ground and hits her chin. Tears springing to her eyes- she makes a sound of frustration, "Oooo- you won't get away!"
It's skittering around so fast and she scrambles to her feet, but then a tiny nozzle emerges, and while she tries to juke to the side-
Blue-Silver Goop sprays all over her and as surely as adhesive, sticks her to the ground.
Trying to scramble forward anyhow results in her getting nowhere. She makes a small shriek of frustration at the ickiness, "IS IT'S FUNCTION ONLY TO ANNOY US?"
They have to follow Steven fast! "It's getting away- and it's taking Steven!"
And so quickly she turns to the real thing with her one free limb, her sacred tiara. Cocking back an arm- "Moon Tiara-" She flings it, "-Boomerang!"
The sacred tiara flies around the room once, and on it's return arc it clips through the goop, the shining discus shearing right through it, before circling back into her hand.
Ripping her feet out of the remaining spots of goop, she almost trips, but manages to bunny hop into a vault like leap towards the transporter activating, "Oh no you don't! You're not leaving me behind!" Maybe she touches the shimmering energy just in time.
COMBAT: Sailor Moon has used Moon Tiara Boomerang on Sailor Moon. COMBAT: Sailor Moon accepts Sailor Moon's Moon Tiara Boomerang, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cleanse! All of Sailor Moon's debuffs are cleared!
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
It's a good thing that Steven's confident they can clean up that goop, because the Wind Knight has no such certainty about resolving the mess before the other Crystal Gems get home from wherever they are. But then, Fuu has other things on her mind at this point - like helping Steven stop that robot.
Maybe *without* smashing it into bits. but Steven will have to keep them focused on that - for now, the Wind Knight focuses on joining Steven and the robonoid on that warp pad, dodging as she hears Sailor Moon unleashing an ... attack?
She spares a glance over her shoulder. Not exactly an attack, then - Fuu smiles in amused relief (and approval) and focuses on joining her allies and their opponent on the Warp Pad. There's one problem presenting itself now, though: she doesn't have room to attack with her sword *or* her bow, and any magic she uses risks hitting Steven ...
Then the solution presents itself as well. "Winds of Protection!" Fuu calls out, conjuring a barrier of focused wind between Steven and the robonoid. It's not quite like his actual shield; while Steven can use the shield of his powers to attack, this will focus on defense. And if the robotic thing is that focused on Steven, he may need the help.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Protection on Steven Universe. COMBAT: Steven Universe accepts Fuu Hououji's Winds of Protection, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Accelerate and Withstand applied to Steven Universe!
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
"Crap!" Yumi says, in an entirely unladylike fashion, as she's just not fast enough to catch the creature. There is a bright side to this moment however, and that's that Yumi feels a lot better under the Staff's verdant magic.
So much better n fact that she has absolutely no desire to ruin that by being sprayed with terrify goop. So by instinct, Yumi lets out a fearsome "Aaaah!" and suddenly inscribes a glowing run into the air before her. The goop is sprayed towards her, and the rune abrubtly glows green, entire space untouched as the goop is barrier'd off and a coruscating chartreuse beam of energy crashes right back at the creature.
"Right, Moon!" Yumi calls. "We're coming, Steven!"
She glances and sees that she seems to be doing better and not caught after that. But Yumi herself is not that fast, so she scrambles after and then slips on a gooey vine, sending her tumbling straight into the Warp Pad. "Are you kidding meeeee--"
COMBAT: Yumi Ohzora has used Green Nails Are With You! on Sailor Moon.
<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Into the warp they all go! Steven is some feet ahead, and the others can see him struggling back and forth with the little ball, until, all at once, the two of them go rolling straight out of the column of light! They disappear, because the light is essentially opaque, even if it is not, as assumed, a solid wall on the edges of the beam.
It's certainly possible to pursue him if you dare. Out there it's very dark, and very cold, though whatever, wherever it is, it isn't space. There are storm clouds in seemingly all directions, the occasional flashes of lightning. Much more bright and steady, though, are similar, smaller beams of light coming from all over the place, just like the warp from Steven's home. Each one has another one of the little balls inside, and they're... converging.
Converging into a larger, brighter ball of warp light--!
But that's far away, and it gets further by the moment. There isn't quite no air, but it's pretty close. Tears freeze almost instantly in this near-void, and, as the warps glide past and vanish, it gets darker, and darker, and darker, except for the occasional jarring lightning spike...
<Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.
Attacking the robot has sent Steven for a bit of a loop in the Warp. He flips over himself repeatedly, having a hard time reorienting himself. "Ahh, dang it!" Admittedly a fight in Warp is a cool concept to think about, but maybe after he is actually done fighting!
The boy is releived to see the others made it in to the Warp stream. Thankfully Fuu's wind magic gives him jsut what he needs to gain control of his movement again and a spot of breathing room. "Thanks a ton!" he says toward her. This little robot is vicious!
It looks like Yumi is having a bit of trouble too-- hopefully she will be okay! "Everyone is in one piece?" he calls out. "I think we-- OOF." The little robonoid comes back with a vengeance. The two tussle in the stream before they fly out of it altogether! "No way--" is all that can be heard before he exits the stream.
The boy clutches on to the robot as hard as he can, as it is the only thing he can hold on to. "I was... r-right..." he says, as bitter cold envelops him and saps his warmth at an incredible rate. His sinuses begin to freeze, and it is difficult to keep his eyes open. "And now, because I had to... Now I am going... to..."
It gets harder and harder to focus. He can't catch his breath, no matter how hard he breathes. And each breath that he tries to find, feels like needles stabbing inside of him from the utter drastic temeprature difference.
The only comfort he has is the scintillating shafts of light networking in this ether, and hoping at least his friends will land somewhere safe.
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Sailor Moon is further back than the others as she rises in the column of light, looking upwards she watches Steven grapple with the thing. Part of her debates trying to point her rod at the thing, but she could hit Yumi- or Fuu- or Steven. "We're okay! Just be careful!" No. Right now she's not going to risk any sort of attack.
But then- their wrestling match takes them out of the light, "STEVEN!"
Sailor Moon has no idea what just happened.
Everything inside of her screams that it'd be like stepping off the sidewalk into some scary highway full of blisteringly fast cars.
There are so many reasons in her head not to move out of it.
But there's a kid out there latched to a robot. And he's alone, and probably scared.
"I'm going after him!" What she does really isn't in doubt, swimming over to the side of the beam, she bursts outwards and gives herself into the dark void of thunderclouds and numbing cold. Shivering.
Gasping in the thin air, she flies in the freefall-
It hurts, she's cold, she can barely breathe, the stinging tears in her eyes become painful rime and frost- but the lull of unconsciousness is not something she'll allow to touch her.
Because there's someone out there who needs her. And she won't let him be alone.
Lightning flashes in her vision as she squints in the dimming network of light- searching for the shape of a boy grappling with a robot. She thinks she catches sight of a pinprick of color that stands out in a lightning flash. Pressing her arms and legs together, she tries to will herself towards it.
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
"Steven-san - !!"
The Wind Knight's hand closes on emptiness; she's too late to pull Steven back to safety, although she at least has the comfort of knowing that her defensive spell took. But recovering him ...
She didn't even know it was *possible* to fall out of Warp teleportation. She has no way of knowing what's outside of the column of blue-white light, and no way to control where they go, or where, or when. Steven himself said it was a thing the Gems used; how would a regular human even control an already-active Warp Pad?
What she *can* do is exert her will. Not with wind magic but with her will alone, she reaches out, *willing* for Steven to make it back safely ... and Sailor Moon as well, when the blonde magical girl shows courage which Fuu herself fails to muster. That's a second jab into her heart, really - feeling like she *should* be able to do more than simply will and hope and believe ...
But it's part of the basis of her magic, part of her invocation, part of the miracles in which she's somehow participated. Belief becomes power. All she knows to do is to work her will, and to *believe* that her will can somehow lead them back safely.
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
Into the warp, and it's still beautiful but Yumi is distracted this time, having had the time to point to her hat and murmur another incantation, essentially a set of magical hatpins to keep it on her hair. She can see Stven struggling, trying... and then--
"No! Steven!"
Steven seems surprised enough as it is, and she stares out at him. "No..." She lags behind a moment; while Fuu focuses on her will, and Sailor Moon charges right on out of the tunnel, Yumi knows where her heart is. She looks to Fuu, "If you're staying here, tell somebody to come after us if we get lost!"
Then she lunges out, and finds herself so, so cold. There is not enough air and she is so weak in the lungs usually, especially having had to use her inhaler earlier. But despite that pain, she grits her teeth. "Sailor Moon...!" Reaching into her clothes, Yumi pulls something bright and green and white, and taps a couple of keys. As she puts it away, she is suddenly holding a long broom, with a stone at the tip and ivy at the bristles. She sits on it sidesaddle, and shoves her staff behind her back, chanting it to stay there. She still can't breathe too well but...
She flies straight up to Sailor Moon and takes her hand. She's at the very front. "Get on!" the witch on her broomstick says, and starts taking off straight for Steven, storms or no storms.
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Sailor Moon is surprised to find Yumi out there on an Ivy Broom- "Yumi-chan! You came!"
-and grasps ahold of Yumi's hand. Pulling at her arm, she hoists herself up, legs flailing onto the back of the broom.
Then settles down, not side saddle but sort of in this little kneeling squat, hands holding onto the back of Yumi's back to steady herself.
"Do you think you can go after him!?"
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
Yumi's never flown somewhere like this, but it's the only way. She can't leave Steven, and she can't leave Sailor Moon. So when she gets close...
"All right! Now just hang on!" she says to the younger girl, and feels Sailor Moon doing exactly that. Yumi is very thin, but the fabric helps.
And she's got her pink eyes forward. "I'm going to try!" she says, and they rush as fast as Yumi can go.
<Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.
The space outside of the warp tunnels is almost serene in its silence. A space outside of space, perhaps outside of time itself. Occasional streams of light flit in the distance, maybe one of them holds the friends who had to stay behind. Maybe they all do.
Beyond them, all is cold, and dark, and still. Still save for a single floating object, a boy whose body is stiffening and whose every breath is weakening from the one that came before it. His eyes grow heavy, and his voice creaks away, his thoughts and his story left unfinished.
A lonely mote of "something" against the incalculably vast emptiness of whatever this dimension might be...
Forever lost.
Then a sound of tearing space, a column of light erupts next to Steven. So close to bath his face in its glow, but too far. Until a pair of hands rise up from below, catch him from under the arms, and pulls him inside.
To light, to air, to warmth.
"Take deep breaths." a familiar voice utters, and Garnet, leader of the Crystal Gems holds her little boy in one arm, and grabs the robot with the other.
"So this is what you saw. I should have listened to you. You are a Crystal Gem too."
Garnet keeps the robot in a tight grip an arm's length away.
She holds Steven close.
There's a a sound and Pearl rises up from lower in the warp stream.
"Steven! Are you okay?! I heard the warp pad activate from deep in the temple and when I found Garnet she said you were floating outside the stream and...!" She looks at the robot in Garnet's hand.
"Uh... What is that..?".
<Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.
Things begin to become blurry. Light seems to lose its meaning. Moving arms and legs is difficult. He can barely see something come out of the stream, drifting farther away. "They... No..." The ywere trying to come after him! They can't! They will be in just as much danger!
But he cannot talk loud enough for them to hear. "...Away..."
A bright light erupts near him, and the boy painfully turns his head toward the light. So close...! And then a sudden pair of arms snap him up and pull him inside. The stark, sudden change of life is difficult for him to adjust to. A familiar voice helps, and the boy Takes a moment to get several gulps of air as his body begins to quickly return to normal.
"I...! Uh... Garnet! Pearl!" He looks to the robot. "Yeah! That is it! It came in the house and-- oh no, the others!" The boy begins to struggle some. "I think they tried to come and get me!" he says, seemingly disoriented still. "What will we do?!" He will have to explain that he got help dealing with the investigation later. For now, there are three nice young ladies that might be in trouble!
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
On the back of a broomstick, Sailor Moon flies into the column of light with with Yumi, and takes a deep gulp of air, then another. Then another, shivering. "Whew! T-That was r-r-really s-s-scary..." In the bright glow- she looks towards Steven and the others, and perks up immediately, "Oh! Steven you're alright! You got him!"
She looks so excited as she floats along within, "He fell out of the... warp beam thing and we were worried we'd lost him!"
She doesn't know Garnet too well though she's fought by her side a few times. And Pearl is an unknown, but they're both stunning warriors by the looks of them and Sailor Moon seems to trust them immediately. But even though it looks like the situation is firmly in hand-
"Watch that thing. It is really tricky. I think it's a robot programmed only to annoy us."
Her lips press together as she thinks about what just happened, "And endanger kids."
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
Sheailor Moon charges out of the Warp to rescue Steven.
Yumi - the Witch of Ivy - goes with her.
And the Wind Knight ... just closes her eyes, her attention divided now - part of her continuing to focus on her will, on her wish for Steven and the others to be safe, but part of her simply offering up a prayer to the same end.
That leaves a third section of her mind to wonder whether her will is what it should be. Rationally, she knows NOTHING about what lies outside of the Warp while in transit; charging into the unknown could be worse than doing nothing. But the other two took that risk without even thinking about it - simply trusting their instincts, or their hearts or their guts or whatever they're being guided by as they plunge into the unknown. Maybe she should have trusted in her heart as well, but ...
Fuu lets out an unhappy sigh, her head drooping forward a bit before she pulls her will together again. Yumi *did* make a good request of her - if help comes looking for them, the Warp is logically the best place to be - on the road, as it were, rather than out in the landscape somewhere. Or whatever is out there.
But it means all she can *really* do, magic or willpower or prayers aside, is wait. And to only be able to wait while others are out there doing *some*thing to rescue somebody Fuu wants to help ...
It doesn't exactly squelch her doubts about herself, her own worthiness as a magical girl.
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
So they sail on forward. Forward, and forwrd, and Yumi is freezing in the process, rubbing her hands together since she doesn't need them to control her broom. "S-S-Sailor Moon, we're almost--"
Steven is... taken. She blinks. "Whoa..." that's when they both sail in, and Yumi gasps for breath too, leaning back into Sailor Moon. A gulp, and another. "Aaaah, so cold..."
"Yeah I don't know what that is," she pipes up, her nose super red and her glasses fogging before she defogs them by pointing at them and frowning. "HI!" she says instead, and then lowers her voice, "Sorry, hi. Garnet-san, Pearl-san." Yumi pauses for a moment, and smiles. "I'm glad you're safe, Steven." She pauses. "Are we safe? Is that what's happening here?"
"...Ha ha. I... yes. Right." She glances to the side, nervous. For some reason.
<Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.
Garnet continues to hold Steven.
"It's fine. They've managed on their own." she whispers calmly.
Sure enough, Sailor Moon and Yumi make their entrance, Unexpected to some, apparently expected to others.
Pearl seems focused on the robot and while her eye movement tracks their entrance, in tandem with Garnet's words, her focus returns to the robot. "Programmed.. to annoy us...?" Pearl whispers, her voice betraying that her mind is very much far away from the people directly around them.
Garnet looks to them both instead and nods a hello to each of them, but her hands are too full for much else.
She then speaks down to Steven with a small smile. "Told you."
<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
The beam of Garnet's warp is a warm and welcoming embrace after the vast cold of the inter-warp space. It, like the original beam, continues to arc towards the common destination of all these orbs...
...the Galaxy Warp.
This structure is in the middle of the ocean, somewhere, and jutting out of the black-blue waves are jagged spires that evoke standing stones. This is nothing crafted by the hands of man, however. There's a sinuousity to the design, a strangeness to the curvature, that is inherently, and beautifully, alien.
The centermost and largest stone, almost an island, is where the warp pads are -- Fuu winds up on a pad nearly adjacent to the one with Garnet, Pearl, Steven, Yumi and Sailor Moon, and it's easy to reunite.
There isn't much time for joyful denouement, however, because the humans and Gems aren't the only ones here. The little robot in Garnet's hand wriggles free and skitters across the vaguely metallic, glowing-in-grooves stone, or gem, or whatever this place is made out of, to join... the others.
There are LOTS of warp pads here, to reiterate. And they aren't all the same, except for, on the whole, being cracked and smashed and generally, obviously, nonfunctional -- and each one has been delicately marked with a sticker from the popular Saturday morning cartoon Crying Breakfast Friends, which has a Japanese following, by the by.
There are big warps and small warps and squat warps and tall warps, and the biggest, tallest one of all is in the middle. It's definitely the luxury SUV warp pad to the scrappy two-door sedan in the Temple, with real steps up to its top.
And it is essentially invisible beneath multiple -- dozens -- many -- MORE of those little robots. All identical, except for the one cracked by bucket and shield and gauntlet, but it gamely joins its fellows in their essential purpose:
Spewing more of that goop all over the biggest warp pad.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou transforms into Seventy-Nine Flask Robonoids!!! COMBAT: Sailor Moon accepts Yumi Ohzora's Green Nails Are With You!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Sailor Moon is Cheered!
<Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.
Steven stares at the edge of the Warp stream for what feels like forever, when suddenly, those he recruited for his cause emerge! "Y-You went out there after me...!" he stammers out. They put themselves in grave danger just for a chance to save him! If his eyes didn't feel half-frozen, he would probably be tearing up something serious right now.
The boy shakes uncontrollably for about a half a minute as he regains his composure. That was serious. There was a good reason now he was told not to go out there. And now he knew even moreso why than before during his last incident. "I know," he responds with to Garnet. "I hope she is okay," he says, looking outward. Fuu wasn't present. And while they are all going to the same place, he can't help but worry a moment.
The group lands safely, and nearby, Fuu does as well! "You're safe!" He calls out toward her. "Im sorry for getting you all into a danger... ous... situ..." His comment trails off.
There was a truckload of those little robots all over the main Galaxy Warp pad. "They are doing something to it! We got to stop them!" Despite his state, he hops out of being carried, and readies his shield. The boy charges the nearest one, and jsut begins to smack it with his shield repeatedly.
He has some pent up anger after what happened. If not about his own safety, then definitely that of his friends!
COMBAT: Steven Universe has used Shield Slam on Utena Tenjou. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou fails to counter Steven Universe's Shield Slam, taking 28 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Utena Tenjou's counterattack, Covered In Robonoids, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Steven Universe!
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed. <SoundTracker> Science is Fun - Portal 2 OST - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxb1zoj-hcM
The first thing she hears as they emerge is the crash of waves, and her legs almost give out the moment they touch down. "Mmm..." Part of her wonders if she can hear Michiru's violin playing from afar in the sounds of the sea. It's what they reminded her of after all. When the Magic Knight emerges, she waves at her.
But then she catches sight of everything around here, all the warp pads... "So many." Whereas what Steven says, she waves a hand, "Hey don't worry. You thought this was really important right? So we'll trust you and follow your lead!"
But then she double takes upon seeing the biggest warp pad at the same time Steven does, she points, gesticulating with a hand wildly as she squeaks out a little warning, "Look-look! They're..."
The sticky goop? They're spraying it all over the platform. "Wow... I wonder what they're doing?"
She'd be content to just watch for a moment. Are they laying a trap for someone? Or what? It's not clear what. But Steven says they have to stop them. That means it's probably real bad. And so-
She slowly rises up to her feet. "Got it! I'm going to try to blast them all off!" She breaks into a run, there's a hop, then a skip. Then a leap, as she adds a twist into it. Becoming a helicopter like spin, twintails sparkling in the night. Spiral Moon Heart Rod held in both hands. "Moon Twilight-"
Glittering power gathers at the tip of it, and at that same moment she shouts, "-FLASH!" Twilit power thrums down in multiple spheres of brilliant orange, violet and pink. She aims it to blast into the main thrust of them in a blinding detonation.
COMBAT: Sailor Moon has used Moon Twilight Flash on Utena Tenjou. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly braces Sailor Moon's Moon Twilight Flash, taking 29 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
Yumi can spot Pearl focused on the robot, and that interests her. But she's not sure she can get in the way there. She tilts her head. She thinks about saying something, but her nerves get the best of her and she laughs instead, glancing to the others rather than Pearl. She manages a smile for Garnet. "I was trying to look after him a little..."
The Witch of Lost Ivy is more than happy to be here in the warmth though, for the time it takes to relax and go through everything. She hangs onto her broom, and soon they're out! The structure is beautiful, the ocean is beautiful... Yumi takes a deep breath of the fresher air. "That's nice..." Pause. "Oh, Fuu-chan!"
She stays hoverin for now, and is able to soon see the problem of... stickers. And. Warp pads. And--
"Oh crap!" Yumi says, and puts a hand over her mouth. "Sorry! I didn't mean to say that in front of Steven!"
Speaking of Steven, when he says someone has to stop them Yumi nods firmly. "No idea, Sailor Moon. But..." Sailor Moon's gotten off. Yumi, still on her broom, sails upward for a different perspective. She draws in a deep breath, and starts drawing runes facing downward. "Wrath of forgotten spirits," she intones, the wind whipping her hair.
"DARK RADIANCE!"
A beam crashes down towards the creatures, and then another beam, and another, green and brilliant. She fires, not quite above the pad but close to it, right along with Sailor Moon's attack.
COMBAT: Yumi Ohzora has used Dark Radiance on Utena Tenjou.
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
"Steven-san! Everyone!!" Fuu's relief is palpable, not just audible, as she sees Steven, Yumi, Sailor Moon - and Garnet and Pearl as well, which is an even greater relief. There's a little bit of trepidation as well, but finding the other Crystal Gems is more important - it means they're NOT stranded out here.
And they have help against the robots. Because as slippery as that one drone was, the fact that there are so MANY of those drones is disheartening in its own right.
"It feels like I should have been able to do more than just wait to find out if you were all right, Steven-san, I'm sorry ..." She looks at the robots, not sure *what* they're doing - but Garnet's holding that one drone at arm's length like it's dangerous, which is most of what Fuu needs to know.
At least she can do something *now*, even if she couldn't before - and she does so, gathering her magic. "Storm-Dance of Kamaitachi!!" she calls out, unleashing a tempest against the drones - less worried about focused damage to destroy any *one* of them, more about trying to keep them disorganized, disrupt their work, and keep them from backing each other up against the good guys. She's at least being clever enough (hah) to keep the wide-area spell away from where her allies are focusing their attacks for more concentrated damage against specific drones.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Storm-Dance of Kamaitachi on Utena Tenjou.
<Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.
Garnet doesn't know what these things are or what they want with the warp pad.
She just has to stop them.
She's a blur of motion, the air unexpected displacement of her movement causes Pearl to summon a spear and brace herself for the moment.
Garnet however is already airborne, and smashes down on the mass of robots with a simple, brutal force,
The fusion of her expression and actions seem somehow simultaneously cold, and burning with desperation.
COMBAT: Garnet transforms into Garnet's Got Gauntlets! COMBAT: Garnet has used Strike The Earth! on Utena Tenjou. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly braces Yumi Ohzora's Dark Radiance, taking 15 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Utena Tenjou fails to dodge Garnet's Strike The Earth!, taking 31 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Utena Tenjou fails to brace Fuu Hououji's Storm-Dance of Kamaitachi, taking 40 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Steven slams into the pile of robonoids and, just as he's almost on them, he can see their little floaty legs brace a little bit, as though they're planning to just... bear with it, hang out until he's in the thick of them, and then counterattack.
This does not end well for them; the first robonoid Steven hits goes flying across the Galaxy Warp to land, with a crack of its shell, on another broken pad. It shakes itself and starts trotting back to the middle. Then the rest of them, nearby, start poking at him furiously, trying to force him back.
But he's not alone. Sailor Moon and Yumi, side by side, invoke their greater powers, and moonlight and darkness, separate and intertwined, pour across the huge pad and the robots on it, leaving many of them sizzled and fried. Fuu's huge storm sweeps around another good dozen, tossing some into the air and simply dragging the others across the ground. They get more goop in response, goop and goop and goop, so many squirts of it that the air itself becomes thick.
And Garnet is by his side, blurring forward to slam into the group and scatter another solid twenty. Pearl is at her side in the aftermath of the shockwave, throwing spear after spear, impaling robonoids in midair like a chef making a dozen shish kabobs in an instant.
But... there are SO MANY of them. And even as each magical girl (and Steven) engages as many as they can, another several dozen are able to bend themselves to their work, gooping up the warp.
In mere moments it is entirety coated. That rising, neck-prickling feeling of magic is back in full, resurgent force.
With a hum and a pop, the massive warp pad is restored, sparkling and shining and gloriously perfect. It even has that new pad smell. The robonoids back off, clustering on the steps, as though they're making space for--
--it's activating.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used POKEPOKEPOKEPOKEPOKEPOKEPOKE on Steven Universe. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used GOOP SNOOTS on Yumi Ohzora. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used GOOP SNOOTS on Fuu Hououji. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used GOOP SNOOTS on Sailor Moon. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used POKEPOKEPOKEPOKEPOKEPOKEPOKE on Garnet. COMBAT: Fuu Hououji narrowly braces Utena Tenjou's GOOP SNOOTS, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Fuu Hououji's Block ability activates! Fuu Hououji's Parry ability activates! Cripple applied to Fuu Hououji! COMBAT: Sailor Moon narrowly counters Utena Tenjou's GOOP SNOOTS, taking 11 Fatigue damage! Sailor Moon's Reverse ability activates! Sailor Moon's Tactician ability activates! Cripple, Tangle, and Trap applied to Sailor Moon! COMBAT: Sailor Moon's counterattack, Supersonic Screaming, partially gets through, doing 23 Fatigue damage to Utena Tenjou! COMBAT: Garnet narrowly dodges Utena Tenjou's POKEPOKEPOKEPOKEPOKEPOKEPOKE, taking 11 Fatigue damage! Garnet's Fade ability activates! Garnet's Flash ability activates! COMBAT: Yumi Ohzora narrowly braces Utena Tenjou's GOOP SNOOTS, taking 11 Fatigue damage! Yumi Ohzora's Block ability activates! Yumi Ohzora's Parry ability activates! Tangle and Trap applied to Yumi Ohzora! COMBAT: Steven Universe narrowly counters Utena Tenjou's POKEPOKEPOKEPOKEPOKEPOKEPOKE, taking 17 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! COMBAT: Steven Universe's counterattack, Bubble Shield, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Utena Tenjou!
<Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.
In any other situation, this is where Garnet would shout an order to fall back and away. But there's no absolutely no time, and more importantly, there's no room for error. At all.
She reaches her hands out and they elongate and enlarge, one catches Usagi, and Yumi in one giant hand. The other arm grabs Steven. Yet another arm erupts from her back and splits at the wrist into two smaller appendages: One grabs Fuu, and one grabs Pearl, and with all her allies "in hand", Garnet jumps behind one of the more distant pillars for the central warp pad, She retracts all of these limbs back into her body. holding the five close to her as she shapeshifts an arm out of her chest to cling onto the pillar before her body reconfigures, the chest arm becomes her left arm, and all of them are either still in right arm or partially in her body.
She keeps them all tightly together so that not a one of them is visibile from the view of the center of the warp pad and giving them just enough room to see the platform without being seen in return.
She doesn't say anything, but she gives them a look that says in no uncertain terms, "Be Silent."
It channels all the stern authority of motherhood and combat leadership, and more,
Something that almost seems more alien to Garnet than her shapeshifting.
Visible Fear
The look of someone doing their best to stay strong, barely keeping the floodgates of panic at bay for the sake of those around them.
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Landing with arms outspread. The Robonoids start to turn their nozzles on her. Facing down the nozzles which start spraying. Sailor Moon- bravely runs away- "OH COME ON! I DON'T WANT TO GET MORE OF THAT ON ME!" Shaking her head rapidly from side to side as her arms pump on the run, "NONONONONONONONO!" She's cut off one way, skids to a stop, and is hit.
She tries to take a step- her foot is caught and she slips, falls, skinning her knees with a yelp- as she starts to immediately cry from the pain and the thought of being helplessly stuck. And those tears cause the ornaments on her odangos to vibrate- and amplify. And soon enough there's ultra-embarrassing supersonic waves of sonic force slamming into more goop that's being fired into her.
The warp however is activating, becoming brighter and brighter, and as she tries to get up, her leg is stuck and she's still sobbing.
And then an elongated giant hand grabs her. And before she even knows what's happening she's being yanked back.
Be silent.
It's like invoking Ikuko Tsukino at her most stern. And Sailor Moon certainly listens.
Huddled up in that group, she claps both her hands over her mouth, sniffs once behind her hands and uses her fingertips to wipe her eyes.
With her other hand she slowly reaches up to try to squash the tippy tips of her blonde odangos down a little in case they'd be visible, and turns just a little. Just enough- to watch what's coming.
This moment is frightening because she has absolutely no idea. The fear of the unknown combined with the stern parental authority has totally silenced her. Even her tears, in short order.
<Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.
Steven wades himself into battle quicker than he usually does. His worries, the dangers he has faced today, the danger they put his friends in... And partly his frustration from the past day or two he is taking out on these little things. He actually is starting to feel a little bad.
At least, until they all counterattack at once and swarm him. "Bot swaaarm!" he says, trying to shake them off. He summons a bubble shield to help deflect them, but apparently ones on him are discluded, and continute to just bang their spherical bodies on him and jab him with their cylindrical legs.
Before Steven becomes a robonoid pile however, a giant, familiar hand latches on to him and yanks him away. He is finally able to understand what is going on as he is suspended in air behind a pillar, in a magical girl pile with Garnet as the core. "Thanks!" he says, half-whispering. He purses his lips as he is told to be quiet.
Was it another round robot? Or something worse activating the center Warp?! He does his best to try and peer around the side of the pillar, though it is difficult to do so.
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
It... doesn't work. She does her best with it, but Yumi is afflicted by goop instead, hit and wobbling about her broom, which thankfully is gooped along with her. She stares, and slowly manaes to move herself. "Come on..." She grits her teeth--but the magic in the air is so clear.
Abrubtly, Garnet grabs her; Garnet gets Yumi, staff, and broom all in one go, and she finds herself very tightly held. "H-hey," she starts quietly, and while it's not a bad thing to be protected by someone's... mother...
Yumi doesn't say anything either. She looks at Garnet and catches that look, and the motherhood is more than enough to get her completely silent. Her expression shifts to worry though, at the fear.
She hangs there, in the meantime, not even moving her hands. She tries to breathe quietly, though her breathing is baseline a little louder than for most folks. She... tries to look at whatever is happening.
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
That would seem to explain what all of the goop is, considering what it does to the Warp Pad. On the other hand, the robots were also spraying that stuff on the magical girls and Steven, and THAT can't be remotely healthy for biological humans, magical or not -
"That pad powering up really is a bad sign, isn't it?" Fuu states, looking it over and trying to sort out if there are any spots that she *might* be able to re-damage with her arrows or something ... but again, that sense of helplessness - of not being able to do anything - rises up in the back of her mind. Being uncertain about braving the unknown outside of the Warp's corridors is one thing, but this - she can see with her own eyes exactly what they're dealing with, and she has more-knowledgeable allies close by her side. And then the decision is taken out of her hands - Garnet grasps her and pulls her behind that pillar, giving all of them that *look* which is an instruction clearer than if she'd used words.
The Wind Knight doesn't speak, and barely moves - crouching rather than standing, so that she won't have to shift her weight, and even keeping her *breathing* as quiet as possible without holding her breath.
She wants to act, to do *some*thing, but Garnet is the expert here. Fuu will trust her.
<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed. <SoundTracker> Peridot https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KGb2KgXHwc
Everyone has seen warp pads activate a lot today; Garnet and Pearl have seen it literally thousands of times.
But it feels different this time. Maybe it's the expressions on the Crystal Gems, their extreme reactions. Maybe it's the warp in its own right, so different from the others, larger and grander and, at last, pristine.
Maybe it's simply the way that the robonoids form little concentric rings around it, up and down the steps, like teeny tiny robot cultists. Eerie.
The column of blue-white light comes down, the warp pad chiming happily with impact as it receives that energy, fulfills its purpose, for the first time in millennia.
It clears, and... there's someone there. Another woman, standing on the pad. She is tall like Garnet, but different -- slender, even spindly in places, with vastly enlarged forearms and legs below the knee. She is all over green, various harmonious shades, with a yellow diamond on her chest and upon each knee.
From this distance it is difficult to make out much more detail, other than the fact that, akin to the robonoids' legs, her hands are a little weird. Her fingers aren't quite connected to her arms, they float, and four of them expand to contain a holographic screen, while she uses the fifth as a pointer, a la stylus and smartphone.
Her voice rings out across the Galaxy Warp, fearlessly clinical, didactic even, as she records her notes. Meanwhile, the robonoids basically rush the stage, cuddling eagerly around her like an amorphous ball pit.
"Hmm. Log Date 312. This is Peridot, performing Earth hub maintenance check. Warp pad repair successful; all 79 flask robonoids deployed and accounted for. Preparing to locate and manually reactivate kindergard--"
The original robonoid, clearly distinguished by the particular dent it got from a particular bucket, scrabbles up against her. She glares down at it, and, once she notices its damage...
...crushes it to death underfoot. This takes her a little bit of actual effort, a long, strained stomp rewarded by a 'pop!' and a splatter of goop. Peridot grins darkly, pleased by the results, and returns to her work.
"Now to access the domestic warp." She starts walking down the steps, robonoids (wisely) getting out of her way. But... something's amiss; clearly, this Gem has some serious powers of observation. "Huh?" She notices the crying breakfast friend sticker immediately. Annnnd then she also notices the other few dozen robonoids who have been blasted, bashed, and bisected.
She tenses, but doesn't stop moving, a well-trained agent. "This site may have been compromised," she announces into her recorder. After looking around for a few scary moments, she strides back up to the pad, puts down a green, glowing orb, and warps out.
A bare second later the orb detonates, leaving the warp intact but sending all the robonoids slumping, lifeless, to the ground, as though they've been hit by the Gem equivalent of an EMP.
Pearl, who has spent all this time alternatively holding onto Garnet for dear life or holding onto Steven to save all their lives, lest he do something foolish, drops to the ground. She started trembling some time ago but now it erupts into shakes, especially in her voice. Her eyes are huge in her face, which is pale, even for her.
"They're coming back," she announces in a low voice, panic rising into a wail. "I can't do this! Not again!"
<Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.
Steven has never seen Garnet and Pearl so... frightened? Worried? Intense? Even compared to the encounter with Lapis Lazuli. The center Warp glows much brighter than the ones he is used to. Where is it connected? Where does it go? Perhaps the most important question is...
Who is that on the platform whe nthe light fades? The little robonoids flock to her, and Steven swells up a little. Oh man, it is so cute! It is like that person is their mom!
POP.
Steven turns pale as the damaged one-- the one they hurt-- is destroyed mercilessly. He watches as she notices his sticker, and begins to sweat. Oops. She makes her quick escape, and the boy stares at the unmoving robots. "Peridot..." he says quietly, having overheard her name. What does this mean? Pearl seems to be losing it. Garnet is near seething intensity.
"...Did she just take my Crying Breakfast Friends sticker?"
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Sailor Moon tenses upon the arrival of the gem. Her eyes following her, trying to continue to make no sound, be an absence of sound, a sound void. But there's a tiny muffled squeal behind her lips as Peridot focuses on the one Robonoid with a dent. She looks sheepishly at the others in that moment, eyes flitting over to Steven and Yumi and Fuu who all know what happened.
And that's when Peridot starts stomping on it. Sailor Moon cringes with every stomp. Every single one. Eventually her gloved fingers seek Yumi's hand and lace in her fingers and squeeze for some support in this moment.
As Peridot starts moving again, she follows her with her eyes and- cringes again, and again.
She looks to the others and her quivering eyes say it all. 'SHE KNOWS! SHE KNOWS!'
Sailor Moon hunches down even more than most in this moment, she's already small but she's trying to be even smaller.
The sound of the warp activates, and she dares to look, only to watch the orb explode- eliciting a squeak from her as the explosive wave causes them all to drop over dead, and her to take cover again.
"I have no idea who Peridot is..." She whispers in the wake of it to the others, "... but I hope she never comes back."
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
Yumi doesn't entirely feel like she can breathe in this oppressive atmosphere. Her breaths are obvious to Sailor Moon beside her, a little wheeze in them. But she keeps as very quiet as she can, her boots swinging back and forth as much as is possible.
The someone makes Yumi curious. ...Curious, as she speaks and mentions what she does. She blinks pink eyes, saring forward. This goes on until--
Pop! And it's horrible, a shudder running through her chest that she has to suppress before it becomes a sound, something easier when Sailor Moon takes her hand. She swallows, and waits. ....There's a lot of waiting.
Pearl's panic...
Yumi's own gloved fingers press Sailor Moon's, squeezing. The explosion makes Yumi glances away. "...I think I might be sick," she whispers after Sailor Moon. "I don't even..."
She doesn't know. Even the sticker she can't find funny, gone as it is.
<Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.
Garnet releases them all. She looks to all of them in turn, and especially to Pearl, whose reaction she understands all too well.
She'll comfort her later, the Gems will probably spend a good part of tonight discussing what just happened. But for now Garnet walks up to the warp pad herself.
"It doesn't matter who she is..." She says this all of them, but in direct reply to Usagi.
Her gauntlets glow with transformative light and quintiple in size, larger than perhaps any here have seen them, and with a single overhand SMASH! Garnet breaks the central warp pad itself into jagged, ruined pieces!
"...she's not coming back!"
