2018-03-25 - Welcome to the Mahou Jam
| Title: Welcome to the Mahou Jam | |
|---|---|
| Summary: Kasagami Araki has issued a challenge to friends, rivals, and enemies alike! Out in the glorious athletics field of Ohtori, the time honored sport of basketball is the Disciplinary Executive's choice of battle today! The youma that show up weren't part of the plan. Join us as the magical girls of Tokyo face off against the Negative Zone Knights in a no-holds barred b-ball game! | |
| Who: | |
| Where: Ajinomoto Stadium | |
| OOC - IC Date: Sun March 25, 2018 - sometime before Shinjuku | |
<Pose Tracker> Kasagami Araki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
With Spring Break winding down, Kasagami Araki has decided to give her best friends, enemies, schoolmates, sisterschool mates, passing strangers, and just about anyone who wants to come an invitation to a basketball game. 'Out in Tama' is the only description. Limos pull up to ferry those who want to join the Student Council Member for her quick pickup basketball game.
People probably aren't expecting Ajinomoto Stadium to be used for this purpose. Then again this is technically an Ohtori event. A /Kasagami/ Ohtori event.
She's in gym shorts, long stockings, a proper b-ball tank top, and of course her coat thrown on over it all! A mic in hand, she grins!
"Wellllcome one and all, to the Pickup B-Ball Spring Break Championship 2015! Hosted by yours truly, your favorite and most glamorous Disciplinary Executive, Kasagami Araki! What are the rules you ask!? Simple! Teams of three on three! As you'll note..." She waves to the stadium fields. Multiple hoops have been set up for seperate games!
"First to fifteen points or over wins! Get yourself pumped up, hit the showers, and then show all of Tokyo your BURNING DESIRE for athletic superiority! Now who wants some of Kasagami Araki, huh? I'll dunk on any of you!" Grin! The crowd goes wild. There's a sizable Ohtori student body presence, and other students as well! There's even free burgers, hot dogs, and more traditional japanese stadium fare!
Yet something lurks above in the sky! Something like a shooting star from up above! What will it bring!?
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Some people appreciate Spring Break more than others. Mikoto Minagi, once again, is found wandering the Ohtori grounds in a vague searching pattern. She blinks when Kasagami suggests the sport.
"... what's 'basketball'?"
Oh, that /cannot stand./
Shoved into gym clothes and catnapped into a limousine - she's travelling in a surprising amount of these, lately - Mikoto finds herself ushered to Tama, the scenery wooshing past darkened windows. She's unfamiliar with Ajinomoto Stadium, not being much of a soccer fan at the best of times, but she can recognise how /big/ it is. Even the planes which soar overhead sound huge and loud to her ears.
Once Kasagami is done with her BURNING DECLARATION, Mikoto tugs at her coat, insistently. There is a very serious expression on her face, and her other hand grips the strap which still holds Miroku to her back.
"Why're we hitting showers? Is shower monster?"
<Pose Tracker> Homura Akemi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Homura Akemi sets sneaker to pavement from the dark confines of the the provided transportation. The angle of her ankle and the placement of her toe are just so, encased in dark tights beneath violet athletic shorts. She scans the other arrivals as their limousines release them, then makes for the restrooms.
Out of sight briefly, the rest of the world stops. There's a JDF equipment depot around the corner, and while Homura's in the neighborhood, she might as well do some shopping. It's a good thing the addition of several rifle grenades and a series of claymore mines don't weigh down her basketball shooting arm any -- she's just as light of food upon her instantaneous return.
She shows up at Kasagami Araki's elbow unheralded, opposite the tugging Mikoto, with arms up as she settles a striped sweatband into place below dark bangs.
"You want me on your team," says Homura to the Disciplinary Executive. Did she forget the question mark? Or is she posturing? She looks to Mikoto. "And I want to be on yours."
Maybe she'd just rather not be on the /opposing/ team from the murdercat. Who would?
<Pose Tracker> Kasagami Araki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Siiiigh. Kasagami slowly looks down to her shorter friend. A single hand, as she dribbles, pats Miko on the head comfortingly. "No. Unless you mean cutting the hot water pipes to Saionji's bathroom, that is." She offers conspiratorially. StuCo politics at it's finest, everyone.
"See what you do is..."
A NEW CHALLENGER APPEARS!
Or...team-mate? Blink. Slowly, Kasagami grins. "Homura-chan! Ahh, you couldn't resist the lure of sports and my charisma I see! Fine, you're part of the team now! Don't hold us back! Now then..." Slowly, Kasagami turns to their opponents. Three Ohtori high school guys! Kasagami starts to dribble, and then she's rushing forward aggressively! "Stay back and watch, Mikoto! Homura and I will show you the ropes! Just keep that guy off me!" Point at one of them!
Kassie's going for a fake-out dunk...only to pass it to Homura! Then she starts harassing the tallest guy there!
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Kasagami begins to explain basketball - or maybe the intricacies of hot water sabotage - when Homura arrives, stately and resplendent and /completely on time./ She asks to be on Mikoto's team, and Mikoto grins with infectious enthusiasm. "'Kay!"
By all rights, tiny little Mikoto should be terrible at basketball - she doesn't even reach five feet. But as she's instructed to keep guard over her taller teammates, Kasagami's strategy becomes clear.
Mikoto might be very small, but she is /very tenacious,/ and having been instructed to keep one of the high school boys away, that's exactly what she does. He tries to step past, but Mikoto hurries in front of him. He tries to feint to the side, but she's too quick and sharp to fall for it. He tries running /towards/ her in an effort to scare her away, and she just stands her ground and glares up at him.
He is /not getting through./
<Pose Tracker> Homura Akemi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
'Don't hold us back' earns the resplendent duelist a single slow blink of level violet eyes. That flat confidence belies the skinniness of parchment-pale arms, like bare birch branches in winter sticking out from her tee shirt's sleeves. But her Ohtori agemates know -- they've seen Homura Akemi in gym class, sprinting and vaulting her way into the school record books.
Homura doesn't go in for the team sports so much. But she's learned to be adaptable.
The ball bounces between the court and Kasagami's hand, and Homura's stance goes immediately from Aloof Puella With Excellent Posture In Gym Clothes to something much closer to what a basketball player should adopt: knees bent, arms loose.
Mikoto has that one guy /handled/, Homura notes, her tactical mind going to work! One enemy neutralized, with... well, maybe not a vengeance. Mikoto's vengeance scale seems to climb much higher than that.
The puella magi is slight, a year younger and smaller than their pickup team captain and even moreso compared to the sturdily-built boys opposing them. She chases after the hole Kasagami's aggression blows in their ranks, like it's a snowbreak, then darts hard left with a squeal of rubber on treated wood -- right beneath the raised elbow of the taller remaining enemy combat- opposing player.
The orange ball smacks right into Homura's upheld palms. She spins and hops and pushes it into the air, net-ward...
<Pose Tracker> Kasagami Araki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed. <SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OZU3fi08-o
Mikoto's strategy is working! The weird girl on campus seems to be good at this sort of thing! Every way he moves, he just can't get past her zone defense! Feints, movements, rushing! Nothing can best this kitty!
Then the upperclassman goes for something unorthodox, and tries to /leap/ over Mikoto's tiny form! This will surely work well.
In darts Homura, her Puella-given athleticism paying off! She sneaks right in, and then up she goes for the shot!
It lands right on the rim! Wobble! Wobbble wobble wobble! Will it go in!?
Kasagami cups her hands together near the net below, and pfffthufffts!
Thunk!
"THREE POINTS!" Goes the off-court ref for the main event.
The boys look at their opponents incredulously. Truly, these women are to be feared! Kasagami puts her hands on her hips! "You're doomed, boys! Unless a miracle saves you!"
That's right when the crashing star above comes down, rips a hole through the scoreboard on the stadium, and crash lands about five feet away from the players. A wave of dark energy washes through the stadium, and people fall flat! The court that Miko, Kassie, and Homu were playing on is cleared by the blast. A big, black orb pops open like some sort of time capsule or evil space ship.
Three figures leap out! Each wears black armor, with oni-like horns on their heads. One is skinny as a rail, the other big and rotund! The third is short and almost like a rolling ball with hands!
And they all have sports jerseys on, with a stylized NZK logo!
Slim speaks up, and points at the girls! "Hey, you guys are still standing! You must be pretty good ballers! We came here to devour all of the delicious b-ball energy from you kids. You up for it? We're the Negative Zone Knights, and we are going to dunk on you!" The two others cross their arms and nod.
There's a flutter, and Kasagami is wreathed in Ohtori sunlight and roses as her Rose Signet shines! The Crimson Rose Duelist dribbles, and passes it over to the rotund Knight! The three have already leaped to the court, the basketball suddenly covered in horrible dark magic! These guys are serious!
"I will become King! And I'm not going to allow any of you to steal my kingdom's sportsmanship for your team of youma scrubs! Let's do this! Everyone..."
"I welcome you..."
"TO THE MAHOU JAM!"
Behind the magical girls, fireworks go off as the event kicks off!
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
The boy leaps, and Mikoto darts under him, stubbornly there when he lands! She knows a thing or two about jumping to victory, after all. And she's... pretty sure she's not allowed to tackle anyone during basketball. She hasn't /seen/ anyone tackle anyone else during basketball. That usually means it isn't allowed.
Usually.
But she can absolutely dog (cat?) his every step, and be a /general nuisance,/ until Homura and Kasagami's efforts see the ball safely into the net!
"Did we win?!" Mikoto asks, wide-eyed and excited.
The answer, of course, is they won... /an extraterrestial incursion./
Down comes the star, with a wave of dark energy which threatens to send Mikoto flying. She swings Miroku's case around and plants it in the ground, holding on as her erstwhile opponent goes flying--!
As the spaceship opens, Mikoto glares at it with suspicious eyes. They look like enemies, but they're - talking? They're talking like they want to play the sport. Mikoto makes an unsure noise, looking to Homura and Kasagami for guidance.
And Kasagami, of course, has elected to meet them on the field of basketball.
Mikoto shoots her a strange look, as if to say, 'why aren't we just attacking them?!' But - but Kasagami has already decided it's a basketball game. And Mikoto technically has never played basketball before. Maybe this just... happens in basketball sometimes. Maybe this is a normal basketball 'thing'. And if it is, Kasagami would be upset if she attacked the opposing team. (This is another thing Mikoto Minagi has learnt about contact sports.)
So, with a skeptical noise, Mikoto returns Miroku's case to her back, and steps in line with Homura and Kasagami. She's going to try doing the same thing she did before, because /naturally/ that's how you play basketball.
<Pose Tracker> Homura Akemi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
One thin black eyebrow rises; Homura's gaze traces from the teetering basketball to Kasagami and her cupped hands, then back. The Big Bad Wolf of Ohtori only needs one huff, not even a secondary puff, to sink the shot.
Teamwork! Three points for Team Mahou.
Homura walks up to Kasagami's side again as that taunt flies, letting hair that is still a perfect sable swallowtail be her flourish. But when Mikoto asks if they won... Homura offers an /extremely/ grave, pale hand, palm up and out, for a high five.
Her hair blows into and across her face -- artfully, of course! -- at the intergalactic cratering of the courtside. It's enough to lift Homura's other eyebrow.
And her defenses, but the threshold for that is frankly a lot lower. She backflips with the shockwave, and as it rips by so does an arc of energy the color of her soul that leaves her in the white-violet-black of her puella regalia.
The fuzzy sweatband stays.
She steps up alongside Kasagami Araki and Mikoto Minagi, allies in battlefield and on the basketball court, and her eyes narrow on that darkly empowered ball in the hands of the opposing, alien team. Checks each of them out in turn.
To her teammates she says, "They won't know what hit them, the fools."
Time to Jam! Mikoto takes a step forward, and Homura runs a heartbeat after, right for the largest roundest Knight and the ball in his hand! She's tiny by comparison, but /quick/, and her feet land precisely where she wants them to land. Can she nab the ball from him, though, and relay it to Kasagami?
<Pose Tracker> Kasagami Araki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Grin. "Not yet Miko-chan! BUT WE WILL!"
And the game is on! Short and literally-a-ball comes wheeling for Mikoto! Like a not-cute version of Samus, this evil morph ball youma barrels into Miko if she's not careful! The creature even leaves horrible dark streaks on the freshly waxed b-ball floor! Horrible!
"I'm Brolly, the Knight on a Roll! And you can't match my smooth moves, little kitty!" he taunts as he moves to make sure Miko's out of defense /and/ the game!
Homura goes straight for Fatyouma! Evil youma cheerleaders on both sides of the court leap and yay dramatically...where'd they come from!? Who knows, this is basketball.
"Negative Zone Knights are the Best!"
"Goooo Dashing Earthly Queens! You can beat them!"
The steal is perfect, though that negative energy might burn a bit! Nothing for a Puella Magi no doubt. Then she's ready to bomb it to Kassie! Suddenly, the big Youma does a front flip, giant armored backside coming down towards the ball and the space towards Homura! If she's not careful, she'll get caught in the crush of wind from the huge Knight's fall!
And it's sent the ball off course! Kasagami is bends her knees, and concentrates! "Araki Family Technique..."
Slim Youma comes in fast, like lightning! He manages to get on Kassie's guard with youma speed! When he blinks, though? Nothing but rose petals. Kassie is on his back, kicking off!
"Crimson B-Ball Intercept!" Springing off, she lands, and then goes for a dramatic dunk trailing roses and magical sparkles!
WHAM! She swings on the rim! First score is the Dashing Earthly Queens!
And the ball's still in their court now. If Mikoto is up, it's her turn to be on the offense!
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
They haven't won /yet,/ but Mikoto has won in spirit, because she gets to engage in a very serious high five manoeuvre with Homura Akemi. Clap! (Mikoto is grinning, though, which kind of ruins the whole gravitas angle.)
But their pure and joyful game is interrupted -
And Mikoto finds herself being taunted. It's her time to leap up, now, vaulting off of the Knight's shoulders to land squarely in front of him. If this is a normal basketball game, then she's supposed to use the 'trash talk', right? "Well - um - Brolly's a big dumb ball!"
... that's honestly the best thing she could come up with.
Despite her lack of acuity with words, Mikoto is much faster now she's treating this as a potential threat, even though she doesn't have cool and flashy clothes to mark the change like Homura or Kasagami do. She may have hesitated as she tried to come up with a retort, but she tears across the courtyard to cut Brolly off from the others once it's out there! They find themselves in the middle of the court, as Kasagami's beautiful shot goes through the net.
And the ball falls towards Mikoto, who catches it more out of instinct than purpose.
"Um -" She stares down at it for a moment - "- ow! -" - as the dark energy hits her. Dribbling the ball is only natural, under those circumstances! She wants to touch it as little as possible! Judging from what Kasagami and Homura did, she's supposed to aim for the net. She leaps over attacks, folds into rolling across the ground when they come close.
(Whether those are /entirely legal basketball moves/ is up for debate.)
And when she comes to the net, she looks up, up, up at it...
... but it's too intimidatingly high and small! She gets stuck /staring/ a moment too long!
<Pose Tracker> Homura Akemi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Hssst, that's a hot basketball! Homura finds an extra modicum of irritation in singeing her hands on a color of magic so close to her own, like it's personal. She glares back up at the space invader after passing to Kassie -- which is good timing, because he's about to SERIOUSLY invade her space.
Homura Akemi darts /down/ and /toward/ -- crossing the direction of the alien's dive in a directed tumble past him and that threatening crush of mass and armor! The breakneck and strictly speaking, inhuman speed of the maneuver sends Homura skidding down the court, burning through a fair helping of rubber on her soles and kicking up vivid violet sparks.
She keeps on glaring, but she's calling out first to their team captain. "You have a reputation, Araki-san. And I want you to know you have /earned/ it! Have you run an uninterrupted event in your life?" At lower volume Homura grumbles, "Youma magnet."
And to the youma? "You!" Homura points across the court at her b-ball foe. "Negative Zone Knight! You stepped onto the wrong court today!" Mikoto tumbles in her peripheral vision, ball in hand, and Homura feels even more confidence.
(Uh oh. She doesn't foresee what's to come, there are no timeline templates to follow. Mahou Jam is a singular event in her considerable experience.)
Her turn to play defense. Homura runs to interpose herself between him and Mikoto, which is on the face of things a sort of ridiculous proposition. The guy looks like he could just step OVER her to get by. But wherever he steps, she's suddenly... there. Or over there. Or right here, in his face. It's instantaneous, and absolutely uncanny! That mysterious Akemi Technique, maybe...!
"There's no getting past me," she promises, with the beginnings of a Serious Sports Grimace under her sweatband.
<Pose Tracker> Kasagami Araki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Hey..." Starts Brolly. He slows his roll as Mikoto lets out that /cutting insult/!
"I'm not big! You're so mean! Been slimming down, that's why I went to b-ball energy instead of Fast Food Worker energy!" His big youma ball eyes wibble a bit.
Then off goes the dribbly Miko! She runs right past the rolly youma, and makes ready to shoot! Kassie meanwhile is on her guard, Slim Youma and her alternatively dancing around in a waltz-like series of movements, or just pausing to get in each other's faces and taunt relentlessly!
This...this is kind of zone defense. Ish.
But Miko pauses, and Brolly is off! Rushing again to try to slam into the hesitating Mikoto, she's a sitting duck!
Meanwhile, Kasagami grins back to Homura. "By the Heavenly Father, HOmura-chan, I am completely innocent! I don't go looking for interstellar basketball games! They just recognize my greatness and sweet hoops skill, and couldn't help but challenge a KING! As far as youma go, I like them! Besides, I'm keeping your life nice and interesting. You'd be bored without me!"
They /are/ less murderous than most, really.
Homura applies the Time Criminal Defense! Every time Fatyouma goes for it, she's there! Finally though, he gives up on trying to break through by moving! "Alright little girl, you've got some moves! But can you handle Big-Y's ultimate ballin' bash!?" And then, he stops one leg. The entire building shakes. Another leg!
And then he leaps into the sky! Like a majestic fat overfed pidgeon, he leaps into the atmosphere! Like a rocket made of armor, evil magic, and lard!
With Miko hesitating, Kassie is forced to leap to Mikoto's defense! She takes the assault of Brolly, boots majestically slamming into the ball and riding him like a...well, a girl on top of a ball, circus sideshow-esque! She tries to steer him to guard Slim, but to no avail!
Slim tries to steal the ball from Mikoto! Up above, Fatyouma is descending, negative energy all around him as he prepares the ultimate move of the Negative Zone Knights!
"Mikoto-chan! Wake up! You might be tiny and adorable, but you're a tiny adorable doom machine! /My/ doom machine! And my friend! Show us your kitty b-ball powers! Listen to your dreeeeeeams!" Kassie and Brolly go smashing through a line of youma cheerleaders, in a brief tangled mess. Two pompoms adorn their twin crowns each.
Can the team avert the start of a Negative Zone Dunk!?
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
The other Dashing Earthly Queens rush to Mikoto's defence! It's a good thing, too, because the pressure is building up underneath the net. Mikoto hardly even notices as the ground shakes and youma go flying, such is her terrible concentration.
Put the ball in the net. Put the ball... in the net. Okay, this isn't hard. This isn't - this isn't /hard./ BUT IT'S SO HIGH UP THOUGH.
Mikoto Minagi, who regularly parkours around buildings and jumps onto treebranches, apparently doesn't see the irony in this /whatsoever./ Because this is different, you know. She knows how to jump onto things! But jumping up and putting a ball in a hoop? That's a totally radical skillset. She's never done that before! What if she messes it up!? Everyone is counting on her...
It's this war of the heart which Kasagami's impassioned plea interrupts! Mikoto blinks, shuddering as she snaps out of her (perhaps ball-influenced) despair. It's just in time for Slim to try and swipe the ball from her, and Mikoto dives to the side, narrowly avoiding long grasping fingers. "Uh-uh!" She declares, fiercely. "Kasagami's right!"
And as Fatyouma descends, and Slim closes in, Mikoto leaps --!
"OBSIDIAN BALL, SLAM!!"
It's a fierce declaration which fuels her ascent to the net, the ball dunking firmly through the hoop!!
But as Mikoto lands, she still has two very /big/ and /very tall/ problems to deal with...
<Pose Tracker> Homura Akemi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
That completely innocent grin of Araki's finds little purchase in the beliefs of the puella magi, say some utterly level eyebrows. Homura gives a delicate snort. "Hhhf. Of course you're not starting the trouble. The trouble just always finds you -- on the side of the road with your thumb out..."
Yeah, she's a cool cucumber, that Homura Akemi. Soooo disengaged, definitely not having any fun at all. Except for how she /stuck around to play interstellar youma-ball/, which kind of belies the whole aloof deal... shhh.
A mind tuned to battlefield calculations notes that upward trajectory, the youma's velocity, runs the numbers -- adjusts based on the alien b-baller's demonstrated otherworldly enhancements. The Dashing Earthly Queens have seven and a half seconds, more or less, before they can expect return impact.
Mikoto makes her leap through doubt and into glorious sportsball courage, the orange round hope of the team held high!
...and that is of course subject to the same rapid mental maths. She'll make it to the hoop, Homura judges, but without the clearance to avoid all that alien reprisal headed her way.
"Mikoto!" Homura shouts. "Watch your head!"
Then she's not where she was, a blinking absence. No -- there she is, hurtling toward the spiky-haired teammate, and above them there's a sudden POPPING detonation, a sudden unfurling of white like a great cloud...!
And a parachute system quite literally designed for airdropping tanks slams open, attached to the hurtling youma and catching air in great walloping bursts! The LAPES tactical chutes go to work like they would on an Abrams, combining to critically slow the meteoric descent!
Just enough time for Homura to throw her body in front of Slim like a slim human speedbump (thaaat's gonna bruise), all to buy Mikoto time to get out of the way!
<Pose Tracker> Kasagami Araki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
No mere /ball/ can stop the Mikoto as she slam-jam-whams her way into the hoop with the power of Obsidian Ball! In that graceful, leaping arc, several of the youma cheerleaders do back flips!
"Gimme a C! Gimme an A! Gimme a TTE! What's it spell!?"
"CATTE!"
Even as the scoreboard declares victory, gravity and falling Fatyouma is there! But there's a Homura to play interference! Up flies those devices no doubt carefully stolen from the JSDF and associated US Military bases! WHUMPT! Open goes those parachutes, and the falling fatyouma is suddenly caught in it! He becomes a twisting, spiraling blurr of evil energy, weight, and aiming to crash right into hoop itself!
It gives Mikoto enough to truly put on her Kitty Jam to win the game! But even so, this glorious Dueling Arena of B-Ball might be crushed under that falling Negative Zone Knight! What ever shall be done!?
Suddenly Kassie is dribbling a ball. Not just any ball, but a Brolly Knight Ball! Her glove scorches as he poor youma goes all ;.; with every hard bounce! The Disciplinary Executive lines up her shot, aaaaand!
She's Student Council. Rules do not apply to her at all, if you ask Kasagami Araki!
"CRIMSON SOCCER KICK! Taste my Ultimate Boot Power!" Then she lays into that round youma the force of an annoyed sportscaster just learning that they've been fired after the end of tonight's game.
The resulting impact of spinning ball youma and flagging parachute Fat Youma creates a shockwave, and Kassie is down on her butt again along with the rest of the Evil Cheerleaders that fade away into nothing.
Slim, pauses, and leaps back to the Evil Pod, and zips into the sky. Crashing into his compatriots, he eyes them with a glare until they're nothing but another star in the sky, suspicioiusly tank-parachute shaped!
"Curse you, Dashing Earthly Queens! We will get our sportsball reveeeeenge!"
And then, magic fades, and people are standing up. For some reason, everyone's walking off, as if they'd just played a rousing game of pick up b-ball before school starts.
Dusting bits of Evil Cheerleader off of her now scuffed self, she whistles as she walks over to Mikoto and Homura. Hands go to her hips.
"Second best game of b-ball I've ever played! You two are amazing team-mates! Hey, Miko-chan, Homura-chan!" Grin.
"Who's up for ice cream and then a fun game of lacrosse?"
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Mikoto is become Sportscatte, destroyer of nets. Having proven that she can put ball in hole, she promptly picks the ball up and puts it in the hole /again./
She can do this because Fatyouma is sailing in the sky, arrested by a /gigantic parachute./ When Homura tells her to watch her head, she ducks dutifully! And when she looks up, there he is, spiralling down in a much more controlled fashion.
And there Homura is, in front of the Slim who was diving for her. Does anyone ever think about how fast Homura is? Mikoto sure doesn't, because it's only natural Homura had this all planned out. Homura is /so good/ at this sort of thing.
Mikoto isn't quite as fast, but she's still fast enough to scurry away from the youma Homura is protecting her from! And even as the shadow sinks lower over the courtyard, there's still one rogue element they haven't considered -- Kasagami Araki.
Who has decided to turn this basketball match into a soccer match.
Brolly goes flying overhead, and Mikoto watches, wide-eyed, as they sail into the distance, accompanied by the ever-harassed Slim. If she had the capacity to feel sympathy for her enemies, she'd probably feel bad.
As it is...
Mikoto looks over to Kasagami and Homura, a big smile crossing over her face as Kasagami grins. "Basketball's weird," she decides. "But fun!"
<Pose Tracker> Homura Akemi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Mikoto and the ball go up and hang in the air for a single golden, glorious, neverending moment, creating a special kind of time stoppage that Homura admires in a professional sense.
Down they slam! (Twice!) So ends the Jam.
Well, if the aliens weren't pressing the attack -- but the combined efforts of the b-ballin' and soccerin' mahou overcome, once more. The aliens beat their ignominious retreat, leaving the court to the girls who have won it.
Her knees are bruised from tripping Slim, beneath her dark leggings; her hands have the faint pebbled texture of a darkly-imbued basketball branded across their palms. The wages of a challenge issued, met and overcome, here on this suddenly cross-galactic court. Homura sets her jaw into that defiant Sports Grimace once again, staring up at the dwindling aliens.
That'll show /them/.
"Well..." Homura reaches up and adjusts her sweatband -- sweaty in name only, still fluffy and pristine somehow -- and converts the motion to a dismissive hair flip. She sneaks sidelong looks at Kasagami and Mikoto each, in the doing.
"That was a very sufficient workout," the puella magi concedes after a moment, in the manner of a cat whose sudden grooming in no way conceals that she was spazzing out in a sunbeam a moment before. A carefully careless shrug. "I guess I could eat, after that."
