2018-05-09 - SPACE JAIL: A Tense Situation!? But I'm Hungry-lapi...
| Title: A Tense Situation!? But I'm Hungry-lapi... | |
|---|---|
| Summary: Ami, Fuu, and Niramo are witness to the red storm of fury that is Ruby's search. But then, Niramo releases a spider alien which begins emitting thunderous noises! All that commotion together attracts unwanted attention, in the form of a localised security sweep. Ami flees, and Fuu and Niramo are almost discovered, saved only by the robonoid's too-efficient programming. They flee to another storage room, where they find the mascot, Flappy - and their transformation artifacts. | |
| Who: Fuu Hououji, Niramo Umokeshi, Ami Mizuno, and Saki Hyuuga's Flappy | |
| Where: Outer Space | |
| OOC - IC Date: 2018-05-08 - 2018-05-16 | |
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+* Outer Space +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+* Earth's little corner of space, called its geospace, is characterized by a fading haze of gravity-trapped gas, a charged magnetic field, and an increasing clutter of drifting satellite garbage no one's cleaned up. Pale moon above, bluegreen earth below, the atmosphere lights up with an orange glow during the day, and paints the cities in electric yellow dots at night. Without the atmosphere or ambient light, the diamond stars are sharply cut. Between them are unthinkably vast stretches of frozen nothing. Their number seems infinite, and while most are almost as desolate as the void in which they float, others contain strange beings and worlds. *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+* Players +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Please imagine, if you will, a volcanic caldera.
It is deep, filled with lava which bubbles up in fits and starts, driven upwards by the fury of the Earth's core. The lava bursts, sprays across the rock, melting anything in its path. And every little flicker - every single burst of movement - speaks a name, rising up from the depths to scorch the earth and sky.
This is the fury of the tiny red woman who careens through the hall. "SAAAAAAAAPHIIIIIIIIIIIIIRE!!!!"
She rushes past cage and cage, checking only briefly for that familiar form. Anyone else is ignored. She is utterly singular in purpose.
Every one of them is vacant of Sapphire. She makes a sound which can only be described with the following collection of sounds - "AAAUUUURRRRRH!" - as if she's gotten halfway through going 'augh' only to be distracted by how angry she is.
All that noise is a mistake. But perhaps, for any magical girls nearby, an opportunity. You see, it's quite unfortunate - Rubeus is coming, will turn the corner in just a moment, and he will surely not forgive their transgressions when he finds any wanderers.
But...
... instead of turning into that hall, instead of laying eyes on any escapees, he pauses, sighs, turns towards that noise - and goes after Ruby.
Ruby will be fine, probably. No doubt some people have already encountered her speedy search, the way she disappears around corners never to be seen again, only to show up six halls later still calling Sapphire's name. For all she is small and furious, she seems so difficult to catch.
And so, however temporarily, they are safe. The hall is empty; no captors stalk down its halls, no robonoids skitter across its floor.
At least... until the next patrol. Which should be, by the count of anyone who is keeping track, six and a half minutes.
... perhaps it's best to keep moving.
<Pose Tracker> Ami Mizuno [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
After another brief reprieve in the storage room, Ami had awoken to find Pluto and Fate gone. She and Steven had decided that it was probably a good idea if they split up and she had agreed. It was harder to be seen with just one person versus the four of them together. However, this time she decided not to leave the little puppy behind so she is not completely alone when she emerges back into the cold hallway.
Carrying the little guy in her arms, she looks around. Her mental image of the places they had explored so far was sharp and knowing that she had time before another patrol passed by here she walks in a different direction than before, passing a bunch of empty cells. Curiously, she wonders if they once held prisoners and just how many cells this place had.
Down another long hallway, Ami hears the ever-present singing but instead of trying to follow the sound, she has another task in mind. It was crucial that she finds her transformation pen and looking for more storage areas to search through was the most important thing.
Ami soon finds herself entering another group of cells, she checks each one to make sure no one is inside when all of the sudden a red blur pushes past her and Ami runs towards her. "Heeey, stop! Who are you looking for?" It doesn't occur to her that this person was the source of the noise and commotion they heard earlier. "You need to be careful, another patrol is coming soon and-" She stops talking suddenly because it's clear her words are not being heard.
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
As the combined sounds of Ruby's cry and Rubeus's footsteps diminish into the distance, Fuu hesitantly leans out of the storeroom within which she and her companion had been 'hiding'. She's seen (and heard) Ruby a few times already, so the tiny Gem is almost a known quantity by now.
Apart, of course, from there being so many things she *doesn't* know about her.
She's just about to duck back into the storeroom when she overhears another voice - not an entirely unfamiliar one, although she hasn't had much chance to acquaint herself with its owner. She glances back into the storeroom, asking quietly, "Any luck, Niramo-san?" before leaning further out, trying to catch sight of Ami Mizuno.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Being out of a cell is both easier and harder than being inside one.
While locked up, you can't really move around and feel helpless, but at least you are safe from incoming patrols, as a prisoner is exactly where she is supposed to be.
Outside has prisoners trying to evade the patrols, find their most precious of objects and find a way to escape the ship, all the while being hopelessly lost in seemingly never-ending hallways.
But at least they were free.
Keeping quiet when moving down hallways that seemed to be designed just to keep sound traveling as far as possible is as easy as you expect, especially when tensions are high. Niramo is once again grateful that she had the foresight to change as soon got home from school yesterday, the old running shoes she wore were much quieter than the shoes she wore for school. The faded jeans and blue blouse she wore standing out against the green interlocked diamonds that seem to make up the majority of the ship, with only large yellow tubing showing up to break up the monotony. After all, you can't exactly plan for a stealth mission when you never thought one would come up.
Looking over rows and rows of silver eggs, Niramo and the floating mouse Kwami were examining them quickly and with little luck. "No, no, I am certain that the container pod, third pod to your left, will house something of worth." "No offense, Takk, but that is what you said last time. And i'm looking, Fuu-san. Sorry!"
Not wanting to delay herself any more, Niramo grabs the egg that Takk suggested and pulls on the top. It rips apart easily, but instead of 'something of worth' or an anklet made of silver, a mass of white flowing mass climbs out. If you were to look at it carefully, it would look to be like a hand-sized spider made entirely of clouds, with 10 droplets for eyes. Looking up at Niramo in surprise before turning into a bolt of lighting and striking the closest wall and turning back into a cloud spider, filling the room with the sound of distant thunder.
"Ummm...that's a no, Fuu-san, and i'm sure someone is going to hear the, uh, spider thing I just let out. We might want to leave..."
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"SAPPHIRE!" Ruby yells, to Ami, in reply. She doesn't stop. She keeps on running, and attracts the attention of that ominous patrol. (Who would probably just like some peace and quiet.)
Luckily, there's an open cell to duck into so she doesn't get seen.
There is, as well, a storage room. It is of the same uniform size as everything in this ship - there are no deviations, there is no individuality. There is an entirely effable quality to 'rooms which store things', on this ship which is not quite a hand; they span perhaps a living room, they are full of grey little egglike balls, and they are the safest place on the ship anyone has been able to find so far.
... but they are deep in hostile territory, and 'safe' is an entirely relative concept.
Takk's suggestion leads to an alien, and the alien crackles with electricity, and the sound of thunder rumbles through the room. It catches on the smooth, hard walls - echoes out, through the halls. Kra-BOOM, kra-BOOM, and even though Niramo knows the spider is tiny, thunder is a towering thing, which sounds better suited to a giant than a huntsman.
The noise is sudden and alarming, and Fuu only catches the briefest glimpse of Ami Mizuno as she disappears down a hall, not unlike the Ruby she was questioning. There was a girl here, certainly - but she's gone now.
Perhaps five minutes, and even the also somewhat spiderlike robonoids must be able to hear the noise coming from this room. That it sounds so far away is, perhaps, their only boon - though it's certainly loud, here, the echoing acoustics reflecting the noise back on them, it may be difficult to tell the distant thunder is coming from this distinctly non-distant place.
Still - it's time to leave. This is most certainly not a place of peace and quiet.
Five minutes means there's time to rush down the hall, if they care to. The adjourning one asks for more caution, listening over the echoing thunder for the skittering of little robonoid legs or the severe steps of their captors - but those footfalls don't seem to be coming towards them, and there's no robonoid immediately present. Down the third, requiring those same moments of uncertainty...
Sometimes discretion is the better part of valour, because, distantly, by the grace of those acoustic halls, they can hear the irritated voice of Rubeus snapping at that spider to shut up.
On the bright side, he's occupied.
But on the other bright side - because the green light which infests this place allows for no darkness - the skittering of a robonoid is drawing closer. It must be getting drawn back the way they came, to investigate whatever noise has roused suspicion.
They could try and duck back into a previous hall, or find an open cell - but they'd better do it quickly.
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
The sudden thunder, even if somewhat subdued compared to an actual storm, makes Fuu wince a little. "We appreciate your efforts to help, Takk-san," she says seriously, "but we really do need to be going." She gives the cloudspider a mildly regretful look - she might not have the biological background to really *study* it, but she has a few ideas just from this brief exposure to it - and then takes one more look both ways down the hall before ushering Niramo out with her.
She's heading *away* from the Robonoid's skittering, but rather than retracing her and Niramo's steps, Fuu would love to take a side passage, if they can find one quickly enough. Or an access panel that they can duck into ... if they find any, if they're big enough to admit a couple of human girls as opposed to one of those compact little Robonoids ...
If there are no convenient storerooms, she ducks into the nearest open cell, praying that it'll *stay* open. To cut down on the likelihood of being spotted, she presses her back against the wall next to the door, on the side the Robonoid would be coming from - so that if it sees around the corner, it'll see the empty side(s) of the cell, and not one of the two girls who are fairly desperate *not* to get locked up again.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Wincing as the thundering grew into almost a sonic boom thanks to the alien construction of the walls, the ravenette winces and gives Takk a quick glare. The Kwami, on his part, simply raises one eyebrow. "You were the one to open the pod." Even if she was so glad to be with Takk again, the little Kwami can be so irritating sometimes, and so quick to forget his part in releasing the fluffy thunder spider.
Following after Fuu and away from the Robonoids, Niramo would have to jog a bit to keep up with the archery captain's pace, yet another disadvantage of her height. Takk, on the other hand, keeps up easily with the two humans, floating through the air and using his ability to fly to see if there were any optional sidepaths they could take from here.
As Fuu suddendly slides into an empty cell in an attempt to evade capture, Niramo stumbles a moment before jumping after her and pressing herself up against a wall and holding in her breath. She was never fond of running, and the enemy territory sometimes requires sudden bursts of speed to evade capture. Takk hovers inbetween the two humans, seeing their desperate plan, and Niramo looks up at Fuu, not making a sound but looking rather worried about where they were hiding. They didn't escape just to end up in another cell again, did they?
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Despite being desperate not to retrace their steps, Fuu and Niramo might feel a terrible sense of forboding, as they duck into the empty cell. This ship is huge, and winding, and its halls all look the same - but they have spent so much time here, after all.
This was their very own cramped cell.
As that one robonoid scout goes past, there is unseen, unheard coordination, and it leads to more skittering. These are not the ten-minute patrols Fuu and Niramo have encountered so often before - this is more frantic, more punctuated, a sweeping check of the premises. There is no escape from this.
Here's the problem with noise, you see: it attracts attention. And perhaps that Ruby released an egg... or perhaps she didn't. Their captors have no way to know.
The robonoids arrive quickly, four to a squad - isn't it always four, with the forces of evil? - and they flood the hall with the tap-tap-tap of their awful little legs. They sweep down the hall, they -
- they're checking the open cells.
They're checking the open cells.
But there's no time to run. There's nowhere else to hide. And even if the robonoids, on their own, may be fought or tricked... there's not just one here, any more.
Skitter-skitter, cell 5T9U-Chi. Skitter-skitter, cell 5T9V-Zeta. Skitter-skitter...
... skitter skitter...
Hold your breath. Don't look down.
Cell 5T9X-Eta...
...
...
They're not captured. They're not gooped. They're not discovered.
The robonoids left cell 5T9W-Epsilon alone entirely. They didn't even bother glancing inside. It must still be programmed into their sensors as occupied - either they've escaped too recently for anyone to have noticed, or perhaps Peridot's just had too much to take care of recently. Her distant voice can be heard, grousing, as she meets one of her patrols - a different one, to the group which menaced Fuu and Niramo. One of the robots has gooped another, and it warbles sadly.
"Can't believe this," she grunts, "The ONE THING!" she scrubs at something, "ONE! THING! BUT NO... suddenly the CLUSTER isn't even IMPORTANT?!?"
... it seems like she has more on her mind than anyone who might have escaped.
And as the skittering and that nasally voice fade off...
... maybe they'll be okay.
Because the sweep found nothing. It's a false alarm. Everything's fine.
Everything's... fine.
Well, that's a lie, isn't it? Everything's terrifying, this whole ship wants the worst for them, there are foes around every corner...
... but they can't stay here. Even if the robonoids are not very bright, their captors will surely notice an open cell.
Going the opposite way you might have gone before - in the next hall, there's an access panel, and a door. And in this horrible, horrible place, storage rooms are still the safest places to be.
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
Fuu doesn't even realize which cell they're in until after the Robonoids have gone past ... without checking *this* cell.
Four of them. Actively checking cells. And this wasn't even one of the regular patrols.
Only once the skittering has faded into the distance does Fuu actually let herself breath again, reaching up to swipe the back of her hand across her forehead. She doesn't even say anything, just takes quick advantage of the *one* good thing about the prison cells, and then ventures back out again, finding the way to another storage room.
... had they been in this one before, too?
"Takk-san," she breathes to the Kwami once she, Niramo, and Takk are safe again, "please don't pick pods at random like that again if you can help it ..." She looks at Niramo, "Are you okay?"
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
One robonoid is enough of a problem, if their durability is alike their bigger cousins that require magical weapons and enhanced strength to break apart.
Multiples of them, in uniform squads and...oh no. They're checking each of the cells.
Both sealed and opened.
There was no way they were going to seal the cell doors back on themselves after having just escaped, and with Takk actually inside with them now, they don't have a chance. The skittering comes closer...closer...it's almost as loud to Niramo as the thunder she accidentally unleashed now.
Eyes clamp shut, breath is sucked in tight, maybe the last breath of their oh-so-short freedom-
...
After moments that feel like hours pass, and they are not gooped or hearing the sound of a Destabilizer field reactivating, Niramo cracks open an eye and leans forward, and praying to whatever god that may be listening for saving them.
She hasn't been to a shrine since she was 6, but it is times like this that can have someone return back to religion.
After Peridot storms past with her mechanical pets, Niramo only then lets out her breath and follows after Fuu.
Takk looks properly chatised and nods his head solemnly, not looking either human in the eye. After all, they were in the greater danger here.
As the storage room door closes behind them, Niramo only then takes in a proper breath and wipes her face, body shaking from fear and adrenaline. "T-to be honest, Fuu-san, no I am not...thank you so much for asking, though. Let's just say I can't wait to go to a day spa when we get back."
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Luckily, Peridot doesn't pass directly by. It's a small mercy.
There are no day spas, on this ship. This ship is made of unkind things, cool temperatures, chill walls, viewports which show only a vast and hungry darkness. The mercies are small, unintentional. Danger is everywhere.
But, perhaps, not everywhere all at once. Not constant. A storage room, for instance - a door, behind which beating hearts may be hidden. A door, behind which they can find some solace even in this alien place. The sweep found nothing; their captors will not be expecting to find prisoners in this area for a little while, so long as nothing else alerts them. The girls' trickery, however unintentional, has earned them a small reprieve.
This storage room doesn't look like it's been visited before. All the pods are still closed, there are no characteristic signs that it's been raided. There has been no Takk, here, to randomly pick pods.
Perhaps there's no need to be random, this time. Because there's one... wriggling.
It might be scary, given what came out of the last pod. But it seems that there's something trapped inside - something which wants out.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Taking in the untouched room slowly, Niramo takes long deep breaths to get her heartrate back down to a normal level. Being on board this ship is proving to be the worst trial she has ever faced since she was given Takk's Miraculous. Worst than dream reapers or corrupted roots, or even a clone of herself that spoke her greatest troubles that lie in her heart. Those experiences were still terrible, but they still ended quickly.
Being captured and trapped on the Gem hand-ship is starting to surpass them all.
Thankfully for Niramo, she's given the few moments she needs to pull herself back together emotionally and prevent herself from breaking down, but she is not going to look back once they manage to leave.
The storage room they were in now looks pristine and untouched, free of opened pods and more mysterious animals being set free, so with some luck they could at least find her Miraculous here.
The one wriggling pod draws Niramo's attention, as well as Takk's. "Perhaps we shouldn't open that one?" A short girl turns to face Takk, a single eyebrow raised in an exact copy of the look she received only minutes ago. "I don't think you should give advice like that, especially after that last close call. Besides, none of the alien...creature things we seen before haven't managed to wiggle in their pods, so maybe we should. Fuu-san, what do you think?"
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
Of course there are no day spas; those are very much a human invention, and the Gems - perhaps even the Crystal Gems friendly to Earth and its people - wouldn't really see the logic of such a thing. Would they? Certainly Peridot wouldn't, as task-centered and analytical as she is; Lapis Lazuli might appreciate something about the experience of soaking in hot water, but that's not really what a day spa offers. And the big one, the brutish Gem who took such glee in battle ... no, she wouldn't have any interest in that sort of thing either.
The respite offered by the storage room is, indeed, disturbed by that single wriggling pod; Fuu gives it a wary look, then glances at her companions. Takk's advice is weighed - for all Fuu's earlier chiding, the Kwami *might* have some sense which is relevant to this after all. And ... the fact that whatever's in that pod *can* wriggle like that, despite the pod's mass?
Fuu takes a deep breath, silently offers up a brief prayer to whatever deity or guardian spirit might still be watching over her this far from Earth, and sets about opening the pod ... although she's ready (she thinks) to try and slam it closed again.
If nothing else, it *might* prove a useful distraction.
<Pose Tracker> Saki Hyuuga [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
It contains: A MYSTERIOUS ANIMAL!
The pod hisses and a big blue puff of fairy fluff flops over onto the lip of the thing. "I'M FREE-LAPI" he all but squawks, then hurls himself entirely into open air, and plummets the entire distance unsupported to the ground.
He hits with an incredibly soft plop.
The critter can be called nothing but 'mascot', in the form that Japanese creatures whose function is to represent something rather than actually make sense to a God-fearing world have; he is the size of a football. His body is composed of two circles stapped on top of each other, and then long ears wrapped around themselves like a cinnamon bun into big Mickey Mouse swirls on top of his head. His face bears a peculiar mark in deeper blue than the rest of him, sor tof like an upside-down spade...or perhaps, like a child's silhouette of a flower.
His eyes swirl. "And I'm hungry-lapi..."
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
The Black Moon Clan's hospitality leaves little to be recommended, after all - let alone that of the Gems, those terrible aliens who see no logic in day spas at all. This is, indeed, not a nice place to be.
And the worst part is not knowing. There are so many mysteries, here. Nothing works the way it should, because it's not even of this world. Everything is confusing and disorientating. Sometimes there are wonders, in the pods. Sometimes electric spiders which ruin everything.
Sometimes -
- Mascots?
Flowers bring fresh air to tired lungs, and flower mascots bring comforting warmth to tense situations. This is not a new threat which may find them imprisoned again.
This is... Flappy.
Unfortunately, there are no rice balls to be had, here.
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
Well, given that Takk was here, it doesn't seem so unlikely that another mascot ought to be here as well. Fuu smiles gamely, bowing politely to the blue ... bunny? ... that's her first thought, at any rate. "I think I may have seen you with one of the Pretty Cures at some point? I'm ..."
She trails off briefly, looking between the blue mascot, the mouse Kwami, and Niramo.
"... Fuu," the Infinity student finishes with a mildly rueful look. "A little more than just a student, but - well, we'll leave it at that for now. Is your partner on this ship as well?"
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Maybe Fuu Hououji has the magic touch when it comes to pods. Maybe whatever gods were listening have decided to grace two girls, lost in space and far from home, a small boon. Maybe it comes down to luck.
More than likely, it's an adorable little magical fairy who needs some fresh air and a very filling meal.
Niramo stares down at Flappy, completely surprised with this new find. It looks so adorable, and considering it was speaking in a laungage they understand, it has to be from Earth as well! After all, if Earth can have floating rodents and talking cats, then maybe this adorable bundle of fluff is partners with another magical girl? And the fragrant scent that graces the air as Flappy is freed replaces the sterile lack of smell that comes from recycled air.
It's the smell of a massive field of flowers, of unpolluted skies and gentle breezes.
It's the smell of home, and it truly reminds Niramo of what exactly she wants to return to, more than ever.
Kneeling down so to get closer to Flappy's eye level, the short ravenette bows her head to the fairy. "I'm sorry, but I really haven't found any food since I awoke here. I'm Niramo, and the...mouse floating next to me is Takk. Could you perhaps find your partner? Fuu-san can open whatever cell she is in, i'm sure of it."
<Pose Tracker> Saki Hyuuga [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
Flappy is not currently in bloom, but there is precedent.
The little flower fairy wobbles upright, looking at the two magical girls (in potentia) before him. "We must still be on the ship-lapi!" he says, absolutelly unnecessarily. "My name is Flappy-lapi! I have to find Saki-lapi! She's useless without--"
His stomach gurgles and he flops back onto his fairy butt. "I'm hungry-lapi..." he whines, more insistently, his stubby arms covering his belly. Niramo's assurance that food is unavailable does not seem to be doing anything.
His face looks like he's actually kind of in pain from it, though then again he is a fairy and probably deserves it. He points up to the shelf with the orb he popped out of. "There should be little diamond cards in one of these-lapi. Do you see them-lapi?"
They're in the orb directly next to where he was, because Jasper has no regard for Peridot's extremely important and very complicated filing system.
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
Fuu checks the other orb on that shelf - there *is* only one other orb on that particular shelf, right?- and, mentally crossing her fingers (but not doing so physically, because she needs them), opens that orb up ...
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed. <SoundTracker> You Found An Item! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPZXxlckBSs
Maybe it's a divine blessing. Maybe it's the touch of magic these girls all know, one way or another.
But luck certainly helps. The luck to find the right cell to hide in - the luck to go down this particular hall, find this particular storage room - the luck that Flappy was awake to struggle.
Nothing comes to check on them, in the storage room. For now, at least, there are no more unpleasant robonoid surprises.
Not even, blessedly, should they start opening up those pods. The one beside Flappy contains...!
A set of little diamond cards, just as Flappy said. Jasper, it seems, doesn't care much about separating the humans' items.
<Pose Tracker> Saki Hyuuga [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
The cards are diamond in shape, rather than structure - oblong hexagonal cardboard (...?) like cut jewels. They have various icons. One marked BLOOM with a bursting sunflower. It feels strange in the hand, as holding the core of another's magic sometimes can. Another marked FILIA, with an icon of a delicate, goddess-like young woman; slender of build, probably not even out of her teens, eyes closed but with a calm, compassionate smile, her green-gowned body is surmounted by a halo shaped like a golden heart.
Several others are more mundane, depicting what look to be even smaller, sillier fairies than Flappy. But they are whta Flappy pays attention to, hopping up to his feet.
And then, in a POOF of smoke, he's gone...and in Niramo's hand, there is what looks like a small cell phone? An ancient, flip-phone kind of model.
Which flips open to show FLAPPY'S FREAKIN' FACE LEANING OUT OF THE LOWER PANEL. The upper has some kind of dial in it. "Put those two in the top-lapi!!" he says.
He doesn't have hands, but somehow manages to indicate the one that looks like a riceball and th one that looks kind of like kelp.
"And then spin it to mix them-lapi!"
.........Saki has to put up with this all the time, doesn't she.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
As Fuu handles getting the cards out of other containment pod, Niramo is noticably shocked when Flappy turns into an antique flip phone, one that was last scene back in the early 2000's. "Just how di-whoa!" Flipping the phone open, she honestly wants to drop the cellphone fairy right then and there, but the fact he is so cheerful and upbeat despite the situation, it's hard to get mad at the little guy.
That, and dealing with another mascot, even if it wasn't a Kwami like Takk, is an experience she will likely never have again, so might as well enjoy it, right?
Looking over at the cards Fuu has managed to recovered, she pulls out first the kale then the rice bowl cards, and inserts them in the top. "So, like this, then? 'Saki-lapi' must be pretty lucky to have you around, if this is going to do what I think it does." Reaching up to the top of the flip phone, and antique rotary dial, she spins it back and let it go back. "Spinning it to mix, then!"
Meanwhile, while Niramo is enjoying herself with the distraction that Flap-phone is giving her, Takk is carefully examining each orb, feeling outwards with all of his senses and searching for even the slightest trace of magic that might pass through the shielding. "I am close, I am positive of it..."
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Saki definitely has to put up with this all the time.
Spin, spin, spin the ingredients; somehow, despite being ancient, the spinning works just fine. Out comes lunch, but it's only lunch for Flappy.
People can't eat spirit food. Don't be ridiculous. That's not science!
Meanwhile, Takk examines the grey egglike things which seem to house such wonders. Not that one - that one feels alive. That one feels warm, but not magical. That one feels... no, definitely not that one. That one feels like magic, but not familiar magic. Perhaps point it out to the others.
But this one... this one, too, has the faint trace of magic about it - and it's magic Takk must know well. Open it up, and there's a shining silver anklet inside, with charm of a silhouetted mouse dangling from it.
The other, should it be opened, reveals a fingerless glove, martial and yet beautiful in its construction, a green jewel in its centre.
It's relief. It's power. It means they're not defenceless, any more. It means that the robonoids don't have to menace them any more. It means -
- it means payback time.
But first, there's someone else they have to save...
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
To be fair to the Kwami's instincts, they *did* have more luck in this storeroom than in the other one so far ... and Fuu's own gut feeling runs parallel to Takk's at this point. A third storage pod is opened, with a similar degree of caution (whether 'in spite of' or 'because of' Takk's guidance).
Fuu takes a look at the contents. Then looks, not at Niramo, but at Takk. "Niramo-san, I suspect this is yours - and Takk-san's, probably." She passes over the opened pod, ankle bracelet still nestled within, once Niramo has her hands free from feeding Flappy.
And then Fuu checks the other pods which were on *that* shelf with the anklet ... one is closed up and put right back where it was, with Fuu committing the location to memory. The third pod from that shelf, though, draws a breath of relief from Fuu as she takes out her glove-jewel, and places it securely in her pocket. She wants to wear it - just to feel the familiar cloth against her hand, the subtle weight of the jewel itself - but she hasn't forgotten the agony she woke up in after being Destabilized. And ...
"Niramo-san, don't wear it yet," Fuu suggests. "I don't know how quickly you can put it on in a pinch, but if we're caught by surprise somehow, we may have slightly better chances if we're not visibly carrying our items." She grimaces, "Admittedly this is just my guess. Maybe there's nothing to worry about, or maybe it wouldn't make as much of a difference as I think it might."
She still rubs her left hand, as if remembering an incandescent shock that left her more helpless than she's been since a certain eighth-grade field trip. Or maybe it's not just the memory ...
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Fuu, Niramo, a moment of your time, if you would." Speaking up, Takk would motion with his tail, using the movement as a way to attract further attention to himself. Stepping down on top of one pod, he would look over at Fuu. "Fuu, I can sense an object of power inside this pod, I am certain of it. If you would be so kind as to open it and take it with us when we leave, we musn't let any possessions like these behind."
Surprisingly, Fuu is already quick on the uptake while Niramo helps Flappy finish eating, and when the archery captain offers the pod to Niramo, the ravenette can't help but gasp in relief before clinging tightly to the pod and nodding quickly. Looking up at Fuu, she shares a look with Takk, and when the Kwami silently gives a nod of approval, Niramo turns back to Fuu and nods her head once.
"You're right, Fuu-san. So very right on that. Guess we stuck to each other a little too closely, heh!" The glint of green, completely unlike the hues so familair in this ship, as a glove is put into a pocket draws her attention, but she doesn't make any comments on that. She can hazard a guess on to what Fuu has found, for not many heroines of justice wear green on the battlefield.
Pulling the Miraculous out, she almost moves to slip it back on right then and there, but Fuu's warning does have some truth to it. They are not out of the space woods yet.
"You're right, Fuu-san. If we have even the slightest amount of surprise, it can make all the difference in the world. Or outer space. Or...wherever we are. I have no clue still, to be honest."
Slipping her Miraculous into her jean pocket and standing up fully, she motions to the door. "Now, maybe we should try looking for 'Saki-lapi' and help her reunite with this little cutie. I feel like we actually have a chance at this now!"
<Pose Tracker> Saki Hyuuga [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
The mixing causes two little fairies, like the ones depicted on the cards, to POP into existence nearby. They do a little dance. They sing a little song. They fire a little magic at the ground in front of Flappy.
...which causes a bowl of furikake rice, approximately sized to be large for a fairy and merely satisfactory for a human, to poof into existence.
Flappy produces a pair of chopsticks from A PLACE, HOPEFULLY, and digs in. Between bites he gromfs, "I've been--mmff, I've been stuck in a ball-lapi. What's going on-lapi?"
Understanding the importance of situational awareness may be one of the biggest signs that Flappy's actually pretty clever, as fairies go.
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
There is fear, inherent in Destabilisation. To have what is so precious to you ripped away in a storm of spiritual violence - it's not an easy thing to forget.
Perhaps Fuu is wise, to suggest caution. Trickery is so much more useful than force, when your opponent is stronger. There are so many unknowns on this ship. Let these girls be one... more... mystery.
But there is a beat of hope, beyond the uncertainty, and Niramo so perfectly encapsulates it: maybe they actually have a chance.
Maybe everything really will be fine, after all.
A lot's been going on, Flappy, but now they can fight back.
