2020-06-06 - Mascot Gear Solid: Search and Rescue

Mascot Gear Solid: Search and Rescue
Summary: Now inside the Desolate Mansion, the mascots search for the stolen henshin items... and find trouble.
Who: Chu-Chu, Souverain Heraut, Deimos, Luna, Tarte, Citadel, Lion, Mokona, Ressi, Yuuno-kun, Mepple, Batiste, Plagg, Tikki, Tama-chan, Artemis, Kero-chan, Finn Fish, Fred Burgermeister, Butler Zakenna GM: Luna-Pink
Where: Desolate Mansion
OOC - IC Date: 6/6/2020 - 09-06-15

<Pose Tracker> Luna-Pink [Admin] has posed.
<SoundTracker> Preview - Sailor Moon OST https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm2UHRMKtic

PREVIOUSLY ON BATTLE FANTASIA

"It's terrible-nya!! They've taken all the artifacts-nya!! Nyand all the magical girls, they're trapped in some kind of trance, nya~"

"This will be a dangerous mission! And not just anyone can go -- we need a small, elite team. The best of the best! Plus, some of us will have to stay behind to monitor the situation and make sure nobody else notices that the girls are all swirly-eyed. And watch the babies. I'll stay on the line to help coordinate ch'all. And maybe we'll be able to get you more data about that dark fortress... If you're going to go, better get out there lickety-split, this ain't something we can cover for forever. But... there's nothing we can't do if we do it together!

---

GETTING TO THE DESOLATE MANSION

"Off! Off... Ugh! Why do I get stuck helping out the big one..."

"Yes hello mepo! I mean, hellommm... Please send a human right awaymmmee... That's right mm! An urgent deliveryyyymm..."

<INFILTRATING.>

"We can do this together, Deimos-san. Please..."

"CAW!"

---

GETTING INSIDE

"Guards. Or cleaners, but likely also guards. How are we going to get pas-"

"The most certain way into a fortress... is to bypass its defenses. Tarte! I have need of tiny ferret hands. Undo this lock and we shall advance! ...Tarte?"

"Citadel-han, I am not a ferret, I am a cute-cute fairy! But I'll forgive you for not recognizing me this time!"

"Puu pu pu puu puu, puu puu, pupupupu puu puu~!"

"Wow-zakenna!"

"What a helpful woodland creature-zakenna."

---

AND THEN

But the moment an unknown noise plays, he SCRAMBLES like a spooked housecat, and with high speed, takes off forward with a small baying sound!

"SAIWORMOO-EPPLE-KEWO-ANYWON-SAFEME!"

'WHY ARE CATS?!'

"Lion, heed me! Please, take a breath! I'm trying to -Luna, it's been a long journey, hasn't it? We've never really had the chance to talk before now... But I'm afraid that if we can't gather ourselves... that chance may never come..."

"Hey, isn't Artemis Luna's Hero mepo? I'm not sure what's going on there but... you're not the sort of fairy who steals other guy's girlfriends, are you, Batiste-mepo? Hmmmmmepo?

---

NOW

The mascots have regrouped in the massive but otherwise ordinary living room of the Desolate Mansion, wherein they seek the stolen henshin items of their magical girls, as well as, hopefully, a way to break the curse forcing them to do their summer homework over and over again.

There are numerous ways forward: up the Grand Staircase (to a balcony that runs along the upper wall, behind whose railing, there are many doors); along the walls of the living room at ground level there are also more doors.

Each of these doors, it must be said, are LARGE and HEAVY. Whoever designed this place had a thing for hardwoods, arches, and doubles.

Tarte's phone vibrates, and Kero-chan's voice can be hear issuing from it, mostly softly.

<PSST. THIS IS KERO-CHAN,> he squeaks, unnecessarily. <I HAVE SOME INTEL FOR YOU. WE'VE HAD THE GIRLS ON IT-->

---

Smash cut to Tama-chan and Tikki in varying states of meditation.

...little zZs are starting to emit from Tikki's nose.

"We need a sugar rush stat!" yelps Plagg.

"Better get Tama some more catnip too," mutters Artemis. "The last thing we want is for her to get jealous."

---

Well, that's something, anyway... if, that is, anyone can tell which way is West.

---

<SoundTracker> Chateau Flight - Thunderball OST https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMgn-JdF6go

A DAIDOUJI TOY CO.-branded toy airplane circles, higher and higher, around the mansion. It is just large enough for two occupants, plus a walky-talky, plus a webcam.

Finally cresting the roof, it soars over the main chimney.

<NOW!> instructs the staticy-sweet voice of Tomoyo Daidouji. <PLEASE BE SAFE, GOOD SIRS!>

---

<EESH, THAT BIG BROTHER IS STARTING TO POKE AROUND... I GOTTA JET, GOOD LUCK!>

Tarte's phone goes silent.

Silent is good... the Butler Zakenna out in the front yard could come back inside at any time, and who knows how many other dark forces could be nearby.

MASCOT GEAR SOLID CHALLENGE 5: Into The West

Smartness check, diff 12, to figure out how to interpret Kero-chan's directions. Optional, not everyone has to try. We are, regardless of the challenge (which need not be the most important thing here), in a social section, as you all take a breath, regroup, and plan your next move.

If you ARE making the Smartness check, please declare whether you have any relevant TRAITS (for better or for worse) or want to use your SPECIAL ABILITY, then +roll 2d6+Stat Value.

<Pose Tracker> Chu-Chu [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

A tiny purple paw taps a tiny purple forehead; Tomoyo receives a tiny serious "Chu!" over the walky-talky.

And then wind catches in the sails of great big purple-and-pink ears as Chu-Chu, Dashing Hero and Daring Infiltrator, skydives into the mansion's great chimney headfirst! His jaggy eyebrows angle with determination, and his mouth gapes with a fierce smile!

Doooowwwwwwnnnnnn into the dark and then...

...

POOFT*

A tiny impact creates a somewhat larger sootcloud within the fireplace of the living room. A high-pitched grumbling can be heard coming from within.

The sootcloud dissipates, and there stands an ears-to-toe ash-grey Chu-Chu -- save for the sparkling of a golden earring in one of his big round ears. He's basically just a collection of dingy grey circles with some little arms and legs poking out, otherwise.

blink-blink*

(that's an audible sound, as well as a motion)

Two coal-black round squiggle-eyes appear.

A waggling over them and two fierce scribbly eyebrows shake themselves clean.

"Chu!" he says, paws on hips, stance proud, as he surveys the assembled.

Have no fear, Chu-Chu is here...!

DICE: Ressi rolls 2d6+5 and gets 13!
DICE: Luna rolls 2d6+4 and gets 12!

<Pose Tracker> Souverain Heraut [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.

Soaring through the skies never gets old for Souverain Heraut. The device greatly enjoys the act of defying gravity. It's even more amazing to do it in what's known as a "toy plane" according to the very nice and helpful young Tomoyo.

<Thank you young miss! We are forever in your debt!> Heraut replies. He could've flown here himself, though having a much more "stately" conveyance wasn't something to turn one's nose up at! <We shall be victorious in our efforts! Won't we, Chu-Chu?>

It's around this time that it should be noted that Heraut has bonded with a very cute plush of King Penguin -- the very same plush of King Penguin that belongs to his master, Ren Aizawa. It's oddly fitting, given Heraut's royal motif. The stuffed penguin turns to look at his flying companion, the equally cute monkey Chu-Chu! Or at least that's what Heraut would've done if Chu-Chu hadn't just taken a dive out of the plane.

<Oh! Is it go time, then? Alright!>

Heraut bails out of the plane too, though instead of taking it at a full on nosedive, the penguin opts for floating downward in a very dignified manner, slipping into the chimney and landing right next to his money companion without kicking up any soot or causing any ruckus.

<...We're in.>

DICE: Citadel rolls 2d6+5 and gets 12!
DICE: Tarte rolls 2d6+4 and gets 11!
DICE: Mepple rolls 2d6+3 and gets 11!
DICE: Yuuno-kun rolls 2d6+5 and gets 12!
DICE: Deimos rolls 2d6+3 and gets 9!
DICE: Batiste rolls 2d6+3 and gets 11!

<Pose Tracker> Chu-Chu [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Souverain Heraut has been paired with an action-over-words sort of mousemonkey, but Chu-Chu deeply appreciates his penguin-plush partner. He'll just find other ways to show it...

The kingly pingu alights in the fireplace, as politely as his abandoned greeting, and it is just in time for Chu-Chu to shake himself off like a wet dog. He's a grey-grey-grey-purple-pink blur of motion, and soot... soot goes everywhere. Like right onto Heraut's nice plushie coat, since he's right there.

"Chu." That's a relief. Chu-Chu smiles, eyes closed, and gives Heraut-penguin a big salute. Well, as big as such a small critter can manage. His long string-tail wiggles in a further expression of happy solidarity.

<Pose Tracker> Deimos [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Chu!, issues a voice and an ashcloud.

"Caw!" Answers Deimos, who is a crow, and who talks in crow noises, obviously. That's how crows talk.

It at least sounds like a welcoming caw, or maybe a relieved caw, because this is a very large and very evil mansion and more friends are always better.

She's currently perched on one of the comfy (evil) chairs of the loungeroom, and she fluffs herself up as she looks up and down the way, at all those heavy, heavy doors. Her head cants this way, and cants that way.

In her mind, her empathic link with Phobos -- sorry, their CROWDEC call -- reveals her thoughts on the matter, though not to anyone present, because the thoughts of a crow are eminently private things.

'Phobos what way is West again.'

'... that's where the sun sets???'

'Phobos. Phobos we are inside.'

'Well just pretend you're the sun and do what comes naturally.'

"Caw," declares Deimos, out loud and with confidence, as she unfurls a broad black wing... pointing South.

DICE: Mokona rolls 2d6+3 and gets 9!

<Pose Tracker> Luna [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Luna's cringe at Mepple's comment brings her out of her admiration of Batiste, head dropping, eye twitching in a way that carries to her whiskers, as she begins to speak, voice dangerous from embarrassment.

"Mep-ple. I'll have you know Artemis and I aren't... seeing each other."

Straightening up into a dignified pose on Lion's back, she puts a kitty paw to her mouth.

"Our relationship is purely professional. And that way it must remain for the sake of carrying out our duties without a conflict of interest. I'm sure that you understand given the gravity of you and Mipple's own mission."

An image of the Lavu-Lavu dance pops into Luna's head in all of its glorious detail. Luna's eyes go up and to the side.

"... though... you know... I may have misspoke."

Tarte's phone rings though, and Luna hops down. "This is Luna. Go ahead Kero-chan."

After hearing the advice, Luna considers the matter for some time. "Let's see from the road we were facing... and then we went in from the back and..."

Luna pauses. She got really turned around in that cellar. Then her eyes widen and she looks straight at Tarte.

"Wait a second... Tarte you have a phone! Where's the compass feature?"

It never occurs to Luna that the latest in Fairy Technology may not precisely be a smart phone - because she'd have a compass feature on a magical smart phone.

<Pose Tracker> Tarte [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

"You've got info? Great!" Tarte is on what looks very much like a small cellphone because that's exactly waht it is, listening carefully to the information they receive, looking up as backup arrives and waving. "Hey, y'all, good to see you!"

Then he blinks at Luna and says, "Ah, ha ha... This model didn't come with a compass or anything..." Pause. "But it's fine, it's fine! Mepple! C'mon, you're a hero, you know directions. I think it's... That way."

Tarte points Northeast, nodding firmly. "I think it's here, from where the sun was on our way in. Right?" Oh no.

<Pose Tracker> Citadel [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

"The gates have been breached... and yet the way forward is unclear."

Citadel -- in his small, dog-like (minus the multiple eyes, glowing bands of aquamarine light, and draconic features) -- sniffs about the interior of the house. He starts forward, eyes glancing at the northeast.

Then, he shakes his head. "West is that way." A moment passes. "Ah! Souverain Heraut! Then... Aizawa is also afflicted...?"

<Pose Tracker> Lion [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.

LAST TIME ON MGS:

Lion Tries TO Fit In A Box.

It goes... better than expected, though Lion hands halfway out, his tail swatting in the air randomly. he seems content in this medium sized box, wedged in here. What is he contemplting inside? Is he plotting? Scheming? Is he planning some sort of magical reveal in the next Season?!

Nah. He just likes boxes.

He EVENTUALLY dislodges himself from the inside of paradise as other Mascots begin to leave to the main part of the house. The cat seems to follow Batise and Luna more than the others.

Lion nearly gets spooked again but Chu-Chu's arrival, hitting the breaks quickly to look at what it is.

Deciding on a plan of action however is up to the rest of everyone. Lion would otherwise just wander.

But it looks like more cute individuals are arriving too! The could be helpful. Best to keep them safe. They do not look too capable of combat. Of course they are magical, so appearances can be decieving.

<Pose Tracker> Mokona [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

"Puuu~?"

Back to the living room, and Mokona is just looking *all over the place* as if it didn't get enough of a chance to explore on the way in. Bookcases are always fun to check out, you never know what somebody might be reading ... or might be *pretending* that they're in the middle of reading. Or planning to read. Or done reading and never planning to lift it from the shelf again.

... look, bookcases are interesting, okay? More interesting than the shoe rack, or the fireplace (although Chu-Chu's sooty arrival will elicit a cheerful "Puu puu puu~!" <How ya doin'!> and a wave), or the stairs.

But not necessarily more interesting than a phone call from Kero-chan. Mokona bounds down and over, listening in closely with a look of *extremely serious concentration*. "Puuuuuu~~" <Hmmmmmm ...>

Mokona leaps to the back of an overstuffed leather chair, peering this way and that as if hunting. "Puu pu pu puuu, puu pu pu puu~" <If I were the west side, which way ...> "Puu pupu puu!!" <Right there!>

... pointing ninety degrees to the left from where Deimos is pointing.

(Ed. Note: It may safely be speculated that Mokona's sense of direction is substantially better when they're in Cephiro.)

<Pose Tracker> Souverain Heraut [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.

Heraut doesn't see the cloud of ash coming until it's too late. He's covered in it thank to Chu, pristine plushie coat tarnished by the soot.

<Oh dear. I suppose my Master will have to wash me once the mission if complete.> He doesn't seem overly fazed by getting dirty, though, and clambers out of the fireplace, looking around carefully. That's when the welcoming CAW is acknowledged, the presence of Deimos a relief.

<Avian ally!> He exclaims, waddling up to the chair where Deimos is perched. It's a very cute waddle, by the way.

<Pose Tracker> Ressi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

So many doors. Just... so many heavy doors. And a giant staircase. There's no way that Ressi could even CHOOSE a place to START! She coils her tail around her floating body, holding onto it with her tiny green hand-nubs. "Hmm... how do we proceed? Should we split up or..."

Luckily for the confused snake, a few events broke herm contemplative, near-frustrated daze. First, Mission Control comes through. "Not underground?" Ressi breathes a sigh of relief. "No more dealing with the dragon then." Furthermore, an important hint was given. "West... rules out half the mansion as a dead end, saving us from who knows how many traps and potential ambushes."

Another interesting event - learning penguins can fly and monkeys... or mice... or something... are Santa Claus. "Waugh! O-oh, you're the support HQ mentioned. Welcome, and good job choosing a great if cliche method of entrance, I should've thought of that!" She gives a large grin towards the soot-covered Chuchu. "I don't know how filled in you are on the situation, but we are supposed to be searching west-" She points to the direction she believes is west.

Being based on a snake, she clearly knows which way is west. After all, if there is one thing snakes are famous for, it is their impeccable sense of direction.

<Pose Tracker> Deimos [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

"Caw?" Deimos asks, quizically, as Tarte points Northeast. She looks Northeast. She looks South. She looks back at Tarte. Clacking her beak in protest, she complains: "Ka-caw!"

Apparently she doesn't agree on his interpretation of West.

When Mokona puu-puus a different direction entirely to both of them, Deimos shuffles her wings in against her body again and shifts back and forward on her claws, which might be entirely analogous to someone folding their arms and stomping their feet. There's no way to tell whether she's scowling, because, really, crow faces weren't made to emote. She's got those scary-shiny black eyes, a bunch of feathers, a beak. Is she happy? Is she pertubed? Who knows!

(Rei knows. Rei always knows. Rei is also very busy right now. It's okay, Phobos is keeping an eye on her.)

At least the entrance of an avian ally seems to mollify her, because her head perks up from where it had compressed in against her body, and her feathers fluff up. "Caw!" She says, more enthusiastic, as she hops over to investigate his shiny crown.

Don't worry, she won't steal it. She might groom it a bit, though, with a delicate beak.

<Pose Tracker> Yuuno-kun [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Yuuno lets out a deep breath, letting all of the tension out of his ferret'y body with a tired sounding little 'dook'. He pretty much flops for a second like a deflated pool noodle, only to jump as a pengi and a monkey dive bomb in! Then...flop back as he realizes they're friends. His magic around his tail and paws dissipates.

"Glad to see you two!" He offers to Souverain and Chu-chu, before smiling to all the others. Excitement leaving his body for the moment, he ponders Kero's directions.

Unlike the others that more definitively give a diretion, he waffles for a while. Two little emerald eyes squint in thought. He ponders the direction of the mansion, vaguely wishes he'd brought a phone, or a compass! But no, all he can work with is a vague sense of the direction the front door was in, which way they'd travelled here, and possible ways they could have made it through the maze of evil junk and dragon in the cellar.

His ahoge spins like a computer loading screen. Luckily there aren't any blue screens for poor Yuuno-kun!

"It's just a guess, but...this way!" His tail flicks towards Actual West! He eyes the others. Especially the crows!

"I...really don't think that's it Deimos-san." He offers gently to the avian.

<Pose Tracker> Mepple [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

"HMMM-epo," Mepple considers Batiste's defense. "I guess that makes sense... but handsome guys like us have to be careful not to give the ladies the wrong idea-mepo." Mepple bumps Batiste repeatedly, lightly, with his squishy elbow, bump-bump-bump.

Turning around, he faces Luna. "Professional-mepo?!" he cries, sweating anxiously at the very word. "We-ell... I guess it's easy to forget that commanding Sailor Senshi is your job-mepo. So Artemis is like your coworker, mepo." Mepple places a fuzzy limb on his heart, sparkles appearing all around his head. "Commanding Pretty Cure is me and Mipple's destiny-mepo. So she's my destiny too mepo!" He holds his blushing cheeks proudly as he shakes his head around.

"Tarte!" Mepple swivels around to grin boldly at his fellow Pretty Cure 'commander.' "Right, right, it's just as you say mepo! It hardly even needs to be said aloud, right mepo?" He waddles over to face the same direction as Tarte, folding his arms. "But I guess it's good for us to teach by example mepo. Some of these guys..." He makes a sour face at soot-covered Chu-Chu as he an unexpected entrance. "Like I was saying, mepo."

"Hu hu hu! You want to check a phone?" Mepple smirks at Luna's plan. With a poof, he turns into his Commune form, the white ivory (plastic?) frame sporting his face where the screen on a flip phone would be. "It's that way-mepo," Mepple says smugly, concurring with Tarte.

<Pose Tracker> Chu-Chu [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Chu-Chu hops down after Souverain Penguin, trailing little sootprints for a few steps as he follows. He waves to big friendly Mokona and thoughtful Yuuno, but those determined scribble-brows never stop looking determined -- except for when he makes a face right back at Mepple. Nyahhhh~! Then it's right back to determination.

He has a Rose Signet, and a friend, to recover.

West, eh? Chu-Chu tips a ten-ounce hat to Ressi in acknowledgement. Wait, where'd that hat come from? Go West, Young Monkeymouse!

<Pose Tracker> Mokona [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

"Puuuuu," Mokona utters, faxing dejection as the majority seems to be pointing towards the other side of the house. You can tell it's faked, though, since the fluffy fairy is immediately back to its typical good cheer, bounding up the steps.

"Puu pu pu puu?" <So which room first? Closest, furthest, middle? Or do we look for a third floor and start up *there*?>

<Pose Tracker> Souverain Heraut [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.

Souverain Heraut takes time to look around at the others who are also assembled here, nodding in Yuuno's direction and giving him a little salute. <Likewise! This mission is sure to go off without a hitch with all of this jolly cooperation!>

Deimos comes over and starts investigating the penguin plush that houses Heraut, seeming to be particularly interested in the shiny crown on his head. Crows do like shiny things, so it makes a lot of sense really.

Heraut turns, meanwhile, to address Citadel. <Indeed she is! Most unfortunate circumstances! But never fear! We'll find the ones responsible for these thefts and show them what for! Speaking of... have we come to a consensus on a direction, yet?> If they have, he obviously missed it. Oops.

<Pose Tracker> Batiste [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Batiste is elbowed repeatedly by Mepple. Around the third time, he has the idea that he should grunt a little and push back a bit, as if the blows are telling. "It's a burden, really," he murmurs to Mepple, before there is an interval where he simply flops onto his tummy, no doubt to rest and recoup a little.

"The west, eh," Batiste muses to himself.

"The west is the best," Batiste continues, mostly to himself, rubbing his little mouth with one paw. ("Ride the snake... to the.. no, Ressi is not the entity from those... hm...")

Batiste is not used to navigation outside of litoral zones and the streets of Tokyo. "So we have to move in the direction where the sun rises..." But then he has other people to greet. He shuffle-whuffles back to his feet; His attention turns towards the Penguin... but it is revealed that this is, in fact, Souverain, having adopted a new survival strategy.

To Chu-Chu, Batiste bows at the waist -- and that, as they say, is that. He may no longer reside in the dormitories of Ohtori (dorm-Ohtori, if you will - he would not, but perhaps you might), but some things are remembered.

<Pose Tracker> Tarte [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

"Ehh??" Tarte asks as Citadel says another direction is west, and a number of others point different directions entirely. He blinks over at Deimos and at Yuuno in surprise as this all goes on, but returns his attention to Mepple in short order.

"E-ehhh, we can all get along!" Tarte says when he sees Mepple and Chu-Chu's brewing... argument, and indeed starts to move between them, "Especially since we know the right way!" He then waves at Soverain Heraut cheerfully, seeming to stand up a little straighter in the presence of the penguin king. He must be on his best behavior around a fellow royal! "Yeah, we were just figuring out it was..."

Siiiigh. He's all mixed up now. "Directions are hard, y'all... You don't know the hunting I've had to do already..."

<Pose Tracker> Yuuno-kun [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Yuuno tries to not laugh at that big hat on Chu-chu's head! What an interesting monkey. One might just be able to hear little tiny dook-dook-dook's of tittering barely hidden laughter. He...needed that. Chu-chu gets a warm ferret-smile!

But much like the monkey, determination fills him. Mokona and Tarte make a point.

"I feel good about this direction. And...maybe we should go up. That's probably going to be the harder way, but, if I were hiding something I would put it where it's difficult to find. And no one ever looks up?" Yeah he's not entirely sure on up either, but he offers the suggestion anyway, gazing between each fellow mascot in turn!

<Pose Tracker> Luna [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Luna has more eye-twitching at Mepple declaring its their destiny. "... destiny... right." She says in mild agreement, in that tone which says she doesn't quite really, just to try to disengage from this embarrassment.

Tarte declares his model of phone doesn't have that feature, and offers a direction but then Luna's attention is caught by Mepple... Mepple... the phone.

Luna stares. Then stares longer. Her expression just steeped in this awkwardness as she looks at Mepple in a Commune. She looks like she wants to do anything but check him out, as if she were being asked to admire his masculine... phone form....

"Yes I suppose. Let's keep it professional though. Just in case..."

Just in case Mipple shows up.

"I didn't know he was that kind of guy..." She whispers. Then her ears perk up and her tone grows skeptical, "... Is that how that works? I thought that... we had to insert..."

Pause. Long awkward pause. Luna looks away and to the side, trying not to look at Mepple.

"... a card."

She clears her throat, and her mind works to try and figure this out. She's fairly positive that is, but these two are also sure.

"Dark forces could be disorienting our senses." She lies, to try and keep up group harmony, "So perhaps it's... the other way around..."

Luna then looks to Tarte. "Maybe we should split up to be sure? I think I should check out the second floor."

<Pose Tracker> Deimos [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Deimos, calmed from her offence by A SHINY CROWN (which she cannot steal, but that's fine, she wasn't going to, don't look at her like that), considers the situation.

Hop-hop-hop she ambles over to Tarte, and with a clever crow beak, worries his phone away from him and onto the floor. Grasping it in her claws, she takes off... and lands in front of Luna.

"Caw," she declares, to the advisor mooncat.

That might mean 'here's a phone!'

<Pose Tracker> Mepple [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

"Ehh?! You want to say that to my snout-mepo?" Mepple bares his flat, friendly-looking teeth. He clonk-clonk-clonks his Commune form forward until Tarte's forelimb stops him, then leans against it, scolding the monkeymouse from its confines the way a driver might out of his window. He's been cranky ever since the delivery driver didn't stop to get Mipple.

"Just because you can take on a banana doesn't mean yellow things are scared of you-mepo!"

<Pose Tracker> Batiste [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

"Great cachalots, Mepple! I don't know if you're aware but you've become a telephone," Batiste informs Mipple, seemingly astonished.

<Pose Tracker> Chu-Chu [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Chu-Chu casts a look over his shoulder at Mepple, from beneath the broad (tiny) brim of his hat.

There's a prolonged moment. A tumbleweed does not tumble by, but perhaps one should.

And then Chu-Chu's running right toward Mepple (and Tarte!) and he's swatting his tiny purple paws at Mepple as best he can, with his ear-tops bumping against Tarte's restraining arm. Swat-swat-swat!

<Pose Tracker> Mepple [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

"Mepooo!" Mepple cries gamely. He keeps trying to close the his flip-phone top down over Tarte's arm. Sometimes he gets swatted in the face. Sometimes he manages to bonk Chu-Chu's head shallowly.

<Pose Tracker> Ressi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Ressi leaps into action to stop the fight! Or considers doing so, but instead slightly discourages them. Or considers doing so, but stays completely out of it, instead turning towards Deimos and Luna. "Looks like we have an abundance of phones," she remarks offhandedly. "One of which is trying to eat a mouse. I never saw the appeal of eating mice, personally. Perhaps someone should stop this and remind them we are on the same side? And... find which way really is west, even though I already know?"

<Pose Tracker> Luna [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Luna looks at Deimos long and hard. Then starts to scold her.

"Did you just take Tarte's phone?! Deimos - don't do anything that would embarrass Sailor Mars. You do know what his position is right?"

Luna checks the phone anyway. Because she wonders if Tarte is just bad at technology. ... and also because he's preoccupied by Mepple and Chu-Chu.

Growing more and more perturbed by it behind her, she snaps, raising her voice.

"WILL YOU TWO BEHAVE?! THIS IS SERIOUS!"

<Pose Tracker> Luna-Pink [Admin] has posed.
<SoundTracker> The Ecstasy of Gold - Ennio Morricone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYI09PMNazw

Voices can be heard, very distantly, from the front porch.

"Whew! That was a real workout-zakenna."

"...break time-zakenna?"

"You're kiddin' me, right-kenna? What do you think we are, union-zakenna?"

"...awwww-zakenna..."

Time to go.

The mascots go west. They also go up; it is at this point that Fallen Stern volunteers to scout the ground floor. It's a dangerous mission, but danger is, if not his middle name (it's destruction), something that starts with the same first letter.

Getting up the stairs quietly is its own epic quest but as we've already done multiple stair gags at this point, we're going to fast-forward through it.

THE MASCOTS EMERGE AT THE TOP, IN SLOW MOTION, SOME OF THEM SWEATING, IT WAS A LOT OF STAIRS...

They file along the balcony with mixed-quietude, but fortunately there's no one in sight...

...until they approach the first set of double doors, leading deeper into the mansion. They are OPEN.

Chatter can be heard from inside...

"You've really outdone yourself this year," an adult man purrs, audibly over a hand, which he then kisses.

"It IS better than last year, isn't it?" replies a self-satisfied adult woman.

There's the clink of cutlery, the sound of glasses, the buzz of several low conversations.

This is a dining room, as a very quick peek can make clear. It is where most of the population of the house is, probably, because every seat is filled, and there are a lot of them. Some kind of fancy meal is being served, and consumed with more dignity than gusto, as the average evil lieutenant is too cool to be seen ENJOYING human food.

A second peek clarifies that there are no other doors leading in or out of the place, which means two obvious things:

1) They don't need to scout it further, since the missing items are nowhere to be seen.

2) The next course could arrive at ANY SECOND, and whoever's serving it would just walk right up behind the group.

MASCOT GEAR CHALLENGE 6: Ninja Burger

No more beating around the stealth bush for this one; nothing but Quickness will do, in order to sneak past the dining room without attracting attention. Mascots who have food-driven traits are at a -5 penalty, as they are very distracted. As usual, those who succeed can help those who fail.

Please declare any relevant TRAITS, or if someone wants to use a SPECIAL ABILITY, then +roll 2d6+Quickness.

DICE: Mokona rolls 2d6+5 and gets 12!
DICE: Ressi rolls 2d6+4 and gets 12!
DICE: Luna rolls 2d6+5 and gets 13!
DICE: Deimos rolls 2d6+5 and gets 17!
DICE: Citadel rolls 2d6+3 and gets 13!
DICE: Lion rolls 2d6+1 and gets 8!
DICE: Souverain Heraut rolls 2d6+5 and gets 15!
DICE: Chu-Chu rolls 2d6+8 and gets 15!
DICE: Mepple rolls 2d6+3 and gets 10!

<Pose Tracker> Tarte [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

"Hey, hey! Come on there!!" Tarte exclaims, and then--oh no, his phone. "H-hey Deimos!!"

Tarte is being fought around, has had his phone stolen, and then has to deal with the doorbell. It is not the best day to be Tarte.

For the record, his phone has no compass app installed, but it does have a gallery chock full of adorable Chiffon pictures.

"Gotta go!! Come on!!"

But, puffing and huffing his way past the stairs, Tarte makes his way along the balcony, spotting.. the double doors. He hears the chatter inside. He smells the delicious food that there must be, and recognizes the danger immediately. "...Oh, no," Tarte declares, going into a mascot cold sweat. He looks back at the group...

And then, "Everyone!!" he half stage-whispers, pulling something from his inventory. "Don't be lured by their food! I have donuts for us if we can get past them!!"

He pulls some. They are golden. They are delicious. They have little hearts in the middle. They are the perfection in round, donuts. Tarte darts across with them to lead his people.

DICE: Yuuno-kun rolls 2d6+4 and gets 14!

COIN FLIP: Luna-Pink flips a coin. It lands on tails!

DICE: Batiste rolls 2d6+3 and gets 5!

<Pose Tracker> Citadel [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

"Quiet is necessary. We must move quickly."

Citadel starts moving. He follows after Tarte -- and he pauses for a moment. Eyes are on his donuts, before they look back at the cornucopia. Then, at the donuts. "I consume mana. The stuff of stars. The raw neutrons, left after a supernovae. And yet... a donut shall suffice. Your words are accepted, Tarte."

He takes a donut, eating it, and then continues along.

Quietly.

<Pose Tracker> Chu-Chu [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Whonk! He takes a pale yellow fist (?) to the noggin. Chu-Chu swats on! "Chu!!" They're tiny little nothing blows, when they land at all. Maybe they tickle. But cooler heads and greater needs prevail... for now.

-=-=-=-

Up they go! Up the stairway...

Soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnu1E5Kslig

to the dining room, replete with everything a ravenous young mousemonkey could ever crave. Chu-Chu goes very still for a moment after peering around that doorway, because he just needs to... process what he's seen glimpses of, upon the forks of those diners. His mouth gapes in wonder, and he gives a low and reverent "Chuuu..."

It's wondrous, and it's all right over there. If only he could SEE what was on the table, but from his basically-floor-level angle he just can't...

maybe if he gets closer.

Just then, Tarte says something that breaks through to him, and his coal-eyes refocus on the fairy. Weeeeell... okay. Refocus on the donuts. Actual donuts, right there. And... they are perfect donuts.

Where Tarte leads... Chu-Chu will follow.

<Pose Tracker> Yuuno-kun [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

There's an exhausted Yuuno that trudges up the last few stairs. His head droops a bit, his ahoge is sweating, and he looks like he wants to slinky backwards down the stairs if he has to use any more of the things!

Yuuno Scrya has regrets!

Which roughly triples as he realizes he's led everyone into so many evil people. Dapper evil people but evil. And so with the serving-Zakenna threatening to box them all in, he flattens himself to the ground, and begins to wiggle-wiggle-wiggle his way towards the double doors! Just flat and trying to quickly wiggle-scoot his way over!

"Mmm! Mmm-mmm mmm mmm-mmm mmm." Goes Yuuno helpfully to his compatriots quietly. Why does he sound so muffled?

There's a ferret scoot-wiggling rapidly away to the double doors, even as he toothy-woodchipper's a donut thanks to Tarte.

"Everyone! Be careful, they look powerful."

Everything is extra scary as a mascot!

<Pose Tracker> Souverain Heraut [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.

Up the stairs they go, which isn't too hard a feat for Heraut given his propensity for flight. <Into the wolves den we go. Stay sharp!> He whispers, head darting around suspiciously for any threats he may have to take care of.

There are none, fortunately, and they end up coming upon what looks like a dining room not long after their ascent. Heraut listens carefully, holding a hand up as if to stop those who may still be walking up behind him. Then there's talk of donuts from Tarte as a much better reward than any of the food the occupants of the dining room are feasting upon.

<Ah... donuts... those are what's called pastries, correct? I've heard my Master talk of them before...> Heraut himself has never eaten anything in his life as a device, so food has no particular allure to him.

He follows after everyone else, quickly and silently scooting on by.

<Pose Tracker> Mokona [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

"Puu, puu, puu ..." <Only villains would have *so many stairs*,> Mokona remarks at the upper landing. And the Cephiran fairy is practically half rabbit - it sure didn't *look* like it was having trouble.

But the way ahead awaits; Mokona promptly flattens its back against the wall and starts sneaking along, puu-ing softly with each 'step' ...

Right up to the edge of the doorway, before extending an ear and leaning carefully around for a visual peek as well, before pulling back. "Puu puu puu," the fairy mutters to its comrades. <Nothing to see but a whole lot of food,> Mokona reports, <and a bunch of bad guys eating it.>

Mokona pauses, looking about, then darts back to scoop up Mepple, tucking the smaller fairy under one arm. "Pu pu puu~" <Up you go, kiddo, get your strength back~> And the Cephiran fairy just saunters on along like there's nothing to see, barely breaking stride to nab a donut from Tarte's proffered box, "Puu~!" <Thanks!>

... and nearly stuffing it into Mepple's mouth. "Puu puu." <Eat up!>

<Pose Tracker> Batiste [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

INSERT MUSIC: Igor Stravinsky - The rite of spring - the sad part

Having made his way up the stairs - oh, these dreadful stairs, without the presence of a convenient handrail which he could walk his way along - Batiste belly flops for a moment again. He has to recover his strength.

But he is so, so terribly hungry.

He thinks of the shrimp that he left in the refrigerator in Shibuya. Oh, he thinks, Shibuya, so far away from me now. It might as well be on the other side of the galaxy, he thinks further. I can all but smell -

His whiskers twitch.

No, he thinks. That's really.

Really...

Batiste pushes himself to his four feet and steps forwards. It is a heavier, plodding walk. Because he can hear idle dinner conversation and he can smell - oh! is that curry? is that a brown sauce over rich red meat, the treat of other worlds? Is it the scent of wine, in a crystal glass? Batiste thinks.

Tarte speaks to them. Batiste raises his head, struggling. He draws forth golden donuts. He can feel his stomach contract and practically hit the back of his spine. He struggles forwards, a dozen steps, a thirteenth, and then Batiste flops on his soft belly again. Reaching forwards, with one paw. Digging claws into the ground.

Dragging himself forwards...

"remember... remember me..." he gasps. "Remember me as I was, not..."

His eyes close and he rolls slightly onto his side.

<Pose Tracker> Mepple [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

"Hmph! You're lucky Luna and Tarte are here-mepo!" Mepple turns back into his fairy form with another poof. There's stairs to be climbed.

-=-=-

"Look at all these guys mepo," Mepple pants quietly. "What a big plot mepo..."

Mepple's stomach does gurgle at the scent of food. But unlike certain MOUSEMONKEYs, he isn't distracted enough to actually enter a room full of enemies just to eat food.

"Chu-Chu! Stupid monkey mepo!" he hisses in frustration. "Fairies might be goumands but they're not gluttons mepo!"

But then.

"Mokona mepo!"

His little feet scrabbling, Mepple abandons them, turning to flee with the others himself. But he doesn't make it more than a few yards before he starts to slow, sweat pouring from his forehead. "M-mepo... just... a minute mepo..." The stairs was too recent! He's going too slow! And with the scent of donuts making his stomach gurgle, he plops onto his belly, giving up.

But he gets scooped immediately! Mokona carries him like a piece of luggage. "Hey mepo! You could treat the Hero of the Garden of Light with a little digMMMFFFPO!"

Mepple's cheeks are now bulged out a shape like a car tire. The hole in the donut is now the only way he can talk. "Omff meppff urf mmpo!" he protests strenuously. He starts bonking the donut to push it askew so he can eat it.

It DOES smell really good.

<Pose Tracker> Deimos [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Deimos can be, at times, an underhanded bird. Is it any wonder? She's not an advisor, she's a student; and she's taking lessons from princess Mars.

But for all that can cause problems, it is, on occasion, a useful trait.

Hop-hop up to the doorway, and there's a reason why Phobos and Deimos didn't take on the Protodaimon which assaulted Rei, that afternoon on the beach: it's simply punching far too much above their weight-class. (Deimos is almost a kilogram; Phobos is a shade heavier. It's the hollow bones.) Maybe one day, they'll be able to fight Lieutenants on their own terms, if they are brave and determined and true.

That day... is not today.

Today they're distracted, and that's exactly what Deimos wants them to be, because they need to get by unnoticed. Except -- there's Batiste, in dramatic repose, and Deimos has to respect that sort of theatre.

She respects it through extreme disrespect.

Hop-hop-hop she comes up beside Batiste, which isn't difficult, the way he's dragging himself so piteously. With that clever crow beak she reaches over... and unravels his ribbon.

She makes sure to dangle it in front of him, so he knows his look has been stolen.

And then she takes to wing, and hurries off through the quiet path around the banquet, relying on the known fact that no one ever looks up.

What's more important, Batiste? Savoury food... or fashion?

<Pose Tracker> Luna [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Luna is good at stairs.

She perks her ears up at the open dining room, freezing in place hearing the conversation of what is probably two authority figures within Dark Fall, and suddenly begins to sweat, more and more appearing on her fur. But more dangerous is the allure of gourmet food...

"Minnasan..." Tarte though has his donuts... and Luna's face brightens up.

"Good going Tarte! I knew we could rely on you."

But then... Batiste, clawing the floor. Now if Luna knew it was due to the stairs, she'd be unconcerned, perhaps tell him to suck it up... but as it stands, for Batiste to be in this state, she fully believes it's serious.

BGM Change: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHr3ag7B410

"Batiste!" Luna rushes forward, two kitty pawsies grasping at Batiste's adorable otter hand.

Batiste... snap out of it! Open your eyes! Batiste! BATISTEEE!"

And then. Hop. Hop. Hop.

Deimos, takes the ribbon. Deimos... dangles the ribbon. Luna ungrips Batiste's paws, and looks at Deimos. One second pause. Two second pause. Three seconds.

"Really?"

She says with a tone of complete disapproval, as if Deimos just looted the dead. Though if Batiste revives, it'll probably be directed towards him as well.

<Pose Tracker> Chu-Chu [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Coal-squiggle eyes narrow at Mepple's insult.

(Chu-Chu will remember that.)

He renews his efforts to catch up, and that's when he spies his chance. The Mokona-toted Mepple is just not giving that delicious donut the effort it so richly deserves. Well, then.

Chu-Chu's little legs work and then he SPRINGS up and takes an impossibly huge bite out of that donut, consuming in one outsized snap almost everything Mepple has not nibbled. Mepple's left with crumbs, while Chu-Chu -- whose round head is now REALLY round and MUCH larger than before, with his ears suddenly dwarfed by it -- flies past and lands.

And rolls.

With his body flapping along like a remora attached to his donut-head.

At least he's with the group now.

<Pose Tracker> Ressi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

"Well... that's not good." Ressi deflates at the sight of the large banquet. She glances for any opening... then her eyes open wide as she looks between her allies and the food. She droops a little more. Food. Everyone's weakness.

Luckily Tarte to the rescue with donuts! That seems to solve THAT issue. Most seem to be satisfied @emit

"Well... that's not good." Ressi deflates at the sight of the large banquet. She glances for any opening... then her eyes open wide as she looks between her allies and the food. She droops a little more. Food. Everyone's weakness.

Luckily Tarte to the rescue with donuts! That seems to solve THAT issue. Most seem to be satisfied with the delicious allure of the amazing, perfect, mouth-watering donuts.

Most. Ressi is not too sure about a couple, though. And that lion... even at its sneakiest, would it be able to sneak through unseen? Big, pink, and distracting. It would need to be fast and focused... and she does not have faith in the latter trait. She... might need to help things along.

Ressi softly slides on up to Lion and whispers to him. "Shhh...," she hisses quietly, "don't panic. I'm going to climb on top of you. We need to go fast. Real fast. Fast past these guys so you can rescue the one you protect." If he lets her, she will clamber on top, grabbing a 'hand'-ful of mane, and 'loudly' whisper "NOW!"

<Pose Tracker> Batiste [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Batiste's tongue lolls out from his mouth as Luna speaks his name. "Thank you... please, carry on... luna," he mumble-whispers.

And then something tugs - ah, he thinks, I'm being called to -

wait -

His eye cracks open and he raises one paw to feel around his NECK -- and then he pushes himself upright if grumpily and huffs, "Give that BACK! I have to tie that each and every time someone UNties it, and now it's absolutely - oooghh!!"

(He will, eventually, eat *two* donuts... if there's an extra one to spare.)

<Pose Tracker> Lion [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.

Stairs? Lion navigates stairs each day! ...But these are EVIL STAIRS. They will stuck the life out of your feet! Kinda? They feel evil, anyway. They also tired Lion out despite this. How devious...!

Or maybe Lion is just super lazer. and doesn't wanna use them.

The bickering mostly goes over the cat's head, though Luna getting a bit fussy causes him to look her way. He can understand cats better.

The group arrives at a dining hall, where individuals seem to be enjoying food. He knows not who they are by voice.

Everyone is sneaking past, but Lion hesitates. Gonna be hard to do without drawing notice!

The food does look good, but isn't much of a draw, likewise to Tarte's offer. He has a picky diet that consist of one of a few things. Unless it is something that boy is eating, then he wants that.

He feels something moving on and around him, and then a voice nearly in his ear, which causes him to quickly creep along and stay low! Hard to tell if his reactio nwas due to understanding Ressi, or if it was an instinctual reaction to having someone super-close suddenly.

He scoots nonetheless as fast as a big cat can scoot without making too much noise!

<Pose Tracker> Luna [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

"Really?"

Luna repeats, at Batiste's sudden motivation to move forward - disappointed that she misunderstood the situation so much that she wasted her emotion.

With a sigh, and a huff, she light footedly follows.

"I wonder what kind of drama La Sirene has to deal with every time he takes a brisk walk..." She mumbles to herself.

<Pose Tracker> Luna-Pink [Admin] has posed.

The group is SO QUIET and SO SUCCESSFUL (on... on the relative scale...) that they manage to overhear a little bit more of what's being discussed in the room than they might have otherwise. It is too stressful a situation, however, to identify the speakers clearly.

"So, where did you say you were keeping those treasures...?"

"Hahaha." Derisive female laughter, the only possible response.

"Come now, you can't expect us to let you keep them all, the arrangement was for a fair split," says a third voice.

"Don't be such a bother. We're having dinner," chimes in a fourth.

"They're secure, all right?" snaps the lady. "I put them in the safest place in the whole mansion. You've got nothing to worry about, with my babies looking after them..."

---

And the group is safely past, just as the stairs begin to creak with the sound of Butler Zakenna footsteps.

The next set of big double doors are ALSO open. But unlike the first, there are more doors leading off of this room, in two different directions, so it might need to be searched a little bit more carefully.

Fortunately, it's a kitchen.

This second-floor establishment is gigantic, but a lot more navigable than 'a door in a hallway'; there are counters, there are shelves, there are pots and pans to sneak behind, and big bags of flour on the floor, and so on.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that it isn't empty: a towering presence is sweating over the hot stoves. An American, reasonably tall, quite broad, sporting a grand bushy moustache upon his face. He's in fine regalia - a crisp black apron, with accompanying black chef's hat, and a billowing cape.

...those aren't stoves, are they? The smell of frying fat is unmistakable... and so is the chef.

Fred Burgermeister chuckles darkly to himself.

No -- he chuckles darkly to his next course.

"Quit your crying, my dear, soon you'll be the centerpiece of the ultimate dessert: deep fried angel cake, a la angel! Well," he smirks deeply into his mustache, "SEMI-angel."

<SoundTracker> Iron Chef - Theme Ingredients Reveal Music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_EwqqoB4gU

That's the worst news of all: trapped in a sparkling-but-grease-stained golden cage, right next to him, is the achingly cute (and achingly weeping) mascot Finn Fish. She's like a five-inch tall angel-winged teenager with green hair and a red forehead gem, and affiliated with Kaitou Jeanne, which might explain why, if not how, she 1) struck out solo on this heist, and 2) passed the entire group without being even noticed.

(Though, she's a flyer with opposable thumbs, so... that pretty much covers the 'how', probably.)

"I'm n-not afraid of you," she declares very bravely, through tears. "I-I'll... I'll rip off your hand if you reach in here, and you'll be having LADYFINGERS for dessert instead!"

Fred slams the cage with his tongs, which are dripping with hot oil, and she falls silent, having to grip some of the bars as the whole cage swings violently.

---

MASCOT GEAR SOLID CHALLENGE 7: Les Poissons (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoJxBEQRLd0)

Fred Burgermeister (cameo'd with permission, thanks to Mai) is about to be Cooking With Mascot. Finn Fish needs to be rescued before she faces her most terrible fate! This calls for a MINI-HEIST. A tiny bit of OOC planning recommended to establish who does what, after the rolls/before the poses start rolling out.

Challenge Outline:

Cuteness: N/A. Fred Burgermeister will just add you to the menu.

Roughness: Effective both to break open the cage and confront/distract Burgermeister, but if anyone uses Roughness, he will know you were here and this will have story consequences (it's not Game Over, just... a path through the tale)

Quickness: Sneaking (oneself, or another) up to the cage; also sneakily making contact with Finn, getting her attention early.

Smartness: Opening the cage quietly; also, smartness-driven distractions to lure Fred away from the fryer.

The food trait penalty is only -1, since while there are ingredients around, nothing has been prepared that hasn't already been served (...YET). Please declare any relevant traits/special abilities, then say which trait you're using, and +roll 2d6+Stat value.

DICE: Luna rolls 2d6+4 and gets 7!
DICE: Mokona rolls 2d6+5 and gets 17!
DICE: Batiste rolls 2d6+2 and gets 10!
DICE: Tarte rolls 2d6+3 and gets 10!
DICE: Yuuno-kun rolls 2d6+5 and gets 17!
DICE: Chu-Chu rolls 2d6+0 and gets 4!
DICE: Mepple rolls 2d6+2 and gets 10!
DICE: Deimos rolls 2d6+4 and gets 10!
DICE: Ressi rolls 2d6+5 and gets 9!
DICE: Lion rolls 2d6+4 and gets 11!

<Pose Tracker> Luna [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Luna wonders aloud. "Babies?"

However, she stops at the next set of double doors, craning her neck inside. And her mouth opens wide. Breaking out into a cold sweat. "Aaa....aa... that's... Finn Fish! And the Burger Man!"

Luna creeps back slowly.

"We have to do something... wait..." Luna mentally reevaluates what the kitchen looks like.

"Ah! I have an idea. When you hear a pot hitting the floor... get Finn out of there!"

Luna darts into the opposite end of the kitchen, moving to the counter. Hunching down, then hopping up to the counter. Then a cabinet. Then up to a suspended pot rack with cat like deftness.

Creeping up to the edge of it, she sticks her paw under the hook, behind the pot.

You can see her mind noting the Geometry of this shot, as she intends to flick a pot into the far corner of the Kitchen.

Then the moment of truth comes...

Luna flicks her paw, appearing like a cat in a high place, simply trying to knock down an object.

Her kitty paw knocks it, but it gets caught on the hook. The pot swings out at a diagonal, but doesn't launch, instead jerking back in to strike the corner of the rack itself while still attached.

There's an ominous clink.

Then suddenly the whole side of the rack lists as hook after hook slides off the rack, causing a terrible metallic din as each of them falls down in a chain sequence of maximum kitchen cookware annihilation. Luna shrieks and grabs ahold of the bar that was horizontal and is now nearly vertical. All four of her paws grasping ahold of it desperately as she clings to it.

Her wide eyes look at Fred Burgermeister, fur becoming slick with panic sweat.

The moment he looks her direction...

... she panics.

"Meow-Mepo. Um... I mean! Meowwww!"

One can only hear Mepo at the end of every word for so long before it sticks with you.

<Pose Tracker> Yuuno-kun [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

The sight of both the cage, the very large (compared to a mascot, anyway!) american cook, and the cute angel inside of it leads to a rather horrifying moment of realization that Yuuno really wishes he could un-connect in his head. He gives a full body shudder, fur going on end in a wave down his body, even as he tries to keep himself out of sight. The mage-ferret motions to the others for caution.

"We can't let him..." He offers quietly to his fairy-slash-fuzzy friends. This isn't the time to be rash. He's almost glad that Fallen Stern is out scouting elsewhere. The cookware would be dented and the ovens pristinely bashed!

Thinking of the Device though has him peering along the cooking surfaces. That's it! The cooking implements! Donning a mental cooking hat, tail and paws glowing again, he once more tail-chopper-lifts off of the ground. Staying below cabinet height, he sloooowly stealth-floats his way over towards one of the farther burners nursing some of the cook's fatty, greasy lard using the chaos-slash-cacophany caused by Luna's destruction of all that cookware to reach the semi-far removed pan of grease. He waits until he's certain he can't be seen, then sloooowly starts to reach over with his glowing paws and tuuuurn up the heat. It's a slow rise, a subtle boil into melty fatty delicious goodness. Once he's sure it's an apocalyptic slurry of waiting cholesteral?

That's when he tips it aside just enough to make the stuff begin to drain into the heat itself, lodging a nearby piece of cookery beneath the pot to prop it up a little as he awaits the inevitable grease fire distraction.

He burns his paws a little in the doing, tailcopter fluttering, and down he goes into a heap, kissing his now singed paws. Time to scurry and hide, nursing his tiny wound. There's a muffled dook-ow!

Slowly, where there's fire, there will be smoke...

<Pose Tracker> Mokona [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

"Puu, pu pu -- puu." <Where to nex-- oh.>

Mokona's 'squinting' into the just-discovered kitchen, its closed-eye gaze locked on the nemesis of noms, the devil of dining, the enemy of all that is wholesome and delicious. Not that Mokona actually eats, but the Magic Knights have run afoul of Burgermeister's ... foulness ... before, so this is a Known Bad Guy.

And he has one of their fellow mascots in there. As an *ingredient*. That simply won't do, will it?

Mokona promptly infiltrates the kitchen, not even waiting for Luna to create the intended distraction - but hey, if it works, all the better. A convenient, heavy-looking skillet is snatched up as it bounces precariously close to the fluffball fairy, and Mokona twirls it briefly before perching it atop its head. Bam, instant helmet.

While Burgermeister's attention is, hopefully on the ungodly racket unleashed by Luna, Mokona bounds along the bottom edge of the counter where Burgermeister had *been* working, then climbs up to Finn Fish's cage, staying away from the deep fryer for caution's sake.

If it looks like Burgermeister's about to turn back to his cooking? That skillet Mokona is sporting will get converted from helmet to projectile ... maybe not straight at Burgermeister's richly deserving-of-blunt-objects face, but somewhere that'll keep the self-proclaimed chef too busy to interfere with the rescue.

<Pose Tracker> Ressi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Ressi rides the fierce lion into lack-of-battle! The wind blowing over her scales, the rush of excitement from the high-speed sneaking, the feel of the soft fluff beneath her... was okay, she supposes. At least they were out of the dining room...

and into the kitchen. Not usually how the expression goes, but it is both literal and apt. And running the kitchen is a villain, of course. About to cook an innocent mascot. Or Mascot. Not on Ressi's watch! But... no brave heroics.

Instead, she sneaks across the room from the door to some utensils. She's a slithery serpent from the flour to the shelves. She takes a fork along when she hits the silverware drawer. And then the moment comes to strike when Luna makes a panslide. She darts to the cage and tries to open the lock.

"Shh friend, I'll get you out of there. Just stay calm. I know exactly how to open this." She looks at the lock from all angles. "Yes... I just need to... I have to..." She fumbles with the fork, trying to break tines off or fit the fork in. "... hm. No good tools, and no fingers. If I had both, I could be a master locksmith, or a super spy. Shame, really." Instead, she waits for help, or more accurately waits to help. She is going to have to take the backseat on this one, holding the cage steady.

<Pose Tracker> Batiste [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

"He's doing WHAT," Batiste exclaims as the enormity of what is presented to him sinks in. (He had enthusiastically devoured a donut, and then accepted one from Deimos, considered it, bowed in thanks, and devoured that too. You don't really want to watch an otter eat, at least when he's standing up.)

Luna is helpfully illuminating. Where Luna goes high...

Batiste goes low.

Yuuno makes his move and Batiste runs on the underside of the table with a scent in his nose. Not a great scent exactly - there's that kind of accumulated grime smell that comes from a kitchen, the scent of a greasetrap and frequent cleaning. Batiste ignores it. He presses on. As he reaches the other side of the table, he leaps upwards, grips onto the side of a countertop, and hups upwards.

At which point he scoops up an entire armful of shrimp set out and kicks the rest of the bowl over, at the same time dropping off the countertop.

He is briefly indisposed with stuffing his face with shrimp.

He does not expect the fire to come!!

<Pose Tracker> Tarte [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

"Donuts make the world go round, Citadel-han! You won't regret it!" He beams. It means fewer donuts for him to eat on his own... but they taste better shared at least. He is happy to share them with everyone, and has just enough that he's going to be out of donuts after this. He is stealthy. He is expert. He is... really looking forward to his donut. "I don't think they're any kind of baby we'd like," Tarte murmurs to Luna.

When the group is safely past he takes his final donut, and noms on it happily. For a few moments, Tarte is in fairy heaven.

But then there's more double doors!! The towering awful presence, the smell of frying fat--"Oh no!"

He waits... but he cannot wait for long. Th sparkling cage with Finn Fish in it marks her as in need of help, and Tarte will not shirk!!

He scurries along as Luna and others start to get Burgermeister's attention, and goes to the cage!! He makes it up to find Ressi there, and nods firmly at her. "Yeah! That's the way!" With Ressi's difficulty, Tarte makes use of his nimble fingers to work at the lock, remembering how they got the one outside for reference. Not that he'd ever know anything about unlocking things. Naturally.

"We'll get you out!" He says, keeping his voice low so as not to undo the distractions.

<Pose Tracker> Chu-Chu [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Somewhere along the way, Chu-Chu swallows. Then he's bodyrolling instead of headrolling. By the time they're to the kitchen, he's back to his usual size. Adolescent mousemonkeys have lightspeed metabolisms, and bottomless stomachs to match.

And there... there...!

There is a crying angel in need of rescuing, from a monster of a chef! Chu-Chu stands in the kitchen doorway and looks up, up, up Burgermeister's height, to the black chef's hat and that imposing mustache. He looks to the pretty Finn Fish, in her cage...

Chu-Chu's little monkeymouse chest puffs out, and he gets that fierce look on his round face again. His earring gleams, and... well, there's no wind for his tie to flap in. But it's a very handsome tie. And then his brave little eyes slide to the pale yellow fairy whose donut he just stole, and... he gives a small, chu-ing nod (*chu*) of respect for the fairy before they go in. After all, they're both skilled warriors... Into the kitchen he charges!

Along the way he he leaps up onto a counter to retrieve a shining silver fork, longer than he is tall, then hops back down to the floor. He brandishes his sterling weapon and cries a mighty "CHU!" battlecry upon closing with the chef's near shoe.

The tines shine in the kitchen's lights as he fearlessly (...and harmlessly) rams them at Fred Burgermeister's toes! Not even hard enough to scuff them!

There is a MOUSE(monkey) in the kitchen!

<Pose Tracker> Citadel [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

"We must!" Citadel agrees with Luna.

He starts forward, head peeking around the corner. His eyes are on Finn Fish, then at Fred Burgermeister, and then finally upon the prongs that come for the fish. His eyes narrow, for a moment, as he considers what to do. Once, he could have used his barrier at such a scale easily; he could have stopped it instantly. He could have made immense barriers.

Once, he was the Guardian of Ten-Thousand Points. Now, Citadel is... well... the form he takes now. He lets the others begin to sneak in, then he takes advantage of his own appearance, and he blitzes in. Citadel considers, for a moment.

And then he cries out: "Born in a world of strife!"

His voice echoes, eerily, off the fryer and the kitchenry. "Against the odds!"

"WE CHOOSE TO FIGHT!"

He will apologize to Lera's Wii later. In the moment, though, one hundred and forty-four tiny Belkan triangles spin into existence, beams shooting between them, and make a barrier to deflect the prongs at just the perfect moment.

<Pose Tracker> Deimos [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Deimos returns Bastiste's ribbon when they are safely away. She also offers him some of her PERFECT DONUT in recognition of his theatric aplomb. (It is slightly pecked.)

She hops through the next set of doors -- she had to land to return Batiste's treasure, you see, which she was always going to do, she wouldn't just keep his ribbon, would she? -- and shortly shivers right down her bird spine, despite the fact that it's hot with cooking energy in here.

This is because the cooking energy is evil.

HE'S COOKING WITH MASCOT!

Deimos hops back a step, and looks over to the others in frank alarm. (Again, this looks exactly the same as all her other expressions. She doesn't have eyebrows. Or eye whites, for that matter.) She does not caw, because Burgermeister is right there. With a wing, she points up to the cage.

Luna seems to get the right idea, and Deimos bobs her head (the rest of her body following the motion) as she waits for the inevitable clever distraction.

She puts all her faith in a cat knocking things off the shelf, and gets her just desserts.

A wing comes out, and Deimos hides her face behind it.

(That's how birds facepalm.)

With growing horror, she realises that Luna isn't the only one caught out. No, there's Chu-Chu, charging in with -- a fork. She can't fault his bravery, but he's very small, and Burgermeister is very large.

The fact of the matter is, she can't leave them to get caught, and put in a pot. No. In this situation, there is only one thing Deimos can do.

Deimos... is going to have to act.

She does not have big, adorable eyes, or light colourful feathers; she doesn't talk like a person, and she isn't tiny and cute. She is, to all apparent senses, a crow. Crows are not much loved, in Tokyo; some see them as pests, and some see them as ill portents.

It's that last one she's gunning for, as she takes to wing and circles over Fred Burgermeister's head.

"Caw!" Deimos crows, only to pause for a moment. No. Darker! Spookier! More ominous! With a throaty noise which might well be how a crow clears her throat, she enunciates: "CAW! CAW! CAW!!!"

It's like she's trying to get his attention while also being mad at him... just like an evil pet of darkness might act.

In brutal accusation, she declares: "KA-CAW!" As if it's his fault there are mascots out of their cages now! How could he let this happen?!

And swooping down, she grasps Chu-Chu cruelly in her claws and flaps up to a high cabinet, back turned to Burgermeister as she hunches over, head moving up and down.

Which is precisely the sort of motion a predatory bird makes when...

(UP THERE: Deimos bobs her head up and down, beside Chu-Chu, like she's dancing to music. "Khhhh," she rumble-rolly-growls, deep in her gravelly throat, which might be the closest she can get to shushing him.)

<Pose Tracker> Mepple [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Just when he's about to get the donut into eating position, it's yanked, slightly damp, out of his mouth.

"Chu-Chu me-pu!" Mepple yells, squirming. But Mokona's a lot bigger than he is. "Bleh mepo! I don't even want it anymore mepo!" he moans, as Chu-Chu rolls along on the donut.

-=-=-

"Hey, move... I can't see..." Mepple squeezes between Yuuno and Mokona, and gasps, which causes him to inflate slightly, which causes him to push Yuuno (since Mokona is much bigger and Yuuno's ferret belly is really flexy.

"Finn Fish mepo...! He's gonna eat her mepo!" He gives Luna a bunch of nods. "We have to do someth--"

Chu-Chu gives an unmistakable nod of courage--a manly nod, Mepple thinks. It's go time! For heroes! For men! Is Chu-Chu a man?? He has a tie???

"DON'T EAT FAIRIES MEPO!!!" Mepple cries like a kid in a supermarket whose mother has just put spinach in the cart. Swan-diving off the shelf, he plops onto Fred Burgermeister's face. He weighs so little that this impact does not even approach within the realm of hurting Fred.

"DON'T EAT HER DON'T EAT HER DON'T EAT HER MEPO!" Mepple tantrums. As he slides down, he grabs each corner of Fred's moustache. Planting his little feet on Fred's chin, he leans back and starts pulling like he wants to rip it off. This fairly gentle tug won't hurt either, but it is pretty annoying probably.

<Pose Tracker> Lion [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.

Sneaking past is a bit of a hassle, but is managed by the team. Lion looks back to make sure everyone is with them. Good, no stragglers-- well sortof? The otter is on the ground... no wait, they got up.

This isn't going so bad!

The next floor leads the intrepid gang to some kind of kitchen. Lion's keen nose can detect them. One distinct odor stands out among everything. It smells liek the scene on the boy's hands he often comes home with. It is food-related, though Lion knows not what it comes from. It doesn't smell edible, yet...

But there is a worse problem than them sneaking past! One of the small magic critters are in a cage! And that is unacceptable! Even the other mascots think so. And so as everyone makes a move, flapping, squaking, chirping at them. Lion has an advantage here others do not.

Lion is bigger than this human. And even as Mepple tells Fred not to eat Finn Fish... Lion could eat Fred.

If he wanted to. (This is of course on a prima llevel, magic notwithstanding.) So while others shriek and flail at hime, Lion's eyes begi not glow white, and he stalks forward, growling enough to make that grease vibrate in its pot.

<Pose Tracker> Luna-Pink [Admin] has posed.

Fred looks sharply off to one side when Luna knocks over the entire rack of pots and pans.

Their eyes lock.

"What's this?" he rumbles. "Another volunteer appetizer?"

While he's regarding her hungrily...

...his gloriously mustachio'd nose twitches as smoke enters it...

...because Yuuno has set his workstation on fire.

"Blast!" he curses. There is no fire extinguisher; this is a Den Of Darkness (also, a private residence) and it is not up to proper health and safety codes. Any would-be inspectors are undoubtedly fed to the basement dragon.

However, Fred Burgermeister isn't just any chef -- he's a MAGICAL chef. He's a magical chef who SPECIALIZES IN GREASE.

He turns off the heat, then slams down the fryer's cover, and though his bare hands passed through the flames in the doing, they emerge unburned. They grab for the nearest cookware, the better to flambe his enemies, but Mokona has seized his favorite skillet.

Meanwhile, at the cage, Finn Fish gasps at Ressi and Tarte's approach. She does NOT stay calm, despite Ressi's sound advice.

"I don't wanna be a cake," she blubbers, trying two-fistedly to wipe tears out of both her eyes, only for more to pour forth. "Puh-please hurry..."

Fred might have been tipped by this, but the shrimp bowl just went CLANG, courtesy of Batiste. "Shrimp ruined by shrimp," he muses, though his eyes are starting to hit the boiling point; they are red with rage (and heat). "You will regret thi--"

!!SUDDENLY, A NEW CHALLENGER APPEARS!!

There's a monkey trying to prick his boots.

The Burgermeister peeeeeeeeeeers down at Chu-Chu... and starts to laugh.

He still has his tongs in the other hand, and doubles over, descending with them with a chef's grace, despite his bulk, cackling evilly all the while...

...only to be stopped by Citadel's barrier. And bravado.

"WHAT?" he roars, standing back up... only to have a pissed-off dark familiar in his face; doubtless this is one of the agents of the Raven, or his spoiled, too-good-for-fried-food daughter or wife. "...WHAT?? SHOO! THIS IS NO BUSINESS OF YOURS!" Deimos picks up Chu-Chu. "PUT THAT DOWN, THAT'S MY INGREDIENT!!"

Any hope he has of catching the crow is dashed by him having a fairy RIGHT IN HIS FACE instead. "OFF! GET -- OFF -- ME!"

He yanks off the struggling Mepple with only minimum mustache damage, but rather than frying him on the spot... drops him, from nerveless hands, as Lion approaches.

Have they finally put this monster on his heels?

"...LION STEAKS," he salivates. Those were pins-and-needles of JOY. "...LION BURGERS..."

A tear rolls down his greasy face.

"...this...this is the best day of my life..."

The cage is open, Finn Fish gives Tarte a grateful kiss on the cheek as she flutters past him and towards freedom. "My hero!!"

Her eyes fix coldly on Fred, but she is not wholly driven by anger rather than fear, in this moment; that does not prevent her from flipping him the double bird, and spitting on him, as she flies over the fracas occurring around him.

"We gotta get out of here!" she calls in her breathily falsetto-super-soprano. "I have critical intel!"

...and then the Butler Zakenna (remember them? last heard coming up the stairs...) burst in from the hallway.

They stare, gape-mouthed, at the sight of a dozen mascots and a wrecked kitchen, and are momentarily stunned.

"GET THEM!" barks Fred Burgermeister.

"Uh, uh, yes sir-zakenna!" cries the little one, hoisting his feather duster and bin.

"Right-zakenna!" yells the big one, unshouldering his mop.

There are three doors leading away from the kitchen. One takes you back the way you came, so that's definitely the WORST OPTION and should be avoided. One goes into a pantry; also no good. The third opens onto a hallway...

...with lots of OTHER doors. Single doors, to smaller rooms; some bedrooms, some bathrooms, some sitting rooms, some lounges... some interconnected, some not.

CUE THE MUSIC!

<SoundTracker> Yakety Sax https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnHmskwqCCQ

---

MASCOT GEAR SOLID CHALLENGE 8: The Chase

Fred would lose face if he admitted to the dining room that he lost a captive mascot to a jail break led by a bunch of other mascots, so there's still an opportunity to re-establish stealth mode...

...If the mascots can lose the Butler Zakenna in the labyrinth of the mansion's second floor.

Challenge Outline:

Cuteness: Your mascot is cornered and tries to get the Butler Zakenna to show mercy long enough to escape/distract them from cornering someone else.

Roughness: The direct approach. You can't defeat them, but you can try to go through them rather than around.

Quickness: Literal speed/stealth, lowest difficulty.

Smartness: Tricking the Butler Zakenna in order to distract and lose them.

You are encouraged to describe random Desolate Mansion rooms in the course of your chase (they can be a LITTLE goofy, Westar lives here, but if you aren't sure if they're TOO silly, they probably are). You are allowed to describe the Butler Zakenna in pursuit as well, as you all slam in and out of various doors on either side of the hallway.

Please invoke any relevant traits and special abilities, declare your stat clearly, then +roll 2d6+Stat value.

DICE: Ressi rolls 2d6+3 and gets 12!
DICE: Souverain Heraut rolls 2d6+5 and gets 12!
DICE: Deimos rolls 2d6+3 and gets 13!
DICE: Lion rolls 2d6+4 and gets 10!
DICE: Tarte rolls 2d6+3 and gets 15!
DICE: Yuuno-kun rolls 2d6+2 and gets 9!
DICE: Mokona rolls 2d6+5 and gets 12!
DICE: Citadel rolls 2d6+5 and gets 14!

<Pose Tracker> Souverain Heraut [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.

<Make haste!> Heraut shouts as the chase begins. He zips forward, though it soon becomes clear that the route he's taking will put him on a collision course with one of the threatening Zakenna.

<Yikes!> The penguin plush mascot skids to a halt in midair, putting up his flippers and trying his best to look threatening.

Note: Heraut doesn't really know kung fu. It's just something he heard while watching TV with Ren one night. It definitely seemed to be quite effective in the movie, so...

DICE: Batiste rolls 2d6+3 and gets 13!

<Pose Tracker> Deimos [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

In the flurry of confusion, Deimos grabs Chu-Chu and takes him back down to the hall. And then she puffs out a breath and lands, because Chu-Chu is heavy, for all he's a little mouse. "Caw," she offers apology for the discomfort of claws, only for one of the Zakenna to look back and spy them. "-- Caw!!"

IT'S TIME TO LEAVE.

Into a sitting-room, and there are broad couches to hide behind, in a hundred shades of purple; deep upholstering, and cushions which are practically light in colour. They could almost be normal, if not for the golden claws wrapped about their armrests.

And the statues.

Or... are they statues, really?

They're the best conversation-pieces; in various moods they are either the ones who brought their Generals the greatest glories, or the failures who you will join if you mess this up, do you understand? Here there is a snarling wolf, there a creature which looks to be half of a card table; they are a wide spread of terrible, from the mundane to the astoundingly magic.

Each and every one, frozen in their fearsome poses.

Deimos looks at the couches (too purple for her).

Deimos looks at the statues.

Deimos hops over and knocks a snarling demonic cat from its perch; it topples into the shadows.

Cats and crows, it turns out, have some crossover in size; a platform designed to hold a cat doesn't look so out of place, when a crow hops onto it. Deimos adopts a fearsome pose, wings mantled, beak yawning in an eternal unspoken caw.

She settles into a position she can hold for a while just in time.

All she has to do now is stay very, very... very, very, very... very still.

Don't blink.

<Pose Tracker> Luna [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Luna freaks at being named a volunteer appetizer. "Aaaa-aaa-!"

Then the chaos happens. And Luna suddenly lets go, bounding down, and BOLTS as only a cat can - looking at Finn giving Tarte a kiss on the cheek as they go.

Suddenly Luna bolts into the corridor. The Zakenna hot in pursuit after the mascots. Then she screeches to a stop as she sees King Penguin... cornered.

About to face down a Zakenna. Acting tough even in the face of unshakeable odds. Suddenly she doubles back and leaps in the air. "Above you Heraut!" An elegant end over end somersault - with an elegant cat like grace. At the apex of her leap there's a glittering of stardust and a smattering of starlight...

... as she makes...

... the magic...

... happen...

Suddenly. A gleaming black handgun appears in mid-air. A sleek Glock 19 descends like a falling star, into Souverain Heraut's flippers. Already pointed in the right direction - at one of the Zakenna Butlers.

"Souverain Heraut! NOW!"

Whoa hold on a second Luna! Is she telling Heraut to waste a Zakenna?!

<Pose Tracker> Citadel [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

Finn Fish is freed.

Citadel seems satisfied with this. He bolts away -- and rushes ahead. This results in him being separated, with a Butler Zakenna on his heels. The Zakenna chases after, as they rush into a room with bookshelves stacked high -- and books, too. The books are old and molding, dust flying everywhere. Citadel runs, tail swishing wildly.

He doesn't look over his shoulder. Instead, on the back of his neck, three ovaloid shapes flash -- and then become solid eyes, looking at the approaching Butler Zakenna. Citadel's eyes on the front of his head scan the titles.

'A Youma's Guide to Japanese Homework'

'Ten Habits of Highly Successful Henchpeople'

'The Lonely Abyss Guide to Tokyo'

'A Game of Thrones, Book One of a Song of Ice And Fire'

'Dark World-class Butlery'

"There!"

Citadel flicks his tail. The shelf falls... and the book on butlery falls before the Zakenna. It skids to a stop, and then picks it up, far too curiously...

And Citadel is away.

<Pose Tracker> Tarte [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Tarte hurries his best!! And when Finn Fish is freed, she kisses him on the cheek and he smiles bashfully, with the very same kind of character as someone rubbing the back of their neck. "I'm just glad we could get you outta there!" He thinks of his fiance waiting for him back in the Sweets Kingdom, sighing a moment. But then--Well. Fred Burgermeister is shouting and they have to get out of there, so Tarte books it like he's from the Library Kingdom instead!

Which is to say the next few moments are Tarte furiously scurrying away as a butler Zakenna chases him through the hallway, before he darts into a room with multiple chairs and bookshelves that could easily be a parlor for people to sit in. He darts through in time to escape at first.

Then he sneaks past another looking, caaarefully creeping, and when he's almost spotted, he darts into a room that at first he thinks must be empty--

But there's a familiar white hat in the open closet.

Then Tarte comes back out in a few moments and is running again!!

<Pose Tracker> Tarte [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Tarte spots the hat, here in the nearly-empty room, and recognizes it with surprise--the very same that Setsuna Higashi used to wear. He thinks, for a moment, about this fact, and his expression becomes a determined one.

When Tarte comes back out running, he is wearing a lovely white hat, wide-brimmed, with a pale ribbon tied around it whose ends hang down.

Then he's running and sneaking again.

<Pose Tracker> Ressi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

The kitchen is in total chaos! Ressi does her best to focus on the job at hand - or at hand stub - which is holding the cage for Tarte to help him free Finn Fish. Luckily, the chaos helps them rather than hinders them. "Success! Make your way out of here, friend!" Despite the fracas, everything seemed to be going well.

Until the butler arrived. Another one to escape. Luckily he doesn't see her yet... maybe he doesn't see her yet... hopefully he doesn't see her yet? She sneaks past, running through halls, through rooms, through bedrooms and bathrooms and libraries and - library! Perfect! There MUST be a hidden passage or a diary with important clues or a hollow book with something stored inside it. She ransacks the shelves, throwing books like 'To Serve Mascots' - maybe that should be in the kitchen; How to Win Enemies and Control People; and books from the Twilight series. No, not this one, no, normal book, normal but creepy book, not a switch, has all pages, no clues, and... the butler has arrived.

At that moment, Ressi made a decision. No running. No hiding. Not out of any form of bravery, but out of a sense of futility. The staff must now be alerted, and she did not know the layout of this mansion. She'd end up throwing herself into a trap worse than this.

So she decides to do something seemingly out of character and dangerous in order to follow her heart and do something more safe. She waddles up to the butler, and trips. "Owww-hebi... that hurtssss..." she whines as cutely as she can, lifting her head so that her glowy yellow eyes look up at him like if a snake was a puppy. "Missster... I'm sorry-hebi.... I didn't mean to make a mess... pleassse don't be too mad-hebi...."

<Pose Tracker> Souverain Heraut [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.

Heraut isn't too sure how this will end for him -- but he's determined to go down fighting! It's just who he is. Never give up! He hopes at least his sacrifice will buy enough time for everyone else to get away clean...

...Though it seems as though he isn't going to fall heroically today! Luna, sweet feline guardian she is, sees fit to intervene. Heraut looks up in time to see an object appear by her magic, and it falls into his flippers perfectly. Taking a look at it, his eyes widen (or would widen if they could given that he's in a plushie).

A gun! He's seen those on television as well! Hearing Luna's yell to use it now, he wastes no time pulling the trigger.

P O P ! ! !

The gun goes off! Though instead of what one might expect from a loaded weapon, a single floral-tipped suction dart flies out of the barrel, along with an attached flag that spells out 'B A N G!'

<Pose Tracker> Yuuno-kun [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

They're caught! With butler-zakenna hot on their heels, Yuuno scrams with as much thrust-and-lift as his paws and tail can give him. He's basically lunging at the air, fluttering in it for a bit, and then plunging down to rush forward! The way-too-tall zakenna following him with long, loping strides as he crashes through is quickly gaining on the poor ferret mascot!

One room that Yuuno ducks into is oddly filled with nothing but crystal balls, all connected with strange techno-magical lines. The mage smartly decides to hop over each line, pattering on backfoot to backfoot to make it through. The butler zakenna...well, does the same. Both youma and mascot share a look. Best to not disrupt this room, for opposing reasons.

With a gentleman's agreement to not think too hard about the last room, ferret and youma enter a sitting room. A proper plush sitting room, with red thick carpets that Yuuno literally sinks into so much that he has to tailcopter his way out of and leap over the sinfully seductive couch. The zakenna chasing him pauses to enjoy the roaring fire and comfy couch...until it starts moving, vaguely threatening to eat the servant.

Finally though, Yuuno makes a break for it! Ending up in a room with a single desk and seemingly infinitely-tall stacks of paper upon it...he tail-baps one stack of Evil Paperwork to the side. It crashes in a flutter of so much paperwork. Not unlike the growing piles of homework on so many desks in Tokyo!

Yuuno hides behind the other pile of papers. This butler is smarter than average though, and almost immediately leans over the still-standing pile to peer at Yuuno.

He pauses, walks over to face his fate head on. He sits in front of the butler-youma.

And then smiles big and wide, wiggles his little ferret nose, and nods to the youma!

"Um. That was fun, playing tag with you, Youma-san! You win. Maybe you could let me go? I won't tell anyone, and you'll help me save a very important friend. That's a good thing to do, right?" His smile is earnest.

Despite the terror of the mansion, running around like this really was fun. His big emerald eyes implore the youma!

The zakenna butler hesitates. Leans in...and with a conflicted sigh makes a reluctant, slow swipe for the ferret! This is his duty, zakenna!

<Pose Tracker> Batiste [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Batiste clambers out, slightly fatter, from behind the cabinet where he had been chowing down. He is still holding a small stack of shrimp tails. He beholds the flames, the fire, the liberation of Finn Fish (he'd overheard that one) and then the butlerzakenna looking at them.

Batiste drops his shrimp tails.

SOON

Batiste is fleeing for his life from this butler. It is not the first time he has had an affray with professional service individuals, but it is the first time that the stakes - OR THE STEAKS - are so high. He has stayed near the edge of hallways, occasionally throwing himself forwards for a power slide and a rolling tumble to dodge a grab. This time, he hits a carelessly dropped bolster -

- goes flying into a lushly appointed bathroom with a gorgeously lit makeup table and what would be an amount of floor space that would impress a hotel, marred primarily by everything being made of like, black basalt and deliberately wedged-out geodes that were in some cases probably spray-painted for extra levels of purple -

and immediately leaps into the tub. The big tub, a tub you could probably do the breaststroke in.

When the butler goes for it, Batiste rises upwards in loving slow motion, executing a corkscrew motion as he rises upwards.

See the turn. Turn in 120 frames per second - no, 360 - slowed down - see that powerful tail swing and smash into the heavy glass containers of multiple flavors of bath salts - see them come falling down, DOWN -

He then butt-slides down the youma's back, shivers, and books it towards the hallway.

<Pose Tracker> Mokona [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

"Puu pu pu puu," <So much for the sneaky way,> Mokona puu-sighs as the two butler-zakenna wind up coming in while the gathered mascots are facing off with Burgermeister.

And then Mokona is on the move to the door that actually leads to a possible chance of some kind of safety. There isn't much organization or formation in the race for safety at this point, but judging by the fluffball's merry noises, Mokona is having the time of its life as it races around the mansion, dodging zakenna and dark chef alike.

Which probably leads to both Yuuno and the butler-zakenna being equally surprised when ...

"PUUUUUUU PU-PU-PU PUUUUUUU~!!!!"

That tall, proud stack of paperwork wobbles under Mokona's modest weight, then goes *flying* as the fluffy fairy jumps back off of its temporary perch, alighting briefly on the desk - and just draping Yuuno's fuzzy length about what pass for Mokona's shoulders, like a fashion model wrapping a scarf about herself. (Or himself. Male models gotta dress warmly too, right?)

And then Mokona is bounding off yet again, all but ricocheting around the study (to a chorus of "Puu!" from every rebound off of wall, floor, or ceiling) before it's back out the door and down the hall, wherever whim and chance may conspire to take both Mokona and its newfound passenger.

<Pose Tracker> Mepple [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

It's not exactly hard to remove Mepple once Fred grabs him. "Aaaaa!" Fwump. Thankfully Mepple is too light to be injured by short falls.

Mepple doesn't approach too quickly after Finn Fish smooches Tarte. But he doesn't wait too long, either.

The rapid elbowing that Batiste had experienced is now applied to Tarte, as Mepple leers his congratulations. "You dog you, mepo! I mean, you ferret you mepo!" Pokepokepokepoke with the elbow. "The quest isn't even over and you snagged a smooch!" Pokepokepoke. "Finn Fish isn't as beauuuutiful as Mipple but do you think it might be lavu-lavu mepo?" Pokepokepoke. "I can teach you how to dance if you MEPOOOOOO!"

Mepple interrupts himself with a scream as the Butlers show their dark faces. He sets off at a zoom, but his cheeks are puffing out already; this has taken a lot out of his endurance. "Aaa go away go away mepo!" he yells as he scampers rapidly down the creepy cobwebby hallway. He takes a hard right into one of the rooms. It's a spooky sitting room, with cigar boxes, bookshelves, a globe, and a portrait of some human woman with a dead gaze and gaunt cheeks.

"Aaah, haah, can't... mepo... run anymore... mepo..." Mepple jiggles his fuzzy belly even as he hears inevitable footsteps. "Maybe I've been hitting the Omp card too hard... MEPO! That's it!"

Hall & Oates - Adult Education - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLYqTZKEpvs

With a poof, Mepple reverts to his Commune form. "Mepo... it's so hard to do myself..." Flipping over, he wobbles around until he dumps his Pretty Cure Cards on the ground. Poof, back to his normal form. Grabbing a copy of Atlas Shrugged off the shelf, he drags it onto the floor, sticks the Shiklp Card in like a bookmark, and swaps back to Commune form, just in time to swipe himself as the butlers notice him from the hallway.

"Hey! Stop right there zakenna!"

With a poof and some sparkles, a huge, soap-bubble like protrusion of magic extends from the Commune. A professorly sort that looks a bit like the Monopoly Man emerges into the bubble, hands behind his back, his enormous white moustache and his waistcoast too frumpy and dignified for a businessman. This is an educator!

"Oooh hmm!" he considers, assessing the room. "Mepple-kun, did you summon me on your own? How unusual! I'm glad you are finally taking your studies seriously!"

"Shiklp! Quick, teach me the most boring stuff you know mepo!"

"Pardon ME! No avenue of intellectual inquiry can be called dull!"

"Get them!"

"Mepooo!" Mepple panics. "Shiklp! This is important mepo!"

"So is schooling!"

The taller Zakenna butler grabs Mepple up off the ground with a 'do ho' noise and a victorious grin. The shorter one sticks his tongue out at Shiklp. "School's dumb-zakenna!"

The bubble begins to tremble with rage, growing and growing. "Dumb... DUMB?!"

"Uh oh..."

"Education is NOT dumb! Nor are students, even such willful ones as yourselves! Sit down at your desks for the lesson."

"Za-kenna..." the tall one despairs.

"We're not your students!" the short one objects.

"SIT. DOWN! MI-STER ZAKENNA!!" Shiklp's darkest and most fearsome teacher voice rings out. It is no yell, but its authority seethes beneath its prim surface. With cries of fear, the two Zakenna immediately sit down right where they are.

"Do the boringest subject you can think of mepo!"

"Open up your Coastal Ocean Biogeochemistry textbooks," Shiklp says pleasantly.

"Not THAT boring mepooooo..." Mepple despairs.

Who can say whether it was a minute or an hour, a period or a semester? The Zakenna and Mepple suffer together, quailing, getting every answer wrong no matter how patiently they are taught. They sob into their desks when asked to do the slightest bit of work. Mepple guesses that a 'water column' is a Garden of Fountains newspaper. The short Zakenna guesses that a freshwater plume is a cool feather in a hat. The tall butler, perhaps the least bright student, lucks out with the definition of 'detritus.'

"The stuff that's left when you destroy something-zakenna?"

"Very good! At last some progress! Let us take a five minute break."

"No mepo!"

The tall butler is blushing proudly. "Ummm, can we keep going a little longer, zakenna?"

"Hm, perhaps a bit more..."

"No you idiot, zakenna! Five minute break zakenna! Wait... where'd the yellow one go zakenna?!"

Mepple's seat is now filled only with a dotted line in his shape. The chase resumes...

<Pose Tracker> Lion [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.

Lion does his menacing approach. But Fred does not back down! In fact, Lion's assumption of the food chain here seems incorrect, as Fred looks hungry seeing him. Still it buys a few precious seconds the rest of the gang needs. More annoyingly, That butler thing returns! This causes Lion to quickly look at both foes, and then take off with the rest of the group!

IT IS ALWAYS THE BUTLER.

Everyone attempts to lose the Zakenna butler among the myriad rooms, and Lion does the same! One room in particular has the door slightly ajar, and having now thumbs, must opt for that one! Wit ha fire headbutt the door flies open long enough to let him through, before the rebound shuts it for him.

The room he has entered is unusually dark, with darkly colored candles burning. A singular window shows the outside, and strangely, any light from out there is dampened here.

The only thing in this room is.. some kind of horrific altar! A twisted frame mirror sits atop this gristly tabernacle, grim offerings to an unknown deity lay upon it. ampoules of blood in small jars. bone dust with desecrated wants place nearby, made of the hair of thair screaming victims and darkest wood!

The... wipe-aways surely made from tears of the innocent?

The ritualistic warpaints also featured in fashion magaz--

Wait, hold up. Thats not an altar. Just a goth vanity. This must be a powder room. Yeah, it smells like make-up.

Lion has just long enough to look at it before the butler kicks the door open! Like this cat is one to hold still though! It begins to shout and point his way, though his words fall on deaf ears. No telling what he is saying! With a burst of speed, he attempts to charge past! four hundred pounds of muscle can easily make someone spin if glance off of!

But where to?! Everyone seems to scramble, but Lion growls, try to cal leveryone to a room on the far right.The cat charges, and forces the door open. Inside, are covered objects, furniture, boxes, and the like. A storage room if there was one! Perhaps just keeping the dusty furniture preserve from the light seeping in multiple windows.

It was a dead end. Or was it?! Lion peeks around and tries to get everyone's attention, before turning to a corner of the room, and opens his maw, ROARing a portal into existence! It hums in chiming sounds, and has repeating geometric patterns, like a never-ending kaleidoscope of cotton candy blues and pinks and yellows. Lion nods toward the portal. It was time to lose the mooks! Mascots are all welcome to climb aboard the Lion Express!

<Pose Tracker> Luna-Pink [Admin] has posed.

It takes fearlessness and fluff, cunning and creeping, but -- FINALLY -- the exhausted Butler Zakenna are no longer in the rear-view mirror.

At the last, the Zakenna Butlers charged Lion, who juked out of the way, sending them into the portal instead.

They emerge by the kitchen... right where they started. There's only a door separating them from Fred Burgermeister... and his wrath...

"Should we go back now-zakenna?" ponders the big one.

The little one is silent, for once.

He folds his arms, regarding the many, many, many messed-up rooms.

"...mmmaybe we'd better clean all this up first-kenna," he reasons. "So that way we only get in trouble for one thing instead of two things-zakenna."

"Okay-zakenna," the big one replies, gamely.

---

<SoundTracker> Northa's Theme - Fresh Precure OST https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R52uEFbjavg

With a little help from Finn Fish, the mascots (literally) run into one another in a courtyard at the heart of the labyrinthine complex.

An upper-level courtyard...

The floor is stone, more castle-like than mansion-like, but then... in the chaos of the chase, the house often blurred right past. Perhaps it is no great surprise that they have emerged somewhere exceptionally strange.

It is a conservatory of sorts -- wrought iron contains glass walls on two sides, and also above. But... no plants. The flower beds are all empty; the trellises are bare.

It is a stark and lifeless place.

At its center is something both thoroughly out of place and perfectly appropriate... a totally enclosed garden shed. If garden sheds were the size of multi-story houses. There is only one door, and it is unbarred, with no sign of a lock.

The angel mascot gestures at it a little bit limply; she looks exceptionally tired. "This is it," she pants. "They're in there. I saw them taken in. But... the door was too heavy for me to open by myself. And it's also... kinda..."

Evil. The word she's looking for is evil.

Despair emenates from the wooden structure almost visibly, as though it is seeping purple blood from its planks instead of sap. As bad as other parts of the Desolate Mansion have been, this is INFINITELY worse.

Who knows what horrors await the mascots along...

---

OVERHEARD EARLIER IN THE DINING ROOM

"They're secure, all right?" snaps the lady. "I put them in the safest place in the whole mansion. You've got nothing to worry about, with my babies looking after them..."

---

...Northa's primrose path?

TO BE CONCLUDED. . .

2020-06-06 - Mascot Gear Solid: Search and Rescue

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