View source for 2017-11-17 - Marble Madness 1

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! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Marble Madness 1'''
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|'''Summary''':<br>
''Spherical robots -- plug robonoids -- are crashing into Tokyo in the guise of shooting stars. The Crystal Gems killed them as they came in, until this latest one, which Steven convinced them to follow...to the Prime Kindergarden.''
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|'''Who''':<br>
[[Endo Naoki]], [[Steven Universe]], [[Garnet]], [[Kasagami Araki]], [[Amethyst]], [[Niramo Umokeshi]], [[Fuu Hououji]], [[Sourisi]]

GM: Hotaru Tomoe
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|'''Where:'''<br>
Tokyo Bay

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|'''OOC - IC Date:'''<br>
11-17-2017 - 03-05-2015
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 *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ Tokyo +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
   The capital and largest city of Japan, Tokyo is a glossy neon metropolis,
   with heaped skyscrapers served by an advanced railway system. Having long
   ago coated its most desirable land in buildings, Tokyo continues to grow up
   toward the sky and out into the ocean, reclaiming land in its well-sheltered
   bay to become artificial islands. Earthquakes and firebombs purged this city
   of most of its oldest architecture, so while some of its hills are weighted
   by the heavy tile rooves of yesteryear, its skyline is that of a modern,
   Western-influenced metropolis, verging at times on the futuristic.
 
   Tokyo is divided into three zones. The Yamanote Zone is the southwestern
   half of inner Tokyo, an upscale area known for its weath and style that is
   home to the private Ohtori Academy. The Shitamachi Zone is the northeastern
   half of inner Tokyo, a lower-income and more traditional area that contains
   the Juuban public schools. Finally, the Tama Region is a quieter
   uptown/suburban area east of the other two zones, and hosts lush parks and
   the innovative new Infinity Institute.
 
   Unbeknownest to the vast majority of its residents, Tokyo is also one of a
   small handful of places on Earth where the veil between worlds is most
   porous, and beings friendly and (more commonly) hostile often slip through.
   The same tricks of arcane geography and literal buried secrets that make
   Tokyo a transit point for such foreign elements also make it fertile ground
   for magic, and so battles for the soul of this city are waged just barely
   away from the public eye.

 <Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (6)] has posed.

ONE WEEK AGO

*thoomp*

'Thoomp' is an atypical sound to accompany a meteor shower. Nevertheless, it persists. It's the middle of the night, all the good little boys and girls are in bed, and the stargazers notice something weird.

It's worth mentioning, of course, that there isn't much stargazing to be done in Tokyo environs -- the fact that something is getting past the light pollution is, in itself, remarkable.

Under cover of darkness, it splashes down into Tokyo Bay.

Under cover of darkness, it's dispatched.

THREE DAYS AGO

*thoomp*

*WARP*

That one landed on Mask Island.

YESTERDAY

*thoomp*

You can cut the tension in the Temple with a knife.

Pearl cuts the source of the sound with several.

NOW

It's after school on a Thursday. It doesn't really matter where you are at first, because the sound is ''extra'' loud today, and bound to attract attention. It sounds like it came from the sky, and one can easily follow the distant falling star towards Tokyo Bay.

*thoomp*

"NOT AGAIN!!" cries Pearl, yanking at her forelocks with both hands before ripping a spear out of her forehead Gem. She rushes out of the Temple and onto the beach, brandishing her weapon anxiously.

The plug robonoid -- a more technical term than anyone knows yet, 'big gray sphere with stumpy little legs' is more useful -- splashes down into the water like a giant meteor, kicking up a huge wave of spray onto the rocky beach. Happily there aren't many people around, because while the sound is an attractive force, people without MAGIC (or helicopters) can't follow it quickly enough to be here yet. And nobody with a helicopter seems to be interested.

Pearl leaps straight into the water in a gorgeous swan dive, and surfaces on top of the sphere. She slams the butt of her spear into it over and over again. "STOP! COMING! TO! THIS! PLANET!"

*thoomp*

Another one buries itself into the rocky shore. Then it extends its more-like-an-elephant-than-a-spider-except-for-how-there-are-too-many-of-them limbs and crawls on out of there onto the road. There is ''immediately'' a car accident. Seems these things don't have much respect for traffic safety.

*thoomp*

And there's a third. It lands in the nearby park, about fifteen feet to the right of the King Penguin slide. If its trajectory had been a hair different, the best play structure in Tokyo would be dust. And now it's headed towards the playground...

 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe transforms into Three Plug Robonoids!
 COMBAT: Endo Naoki transforms into Barrier Jacket Aufprall!
 COMBAT: Kasagami Araki transforms into Crimson Rose Duelist!

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

Endo doesn't spend much time stargazing, but it's hard to ignore the ones that make so much noise, and that appear to blatantly over the Tokyo skyline.

But most importantly he has a magic device to tell him about it: &lt;ASTROLOGICAL ANOMALY DETECTED.&gt;

He appears near the scene of one of the crashes soon after-in time to see the aftermath of the accident on the roadway, and the many-legged sphere toddling on its way. He immediately ducks back behind a nearby building.

When he emerges again he's arrayed in his barrier jacket, overlarge sword drug along behind him. Now armed and prepared, he calls out his challenge: "Hey! You! Ball! Stop!" He's sure at the very least it's violating a traffic law. The others don't seem that friendly either, judging from what he can see.

He doesn't use the sword, though. Instead he stretches out a palm and concentrates, working something new into existence. A triangular sigil appears in front of him, a flat, dark violet plane from which other shapes begin to burst forth; chains. They launch themselves toward the sphere in the road, encircling and shackling, attempting to bind it fast in place.

 COMBAT: Endo Naoki has used Kette Binden on Hotaru Tomoe.

 <Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

At this rate, he will never finish this novel series! Ever!

This past week has been full of interruptions from sleep, lunch, reading time, homework... It is becoming a serious problem. The Gems rush outside, and Steven follows suit as he quickly slides on his flip-flops. "Come on! I was jsut getting to the good part!" The boy just throws his hands in the air as he runs outside.

Unlike last time though, this one is accompanied by two friends, who have landed nearby. "Uh... guys?! We better hurry! More have landed!" The audible sound of several objects breaching the atmosphere made that obvious though. Pearl is already taking out her stress on the one in near the Temple. The boy looks to the other landing areas. People could be in danger!

The boy looks to Garnet. "Im going after one of the others!" he calls out. Steven sprints his way toward the park as fast as his short legs can take him! "H-Hey!" the boy calls out, closing in on the playground Robonoid. "Step away from the penguin! I repeat, step away from the penguin!"

How many of these things does that Peridot gem have?! If they keep coming at this rate, they will never stop! They will never get any rest. And most importantly, he will never finish his book series!

 COMBAT: Steven Universe transforms into Steven Quartz Universe!
 COMBAT: Steven Universe has used AND STEVEN! on Hotaru Tomoe.

 <Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.

Garnet, leader of the Crystal Gems is a strong believer in teamwork. Whenever possible she prefers to coordinate the Gems' attacks harmoniously against a single foe, in hopes that their unity will more than bridge any gaps in strength between the team and their foe. Luckily this strategy tends to work out, whether it's corrupted Gem monster or a more traditional Youma, they're either a single force, or a "cluster" of a smaller foes. This particular method of attack is unusual, and so calls for unusual measures. The Gems will need to divide themselves to make sure none of them escape or are free to wreak havoc unopposed.

"Gems, split up and pursue! Keep them in your sights! Don't let any of them get away!"

Garnet herself heads for the road, but falters in heeding her own advice, as she notices a car that became a casualty of the Robonoid's arrival. She summons her gauntlets to her arms, and quickly moves it from the road onto the side. When she sees the dark violet glow of Endo's invocation, and hears his proclamation and attack, she allows herself a sigh of relief and takes the time to rip off the door of the vehicle and place the driver on the grass to rest, behind what she hopes is a protective outcropping of rocks, until the conflict is resolved.

Garnet takes a second to make sure they're all right, then bounds off back to the road Robonoid in a leap attack ending with a slam to its marble-like body from her armored fists!

 COMBAT: Garnet has used Leaping Smash! on Hotaru Tomoe.
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe perfectly dodges Steven Universe's AND STEVEN!, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Critical Dodge!
 Hotaru Tomoe's Fade ability activates!  Hotaru Tomoe's Flash ability activates!
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe narrowly braces Endo Naoki's Kette Binden, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Hotaru Tomoe is Quipped!  Cripple
 applied to Hotaru Tomoe!
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe narrowly dodges Garnet's Leaping Smash!, taking 14 Fatigue damage!  Hotaru Tomoe's Fade ability activates!
 Hotaru Tomoe's Flash ability activates!
 COMBAT: Amethyst transforms into Amethyst Plus Whips!

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


After finally getting some actual sleep following her 'training session', Kasagami found herself pouring over the day previous. With an ache in her chest, she decided to flee her newfound haven of her Estate to Tokyo beyond. One car ride later, and she's stepping outside of a restaurant just in time to look up and watch as ''something'' falls from the sky. Multiple somethings.

She can feel the magic in her heart, even torn as it is. Fetching a bag from the car, she ducks into an alleyway, and then she's rooftop leaping away.

It's the playground that she lands near, spying that familiar slide where she's made more than one childhood memory in what seems like an age ago. Something about the robo-youma's trespass here only sparks her fury that much more harshly. Even the presence of Steven can't bring joy back into her heart.

And so, drawing her sword and stalking through the trees shading that slide, she casts a gaze that's harsh and troubled. Her gloves creak as the sound of metal sliding from wood fills the area around her, roses fluttering as does her hair and coat. Her smile is cruel tonight.

"To threaten a place where a King has made fond memories of innocent times is a crime! Doing so only invites my wrath! I, Kasagami Araki, who shall become King, will show you no mercy creature!" Howls Kasagami, voice furious and trembling as she lashes out with her voice. And as Steven takes his stand, and she spies Garnet, the young woman raises her blade high with one hand.

"Let's protect this place Steven. There won't be any more loss tonight!" Kasagami doesn't explain what she means, as she puts all of her strength into hammering into the spherical legged youma.

 <Pose Tracker> Amethyst [None] has posed.

Three of these things at the same time? This is getting ridiculous. Well... Steven has the playground menace handled, Garnet's going after the car crusher, and Pearl has the one at the beast under contr- no, it appears that she's losing it. That makes up Amethyst's mind for her. "Chill, Pearl, we got this!"

	 Amethyst charges towards the giant ball on the beach, then leaps into the air, morphing into a seagull to cover the distance faster. The purple bird warps back into the small violet violent Gem, summoning and extending her whips at the robonoid in a blinding fast flash of action. She attempts to then pull herself feet-first into the robot from midair, to press down in a heavy kick using her full weight.

 COMBAT: Kasagami Araki has used Rose on the Wind on Hotaru Tomoe.
 COMBAT: Amethyst has used Zipline Kick on Hotaru Tomoe.

 <Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

6 days ago, a rumor about how an uncle of a brother of a teacher saw a meteor splashing down in the ocean just outside of Tokyo. Nothing that really made it stand out from the rest of the school rumors going around, and was quickly overshadowed by what was being served for lunch.

2 days ago, the rumor circulated up again, but apparently landed on an island. apparently nothing was damaged, but no meteorite was found in the crater, and it attracted the attention of a Kwami.

Earlier today, a classmate of Niramo's actually woke up from the sound during the night, and after a rather pointed look from Takk and a quick nod when no one was looking told the Kwami she would spend her time after school by going to the bay and asking for any information.

That afternoon, after school, Niramo was heading towards the bay and mentally shaking her head at what she thought was foolishness on Takk's part. She was looking like she was searching into her bookbag for something, but was actually disguising a hushed conversation with the mouse Kwami. "And just because the same rumor has been going around school the last few days doesn't actually mean anything, you know." "But the locations have changed with each telling of the rumor, as well as the locations. Wakatsuki even described the sound in question the meteorite makes, and in a rather impressive manner." "I doubt that will help describe what i'm looking for, and I feel silly just going up to people on the street and ask if they saw the comet themselves. I mean, what good is knowing a sound going to-" The sound in question broke into her conversation, and the blazing light that passed behind several skyscrapers towards Tokyo Bay made Niramo pause in her complaining. The single raised eyebrow that somehow showed smugness and said 'I told you so' on at the same time on Takk only made Niramo sigh before running for an alleyway to duck into.

By the time a mouse suited Magical Girl reached the Bay proper, a third meteorite had just landed in the park, but she was more focused on the large floating orb that had way too many limbs. That, and it was in the middle of a road, with a few wrecked cars surrounding it, thought thankfully it seems there wasn't any people in the vehicles now. Silently praying that the drivers got away without too much harm, the mouse girl saw that she wasn't the first one on the scene, and the magical chains he called forth to halt it. Aiming her tonfa towards spots where the chains wern't currently covering, she threw her weaponry before heading to meet up with Endo in person. "Hi there! I remember when traffic was dangerous to balls, not the other way around!"

 COMBAT: Niramo Umokeshi transforms into Sourisi!
 COMBAT: Sourisi has used Crashing Tooth on Hotaru Tomoe.

 <Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

It's been a little while since Fuu last visited the Gem Temple Beach House, and she was kind of hoping to visit at a time when it isn't occasioned by a crisis - either helping to investigate something, or trying to deal with an ongoing situation, or recovering from the aftermath of a fight that went badly. She's wondering whether to actually drop by unannounced or not (technically she *shouldn't*, just out of propriety) when

	*thoomp*

Fuu pauses, takes two steps back and leans around the edge of the park gate - and disappears from sight again before the pod-thing has a chance to spot her, She recognizes it far better than she'd like to, and the first one she helped fight was such a slippery target ...

Well. There's no help for it, is there? And it's not like she'll be fighting it all on her own - she can hear others joining the fray, including Steven himself. She swiftly pulls out her glove-jewel, tugs it onto her hand, and utters a familiar series of words ...

And little more than an additional moment has passed before the Magic Knight of Wind steps through that same gate, bow in hand and arrow drawn; when she releases the string, her arrow flies - as straight as can be, right for the robonoid's legs, intended to punch through at least one - ideally *more* than one, in a single shot.

(One will be enough for a start, though.)

"Steven-san, everybody, are you all well? Apart from the intruder, of course," the Wind Knight greets her allies as she readies her next arrow.

 COMBAT: Fuu Hououji transforms into Wind Knight!
 COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Trick Arrow Shot on Hotaru Tomoe.
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe narrowly braces Sourisi's Crashing Tooth, taking 14 Fatigue damage!
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe fails to dodge Amethyst's Zipline Kick, taking 16 Fatigue damage!
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe narrowly braces Fuu Hououji's Trick Arrow Shot, taking 14 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe perfectly dodges Kasagami Araki's Rose on the Wind, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Dodge!  Hotaru Tomoe's
 Fade ability activates!  Hotaru Tomoe's Flash ability activates!

 <Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (6)] has posed.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Endo's chains materialize around the robot on the street, just in time to prevent it from slamming through another couple of cars. People, wisely, are abandoning their vehicles; the guy that Garnet saves turns out to be unhurt, just very startled. He gives her a salute, then sinks beneath the rock.

By the time she gets back to the fray, she can hear the rattling of tension coming down the chains towards Endo; the sphere is straining, the chains starting to clink as they lose their grip.

There's just a moment left to seize, and Garnet doesn't quite make it. It's for the best of all reasons, though: Sourisi's tonfa comes soaring through the gap and, in solidly slamming into the sphere, knocks it just a hair out of the path of her leaping smash. The inexorably accompanying shockwave still bowls it over onto its back.

It wiggles its many appendages like a turtle or something, but it isn't completely helpless -- blue goop, sticky and somewhat metallic-smelling, comes spewing out at its assailants!

BEYOND THE SEA

"Now is not the time to ''chill'', Amethyst!" Pearl shoots back, out of patience and also out of contractions. "Now is the time to ''be careful''!"

Amethyst's daring efforts to whip herself straight into a flying kick would argue otherwise -- it was a bold move and it's quickly rewarded; the sphere takes a solid dent. Just one more solid hit should do it in. They've learned that by now.

Pearl isn't so far gone that she can't appreciate Amethyst's success. "Well done! Now -- one, two!"

She swings her spear at it in an attempt to gang up on it with her counterpart. She does not expect it to start spinning in midair, its many legs disappearing into a nasty blur of blunt force trauma.

UPON THE PLAYGROUND

The robot on the playground is surprisingly difficult to pin down. It does the EXACT OPPOSITE of what Steven demands, stepping ''towards'' King Penguin instead of away from him, and when Kasagami rushes in it simply leaps over her with a curiously fluid grace that belies its stubby form.

It leaves more of that blue goop in its wake.

Fuu's arrow buries itself in one of the many many legs just as it lands, though, which distracts it from its prior, slide-ful trajectory. Instead it rushes her all in one go, trying to body block the archer to the ground and out of its way.

 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used GOOP! on Endo Naoki.
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used GOOP! on Garnet.
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used GOOP! on Sourisi.
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used GOOP! on Steven Universe.
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used GOOP! on Kasagami Araki.
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Blurry Blunt Force Trauma on Amethyst.
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Spherical Cow Rush on Fuu Hououji.
 COMBAT: Kasagami Araki fails to brace Hotaru Tomoe's GOOP!, taking 24 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!
 COMBAT: Amethyst narrowly braces Hotaru Tomoe's Blurry Blunt Force Trauma, taking 13 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Amethyst's
 Block ability activates!  Amethyst's Parry ability activates!
 COMBAT: Endo Naoki narrowly braces Hotaru Tomoe's GOOP!, taking 8 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Endo Naoki's Block ability
 activates!  Endo Naoki's Parry ability activates!  Trap applied to Endo Naoki!
 COMBAT: Sourisi narrowly braces Hotaru Tomoe's GOOP!, taking 5 Fatigue damage!  Tangle and Trap applied to Sourisi!
 COMBAT: Fuu Hououji narrowly dodges Hotaru Tomoe's Spherical Cow Rush, taking 29 Fatigue damage!  Fuu Hououji's Fade ability
 activates!  Fuu Hououji's Flash ability activates!
 COMBAT: Steven Universe narrowly braces Hotaru Tomoe's GOOP!, taking 8 Fatigue damage!  Steven Universe's Block ability activates!
 Steven Universe's Parry ability activates!  Tangle applied to Steven Universe!
 COMBAT: Garnet narrowly braces Hotaru Tomoe's GOOP!, taking 7 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Tangle and Trap applied to Garnet!

 <Pose Tracker> Amethyst [None] has posed.

Pearl praising Amethyst? Not too common an occurance. "Thanks Pearl. Let's finish this thing. Though it is TOO time to chill, especially IF you wanna be" - airquotes - "careful. Now all we gota-" The whirring whirling fury interrupts her as it punts her away painfully. Lucky for her, she can take a hit. "Okay, that's it! Let's rumble! I'll hold it still!" Her whips lash out in an attempt to entangle the robot's blurry painmakers.

 COMBAT: Amethyst has used Get Over Here! on Hotaru Tomoe.

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

"Garnet!" Endo seems happy to see a fellow member of the Chevaliers--especially when she's punching threats to his and others safety.

And he's shortly joined by another magical girl, his head swiveling over toward Sourisi when the mouse makes her presence known. "Yaa-nice shot. Do I know you? I'm Endooooogph." Further introduction is halted by the spray of ooze that springs from the overturned sphere. It sends the knight stumbling backward and down, his hands raised in an only halfway effective defense.

Attempting to get back on his feet is a tricky endeavor, one that requires visible and audible effort as he strains against the goopy mess. He level his sword awkward, straining forward, tearing and stumbling loose as he makes a clumsy swing at his spherical opponent.

 COMBAT: Endo Naoki has used Blauverschiebung on Hotaru Tomoe.

 <Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

What a jerk of a... robot?! "Wait, no!" he says, holding out a hand towards the robot. The sudden appearance of Kasagami helps offset its plan to ruin the ping-reign. "Hey Kasagami! Good to see you here!" She seems different. He can't quite pin it. He denouncement of the robonoid seens odd as well. King? Doesn't she mean Queen? Is she pretending? She sounds way too serious. Hum. "Yeah, you better watch out! She is good with that sword!" he adds in.

Fuu's arrival is quite welcome as well! "Heya! Doing okay! Tired from these guys showing up constantly though..." The magical help does alleviate the stress of the situation some... but not enough. The plugbot squirts that same sticky substance used to repair the Galaxy Warp all over the place, getting on Steven in the process.

Steven struggles against the adhesive, then breakes free, flying at the orb robot. He Swings his shield hard, trying to make sure he will keep it away from the slide! Though as he attacks, he can't help but grimmace. How long will this keep happening? Is smashing these really the answer, or will they just keep coming forever?

 COMBAT: Steven Universe has used Shield Bash on Hotaru Tomoe.

 <Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Any relief that the Wind Knight feels upon seeing that the robonoid is no longer advancing on the King Penguin slide, centerpiece of the park, is rather abruptly pushed aside by the fact that the mechanical creation is instead heading for *her* at speeds that would make the Shinkansen look sedate ... and then utterly crushed under pseudopod as the robonoid body-checks the Wind Knight, sending her flying into the park's boundary wall with so much force that it might as well have hit her twice normally. Thankfully, her glasses stay on and uncracked - but she's looking more than a little wobbly as she pries herself out of the wall. "Refresh my memory, do these things have weaknesses ... ?" she asks woozily.

"... ah, never mind. I think we can make some."

Her bow and quiver vanish; her sword materializes, and rather than focusing on trying to get her head to stop spinning, the Magic Knight of Wind instead goes into a *deliberate* series of pivots, trying to build up momentum that should make it easier for her to carve into the robonoid's - well, anywhere she can cut through its plating, really. And if she manages to land more than one strike? All the better; it's not like robonoids are particularly susceptible to one-hit 'kills' ...

 COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Spinning Slash on Hotaru Tomoe.

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


Down falls Kasagami's sword and...well, her slash to the ground kicks up quite a bit of dust, but no satisfying feeling of her sword cutting something in half. Instead, she looks up with a scowl to see the creature leaping majestically! Honestly, part of her would be a bit impressed if she weren't in the state she's in.

Of course, this means that she's looking riiiight at the creature as a flood of goop flies at her! Blue goop! That utterly clashes with her preferred color scheme and beautiful, majestic clothes.

SPLORT!

Blue goop, smelling of metal, everywhere. There is a Kassie-shaped goop pile standing there, slowly trembling as she can all but feel her expensive coat being ruined by the second. Somehow, she finds a handkerchief that's actually clean, and wiped off the sludge from her face. She barely ignores the temptation to throw herself into the ocean.

It takes quite a bit of work and slashing to get the stuff ''off'', but now a marginally battered Kasagami emerges. Somehow, her hair is still absolutely perfect even if the rest of her isn't.

Still, Steven's confidence in her at least gets a ghost of a smirk. It reminds her of why she wants to be a King in the first place. And of the pain it all causes. Her stance lowers, sword turned to her side, and she puts one leg in front of the other.

"Does that thing even know how much my coat costs!? I'll just have to show it how good I am as punishment!" Comes Kassie, at least sounding an iota closer to her usual self. With STeven taking the front, and Fuu becoming a spinning windy blender, the Duelist leaps into the air! Rotating gracefully, she tries to fall from on high, her sword coming down alongside slashing braces of crimson roses! Seems she's trying to stab through, and pin the robo-sphereoid!

 COMBAT: Kasagami Araki has used Falling Petals Cut The Soul on Hotaru Tomoe.
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe narrowly braces Endo Naoki's Blauverschiebung, taking 12 Fatigue damage!  Endo Naoki is Psyched!
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe perfectly dodges Amethyst's Get Over Here!, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Critical Dodge!  Hotaru
 Tomoe's Fade ability activates!  Hotaru Tomoe's Flash ability activates!
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe perfectly braces Steven Universe's Shield Bash, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Critical Brace!
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe fails to dodge Fuu Hououji's Spinning Slash, taking 23 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe perfectly dodges Kasagami Araki's Falling Petals Cut The Soul, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Dodge!
 Hotaru Tomoe's Fade ability activates!  Hotaru Tomoe's Flash ability activates!

 <Pose Tracker> Sourisi [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

Sourisi blinks in surprise as Garnet slams the earth next to the strange ball, with the resulting shockwave toppling it onto its'...top? Catching her tonfa on their return pass, she offered Garnet a wave and a smile, though the fact she was so much taller than Sourisi drew more attention to her than the impressive shades or the large gauntlets she wields.

Smiling over at Endo, she shook her head. "No, this is my first time meeting you. I'm Sourisi! Pleased to meet-!" Her introduction with Endooooooph being cut short as he is sent flying, the plug robonoid showing that it wasn't done yet.

With her weapons back in her grasp, Sourisi jumps up to strike at the exposed 'belly'. A sudden rush of gray goop while she was in midair, and she could barely gasp, let alone attempt to dodge due to how fast the goop was flying at her.

Rolling to a stop a good distance away, Sourisi has difficulty rising due to the fact one of her arms is goop'd to her torso. "Ugh...this is going to take forever to get out. This better be easy to remove from wood!" Running back into melee range with the flailing marble, she raises her free weapon and swings down hard at the robonoid's exterior. "Just what -is- this thing, anyways?"

 COMBAT: Sourisi has used Forest Down on Hotaru Tomoe.

 <Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.

Garnet stands from her impact and gives both Endo and a magical girl she'd never seen before a thumbsup.

She turns at the whirring sound of the robonoid's cannon revealing itself and when a bust of goop launches at the Gem, she attempts to punch it out of the way. Instead, on impact with her fist, instead of bouncing off or deflecting its trajectory, it expands and folds over Garnet, covering her completely in an opaque layer of the sticky substance.

Unable to see and reacting on instinct, Garnet channels her magic into electricity, arcing energy through the substance and back to its source, hoping to give it a shocking rebuke, and cast enough of the substance off to regain some semblance of sight and motion.

 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe fails to brace Sourisi's Forest Down, taking 10 Fatigue damage!  Stagger applied to Hotaru Tomoe!
 COMBAT: Garnet has used Geofeedback! on Hotaru Tomoe.
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe fails to dodge Garnet's Geofeedback!, taking 20 Fatigue damage!

 <Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (6)] has posed.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

That's one of three down: even gooped, Endo is able to knock the robot sphere hard enough that, though in itself that doesn't do much damage, it's much easier for Sourisi to reach. She smacks it good, while it's still trying to spin its legs downwards (they can't really be 'on their back' in the sense that it's a sphere), and then -- ZZZZZOT -- Garnet casts 'transform gray-green to black'. If it had blinky eyes, they'd blink right before it became soot. It doesn't. It's soot now.

BEYOND THE SEA

Amethyst doesn't enjoy such easy success the second time -- the robot soars over her whips, and dangerously close to her face once again. But Pearl buys her space and time, whirling her spear as a sort of high-speed shield that catches the legs as they come in and forces them back.

"Finish it off!" Pearl instructs, Pearl orders, Pearl pleads. She's good at wearing lots of hats at the same time. At least it's a relatively benign request.

UPON THE PLAYGROUND

One would think that a three-on-one against the robot would end quickly, but this fellow is ''nimble''. And tough. Fuu's able to slash it off of her, but Steven's shield just smacks it with a CLANG! and Kasagami winds up flying straight past it -- it flattens its legs to duck under her just ''so'', and send more goop after her as she goes by, insult added to injury.

Fuu is in range of this second goop ejection, while Steven, who's also up close and personal, winds up with blurring robot legs twitching towards him at dangerously high speeds.

At least the slide is somehow still intact.

 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used GOOP! on Fuu Hououji.
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used GOOP! on Kasagami Araki.
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Blurry Blunt Force Trauma on Steven Universe.
 COMBAT: Kasagami Araki perfectly dodges Hotaru Tomoe's GOOP!, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Critical Dodge!  Kasagami
 Araki's Fade ability activates!  Kasagami Araki's Flash ability activates!
 COMBAT: Steven Universe narrowly braces Hotaru Tomoe's Blurry Blunt Force Trauma, taking 9 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Steven
 Universe's Block ability activates!  Steven Universe's Parry ability activates!

 <Pose Tracker> Amethyst [None] has posed.

As Amethyst's whips miss and the robot flies at her, impolite words leave her lips almost silently. Lucky for her, Pearl was there picking up her slack. "Thankyousorrygotit!" Time for her to make up for her mistake!

	 Amethyst leaps over her friend and her foe, lashing behind her with a single whip. Whether it hits or not, it seems relatively harmless... until she sends both a wave of motion through it and a wave of electric pain down it - hopefully into the robot.

 COMBAT: Fuu Hououji narrowly braces Hotaru Tomoe's GOOP!, taking 9 Fatigue damage!  Fuu Hououji's Block ability activates!  Fuu
 Hououji's Parry ability activates!  Tangle and Trap applied to Fuu Hououji!
 COMBAT: Amethyst has used Whiplash on Hotaru Tomoe.
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe narrowly braces Amethyst's Whiplash, taking 4 Fatigue damage!

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

"We got it!" Endo seems fairly pleased with that, giving a thumbs-up in return to both Sourisi and Garnet once their target is reduced to ash. He takes a moment to try and clean more gunk off himself after that, furiously scrubbing an arm against the side of his Device before his attention snaps over toward the remaining combatants.

"Ah-Steven-san!" His eyes track Fuu and Kasagami as well, noting to his two allies: "We should help!" And he does just that. More triangular symbols whirl into existence at his feet, burning the air and thrumming with energy before they propel him forward. He moves like a bullet, streaking through the space between him and the robot in the park in just an instant.

He comes at it sword first, the weapon pointed forward to drive deep into the menacing sphere.

 COMBAT: Endo Naoki has used Asteroid Eilen on Hotaru Tomoe.
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe narrowly dodges Endo Naoki's Asteroid Eilen, taking 21 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Hotaru Tomoe's Fade
 ability activates!  Hotaru Tomoe's Flash ability activates!

 <Pose Tracker> Sourisi [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

Sourisi was really glad that she jumped back after smashing in a sizable dent into the side of the Robonoid. She didn't want to have a shocking revelation about what else the tall gauntlet wielder could do. Looking at Endo and Garnet, a corner of her mouth quirked up in a crooked smile at how all three of them look, covered as they were in blue slime. "Alright! One down, and two more to go, I think! These ruiners of a peaceful day won't go unpunished!" Giving a thumbs up back to Garnet and Endo, she jumps over several cars in the direction of the park, since she could still hear fighting going on inside. She wasn't going to just sit back when one enemy was defeated!

Landing on top of a tree branch, she quickly looks around the scene, and is surprised by just how nimble this marble was compared to the last one. Maybe the cars crashing into theirs did more damage than she thought? Glancing around, she spots the Wind Knight, and Steven quickly, though it was the Crimson Duelist that drew a bigger grin on Sourisi's face. Quickly pushing aside the desire to have a camera on hand to focus on this task, she leeps down from above and swings her free tonfa down just as she lands. The goop on her was starting to become dry and brittle. Just a bit more...!

 COMBAT: Sourisi has used Forest Down on Hotaru Tomoe.
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe narrowly braces Sourisi's Forest Down, taking 4 Fatigue damage!  Stagger applied to Hotaru Tomoe!

 <Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

Dang, his shield doesn't seem to have much effect, though it is hard to tell if it did more internally.

Steven skids back after the impact and catches his footing as he watches his friends make their move. "Not that I know of!" Steven calls out to Fuu. when they fought smaller ones, weakness didn't seem to matter, as the ycould be messed up rather easily. These bigger ones however, seem to be built for survival and durability, lacking true weapons, though its kicks and adhesive is still very dangerous.

The boy seems very happy that more have joined the fray, in the form of Endo and Sourisi, and strikes out with his shield once more!

...Though begins to have a perplexed look on his face as he peers down toward the temple. Hum. He has an idea...!

 COMBAT: Steven Universe has used Shield Slam on Hotaru Tomoe.
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe fails to dodge Steven Universe's Shield Slam, taking 13 Fatigue damage!  Steven Universe is Psyched!

 <Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Goop gets everywhere - or if not literally 'everywhere,' then so much of the place right around the Wind Knight that it makes little difference where it *isn't*. And more to the point, if she gives it long enough to set, she's going to be immobilized - and it's already thickening around her. And, from what she glimpsed earlier, around Steven as well - although the youngest of the Crystal Gems is still able to move around fairly effectively, as well as to attack (and she can hear that impact).

"Winds of Healing!" she calls out, conjuring those restorative winds around herself and Steven, trying to degrade the goop's adhesive properties and clear it off of the two of them. "Are you holding up all right, Steven-san?" she asks the boy with a smile once the goop situation is under control. "... and what plan are you coming up with?" the Wind Knight then adds, having noticed that look on his face.

 COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Healing on Fuu Hououji.
 COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Healing on Steven Universe.
 COMBAT: Fuu Hououji accepts Fuu Hououji's Winds of Healing, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Cleanse! All of Fuu Hououji's
 debuffs are cleared!
 COMBAT: Steven Universe accepts Fuu Hououji's Winds of Healing, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Cleanse! All of Steven Universe's
 debuffs are cleared!

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


Kasagami's good eye goes wide as that nimble spherical ''jerk'' leaps! She sails (gracefully and goopily!) through the air. Thankfully she lands easily enough, and snaps around to catch more goop coming her way! Throwing herself bodily into a roll, she dodges the blast, letting out an increasingly frustrated growl. Kasagami is short on patience, and high on anger.

"That's it! I'm done being nice! ANTHY! Come to your liege!" Rings out Kasagami's voice commandingly, as she seeks her most hated of servants! Sure, she managed to ditch her earlier, but she's well aware of the girl's almost supernatural ability to follow the Engaged.

Pause. "Anthy?" Slightly less loud now. Silence, as she peers at the distinct lack of glasses and purple hair. Scowl.

"...We're having a talk when I get home, snake-eyes." Grumbles Kassie to herself. Today is very not her day.

Still, it's Fuu that gets her attention back on Steven and his face full of peering and thinking! She manages a grin, which gets a liiittle wider as she spots a certain betailed magical girl. Sourisi gets a wink.

"What are you talking about, Windy? Our Steve-kun is the toughest guy I know!" Her approval of the kid is, for all of her fury today, genuine.

"Just make sure it's entertaining, and I'm in, Steve."

Meanwhile? She leaps over to physically defend the precious slide, pulling on her sword's sheath and tossing it balefully at their nimble roboponent!

 COMBAT: Kasagami Araki has used Sheath Toss on Hotaru Tomoe.
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe narrowly braces Kasagami Araki's Sheath Toss, taking 5 Fatigue damage!  Stagger applied to Hotaru Tomoe!

 <Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.

The goo over her eyes cracks away in the wave of her geofeedback and Garnet is relieved to see that the combined efforts of herself, "Endooooph" and "Sourisi!" were enough to burst this "ruiner of peaceful days." a title which was something of an understatement as far as the Gems were concerned. These... things... have been arriving constantly at the Gems' figurative and in one unfortunate case, their ''literal'' doorstep, and there's just been... no time for it. Between Gem monsters, Youma attacks, and other magical obligations, though the Gems don't need sleep like humans do, the constant use of energy and magic has been a drag on all of them, especially Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl

"As frequent as these landings are, school is still important Steven. We can take care of them while you're gone." She remembered saying to him, she believed it at the time. She still hoped they could, but even she was reaching her limit.

Garnet assesses the situation, and seeing that the myriad magical heroes and Kasagami that appeared to help them have thankfully rallied to Steven's side. Garnet decides to assist her other gems as best she can. They've tried their best to keep their fatigue obfuscated, but Garnet knows they need all the help she can offer. Blackened, parts of the goop still stick, and Garnet launches herself in a large leap to the Robonoid that Pearl and Amethyst have engaged.

Almost too tired from her last attempt, rather than smash at the orb with a mighty blow, Garnet just shapeshifts and increases the density of her form, hoping to use the sense of heavy, dragging inertia that she feels more and more as these attacks wear on, as something of a weapon in itself.

 COMBAT: Garnet has used Heavyweight Whump-ingon on Hotaru Tomoe.
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe perfectly dodges Garnet's Heavyweight Whump-ingon, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Dodge!  Hotaru Tomoe's
 Fade ability activates!  Hotaru Tomoe's Flash ability activates!

 <Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (6)] has posed.

UPON THE PLAYGROUND

The second robonoid doesn't really go down to any single opponent; it is swarmed, and sworded, tonfa'd, shielded and sheathed unto parts. As it clicks its last, it explodes... into MORE GOOP.

These things are the worst.

But, at least, there's only the one left.

BEYOND THE SEA

Amethyst does manage to catch their robonoid with her whip, but unlike Garnet's success with electricity, this one seems all but immune to her energy. How unfair. It may make her feel slightly better that the larger Gem comes in at just that moment to massively drag... into the ocean. Sinks like a rock. Which she is.

Pearl has been on the edge of losing it this whole time, and her flat-line lips start to quiver when she realizes that the thing is still alive after she, Amethyst ''and'' Garnet have all come for it. It finally gets through her defense, swatting away her spear, which vanishes into the waves. A second later it swats her, too, and she goes flying in a gorgeous parabolic arc.

And hits the rocks on the beach real hard. Dust goes up in a cloud.

Fortunately, like Amethyst, she can take a hit. Rising out of the Pearl-shape crevasse she's just been forced to create, all the stress she's been grappling with roars to the surface. Trembling from the tip of her shoes to the tip of her nose, she summons two more spears and charges.

"Not again!" She throws the first spear and it goes soaring past harmlessly. Right now she doesn't seem to be doing too much aiming. It is questionable if she can see the robot past the haze of five thousand years of PTSD, really. "Never again!" The second spear splashes into the ocean.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--!!"

She lowers her head and accelerates, her forehead starting to glow again.

 OOC: Please hold poses for Steven!
 
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used FROM HELL'S HEART I GOOP AT THEE on Kasagami Araki.
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used FROM HELL'S HEART I GOOP AT THEE on Fuu Hououji.
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used FROM HELL'S HEART I GOOP AT THEE on Steven Universe.
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used FROM HELL'S HEART I GOOP AT THEE on Endo Naoki.
 COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used FROM HELL'S HEART I GOOP AT THEE on Sourisi.
 COMBAT: Kasagami Araki fails to brace Hotaru Tomoe's FROM HELL'S HEART I GOOP AT THEE, taking 11 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!
 Tangle applied to Kasagami Araki!
 COMBAT: Fuu Hououji narrowly dodges Hotaru Tomoe's FROM HELL'S HEART I GOOP AT THEE, taking 9 Fatigue damage!  Fuu Hououji's Fade
 ability activates!  Fuu Hououji's Flash ability activates!
 COMBAT: Endo Naoki fails to brace Hotaru Tomoe's FROM HELL'S HEART I GOOP AT THEE, taking 9 Fatigue damage!  Tangle applied to
 Endo Naoki!
 COMBAT: Sourisi narrowly dodges Hotaru Tomoe's FROM HELL'S HEART I GOOP AT THEE, taking 8 Fatigue damage!  Sourisi's Fade ability
 activates!  Sourisi's Flash ability activates!  Tangle applied to Sourisi!
 COMBAT: Steven Universe narrowly braces Hotaru Tomoe's FROM HELL'S HEART I GOOP AT THEE, taking 4 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!
 Steven Universe's Block ability activates!  Steven Universe's Parry ability activates!  Tangle applied to Steven Universe!

 <Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

The team's efforts are met with success, as the playground menace robonoid explodes into nasty substances foreign and clothes-staining. "Good job guys!" Steven belts, as he shakes some of that gross stuff off, and looks back to the Temple beaches. "We gotta help them!" he says, taking off down the playground.

Just what did the want? Was it the Warp Pad? Why to they just keep coming? These thoughts play in Steven's head as he runs forth to the last fray, skidding to a halt just outside direct combat.

"Wait, stop!" he says, flailing his hands about, trying to get everyone's attention. How many more of these things are we gonna have to fight? Will this just keep going on forever?!" He is getting a little fed of of these orbs. But maybe there is a way around this!

"I have an idea! Just don't bust it up!"

Hopefully he isn't too late to stop that as well. Some people do need a stress ball from time to time. These work out pretty well, though they always make more.

 <Pose Tracker> Amethyst [None] has posed.

Those things won't stop! What is with them? Amethyst is starting to see Pearl's frustrations with them - at least that's what Amethyst thinks. Well, sh's not going to let this thing get away, she's going to bust it up.

	 "Just don't bust it up!"

	 Thanks, Steven... "What? Why not? These things are getting on my nerves! Can I at least kick it a little more?" She demonstrates with a weak kick at the orb-shaped robot.

 <Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Well, if Steven thinks he has an idea of how to stop these things for the long term, the Wind Knight isn't going to stand in his way. She *does*, however, head along behind him, down to the shore or however far he's going - not to get in Steven's way, but to see what he's got in mind, at the very least. And ...

"If you need our help for this, Steven-san, just say what you need the rest of us to do."

... to lend whatever help she can. Even if there's nothing she can do directly, she *does* trust young Steven's judgment on this. If nothing else, he's probably got a better handle on these things than she does.

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

Endo once more finds himself covered in goop, his efforts to defend himself working out roughly as well as they did last time. "Aaa, why do they keep doing that!?"

When he rolls to his feet again he begins to trudge over toward the beach and the remaining creature in the water. His eyes move to Pearl with concern, and then to Steven when the boy makes his request. "Really? Are you sure?" There's a note of confusion there, but he nods his head sharply, "Okay, Steven-san. Go for it!"

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


Kasagami Araki finally gives a somewhat normal smile as the robonoid is finally pounded out of existance by their combined force. She gives herself a self-satisfied nod. Not quite the thrashing she wanted to give the thing, but she seems at least somewhat distracted from her heartache.

And then the thing explodes, and her world is goop. Sploot! This time, she just vaguely shoves off some of the goop from her eyes so she can actually see. While dripping. Siiiigh.

She really wants a shower right about now. A thumbs up to Steven. "Sure. Let's go with that, Steve-kun." Kassie sounds just a little deflated. She was not prepared for this sticky horror.

 <Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.

"We can't fight these things forever. Well... we can, but I don't want to." Garnet says with a resigned sigh, having walked back up to the beach from the water There are still pieces of kelp sticking to her from the last dissolving pieces of the goop, and a crab has perched itself, confused, on her shoulder. She gently picks it up and puts it down on the ground.

"Let's do it Steven's way." she concludes, decisively.

 <Pose Tracker> Sourisi [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

Considering how much the plug robonoids love goop, it doesn't really surprised Sourisi when this one explodes into a fountain of the stuff. She manages to avoid the worst of the goop by taking cover behind a park bench, though she was looking like a polka-dotted mouse at this point. "Ugh...it's in my hair." But she remembered just how bad it could be as she looks over at Kasagami, and gave a quick smile. She has a feeling the Duelist was going to be furious after they were done today.

Before she could ask Steven what exactly these things are, since he and Endoooooough seem to have the most experience with these orbs, he runs off to the beach. Chasing after him, she catches sight of the rather one-sided battle between the three women there, and almost charges ahead to help splat this orb as well until Steven catches her attention and making her slide to a stop.

The mouse girl flashes Steven a grin, and gives him a thumbs up, mimicing Garnet from earlier. "Got it! Time to tame a...marble? That is weird, thinking about it oout loud."

 <Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (6)] has posed.

Pearl slows her rush into a clumsy cartwheel of flailing limbs, all but jackknifing to avoid the robonoid, a confusing action she would not have ever expected to perform. But Steven said so, and Garnet too, and...

She looks over at the robonoid. It doesn't seem to know what to do with this moment of quiet, either; it hovers in the air, uncertainly going in all directions at once, which is to say none.

There is definitely an opportunity here for Steven to climb aboard. It's quite a large marble. There's space for everyone.

 <Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

"Thanks for the support, everyone," Steven responds with first. He figured someone would want to continue beating them doun. Well, besides Amethyst. "Ah, sure Amethyst, just uh, don't damage it!" The boy pauses for a second to make sure everyone is okay. Thankfully, it seems so.

"Well, the big problem is, we don't know a lot about this thing! But that is okay! Not knowing anything is like, my whole life!"

Steven looks to everyone. "But! I have the Crystam Gems to teach me secret Gem stuff, Connie is there to tell me about Familiars, and Dad tells me weird dad stories. And you guys tell me all sorts of neat stuff about magic and schools! But you know who does know about this orb guy? It does!" he states, pointing at the robonoid.

"Let's follow it and see where it goes! We will follow, the funky flooooow~!" He says, waving his arms like a slowly crashing wave. With that, he climbs aboard the robonoid, ready for adventure! "Yeah!"

 <Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

For a moment (even if a brief one), the Magic Knight of Wind looks skeptical ... but she *did* offer her help, she *did* choose to trust Steven's judgment, and if she backs out now then it's worse than if she hadn't supported him to start with. Besides, when you get right down to it? She *does* trust Steven's judgment, innocent as he may be, even naive at points.

So she climbs up onto the robonoid as well. Her sword was allowed to disappear while she was on the way from park to beach, and she remains weaponless at this point - if the remaining robonoid continues to cooperate, she won't need a weapon because there won't be any fighting.

She is, however, consciously hoping that there continues not to be anything to fight.

 <Pose Tracker> Amethyst [None] has posed.

Steven has an interesting way of getting his point across, Amethyst muses, but it certainly is a point! "Yeah sure, the funky flooow~" She mimics Steven's motion, but with more rubbery arm motions, as if they were actual waves. "Heh. Maybe this hunk of junk will lead us to something fun. Or cool. Or dangerous. And it is better than fighting an endless number of these guys."

After all, that would just be boring and repetitive. Maybe there's a giant one to fight. But... better not tell Steven or the others, it might scare them. Amethyst chuckles, seemingly out of nowhere.

 <Pose Tracker> Sourisi [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

Looking back and forth between Steven, the orb, which she thought was having a crisis because it wasn't being attacked, and the rest of their improptu group, she wonders if this was the right thing to do. Just following after one of these marbles and seeing what it does seemed like a bad idea, but if Steven thought it would work...

"Well, i'm sure everything will work out. If we find out where it is going to go, maybe we can put a stop to it there? I hate to imagine if more of these things, and in more numbers. I mean, can you image it? Tokyo Bay covered in goo? Now that's not a story I want in the news!"

Clipping her tonfa out of the way, Sourisi jumps onto one of the legs, then up onto the top of the orb itself. She was still trying to scrape off the last of the goop off her torso, with limited luck.

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

Endo tilts his head slightly, his gaze turning toward the rest of the gathered magical warriors. "Inside?" He gives that some thought, and then rolls his shoulders. "Well, if you think that's a good idea."

And then he too moves to scramble up and into the orb. He has to squeeze Stern in--which is almost like a whole other person--but he manages. "Aaah...I guess we're going to space again."

 <Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.

Garnet nods to Steven and the others, and hops on as well, keeping a grip on Steven, in case they need to suddenly exit their mysterious and unpredictable "steed". She hopes Endo is wrong about their going to space, but hides that reaction.

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


Kasagami peers at their means of conveyance. Quite a bit distrustfully actually! But with one more peer at Steven, she simply hops on and sheaths her sword. She tries to keep a little distance from the others, mostly as to not get any blue and metal on people. Ugh.

"I know this is weird coming from me, but...this feels like a bad idea."

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

Endo tilts his head slightly, his gaze turning toward the rest of the gathered magical warriors. "We have to go on it?" He gives that some thought, and then rolls his shoulders. "Well, if you think that's a good idea."

And then he too moves to scramble up and atop the orb. "Aaah...I guess we're going to space again."

 <Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (6)] has posed.

There isn't ''that'' much space, everyone really has to cram on, but once they're out of whatever passes for the robonoid's 'line of sight' it seems to forget that they're there. It twitches restlessly, and then sets off, something between hobby-horse and gondola.

The funky flow of the sphere leads it to stretch its legs back out and wobble into the Temple. This is not ideal -- weighed down by a double handful of riders, its steps leave some heavy marks in the wood of the external house.

But in short order it winds up on the glistening warp pad, which to the uninitiated is a wide dais composed of a single massive faceted gem. It is not a normal thing to see in a shack by the sea. (There are other points of interest, but there isn't a lot of time to sight-see.)

It skitters (Q: can something this big skitter? A: yes) onto the pad, squats down its legs as though bracing itself, and then--

*WARP*

A beam of light crashes upwards, taking everyone along with it. The trip is extremely short and extremely weird; there is at once a sense of great speed but no acceleration. It's like floating.

They all land on a matching pad, still riding the robonoid, somewhere... else.

Amethyst has to content herself with one out of three: it is not fun or cool, but it is dangerous.

Pearl's eyes widen to saucers. "It's taken us to the ''Prime Kindergarden''?" She looks over at Steven, starting to draw another spear straight out of her own forehead's Gem. It hasn't fully materializes yet, though, just a glowing white hilt in her palm. "Doesn't it ''know'' that this place would destroy all life on Earth if it were used? Steven..."

The Prime Kindergarden, as Pearl names it, is a lifeless gray canyon. Nothing grows, not even tufts of grass or tumbleweed. Ominous holes line the cliffs, like upright graves, and here and there are other robots, both like and unlike the sphere. They lack its sinuous design; also its ability to move. They're as devoid of life as everything else here, but the sharp points of their legs, and the drill-like piece between that tripod are ominous, indeed.

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


Skitter! Onto the pad they go, and...zoom! Good news? During the odd speedy non-accelerated trip, Kasagami has managed to get enough robonoid phlegm off of herself that she's not a danger to othres. The bad news?

The sight of the Prime Kindergarden, and most importantly Pearl's suggestion it could wipe EArth of life, does not help her mood any. Lifeless desolation goes against every bit of passion, dreams, and love in her heart. Her hands grip her sword hard. Leather of her gloves creak.

"...Disgusting." Growls out Kassie lowly to herself. Immediately, she decides she hates this place with all of her soul.

 <Pose Tracker> Sourisi [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

While Sourisi has seen the outside of the shack before, the interior of the shack, from what little she could see, was in great condition and lived it, giving it a true sense of home to the magical girl. Having to duck a little to avoid a light fixture, she stares at the warp pad when it becomes obvious that this was the marble's destination. Raising an eyebrow, she turns to ask 'Garnet' why there was a giant gem here when a beam of light fires heavensward, taking them along with the orb.

Once they reappeared upon another dais, Sourisi wondered if she should or shouldn't feel sick to her stomach by the teleportation before staring at their surroundings with an omnious lump setting in her stomach. The 'Prime Kindergarden', as 'Pearl' calls it, brings to mind a sort of magical royal daycare, but this place... "Just where on earth are we? I don't know about anyone else, but i'm getting a feeling that this is a Bad Place."

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

Endo does his best to stay atop the thing as it skitters along, trying to maintain his balance and keep an eye on his surroundings at the same time. The temple is a new place to him, so he gets a quick eyeful before the sphere activates the warp sphere.

When Endo opens his eyes again he gives his head a sharp shake, asking, "Waa, what was that?" And, more importantly: "Kindergarden?" It doesn't look like much of one to him, and he eyes the lifeless robots and gray canyon walls warily. "How does it destroy earth?"

 <Pose Tracker> Amethyst [None] has posed.

The Prime Kindergarten. Of all the places it could've brought Amethyst and her friends, it had to bring her here. "Welcome home," she mutters under her breath, eyes clouded in gloom. "Yes... it is a Bad Place. A VERY bad Bad Place." She puts on a fake smile and gestures. "Want me to show you around?" she asks with false cheer. "I can show you all the sites. Giant Earth-killing robots, the lifeless rocks, oh- and the hole I came from! Won't that be fun?" She then drops the act. "But if there are robots here that aren't broken... anything going on here NOW is serious bad news."

 <Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

"Mush! Woohoo!" Steven exclaims, once everyone is aboard. "Don't worry Kasagami! It'll be fine!" he states, trying to reassure her. Huh. Normally isn't thatt the other way around? Mm. Ah well. A big grin is on his face as the orb teeters to and fro, trying to retain balance. "He's going toward the Warp!" he says, somewhat expected. The one on Mask Island sure did seem like it was beelining for a Warp Pad.

Oh man. "Dad wont be happy about those patio boards," he adds in. The warp is rather fun as it always is, though some may not know the sudden intense feeling of both moving and not moving at once.

They land somewhere that looks like it belongs in a horror film. One of those eerie, silent locations where bad things happen. "Wait!" he says toward pearl putting out his hands to try and stop her from drawing her weapon. "We don't even know why it is here yet! Can't we see where it goes?!" Admittedly he is unsure as well being in this kind of place. "Maybe it is here to see where Amethyst was made?" he adds in out of curiosity.

"I dunno, I can still feel his funky flow. He is a funkmaster!" he says, patting the robot. This is rather fun, though the atmosphere sure killed it. He first looks to Sourisi. "The best way to put it is, this is why the Crystal Gems do what we do! To keep this from happening." he says, motioning to one of the walls peppered with strange holes.

Next is Endo. "I don't fully know, but I know it involves those giant inactive machines. But nothing ever grows here anymore. Whatever they did, they caused that to happen." Steven appears to be missing bits of the story himself, though he has enough to help people put some pieces together. A look is given to Kasagami. Her hatred of a place liek this makes sense. No one present should like it in any way. Though it did do one tiny iota of good-- it made Amethyst. Still, it is no way to treat the land.

 <Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

"'Prime Kindergarden'?" the Wind Knight echoes, while she's waiting for her stomach to catch up with the rest of her post-Warp. It's actually *more* disorienting now than it was when Steven took a few of them on that tour of the Warp Pad network, but ... arguably never mind that now.

Because despite the relatively innocent name Pearl mentioned, either this is not remotely like the kindergartens that Fuu knows of in present-day Japan, or the 'children' who grow up here are something far worse - far more dangerous - than the robonoids. At least to judge by Pearl's own reaction.

"Pearl-san, Amethyst-san, Garnet-san," the Wind Knight says quietly as their 'steed' continues on its way. "If this is a 'kindergarten' of some kind ... what is it you haven't told us? If this place - if a 'kindergarten' - is so dangerous to Earth and all its living things ..."

She falls silent again, not sure she *wants* to know what the Crystal Gems haven't told their allies. What they might not even have told Steven, for all the Wind Knight knows.

 <Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.

Garnet looks alarmed at where they've arrived, as though recognizing it immediately, but unlike Pearl she doesn't comment anything audibly. Under any other circumstance Garnet might've shot Pearl a very Stern Look for speaking so casually of things, but even Garnet is surprised to see that this is where they've arrived. A barrage of questions come her way, but much like at Lapis'tower, Garnet offers no clear answers of her own volition.

She tenses internally when Amethyst picks up Pearl's thread of conversation, forever preventing Pearl's words from being forgotten simply as an odd curiousity whispered in passing anxiety by one of Steven's more distant caretakers.

Steven is surprisingly a bit more reserved and less anxiety provoking in his answers to the group, which she appreciates greatly. She however offers one statement spoken perhaps to the benefit of those asking, but perhaps instead to reassure herself.

"It doesn't. Nothing that is or was here can destroy anything. Not anymore." She speaks to the past, and perhaps to the present.

She seems very distracted. Their arrival here and the questions of all have put an immense pressure on her that she didn't anticipate, and she's now focusing on the Robonoid situation very carefully, looking at the machine and their trajectory as it moves. Perhaps she's waiting for some perfect moment when its intentions are made clear enough that she can destroy it, bringing whatever dangers it poses to a sudden and satisfying end.

[[2017-11-18 - Marble Madness 2|TO BE CONTINUED...]]

[[Category:Logs]]