A little less than an hour had passed, and Motoko and Tsuruko had managed to make their way to the shrine, discovering, to their chagrin, that they had indeed been headed to a similar area as the pair they'd been tailing, as the redhead and the purple haired woman strolled casually under the torii, and into the shrine. The two sisters paused as they decided what to do next, waiting near the entrance steps...
***
A quick Taxi ride later, and Rei and Minako were disgorged a little ways down the street from the shrine, though in full view if the stairs. They ALSO could see two women near the bottom, both obviously related, and Minako found them distinctly familiar...
***
Also a short time later, Swordfish soared over the city, no one apparently noting their passage, and looking for a place to land.
Asuna looked out the window and frowned. "I don't come here often enough...I wonder why the military is moving through the city?"
Carthrat inserts some of her rapidly dwindling funds into the payphone, quickly dialing Nenene's number..
"Nenene-san! It's me, Carthrat! Have you had any luck so far?"
"Wha-Oh, you. Yeah, the Aino girl called me a little while ago...she was coming out to meet you. Haven't seen her yet?" the voice over the phone responded.
"No," replies Carthrat, glancing at her watch. "Look, it's been a while and I havn't seen her. Did she tell you where the shrine was, exactly?"
"No...You haven't found it yet?" Nenene replied, somewhat incredulously. "Well, it shouldn't be too hard, Shrines are usually on the most elevated ground in the area."
Taking a look at the group in front of her, Ryder's mind raced to try and remember who they were...
Damnit! I know I've seen them... Grr, I really wish I hadn't have waned in my otakudom... That's it, I'm hitting the DVDs when I get back... If I get back...
Through all of her internal monolouge, all she really did was wait for Rei...
Tsuruko frowned, trying to not shift nervously as she and Motoko paused.
"Alright...they're either friends or foes, I doubt the former..." she murmured, slipping the sword bag from her shoulder into her left hand. "We could go past them, and try saying something that a friend would catch...if we can, we should just try to hurry away if they don't react, until Bean's operational..."
OOC:May! (Will keep these labeled until everyone meets, for Sanity's sake)
IC:
Motoko frowned. "There IS a problem, though." she observed. "This Shrine only has a miko, and Nako-chan is very young. If they threaten her or her mother..." She let the statement trail off a bit, but her expression made it clear that she considered leaving the girl to her own devices unacceptable.
She hesitated, listening to the approaching traffic noises, which were growing abnormally loud. "Something's wrong..."
OOC: Ryder!
IC:
Rei paid the taxi and waved him off, then stopped short as she saw Minako staring at the two women by the steps. "Friends of yours?"
OOC: Ryder!
IC: Rei's comments shaking Ryder out of her daze, the displaced otaku smiled and replied, "Not really... They just looked REALLY familiar, if y'know what I mean."
"Right. Look, you try and get down here as soon as you can, too. I have a feeling we'll need all the help we can get..
Lates, anyhow. Gotta run, and all."
Carthrat hangs up the phone, and glances around, looking for something so conveniant as a map, or, failing that, asking nearby pedestrians if they know where a local shrine is until one answers properly..
OOC: Carthrat!
IC: A far off rumbling finally grew almost intolerably loud to Ritsuko, as the first of two armoured personnel vehicles rolled down the street, heading north from her position...
"What the.."
Taken aback by the presence of military vehicles in freaking suburban Tokyo, Carthrat waits a moment until the vehicles are out of sight.
Um, lesse.. Japan.. military.. ah, yeah, JSSDF. Right. Isn't, that, like, supposed to respond to threats or something? Feh. Better run.
She goes for a jog north, figuring it has to be somewhat important to call in the awesome military might of Japan..
OOC: Ryder!
IC:
Rei nodded. "Right. Well, come on...let's go in." She replied, beckoning to Minako. "The sooned we get this over with, the sooner I can go back to school...
That said, she began walking to the shrine steps...
OOC: Carthrat!
IC:
Upon further examination of the armored vehicles, Ritsuko could JUST make out the lack of a military insigna, and a strange looking, blue half pentagon, with words inside it, and a half globe attached to the other side, where the military symbols SHOULD have been...
OOC: Ryder~!
IC: Following behind Rei, Ryder continued to examine the girls at the feet of the shrine, trying to remember who they were...
Damnit... Damnit... Damnit... Who in the bloody hell are they!
Carthrat scratches her head, not recognizing the weird symbol on the vehicles.
No time to really work it out, either. A pity she didn't have any way to get to her tank; she had a feeling it might have come in handy around about now.
No matter. Gotta hurry, gotta hurry..
She continues to go after the vehicles, keeping her eyes and ears out for any other totally weird happenings while keeping to the side streets and generally looking normal.
OOC: May
IC: Tsuruko nodded, sighing. "Argh...I don't know where the statue or the miko are in this temple...do you have any idea which statue it would be, where that is, or anything else that'd let me find them on my own while you go talk to Nako-san?" she asked, frowning.
OOC: May!
IC:
Motoko shook her head slowly. "I don't really know this place very well." She admitted. "We'd have to ask..." Motoko paused as she noted two girls approaching the shrine, and narrowed her eyes.
OOC: Ryder!
IC:
Minako as Minako racked her brain, she got a better look. The two girls were related, obviously, close enough to be sisters. one was dressed Samurai style, in a white gi and red hakama, the other in casual clothes that seemed to suit her, but at the same time, they didn't.
OOC: May
IC:
Tsuruko nodded, frowning and tapping her foot against the ground. "Well...you go ask Nako-san while I follow these two?" she asked softly, smiling.
OOC: Ryder!
IC: The better look she got of the pair did little to HELP Ryder decipher thier identities... All it did was fustrate her further.
Damnit... Who the hell are they... I know them from something recent I watched...
None of her fustration was visible, as she offhandedly asked Rei, "Rei-chan, you know them?"
OOC: Ryder!
IC:
Rei shrugged, and frowned. "No...they're both spiritually powerful...and judging by their swords, they're martial artists...I wonder if they're here for the same reason we are?"
OOC: Ryder!
IC: With a bit of a smile on her face, Ryder replied, "Must be... It's weird, I just can't shake the feeling I've seen them before..."
Feeling? I KNOW I've seen them before... Think baka think, think baka think!
And all this time, while racking her brain, she's moving closer...
OOC: May!
IC:
Motoko frowned. "Ane-ue, is that wise? They're potentially hostile..."
OOC: Ryder!
IC: With her small smile still shown, Ryder finally approachs the pair of sisters...
"Ano... You guys here for the temple?"
Well gee, THAT was smart of you...
Tsuruko blinked at Minako, her frown lightening slightly. "Yep...we're here to pick up a friend of mine," she answered, smiling.
Okay...how to figure out a) Who got Minako, and b) How to clue them in...
OOC: >.>;
IC: Ginn looked for the big landmark that is the airport in Japan, or at least some flat place to land.
"Hey, you guys know where the airport here is? I think it was called Narita or something like that?"
"I wouldn't have a clue," Kwok admitted. "I've never been to Tokyo or know what's there."
"What about you?" he asked, looking at Asuna.
With a small grin on her face as well, Ryder replied, "That's nice... I'm being dragged here by my friend Rei..."
It's on the corner of my mind... I know this girl...
May laughed softly, because she tended to do that at almost everything. "Mmm...I don't suppose you've talked to anyone today with strange names? Um...Carthrat, Cy maybe, or Ryder-jisan?" she asked, smiling.
Okay, THAT was blatant, then again, you're trying to blare your identity like there is no tomorrow. Subtley.
Although Ryder played a character that had little trouble keeping his emotions in check, the real one had a problem with doing that. And so, it was not very surprising that Ryder's eyes widened big time at that statement...
"Yeah, I know a Rat... Friend of mine online, she's in town and I'm meeting up with her later. Who are you?"
Hmm... Ryder-jisan... Wait a tic... MAY!
Thankfully for her cover, Ryder kept from blurting THAT bit of info out...
Tsuruko blinked, her smile widening as she nodded. That's absolute confirmation...
"My name's Mayumi, Rat calls me May for short online. Most people do."
Curiously, she glanced at Rei, not saying anything, though.
OOC: Kwok 'n Ginn!
IC:
Asuna nodded, pointing to the edge of the city. "Just out there, I think." she offered. "I don't come here regularly, but..."
The sight of a plane coming in for a landing off in the distance caught her eye. "You could follow that one..." she suggested. "But...wouldn't a park or something be better? I don't think you could hide this at an airport..."
"May-chan! Why didn't you tell me you were in town! I would have gotten Rat to meet up with both of us!" Ryder replied with a wink, giving the girl a hug...
And while that hug was being given, Ryder whispered in her ear, "l337 cor commander"
OOC: Ryder'n May!
IC:
Rei bowed as Tsuruko introduced herself. "Hino Rei. I'm a miko at a temple close by...We came because of reports of a demon posessing this shrine. Is that why you're here?" She asked Tsuruko curiously.
Tsuruko returned the hug, giggling and nodding. "Mmm, gomen, Mina-chan. I was visiting my imouto," Tsuruko gestured towards Motoko, "for only a short bit, but then I heard about 'your' imouto and the problems here, and I just had to come help..." she answered, smirking softly.
Alright...you can calm down a little now...
Tsuruko blinked at Rei, smiling. "Things may be slightly different than what you were told, Hino-san. But in a general way, yes, we're here about an attempt at posession."
Ryder's smile faded into a more confused look as she asked, "Imouto-chan? What's wrong with her?"
She then gave Tsuruko a look that kinda said, "Bean's in there?" before looking at the temple.
OOC: Ryder 'n May!
Rei gave Minako a puzzled look. "You have a sister, Minako-chan?" she asked curiously.
At that moment, Motoko hurried out past the torii and down the steps toward them with a worried look...
Tsuruko returned Ryder's look, an expression of anxious worry crossing her face in a definitive Yes.
Taking a deep breath, and recomposing herself, she addressed Rei. "It's a net thing, Hino-san, gomen," she answered, glancing behind her on reflex as she heard steps...
Ryder smiled, a bit more warily but not noticable unless you're looking and added, "Yeah... I have a character on this game, and my friend plays my little sister."
In the corner of her eye, Ryder caught Motoko rushing down the steps...
OOC: Ryder'n May!
IC:
Rei nodded in enlightenment, and blinked as Motoko hurried over to the group.
Motoko, for her part, looked very disturbed. "Ane-ue...those girls aren't the only ones here. There's a miko talking to Nako-chan's mother that gives off a demonic aura, and I could feel the presence of at least two more in hiding...
Off in the distance, the rumble of VERY large trucks could be heard...
Tsuruko frowned, unzipping her sword bag, and removing her sheathed katana, reshouldering the bag in a way that would allow her to freely use ehr body. "Alright, this is gonna get messy..." she murmured, tapping the ball of ehr foot on the stone.
"Alright, here's the plan. Rei and Motoko, take that demon out, you're the most profficient in that department. I'll try to cover your rears against the hidden opponents...R-Mina-chan, are you combat effective?" she asked quickly, her attitude making it clear she was not in the mood for arguing with either of her miko companions.
And with that, Minako began to swear... quite loudly and expressively... in English. (The contents of such a swear will not be repeated so we can keep a PG-13 rating on this game...)
However, one meaningful thing came about as she was swearing like a sailor... She let Artemis go and told him, in betwen "**CKs" to "Go hide..."
OOC: Ryder 'n May!
Rei fumed for a minute, then shrugged, deferring to the older woman. Motoko glanced at the other girl, and nodded to Tsuruko. "If we can get Nako-chan to tell us where the statue is, we might be able to free...uhm, your friend from under their noses..."
Artemis nodded quickly, dashing off into the bushes as his mistress had instructed...
Tsuruko took a deep breath, her fingers twitching. "Rei, I'm well aware of your abilities as a senshi, use them, I'll explain how in the hell I know AFTER we deal with this," she went on, glancing around. "Motoko takes point, Rei is tactical support. If possible, Mina, do the same for me, I might need it. Everyone good to go?"
Tsuruko, despite her worried tone of voice and fidgeting, was grinning like a cat in a fish market.
Ryder swore a bit more in English, and finally switched back to Japanese by saying, while still trying to stay in Minako's character, "Wait a minute... You know??"
OOC: Ryder'n May!
IC:
Motoko looked to Rei, who looked back, clearly unsettled by Tsuruko, and the taller girl shrugged, drawing her sword. Rei still looked hesitant, though.
It was at that point that something exploded, and a reverbrating BOOM echoed over the streets.
It was impossible to tell what, exactly, save for that it was from inside the shrine, and fairly contained, though smoke WAS beginning to curl up into the sky already.
Rei twitched. "Well, I guess that's it...MARS STAR POWER, MAKE UP!" she cried, raising a hand to the sky. Her henshin wand fell into her outstretched hand, and tongues of fire began curling around her as she spun in place, her clothes burning away to be replaced by the garb of Sailor Mars, the princess of war.
Motoko blinked, looking fairly impressed at that, then nodded to her assigned parnter. "Shall we--"
The swordswoman was interupted by a high pitched yell from inside the shrine, finally heard over the fading explosion. "--Enemies of ACROSS's regime! Fear not, Illpallazzo-sama, Excel battles valiantly, for your sake, and the sake of out new world!"
Tsuruko quickly joined Ryder in swearing, a few things about M4 silencers that didn't quit make sense working into the tirade as she drew her own sword. Trying to ignore the sheer strangeness of that call, she calmed herself. "Motoko in first, I'll be right behind you, Senshi come in after us, I'll split in the opposite direction of Motoko. Execute it NOW," she commanded, hoping she wasn't making a total idiot of herself, and following Motoko if she ran...
They were lucky... Ryder had the henshin pen out, and wasn't about to let Excel Excel, no matter how much she wanted to facefault, stop her...
"VENUS STAR POWER... MAKE UP!" she screamed as the almost hentai-like transformation washed over her. The lights formed the orange and while Sailor Venus outfit, and breaking sacred genre, skipped the pose to get into battle position...
"MAY, SHE BETTER NOT HAVE WILL, OR WE'RE SCREWED!!!" she screamed out, unintentionally breaking in wrestling is called 'kayfabe'...
OOC: Ryder'n May!
IC:
Motoko nodded quickly, and sprinted up the steps to the shrine at a dead run, her sword at the ready...
Rei glanced at Minako with a grim look. "So much for getting finished before lunch is over..." she sighed.
Tsuruko bolted after Motoko an instant later like she'd planned, waiting to see which direction Motoko went inside the shrine to turn the other way, and visually sweep for targets...
Ryder nodded to Rei and replied, "Yeah... I'm sure that you'll figure something out... Come on!"
And with that, she bolted up the steps behind Tsuruko...
OOC: Carthrat!
IC:
Ritsuko, after some time of following the slow moving trucks, noted that they were rapidly closing in on the tall pillars of a Japanese torii, for a shrine...
Ritsuko broke off directly following the trucks, skittering around in order to try and find an alternate route to the great pillars of the ancient shrine.
Oh-kay.. stealth is the issue here, Carthrat. Let's try and get in and work out what to do from there.
But remember, brain! Time is an issue! So let us do it *quickly*.
Carthrat accelerated her pace to a run..
OOC: Carhtrat!
IC:
Good fortune seemed to be on her side. Ritsuko managed to locate a network of alleyways in the buildings in the area that allowed her a clear view of their exits, and a few minutes of running, (In which the long skirt didn't help much, thank GOD Yomiko didn't have a taste for heels.) She saw an alley that emptied out right in front of the shrine...
Taking a moment before going in, Carthrat yanks out her knife and uses it to tear off a portion of the skirt, reducing it to a slightly more managable and less awkward size. Admittedly, it did make her look like a total slut (the ripped part ripped a little *too* much in one spot), but modesty was a price she was willing to pay for added mobility.
She slowed herself down when she approached the alleyway that lead into the shrine, making sure she could stay hidden while getting a good view of the area..
OOC: Carthrat!
IC:
The APCs were JUST turning the corner to the street the shrine was on when Ritsuko stuck her head out of the alley. Other than the approaching Vehicles, the street was deserted...
Ritsuko darts to some nearby vegetation, hoping the APC's don't see her. From there, she tries moving through the bushes until she has a clear run at the shrine, should she wish to enter, yet can still effectively survey the movements of the APCs.
OOC: Carthrat!
IC:
Fortunately, the shrine had no fences, the foliage serving as a natural border. The way was free and clear for Ritsuko to sneak in, and she had a mostly clear view of the approaching APCs, though now the sounds of combat from inside the shrine were clearly audible to her...
Ritsuko eyes the APC's apprehensively, but her eyes also strayed towards the entrance to the shrine.
It seemed clear to her that there was fighting within the shrine, probably involving her similarily displaced companions. However, she also surmized that they may not know of the armoured vehicles that had arrived. She, personally, had no real way of knowing if they were friend or foe.
Instead of simply rushing in to assit her allies, she decided to continue hiding where she was. If the APC's turned out to be enemies, it would be better if she ambushed them rather than they ambushed her friends.
If they turned out to be friendly, that would be another matter..
OOC: Ryder n' May! Back to the action!
IC:
Motoko snapped up instantly, obeying Tsuruko's order, and dashed though the torii, making a beeline for the house. On following her sister, Tsuruko came to the courtyard, and in the small clearing in front of what looked like a storage shed, the strawberry blonde girl she'd seen heading into the house, was shaking her companion, who'd gone limp, and blood was oozing from her mouth in copious amounts.
"Hatchan, you really need to stop keeling over dead at moments like these. It's REALLY inconvienient!"
Facing the pair, and looking angry (And slightly charred) was a boy with almost ridiculously spiky hair dressed in ninja garb, wearing a tekka on one arm, and flames curling around his hand.
Beside him was a woman with teal colored hair, half held off her face by an orange headband, and strangely, she wore ball earrings to match, and a grim expression, dressed in a blue uniform of some kind, and holding a snubnosed little gun that didn't look like anything currently on the market.
Rounding out the little group was what looked to be a teenage girl, dressed in a seifuku, with long pink hair, and an innocent expression...the only offsetting part of her appearance were a pair of robotic antenna, that resembled nothing so much as cat ears when added to the entire look.
The puzzling part was, that to Tsuruko, the boy and the woman were looking at the pink-haired girl with as much wariness as they were giving the one shaking what appeared to be a corpse...
OOC: Ryder, you can desribe your own entry here, as I'm not writing this twice. Assume Rei follows you in. >_>
Ryder (and Rei), dashed into the courtyard, and of course Ryder stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Excel shaking Hyatt.
"Oh Kami, why did it have to be her? Didn't my ears deal with enough pain listening to her on TV? Why does it have to be live?" she muttered, of course, in English... since, y'know, she's still trying to keep from being discovered...
OOC: O__O;;;
IC: "So yeah, park seems good."
Ginn looked for a park.
OOC: What? >_>;;
Kwok 'n Ginn!
IC:
There are assorted patches of land all over the immediate area. Three seem the most ideal. One is a fair distance away, and really stands out because one corner of the park is covered in random scraps of white, fluttering around.
Ther other patch of green between the buildings is dominated by a Shinto shrine, though there MIGHT be enough ground to land, but the fact that smoke seems to be curling up from it would be a slight deterrent.
There is also a third small park, well populated by trees, but has a large clear area that Spike is pretty sure he can land in. Best of all, it's quite close to the apparent activity, should they wish to investigate...
"I say we check out the one with the scraps of paper. What do you two think?"
Kwok shrugged.
"You're the one flying the plane," he replied.
OOC: Kwok'n Ginn!
IC:
Asuna nodded in agreement with Negi. "Fine by me..."
OOC: Carthrat!
IC:
Ritsuko's spying took note of a few things. First off, the APC's weren't exactly full. The first, in fact, disgorged exactly two 'soldiers', both in their middle teens, by the looks of things.
One was a boy, dressed in a typical stiff-collared school uniform, and a girl following, dressed in a seifuku, and with a bright yellow ribbon serving as a hairband, both bolting for the steps, the girl carrying a bow, and with a small quiver strapped to her leg, while the boy carried a bokken.
The other APC didn't eject any passenges at all. Instead, two armed guards got out, and began flipping switches, causing the vehicle to seemingly fall apart, Transforming into something entirely different, and yet...it was impossible to tell what it was...
While the soldiers are busy with their machinery, and after the two kids have bolted inside, Carthrat takes the opportunity to quickly dash across to the temple and sneak in after them, carefully trying to stay out of sight and *silent*.
"Ok!"
Ginn steers the plane towards the site mentioned and attempts to land it.
OOC: Kwok'n Ginn!
IC:
Swordfish banked hard and dropped low, rapidly approaching the park and the still fluttering papers...
OOC: ^^;; Alright, Booting you all over to the other thread!
No way she's one of us... Motoko thought as she angled towrds the strawberry blonde with the entirely too loud voice. She tried to curve her dash a bit, attacking from behind with her katana in a slash upwards along Excel's right side.
OOC: Carthrat!
IC:
Ritsuko did her best to follow the children from the military vehicles quickly and silently, but she found that moving through the brush silently in what was now a poorly tailored miniskirt was a losing propostion. The children were rapidly outpacing her, and her only option to catch up was to move into plain sight, or resign herself to a slower pace...
Ritsuko resigns herself to a slower pace, thinking that she should be able to catch up as soon as she's done with the underbrush, not to mention that she has both the surprise and range advantage, anyway.
OOC: Ryder n' May! (Combat Roll for Tsuruko 2d6 and got 11)
IC:
Rei smiled quickly at Minako, and dasked off to where Motoko was slipping inside the shrine house. "Call if you need us!" She instructed the blonde, her dark hair streaming out behind her as she runs to the house.
In front of her, Minako noticed the three facing off against Excel and Hyatt have turned toward her...this is probably because Tsuruko is lunging at Excel, her sword drawn...
***
Tsuruko moved forward with speed that even shocked herself, much less her target. Excel dropped Hyatt with a startled screech, tripping over herself as she fell backward, the arcing sword depriving her of a goodly portion of her bangs, the hair fluttering to the ground as Excel frantically scurried out of the way. "Another enemy of the glorious aims of ACROSS!" She bellowed, digging into her jacket. "Prepare to be-Yikes!" She yelped, realizing the grenade she'd retrieved was without a pin, and flinging it away, in the general direction of both Minako, and the Shrine torii...
Tsuruko ignored the grenade as it was tossed away. Pulling through on the slash, she brought her katana around her body, moving forward in time with a downward diagonal slash towards Excel's left shoulder, aiming for her right hip...
Panic... That's what Ryder would usually do in this situation. A grenade about to blow her to kingdom come usually causes panic. Panic and an urge to run the hell away.
But, something held her back... Maybe it was the innocent torii... Maybe it was the thought that where she's in has value in a spiritual sense.
Actually, it was the feeling of being a Senshi within her... So, with that feeling, Ryder leaped into the air and attempted to boot the grenade away from herself, and her friends.
Can't miss... can't miss... 4 years of soccer practice... can't miss...
OOC: Ryder 'n May! Ryder combat roll: 2d6 -> 4
IC:
With a somewhat ungainly leap into the air, Minako's kick connected sharply with the grenade. While the contact reminded her that yes, grenades WERE quite hard in their pre-boom state, she managed a good, hard kick...in the direction of the house Rei and Motoko had entered.
She stumbles as she landed, her toe throbbing with pain, just in time to hear a female voice behind her. "Shun, stop staring!"
As she stumbled, the female voice behind her caused Ryder to trip and fall a bit...
Ugh... That was stupid... Forgot that I'm not great in heels...
Ryder flipped over, rubbing her foot, and screamed as loud as she could, "REI!!!! MOTOKO!!! WATCH OUT!!!!"
OOC: Ryder n' May! May's combat roll: 2d6 = 4
IC:
Tsuruko's eyes narrowed, and her sword whipped around in a gleaming arc, and this time, Excel wasn't so lucky. in one swift arc, Tsuruko's sword neatly bisected the shorter woman, and Excel toppled slowly to the ground, eliciting a gasp from the three onlookers. Her legs followed shortly thereafter.
No one had time to say anything about it, though, as as soon as the action was finished, another loud explosion rocked the shrine, the grenade ripping away a portion of the roof, and tile fragments showered the courtyard...
The two schoolchildren who had just entered through the Torii took cover behind it, staring at the scene in amazement. "Invaders...?" the girl whispered uncertainly.
"Or worse!" the boy responded. "It's a good thing we brought it...these people will be hard to stop..."
Ratsuko (now where did *that* name come from..) continues sneaking after the dynamic duo, attempting to keep out of sight,.
Explosion noises coming from somewhere are doing a wonderful job of frazzling her nerves, though, causing her to ready her pistol in apprehensive anticipation..
OOC: Carthrat!
IC:
Apparently now, Ritsuko's targets had halted, and were taking shelter behind the thick pillars of the torii, apparently shocked by whatever had happened...
Ritsuko moves as close as she can to the girl with the bow, and levels her gun at the womans head.
"Excuse my caution," she whispers, keeping emotion out her voice as much as possible. "Just what brings you two to this place?"
"OH MY GOD!!! REI!!!" Ryder screamed as she stumbled to her feet and ran off towards the wreckage...
"REI! SPEAK TO ME! CAN YOU HEAR ME!" she shouted as she hobbled as close as she could.
OOC: Ryder n' May!
IC:
There was a slight crackle, and then Minako could sense, rather than see a flare of magical energy, then a deeper, darker one, and Rei and Motoko were flung bodily from the wreckage.
Motoko seemed to reorient herself in mid flight, and landed on her feet, though sliding backward unsteadily until she finally came to a stop. Rei landed a little rougher, being tossed several feet before slowly pulling herself up.
The wreckage slid slowly away in a pile, and from the broken, tattered house, a miko emerged. She did in fact look a great deal like Rei and Motoko, with long ebony hair done up in a ponytail at the nape of her neck. However, this one carred a bow and quiver, and Rei, Minako, Motoko, and even Tsuruko, from where she stood over Excel's rapidly cooling body could sense dark power...
OOC: Carthrat!
IC:
The boy instantly wheeled around at the sound of Ritsuko's voice, and glared at her. "Put that down..." he warns, and Ritsuko can see a peculiar energy reaction beginning in his eyes. Two circles, one inside the other begin spining slowly, superimposed on his irises. "You invader sympathizers are all alike..." he growled.
The girl seemed alarmed at that, but not for herself. "Shun, wait! She doesn't know what's going on..."
Huh. I wonder what he can do.. not that I want to find out.
"Stop it," says Carthrat, flatly. "Invaders, you say? I have no wish to impede any working towards the defence of this city. I simple need to be sure.
Plainly, I would rather not harm you. There are enough enemies out there to deal with before turning on those who might be allies."
Ryder, just feeling the waves of dark power flowing off of the miko, summed up her feelings on this situation with a simple statement, in English...
"Oh Fuck"
She quickly shifted into as much of a defensive battle stance as she knew...
OOC: Carthrat
IC:
"And you're still pointing a gun a Ruripe's head." The boy replied flatly. "I'll stop when you do."
The girl now seemed less concerned with Ritsuko's gun. "I told you not to call me that!" She shrieked, blushing.
"A fair request," replies Ritsuko, taking a few steps back from the girl and letting her arm drop.
"You said before that I don't know what's going on," she continues, keeping an eye on the boy- who had *better* stop...
"I wish I had time to enlighten you to what is really happening, but judging by the noises down there, friends of mine are already fighting. I don't know what you represent, but if you seek to do good in this world, side with us, at least for now. Later, I suppose, there will be time enough for you to ask more questions."
Kikyo...
Tsuruko turned towards the three people she hadn't seen take action yet, trying to keep the rest of her team in her peripheral vision at the same time.
"And what of you three?" she asked curiously, smothering the disturbing grin on her face, and letting her katana stay at her side, but still held ready in her hand. "What exactly is your goal here?"
The teal haired woman stepped forward addressing Tsuruko in clipped tones. "We're here to deal with something fairly powerful under the shrine." she ground out, narrowing her eyes, but not commenting on the murder she's just witnessed. "We've been told to destroy it, or turn it over to Kikyo-sama to contain it."
"Dunno what they're doing," comments Ritsuko, surveying the scene. "But I'm here to rescue a friend. Then I was gonna try my hand at saving the world. Y'know, the usual. What're *you* doing here? Whatsya name? What're *your* names?" she continues, glancing at the girl and the boy.
Ritsuko dully realised she'd switched from a more pointed form of speech to something a bit more crude. Typical, really.
Keep calm, keep calm, keepcalmkeepcalmkeepcalm Tsuruko's mind raced, her fingers tightening on her katana, and anger beginning to slowly push at her resolve to stay calm.
They want to kill him, they want to kill Them, that can't, but you shouldn't, FUCKING DAMMIT.
"First of all, you've all been decieved. Second of all, if anyone so much as scratches what's under the temple, I'm going to fucking rip your damned corpse to shreds after I send you to Hell," she growled, slowly advancing. "Now, I'd suggest getting out of my way, and leaving the fucking area, before I'm forced to do something."
Carthrat's glance wanders from the sword-wielding woman to Kikyo, apprehension clear on her features.
"This Carthrat advises you to look and direct your threats at Kikyo, not him," she comments, dryly. "All of you. Take a look. She's made of clay. She's not human. You *have* been decieved."
To prove his point (and act before anyone else), Carthrat pulls up her sidearm again and fires a shot directly at the miko.
Ryder blinked...
"What the hell?" was her only verbage, this time in Japanese...
She still waited for a motion from Kikyo, but loosened herself a bit, watching everyone with a close eye.
This is like a Mexican stand off...[/i]
OOC: No more OOCs. You're all on the same ground, now.
IC:
Flame curled up around the ninja boy's hand a little brighter as he took in both statements, and began regarding -everyone- warily.
The woman who'd spoken to Tsuruko frowned, then glared at Excel's body, as though in thought.
The pink-haired girl simply looked at everyone in puzzlement, not understand what was going on...
And then the shot from Ritsuko's gun cracked through the stillness...and...missed Kikyo entirely, slamming into a wall of the damaged house.
The miko smiled tightly at the assmebled combatants. "No further attacks?" she asked, almost mockingly. "If so, I have a job to do..." So saying, she turned, and headed toward the Shrine's storage shed.
"No!" Came a weak cry from inside the house, and through the shattered wall, those nearby could see a very pretty middle-aged woman with fashonably short hair stumble toward the opening. She looked terrible, though. Several bruises were visible and forming, and there were burns on her arms. "Don't let her tak...Kurum....!" she gasped, and fainted.
Tsuruko, Ritsuko- From your vantage points, you can see the door of the shed is open a crack, and a child is peering out, obviously hiding inside...
Knowing that thier time to rest and plan was nigh, Ryder, with a little bit of hesitation in her eyes, focused on the forming the Love-Me Chain...
Come on... You can do this...
While she focused on, she screamed out, "Tsuruko, Makoto, stop her!"
Carthrat wonders if she needs glasses or something. Dammit. And she was all set to look cool, too.
Her eyes flick back and forth between the girl and the rapidly advancing Kikyo, and clutching the still-unfamiliar handgun between her hands, she lowers the sight slightly and aims at the cursed miko's legs, hoping to slow her down somewhat.
"Kikyo and her allies did that," she adds through gritted teeth, clearly talking about the wounded woman on the side.
Tsuruko wasn't listening anymore. Furiously, each node of control over her temper was being ripped apart in her mind. It was only instants, but seemed like an eternity from inside her brain, standing there, helpless to stop Kikyo from attacking Them. The loop began, the images, blood, bodies, the emotions of the moments washed over her; hate, depression, anger, bloodlust. The sight of the child only pushed her farther, until her mind relented to only one demand: Kill.
One step turned into a rush, her mind leaving the world behind to focus on her opponent, what her body did, and her sword. From somewhere inside her, something answered the demand for power, her body moving on its own as she nearly flew in for the attack.
"Rei Mei Ken."
OOC: Combat rolls! Tsuruko - 6, Ritsuko - 9
IC: With a sudden, blazing leap, Tsuruko took to the air, a sudden tenseness felt by all as static gathered around her was felt. With the grace of a raptor punging for prey, she gave a single, devastating slash with her sword, releasing the static in a massive bolt of lighting!
With an impact that left all present dazed, the lighting struck Kikyo dead on, and for a moment, all was frozen, Tsuruko in mid plunge, sword extended, and Kikyo recoiling from the blow...
And then, as though time decided to abruptly resume, the demonic miko exploded backward, as though fired from a cannon.
And then, at that moment, Ritsuko's gunshot, as though magnetized, slammed into Kikyo's thigh, tipping her off balance as she flew backward. The slender body slammed into the forest trees with the force of a missile, and in an explosion of wood chips, a few of the trees with cracks like thunder began to drop on the shrine courtyards.
Kiyone and Recca screamed in shock....and began to distend....their bodies twisting slightly, Human shapes giving way to something larger...and more sinister.
"Kikyo-sama!" the newly revealed demons screamed, advancing to their fallen mistress quickly, leaving Nuku-nuku staring blankly, puzzled as to the sudden shift in events...
Tsuruko yanked the shed door open as the clay miko crashed into the trees, slamming it shut behind her. Impatience and adrenaline running high, she simply picked up the little girl with ehr free hand as she noticed the steps, and darted down them as quickly as could be managed, with mild concern towards the child's safety.
Ritsuko swore, and fired off another shot towards one of the demons heads, questioning the effect such weapons could have on such creatures.
Well, if a bullet helped take Kikyo out..
OOC: Ryder'n Rat!
IC:
Motoko recovered from the shock of seeing the transformation first. She raised her sword and lunged at the first of the demons, the blade gleaming darkly as she slashed at the beast's arm.
At the same moment, the sharp report from Ritsuko's gun echoed in the courtyard, and the bullet slammed into Motoko's opponent, staggering it in time for the black haired swordswoman to cleave off the beast's arm. With a scream of pain from the beast, the limb dropped to the ground. Maddened, the monster ran at Motoko, claws from his one good arm bared, his bleeding stump oozing ichor that was, even by modest standards, rank enough to stun a buffalo. The claws flashed in a blinding arc at the teen swordswoman, but she managed to use her sword to block the deadlyspikes, putting the pair into a stale mate for the moment, though the demon's superior strength slowly pushed Motoko back...
"Rin...Pyou...Tou...Sha...Kai...Jin...Retsu...Sai....Zen...Akuryo Taisan!" came an enraged shout, and Sailor Mars glared, flinging an ofuda at the beast. The paper ward glommed onto it's head, and the pressure on Motoko vanished as the beast writhed in pain from the spiritual energy blazing through it, slowly, relentlessly turning it to dust.
The other Monster, shocked cautious after seeing the death of it's partner, warily advanced, growling....and that was when the trees crashed down among them.
OOC: Ryder's turn, then monster, then the Gatekeepers.
OOC: May!
IC:
Tsuruko dove into the shed, and as she charged down the steps, the door slammed closed, and through the door to the basment of the shed, they could hear the explosive splintering of wooden walls...
Tsuruko stopped at the bottom of the stairs, quickly looking around, and then to the little girl she was carrying. "Where's Bean, or Kurumi, whatever you call her?!" Tsuruko asked, a little loudly, but not being sharp with the little girl.
OOC: May!
IC:
The little girl couldn't have been more than about twelve, and...suprisingly, resembled Tsuruko a little, dressed in her miko robes. She had jaw length black hair with neatly trimmed bangs, and large glasses, making her look more vulnerable than one would expect, however.
"This sucks..." She pouted, obviously frightened. "Who are you talking about?"
Tsuruko took a deep breath, setting the little girl down. "There was something, about a girl, inside a statue, who happens to right now contain the mind of my friend, and that's sorta why I'm running aorund throwing thunderbolts and such at clay miko, so if you would please cooperate and share any and all information you posess about the Steel Angel Kurumi, I would be MOST appreciative."
OOC: May!
IC:
"Uh...Um...There might be statues down here..?" She offers tentatively, taking a nervous step back. "I don't know what a steel angel is, though."
Okay, calm down...she's a scared little girl unused to hyperactive adrenaline pumped nutjobs like yourself demanding information right after a bunch of destruction...
Tsuruko took another deep breath, shaking her head. "Sorry, I'm just a little on the nervously rushed side...but...you don't know anything about a pink haired girl this shrine seemed to be protecting inside a large Buddha?"
OOC: May!
IC:
The little girl shook her head. "Uh-uh...but we have lots of things down here I don't know about." she points to the door beyond the steps, and shows the improbably long hallway beneath it. "This was used as a bomb shelter during the war...'kaasan stores the shrine's things in it, now."
Tsuruko smiled softly, shaking her head. "Alright, thanks..." she laughed, patting the girl on the head reflexively before startuing down the hallway...
"THIS FUCKING SUCKS!!!!" Ryder screamed out in English once more as she dodged a falling tree, wincing slightly as a branch slashed her bad leg...
OK... May's gone downstairs for some reason... Demons are attacking us, and I bet my Ric Flair DVD collection that we're about to be attacked by Kikyo again...
She stopped running and muttered, "As good a time as the present..."
With that, she closed her eyes and concentrated... visualized the Love-Me Chain being in her hand...
Unfortunately, her concentration was broken by another tree about to fall on top of her... Ryder heard the tree and in despiration, cried out "VENUS LOVE-ME CHAIN!" hoping it would form and she could strike the tree down...
>SLICE<
Ryder opened her eyes and heard a thud as the split tree collapsed around her, and the golden chain was dangling in her hand... She grinned and turned towards the other demon...
"You are so fucked up..."
Just down the street from the shrine, Chaos appeared, in a flash of light. He was accompanied by...strangely, a robot. Nothing particularly advanced looking, or even closely humanoid. The machine, if anything, seemed to be a utilitarian design, meant for street sweeping.
Chaos giggled at little, and pointed to the APV that the soldiers who had arrived with the school children were converting, and, at the moment, calibrating. "See that, boy? Fetch. It's a nice, tasty treat....then go clean up that nasty ol' shrine, hmm?"
Bzzt...gonk. replied the robot, advancing slowly. Chaos giggled madly and vanished.
As the robot advanced slowly on the military technology, it's control chips began to fluctuate wildly, going absolutely haywire...
OOC: Ryder'n Rat!
IC:
The intial tree that Minako had nimbly evaded dropped to the ground with a thundering crash...directly on top of the shed Tsuruko had dove into, sending the tiny structure to the ground, almost shattering it. the fragments of wall and roof in all directions.
The other tree, sliced neatly in half by Minako's chain, fell to the ground in pieces, which were narrowly avoided by Motoko and Rei.
The two children beside Ritsuko in the shrine's torii looked utterly confused and nervous at what they were seeing...
OOC: May!
IC:
The young miko looked back up the stairs, shivering a little as she heard another crash, rattling the door to the basement they were in. Squeaking a little, she hurried after Tsuruko, almost clutching at the back of the older woman's robes.
"This REALLY sucks..." she whimpered.
"You two!" barks Carthrat, firing another pair of shots at the *other* demon-thing. "Go and look after that woman!" she continues, indicating the beaten-up looking lady who was lying in the wreckage of her house.
"Ryder! Once there ain't any more demons around, try and clear out the mess on top of that building! We gotta get down there!"
That's the way. Take charge in a tense situation, and most people will be acting before they stop to question why..
Tsuruko gently patted the youngester's shoulder, smiling gently. "Don't worry, we'll be calling in reinforcements from down here..." she murmured, continuing down the passage, looking for any statue large enough to hold a human form...
OOC: Ryder'n Rat! Rat combat Rolls! 2d6 = 5
IC:
Ritsuko's gun barked twice, the raspy snap of bullets being fired being followed by the impacts, staggering the monster again.
The two children looked sharply at Ritsuko, then back at the demon...then back at Ritsuko, nodding. "Right!" they agreed, sprinting out and toward the house, circling around the demon, who was turning to orient itself on Ritsuko herself, and looking none too happy about the brand new bullet holes in it's torso, to judge by the snarling, and sudden increase in drool output...
Carthrat starts moving in a circular fashion around the demon herself, angling towards the bombed-out shack the other woman had entered.
Another shot blasts out from her pistol, aimed upward towards the huge demon-thing's 'head', or whatever substituted for it.
Legs.. shaking. Fear.. rising. No! Must maintain composure. Must not fuck up. Right! Keep talking, keep commanding!
"You! Rei!" she barks, gesturing towards the demon. "Help me kill this thing! Throw another ward at it! Sword-Girl! Go and make sure that Kikyo-bitch is *dead*."
OOC: May!
IC:
The passage was long, but there was nothing as large as a statue in it itself. However, Tsuruko begins to notice that there are room branching off from the main hall, as the bomb shelter for a shrine needed to be ready to house as many seeking refuge as it could...
"Argh...so many rooms..." Tsuruko growled, counting the number of side passaged.
"Can you help me search them? If you find a statue big enough for someone inside it, don't touch it or anything, just come and get me?" she asked the small girl, trying to smile.
OK... what can you do to clear the rubble... think Ryder, think...
Ryder watched the battle intently, waiting for her moment to act...
Hmm... The chain? No, wouldn't work... Beam? Possibly, but it could collapse something... Arg... What can I do?
OOC: Ryder'n Rat! Rat combat roll, 2d6=11
IC:
"Does -everyone- know who I am?" Sailor Mars complained, irritated, as she raised her hands, narrowing her eyes at the demon. The demon continued to advance at Ritsuko, lumbering cautiously toward her and grinning as the gunshots riccocheted off the lumbering monstrosity's skull, causing only long, shallow gashes in the skin.
The red fuku'd senshi of love and justice raised her hands in an obviously practiced motion, and yelled out to Ritsuko. "Get ready to -move-, Carthrat!" she roared, narrowing her eyes in concentration. "BURNING...."
Motoko, seeing Rei prepare to attack, did the only thing she could, and dove into the shattered woods...
OOC: Gonna pause in the middle of her action to give you a moment to act, 'Rat.
Ritsuko quickly dives somewhere away from the demon thing, firing another shot for good measure.
OOC: May!
[12:28] <+Nako-chan> ----
[12:31] <+Nako-chan> Nako nodded slowly, looking up at Tsuruko, puzzled. "O-Okay." She agreed tentatively. "But won't someone inside a statue be dead by now?" she added doubtfully, peering into the shadows with the cautious unease of the dark common to children.
[12:32] <@Tsuruko> Tsuruko patted Nako's shoulder, shaking her head. "The body my friend's in isn't human, dear. Don't be afraid, she'll be asleep, please?" she asked, almost pleadingly as she looked around anxiously.
[12:35] <+Nako-chan> Nako didn't look terribly reassured, but she nodded again, slowly. "I-If you say so." she agreed softly, shivering a little. "Where are you going?"
[12:42] <@Tsuruko> "I'll take the ones on the left, you start on the right, heading towards the end of the hallway, 'kay?" Tsuruko answered, still trying to smile. "If you find something just come out to the entrance of the passage and yell."
[12:44] <+Nako-chan> " 'Kay." Nako replied softly, edging away from Tsuruko, but clearly reluctant to lose sight of her entirely.
[12:45] <@Tsuruko> "Don't worry, everything'll be fine." Tsuruko flashed Nako a smile, and dashed into a passage, beginning a frenzied, adrenaline driven search for any statues that could fit a human inside them...
[12:46] <+Nako-chan> ----
[12:50] <+Nako-chan> The search went on for quite some time, but while Tsuruko discovered a great deal of clutter...in fact, far more than a mother and daughter caring for a shrine -should- be able to generate, she didn't run across any statues at all. Nako had been silent for awhile, but an occasional thump could be heard, proving the girl was working hard at a job that clearly bothered her. About to give up on the room she was currently in, Tsuruko suddenly heard a soft yipping noise, almost like a small dog in a great deal of pain, seeming to come from a shadowed corner of the room...
[12:52] <@Tsuruko> Tsuruko raised an eyebrow, keeping her sword ready while drifting towards the noise to get a closer look.
[12:54] <+Nako-chan> As she moved closer, Tsuruko could see nothing overtly hostile. Just a tiny silouhette, struggling to free it's leg from where it was pinned under an ornamental incense altar...
[13:01] <@Tsuruko> Tsuruko blinked, raising the incense altar to try and free the creature...
[13:05] <+Nako-chan> The tiny sillouhette yipped softly, hopping free and limping over to Tsuruko, sniffing at her feet. Strangely, the paw it was favoring glowed and sizzled a bit...sparking, in fact.
[13:07] <@Tsuruko> Tsuruko sweatdropped. "Okay...mechanical doggy," she muttered, shaking her head. "And looking mildly familiar. I don't suppose you know where Bean's gotten to?"
[13:09] <+Nako-chan> The dog nuzzled her foot and barked, and then, in a moment of extreme surrealness...nodded to the swordswoman, almost eagerly.
[13:11] <@Tsuruko> Tsuruko facepalmed. "Okay, I don't have much of a better idea. Show me where Bean is?" she asked, trying not to laugh.
[13:13] <+Nako-chan> The dog nodded, then began hobbling to the door, whining a little every few steps, and not covering a lot of ground. To be fair, the little thing had stubby little legs to start with, and with one injured, couldn't be blamed for slow progress...
[13:14] <@Tsuruko> Tsuruko sighed, picking the dog up in one arm. "Okay, give me directions with your head."
[13:17] <+Nako-chan> The dog weighed a bit more than Tsuruko would have expected, but on a whole, it wasn't taxing her strength to carry it. The dog seemed to understand, and immediately pointed his nose at the door to the room, and barked once.
[13:17] <@Tsuruko> Tsuruko proceeded, following the dog's instructions...
[13:18] <+Nako-chan> As they left the room, from the direction Nako had gone came a bloodcurdling shriek, along with a deep rumbling...
[13:20] <@Tsuruko> "Fuck," Tsuruko swore, giving up on directions and dashing towards the girl, growling. Stupid fucking god damned things getting in her fucking way.
[13:23] <+Nako-chan> Diving into the main hallway, Tsuruko was confronted with a perplexing sight. Nako was sprinting toward her, as fast as her oversized miko robes out take her...and being relentlessly pursued by...of all things, a hovering buddha statue...
[13:25] <@Tsuruko> Tsuruko almost fell over. "O-kay...this is new," she muttered, setting the dog down, and facing the statue with her sword ready.
[13:33] <+Nako-chan> Nako zoomed past Tsuruko, and stopped a few feet behind Tsuruko, visibly trembling, but somehow managing to keep from crying. "Oh man....this REALLY, REALLY sucks!" The statue, suprising quickly, raced forward to catch Nako...but before Tsuruko could attempt to halt the statue's progress, the little dog jumped forward, butting it's head against the backs of the tall woman's knees, sending her toppling to the ground...and the statue kept moving forward, until the prone woman was directly underneath the hovering statue....and then the world disappeared, replaced by white nothingness...
[13:33] <+Nako-chan> and the statue kept moving forward, until the prone woman was directly underneath the hovering statue....and then the world disappeared, replaced by white nothingness...
[13:43] <+Nako-chan> ...leaving Tsuruko lying in her back, staring up at the seemingly endless white...
[13:45] <@Tsuruko> Tsuruko blinked. "Well shit," she muttered, looking down at herself, and then trying to roll onto her hands and knees.
[13:47] <+Nako-chan> Rolling over, Tsuruko found herself on her hands and knees on a large blue circle, seeming etched in the void, and decorated with runes, and latin, and other spiritual lettering...but most peculiarly, she cast a shadow onto it, without a visible light source...
[13:49] <@Tsuruko> "Er...okay. So I might not be dead. This is a good thing," she muttered, standing and looking around.
[13:52] <+Nako-chan> "You...who possess the spiritual power of ancient demon hunters..." Began a deep, booming voice, coming from everywhere and nowhere at once, "It had been my choice to entrust my daughter Kurumi to the mystics of the line of this shrine, but circumstances have intevened to force me to place her in your care, instead. Will you take on the resposibilty of shaping her into the hope for humanity's future?"
[13:54] <@Tsuruko> "Sure, overly dramatic and mildly annoying booming voice," Tsuruko answered, snickering softly to herself. "Now could I please access Bean in the form of Kurumi?"
[13:57] <+Nako-chan> "Make no mistake, Aoyama Tsuruko. I speak not only of the challenge you face now, but the future as well. Do you accept this?"
[14:07] <@Tsuruko> Tsuruko blinked, almost giggling. "As long as I'm in this body, I'll take car of Kurumi-Bean," she answered, smiling.
[14:18] <+Nako-chan> "So be it." With that, in a blinding rush, the world rushed back, and Tsuruko was again lying on the ground in the passageway...only the statue was gone. Twin piles of Rubble lay to either side of her, the remains of the metal statue. She was, however, directly under the body of a rather cute girl, in her late teens by the looks of things. With bright pink hair tied up in a ponytail, and dressed in a rather peculiar maid uniform, cast in primary colors, white, blue and red, with the frilled shoulders and robotic looking buttons making for a rather odd appearance... her body was sprawled out on top of Tsuruko's, and her lips touching the older woman's limply...
[14:32] <@Tsuruko> Tsuruko idly hoped that Nako wasn't watching, and remembering the lyrics to the SAK opening song, very tentatively leaned into the kiss. A gentle shudder rippled through her body as the act brought up a wash of restrained memories...
[14:36] <+Nako-chan> Nothing could be seen, but Tsuruko had the distinct impression of a 'glow' where they touched. Nothing happened for a long moment....until a very soft, distictive thump-thump was heard, and a pair of wide blue eyes opened to meet Tsuruko's, a blush spilling over her Kurumi's face as she drew back from the kiss, embarrassed and shocked...then looked down on the woman beneath her. "Goushoujin-sama?" she whispered, looking puzzled at the words coming out of her own mouth...
[14:39] <@Tsuruko> "Erm...my name's May? Or Tsuruko? Bean?" Tsuruko asked, blinking and looking behind her to see if Nako was watching.
[14:43] <+Nako-chan> Kurumi blink-blinked, then glomped May, tightly. "May!" she cheered. "Where are we? How...wait, Tsuruko, from Love Hina? Then who am I?" She rambled, sitting up to examine herself...and her expression falling a little as she noticed the rather large, bouncy protrusions on her chest. "A girl...? This happens too often...These are really weird clothes, and..."
[14:44] <+Nako-chan> Nako just stood and stared, a deep. deep blush staining her cheeks...
[14:48] <@Tsuruko> "You're Steel Angel Kurumi," Tsuruko answered, blushing and trying to regain control of her mind for a moment. "And yeah, I'm Tsuruko...we should actually kinda rush, Ryder-jisan, Motoko, Rei, and someone else are fighting Kikyo upstairs...nevermind we just showed the little one something we shouldn't have."
[14:53] <+Nako-chan> Kurumi sat back, nodding and trying to take that all in, when the dog walked up to her, yapping cheerfully. "Kuanyan?" She asked, picking the tiny dog up, pausing for a moment to examine the long gloves she was wearing, then glancing down at the puffy mini-dress/maid apron she wore. "Bleah..." she muttered. "I want to change...Uhm...Nako-chan?" She asked the girl softly.
[14:54] <+Nako-chan> Nako came forward, blinking. "How do you know-?"
[14:55] <@Tsuruko> "Don't question it for the moment, we'll tell you later if we have opportunity, dear," Tsuruko interjected, standing up. You should stay down here until the fighting's finished, we've gotta go help a couple friends."
[14:56] <+Nako-chan> Kurumi smiled and nodded in agreement. "Hard to explain, like she says...but, Kuanyan's hurt...can you look after him? If you get in trouble, he can turn into a glider to help you run away, okay?" she told the little girl, looking perplexed at why exactly she was so cheerful.
[14:57] <+Nako-chan> Nako nodded dumbly, accepting the dog, and Kurumi looked down at the woman between her legs, and smiled. "This...is kind of weird. I can't seem to help being cheerful as a default state, but...yeah. What do we do now, Goushoujin-sama?"
[15:03] <@Tsuruko> Tsuruko sweatdropped. "I'm not gonna get you to stop calling me that, am I?" she asked, snickering and shrugging. "Ah well, now, we go back upstairs, and help kill anything in our way. Then we reorganize for further operations. Okay?"
[15:05] <+Nako-chan> "Hai desu!" Kurumi agreed, then shook her head, a more even expression settling on her face. "THis is going to take some getting used to..."
OOC: Ryder 'n Rat! Rei combat roll - 2d6 and gets 9
IC:
"...MANDALA!" Sailor Mars yelled, just as the demon turned to re-orient itself on Ritsuko. Spinning in place, flames began to appear, a ring of fire becoming eight flaming circles, with Kanji visible inside. With one fiece gesture, she sent them flying toward the demon.
The flaming rings of fire struck true, the demon bellowing in pain and rage as his arms and legs were engulfed in mystical fire...
"My turn..." Ryder grinned as the chain began to glow once more...
"Now is the time for the winter of your discontent, because I am your judge, and you have been found wanting! VENUS LOVE-ME CHAIN... SLICE HIM TO RIBBONS!!!" Ryder screamed as she rushed up with the glowing blade of sharpness and slashed out with it...
She wasn't so sure why she said that... maybe because it sounded cool...
Ritsuko rolls back to her feet, and without missing a beat, goes to check on Kikyo.
OOC: Ryder'n Rat! Ryder combat roll, 2d6 = 5!~
IC:
With blinding speed, Sailor Venus' 'Love Me Chain' lashed out at the demon, the mystic chain rocketing out, snaring the demon tightly and retracting, slicing it neatly in half, and showering herself and those nearby in a spray of rather disgusting ichor.
Fortunately, aside from being smelly, the blackish ooze seemed to have no overly detrimental effects, and the main battle seemed to be over, though Motoko was nowhere to be seen, and combat sounds could be heard in the forest itself.
It was right about then that a large impact tremor was felt by all, followed by a metallic sounding scream...
Carthrat made a snap decision. "Ryder! Take those two!" she yelled, gesturing at the Gatekeepers. "Go and look for that noise! Rei! We're going to the forest!
Let's move, people!"
So saying, Carthrat dashes off to the aforementioned forest..
OOC: Ryder'n Rat!
IC:
Sailor Mars hesitated before throwing up her hands in exasperation. "Fine! Whatever! Just stop using my name in public, will you?" she growled, stomping up to Ritsuko, no easy feat in those high heels.
OOC: Ryder'n Rat! (Anyone out there? Hellooo)
IC:
Before anyone got very far, a rythmic pounding noise, mingled with the sounds of crunching wood came from the ruined shed...
Ryder ran over to the ruined shed and shouted, "Hey, is anyone down there?"
Of course, this was done while keeping an eye on the GateKeepers as to not let them get away...
Carthrat ignored the noise and continued running towards the sounds of combat, assuming that Ryder could handle whatever-it-was.[/i]
OOC: >_> Ryder Herself!
IC:
Minako could hear the pounding getting progressively louder, and some of the large wooden beams from the splintered shed began flexing upward with each thump...
OOC: Rat herself!
IC:
Ritsuko and Sailor Mars ducked into the forest, in time to witness Motoko locked in a furious, if losing, battle. Her sword flashed repeatedly, and even on seemingly empty slashes, slight discharges filled the air...
Even to Ritsuko, untrained in the spiritual, the discharges from the cutting of the air were tangible. Along with the furious battle with invisible opponents, her sword also flashed fast enough to deflect arrows being fired by Kikyo herself, a safe distance away...
Shooting Kikyo won't help, and my eyes aren't working.
This problem, like all others, calls for FIRE.
But there is no fire, nor any potention for defenstration, which leaves me a single option.
Closing one eye, and raising her pistol, Ritsuko inhales..
I'll have one chance before I'm noticed..
Exhales..
Better make it count, then.
Ritsuko pulls the trigger, directing a hot ball of lead towards a most thin target; the bow Kikyo was holding itself.
Ryder began to try and move, using her magic-enhanced strength, while shouting to the GateKeepers, "Hey! Do you mind giving me a hand over here!?!"
OOC: Ryder herself!
IC:
The two children nodded and moved over to Minako...just as the beam -jumped- rather than flexing.
The girl, Ruriko paused, backing away, and tugged on the boy's sleeve to get him to do the same. "That doesn't look safe, and..."
At that moment, another impat tremor rocked the Shrine, making the ground under their feet shake...
OOC: CARTHRAT! Roll 2d6+2 for a called shot, and -1 for Deadeye attribute. >_>
Roll is...8+2-1! 9!
IC:
Ritsuko's pistol spoke, the report strangely quiet amidst the noise of Motoko's battle...and the result was instant, and noticeable. With a sharp cry, Kikyo dropped her bow, clutching at a damaged hand, and the Miko turns to glare at Ritsuko and Rei...
Carthrat glanced back at Makoto's battle, squinting to try and make out any sort of tangiable form amongst all the sword-cuts.
"Kikyo is made of clay! Shooting her won't do any good in killing her, but burning her to a crisp might," she comments, retreating back from the battle a few paces.
OOC: Carthrat!
IC:
[06:18] <@DoodMaster> Motoko's sword slowed in her battle, and she whirled to see the other two, looking grim. "Run!" She called urgently. Rei turned to the brunette swordswoman, and paled. "We have other concerns!" she told Ritsuko, and Ritsuko could see a pale....SOMETHING zoom toward them, and then she was pushed sideways sharply...
[06:19] <C-Rat> Ritsuko gasps at the unexpected force, turning her head and backing off from the ever-growing fight.
[06:22] <@DoodMaster> Rei sweats, and three ofuda appear in her hand. She begins her chant, and ending with a cry of "Akuryo Taisan!" she flings the paper wards. As they impact with shimmering air, Ritsuko can see pale, serpentlike creatures popping with each impact of the wards...
OOC: Ryder! And May!
IC:
With a sudden, booming crack, the wood under Minako's feet exploded violently upward, sending her flipping backward, and landing on her rear end, hard.
A fully intact rafter lifted slowly into the air. Gradually, the person lifting it was revealed. A tall girl, with blue eyes and bright pink hair tied up in a high ponytail, with a lean, athletic looking body, and a large, slightly bouncy chest dressed in a blue minidress with a white maid's apron and cap, with thigh high stockings and strange, robotic looking shoes. Beneath her, huddled protectively over a young girl with her sword drawn, was Tsuruko...
"Oww!" Ryder shouted in annoyance as some wood chips sliced her arms up slightly...
Looking up at the girl, her memory decided to take a vacation and she said, "Who the fuck are you!?!" in English at the pink-haired girl. She did this while wobbling to her feet.
Wobbling? Well, the wood chips did slice her bad leg up some too...
OOC: Ryder!
IC:
Bean looked over and blinked at Minako Aino...or Rather, Sailor Venus. "A soldier of love and justice shouldn't curse like that, even if you -are- a Sailor, desu." she chided, tossing the rafter to the side, and looking down at Tsuruko and Nako. "Are you alright, goushoujin-sama?"
Carthrat backs off from all the supernatural stuff.
That's not my scene, no-sir.
Reaching for a new clip for her pistol, her hands drift across something she'd almost forgotten about. After quickly reloading, she produces a small gem. Clutching it, she tries to will Celcia to come.
It's a mage's scene, really.
OOC: Carthrat!
Full points for ingenuity, and a good memory. And, because I'm feeling nice, you get what you want.
IC:
The gem glowed briefly...and a small dog with a black spot over it's eye appeared in front of Ritsuko, immensely disoriented. "Eh...wha...Ritsuko?"
"Celcia!" whispers Ritsuko, glancing around for more threats. "Quickly! Pull yourself together!" she continues, worried.
OOC: Carthrat!
IC:
Kikyo didn't seem to be intervening, but splitting her soul-serpents against both Rei and Motoko, who were fighting without real headway. Celcia jumped, reorienting herself as she stared peevishly at Ritsuko. "What's the matter?"
Carthrat glances back to the other fight scene. "There's a fight! There's a weird priestess girl named Kikyo back there," she says, gesturing. "She's caught my two friends up with all her spirit-stuff. Can you set her on fire or something? Gunshots won't have any effect on her, because she's made of clay."
OOC: Carthrat!
You asked for it.
IC:
The tiny dog stared up at Ritsuko with a dumbfounded expression, ignoring her surroundings for the moment. "Whaaaat?"
OOC: Do I get the whole package?
IC: Carthrat almost facefaulted. Almost.
Pointing a finger at Kikyo, she barked, "Spell! Fire! Burning! NOW!"
OOC:Carthrat!
Tempting, but...no. >_>
IC:
Celcia, while bossy and unpleasant, was quick on the uptake, and as soon as she saw the scene, turned immediately to Kikyo as the source, and began chanting in elven. A deep crimson tongue of flame lashed out at the Priestess....who snapped out an ofuda, deflecting the power...
"Keep distracting her!" mutters Carthrat, pulling out her AUTOMATIC WEAPON. "Maybe I might be able to shoot her after all."
Well, sure, it wasn't a heavy duty one, but she figured that a barrage of short-range bullets might be able to do what a few single shots could not.
Moving quickly, Ritsuko starts skirting around the outer part of the battle, trying to get closer to Kikyo..
OOC: Carthrat!
IC: Kikyo watched Ritsuko move, as the flames battered at her hastily improvised shield, and she eyed the small dog battering her with flames. She didn't have attention to deal with both, she surmised, and this made the only decision she could...
In a flash of motion, Kikyo leapt for the trees, alighting on the lower branches, as a vicious tongue of flame seared the air where she had been, and with long, powerful jumps, fled the scene, long, silken black hair and miko robes vanishing into the trees.
As she left, Rei and Motoko's movements slowed and stopped, and they looked around, confused.
"Keh!" spits Carthrat, glancing around. "She might still be around," she cautions, almost needlessly. "Either way, we'd better get back with the others. Keep an eye out."
With that, the angry boy-turned-girl stalked off back towards the main group. "Com'on, Celcia. I'll explain things as soon as I'm sure there's nobody left to fight."
OOC: Carthrat!
IC:
Rei and Motoko exchanged glances, then glanced down at Celcia, who simply shrugged, and trotted after Ritsuko.
The two black haired girls sighed, and followed after the ponytailed one...
"Hai hai, I'm fine..." Tsuruko grumbled, uncurling from around Nako and releasing the small girl. She looked around, trying to evaluate the current battle situation, though if Minako was talking to them, there shouldn't have been anything too urgent going on.
"Sisters reunited shouldn't be fighting like this, either. Save it until after we're reorganized," she chided the both of them, playing with the hilt of her katana with her left hand, retaining a proper grip with her right.
OOC: Ryder 'n May!
IC:
Bean scratched her head, looking puzzled. "Sisters?"
Ryder grimaced as she tried to piece everything together in her head...
Sister... Wait... Hold on... That can't be... Yes... It is...
And with that revelation, Ryder began to laugh loudly... falling over again in the process.
In between her laughs, she waved over the Gatekeepers, saying, "It's alright... HAHAHA... This is just my... HAHAHA... sister..."
At that point, the absurdness of Kurumi's outfit overcame her ability to speak, and she just continued to laugh, the pain in her leg forgotten.
Tsuruko smiled apologetically to Kurumi, shrugging. "It's Ryder, thought I'd try to be subtle..." she murmured, giggling softly to herself. "So yeah, sisters, kinda."
OOC: Rydern'May!
IC:
Kurumi blink-blinked down at Ryder. " 'Neechan?" She blinked, smiling a little. "That...what're you laughing at?"
Carthrat outpaces the rest of her little group, stalking back to the main area of the shrine where everyone was.
"RYDER! Did you check out that other noise?" she barks, surveying the area. "And who the hell are these people?"
Ryder slowly and shakily stood up as she her laughing started to subside...
With a bit of a grin on her face, she replied, "The girl with the pink hair, incredibly short, absurd looking, uber-cute maid's outfit, and looking like a complete moron is Beanie-baby..."
Unfortunately, Ryder's leg injuries decided to return with a vengeance and she fell again.
Carthrat's lip twitched for a second, but somehow she managed to control herself enough to deliver a response;
"I wouldn't laugh, Ryder. You ain't looking much better. Your skirt is shorter than mine, and I slashed mine to size. At least with that weird outfit she's not flashing her legs for the world to see.
Be that as it may, I think we have more immediate concerns," says Carthrat, glancing around.
For the moment, the courtyard was empty. The house had a large hole in it, and the shed was non existent, except for a large staircase in the middle of the ruins of the shattered structure, with the broken trees interrupting the scene. The shrine itself was the only undamaged building.
Rei frowned, moving up to Minako and crouching beside her, putting her fingers to the wounds on her leg. "This is pretty shallow...we shouldn't need to call Ami-chan." she told the blonde. Motoko moved out from behind Ritsuko, and walked over to Tsuruko, giving Kurumi a curious look, but Celcia stayed close to Ritsuko, staring at Kurumi in fear and Amazment.
Kurumi cheeks turned red at the discussion of her clothes, but she ignored it and blinked at Ritsuko. "Yeah? Like what?" She asked, frowning at the red-headed girl.
The impact tremor sounded again, making the ground under their feet shake slightly. Nako, having reluctantly crawled out from under Tsuruko's protection, whimpered a little, steadying herself.
"Oh." Kurumi sighed. "Figures."
"Ryder! I told you to check it out!" says Carthrat, adding some colourful language to go with this exclamation. "Dammit! Com'on, Celcia."
With that, Carthrat dashes off towards the outer part of the shrine, gun in hand.
The tiny dog scurried after Ritsuko, without a word, and Kurumi blinked at Tsuruko.
"What's going on?" she wondered.
Motoko eyed the others, then Kurumi herself. "I wonder, myself." she admitted, then ran after Ritsuko. Kurumi blinked twice, then simply gave Tsuruko a puzzled look...
---
Ritsuko stopped short at the head of the stairs to the shrine, looking out over the street from underneath the somewhat battered torii, to see an utterly inhuman sight.
The APV that the soldiers had been transforming when she left was gone...at least, more or less. the vehicle itself was still there... but in a writing mass of metal, the structure was distended and warped, the steel frame having twisted itself into a vaguely humanoid shape, a tiny head with beady, glowing red eyes at the very top, and huge, frightening arms and legs, apparently made from the other APV.
The huge beast stomped hard on the ground, and the ground under her feet shook again, rocking everything slightly. Off to the side, she couldn't help noticing, two red smears marked the pavement...
"Holy..." Carthrat stopped at the sight, and, quite wisely hid behind the nearest thing-which-can-be-hid-behind, pointedly ignoring the red smears on the pavement.
"Celcia.. I can't do anything to that thing," she whispers. "Except maybe shoot it in the head-like area.. best wait for the others to get here. Damn! I wish I had the tank.."
OOC: *pokes you all* Ryder, May...posts!
IC:
Celcia stared, her tiny paws going up to her mouth, and her fur nearly visibly standing on end. "What in the gods' names IS that?" she nearly shrieked.
The metallic beast's head swiveled nearly a perfect 180 degrees, it's unblinking, glowing red eyes fixing on the dog-sorceress. With a suprisingly swift move, the rest of it's body turned to join it, and with a ground shaking, ponderous, lumbering gait, the mechanical beast made for the shrine steps.
Kurumi appeared behind Celcia, and her blue eyes widened. "Boomer...crap." she murmured.
"If I shoot it, will it die?" asks Carthrat, straight to the point.
Kurumi frowned, curling a hand into a first anxiously. "Sure, if you have the biggest fucking gun ever, and Aim at just the right spot...Then yeah, it might die." she replied blandly.
Carthrat nods, trying to shove down that rapidly beating heart and calm herself down.
Calm DOWN, dammit! The small guy always wins! Have cartoons taught you nothing?
"Right. Right!" says Carthrat, nodding to herself. "Right. Like, everyone gets their biggest thing that goes boom and we all blow it up, right? That should work!
Or we could run. Running is good!"
Kurumi shook her head. "No, no...i've seen these before, I think...I can't be sure. It looks like a boomer, from the new Bubblegum Crisis. To stop it, you have to crush or destroy its heart." she replied, clenching her fists and bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet nervously.
"Which is located inside it's chest...if you have a rocket launcer, now's the time."
Ryder nipped up to her feet, and after a small wince from her minor injuries, ran over to the GateKeepers...
Hearing what she hoped wasn't what the cries from Rat and Co. were saying, she said to the pair, "Alright... intros out of the way first. I'm Sailor Venus, Minako, or whatever the hell you want to call me. I'm not evil, and I don't have plans to destroy the world. In fact, I'm going to try and save it... Now, that loud rumbling is probably from something that isn't here to bring us milk and cookies, so if it's not too much trouble... do you think you can help us out?"
Tsuruko followed Kurumi, shaking herself out of a momentary stupor. Waving Motoko to follow, she kept her katana in a one handed grip for speed.
Trying to calm herslf as she looked up at the 'boomer', she glanced over at Kurumi, and then Motoko. "Feel up to being a distraction, imouto?" she asked just loudly enough for her 'sister' to hear.
OOC: Figures. >_> One thread goes active again, and the other slows down. x_x Post!
IC:
Motoko nodded, glancing uneasily at the others. "Shouldn't we have something to distract it -from-?" sher asked, glancing at the orange skirted girl interrogating the strange teenagers.
The two teenagers nodded dumbly at Minako, clearly out of their depth. Even as they did, the crashing rumble of heavy steps grew even closer, as the whole shrine seemed to rattle.
Kurumi turned to Ritsuko. "Well?" She asked anxiously. "Tell me you have something heavier than your pistols...please?" she muttered, staring at the oncoming monstrosity of writhing metals...which was charging forward at disturbing speed, as it reached the bottom of the shrine steps.
"I can't just cart the bigger guns around Tokyo!" hisses Ritsuko. "I arrived wearing a freaking miniskirt!
Look. I can't hurt that thing. Celcia, can you cast a flight spell or something? I can get bigger stuff, but I'm useless as I am."
"Are you insane?" the little dog hisses at Ritsuko. "If we go up there, we'll have nowhere to hide! A flight spell isn't for use in combat, it takes too much concentration!"
Kurumi frowned at the little dog. "This isn't the time to shoot down ideas, desu." she snapped. "If it won't work, say no, and keep the insults to yourself. Now, do you have something...artillery like? I think I might be able to do something, but I need to get past the armour."
Celcia-inu put her hands on her hips. "And just who are you, Junpei's sister, or something? How dare you talk to that way?" she huffed.
"Now is not the time, you two!" blares Ritsuko. "Look, if you guys can keep that thing distracted, Celcia can maybe fly me out or fly herself, grab one of my *big guns that makes explosions*, fly back, and I can total this thing.
We might get lucky and it has no guns or something, but I ain't betting on it!
Anyone got any better ideas?"
OOC: Kurumi body check! Roll 3d6! and gets...6 >_> This should be good. <_<
IC:
The discussion was interrupted by a frighteningly loud mettallic Roar, as the monstrous head drew level with the bickering group, despite the beast being only around halfway up the steps.
"AACK! No time!" Kurumi half shrieked, and ran to the torii pillar the pair were observing from...and grabbed the red pole at the base of the arch in a wide bear hug.
Celcia's fur was standing on end as she backed away from the monstrousity...when she caught sight of Kurumi...and gasped in surprise as the pink haired girl's finger tips were actually pushing INTO the hard surface, leaving spiderwebbing cracks...
Kurumi shivered, and pulled as hard as she could, praying she knew the strengths of the body she found herself in. With a thunderous crack, the giant pillar came free in her arms...
Rei, standing behind Motoko and Tsuruko, had her horrified attention drawn away from the beast by the deafening crack of the torii being broken, and she stared at the pink haired girl gripping a pillar nearly twenty or thirty times her size with no more effort than it took to hold a baseball bat. "H-Holy shit..." the miko gasped, uncharacteristically. "We have -got- to make her a senshi..."
Carthrat backpedals something chronic, snapping up her probably-ineffectual pistol and firing a shot at the things 'eyes', or at least a suitably substitute.
She also takes note of any escape routes..
OOC: @_@ Ryder....May! POST!
IC:
At the same time that Ritsuko fired, Kurumi raised the pillar over her head, flinging it down the steps at the rapidly aproaching monstrosity.
The twin attacks seemed to force the metal monster to hesitate, and while the bullet did no damage, it froze the boomer to the spot, just in time for the giant pillar to smash into it, headfirst, and knock it back, into the street...
Despite the high velocity attack, the slightly battered beast began to stir, slowly pushing aside the pillar pinning it to the ground.
The tiny dog beside Ritsuko decided that she'd had enough fun for one day. "Eb sacreum Sadis. Malla tarshish hacate!" Celcia chanted, and slowly rose into the air, clamping onto Ritsuko's vest's collar with her teeth, and starting to lift the ponytailed red-head. "Whfr to?" she grunted.
"Uh, that way!" says Ritsuko, overcoming the embarrasment at being lifted in such a direction and pointing the place where she stashed her Armoured Explosion-Making Vehicle.
Ryder glanced over at her two new friends of sort and said, "Well, if you guys can do something that you think will help in this situation, I believe NOW might be the good time to do so, since that smash didn't sound too good! Sorry if I sound demanding, but sometimes you gotta act a little forceful..."
And with that, she started to run towards the disturbance at last...
OOC: Okay. >_>;; Impromptu sabbatical over.
IC:
Kurumi stared hard at the monster as the gigantic wooden pillar was rolled off the revolting mechanical body with disturbing ease. With a thud that shook the street, the giant pillar fell off, and the revolting mechanical body pulled itself to it's feet with Insectiod grace. "Well..." she murmured, loud enough for Tsuruko and Motoko to hear, as well as Minako and Rei, recently arriving up close, Rei looking disturbed and astonished at the shattered torii. "So much for that."
--
Even as she spoke, Ritsuko was picking up speed, flashing white cotton panties at the people still on the ground as Celcia picked up speed, and began arcing in the direction the red-headed girl had indicated, the ground flashing by with startling speed...
OOC: Good to have yah back...
IC: Ryder stopped and just stared at the boomer in front of her, her memories of Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 returning to her as she watched the fugly robot slither back together.
"Oh fuck... You hit it with a giant wooden pole and it still didn't keep it down?" Ryder began as she tried to figure out something to kill it, knowing how boomers work.
"Think we can weaken it enough to where I can ensnare the damn thing in a Love Chain? Then one poor brave soul could rush up and grab the heart while it's bound..."
Completely unembarrased (hey, would *you* dare to laugh at someone armed to the teeth and with a temper to match?), Carthrat somehow manages to hang on (or be hung onto).
With any luck, she'll make it to the ground in one piece, preferably not shaped like a pizza.
"You take left, I'll take right, try to stay out of melee," Tsuruko barked at Motoko, moving into place on the boomer's flank as fast as she could, and beginning the 'distraction effort' with something she hoped was going to work...
"Hiken Kirukarahirame!" Slashing, she let loose one of the Shinmei Ryu's ranged techniques, hoping Motoko would attack in time to keep it off her...
OOC: My GOD, I suck. -_-;;
IC:
Ritsuko, clutched tightly in Celcia's jaws, soared up and away from the field of combat. Fortunately for her, the boomer was far too busy extricating itself from under the shattered torii post to notice, and Ritsuko was winging her way back to her trusty tank unmolested...
Motoko nodded sharply, and dashed to the opposite side as her sister, a similar cry bursting from her own lips as she too slashed at the monstrosity in a ranged attack. "Hiken Kirukarahirame!"
Kurumi turned to Minako and grinned as the black-haired sisters lunged to the attack. "Looks like you got that distraction you wanted, 'neechan."
OOC: Attack rolls! Tsuruko 7 (+3 pass) Motoko 5 (+4 pass)
IC:
Tsuruko's attack burst off her sword, slashing a coruscating blaze of energy at the beast, just as it rose up to it's legs again. The arc slammed into the metal, cutting partway through, a large, chunk coming off in a single swipe, along with most of it's arm.
Just as it was about to turn to attack Tsuruko, Motoko's attack followed instantly on it's heels, slamming into the beast's other side, causing a similar rip in the metal, which as they watched, was healing itself...but the beast was still as it worked, almost screaming...
OOC: Jumper cables ready... GO~!
IC: Ryder nodded as the beast was sent reeling a bit and focused a bit...
OK Magic... don't fail me now...
With a small look of concern about the possible failure of magic she hasn't had the opprotunity to really practice using, Ryder shouted, "VENUS LOVE CHAIN!!!! TIE HIM UP!!!
OOC: A response!
[23:29] * +Musk-bot --> "Ami-chan rolls 2d6 for Venusy Whip action, yet again, and gets 5."
[23:38] * +Musk-bot --> "Ami-chan rolls 2d6 for Mars, the cutting torch. and gets 7."
IC:
Minako's hands glowed, and a long, glowing ribbon of interlocking hearts snaked from her hand, twisting and writhing like a living thing. There seemed to be no end in sight, the chain just kept coming, and coming, shearing off the remains of the arms as it encircled the monstrous beast.
Rei followed up the entrapment if the beast with a cry of her own. "Fiiiiiahhh SOUL!" A searing stream of white hot flame burst from her fingertips, cutting open the chest plate of the beast, the edges burning to slag as it's innards were exposed...
OOC: * +Musk-bot --> "Ami-chan rolls 2d6 for Kurumi heart crushin' action, and gets 6."
IC: Kurumi shot the Senshi of Flame a startled look, but then noted the hole in the beast's chest. "Chance..." she muttered, sprinting down the steps, and hoping her speed was equal to the titatic strength she found in this body...
Kurumi blurred down the shrine steps, a pink and blue streak until she found the right step, and she launched herself into the air, rocketing with a jump straight into the gaping hole...which promptly sealed itself up behind her...
"Speed it up, Motoko!" Tsuruko ordered, moving around to the monster's rear as Kurumi jumped in.
Taking a few steps to build up speed, she jumped as high as she could, aiming to come down on the shoulder blade with a heavy two handed slash. She had to hope Motoko would get the drill, and come in from the opposite side, or things were going to get messy.