Juuban Land (Open)

[BlueSlime]

Re: Juuban Land (Open)

"Not a fan of the crowds, hmm?" Akane says. "Well that's no reason not to enjoy the fashion. There's a group I know that does regular showings. No large groups, and the people are usually very good about personal hygiene, unlike a lot of those convention goers." She winked.

The other scouts exchange their numbers as well with each Nicholas and Aki. Kousuke was writing his number down as well when Aki makes her feelings on the matter known. Her advice that he try to forget all the things that he saw today seems to really hit him hard. Crestfallen, his eyes hit the floor.

"I see. Yeah... well, I'll try. I guess."

He walks out of the apartment, not saying another word. Miki stares silently after him and then runs after him leaving just the three of you left.

"I'm guessing he's not going to be forgetting anytime soon. Poor guy," Akane said. "Look, I'm going to head off, but you two have my number. Call me sometime this weekend and we'll go shopping or something. All right?"

She headed out, and then there were just the two of them, Aki and Nicholas. They were free to make any additional goodbyes or comments that they wished, but eventually, each new senshi soldier would find themselves going back to their own homes, pondering over what had occurred today and the brand new life that they were about to have.

-----
Meanwhile, in the Negaverse...
-----

The muffled sound of moans and whimpers echoed throughout the chamber as Arokash strode delicately along the purple paths between the tentacle clusters. It reminded him of being within a jungle foliage, densely packed with vines and brambles and greenery, only all of that was replaced by the grey-black tendrils of the Nega Core. And like any greenery worthy of note, this jungle sported many flowers in the form of their female conquests. Some Toblaians, some Yablizi, and even now a trickle of Earthling women decorated the inner most quarters of the the Dark Palace. The mirrored nature of the universe meant that the biology of all three species were quite similar, with only minor aesthetic quirks separating them... like a natural eye color of red for the Yablizi or the slightly pointed ears of the Toblaians. In the end, they were all food and pleasure for the Negaverse to feast upon.

His hand idly trace along the thigh of a young earthling woman, picked up only today along with three others. Her eyes showed bewilderment, fear, and exhaustion. No doubt she was heading nicely to breaking point. It would be better for her after that. Acceptance of her existence as tentacle food was the only choice left to her.

The general moved onward, up a short flight of steps, and through a fleshy wall that slid apart to reveal a meeting chamber just beyond.

"Fashionably late, as always Arokash?" Came a proud man's voice. That would be Calabite no doubt. Dressed in finery, goblet in hand, the platinite crown of victory upon his head to mark him as the conqueror of Toblaia.

"The Speaker is not here yet, Calabite, so I have missed nothing of import, save for your boasting or the services of bodyslaves," Arokash responded.

There were many bodyslaves. Nubile young things who had been thus far spared the final sentencing of being thrown to the Nega Core in favor of personal service to its minions. Arokash found the idea arousing, but distasteful. To him, these servants of light had already been beaten. There was no need to prolong their agony.

He looked at the other generals. Besides Calabite there was Ysperita, with that thousand yard stare of hers, and the Defiler, who was enjoying the dedicated attentions of his new prize concubine, who was on her knees before him bobbing her head slowly up and down between his thighs. To the side, freshly forged from the Core, was a new up and comer from the warrior caste. Sadisto, that was the new general's name.

Arokash took a seat, lounging to his side, adjusting the mask that he wore across his face to hide his true visage.

"I heard tell that Horma was killed earlier today, not long after a tremendous spike of positive energy was detected on Earth," Arokash led off.

"Indeed. We have been discussing it," Ysperita said from her own seat, where a young Yablizi male, dressed only in a loin cloth, was giving her an oiled massage and kissing her neck softly. "Though it was not one spike, but four or five. Horma's plan failed spectacularly. Seems that little tirade about proving us all wrong about him was the last word about his utter incompetence. We are well served to be rid of him."

"Indeed," Calabite said, "But even as the weakest of us, I couldn't imagine he would be so foolish as to try a gambit that would bring four senshi and a guardian together, just at the beginning of our invasion effort. It will make things more difficult than they needed to be."

"Not up to the challenge, oh conqueror?" Ysperita teased.

"Oh I'm up to it, I just thought you would like an easier opportunity to pull your own weight for once, Ysperita." Calabite shot back.

From the Defiler's chair came a deep chuckle, followed by a grunt, and a pitiful whine from the concubine as she was forced to swallow what she was given. If the Defiler was going to say something, he never got the chance to, for at that moment the inky black pool at the center of the chamber began to bubble, signalling the entrance of the Speaker.

She rose from the pool, nude, dripping in the ichor of the Nega Core. To Arokash's knowledge, she might very well be made of it. A true daughter of the Negaverse, scion to the unimaginable power that lurked at its center. She was their empress, their dark messiah, their Speaker.

"Lady Entropos, we are honored by your presence." Calabite began, ever the politician and smooth talker. Arokash knew better. Entropos would not be fooled by sycophants.

"The Negaverse speaks," Entropos said, her voice unearthly and reverberating throughout the chamber. "Four Senshi of light have awoken on the world known as Earth. They must be captured and brought to the Nega Core, where their powers will add to my own, or, failing that, they must be destroyed."

"They are weaklings, my lady. Easily accounted for. The guardian though, known as Ronin Pure. He has been active for far longer, and seems to have developed his powers quite extensi--"

"Ronin Pure is irrelevant. It is the Senshi that must be stopped from achieving their potential. We must also ensure that the Earthlings have no way of traveling beyond the limits of their world for aid. Warrior Sadisto. It is your duty to go to Earth and collect the traveling stones."

"It is my honor and duty, my lady." Sadisto said with a smart salute.

"Ysperita, you will ensure the placement of the thrones on Earth. Now that the Senshi are awakened, it is time to create the Yama Kings that will bring about their ultimate downfall."

"My lady, there is no need for these half-measures. If I were allowed to access Earth, I could have its masses kneeling before you, pledging their lives to you in a week," Calabite declared.

"Enough, Calabite. You shall not have access to that significant a portion of energy until the Nega Core has had more time to feed and strengthen itself. Remember your place. You may be a Conqueror, but I am Speaker."

Calabite scowled and crossed his arms, his glare murderous but impotent at the moment.

In the meantime, Sadisto had already made his way out of the chamber, readying for his assault.



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The following Saturday afternoon, at the Crown arcade...
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Aki has returned to her comfort zone, getting in a nice couple hours of arcade gaming while her new friends, Akane, Miki, and Nicholas, go around the nearby shops to look at outfits and get some dinner together. The two other girls had to really drag Nicholas away from his books and house and force him to be something other than a recluse today.

At a certain point, Miki gets a phone call, which she says she has to take and wanders away for a little bit, leaving Akane and Nicholas alone for a bit. The redhead ends up eyeing Nicholas seriously for a bit, then, as if making up her mind about something blurts out a question.

"So, Nicholas, which one of us do you think is the hottest? Aki, Miki, or me?"

Meanwhile, at her arcade game: Super Awesome Street Tekken Combat vs Comcap vs Mutant Superheros/Gods Around Us Gold Edition, her normal solo practice session is interrupted by a tall boy who puts a couple coins on the bottom screen and challenges.

He chooses an odd combination of fighters and squares off against Aki. He's not bad, she thinks. A definite dedicated gamer, but she manages to beat him. Most guys, when they see her level of skill, just go away, sulking that they've lost to a girl, but without a word he continues to put coin after coin into the game, losing to Aki consistently, but getting better and closer every time.

He continues to not say anything, which may or may not creep Aki out. But when he reaches his last coin, he changes teams to a completely different combination and surprises Aki with a close victory. Aki hardly ever loses at this game, so it comes as a shock.

 

[Rathuris]

Re: Juuban Land (Open)

Nicholas gave Akane a nod and escorted her out. Closing his door he returned to the main room and looked curiously at Aki. "Well today was certainly interesting. Guess you want to head on home as well then?" He would escort Aki to the door and says his good byes as well.

If she wished to stay the night as it was fairly late already, he would invite her to stay the night if she wished.

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The following Saturday afternoon, at the Crown arcade...
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Nicholas could only give a small sigh of resignation as the three girls dragged him along to do shopping and to get out of his home. And much as he expected, he wound up carrying their bags as they went from clothing sstore to clothing store. Though he hadn't minded when they showed off the clothes they tried on to each other, being the only highlight of the day so far.

Hearing Akane's question, left Nich a little stunned. "Uh? Wha.." Seeing her completely serious expression made him think a moment. Gathering himself after such a surprising question. "I don't think I will anwser that. As no matter what I say, someone will get mad." He thought a moment more then shrugged. "Though I will admit I have a fondness for odd or rare coloured hair." Looking at likely the only redhead among a sea of blacks, browns and blonde hair colours, as he hoped it was a good enough anwser.

 

[xivvix]

Re: Juuban Land (Open)

"Sounds awesome," Aki said, smiling at Akane's winking suggestion. Truthfully, she had never heard of smaller groups of cosplayers doing private shows. It would definitely be incredible to see some of the more detailed and elaborate costumes in person, though no matter how small the group, Aki knew being comfortable would be difficult. Especially if Akane wanted her to put one on herself. Still, 'enjoying the fashion' sounded fun, and she gave a quick nod to Akane.

While she had expected Kousuke not to agree with her suggestion, Aki was still surprised by his reaction. She had simply meant to urge him to be cautious, to be safe, but he seemed dejected at her concern. "Kousuke..." she called softly, though the boy was already out the door before she could say any more. Aki turned to watch Miki rush out after him, hopeful the girl could explain what she meant to him. She nodded along with Akane's sentiment, then turned to nod at the girl's offer. "Yeah, that sounds fun, I'll see you later."

With the others leaving, Aki found herself alone with Nicholas. She laughed a bit at his question, then agreed. "Interesting is an understatement, I'd say," she replied, heading towards the door. She yawned as she reached it, suddenly remembering just how late it was. Nicholas' offer to stay the night, though, woke her up rather quickly. "S-stay? Tonight? Here? With you?" she asked, nervously blushing at his offer, possibly misunderstanding it somewhat. "Ah-ha, no-no, I don't think I can do that," she quickly added, inching towards the door. "I-I mean... I need to get back home. My parents, they wouldn't understand." Stuttering excuses, she reached back for the doorknob, then turned back to him. "T-thanks for the offer though," she continued, "You-you're a nice guy, but I should probably get out of here... Home, I mean... Bye!"

With that, Aki turned and began to run home, her mind spinning with everything that had happened tonight. Checking out a magic show, only to get captured by a monster. Fighting shadowy kings and tentacles. Meeting the other scouts, Daigoro and Kousuke. Ronin Pure. And now a college guy was hitting on her? Wow, how did her life get so crazy in one night? Aki didn't stop running until she reached her house and got to her room, before stumbling over to her bed and passing out, exhausted.

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The following Saturday afternoon, at the Crown arcade...
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Though she had always been rather shy and solitary, when Akane called her up with an offer to go shopping with Miki and Nicholas, Aki jumped at the chance. She didn't do that very often, and hanging out with her new friends sounded like a lot of fun. Akane probably had some great taste in clothes, and if they could convince Nicholas to transform in Tempestas, Aki was sure they could find something cute for her to wear. Just a bunch of girls strutting their stuff and turning heads, she thought with a giggle, though she wondered if it would be harder to convince Nicholas or Miki to wear something sexy. Throwing on a comfortable shirt and a set of loose shorts, she met up with the group, eager to see what might happen.

It was not to be though. As they passed the Crown Arcade, Aki turned to look wistfully at the machines she would normally be enjoying, only to stare in shock at a shiny new game. "Gold Edition!?" she nearly yelled at the sight of the new version of one her favorite series. Without thinking, she stepped into the arcade, wondering at the new fighters on display as the computer ran through a demo showcase. No one was playing?! It must have just showed up and no one else knew! 'I can be the first person to master the new characters!' Aki thought, her eyes growing wide in delight. Suddenly she remembered her friends, turning to apologize for her departure. Thankfully, though, they seemed to understand her train of thought as they saw her repeatedly looking back at the machine. "Sorry girls, but can you go on ahead? I'll catch up to you after a quick game!" she said, sincerely meaning to actually do just that, but completely incapable of leaving the arcade without trying out the new game.

Several hours later, Aki was just getting into her groove. The new characters were awesome, and so many of the classics had been revamped! Even Comcap's most well known character, Jinzoh, had been altered. There were three new frames of animation in his signature move's wind-up, which could have MAJOR consequences in how he played. Aki was more interested in some of the new characters, though, since they had totally new styles and moves, knowledge of which could decide a match. Her current game consisted of a trio of brand new characters, including VoidMind, the eldritch abomination and swallower of hope from the Mutant Superheroes comic books; Zingo Dingo, the anthropomorphic cat cyborg and interstellar bounty hunter from Comcap's Space Cat! game franchise; and JaniTaur, the bull-headed sanitation worker with super strength and a mop. They were pretty cool characters, though in Aki's opinion, weren't the types that would be considered very good in competitive play. Still, she wanted to learn how to use them, and was just about to pull off a super hyper mega ultra combo with JaniTaur when she heard the distinctive sound of a coin rolling into the machine.

The tall boy beside Aki looked confident as he wrapped his hand around the controller and selected his fighters. He had odd choices, but they were well known characters in the franchise, which painted him as someone who had some idea what they were doing. 'He probably thinks I'm just some dumb girl,' she thought with a smirk as she queued up the three oddball characters she had been using and prepared to play. As the victory screen splashed across the screen with her characters triumphant, Aki offered him a polite, "Good game," though she smirked as she expected to see him storm off after losing to her. Instead he challenged her again without a word. He loses again, to which Aki gives her standard condolence, but he tried again. And again, and again, and again. 'Sheesh, this guy really must be a masochist,' she thought as he sunk another coin into the slot.

Despite the ease of her first several victories, Aki had to admit that at least the boy seemed to be improving rapidly with each game. Early on, the fights went easily in her favor, with the new characters she was still learning to use barely taking a scratch. As the games continued, the boy seemed to begin reacting faster and more precisely in just the ways he needed to to overcome the strategies Aki was using. His gradual progress in turn prompted her to adapt new attacks as he learned to counter what she was using. Still, each game ended the same way, Aki's characters standing victorious, but it was closer every time. Though she was enjoying the challenge the boy was giving her, Aki found herself unnerved by the fact that he never responded to her polite congratulations after each game. Even when she would say something during the game about a particularly nice move he made, the boy continued to play in complete silence. She found herself wondering if perhaps it was getting to be time to give the game a rest and find her friends, despite how much she was enjoying playing with the boy.

By the time the boy pulled what looked like his last coin, Aki was hunched over the game like a warrior, ready for battle herself. The game started up, with the tall boy unexpectedly selecting a new set of characters. Considering he had been gradually getting better with the fighters he had been using, Aki was surprised he would change so suddenly on his last match. What surprised her even more, however, was how he seemed to play even better with these characters than he had in all the other games. Without warning, the boy struck aggressively, forcing Aki to react to his strategy rather than the other way around, unlike their previous games. She couldn't believe how his skill had suddenly jumped up to put her on the defensive. Before she could even begin to figure out how she should fight back, the match was over. She had gotten a few good hits in, but the boy had won.

Mouth hanging open, Aki stared at the screen as the boy's characters roared in triumph over her fallen avatars. She was so shocked, she didn't even give her perfunctory congratulation to her opponent. Swiftly, she popped a coin into the machine, eager to get back in and prove her skill to this lucky young upstart. This time, she picked a trio of characters she was more comfortable with: Tanya, the gorgeous special ops commando, Kuromushi, the speedy black-clad ninja, and Crushbane, the hulking behemoth luchador. They weren't the character's she knew best, but they were a very balanced team, and used together could react to any playstyle. They weren't top tier, but they were all decent fighters. While she could have picked some of the more well known and powerful characters that she knew she could win with, Aki decided she would rather use some of the less popular characters to show off her skill. "Come on, come on," Aki whispered as she tapped the buttons to skip the intro sequences, eager to get into the game and prove she was still the better player.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Juuban Land (Open)

At Nicholas' initial answer, Akane just closed her eyes and sighed. His follow up about having an appreciation for odd colored hair, however, elicited an unapologetic snort from the redhead, and she tossed her lovely waves of deep red back, as if to emphasize the waves of beauty. Then, she pressed her lips together and expelled air through them, producing an unglamorous sound.

"Laaaaame!"

She shook her head side to side.

"Diplomatic answers... so NOT on trend! And then that half-hearted follow up, O-M-G... that's like telling a child they can't have that toy they really really want and then giving them a three day old cookie to mollify them. Eyahhh....Nicholas. Have you EVER talked to girls before?"

Akane gasped suddenly. "Oohhh... ooh, I know... you like guys, don't you? That must be it! Not wanting to hurt our feelings is just a cover!"

"Hey you two!" Miki says, rejoining the conversation. Depending on his reaction, the more timid sailor scout may find Nicholas ready to explode or trying to crawl into some imaginary crawl space, but most likely she would come to a halt and lift her hand nervously to her chin.

"D-did I interrupt something?"

"Only the announcement that the most important task of today is about to begin!" Akane stated without warning. "We are going to try on clothes with our newest girlfriend, Tempest-chan!"

"Oh?"

"C'mon, Nicholas! You have to do this! No one else in the world would have this opportunity. I want to see you try on all the cute outfits! You're going to look amazing. Especially with my help!"

***

Aki's contest against the mystery boy had taken an unexpected turn, and now she found herself more hard pressed than ever. It became clear within just one rematch - which she would lose with her new characters - that not only was this boy a competent player, but more than likely, the three characters he chose to play with were a trio he had nigh perfected.

With this team, he played a control game, keeping distance, timing projectile attacks, cancelling out of areal assaults, and finding absolute comfort in chipping away damage. Two of his characters - the villainous Dr. Destiny with his beam attacks and teleport moves and Yodjango, a samurai space cowboy - were ideal for a control specialist. His third character, Lumina the Star Warrior, was a mid-tier choice because her projectile attacks were considered slow and her physical attacks, which were fast, had a short range compared to other fighters. He rarely used her, except for combo attacks, or to change up the game if Aki ever managed to get comfortable with one of his control characters' attack schemes.

It was after his second win that the boy would finally speak.

"Use your best characters. Don't hold anything back."

 

[Rathuris]

Re: Juuban Land (Open)

Nicholas watched as she reached up to her hair. His eyes naturally following the long hair down to her chest before she flicked it away. He quickly looked back up at her face, hopefully before she noticed. "I know how to talk to women. I have had a couple girlfriends." Hearing her question about his preference left him a little surprised. "No I am not into guys." His anwser quite firm before he sighed. He gestured to Akane and Miki. "Just trying not to anger someone who can use superpowers to turn me into a pancake. I find happy superheroes is good for one's health." Giving Miki a wave as she returned to them.

Turning to Miki with a shake of his head. "No. She was just trying to get me to anwser who the prettiest woman in our group was. She is just a little upset I refused to anwser." He looked at Akane in surprise. "What? But..." He came to a quick realization and gave a small sigh. "I doubt you will stop pestering or asking me right?" Knowing it would likely save him a headache and likely several dozen minutes of Akane asking him over and over again. "Fine, but we should pick out something first and find a place for me to transform and change in private." Looking slightly nervous. "It is... Sort of embarressing to wear my Scout uniform in public." With a sigh he resigned himself to be Akane's dress up doll.

 

[xivvix]

Re: Juuban Land (Open)

Despite having witnessed the boy's skill in the last match, Aki was still unable to defeat his trio of fighters in the second game. He seemed to know how to use the characters even better than he had let on before, pulling off a very intense range based game to weaken her before switching out to a close range fighter when necessary. He was much better than she was expecting, and even with the set of fighters she had picked she simply couldn't keep up with him. The match was closer than the last, but still a loss. When the victory screen came up, once again showing the boy's characters triumphant, Aki grimaced, confounded as to how this boy was showing her up so suddenly.

"Use your best characters. Don't hold anything back."

Turning to look at the boy out of the corner of her eye, Aki gave a confident smirk and asked, "Are you sure that's what you want?" She gave the boy a wink before dropping another coin into the machine and saying, "Fine, your funeral." Determined to win no matter what this time, Aki hurriedly moved the cursor to select her favorite trio of fighters, the ones she knew best. First she selected the energy blade wielding, teleporting futuristic warrior Stalker, one of Comcap's staple fighters. His blend of quick movement and high damage output would let Aki close with the boy's ranged fighters and hit them before they could pin him down. Next she chose Ruby Red, the sexy female robot with shoulder mounted lasers and energy force fields. Her ranged abilities were powerful, and her defenses prevented chip damage entirely, and while she moved slowly, her ability to fly forced the enemy to place themselves in danger to attack her. When Stalker was injured, Ruby Red could hold the field while he recovered. Her final choice was the frost witch, Avalanca, who looked fragile with her flowing skimpy robe, but could cover the screen with attacks that made movement difficult. Aki could use Avalanca's abilities to pin down her foes, as well as set them up for more powerful attacks by combining her abilities with the others.

Once she had selected her fighters, all of Aki's attention was on the screen, the intriguing tall boy completely out of her mind. "Alright, let's go!" she said eagerly as the match counted down to it's start. Stalker exploded towards the boy's fighter as soon as Aki had control. This time, there was no thought put to showing off. Aki was completely focused on achieving victory, using every strategy and trick she had learned in her long career of playing the STC vs CC vs MS/GAU franchise. Hunched over the controls and smiling enthusiastically, Aki was ready to win.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Juuban Land (Open)

The arcade battle that proceeded to play out between Aki and the strange young man of few words was a spectacle that demanded an audience. Such was the palpable tension and metaphysical friction of skill and timing on display that the event's quality drew onlookers to gaze at the screen like iron filings to a magnetic field - all the pupils with silver windows and dazzling color reflecting within their inked depths stood in silent appraisal; a perfect semicircle behind the combatants.

Calculated dashes, altitude disruption, touch-and-go gambits that rewarded and punished with devilish combinations executed to maximum effect. Some Aki saw coming while others caught her off guard with their inventiveness, yet the veteran arcade-goer gave as good as she got, and had she the time to look at her opponent's face beside her, she would have seen a wide, maybe even feral and rapacious grin upon his lips.

The battle came down, as fate would inevitably demand, to a squaring off of the final two characters on either side, each with only a small fraction of their life bars remaining. The gathering crowd had applauded Aki's most recent success that had brought her even, or perhaps slightly ahead as the match time counter rand down to the final ten seconds. The tall boy had built up some staunch support as well, though he had finally seemed to have broken a sweat in challenging Aki's best team.

Then disaster happened, he caught her hit box with just the barest of animations, and managed to follow up with a connector that required amazing timing and precision under pressure. There was little doubt that if he followed through on the arguably easier (though still difficult) timings on his punish that Aki would lose. A crushing sickness, the gnawing of impending defeat, worked itself upon Aki.

Then, through some miracle, the boy's last sequence was mistimed, leaving Aki with a sliver of life and mere seconds to make something of it. The character landed - did she delay or immediately kip up? Aki resisted the urge that the time counter pressed upon her and delayed the character's rise. It was the right decision, as his low kick sailed harmlessly above her. The opening of the animation was there, and she didn't hesitate.

Her character leaped up, countered with a quick jab, which connected, and then executed a follow up launcher. The crowed ooh'd and aah'd with anticipation - she had him! But there was only a second and a fraction left, and the buttons could not be rushed. His life bar fell, fell, fell...

TIME UP!

...

DRAW!

A roar of aww's combined with a ripple of laughter gave way to applause. For his part, the opponent wore a rueful grin, and dug his hand into his ripped jean pocket to dig out his wallet. Turning to Aki, he opened it and slipped out a card, which he handed to her. It had an address on it, along with some upcoming times and dates.

"That's all the time I have right now, so we'll have to leave the rematch until next time. I knew I was right to test you though. Here, take this. My name is Shimizu Masahiro, and I am the founding member of Team Nova, a pro-gaming team that is intending to compete in the upcoming Topanga world league tournament, here in Tokyo. If you're interested, I want to invite you to join us. You certainly have the skill, and we could use more fighting game representation. So, what do you say?"

As the boy waited for her reply, there came a large boom in the distance, followed by a rumbling tremor that built in intensity.

"Ah, do you feel that?" Asked someone in the crowd.

"E-earthquake?!"

The groundbegan to shake violently, but there was something not right about all this, not so far as Aki could tell. It was not a normal earthquake. Something dark was causing this. They just knew it. And whatever it was, it was close by.

***

Meanwhile at the clothing store...

"Oh for certain, keeping me happy is certainly good for your health, boy-o! But don't think that I can't recognize someone being disingenuous - or worse - patronizing. It takes guts to tell the truth, but I'd respect men a whole lot more if they did, rather than waver and be pushed over like reeds in the wind."

Akane's comment would then be followed up by her amazing non-sequitor into wanting to dress and undress Nicholas in his alter ego, which of course took Miki my surprise, though she put a hand over her mouth as she giggled in an instinctive response to the rather bizarre potential of this activity.

"M-maybe Akane's just worried that Tempest-chan will be the prettiest girl in our group?" Miki laughed.

"For certain, I'm not going to stop pestering you because this must happen!" Akane declared with a zeal bordering on mania. "To the bathing suit section!"

"Oh my!"

...

The following fifteen minutes would be some of the more embarrassing and/or most liberating experiences of Nicholas' life. His companions found him many varieties of girl's clothing to try on, from lacey underwear to two piece bathing suits, to summer dresses, to mini-skirts, and of course, some high heels and matching handbags to go with a mix of blouses and leggings and shawls and scarves and so on and so forth.

As Sailor Tempest, *she* would find that her sailor outfit could be removed easily if she willed it to come apart at the seams, but without this use of willpower on her part, the suit was in fact impossible to be removed by others without tearing its fabric or removing it in one piece like a bather, and given how impossibly skin tight the suit was to her curvy body, this would take time and care.

So naturally she disrobed with her magical ability, and put the sailor suit aside. She would be able to look at herself fully in the tall mirror of the changing room, and inspect her body closely for the first time. It was up to the inner *guy* in her to determine if this was a pervy act or not, given that she was staring at her own body, but it was clear to her that she was intensely attractive in this form, as they all were. Aki, Akane, and Miki were all cute and reasonably pretty in their normal forms, but under their transformations, all flaws were removed and their bodies became fuller and more matured in every physically desirable way, with every tiny blemish removed. It sure was something else...

Each time she modeled for the two girls, they inevitably squealed with excitement and giggle fits at Tempest's new look. Much as she was loath to admit it, the urge to join them in this excited state at certain points was high. The transformation was more than skin deep, it would seem. In this form, she was truly feminine, in appearance and nature.

It was as she was just starting to try on a selection of wide brimmed hats that she and the other girls heard the boom that was followed by a sudden shuddering of the entire clothing store. Shouts of "earthquake" and "find cover" filled the department, but Miki and Akane, who were both in the changing room at the time, looked at Tempest with the same thought running through their minds.

This wasn't just a normal earthquake. Something dark was causing this. They just knew it. And whatever it was, it was close by.

 

[Rathuris]

Re: Juuban Land (Open)

Nicholas gave a sigh of resignation as he was marched off to the bathing suit section. Feeling very out of place amongst the women. Letting the girls pick out a few things, he looking about cautiously before slipping into of of the changes rooms. Activating his sailor powers and letting the changes roll over him.

It took her a few minutes to figure out that the suit came off when she willed it to. Turning towards the mirror she could not help but feel attraction to the woman staring back at her. Her male mind already beginning to feel arousal staring at the woman's full bosom and wide hips. After a few moments, she realized that it was her staring back, and she could already see that the sight at turned her very female body on. Shaking her head a few times, and turned her blushing face towards the clothes that had been picked out.

As she tried on various outfits, a few times during the high points she held back her giggles, but could not help but give her audience a twirl, to show off a dress or a particular outfit. Halfway through the dressing up, with a heavily blushing face, and a shy voice she asked the other two could call her Nikki. Any sugestion to buy a few clothes for her female form was met with no resistance, as she began to enjoy the experience. Realizing that her mannerisms matched her current form, she could not help but worry a small bit. Hoping that it wasn't changing anything else about her self. Though her worry was short lived as she felt the earthquake, and the whole store shudder.

Looking to Miki and Akane she gave a small nod and she went back to change into her combat outfit. "I hope no one is hurt." As she hurriedly dressed in her sailor outfit. Preparing to run to the source with the other two.

 

[xivvix]

Re: Juuban Land (Open)

The match was long and intense. As the game drew on, Aki's focus narrowed until the only thing that existed for her was the screen. Every frame flashed vividly in her mind as she pushed her skill to the limit. She couldn't believe how hard this boy was pushing her, but she was not about to back down now. Her body tensed up like a spring as she pushed all of her skill and knowledge to the limit. Time seemed to slow as she counted each frame between attack animations to line up her strikes.

Even with her entire being concentrating on the match, though, the boy was still meeting Aki hit for hit. No matter what she tried, she couldn't seem to pull ahead of him. She grit her teeth as Ruby Red exploded into a shower sparks after getting caught in one of Dr. Destiny's beam attacks. A moment later, though, Avalanca managed to finish off the projectile spewing enemy. Similarly, Yodjango fell to the frost witch, only for the boy's last character to knock Avalanca out, the long strips of her skimpy dress fluttering in the air until she collapsed into a heap on the ground. In the end, it came down to Aki's Stalker versus the boy's Lumina, two highly technical characters that relied entirely on the player's timing and precision to make the most of their abilities. With both time and health running out, Aki knew that any misstep here would decide the match, and she was not about to let that misstep be her own.

The fighting was fierce and frenetic. Both Aki and the boy's character's traded blows, with her fighter's speed wearing down his slower character, though each hit Lumina landed tore through Stalker's health pool. With seconds left on the clock, Aki sucked in breath as Lumina managed to catch Stalker in an attack that threatened to end the match in the boy's favor. Unbelievably, a mistimed attack gave Aki the chance she needed. With her heart pounding, she waited for the opening she needed, then struck. Her timing was excellent, the hits were landing, she leaned in as Lumina's health bar sunk. This is it!

TIME UP!

...

DRAW!

Eyes widening in shock, Aki stared at the screen as Stalker stopped responding to her commands and allowed Lumina a reprieve. Both characters landed, her fighter turning his back to his opponent with a surly grunt while Lumina whined dramatically, neither being awarded the win. She couldn't believe it! Draw's were so rare, and here it happened in the toughest fight she had ever encountered. Still clutching the controls, Aki slowly leaned away from the arcade machine, her body still tense, heart still racing.

It was then that Aki heard the collective response of the audience that had gathered behind the two fighters. Having been so focused on the game, she had never even noticed the mass of watchers just behind her. Aki spun around to face the crowd, smiling nervously as her body relaxed suddenly, giving a slight wobble to her stance. Breathing out, she turned to face her opponent, nodding to him and giving him a sincere, but breathless "Good game!" She looked down curiously at his card before looking up at him in shock as he introduced himself. Shimizu Masahiro? Shihiro? The Hero of Fighting Games?!?! Team Nova was one of the premiere pro-gaming teams in the world, made up of some of the greatest gamers ever. Shihiro was like an idol to the game loving Aki, and here he was talking to her. Giving her his card. Inviting her to join Team Nova!

"R-really?" Aki asked, self-consciously bringing a hand up to her forehead to move the strands of hair that had fallen in front of her eyes during the intense match. One side of her mouth crooked up in a sly smile and she answered, "Y-yeah, that sounds gre~!" Her answer was suddenly cut short by a sudden rumbling. Everyone in the arcade was looking around curiously as the roaring intensified, even Shihiro. Aki, though, knew this was no earthquake, but something dark. Something close. Shoving the card into her pocket, she ran for the exit, while quickly calling over her shoulder in one long string, "Hey I totally want to do this but I have to go so I'll call you about it later okay bye!" Once out of the arcade, Aki grimly headed for the source of the disturbance, using her sensitivity to the dark power to lead her in the right direction.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Juuban Land (Open)

(In a place outside of space and time...)

The small red gem pulsed softly in the palm of the young boy's hand. It was cool to the touch, yet it glowed bright and the semi-translucent matter that it was made of seemed to shift and flow like magma. It was a Traveling Stone. That much his mother had made clear to him. It would take him where he needed to go.

It was a shame that his enemies also sought it, and now that he fled with it, they sought him too.

He had little enough idea of how it worked. That sort of information was not readily shared outside of the inner circle that ruled the Negaverse - not even with the children of those great powers, such as himself. All he knew was that he had stolen it from a vault on Toblaia, in what had once been the Royal Palace of that world. Now it was the harem retreat of his father, Calabite the Conqueror, a place to house his collection of trophies both living and inanimate.

The yoma sentinels that guarded the vaults had been alerted by a silent alarm, and now followed hot on his heels through the strange non-euclidean landscape created by the power of the traveling stone. Those not quick enough to keep up with him and the radius of the traveling sphere created by the stone's power, were lost to the cosmos, flung haphazardly through the multiverse into places best left undreamed of.

Though he did not know it, every physical step he and his pursuer's took brought them unquantifiable distances through reality. It would be too easy and too narrow-minded to simply explain that each step was that of a million or even a billion miles. No. Each step was a unique spell, parting the spiritual mysteries of existence and temporarily rewriting the laws of reality to suit the all too mundane and physical form of the boy and the monsters that followed him.

The traveling stone did just as it name suggested. It enabled travel through places where travel was not meant to take place. And though his fleeing was for him a grueling process of hours, his journey was one that could not have been measured in lifetimes of people, but of planets, had it not been for the mighty magic of the artifact in his possession.

With a great and mighty shockwave, Alladra, exiled scion of House Calabite, breached the spiritual barrier that surrounded the atmosphere of the planet known as earth and arrived in another moment, the sub basement of an office building across the street from a massive shopping center in Tokyo. Residents of that building and the surrounding neighborhood would have sworn that it had been an earthquake, but there were powers of both light and darkness in that area who recognized it as being something more.

The five yoma guards were not far behind him, their dogged stamina and the knowledge that to halt in their chase was to guarantee death had spurred the strongest of them onward. Individually, Alladra might be a match for them, but as a group, he knew they might overwhelm him.

He had to keep going, even though he was on this strange world. The traveling stone had ceased in its glowing, the motion within it stilled. It had brought him where he needed to go, and now was dormant. No matter, somehow he would evade these yoma and then get his bearings.

"There he issss! After him! The Master musssst have his treasure back!" hissed an armored inhuman yoma with a large, cruel looking spear in its large clawed hand. It pointed at Alladra menacingly as its fellows stepped into view.

The sub-basement that he was in appeared to be a storage area. Large corridors of pallets and boxes created a rectangle grid of objects a little over six feet high in a four by twenty setup. In the middle of the chamber was a doorway with a button next to it that had an up arrow on it - probably an elevator if this world had such things. There was also a doorway at the very far end of the room that he could see, as well as one just beyond his pursuers. Each had the word EXIT written in red characters upon it.

....

In the clothing shop, just before the tremors had rocked them, the two sailor scout friends were amused but overjoyed at Tempest's request for them to call her "Nikki" when in the female form. Miki giggled gleefully, while Akane just threw her own arms around the blonde tattooed girl and gave her a squeezing hug. That was swiftly followed by Akane offering to go in for a portion of the cost of the new outfits, since they were roughly her size, and agreed that if Nikki wanted, she could try on some of Akane's own outfits later on at her house.

Miki seemed to give a funny look at that suggestion and was about to raise her voice in question to it when suddenly the shockwave alerted them all to a sudden emergency.

In the hectic departure that followed, the three of them left the building - with Nikki now clothed as Sailor Tempestas once again. They followed their instincts and newly discovered sixth sense towards the disturbance. A few police and emergency vehicles had arrived on the scene across the street, where an office building appeared to be in slightly damaged condition and was being evacuated. They all had the feeling that the epicenter of this disturbance was somewhere beneath the building.

Arriving beside them in a huff was their friend Aki, fresh from her time at the arcade and her very hasty departure from meeting with pro-gamer Shihiro. Her quick retreat had left the young man stunned and lost for words, but that was to be expected with an earthquake going on.

"These police got here very fast," Akane observed, as uniformed officers were telling onlookers to get back and that the area wasn't safe. Strangely, both Aki and Nikki were able to spot the alleyway going around the back of the building, where a police van had parked to deliberately block that way out - not the sort of thing police should be doing in an evacuation emergency. Even more strange was that they noticed the face of one of the police officers - for a moment it was not the face of a human at all, but a pale grey skin tone with a far-too-large mouth and tiny, beady alien eyes.

Then in an instant, it transformed, leaving in its place the face of a non-descript tokyo policeman.

"How do you think we should get in?" asked Miki.

"And should we all transform, like Tempestas?" Akane followed up with her own question.

The two of them appeared to be looking towards Aki, although Akane seemed to also glance at Nikki as well for an indication of what should be done next.

 

[Sprig]

Re: Juuban Land (Open)

Alladra ran his thumb over the pulsing gem as he gripped it tightly in his hand while he ran, his breathe rising quicker as he ran from the impending footsteps ringing out in this strange space that surrounded him. The cool feel of the gem chilling his hand helping him focus on the task of running and not on his senses that flared in warning of the dark energy following behind him quickly. The loss of several of those energy sources not doing much but make him run faster.

For he did not know how the magic of this stone worked, the fact that they were losing people brought a chill up his spine and made a fear of the magic collapsing around them and ending his journey right here before it had even began start to creep up his spine. But he held it back, focusing on the only thing he could really do at that moment. And that was run. Now if only he had tried to break into the forbidden and secured knowledge of his fathers! He would be able to understand what the heck was happening around him. Curse you old man... He hissed in his mind as his feet thundered against the apparent 'ground'. The fact that there was actually ground in this strange space wasn't even a passing thought at the moment.

It was at this point that he suddenly felt the air start to displace around him, throbbing and shaking as if it was preparing for something. This had the effect of him gritting his teeth and prepared for either its collapse or the end of the run. Praying for the latter by expecting the former.

And then it burst! The pressure of the shock wave rattling his teeth and pushing back against him as he found himself falling into somekind of building. Not having long before his stalkers reached him he quickly surveyed the room as he landed in a crouch, not able to let the relieve of making it out of there alive come over him. The gem he had been holding in such a tight grip until this point was swiftly pocketed. For he did not when he might need to retreat again. And such a powerful item really shouldn't fall into the hands of his Father...

So it's here, Alladra, the self-exiled scion of House Calabite, and soon formally exiled and hunted down scion found himself. Looking over a room that seemed to be a storage of somekind. Not quite as familiar with this human races daily life and structure as he would of liked he did not know what could be stored here...But perhaps he could make use of it to form an escape.

Wait..he could sense something, outside and surrounding his position. With eyes widening in shock at what he was sensing the yoma that followed him stepped in. Starring into the face of his surprise, perhaps its a good thing that it happened then. If they saw his shock while he was talking to them then they'd realize something was up too. What in the blackened sands of Toblaia is a light warrior doing here already!? He could feel it, one brightly stating their power to the world. And this one did not feel like Ronin to him, damn, it seems he had gotten reinforcements. This could be bad for the...no, this could be good for him! He was no longer a solider of the negaverse. But..no, now was not the time to be thinking on this! He had five yoma before him, and he could sense more outside as well. Quite weak in comparison to the five..but he couldn't focus on levelling out their powers and comparing it at the moment. When he had the chance though he was going to let his senses fill this town and try to find out how many enemies he had.

"There he issss! After him! The Master musssst have his treasure back!" hissed an armored inhuman yoma, with that spear in its hand he could only guess it was the leader. It certainly seemed likely with a weapon with such a cruel appearance in its grip. He idly tried to see if he could sense anything from it while he tried to think on his options.

Trying to relax his stance, but letting a tinge of fake fear appear on his expression he tried to will his power over the environment to cause the elevator to 'Open' and 'Rise'. Thankfully he had used something similar before when he wanted to get a view of the surrounding landscape. And with all these forces seeming to pile into this one spot he didn't want to be in the middle of it.

"M-Must you be so hostile? I was only going to b-borrow it to deal with Ronin as ordered!" A boldfaced lie, and a faked stammer as well. He needed to keep this conversation going until he could run for the opening of the elevator..And now that he thought about it, these Yoma didn't know he could use positive energy did they?...And they certainly didn't know about his armour. Mentally he began to grin. A plan in mind of how to escape as 'Alladra', and a new enemy of there's to appear...mhmm, yes, Star wanderer. He'll call himself that..what he now was, and a bit of the name of his armour brought into it. It would work..now he just had to keep hold of this 'Hope' emotion and 'Hope that his plan succeeded.

 

[Rathuris]

Re: Juuban Land (Open)

Nikki gave a few small pants as she slide to a halt after having rushed to the scene. Her eyes carefully looking over the scene unfoldng behind them."Too fast..." She frowned as she noticed the odd behavior of some of the police men. Gasping a moment as she witnessed the sight of one of the men's faces turning into a monster for a brief moment. She turned to the other three women with her. "I do not think this is an earthquake, it is something darker." Turning back to look at the alley way and gesturing to it briefly. "That alley may be a good way in. Not sure transforming now would be wise, they likely already sense me, but you three may still be hidden." Looking to Akane curiously to see if she had a plan or agreed with her assumption.

 

[xivvix]

Re: Juuban Land (Open)

Though she had felt the trembling earth as strongly as everyone else in the area, Aki was still surprised to see the damaged building and emergency vehicles as she approached what felt like the source of the dark disturbance. Perhaps it was simply due to the magician at the carnival being much more subtle in his schemes, but she had not expected the Negaverse's minions to cause so much havoc so openly. Maybe stopping him had led the other dark creatures Ronin Pure and Daigoro had warned them about to become more bold. Or had one of the more powerful ones simply decided to make itself known? The idea of something like the tentacled horror that the sailor scouts had just barely survived attacking normal people spurred the girl on faster.

"Hey! You felt it too?" Aki called to the others as she approached them, staring over at the building being evacuated. She blinked and looked closer as one of the officer's briefly took on the visage of some nightmarish creature. "Yeah, scary fast" she agreed with the other girl's sentiments, her temper flaring as she considered the implications of a literal monster masquerading as a police officer. After the close battle at the arcade, meeting her idol Shihiro, then rushing here on the trail of the dark energy she had felt, Aki's body was taut and ready to spring into action against this very real threat. She looked over at the hot-headed Akane with a smirk, tensing up as she prepared to rush the disguised creature, only to catch herself at Tempestas' suggestion of caution. She took a second to look between the officer and the assembled girls before quickly nodding.

"We need to get in and see what's up before they know we're here," Aki said, "We don't want to get the normal police and people caught up in a fight if we can help it." Looking at each of them, she thought for a second, then nodded again. "Let's try the alley, see if we can get in without attracting attention." Motioning to Tempestas, Aki added, "If they can feel your spiritual power, you might have to stay back." As she considered the situation, her mind began to drift to one of her favorite stealth game series, Splinter Gear, and how the characters in those games used deception to slip past their enemies' defenses. "In fact, maybe you should go first," she said to Tempestas, a sly grin on her face as she looked over the Sailor Scout's skimpy outfit, "If they try to stop you, you can distract them until we get in." Though splitting the party seemed to go against everything in her otaku mind, Aki knew that getting into the building without drawing attention was their best bet to see what was really happening here.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Juuban Land (Open)

(In the sub-basement)

The masked, halberd wielding man finds his words duly ignored. These five survivors of the grueling chase across the cosmos have not come all this way in the face of certain doom to simply bandy words with the vault thief.

Alladra regards the dark warriors, who wield spears and shields and sport a hoplite helm atop their heads. They have vaguely reptilain facial features. It is as though they were some sort of hybrid breed between a race of upright bidpedal crocodiles and Toblaian ancestry.

The tallest and most physically dominant of the five is the one who spoke before and seems to have the air of authority. He makes a motion and his comrades fan out to either flank before closing in on Alladra. If he did not retreat in some fashion, he would find himself flanked from both sides by the rapidly advancing enemy.

***
(Outside the damaged office building)

"You're right. I didn't think it was an earthquake either," Akane said, then nodded at Nikki's words. "If you're right, and they can sense your energy, then we probably won't have the element of surprise - or at least you won't. But if we can make them believe we three are just normal girls, then they might not take us seriously. And then we'll strike!"

The fiery red-head slapped her fist down on her palm for emphasis.

"S-so should Tempestas go first?" Miki asked. "What if she gets in trouble?"

"We'll be there to bail her out, naturally," Akane said.

Miki looked at Aki, still somewhat regarding her as an unspoken leader given her actions during their first trial against the minions of darkness at the fortune teller's tent.

"But if she's powerful enough on her own, the three of us could sneak in while she distracts the badguys, right?"

The four girls made their way over towards the alleyway, timing their run to avoid the notice of some of the police on the main street who looked like they were confused and talking into their radios. One police officer within earshot seems to be asking how an emergency police van got to the area so fast and had already begun taping the area off.

"Looks like not all these 'police' are on the same page," Akane observed.

The senshi manage to get to the back of the police van in the alley and peek past it to see two policemen standing guard at an underground parking garage, presumably connected below to the office building. There is also a side entrance to the main building, but the police are standing relatively close to that as well.

"W-well? Now's the time to decide. Is Tempestas going in alone while we sneak by?"

 

[Rathuris]

Re: Juuban Land (Open)

Tempestas frowned as she looked at the guard detail protecting the way inside. Turning to the other three. "I can make a distraction, I shouldn't need any help. And if things get hairy, I can transform back. Which unlike your transformations, when I transform back I am male, and share very few similarities to my transformed state." Looking at the other scouts to see if they understood. "And if so they will likely keep searching for a woman, which even if they are dark warriors, they likely wouldn't suspect me transforming back into a man." Looking to Aki to see if she agreed with her assumption. Meanwhile, she took careful stock of the alley, making note of each metallic object she could see as well as the van. Looking for things she might be able to use for a distraction, other then her very skimpy outfit.

 

[Sprig]

Re: Juuban Land (Open)

Alladra curses quite violently in his mind when he doesn't hear or see the elevator that he tried to control to move doing anything. And lost a decent amount of time due to it, allowing two of the creatures to start flanking him. Inching closer as they got in position. He knew he had to do something here as they weren't going to listen to reason, or well..listen to him talk to get some free time..oh, wait, he knew one thing he could say that might halt them for a moment! But first...No, he couldn't use that. It would ruin this light warriors own surprise if he or she was planning one. It was a normal tactical move for situations like this after all. But if they didn't act soon he would screw that and call them out! He was in serious need of aid of some kind here. Be they attacking them both or just the Yoma.

He slowly inched back towards the exit of his side of the place. Slowly being the same pace the two that were moving into flanking range were moving to keep the same distance between them. Not wanting to allow them to get into striking range. At least..not yet. Peering through the eye-holes of his mask he scanned each of their positions. Lizards with Toblaian ancestor..this felt like some bitter bit of irony here, killed by people of his own race. Well, half. But it was still considerable. "Have you all truly been completely broken to Calabites control? People of Toblaia...do nothing remain of your old selves?"

He hoped that question gave them a slight halt in their step, for he needed every second he could get at the moment. And while he wasn't quite safe outside either, at least he would be safer out there with the light warrior and weak yoma than these five powerful warriors.

With his words spoke, he called upon the dark forces within him and let it channel through his hands. Willing it to be invisible, unseen and a brute force. Something to collide, to break, to be an unrelenting force upon the target. And with that focus in mind he turned and sent the collected power towards the yoma's trying to flank him. Splitting his gathered power in two and between his hands in a hope the effect would work. And truly not caring about the damage the attack could wreck on his surroundings. He was too outnumbered to care about collateral damage.

Spoiler

Negaverse attack (2): EP used - 10

Not being able to wait a moment as he knew the other three were going to be hot on his tail no matter if he hit or not, he started a mad dash towards his exit. Calling on his other power with his mind as his orignal plan was already shattered to pieces. Palladium of the Stars! Envelope me with your light and protect me!

 

[xivvix]

Re: Juuban Land (Open)

Aki smirked and nodded at Akane's enthusiastic assessment of her plan, while Miki was more concerned about Tempestas. Though she agreed with the silver haired girl's worry, Aki was quick to reassure her. "If Tempestas gets in trouble, we'll all transform and help her," she stated, turning to look at each of them in turn so they knew what their priority was. "But until she calls for help, we need to focus on getting in there and seeing what's going on." Once the group was in agreement, she motioned towards the alley across the street.

As the girls ran over to the van, Aki began softly humming a tune from Splinter Gear. She crouched low and peered around the vehicle, just like Solid Fish did when he was sneaking around. Akane's comment about the police reinforced Aki's desire not to fight the dark creatures out in the open, where normal humans might get involved. "Right, let's keep everyone but ourselves and those monsters out of it," she said, before turning back to Tempestas. The scantily clad scout seemed confident enough, so Aki merely nodded in agreement. "If you need us, do something loud so we can hear it. Like a lot of lightning or something." After a second she added, "And try to keep it away from any people. You've got our numbers, if you have to change back, so call us to let us know if you do." With everyone ready, Aki waited to see what kind of distraction Tempestas could provide, ready to sneak over to the side entrance of the building along with Akane and Miki.

 

[Rathuris]

Re: Juuban Land (Open)

Tempestas nodded at Aki. "I will. Don't worry, I will do my best to make sure it doesn't sprawl out into the streets." After a moment, she removed the band in her hair and messed it up thoroughly with a hand. She scooped up some dirt and dust and rubbed it into a few spots on her face and body. She gave them a small nod as she went around one side of the van. Holding her side and stumbling forward. "Help...." Pretending to be hurt as she slumped against the wall, at about the half way point of the van. "Please sirs.... Help me, I got hurt during a photo shoot during the earthquake." Hoping the two police officers fell for her ruse of being a hurt model, and not dark warriors in disguise. She hoped the girls knew to take the opportunity to go around the other side when the police approached her.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Juuban Land (Open)

(In the alleyway)

Sailor Tempestas dirties herself up and tousles her hair before moving out into the open behind the van and into the clear view of the two dubious policemen. She calls out for help, and in response the officers look to one another questioningly. One of them leans over and whispers to the other, who then smirks as if a joke had just been told. He nods and then together they approach Tempestas.

"Ma'am, you really shouldn't be back here. This is a cordoned off area," the first officer says.

"You say you're hurt? Can you come over here? Just lean up against this wall and we'll take a look at you," the other one says.

If Nikki complied with their request, she could get the two of them distracted enough that the other three girls would be able to slip past the men. Aki, Akane, and Miki could then either choose to try opening the side entrance door (more likely to attract attention) or they could enter the parking garage and search for another entrance below.

Once up against the wall, one of the officers put a hand on Nikki's shoulder, the one with the distinguishing tattoos.

"You say you're a model, mm?" The officer asks. "They like their girls with ink?"

"Maybe it's one of them motorcycle magazines? Specialist perhaps?" The other one offers as his hand reaches down towards Nikki's exposed thigh. "So where does it hurt?" He asks.


***
(In the sub-basement)

"If you sssspeak of the pathetic race of our brood mothers, then the answer isss no, whelp! We are the new might of Toblaia. Know that you are brought to heel by the blood of Lord Calabite's chosen race! AT HIM!"

The lizard captain barks his orders, forcing Alladra's hand. Pure dark force pushes outward from either side, aimed at the two closest chargers. The first bolt misses, but the second connects squarely with a lizardman, whose nature cannot handle a powerful concentrated blast. The guard hisses in agony before his body whithers away into ash.

The other soldiers close in on Alladra, their spears lancing out. The first two, he dodges, but the third comes straight at him and only the dazzling light and expertly balanced haft of his halberd combine to deflect the attack in time. Alladra finds himself outnumbered three to one and in close combat. Gathering energy for another negaverse attack at this range could provoke some attacks of opportunity however.

The lizardman captain wears a crocodile grin as he stays out of the fight for the time being, watching on in amusement with his own spear by his side.

"Even with that halberd, you are barely a match for my men..." the captain boasts to himself. "In combat, you would be like fighting a child!"

Spoiler

I wasn't sure what you were trying to accomplish with the elevator. You were not standing in it yet, and it was not currently at your floor. Also it would help if you put your actions in a spoiler, like you did for your Negaverse Attack, so that I know specifically what you're trying to do. If you want to retroactively spend 5 additional EP, you can summon the elevator to your current level if you wish and have the door open. If that's not what you wanted, let me know more in the OOC thread.

So far, you've spent 10 EP on the Negaverse Attack. One enemy is dead, but you are now in melee with the three lizard guards. The lizard captain is not yet in melee, but he is circling you.

 

[Sprig]

Re: Juuban Land (Open)

"If you sssspeak of the pathetic race of our brood mothers, then the answer isss no, whelp! We are the new might of Toblaia. Know that you are brought to heel by the blood of Lord Calabite's chosen race! AT HIM!"

As he hears those words he no longer holds any regret for his actions as dark forces pour free from his hands and rush forward towards his enemies. The first missing, as expected from the rushed actions of their sudden charge. The break in formation halting him from being able to summon his armour and aid himself. Despite how much I wish to banter with this fool and correct him on several levels...I know taunting him will only lead to more difficult choices at this point. I'm already outnumbered at it is. I'll give that light warrior another chance but then their being revealed. It could at the very least give me a few seconds of distraction from the leader...

He felt a small amount of joy as the second turned to ash in the attack, watching as the invisible attack meets his armour and scaled skin and crumbles it, the armour cracking under the might of the blow and the scales that protected his skin breaking inwards. A very few noticeable snaps proving it wasn't a painless death before his body scattered into ashes. Terminating one that would of outnumbered him four to one in the current situation. But he didn't have the chance to celebrate his minor victory as the other three were already upon him. The first rushed thrusts of their spears going wide as he tucked to the side to avoid them, but in doing so moved himself into the perfect position for the third to impale him. Thankfully he had luck in his choice of weapon and the light and perfectly balanced halberd twisted in his grip, knocking the tip of the foes attack just enough to avoid hitting him.

Spoiler

Environment control: Summon elevator - Cost: 5EP

While it won't allow him to retreat now. He already went with the action in an earlier post, so its been used already. And if he's lucky the ding of the elevator arriving will become a distraction for him with at least one of them. Its also my own fault for it not happening earlier, as I clearly forgot to spoiler the effect and make it clear for you. So apologizes for that.

Hearing the arriving human machine he started to growl vengefully in his mind, of all the times it could arrive it was now while he was surrounded? Truly, machinery was an accursed type of equipment. But he didn't have the time to be distracted at the moment. He had three on him and the fourth circling and waiting for his chance to strike while mocking him.

"Even with that halberd, you are barely a match for my men..." He gloats, seriously he has to wonder if there was a secret class the leaders of his fathers army took that made them all seem to gloat with glee when their victory seemed assured...so far he had yet to see it turn out well for them. By anyone but his father at least, but he won't let his guard down despite that. You never know what strength could be held in the hands of a solider unmet and challenged. "In combat, you would be like fighting a child!"


A bit niffed a being considered a child despite his youth he growled before sternly letting his words slip out from under his mask."You forget...who's blood runs through MY VEINS!" And with anger tainting his tone he willed his armour upon himself. Not able to hold back anything with the numbers of his foes on all his sides.

Spoiler

Palladium of the Stars: Equip! If able. Either you can or I will write the description of how he transforms and what the armour looks like in our next posts.

Now feeling slightly more prepared to take on the blows of the enemies that surround him he squints his eyes behind his mask and glares at them. Letting those that looked upon him to see the deep slits of his eyes before he brings the saw of his halberd to bare and tries to sever the weaponized arm of the lizard Toblaian on his right flank. His blade aimed for his shoulder as he took a step to the right and further in his direction to try and avoid the coming attacks of the other two.

Spoiler

Just a plain attack for this round. Too big of a risk to channel power at the moment when their this close.