Welcome to Gaia! ::

A week. Amytis had been missing for close to a week and Chariklo was nearly frantic with worry. Attempts to reach her by phone and mirror compact had gone unanswered, mutual friends hadn't sen her either. And as they hadn't had any earth shattering fights, it was highly unlikely that she'd gone off to sulk and punish her girlfriend.

Which meant... what? Every one of Chariklo's instincts were screaming that this was somehow the work of the Dark Kingdom. And visions of that awful funhouse prison were dancing in her fevered imagination. Except, she'd checked what was left of that place first thing and not found a single sign that anyone had been there recently. Giving voice to a choked sob, the tall Dark Mirror leaned against a shadowed wall and slid halfway down, hands clutched tightly at her hair, trying desperately to think, to figure this puzzle out before it was too late. For a moment, she thought about using her compact to call for help in the search and pulled it out. There was no reason why she shouldn't call. Right now, she couldn't afford to let her pride take precendence over Amytis. And, just as she was ready to flip the compact open and demand help from Leto, a soft, almost sniggering hiss rose out of the darkness startling her.

Chariklo's head shot up, eyes wide with shock at the noise. And after a few moments of searching, she found what had made the noise. A small, but lithe looking thing that watched her faintly glowing purple eyes. A youma? Frowning, Chariklo tensed, ready to start chucking rocks at the little monster.

And then she saw the bit of cloth held between the needle sharp teeth and froze. As if sensing her thoughts, the little youma gave another sniggering hiss and crouched, butt wriggling in the air before it darted away. Snarling a little, Chariklo forgot all thought of calling for help. Those negaverse ******** did have Amytis and she was not about to leave her love to their tender mercies for a moment more than she had to.

By the time the youma had finished leading her a less-than-merry chase, Chariklo was tired, frantic and close to screaming. The youma had since vanished, leaving the blonde senshi standing at the edge of a massive construction site. Looming above the site like an alien beacon was the Space Geyser. It was the only part of the theme park that had reached completion. It was supposed to be some kind of water ride, she'd heard. And given that it was enclosed it was a damn good bet that Amytis was somewhere inside. Especially since the youma had led her here.

Jogging slowly towards the Geyser, she studied the 'mountain' as best she could. She didn't have time to search out the employee entrance doors which meant if she wanted inside, it would be climbing up to the drop point and sneaking in there or searching closer to the ground and figuring out where the rail cars would head in. And since the rail car entrance was likely to be less physical work to find, she opted for that.

Grimacing as she wriggled and wormed her way through the blockades intended to keep curious kids out, she flinched at the faint odor of standing water. And I get to walk through that, she thought. What fun! With a deep breath, she visibly steeled herself and jumped into the water. About two and a half to three feet deep, it wouldn't be too bad walking, just a little slow.

And dark. Idiot, she berated herself. Shoulda grabbed a flashlight. And as if in response to her thoughts, she heard a faint hum that indicated a power switch being thrown. Thankfully the rail cars weren't installed yet, but everything else inside the Geyser seemed to be up and running. Faint, happy sounding voices singing reached her as flashing laser and strobe lights illuminated her path in brief bursts.

Taking a deep breath as the fog machines kicked in, shrouding the area is an eerie glow, Chariklo set her jaw grimly. Now she was certain that Amytis was here somewhere. And she'd bring the ******** mountain down to find her if need be.

-----------------------------------------------------------

OOC Notes:
- The trap and ambush is taking place to the east of Destiny Cit proper amidst the construction for a new theme park. The only part of the park thus completed is the Space Geyser, a large, very enclosed, ride within a mountain. Laser lights, strobes, fog machines and singing animatronics are to be expected. As is for it to be very cold inside due to the fact that this is a water ride (Splash and Space mountains had a b*****d baby. enjoy.)
- It is completely okay to badly hurt Chariklo (I need her to end up with some terrible torso scarring)
- The rescue party will be called in sometime Tuesday, so until then, this is very much the Do Terrible Things party.
- ICly this is taking place over a single night.
- If you have questions or concerns, my inbox is always open~

Teleportation left him dizzied and uncertain of his surroundings; Ochre stumbled somewhat before his eyes adjusted to the blackened tunnel. A hand clutched his wrist, a grip he knew, and the corrupted senshi grunted quietly.

Ochre found nothing wrong with lounging on the couch, or watching the television, or falling asleep to one of the Destiny City reality shows that debuted a youma twist. In fact, he quite liked the ridiculous monster costume that one of the set workers wore - the man knew how to move with a certain convincingness that lent credibility to the display. Were the costume not obviously fake, Slate would've wondered if they used real youma for their show. It was simple, really - to lay there idly and waste time - but he soon found that his not-so-beloved general fostered plans for the evening. Sadly, those plans did not include talented young man dancing around in youma suits.

And those plans landed him here, through an acutely jamming means of getting around, and the room still hadn't finished its rotations when he came to his senses.

Then the lights came on.

"Does she always do this?" He asked, turning to where his brother stood, though he found nothing more than the smiling, vacant face of an animatronic. It looked eerie enough, especially in the darkness - the machine stood at life size, if not larger. Some of its internal mechanisms groaned and whirred to life while the waking ride struggled to remember its routine. Accents to the thing fluttered softly beneath a cooling fan pointed in its direction.

"Nevermind," he replied to the creature.

"Hey, Xenotime." Ochre descended some of the false boulders quickly. He stopped to perch a few safe feet away from the pair, and attempted to obscure himself somewhat by ducking beneath some of the draped fabric. What the hell is the theme for this place, anyway? "Are you gonna have a chat, or are you gonna kick her a**?"

xxx

We need light. The thought was automatic after touching down in a blackened space. Immediate glances confirmed nothing more than darkness, and he turned about himself until he caught a few bright LEDs in the distance. They looked partially obscured - and surely enough, as his eyes adjusted to the ambience, he noted a false paneling obscuring most of the machine. Some kind of cloth lay draped over the top of it. It must've covered the entire generator at some point, and someone peeled it back to fire up the machine and didn't bother to return the covering. A knob was fixed to the side, and though he couldn't read the words printed above it in such dim lighting, the knob only had two positions. He turned it, the generator buzzed to life, and lights appeared.

Ochre said something, but Umber took little notice of it; the boy had already gone by the time he returned to their earlier position. And now Xenotime engaged someone - by looks, he judged her as the Dark Mirror he met so long ago. She was still alive?

Well. Not for long.

Pekite laid in waiting, the lieutenant eager to do something that would up his standing to his superiors. And to get a little revenge, really. The funhouse had been an important operation, from what little he'd known. That someone who was supposed to be their ally had struck out against them? Oh no, that wouldn't do. Not at all. A statement had to be made. And it would be made. While he didn't come out of hiding entirely, he did carefully move himself a little closer, better able to jump in when it came down to the violence.

And oh there would be violence. There always would be. Especially wherever there was resistance and rebellion. Violence just went hand in hand with those concepts.

Red eyes watched as Xenotime chose to take the offensive and Cinnabar quirked a smile, those eyes soon sliding away to scan the clear air behind the raging Dark Mirror. The strobe lights played havoc with her pupils, sending them into cat-like slits of over-stimulation. The animatronics didn't help... they moved in unnatural ways, distracting her from the fine focus she normally put into situations like this. When the one beside her suddenly lurched into motion, she scowled as her lips pulled back from her teeth in an instinctive snarl.

Sliding away from it, Cinnabar slunk between machinery and sets as she aimed for a closer vantage point. Chaos signatures glowed all about her, a comforting warmth against her senses. No White Moon yet... which was both pleasing and disappointing. Lack of interference was good, but did they really need the sheer numbers they had massed here for one solitary eternal? If this was all they had to deal with, it was a waste of time. She had better things to be doing right now than watching a general or two take apart one woman piece by piece.

A wild mess of dark hair held familiarity and Cinnabar melted out the shadows to come up beside him. Reaching, she set her thick fingers against Umber's elbow, both to call his attention and keep him from joining his general, if that had been his plan.

"Xenotime has the eternal well in hand, and there will be others who will no doubt join her." She said as she leaned close so he could hear her over the inane music. "Why don't you come help me watch the entrance for party crashers?"

Umber had shown himself steady and obedient... She suspected he had the control to hang back from the center of the action to safeguard against outside attacks. As the half-youma led the way to the entrance, skirting the Dark Mirror struggling in the water, another familiar figure caught her attention. Fangs gleamed in the dark as she grinned.

"Quartz." Cinnabar crooned as she paced closer, beckoning him with a forefinger. Her tail swung lazily from one side to the other, making her chains rattle. "Come and make yourself useful. We're going to watch the entrance for the Dark Mirror's friends."

It wasn't a suggestion. She almost wished he'd try and refuse... she owed him a little torment after his oh-so-sweet bedside care.

The general waited, feigning patient amusement as she let the Dark Mirror monologue on, criticizing the youma that'd been sent out as a lure. Not her plan, but the results spoke for themselves. Sometimes the simplest of tactics could reap the easiest rewards. She laced her fingers where they hung between her knees, smiling almost benignly, until the blonde decided to related Xenotime and her underlings to a pack of wild.

Well, at least in her case, it wasn't entirely untrue. The general grinned widely, pleased at the comparison, and rose to her feet, edging along the slick track in a slow advance. She wasn't blind to the fidgeting, the inching retreat towards the tunnel that would take her in deeper. "Woof woof," she crooned, chuckling to herself. Maybe the senshi wasn't calling her a mongrel, maybe she was just calling her a b***h, though that was just as accurate.

She heard Orche calling her name, heard the question, but didn't take her eyes off the eternal she was facing. "The latter, sweetheart." Affection, rather than condescension.

It seemed whatever little plan the girl had been formulating in her head was about to break. Brows arched at the kiss, body tensing automatically for an oncoming attack. Magic. She hated magic. The call was loud, echoing throughout the building...no, not echoing, not exactly. It wasn't the sound bouncing, more like multiple voices. Disorienting, but not half so much as the buffet from phantom wings. With a vicious snarl the general was yanking her hood into place, darting away from the barrage, or attempting to. It followed, continuing it's assault for long handful of seconds until fading again.

Not bad. Certainly effective.

Unfortunately Xenotime wasn't the sort to lose her focus. She snapped her head around, saw the blonde rushing through the waist high water of the tunnel, and the general pursued.

Sprinting along the track let her catch up easily, and she launched herself from that higher ground, tackling the senshi of gulls and taking them both underwater.

The Captain was right. It was a terrible idea. Bolton had the long length of her coat gathered in one hand as she followed the group. Where were they going? No idea. It wasn't really her place to know; it was her place to advance the cause, and watch for traitors. Zircon had said, and Zircon was always right. "My Captain said all senshi weren't to be trusted," said Bolton, her voice lacking affect through the gold-trimmed mask over her mouth and nose. "She said attack on sight."

Well, no, that wasn't true. After the disastrous encounters with Megiddo and the Dark Mirror with the poison clouds, Zircon had amended that instruction. Wait and watch, she'd said. Collect intelligence. "Aren't senshi drawn to auras," she said. "It doesn't matter if she has friends. They will sense us." There should be cats, she thought.

This wasn't her path, though. Operations... not really what she wanted to do, but an important part of training. Zircon said, and Zircon never lied.

Xenotime's pounce had been inspiring enough that Moonstone felt her heart rate shoot up. She was not going to stand around and wait for action when action was already happening; no, instead she did as a few others and made her way into the watery ride with little care for how cold or wet her feet and legs might get.

Perhaps I will have the chance to test my club on that gull-b***h's ribs...

The thought pleased her, inordinately, and the smile curving her lips only grew the deeper she went.

The mission didn't take long to go from bad to worse. Quartz had been standing quietly by, waiting for his General or one of the others to issue orders -- when, rather unhappily, he'd caught Big Red's creepy, slitted eye. And she'd ordered him after her. This was unlucky: not in the least because she also had Lieutenant Umber in tow, a man he remembered as being a bloodless little shithead who considered Quartz's life circumstance to be valuable fodder for academic and professional contemplation. You'll go far, you little ********>, Quartz thought idly in his general direction. I hope a youma with big teeth castrates you.

"Of course, Captain," Quartz answered Cinnabar with careful indifference. At least she was asking him to do something that seemed to involve moving away from the current direction of the fighting. Perhaps he could continue to find chances to not be where fights were occurring.

A third lieutenant came up behind them. From her words, she sounded somewhat newly minted. He put her in a little question-mark space in his mind till he decided how to feel about her -- but if she was still green, she'd likely be a liability in a fight.

Still, Cinnabar was a wild card who had already proven her willingness to throw Quartz in the deep end to see if he could swim, which meant he wasn't comfortable she'd take him seriously if he needed her help in combat -- and between Lieutenant Dicksack and Lieutenant Tom Hardy's Facemask, he'd rather take his chances on the literal unknown than Umber's dead-eyed disapproval any day.

Quartz moved to flank Cinnabar on the other side from Umber, keeping close to the hooded lieutenant for the time being. "Who's your captain?" he asked her. Then, equally reasonably, "What's your name?" That was important information if they were in a fight and he needed her attention. He already knew the others.

shibrogane

verdict: acceptable, provisionally

Whimsical Blue

HAY BIG RED

Strickenized

chomp chomp