Good. The twins were effectively neutralized. Valjean gave a brief nod to the team, and then ducked out with them. It didn't have to go anywhere--it could just be a little fun--but it would get them well and out of the way of things.
Which rapidly looked to be deteriorating.
Strickenized
Ah, yes. Looked as if things were getting a little out of hand--but that was, Alkmene had to admit, exactly what he wanted. With feigned casualness, he stepped over, and unhesitatingly, under his breath--"Envious Whisper."
There was no choice. His magic did not get to ******** off. It did not get ot not only abandon him, but their entire team. That was completely unacceptable, and making sure that Rockatanskite and his little lackey couldn't get their hands on their weapons--even as stupid as a Lieutenant's weapon likely was--would mean a critical advantage. A moment of confusion, when it broke into a fight. Alkmene would not abandon his chance.
And this time--it listened. It came to his hand in an instant, and he felt a shift in his chest. Felt something click into place, as if he and his magic were finally aligned.
There was a burst of green. A shower of sparkles.
And he moved closer to Rockatanskite, twirling the scalpel between his fingers.
"Sorry, we can't do that." The same smile was still on his face. A threat. A promise.
Let him come at them. Alkmene, for once, felt more than ready.
Kolina
a-disgruntled-dragon
stari-maga
Shiningamisgirl
Posted: Wed May 04, 2022 4:24 pm
Things had been tense, but going decently. Albite had been holding the door. Jadarite had been buying time. Valjean's good looks and flirtatious nature had distracted the girls, who were now completely leaving the scene.
Only, now some of the others were creeping back. It was not Faustite, saying that his work was done. It was Heliodor, Mizuki, and Alkmene.
Not only that, they had knives.
Jada flashed them a sideways glance, one that was icy cold, one that screamed, no, get back. It was too little, too late. Alkmene was calling magic. His voice was quiet, but she saw the shower of green sparkles that surrounded him. She saw the flash of the scalpel he was flaunting.
It was good that Jada had been practicing teleportation. One second, she vanished. The next, she appeared between Alkmene and Rockatanskite.
"Excuse me," she said. Her voice was sharp. She was the one in charge here until Faustite returned, or the unlikely event that Albite tried taking command, and she knew it. However, in case that wasn't enough, she called her axe to her hand.
"Our orders were to not cause any unnecessary bloodshed. We have not yet crossed that line. Albite, Valjean and myself were handling the situation."
Her gaze flashed back to the other two corrupts, as well, in case they were getting ideas.
"That said, Lieutenant," she did not look behind her, but her voice carried there anyway, "We are not leaving, and my friends are on edge, as you can see, and I suggest you cooperate."
Noir Songbird
Kolina
a-disgruntled-dragon
Shiningamisgirl
staripop
Offline
a-disgruntled-dragon
Offline
Posted: Thu May 05, 2022 3:49 pm
Mizuki caught the flare of green, her mouth widening into a sneering grin. Was it time? It was time, wasn't it? She kept the scalpel hidden in her palm, relishing in the slight pinch of pain as the blade pressed against her skin through the glove. The pain gave her a sort of clarity. It focused her mind out of her immediate bloodlust. She was now aware of more of the room than just her target, eyes flickering between each of them rapidly.
Jada popped into existence between Alkmene and Rockasshole, stopping him from going in for the kill. Zuzu pouted at her glance, but bounced backwards to the wall with a flick of her scalpelless hand.
There would be other opportunities. She'd behave.
For now.
Noir Songbird
stari_maga
Kolina
Posted: Thu May 05, 2022 4:08 pm
*Sweet-matron-of-a-mutt!*
He'd not been expecting company. Hadn't even heard her approach-- Mesmerized, by the hush of Tama's words, the sudden flicker-flare and flit of what he'd first assumed was Faustite. Only to realize it was the presence of the ever buzzing Headache that lived under the mans command. Listening intently for more --
"Oh, us? Just looking for a place to let the cat out the bag." Cryolite felt frost tip his nails, slow-turn and scrape of them over sil to deny - utterly - any accusations at all. "Always heard Mauvians had that magic touch for manipulating machinery, no matter how tight the confines." a roll of eyes and suggestive twirl of fingers. The hint of flinch for all that steam, Cryo wondered if they should get gone.
Ah, but maybe there was also an opportunity in this?
"That looks a mess, shame we can't help." slanted gaze from the bright orange hated female to where Tama lingered just above. A silent question slung the mauvians way ,for how much they played their end up before they spurng themselves out. "Unless..."
Zero to Sixty. Albite felt the tilt of the situation by degrees n smiled lazily for it. What a liar he would've been, to claim he wasn't enjoying some aspects of the show as a whole. Valjean working his jeanetically-blessed talents, n cat-walking the twins out. *Alkmene* - best damn boy. They were all so quick on the kill. ********, if they'd been out in the wild? In a field, the rift, any other venue? Away from the safe bustle n busy eyes n ears of an infirmary. He mighta let Zuzubee n Alkmene glut themselves on gutting this one.
Just this one time.
B u t - - "Awwh, c'mon J-bird. If they take a piece? Just a sliver. Can't hurt. S'just half a youma, isn't he? Sure he can just grow his s**t back like the ones in the rift, yeh? I mean - what's he got to be afraid of, bein the expert on his kind n all?" blatant sarcasm, all sorts of calling out aimed over Jada's battle-axe tone of command n sharp shimmer of blade.
Well - <********> - but it woulda been nice to just -- let them fight --
"Though, I suppose you're right, about those really vague orders..." the senshi begged himself to scrounge up some patience from beyond. Found it in the sheen of scalpel in Alkmenes grasp. The deadly shimmer of Jada's gaze; how it held more steel than her hatchet. Such a lovely pairing. "...we should be respectful. Wrap this up before someone looses their heads..tongues....fingertips..."
The sigh he heaved stretched the confines of his bodice. He let a look linger over the rest, gave Heliodore the slightest of winced smiles because he got that the elegant other was trying for diplomacy. He admired that with him. A trait just as valuable as the inherent viciousness wound outta love from the others. "Speaking of tips! Rocky, what're the twins volunteering for anyhow? Is your s**t so private that you can't even give us a hint." A rove of red-brown from toe to tip of the Leiutenant's strange form, he wondered what Rockie's secrecy was worth to him? How much he was willing to gamble on them staying beholden to Jada's fierce command.
stari_maga
Roses are Red
kolina
Violets are Blue
a-scowling-dragon
Zuzu's a voilence!
Meighei
and Tama is Too!
noir songbird
The team got new assets,
Strickenized
Cause their boss has boy-flu.
Shiningamisgirl
Ruthless Consumer
Offline
Strickenized
Garbage Cat
Online
Posted: Fri May 13, 2022 7:51 am
The engineer looked at the pair, then shrugged. "This old thing? Was gonna burst any day now. I've been telling them about the crystal formations, and none of 'em listened. So, they'll be without oxygen for a minute. Nothing we can do about it now," she asserted as she tapped her chin. Must be break time, then."
Moving away from the steaming pipe, she approached the Mau and Basic creeping on the window. She leapt onto an adjacent pipe like she'd been born and raised there, and used a few cables in the ceiling to guide her way across to where the strangers stood. She winked at the cat — soft, cute things — and hailed the Basic.
"Hey, Buttfloss, move over, would ya? I gotta catch up on This Week's Episode of Dumb Youma Experiments."
What happened had left Rockatanskite reeling to catch up. There was some green senshi trying to get in his business, and then the Captain teleported and summoned her weapon. He moved to do the same, feeling threatened by the ordeal, but his weapon failed to precipitate.
He tried again. Nothing. His expression darkened as he tried to deduce what happened.
Then he heard the Captain. Apparently they had orders. By the way she threatened the other senshi, Rockatanskite guessed his lack of weapon had to do with a magic binding. Could've been from any of the senshi present, and that one was trying to get up next to him and, what, take him out? Like muscling in on his research could be so easy.
"Handling the situation," he echoed derisively. "And what situation's that? The situation of your boss stealin' my research? The situation of you lot bargin' in here and antagonizin' me? Leadin' off honest volunteers so I'd have to use you instead? Captain, none of you got any business down here. Hell am I gonna cooperate while your CO steals my research. Right, Chel'?"
But Chel was absorbed in the steam incident.
"Right, Chel'?"
But she was long out of earshot.
"Yeah, I see you, you towering oaf, n' I hear your dumbass threats n' questions, all in the same breath. You don't get to know s**t, you buncha thieves!" Force of habit kicked in and he tried to summon his weapon, again to no avail.
xx
The door latched quietly behind him, and Faustite shot Albite a look that said their business had concluded. He had expected Rockatanskite to arrive, but to his surprise, the man was still alive. Still breathing, sans any youma appendages. Whatever their altercation, Jadarite had been handling it. Astonishing, considering that both Alkmene and Mizuki looked like they were out for blood. They even had him alone, but for a Lieutenant on the sidelines who looked away as soon as Faustite glanced in his direction. Jadarite's command was impeccable.
"Got what I needed," he confirmed to the group as he stepped forward. "Lieutenant tried to impede an investigation. Been harming comrades, preventing them from fulfilling their missions."
Striding to a stop near Alkmene and Jadarite, he raised his voice for the rest of the group to hear. "Take him elsewhere. Repay that unkindness. Albite, escort the basics. Heliodor, find Valjean. Mizuki, find Tama and Cryolite. We're done here."
shiningamisgirl
now's a good time to wrap up~ thank you, everyone!!
kolina
a-disgruntled-dragon
meighei
stari_maga
noir songbird
Posted: Fri May 13, 2022 12:21 pm
Ah. A man who was suspicious of flattery. Or well...flattery in the accompaniment of physical threats, anywya. Not that Helio could blame him. The poor man was practically a trapped rat. The ammunition was clearly on the teams side.
Helio shot Jada a dry look as she flashed her own look at him as if he'd been ready to pounce on the lieutenant and slit his throat then and there. Helio was likely one of the few lacking a real bloodlust towards this man...for now anyway. So to be admonished was a bit rankling. He kept his mouth shut though. Now was not the time nor place to quibble over it.
On the other hand it seemed they did have trigger happy friends as Jada stepped up to the plate to stop any violence from breaking out. He raised a brow at her as if to say 'I told you I wasn't on team murder.'
Faustite's reappearance caught the corrupts attention. He glanced towards the door to confirm everything was good with the General before turning his attention back to Rockatansite and smirked. "I am afraid you're in for a tough time."
With orders given, Helio slipped out of the barely controlled chaos to find Valjean and his two companions. He hoped they hadn't gone too far so if Valjean was needed he could arrive in haste.
"Jadaaaa," Alkmene sighed, heavily. But she had gone so far as to interpose herself, and remind him of Faustite's orders, and so he did lower the scalpel, though his eyes were firmly on Rocatanskite. "Fine, fine."
If Rockatanskite made a single move, anything to indicate he was a threat--
Alkmene respected his Captain, he did. But he would ask her for forgiveness later and kill Rockatanskite now.
His mouthing off to Albite was equally unacceptable. Did Rockatanskite not have an ounce of respect for authority? Or was he just incredibly ******** stupid? Blind to the implied threat of an organized team?
But Faustite was back. Had his information. Had new orders.
Alkmene smiled once more, and it was that same knife's-edge grin.
"Gladly, General," he said, and he moved, though he stood next to Jadarite instead of going around her to get to Rockatanskite. "Don't bother with your weapon. It's not coming. My magic shuts that type of nonsense down. And there's more of us than there are of you, so...."
He looked over at Rocatanskite's other Lieutenant.
"Why don't we have a private chat in your office, Rockatanskite. Without your little friend. Unless he's feeling like taking partial responsibility for all the very naughty things you've been up to."
His office would give them privacy, and Alkmene intended one thing--to keep him alive long enough to test if his magic really was properly aligned, the way it felt like it was. After that, he was going to bring Rockatanskite's starseed to Faustite's desk.
Kolina
a-disgruntled-dragon
stari-maga
Shiningamisgirl
Posted: Sun May 15, 2022 2:28 pm
In Jadarite's opinion, the way that Rocktanskite was squirming and becoming belligerent was only going to end up digging his grave deeper. If he'd accepted their investigation with poise, Jada might have continued to think of him as a simple research, but on top of being classless and disrespectful, he was clearly hiding something.
Still, he had not yet become violent. It might have had something to do with Alkmene's magic, but it was true. Jadarite continued to stand firm between the two, no matter how loudly Alkmene whined her name, or how sassily he looked at her, like a child who's fun had been ruined.
It wouldn't be fun to explain to Faustite or anyone else how they'd murdered and ally in cold blood.
It was only Faustite's arrival and orders that changed her opinions on things. He might not have been an ally. His blood might not have been so cold.
Jadarite clicked her tongue three times as she stepped back in a fluid motion, linking her hand through the Lieutenant's without much gentleness. "I see," she said, shaking her head at him. "New evidence suggests that the line was crossed a long time ago. Unfortunate for you, really."
Alkmene suggested taking him to the offices, and that seemed as good an idea as any. She took a step in that direction, prepared to escort him away from an area with quite so much of an audience.
Strickenized
Exiting the area-
Noir Songbird
staripop
Offline
Meighei
Bishoujo-senshi Mahou-shoujo
Offline
Posted: Mon May 16, 2022 9:04 am
Tama did his best to ignore the engineer that appeared to be doing more harm than good. There was much he wanted to say to her, but he held his tongue. Any additional noise — his or hers or the senshi’s — interfered with what he could hear of Faustite and the youma in the other room.
“Looks like he’s finished.” Tama whispered to Cryolite, looking to their unwanted companion and hoping her hearing wasn’t good. “We need to lose our friend here and find Faustite.”
Internally Syrus seethed over the gentle quip, did a poor job of hiding the flash of red - damned his outfit to hell - another ten-thousand times. Truly, Albite would forever take the blame for it; no matter 'how' exactly magic worked, and whether or not it had a mind of his own. That mattered not an iota when his a** was out enough to become a topic worth commenting upon!
Then Tama's whisker bracketed words were in his ear, he nodded, quickly snatched his furry muff of a companion to his shoulders like a mink -- and bolted. Not nearly as natural at traversing the terrain as she'd been. He didn't live in a maze of pipes; but made his own gangly way through the pipey, steam-filled room.
Lacking oxygen sounded like something damned important to him, but?
"I hope you enjoy your little telenovela, but I'm afraid we've other things to do today." lobbed over the growing hisst of broken things - he made his way for the doors - for out.
Whatever was in that wet air reeked, he didn't want it clinging to either of them.
*It's about damn time.*
Steam off a blacktop levels of relief, a better smile and easy nod for Faustites orders. He didn't ask questions, nah, just grinned on n watched everyone get in line n get on with *doing*. Rockatanskites squalling became a distant thing; so much noise absent of any real meaning.
Then Faustite pulled the linchpin on the whole damn thing.
Might as well've been the hang man reading last rites from the gallows for that one. All that vagueness would give leeway to his teammates sprinting on with their imaginations - there we're a lot of ways 'unkindness' could be repaid.
*It's about damn time!*
The thought was far meaner this time, sharp as that axe Jada held securely as Rockatanskite's arm. Albite shoved that door back, wide open, a bellhop extraordinaire.
He whispered only a tiny little change his favorite lilacs way - "Psst, Zuzubee---I can get the boys wrangled; maybe you should help Jay-bird 'n our bloody-minded briar?" a solid wink, a thumb Alkmene n Jadarites direction; no lack of appreciation for the way they managed Rockatanskite like a pair of well mannered bull-sharks. He'd seen that glint of steel tucked up her palm, though, and the way it matched in her eyes? He figured she deserved a reward for being so reserved the whole damn time.
Like trading prizes for hard-won patience.
Plus? Who better than this one to practice on! What better way to learn *limits* - than by training with people who knew how to hold the reins n steer. Violence couldn't always be mindless after all, she'd have to pick up some manners with it. A bit of emotional distance n tricks to follow orders without stressing herself.
He figured if anyone there could manage it? ********, his girl Jada damn well could.
stari_maga
Roses are Red
kolina
Violets are Blue
a-scowling-dragon
Zuzu's a voilence!
Meighei
and Tama is Too!
noir songbird
The team got new assets,
Strickenized
Cause their boss has boy-flu.
Shiningamisgirl
Ruthless Consumer
Offline
a-disgruntled-dragon
Offline
Posted: Mon May 23, 2022 2:53 pm
Zuzu pouted at the lack of murder, but saluted to Faustite and skipped away to go find Tama and Cyrolite. It didn't take her very long to find the pair. She stopped next to them, and scratched the cat behind the ears.
"Time to go~ No more fun times," she said, pointing back the way she came. "Fausty is all done with whatever he was doing!"