Lacaille hadn't spent much time away from earth, she hadn't even made a trip to her own world yet, she really needed to do that though. She was a little sick from the teleport since she hadn't teleported much, but after a moment she was alright. Once they were in the museum she was amazed at the many things he had collected it really was a wonder. She could hear the skittering outside and it was very dim in this room. That likely wouldn't help anyone. Still she decided to look around regardless, perhaps there was something she could find that would be helpful.
She wasn't sure what she was looking for but she was looking none the less and using her hands, being careful not to knock anything over since she didn't want to break any of his treasures. Then again he treaded this amazing stuff for some of the strangest things, so perhaps he was a bit of a hoarder and had a thing for earth items. She wondered if he had another room, with skateboards and earth books in it. She laughed at the thought thinking it was very likely that he had a room just like the one she imagined.
Lt. Cryptomelane Action: Being socially awkward and latching on to the only non-Brassite person he recognizes. Touching and shining a phone flashlight on the cocoon with an utterly negative amount of self-preservation instincts.
Cryptomelane had very seriously considered not coming to this adventure.
When he saw how many people had gathered at the mysterious dragon-person’s behest, he fidgeted with a blue star charm and very strongly considered leaving. Plenty of people here had Negaverse auras, after all. True, he only recognized one of them offhand—Lieutenant Brassite, spirited young thing that she was, clever, driven and (in his eyes) hardworking, an admirable go-getter with a good attitude, and overall, a teenager whom Cryptomelane largely didn’t mind—but the vast majority of the present and assembled Negaverse operatives felt undeniably more powerful than Cryptomelane himself. That meant they must have been doing this for quite some time, which meant that they could more than adequately handle the task that Queen Laurelite had set before everyone.
That the Queen had specifically requested people to gather information had been the primary source of this adventure’s appeal, at least for Cryptomelane. All too often, when he went out and about in Destiny City, things ended in a fight. Worse, it happened when he was minding his own business, simply trying to do his job. Yes, fine, that job tended to involve stealing either energy or starseeds from people, but it wasn’t as though this was anything personal. Getting all kinds of emotionally invested in determining whose energy got drained, or how much you took, or what made one person “more deserving” or not of having their starseed stolen—that was a quick way to get arrogant and start thinking oneself better than others before one had earned that privilege. Gathering information for the Queen ought to have been a nice, relaxing sort of experience, relative to every insolent White Moon brat sticking their nose into Cryptomelane’s work in order to object to his conduct.
Instead, the situation was……all this.
Instead, there were all these people and the dragon-man was talking about even more combat (albeit with bugs rather than with human or human-adjacent alien opponents). Leaving before things even started was a bad look and Cryptomelane knew that, especially when this assignment had gone out to all Negaverse officers as a special request of the Queen herself. But at the same time, he didn’t really want to deal with………all this.
Unfortunately, he made up his mind two seconds too late. By the time Cryptomelane decided that he could simply leave, the Almadel person was transporting everyone here assembled to his space-museum.…… Damn. Cryptomelane couldn’t even get to Negaspace by himself yet, never mind trying to get back to Earth from an unknown location in outer space. Folding his arms over his chest in a way that most certainly did not resemble hugging himself, he silently resigned himself to giving this task his best efforts even though he didn’t really want to be here anymore. Looking around the group, he sought out any faces who seemed, if not familiar, then at least non-threatening or relatively safe to attach himself to for the time being.
Getting left alone like that felt far too likely to end up in grievous injuries that could have been avoided if Cryptomelane had sucked it up and endured the ordeal of talking to another person. It also threatened to summon up old memories that were, frankly, immaterial to everything. He had no need to dwell on such things.
Because luck did not wish to be on Cryptomelane’s side, Brassite’s was the only face he recognized for several moments, and she seemed rather busy. Her General was with her, and if she was trying to impress him with her determination and drive, as Cryptomelane thought she seemed to be doing, then he could hardly fault her for that. Nor could he justify interrupting her in such a pursuit. Surely, there had to be someone else who wouldn’t have minded having him around for however long this tribulation lasted.
When he finally recognized someone—or at least felt as reasonably certain as he could, given the current lighting situation inside the museum—Cryptomelane had to bite back on a heavy sigh.
Luck truly didn’t favor him tonight. Aside from Brassite, the only other person he recognized just so happened to be one of the White Moon’s Knights. But rather than dwell on the misfortune (which was arguably little more than the consequences of his own distaste for social interactions biting him like a terrified wolf), he wound his way through the crowd of people and over to the wall, where a certain Squire Sonora of Ida stood beside……something that had taken shape on the wall. Some sort of cocoon, perhaps? Eugh, the lighting in here wasn’t ideal for any kind of serious investigation.
“If our host wanted help so badly, then one would think he might have invested more effort into assessing the situation,” Cryptomelane said to Sonora, skipping over hello, hi, how are you part and just getting right to business. “Is he truly as surprised as he wants us to believe, do you think? Or is he putting up a façade to cover less than entirely honorable practices in preparing before he brought us here?”
He took a moment to rifle in his subspace pocket—he considered bringing out his Negaverse tablet, but he didn’t really want to waste the charge when he had no idea how long they might be stuck here—then pulled out something that his Negaverse salary had recently enabled him to buy, an iphone. It wasn’t a very recent model, Preston had bought it secondhand, and he hadn’t bothered setting it up as a phone that could call people. The point of it wasn’t to call anyone, or even to connect to the Internet most of the time (though it could have done that, had there been any wifi around here). No, the primary point of this thing was to serve as a repository for personal notes that he didn’t want clogging up his tablet, and to sometimes provide Cryptomelane with an easily accessed flashlight.
He hadn’t used the flashlight to investigate anything as strange as the cocoon before them until now, but it didn’t matter. Holding up the light with one hand, he rapped the other’s knuckles against the side of the cocoon. Whatever this was, it needed to get diagnosed and corrected as soon as possible.
Lt. Diasporite Dice:41 Action: *Tentatively* leaving Rak's side to go explore the dimness-- maybe he'll find something shiny.
"Honestly, his 'nothings' seem a lot more ominous than they do sweet--" Dia groused petulantly from behind. Late to the party, but only fashionably so, he a face as the initial queasiness of being dragged through time, space, etc. and into the vast and unknown halls of Almadels domain passed. He felt himself pale at the soft noises that emanated from around them, at how outnumbered he suddenly felt now that they were in seemingly much more cramped a venu. All the non-human murmurings of 'aliens' (not friendly robots, thank the stars), and the skittering---
He did not clutch at Raks drapery like a distressed maiden, not even at the distant sound of something shattering, and the clearly bug-noise-made carapace on marble tippy-tapping that followed said shattering sound. He clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and then cheerful as a man facing the gallows side-stepped around his General. Making as if to go investigate all on his own, glad for once of his flashy golden kitten heels, that he could turn them into bug-spears if all else failed.
Primarily because the idea of killing the things with his hands was a thought so bile-worthy as to be nigh unthinkable!
"If the bugs do get me, sir. Please promise that you at least won't let them have my corpse?" the words offered with partial snark over a braided shoulder, for Dia had in his mind the imagery of dermestid beetles, or worse, scarabs!
Or even worse!!
Camel spiders----
The thought made him shiver reflexively as he made his way. No less assured by Almadels dulcet tones, or gentle hedging, or even his 'come hither and do not despair!' hero's speech -- for nothing could quite dissuade the itch that crawled up his spine with every hushed skitter in the overcrowded, overcluttered space.
Indigo_Plateau
[Diasporite is open for interactions]
***
Corrupt Basic Mirabilite of Supplication Dice:72 Action: Walking *towards* the sounds of danger, wielding 'move b**** get out the way' type energy with every step. Exploring.
Eww, eww, eww, eww, ********, this was all about bugs?! Albites supposed hot-to-trot, devil may care, prettier than gods own vibrator of a magical mystery-being wanted them to hunt bugs!? Mira wanted to shank the half-behemoth-full-himbo with something nasty. A rusty stake, an infected nail, a broken heel--- All the things she'd signed up for, and this? This had decidedly not been one of them! This was no spa day, no amazingly set trap, this -- this was -- messy, icky, low grade extermination that was oh so very much beneath her!
"Al-yipe!" the seething hiss of syllables turing snuffed screech as Mirabilite found herself teleported once, twice, and then shoved off like an unruly stray-cat out a screen door. She was all whipped fury as she twisted around to vent her frustrations on the person who'd brought her here, personally. A flash of teeth and swirl of glittering skirts. All of which was unceremoniously turned down, with a smile, a shooing motion -- as though she had no more power here than a fly. As though there was no room to argue because she'd only be arguing with a brick wall -- with the air -- *He'd* made up his mind and so *she* was ******** stuck here, doing good works, making nice for no reason that would be rewarding to her!
All her bottled ire ended up capped and sealed and she huffed away from her future ride out of here. If almadel wanted his bugs squashed? Then fine. He'd get his bugs squashed.
[Mirabilite is open for interactions]
***
Corrupt Eternal Husband Albite of Retribution Dice: 59 Action: Watching the *mess* unfold, whistling dixie over the awesomeness of Almadels digs. He hopes the poor guy can get the lights fixed soon.
Albite unceremoniously shoved Mira off through the crowd and into the open, with all the gentleness he could summon, and absolutely none of the grace he could've mustered if he'd ever cared to try his hand at having something even remotely like grace. He'd dragged the Senshi here, and he'd not be letting her back till all was said and done. Missions were important---
The Queen's invitations were important---
But even more important than all of that? Was Almadel.
Invitation or not, he would've found himself here. At attention. Waiting for that first flash of *go go go* like a shark waited to catch the first hint of blood in the water---
He would've never claimed to know the devil-incarnate, but? He would've been lying to say he wasn't fond of the man. Every bit of aid Almadel'd ever offered, every life saving trinket -- the wisps -- his birb -- a blank check of a black card with a bloody fingerprint all but seared into it's making. After all this time? He felt Almadel was a man owed his due more than most, and if a little bit of bug stomping was what it took? He didn't care if they were crustaceans, kobolds, or what-have you. If some of the other species here decided the critters were were called Kosopods or cosmopolitans, he wasn't here to complain about the work --
He was here to get s**t done, and maybe, just maybe? Get a new pet outta the deal -- or food -- coulda been food? ******** knew there was room on the walls of all their combined offices for fresh trophies of the cartilaginous n carapace wielding type!!
"Y'hear that Helio? Her magic can clean anything---" loud enough to be obnoxious even in a room so stuffed with wonder as to be echo-proofed by it, "Aahhnnnnd besides? A little bittah swarmn' never did anyone wrong. S'good for the soul, or some s**t like that." casual and carefree as could be, even if the magic all round them made his toes ******** curl, petted his every nerve rough and backwards. It wasn't even the *auras*; stunning arrays of familiar and not that left him grinning giddily. Oh no, it was the whole of the place itself. Made him want to sit and ruminate in the vibes of it all, like a big hunk of bait in a jacuzzi waiting till something came nibbling.....
If not the bugs then maybe the very items around them?
"Now let's go help the s**t outta Almadel---" and if he'd been a betting man? All his negabucks woulda mostly been bet on Hestia as bug-smasher of the year! But there were always dark horses on the come up, sparks of distant purple blues in the shape of Fafnir. Cybby's flash of pastels -- Jet n Aquas inseparable forms. He figured it could become anyone's hunt by the end of it all. Once the bug smashing was well n done n the museums residual dust-motes swept clear.
Eternal Corrupt Chrysocolla Die Roll: 60 Action: Taking a look at the ceiling Chrysocolla gave an acknowledging nod to Meissa -- and then frowned as everything started to fall into dismay and mess. "There's too many people in here. Everyone's going to get in each other's way." She tipped her head back, eyes tracing the ceiling, trying to figure out if there was any damage there -- any bugs -- any anything that might be interesting.
She could have said it's nice to meet you to Meissa. But why would she be that nice? What did she get out of it? As far as she knew, Meissa was a nobody. But Chrysocolla did have something Meissa and Beatrix could do, actually, and something that would be helpful for the Negaverse. That was easy. Especially with this many people... she needed to have some way to contribute to the Negaverse, something that wasn't just her own.
"...both of you." Her voice was hushed, but still very, very direct. It wasn't a request. It was a statement of fact, about what was going to happen. "Pay attention to the people around you who aren't Negaverse. Take notes on your tablet on anyone who looks maybe interesting. The more information the Database has, the more useful it is." Chrysocolla wrinkled her nose. "And any potential traitors, I guess. Anyone who's getting too friendly with someone in white. We can fix it before they get any dumb ideas."
Svra Draconia
Beatrix
tvfla
Meissa
============
Corrupt Sailor Aschera Die Roll: 10 Action: Oh! Oh. Now this was interesting, and immediately justified everything she'd been debating on. How often did he get to go to space? Well, the answer to that was 'literally never, before this', and one was a lot bigger than zero. If there hadn't been an extremely pressing intercosmic infestation issue, and there also hadn't been at least fifty other people here, Aschera would've wanted to forget everything else and just spend some time perusing the museum, holy s**t.
But, unfortunately, her life was filled with trials and tribulations, she was dressed like a slasher villain, (also: had the job of a slasher villain,) and the bugs could spit acid and people were being little babies about it. Not that Aschera himself thought he was going to be particularly helpful with the whole 'extermination' thing, given that despite people's best attempts to get him there he'd never stuck around in a martial arts class for more than a month, let alone a self-defense class, and the gym also generally got the exact same reaction from him.
...What was she going to do? Wander off into some other room? Stay here? Look a little pathetic and a little mysterious, and hope his utter lack of physical capacity entranced some Negaverse member who'd immediately take him on as a lieutenant and subordinate? Get real, Aschera.
...But the museum of magical artifacts.
...But if she wandered off on her own, she had every chance to get jumped by an alien insect, or multiple magical insects, or someone who'd gotten jumpscared by her outfit.
In practice, this contemplation mostly just meant Aschera stood there, and zoned out, and stared mildly intensely into the distance.
[616/1000]
============
DSS Super Róka Die Roll: 37 Action: Eating snacks, taking a look around the room "Grieve," Róka said, half-affronted, with the tone of someone who didn't particularly care but was just saying something reflexively, and then pivoted to actually responding to her question instead of whatever they'd been going to say. "What could he actually charge from us? Don't think he much cares about human money."
Don't break anything. They were hardly going to promise to do that, loathe as they were to regard anyone else's property with any matter of respect, but what they had some notion of doing didn't require them to break anything, regardless; oh, their fingers were practically itching.
Unless Almadel had proper security systems of some kind -- but in that case Madriu and Grieve would either back them up, or think them getting caught stealing was funny enough to refuse to intervene in the whole thing. Hm. More of a tossup than they liked.
Their gaze flickered over to Murikabushi; recognizably different, recognizably the same. Less of a picture-perfect resemblance than Hybris' reincarnation had been, but still perhaps familial-close in appearance. He seemed caught up in the whole scenario and in the boy (Elsa) he was with, which was understandable, given... Earth-born in the present day.
--Could they feed themself? Undoubtedly. They had several hundred years of that and getting close to two years of this. Were they going to turn down an invite to dinner? Absolutely not? The only chance they'd have ever done that was if the place was liable to have too much open flame, or if they weren't hungry, but it wasn't as if that second one was ever a true statement. "Careful what you give us permission for." They grinned at Murikabushi, and it might've been a threat, but they hadn't quite decided on that. (Besides. It was Murikabushi. If anything had carried through, distant foreign self to present self, Róka thought, he wasn't going to take back his invitation.)
(They did snatch the bag of snacks he'd thrown at them out of the air and immediately open it with their teeth, though. Again -- freely-given food was freely-given food!)
"'s far too many bodies in here. We might be better served elsewhere?"
“Hestia, we aren’t even at the location yet. There’s nothing to get a head start…” He didn’t get to finish his sentence when Almadel began doing whatever it was that he was doing. A wave of nausea rode like a rolling sea in his stomach at the abrupt departure and arrival to their location. It took the young man a moment to let his brain and body reconnect with one another enough to quell the undulating sea in his innards.
“That was…unpleasant.” He murmured as he rubbed hand down his face, hoping he didn’t look too pale from that abrupt shift.
Hestia, somehow looked to not be phased as all by their mode of transportation. That seemed rather unfair. “Look. There’s more than my uniform…”
Again he was interrupted, but this time it was by his excitable superior. Helio had thought that perhaps he had avoided the man, that Albite had perhaps missed the memo, but alas. It wasn’t the case. With a heaved weary side he looked to the booming man. “And what exactly is that supposed to mean?” His words didn’t hold any bite, just an undertone of weariness. He wasn’t sure what Albite was trying to get at but he had the feeling there was some underlying note to the boisterous declaration. “And do you have to be so loud. You’re voice is somehow filling a room that is already absolutely stuffed.” He remarked flatly.
He turned to get a good look at the swarm they were apparently here to help take care of. ”Not to be rude Hestia, but I hope you’re wrong. I’d rather not deal with any sort of queen insect.” That ranked right up there with any sort of oversized insect. He wondered if they made as horrible of a sound as a bug on earth when smashed. "I worry they're going to be too much like a nest of wasps."
His stomach churned again at the thought.
He noted a group breaking off and heading out on their own. When he realized they were White Moon he turned back to his own group, but stopped. Something...someone caught his attention. What it was that had perked his interest he wasn't sure, but giving himself a moment more to study the group as they disappeared had him widening his eyes. Was that Muri? In white? Well that was certainly news to him. Vaguely he wondered if Faustite knew before he shut off that train of thought and turned back to his own grouping.
“So, I assume we’re all sticking together in this? Better to fight numbers with numbers and all of that.”
lizabot
seiaana_ZI
shiniangamisgirl
amorremaneat
Helio taking note. Wearing white? At least it's after Memorial day.
Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2024 8:27 pm
Commander Andreiya Action: Talking to the group of Vanguardians around him and also messaging on his ComTech to all other Vanguardians; discussing a plan to try and distract the Kosopods with food and possibly subdue them with Source Stones.
Not all of the Vanguard was so close that they could whisper their plan, but it seemed like most of them were in agreement. So, Andreiya tried to be responsible. He typed into his ComTech and sent the message to every Vanguardian in the immediate vicinity:
Quote:
We have a group who has discussed options. We would like to save the Kosopods and relocate them to ensure their safety and security. We have considered taking some back to Earth but we have not conferred with the Commodore and may need to release them in a safer environment. The important thing now is that we may be able to save them. We strongly urge everyone to please make their best efforts. Best wishes and be safe. You are welcome to join our group but please look after each other so we all make it back safely.
He looked up from his ComTech, and briefly waved to Neryn and Cypher as if to make sure they knew the invitation was sincere. He almost waved to Fysarius but he recalled their last interactions and felt the bitterness of wounded pride, still. He didn’t know if Ny could see him, but. Well, at least Fysarius seemed like he was in a better mood. Even with that–what was that strapped to his chest?
Andreiya forced his gaze back to the group that had already gathered.
“I am shamefully out of date on what everyone has been working on. Almadel said that we may be able to bribe them with snacks. I have some,” he said, and produced a few dried fruits that had been carefully sealed. It wasn’t much, but he had apples and bananas. “I also have some herbs and flowers. I was working in my greenhouse earlier. I know some of you also have been doing organic research?” He had worked with Vyn and Aliez before, and he knew of Naeria’s love of mushrooms.
Andreiya offered some flower bulbs and herbs for the group as well but he anticipated many of them already carried their own supplies.
“We may be able to subdue them with our Source Stones. I think, if we are going to take any back to Earth to keep, they should be small so they can be manageable. But if we can collect the large ones, maybe we can relocate them safely in space away from here.”
Lyndin could help them do that, he was sure. He would help them if they needed it.
He thought Vyn’s plan to also see what the museum might hold was a very good plan–especially given how rare opportunities like this were. Now probably wasn’t the time to comment on Caelyna’s appearance but of course he observed it and filed it away for later.
Lysanna’s concerns were well founded, of course–many irresponsible decisions had led to ruin on previous worlds. Andreiya couldn’t help that he thought they were maybe just a little bit better at being responsible. “We will be very careful,” he promised her–and everyone. He trusted that they would all act with thought and integrity. Earth was not even their world to destroy and Lyndin would be so disappointed in them if they did something damaging. Caedus would, too. Probably.
But Tenoch was right. The most important thing now was to save what they could. And get on Almadel’s good side. And see if he was hiding anything that might help them on their quest to save Velencya.
Squire Irkalla of Cosmos Action: Arriving at last moment to "help" ... staying in the main chamber to investigate.
She had run late again. Good god. Irkalla had joined the crowd at the last moment to hear what the host of this impromptu gathering had been saying before they were all whisked away to his space museum. The squire of Cosmos almost retched upon arriving in the large hall. Perhaps there was something inside her that rejected any sort of space travel. Even the first trip to her Wonder had caused issues. Closing her eyes for a chance to regain her bearings the squire listened as conversation rose between their host for the evening and then those that had come along before she slowly opened her eyes to take in the location they had all arrived in. A slight sense of awe appeared on her face as she took in the lavish interior design before she shook her head.
The mission here was to take out whatever these creatures were that had besieged this place. Although from what it looked like upon arrival even the host, Almadel, seemed taken aback at how bad the problem now was. Clicking her tongue softly there was the additional knowledge that there were members of Chaos present and she wasn't going to be able to show any weakness around them. It had been strange to come to a gathering in which an uneasy truce seemed to be occuring in real time but surely that would not be able to last... could it?
Once her bearings were finalized Irkalla gave her cord of instruments a gentle squeeze for comfort before walking to an area near the stairs before she ran her hand over the banister rails. There had been one individual amongst the crowd that had seemed vaguely familiar to the squire and for all intents and purposes she would rather play out of sight of that one particular agent.
Captain Borax Die Roll: 56 Action: Idly observing to see if there's anything of note, wondering how he ended up with these people
Hestia's reinforcement of his still annoyingly present captain stage earned a practiced smile from Borax, all-too-corporate and not quite betraying the mild ire that lay beneath. "Don't worry, Hestia," it was unfortunate he didn't have an easy name to mock her with without exposing her identity to the apparent hordes, "I think my longer reach helps me keep up easily."
He could certainly needle at her height, though.
It was a good distraction from the sudden distortion of Earth to space, somewhere. Wherever the ******** this was.
As Borax observed Albite and his flitting around the group of the three of them, he couldn't quite help the idle thought that Albite was lucky that he was pretty. He ... definitely had that going for him. Borax let out a thin sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Albite earned a flat, "Sure," followed by an echoing snort when Heliodor remarked on Albite's ever-present volume. He wasn't really here to help Almadel, he was here to gather intel for the queen to angle himself into a better position for a promotion. There were a few idle things he had already noticed--the princess Cybele seemed to have gathered more knights around her, for one, he had clocked a couple more purifications for another--but nothing that quite explained why this was such a big deal to have caused the queen to urge one of the general-sovereigns to come too.
Hm.
He glanced down toward Heliodor. "Staying together is likely our best move. We have practice working together, anyway." He was not entirely convinced Hestia was looking to work together.
Better on their side thanks to him to clean than on another side to ... also clean, he supposed.
Searching for bugs in the dark? Or, at least, the near-dark? Phaethon took a deep breath and picked a corner to start in. Ideally, they would come out of this will all of their fingers intact. What would they say if they got home and were missing appendages? 'Yeah, it was a great time, you should have totally come with me'?
They gave another look toward the forces of Chaos that were also there. They were loathe to go off on their own, lest they open themselves up to an attack. Again, yes, everyone had been told to behave, but Phaethon did not expect much from an organization that stole energy and yanked souls out of people's still-warm bodies. The Negaverse had kind of already made breaking the contract of basic decency their method of operation, their modus operandi.
So sue Phaethon for being cautious--
So they weren't going to wander off anywhere like they saw other people doing. They were going to stay right there where they were. If anything, they would have Almadel's orders to keep backstabbing at a minimum. Phaethon moved a box very carefully, jumping when they heard skittering, but not seeing anything. Thankfully, they hadn't dropped the box and were sure to set it down carefully to the side. They squinted into the darkness, but still didn't see anything.
Wonderful.
Another box, a crate, and a trunk later, Phaethon was starting to wonder what they'd do if they did stumble across any Kosopods. Their attacks weren't offensive in origin. Would kicks and punches get through the exoskeletons and carapaces--did they have carapaces?--to any meaningful degree, or was Phaethon better off sticking close to people who did have offensive abilities? Phaethon looked over their shoulder.
They did move a bit closer to other people, actually, shifting closer to the stairs and a Cosmos knight nearby them.
Cadet Ny Roll: 59 Action: Convening with her friends! And their friends! And also trying to move some things closer together to create a little more open space.
Fysarius' incredulous sounds behind her did nothing to stop Ny from tromping right up to the Negaverse agent the moment her eyes had landed on him.
She'd gotten a leg from him, and you could not just take a leg from anyone, so she was almost positive they were friends! And friends welcomed the sight of each other at functions such as these! Fysarius was her best friend; it would only do to have them meet. Ny was certain that this was expected social etiquette for this culture, and she delighted in the prospect of her two friends being given such an occasion to interact.
The few who stood around Rakovanite did give her very slight pause- she didn't know them, but those must be his friends. They would be pleased to meet her!
...Provided they held no ill-will toward the Vanguard, which was a bit of a toss up. All of her other friends, her teammates, her allies... they'd stuck together. She could see them, perhaps half a dozen or so Velencians collaborating together. They didn't seem interested in integrating with all the humans around for this assignment. She thought when she glanced toward them, that she could see Andreiya peering back at her and Fysarius with a strange expression on his face, one that she couldn't really decipher.
She sent him back an almost-apologetic smile of her own and a little shrug to accompany it. There seemed to be no harm in finding other allies if it was possible this time, and everyone should theoretically have the same goal of 'helping' Almadel.
So she hard-committed to her initial course. Ny gave a slight wave to signal her intersection with Rakovanite and his friends (a necessary formality, of course), and then she was hugging him, arms around his shoulders, cheek to the top of his head (humans were very small, but so was Fysarius, so she was quite accustomed to this!), a full-body sort of hug. This was indeed how human friends greeted each other when they had not interacted for many moons, and Ny was quite pleased at herself for so seamlessly incorporating their customs.
With that out of the way, she snatched at a strap across Fysarius' chest, dragging him in line with her for a proper introduction. She gave an expectant hand-flap, impatient for her partner to introduce himself and Schmoopie to her friends- who were about to be his friends.
And then they would be able to do something about the kosopods.
She could definitely hear them nearby, but this had to be the most cluttered place she had ever seen, even including movies! The creatures were big enough; she was sure they wouldn't be able to hide. ...But she was less confident about how likely they would be to not break anything...
She gave another little tug on Fysarius, silently requesting his support as she started to scoot some of the smaller stands out of the way. If they clumped this clutter together a bit better, maybe they would have more room to move freely- and hopefully not break anything.
Kyuseisha no Hikari
she sees you Andrieya, she's sorry she doesn't hang out more, but you have so many friends and Fys needs her...
Super Dark Mirror Narcissus of Rejection Roll: 65 Action: He is actually just slightly overwhelmed right now and did not do anything to contribute to insect removal. Sorry, Alma. :<
At least Narcissus had some experience with teleportation, so he was not as relentlessly sickened by the abrupt scenery change as he might have been. He still staggered slightly, knocking his hip into something solid and immediately blurting out a quick, "I'm so sor-" But it wasn't another person- just an inanimate object, among a great and vast collection of inanimate objects. Who was he apologizing to?
Swallowing down the rest of the words, and tucking away the flyaway lavender tresses so eager to fall into his eyes, Narcissus gave a perfunctory glance around the darkened room.
Almadel had so.
Much.
Stuff.
His interest in the assignment turned just a touch sharper, as hungry magenta eyes dragged a lazy circuit across all the space- all the items, strange and foreign and interesting and things people may only ever see once in a lifetime... Unless they owned them. Basyl was permitted only an unobtrusive corner to clutter as much as he wished, which he begrudgingly admitted was fair, less their home turn into the scary hoarder den it had been when he and Nataniel met... His world had been smaller, then- he'd barely ever left Destiny City. Now the lure was tantalizing. So many things, in so many places. All of the universe! And he had only a corner to cram it all into.
Which was for the best. Itwasforthebestitwasforthebestitwasforthebest...
He had to pull his attention back to the people with him, smiling apologetically at his lover, for what Narcissus expected was far too obvious hunger for the pursuit of collection. "Oh, you're both too hard on him," Narcissus said to Rakovanite and Diasporite. "I'm sure he's perfectly genuine! It must be s-so, so complicated to suit a demeanor to every culture of anywhere he could possibly go... There are probably places and peoples that get offended very easily. He's doing his best!" And all the misfortunes that followed him... Well, that was probably just the inherent danger of Deep Space. Purely accidental. Narcissus was sure.
Speaking of inherent Deep Space dangers, Diasporite had only just made his way deeper into the flutter when another boy took his place. He was green. The guy was truly <********> and carrying something squishy and moving and moist, way too big and too strange to be any kind of something Narcissus recognized. "R-Rak-" He backpedaled from the obviously alien man, retreating into the safety of his fiance's orbit.
-Just to see another, a woman, enveloping him. She was quite tall, quite buff, no energy signature, carrying a gun, and for a wild, dizzying moment, Narcissus forgot that they were all under orders to get along, and he was certain that she was someone who would, could, wanted to hurt Rakovanite. It wasn't like there was a shortage of such people. Narcissus didn't do anything about her- just froze stock still, magenta eyes wide, breathing halted, heart stuttering-
And then she peeled away from him, smiling. Rakovanite definitely didn't look happy (as he hadn't since before they arrived), but he also didn't look hurt. The green boy similarly was taking no action, just standing in close proximity to the girl.
Narcissus immediately felt awful for the dreadful gut impulse of fear and doubt. He knew nonhumans had taken up residence on Earth, but his experiences with them were so incredibly few, and...
And that wasn't really an excuse, he supposed...
"Um, d-do you know...?" His attention flicked rapidly between Rakovanite and the strange woman, back and forth, a ping-pong ball bouncing between them. It wasn't entirely out of the realm of possibility for Rakovanite to have made friends with aliens, but at least in Narcissus' experience, it did seem quite unlikely. "And I d-don't- Um. Mm... I hope I don't s-sound rude, but what is that?" He asked, gesturing shallowly to the strange bug-thing strapped like an infant across the boy's chest.
General Jet Roll: 2 Action: Making observations for now. Thinking about finding Almadel and bodily dragging him back.
The Queen was certainly right in that there was a lot of information to gather by being there. He’d wanted to investigate as well, but he was pleased that her order likely drew the attention of more, particularly those who were more interested in information than fighting.
He noticed a young corrupt (Meissa) hovering around, but was glad that she managed to find some others that she knew. He didn’t want any of their agents actually caught up in whatever fight might break out between himself and the others. He might not be there to start the fight, but he would damn well finish it.
As for Jet, he tried not to smirk too much as Aquamarine harassed Sessrumnir and his little friend, but it was very difficult to not give them his attention.
“No, that’s not Remus,” Jet confirmed with a laugh as he looked over at the Senshi (Alastor). “Must have a thing for black hair. I wonder if the Knight would offer up his starseed to save this Senshi, too. Maybe we can test that out, later.”
Jet’s smile was cool and collected. He seemed to be enjoying himself, at least. Even Cybele got a snort of amusement when Aquamarine pointed her out, but she seemed not to care that he was there. How diplomatic of her. He wondered if she would be able to ignore Aquamarine’s perfectly polite questions.
Hot pink meant Nectaris, and there was a moment where he wondered if the Queen would actually be upset if he cut the traitor down. Ah, but they still had the alien, Almadel, to figure out. She would be spared… for now.
A few Negaverse Senshi were there that he recognized as well. Fafnir, Chrysocolla, and Albite were a relief to see. They could definitely use their expertise when it came to Senshi magic.
There were also Generals Rakovanite, Chalcanthite, Arsenopyrite, Benitoite, and Lavendulan that he recognized. For all of the White Moon that there were, Jet was at least pleased to see the quality of those in the Negaverse who had shown up.
He noticed Captain Akaganeite nearby and offered her a nod in response. He trusted the other Negaverse officers to handle themselves, but he preferred them staying together, just in case.
The museum itself was uninspiring. It was just another old building with old things. They had plenty of that back home at the castle in the Dark Kingdom. At least what the Dark Kingdom didn’t have was an infestation of bugs.
“Arles would have enjoyed eating these, probably. Too bad we didn’t think to bring him,” he mused to himself and Aquamarine and whoever was close enough to hear. Not that he spoke often of his bonded youma, but it was an amusing thought.
He watched as their host skipped off.
“Looks like we’re all the bait. Never trust aliens,” he sneered, not caring if any of the Velencians overheard him. He drew his weapon but didn’t make any advance towards the creatures yet. It wasn’t as though he could really see them with how dim things were. He didn’t want to risk any of his agents getting attacked, but he also didn’t want to give any of the White Moon an opening to attack them either.
“I kind of want to drag our host back. Shouldn’t he be keeping an eye on things?”
Sunshine Alouette
Aquamarine
Noir Songbird
Akaganeite
Kyuseisha no Hikari
Alastor
Posted: Fri Jun 21, 2024 11:49 am
Corrupt Ilmari of Chastity, Personal Secretary. Action: Gently reminding his boss that they’re here for more than just bug-smashing. Arguably gossiping. No investigation roll yet.
Ilmari liked to think that he was adjusting fairly well to whatever being a senshi was supposed to mean. A lot of energy-draining and trips around the city to throw magic at people who tried to interfere (of whom there seemed to be a truly endless amount). Straightforward enough, really, and a god-send in that way because the simplicity of his orders meant that Ilmari had a much easier time of finding a routine that he could carve out for himself in all of this.
He’d taken some time recently, though—a few weeks, nothing earth-shattering but still, not insignificant either—and admittedly only done the bare minimum of his job requirements. First, it had been a matter of giving his best efforts to final exams, and then, his parents had seen reason about not forcing him to live in campus dormitories anymore when a friend of the family had some lovely little townhouses available to rent, so Baz had needed to move into the new place. As much as Ilmari needed to learn the ropes and prove himself and his value in the Negaverse, he also needed to have his personal life in order.
Nothing that anybody could really hold against him, Ilmari thought. At the same time, though, feeling as though he’d been lax in his duties to the Negaverse provided a very strong motivation for Ilmari to show up for whatever this adventure was tonight. Queen Laurelite had put out the invitation, asking Negaverse agents and senshi to gather information on the strange alien man and everyone else who’d shown up to help him. Even though the request had made it clear that this mission was optional, Ilmari wanted to be here, so he could hopefully prove himself by picking out some solid intel and proving that he was ready, willing, and eager to take on tasks that his superiors in the Negaverse had deemed important. Considering how many White Moon senshi and Knights stood beside them, there had to be several good opportunities for digging up useful information.
That said, there also seemed to be several good opportunities for some of those freaks to pick on someone they might have perceived as weaker than themselves and therefore fair game. You couldn’t ever tell how things would go with complete loose cannons who lacked all semblance of internal organization, not to mention manners. With the way some of them seemed content to judge both the Negaverse operatives and Dark Mirror senshi who’d shown up to help tonight as nefarious and malicious before any of them had even had a chance to do anything? Ilmari didn’t feel as though it was paranoia on his part to think that he might have put himself in unnecessary danger by trying to brave this mission alone.
(Perhaps it wasn’t the best idea prior to an unknown adventure in space, but as Almadel offered his preparatory insights on the mission, Ilmari brought out his tablet and used it to jot down notes on some of the people who’d come out tonight. Even if he didn’t get their names—even if the effort wound up not amounting to much—one could never tell how important something might or might not be, in the long run. Better to take more notes than necessary, than to take no notes and have nothing to offer at the end of the mission, when Queen Laurelite had specifically asked everyone to gather information.)
Fortunately, Eternal Albite was both quite tall (though he seemed somewhat less so than usual, considering how tall the aliens in the thistle-colored uniforms all were) and very loud. Mere seconds before Almadel transported the group into his museum, Ilmari spotted the senshi he thought of as his most direct boss—not the big boss in the way that General-Kings like Jet and Faustite were, but the senior officer with whom Ilmari worked most often—and wove his way through the crowd, trying to get closer to someone whom his brain registered as Safe. That Albite had several others from the team beside him only made Ilmari feel more certain in that conviction. Even if he didn’t know most of them very well yet personally, they were part of the same team, and hopefully, they’d all be safer together.
Swooping in at Albite’s side, Ilmari felt as though he must have missed some rather significant part of the conversation. Maybe he hadn’t? Between Ms. Eternal Hestia sounding so enthused about the possibility of finding some mutant bug queen, and Albite sounding as though he genuinely only cared about helping Almadel with this infestation, Ilmari felt more than a little bit lost. Tilting his head, he wrinkled his nose like a terribly bemused bunny—but with a deep breath, he resolved to just let it go. Tamed his expression back into something eager and positive but hopefully, not overbearing. Getting too hung up on what he’d missed would probably cause even more problems, especially once Albite really found whatever groove he’d get into tonight.
“We do have orders besides helping with the infestation, Boss,” Ilmari pointed out, tone both gentle and respectful, trying very hard not to unwittingly insult Albite or overstep with a senior officer (but also trying to keep it down so others might be less likely to eavesdrop). “As much as possible, we need to mind the other hunters as much as we mind the bugs.”
Super Heliodor seemed to have the right idea, with the way he was looking around at the others who’d come out tonight. Lingering a bit on one of them in particular, it seemed. Following Heliodor’s gaze, Ilmari found himself looking at a White Moon super senshi (Murikabushi) whose fuku honestly seemed like it needed an editor. Gothic Lolita fashion made very little sense to Ilmari personally, and the vaguely faux-Rococo stylings did far too much for him. Overall, he thought it looked more like a middle class (at best) person flaunting what they thought real wealth looked like, rather than having any of the class and understated elegance that one learned when one was actually wealthy.
“Heliodor, sir,” Ilmari asked, “do you know him? Is he someone we should be particularly wary of?”
Whatever the answer was, Ilmari stood ready to jot it down in his tablet’s Notes app for reference later, with his little opalescent star charm dangling off his fingers.
The idea of patrols was kind of scary, but Ephesus didn’t want to admit that when he and Amarynthos went out it was usually to just walk around. He wasn’t very good with fighting, and he was still pretty upset about when Mary had been really hurt by that General. He was okay now! But it was really scary at the time.
“Yes, if you need extra help, we’ve gotten really good with cleaning things up. And planting. Our Wonders have a lot of flowers now,” he chirped happily, despite feeling anxious about whatever they were going to be doing.
There wasn’t much time to talk, unfortunately. Soon, Almadel whisked them away from Earth and to a strange place that was filled with… things.
And some of those things were definitely alive.
Ephesus immediately moved closer to Mary, not liking how he could barely see anything. It was so dim, and the flickering lights would surely give him a headache if he squinted too much.
“Oh, um… it’s really crowded here. Maybe it’ll be safer to find one of the other rooms?” he suggested. He didn’t want to leave his parents, but he knew how his Papa was about secrecy. Especially when it looked like a General was bothering him.
He wanted to look around at all of the exhibits, even if it was just a big storage room. Maybe they would get a chance once the bugs were all gone.
Oh, yeah. That was a lot of bugs. Like, a lot of bugs. Nectaris liked Almadel, even if Encke and some of the others didn't trust him, but she did think that maybe he could've been a little more honest and a little less weird salesman-y about getting them up here.
Oh well. She'd forgive him.
A quick look around this weirdly opulent museum did not show her the jewelry piece she'd made for him. It looked like they were in the lobby, and all the stuff around here was big, striking lobby art. If she had to guess about what she'd given him, she was guessing it would be in a closet somewhere? Probably, like, a really fancy closet, or maybe in a decorated little box?
This room was big art, and weird bugs, and Negaverse agents. Like, Negaverse agents playing nice, but still more than she'd ever seen before when it wasn't some big fight.
Was the General looking at her?
Wait. Fluffy brown hair. Blue clothes. Was that Jet?
She wasn't sure, but still. Nectaris did her best to not get freaked out by the Negaverse, she really did, but it didn't take much to shift her mindset from I wanna check on my art to Maybe I don't want Generals looking at me like that.
When the Bell squad started heading towards a side room, she was quick to follow.
Action: Starting to investigate the surrounding items for Kosopods
"Babies?!" Ida squeaked as Chariklo lifted her right off her feet and spun her around. Remembering where they were, she lowered her voice, but couldn't hide the warmth in it. "Congratulations! It really has been a long time. I'm so happy for you both."
So much must have changed in Chariklo's life over the last five years. Getting married, having babies, leaving the country... no wonder she hadn't seen her around. It seemed like she had mostly disconnected herself from this powered war, and Ida could not blame her for it. While she could not imagine setting aside her responsibilities like that, there was no blame for someone who did. The war was never ending... if you could step away and needed to, then it was okay to do so. Not everyone was willing to give up their whole life outside of the war and Ida definitely wasn't sure everyone should, either.
Her cheeks warmed when the other woman mentioned seeing her symbols on some of the others. Dark eyes swept the gathering, catching bits of purple here and there. Surprisingly, not people she'd met before, actually. It drew a small, thoughtful line between her brows as she considered how many knights there might be out there now that she didn't know. Were they doing okay? Did they need anything? She'd have to see if she could at least introduce herself before the end of all this, but who knew what sort of chaos was going to ensue once they got up to the Museum. She'd have to keep an eye out for them as they went along.
"A lot has kind of happened in the last year or so." She said quietly. "Knights have started to awaken with wonders on Ida... And its different this time, Chari."
Ida turned solemn eyes on her friend. "Its not the same as it was last time."
Last time, they'd been refugees hiding in the forrest. Chari had worn black. Ida had died with a sword through her heart. Everything was different this time.
On that sobering note, Ida felt the magic take them and pull them across the galaxy, depositing them somewhere new and strange. She eased her grip on Chari as she looked around her, settling beside her rather than tangled up in her. Her gaze swept to the massive cacoon and her eyes widened at it's size. The light flickered, making things move around them, and she felt the hairs rise on the back of her neck.
"We should probably get to work, yeah?" She said as she eyed the nearest stand of... things and moved towards it, bending down to try and get a better look at the shadows.
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