Starfish Scares (13) : Starfish live in the sea. They do not live in freshwater rivers, lakes, or reservoirs with no connection to the ocean. Starfish are also not social creatures. And yet, here they are–in hoards. They can be found near any water source–and far from it. These starfish seem to be a unique species that are eager to travel and don’t seem quite bound to water, though they will seek it out. The starfish will latch onto just about anything they can to hitch a ride, even though they’re fast. They secrete an itchy, oozy slime after they’ve latched onto something, and though it seems as though they can absorb nutrients from any living creature, these starfish have an odd penchant for blood. You might as well have a colorful leech stuck to you as soon as you think one of these things crawling your way. Their bites are sharp and will leave the nearby skin itchy and painful. They are a bit difficult to remove but they can be killed; as soon as they have perished, they will rapidly dry out and crumble. However, it’s far more likely that they’ll escape before you can get your hands on them. Be vigilant; these things are pests–and smart enough to cling to people and vehicles alike if it means getting to where they want to go.
Kyuseisha no Hikari
Storm had heard about weird starfish that were showing up in town. The fact that they were all the way on dry land with some rivers, there was also the reservoir so it made no sense why there would be star fish on the dry land much less near fresh water.
The dark mirror senshi decided to investigate since this was very unusual. He had pin pointed where the claims seemed to be the most concentrated. He found himself in the middle of the largest park in Destiny. He had a net in hand a couple of small buckets. Maybe he could get one of them into a bucket to study it. Though he wasn't sure if it would be easy enough to do such.
The reports sounded like they caused itching among other things and were fast. The dark mirror senshi of volcanic lightning probably looked a bit silly as he was searching for the star fish with his hair tied up more than normal to try and keep from getting starfish tangled in it just in case.
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2025 6:05 pm
By all rights, Meninx had no purpose to be out tonight. He had far too much work back at the agency, and his mother would throw a tantrum if he came in tomorrow even looking like he hadn't gotten enough sleep. She'd spent the last week badgering him about how important this client was to her.
Meninx had spent his whole life being nitpicked and torn apart, so it really wasn't anything too different from ordinary. It was just exhausting.
A heavy weight that never lifted from his shoulder.
He knew he should be at home right now, poring over the same files he'd spent all week with. He should have been meticulously grooming himself, probably laying out his clothes. Rehearsing what he'd say, practicing handshakes. Whatever extreme acts of perfection his mother expected of him. Things he already thought he had a good grasp on, but which were never enough.
He couldn't stand looking at the text anymore. All the letters started to look the same. He couldn't stand thinking about tomorrow.
He just needed a few hours of escape. Just a breath of fresh air. Just something to relieve the tension in his chest.
Meninx didn't want trouble, just relief.
...Instead, he found starfish.
Meninx didn’t think himself much of a fan of the sea, or any of its creatures. He was thusly, less so, when said sea creatures were not where they belonged.
Also, there was a Dark Mirror Senshi here, so the Mars Squire could only assume there was something particularly strange going on here. He was just standing there with a bucket, and starfish, and there was no way for Meninx to get close enough to see what he was doing without alerting him.
…Either he was collecting the starfish, or putting them in the park.
Both seemed weird.
“Hey,” Meninx called, voice tense as if in warning. “...What are you doing?”
Storm felt the energy signature and noticed it seemed to be lingering so he wasn't terribly worried about it just out right attacking. The dark mirror senshi some how had managed to catch one of the starfish just as he heard the voice and paused. Looking up curiously.
It sounded as if it was a warning but Storm wasn't terribly sure since it was a question too. "Aloha Brother." He called out in a cheerful greeting before going on about what he was doing as he plopped the poor star fish into his bucket.
"I'm catching these starfish here to take back to where they belong -- well trying to this is the first one I've managed to catch. Though, it doesn't seem like they're the starfish I'm use to; they should be all dried out and not able to move that long out of water." He had stopped paying attention to the starfish in the bucket, that was until it had crawled up his hand and latched on.
The dark mirror senshi jumped at the sensation of it biting him and the sudden itching that took place as well. It seemed as if it'd decided allowing itself to be caught was the best way to pay this senshi back for trying to catch multiples of them. "H-hey.... what the heck!?" He looked startled and was trying to get the starfish off of him but it had a fairly good hold wrapped around his wrist and hand at this point.
Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 1:14 am
Aloha Brother?
...Those didn’t sound like fighting words.
It was disarming, but Meninx wasn’t one to lower his guard easily.
There was no way that the Dark Mirror Senshi could have orchestrated the attack. There was a split second where Meninx thought ‘I can just leave’ because really, it wasn’t his problem.
…But the Dark Mirror Senshi claimed he was trying to take the starfish back to their natural environment, and Meninx had no reason to think that was a lie or that this was a trap.
He’d never been one to turn his back when someone needed help and–well–that thing was clinging to the Senshi.
With a gruff exhale, he crossed the distance between the two of them. He lowered his weapon, clearly meaning no harm to Storm, but thought he might have better luck tugging the starfish off.
“Just–stay still, I’ll get it,” he said, even though his skin was crawling at the idea of even touching the starfish. He dug his fingers underneath it and pulled, hoping to detach it quickly so he could just throw it in Storm’s bucket.
Storm was shocked when the starfish bit him and he made a face, "Well fudge, I didn't know starfish bite." He had started to reach to try and pull off the weird starfish but it was difficult to.
His hand was starting to itch and feel numb where the starfish had latched on and perhaps a bit slimy? Or was that the creature that decided he was a good food source? The fact that Meninx was willing to help him made Storm feel much better.
"Thank you brother." He said as the other grabbed the starfish and was pulling, Storm tried to help too with his free hand. He wanted to get it off so he could inspect the damage done and while it took what felt like forever but was probably a mere minute to get the creature off his hand and back into the bucket. It didn't mean it wasn't terrible.
"Oh, well that's an interesting feature." He muttered when he realized the slime was on his hand and not just the starfish. "Thank you again brother for your help! I don't know how long it'd taken me to pry it off."
He seemed to give a thought, "Oh I'm Storm, Dark mirror senshi of Volcanic lightning." He offered his non-slimy hand since it was still bucket free and lacked the itchy - oozy substance.
Somehow he'd missed there was a Crimson Star Charm, that had fell into the bucket in his hand when he'd picked up the starfish.
Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2025 5:50 pm
Meninx seemed like he was heavily debating not taking the Dark Mirror Senshi’s hand. Chaos was Chaos, but…
How did this guy get caught up in it? Fudge? More ‘brothers’. He wasn’t even mad about being bitten and–what was that–slimed on?
Meninx’s lip curled just slightly but he found his hand moving to take Storm’s before he could think better of it.
“Meninx,” he introduced slowly, still guarded. He peered into the bucket to watch the star fish warily. The charm was interesting, only in that he’d also picked up one of the same color earlier today. Like they were just being scattered, and forgotten, around the city.
“...I don’t think that’s a normal star fish,” he said, with the tone of someone who was not an expert, but who was used to applying common sense. “...You should probably try to get rid of it as quickly as possible.” Did this guy even have a lid, or…?
Storm grinned as Meninx introduced himself. The dark mirror senshi hummed thoughtfully, he honestly hadn't expected to catch one much less where he was taking it asides from not the ocean. Since that was too far away.
Though he thought he knew a water source that would head towards the ocean. "I don't think it's normal either." He agreed with a nod, "I haven't seen any like this on the beach I lived on. They also typically dry up outside of the water so this is interesting that it's still slimy."
He nodded off towards the river, "I think the river leads back to the ocean eventually -- I'm hoping if I drop it off there it'll make it's way to where it belongs." There was a nod hoping that his thought process worked out well.
Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2025 5:31 am
He lived on a beach? Okay, so not from around here. Meninx didn’t want to think obviously but he did. Maybe it made a little more sense why this guy seemed so comfortable handling them.
“...Okay,” Meninx said slowly. He didn’t really understand but it didn’t seem like Storm was up to anything nefarious either.
Chaos was bad, he knew that, but so were random starfish attacking people.
“...Guess it’s too late to call animal control anyway.”
Would they have done anything, anyway? Were starfish even animals, or…?
No, none of that mattered. Storm had this under control. Probably.
“Well.” He stood straight, maybe a little awkwardly. “...Guess I’ll leave you to it. Thanks for…” What, looking out for the starfish? For the people it might…attack? He didn’t even know what was going on here, so he vaguely gestured to the bucket.
Storm looked curiously at Meninx who seemed either just awkward or unsure. Storm softly nodded though when the other said it was too late to call animal control. "Yeah I don't think they'd try to take these sorts of creatures anyways..."
There was another nod, "No worries and you're welcome." There was a grin from the dark mirror senshi.
He seemed to think, "Maybe we could meet again? Perhaps a spar next time?" The starfish was trying to escape again and he dropped the net over the bucket and grabbed the handle so that it was still draped over. Hopefully that would keep it from latching on to him.
He'd be lucky he was sure to get it to a water source before it escaped or latched onto him again. "I'm sure you've got more to do tonight than just help me, have a good night brother!"
The dark mirror senshi started wandering off towards the nearest waterway. "Patrick stay in the bucket. Geeze." He said as he wondered off leaving Meninx to his own vices.
