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 Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 8:29 pm
Once a small, family-friendly hang-out, the Tanglewood neighborhood pool had closed due to lack of funding. Although it had signs that prohibited trespassing, everyone knew that kids frequently snuck in it to skateboard, so other then the graffiti the property was strangely well kept. None of this, however, explained the bundled-up figure that was standing just outside the fences.
Rosa Sullivan, better known as Rose, was not a resident of the Tanglewood subdivision, nor did she skateboard. As a matter of fact, she did even want to be there, and were it not for her wayward cat, Rahaj, she would be at home. As it was, Rajah hadn’t come home the previous night, and while she wasn’t worried – the grumpy tom was probably chasing a pretty tail – she decided to check his favorite hang-outs. The usually secluded, sun-warmed expanses of concrete often lured her pet here.
“ Rajah?” she called, curling her fingers in the chain link fence as her eyes scanned the empty pool. “ Where are you boy? I’ve got chicken.”
As if expecting the cat to not only be there, but to see and understand her, she waved the bag of fried chicken in front of her. It turned out to not be an entirely fruitless endeavor, for after a couple of seconds a small, white and orange head peered over the side of the pool. Then, just when Rose as thinking the cat would come to her, the head disappeared.
“ Rajah, don’t make me come in there!”
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Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:09 pm
Apparently there was a Youma in the Tanglewood neighborhood. The annoying tailless pain in her side had told her this the moment Ellie Spectre had dared to step outside.
It took several minutes of bickering back and forth, but eventually Ellie transformed into Sailor Iris. Then the cat and senshi spent another few minutes arguing over whether or not Iris should be allowed to rip that bow off her butt. This time, the senshi won the fight by simply ripping the bow's tails off right in front of the cat. ********* watched on as if the Rainbow Senshi had done something sacrilegious, but she said nothing more about it.
"Follow me!" the cat eventually called out before bounding off with a few stray jingles. Surprisingly, Sailor Iris found that the cat was actually rather fast, despite the small stature and the short legs. The blonde scout was vaguely impressed, and her impression kept getting a bit better as this cat showed off her knowledge of the city. She didn't take main streets, but back alleys and side streets and vague pathways until they made it to the Tanglewood region.
Sailor Iris slowed as they approached the pool area, eventually ducking behind a tree as she spotted a civilian. The yellow suited scout was about to ask ********* something in a rather coarse whisper "What should we do?" but soon enough found herself without her furry companion.
********* may have been a magical cat, but she was also a cat. She had heard this redheaded girl's voice uttering one word.
Chicken.
Without any hesitation, the pale spotted feline began to rub herself up against this girl's leg. She mewed out in as convincing a manner as possible, as if saying "I would like the chicken if the other cat doesn't want it."
There was a small slapping sound from behind the tree as Sailor Iris had literally slapped her hand against her forehead, shaking her head at what ********* was doing.
Stupid cat!
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Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:33 pm
Feeling something small rubbing against her leg, Rose looked down to see a kitty. Now, seeing a stray cat here and there wasn’t unusual, especially not in this area, but there was something different about this cat. First of all, it had a bell around its neck, and so clearly it had to be someone’s pet. Secondly, it had no tail. It had to be a Manx, a breed of cat Rose had had the pleasure of seeing in person only once or twice before. Finally, there was a strange, star-like marking on its forehead.
Well, Rose wasn’t one to miss an opportunity like this! Hoping to keep the little beauty by her side a bit longer, she quickly drew out a piece of chicken from the bag.
“ Hungry?”
This, combined with the kitty’s earlier meowing, had gained Rajah’s attention. His head had reappeared over the side, ears flattened against his head, giving the cat equivalent of a glare. Normally he tolerated female cats quite well, but this one was rubbing against his human and wanted his chicken!
Spying Rajah out the corner of her eye, Rose grinned as she tore off a chunk of the chicken and placed it on the ground next to the new kitty.
“ There. It’s not even cold yet.”
Not wanting to tempt fate by petting a cat with food, she settled for crouching next to the kitty, attention divided between it and Rajah. If all went well she’d be able to spend some time with a Manx and return home with Rajah.
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Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:48 pm
Though the tailless cat's stomach was momentarily in charge, the pale gray spotted cat's brain was also acting up. In fact, it was itchy, just like with Eos, and just like with Flora. Thoughtfully, the cat glanced up to the girl with her green eyes, giving the girl a rather soulful look. Coming from a cat, it was probably a bit intimidating.
However, her little black nose twitched, catching the scent of the chicken.
Chicken, you were going to be the end of poor ********* concentration.
Sailor Iris watched from behind the tree, every so often peering out to try and get an idea as to what the hell was going on. Seriously, was this an excuse just to parade Iris around? Or was there something more going on that the senshi didn't know? Out of sheer impatience, the girl beat her fist against the tree. For ********* sake, she better have had a good reason for this display.
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 12:34 am
The strange look the little kitty gave Rose was slightly disconcerting, but she brushed it off when she saw that Rajah had finally decided to make his way towards them. He strode past the other cat, rubbed against Rose briefly, and then nabbed the rest of the chicken leg from Rose’s hand. Rolling her eyes, she forgot for a moment that one wasn’t supposed to mess with animals while eating and reached out to stroke the cat’s head where the strange star marking lingered.
“ Don’t mind him, he’s just jealous. There’s more chicken if you’re still hungry."
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:44 am
********* didn't mind that the other cat came up close. She didn't mind that he was rubbing up against the girl. And in all honesty, she only minded for about 3 seconds when the tomcat nabbed her piece of chicken. As the girl said, there was still more chicken to be had, so the pale gray cat merely leaned her head into the girl's petting fingers.
Ah, that felt nice!
In all honesty, the love fest would have continued if it wasn't for something rather suddenly appearing. At the bottom of the empty pool, a creature had been skulking about, and now that it sensed not just one, but two starseeds, it couldn't resist any longer. It climbed out of the pool, quickly stretching across to the shallow end of the pool and emerging like some sort of strange crocodile. In fact, this creature looked like a strange hybrid between a crocodile, a chameleon, and a frilled lizard. It had the sharp jagged teeth with the strange eyes that seemed to look each which way, along with the lanky body and frill about its neck. It was rather large, and as its eyes swiveled to look at one of the two pending victims, it almost seemed to smile in a deranged fashion.
"...starseed..." it hissed.
Sailor Iris was not about sit back and wait for the cats and this girl to become Youma food. With a rather loud "God damn it!" she bolted out from behind her hiding place. She shouted to the cat she was familiar with "God damn it *********, get 'er outta 'ere t'safety!!"
The tailless cat almost seemed to sigh in disappointment. Without a word, she dashed away a bit, glancing back to the girl and waiting, as if she truly understood what the yellow-suited senshi had just said.
If only Rose really knew the truth. All the star-marked cat could really hope was that the girl was intelligent enough to know that the monster fighting should be left to the senshi. For now...
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 5:48 pm
The world was going mad, that was the only explanation for it. Rose did not need Rajah’s hissing to notice that something decidedly not normal was crawling out of the dry pool bed. She also did not need Rajah to run away to feel the need to run herself. In fact, she was just about to run away herself when a skirted girl ran past her, heading towards the monster. Really, what did a girl in a mini-skirted costume hope to accomplish? Then, curiouser and curiouser, the little tailless cat seemed to understand the strange girl’s orders, checking behind her to see if Rose was following.
Frozen for a brief moment, intelligent thoughts like ‘Huh?’ and ‘WTF?’ circling around her brain, she snapped back to reality and ran after the cat. If some crazy girl wanted to play hero, well, that was her problem.
On the other hand, Rose would feel bad once the girl beaten up, regardless of her mental stability. Her hand reached into her pocket for her cellphone, intent on calling someone, when she realized that no one had ever taught her who to call or what to say in this case; in case of fire or burglary, yes, but not in case of the appearance of a strange, crocodile-lizard monsters.
“ I guess this falls under 9-1-1.” She muttered, finally freeing her cellphone from her pocket. She was still stumped about what she would tell them though, so she didn't call just yet; didn't want to come off as crazy after all. Still considering this, she eyed the cat she was following, shaking her head as she added, “ Your owner is nuts. This whole thing is nuts.”
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 6:15 pm
Sailor Iris could take care of herself. At least, that was what ********* assumed. By the time she stopped, the redheaded girl was pulling out a cellular phone and speaking in a panicked fashion. Oh no, this wasn't going to do at all.
The moment the girl looked at the manx, the manx decided it was a perfect opportunity to speak.
"She's not my owner. And right now I am going to say you are not going crazy." There had been plenty of times that the cat seemed to induce the "I AM GOING CRAZY" reaction, and right now, time was of the essence.
She didn't explain and rather quickly popped up for a rather graceless back flip. ********* was never good at making them look all that fancy or magical, despite being a magical cat. Her legs were too short for that. Beneath the spot she had jumped over, two items appeared. One pen and one cellular phone with a little pixelated cat face on the screen.
"Listen to me! My name is *********, and you need to help Sailor Iris out right now!" Though her voice had an urgent tone, her voice still sounded too nice and friendly to fully get the point across. Quickly, she pointed her paw at the phone first.
"Put this away someplace safe!"
Next she pointed to the pen. "Take this, hold it up and shout out 'Pomona Power, Make-Up!' With meaning, with feeling, with all of your energy you can muster up! Hurry, hurry, HURRY!!!"
Did the pale tailless cat mention that Rose should hurry?
When the two cats and the girl managed to get out of the fight, Sailor Iris grinned. Oh yes, this was going to be fun. This was probably just some weakling of a Youma. She tightened up a fist and rushed in. She might as well make this youma kill something fun, right? She swung in hard and fast, but something seemed off.
In fact, she had pretty good aim, and somehow her punch had missed. One of the youma's two eyes had swiveled in and noticed her movements, and reacted quickly to get out of the way.
"That was a lucky miss for you!" Sailor Iris snorted out, spitting out to the side as if she was going to get serious now.
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 8:56 pm
If talking cats wasn’t a sign of going crazy, Rose wasn’t sure what was. Granted, the idea of a talking cat was quite awesome, but as far as she was aware the only animals that talked were parrots. Perhaps she was dreaming? That would explain a lot, and she had had weirder dreams before.
Deciding to go with the flow - because hey, why not obey talking dream cats? – Rose put her cell phone back in its pocket and the new cell phone in her other pocket. Then, she picked up the funny stick and eyed it speculatively. How was waving around a funny stick going to help some modern remix of an Egyptian goddess not get her butt kicked by a mutant lizard?
Deciding it was worth a shot – maybe it would shoot lasers or turn into a gun or something – Rose pointed the little stick in the air, and shouted the words *********, the talking cat, had told her.
“ Pomona Power, Make-up!”
The stick didn’t shoot lasers, or summon a gun, or even turn into a sword. No, what it did was make Rose see some funny lights, have a tingling feeling, and experience an abrupt costume change. Looking thoroughly bemused, she checked out her somewhat skimpy outfit, craning her neck to check out the back - good lord, there was a bow and ruffles back there! – before giving the cat a questioning look.
“ Well, now what? Shall I go impress it with my dance moves?”
Really, the only dancing Rose could do was the sort that required a dance pad, but she figured that if this was really a dream then anything could happen, so why not a dance to the death? Besides, a skimpy, flashy outfit like this couldn’t be of much use as anything other then a distraction.
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 9:36 pm
Wow, this girl managed to get the picture within 1 go at the directions? ********* was impressed. The cat was very adjusted to the sparkles of transformations, so she just sat her tailless rump down and waited for it to end. After Sailor Pomona finished inspecting herself, the cat rose back to her paws and turned back to the action.
"Oh no, that would just be silly!" she laughed at the mention of using her dance moves to slay the Youma. "I suspect that would only work if you were the Senshi of Dance... though I would be interested in seeing your moves another time." With that figurative small momentary rainbow in the middle of a storm cloud, the cat began to bound back in the direction they had just come from. As she ran, collar jingling the whole way, she gave an explanation.
"No, you are Sailor Pomona, Senshi of Peppers! When we get back to Sailor Iris, you need to follow my directions exactly! We are fighting a very strong Youma this time." There was a pause as the feline took in a deep breath. "Youma are monsters that essentially steal the souls of everyday people. Or more accurately, they feed off starseeds! If we hadn't gotten you out of there, you probably would have been lunch!" For a moment, the spotted feline's mind flashed back to that yummy chicken.
Oh, she wanted it badly!
Soon enough, the two had made it back to the pool, the Youma, and the yellow-suited senshi.
In all honesty, Sailor Iris probably would have benefited from knowing that this Youma was considered a stronger one. Here she had been trying to just beat it up with her fists (which honestly was foolish), and she was having a hell of a time. The Senshi of Rainbows had rushed in again, and began with an onslaught of quick punches swinging at the weird-o-dile (as she had mentally dubbed it), and was only hearing the rush of air swishing past her hands. Every time, the eyes followed her movements and the lizard-like body pushed away from getting hit.
Then the big kicker was when it finally decided to attack. The frill around its neck rattled open like an umbrella, and its sharp teeth clamped down on Sailor Iris' left arm.
"OH YOU MOTHER F*CK'IN PIECE OF SH*T!!!! SON OVA' B*TCH!!!!!!!"
Red started to drain out and stain the blonde's pristine white glove.
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:34 pm
So, thus far there was a talking cat, a funny stick and cell phone that had appeared out of nowhere, a red ruffle-y outfit, starseeds, and a giant, human-eating lizard called a Youma. Was she forgetting anything? Oh right, she was apparently the “Senshi of Peppers.” Maybe the talking cat would give her a can of pepper spray? That might be vaguely useful.
“ Senshi of Peppers? Does that mean I get pepper spray, or, like, giant pepper juice bombs or something?”
When she and the cat made it back to the scene of the fight, Sailor Pomona was less then impressed. The other Senshi, Sailor Iris, didn’t have any cool weapons. As a matter of fact, the other girl was trying to defeat the man-eating lizard with her bare fists! That wasn’t too-
Oh, ouch! That sure looked and sounded painful. Good thing this was just a dream.
“ Well *********, direct away! How do I stop the “Youma”?”
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:17 pm
If there was one thing that the cat did not like, it was seeing one of her girls get injured. The moment she heard the string of unrefined curses escape Iris' mouth, her fur bristled and she called out "Iris, be strong and get out of there!!"
Though the cat was trying to be helpful, it seemed Sailor Iris was less than appreciative of the comment. Her gold eyes sharply turned to the cat (and only vaguely noticed the senshi she brought with her), glaring daggers at the small feline.
"I'd love t'do that, cat! Thanks fer that OBVIOUS advice!"
Doing what she could really quickly, she used the hand on her free arm to tighten up a fist and called out "Iris Rainbow Ribbon!" She didn't really aim too well, but she flailed her arm towards the Youma.
The Youma, as before, released its bite and ducked back again. This effectively freed Sailor Iris, allowing her to pull back to a safer distance for now.
"Now, Pomona!" the manx cat called out.
"Hold your hands out in front of you and call out 'Pomona Pepper Poppers!' Do that, and I think you will know what to do after that."
Hopefully Pomona would know what to do. Without another word, the cat bounded over to Sailor Iris.
"Get away cat" the blonde hissed out, which it seemed the cat ignored completely, simply starting to do her best to tend the deep wounds in Iris' arm.
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Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 12:00 am
In keeping with her dream’s pattern of weirdness, the other Senshi had an attitude, but shot out rainbows. Sailor Pomona had associated rainbows with cute, sweet things, but that was obviously a mistake, as it seemed like Sailor Iris was neither.
Although what ********* had said didn’t sound very promising – ‘ Pepper Poppers?’ – Sailor Pomona dutifully held out her hands and said the literally magic words.
“ Pomona Pepper Poppers!”
Well, that looked more then less then unimpressive. In her hand she now held three small chili peppers, and she had no idea how they were supposed to be of any use.
‘ Do I jam ‘em up its nose? Throw ‘em at it?’
For a reason Sailor Pomona couldn’t quite explain, throwing the peppers at the “Youma” seemed like the right thing to do. Having had a fair amount of practice throwing baseballs thanks to her Wii, she suspected she could hit the rather large target the monster presented. Picking one of the peppers, she stepped a bit closer to the monster before hurling it in the general direction of its face, hoping the peppers were more impressive then they looked. Maybe it would take put one of the creature’s eyes.
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Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 12:21 pm
The Youma, having quite the quick reflexes, managed to catch sight of this harmless looking attack. Rather than truly dodge, it instead opened its mouth and caught the "Pepper Popper," jagged teeth crunching into the little vegetable looking thing.
Rather than a "crunch" sound, there was instead a strange (and somewhat startling) pop sound. A small whisp of smoke managed to escape from the teeth, but the damage itself had already been done. The tiny beady eyes began to water, not from the smoke itself, but from the sensation going on in its mouth. Sailor Iris could have probably made a bad joke about this now being a fire-breathing dragon Youma, but at the moment, she seemed to be pretty involved with her injury.
********* wasn't a very demanding sort of cat. She was pretty laid back usually. Yet as her ears twitched at the sudden popping sound, she looked up and saw a major opportunity.
"Pomona!" she shouted. "Throw the other two, aim for the face!" Then she turned to Iris, butting her head into the blonde's leg to get her attention.
"Iris! While it's distracted, you need to use your slicer! This may be the only opportunity to finish it off!"
At the moment, the yellow suited Senshi had a ribbon at her hand. Her fist, however, loosened as she stood up, causing the delicate little colored ribbon to vanish. "Ya got it, cat..." was all she offered as she tightened up her fist and began to prepare the next attack.
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Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 4:18 pm
That creature may be fast, but it certainly didn’t seem too bright. If one skirted girl was trying to attack it, why would it eat the attack of another skirted girl? Granted, Sailor Pomona wasn’t complaining, because now it seemed somewhat distracted, but it still didn’t seem like a smart idea. That being said, that single little pepper looked like it was about as distracting as a mosquito bite, and so, longing for a Vorpal Sword or something that would do more damage then a sliced onion, Pomona lobbed the other two peppers at the creature’s face.
“ Have some more!”
Well, Pomona wouldn’t get points for creativity, but she was starting to almost enjoy this strange dream, so she figured a little lame smack talk here and there wouldn’t hurt. It certainly wasn’t worse then two teenage girls in miniskirts fighting the long lost cousin of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
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