Welcome to Gaia! ::

Penelope looked at the stack of fashion magazines that towered beside her venti hot chocolate with something very akin to despair. She had not meant to buy this many, but with no direction or knowledge of the publications...she had just grabbed anything that seemed relevant. It had taken the last of her carefully conserved birthday money to pay for them all and the bracing beverage she would need to find the strength to read through them.

The raven-haired girl was searching for... a prom dress. Yes, after avoiding the giant social event for three of her four high school years, a boy had finally asked her. The 'boy' in question just so happened to be Scott, and that was why it was so very important to pick the right dress. He was the first person to invite her to such an event, and there would be pictures and...

She just wanted to look nice for him.

The problem was that she had never shopped for such an item. Yes, Penelope had many nice sets of dress clothes, but never anything even remotely in the prom or evening gown variety. At least thanks to the shoes Paris and she had bought and her experiences as Senshi she could walk without falling flat on her face. But which of these dresses to choose... which to choose?

She was not the only one present, however, and the cream-colored ball of fur sitting atop the table was quick to make her opinion known. Horatio thwacked her paw down, leaving behind a soggy print on the glossy page. She was not the least bit sheepish about it, assuming that the wincing Penelope was lifting the page to get a better look and not all out of concern for the picture being ruined in the future and that the rosy glow on the girl’s cheeks was at the fabulousness of her suggestions.”See? It’s got tons of shines at the top to direct attention to where you’ve already got lots to show off, and then its kinda gauzey at the bottom for leg oomph! And it comes in three colors, but I wouldn’t pick the blue one because that’s completely overdone on all the TV shows the kids and I watch and I think you’d stand out way better in something like gold or copper or maybe even a--MMPH!”

The only reason the little motormouth stopped talking was because the girl’s hand firmly wrapped around her fuzzy jaws. Somehow, even beyond the Mauvian’s commentary and her own embarrassed pulse, she could have sworn she heard something… pop? Something too loud to be a burst balloon or someone squeezing a plastic soda bottle before tossing it in the recycle bin. Experience had taught her never, ever to ignore such sounds, and the slight wave of nausea that washed over her had nothing to do with nervousness over prom. “Did you hear that? Feel it?”

The Himalayan fiercely nodded her head, still denied speech thanks to the hand that now had a death grip against her muzzle. Her tail began to lash as best it could while half-pinned against Penelope’s chest, so eager was she to wave her flag. Time for a more fun game than dress up! … well, this game involved dress up, technically? She’d have to reconsider her ranking system of fun later!

The distinct popping sounds were courtesy of a youma that crept its way throughout the city. Ten suckered limbs radiated out from its center, mostly concealing the hole underneath that brimmed with spirals of sharp teeth. The long, glistening limbs stretched from surface to surface, slowly (though loudly) moving from building, to asphalt, to building again. So far, it had not encountered anything to satiate its hunger...but soon, soon it would reach the hub of delicious energy that glimmered just over the horizon.

The first one to react to the waving boy was the Guardian Cat. She had spent her time squirming out of her Jovian friend's hold. She would recognize the feel of a youma anywhere, even if the sound was a bit unusual. Her teal eyes widened whenever, behind the very enthusiastic young man, a suckered tentacle slowly came down. Oh no, no, no, no way was she going to just sit her and watch while the lowest form of loser got to gain a point! This determination gave her the strength to finally free herself and hop up onto the table.

From this vantage point, Horatio dashed forward, half-sliding on Penelope's magazines as she leapt towards the boy and the youma behind him. Her claws emerged as she sank into the fleshy tentacle, eliciting a quivering, brayish sound from the creature. It was like stepping in cold, half-chewed bubblegum and the Himalayan hissed in disgust as she tried to get herself free again. Fighting this sticky, slimy mess was not going to be the most fun adventure she had ever had.

The zooming take off of a cream cat, and the sight of the tentacle dangling over another person's head, definitely gathered attention. At first, it was kind of funny, with people snapping photos on their cellphones as though it were a marketing stunt. The minute another tentacle emeged to latch onto the building, however, the panic and the screaming started. 'I'm going to do it. Next Council Meeting, I'm going to bring up the idea of a youma alarm... and I don't care how many people object to t.' It was the first thought that ran thorugh Penelope's mind because there was simply no other way to insure the civilians could evacuate the area! No one was acting unified as they ran, nor could she blame them! But the worst part of those that bustled around was their presence in general. As long as prying eyes remained, she could also not henshin up and become Pasiphae... but even as Penelope, there was no way she could leave Zach to the youma.

Prom, magazines, and anything else forgotten, she stumbled out of her chair and over and took advantage of the Guardian Cat's distraction to shove Christa's brother towards a nearby alley. It was opposite the majority of the retreating throng, and she knew it had rooftop access. If she could get Zach there, he'd be safe. If she could convince him to close his eyes, maybe she could even dive straight into the fight. It was not the nice reunion she would have liked, but it would have to do! "Come on, we've got to move!"

Horatio finally managed to extract her claws from the blubbery tentacle - and by "extract" she meant that a second tentacle came and thwacked her to the ground. The Mauvian had too much fire to be dampened by such an action - but she still chased after her winner and the strange boy to make sure they didn't get into trouble without her. "Wait for me!"

Penelope winced at the clatter of books hitting the ground. She loved books and would never willingly deprive someone of them… but better that than leave Zach behind.She pushed him into the directions she wanted to go, occasionally veering left or right to hopefully throw the youma off course long enough to make her change. So desperate as she in these maneuvers that the normally observant girl did not note how her companion’s demeanor changed until he had positioned himself between her and the threat. It was a gallant, chivalrous offer… but certainly not one that the Senshi could accept! “No, Zach, you should run while there’s still time! I will be fine, I promise…”

Tendrils sought out each new opening that came before it. The popping sound of detaching suckers was ever present, as was the squelching of the limbs reattaching as the hungry youma made its way towards its retreating prey. Two sweet, luscious starseeds were promised if it pursued its current path. Any amount of twisting and turning was worth the satisfying crunch the beast craved. At the first sight of a tentacle nearing the opening in front of them, she knew that she could not wait any longer. Zach was Christa’s brother, and Christa she trusted with her life. That same trust would have to be extended now to protect her current companion. Taking a deep breath, Penelope pulled her henshin pen out of her pocket and held it aloft, “Pasiphae Eternal, Make-Up!”

As ever, ribbons of maroon beads appeared from the top of the pen, crisscrossing across her chest and pinning her in place for a few seconds. The Eternal Senshi that emerged flashed Zach an apologetic glance before rushing out towards the youma, “Horatio, take care of him - I’ll be back as soon as I can!”

Horatio chortled at the boy’s assumption, her face scrunched up as she tried to remove the rest of the youma residue from her paws. “Nope, no drugs at all, just one of a kind me and ugggh this youma is the worst. It’s like a walking wad of chewed up bubblegum.” At the Senshi’s shout, she snorted. Watch over this guy and miss out on the big battle? Uh, no. Sure, current dude was great and had much cuddle potential but fights was where it was at! The energetic Mauvian pawed at Zach’s pants leg, demanding attention and maybe smearing a little shimmery goo across him. Yes, pranks were always appropriate, even in the midst of battle! “Gimme a boost, would ya? I’m going to see if there some ladders or something you can climb while Pasiphae and I beat the sticky out of this monster!”

The most important aspect of the situation was to distract the monster. If its attention was focused onher, then it could attack neither the others running from it nor Zach. With this in mind, the Eternal Senshi summoned her most basic attack and allowed the marroon shield to focus only around herself, "Pasiphae Shameful Isolation!*" Tentacles fell swiftly upon it and stuck with a disgusting sound that made even the experience Senshi flinch... but she just hoped it held long enough to help others get out of harm's way.

"Oh, Pasiphae didn't earn those wings by not being alright and heeeeey I have a name, and I know you heard her say it, and I'm pretty sure we're gonna be friends from now on so you can just call me Horatio like everybody else, okay?" The Himalayan was perfectly cheerful as she stretched out over Zach's shoulders. Her flagged tail flicked from side to side, smacking him slightly as she investigated. Roof access, yes, but no ladder within normal

Being this close though... she felt the faintest traces of a very, very familiar warmth. That made her firmly plant her haunches on the boy's shoulder and then stretch her front paws down. She still couldn't be very sure - there were sharp, metal decorations littered across the fabric and she couldn't get a solid feel! So, she ran her paws around the boy's chest as best she could, trying to find the sweet spot that would confirm the warmth, her sandpaper tongue poking out of the side of her mouth as she concentrated. Was it a winner? Was it? "Hold on a second and maybe we can both help make sure she stays alright!"

*--Shameful Isolation - Defensive
Upon speaking the name of the attack, the beads of Sailor Pasiphae's mask break off and multiply, surrounding her with an energy shield that protects her from attack. The shield can last anywhere from 15 to 30 seconds, depending on the amount and intensity of attacks absorbed. Sailor Pasiphae's movements will be restricted by her shield as long as it lasts.
--Drawbacks -
Only works on Sailor Pasiphae
Only works for a limited amount of time
Reduces Mobility
Can be broken by a powerful enough attack/multiple lesser attacks

The shield stood fine against the first wave of the assault. But one tentacle became two, and two became three - the magnified strength caused the shield to crumble a few seconds earlier than it would have naturally. Pasiphae immediately leapt backwards to ignore the grasping, sucker-filled limbs that came crashing where she had once stood. The distraction at least appeared to be working; so far, the beast had yet to turn its attentions to any of the stragglers fleeing the area or Zach. Grounding her boots, she lashed out with a punch to make sure that attention did not waver.

Only once she did so did she realize she had made a horrible mistake. The Guardian Cat had not been exaggerating in this instance, though Horatio was known to do so: the youma was stickier than a mass of bubblegum. As she struggled to free her fist, the Eternal Senshi had a horrible mental image of striking again with a different limb only to be trapped a la Briar Rabbit and the tar baby. Clearly, she needed to shift her tactics - but first, she had to free her arm. When a second limb moved to wrap around her boot, she ground her heel straight down. A faint mist of black and a haunting wail showed that she had managed to do some little damage.

Horatio winced whenever seeking paws encountered sharp, pointy object after sharp, pointy object, but she did not let up. At her potential-winner’s exclamation, she merely mewled, “I don’t know anywhere to get guns of bazookas outside of videogames and even if I did I’m pretty sure they’d be too big for me to carry and would you stop squirming?!” She adjusted herself around a particularly large metal bit and continued as though uninterrupted in her line of thought, “Molest… heeeey, that’s a terrible accusation to make I’m no tricky person! It’s just that I’m trying to see if you’re a winner, and your shirt is completely covered in all this sharp stuff so it’s hard to get a fix on it and--oh!” Her meandering paws finally stilled. There, like a glimmering diamond hidden in a pile of glass, was the starseed the Mauvian had sought with such earnest. Warm, bright, and just waiting for her special care to unleash another winner into the world.

Now that she had laid paws on it, Horatio did not waste an instant. She hopped off of Zach’s shoulder and launched herself straight into the dash which opened up her subspace location. Obligingly, a henshin pen and a cellphone sprang up behind her, sliding across the alleyway to land more or less at the boy’s feet. The cream-colored cat turned her head to give him an enthusiastic grin as she exclaimed, “Today’s your lucky day, champ! You wanna be the big man and save the people and fight the monster, all you have to do is hold up that pen over your head and call out ‘Themisto Power, Make-Up!’ Then you’ll get a spiffy, brand new--and hopefully much less pricky pokey owie--set of clothes and some magic to boot to fight the losers. So come on, let’s go, let’s go!”

Pasiphae had taken to digging holes into the youma. It was a long, tedious, and difficult process. Now both arms were holding back individual tentacles, the suckered undersides squeezing against her painfully. With one final stomp, she managed to complete her main goal - one tentacled limb severed, wriggling away for a few moments before exploding into dust. The queer watery wails came with more frequency, and the hold on her tightened.

She had tried to do it alone. She had tried. But the Shame Senshi had always known that she was not made to stand alone - and so she called out desperately, “HORATIO!”

...okay, so it wasn’t the friendliest henshining the Mauvian had ever witnessed. There seemed to be an awful lot of wailing and some skulls in poisonous colors and thick fog but, hey, not all winners had to be kittens and rainbows and such! She tilted her head as though reading something in the air behind the boy and announced, “Well, let’s see. You’re Sailor Themisto, Senshi of the… yes, of the Lost. Neat! You’re probably feeling like you’ve had two shots of Red Bull covered espresso beans, right? That’s the added oomph you need to help take down the baddies and help protect the innocent. … look, there’s a lot more information to give and I love a good talking, but we should probably wait until after we go help Pasiphae. You’ve got powers now, we’re gonna take them for a test run. Aren’t you excited?!”

Well, even if he wasn’t, she most certainly was! Then she heard Pasiphae calling her name and… well, that was that. She had to get over there before this squishy, squelching monstrosity hurt her friend! Horatio dashed off down the street, a fluffy streak of cream as she called out for her other winner, “Hang on, we’re coming! He’s kinda confused and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know how to walk in those nifty wooden shoes, but we’re coming as fast as we can!”

..and then she doubled back to almost sheepishly poke her head around the corner to call, “Oh, when the time comes, you’d probably want your attack, right? It’d probably help. You’re gonna call on the power of Themisto with these words: Perditus Anima! Sorry, should probably have mentioned that before I left the first time BUT NOW TO THE YOUMA!”

She had not expected the sudden scooping from her newly awakened winner, but Horatio wasn't going to protest when he plucked her up from the street! That just meant that both of them would reach Pasiphae at the same time - which ended up being a good thing judging from the predicament the Eternal had gotten herself stuck in. The Mauvian was quick to cry out, her flagged tail waving in chastisement, “PASI - I told you it was sticky sticky like bubble gum, so how come you went and got yourself stuck?”

The Mauvian watched with interest as Themisto used his magic, and her nose wriggled at the sight of the manifestation. It was still neat to look at, though - up until she saw the terror light up in Pasiphae's eyes. Anyone could be scared in such a moment, and the Eternal had just called out but... she hadn't appeared that scared until the ghostie type thing had appeared! "Uh oh... I'd better get in there quick." The scrappy feline dashed forward, the bronze forehead star beginning to collect the energy she would need to launch her beam. She just hoped Pasiphae could hold on for a little longer!

Heartache was nothing new to Pasiphae. She had felt it physically, when Mica stretched her hand into her chest and squeezed her starseed. She had felt it emotionally more times than she could count - in the Surrounding, when Keren had turned to dust in her hand, on the night she found Vespa vomiting and struggling in the street, any time she failed to convince Carnelian to save himself... so many other times. Now, her heart swelled against her chest as she thought of how she had failed to save Zach, wondering how she could possibly face Christa... at how she had failed to stop a youma, an enemy so common she could normally dust them with ease.

Dread caused tears to trickle down her face. What if she died here -- HERE after all that she had been through?! No. No, she had to flee, no matter how shameful it was! With all her strength, the Eternal began to run as best she could in the direction of the alley where she had left Zach.

The youma was having similiar ideas. No meal was worth this feeling of dread! The youma expressed fear in releasing the death grip it held on its current prey... but the stickiness kept it from fully making a get away, even as Pasiphae proceeded to stretch it out in one direction.

Pasiphae distinctly heard someone calling her name, and her bleary gaze could make out a Senshi as easily as her feeling of his aura. But... how did he know her? His colors were not instantly recognizable, nor the attack... at least he was Order aligned. It was always embarassing to be caught crying by someone... she had been a Senshi a year, two years? The time all ran together to the point where she could not remember a time she had not called upon her moon's power.

All the worse then that she should be seen awashed with dread. Had she not made the commitment to stand beside her fellows, to ensure that no one fought alone? But now there was this boy, and his telling her to run even though she clearly had more power than him... and was running. She managed to reach the corner of they alley and then... had to stop. In desperation and panic, she threw her arms over her head to protect her face and waited for the end. 'I'm... I'm so sorry...'

The youma flailed, stretched thin between the two different directions in which it was pulled. That gave the racer cat the opening for which she been looking! To her credit, the Mauvian managed to land on her feet. She did not even seem to mind when a shower of black dust coated her fur, wriggling it in a manner more akin to a dog than a cat so that at least some streaks of cream came through. With a broad grin on her face, she tiredly waved her... now completely black tail flag. "Good job, Themisto! You're gonna get the hang of this winner business super fast, I just know it, look at you already beating your first baddie."

She was pretty tired but managed to get to Pasiphae's side. Horatio wriggled her head under the crook of the sobbing Senshi's gloved arm and thrummed, "There, there, Pasi...it'll be okay! I'm sure it'll go away any second, and come on and smile please? Please? If you don't smile on your own I'll have to tickle yoooou~"