The Gargoyles (7) : By all accounts, you should have seen the last of them. The Star Festival had its fair share of oddities, but it seems like some of them did escape into Destiny City. Maybe you see them perched on the roof, or hiding in the shadows, but not all of these grotesque creatures are satisfied with just escaping their interdimensional prison–some of them still have a bone to pick. They seem stony; some of them will watch with a penetrative gaze and never strike to attack, but some of them will dive down to target anyone who gets too close. The monsters come in an array of sizes and shapes, but they are no more than half the size of their target. Their goal is uncertain, but they will crumble into a pile of rocks and dust if struck hard enough. Powered characters can use one roleplay with an attacking stone beast to count as a battle requirement if they are roleplaying with another powered character.
It should've been a simple night out on patrol spattered with a few easy instances of skimming energy and slipping across shadowed rooftops; there was a lovely array of cloud cover, a low quarter moon, an early autumn chill that kept most people out of sight -- save those who had nowhere to go or didn't mind it. Much in the same way Syrus didn't mind it. He was built for chill, adored the oncoming fall season as it bled it's bright colors into the dead of winter.
It was probably what lent to him lingering on the lower edges of the city, where the rooftops sloped and the decorations were out in abundance, committees and festival lovers going all out to wrap their local eateries, and antique shops in the finest of hallow-fare. He was surprised at how lifelike some of the artistry was, hunched gargoyles with long wings. Grizzly facial features and eyes that looked lit by led's from within. They were damned near mesmerizing.
In fact? He could've sworn some of them were breathing.....
Which, that wasn't possible, was it? Statues come to life --- In all his curiosity he made the mistake of reaching out to touch the rocky figure; its gravely screech put him on his a**, a sound similar to seashells grinding round a dish-disposal, before being pitched high into the night air. From the corners of the same roof more rocky forms shifted into notice, crawled from their perches like sloths from a long sleep.
Took to the sky!
Cryolite had only needed to learn this lesson once before, had been stranded mid-barrage of enemies enough times that he knew to call for aid before wasting what precious attacks he had.
Syrus put out a call: "This is Agent Cryolite requesting immediate backup! There's ******** Gargoyles.."
Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2022 1:58 pm
Draining energy from her coworkers at the theater had proven an absolutely spectacular plan, in Andesine’s less-than-humble opinion. Between all the stimulants (caffeine, Adderall, and otherwise) running around amongst thespians on any given day and how sleep-deprived most of them were, she could get away with nabbing bits and pieces of energy from multiple coworkers without them noticing a thing. Put together, all those little withdrawals added up so easily, she almost didn’t need to go out on the town to hunt for energy after work.
Except for how she’d never prove herself enough to General Ashanite, nor anyone else, by staying home and contenting herself with grabbing energy off her coworkers. She needed to be taking risks, making bigger moves, trying to get out of her comfort zone and innovate up something that could really help her make a name for herself. Prove that she deserved the honor she’d been given when Monoceros had brought her to their General.
Answering a distress call hadn’t exactly been in her plans for the evening. Without it coming in, she’d have continued poking around, chasing after whatever potential victims she could find, and attempting to distract them long enough to steal energy—per the same rules she used at her civilian workplace, not really enough for them to notice, at most likely to induce a headache or some mild exhaustion, but enough that, with an evening of dedicated work, she’d rack up more than enough to meet her energy-draining quota for the night.
But as soon as the call came in, Andesine abandoned her current target. “Borrowing” a crowbar out of the alley she’d been in (without asking or an intention to return it), she ran toward the source. Cryolite—she remembered that name from the stupid planet with the stupid robots and all of that. (The CyberCritter that had come home with her still rattled around in Andesine’s pockets or purse on any given day. Sue her, it was cute.) And……gargoyles? Surely, he couldn’t have meant…… Not the ones that had been in the……weird, in-between realm, right? The place where Andesine had gotten trapped, back over the summer? Those gargoyles had to be back in their sticky little nightmare realm, so obviously, something else had to be going amiss?
Except, as she arrived on the scene, it seemed like……no. No, they did indeed, look like the same monsters from her little summer vacation (that she had neither requested nor had a choice in taking).… Ugh, good thing she’d stolen“borrowed” the crowbar; her bracelet of jingle bells wouldn’t do much to help right now.
“Cryolite,” Andesine said with a nod, staying polite but wasting no time on being overly formal or overly nice. She did offer him a hand, though. Neither of them could fight to the best of their abilities if he was on the ground. “Ugh, you’d think these guys could just stay in their own dimension.”
But they hadn’t. And now, it fell on Andesine and Cryolite to teach them the cost of such disrespect.
Cryolite's head snapped to the sound of a familiar voice, eyes that'd been full of iced annoyance for his circling enemies melting into pools of gratitude at the sight of her -- wielding a crowbar of all things!
He couldn't've asked for more.
Someone he knew -- someone he knew who was competent! He couldn't've been more thankful to whatever unseen force had spat out Andesine to aid him, he took her hand without little more than a tight nod, pulled himself up to guard her flank -- "Andesine, you know -- if we could have less get togethers that go exactly like this?" the words grit freely while he found his feet, and felt a pug sized form swoop round their backs, causing him to twist two steps further from her touch -- the reason for the distance becoming obvious as a growing Shroud of Frost began to coat his form.
"You'd think? They only know how to be rude and intrusive, ruining walks, ******** up our festivals. Clearly we should teach them some manners," and as if further irritated by the growing presence of not one, but two Senshi, a large bulldoggish beast with tattered, concrete scaled wings swooped in from the right; it's maw filled with an eerie howl --
Sailor Scout Attack: "Sublime Shroud!" Cryolite says the word, and his body temperature magically drops to below freezing. He is not affected by this, but anyone who comes in contact with him will feel as though they are touching dry ice and will feel as if they are suffering mild frostbite for as long as they are touching him, and for up to twenty seconds after they break contact. While he is channeling his magic, it will appear as if he is sublimating into a chilly, foggy vapor. The illusion of the cascading fog that bleeds off of Cryolite serves as a visual warning sign to any who can see it: it screams 'Super cold - Do not touch'.
No physical or lasting damage is done in this magic, only the very uncomfortable mental sensation of such. However, players can choose to sustain any lasting damage in the form of chills or up to mild frostbite.
Range: Touch/Grapple Duration: 30 Seconds Number of uses: 3 Number of targets: Whomever touches Cryolite
amorremanet
Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2022 4:51 pm
“Wouldn’t that be spectacular,” Andesine quipped back, smirking pleasantly. Maybe they weren’t especially well-acquainted yet, but so far, Cryolite had proven himself to be a more than adequate hand in all the odd situations that seemed entailed in serving the Negaverse. More than that, he wasn’t annoyingly full of himself, which was more than Andesine could say for plenty of her civilian coworkers. Watching the chill fog swirl around him, she took the opportunity to whack at the gargoyle circling them (a miss at first, alas) and dive a bit further away—but that had nothing to do with Cryolite the person and everything to do with his powers.
She didn’t know what he was the senshi of, exactly, nor what his powers specifically entailed—but ever since the destruction of those blights in the subway station, autumn weather had mercilessly walloped Destiny City. Andesine hardly needed more cold in her life. Best option, Cryolite needed to save his magic for the gargoyles instead of wasting it on her.
As the one she’d tried to hit reared back, ready to wail like a puppy who wasn’t being let inside until it relieved itself, Andesine scowled. Getting away from her was not an option—not one she wanted to let that stupid thing have, anyway. “Well,” she drawled, “such a shame that they never had parents to educate them, but needs must.” Whacking at the gargoyle again, she knocked it in the jaw. Got it to shut up its wailing, for the moment at least. Arching an eyebrow at it, she couldn’t help the rush of pride over landing that successful blow.
It would’ve been magical! An absolute delight! But nothing in Destiny City ever went so swimmingly smooth — Syrus could only sigh for want of an easy evening, and will himself to smile in the face of the growing onslaught.
To smile partly for her, pleasantly surprised as she played along! It was so rare to have someone to chat with in anyway near decent while fighting for ones life~
“What a tragic tale,” and as he tracked the beast she batted roughly aside, he realized that he liked her; smart, sly, opinionated, and it was good to have an agent at his back with more than miscellaneous magic to call upon — so often Senshi got shafted with glittery remnants of old that only phased *people* - worthy opponents for sure!! Except when they were fighting soul stealing robots and piles of ink hellbent on draining the planet dry—
“Sadder still? I’ve no desire to parent out a lesson lovingly, I’m far more eager to put them down with a lecture,” and a fist — with a bit of frost behind it; the way it sheathed his skin and the first creature he touched. As the pug-sized pound puppy with a smile only a mother could love clipped by his thigh — he snatched out at a wing, felt the beast’s snaggled bite tear and graze frozen flesh and fuku alike— only to watched the magic transfer over until bits of the body crumbled. Till the wing chipped, and the yapping brat crunched it’s face into the rooftop — “*Gotcha*,” joyous and turned toward the fallen threat— Cryolite missed the looming shadow that prowled along his flank, felt his glee end in a gasp of impact and the scrape of gravel where cold fled his form and he became a magical pile of flesh.
amorremanet
Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2023 1:56 pm
“Tragic for them, maybe,” Andesine quipped back eagerly, swinging her crowbar at yet another of the ugly interlopers. “Tedious for us—but at least we get to walk away when it’s over.”
She looked forward to that. Maybe not the smartest plan, strategically speaking—counting on a victory before they’d actually gotten there—but as she kept swinging at the gargoyles, Andesine was of two minds and both of them felt certain that victory was guaranteed. On one hand, these guys truly didn’t have much in the way of brains, which she and Cryolite clearly did. On the other hand, she and Cryolite also seemed to beat the beasts out in terms of strength and determination—what else could’ve explained how easily they went down? Maybe the beasts had had numbers on their side at first, but that circumstance was quickly changing.
Except—it happened in a flash. Her companion had one of the monsters handled just fine! But another snuck up on him, wailed on him right as Andesine tried to call out a warning, “Cryolite!”
No time to think, once that injury happened. Fortunately, the beasts really didn’t know what to do with themselves. The one that had caught Cryolite could’ve had him at its mercy, but Andesine’s shout drew its attention.
As it rounded on her instead of the one it had already wounded, she dashed forward to meet it. Swang the crowbar from the elbows, like her old stage combat classes had taught about using swords. Even a bit of pressure could get these beasties down bad from their injuries, and the more important thing right now was speed. The faster the swing, the more of them Andesine could get in.
The faster the beasts dispersed, the faster she could look at Cryolite’s injuries.
Cryolite cursed, loud, vibrant slur of words; thanking quietly whatever deity existed and saw it right and prudent to protect his hide that the beasts they were facing were less than intelligent. Sentient, maybe, but their heads were still full of rocks and their movements were less than coordinated.
They weren't the typical enemy, that was for sure, it helped all the more that he had Andesine at his back--He owed her something, maybe? Certainly more than a thank you for all the times they'd run into each other in harrowing situations up till now. Alien abductions, void monster battles, the whole nine...
"Oh yes! Walking, limping, leaving--" he snarled beneath the new bright spark of pain, encrusting himself in ice once more. Though he swayed beneath the draining feel of using up his slight reserves of energy. The amount of effort it took to snap between uses of power one after the next. Being a basic was a b***h of a thing. He could hardly complain about it at all because he knew in the end they'd at least get out of it alive, that was what counted!
Whatever he bled froze into the ice as he twisted to tear at another wing with just his fingers -- watched it clip and crumble beneath the effects of sublimation -- watched another creatures face smash and shatter into the rooftop -- and Andesine?
She deserved applause, what brief glance he was able to spare her, what sharp smile and low whistle he could let her way - because Andesine was batting a total ten, having his back, knockings the bastards out like errant ballpark pop-flies from the far left of field.
Cryolite realized it wasn't long before they were dispersing; the ones that didn't lay dusty and dead around them. Hadn't realized he was on his a** and panting by time the field cleared, far more thawed and melty looking than he'd been at the beginning of their bout with the enemy.
"I need--the worlds longest ******** s**t hole of a city and it's monster problems...my god...eugh.." and more than getting help up? He wanted to turn and, well, to offer *thanks* -- what a ridiculously strange feeling. To say the words even as he took Andesines help -- all of her help -- because getting home on his own was suddenly a non-option. He wondered if they could catch up on the long way back? If he was lucky and she was willing...
