Lian Ming had to be more careful running out to get last minute dinners, these days. Now that he'd seen the truth of the world they lived in—horrible monsters, magical fights—it made him more aware of what dangers lurked in the shadows at night. Still, he figured he would be fine, even if his leg still ached from the bite of that youma from a week or so ago. It seemed that enough damage to one would crumble it to dust. Not all that bad, all things considered.
Of course, it could never be that easy, could it?
Hearing shoes meant another person, and he didn't think anything of it. After all, he wasn't the only person who needed to do last minute errands! So he ignored the slight unease and ignored the shape in the night—it was human enough, and plenty of people would wear weird things on the daily.
Noir Songbird
amorrament
Whimsical Blue
Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2023 12:58 am
Ah, civilians. So stupid, like silly little sheep, a flock that needed careful tending to ensure it wasn't completely consumed by wolves.
Unfortunately, well.
"You seem lost," Sakuraiite said, as she moved closer to the poor man and his dinner. he seemed to be favoring one leg, which made him an even more appealing victim. Injured. Separated from the herd.
She was quick, and she moved easily up next to him, grabbing his arm to start draining his energy.
Ever since revealing to Ming-er and Qi-jie the truth about the whole magical knight of Saturn thing that had become a huge part of his life recently, Kaifeng had really felt a lot better about everything. Freer and more liberated, in a lot of ways. They knew that he had a sacred duty and a magical destiny, now. Hayden knew that his bestie of nearly thirteen years had, overnight, become a magical knight who had an evil wizard tower with catacombs beneath, up on Saturn, and it was his sworn and solemn responsibility to care for that Wonder, to fight for that Wonder, to use the power bestowed on him by that Wonder to be a force for good in the universe.
……And if, sometimes, that meant tailing along after Ming-er to keep track of him so he’d get home safe, then that was just understandable, wasn’t it? Ming-er was married to Liánlí’s favorite cousin, and that made protecting him Very Important.
Especially when this particular round of following Ming-er involved a Negaverse aura cropping up on Kaifeng’s senses. He steadying himself with a deep breath, then took off running and jumped off the roof he’d been perched on. While he didn’t stick a perfect superhero landing on the dumpster below, Kaifeng landed on his feet—and loudly enough to (hopefully) divert the Captain’s attention, break her focus on Ming-er and (presumably) draining his energy. In the spirit of acting quickly, Kaifeng only gave himself a quick moment to take in the fact that, much like the General-King from the battle at Augusta Bank last month, this Captain didn’t seem entirely human.
Well, whatever she was, she had to ******** stop. Nobody but Liánlí/Kaifeng was allowed to bully Ming-er! That was, like, Their Thing!! Liánlí bullying his cousin’s weird little husband and Ming-er being all cute about how he responded.
“You’re gonna wanna let. him. go, xiao-mei,” Kaifeng told her firmly, hopping off the dumpster to get down on her and Ming-er’s same level. Fan folded up and held out like a Very Poignant Threat, Kaifeng closed in on her. “That was me asking nicely. Don’t make me need to get rude about it.”
Noir Songbird
genovianprince
Whimsical Blue
Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2023 1:48 pm
The night had been quiet so far and for most of it, Ida had tracked the various signatures she could feel with a quiet 'eye'. Many were dealt with by stronger signatures, as far as Ida could tell, and she'd chased off one of the chaos ones herself, returning the starseed to a young man on his delivery route. It as when she turned back to mentally scanning those signatures that she felt one (maybe a page?) headed for what felt like a captain. Concerning, considering Pages had neither true weapons or magic to call on.
Leaving the young man to sort through his muzzy mind and get back on his bike, she jumped to the roof tops and turned in the direction of the signatures. It might be fine, Pages still had boosted strength and speed, but it wouldn't hurt anything to just go... check it out.
The signatures grew on her inner senses as Ida moved closer, jumping from one building to another to narrow down the area the signatures were coming from. Definitely a Page, and a captain. There was something... odd about that captain, but it wasn't until she crested another building and peered over the edge that the eternal realized it. At first, she thought what she was seeing was a youma... but she couldn't feel any of those nearby. That meant... half youma? They had a man with them, obviously a civilian, and over there was the page she felt.
Not a very even situation... She thought as she considered how to go about this. The civilian needed to be removed... but no one was in quite dire straits yet. They should be feeling her own signature. If she waited, and watched, an opportunity might open up to literally drop in.
Explicit description of eating disorder issues under the spoilers
Lian Ming was so very tired of his nights going so wrong, he thought to himself as the strange half human, half creature... thing lunged at him and started...
Started...
What was that feeling? Like she was draining his life force or something—Lianli had told him and Qiye that the Negaverse did that, or something like it.
It felt...
Terrifyingly good. Of course, it felt bad, but also good, in the way that him forcing himself to throw up felt shitty and fantastic at the same time. The act itself felt physically bad—but the mental euphoria from keeping his body in check, keeping himself fit enough to do his job and win horse races without being too fat, it... was too good to just stop.
Having his energy drained reminded him of that. It felt too good.
"Gege," he whimpered pathetically, feeling like he was speaking and moving through molasses.
Kaifeng was here—but could he fight against this crazy monster lady?
Did Ming even want him to—given the strange euphoric feeling he got from having his energy drained?
Whimsical Blue
Noir Songbird
amorremanet
Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 7:20 pm
Apparently, this particular civilian had powered friends. Or at least, one specific powered friend. Sakuraiite fixed the Page with an innocently curious look, tilting her head to the side.
"Why would I do that?" She asked, blinking. "I have quotas, sir Page, and also, I can kill you just by putting my hand in your chest." Her expression shifted to something pitying. Yes, there was an Eternal somewhere nearby, but they hadn't decided to intervene, which meant that it wasn't anything Sakuraiite had to think about.
For the moment, though, she could smile pityingly at the poor, silly Page who thought to fight her, very much refuse to let go of the civilian she was draining, and make him regret coming at her. With a little focus, she projected that lovely aura of fear, and waited to see exactly what this precious little Page considered "rude."
Quote:
Aura of Fear: Sakuraiite is able to project an aura of fear around her. While using this ability, she glows a dark purple, and anyone within 10 feet of her will experience a sense of fear and dread. They might attribute that to Sakuraiite, but they might also simply feel a general sense of Bad Things. This aura can be projected for 30 seconds at a time and used twice per battle.
The fear and dread from the Captain’s aura slammed into Kāifēng with a chill and a sense of nausea. It reminded him of his parents’ home—no, Zhìháo’s parents’ home—the one back in Boston, the one with the locked closets, and the rattling doors, and the soft sounds yearning to please come out because they were hungry or they had to pee, and the way those sounds shut up, dead silent, when their grandfather had his friends from the Boston PD over because what was the point of making any noise when zufu would just blame the cats and his friends would believe him more than their own eyes and ears, those useless sons of ******** WHORES—
This aura—whatever the Captain was projecting at him and Ming-er, it reminded Kāifēng of that darkness. Of that lonely, isolating darkness that crushed in around him and how the light filtering in from under the door always seemed to get smaller and further away, the longer those hours in the closet dragged on.
And all of those feelings made three words flare up inside him, scarlet red, clear as crystal, and screamingly, rabidly angry: How. ********. DARE.
Even with the fear scratching up the inner walls of his chest like a cat who wanted to come back in immediately after being let outside, Kāifēng rushed in closer to the Captain and whacked her across the cheek with his fan. “You’re gonna stop it because he. is. mine,” Kāifēng snapped at her, not even caring how that sounded. Easier to say “mine” in the heat of the moment than to say “married to my cousin and trying to be a better person so ******** you for trying to murder him in the name of your ******** ******** quotas.” “You want a soft boy to lovingly bully? Go find your own!”
In a flash, Kāifēng noticed: the Captain had rather large eyes, didn’t she.
And the bottom of his fan, where the different spokes were joined together, that little b***h was hard.
Scowling with grim determination, he twisted his wrist and stabbed the bottom of his fan at the Captain’s eye.
Whimsical Blue
Noir Songbird
genovianprince
Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2023 9:46 pm
Oh. Well... Whatever that half-youma had done or said, it had made the Page quite angry. Enough to throw themselves at her with what was more heirloom than weapon. Definitely not a fair fight, and the longer it went on, the more likely one of the two she cared about were going to get hurt in a serious way. Well... using her magic wasn't going to work with them all grouped so closely together. She was as likely to hit the others with the explosion.
Decision made, Ida broke from her cover and jumped, putting her speed to use closing the distance between herself and the trio. Her aim was specific... there was a hand holding onto the civilian, and if she could break the hold, she could both free him and distract his attacker.
Ida hit the ground and pushed off of it into a sprint, rushing straight for the half-youma and her captive. The Page offered some cover for her as she came in, likely to force the officer to split her attention between them (or Ida hoped). She was reaching for the civilian as she lifted an elbow and angled it to connect with the woman's shoulder.
It was always a little bit of a crapshoot, what fear would make people do. This Page, apparently, was like the Senshi in the maid outfit--angry, upset about things out of his control, and ready to attack. That was perhaps the most fun reaction possible. Sakuraiite loved getting to fight, and this was the best way to get into one. So she was already grinning, wild and vicious, and getting ready to throw the civilian out of the way and launch herself at the Page--
Especially because she had to dodge out of the way of that fan coming for her eye, because Sakuraiite was not willing to be blinded today--
And then the <******** Eternal decided that it was her problem, and she crashed into Sakuraiite and ******** up her dodge.
The fan didn't get her in the eye, but it did scratch up her cheek, and she was knocked away from the civilian, and she narrowed her eyes, looking between the two of them.
"How rude. All I wanted was a little energy, and you're both making this far more complicated than it needs to be."
A quick evaluation, and she launched herself at the Page, this time, aiming to grab on and drain some of his energy to heal herself. Plus, she could use him like a shield between her and the Eternal if she had to.
genovianprince
amorremanet
Whimsical Blue
Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2023 11:00 pm
The moment the woman with the wings at her waist dropped from the sky and made the qilin-woman let him go, Ming scrambled backwards, around the corner of the alley and away from the fight. Breathing heavily, he looked at his shaking hands, only to find a lotus blossom floating there. Floating. Okay, maybe... Uh... the universe was telling him he really needed to get Qiye some flowers? He took it—
A rush of power swept through him, and his clothing changed in the blink of an eye. Oh. That felt. Whoa. Did this mean...? What he thought it meant? He stood up, rounded the corner again, and shouted wordlessly.
"Leave him alone!" he roared, sprinting forward, ready to slap the qilin-woman with his flower. At least it would be confusing, if not hurtful, and maybe with three magical beings on her a**, she'd leave.
As the Eternal senshi crashed down into the scene, Kaifeng sort of wondered where her aura had come from. But: A. he figured that surprise on his own part was likely down to him not having paid much attention to anything outside of trying to free Ming-er from the Captain’s grasp; and B. Kaifeng didn’t have much time to think about anything, really. Not when the senshi was getting Ming-er free and the Captain, it seemed, simply had to be Very Rude.
“It’s not complicated, xiao-mei,” he snapped, readying his fan for more violence as necessary. If it took violence to protect Ming-er and get him home to Qi-jie safely, then it took violence to do so. What sort of magical knight couldn’t defend his own family? “You don’t get to drain energy from—”
Kaifeng cut himself off with an “eugh” sort of noise, rushing as he ducked to the side, trying to dodge the Captain’s charge. He was picking where and how to counter-attack her when it hit him: the feeling of another White Moon aura. Soon enough, the source made itself apparent: another Page—this one in violet, green, and gold, carrying a giant, violet lotus blossom—who now rushed in hot to swing his pretty flower at the Captain’s face.…… The new Page had Ming-er’s hairstyle, and he’d come from the same direction as Ming-er had been knocked back.
Kaifeng broke into a wide grin. “Yes!” Whatever Ming-er’s new name was, though, he couldn’t fight the Captain alone. So, Kaifeng dove in, reaching for Ming-er’s wrist to pull him back so they could fall in-line with the senshi who’d saved Ming-er and Kaifeng just now. Looking back to the Captain, he added, “Three against one now, xiao-mei. Really wanna press your luck so bad?”
Whimsical Blue_
genovianprince_
Noir Songbird_
Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2023 6:58 pm
Ida caught the civilian dragging himself away from the danger and she mentally praised him for it. That got him out of the way and was one less person to worry about. She still had the Page, though they were doing quite well on their own, actually. A little over confident, but at least they had her as backup for it this time. Maybe a note about that over confidence, once it was all over, but for now...
The eternal didn't bother reply to the snarky commentary from the half-youma. She wasn't interested in what she thought or what she'd been trying to do, or how much they were getting in her way. Why bother wasting her breath on it? Instead, she used it to call out her magic, sweeping an arm out before her as though throwing something.
"Beautiful Petal Barrage!"
Glowing petals followed her arm and sprayed forward like so many sharp little shards of glass.
Super Sailor Scout Attack: Beautiful Petal Barrage! [What it does] A thrown hand casts a cloud of orchid petals, which harden into needle-like darts that fly in the direction the petals were first cast. Downside to this attack is its lack of accuracy with a single opponent, and lack of strength against multiple enemies. Its merely a spray of needle-like petals with some velocity behind them. The petals are damaging enough to leave shallow cuts, but leather or multiple layers of fabric may block them, though not without damage. Range is short, about five or six feet. Can be used twice per battle. Twice will exhaust her and she will have to retire from the fight until she's rested.
There were too many of them. Far, far, far too many of them. An Eternal, two Pages, and all of them very specifically angry at her.
Worse, the Saturn Page slipped from her grip, which meant that she took the Eternal's attack head on.
"You will regret this foolishness," she said, simply, and then she vanished--teleporting to a different part of the city to complete her work for the night, far away from this lot.
genovianprince
amorremanet
Whimsical Blue
Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2023 7:35 pm
Ming sagged with relief when the qilin-woman finally vanished, breathing deeply.
No, that wasn't right. "Selenga." The name came to him suddenly, springing from his lips without his permission.
He turned to Kaifeng, small smile that slowly grew wider creeping across his face. "Kaifeng. My name is Selenga. I'm a-a Knight too! Holy s**t. Oh my gods, I—"
Oh, right, someone else was here, who'd saved their asses. He turned to her, giving a hasty bow. "Apologies, Miss. Thank you for stepping in. You saved my life." He straightened, looking between her and his outfit. He... matched her?
Oh, please don't tell him there were universe assigned magical soulmates or something, because he was very happy with Qiye and would struggle to turn this lovely lady down politely.
With the danger well on her way out, Kaifeng could turn to the really interesting thing going on right now. ……Okay, well, if he were really being honest with himself, a LOT of things about all of this were interesting. From the qilin-woman being how she was—as in, some kind of hybrid-person, like the very on-fire General-King from the bank battle—to the eternal senshi who’d swooped in to save the day and how her outfit’s colors did seem very strangely similar to Ming-er’s—no, no, to Selenga’s—plenty of things about tonight were more than sufficiently interesting.
But the most interesting was Selenga, standing there in his purple, green, and gold. In the interests of politeness, Kaifeng gave the nice senshi a smile, a little wave, and a nod of his head……but he was unfortunately sort of fixated on Selenga, at the moment. More specifically, on scooping Selenga up into a hug. “Aiyah, this is great,” he said brightly, giving Selenga a firm, fond squeeze around the shoulders. “And so good for giving Qi-jie some peace of mind, huh? If we’re working together, we can look out for each other, give her several fewer things to worry about.”
Which, he decided, probably did require at least a little bit of clarification, for the lovely senshi’s sake. Looking back to her with a smile, Kaifeng explained, “Sorry, Miss. He’s—Selenga is my family. So, this is exciting?”
