Radioactive Mysteries (13) : Destiny City has been booming, but with more people you need more power. Recently, an old power plant has been renovated and updated and just opened for business–but now people have been claiming dizziness or fatigue when in the area. Not to mention the animals. So far one shady, blurry video has been posted online of a strange bear-shaped humanoid ‘monster’ in the area. It’s difficult to tell if it’s a hoax or not, but whether or not you believe it, it might be a good idea to keep your eye out if you’re in the area. Especially because if you pass through, you feel like something’s watching you. It doesn’t have an aura so it can’t be a youma, but if you poke around too late at night you might find a strange creature that's built like a bear, covered in fur, but which has a strangely human presence. Something about it is just off--or, maybe it’s just your imagination. Maybe it’s just someone in a costume having a bit of fun at your expense. Still, its claws are sharp and it’s fast. When it runs through the forests, the trees seem to crack upon impact, and if you explore during the daytime you might find strange scratches and odd markings in the grass. The longer you’re in the area, the dizzier you get.
Note: If you choose to encounter the strange creature, your character will recognize that it is not a youma. The creature seems smart enough to understand human words but does not respond and does not seem to listen. It will always disappear before it can be caught or gravely injured. This RP can be used as a battle requirement for a character, separate from your ‘one youma battle’ per stage if there are two powered characters involved; you cannot write a solo and count this as a battle, and your character must be powered and interacting with another player’s powered character for it to count. This can only be used as a battle requirement once per character, but there is no limitation for how many times a player can use this prompt.
Illyria was certain that the cache that she wanted to locate was in a wooded area, because generally they were most of the time going from the listings on the site that she was tracking from this evening. Her gaze never meandered too far from the device that hung from her neck as she randomly paused to lift the GPS tracker to stare at the screen before changing directions if the need was warranted. This particular cache was most definitely considered out of the way, but she wanted to try and find it. The only downside was it bordered the property of the refurbished power plant that was now servicing more parts of Destiny City.
Even as she slunk through some extreme underbrush did the feline pause to scent the air around her before sighing. Considering there was no one around that she could tell at the moment the young cat grimaced at the sour 'taste' of pollutants in the air before sneezing. "Great, another power station to throw the not-so-good chemicals into the air. Just what Destiny City doesn't need."
Sitting on her rump did Illyria grasp the GPS unit between her paws to stare at the display before sneezing once more. She was relatively close to the marked coordinates but there was more travelling to do it seemed.
xShanyume
so in the forest, near the new plant is where Illyria is.
Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2023 1:54 am
More often than not that Xyla found herself wandering around Destiny City alone.
Although she had a duty to the Negaverse, to find new potential recruits, her success in those tasks had been rather abysmal over the last several years. At first, it was because she didn’t have a place to call home, but now she had at least a roof over her head at Reed's house.
Now- well… now she didn’t really have a reason other than a general lack of motivation. When the blight attacked last year it had taken a significant time to heal with three broken ribs and a number of bruises. The ordeal left her feeling reluctant to engage in anything that wasn’t a leisurely activity.
Thankfully it was summer now, the weather was warm, and while she could always find a place in Reed’s garden to nap, sometimes she needed a bit of solitude away from everything. That was the plan for today anything, but as plans often go, something almost always interrupts them and things go awry. Such was the case today when she felt an aura invade, what was going to be, her napping area.
Xyla trotted over to a fallen tree and climbed up the partially moss-covered bark to a higher vantage spot where she caught sight of a little toasted marshmallow-colored mauvian looking down at some piece of technology. “Curious, what brings you out to a place like this.” Her head canted to the side to emphasize her bewilderment.
Illyria didn't even bother looking up from the GPS unit before answering the unseen questioner's query. If she had, she might have been intrigued by the identity of the speaker but for now she studied the coordinates once more before absently replying, "searching for hidden treasure but it's proving elusive." When that comment left her lips Illyria for a moment forgot where she was and the possibility of having it be a civilian asking a question of an apparent looking stray. For a moment the Mauvian panicked before she caught the other aura that was just to the left and back of her position before she spun around.
This aura was not the general one that she attributed to all those on the side of order, rather it was cloying and intrusive and ... not at all welcome in her general vicinity. It was though an aura that felt like another of her kind though and with that Illyria's gaze travelled to the point in which she felt the presence emanating from before sighing a little in relief. Sure enough there was another cat in sight and she deflated a little from her tensed posture before padding a little closer to take in the other Mauvian's appearance. Black and blue stripes, rather large for a feline, and an extreme case of floof had Illyria blinking in surprise before she let out a soft mrrow of wonder.
"I understand all that fur would be marvellous during the cold winters, but aren't you just a little warm during the summer?"
Illyria's ears twitched momentarily at some distant sound before she refocused on the strange Mauvian. Chaos-aligned for sure, but maybe she could be a friend.
Shanyume
Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2023 3:47 am
“Quite a bit,” she admitted rather easily. “That’s why I sought solitude out here where it’s not so hot in the shade and well enough away from people that I can find myself some peace.” That and she wasn’t about to mention that she had already used her glamoured time earlier today at the reservoir.
Most cats don’t care much for water but she wasn’t an ordinary house pet.
“You mentioned treasure,” Xyla lept down from the tree and approached the Order Mauvian cautiously. “What treasure do you hope to find out here that hasn’t already been claimed by the city?” At least she assumed it’d be the city because usually they were the ones in control of power companies, or at least had a hand in their construction, or so she assumed.
Illyria wasn't certain if her ears were playing tricks on her. Neither was she sure about divulging just what sort of treasure that she was actively hunting for. What would the other Mauvian think of the idea of searching for little treasure chests of sorts left by humans for others to find and then return? Her gaze never left the large form of the other cat and she stared unblinking for about a moment before shaking off the momentarily lapse in concentration. Just what had that been? Never before had she felt like that. Chalking it up to her imagination did Illyria go back to doing what she had been doing for a moment.
"Oh, the treasure I'm seeking was put out here by human hands. It's not really treasure in the aspect of gold and jewelry, but a little treasure trove of trinkets and the like. The fun part is tracking the trove down using coordinates given out by the previous seekers or the original individual who posted about it."
Illyria's voice had taken on a whimsical cadence as she spoke about geocaching in the vaguest of terms to her fellow Mauvian before she rested the GPS unit against her fur. "I was using the last known set of coordinates to try and find it. But I might have gotten a little turned around. None of the numbers are making much sense anymore."
Shanyume
Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2023 11:56 pm
Drawn closer by her insatiable curiosity, Xyla took a seat on the ground across from the Order mauvian “I’m intrigued,” she simply stated. “Have you considered that the power plant might be interfering with your GPS signal?” Generators that drew on or held a mass amount of electricity might be a contributing factor to the coordinates being off.
Xyla’s ears swiveled atop her head at the sound of a branch snapping nearby. Probably just some human hiking through the area, which would seem to reason since there were no other auras in the area except for their own. However, she couldn’t help but feel like someone was watching them and it made her wonder if a lieutenant who wasn’t powered had followed her out here. Someone who might report back to one of their Sovereigns that she did not engage a small mauvian in a fight to the death to keep Order from stealing more senshi for their side of the war.
Inwardly she scoffed at the idea since there were many corrupts and agents that played the field with both sides, were friendly with others for the sake of information; this was no different and she did not get the inkling that this smaller guardian cat was interested in performing duties related to war.
Staring down at the device that was grasped between two paws did Illyria concede that the other Mauvian could have had an interesting point. She just didn't think that had been a possible scenario. Letting the GPS unit fall to rest against her neck did Illyria's gaze shift to the forest around them before she gave the smallest of forlorn sounds before bringing her attention back to the other feline. Illyria didn't quite stare at the strangeness of seeing a Mauvian with a dark-colored star. There was also the association of the barest sense of chaos tinging the cat's aura but Illyria wasn't going to complain. But her guard wouldn't be down either.
"I mean, the hypothesis you present could be a feasible explanation. But a more likely one is that it's me. I've been out here for a while and maybe the sun's been getting through enough that it's addling me enough so that I'm not getting these coordinates straight anymore."
Now Illyria was almost dead certain that something rather large was causing a disturbance very close by. Her ears twitched at the sound of various branches being broken, signalled by rather loud snapping sounds and she even swore that in the distance, something let out a fearsome bellow. Her gaze shot to the distance where something was definitely moving about, moving closer and in a panic she shifted to her humanoid form before she crouched down. Her dress was probably the worst disguise in this situation and it screamed 'look at me' but she had now the advantage of seeing what was making all the ruckus.
Rising to her feet Illyria peered into the distance and sure enough, something was for sure moving in their direction. Glancing to the other Mauvian and then ducking down did Illyria wonder what was going on. She swayed a little before crouching closer to the ground and prayed that whatever sudden dizziness came over her would pass soon. It'd never happened before so was something wrong?
"So, my name is Illyria and I'm pleased to meet you, but we need to get out of here. Something's coming this way and it doesn't exactly scream 'friendly' given the situation. We can probably fight it together if possible," and Illyria trailed off. Would this other Mauvian even want to fight alongside her?
Shanyume
Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2023 6:46 pm
While in cat form, Xyla could have had the upper hand (or paw in this case) if things went sideways. But seeing now that Illyria was more than just a Mauvian kitten, Xyla could not help but feel more wary. The only bipedal form she had was while using glamour but to access that would compromise her identity and leave her without access to her own magic.
Although her gaze remained unwaveringly fixated on the Order Mauvian, the ears atop her head swiveled in an alert fashion. Seems the enemy of my enemy is my friend But who that friend may be might ultimately depend on which one of them this new threat attacked first.
Worst case scenario she could always teleport away but curiosity gripped her with all ten claws and kept her rooted in place simply to see how things unfolded. “Are you sure you’re fit enough to fight?” Xyla asked cautiously after noting how Illyria swayed to one side.
Having been standing around on two feet for well over half a year now it would seem ridiculous to had to admit that she was as unsteady on her feet as she had been the first time she had activated her human glamour. Illyria's gaze scanned the foliage around herself and the other Mauvian before she sent her GPS unit back into her subspace pocket before staring towards the sky. It couldn't have been the sun causing this strange malady, could it? Instinctively she almost wanted to return to four paws instead of her two human feet but something was moving closer and now Illyria's gaze caught sight of a rather large brown mass that was eerily similar to make out as a bear. But bears didn't lumber around as bipeds, did they?
Illyria swayed once more before she finally seemed to find a solid stance in her positioning before nodding towards the other Mauvian in response to the question that had been asked of her.
Inwardly Illyria wasn't sure if she was in fighting form or not but she wasn't about to admit that out loud to anyone. Her voice came out in a whisper as she addressed the other cat, "I'm fine. Just a little dizzy but the spell seems to be passing. Whatever this thing is, it's large. Kinda looks like a bear but they don't continuously walk on hind legs so something definitely is weird."
Shanyume
Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2023 8:25 pm
“Looks like a bear but walks like a man?” Xyla considered this conundrum with a slight tilt of her head. Her black-tipped ears no longer moved wildly atop her head, instead fixated on the sound of their approaching guest. “Safe to say this is, it holds no aura like we do.”
“Sasquatch by chance?” she pondered aloud just as a roar broke through the otherwise silent treeline.
“I suppose I’ll leave the decision to you then. As this thing is no friend to either of us do you want to stand and fight it, or do you think your legs are strong enough to carry you away from here?” The way Illyira swayed was concerning, sick perhaps, or recently drained. Either way, neither possibility was by Xyla’s doing. ”Time waits for no mauvian, I suggest not waiting too long to make a decision.”
Illyria wanted to admit to herself that she wasn't in the best of shape to fight yet the courageous spirit she always seemed to carry within her tiny frame (though not tiny right now) begged to be let out. She'd claw and bite and tear this unknown entity to smithereens if given the chance. Knowing now that she'd been seen didn't matter and even as the roar echoed around them did she resort to thinking about choices. Bipedal wasn't working out much for her anymore in terms of snooping and whatever was affecting her seemed to be worse in her human guise. Illyria's gaze narrowed before she reverted back to cat mode before hunkering down for one second to adjust to her decrease in size before moving to climb onto the limb that her fellow Mauvian had been using before scrambling up to get a better view, "Even if we aren't on the same side I'd not leave a fellow Mauvian to deal with whatever that thing is by their lonesome. It's downright unnatural in my eyes."
Even as she spoke Illyria was preparing to use her one advantage over this lumbering form that was coming closer before she called down to the other feline. "I'm gonna laser whatever that thing is, maybe if it gets stunned you can switch in and do something that would chase it off?"
Would her fellow feline even heed the suggestion Illyria wasn't sure at all. Hopefully something would happen and as she clung to her higher perch in the air did she at least feel less dizzy before she prepared herself for the weakness that would follow after shooting her forehead beam. Claws dug into the branch and she yowled loudly before taking aim at the large brown mass that had come closer before firing off the beam.
Good news: her forehead beam successfully struck the creature. The bad news was it didn't seem to do much in terms of damage, "oh, that's not good."
The creature had stilled upon being struck, but that was about it.
Shanyume
Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2023 9:32 pm
Xyla didn’t give the wavering beast chance to recover before firing her own beam at the creature’s leg, or foot. Didn’t matter so long as she hit it in a place that would slow down this juggernaut that had seemed determined to knock down every bush, tree, and root that stood in its way to get to them.
After letting out a cry of pain it stumbled forward into a tangled mess of tall plants and branches.
“Definitely not of the Rift, our beams would have dusted it.” This thing was made of or created someplace much harder. Again she looked at the power plant and wondered.
Struck suddenly by the fatigue from using her magic, Xyla struggled not to sway and instead appear unaffected. A lie but she did not want Illyria to know that there was little else she could do. “Unless you have another idea, then I believe our best bet is to flee before it recovers.”
Illyria groaned once in dismay as both her beam and the other Mauvian's didn't do much but cause the creature to stumble into the overgrowth that was nearby. The fatigue that she normally felt after firing her beam seemed overly exaggerated and maybe there was some other outside factor causing that. Was it too much sun? Something else? Whatever was causing it, Illyria was deciding that she had had enough. Geocache aside there was absolutely nothing else that needed her attention at this very moment and perhaps if she was feeling as off as she was, that it meant that she needed to leave.
"I don't understand ... it's not human, not youma ... what is it?"
Confusion ran amok in her mind but even as Illyria listened to the suggestion given out did she realize the truth in the idea. They weren't in peak form anymore and their beams had had next to little effect. If they stayed any longer, they'd be in danger. Almost mechanically did Illyria nod her head once in response to the chesire-patterned Mauvian (what was their name?) before scrambling down the branch and away from the area.
She hated to run away. She was running away from a new possible friend, running away from her treasured geocache, running away from something that needed to be investigated ... but discretion was the better part of valor and it wouldn't have done her any good to be permanently sidelined by something she couldn't even identify.
Shanyume
fin for Illyria
Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2023 10:52 pm
“The biggest riddle of all is why do we do the things we do?” Xyla could have been the first to flee, leaving the Order Mauvian to her demise. Alas, she stayed for reasons she had to care to explain. Not that there was anyone here watching and she had not shared her name with the other mauvian for her to tattle.
Still, she felt unsurprised when Illyria fled without so much as a thank you or a glance over her shoulder to make sure she was with her. They were, after all, still on the side of opposing factions.
The creature rose once more and shook its head wildly before growling at her menacingly. “Shall we dance?” Xyla asked coyly while remaining acutely aware of how far the other Mauvan was away from them. She rose, arched her back and stretched leisurely as if she hadn’t a care in the world, flexing her claws so that they dug deep groves into the ground before retracting them once more. “This was supposed to be my quiet place to rest and you ruined it.”
“Pity” She spoke as if the thing had a mind to understand her. “I suppose if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” Any other place would do, Reed’s garden might perhaps be a better destination so long as it wasn’t recently watered. Xyla did not care to lay in a damp area that would get her fur all muddy.
The bear-like beast charged at her and Xyla, in her much more petite form, ran towards it with a Cheshire-like grin as it raised a paw to take a swipe, she teleported away knowing that in that moment Illyria was far enough away that this thing should not be able to catch up to her.
