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 Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2024 4:43 pm
Quote: The Gargoyles (3) : Even when you thought you’d seen the last of them, it seems like you’re never really in the clear. A while back, there was an infestation of awful gargoyle creatures–and while every Star Festival had its fair share of oddities, this one seems to have introduced a permanent infestation upon the 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. Demeter wouldn't necessarily call herself a fan of architecture. It just wasn't her thing. Sure, she knew when something looked pretty, but she wouldn't be able to tell you if something was late Greek or early Spanish. All the stones were just stones laid in peculiar ways that looked pretty when done right. However, recently, she'd become attached to a silly little phone game. In it were hot anime boys that appealed to her, and one of them in particular really adored gargoyles. So, on this night as she patrolled, when she saw some new ones on nearby rooftops, she couldn't help herself and soared up to them, parkouring with some effort from roof to roof to get to them. "Wow, you guys look amazing!" she exclaimed to herself as she stepped closer. "My favorite fake man would totally love you, I think." She stepped a little bit closer, and then— wham!—one of them suddenly came alive and launched itself at her, tackling her ankles. She screamed, and the second one woke itself, coming straight for her throat. Just barely, she managed to get a hand up and protected part of her neck from being squeezed. "Can anyone help!" she tried to yell, kicking at the one on her feet, or trying to. This royally sucked.
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Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2024 4:59 pm
There was a scream.
Pyrrhus wasn't a noble protector, or anything. He never had been. He was a killer, a thief, a mercenary, and every once in a while those jobs happened to align with doing something that was decent after a fashion. But hearing someone scream and just turning away? That wasn't something he was willing to do. Not when his only mission tonight was "patrol the area and look for Chaos causing problems," and this could very well be "Chaos causing problems," anyway.
So he turned towards the sound, stopping on his way cutting throguh an alley to pick up what looked like an abandoned metal pipe that had been discarded near one of the garbage-trunks he understood were called "dumpsters." His magic might fail him, but a solid improvised weapon? That never would.
And he was glad for it, too, when he found the source of the scream--some poor Senshi pinned under two of those little stone bastards.
"Hey!" He shouted, to attract their attention, which did make the one going for her throat look towards him. Good.
He ran in, and swung his pipe at a weak point--the thing's neck, which was thinner than a lot of the rest of the sculpture--and there was a satisfying crunch of metal on stone.
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Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2024 5:22 pm
Demeter smiled to herself when the gargoyle at her neck turned its head—good. Someone was here. Someone who was definitely more of a threat than she was. She inhaled as deeply as she could, tilting her head back to avoid the swing of the senshi's improvised weapon. The dust and gravel exploded around her and she coughed, shaking her head to try to clear the air immediately around her. Grimacing, she took the opportunity to throw herself backwards on the roof, legs lifting high into the air as her back slammed into the gravel mess the first gargoyle had left behind. Oh, that stuff had definitely scraped up her back. Good thing she had healing magic. Screwing up her face in concentration, she slammed her feet back towards the roof, ignoring the way the gargoyle rasped and clawed at her ankles, trying to stop her. But she was determined, and after it smacked against the roof, it, too, burst like its sibling into a cloud of gravel and rock dust. Sitting up slowly, she combed some of the dust out of her hair and pronounced with all the world-heavy weight of a very confident three year old, "Ew." Followed by, "Thank you."
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Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2024 5:29 pm
At least the things were dying, and dying fast. The one he'd taken a metal pipe to shattered, which meant that his companion was able to get free and beat the s**t out of the other one with her own two feet, which Pyrrhus had to admit was pretty impressive. And when they were both dust on the rooftop, he whipped around to his new friend, casually slinging his pipe over his shoulders and grinning like the maybe-slightly-crazy person he was.
"Good hits," he said, "I'm impressed. Pyrrhus. Pleasure to save you." He extended his hand. If he had to guess, she was probably one of the planty types--no guessing what, really, but that meant she might well have jackshit for offensive magic.
Or she could have something really good and she got ambushed or had poorly-functioning magic; also a theoretical possibility. Either way, she looekd mostly okay under a quick glance.
"Are you alright? No serious injuries? Those little bastards are vicious, and apparently magic doesn't do much." Or at least, that was what Steins had indicated, and Ryla was mostly inclined to assume she knew what she was talking about. A Super Senshi generally did. "Tenacious little ********, too."
But tonight, he'd managed a good deed, or whatever. Imnolu would probably be proud to hear about him going out of his way to save a damsel in distress. The very thought of it made him want to roll his eyes--at himself, at the memory of his cousin, at both--but he resisted the urge, lest this poor girl think he was rolling them at her. No need to be rude, at the least.
"We can stick together for a little while, if you,d like," he offered, "in case those little bastards have friends. strength in numbers. And also in pipe."
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Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2024 5:43 pm
Demeter looked up at him and grinned, not quite matching his energy—he seemed a little too wild for that. For her. But she already liked him, even so. She reached out and took his hand to help herself up, then shook it. "I'll be fine. I've got healing magic," she said, wincing a bit as she rolled her shoulders out and cracked her neck. "Oof. Harvest Growth!"She stretched as the spores filled the air from the ghostly plants, feeling the gravel and dust fall out of the cuts and scrapes on her body as they knitted back together. "Good as new, and if you had anything happen, you should be good as well," she informed her new friend with a half-smile. "Those things suck. I definitely wouldn't mind staying with someone who knows their way around them. I'm Demeter, by the way. Of Agriculture. It's nice to meet you." Noir Songbird As she calls her attack and flicks her arm, seeds scatter across the area and give way to ethereal sprouts that rapidly become various plants—pumpkins, wheat, corn stalks, tomato vines, to name a few. Spores explode into the air, healing moderate injuries for allies. This attack lasts for 35 seconds, has a radius of ten feet, and has two uses.
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Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2024 6:05 pm
"Oh, good, love having a healer around," Pyrrhus said. Not that they did regularly, but he was always appreciative of that kind of assistance.
He hadn't thought he was injured, but he supposed some of those whacks might have rattled his wrists, because pain he had been casually sort of ignoring lifted and suddenly, they felt much less achey and raw.
"Well then, Demeter of Agriculture, why don't we go see if we can cause some problems for people who deserve ********, Pyrrhus loved getting to run around with other people. Always a good ******** time.
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