Snowy Showdown (16) : There’s something magical about fresh fallen snow–completely undisturbed and untouched by the rest of the world. It should be relaxing and peaceful–a sign that no one has been around and you’re perfectly safe. Except, the best predators lie in wait, completely invisible to their prey. What do you do when a patch of snow starts clumping together and taking shape right before your eyes? When it all comes together, it looks like a person, only there are no features, just a snowy white form. Maybe there wouldn’t have been an issue if you hadn’t seen it, but it’s too late. In frantic, panicked movements, it lunges at you with icy fists. It feels like being pelted with snowballs, but each hit lowers your core body temperature–rapidly. The creature is highly susceptible to heat and will melt if exposed to it; if you hit it, snow splatters everywhere. It may attempt to reform, but eventually it loses strength. You might not want to stick around to see if it just needs a little more time. If the creature manages to knock you unconscious, you may wake up covered in snow and with a bad cold. You may be more aware of strange, snowy figures that seem to be standing around in odd places; who knows where these things are hiding?
With the miracle of being able to carry things around unseen by the local population Karaka was at all times completely warm. Her hands currently clasped at the open air before a thermos popped into existence as she sat in one of the many local parks. Elliott had explained to her that senshi would roam through the parks in order to make sure that the Negaverse weren't up to no good but she'd yet to exactly find a Negaverse agent. No, wait, that lady who had been curious about the pine cones, she had been an agent but it was almost like after being confronted with a well placed kernel of truth, that she had not wanted to fight. Karaka had used her magic on the woman and perhaps that had helped the other to see sense that going around making demands of total strangers wasn't the way to go.
Unscrewing the lid from the thermos did the redhead inhale of the scent of the hot liquid contained within before she made a small cup appear in which she could pour her hot chocolate into. That task done she resealed the thermos and sent it back into her subspace before peering out at the vista of the snow covered field before her. Where were all the senshi tonight?
xelfstar89
Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2025 3:10 am
Aberdonia had had the whole patrol thing explained to him by Fantasia, which made sense. Go on patrol. Watch out for Chaos. Make sure innocent people didn't get caught in the crossfire. Prevent Chaos from doing more damage. All do-able things. All important things. All good things.
What was none of those things was being in his fuku, which was clearly designed for hot climates closer to the equator. Or summertime. This would be a perfect fuku for summertime. What this fuku was in the wintertime was freaking drafty. Hence why he'd packed a hot cocoa in a thermos, which he was now holding and sipping from as he made his way toward an open field.
It looked so pretty and peaceful out there. Just a shame it was cold, too.
Looking around to make sure it looked safe, he started to cross the field, not anticipating any trouble until he got to the tree line on the other side.
It was then that he heard a funny sound. Sort of squeaky and crunchy, like someone stepping heavily into hard-packed snow.
Aberdonia turned around.
Well. That hadn't been here a moment ago.
It was a snowman, more anatomically correct than others, but featureless...was this another one of those odd, inexplicable magical phenomenae that just happ--
The punch caught him in the abdomen, dropping his core temperature very suddenly. It didn't hurt, per se, any more than a regular snowball did, but the freezing cold was not normal for a snowball.
He scrambled back, trying to get enough distance to pull off some kind of action to prevent this thing from hitting him again. Reaching inside himself for answers had worked so far as a senshi. He reached inside again, finding the words he needed.
"Papyrus Protection!"
Quote:
Sailor Scout Attack:Papyrus Protection Aberdonia calls out the name of his attack and conjures a shield made from papyrus; it is six feet wide and six feet tall. He can cast the shield on himself or on someone else. Once cast, no one can enter or exit the shield and it will move according to the location of the target. For thirty seconds, it will block all first stage attacks (including magic and weapons). It can reduce damage from second stage attacks and may deflect magic or physical attacks. It cannot defend against attacks from third stage or higher. This magic can be used three times per day.
There. There was a blip on her inner radar. It was the system that Elliott had explained to her that would allow her to sense other powered folk that were around her. She hastily finished her cup of hot chocolate that she had poured earlier and with a quick scoop of snow, attempted to clean the dishware before it disappeared back to where it had been before: subspace.
Taking off at a run Karaka meant to find the owner of the aura that she was sensing before they moved off. What she had not expected to find once she stumbled into a clearing was another senshi that seemed to be fighting a gian snow thing. She couldn't exactly call it a snowman because snowman were not supposed to come alive and swing fists at people. Well, maybe Frosty would have counted but the snowman of lore was supposed to be a happy jolly soul: this creature was not.
Taking in the scene within a few seconds of passing Karaka grimaced before she reached down in order to form a snowball with her bare hands before she launched it at the thing that was trying to go after a senshi that was on the same level that she was and looked to be freezing cold. What was his outfit? The projectile that she had thrown seemed to have not done much in the terms of doing much besides turning the creature's attention onto her.
"Hey you ... do you need help?"
Even as she called out did the creature try to lurch toward her ...
Her snowball didn't seem to affect much on the creature, but maybe that was because they were both comprised of snow. She thought of her thermos of hot chocolate and wondered if the liquid inside would do damage.
elfstar89
Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2025 3:58 am
Aberdonia blinked at the voice and poked his head between the papyrus reeds that had shot up as a shielding thicket between himself and the evil snowman. Another senshi? She looked warmer than he did. Lucky girl. Assuming she identified as such, it was rude to assume.
"Help would be great!" he called back. "Also, don't get hit by that thing, its punches are colder than snow normally is. I think it lowers your core temperature."
He watched as the hurled snowball did virtually nothing, primarily attracting its attention away from him...and toward her...which...that wasn't why he'd become a senshi. Not to protect just himself. To protect other people.
"Get behind the papyrus with me for a sec while we come up with a plan!"
Cold, he was so cold...but his hands weren't. His hands were warm, particularly the palms, where they were wrapped around his cocoa. Which he'd brought with him to keep warm. Was it warm enough to melt the snowman? He'd lose his cocoa. But also, neither of them would get punched and further frozen by a magical snowman whose punches lowered core body temperature.
He took one last sip, trying to gain back a little of the body heat he'd lost, but trying not to drink more than he had to. The more cocoa there was to throw at the snowman, the greater odds that they could keep using the cocoa if it worked.
"Hang on, I've got an idea. Do come over, I've just got an idea."
There would have been a time when a six foot tall shield made of papyrus would have caused Karaka to simply stare in disbelief. Now it seemed as if this other senshi had at least some sort of useful magic to combat the snow creature. If hiding behind a shield counted for something, which it did. Hastily the senshi of aye-ayes made her way into the protection of the shielf before she simply grimaced at the facts that the other senshi had rattled off. Noting his own thermos which probably contained a hot drink of some sort, she summoned her own thermos back out of her subspace pocket. Huh, well it was interesting that they seemed to both be thinking along the same lines.
"Okay, so how what plans do we have to beat the thing if it's devastating hits lower our core temperatures?"
She did not want to sacrifice her drink but if it turns out that they needed to then she would gladly do so. How effective would her magic be if this thing couldn't hear at all?
elfstar89
Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2025 1:40 pm
Aberdonia blinked at the sight of the thermos in the other senshi's hands. That opened up a new plan of attack. Probably a more successful one.
"Okay, change of plans. I'm going to see if I can give you your own papyrus shield, you go around the other side of the snowman, and then we hit it with the drinks in our thermoses. Snowballs didn't work, maybe heat will. Sound good?" he asked, raising a hand again.
He didn't know how many of these attacks he could get off at once, or even in the same day, but it might be worth a try--
--Which was when the first shield ran out. Okay. New development.
"OR WE RUN!" he shouted, making a mad dash for the other side of the snowman, turning around long enough to call back, "PAPYRUS PROTECTION!", gesturing toward the other senshi. A new thicket of papyrus sprouted in front of the other senshi right as the snowman raised its fist to try to punch the other senshi, only for its fist to bounce off harmlessly, leaving powdery snow glittering on the surface of the reeds.
The snowman howled with the voice of the wind, turning toward the other target as Aberdonia dashed to try to get in position on the far side of it, hoping to all the powers that might be that might be listening for this crazy, desperate ploy to work. He didn't exactly have a lot of spare breath to try to cast another shield on himself, after all.
Karaka grimaced. She didn't want to give up her hot drink but if it would help to destroy the enemy, then that was a good enough sacrifice for it, wasn't it? The shield that had been protecting the unknown senshi had been struck by the snowman and dissolved.
He told her to run.
Karaka's own surprise was evident as another shield sprung up in front of her and she nearly stumbled in response. But still Karaka took the shocking appearance of this senshi's apparent magic before she tried to move around to flank the snowman on the opposite side. Her hands fumbled with the cap of her thermos before she managed to twist it off. She took one last sip of the hot beverage before she waited for the signal to attack. The shield wouldn't last long but now she was in position so as soon as it faded, she could lash out ... right?
elfstar89
Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2025 5:59 am
Aberdonia unscrewed the cap of his own thermos as he ran, fingers fumbling in the cold, worsened by the punch he'd taken earlier.
The snowman raised its fist just as the other senshi...or, well, the thicket protecting the other senshi...got in position. There was no time to wait any longer, even if it would be easier to wait for the shielding papyri to dissipate before coordinating their attack, given that the snowman's attention was squarely on him.
"On three, we throw our thermoses!" he shouted, dancing back as the snowman took another swipe at him.
"One!"
The snowman howled in frustration.
"Two!"
The snowman raised its fist high, clearly intending to slam it down on Aberdonia's head.
"THREE!"
Without waiting any longer, and the fist descending rapidly toward him, the Senshi of Papyrus threw his thermos as straight and true as he could toward the snowman's core, praying, for a change, that Frosty would melt, and wouldn't reform in the next snowstorm.
Karaka wasn't totally sold on the idea of using her thermos of hot chocolate as a weapon (she would have rather kept to drinking it, rather than throwing it) but even as she was uncharitably thinking that did the other senshi dart to the front in order to find the optimum throwing position. Even as the countdown was yelled out at her did Karaka glance at the snow creature before sighing wistfully.
"I can always make more hot chocolate when I get home I guess," was her mild complaint before she unscrewed the lid of her thermos and darted to the back of the creature. As it was seemingly distracted by the other senshi, the contents of her thermos struck it squarely.
"Bullseye," she whispered even as she made an effort to dance back out of range of the creature's overly large fists. It wouldn't do well to get hit now that they'd executed their plan perfectly. The contents of her thermos struck higher up than she had planned, making contact with the head ... and almost eerily did portions start to slough off, like butter melting on a hot pastry, except this was snow and it was starting to affect the thing's movements.
elfstar89
Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2025 4:21 am
The fist continued its descent, even as both thermoses made contact with the frozen body. A screeching howl of mixed pain and despair was the final sound of the snowman as it began to melt, cold water mixing with the hot cocoa.
Aberdonia ducked, not quite able to roll or hop out of the way as the fist crashed down on him, the fist turning to powdered snow as the shoulder the fist was attached to began to puddle harmlessly on the ground. The crumbled remains of the fist were preternaturally cold, and he could feel his core temperature had dropped a little bit more, but maybe not as much as it had before.
Breathing hard for a moment even after the snowman had crumbled and melted away into odd lumps of snow in a sad, cocoa-stained puddle of sludge in the snowy field, the Senshi of Papyrus finally straightened up. Fist-pumping, the last bits of adrenaline pumping in rhythm to the fist-pump, he shouted, "Yeah! We did it!" And promptly sneezed, followed by a sniffle.
Well, that just took the cake. Beat the monster by losing the cocoa, and now he apparently had a cold. Joy. He hated being sick.
"Ugh," he grumbled, shivering as he reached down to pick up his own thermos from the wreckage. It then occurred to him that he hadn't really introduced himself. "So. Ummm. My name's Sailor Aberdonia, Senshi of Papyrus. What's yours?" he asked awkwardly, offering the hand not clutching the still-warm thermos to his torso to the other senshi in a friendly handshake.
She had managed to keep a hold of her own thermos and so it was with a quick twist of her thoughts that it disappeared back into her little pocket of subspace. Having that little extra space to keep things out of the way was probably one bonus to have been awakened into this strange new world. Her gaze travelled over the melted brown-colored slush that had been the snow creature. Needless to say, it wouldn't be reforming anytime soon, if it was as magical as it had seemed to have been.
Even as the other senshi sneezed, Karaka's attention went back to the stranger. She'd never seen him before. Heck, this was probably her first meeting with someone who seemed to be fighting on her own side and she hastily cleared her throat before she accepted the handshake that was being offered to her by Aberdonia.
"Pleased to meet you, I'm Karaka, of Aye-Ayes," the redhead had to wonder if this senshi of papyrus even knew what an aye-aye was. When Elliott had awakened her, she'd been in the dark until she'd gone home to research the creature. "You mentioned that when the creature struck you, it seemed to lower your core temperature. I saw you were hit at least once, will you be okay in reaching your home? I have a blanket if you need to make use of it."
elfstar89
Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2025 3:57 am
"Aye-ayes? Aren't they some kind of primate, or something closely related to the primates? Interesting, I guess magic takes all shapes." He sniffled reflexively. "A bath and an entire pot of tea or cocoa or something would be good, but I'll take that blanket for a few minutes in the meantime. Lead the way...unless you've got it somewhere on you?" he asked, noticing that her thermos seemed to have vanished. She didn't seem to have much in the way of places it could have gone; did superpowered magic come with some kind of pocket dimension where they could store emergency supplies? That would be incredibly helpful.
Speaking of powers...his seemed defensive. Not that he was complaining, but teammates and alternative ways of getting the baddies to go away seemed like a good idea. Or he could just focus on protecting the people in front of him as they needed it. That was also a viable and worthy strategy. And something Aberdonia could absolutely get behind. After all, he'd powered up to protect his loved ones from disaster. Couldn't he do that for others, too?
Karaka nodded in response to Aberdonia's guess of what an aye-aye was. It was certainly not common knowledge, at least it hadn't been with her at the start. "Yeah, they're basically what you described. Native only to Madagascar."
Feeling just a little self-conscious she stepped back for a moment before she gave the other senshi a long look before merely giving him a quick smile before a blanket appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Her hands bundled up the fabric before she passed it over to him. Her green eyes flashed with amusement as the transfer took place.
"If you need it for more than a simple walk home, you can keep it. I think I have another stashed away for times like these."
elfstar89
Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2025 1:12 am
Aberdonia blinked as the blanket appeared seemingly out of thin air. "How did you do that?" he asked curiously. "Is it like a pocket dimension, or something? Do we all have access to it?" He accepted the blanket, pulling it around his shoulders, trying to gather as much warmth from it as he could.
Some of the ambient cold left him, blocked out by the blanket. The battle "damage" didn't seem to want to leave him yet, but that was what a nice, long bath at home would be for, and it was feeling like this would absolutely be call for a long, hot bath. But it was nice, and he could feel some warmth coming back into his extremities.
"I'm sorry for asking so many questions. Also, just give me a few minutes, and then I think I'll be warm enough to make it home without the blanket. Even if you do have a second blanket stashed for emergencies, I'd feel terribly guilty if you didn't have a second one, and I took off with the only one you had," he said.
Was it a pocket dimension? What had Elliott called it again? Subspace, did that sound right? Karaka watched as Aberdonia took the blanket from her and wrapped it around himself. She gave the other a long look before she nodded in response to his question. "The one that brought me into this life calls it, I think, subspace. We all have one. Even those that fight on chaos' side. We can store mostly anything we want to put into these pockets but I think most just use it as an additional storage space for things that they don't want to carry around in their arms while on patrol. Food can be stored ... but if it's perishable it will, after a time, spoil."
Thinking on what else Elliott had imparted to her Karaka also made a quick glance to the sky above before she glanced to the melted mess that had been their adversary. "I'm hopefully expecting that the creature doesn't try reforming. Because I am fresh out of hot cocoa now to use as a weapon."
Looking at Aberdonia wrapped up in her blanket, Karaka hoped that it was at least doing something for the other senshi. Even though he seemed to insist that he was going to return it before leaving she still wanted to protest. Even if there was no other blanket in her subspace, she could still fend off the cold better than he could.
"You could always return the blanket at a later time. If you have your senshi phone we could add each other as contacts and then message for a time to meet up later..."
It could work if Aberdonia was amenable to the idea. But in either case, Karaka wouldn't mind having made a new potential ally this winter's night.
