Starfish Scares (13) : Starfish live in the sea. They do not live in freshwater rivers, lakes, or reservoirs with no connection to the ocean. Starfish are also not social creatures. And yet, here they are–in hoards. They can be found near any water source–and far from it. These starfish seem to be a unique species that are eager to travel and don’t seem quite bound to water, though they will seek it out. The starfish will latch onto just about anything they can to hitch a ride, even though they’re fast. They secrete an itchy, oozy slime after they’ve latched onto something, and though it seems as though they can absorb nutrients from any living creature, these starfish have an odd penchant for blood. You might as well have a colorful leech stuck to you as soon as you think one of these things crawling your way. Their bites are sharp and will leave the nearby skin itchy and painful. They are a bit difficult to remove but they can be killed; as soon as they have perished, they will rapidly dry out and crumble. However, it’s far more likely that they’ll escape before you can get your hands on them. Be vigilant; these things are pests–and smart enough to cling to people and vehicles alike if it means getting to where they want to go.
Akaganeite was not, she would say, a fan of slimy, wet, gross ocean creatures. She was especially not a fan of slimy, wet, gross ocean creatures that had, apparently, escaped the ocean and gotten into a pond in a park she had found was a good spot to drain.
she hadn't even gotten in the water--she'd been carefully walking past it--but somehow, a starfish had latched onto her leg and was trying to chew its way through her stockings and to the tender flesh below. Worse,t he damn thing was sticky and tricky--not exactly easy to pry off herself.
"Vile," she grumbled under her breath. If she'd seen it coming at her, she might have stabbed it, but it had been far too fast to catch before it was on her, and now all she could do was attempt to grip it--not easy--and pry it off--even harder.
The worst part was that she could feel a Senshi approaching. Ugh, ugh, ugh. Maybe if she could get it off she could weaponize it, presuming it didn't die or something absurd like that before she could.
genovianprince
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2025 10:41 pm
Hati wasn't much of a beach or water fan himself. If he was going to swim, he'd go for a climate controlled pool filled with chlorine and no fish, thank you very much. The strange starfish phenomenon reports on the news had him wary of random attacks from them. He did not want to have to touch any of them. Gross.
He avoided them as well as he could while trying to hunt down and stop any Negaverse officers or Corrupt Senshi from "doing their job"—a phrase that made his lip curl—but it seemed that would be impossible. As he approached an officer, he realized that she had one of those starfish on her. That was... not great. Then he recognized her—the one who'd had his starseed in hand the other night. Lovely.
"Looks like that's what you deserve for stealing energy and killing people," he called out to her, unwisely.
Akaganeite felt a jolt of fury, hearing that smug little comment. Apparnetly, that jolt of fury was enough--she gave the starfish a hard yank, and it came off her leg, which was enough for her to spin and whip it at the Senshi who dared to snark at her.
Normally, she liked to think that she was more dignified than whipping a starfish at someone. Normally, she probably was. But the damned thing had annoyed her already, and now here came this Senshi who she already knew thought he was better than her--well, it was a lethal combination for her patience.
"I kindly let you live in our last encounter," she reminded him, flatly, as if she had not just thrown a bloodsucking, biting starfish like a weapon. "Do not make me regret that choice. I dislike having regrets."
The threat was implicit. She would make it explicit if he required her to.
genovianprince
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2025 8:29 pm
Hati managed to dodge the starfish, thank God. He really, really didn't want to have to deal with that on his own body. That seemed like one of his worst nightmares. The ocean should stay in the ocean, thank you very much. Blech. He was just glad that they were about a three hour drive from the nearest beach anyway, so he didn't have to consider moving. Unless, of course, these ridiculous starfish continued to find their way this far from the shore to latch onto people like little leeches. They didn't really deserve the rights to even be called starfish if they were more like leeches, in his humble, not a marine biologist opinion.
"Regret it all you want," he replied with as nonchalant a shrug as he could manage when there was still the starfish she'd thrown at him nearby. He was wary that it might jump up on him somehow. "But I did piss you off enough that you got that gross little thing off you, so I'd say that's a win."
Akaganeite wanted to snap back--but she supposed that the Senshi had a point. His presence had irritated her enough that it had encouraged her to get the starfish off, and before it had managed to bite all the way throguh to her skin, though there was the beginning of a tear in her stocking. Alas. At least it was magic and would fix itself, next time she powered up.
"Perhaps the most useful thing I've seen one of you do," she deadpanned, but her hand remained at her sword hilt. "...Step carefully. The starfish are in the ponds in this park, and they are both fast and hungry. For blood, specifically." It was a simply-delivered warning, and all he would get from her. Akaganeite did not like playing nice with someone who had already attacked her once.
Not that there weren't benefits to the softer approach, and not that she was unilaterally opposed to it, but she did not plan to take it in this very specific instance.
genovianprince
Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2025 12:01 am
Hati couldn't suppress a little grin when the officer couldn't refute his words. She didn't seem too upset about it, though, but that was fine by him. He'd messed with her at least a little bit, especially if she wasn't attacking him regardless. Her hand staying on her sword gave him a small amount of pause, and he inhaled slowly, ready for whatever might come.
Then she just... warned him. There were more starfish in this area. And that they really seemed to like human blood.
He wondered if they liked human blood only, or if they'd cling to any of the alien senshi. Maybe one of them didn't have blood that was as tasty. He wouldn't know, though. He wasn't some kind of vampire.
"Thanks," he told her, giving her a nod of respect, before turning on his heel and walking away instead. ******** this park in particular tonight, thank you very much. He didn't want to deal with those damned starfish, and with any luck, anyone trying to commit crimes in here would ******** off once they saw the starfish, too.
