|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2025 12:41 pm
Poultrygeist (15) : As Destiny City is a bustling metropolis, it’s not unexpected that there should be some strange animals running the streets. Sometimes it’s a tiger, sometimes a monkey, sometimes a chicken. Sometimes it’s something worse. Strange egg clusters have appeared in Destiny City’s parks and officials aren’t really sure what they are; these eggs have nothing inside of them. Though it’s an anomaly, they are chalking it up to teenaged pranks. However, they have advised to just leave the eggs as they are. Nobody wants to say why, but if you’re out late at night, you’ll find out. In the darkness, whispered between the sounds of the city: a guttural, rasping cluck. The creature stands on stilt-like legs, rooted to the ground with razor-sharp talons. It wears a cloak of long, oily feathers that drag on the ground with a sinister scraping. If you stare into the darkness, piercing red eyes stare back at you. That’s all it takes for a confrontation: a mangled bird, maybe a chicken in another life, comes barreling out at you. It stands easily as tall as a person, but the proportions are all wrong. The smell of sulfur follows it as it lunges, pecking and screaming and scratching as it attempts to chase you away. Maybe, from the nests full of empty eggs. The battles are fierce, but fleeting; it will viciously try to chase you away but the effects are always the same: at some point, the eggs are crushed. As always, there’s nothing inside of them, but with one final wail, the bird will vanish into a plume of foul smoke.
Note: If you choose to encounter one of these bird-like creatures, your character will recognize they are not youma. It is impossible to tell if it is a single entity or if there are many. The bird does not seem to understand or care to listen to human words. It will always disappear in a malodorous plume of smoke and leave nothing but a foul odor and a clutch of empty, broken eggs behind. This RP can be used as a battle requirement as long as there are two powered characters involved; you must be interacting with another player’s powered character. This does not count as the one youma battle per stage for growth so characters can still use an NPC youma battle as well as this one for growth purposes. 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.
But the senshi piqued his interest for one main reason, and it was that they were young. He'd heard of them, the chibi senshi, kids called into this war way too early on. He curled his lip slightly at the idea, but as far as he was concerned…that was their luck. But just because they existed didn't mean he had to do anything about them. They were probably too young to understand any of this, and that just put him, and any other adult in the war, at a distasteful advantage.
At least that's how he thought about it.
The more he watched, the more something felt…off…about the bush, though. The hairs on the back of his neck slowly started to stand on end, and he sat up in his perch, eyes fully trained not on the senshi, but on their immediate surroundings.
Watching.
Waiting.
Until he saw it–not sensed it, he noted, but saw it. A…something-or-other–chicken? demon? It was honestly hard to tell–rising up from out of the bushes. Its eyes were beady but a piercing blood red, noticeable even from where he sat, and he could sense its intent to hurt whoever was closest to it. It warranted little thought at that point, and he stood and set the creature in his sights. Watching still, and waiting to see if he had to get involved at all…
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2025 12:55 pm
Saiph had gone out to patrol reluctantly. She was tired. She ached. And all she wanted was to curl up and watch cartoons and eat chocolate. But no. She’d let Cuan talk her into a little patrol. And because Cuan was cute and very small, she’d agreed in spite of her distaste for the idea. But she’d done it and had decided on the park given that the park was very big and usually quiet. She’d given herself an hour to wander just so she could say she’d tried before she went home.
It was the odd eggs littering the park here and there that had first grabbed her attention. Some had been fairly out in the open and they’d been easy enough to ignore. Nothing sensible would dream of laying eggs out where anyone or anything could get at them. But the further she’d gone, the more concealed the eggs became, until she’d paused to examine one such clutch hidden under a bush. The eggs were bigger than most she’d seen before. Not as big as an ostrich egg though. They were oddly discolored too. Weird.
Scratching absently at a snake-like scar that ran up her arm onto her neck, she considered her options. She could ignore the eggs and instead check out the Chaos signature that was nearby but not moving. She could ignore both and go home. Or she could ignore the Chaos and try to figure out the eggs. She knew what she should pick, but the aura she’d felt hadn’t moved and she was inclined to leave whoever it was alone so long as they weren’t up to anything. Right now, the eggs were a more immediate concern.
Crouching down, she looked at them again and ran her fingers through the dirt, casually scooping up a rock. Something was close by and watching her. She could hear rustling and something that sounded like agitated clucking. Then, the soft clucking became a loud, unholy scream of a cluck as something big rushed out of the darkness, kicking out at her with long claws.
She dodged and felt the claws just graze along her back. Enough to hurt and probably bleed, but not so much that she’d be taken down. Spinning around, she launched the rock she’d found at it, managing to get a good look at whatever she’d pissed off. And she nearly fell over laughing at the fact that what looked like a big, greasy chicken was turning and stalking her. She shouldn’t be laughing, but it was just… it was so damn weird. And insane.
It had Destiny City Holiday Madness written all over it’s ugly, smelly body.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2025 12:56 pm
Small but agile, he thought as he looked on, careful to keep his sights on the oversized bit of poultry. It was clucking up a storm after suffering a rock to one of its beady little eyes, unfazed by the cackling young senshi on the other end of the field.
That was…surprising, but the distant sound of laughter was enough to put a smile on his face.
He teleported within feet of the demon chicken, purposely putting himself between it and the senshi. "I don't really know if I should be amused or concerned," he said, glancing back at her with a bright enough smile of his own. "But maybe we can laugh it up after we get rid of whatever this thing is?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2025 12:57 pm
The laughter died in Saiph’s throat as an officer of the Negaverse suddenly appeared beside her. Well, it looked like she wouldn’t have to investigate the aura she’d felt after all. It had come right to her. Great. But, he was smiling and he’d put himself between her and the bird. She wasn’t so naive that she took his actions as a sign of inherent goodness, but she was willing to extend a little grace. Ilmare was a good person stuck in a bad situation, after all.
Maybe it was the same for this guy.
“Go for amused,” she said. “It makes the brain hurt less when you start thinking about how ******** strange this town really is.”
She was already moving, drawing the chicken’s attention her way. It really was an awful specimen of giant demon chicken. Ragged, greasy feathers. A stink that would put a corpse to shame. But its red eyes glittered with malevolence and she now had first hand experience that its claws were nothing to laugh about. And it really didn’t like that they were here. Whether it was due to it guarding the eggs or just being territorial, she couldn’t say.
A sudden scream from the bird as it charged the officer brought her mind back from the paths it had been wandering. s**t! Without thinking, she pulled up her magic and threw everything she had at the bird. She could at least do that much.
“Primal slash!”
She watched as the bird was shoved back and little bright red slashes appeared where the feathers were thinnest. At least she couldn't hurt the thing too much. But she could keep it from gutting the officer.
Quote: Super Sailor Scout Attack: Primal Slash Effects - Able to be summoned twice per battle and lasting up to 20 seconds each use, Saiph is once again able to call upon a faintly glowing magical energy. However, this time, the shoving force is more nebulous in shape as it moves more swiftly and can now deliver the sensation of slashing/biting wounds to an enemy. Saiph is able to target one person per attack and while still not terribly dangerous, the slashes and bites resemble wounds a little deeper than a bad papercut or puppy/kitten bites. Mildly painful and annoying, but hardly life threatening as they fade when the magic ends.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2025 1:30 pm
Made sense, and it drew his smile up just a smidge wider. At least she was sensible and didn't immediately attack him just for showing up. Maybe it worked in his favor that he teleported where he did?
"Amused, then," he started to say, raising his crossbow up as the chicken started making a motion to follow after the senshi. Its beady little eyes were far too focused for his liking, and while he was still busy trying to piece together why it reared its incredibly ugly (not to mention smelly) head, it randomly, and very loudly, squawked an unholy squawk and charged him.
He let his bolt fly as soon as he thought it might hit its mark, and sidestepped to try and get out of the way of the attack coming from the senshi–just in case he was in range.
Unfortunately for him, he wasn't that coordinated about it, managing to somehow trip on his own foot and toppling into the bush.
He fell on top of something that flattened with an audible CRUNCH amidst a few choice swears that slipped past his lips.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2025 1:32 pm
Making a note of said swears (really, there were a couple very interesting, if anatomically impossible ones in there), Saiph ran to the bush and began grabbing, intent on pulling the officer out while the bird was still dealing with her magic. Seeing the remains of the eggs that the officer had crushed under his body, the chibi senshi half expected to see him drenched in egg goo. But… nothing. It was just empty shells crumbling away to dust.
“Y’hurt?” she asked urgently, pulling at his sleeves. “Come on, you don't wanna be stuck on your back in a bush while a ******** dinosaur is mad at you.”
Maybe dinosaur was a bit dramatic, but it fit. That was essentially what birds were anyway. This one was just a little closer to its roots than most. A quick glance over her shoulder showed that the big chicken was shaking off her magic and gearing itself up to charge at them again. Thinking quickly, she grabbed at one of the few eggs not crushed by the officer’s a** and chucked it at the bird.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2025 1:34 pm
"Just a bruised ego, maybe," he said as he tried to get right-side up. With the senshi's help, he managed sooner rather than later, and he hopped out of the bush and started dusting leaves and dirt off of him. "But that's good advice about the dinosaur thing." Birds were basically dinosaurs, right?
Staurolite looked up at the chicken-thing, wondering what they could do to get rid of it when he watched an egg go flying. It hit its mark soundlessly (at least from this distance), and he could swear the thing turned three shades of an intense red before it let out its angriest, most frenzied squawk yet as it raced toward them.
"Uh. I think you made it madder," he said, though he reached down and grabbed a few eggs to start throwing at it too. He was only barely able to throw one of the eggs at it before it got way, way too close for comfort, and he started nudging the young senshi.
"Run. Runrunrun!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2025 1:37 pm
“I’m sorry,” Saiph retorted, voice sharp, “I didn’t realize you wanted her attacking while you were stuck in a bush!”
Maybe throwing an egg had made the bird angrier, but it had also kept it from charging straight away. At least until the officer also started throwing eggs. It was weird though. Shouldn’t it have had some form of concern for its potential babies? At least nosed an egg curiously? It just acted angry for no discernible reason. And as she moved, prompted by the nudging and warning to run, Saiph could still see the bird stepping all over the eggs they’d thrown, crushing each one to dust.
“Look,” she hissed, pointing back. “They got nothin’ in them! I don’t even think she cares they’re broken!”
What the hell kind of stupid, angry parent was this?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2025 1:43 pm
That was fair enough, but he bit back the urge to snap back at her, if only because they had more concerning things to think about. Like a demon chicken that was very clearly hellbent on hurting them.
And apparently its own children, too? He slowed down a bit so he could focus on what the senshi was pointing at–crushed eggs with no evidence of anything ever being inside of any of them. Now that he thought about it, he wasn't covered in egg goo from earlier, when he wound up crushing a few eggs when he fell into the bush, too.
"Alright, so," he said as he threw another egg at the thing to try and distract it. A grin spread wide on his face when he got it square on the head, getting another hellish scream of a cluck out of the thing in the process.
"We just keep throwing these things at it 'til it gets tired?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2025 1:44 pm
Shaking her head, Saiph watched the chicken monster carefully. It wasn’t as big or as creepy as the thing that had been in that weird village she’d been trapped in years ago. But the laws of physics were the same here as they were there. And there was a decent chance of using the bird to do most of the hard work. She just needed the right moment to apply a little push.
She was sure that the thing would, well, maybe not calm down, but at least it might lose interest if there was nothing left to protect. And the bulk of the eggs was very close to where the chicken monster was snorting and squawking as it wound itself up for another charge.
Crouching and edging slightly to the side, the chibi senshi kept watching, completely focused on the bird. Once it began its charge, she grinned and waited a few more precious seconds before unleashing her magic once more.
“Tail Thrash!” she hissed, timing the attack so that it would hit the bird mid stride. Grinning slightly, she watched as the bird stumbled and tripped over its own feet and eggs, crashing to the ground and crushing the bulk of the cluster. As the bird flailed and screamed on the ground, Saiph shot a glance at the officer.
“Why try to tire her out? I’d rather take away her reasons for being angry.”
Quote: Sailor Scout Attack: Tail Thrash Effects - Able to be summoned 3 times per battle and lasting for about 15 seconds each, Saiph is able to call up a faintly glowing energy shape that (seems unable to make up its mind if it’s an ancient fish, lizard or… other creature) delivers a blow to one enemy target. At this stage, it is the sensation of a shove and is capable of causing an enemy to stumble or possibly fall depending on where the blow lands.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2025 1:51 pm
It was bound to happen that someone younger than him would have better ideas, so Staurolite kept throwing eggs while the senshi got ready to do...something. He only had his bolt, and it had a long cooldown between shots, so he didn't exactly have much of a choice here.
He stopped mid-throw when the chicken stumbled over itself, though, and the man couldn't help but laugh at the seem. It looked like something right out of a cartoon–how could he not laugh?
"If you mean get rid of the eggs, it looks like it did that for the eggs out of our reach," he said as he threw the last of what he had scooped up. Almost as soon as the last one shattered on impact after hitting the demon clucker thing on the side, it gave one final nightmare-inducing squawk before quite literally poofing out of sight.
Staurolite heaved a sigh at the smoke left in its wake, then shifted his gaze down to the younger senshi.
"Nice work.. Guess you probably didn't need me stepping in like that, huh?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2025 1:52 pm
Negaverse officer or not, Saiph was still going to enjoy being praised for having figured out a decent solution. Even if she had not expected the chicken to erupt into smoke and vanish. She’d just kind of vaguely hoped that it would have wandered off.
Glancing over at the officer, she wondered what would happen now. She knew that she was safe from corruption attempts. At least for now. But that sort of immunity didn’t extend to physical violence. Though, she held onto the reasonable hope that this guy wouldn’t be that much of a d**k.
“Well, I’m not so sure that you wouldn’t have been able to get rid of it yourself if I hadn’t been around. Working together just made it go away a little quicker.”
Glancing away, she seemed to look into the darkness, half wondering if the chicken would reappear.
“Now what happens?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 4:42 pm
He smiled when she readily gave him some credit. Not that he was planning on trying to hurt the senshi at all, but if that had been on the agenda (that is, if she wasn't a little kid), it certainly wasn't after that. Kind words were rare to come by, at least ones coming from a senshi, and there was a small part of him that wanted to run away with it like some kind of badge of honor.
"Now?" he repeated, glancing toward the quickly dissipating smoke. "Now, we should probably call it a night. I don't know about you, but after that I kinda wanna just have dinner, shower, and go to bed. So...I think I'm gonna do that."
Summoning a bag of caramel chews from his subspace, he grabbed a few and quickly handed them to her. "I don't know if you like caramels, but as a small thanks for tonight."
With that, he dismissed the bag back into subspace, waved, and teleported to the usual spot he went to, to power down and take the bus home.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
