Session Start: Sat Jan 10 16:11:12 2004 Previously, on Hunters: The first mission went well enough, with only bumps and bruises (to body and ego) for the good guys, while the baddies got dead. Coming back to the real world had some rocky moments as well, but on the whole, life is pretty good. It's Saturday afternoon, and Sakura has had this meeting scheduled all week, so everyone's assuming that it will be just a get-together, and maybe some practice. Lady Granite's supposed to be back in town today, so maybe... [Sakura's place] [Saturday, November 15, 2003, 1600 local time] [Session start] * Taki is already there. * Maya seems much less frazzled, now that time's passed and she's gotten her first job under her belt. Right now, she's just nibbling on candy and rocking on her heels to some tune in her head. * Kyouko strides in humming a tune "Rosier dakishimera rerutooo o/~" * Sakura looks down at her bathrobe and eeps minorly. Sorry. Didn't mean to keep you from getting ready. ^^; I'll change. Be right back. ... ah-heh! Sorry, Sakura. Yaa. * Leena almost-walks in, with her usual extremely high level of bounciness. She's got a straw hat on, with a yellow t-shirt that has white fadeouts of various shapes, and a dark-red fuku to go with it, along with her backpack. * Taki notices her card folder on the table and quickly closes it and hides it. Hi! *wave, bounce in place, smile* Hey, Leena! * Maya waves, as she is wont to do. * Kyouko sways back and forth slightly to the song she's humming. Kyouko is wearing her hair in pigtails, and has on her Takeuchi Swimming hoodie, and a light grey skirt. * Taki is wearing all black (of course) in the form of a light dress that frills at the bottom with a long sleeve mesh shirt on underneath and her usual boots. * Secretary walks in and closes the door behind her. * Secretary has a plain grey business suit on. It ought to make her look older and dowdy, but for once her clothing choice fails to do that, and instead makes her look like a gawky teenager playing dress-up. * Leena waves at the Secretary. Hi. Hii. Hi. ^__^ Heya! How've you been? Yo. This is going to be all of you today - Chimera is handling lease arrangements on the new apartment, Minami is... detained, and Darkmoon (*sigh*) had an emergency with a pet and is spending the afternoon at the vet's. * Maya is, for the record, in a skirt, striped stockings and her usual magician/illusionist t-shirt: this one's Copperfield. * Taki doesn't really look it, and is kinda lost in her own thoughts. I'm just fine. Of course. * Leena blinkblinks. "Pet?" ... yeah, pet? * Secretary looks just a little haunted. He takes care of the Ladies' and Princesses' pets. And Pets. ...Oh. Poor guy... * Leena hmphs. * Sakura returns from the bedroom in slacks and a sweatshirt. At least he didn't need to take his wolf form to the vet. ^^ Point, point. So, what's on the docket for today, Sakura? Sorry, sorry. That was uncalled for. Well, I was going to do some more practice. We haven't done show-and- tell with all of our members yet... ...but then I got a call from the Queen around noon. ..Oh. .... ...what does she want? * Leena mutters something Not Nice under her breath. * Taki quirks an eyebrow. Hmm? * Maya raises an eyebrow. "Really now." * Sakura gestures to the Secretary who is still standing by the door and hits the light switch. * Sakura raises a remote, and the monitor comes to life. It's a real mission... maybe. Why the maybe? * Leena gulps. "Another one? So soon?" * Maya finds a place to sit. The monitor shows a young - maybe twelve or thirteen at the most - girl. She's cute, and has her long brown hair back in braids. * Taki watches the monitor, not making eye contact with the other girls at all. This... is Princess. * Maya pauses. "... Princess?" Princess what? Princess Princess? ... Apparently just Princess. I don't get it either. Weird. * Leena blinkblinks, a slightly confused look on her face. She is a magical girl. I have her address, but the Queen refused to send me her name. So we know who she is, but we don't have an idea what she can do? Must be powerful... Well, at least there won't be another team this time. ... please say not another team? I don't know. There's a lot of weird things about this one. ...weird things? She's by herself. No mentor, no team, despite her obvious young age. * Taki looks uncomfortably at the girl and idly flips through her folder to see if she can find a matching card. Looks like she hasn't been one for long... Her family lives all the way out in Sunashinden, which is a bit out of the normal radius Ladies have been showing up in around Tokyo. * Maya frowns slightly, rubbing her nose. "You'd think. Sakura, is she in trouble, or... what?" It looks like she hasn't been for long... but I have a note that she first transformed in January of 2000. Almost four years ago. Taki fails to find a matching card. * Leena frowns. "Better weird than a team." She must have been one of the first... ... waitasec. Four years ago? And she's this young? * Taki hmms. Nobody transforms that young. NOBODY. So... is our mission to protect her? Maybe that's her Princess power. Like Lord Oldman. to transform young? ..oh. that. It could keep her young or something. That would be awful. She could be like me. I look younger than I am. But... that's a lot... Maybe, but... either way, she is pretty young. Does we know if she's fought Ningyo before? * Sakura flips through her dossier. "It says she's been in battles, but not that she's had any kills." Yeah, shouldn't there be some record of powers... Doesn't list any. That's... okay. So are we going to investigate who she is? I'm not sure what the Queen wants. Yeah, what's our mission? Anyway, this is all a little backward from the usual arrangements. Apparently "Princess" thinks that someone or something is following her around. And the Queen is dispatching us to figure it out. * Leena blinks. And... deal with it appropriately. And we can't contact her? The Queen must be highly interested in this 'Princess', then. * Leena crosses her arms. "Princess Weird." No, this time we're supposed to coordinate *with* her. ... yeah, the Queen really must be interested in her. * Maya sighs for some reason or another. Still gotta keep our normal mission a secret, right? I... don't know. Well, uh... Do we go visit her now, then? We probably shouldn't discuss other missions with her. * Maya groans. "A whole lots of unknowns... I don't like this." Nobody will be shooting at us this time, at least. Yes. She is supposed to meet us at the Sunashinden train station at 1800. Why do you say that, Leena? You never know, Leena. * Leena tilts her head. "Because there would be mention of guns or a threat, or something. I think?" Well, I hope nobody will be shooting at us this time. Indeed. Me too. It's still really strange. You shouldn't let your guard down though. It's a bit of a long ride out there, so we need to get going. It would be best if we transformed here. Right. * Leena nods. "Okay!" * Sakura transforms quickly, then looks down and realizes she's in light-pink fuku. * Taki nods and excuses herself to the bathroom. * Maya giggles at Sakura's expression. Gah. * Taki quickly transforms with a bright flash of PINK from behind the door and changes into the clothes she brought. Pardon me. * Maya goes to handle the whole transforming thing as well, her handy-dandy satchel on-hand to carry her discarded MG-wear. * Taki walks out of the restroom, dressed in black loose cargo pants and tightish black tanktop. * Sakura slips into the bedroom, then is quickly back out in a tight turtleneck and dark-grey cargo pants. She straps on a shoulder holster, then grabs a pink jacket. * Leena idly glances at the transforming people, a flicker of worry crossing her eyes for a moment. "My turn, I guess." * Maya returns, keeping the shirt while changing into some comfy corduroys that could probably fit two Mayas. "Once again into the abyss..." * Secretary looks at the lightshow wistfully. She twirls in place once, hand in the air, as if pretending to transform. * Leena retreats to do that. she returns a moment later in the garb she had one, with the addition of a neon-blue tiara that's quickly covered by the straw hat. She's still holding on to one of the godawful big shoes. * LadyMallet tosses the shoe at the Secretary. Okay... Taki, did you want to leave your card binders here? Oh, uh... sure. * LadyNightshade blushes in a you weren't supposed to say that out loud way. ... something wrong, Taki? * LadyNightshade quietly sets her bag on the table. No... nevermind. * LadyNightshade doesn't look up at Mysteria. Okay... let's go! * LadyMysteria looks ready to speak, then cuts herself off and lets it go. "Sure thing, Sakura." * LadyHeat eyes the bag, and the card binders. * LadySakura heads out the door and down to the nearby train station. For once, she has to check the map and schedule to figure out how to get where they're going. Geez, that's almost an hour from here. * LadyNightshade follows closely behind Sakura, eager to get out of there. * LadyMallet almost-walks along, letting Sakura lead the way. * LadyHeat walks along by Leena * LadySakura drags Mallet (at random) towards the correct train. * LadyMysteria tags along close to Sakura, but is generally just trying to remain perky. The train ride is slow. The train ride is long. There are too many stops... but at least you have about a half a car to yourself. * LadyHeat sings to herself, as per usual "Kis meee...in za stormy.." * LadySakura leans forward and speaks quietly. * LadyMysteria relaxes, lying back and staring at the roof of the train. ...some of you were asking about weapons a week or two ago. Still interested? * LadyMallet almost immediately shakes her head... then stops for a moment, thinking. .... no. * LadyNightshade puts her light-weight black longcoat on as she left the house. ...you don't looks sure about that. It's nothing. Um... I'll do with the Gun for now. ...Leena, are you back up to full speed yet? Almost. If we get in a fight...? * LadyMysteria turns her head to listen in. * LadyNightshade looks rather distant sitting by herself. She mumbles "learn to swim" to herself in bad English. * LadyMallet draws back a little. "I wouldn't know how to use a gun. I might shoot someone else by accident or something..." Not what I meant. But okay. ... so long as you're up to the task. * LadyMallet doesn't answer... just stares at the ground. And the train rumbles on. The lights of Tokyo start to dim behind you, and some stars begin to be visible. ... heh. Forget how beautiful it is up there. * LadyNightshade idly fiddles with her coat. Messing with a button here or a strap there... There is actual forest out this way, and the neighborhoods look more and more upscale. * LadyMysteria peers out the window at the stars. The train slows, and Sakura stands. * LadyNightshade kinda becomes harder to notice the more distant she gets. This is it. * LadyNightshade gets up quietly and slinks out behind Sakura. * LadyMysteria takes a moment to stop looking out the window before standing up and stretching. "Right, right..." * LadyHeat pulls herself up and heads after Sakura. "Whee." * LadySakura gets out of the train and looks around. The station is a smallish one, and there isn't any place for someone to hide. * LadyMallet stands up. She's bouncy and cheerful again, imagine that. * LadyHeat looks around for Princess. * LadyNightshade looks about the station and finds a nearby pillar to wait by. She checks her watch to see what time it is. * LadyMysteria is pretty upbeat, too, mostly because she obviously seems to like how pretty the place looks. * LadyMallet waits, looking around. So... do we call her Princess, or Princess Weird, or what? Ano... I mean. It'll be weird to just call her Princess. Just Princess, I guess. And be polite. * Princess attracts your attention by jumping up and down excitedly. In person, it's even more obvious that she isn't more than twelve, and looks more like a little girl in a Lady costume than a real magical girl, which is probably why no one is staring too hard at her silver-highlighted white fuku. * LadySakura facepalms. "She came TRANSFORMED?!?" * LadyNightshade shudders. Girl... Too... Cute... * LadyMysteria sticks her tongue out at Leena... then spots Princess. "... yeah. Um..." o_o; * LadyMallet blinkblinks, and waves. "Hiii!" * LadyNightshade tries hard to not be noticed by Princess. * LadyHeat waves to Princess "uh..hi?" * LadyMysteria manages a wave in the midst of her confusion. "Y-yeah... hi." * LadySakura recovers her composure, and strides over to the girl. I'm Sakura. These are my... teammates. *too-loud* Lady Sakura? * LadyMallet blinkblinks. Huh? * LadyMysteria eeps. "Um... er... not so loud, miss." ^^; SHHHH! Yes. We work in disguise, so please don't tell the world. * LadyNightshade tries to control her urge to vomit. Huh? * Princess blinks bigly. ..We don't want people to know who we are... * LadyMallet glances at Taki briefly, then back to Princess, and bounces over to her. "Hey, we got someplace better to talk, right?" Oh, okay! Yeah. Um... * LadyMysteria boggles a little, then just looks at Sakura. * Princess grabs Sakura's arm and drags her to a coffee shop down the street. * LadyMallet grabs Princess by one arm, and starts pulling her out of the station, saying, "Come on, come on!" Um... do you normally walk around transformed? * LadyMysteria tags along, as usual, just sorta dumbfounded as she stares at Princess. ...is it bothering you, Miss Sakura? * LadyHeat eyes Princess. ...yes. * LadyNightshade walks very far in the back. I don't know these people... * LadyHeat sighs. "This is so weird..." You're telling me. * Princess slows down and lets go of Sakura. She walks behind a tree, which hides a dim pulse of silvery light, then comes back into view dressed in a neon- red jumpsuit. Better? O_o * LadyNightshade tries not to look directly at the jumpsuit. ...I guess. * LadyMallet nodnods. "Better." ^_^; That's..really bright.. * LadyMysteria does, and has to blink a few times from the effort. "Sakura, this one's going to be one we'll look back on and laugh about. Right?" You need to be more careful, uh, Princess... Princess... what is your title, anyway? Princess. * LadySakura rolls her eyes at Maya. Just 'Princess'? * LadyMallet tilts her head. "So what do we call you?" Just Princess. Yeah, I know it's weird. ... You don't have a normal name? *blinkblink* Um, and Her Majesty told me not to tell you my real name. ... oh. ... ah. Figures. ...oh. I think she's just being paranoid. She's always been a little weird. ... a little? * LadyMallet nods in agreement, too quickly. *under breath* A lot. ...yeah. just a little. * LadyMysteria chuckles. "I think I'm going to like you, Princess." * LadyMallet looks around... * Princess ducks into a storefront marked "Bean Bean Heaven" in English. * LadyNightshade stays well away from the group, blending in with the crowd and casually watching from a distance. Come on, we'll talk over coffee. * LadyMallet follows after Princess, almost-walking as usual. * LadyMysteria slinks into the storefront; she takes one big inhale once she's inside. "Coffee. *Yes*." * Princess marches straight up to the counter and orders a triple expresso. O_o I'd like an iced coffee. And the girl is on my tab. * LadyNightshade thinks "You're giving her _coffee_?" * LadyHeat sits at a table quietly. She's not a big coffee person. Thanks, Miss Sakura! * LadyMysteria shrugs, then goes and orders herself something sweet and definitely bad for her, judging from the massive amounts of cream she demands on top. * LadyNightshade takes up position by a shop down the street. * Princess sits down with Lady Heat. "And who are you?" * LadyMallet blinkblinks, shrugs, and grabs a chocolate bar from her backpack, then takes a seat. I'm Heat...you can call me Kyouko I guess. And how about you? * LadyMysteria sits down with the group proper and goes to town, a bit grin on her lips. * LadyMallet nods after Heat says her piece, then speaks herself. "Mallet." Mallet? Neat! * LadyMallet ... blinks. "Ano... I didn't think I had any fans." No, it's just a cool idea. ... * LadyMallet sighs half-heartedly. *turns to Maya* What about you? * LadyNightshade watches Princess drink the espresso. 'She's going to explode...' she mumbles. * LadyMysteria chuckles, then nods Princess' way. "Lady Mysteria." ...wasn't there another one in your group? .... how do you know about our group? ...no.. I think she means Ta--Nightshade. There were five of you that got off the train together. * LadyMallet blinks. "Oh." * LadyHeat looks around for Taki. * LadyMysteria looks around, too. "She's... er, she's complex." She's already on the job. *nodnods* She's probably keeping an eye out. * LadyNightshade is hiding. You can't see her. Nyah. Oh! You guys are cool! ... ...so how can we help you, Princess? ... we're cool? * LadyMysteria seems honestly amazed to have heard that. * LadyMallet says, a bit annoyed, "You say that so easily." ...cool? You are just a little kid, aren't you? * Princess makes a face at Mallet. I age as fast as I can, hammer-girl. Not my fault that I got my powers at eight. * LadyMallet makes one RIGHT BACK. That's really young... Eight? ... I think I'm really going to like you. Still, that is really young. Wow. .... don't call it a hammer. <_< It's not a hammer. It's a mallet, not a hammer. Yeah, my cousin was showing off what she could do, and I said I wanted to be like her. ...so she scrunched her face up funny like she was having a bowel movement, and then suddenly I transformed! Poof! Your cousin's one of us? Who is she? * LadyNightshade idly browses the shops around the street. It's all high-end luxury goods and gourmet stores. * LadyNightshade grumbles at the lack of anything particularly gothy. Let me guess- -she's the Queen! ....Ah. * Princess looks around, as if worried someone might have heard. Poor girl. Gah. ... hoi. Yeah, it sorta sucks. * LadyMysteria suddenly pales a little. I get to transform, but I don't get any special powers. Oh, that's why. Wait... that's... it? All you can do it transform? * LadyMallet blinks, slowly. Then laughs, before covering her mouth. * LadyMysteria hrms. "Wouldn't that technically make you Princess Princess?" ... or Princess Queen? Well, I get stronger and quicker and smarter a little too - but not, you know, super strong or anything. I can't lift refrigerators or anything. Ah. Well, that's better than nothing... I guess. Yeah, well, I'm just Princess. Go figure. * LadyHeat eyes Leena. * LadyNightshade feigns interest in one shop or another, while keeping an eye on the area and the girls. ...go figure. Fridges...or really big clocks. ... most girls can't lift refrigerators. Most of them can blow them up with a flick of their finger, though. * LadyMysteria nodnods. "Yep." * LadyNightshade looks up oddly. She starts examining the people in the area a bit more carefully. So... Princess. Someone is following you? * Princess looks spooked all of a sudden. I think so. * LadyNightshade looks for other people that might also be watching the girls. What do you know? Do you have any idea what they might look like? Have you seen them? It all started after the last Ningyo attack up this way a couple weeks ago. Coz' sent Princess Munifigant... Magnimoniet... Mmenneee... gah. The Tiara Princess. Oh, Princess Media Hog? Majestic Tiara. * LadyMysteria smirks a little. I like my name for her better. * LadyMallet unconsciously smacks one fist into the other. "I've got a few things I'd like to say to her." She came up and handled it, but even after she left, there was sort of this spooky feeling like there was still something around. * LadyNightshade idly approaches the shop, keeping her eyes alert. Maybe there's some.. wierd magic? Then a few nights ago, there were some sounds outside my house, and I caught a glimpse of a couple of shapes running away when I went to the window. I don't know if they were human or Ningyo or what. Ningyo don't go sneaking around houses.... Hm. Either way, someone should look into that, and by 'someone' I mean us. Have there been any other things you've seen? After that, I started looking out more. * Princess is starting to sound really serious, not bubbleheaded at all. Yeah..? Good for you. Well, it's good for you to stay alert. * LadyNightshade slips into the coffee shop and looks around at the patrons there and checks into the back area. I never saw them. But there's definitely something out there. Whenever I get that creepy feeling, I catch a glimpse of something disappearing around a corner or into an alleyway. The coffee kitchen is frantic - everyone hyped on caffeine and sloshing boiling liquids everywhere. * LadyMallet glances at Sakura. "Got a spare headset?" And it's starting to scare me a little. So I called my cousin, and she sent you down. For her? * LadyMallet nods. A kid holding a headset might be a little too obvious... and what's the range on those things, anyway? A few klicks. * LadyMallet blinks. "They're easy to conceal." But no, I don't - we normally don't work with the protectees, so I didn't think to bring an extra. Dang. Huh? Just thinking about tactics, dear. * LadyMysteria hrms, rubbing her chin. "It would be good for her to have some way to buzz us direct if something's wrong. And, natch, Taki's in her element here. I bet she's probably snooping around and shopping for her sweetheart at the same time right now." * LadyMysteria pauses to smile. Yu could tell us over the headset when you've got this spooky feeling, rather than just hunting down one of us in person. I saw her come in a minute ago and check out the kitchen. * LadyNightshade doesn't seem to find anything and can't resist the urge for coffee and orders an expresso before slipping back outside. They've been getting closer - I can hardly go outside now without feeling it - I think they followed me to the train station. So don't transform so much...? If I go out there now... I bet they would converge again. Maybe if you didn't draw so much attention to yourself... Yeah...you make it really easy... Hmm. But, if she stopped, it would alert them, wouldn't it? Princess, were you there when Majestic Tiara fought that Ningyo? Transformed? ...yes. Why? ... what're you thinking, Sakura? * LadySakura looks grim. * LadyMysteria frowns a tiny bit, not liking where this is going. What if someone... one of our enemies... was at the fight, but instead of shooting, tailed her home? ... hn. * LadyMysteria 's frown deepens. Even worse - is keeping track of who she meets? Then it's obvious. We find them, and beat them up. * LadyNightshade looks around a bit more outside before deciding it best just to wait it out and takes up a seat at a nearby outdoor cafe. ...that's one way to put it. Beat them up? Worse. ...huh? Nothing, dear. No, not worse. We need to ask them stuff. * LadySakura shakes her head at the others. If you keep k-... oh. ... yeh. * LadyMysteria sighs, slapping her forehead. * Princess looks confused. * LadyMallet blinkblinks. Princess, would you mind going out and acting as bait for a while? We'll follow you, and watch for whoever is tailing you. * LadyMysteria nods, then tries (even though she's knows she's got a snowball's chance) to spot Taki. Taki's not doing the invisibility thing, so she spots her after a few seconds. * LadyMysteria tries to wave Taki over through the whole din-of-the-crowd thing. What should we do? * LadyNightshade is quietly sipping her coffee, and pretends not to notice Mysteria. * Princess thinks about it, mental gears visibly churning, then brightens. "Sure!" * LadyNightshade finds some newspaper to pretend to read. ... nyeh. She probably knows what we're going to do anyway. * LadyMallet stands up. "I'll stay with Princess... and I'll let you know if she notices anything via the headphones." That's a good idea. * LadySakura said that. * LadySakura gets up as well. It'll be fun! I never get to work in a team. * LadyMysteria gets up, too. "Alright... let's hope we can wrap this up tonight." * Princess zips out of the coffee bar, the expresso finally kicking in. ... hey! <_< * LadyMallet takes chase after Princess. ...Yay? Yay. Ohboy. * LadyNightshade tails Princess. If she gets hurt, guess who the Queen is going to hammer. All of us? Got it in one. all of us...and all of them? * LadySakura scoots after Princess, looking vaguely grim. * LadyMysteria heads out to catch up (from a distance) then. Okay, is everyone turned on? I mean, your radios? * LadyMallet chimes in over them, "Yeah!" * LadyHeat blushes. "My radio's on." * LadyMysteria handles the radio bit. "I'm on it." Taki? * LadySakura looks around for Nightshade. * LadyNightshade presses the button on her radio. "Yes?" Okay. If they look threatening, use full force. If they're just watching... we'll try something more subtle. You got it. I got a weird feeling while you were in the shop. Yeah. * Princess skips down the street, window shopping. ...oh? * LadyMysteria digs out her wand and tucks it into her pocket for ease of grabbing. It was like a Ningyo except... different somehow. * LadyHeat pulls a waterbottle out and unscrews the cap, taking a drink. Funky. I couldn't find anything out of the ordinary, though. Maybe it is magic? Could be anything. Stay alert. * LadyMallet follows along with Princess, matching her skipping with her almost- walking. She's trying to keep an eye out, but look like she's having fun with Princess. It faded though. Not sure if it's still around. * Princess turns the corner onto a side street. It's darker here, with alleys and unlit storefronts. * LadyMallet glances down the alley... "It's dark in here." The mall is this way! Just a few blocks over. This is a shortcut. Oh! Right! * LadyMysteria is not-too-far off, clinking those trick-rings together without even looking. "Everything alright for now, Leena?" * LadyNightshade slips around a corner and disappears. She then follows closer to Princess invisibly. * LadyHeat heads after Leena and Princess. * LadyMallet cues the headsets, filling the team in on their position. The feeling strikes all of you at once. Taki was right - it is reminiscent of Ningyo, but definitely different. Not as intense, and with a different "smell". What's that? ... nyaaah. * LadyNightshade looks around the area cautiously. * LadyMallet stops, and looks around. "Ano?" ...Uh. * Princess shivers. "Do you fell that, Miss Hammer? * LadyMysteria shivers a little and scans about. "That was weird." * LadyMallet nods quietly. Maybe we should leave the alley. No, we want to draw them out? I'll take care of Princess if it comes to a fight... * LadyNightshade rushes ahead of Princess, checking the streets for lurking types. Alright... just be careful! We can't mess this up... But... just in case. Don't slow down. Tell her to keep moving, Leena. * LadyMallet nudges Princess. "Come on, let's go." * LadySakura checks six, spots nothing, then moves forward at a faster pace. * LadyHeat heads after Leena and Princess, looking around the alley. * LadyMysteria is still moving, rings put away for the time being. She's that nervous. * LadyNightshade remains ahead of the group, invisible and scanning the area. The feeling intensifies as everyone moves forward, but never becomes so sharp as a Ningyo appearance would be. We're getting closer to it? ...this is scary. It's never been so strong. * LadyHeat shivers a bit. This is creeping Kyouko out, like something on the very edge of her vision. * LadyNightshade tries to trace it to the source. I don't know. It's like it's reacting to all of us... Be strong... we'll settle this. * LadyNightshade concentrates on where the feeling is coming from. Odd clicking noises are heard from a crossing alley ahead, and then a moment later something comes out. * LadyMallet squeezes Princess's shoulder encouragingly. What is it? * LadyNightshade rushes up to it. * LadyMallet steps in front of Princess. * LadyHeat readies her waterbottle. * LadyMysteria hustles, getting ready for action as the feeling worsens. It's a giant crab - nearly the sized of a hunched-over man - dark crimson and with huge claws which click menacingly in the silence of the back street. It is standing on its hind legs, and does not look able to move very fast. ...Ew. ...ooooookay. * LadyMysteria makes a face, tensing up a bit. "... a crab." * LadyMallet eyes it. "Who's up for crab legs?" * LadyNightshade stops in front of it and looks it up and down. It lurches forward towards Princess, waving its claws and making strange gurgling noises. * LadyMallet pushes Princess out of the way Hey stop! Eeeeek! *oof* * LadyHeat tosses water towards the crab. Hey! Big and ugly! Leave her alone! Wait! * Princess slams into the wall of the alley, totally overpowered by Mallet's strength. * LadyNightshade says that to Mallet. Easy, Leena! * LadyHeat waits on the boiling? * LadySakura is sprinting forward, pulling out the pistol. What do you want? The crab looks like it enjoyed being splashed with water. * LadyMysteria is rushing ahead as well, wand out and looking worried. The crab is frightened by the girl seemingly materializing in front of him, and swims a long claw-arm at her. It doesn't manage to grab her, but it takes a deep chunk out of her abdomen. ... holy...! * LadyNightshade steps back a bit and holds her side. So that's how it has to be, is it? Oooh. * Princess gets up in time to see the bloodspray. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!" * LadyMallet raises up one hand, opening up the MalletPortal. She's not moving from between Princess and Crab, though. Princess, stay back! We've got this... thing... The Portal sputters once, then coughs the Mallet out into her hand. It's still not back to normal after the Purity encounter- a basketball-sized lump on a noticeably shortened stick. * LadyMallet growls, irritated. The Mallet begins to vibrate, preparing itself for battle. * LadyNightshade ducks and dives at the critter, whipping out a quick three-hit kick, punch, kick combo on it. * Princess lifts a hand, and transforms. Good thing the alley affords privacy, since hers has a lengthy nude sequence built in. The crab rebounds off a wall, and wobbles back towards the Ladies. One of its claws is broken. * LadyHeat is vaguely blinded by the transformation. * LadyMallet has her back to Princess, so nyah. Waitasec. Did you hear that? * LadyMysteria wasn't paying much attention. * LadyNightshade falls back into a stance. Ready for the next attack. What. More? ... eh?! ..no? Moments later, everyone does - there's a scrabbling, moving sound coming up the alley from the opposite direction. * LadyHeat turns around, water bottle readied. ... watch that one for me. I got this one! I've got it. * LadyMysteria strikes a pose, as much as she tries not too, and just lets out a somewhat angry cry as her wand coughs up a burst of sparkling light and heat that goes at, into, and then through the thing, turning it into assorted bits of mangled crab-beast. * LadyHeat waits for the other crab to show up, waterbottle in hand. She's relaxed some as the crabs seem easy to beat. Sakura, should I get Princess out of here? * LadySakura raises her pistol, stepping to one side so she has a clear shot in the direction the sounds come from. * LadyNightshade moves toward the girl. They've changed things, haven't they. Huh? I mean...now we get giant killer crabs too. Yeah... I know about Ningyo... but just what *are* these things? More Ningyo? This... is different. Why the hell is this different!? I hate this job! Gyah! A flash of white fur skitters out of a side alley, makes a sliding turn on the pavement, then sprints towards the group. *WOOF* ... Eeek! What?! * LadyHeat tosses water at it. * LadyNightshade prepares to tackle it. * LadyMallet moves to get in between her and it. Again. It's a big, shaggy dog. It ducks under the water, and goes straight for Princess. *WOOOF* * LadyHeat grabs another water bottle, fumbling with the cap and drops it. "Damnit!" She grabs another one off her belt and unscrews it. * LadyNightshade grabs at the dog. Nightshade gets both arms around the dog and brings it down for a second. It gets back up, though, and drags her along towards Princess. ...it doesn't look like it's fighting Nightshade, though. *WOOOOooooOOOOOF* * LadyHeat STARES. "Uh." * LadyNightshade blinks. "A... Dog?" * Princess presses her back against the wall, uncertain what to think of this. The dog ducks between Mallet's legs, still dragging Taki. ... hey! ... wha? * LadyNightshade is drug down the alley and tries to get her feet down to push against it. Uh... Down! Heel! Stop please... ;_; * LadyHeat runs after the dog and Nightshade. Bad! Bad! Mallet goes flying a meter or so. Sorry Leena! ... Eek! * LadyMysteria has to stop for a moment to just *stare*. Bad Dog! NO BISCUIT! * LadyHeat yells after the dog. * Princess cringes as the dog gets up on its hind legs and puts it's front paws on her shoulders. ...and licks her face. * LadyHeat stops running. and stares more. "...." .... You are so dead, Darkmoon. Eeeek! * LadyMysteria continues to stare as well, then snaps out of it and keeps her eyes peeled. ...Darkmoon? I found you! WOOOOOF! * LadyNightshade hangs from the dog, defeated. Did it just talk? ... the hell? ....it's a Pet. * Princess winces, and claps her hands to her ears as it barks. Sorry. * LadyHeat twitches slightly. So...giant crab? Yeah... * LadyNightshade lets go of the dog and drops to the ground. * LadySakura puts the gun away, and shakes her head. We could...cook it. or something. * LadyMysteria scans around hastily for a moment, then relaxes. ...you're... a friend? * LadyNightshade rubs her backside. "Owie..." I'm your friend, miss. * Dog backs up a little, and drops to all fours. * LadyNightshade gets up slowly. is your side okay Nightshade? Yeah... you alright? * Princess bends over just a little to get eye-to-eye with it. * LadyMysteria walks Taki's way, coming down from the whole adrenaline high. *dreamy* Yeaaaahhhh... * LadyNightshade looks down at her gaping wound. "I'll be okay..." Sure are a big dog...Mr..Dog. * LadySakura goes over to Nightshade. "Sit down for a second. " * LadyNightshade sits back down. * LadyNightshade winces as her side aches from the sudden movement. Should we... um, bring some of this back for the Princesses and the Queen to look at? * LadyMysteria points her wand to the crab-gibs before tucking said wand away. ...some of the crab? No. I've heard of sea monster attacks before, though I hadn't seen one. * Princess stands back up, somehow having communicated with the Pet. I guess...at least it all worked out? Thank you! Thank you all! So uh... is that it then? * LadyMallet blinkblinks. ...'guess so. She's been following that crab around, thinking that it was stalking me, but she couldn't find me... Er... yeah. I guess. * LadyNightshade looks at Sakura, while holding her side. * LadySakura smiles at Princess. "Glad we could help." I'm sorry I couldn't help. Thanks for letting me come, though! Yeah... well, here's to hoping that's all... and no problem! * LadyMysteria smiles brightly. "It was good to meet you." * LadyNightshade scoots over to a nearby wall and leans against it painfully. * LadyMallet blinks, slowly. * Princess looks over at Taki. ...Miss... I'm sorry, you got hurt for me and I don't know your name. * Princess bows deeply. The dog does too, in perfect unison. "Thank you very much." Lady... Nightshade. The creepy feeling died with the crab. Somehow the night seems very pretty now. If I can ever do anything for you, Nightshade-sama, just let me know. * LadyMallet swings the Mallet around a few times in a lazy arc. * LadyMysteria does the first thing that comes to mind now that the feeling's lifted; break out the rings and work the old magic again. So... why was it following you? Weird... * LadySakura shrugs. "We may never know." * Princess looks down at the dog, then becomes even more serious. I need to get home. It's going to take a few hours to convince mom to let me keep her. Thank you, thank you all. You're so cool, and so nice. I hope we meet up again. Okay... take care, alright? .... I guess... ..yeah. * LadyMysteria blushes at the 'cool and nice' bit. "T-thanks." Goodbye, Princess. Even Sakura is smiling. * Princess walks off to the north, the dog at her side. * LadyMysteria waits for Princess to vanish from sight, then sighs. "... that was worth the hassle." How very strange. * LadySakura checks her watch. Taki, can you get up? There's a train in ten minutes, then none for almost a half hour. So.. the little girl got her big, big dog.