Previously, on Hunters: An era ended, as Sakura got transferred to management. The Queen made her choose a successor from within the team, and after some deliberation the mantle of leadership landed on Maya with a dull thud. The first mission after the reorganization, though, promises to be relatively tame: The Queen is using the team to escort Princess on a weekend trip to a certain local amusement park. [Saturday, December 13, 2003 - 1300 local time] [Outside Princess's home] [session start] ... * Taki stands out on the sidewalk away from the house. * Maya rocks on her heels, in red overalls, a Gallagher-style shirt and a couple of cute little rainbow hair ribbons. "Now, then... I guess we wait for her." Princess's home is a standalone house - even in this mildly affluent neighborhood, there are only small front yards - no grand expanses of lawn. What, no knocking on the door or anything? * Lord_Darkmoon is there in a blue-and-green heavy jacket with some rather plain gray gloves on. His hair is tied back in its usual ponytail, and caught inside the jacket. ...also, weird. Wonder why her parents aren't taking her. * Leena could probably power several city blocks, as bouncy and as excited as she is. The trip there consisted entirely of her singing "Ahh~myuuuu~smeeeeent paaaaark~u!" Thankfully, she's shut up now that they've gotten there. Well, I doubt they can protect her like we can. ... * Minami shrugs. "True. I guess they told her we were her friends or something." * Taki looks down at the ground, ignoring everything. * Maya makes with the knocking. "Or... no waiting. Hello?" * Leena blinks. "You're all slow!" * Leena bounces forward, and knocks. And knocks, and knocks. * Mother opens the door after a minute. She's a lot older than you might expect, and stooped over in what looks like incipient osteoporosis. * Lord_Darkmoon smiles warmly at the woman, but stays back, letting Maya, the leader, do the talking. ... eh-heh. Ah, good afternoon, ma'am. * Maya bows politely and such. * Leena stops mid-knock, looking up at the nice lady. "Hello!" ^__^ * Minami pulls Leena back a few steps as she bows in greeting. Yeeees? Oh, you must be Elly's friends. Despite her apparent decrepitude, the lady still can bellow. "ELLLLY? YOUR FRIENDS ARE HEEEEEEERE!" * Maya yeeps a little at the yell. "Y-yes, ma'am." ^^; * Mother ducks back into the house. You hear some heated discussion about behaving like a proper young lady and not giving the nice people a hard time. * Leena bounces in place, waiting. * Maya waits as well, a-rockin' on her sneakers. Princess comes hurtling out the door as soon as the lecture ends. Hiiiiiiiiiiii! * Taki paces a bit, looking around. Hello. ^_^ *polite bow* * Minami backs up a bit. "Whoa...hi there." Hey there! ^^ Her large shaggy dog comes trotting out as well. Come on come on come on! Yes yes yes! Let's gogogooooo! * Lord_Darkmoon raises a pleased eyebrow at the dog. "And hello to you, too." ^_^ * Minami crosses her eyes at the Leena/Princess one-two punch, and shakes her head a bit. Be careful, Princess. Er, yeah, le--wha? * Leena eyes the dog. Heh. Excited, girls? We'll be fine! Don't worry about us, we can take care of ourselves. ^__^ * Maya peers at the dog, pauses, then just shakes her head. "Yeah, let's. We could all use the fun." * Lord_Darkmoon blinks at Mina's apparent confusion. Doesn't she recognize a Pet when she sees one? Oh, wow, it's so good that you agreed to do this! Mom can't go on any of the rides, and they won't let me into the park by myself and coz' doesn't like me so close to the Bay... * Minami shrugs and moves on. She probably wasn't expecting it is all. * Maya starts towards... well, wherever they're supposed to be going. "How've you been, Princess, since last time?" Oh, well. May I inquire as to your name? *asked of the dog as they walk along* Take care of her! WOOF! She calls me Woofy. ...I have another name, but I guess it doesn't matter. Oh, Maya, hi! I've been good - no Ningyo, no problems at all. Oh, not coming with us. Alright. *smiles* First time a Pet's given its girl into my care, rather than the other way around. And if you wish, Woofy it is. Pleased to meet you. See you later. *waves, and follows Maya, Princess, and the others* Great! That's always good to hear. * Minami holds out a hand to Princess. "Sorry, I don't think we've met. I'm Minami." * Leena pets the cute big doggy for a moment, then hops on it, sitting on it's back. "So cute!" The dog pants at Darkmoon in a friendly, "nice to meet you" way, then ducks back into the house. He is a nice dog... Princess could use an extra pair of eyes, just in case... but anyway. Amusement Park! ( Before Leena can break it. ) * Maya points forward dramatically. Good to meet you, Minami! * Leena looks disappointed. ;_; And good to see all of... where's Sakura? * Princess starts off towards the train station, striding mightily. * Leena blinks, and starts bouncing again. "Come on, let's go!" Um... Sakura was promoted. She's not with our group anymore. Maya's in charge, now. I'm Rinada, by the way. Pleased to meet you. *bows politely* Oh! Princess Sakura! Cooool! * Princess notices Darkmoon for the first time. * Taki trails far behind the group. Looking everywhere but at Princess. * Minami shrugs and grins a little at the kid. "Yup." Rina....da. *_* ... hoboy. * Leena stops, and blinks, at that. "Uh-oh." * Maya shakes her head, chuckling. * Minami snickers. * Princess slows down as the stars in her eyes explode. * Maya looks at Mina. "We have a winner." ^_^ * Leena quickly steps forward, grabbing Princess by one arm and dragging her. "You wouldn't like him. He's a dork and he's too quiet and he's ... um. He's taken by someone already!" * Minami 's eyes widen. "Oh, my." * Princess turns back to Leena. "You didn't tell me about HIM last time! Trying to keep the cute ones for yourself? ... eh-heh.. *pats Princess on the back* Let's go; the park won't wait all-- *is interrupted by Leena, and accepts her semi-intentional rescue gracefully* As IF. Don't say stuff like that, I'd never be interested in him, ever! * Princess shivers as the cuuuute Lord touches her. Great! Then I can have him? ... wow, you're direct. ^_^; * Maya is obviously getting a kick out of this. He's taken already! * Princess turns back to Darkmoon. "Rinada-san, can we room together tonight?" * Leena blinkblinks, and waves a hand in front of Princess's eyes. ... very direct. o_o So, umm...Amusement park! * Princess scurries up the train platform, and into a convenient train. * Lord_Darkmoon smiles, just a touch nervously. "Ladies and Gentlemen don't share rooms, Princess. And I know you want to be a proper young lady, don't you?" ^_^ Amusement park. * Maya stays behind Princess, now more worried about Darkmoon's purity than anything else. * Minami follows Princess onto the train. Well, some of you are sharing a room with me... * Princess opens up a thick folder full of travel stuffs. See! * Princess hands Maya reservations for tonight at the Tokyo Disney Ambassador Hotel. 'Coz got us two suites. * Maya peers into the folder, then takes the reservations and pores through them. "Whoa... nice. *Very* nice." So we're just going to have to divvy up the rooms, then. * Minami looks over Maya's shoulder and whistles. "You got that right." * Leena slows down her pace, too fall back with Darkmoon, and grabs one of his hands a bit more tightly than she needs too. . "I'm rooming with him. So nyah." ... ... ... Princess or Leena. Choices. * Maya rubs her chin mock-thoughtfully as she takes a random seat. Uhhh...well, I kinda thought Kenji was going to be rooming with him. *shrugs* Also in the folder are a special reservation confirmation sheet, and a sheaf of dual tickets for Disneyland and DisneySea. I di-- oh, heh. I guess I don't need overnight gear, after all. ^^; *mostly to himself* True, but that would be a lot of people in one room. And besides, we're mature people... right? * Taki quietly reads a newspaper on the other side of the train car. * Minami eyes Leena and Princess. "Some of us." * Taki at least makes it look like she is in any case. ... duly noted. * Leena eyes Minami back, then looks up at Darkmoon. She whispers something in his ear. Okay, then I'm with Leena and Rinada! * Lord_Darkmoon bends down to hear what Leena's whispering. * Minami chuckles and finds herself a seat. Well.... I... guess that works. * Maya offers up another pity-headshake. * Lord_Darkmoon offers a small smile when Leena's done, and replies, "Of course, my Lady." He then goes to find himself a seat, as well. * Leena blinkblinks at Princess again. "Minami can teach you how to cheat at cards, though." Hey! I don't cheat! I'm just extremely skilled. Hey. Learning to cheat teaches you how to catch people cheating. * Princess thinks about it for a half-second. Nobody I know plays cards, though. * Minami smirks. "Better watch it, Leena. Someone might think you were, shall we say...being possessive?" * Leena crosses her arms, and hmphs. "It's nothing like that." * Lord_Darkmoon hehs. "Though they'd kill me if they knew I told you this, some of my friends at school are into Yu-Gi-Oh cards." Well, Leena, she's got a point. Just relax, really. Everything will be fine. .... * Princess settles in for the ride across Tokyo, bouncing lightly on the seat. I guess. *glances at Darkmoon for a second* * Maya giggles into her hand. * Taki has cards of sorts... o/~ * Leena hops back into a seat, and crosses her arms behind her head. The ride is relatively long, as you have to transfer into a bus for the last leg of it. Finally, though, the multicolored confetti skyline of Disneyland comes into view, as well as the wide expanse of Tokyo Bay beyond. ... now *this* is an amusement park. You see an American carrier in the far distance today, with a couple of fighters circling it. * Lord_Darkmoon is entirely disinterested in the carrier, and watches the approaching park with an unreadable expression. * Princess literally throws herself out of the bus as it pulls up in front of the Ambassador Hotel. * Leena's eyes grow huge, as the place comes into view. She can't help but squeal, "We're... we're HERE!" Come on come on COME ON! * Maya doesn't give the carrier too much of a glance, too busy being pumped about the impending fun. "Coming, coming... wow, what did you eat for breakfast?" * Leena is right behind Princess. Eep. * Minami runs after Princess and Leena. * Lord_Darkmoon grabs both Leena's and Princess's hands, keeping them to a reasonable pace...though he is definitely sped up to a fast walk by their dragging. Mom says I should stay away from coffee, but it's just too good. * Taki looks over at the carrier semi-interested. * Minami phews at Darkmoon's catch, then grins at Princess. "Well, it's always good to listen to your mother, you know." * Princess looks up as Darkmoon takes her hand. "Rinada-saaaaan!" *.* ^_^; * Taki thinks loudly to herself, "... Coffee? O_o" * Maya tags along. "No kidding... maybe you should... and Rinada, you're going to have to pry the girl off with a lead pipe after this trip's over if you keep than up." I bet they have coffee ice cream here! So, uh...where to first, girls? *glances sideways at Maya as he asks this of the two he's holding on to* * Princess swings a duffel around theatrically. We need to check in, of course. * Lord_Darkmoon gives a weak, 'at least she's not running off now' sickly smile in response to Maya's probably accurate comment. Oh, of course. What was I thinking. ^^; I've still got all the goods, so let's just find the front desk and figure out who goes where. Right. * Leena stops, and blinkblinks. "Oh, yeah." Yes, the dreaded decision. * Princess heads in through the revolving door, then decides to go around in circles in it twice before exiting into the lobby. * Minami grins evilly. "Pick a card? Reds and blacks?" * Lord_Darkmoon , and consequently Leena, is dragged along behind Princess in this circuitous path. ... * Maya is stuck behind Princess for a moment, rolling her eyes until she's freed from the dreaded revolving door. * Leena 'wheeee!'s. * Minami goes on through, bemused. "Rinada, you need some help there?" The lobby staff look on bemusedly. Uh, I got it! *muttered* i think... He needs rollerblades, so he can keep up! Maybe, Mina... hm. And a hat to go with them, too! * Minami shakes her head at Darkmoon. "Well, if you're sure.." ^_^;; * Taki leans on a wall outside the lobby, waiting for everyone to stop playing with the door. C'mon girls, if we keep doing this all day, we'll never get to the park. *tugs them towards Maya and the front desk* * Maya stops at the front desk, trying to make up her mind as she passes over the needful information. Can I help... *sees the check-in sheet, and her eyes go wide* Oh! Eh? The clerk snaps her fingers, and a cloud of busboys run up and salute. * Maya kinda stares in shock. Please let us escort you to your suites! Wow. First class has its benefits. ...wow. Of... of course. ^^; * Taki casually walks in through the revolving door, removing her cool Matrix sunglasses. Can you escort us in hanggliders? The clerk giggles, and the lucky busboys take all your bags. Uhhh... Anyway... even though it's probably going to lead to something interesting tales to tell in the future... I think I'll keep the guys and the cute tag team together. * Minami waves away the busboy that comes for her satchel. "No, that's okay, I'm fine...thanks, though." * Taki hands over her duffel to the busboy. * Minami leans over to Maya and whispers. "Plus if they're being insane to the guys, they're not being insane to us? Tsk, Maya." She grins. ^^; * Maya only replies with a roll of her eyes and a knowing smile. The clerk bows deeply as the convoy files into a huge elevator. An elevator doll presses the button for the sixth floor, and up up up we go! So... what a place. * Leena nodnods enthusiastically, in agreement. You emerge into a large lounge area. Multiple 60" TV's show promotional materials for the parks, news programs, and some random sporting events. There's a bar in one corner, and expensive-looking couches all around. You are led off down one hall to a pair of doors. The busboys wait patiently for the group to divide up. * Minami's eyes widen as she looks around on the way to the suites. * Taki ogles a bit at the TVs, but doesn't lose her place trailing the group. Okay... * Princess limpets on Darkmoon. * Lord_Darkmoon is dragged along by the "cute tag team". * Maya points to the right door. "Rinada. Kenji. Cute and cuter." She then points to the left. "The lucky ones." * Leena takes the same one as Darkmoon. * Minami snickers. * Lord_Darkmoon lets Kenji open the door, as one hand is still occupied by cute, and cuter has latched onto his entire other arm. This decision-making stuff isn't so hard after all. ^_^ See, told ya. You'll get the hang of this in no time. * Minami smirks. * Leena lets go of Darkmoon whence inside, gets a running start, and jumps onto the bed, feetfirst. She bounces/jump up and down a couple of times, giggling. Leena, Princess, Darkmoon, and Kenji end up in the right suite - the rest of the girls on the left. *turns to Mina and Maya and stage whispers* Vengeance will be mine! ^_~; * Maya salutes Darkmoon. * Minami gestures to Darkmoon. "And here is Exhibit 2, an example of a Rowdy Upstart. Ya want I should take him down, Glorious Leader?" * Minami grins evilly at Darkmoon. Eep! *lets the girls drag him into the room, mock-retreating from Minami* The doors are opened, revealing suites with panoramic windows, gorgeous furniture, nearly a hundred square meters of floor space... and only two beds apiece. ...hmm. Onetwothree, I claim the single! Let him live, Mi---hey! * Leena is bouncing on one of them. Up, down. Up, down. * Lord_Darkmoon turns to Kenji. "Looks like you and I are sleeping on the floor tonight. I'll call down for a pair of futons. " Hey, I counted off first! Seriously, if any of you want the beds, that's alright. I can make do. I can sleep on a couch! * Taki strolls into the suite looking around out the windows at the view. Aw, man, now I feel bad. * Lord_Darkmoon suits action to words, letting the girls get their stuff put up. "Hello, front desk? This is room [insert suite number here]. We'll need a pair of futons tonight, please. Thanks." It's called sacrifice, Mina. I'll be fine. * Minami shrugs. "We're grown girls. Two can share. Or, alternatively, we can call up for a rollaway." * Leena blinkblinks at Princess. "You and me can share a bed. There should be enough for both of us to share a bed, easy." The busboys finish fussing around, then present both groups with gold- plated keycards. "You have to show these to get onto this floor." * Lord_Darkmoon smiles at Princess. "A growing girl like you? Nonsense. You get a bed. Ladies' prerogative." True, true. * Maya takes her keycard and nods. "Thank you, sir." Oh, okay! Thank you, sirs. *has the grace to look embarrassed; he doesn't have money to tip them with* * Taki takes a card and slips it into a pocket. * Minami takes hers, assuming she gets one too. The busboys don't wait for a tip - gratuity is apparently already included. I'm cool with sleeping on the floor. You guys can have the beds. If you insist, Taki... * Minami points to the sofa. "If you're certain you don't want a bed, that's still gonna be a lot more comfortable than the floor." * Leena whirls the keycard around one finger, before pocketing it. "Yay! Now we can go! Is there anywhere you wanted to go first, or do we immediately chase down the biggest, baddest roller coaster they got?" Welllll... Well, we're here, so... now what? Party hard? Alright! Now that we've got our stuff here, what are we waiting for! Let's go get the others! *heads out the door, key-card in pocket, and knocks on the other suite door* I was to Disneyland a couple of years ago, but I didn't get to see DisneySea that time. So, let's go there first! I'll make due... * Maya opens up the door a few moments after Rinada knocks. * Taki goes back to looking out the window at the view. You ladies ready to head out? *lowers his voice* I say we wear out the tag-team as quickly as possible. * Leena nodnods sagely. "Excellent choice. You've got nothing to fear with me around." Heh, that's a good point. Where do we head first? Let's ask Princess. It's her trip, after all. More than ready. DisneySea! DisneySea! * Princess bounces slightly. So says Princess. * Lord_Darkmoon looks a bit nervous, but...lets Maya decide. * Leena adopts a vaguely MG-ish pose, ending in a dramatic point. "DisneySea, here we come!" Wheee. Well, we're following her, so that's where we go. What Taki said. Let's go! Letsgoletsgoletsgo! * Minami grins though. The elevator arrives in no time, and you're quickly out the door, across the street, past the main park in a handy trolley, and at the front gates of Tokyo DisneySea. * Lord_Darkmoon takes cute and cuter's hands again, which probably prompts them to start dragging him off at as high a speed as they can manage. You know Mina, if Rinada survives this, he'll survive anything. * Minami hangs back a bit to Maya. "Think we should go, y'know, incognito? Just in case something happens?" ...that's probably very very true. This park is generally water-themed, is right on the bay, and has lots of causeways and imitation lagoons, but is really a standard mix of land-based amusement park stuffs. No, we're fine... let's just hope for the best. If something goes wrong, we'll play it by ear from there. * Minami shrugs. "I just get a weird feeling...guess it's just hard to get back into the non-threatening-mission mode again." You're not kidding. But we have to relax sometime. * Princess waits for Maya to present tickets, then wades straight into the "Mysterious Island" park section. Yup. * Lord_Darkmoon keeps glancing nervously towards Maya during the elevator ride, as if considering something. He was doing similar during the train- and buss- rides. But when he gets dragged along, his attention is more preoccupied by the immediate excitement of his escorts. * Maya presents tickets, yes. I wonder if they've hired their own MG's to deal with Ningyo if something happens here. * Minami follows after Princess and Leena to back up Darkmoon, 'cause she feels bad about sticking him in with them overnight. That'd be neat. Free tickets, get to stay here, have fun, and beat up Ningyo when they show up? * Lord_Darkmoon spares a grateful glance for Minami's backup every now and again...just before he's dragged on again. I guess that could work, sorta. Like... Lady Disneyland or something. Or Lady Minnie. What follows is four hours of bouncing from ride to attraction to ride, getting in immediately on each with your VIP passes, and alternately being amazed, excited, or nauseated therein. * Minami tries to keep Princess and Leena from killing Darkmoon during those four hours. * Maya tries just to keep up. x_x * Lord_Darkmoon actually seems to have been infected by the tag team's enthusiasm by the end. At least once, it wasn't clear who was dragging who... Journey To the Center of the Earth is slow. The Whirlpool is an exercise in centrifugal force. Flounder's Flying Fish Coaster is a pleasant metal coaster, Sindbad's Seven Voyages is ten minutes of animatronic hell. * Leena is simply, having a helluva lot of fun. She's loving the constant, immediate, wait-free time. * Taki avoids most of the rides and just waits by the exit for everyone to finish, quietly tailing the group the entire time. * Maya notably hates animatronics, as she somehow manages to keep her eyes closed the ENTIRE time. * Lord_Darkmoon seems distracted during the animatronic/slow rides. * Leena also displays one of her stronger qualities during this whole thing. The ability to be easily amused. * Princess manages to pull the entire group around the entire circle of the park twice before she finally starts to run out of steam. Is everyone having fun!?! Oh yeah. * Minami grins. "Oodles." YES! * Lord_Darkmoon is exhibiting a benefit to being transformed: he's still able to keep going. "Definitely. I must thank you for inviting us, Princess." ^_^ * Maya smiles. Maya also looks mighty tired. Maya is also carrying a rather large cup of java. Thank you so much for your magic card that takes all the boring waiting out of this! Thank you thank you thank you! * Princess checks a watch, and eyes the setting sun. * Minami grins again. "Dinner?" * Taki looks around casually. I don't know these people... Food sounds good. * Leena immediately jumps on that suggestion. "Dinner!" Nah, we can eat after the park closes. But I do want to sit down a little, and take in a show or something. Heh. Well, okay. What show were you thinking of? * Lord_Darkmoon eyes the tired party. "Sounds like a good idea." If I read the check-in sheet correctly, our meals at the hotel are paid for. Anyway... * Princess turns in circles, looking for a show... there! C'mon! * Minami hehs kinda and follows. * Lord_Darkmoon is dragged! Coming! *bounds to the show, almost-walking at almost a run.* * Princess drags Darkmoon across the boulevard and into the "Mermaid Lagoon Theater". * Taki rubs her temples and trails behind. * Leena blinkblinks. "I wonder if they've got toy mallets in one of the gift shops here." * Kenji becomes moderately scared at the image of Leena w/ a squeaky-mallet. Maybe... And so you sit down for a show. Unsurprisingly, it's basically an abbreviated version of "The Little Mermaid". To make the show seem like it's underwater, all the performers are suspended in midair and maneuvered around in a complex pattern. * Minami looks impressed at the stagework. * Lord_Darkmoon stares at his hands through most of the show, forehead creased. * Minami pokes Darkmoon. "You finally running out of batteries?" * Kenji loses himself in the wire-flying and ends up not following the story at all. .. hey, at least it's not animatronics. Huh? Er, no... just thinking. * Taki sits at the back of the theater, keeping an eye on the group. There's a symbolic fountain at floor level, and most of the performers are in mermaid suits. They have a girl who's a spot-on perfect (Japanese) Ariel, though the hair has to be dyed, right? * Leena watches, amused. "Wish the real mermaids were that nice." They just got bitter because the...uhh...the red-haired one got lucky. *_* Suuuuuugoooooi! Wow, she's something else. Yeah. We just need to find a prince charming for the Ningyo, and they'll be all nice and lovey-dovey and get legs and forget about this whole business! Flying... would feel great.... .. Ningyo?? >.> * Lord_Darkmoon glances at his teammates every now and again. * Maya looks at Leena oddly. "You can be odd sometimes, you know this?" I guess... why, did I say something wrong? Not at all. *shakes his head, amusedly, then goes back to his almost-brooding* * Taki scans the crowd, bored. ... Taki, are you alright? You've been... well, yourself. ^^; I... uh. Taki's just afraid to have any fun. Nothing's happened since we've gotten here, it'll be fine! And fun, too. Just relax, and go on some of the rides, okay? You know. Not my thing. Leave her alone, Leena. She's a big girl, she can do what she likes. She's. uh.. working... * Minami grins at Taki. We're all working, Kenji. But no-one ever said work couldn't be fun. Um... yeah. Mou.... she'd be having fun if she just let herself... * Kenji smiles. Well... Taki, just have fun however you can. And relax, we need this vacation. I'm fine. * Taki gives a half-hearted smile. * Maya nods and leaves it at that. "... maybe I should dye my hair." * Lord_Darkmoon blinks (he'd not just been glancing at Maya when she said that, no way). "Why?" Something different. Purple, maybe? You're the leader? Aqua blue,. maybe. That's nice and leaderly. ... I like blue... What's wrong with black? * Leena blinkblinks at Taki. Hm... Purple with blue highlights would be pretty. Blue might be...hm. * Kenji flinches, going back to staring straight at the stage. "black's fine too..." Mom won't let me dye my hair... The show reaches its end after about twenty-five minutes on a sweeping rendition of the ride's title song, with the "mermaids" swimming in a huge circle through the air around the fountain. The music crescendos for the final cadence, then as the song ends, the fountain blasts out a pulse of water that drenches the entire audience, to huge applause. Nothing, but... just to be different for once. So you just want it done just because? Nonononono. Not black. The leader doesn't ever have black hair. And it doesn't stick out at all. * Minami twitches at the fountain's pulsing thingy. * Maya jerks at the water-splash and nearly hops out of her seat. "... gah, reflex." I know what you mean... * Kenji , wet. "..." * Leena nearly jumps out of her seat, at the light drenching. "Die, Ni-! ... gah." * Taki looks down at her wet clothes and grumbles. * Lord_Darkmoon grumbles, and reaches into his jacket pocket. Then he's dry. I hate water. ...but then the performers come to a grinding halt in the air, and the stage begins to flood, and you get that ineffable sense that something's just not right here... ... aw, come on. HATE water. * Minami just sighs. "Told ya, Maya." .. I take that back. Princess, come on. It's gonna get wet. ... I'll second that. Come on, Princess. Let's get you out of here. *takes the girl's hand and starts leading her out of the theater* Maya, should we...? * Leena grabs Princess and starts drag- what Darkmoon's, doing. Get her going... and I think we should hold off and see if someone else has the area staked, which I'm sure they do. Eeeeeeep! yeah-- the regulars should be here soon * Minami gets the lead out. "Yeah, but we'll be in better shape to protect her if...oh, well." The lights go out, leaving only the emergency exits lit, then a voice that's distinctively Ningyo calls out from the darkness. * Maya is on the move as well. "We're here to escort her, not fight... but we'll do it if we have to." * Lord_Darkmoon decides Princess's not moving fast enough, and puts and arm under her legs and the other under her shoulders, carrying her out at a rapid walk. .... hey! How dare you mock Her Majesty with your pathetic puppet show! In the name of the Queen of the Sea, I shale destroy this abominable park! * Minami drags Leena out as well. * Kenji jogs out after them. ... * Leena protests half-heartedly as Darkmoon takes escorting Princess out of her hands. Maybe we should let it. Taki! ... Yeah, yeah, I know. At the very least, none of us are currently in good enough "form" to do anything but flee. The performers, hanging in mid-air, begin to scream as you exit the building. ... wait. The people... * Maya stops and looks back. "Ghn..." * Leena grumbles at Minami. "What do you think you're doing? There's a Ningyo in there! And -people!-" If we wait at all, it's gonna be too ... *blink, forcibly, squinting her eyes shut* Damn it all. Rinada, get Princess somewhere safe! * Minami bites her lip, not looking back. "There are supposed to be...." ... Maya. What do we do? Lemme go find a restroom... * Maya starts running back towards the theatre. Maya, d'you know if there are--crap. Done, Maya. *gets the heck out of Dodge* * Princess rides Darkmoon off into the distance. "Wheeeeeeeee!" Someone's gotta go with Darkmoon! * Minami lets go of Leena. * Taki walks over the seats to the restroom to change. * Minami looks around and changes in the dark, since the lights are out, but doesn't go towards the theatre yet, or go to change into civvies. The theater is empty now, save for the stranded singers. ... Maya. You can still hear screams from inside, and water is beginning to flow out of the doors. ...dammit all. Leena, go with Darkmoon! * Maya finds someplace to change as well, waiting just outside the theatre entrance. * Minami goes after Maya. * Kenji runs back towards the theatre and transforms in the first spot of relative concealment he finds. * Leena grits her teeth, casting a final glance back at the show, before jetting after Darkmoon. * Taki undresses quickly and transforms and quickly puts her street clothes back on top. * LadyNightshade emerges from the restroom! Darkmoon! Wait up! * LadyMysteria doesn't bother with civvies. "Thanks... brain kinda locked up... we go in now... no telling if the Ningyo'll try to hurt the singers..." * LadyRoyal sighs. "You're sure there's no other team around?" * Lord_Darkmoon slows down, and lowers Princess to the ground, taking her hand again, waiting for Leena. "...yes?" I'm not sure, but there's the problem of people who can't defend themselves still in there. They don't want just one person on Princess. *grumbles* They told -me- to go, so... * LadyNightshade runs to catch up with Darkmoon. Hey, I need to borrow your sword. I think I can get the people free- but I can't get them all out Are those people going to be all right? Then we can buy them the time to escape. *to Nightshade* ... ... why? If I need to protect Princess, it's my only weapon? Okay, Maya...I have an idea. I need it to get the performers free. I'm listening. I could probably cut the performers free with a few cards, but then they'd fall. Can you catch them? I should be able to. Okay. And afterwards...oh, shit. Very well. Be careful with it. *pulls his tessen out of his jacket, gestures once, turning it into a katana, and hands it hilt-first to Taki* * LadyRoyal groans. "I just realized that I sent one of our most powerful people over there." * LadyNightshade takes the sword gratefully. "Thank you." *bows* I can-- distract the Ningyo-- I think Afterwards it's a fight, unless there's another team nearby. And we're just going to have to deal with it, Mina. And...be careful of yourself, too, Taki. Come on, Princess. We're still too close. *starts walking swiftly, pulling Princess along with him* * LadyRoyal looks up at Chimera. "Thanks." Let's go, let's go! We don't have much time! * LordChimera nods True. * LadyRoyal goes! * LadyMysteria goes as well, wand ready! * LadyNightshade speeds back into the building, turning invisible. * Leena keeps pace with Darkmoon, the bounce in her step gone. She keeps looking behind her, just itching for them to yell 'come back!' * LordChimera quickly follows, running strangely, almost galloping. Leena, shouldn't you be back there? You're the strongest of us against them. Yeah, I know... I'm not sure why myself... Who told you to go? Minami! Maya had already charged in! ... Let's hope they don't need you... *keeps moving with Princess* Here's to hoping... So Nightshade, Royal, Chimera, and Mysteria charge back into the theater. The river flowing out makes it a bit tricky, but it's not too deep or too swift. * LadyRoyal looks around. * LadyMysteria looks as well, which is a problem seeing the lights are mostly out. Once they get back inside, though, things have changed - the bowl of the theater is now completely flooded. Some of the actors are thrashing in the water, trying to free themselves, while others, suspended higher, are helplessly above the pool. * LadyRoyal frowns. ... damn. It's difficult to make out where the Ningyo is in the dim light, especially since all the performers have fish tails on. * LordChimera plants one foot into the water flow as he gallops into the Theatre and actually steps off of it, gaining elevation about a foot over the waterline. He continues inward hovering above the flood. Kenji, can you--oh, wow. He's not wasting time.. Well, neither should we then. * LadyMysteria looks upward, trying to spot Taki. * LadyRoyal tries to make her way to where the hanging performers are. * LordChimera yells. "It's in the middle!" Royal, focus on cutting the ones already in the water free. I'll try to pull them out. You sure you don't want to--ah, I see. * LadyMysteria wiggles a finger. * LadyNightshade hops onto a nearby wall and uses it to propel herself onto one of the upper balconies. From there she takes a catwalk across to the rigging above the stage. * LadyRoyal focuses on the nearest ones that she can see and sends a couple cards over to their bonds. A couple of performers drop into the water - one is able to swim, and makes good time with her monofin. As Lord Chimera works his way over the surface of the water, he gestures and a gigantic monster of rock and soil fills the opposite side of the room. There's an screech from the Ningyo, and more screams from the performers at this new beast. * LadyMysteria points two fingers in the air, then pulls them towards her as she focuses on the freed singer who's not swimming as well as the other. "Come to mommy..." * LordChimera floats away from the exits and throws out two hands towards the water below him. A large bluish light emanates from the water as a thirty-foot tall earthen beast appears on the scene. There's a frightened howl from the Ningyo, and a blast of water goes straight through the illusionary monster. A trick! ...who's here?!? * LadyRoyal focuses on a couple more. * LadyNightshade examines the rigging above the stage and finds four cluster points holding up the actors rigs, she dashes at the nearest one and cleanly slices through it with the sword. * LadyRoyal snaps some more cards at the next couple performers. * LadyNightshade immediately moves towards the next cluster. Between the two of them, a third of the performers splash down or are freed. Most of them begin to swim, but there is one who thrashes helplessly and begins to sink. * LordChimera's eyes widen at the drowning performer. Leaving his monster standing in place he glides across the water he ducks down and pulls the man out by his shoulders. * LadyMysteria locks in on the one furthest away from the theatre's edge that isn't struggling and magic-tugs, eyebrow twitching in concentration. The Ningyo is twisting about in mid-air, and you can tell which mermaid she is now. She finally spots Chimera floating above her pool, and screams an attack. "RIPTIDE!!!" The water leaps up around the Lord, swirls for a second, and tries to rip him in two. ...it doesn't quite succeed, but Kenji thinks he feels his ribs pulling apart. Ghn! Faster, faster! * LadyNightshade makes it to the next cluster of cables and slices it apart. She doesn't stop or even slow, spins on her heel 90 degrees and heads at the third cluster. * LadyRoyal cuts for a couple more. More than two-thirds of the performers have been freed, now. One has gotten loose on his own, and is helping the other out of the pool. * LordChimera cringes in pain but regains himself in time to bring out his arms and form a defensive barrier around himself. Tiny licks of flame dance across it's circumference. * LadyMysteria stops focusing, grabs her wand and gives it a mighty spin, pointing the business end at the Ningyo. "... and just when I was feeling like I could relax... Rainbow Ribbons, SHOOT!" A storm of streamers pour from the wand, flying at the Ningyo. The Ningyo curses as it is suddenly wrapped in psychedelic colors, and splashes down into its pool. It thrashes about, but can not get free right away. Gogogogo! * LadyNightshade leaps right at the last bit of rigging holding up the final trapped actors and slices it in twine. They splash down near the edge, and are able to wade out. Everyone get out, I'm going to drop this entire thing on her head! * LadyRoyal looks up in the direction of Nightshade's voice and tries to help people get the out fuck. * LordChimera yells something incomprehensible but very in the affirmative. ... gyah, Ta--Nightshade... alright! * LadyMysteria gets to helping as well. "C'mon, c'mon, hurry!" * LordChimera goes back towards Mysteria and Royal to help the exiting performers There's a burst of water from the center of the hall, and the ribbons pop free and shimmer into nonexistence. Taki tries to hack through the forest of cables suspending the rigging, but it's harder than it appears, and she only manages to snap a few. The catwalk she's on lurches to one side, but stays up. * LadyRoyal looks up and yells. "Nightshade, you need help?" ... Maybe. Just keep her distracted! * LadyRoyal tries to send a flurry over at the Ningyo. Alright! The flurry detonates around the Ningyo, sending water flying everywhere, but not doing any damage at all. * LordChimera gathers energy for a Backdraft attack and hurls it towards the Ningyo. Chimera tries to fry the Ningyo, but his shot goes wild and sets the back wall of the theater on fire. ... Chimera... ... sorry. ^^; * LadyMysteria points at the Ningyo. "And as for you, stay put!" Another flurry of ribbon leaps out at it, even as she starts stepping away. ...this time, the ribbons GUSH from Maya's wand. They whip around the Ningyo, stuffing her mouth, hog-tying her, and suspending her from the rigging above. MMMMPGH! ... not bad. ^_^ Nightshade, do whatcha gotta do, and fast! Taki continues to hack away, but even with the sharp katana and her considerable strength, this is sloooow going. * LadyRoyal sends up a helper card. She slices through a couple more cables, pitching the rigging in a different direction. Taki stumbles, but keeps her balance as she continues hacking. * LordChimera stands between Mysteria and Royal, lending him the protection of his force field. * LadyMysteria looks up at the remaining cables. "Hmph." She cuts loose with a burst of light and heat at the cables she can see. More cables part. The rigging is starting to groan perilously. Mrphle Bllfft! Water bursts from around the ribbons. They loosen, and the Ningyo wiggles out of the hogtie, but she's still hanging from the rigging. Taki slices and dices, finally getting the hang of this... and then cables begin to snap on their own, the catwalks begin to sink, and everything does a half twist as it falls into the pool below. The Ningyo is tossed around, whipped through the air, smashed against a wall, and finally impaled by a broken railing. C'mon, Taki... Taki is pitched off to one side, but manages to bounce off a wall and make a three-point landing near the entrance. ... well, that was fun. I wonder how much trouble we're in. ^^; * LadyNightshade powerposes dramatically for a second before composing herself. The Ningyo is still alive and conscious, but it's not going anywhere until it can pry itself loose. Hopefully less trouble than the team that was *supposed* to take care of this. * LadyRoyal blinks. "She's still alive." ... damn, it's still alive. ... Crap. Kenji, think you could try that trick again? ...and free of the remaining ribbons for that matter. * LordChimera pants heavily. "The fire?" Yeah. * LordChimera nods and drops the force field, looking down he notices he's still a bit above the water line. "hey- when did I?" Lady Royal casually tosses some cards at the Ningyo - it's bounced around and the railing tears at its guts even more. She screams awfully. Chimera sticks out a hand and fire stabs at the Ningyo. There's a smell of burning flesh, and she stops moving. After a few seconds, the flames begin to consume her. Eww. ... that's that, I guess. So we have fried fish kabobs. Anyone hungry? Well, there's dinner. * LadyMysteria idly tries to magically TK-push water in the direction of the smoldering wall. The fire quickly goes out, but the theater is well and trashed. * LadyNightshade sheaths the sword dramatically and bows at the Ningyo. * LordChimera stares at the smoldering carcass momentarily before inhaling a bit too deeply and coughing from the pain in his chest. Now... we detransform and get the hell out of here. Kenji, are you going to be okay? * LordChimera winces but nods. "uh huh- I think so..." Here, let me help you out. * LadyNightshade helps Kenji out. * LadyMysteria goes to offer help, then thinks against it as she heads out as well, sighing heavily. * LordChimera steps down onto the floor to let Taki take him away. "I didn't notice that I was-- doing that.." Doing what? I thought I was floating-*cough* Hey, that's a pretty sweet trick. Yeah, you did good. We all did... great thinking, Taki. Thanks. *blushes a bit* I was just tired of trying to fight those things straight up and getting pounded. * LordChimera nods. "Yeah, good job--" [end session]