Session Start: Sat May 22 15:35:41 2004 Last time, on Hunters: The team got down to business, and staked out North Yokohama. Deer and Gothic were unexpectedly paranoid, though, and were using some primitive counter-surveillance tactics. They spotted Maya and Leena that very first day. The discussion with them was not entirely pleasant, but the reason they gave was good - Deer thought she had seen her attacker - maybe - just a week or two before. The girls took down a Ningyo that night, but no followup attack came. ...so the team backed off their coverage a little - Taki would follow them home from the roofs, and Darkmoon would track them using his pets. The team would be spread out along the route to jump in if it was needed. And that worked... but nothing happened. Tempers began to fray a bit after two weeks of tracking and coverage in a bitterly cold late December. As the new year started, Maya got sick, then Kyouko. But the stakeout continues... [Friday, January 2, 2004 - 14:50 local time] [North Yokohama, outside the high school] [session start] * LadyNightshade watches the school entrance from her now usual spot on a nearby rooftop. It's another very cold afternoon - usually Tokyo isn't this bad, even in midwinter. * Lord_Darkmoon is not actually present...probably already somewhere ahead on the girls' route. But he's obviously there "in spirit", per se, as Tsubasa is perched in a tree where it can see the school. If you look closely, its eyes are filled by purple moons. There are remnants of snowfall everywhere, though only a little clogs the streets. Minami is staged all the way at the end of the route, by Nozumi's house. Everyone else is strung out in between. * LadyNightshade yawns a bit and stretches. * The bird fluffs its feathers a bit, trying to keep warm. Aka, meanwhile, is sniffing near an alley across the street. He's actually gotten pretty good at following without being too obvious. * LadyMallet is only vaguely paying attention- she's got the headsets on and active, but she's paying more attention to the Game Boy she's got. She's waiting at her spot on the route. Is it wrong to wish someone to get attacked? ...y-yes...aa-an-nd n-no... *obviously cold as well as distracted* Mmm-hmm... no, no, no! You.. you got away! Why do these quest battles have to be so random? * LadyMallet obviously isn't talking to anyone in specific. I'll get you, Articuno! * Kenji listens quietly to the radio chatter while watching any passers by at his spot. The buzzer sounds from inside the school. Students slowly trickle out, hindered by their bulky winter clothing and reluctant to freeze their butts off. * Lord_Darkmoon , controlling Tsubasa, has the bird take flight with a "caw!" Both to keep warm, and to get a better view to pick out Nozomi (and Goth). Here we go again... They got out? Oh, yeah... The girls come out in the middle of the group - they've slowly relaxed their guard over the last few weeks. Maybe Nozumi didn't really see him after all? In any case, they aren't running home any more, though they do continually check all around them. This makes the trip much less exciting for everyone. Let me know when it's my turn. * LadyNightshade moves to start following the girls, giving out reports of their location and direction. Although these have gotten rather lazy lately. ...w-will...d-do... And turn down your mic! I can hear your teeth chattering. * Tsubasa circles high overhead, backing up Nightshade's watch. Sometimes landing on a rooftop or circling away in a figure eight, just to try to keep from being obvious. * LordChimera scratches the back of his neck then goes wide-eyed. "uh oh-" * Lord_Darkmoon doesn't seem to quite get what Mallet was requesting. His teeth- chattering is still vaguely audible. Fortunately the girls aren't watching for birds. Kenji? I'm getting something- Huh? Kenji? * LordChimera looks around at his post. "Something's going on-- but I can't- tell.." You mean a ningyo? * Lord_Darkmoon tries to spread his avian-shared senses to see if there's any visual evidence of what Kenji's detecting. Maybe-- get ready. Whatever it is, the girls haven't sensed it yet. They pass by the coffeeshop where Leena is lounging still headed west towards home. They just passed by me... * LadyMallet keeps an eye out for anything odd, a little paranoid from Kenji's mutterings. * LadyNightshade keeps her eyes up, checking the rooftops for suspicious persons. * Aka passes by the coffee shop shortly thereafter, on the other side of the road. Sniffing around like any good stray. * LordChimera closes his eyes momentarily, trying to get some idea of what's going on. Stick close leena, but stay out of view. I got a bad feeling about this. Tsubasa doesn't see anything. Neither does Taki - even the neighborhood toughs are staying inside and out of the cold. * LadyMallet shuts off her game, and goes to get a better view. She stays inside as long as she can, though. The girls putter on towards Nozomi's apartment. They've even stopped checking six today, and Leena has no trouble following. * LadyNightshade directs everyone else to stay close too as they pass their positions. It's not too long before they pass by the alley where Darkmoon and Chimera are freezing. Kenji, I want you to find the source of whatever it is you're sensing. Can you home in on it? * LadyMallet is wearing a white fur coat with fluffy sleeves. She trails behind a bit father, since she can follow thier footsteps in the snow, too. I've been trying to... It's just... I don't know what... It's not here-- maybe. Five hundred meters or so... ...guide...me...p-please... *rises to his feet. He's bundled up like a hobo with a blanket store wrapped around him, complete with earmuff hat and thick gloves* * Lord_Darkmoon 's eyes are hidden behind sunglasses again - probably because they're glowing like Tsubasa's. * LordChimera takes a quick look around before grabbing Rinada's hand and placing it once again upon his shoulder. * Aka looks in the alley as he passes, "woof"s quietly, and bounds off to the other side of the street, and ahead. * LadyMallet hums to herself, still audible over the radio. "When you run you can look and you will find me. Time after time." Tsubasa, circling overhead, is the first to notice anything. There's a sudden shaking and gleaming back where the girls came from, visible over the lowish apartments along the route. It's so cold out. I hope something happens! I'm still majorly pissed off that I had to cancel that new years party... ...something...h-happening. Oh. Really! Yay! .. I mean... what? Seconds later, everyone can feel the Ningyo - it's back a ways to the east, all right. ... great. Not only do we get to do anything, but we can't go get some sushi, either. The girls stop dead in their tracks. Nozumi just grimaces, while Tani drops a most unladylike string of expletives. * LordChimera winces as if coming upon some horrible stench. * LadyMallet silently 'eeps!', and scuttles for cover. Don't want to be seen when they start making their way there. * LadyNightshade turns that direction, looking more for suspicious people than the ningyo itself ...th-this is p-probably...going t-to..be it. They turn around and sprint back towards the school. Tani actually shoves Leena out of the way as they streak by, but doesn't realize who she shoved. Oof- * LadyMallet glares after Tani. "Man, she's pushy." * LadyNightshade heads off after them at speed, keeping up fairly easily. * LordChimera makes his way forward as best he can with Rinada. * Lord_Darkmoon mutters, "Keep on them!" before the sunglasses vanish, he blinks his now-clear eyes, and winces, rubbing his forehead in pain. "We'd better keep on them. My pets will keep a lookout for others...I'll borrow Tsubasa's senses again when we get there." * Lord_Darkmoon thanks Chimera, and starts running on his own. The girls duck into an alley - actually the one Darkmoon and Chimera just came out of - and transform. After that, Taki isn't keeping up so easily. * LordChimera nods. "- right." * LadyMallet heads straight for where the Ningyo feeling is. * Lord_Darkmoon pushes himself to go faster, since there's no danger of the girls seeing him when they're so far ahead. Get there before them, if you can. If they're going to make a move, it'll be during the fight, or after, so keep an eye out! If the trek home seemed to be taking forever, the race back to the school goes by in a flash. Taki is only a few steps behind the girls, while the rest of the team is almost a minute behind. Minami, completely out of position, won't get there for quite a while. We need to identify the attackers as soon as possible. Don't worry about the ningyo, the girls can handle it themselves. We should find good positions to intercept attacks...then I'll take Tsubasa's senses again. Aka...call out if you find someone with guns, please. *huff, huff* Today was one of those days so cold that the Ningyo could only summon ice, so instead of flooding the school, she is ripping it to shreds with icebergs. Why can't they ever do that to our school... I'll take the front enterance; anyone going past there must get in melee range. Okay? * LadyMallet laughs. "Amost don't want it to get creamed. It's got a goal I like!" * LadyMallet eyes the surrounding buildings. "Keep an eye on the buildings... the only people gonna be hiding in the school are teachers." * Lord_Darkmoon takes up position behind that tree he waited at on the first day, puts back on the sunglasses, and takes over Tsubasa once more. Watching for anyone moving at all, in particular people moving with purpose other than to flee. The battle was short and brutal once again - this time Nozumi charged in first, and took one of the Ningyo's arms off before getting kicked back against an ice floe. Goth sliced it up with her axes, then stepped in to finish it with a glowing shortsword. * LadyNightshade keeps her eyes peeled on the rooftops and the crowd below. There are lots of people milling about - gawkers from the apartment blocks facing the school, students and teachers fleeing the destruction, commuters taken unawares by the sudden crisis... * LordChimera stands nearby Rinada at his tree, still panting. ...come...on...show...your...selves... Aka barks suddenly - there's a familiar smell, one that pesky human kept going on about... * LadyMallet keeps an eye out. She's looking at all the new arrivals with a healthy dose of paranioa, and occasioanlly glances around for open windows on the nearby buildings. * Lord_Darkmoon has Tsubasa's attention snap to Aka's indicated smell-type-area. * LordChimera gets his breath back, making ready for a dash. I don't know what Maya or Minami would say, but if you can find em... Taki, can you disarm them without them knowing? ...kill first...capture when girls safe... If we can identify them and take their guns before it even starts... I can try... got...something... Back at the school, Nozumi is grasping her torso like she has some broken ribs. She's crying, too, though that seems to be more at the destruction of her school than due to pain... ... There'll be no danger at all. Tani is scanning about, watching everyone watching her. Her eyes go wide... * Lord_Darkmoon desperately switches to Aka's senses, trying to pinpoint that smell! ...there's screaming from where Aka is... * Aka's eyes blaze purple. * LadyNightshade hops down from the building, heading in Aka's direction. ...and the sudden cacophony of gunfire drowns out everything else. * Lord_Darkmoon blinks, bites back a curse, and starts for that general area, too, keeping his own senses open. Man, this is tiring. SHIT! *immediately opens up the MalletPortal, and lugs the Mallet out.* * LordChimera makes his way closer to the girls as best he can without drawing too much attention Tani was looking the right direction and was able to duck, but Nozumi goes down under a hail of gunfire, several ugly eruptions of crimson staining her plain brown fuku. Taki! You got the bugger!? We need to make sure he's not got any friends elsewhere! The enemies are clearly visible now - a knot of five men with various guns running to the school grounds from an apartment across the street. I'll get the girls!-- Taki lands in the street, gathers herself in a split second, and leaps into the group. Her flying kick takes one with an uzi on the chin, and he collapses. Taki falls on top of him, lashing out with a flurry of brutal blows that leave him stunned and coughing up blood. * LadyNightshade makes herself look badass and intimidating as best she can in hopes that they'll run away or at least not shoot her. ^^; There's a swirl of light, and a plain cement wall appears to block off line of sight from the street into the school grounds. ...it's obviously not solid, though, as people are moving through it as if it wasn't there. * LadyMallet runs at them, yelling out a challenge. "YOU LEAVE THEM ALONE!" She stops next to some poor unlucky persons car- and swings the Mallet into it as hard as she can. "Leena Leena ... MALLET AIR STRIKE!" The little Honda shatters as the Mallet catches it, and fragments of all sizes explode towards the gunmen... and go over their heads, punching huges holes in the second story of hte apartments behind them. Yeah! Right over here, jerks! ... *ducks* As the tinkling rain of shattered glass stops, there's complete silence in the street as everyone [EYES] the little girl with the big hammer. * LadyMallet whispers into the mic. "Perfect opening to get the drop on them, guys..." Silence that is broken as a screaming Lady Gothic jumps over the illusory wall and wings a throwing axe at the pack of goons. The axe cleaves cleaves straight through one of the goons' shoulder... on his off-hand side. He shudders, lifts the pistol, and fires away at Tani. The rest of the his team come out of their daze, and also return fire. Tani takes a round through her leg and lands badly, but rolls to her feet immediately. Mallet is targeted by two guys - one with two pistols and one with the biggest pistol any of you have ever seen. She whips the Mallet in front of her and catches the round that was coming for her head... but another punches through her abdomen and the big gun booms and her left knee more or less explodes. The leg is still attached, barely, but she isn't going to be walking for a while. The last goon whips around, spraying his uzi at Lady Nightshade. She eeps and jumps up, but is creased by one round. * LadyMallet bites back a scream. Then decides against it, and yells, as loud as she can. There's something in there about 'divine retribution', but it's too unintelligable to make out fully. * LadyNightshade makes the eep look really cool though, backflipping off one hand and landing on her feet. * Lord_Darkmoon runs for the knot of gunmen, his winter bundle dissolving into his more freedom-granting school uniform as the Tessen becomes a Katana. "Mallet...no... *shakes his head* Gothic! You've got to run! Get Deer out of here! DO NOT LET HER DETRANSFORM!" He runs at the men, swinging his katana at the midsection of the one left standing with an uzi... The guy's guts spill out into the street, and he looks down at the mess... but keeps his feet and his grip on the subgun. Maybe it'll take a few turns to figure out he's dead. Taki strides over to him and tries to put him out of his misery, but she slips on some intestine and slides past him thrashing for balance. * LordChimera slides down low next to Deer's prone form. Grasping the ground at her side he brings up short wall of hard earth to sheild her from incoming fire. "just-- stay here." * LadyMallet , done with the intitial yell, lets out a last curse, and tries to shrink into as small as a ball of possible, behind the Mallet. * LadyGothic either didn't hear Darkmoon or else what he said didn't register as a command. Either way, she's got her glowing shortsword out and dashes into the knot of enemies. As she flies by, Taki thinks she hears it going SNICKER-SNACK! as the guy with the big pistol is permanently sashimied. The remaining goons are still standing their ground, and trying to return fire. The guy with the uzi is starting to be distracted by the fact he's bleeding out, and blows an entire clip about three meters over Taki's head. The pistolero turns on his heel and shoots for the guy with the nasty sword. Darkmoon doesn't even notice as a shot flies by his ear. The last guy tentatively raises his pistol at Gothic, but she gracefully ducks around the shot. * Lord_Darkmoon shifts his inertia from the gut-slash to the uziman and, as the bullet whizzes past his head, brings the katana around in a fluid swing to strike at the man who just tried to shoot him! "Murderers... Die." * Lord_Darkmoon 's eyes flare purple for a brief moment as his sword swings within inches of the man's nose...but doesn't even trim the guy's bangs. Taki finally gets her balance and returns with a flurry of punches that puts the uzi-guy down on the pavement, where he lies motionless and will shortly leak to death. Crouching behind his improvised cover, Kenji hears something behind him and turns just in time to see two young men in form-fitting black costumes leap at him. Shit! Kenji? What's going on? The rest of the team can hear his shout over the radio, but he's got so much cover that they can't see his location. * LadyMallet hisses over the radio. "What, more!?" He voice is laced with pain. Each man has two short blades, and as he twists away from them their first strokes fall short. He ducks under another swipe, but is sliced in the gut. A glowing red bubble expands around Lord Chimera, repulsing the two attackers. They grunt in pain as the heat of the shield burns them, but determination burns even brighter in their eyes. * LordChimera grunts in pain but keeps the field stable. * LadyMallet props up the Mallet, head-down, and pulls herself to her feet on it. She starts advancing towards the gunners, with slow, painful steps. Her eyes are practically on fire with determination. * LadyGothic turns, kneels, and makes a low cut at the wounded guy with just one pistol. It takes his leg off. He blacks out and sprawls into the street. The first enemy to go down, the one with the uzi, begins to stir on the ground, and try to lever himself to his feet. The two-gun-goon starts to back away, and unloads at Lady Gothic. Nightshade, do you think you can help Chimera if I hold these bastards here? Or do you want to keep on these guys while I go for Chimera's contingent? I can get there faster, I'll help him. Once more, Lady Gothic's aura of righteous fury keeps her safe, only one bullet barely clipping her arm. Very well. *turns, eyes cold and dark, on the remaining gunmen, in a ready stance* * LadyMallet hisses slowly. "Save... one... for me. We need one to interoggate." The cowards suicide, m'Lady. So cut off his fukcing teeth so he can't! * Lord_Darkmoon charges, looking like he's going to kick at the pistoleer's feet, but instead plants his foot and turns it into a downward swing on the rising Uzi-boy. Neck or hands are preferable targets, but any part of him will do. * Lord_Darkmoon 's sword slices through the man's neck, leaving his body to figure out that it should just collapse like a good corpse. It also puts him slightly past the dual-pistoleer...but at rather close range. * LadyNightshade turns toward one of the knife wielding guys attack Kenji and charges at him with a flying leap. The world seems to pause for a moment as she drop kicks him right in the head. She lands and drops into an agressive combat stance. The man easily finds his balance and returns the attack with a wild flurry of lethal, flashing swords. There's something very familiar about the attack pattern, though, and Taki finds herself casually parrying one of the swords with her bare hand. The other guy eyes Chimera's shield, then reverses the swords and jams both of them at one point on the shield with every ounce of his strength. He screams as the shield lashes back, but then it goes *pop* and disappears. * LordChimera pushes off the ground after watching the man burst his bubble. Yelling, he dives back over Lady Deer's cover where the orange sphere regains its form, shielding them both.. for now. * LadyMallet staggers up to the remaining gunman, grinning darkly. "I suggest you just bite down now. Because there's no way you're getting out of this alive." Can you take him, Mallet? I'll go help Nightshade if so. * LadyMallet makes the motion of trying to hit his legs with the Mallets handle... not having both knees functioning throws off her aim badly, though. Leena pokes with her Mallet at the guy's legs in a feeble attempt at a diabling attack. He steps backwards out of her reach. That's your cue to run away, you know. * LadyGothic has no such humanitarian intentions. She lunges at the man, sword held with both hands, and buries it in his belly. DIE! * LadyMallet brings a hand to her mouth, as if in apology. "Oh. Sorry. Too late." The man folds over in pain, which drags the magically-sharp sword up through his aorta, and sprays blood everywhere. *hissing* No mercy. * Lord_Darkmoon executes a short bow to Gothic. "As you say, m'Lady." He then turns and starts dashing for Nightshade and Chimera's fight. [break session] Session Start: Sat May 29 15:22:22 2004 Last time, on Hunters: Battle was finally joined after weeks of watching Lady Deer and Lady Gothic. Deer got gunned down immediately, though she's not dead yet. Leena tried to distract the squad of goons, but got kneecapped for it. Lady Gothic, Lord Darkmoon, and Lady Nightshade did a respectable job of putting the goon squad down fast, while Lord Chimera went back to cover Lady Deer. Good thing he did, since there was a second strike planned - two ninja- looking guys with swords snuck around the fight to finish the girl off. Kenji's shield managed to hold them off, though, at least long enough for Taki to reach the scene... [session continue] Taki decides that it's more important to protect Nozumi and Kenji, so she turns around to attack the ninja who is harassing them. Unfortunately, he steps aside unexpectedly, and she punches Lord Chimera's shield, *hard*. Flames envelop her hand, burning her, and the shield goes *pop*! Oh shit, sorry Kenji... ^^; * LordChimera winces as his shield is brought down again, and shoots a vaguely betrayed look Taki's way. The ninja that had been fighting Taki therefore has a free shot at her back and proceeds to take advantage of it - two slashing attacks slice her back into shreds. Somehow, she stays standing. The other ninja blinks as the fiery obstruction disappears on its own, and he has a free attack at the girl laying prone on the ground. * LordChimera throws himself in front of one blade and gets stabbed good in the hip, but Lady Deer gets stabbed in the abdomen. * LordChimera lands on one knee, but gathers fire between his hands and thrusts it into the face of his attacker. The ninja throws himself backwards as his black garb catches fire. * LadyMallet watches the continuing fighting... She dosen't go, for two reasons: She'll never make it in time, and it's be awkward to try. * LadyMallet does, however, watch the downed gunmen. o/~ The gunmen are dead or dying - not a pretty sight. * LadyGothic is an armored streak across the school lawn. DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER! * LadyGothic launches herself at the man that just stabbed her friend, but only clips him as he thrashes about putting out the flames. * Lord_Darkmoon comes out of a full run, leaping off the barrier that obstructed his view of Deer to land and dash past the flaming ninja, katana extended out to his side in a classic cut. * Lord_Darkmoon spins about, not even holding the post-cut pose like he's supposed to. Maybe that lack of follow-through explains why he missed. His eyes widen when he sees the state Lady Deer is in, then narrow, briefly glowing purple. A silent snarl curls his lips. * LadyRoyal appears on the scene, running out from an alley. She takes in the scene and tosses out a card, cursing fiercely, but it seems the running took a lot out of her, and the card barely misses the ninja still standing. * LadyNightshade whirls on the ninja that attacked her, her leg flying out in a quick roundhouse, connecting solidly with his face, her momentum doesn't stop though as she spins, and delivers a follow up kick to his midsection with her other leg. The guy in the flaming black jumpsuit manages to put out the flames through extensive armwaving, then looks down at his main target - Lady Deer is choking on blood, and a complete mess - maybe one more blow will finish her off... He lunges, but from off balance, and his swords wind up getting planted directly into the ground instead of his victim, and he's sprawled out on his stomache. Taki's opponent takes a step (well, a stagger) backwards and eyes the situation. He drops one sword, pulls a short knife out of his belt, and wings it at Deer. No! Darkmoon dives to try to intercept, and misses it by about a meter. * LadyGothic turns around in time to see it coming, and manages to put a hand in front of the blade - it punches through at an odd angle, breaking all the palm bones in her right hand, but the blade is stopped. * LordChimera decides the better part of valor is putting his shield back up. He kneels over Lady Deer, focusses, and a flaming shield appears once more. Stop her bleeding if you can, Chimera! * LadyMallet still isn't moving far. She panics for a moment at Deer's momentary plight, then blinks, and glances over the almost-graveyared she's in the middle of. And starts about trying to see if one of them can be saved. A quick triage shows that all of them have bad wounds - several are dead already, and the only one that even looks savable is leaking badly from the abdomen. * LadyMallet umm... dosen't know what to do. So she settles for standing there inmpatiently, becuase calling Kenji away to fix him before Deer's saved would be wrong. "You better live! I'll kill you if you don't!" ...the man continues to bleed. Maybe she had better kill him. * LadyGothic stalks over to where the ninja is trying to recover his swords and stabs with her golden blade, left-handed, punching through his skull. The man goes instantly limp. He won't be getting up. * Lord_Darkmoon turns on the remaining ninja. "You murderers. You must die, and all who support you." Eyes dark and hard, he dashes forward, this time executing the cut with perfect technique. The man manages a half-parry, turning what could have been a killing blow into one that only rips apart his offhand arm. * LadyRoyal throws another cut attack at the man. The card loops, swerves around a feebly-raised throwing knife, and sticks in the man's chest. He wobbles, woozy, but keeps his feet. * LadyNightshade advances on the remaining attacker, but fails to anticipate his movement and her swings go wide. The man stumbles backwards away from Taki. He takes in the scene: his target not-dead, a shield around her, four magical fighters fighters standing in his way, and his energy failing fast from a bucnh of dangerous wounds... He drops his sword and takes a two-handed grip on another throwing knife. He looks Taki in the eye accusingly but says nothing as he plunges the knife into his heart and tumbles backwards. * LadyRoyal runs to Deer's side, assuming she can get through Kenji's shield. If not, just to the edge of the shield then. * LadyNightshade looks awkwardly at the attack as he falls to the ground. * LadyRoyal is also cursing under her breath. "Damn, damn, too fucking slow..." * LordChimera holds the shield for a second while he looks around, making sure no one else is sneaking up on them. Seeing no one, he drops it and steps backwards, allowing everyone access to the wounded girl. Kenji, it's okay now. Lady Deer! * LadyRoyal drops down by Deer's side and checks her vitals. * LadyMallet whispers into the mike.. her voice is low, almost inaduible over - that-, though... "... do any of you ... can any of you fix one of these guys? After Deer's okay...?" * LadyGothic drops to her knees beside her partner. "Deeeeer! Be okay..." * Lord_Darkmoon turns sharply, and hurries over to Lady Deer, taking off his jacket. He starts cutting it into strips. "We need to bandage her wounds...stop this bleeding." His voice is cold, matter-of-fact. * LadyMallet drops to knee, not bothering to try and stand erect anymore. * LadyGothic sobs as she sees the mess. We should get her to a hospital... * LadyRoyal grabs a few strips from Darkmoon and starts trying to clean away some of the blood. Don't let her detransform... We don't know if there's enough time. Do any of you know more than basic first aid? If so, you'd be better at this than I. *begins trying to staunch the worst of it* Lady Deer...it's okay...just stay calm...stay awake. Do Not Detransform. * LadyRoyal gestures to Deer's horns. "And she'd have to detransform to get her to a hospital." Lady Deer is, indeed, a mess. A half-dozen bullet wounds and a nasty slash all bleeding profusely. None seem to be directly life-threatening, though, and she is moving about weakly and seems to be focusing on the people around her. * LadyGothic grabs Deer's hand. "Stay with me... *sob*" * Lord_Darkmoon looks to the others. "We should get her to some shelter. Where do you think is best?" * LadyRoyal places a hand on Deer's forehead, still cleaning away blood so the team can see her wounds better. "Gothic, where can we go?" * LadyGothic looks up finally, but keeps her partner's hand. ...anywhere. There are lots of hiding places - half the apartments are empty. We... we need to call the hospital... We need a doctor... * LadyMallet tests her knee, slowly, before standing on it, tentatively. "... this is why I love being a magical girl!" she says exultantly. And tosses away the Mallet into the MalletPortal. That has its own risks...but she is badly injurred. * LadyRoyal nods absently, prodding Deer's abdomen and listening for her reactions. "I don't know if it's safe to move her at all, yet." Nozumi begins to thrash around a little, as she starts to regain full consciousness and can really feel the pain. * Lord_Darkmoon mutters, so only the mics can pick it up, "Do we dare take her back to the agency? It's a safe place, at least." Shhh! Shh, shh... calmly Lady Deer. Stay calm. Gaaaaaaaaah. *weakly* What happened? Assassins. They're all dead. * LadyMallet glances at the gunmen, then kicks one of the dying ones. "That's what you get!" * LadyNightshade tries to help hold her down so she doesn't hurt herself more. *He* sent some of his goons to get you. * LadyGothic looks around and realizes something. * LadyMallet 'hmphs,' and stalks over to the others. ...and this team was there to protect us... * LadyDeer tenses up even more, but at least she's stopped trying to move. You know who's sending these guys? * LadyNightshade looks up at lady Gothic. It's that asshole Lord, of course. * Lord_Darkmoon looks to the others, waiting for a verdict on agency-use or someplace else. You know what happened to her. * LadyDeer is startingto look a little better - a few of the bullet wounds have stopped bleeding now. Yeah, but... Yes. But I would hope he'd not be out to -kill- his own, even if he victimizes them. * LadyNightshade looks back down at Deer and doesn't argue with the girl. We don't belong to HIM. ... she's okay. But that is a matter for another place. We need to decide where to take her. * LadyRoyal bites her lip. "She should be...maybe okay...to move soon...we shouldn't continue this discussion here." ...but thank you for saving us anyway. Brace yourself, Lady Deer. This may be uncomfortable. *Gently levers his arms under her, to pick her up as carefully as possible* Deer, this is going to hurt a bit. * LadyMallet blinks back some tears. "YEEEES! We won!" And pumps a fist into the air. Let me, Lord... um, whoever. * LadyRoyal nods to Gothic. "You're welcome." * LadyDeer braces herself and only squeaks a little as her partner lifts her into a fireman's carry. As you wish, m'Lady. *carefully hands Deer over to Gothic* ... we're not gonna have time to try and save anyone of them to question, are we? Do you want us to escort you? Just in case anything happens. Let them rot in hell. I will. But I want some answers out of them first! Now isn't the time to worry about it, Leena. ...and... I think we had better just hide. * LadyRoyal nods. And it's easier to just hide the two of us. ... if I can find out where they're at, I'll make sure they ALL rot in hell. We're just worried something --or someone-- might run into you before you're safe. And with her still recovering.... I'll notify Purity what's up. I suppose you'll have to report to your Princess... ... him? Or anyone else looking to take advantage. * LadyGothic looks around. "None of you are a Princess, right?" ... if he's around, he might have been drawn here by the ningyo... * LadyRoyal shakes her head. No... Lady Nightshade, perhaps you should provide covert escort for them? Nope. It's only a matter of time, though! *preen* * LadyRoyal nods. "I was going to suggest that. Are you healed enough? You looked pretty torn up." * Lord_Darkmoon eyes Mallet uneasilly at the thought of her becoming a Princess. No, no, just let us get somewhere. We'll detransform, and be fine. No, no! Don't detransform...not until you're healed! Make sure you let your wounds heal first. * LadyRoyal nods. ...is this something I should know? It's part of the magic. Detransforming too soon could let her die. If Deer transforms now, the bullets will still be there. Yes, the bullets will work their way out of your system. The bleeding may have stopped, but she won't have healed fully on the inside yet... ...oh. So she should wait a while. ... yeah. She has to let her magic heal her, first. You..might be okay. You're not too badly injured. But if Lady Deer detransforms before about 3 hours from now, those bullets in her will kill her. Definitely. That would be best. I've gotta stay tranformed, too... * LadyGothic eyes the small crowd of onlookers starting to form. ...right. Well, we'll be off. Thanks again. * LadyRoyal nods, again. "Good luck." * LadyGothic runs off. * LadyMallet eyes the crowd, too, then glances back at the corpses. "... someday! When I find out, you'll have no escape, I'll hunt you down to the last one of you!" * LadyNightshade moves to follow. * LadyDeer , facing back towards you, waves feebly. * LadyMallet snarls something, and jets. Wait, let me make sure you make it back safely. * Lord_Darkmoon shakes the Katana, and it converts back into a Tessen, the blood that was on the blade falling to the ground, now that the blade is gone. "Take care. Remember, wait to detransform." He bows politely in farewell. * LadyRoyal gives a semi-salute in Gothic and Deer's direction, then waits for them to be out of view before getting out of the crowd's way. * LadyRoyal mutters around at the team. "We need to tell Maya." * Lord_Darkmoon mutters under his breath, "If nothing else, shadow them as best you can, Nightshade. They're not safe yet." Yes. * LadyMallet jets. She *still muttering* You're right. I'll call her when we've met up again. Where should we meet? * LadyMallet jets. She's not waiting for anyone, and heading for an ice cream parlor she saw a while back. Train station, most likely. Wait--where's Mallet? That's a good question...most likely going to an ice cream place. Mallet? Where are you? * LadyMallet cues in over the mics, "Getting some ice cream! There's no crowds there. I'll meet you at the station, don't worry!" You can almost -hear- the too-cute smile to go with that. * LadyNightshade continues following the ladies back to their place of hiding. You'll draw attention doing that...are you sure you want to? We can get you some ice cream back at base. * LadyRoyal twitches and forehead-slaps. "With that wound on her leg..." * LadyMallet pauses for a moment. "... oh, right. It stopped hurting... I'll clean that up now." * Lord_Darkmoon looks around, realizing he's now rather conspicuous at the center of this battlefield, with this crowd watching. "I'm, um, getting out of here." He suits action to words, walking quickly in the opposite direction of the station. He'll make a roundabout route to it. * LadyMallet ducks in the nearest place with a bathroom, and locks it while she cleans her leg up. * LadyRoyal checks around to make sure the girls are out of sight, then runs off in the opposite direction. * Lord_Darkmoon , once out of general sight, does a quick costume-change into some generic street clothes common to this region of the city. Then he pulls out the cell phone, and dials up Maya's home number. "I'm calling Maya now, guys. Figure she should know quickly. I'll keep her on, if possible, until I get to the station." * LadyMallet heads to the station after that, running to make up for lost time. Part of which involves stopping by to grab a triple-scoop ice cream cone on the way -anyways-. * LadyRoyal ducks into an alley. "Thanks, Darkmoon." * LadyRoyal detransforms, then goes back on her way. It's actually rather impressive how Lady Mallet is able to run when there's ice cream involved, even with one knee locked straight. *listens to the ring-tone on the earpiece of his cell phone* Oh, hi Ma-- drat, answering machine. *waits for beep* *beep* Maya, this is Rinada. Just calling to give you a heads-up. Call me back at *leaves cell number* when you get the opportunity. It's about that project we were working on. * Lord_Darkmoon pockets the phone, and heads for the station to meet up with the others. * LadyNightshade speaks through her radio. "We're meeting back up at the train station, right?" * LadyMallet sing-songs, "Yep!," in agreement. Right. Darkmoon's phone rings. * Lord_Darkmoon pulls it out and answers. "Yes?" Hey, Rin... how goes things? * Maya sounds absolutely terrible, but seems to be functional enough to talk. The job's done. Our erstwhile friends are safe. *his voice is still cold, but not as bad as after Spoon's death* * LadyNightshade finishes up her rounds, of making sure the area around the girls is safe, before making her way back to the train station. I believe there were 7 on the opposing team, if I counted correctly. Two wearing black pajamas and face-masks. * Maya pauses to cough, then makes a slightly strange sound, mostly out of confusion. "Eh... ah, okay. Right, right.... ghn. Well, file back and I'll listen to the boring details." ...you're at the office? I've been here for the last hour. Sick or no, Squeegee'll be on me if I don't have expense reports ready to hand in the moment I see her. * Lord_Darkmoon 's voice softens a bit as he continues, "You should be at home, in bed. Can't the Secretary handle those?" Not my parts. And I'll be fine, really. Just let everyone know to be back as soon as possible. We're on our way. Just don't overdo it. We'd like our fearless leader back as soon as possible. I'm here at the station now. The others should be here shortly...I think I see Minami now. Talk to you when we get there. Gotcha. And hey, if you can, pick up something sweet for me on the way here. I could use some comfort food. See you. * Maya chuckles, then hangs up on her end. * Minami waves an acknowledgment/greeting to Darkmoon. * Lord_Darkmoon hangs up. Over mics... "Hey, Leena, if you're still at the ice- cream place, grab something that'll keep for a while for Maya. She's got a sweet-tooth today, apparently." Already left... can always pick up something local for her, though! * Lord_Darkmoon waves to Minami, as well. His expression is softening just a touch from the hard mask it was in during the battle. * LadyNightshade shows up finally at the trainstation to meet everyone else. The girls should be safe for now, I hope. * Minami nods to Taki. "Good." * Lord_Darkmoon nods. * LadyMallet arrives last, for obvious reasons why. She's just finishing off her icecream cone as she arrives. We just need to wait for Leena... *spies a vending machine, and goes over to buy a box of pocky from it* * Minami hehs. "Speak of the devil." Who you calling a devil, huh? *bidahs Minami* Ah, there you are. Maya wants to meet us back at the agency. Let's go. *grabs the pocky-box and climbs aboard the appropriate train* * LadyNightshade takes off her coat and eyes the back of it and sighs. * LadyMallet starts to swipe the pocky from Darkmoon, then realizes it's probably for Maya. * Minami gets on the train, glancing back at Taki. "...ah. Taki, if you want, I can take that back with me tonight and..." The coat is a) caked with blood, b) has a huge X carved in it. And we can go shopping for another one, too! The train pulls into the station, and the team boards for the ten minute ride back north. It's mostly silent, but at least not glum this time. The agency is lit up when you get there, and the Secretary is sitting on her desk when you arrive. With a gun in her hand, but still smiling. Hey! You all survived! * Lord_Darkmoon offers a short bow in greeting. "Hello, Madam Secretary. We did, indeed. As did our wards." Yeah, we managed... * LadyMallet bounds into the agency. "Weeeeere baaaaack!" * Maya pokes her head out of the meeting room, holding a tissue to her nose and sniffling a bit. "Hey... good job, guys. Sorry I couldn't be there..." * Secretary holsters the gun, patpats Leena on the head, and pecks Darkmoon on the cheek. * Secretary ushers the team back, turning out the lights and lockng up behind them. * LadyMallet blinkblinks, a serious look on her face, as she looks up at the Secretary. "Ano... I have a question." Hmmm? * Lord_Darkmoon turns red at the peck, and edges away from the Secretary with an "ehehheh". ... would it be too much trouble to ask you to try to figure out something? It's just a hunch... That's what I'm here for... * LadyNightshade is ushered into the main room quietly, looking down mulling over her own thoughts. * Minami goes up to Maya and plants a hand on her forehead, checking her temperature. "...hn. You want some tea?" .... but it seems like the ones targetted are picked specifically, not randomly. Maybe there's a pattern, or some kind of quality they've got... * Lord_Darkmoon walks purposefully over to Maya, conveniently away from the Secretary. "Your order, Madam," he declares as he presents the pocky to Maya. Tea would be nice... and guys. Tell me everything... I was wondering, since you've been with Sakura for a bit, if you might be able to look into that? If there's any kind of pattern, or common theme? That's something we've thought about before. * Maya all but snatches the Pocky away and greedily fishes out a packet before sitting down. "Any complications?" I mean, of course we have. ...and there was never a pattern we could figure out. * LadyMallet 'oh's, dissapointed. * Minami winces. "Deer got pretty...beaten up. And I was too far out of position to do anything until the last few minutes." If there is one, I couldn't find it. Maybe Sakura has access to more data now, though... I'll take it up with her. * Lord_Darkmoon nods to Minami. "She should make a full recovery, though." * Maya sighs in turn. "Ow... so long as she's okay... you did tell them to stay transformed, right?" I could talk with her about it, I need to ask her about something anyway... * Minami shrugs a little stiffly and goes off to get Maya her tea. Maybe by location? They want to weaken certain areas so the ningyo can flood better in certian areas...? We did. If anything, it seems to be spread evenly. ...in fact, so evenly that it's almost a pattern. Good. Seven... alot of people. You tried that already, then. *hrmms.* * Maya looks the Secretary's way. * Lord_Darkmoon looks over to Mallet and the Secretary. "They practically ignored Gothic in favor of Deer, though. Which was in itself interesting." Yeah, thats why OI said they're specifically targetting certain girls. Did you sense any Sea Magic from any of them? ...but... I wasn't there, but didn't they take Spoon even though the intel said Handcuff? * Lord_Darkmoon gets a half-embarrassed, half-feral grin on his face. "I still need to work on controlling my temper. I wanted to taste their blood." Maybe they mistook the two? Maybe they just took the offered opportunity... A girl with a two metter spoon and a girl in manacles? Riiiiight. I'm not gonna! If I ever find out where they're at, I'm gonna smash every bone in their bodies. *poses cutely, and curtsies, witha feral smile on her face.* * Minami returns with the tea. "Or maybe something was wrong with the info." * Maya takes a Pocky stick and offers it to Rinada. "Here, have some chocolate. Better for your nerves." She then sneezes, hard. "Ghk." We don't even know where the info comes from. Or why the info can't tell us where these guys opporate from. * Lord_Darkmoon takes the pocky. "Thanks." After making sure it wasn't sneezed on, he takes a vicious bite out of it. ... we really need Sakura's angle on this. She has information we're going to need, that's been hidden from us. I can try to set up a meeting with her, but if not, we could just call her. * Minami pours out cups for everybody, and hands one to Maya. If she can give it to us. * Maya takes the tea, nods her head, and takes a sip. "Thanks..." * LadyMallet takes her cup of tea, and sips at it quietly. Shall I start up the jacuzzi? * Lord_Darkmoon looks at Maya, then to the Secretary. "Definitely. Maya's working too hard." * LadyMallet nods vigourously. "That'd be great!" She -should- be at home, in bed. *mock-glares at Maya* Very well. * Secretary heads back to the giant bathroom. Loud water noises ensue. * LadyMallet hmphs, recalling something. "Next time... next time, I'm going to make sure one lives. This can't go on forever." It's my job now, Rinada. I have to sacrifice. ... I hope we did okay, without a leader. * Maya glances at Leena, taking another sip of tea. "So long as they lived, you did wonderfully." We did what we were trained to do... That's our number one job. * LadyMallet looks at her knee, pulling up her pants leg to look at the flesh of it. "... I woulda done better, if it wasn't for that." We definitely missed our ranged contingent, though. We should keep Minami closer to the middle of the spread, next time. Hopefully, too, Kyouko and Maya will be well and with us. Leena's knee is still not pretty. * Maya looks at the knee and winces. "Owowowow... point. But... Leena." * Minami nods at Darkmoon and raises an eyebrow at Leena. "Looks like you need some jacuzzi time, too." Did they intentionally go for your knee at first? The skin has grown back over it, so there's no wound as such, but it's all twisty underneath and about double the size it should be. If I could have gotten there quicker, if I could have gotten to the dorky pagama guys quicker... it wouldn't have been shaved so close, we would have had a chance to fix up one of the assassins enough so that we could capture one... * LadyMallet forcefully shoves the pantsleg back down. "Next time." * Secretary comes back out and bows rather deeply. "Your tub awaits." * LadyNightshade looks down at her own coat again, not wanting to look at Leena's knee. Wai! Leena, my question... I wanna know something. * LadyMallet is a blur- she's already jetting to the hottub. Leena! * Maya frowns. "I'm wondering if we're being scouting out by the assassins as well..." * Minami shakes her head. * LadyNightshade looks up at the secretary, "Thanks." * Minami looks at Maya and frowns too. "What d'you mean?" * Secretary looks down. "My pleasure." Scary thought. But...if so. Perhaps we -could- set a trap, with one of us as bait. I dunno, it didn't seem like he was targetting her knee specifically. Looked like it was more of just a lucky shot. As in the fact that the watchers are being watched. We haven't really left any survivors behind, but this organization's bound to try and figure out who's messing them up. Hmm... * Maya helps herself to another sip. "It's just a matter of when." We need to be more careful about what we say and do then around the fights... Mm. We really do. Stick to our.... heh. Our stage names. We're going to have to tighten up and not leave any possible clues.... ghn... True--what's wrong? * Maya digs out a tissue and sneezes into it. "Ow, that hurt my face." ...oh. Come on, into the tub. *throws a swimsuit from the closet at Maya, and another at Minami, before claiming one for himself and heading for another room to change* The thing is, though, Sakura's been doing this for years. Although I suppose it's better to be safe than sorry. * Minami shakes her head angrily. "If only we knew where our information was coming from. How *do* they plan these things?" We should be more cautious after the fight as well. You never know if they might've set something up to hit us after we already thought we had won... * Minami then stops dead still. "...I wonder..." Hm? Sakura... well, she saw so many of her partners die, I don't think she ever wanted to leave any alive. You guys have a fresh start. Less of a grudge. Like today, those assassins took us completely be surprise... if Kenji hadn't have been there... * Lord_Darkmoon knocks from the room he's in. "Everyone decent in there? I'm coming through." * LadyMallet is already changed into a swimsuit, and in the jacuzzi. She's floating with just her face above the water, in the expansive tub. * Maya blindly catches the swimsuit. "If we have to kill, we have to kill, but... yeah, you're right." * Minami dodges hers. * Maya leans over to the Secretary. "... sure you don't want to join us? You could use the rest time." * LadyNightshade didn't get swimwear thrown at her... ;_; The other thing is, even if you get one, what will you do with him? * Minami tosses hers to Taki. * Secretary smiles and declines. "Is there anything I can get for you guys * Minami nods. "That last one, today...he killed himself. I don't think these people would be willing to answer questions, you kow?" +n That's... yeah, that's the hard part. Who knows what they've been told about us... and gah. He did? Even worse... * Minami nods, making a face at the flashback. "It was pretty...gah. I was concentrating on Deer, but..." She shudders. * Maya finally wanders off somewhere private to change. "Uh-huh..." * Lord_Darkmoon enters, crosses to the bathroom, and climbs into the tub, carefully not looking around. He sighs, closing his eyes, as he slumps into the water. * Minami cricks her neck and finishes off her tea, then stands up and gets her satchel. She looks at the Secretary. "How are those reports coming? Anything I can help with?" * LadyMallet waves at Darkmoon as he enters. She's too content to call him by her usual nickname for him. Which ones? ^^ * LadyNightshade looks down at her coat a bit more, before picking up the swimsuit next to her and heading into the bedroom to change. * Maya peeks out and smiles at the Secretary. "Just drop a line with Sakura to see if she'll be available for a quick meeting anytime soon..." That done, she slips into the jacuzzi room as well. Considering there's a *guy* in there for once, she does a fine job of just slipping in. And stifling a sneeze. "Ow." Actually, that brings up an issue - Maya wasn't with you guys today, so who is going to fill out the incident report? * LadyNightshade walks out of the bedroom in a white one piece. "Not it." Leena finds that the heat is freeing up her knee a little - she can wiggle it about ten degrees without it complaining. * Minami rubs the bridge of her nose. "I can help with some of it, but I was too out of position to be there for the whole thing...I'll do the last part, but maybe...hmm...Darkmoon should help with the other." * LadyNightshade heads into the bathroom and sits on the edge of the jacuzzi with her legs in the water, staring down at her own bubbly reflection. * LadyMallet waves at the fearless leader. "What's taking you guys? Is it Dorkmoon? I can kick him out if that's a problem." * Minami walks over. "What do I need to fill out?" It almost looks like Rinada has fallen asleep - he's certainly not responding to anything. Eh, relax for a bit. I'll get the paperwork together. * Maya apparently slips into the water the moment Leena mentions it, and gives her a look. "No, it's not... okay, maybe a little, but you don't have to kick him out. Besides, he looks... worn out, I guess." * Secretary leaves and you hear a computer waking up. * Minami shrugs and flops on the couch to doze a while until the Secretary comes back. Next time, we gotta bring rope, so we can tie them up. Beat one of them to an inch of death, lure them off by one of us disguising as the target, and running... I think you're thinking too hard. You really are. Relax. Have some. * Maya offers Pocky, which she's managed to keep dry. Yeah, so? I don't want to do this any more than I have to on their terms. We'll see what happens... * LadyMallet snakes one hand out of the water, shaking the main excess of water off, and snags Pocky. * Maya quiets, trying not to sneeze too often or too hard. So it's a quiet evening for the team, as they shake off the horrors of another day at work. [end session] Session Close: Sat May 29 18:18:03 2004