Session Start: Sat Jul 10 15:30:26 2004 Last time, on Hunters: Sakura brought the promised new member, who managed to freak everyone out only slightly. Definitely an... interesting addition. She also brought guns for Leena and Rinada. They failed to hit anything with them in their abbreviated practice session, but since the firing range will be open for them, maybe someday they'll come in handy. Anyway, Haruko is starting at Takeuchi Memorial on the next Monday, and got the same orientation from Lord Oldman and Princess Squeegee as the others did before being sent off to homeroom with her teammates. [Monday, January 19, 2004 - 805 local time] [Ms. Sakamura's home room] [session start] Girls, girls, calm down! * Leena is sleeping. Or trying to. At the very least, she's not paying attention, head lying on her arms, on her desk. * Haruko stares off into space * Taki sits in the back of the room in her general not very happy mood having to wear the obviously not black school uniform. For some reason things are noisy today - there's a lot of nervous energy for no apparent reason. * Taki stares out the window at nothing in particular. We have another new student, class. ( * Rinada is inconspicuously absent, as he's not a student at this school. ) * MsSakamura nods politely to Haruko. "Would you introduce yourself, dear?" * Leena doesn't look up, since she knows who the student is gonna be. * Taki doesn't even acknowledge the teachers existence. * Haruko snaps out of her daydream, and looks slightly nervously at the class. Hi, I'm Haruko Seijouno. Um.. pleased to meet you, I hope we can be friends. Chika pipes up from the back. "Why the hell do we get all the new students? None of the other homerooms do!" Chika! Be nice! * Haruko reddens slightly, but tries to look unaffected. * Taki quietly notes who Chika is so she can hate her later. Sanako is waving her hand frantically. * Leena rouses, to glare at Chika, idly gauging how much force it would take transformed to throw her desk at her. I'm sure that Haruko will be a fine addition to our class. ...though, we are running out of desks in here... Sanako? * Leena doesn't really say anything to Chika, just kinda Looks at her. Seijouno-san, are you a magical girl? The rest of the class groans. * Leena breaks her glare from Chika, to toss a pencil at Sanako. "Come off it already, will ya!?" * Sanako ducks, undeterred. "I'm just asking!" Honestly. You'd think that if someone said they had a pet dog that it was a Pet. * Leena phhhhbbbs, and resumes her not-really-asleep position. * Sanako looks curiously at Leena. Aaaaaanyway, Haruko, you can have my chair today. We'll get you a desk tomorrow. Um, that's ok. I can sit on the floor. Oh, not a problem. And we don't want to get your nice new uniform dirty, do we? I guess not. Haruko will be on the same work-study program with Leena and Maya and Taki and Kyouko... where is Kyouko? Anyway, Leena, could you explain the club system to her? During lunch, maybe? * Leena groans, and looks up. .... someone's gonna have to. Suddenly half the class is emitting a predatory aura. * Leena perks up, assuming a Cheery Smile. "Sure thing! I'd love to!" * Haruko sweatdrops You can go sit down, dear. * Haruko walks slowly to her seat. * Leena eyes the room, sweeping her gaze over it with that cheery smile on her face. "You try it, and you'll never get her. Give her a chance to make up her mind." This is said as nicely and sweetly as she can manage. Some of them are deterred. Some of them. * Taki yawns a bit, looking bored and leans back in her chair. * Haruko reaches one hand into her bag, and sits down. * Norcliff smiles * MsSakamura turns to the blackboard and begins with the day's lesson. * Taki feigns interest in another day of class. *sigh* The morning classes go by in a relatively sane fashion - there's some background rumbling as news of the new student percolates around the school, but nothing untoward happens, no kidnappings, not even a casual importuning. * Leena doesn't even bother. She keeps track of who's paying special attention to Haruko, and who's not, and which clubs the ones that are paying attention to belong to. [lunch time!] * Haruko pays intermediate attention to class, when she isn't daydreaming Maybe Ms. Sakamura really knew what she was doing for once - Leena and Haruko were in the same class immediately before lunch, so they come out into the hall together. * Leena grabs Haruko, intercepting her on the way to the lunchroom, and pulls/drags her away to one of the stairwells. "Hurry, come-on! You've been lucky so far, but it's not gonna last for that long!" * Haruko looks confused "What's going on now?" Just hurry! I'll explain when we get to a safe spot! Lucky how? Um, ok. There's a distant chanting - "Anime Club wants you! Anime Club wants you!" * Haruko allows herself to be led/dragged away * Taki makes her way to the rooftop when class lets out. * Leena stops at a stairwell that doesn't get much traffic during lunch, glancing around like a hunted animal. "Okay... this should be good." * Taki long ago gave up trying to hide from Sanako and just tries to distance herself from the other club members as much as possible. Alright. First off. This school is weird, and full of psychos. This school is also very rich, and this extends into their after-school clubs. Sanako waves casually to Taki as she comes up - apparently there isn't anything new today. * Taki sorta nods back at Sanako. Um, Sanoko, was it? They're all insane psychos who fight tooth and nail who joins them. You're fresh blood, so it's only a matter of time before 'active' recruiting begins. Sounds of scuffling can be heard in the hallway back towards the cafeteria. The clubs get a LOT more money the more people they have in them, so that's why they try so hard. It's based on club size. ... the only way to keep them from actively recruiting you is for you to pick two. Oh.... that explains why they want me. * Haruko trails off at the end of the sentence, looking slightly forlorn There's really no way out of it. I'll buy you as much time as I can while you make up your mind, though. ... so what do you like to do? I'm in the athletics club, myself. Well, I wasn't really involved in clubs at my old school, I'm not really that good at anything... * Haruko seems very interested in her shoes. No sports, then. Um. Hmmm... What about reading or music? And don't worry if you're not good at it, they really don't care. Well, some people like to hear my stories. There's a wooden clattering, below, as the kendo club arrives at the melee late, but in full regalia. And I do like to read manga... * Leena perks an ear. "... it's getting vicious down there." I could join the reading club I guess. Well, there's the performance club. I don't know about acting, but if you like telling stories, that could be good. Wouldn't that involve being in front of a lot of people? Didn't I say that you really don't have to be good at it? Besides, you could be the playwright! And... the manga club and the anime club are kinda the same thing. They're not separate. Oh, that sounds kind of fun. I could make a documentary about the Mystical Warriors! and convince the whole world to help them in their noble quest! * Haruko seems much more animated than previously * Leena blinks for a moment. ... for this school, that'd be perfect. ...now there's a clop-clop sound from downstairs. The riding Club has brought the horse in the school *again*. * Leena glances down the stairway nervously. "... right. That's two potentials, and it sounds like your heart is set on one of them. What else do you like to do?" So, are there any clubs that everyone is in... I don't know about joining a club full of strangers ... no, not really. Each club is like their own little world. Except for some overlap, because people are in two. So, what clubs are you in Leena? other than Athletics You hear that fighting down there? That should tell you how united they are. -_-; * Leena sighs. "... well, I -was- in the Tea Club. That came crashing down with everything else when I got stuck with my current team." What went wrong? * Leena sounds angry, now. "... nobody who knows of our team thinks highly of it. Once word leaked out that I was on it, my reputation amongst the others dropped like a boulder." Tea Club as in the Tea Ceremony? ... not really. Er, is this one of those slang terms * Haruko tries to approach the subject delicately * Leena whispers into Haruko's ear, "It's the magical girls club in disguise. I don't think you'd like it there, or they'd like you, but I'm not gonna force your mind on the issue." There's a momentary pause in the racket. A voice calls up the stairs, "Oi, Leena!" It's Athena. "Hurry up and make her pick two! These idiots are trashing our school." * Leena yells back. "That's their own fault! Doesn't have anything to do with us!" Um, what about anyone else, like Kyouko, she seemed nice. "Barbarian!" This is said with relatively little rancor, though Athena clearly means it as a barb. * Leena turn back to Haruko. "... you see why the rush. As for Kyouko, she's in the swimming club." That club doesn't have that good of a rep. You know, water, Ningyo... water... oh right. * Haruko seems slightly confused The racket starts back up. You can hear bowls of Go stones dumped and skittering over the tiled floor. I guess the anime club would be all right, but the seem kind of scary. Are there any quiet, non competitive clubs? You mean with each other? ... the smaller ones get trampled over, so I guess they're quiet. Well, what's a small club, they could probably use the members. The stairs you're on tremble a little as the ravening horde starts up from below. * Haruko looks slightly sympathetic The swimming club is kinda small. I think the gaming club is kinda... * Leena stares at the stairs. "... you've made up your mind about the performance club, right?" Yes, I must help the noble Mystical Warriors! Right! * Haruko gets a slightly scary gleam in her eyes And I guess the swimming club could be fun, if I don't have to race. * Leena yells down the stairs, "She's picked one! Too bad, punks, you've lost!" Anime and Judo club members wrestle each other around the bend in the stairs and into view. * Leena glances back at Haruko. Make that two! "Join the Riding Club!" *whinnnny* .... YA HEAR THAT? TWO! GET LOST, YOU PSYCHOS! An anime club member is tossed over you by a particularly good Judo-ka. "WHICH TWOOOOOOOOOOooooooooo..." *crunch* SWIMMING AND PERFORMANCE! DUMB JOCKS! There are scattered screams of joy amongst the collective *AW*. The rioters file away, mostly defeated, back towards the cafeteria. * Leena takes a deep breath. "... that was close." As the two girls head down the stairs themselves, they find the entire Tea Club confronting them. Despite Athena's earlier carping, there is surprisingly little damage, though plenty of debris. * Leena locks eyes with Athena, who's presumably at the front, like a good little ego-driven club leader shoulder be. "Outta our way." Yeah, yeah, listen up. You don't have anything worth saying. why should I? I don't like you, Leena, and you know I don't like the way you guys do things. But... you saved two good Ladies the other week, and I thank you for that. We're gonna be late for lunch because of the psy... ... why care now? You didn't before. Another of the girls prods Athena, hard. * Athena grimaces. You're just afraid you could be next. Outta our way. We're hungry. Okay, yeah, if you want back in Tea Club, we'll take you. * Athena turns on her heel and stalks away. A few other members give Leena apologetic smiles before following. * Leena freezes, her diffidence/anger fading to shock. * Athena calls back, "And trust me, little girl, Darkmoon is *not* a good match for you." A few of the others giggle. .... * Haruko whispers to Leena * Leena is responding? She's still statue-like from the offer. "Is she always so mean?" * Leena still isn't responding. She says softly, "....back?" She's obviously not in the here-and-now. * Haruko pokes Leena Hello? * Leena falls over! She flails mid-fall before crashing to the ground. "Ack!" Ahh! Leena, are you ok? I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Huh, wha? ... it's just you. Sorry, you surprised me. * Leena blinkblinks. Um. Did she really say I could get back in? I wasn't just imagining things, right? She did, yes. I thought you decided to quit though. ... it's a bit more complicated than that. * Leena blinkblinks AGAIN. "Um. sorry. Did you have any more questions?" Are you ok? I think so? Do you want to talk about it someday? I'll be less okay if we completely miss lunch, though. Come on! Those psychos cut into our lunchtime, so we gotta hurry! I'm ok, but if you want to eat, lets go * Leena grabs Haruko, and makes haste to try to get there in time. The cafeteria is noisy as usual, but just as the two walk in there's a sudden quieting - a pause that doesn't seem to be caused by the two of them, so much as just a natural gap in activity. ...then suddenly, everyone who has even the slightest hint of magical ability senses an eruption of power somewhere - it's so incredible that you can't tell how far away - off to the east. It's Sea Magic. You've felt this from every Ningyo, but they were like ripples in a pond compared to this tsunami. * Taki looks around her to see if anyone else is feeling it. * Leena looks sharply to the east, then falls flat on her face. There are sudden screams from the Tea Club's table, and almost a third of them slump over as the surge of energy sends them senseless. * Taki tries to stand up but the sensation overflows her senses and she faints to the floor. A few other girls in the cafeteria react, and a number of them lose their lunches. * Taki regains consciousness a few seconds later and slowly pushes her way back into a kneeling position. Ack! * Haruko tries to awaken Leena * Taki looks to the east to see if she can see anything. * Leena grumbles something, rolling over onto her back, at Haruko's proddings. "Ow," she says flatly. It's a grey day outside, and it looks like it might snow later. ...but there's nothing visible to Taki that's out of the ordinary. Are you going to be ok? You seem to be falling over a lot, should we see the nurse. ... I think so. What -was- that? Um, magic I think ... * Taki uses the fence around the roof to help her stand up straight. * Leena flips to her feet, and holds her head for a moment. ... I've got to see what it is. If anyone asks about me, tell them I'm sick, or something! The sense is still there, oppressive and overwhelming and unrelenting, but even now everyone is starting to get used to it. Should I go to? * Taki looks over the card club members to make sure they're alright. ... I don't know. If you want to. It's strong, whatever it is. I wouldn't want you risking yourself if you're not up for it, though. Well, are we supposed to go you know.. On the roof, Sanako looked a little sick, but most of them didn't notice anything. * Haruko looks around and whispers "as a group" I have no idea. The higher ups will probably say stay, and I'm not gonna give em the chance. Ja ne! * Leena waves goodbye at Haruko, and jets. * Taki makes her way down off the roof, since everything there looks safe and heads down toward the school entrance. * Oldman comes on over the PA system. He sounds weak and unsteady. "Would... would the work-study group please report to... t-to the office? Right awww- wway? * Taki finds her bag in her cubby, and pulls it out when she hears Oldman over the PA. At the Tea Club's table, half a dozen cell phones ring. * Taki pauses for a moment before deciding to head to the office as quick as she can. * Haruko hurries off, not bothering with lunch * Leena ignores the PA, since they'll either tell her to go there, which she's doing, or tell her not to go, which she'd ignore. * Oldman is waiting in the office. Taki and Haruko come in, and he immediately announces, "Th-they're here, Princess." * Taki heads straight into Oldman's office, not bothering to wait for an invite. Well? * Sakura speaks up from the telephone, which is on speaker. Good. I'll bet you just felt that. Yeah... You know what it was? ...not exactly. I think it's someone of more... importance from the Sea. So what does our team do about? The Queen seems to too. There's no property damage going on, though, and we haven't pinpointed exactly where. It's on the shore in the shipbuilding area. You want us to investigate? You guys get to scout. Go transformed, incognito, find what's doing it... and then call me and we'll get the artillery there fast. Um... I'm not so good at the incognito.... Too bad - learn fast. * Taki nods before realizing she's on the phone and says, "Okay." * Taki looks over at Haruko. "Where'd Leena go?" The Queen herself is getting off her lazy ass and coming out there - make sure she knows where to annihilate, okay? Get going. * Haruko looks slightly torn *click* Um, she said she was "sick" ... ... So then it's just the two of us? She *said* she was "sick" Yeah. I get that. Look, nevermind, let's go change. * Taki drags Haruko out of the office towards the restroom. "You did get the memo about bringing a change of clothes with you, didn't you? I don't think so... Well then it looks like you're just going to have to use your school uniform. * Taki opens the bathroom door and closes it behind the two of them. * Taki calls out into the room. "Hello? Anyone in here?" Good. *locks the door* Okay now take off your clothes and transform. Um... ok * Haruko goes into one of the stalls, not really comfortable undressing in front of other people. * Taki heads into one of the stalls and there is a bright flash of *PINK* around the edges of the door. * LadyNightshade quickly changes into her street clothes out of her bag. * Lady_MakeBelieve comes out of the stall, her incomprehensible hair standing out even more starkly against her plain school uniform * LadyNightshade heads back into the main area of the bathroom having finished changing in no time flat and waits for Haruko. ... You need a hat. * Lady_MakeBelieve looks in the mirror True. ... and a scrunchy Try wrapping it up in bun or something? * Lady_MakeBelieve gestures at all the hair. That's a lot of hair to put up. Well you gotta do something with it... I know... Oh! * LadyNightshade tries not to show her annoyance at all the time this is wasting... * Lady_MakeBelieve concentrates for a moment, a box of hair dye appearing in her hand This should be just the rub-in kind Um, Taki, could you help me with it? ... This really works? * LadyNightshade tears open the box to get the stuff out. Well, it will only last for an hour or so... and it won't look quite normal... but it will be less conspicuous anyway * Lady_MakeBelieve rubs a bit on the end of her hair, leaving it dark black, but slightly misty looking. In the mean time we buy you a hat. The dye has an odd, ethereal look to it as it is applied to the hair, but once it's absorbed, you can hardly tell the difference - if anything, it looks a little poofy. * LadyNightshade , being rushed for time, just slops the stuff into the girls hair making sure every bit is covered as best she can. * Lady_MakeBelieve looks at the stains on her uniform. Its a good thing I won't have to wash those out. Okay okay, good enough, let's go. Sorry for the delay, I said I wasn't good at this >_> You'll get better. * LadyNightshade rushes out the door and heads towards the school entrance, almost forgetting to slow down enough so MakeBelieve can keep up. It's only a short run for the train station. The Water Magic makes the effort feel like running on a blisteringly hot day, draining your spirit just as fast as you make progress. A quick consultation of the map shows that Shinagawa is the waterfront district closest to where your instincts are pointing you, and there's a convenient train leaving in about... ten seconds! There's the train we want, hurry up. * LadyNightshade dashes over onto it. I'm running! * Lady_MakeBelieve pants. I'm not as fast as you are, ok! We really need Gentle Breeze for this one. ... Right. * LadyNightshade stops inside the train, letting Haruko catch her breath. She's fast enough, this time. They make the train as the doors hiss shut, and are speeding east towards destiny. * Lord_Darkmoon is, coincidentally, sitting with his Tessen across his knees in the train car that the Ladies enter. * Lady_MakeBelieve sits down, and reaches into her bag... she immediately sits up, panicked Norcliff is missing! * Lord_Darkmoon looks up at the two with dark eyes, recognizing Nightshade immediately but taking a moment to place Make Believe. I must have left him back at the school! ... Norcliff? Hm. Will he be alright without you? Um, probably, but I worry. Well at least now he won't get hurt? He can get vicious if you don't know him. * LadyNightshade offers that uncomfortably. Oh Darkmoon. Did you talk to Sakura too? Hold on... *pulls out a pair of dark sunglasses, and puts them on, before tensing up* ...yes... *Nightshade recognizes this posture as his concentrating on controlling/finding an animal* * LadyNightshade rolls her eyes but doesn't say anything about the little rat thing. * LadyNightshade instead tries to distance herself from Haruko hopefully leaving her in Darkmoon's care. * Lord_Darkmoon relaxes, taking off the sunglasses. Which disappear. "He is...not nearby. I cannot find him." ... Yeah. *turning to Taki* She called the school, then my cell phone. After ... whatever that was. Leena ran off on her own... Hopefully we find her before she does anything too... Stupid. * Lord_Darkmoon kunzite-smiles. "Leena? Do something stupid? Surely you jest." We should beat her there since we know where we're going. She seemed.. in a hurry. She's just... Leena. You'll find out eventually. Unlike Taki, she cannot outrun a train. If she's trying to follow the sensation, she'll have to run, not ride. And the kilometers tick by, the team feels the Sea Magic getting nearer and ever more scary. ... I really don't like this. I don't know what it's going to be like when we get there... I'm sure it will be fine. The Mystical Warriors have overcome situations much worse than this. Heh. Hehehe. * LadyNightshade almost can't stop herself from laughing. It's never fine. Why when they were fighting the Black Knight... What do you mean? Good will always triumph Of course it will. Do you need a pep talk? ... Not from you. Pray that it is so, m'Lady, and keep your faith even should you meet my...other self. * Lady_MakeBelieve sighs Some people just don't get it. * Lord_Darkmoon speaks darkly, slightly strained by the oppressive Sea Magic Aura. I mean, Moonbeams entire family is suffering right now, and she still hasn't lost hope. Darkmoon, can you stay with MakeBelieve and make sure she's okay when we get there? I think it would be better if I was able to go ahead of you guys and get a good look at everything. The train starts to curve north to parallel the shoreline, and the source of the Sea Magic is definitely beginning to get farther away. The train speakers chime, then say "Shinagawa" in typical garbled fashion. As you say, Taki. I believe this is our stop. *rises* Come, Ladies. * LadyNightshade is already heading off the train. * Lady_MakeBelieve gets up still talking about Moonglow to Taki * Lord_Darkmoon exits. * Rochelle turns to the chittering voice. * Lady_MakeBelieve pauses for a second, looking at someone in the crowd. Rochelle? Ha-Haruko? You in there? Rochelle! Yeah, its me! Be careful Darkmoon. * Lady_MakeBelieve runs over and gives the girl a big hug What're you doing in there? You're no fighter * Rochelle is hugged, but doesn't return it. * LadyNightshade smiles a bit, before dashing out of the station towards the source of the Sea Magic. You know me, always trying to help out when I can... This is a dangerous business, are you sure you can take it? Well, I've managed ok in the past, haven't I? I mean, I'm not completely useless... * Rochelle pats her shoulder. "We know you're not, but we still have to worry." * Lord_Darkmoon bows to Rochelle. "A pleasure, mademoiselle. But MakeBelieve, Nightshade, and I must be underway. Would you be so kind as to join us?" Taki finds herself in a heavy commercial/manufacturing district. Medium- rise towers mix with incredibly large factory buildings. * Rochelle regards Darkmoon. "Yes, I believe that would be best for all of us." * Lady_MakeBelieve whispers to Rochelle "He's like a kamen" Then let us go. Can you sense it as well? * Lord_Darkmoon starts walking in ground-eating strides. * LadyNightshade heads into a nearby alley and bounces up to the rooftops, to get a better view and make better time to the source. It's different than what I'm use to, but something is amiss. I'll help where I can. Even if it isn't working for the Dragon King, it still doesn't feel good. Thank you, mademoiselle. Come. *heads towards...it...watching carefully* I wish Aka and Tsubasa were here * LadyNightshade grumbles when she gets to the roofs and sees how varied the terrain is. "Taking the streets so isn't cool..." The shoreline is not far away, but huge dry-docks and piers are between you and the bay. * LadyNightshade hops back down and heads along the roads as best she can, trying to use her rooftop view for reference. The Sea Magic is coming from the south - fortunately there's a major southbound street, and pedestrian traffic is thick. Strangely, nobody is running, screaming, or panicking, so far. * LadyNightshade runs anyway. Stay close, Make Believe, ...and, um, what is your name, Mademoiselle, if I may ask? She doesn't have to run very far - the bearing of the magic source starts swinging east, and soon she finds a spot where the source must be directly between her and Tokyo Bay. The name's Marmara, but you can call me Mara... it's just easier * LadyNightshade approaches with caution when she starts to feel close to the source. * LadyNightshade is on red alert for anything around her. * Lord_Darkmoon nods. "Mara, then. You may call me Rinada. Stay close; we shouldn't get separated. We'll probably find Nightshade and Mallet when we find whatever's making this." He continues on. The property is a large one - multiple shipbuilding slips, a dozen factories and warehouses, and incredibly, a six-story building right on the edge of the bay, all inside one fenceline. * Marmara follows easily, in her element. * LadyNightshade clears the fence in a jump, making her way inside. There's a large sign on the front gate: "Hitachi-2osen Group: Universal Shipbuilding Corporation - Shinagawa" Taki goes over the first fence, and lands between it and a second one. A motion sensor is tripped, and ear-splitting alarms go off. ... Oh shit. ... crap, that isn't good. * LadyNightshade clears the second fence with another leap. The others are approaching the same fenceline, though are still a few blocks away. * Lord_Darkmoon dodges towards a wall, and runs along it towards the racket. "Mallet...what have you done now?" This time, she lands, turns as her senses warn her of danger, and is nearly impaled by a speeding forklift. I don't think that was Mallet... * Marmara moves to protect MakeBelieve from the unknown assault. * LadyNightshade dodges out of the path of the vehicle. Does this mean we can stop being "incognito" ? Let's hurry. *hurries* And no, it doesn't. It just means we need to be careful. * LadyMallet doesn't make any motions to warn Darkmoon or the others of her presence, as she sees them ahead and kicks up the pace. The driver screams epithets at the weird girl who just leapt the fence, and then grabs his radio to report it in. Taki seems to have landed in a small convoy of ship parts headed for one of the central slips. Besides the forklifts, there are multiple flatbeds and tractor-trailers on what seems to be a miniature highway. * LadyMallet waves at Darkmoon as she matches his pace, running beside him. "You too, huh?" * LadyNightshade tries to get the hell out of view before everyone in the entire complex has a good chance to get a look at her. * Lord_Darkmoon looks a bit surprised to see her, then says, "Mallet?" Huh? I don't know... whatever it is, it's coming from there, though. *points up ahead* Taki ducks into a warehouse - it's brightly lit in here, but there aren't a lot of workers, and there are shadowy portions. No one follows her, though there is some yelling outside. Nightshade scouted ahead. She must have triggered an alarm. Normals must not feel it; there'd be more panicked flight, else. ... that's why it's so loud, huh? * LadyNightshade makes her way into the shadows and disappears from sight, taking some time to you know, think before she screw up anymore. ^^; I suppose. Darkmoon and company have arrived opposite the main gates of the complex now. Traffic in and out seems normal, despite the siren. There's even a group of what looks like tourists lining up at the guard post. Hm. You Ladies up for a tour of the facilities? ... Certainly draws less attention. * LadyMallet looks at the line, the siren, then at herself still in MG uni. Um... lemme borrow that tessen, will ya? * Lord_Darkmoon hands the Tessen to Mallet with a kunzite-smirk. * LadyNightshade looks about her, trying to figure out what exactly they're working on here and maybe which building the magic is coming from. * LadyMallet uses the now squeaky-mallet to shift her outfit to something not quite so flashy. Grey armless t-shirt, slightly floofy shorts, and a wide- brimmed straw hat. * Lord_Darkmoon looks to Mara and Make Believe. "Do either of you feel the need for a change?" This as relaxed as it gets * Marmara eyes her jean shorts and oversized t-shirt. Taki finds herself among huge piles of sheet metal - slabs so big that not even Leena could lift them. Down the aisle a ways is what looks like a dumpster - except it's full of fist sized bolts. Large-scale shipbuilding raw materials, or so it would seem. * LadyNightshade thinks to herself, well whatever it is it's big. * LadyMallet twirls the squeaky-mallet in her hand, like a baton. "This is remarkably calm. No mass chaos or Ningyo... something weird is definitely up, though." No kidding. *holds his hand out to take back the squeaky-mallet* The magic is coming from further inside the grounds - Taki got a little direction-turned, is all. * LadyMallet is giving back the squeaky mallet? No, she's just twirling it in one hand. * Lord_Darkmoon catches the squeaky-mallet mid-twirl, and takes it back. The now-Tessen converts his school uniform to a sweatshirt and bluejeans. "You want to change, Make-Believe? " * LadyMallet pouts, then immediately brightens up and skips ahead to the tourist line. * LadyNightshade decides to play it cool for a bit while the alarms die down. The tour is apparently free, though momentarily delayed. * Lord_Darkmoon puts the Tessen away and follows Mallet. Sorry about that, folks - there was a miscue with the security systems, but everything is all right. * Marmara trails Darkmoon, not finding anything more productive to do. We'll get going now - everyone stay between the green painted lines when we're on the property, so you don't get run over. Things are really busy this year, and there's a lot of activity right now. It's okay! *smiles at the tour guide cutely* I'll be sure to be careful! * Lord_Darkmoon baps Mallet on the head with the folded Tessen. "Hush. Let the nice tour guide talk." * TourGuide leads the group inside the complex, and indeed things are bustling. * LadyMallet does keeps her senses open, trying to pin down where the MG homing beacon is, down to just one building out of the several. Welcome, everyone, to the main Tokyo facility of Universal Shipbuilding Corporation! We're a subsidiary of the Hitachi-2osen group, which is responsible for about a quarter of the worlds shipbuilding tonnage greater than 40 meters. USC in particular builds sea structures like drilling platforms and oversized, low-speed tankers. * TourGuide leads the group out onto a raised concrete balcony on one side of the main administrative building. * LadyMallet blinks. "Reaaaallly big boats." As you get close the admin building, the direction of the Sea magic subtly shifts... upwards. Whatever it is, must be on one of the upper floors. The balcony actually extends over the bay a little. * TourGuide points off to the left. * LadyMallet starts pointing at random buildings. "Do we get to go to that building? What about that one? That one? And that one over there?" The admin building is in there, somewhere. Over there is our latest drilling platform. It's intended to be semi-mobile, and this one will be towed halfway around the world to the Persian Gulf, where a friendly little emirate is going to use it. Settle down, little girl - we're going into Building 1 in a moment, for the gift shop. * Lord_Darkmoon looks over at the drilling platform, then tries again to figure out the source of the emanation. Is it, in fact, "Building 1"? There is, indeed, a small sign on each corner of the building saying "Building 1" on the tower behind the tour group. Anyway, on your right, you'll see a slip where we have just begun work on a supertanker - later, we'll go down into the slip and you'll have a chance to see the skeleton of the ship up close. ...I doubt any of you will have ever been so close to something so big. * TourGuide points out to sea, where grey-painted warships are pretentiously going nowhere. We even do some occasional repair work for the United States Navy. Our sister company, Nakai-2osen Corp gets most of that, but what we do get pays extremely well. Oooooh. Mostly local jobs, though, just their ships that are around here, right? Anyway... Right. When they're around here. Anyway, let's back up a little. * TourGuide waves the group back down the steps and into the main lobby of the building. Our corporate headquarters is actually in Osaka, but it just so happens that our CEO is here today. I'll take you upstairs in a minute, and you can see him, but first let's stop at the gift shop. The gift shop is full of... toys. Models of big, big ships and structures. Half the group goes gaga. * LadyMallet ooh! and aahs! And darts from thing to thing, looking at them all. * Marmara idly glances around the shop, not paying too much attention to a single object. * Lord_Darkmoon looks around semi-casually, mostly watching the people. * TourGuide waits for people to blow their cash, then calls for attention. * Lord_Darkmoon hasn't spent a dime, or a yen, even, and gives the man his attention. He is keeping track of Mallet, though, too. Good thing she doesn't have a Agency credit card... All right, let's go up to the top floor - it's got a good view of the whole complex, and like I said the CEO is here so you might get to see him. * LadyMallet isn't really spending anything, mostly putting on an act. Although it's a very good act. * TourGuide loops around the main core of the building back to what must be a freight elevator. ...and up you go. This close, the sense of the Water Magic feels like trying to jam your hand into a (functioning) firehose. It increases in intensity at exponential rates, and the team begins to feel somewhat woozy. * Lord_Darkmoon grits his teeth, and grasps his Tessen rather tightly. * LadyMallet puts a lot more physical effort into keeping up, practically stomping holes into the floor as she steps. The elevator slows to a halt, the door opens, and the group empties out onto the sixth floor. It's a wide-open space, filled with large models of the company's major projects. There is a large office walled off on one side, but otherwise you can see all around you overlooking the complex. * Lord_Darkmoon looks around, trying to feel where this torrent of force is emanating from without being sand-blasted by it. * LadyMallet eyes the room critically, trying to pinpoint the feeling. * TourGuide walks across the room to a desk in front of the office while the group fans out admiring the view. The Sea Magic is definitely coming from the office. There can be no doubt... except suddenly it seems to be moving. ... the CEO. Of course. A couple of American tourists gasp and point at something out a window on the same face of the building as the office. * LadyMallet looks at what draws the gaijin tourists attention! Because her attention is flighty like that. They furiously start taking pictures, and everyone else looks their way just in time to see a finned, female, blue-green-glowing creature arc out from the building and into Tokyo Bay below. * LadyMallet screams, putting one hand to her face, and pointing with the other, "NINGYO!" Like a little girl, no less. As the presumed Ningyo hits the water, the Sea Magic that's been clobbering you all afternoon vanishes instantly. --- Taki finds that careful sneaking is all that is needed to get around here. The buildings are big enough, that even with the thousands of employees around, they're spread thin on the ground and she can avoid them if she tries. * LadyNightshade works her way as quickly and carefully as she can to where she senses the magic emanating from. It's no problem making her way back through the complex, but getting to the administration building will be harder. The six-story structure is in the middle of a plaza with sightlines all around, and lots of pedestrian traffic. * LadyNightshade checks out the security around the building, sizing it up. There are security cameras around it, and some guards at the front entrance. The only approach that looks halfway doable would be form the sea side... and that would require getting wet. * LadyNightshade makes her way around the building, keeping her distance, looking for a way in. Maybe something she could jump up on to reach the rooftop... No, no, there are warehouses around it, but all at least forty meters away, and none nearly as tall as the building. A couple of employees walk by Taki's hiding spot - they're chatting about how great business is this year, and how the company seems to be expecting profits to continue rising. * LadyNightshade gets around to the sea side of the building, hoping for an opening the security so she can sneak into the building. The Bay directly abuts the back of the building - there's a blank seawall, about eight meters of it, and ladders leading up it to a couple of doors on the base of the building. She could get to those ladders, almost certainly unseen, but swimming would be necessary. ... I hate the water. * LadyNightshade works her way to the water, hoping for some sort of deus ex machina that produces a small boat or something to float across on... Sadly, the spirits that watch over magical girls are not feeling so generous today, and besides the Hitachi-2osen group keeps their lot clean. * LadyNightshade grumbles her way into the water and makes her way towards the ladder as FAST as she can. It's January, and the water is really, REALLY COLD, encouraging Taki to move even faster. She gets to the base of the ladder... and realizes she's not alone. * LadyNightshade looks around, suddenly paranoid. Half a dozen heads and torsos - half male, half female, all nude, all Ningyo - have popped up out of the water around her. o_O * LadyNightshade climbs the shit out of the ladder. * LadyNightshade practically leaps her way up it. They watch her climb silently for a moment, then one ducks her head back under the surface. A second later, the source of all the radiated Sea Magic plunges past Taki. It's a Ningyo, with a golden crown, perfect glowing skin, and the longest blue-green hair imaginable... then she spears cleanly into the water, the other Ningyo go under as well, and Taki is suddenly alone at the first-floor fire door. The magic has stopped. ...or at least she can't sense it any more. * LadyNightshade doesn't take any chances and ducks into the door. The door, of course, was alarmed. Taki's ears hurt. * LadyNightshade decides it's still better than death by fish, and dashes off to once again find someplace to lie low. --- * LadyMallet waits for the reaction, hopefully enough that they aren't looking at her when she runs, and jumps, arms crossed over her face, out the window after the Ningyo, not bothering to snag the straw hat as it flies off. COOOOME BAAAAACK HERE! Mal-- dammit! * Lord_Darkmoon tries to catch her before she can jump out the window. Mallet plunges through the plexiglass - that *hurt*, by the way - and tumbles, out of control to the Bay seven stories below. The tour group is completely surprised by this, and half of them scream in horror. * Lord_Darkmoon runs to the window to see...if she survived, he supposes. He's careful not to fall out, himself. * LadyMallet winces- she didn't realize it was plexiglass- then tries to fix her fall enough to end in a dive. She almost gets it under control - instead of doing a bellysmacker from thirty meters, she goes in half-sideways. It feels like her left arm is dislocated, but at least she's conscious. * LadyMallet gasps at the cold, looking around frantically. "... it got away! Dammit!" * Lord_Darkmoon calls down, "Are you alright!?" She sees a couple of flukes flip out of the water momentarily about a hundred meters away, but they're moving a lot faster than she could swim, even unhurt. * LadyMallet mutters something, and swims in place. A speedboat pulls away from the drilling platform project and cruises over to Leena. ... ugh. * TourGuide flutters around incoherently, aghast that his tour has gone so horribly wrong. * LadyMallet looks over at the speedboat. A life preserver is chucked in Leena's direction, beaning her. ... * LadyMallet sighs, and accepts the help, resigned that they got away. Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods... * Lord_Darkmoon stands up. "It's...it will be okay. Looks like she's being rescued." He looks at the tour guide concernedly - the poor guy looks worse than Leena. "Are -you- going to be okay?" A middle-aged man dressed in an expensive suit comes over and shoves a chair underneath the tour guide, who gratefully collapses. * Lord_Darkmoon smiles a bit at that; it's almost funny. I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, I'm afraid that we need you to go back downstairs. If you could just head back to the elevator...? The CEO is in a meeting, but I'm sure he'll be down in a moment to apologize for this unfortunate incident. * Man said that. * Lord_Darkmoon looks out at Leena's rescue again, then snaps his attention to the man, staring at him and *blinking*. He's lucky his jaw isn't dropped. He quickly regains his composure, though. Y-- *pause* F--... *ahem, shakes his head* Do you.. know what happened here, sir? * Lord_Darkmoon looks composed enough...if a touch nervous. Maybe. * Man helps a few of the more-distressed guests to their feet, and escorts them to the normal passenger elevator rather than the freight elevator. No, I don't know why that girl jumped out the window. * Man looks back towards the hole. What about-- the thing outside it? Just before she jumped? ...for that matter, I'm not sure HOW she jumped through it. Thing? What thing? * Man puts on an innocent face - it's almost convincing. * Lord_Darkmoon 's eyes narrow for a moment. "The girl pointed at...it looked like a mermaid. Shouted "Ningyo", and jumped. Perhaps fear drove sense from her mind." If there is...anything else you could tell me? This is most unusual, you must admit. Maybe she saw something... I don't know. It's just unfortunate, all of it. * Lord_Darkmoon studies the man's expression as he asks, "I am curious; the guide never mentioned what brought the CEO here, today." We came up this week for meetings, and to finish out the building schedule for the year. So much going on, you know. I'm sorry, I must help these people. * Man ducks into an elevator as it closes. * Lord_Darkmoon stands where he is for a moment, expressionless. Then, with a shake of his head, he, too, heads for an elevator. Perhaps the CEO's 'apology' will be enlightening. If nothing else, he needs to meet back up with the others. ...so Taki saw the others as they got down to the first floor and rather smoothly merged with the tour group... which was promptly escorted back out to the street. No apology was forthcoming. * Lord_Darkmoon was unusually quiet - even for him - when he rejoined the others. Leena, for her part, snapped her handcuffs and made Lady-sized holes in several walls in the course of her escape from plant security. She found the others back at the train station with very little trouble. This left them with only one immediate problem - what the hell were they going to tell Sakura? Lord Darkmoon's phone rings.... [end session] Session Close: Sat Jul 10 20:15:15 2004