A look of dumbfoundedness mixed with caution was writ onto the zombie's face as he saw the girl collapse in a heap. Really now, there were limits to how far the wool could be pulled over the slightly dense teen's eyes. That and the fact that the one called Energia seemed to be rather offkilter and proclaimed many things wrong with the drink made him wary, atop the fact that the crowd was still there despite all that happened.
Taking the bottle, the zombie glanced at it for the moment before turning back. "I don't think your business is as straight as you're having the others believe..." A subtle change came over the pallor male's face, making it look quite more focused and somewhat respectable even, in contrast with the slacker's features seen just a few seconds ago. "What did you do to that girl? It seemed to take away her energy rather than restore it..." Being a zombie granted the boy clarity to supernatural happenings, so he wasn't going to be tricked. Still, they didn't have the feel of Megalos, so he wasn't exactly on his best guard.
Always be ready to do the unusual and unexpected.Mami listened to the redhead's words. She knew what she went through, and what was past was past. Her eyes half-closed, remembering back. Fighting witches together, being close friends. All of that gone now. "Sakura-san," she began, "I don't know what you're talking about... things can't go back to the way they were." she frowned slightly, feeling disappointed in her own words. "But we can fight each other or the witch." the blonde turned to look at Sayaka and Madoka. "But not here." she directed her glance back to Kyouko.
Sayaka grit her teeth. She couldn't tolerate the crap that the hostile magical girl just spat out her mouth. "So other magical girls are a bunch of selfish..." she didn't finish the sentence as Madoka cut her off.
"S-sayaka-chan... we shouldn't .. um..." Madoka had no idea what to say.
"It's alright, Kaname-san, Miki-san." the blonde didn't look away from Kyouko as she spoke. "What do you want to do, Sakura-san? If you feel the need to fight here and endanger my juniors... then I won't have a choice but to fight back, you know." the Soul Gem's glow strengthened as Mami held her hand out.
That... was weird. That definitely didn't look like a doll, and the fact that it had been talking and moving on its own seemed to be a very clear indication that it was not a doll. Nanoha still wasn't really sure what to make of it(green ugly smelly things out of no where were kind of confusing...) but she was sure that the girl's phone was talking on its own, without actually being spoken through. It was talking a fair deal more than Raising Heart, which usually stuck to short statements, but it was definitely talking. Nanoha's mind came to one, quick conclusion.
Was that a device?
That was the only explanation, right?
She couldn't just ask this girl if she was from the TSAB, though. That was a secret! And Nanoha had to keep it a secret just like everyone else.
"Your doll? Um... it was talking and moving, though!" she asked.
For a few moments, she turned to glance at Fate.
"Fate-chan... did you hear her phone?" Nanoha asked, quickly and quietly.
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up.""Yes," the blonde-haired girl replied, equally quiet. Intelligent Devices made to look like earthly electronics didn't make much sense, especially given that most Intelligent Devices had a decidedly martial streak to them, but it was entirely possible... a storage device would make more sense for the design but those were incapable of speech. Maybe it was one of those rare, non-combat devices, like the one the fourth member of the Wolkenritter seemed to possess?
"Signum?" Shamal called from the kitchen. turning her gaze in that direction, she saw the blonde Wolkenritter poking her head from the doorway, smiling apologetically.
"Sorry, but I just realised we don't have any eggs or butter, and Hayate really needs them." She continued. "Could you please...?"
Signum nodded once and got to her feet. "For the mistress, I'll go any time."
"Tell Signum she can say no~" Hayate's called playfully, causing Signum to crack an ever-so-increasingly common smile.
"It's fine." Signum repeated.
After Shamal's words of gratitude, Signum readied herself to head out. Before doing so, Signum glanced in Vita's direction. "Want to come?" She offered. Zafira was still snoozing the day away, so he was out.
"Ha! Endanger them?" Kyouko said with a sneer. "Look who's talking, dragging them around into witches' barriers like that! What's the point in seeing them as friends anyway? You're only gonna end up hurting them. You'd do better to just use them as bait to lure the witch out, then attack while it's distracted. That's what a sensible magical girl would do."
She held out her Soul Gem, which glowed brilliant scarlet. "Very well then. But we'd better take it elsewhere." Her face bore an arrogant grin that hid the pang of regret she felt as painful memories resurfaced. She couldn't fight witches alongside Mami. It would be uncomfortably reminiscent of the way things used to be. Besides, some part of her hated the thought of abusing her former friend's kind nature by accepting a Grief Seed from her. "You know we can't work together any more, so if you keep insisting, I'll have to fight you."
What's the point in giving up when you know you'll never stop anyway?"It moved riiight...." Will said with a defeated sigh. It would be just her luck that she'd run into two smart 9 year olds as opposed to the easily fooled Lillian, "Any chance you two can walk away and pretend this never happened?"
"You don't honestly believe that will work, do you Will?" Another voice said, the calculator sticking out of her coat pocket blinking as it spoke. Great, now the calculator was nagging her. Just great...
"Blunk know! Blunk can fix this!" The green creature wriggled out of Will's grasp and pulled something out the bag it had. It was a deflated basketball, "Blunk trade helmet. You don't tell anyone Blunk was here, yes?"
Will took this opportunity to face palm.
"O-oh right.. hehe, sorry Irma," Hay Lin replied, quickly getting off of her friend, "Do you have any guesses to what happened? Oh! Oh! I bet we were abducted by aliens and they dropped us off in the wrong city!"
Shopping District
A smug grin spread across J.Dyte's face as he let out a low chuckle. "Oh my, but it's just a simple energy drink, young man. What, are you implying we have some kind of hidden agenda here?" Mockingly, he laid a hand on Ayumu's head and give his hair a rough ruffling. "Now now, even if we were using this as a front for some sinister purpose, what would you do about it? Don't you know what happens to little boys who try to bite off more than they can chew?"
Of course he didn't feel threatened by this boy. Why should he? He was one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Dark Kingdom, after all. No-one was a match for him. No-one can foil his plans. Except... Sailor Moon. That girl had been meddling in his affairs far too much lately, but thankfully she didn't seem to be anywhere in sight. No, this time his plan would go ahead without any problems, and Queen Beryl would get the energy she needed. This ti-
"ENERGY!" yelled Energia as she handed out more drinks. It was rather clear to see that everyone she handed one to ended up in the same condition as Naru. "Enough ENERGY to KICK GOD'S FACE IN!"
J.Dyte pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "...I swear, next time I'm bringing a less annoying youma..."
Nearby Alley
"I think it'd be better if you stopped worrying about aliens and went away from here. Alleyways like this aren't really the safest place for kids to hang out." Behind Hay Lin and Irma stood a man for whom the phrase "tall, dark and handsome" seemed to have been made for. He looked around 17, maybe 18, and was wearing a dark suit that seemed to suit him perfectly.
"Mind you, there's some really weird stuff going on over there," he said, staring off outside the alley to where the Energade stand stood. "I don't know if it'd be safe for kids to hang out there either."
Mitakihara
Red eyes... And a static face? Sailor V thought about this for a moment. Something like that just had to be a youma. There was nothing else that it really could be. But... A tool? Offers of miracles? And there were others? This had to be the work of the Dark Kingdom if a youma was involved, but... She had no idea that they had done something that ran this deep. Tricking innocent girls so they could steal their energy was one thing, but turning them into tools for... Whatever their purpose was? This was... Unforgivable!
"Well, Miss Not Important, it looks like there's more to this than I first thought." She placed a hand firmly on the black haired girl's shoulder and looked her in the eye. The wind caused her hair to flutter dramatically behind her, and she was far too preoccupied trying to look serious to notice the potential fight about to break out. "If you're after whatever it was that did... Whatever it did to these girls, then I guess we'll be working together. I can't let them get away with this any longer. Please, let me help you. It'll be so much easier if there's two of us, after all."
Grimacing as his hair was ruffled, the teen immediately backed away from the thing. He wasn't exactly a kid, and the man in front of him felt... dangerous somehow. Eyes sweeping his surroundings as he saw those people flop down to the ground in exhaustion, he simply crushed the glass bottle in his hand. As the glass broke into pieces of jagged materials that bit into his palm and lacerated it, he idly shook off the blood, liquid, and pieces of broken bits. Already, the flesh began knitting itself back up and closing off the wounds until smooth skin once more encircled his extremity.
"Right... Like I said, you should stop whatever it is you're doing before I stop you." The zombie said from underneath his umbrella, his face set into a caricature of tranquil hostility.
Always be ready to do the unusual and unexpected.Kids? Well admittedly they were young, but they weren't ordinary kids, this guy didn't have to worry about them! Of course, he didn't know that. She glanced over to where he had indicated "weird stuff" happening. Something about that blonde... that J.Dyte...
"Psst Irma, doesn't that guy over there remind you of Mr. Green and Scaley, sorta?" The Chinese girl asked, speaking low enough for Mamoru not to hear. And by Green and Scaley, she of course meant Cedric. She wasn't sure, but something about that guy really reminded her of that no good snake.
"We're going to fight either way." Mami sighed, shaking her head from side to side. Was Kyouko really this hostile the last time she met her? At the time it was just clashing ideals, now ... it's the same. Back then she won, but... no, the Witch had priority here. Again, she sighed, "Sakura-san, there's a witch nearby and we're both wasting time." the girl walked forward, closer to Kyouko and eventually past her, "Didn't you once say it was rude to invade on the territory of other magical girls?" she turned her head to give the red-head a glance. "What happened to that?" a faint smile, although one could tell it was merely a front.
Sayaka began to think. Are all other magical girls besides Mami this selfish? This evil? No, if she contracted, she wouldn't be like that... and she thought Madoka was thinking the same thing.
Madoka stood there with Kyubey in her arms, worried about the events about to unfold.
Kyouko let out a heavy sigh. "Hmph. It's not my fault I couldn't find any more witches in Kasamino," she said through gritted teeth. "I knew I should've stayed there and waited for the familiars to grow." She turned her head, watching Mami as she walked past, then lowered the hand that held the Soul Gem. In truth, she didn't want to fight Mami, but she didn't want to work with her either. Going back to Mitakihara had been a bad idea.
"Know what? This isn't worth it. For once, I've gotta say you're right. If we stay here, somebody else is gonna get to the witch first," she said, her words laced with reluctance. Mami was probably worried about all the people the witch would hurt, but Kyouko had no such concerns. She just didn't want to ruin her own chance of getting a Grief Seed, or spend unnecessary time with her former ally whose gaze she could barely bring herself to meet.
"Let's get this over with. But remember, this is the last time we'll ever work together. As soon as we defeat the witch, I'm outta here. Got that?" The sooner this was over, the better. Then she could go back to working alone, and forget the incident had ever happened. "And if you try to get me to stay again, then we will end up fighting."
What's the point in giving up when you know you'll never stop anyway?Homura sighed again. "If that's what you think is best, then I won't try to stop you."
And then, without another word, she dropped off the roof, her school uniform exploding to reveal her own costume in its place as she fell, before landing with all the grace of a cat several storeys below.
edited 28th Jan '12 9:47:12 AM by Deadbeatloser22
"Yup. That tasted purple.""Two...?" Nanoha was surprised. She didn't know anyone could have more then one device. She didn't know devices could even work that way... who was this girl? Her devices talked a lot, too. She knew that they all had personalities, but her Raising Heart and Fate's Bardiche weren't very talkative most of the time...
... And then the green thing offered her a deflated ball as a helmet. "... Eeeehhhh?"
Vita sat up, and stretched. She wanted to complete the Book of Darkness in time to save Hayate soon... this was taking too long! But right now, well, they didn't want to attract TSAB attention. So they had to be careful. Going out to shop sounded like something to at least occupy the time.
"I'll come," she said.
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."Fate's response was pretty much identical to Nanoha's; the blonde girl simply stood there looking confused. Unlike, Nanoha, however, Fate was a lot more likely to assume a situation would devolve into a fight and her hand automatically went to Bardiche's deactivated form. It was seeming an increasingly good proposition to transform, even if this was in the middle of Uminari, and be done with it. The green... thing didn't seem quite sane, at all.
With a nod, Signum waited for Vita to join her before heading out for the market place. For a while, the older Wolkenritter was silent, with an impassive look.
Eventually, Signum said, "I'll look for some more Linker Cores later tonight. You won't mind keeping the mistress company, will you?"
Finding time to gather the cores in secret was a bit tricky. They couldn't all slink away in the middle of the night, lest Hayate wake up alone. They also had to keep track of the time when they harvested cores off-planet. And since they had fought those, finding cores on this planet had become considerably more difficult.
Game Center Crown
"Aw, that sucks," Usagi whined, but she still smiled back. Something about the older girl seemed strangely reassuring. "Guess you get that one for free, hah!"
Luna's hair stood on end as she sensed something in the distance. She jumped onto Usagi's shoulder and whispered into her ear, "Usagi-chan, I think the Dark Kingdom's up to no good again! We need to get going to the shopping district!" Remembering the strange feeling she got from Honey, she added, "That girl... Bring her with you."
"...What? Um... Okay then..." Usagi turned to Honey again, and nervously rubbed the back of her neck. "Hey, uh, I... Was going to go do some window shopping, and you, um... You look like you have a great fashion sense! Wanna come with me? Uh... I'm Usagi, by the way. Tsukino Usagi~"
Shopping District
J.Dyte's smile grew ever wider, and his chuckle broke into a booming laugh. "Hah! The only one who can stop us is Sailor Moon, and I don't see her anywhere. Not that a woman would really pose much threat, especially not a little girl. Now, since we've been uncovered I suppose we'll have to speed things up a bit." He loudly clicked his fingers, and in a flash of light the entire crowd fell to the ground, convulsing as the pain of having so much energy drained began to wrack their bodies. And as for J.Dyte himself... His outfit had suddenly changed. Now, rather than the suit and sunglasses, he was wearing a grey, almost militaristic uniform
◊.
"Honestly, child..." he said, raising his arm and striking Ayumu with the back of his hand, sending the zombie flying towards a nearby wall. "What do you hope to accomplish, trying to threaten Jadeite of the Dark Kingdom?"
"Yes, yes!" Energia yelled, pumping her fist in the air. "Jadeite-sama has so much ENERGY! Too ENERGEtic for normal fights! Like a fighter jet made of biceps! ENERGY!"
Nearby Alley
"...Mamoru... Chiba Mamoru..." the handsome young man muttered, not really paying much attention to Hay Lin and Irma. When he noticed the crowd suddenly collapse, however, he turned back towards them and grabbed their shoulders. "You two, get out of here. It's not safe. Go on, get going!"
Mitakihara
"Alright!" Sailor V chirped with great enthusiasm, as she rubbed her bicep. "Let's do thi- Hey, wait up!"
The blonde lept after her new ally, flipping and twisting in the air and generally just showing off immensely before making a perfect landing beside Homura. "Try not to run off too far ahead, 'kay? Now, um... Right! We'll solve this in no time, Sailor X! Hah, I'll even treat you to a parfait afterwards if you'd like!"
edited 28th Jan '12 7:48:10 PM by Moerin
Will Vandom
"Two? Two what?" Now it was Will's turn to be confused. What did this kid mean by two? It didn't help that Blunk was still around being a bit of a pest.
"You no trade with Blunk?" He asked, folding his ears back in disappointment. "Trade with Blunk, Blunk has to fix mess. Pleeease?"
Will sighed, "Blunk, stop scaring the children, they don't want a deflated ball."
Hay Lin
Instinctively, the Chinese girl grabbed Mamoru the moment he touched her shoulder and flipped him over in a single, impressive motion. As soon as she realized what she had done, she immediately tried to apologize. "O-oh, I'm sorry, you surprised me. I didn't mean to flip you... ahaha..." She glanced over again to J.Dyte or as he was calling himself now Jedeite of the Dark Kingdom. Definitely screamed bad guy. "Uhm.. ahh... sorry again but I have to go, save the day and stuff! I'll be right back Mr. Chiba so you just stay right here and uhm... watch for aliens!"
"Come on Irma, we need to go save those people!" Hay Lin beckoned her friend to follow as she ran to the scene. But before she reached them, she yelled one word to transform, "AIR!"
In a flash of light, the once 13 year old girl appeared as someone much older wearing an outfit closely described as one a fairy would wear
◊.
Nanoha, noticing that Fate had reached towards Bardiche, reached cautiously towards Raising Heart. But it was a precaution, she was sure there didn't need to be a fight here. The green thing was just...very weird and wanted to give them a deflated ball.
"Um... Can we talk somewhere else?" she suggested. They'd be able to ask about the girl's devices, and what the green thing was, if they were in a more secluded location.
Vita blinked, then quickly nodded. She very nearly spoke up about wanting to help collect linker girls herself, but spending time with Hayate... it was something she really did like to do, and it was necessary, and it was Hayate...
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."Fate continued standing there quietly, letting Nanoha do the talking. Her one concern was finding somewhere quiet to have a conversation... the middle of the ocean, deserted as it was, required that both parties be able to fly and hanging around in the garden of one of Nanoha's friends might also cause problems...
As the zombie was flung into the nearest wall, the impact wouldn't be the dull thud of meat against brick that most normal humans achieved. Instead, it was more akin to something harder crunching into the stonework and producing a satisfying crash, complete with a smokescreen of rubble that concealed the zombie from view.
"Thanks for doing that. Now I know I don't need to hold anything back.." These calm words originated from above for some reason. If the two youma would look up, they would realize that something was falling towards them from the sky, using the setting sun behind him as a countershield towards their vision. It was none other than Ayumu performing a dropkick with 250% behind it, a herculean amount of power gathered in his descending leg.
Always be ready to do the unusual and unexpected."Uh, sure," said said Honey. She wasn't sure how the girl planned to go window shopping without any yen; but decided it might be fun to follow her anyway.
"Oh, by the way; my name is Honey Kisaragi," she said.
—
"Water!" said Irma. In an instant; she went through a change much like Hay Lin's. She grew a bit older, and gained an identical outfit. She also grew a nice pair of wings.
She looked back at the boy that her friend had just dropped.
"You should get out of here; it's about to get dangerous," she said, before running after her friend.
edited 29th Jan '12 12:47:26 PM by GenericTroper

Mitakihara
Huh, going for the whole "cool lone wolf" thing? Oh well, may as well get some information from her at least.
"Y'know that never works out in the long run," Sailor V said as she idly flicked back her hair. "But since we're both here, both doing the same thing, we may as well hang out and share some info, right? So... What's up with the blondie over there? And..." She hesitated for a moment, before taking on a somewhat more grim expression. "...Does she have any connection to the kids that've been disappearing? D'you know anything about the disappearances, uh... Sorry, didn't catch your name, ahah!"
edited 26th Jan '12 6:13:09 AM by Moerin