Description: Lucky Southtown! Famed Jpop idol Kyary Pamyu Pamyu has appeared to do a surprise winter outdoor concert! It's the feel good event of the century! And in no way is it all a ruse. There is no ancient vampire in line waiting for an autograph. Tiffany does NOT find true love with a plush toy that talks. And Lucrezia absolutely does not try to spearfish a bat for Jesus. That would be uncouth.
Welcome to winter!
After that unseasonable cold snap -- which is to say, that redonk blizzard that more or less buried Southtown under snow for weeks -- had come and gone, the actual winter seems to have arrived, and in a port town like Southtown it's relatively mild. This means that if you're a pop star, there's plenty of opportunities for great outdoor promotional things where you appear in adorable faux fur and sip hot cocoa and maybe have a fake snowball fight or something.
Today happens to be one of those days. In fact, Southtown has been graced with the presence of one of Japan's top decora idols, Kyary Pamyu-Pamyu. Often called 'Japan's Lady Gaga,' the all-too-adorable pop maven with a penchant for cute, scary, and scary-cute, she's incredibly popular and an after school, cold-weather performance of holiday songs followed by an autograph signing appears to be on the menu for today. As you might expect, the crowd gathered and queue formed to get in to see her is quite extreme, with people packed sardine-dense.
There is an exception.
Currently, about 1/3 of the way from the head of the line, there seems to be a... circle formed, for lack of a better word. Perhaps 'no-fly zone' is more accurate: the intense crowd seems to flow AROUND it, creating a pleasantly empty space. In the middle of that space is... a young girl? Barely middle school age, in fact. In a crowd full of harajuku girls and Kyary fans she hardly stands out but there is a decidedly... TRANSYLVANIAN cast to the gothic lolita clothes she wears.
She's also gently sipping tea from a delicate china teacup. She also appears to be sitting on a... black bean bag? A surprisingly comfortable-looking black bean bag with a cute cat face on it! Isn't that ador--
"Rachel-sama," intones a deep male voice.
From the beanbag.
Making the cat face mouth MOVE.
"Is it really necessary for us to wait like this with... commoners?"
Her eyes closed as she sips her tea, the young girl -- presumably this 'Rachel' -- remarks in an airy and distracted tone, "Nago. Remember, we're in the lower world. You must behave yourself and not draw undue attention."
People are staring. As you might expect.
Tiffany isn't /quite/ the sort of person who gets in lines because she sees a line and gets excited, but she's close to it; after a cursory check of what exactly is at the head of the line, Tiffany has decided to get in line and wait... at least, at first. The trick is that she can't quite tell where the end /is/; that enormous no-fly zone creates some ambiguity, and if there's one thing Tiffany deals poorly with, it's ambiguity. And Japanese. And ... well there's a lot of those, really.
As a result, she ends up moving toward the no-fly zone, rather than toward the proper back of the line; she's there just in time to hear the beanbag talk. Rather than being weirded out or intimidated by it, though... Tiffany seems downright excited. Her eyes light up, and she steps into the no-fly zone without hesitation.
"OH MY GOD!" she says, in distinct English; she swaps back to Japanese after a second, saying, "It's so CUTE! Where did you get something like this? I REALLY want one..."
Lucrezia is wearing a white parka over her usual weird surreal outfit, which makes her less likely to be mistaken as a Kyaru Kyaru Gyaru. Though her slightly tanned skin and that green patch in her hair...
She had been waiting in line. (In her parka, secretly, are several albums she intends to post home for the folks there who are fans. Once they're autographed.)
Then comes... THE TIFFSTER. Lucrezia's brow furrows, especially since she just now noticed THE NO FLY ZONE. "Huh," she says, having been exactly one person ahead of it, "that's weird."
The line advances very slightly. Lucrezia steps into that charmed circle. She squints at Rachel (Tiffany not so much).
Is that black bean bag blushing. IT'S BLUSHING. YOU SAW IT HAPP--
"Nago," says Rachel in a bland tone that somehow still seems forbidding and threatening, gently getting to her feet. The bean bag stops blushing the moment she says that, of course, and the girl sips her tea one more time, eyes closed, before she even seems like she's going to ACKNOWLEDGE that there are two people in her personal space right now.
Then she brings the cup and saucer down, before saying what seems like a nonsense syllable aloud: "Gii."
"Y-yes!" comes a voice. From the bean bag, but it's a higher, squeakier voice than before. It seems to be coming from a rose-colored stuffed animal that the girl was... sitting on, perhaps? It looks like a bat, if a bat were incredibly round and red and had tiny little wings. Oh, and could fly, which is what it does, tottering up to Rachel and taking the teacup she offers, which... he does SOMETHING with it, anyway. Who knows what.
THEN the young blonde seems to notice that Tiffany was talking to her, and turns toward the cheerleader with a look of interest, raising an eyebrow, then giving her a smile that... it's a smile, alright. The girl seems amused. But there's a hint of 'the joke's on YOU' in it. "Ara? Is that so. I'm sorry to say there's only the one, but it's really an impolite, impossible to train hassle. You would be better off in the long run without one. Come along, Nago."
On cue, the bean bag... changes? It all happens in a way that even if you're looking RIGHT AT IT, it feels like things are happening at the corner of your vision, a slithery black movement, where there's a cat bean bag one minute and a cat parasol the next, the black umbrella with a cat's face and a handle like a twitching, J-shaped cat's tail resting idly in Rachel's hands.
"Come along. We must remember: when in Rome." With that, she turns to continue through the queue, which puts her forward movement in a path that goes straight THROUGH Lucrezia, eventually.
If it is, Tiffany is /all over it/. The idea that it can blush tickles her to no end; she scoots closer to it -- and then she sees the bat (taking it easy edition), and starts emitting a high-pitched noise of excitement. It doesn't stop for a little while; these are just the /cutest possible things/, how does everyone in Japan have such cute things, it's /super unfair/.
Even as Rachel insists that having adorable things is really just too much of a hassle, and even as it engages in a vaguely-horrifying transformation, Tiffany finds herself spellbound by the eerily cute accoutrements of the young lady. She takes a few steps forward behind the elegant young lady, notably /not/ giving her any space behind; just because she's bulling forward doesn't mean there's no room /behind/, right?
Her gaze rests on Lucrezia ahead of them for a moment, and she wonders, for an instant, what her deal is; she elects to let the apparent middle schooler lead the way, with a pleasant, "So -- are you a fan, or...?" Hey -- she got a smile, that means she can keep talking. Besides -- the other girl looks like a foreigner, and you only encounter so many fellow foreigners!
When Lucrezia sees a girl loitering on a bean bag her immediate thought is, oh, OK, it's like a line entertainment thing, she does a little skit and -
Nope.
nnnnnope
Rachel is on a course right towards her and Lucrezia can't do anything about it! Just... think about it. Her attention turns towards Tiffany as she says, "Well, I was in the line yeah, I thought there was something going on here WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING, SHORT STACK!" The last shouted at Rachel.
Lucrezia is about a foot higher than Rachel when you take into account those completely unnecessary, if stylish, wedge heels.
QUASI-CSYS: Lucrezia has inadvertently targeted Rachel with ?-Cupture.
"You have to wait in the line," she tells Rachel, not entirely kindly. "If you want you can join us, I guess, but you shouldn't just sit there and jump in, all those people back there have been waiting longer!"
To Tiffany, she says, "So where are you from, Norway?"
Who knew the lower world was so full of... *people*.
It's not really as if Rachel didn't know Lucrezia was standing in front of her; it's more that she sort of acted like that wasn't the case and as many arrogant bastards know this is a type of sorcery that frequently makes it actually be true. And while she might not seem it right this SECOND Rachel Alucard is absolutely That Bitch when it comes to imperiousness. Thus the diminutive vampire stops *just short* of nestling in Lucrezia's mystery cleavage with a sigh. She doesn't say anything, but that male voice from before suddenly makes a return. "How dare you speak to Ra--"
Her mouth a thin line of disapproval, Rachel merely says: "_Nago_."
Now there are underlines around it. They're practically audible even though her tone of voice hasn't even changed that much? It shuts up the voice, that's for certain.
"I've been in this abominable queue for quite some time," the Alucard heiress says to Lucrezia breezily. "I can't be held responsible if these... _people_... decided to afford a lady the proper courtesy of personal space." Lady, there was a 10' diameter circle around you ringed with frightened fangirls. FYI.
"Now, if you'll be so kind as to continue moving, perhaps I'll get to the end of this ridiculous line and see what all the... fuss... is about before I die of old age." Haha! Immortal humor. To Tiffany, she adds, "...of course not. I was merely... in the neighborhood, taking a stroll to follow my afternoon tea, and took an interest in this gathering."
"After you stopped at that lower world music store to get a 'CD'!" chimes the higher pitched voice from before. You can, again, hear the quotes around the word 'CD' audibly.
Rachel, for her part, merely stares blankly at the floating stuffed toy bat thing. It cringes.
It takes Tiffany a few moments to realize that the woman in front of them has shifted from 'shouting at Rachel' to 'casually making conversation with her,' and accordingly, she instead watches the young Alucard speak to the person she'd intended to bowl over with a little bit of shock. She's too dumbfounded by the whole situation to say much of anything for a little while; Rachel's imperiousness is a little much even for her.
When she /does/ process that, she snaps her head up toward Lucrezia, giving her an easygoing grin in spite of the situation. "America!" she says proudly, flashing a peace sign and giving a little wink. "I'm a Pacific High student!" This is a brief opportunity to speak English, so she decides to give it a shot.
The middle schooler's fight with her apparent stuffed animals, meanwhile, prompts another dull stare; this one isn't from Rachel, but from Tiffany, who /really/ doesn't know what to make of these things, the more they speak.
Lucrezia's cleavage looms menacingly, like the prow of a cruise ship at harborside. She turns her head down as some deep voice speaks up and then goes away to... nowhere. Lucrezia frowns at this situation updating, and she does take a single step back as the line adjusts itself. Her hand goes on her hip as she regards the highly suspicious Rachel for long moments.
Someone says something about the lower world music store that sells 'CDs'.
"Are you on speakerphone?" she asks Rachel, and then squints at the floating bat doll. She reaches forwards to poke it with a green-painted fingernail.
She answers Tiffany with a smile. "Oh! I'm from Europe, your Japanese is really good!" She answers in English, "<America is very great!>" with an accompanying thumbs up.
Better stick to Japanese. "Pacific High... this place seems to have a lot of schools, doesn't it? I would have thought you were in college though!"
"You must be hearing things," Rachel says to Lucrezia with a perfectly straight face. Even as she does so, the green-haired woman's finger pokes into Gii, who feels very soft and plush and who also says "Wa-wa-wa-wa...!" and floats backwards away from her touch, eyes crossing into a far-too-anime-like >_< face before it wobbles somewhat and floats right back to its master.
Yes, Rachel is hella suspicious. But staring at her is only going to get you the bland expression of a 12 year old in platform shoes staring right back at you. "Besides," she continues, "even if I had such a vulgar object as a... 'cellular phone'" -- her tone here implying that this is tantamount to owning an indentured human servant or a Nickelback album -- "...I would hardly be so crass as to leave it running in a crowd."
MEANWHILE:
"Kyary-san!" whispers one of her PR drones, a salaryman in a perfectly boring black suit, rushes over to the pop star, who's sitting in a nearby pre-fab shed that's been turned into a dressing room. Currently, she's dressed as a giant strawberry, complete with a little green stem hat and puffy pink pants. "S-she's here! The little blonde girl!"
It's a good thing nobody can see her face right now because the face of Kyary Pamyu-Pamyu, Jpop idol, twists into some very nasty features indeed. "Alucard! She's found me!" With surprising strength, she grips the poor man's shirt, pulling him close and briefly yanking him off the ground. "Set up the mic. NOW."
To the glee -- and surprise -- of the crowd, Straw-kyary emerges onto the makeshift stage to huge applause. "Hello everyone! I'm so glad you could all come and I love you all! I'm so sorry, but there's been an emergency and I have to go." The crowd flits between boos and 'awww!'s, but goes silent when Kyary brings her hands up. "But you all waited so long to be here, I can't leave without giving you something special!"
With a snap of her fingers, the music starts up on the speakers. Swaying back and forth in a cute little dance, Kyary begins to sing:
o/~ Let's sing lovely times
o/~ Fun times here in winter climes
o/~ Join me in this fun time dance
o/~ Also that little girl is an ancient vampire so please rush her and give me time to escape okay thaaaaaaaaanks
So the important thing here is that 1.) Kyary Pamyu-Pamyu is actually an ancient Kumiho fox demon with mind-clouding charm spells and 2.) she just bewitched the crowd to rush Rachel in order to give her time to escape. The words of the song are unimportant -- in fact, the spell means that the listeners won't even REMEMBER them. They'll just recall the uncontrollable desire to make Kyary happy by turning on Rachel.
EVERYONE in the crowd suddenly swivels toward the vampire, as one. A few of them start snapping their fingers like this was West Side Story.
"Ara... a clever fox. She must be desperate. How bothersome."
Will Tiffany and Lucrezia be able to resist the temptation spell?! Or are they about to turn on Rachel as well?! STAY TUNED.
Tiffany didn't get this far in life by listening to weird pop starlets and she sure hasn't decided to start doing so now!!
... Just kidding, Tiffany is kind of a dumb teenager who doesn't think very hard about things, so the idea that she should probably rush this weird vampire girl is totally reasonable. Never mind that they were having a pleasant(?) conversation just moments before -- right now, she has to deal with this! Kyary-sama needs to escape!
"Hang on, everyone! I'll handle THIS!" Tiffany declares to the group, raising a hand and gesturing for everyone else to get back; she's got this totally under control! /She/ is a fighter; many of these other people probably are just here to see Kyary-sama!
Springing forward on her hands, Tiffany swings each of her feet over her body in a surprisingly vicious cartwheel; her hope is to push Rachel all the way back into the crowd, which will /hopefully/ detain her for at least a few short moments. "Are you really a vampire?" Tiffany asks of the girl, eyes a little wide at the extent to which she's already committed to this.
COMBATSYS: Tiffany has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Tiffany 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Lucrezia has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Tiffany 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Lucrezia
COMBATSYS: Rachel has joined the fight here in the center.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Tiffany 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Lucrezia
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Rachel 0|-------|------=
"Oh how soft," Lucrezia says, eyes widening - but Gii is moving away, away from her touch. No soft for her. :(
After this she looks to Rachel, before saying, "You wouldn't talk on your cell phone in public? Well, that puts you ahead of -"
A few words. Her head swivels away from Rachel, ignoring her in favor of... Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. Their goal. Their idol. Their GOD... the singer of glory and power. "Oh my gosh she's singing!"
She stares... Her head is turned away, even as Tiffany tries to buffalo around the small girl. Lucrezia's entire attention is turned up towards the stage as the beautiful, sweet song echoes. Lucrezia never knew how much she enjoyed this kind of music. It's just washing through her mind...!
Lucrezia's head turns back. When did her eyes go green to match her hair highlight and her fingernails and everything else? Why do they seem faintly luminous. Why is she speaking in block capitals? Like so: "DESTROY THE IMPURE LEECH."
She reaches into her parka - and whips out something a bit disproportionate, but apparently cleverly hidden as she snaps it into place. 'It' in this case represents an eight foot long spear.
"DESTROY THE IMPURE LEECH!" Lucrezia repeats as she steps forwards, the spear brought round her back in a spinning loop that helps clear some of the crowd out.
She looks at Tiffany. "DESTROY?" she says, a little more cryptically, before twisting the spear around with another sweep and striding ahead, jabbing the head of the spear forwards to stake Rachel through the heart!!
(She didn't bring the metal spearhead with her so this is more like a really hard jab. On the downside, that tip IS wood... uh oh!!)
COMBATSYS: Rachel blocks Lucrezia's Pflug EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Tiffany 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Lucrezia
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Rachel 0|-------|-----==
COMBATSYS: Rachel dodges Tiffany's Groovy Wheel.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Tiffany 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Lucrezia
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Rachel 0|-------|-----==
Well if the talking animals were suspicious, then how Rachel reacts to being attacked must be REALLY suspicious. Tiffany does a rather graceful cartwheel toward the (seeming?) little girl who is straight up just NO LONGER THERE once the cheerleader-boxer reaches the point of possible impact; other than an ephemeral swirl of rose petals, there's nothing there at all. Lucrezia's aim is more true, but the blonde girl looks at the spear fighter with a sort of blank expression as she extends a hand and... bats the spear away, somewhat. The impact still makes her wince, striking a ringing impact on her wrist. On the other hand, no Buffy dusted vampire moment, so there's that.
"Of course not," she says to Tiffany with lofty disdain, closing her eyes and brushing one of her long blonde pigtails away from her face. "That would be silly. There's no such thing as vampires. Ancient fox demons with troublesome magic, however... _those_ are most certainly real. And _irritating_."
Brushing off the coat of her gothloli coat, Rachel glances at Tiffany and Lucrezia with interest. ESPECIALLY Lucrezia, all things considered, but the Pacific High boxer certainly piques her curiosity as well. "Ara, ara... beautiful young ladies should act with more decorum. Especially ones such as yourself. These louts being caught in her charms is one thing, but you? For shame."
The little girl raises her hand and quite frankly there is no other way to describe what happens other than 'The wind picks up' or more accurately 'The wind picks up ACTUAL PEOPLE' -- With a gesture, Rachel calls upon a brief but intense gale that pushes pretty much everyone away from her. It might merely be an inconvenience for Lucrezia and Tiffany, but it sends the crowd tumbling onto the (thankfully soft) sand and away from Rachel... and makes those that AREN'T bowled over a little reluctant to leap in, mind control or no.
"Get her!" "Yeah! Take her down!" "FOR KYARY-SAMA!"
These would be heartening things if the crowd weren't shouting them AT TIFFANY AND LUCREZIA.
COMBATSYS: Rachel successfully hits Lucrezia with Silpheed.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Tiffany 0/-------/-------|>>>>---\-------\0 Lucrezia
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Rachel 0|-------|----===
COMBATSYS: Rachel successfully hits Tiffany with Silpheed.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Tiffany 0/-------/---<<<<|>>>>---\-------\0 Lucrezia
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Rachel 0|-------|---====
Even if she claims not to be a vampire, she's certainly /something/ -- and that something is quite harmful to Tiffany! The wind blows her back, back -- and into a pile of fangirls. She pulls herself up out of the pile slowly, looking faintly incredulously at Lucrezia; even under the current circumstances, 'weirded out' is still a thing she can feel, and which she is in fact feeling right now.
Uneasily finding her footing after a few moments, Tiffany purses her lips slightly, saying, "Well -- maybe I don't BELIEVE you! Maybe I think you /are/ a weird vampire!" After all -- Kyary said so, didn't she? Before she left them to fend for themselves... Taking a moment to draw on the energy of the crowd, Tiffany rushes up toward Rachel despite the considerable distance between them, and then...!
... hops back up into the air, whirling her whole body around. It seems her intent is to force Rachel to play a little bit of a guessing game -- one which she ends up punctuating with a forceful divekick, aimed squarely for the 'middle schooler's' face.
"DESTROY THE IMPURE LEECH!" Lucrezia repeats, before the wind picks up.
The black wind blows...
... and Lucrezia is knocked firmly back on her ass, landing with a teeth-rattling thump and skidding slightly in the sandy ground of the beach as she twitches. Her head trembles, her neck muscles tightening - but then... How can she rise? If only she had some kind of -
Right.
Pushing herself up on her spear, Lucrezia doesn't move her legs, just dragging them along as she hoists herself up by upper body strength. She grins as she does. "DESTROY... THE..."
Lucrezia stands perfectly still for a couple of seconds. She may have forgotten her line.
Awareness comes on her face, despite that weird glow in her eyes. "Ah! IMPURE LEECH!" she concludes, swinging the butt of her spear around lke a golf club swung towards the midsection of Rachel, at least approximately so. She's still a little wobbly from that tumble.
COMBATSYS: Rachel blocks Tiffany's Exciting Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Tiffany 0/-------/--<<<<<|>>>>---\-------\0 Lucrezia
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Rachel 0|-------|---====
COMBATSYS: Rachel dodges Lucrezia's Medium Strike.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Tiffany 0/-------/--<<<<<|>>>>---\-------\0 Lucrezia
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Rachel 0|-------|---====
"How... troublesome," Rachel says, observing the situation carefully.
Tiffany descends toward the diminutive vampire like an avenging, sparkly comet, and Rachel has but a moment to decide what she's going to do about it. There's a sweeping sort of movement, and then a dull *thud* as Tiffany DOES impact something: the bean bag from earlier. Or something like it, anyway. It's soft and black and squishy and it has a cat face with eyes and ears and such. But the body is really just kind of a... furry black blob.
"Ah~" the deep male voice from before, says, a brief blush spreading across the cat's... cheeks?... before it is pulled away, Rachel shaking out the arm that was behind it while the other is once again holding that black cat-shaped umbrella.
"Don't be crass, Na--"
And then she's pirouetteing through the air, borne aloft by a burst of wind rather gentler than the one that assaulted the ladies, spinning swiftly past as Lucrezia strikes out.
As the vampire passes her by, she whispers -- in bullet-time slowness, mere inches away -- "Choose your words carefully. You wouldn't want to... offend me."
Landing gracefully across from her opponents, Rachel turns and sees the crowd shuffling toward her, apparently unable to choose between a powerful self-preservation instinct and the lingering effects of Kyary's charm spell. "How unfortunate. At any other time I'd be glad to test your mettle, but this is a rather bothersome situation. Ah well. Gii!"
The floaty red bat appears, and drops an object into her hand.
It's the CD from before.
"Here is your super elite fan member copy of 'Pika Pika Fantajin' complete with the gold leaf inset and hand-autographed songbook featuring glamour shots of Kyary herself in a Harajuku cafe, Rachel-sama!"
There is a look of irritation on the vampire's typically droll, nearly expression-less face that can't be described. The bat makes a tiny 'meep!' of terror.
Meanwhile, Rachel mutters under her breath, "For which I paid a _king's ransom_" with surprising bitterness before just... chucking the CD, case and all, at Tiffany's face. TASTE THE POWER... THE POWER OF MERCHANDISING.
COMBATSYS: Tiffany blocks Rachel's Small Thrown Object.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Tiffany 0/-------/-<<<<<<|>>>>---\-------\0 Lucrezia
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Rachel 0|-------|---====
Tiffany brings up her arms in a boxer's block on reflex as the CD moves toward her; she manages to barely catch it, cutting up her forearms a fair bit in the process. "Ooh!" she says, hastily sliding the CD into her purse -- which she then tosses away, just to be safe, having forgotten she was wearing it still. At the very least, she can keep it for later -- and in the worst-case scenario, well... she can sell it, she guesses!
Pulling her purse off, though, means she has to spend a disproportionate amount of time dealing with the projectile -- and when she realizes she still has to deal with this vampire(?) for Kyary-sama, she scowls. She's going to have to pick up the pace a little bit... though really, this middle schooler might have her totally outpaced from the word go.
Deciding to probe her defenses with something a little less telegraphed than her last few shots, Tiffany rushes up at top speed, aiming three quick jabs for the vampire's face... though her gaze rests instead on the floaty red bat because it is /so cute/.
Ice cold vampire words interface with the terrible impulse in Lucrezia's head. Her eyes cross, the green pouring out of them slowly. "Uh?"
That's pretty shaking.
Lucrezia rocks back on her heels, taking in a deep breath as Rachel opts to reward Tiffany with a super-elite rare CD. She loses that green look in her eyes, blinking a few times and then glancing around at the surrounding crowd. "What was I," she begins to say, before her gaze rests momentarily on Kyary-sama.
WHOM! Her eyes are all green again. Her head completes its rotation - nearly a full three hundred and sixty degrees, with a subtle "POP" that will probably be lingering with her for the next day - and she says, "DEST... r..."
Lucrezia trails off.
She does, however, draw one leg back and declare, "I REFRAIN FROM MAKING THAT STATEMENT" as she raises her spear up, bouncing it in her palm once, and then HURLING the entire thing (also painted poisonously green) towards Rachel!
COMBATSYS: Rachel blocks Tiffany's Quick Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Tiffany 0/-------/-<<<<<<|>>>>---\-------\0 Lucrezia
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Rachel 0|-------|---====
COMBATSYS: Rachel negates Numquid Ego Te Hinc? from Lucrezia with Tiny Lobellia.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Tiffany 0/-------/-<<<<<<|>>>>---\-------\0 Lucrezia
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Rachel 0|-------|--=====
Here is the problem with having two familiars that you not only abuse and keep terrified on a regular basis, but who are also the core of your fighting style, since you manipulate their pliable forms with transmutation: when someone else thinks they are cute or adorable or indeed reacts to them in a way other than 'direct physical abuse', they sort of latch on to it.
Tiffany thinks Gii is cute and THIS IS HER DOWNFALL.
"You have really pretty hair!" the plump bat squeaks to Tiffany as she drives in for that triple combination. In fact, Gii is flying RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER THE WHOLE TIME, accidentally interposing itself between Rachel and the boxer. He even soaks two of the blows intended for his master, though the third strikes Rachel's shoulder as she twists from it, making her frown with displeasure. "Also you -- oof! -- seem really -- ow! -- nice!"
And then of course there's the fact that Lucrezia just HURLED A SPEAR at her. Yet weirdly, this doesn't seem to make Rachel displeased. If anything, she seems legitimately amused. "Gii...?"
"Y-yes, Rachel-sama?!"
"I'm glad to see you're interested in--"
And here, Rachel grabs the bat with both hands, and then chucks it directly into the path of the spear, finishing her statement with blithe amusement: "--being *helpful*."
Both thrown weapon and bat collide in midair. Rather than piercing his flesh and making this scene rather gruesome, there's an "Wa-wa-wa-OW OW OW!" as the bat and the spear ricochet off each other in midair, Gii going floating away in a spiralling pattern.
Brushing away a pigtail, Rachel continues to smile with just a FAINT hint of sangfroid. "Well, if you're going to be stuck under that woman's silly little spell, at least you're entertaining, I'll give you that."
"I like to think so!" Tiffany replies, deciding to stick to English with the bat as she pummels it incidentally. "And -- thank you! You're /super/ cute." She /really/ wants a bunch of these stupid pet-accessories now -- she makes a note of it for later. Surely there is /some/ path she can take to get one of these one-of-a-kind companions!
When she finds out that there isn't, she's going to be /really/ sad.
Rocking back and forth on her feet as she watches Rachel casually parry that spear with her bat, she snaps her eyes wide open and says, with some force, "HEY! Don't abuse your little bat friend like that!!" Her fists clench even tighter, and she takes much less time to make a tactical decision than she did previously.
Rushing straight forward, she starts pinwheeling her right arm with a loud, "Guru -- guru -- guru!!" Usually, she'd stop the windup after a few rotations... but she's really much too upset now. Her arm continues to wheel around, building up a bright inner light and starting to shoot sparkles every which way as she drills it forward with a forceful, "PUNCH!"
Lucrezia stares in horror as her spear flies towards that poor puffy bat.
It's so soft, she thinks. It's not - It's not something that can survive her attack!!
Lucrezia's eyes blink twice, and she falls to her knees abruptly, clasping her hands in front of her.
"O Lord please spare that poor adorable cute thing from a horrible death at the tip of my spear, please Lord, don't let it perish horribly! Please don't take its blood to stain your earth because I threw a spear at it, because I meant to throw it at the - the -"
Lucrezia falters, frowns, and bows her head. "Amen!"
SPADOINKLE: The spear tumbles through the air.
Lucrezia spreads her arms in relief, her eyes spilling over as her spear rolls in the air and that poor bat is crying out in pain -- but pain! Pain means you're still alive!
Lucrezia does the sign of the cross before her spear lands right in front of her.
Another miracle!! Her hands clasp in front of her. She still hasn't gotten up off her knees yet.
COMBATSYS: Lucrezia focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Tiffany 0/-------/-<<<<<<|>>>>---\-------\0 Lucrezia
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Rachel 0|-------|--=====
COMBATSYS: Rachel interrupts Very Groovy Punch from Tiffany with Sword Iris.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Tiffany 1/-======/=======|>>>>---\-------\0 Lucrezia
[ ||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Rachel 1|-------|=======
"Friend?"
The young(?) vampire wears a most curious expression as an indignant Tiffany demands that she not treat her bat 'friend' with such casual cruelty. Meanwhile, nearby, Lucrezia is fervently praying that she did not just spear a floating, talking, probably-a-plush-doll bat into a gory, prolonged death on the sand here at Sound Beach. "I... I'M SO HAPPY" Gii blubbers, his roly-poly face bursting into tears as he wobbles unsteadily in midair. Today, Gii made some friends for the first time ever. "I AM GOING TO WRITE ABOUT THIS IN MY DIARY."
On the other hand, Tiffany finds her charging, sparkly punch lands on a soft target, but not the one she intended. Indeed, once again, the soft, warm form of the seemingly-formless black cat has interposed itself in the path of an attack meant for his master. Yet the astute might notice: even when they take a blow for Rachel, she still appears to feel it, the not-always-hidden markers of pain moving across her features. Perhaps she and the animals have some sort of link?
That would certainly make the fact that Nago the cat is... flowing around Tiffany's hand, holding it fast, sort of creepy on a whole new level besides the current level of creepy, which considering it's a shapeshifting talking cat that blushes when you punch it, is kinda high as-is.
"Don't be silly," Rachel says calmly. "Nago and Gii are my faithful servants, not my friends."
As if to punctuate this statement, a bolt of pink lightning suddenly arcs out of... somewhere, zapping Tiffany a good one even as Nago lets go of her fist and reassumes his umbrella form.
Closing her eyes, she turns toward Lucrezia with an expression of amusement. "Your concern for them is admirable... but decidedly misplaced."
Tiffany's hand is wrapped neatly in Nago, and she visibly winces; this is a little too weird -- even if Kyary-sama requested this, this is... this is a little much! She shifts uneasily in the moments before the lightning strikes; she then falls forward, crumpling like a puppet with its strings cut. For a little while, she stays down; she doesn't really want to get up after something like that. She can leave this to the other weirdo, she thinks; she can just take a nice... pleasant...
She sits bolt-upright as she realizes that she can't just let this whole thing go, and draws up into a neatly-seated position with an almost inhuman expression. "Stop -- /doing/ -- that!" she demands, saying, "Just because they aren't your friends doesn't mean you should treat them like crap!!" She wobbles unevenly, trying to find a nice, solid approach...
... and ends up rushing forward and flipping up into the air, aiming her knees for the vampire's shoulders.
COMBATSYS: Rachel blocks Tiffany's Groovy Screw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Tiffany 0/-------/----===|>>>>---\-------\0 Lucrezia
[ ||||||||||||||||||| ]
Rachel 1|-------|=======
And, once she lands, Tiffany starts to spin out of control. Getting herself good and situated, she sends herself into a flying, high-speed whirl as hearts fly every which way around her. She shows no signs of stopping, nor getting dizzy; if left unmolested, she throws herself off of the tiny vampire's shoulders with a flourish, but...
Lucrezia considers if she should tell the bat about Jesus.
The absurdity of this situation starts leaking into her awareness again. She pushes herself up as she sees Nago D. Cat squeezing up at Tiffany's endearingly caucasian hand, before a bolt of pink lightning - perhaps even frightening lightening - strikes!
"The lord's eyes are on the sparrow as well as the bat, you know!" she tells Rachel, waggling her index finger at her -- and oh shit there comes Tiffany storming in.
No.
Hearting in.
Lucrezia's brow furrows. "What the devil," she says, despite the irony. "H-- hearts!? Is this the real power of [Love]?!"
COMBATSYS: Lucrezia takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Tiffany 0/-------/----===|>>>>---\-------\0 Lucrezia
[ ||||||||||||||||||| ]
Rachel 1|-------|=======
What just happened.
It could be that Rachel has an absolutely morbid curiosity about just what it is that Tiffany is planning on doing. Maybe she has secret ~*yuri manga urges*~. Or perhaps she just legitimately did not see it coming. Either way, the cheer fighter actually gets a perch on the short-statured vampire's shoulders, beginning her... love spin. Or something along those lines. The sudden disengagement might break some hearts, or some bones? Either way, Tiffany and her victim are violently separated, but as Rachel goes tumbling backwards, she is caught by none other than her faithful cat Nago; slumping down into his comfortable bean bag body rather helpfully softens the blow of her landing, but it appears that tha Alucard heiress felt it regardless.
Slowly getting to her feet, Rachel looks at Tiffany and says, pointedly: "That was _not_ ladylike at all."
Surprisingly, however, it is Gii that speaks up afterwards. "Ahh! Please don't be hard on Lady Rachel," he pleads, floating haphazardly in front of his master. "She might be a capricious, abusive slavedriver but she is all alone in her caHURK--"
At this point, the lady vampire has pulled Gii to her and is gently(*) pulling at his sides, kneading the bat like a stuffed toy. "Gii. Don't confuse these young ladies with unnecessary information."
(* it isn't gentle at all really)
Turning toward Tiffany and Lucrezia, Rachel clears her throat. "Well, this has been diverting, but I really MUST be going. Perhaps we can meet again on better terms, and... please, rest assured that I blame that fox for your condition, and this isn't personal." That doesn't sound ominous at all.
With a sweeping movement, Rachel twirls, and Nago becomes the most adorable raincoat ever, complete with cat-eared hood. This is when the wind picks up. In fact it picks up much quicker, faster, and importantly STRONGER than before. Rachel's first manipulation of the wind was a gale; THIS is a hurricane. The watching crowd of zombified Kyary fans is now thoroughly blown off their feet, tumbling onto the beach, more than a few into frigid water. And as for Lucrezia and Tiffany?
Well... there's debris flying through the air. And strong winds. And, uh... cows. There are cows. They are flying through the air and they are big and heavy and frankly if they hit you it is going to hurt an awful lot. Because apparently this ridiculous typhoon that Rachel has summoned brought cows here. Maybe from a petting zoo? Or a nearby dairy farm. Either way: with confused "Moo?" sounds, they streak through the area, tumbling into the makeshift stage and basically wrecking everything in the process.
When the smoke clears, the cows are still here -- dazed, but confused -- and Rachel most decidedly is not, apparently having vanished.
Meanwhile the spellbound crowd is starting to break free of the charm spell. "What happened?" "I... don't know. Kyary started singing but I don't... remember what she sang." "Oh my god this dress was NEW." "WHAT are all these COWS doing here?!"
Good times.
COMBATSYS: Rachel successfully hits Tiffany with Tempest Dahlia.
[ \\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Tiffany 1/--=====/=======|>>>>---\-------\0 Lucrezia
[ |||||||||||||||||| ]
Rachel 0|-------|-------
COMBATSYS: Rachel successfully hits Lucrezia with Tempest Dahlia.
[ \\ < > //////////// ]
Tiffany 1/--=====/=======|=======\=====--\1 Lucrezia
[ |||||||||||||||||| ]
Rachel 0|-------|-------
The comment about her distinctly unladylike maneuver gets Tiffany to pout -- and that pout leads her to almost totally drop her guard. When the wind picks up this time, she's totally unrooted -- and she promptly goes /flying/. Shrieking as she flies through the air, Tiffany feels pretty much everything in her body breaking; she has /no/ idea how to defend against something of this scale, and it rips through all of her defenses like they're nothing. Bouncing off of a cow, Tiffany gets gently concussed, and takes a nice, pleasant nap amid the debris.
Her nap lasts about thirty good, clean seconds; when she wakes up, Rachel is gone. Taking a much longer time to sit up than she did last time, Tiffany visibly pouts despite the fact that she is, all truths told, pretty miserably beat up. "... What did she /mean/, not ladylike!" she exclaims, pouting as she looks around the scattered crowd.
She then rolls back over onto her side, deciding to take a few more seconds to just lie on the ground and let herself sleep off the impact of a truck. Cow. Cow truck. Cow... air... truck?
That bat is such a good person, Lucrezia thinks. She is ABOUT to reply to Rachel's remarks, perhaps with appreciation or with something about how abusing bats is also wrong even if God is asleep at night or something.
But then she turns, then she flips...
Into...
"WHAT IS HAPPENIIIIING" cries Lucrezia into the howling storm, her grip on her spear her only anchor in a chaotic and massive whirl of air. She finds herself with company, though...
A cow.
Lucrezia stares into a cow's eyes, and for a moment, can sense Wisdom.
Then she falls off. Unlike Tiffany, she lands in the water.
*splash*
Log created on 21:36:05 12/03/2014 by Rachel, and last modified on 04:19:09 12/04/2014.