LuckyBlackCat

Urban Starlight Wonderland: A Magical Girl RP

@Shiyonichi@FrogRFlowR@AzureKnight@VitaVitaAR

At the sight of the shade, Ukiko’s confident look vanished. She’d expected it to be stronger than average, but what she hadn’t expected was the bug behemoth that emerged from the shadows, sporting wickedly sharp blades for arms. Her blood chilled as a fang-filled mouth opened up in its chest, revealing two orange flares that shot forth a volley of lasers.

And she’d just put herself and Burabura right in the line of fire.

Wrapping her arms around Burabura, she twisted round to protect the lantern and flew up, but the lasers were too fast. She braced for the impact – which never came. A shimmering wall of water appeared, deflecting the lasers.

With a heavy sigh of relief, Ukiko looked over to see Kana, hand outstretched. Kana’s sword and white colour scheme hadn’t brought water magic to mind, but it was pretty impressive – and the barriers were much needed right now. “Whew, close one.” As Kana shaped the water into three spears, shooting one at an orb in the shade’s chest, Ukiko positioned herself by her side. “Bugs don’t scare me though!”

It took all her willpower to keep her hand from trembling as she raised it, sending a spectral blast towards the other orb. As the wisp hurtled forth alongside the javelin, the water froze into an ice shard, for extra impact. She and Kana made a good team already, she told herself, trying her best to keep her thoughts positive.

As Kana rushed the shade with her sword and javelins, Ukiko darted around to its side. “Quick, Burabura, let’s aim for the legs! Spectral Bullet Hell!” She launched wisp after wisp from both hands, trying to topple the shade, or at least draw its attention away from Kana’s attack.

Beside her, Burabura couldn’t speak for the ghostly flames spewing out of her mouth, but her groan told Ukiko exactly what she thought of the attack name.

Stranded: Blacksite (High casual Sci-fi/fantasy Horror)

@Heckno12@Emeth

Swallowing down apprehension, Ziola hurried aboard the tram. Boarding this thing could well be suicide, but if they all stayed behind, their chances would be no better. Since there was no telling how fast it would go, she grabbed hold of a rail, bracing herself as she watched the countdown. Three. Two. One.

The tram juddered forward, instead of hurtling at full speed as she'd feared. Of course, now there was a new danger to worry about - every so often, the machine stopped altogether. What if it didn't start up again? Keeping her breathing steady despite the smell of rust, Ziola remained as outwardly calm as she could, although her fist clenched around the rail so tightly her knuckles turned white.

To her relief, after what felt like a much longer time than it likely was, a stuttering, static-filled message played out. They'd reached the medical bay after all. Not that the arrival was any smoother than the journey had been. The brakes slammed on at once, pitching everyone forward. Still clinging to the pole, Ziola stumbled a few steps, grunting as her shoulder seared. In front of her, Felix went flying into the front window hard enough to crack the glass.

"Felix!" She let go and rushed over to him, rolling her shoulder, which ached but didn't feel badly damaged. "Are you alright?" Her eyes flicked around the new, albeit lesser, chaos as people picked themselves up. "Is everyone alr-" She fell silent, staring as a large feline form scampered through the tram. Piercing the quiet with its shrieks, it leapt out of a broken window and... distorted itself? Before Ziola could get a good look at its limbs stretching like putty, the creature had vanished.

"Huh." She blinked a few times. While it was plausible that a cat could have snuck in before launch and lived on a diet of rat, the shifting was a tad bit harder to explain, other than by the possibility she could be hallucinating. Solitary confinement and a sudden life-or-death situation weren't the healthiest combination for the mind. "Did anyone else see that cat? Please tell me I wasn't the only one."

Urban Starlight Wonderland: A Magical Girl RP

@Shiyonichi@FrogRFlowR@AzureKnight

"Hmm... Sorry, but isn't that a Shade?"

Catching Yui's heads-up to Setsuko, Ukiko stared in the direction the younger girl pointed. So, that shivery sensation wasn't just nerves. To the east, down the street, something black slithered almost out of sight - a much stronger one than the bat, by the feel of it. Swallowing down shock, Ukiko forced a chuckle.

"Heh, yep, and a terribly concealed shade at that. C'mon, let's go!" Right away, Ukiko was on it, flying towards the writhing form. "Don't think ya can hide from us! Ready or not, here we come!"

An angry glow flared at her side. "Waaaaaait-bura!" There was a note of alarm in Burabura's voice. "That thing's a doozy-bura! You can't just rush in without a plan-bura!"

Ukiko clenched her fists. "There's no time. People could get hurt if we don't act now." Images flashed through her mind. A dark shape in a forest, closing in. Her friend in a hospital bed, barely clinging to life. If that magical girl had reached Aika and the shade any later back then... Ukiko shook her head, focusing on the matter at hand. She flung a frosty wisp at the slithering creature, to lure it out into the open. "Show that ugly face of yours, you coward!"

Pokemon Spiral

Near Vareena Contest Hall

@Heckno12 @fer1323

While the imp mocked its barely-conscious ally, Lacey squeaked to cheer on Skoll, bending down and tapping him on the paw as if doing a fist bump. Staggering to her feet, Sophia smirked at the grunts and their Pokemon. "Heh, so much for teamwork." Oscar would probably say it was rich coming from her, but for all their bickering earlier, she couldn't deny they made a decent team right now. Their Pokemon certainly did.

The grin disappeared from her face when the little goblin, Impidimp, leapt forward. Reflect wasn't a perfect barrier, merely an energy field that dampened incoming physical attacks, and she looked on in shock as the Impidimp bit down on Lacey's arm. "Ah! Lacey!" With a squeal, the Gothita stumbled back as her opponent let go, but remained standing. Her Reflect and Skoll's Intimidate had offset the type advantage, but still, a dark move? Considering the purple mask, was the Impidimp a dark type?

At the other grunt's command for his Haunter to retaliate against Skoll, Sophia tensed, but no attack came. The ghost seemed too startled to move - an opening. "You've got this, Lacey!" Sophia called. "Take out that Haunter with Psybeam!" Lacey stared down the Haunter, shooting a multicoloured beam from her eyes. If Skoll's next attack was enough to knock out the Impidimp, that should turn the tables, or so Sophia could only hope.

Notes

Pokemon Party: Gothita "Lacey" lv15, Purrloin "Grimalkin" lv13, Staryu "Arcturus" lv14, Darumaka "Lumas" lv11, Shuppet "Fantoccino" lv12, Bronzor "Clarus" lv12
Pokemon in PC:
Inventory: Pokeball x1, TM33 (Reflect), Oran Berry x2

Stranded: Blacksite (High casual Sci-fi/fantasy Horror)

@Heckno12@Strawberry@TheDemonHound

As Ziola ran alongside the others, gunshots rang from the cell block, interspersed with cries of agony. Her jaw clenched. Something she knew all too well from her former career, and had been forced to accept, was you couldn't save everyone. Best to focus on what still could be done, and the people who had a chance.

The engineer's claim that he knew the labyrinth of tunnels reassured her somewhat. She still wasn't entirely sure she trusted the guy - what if he was just trying to save himself, and would ditch everyone else once he no longer needed their help? For now, though, she'd give him the benefit of the doubt. He had just pulled a risky move, even if there wasn't exactly anything to lose. Staying close by him as he kicked open the hatch, she jumped inside.

The place was pitch black, the only clues to its environment being squeaks and scampering noises. As she channeled her magic to her eyes, the run-down surroundings faded in through the shadows. Dust everywhere, rats skittering past - this place clearly hadn't been used in the longest time. She searched the rusted walls for a switch, but the engineer was already on it, dim lights flickering on. Lessening the sight enhancement slightly, Ziola followed him and the others to the decrepit chunk of metal that could generously be described as a tram.

She pulled back from the sudden glare as error messages flashed across its screen. Blinking away afterimages and letting her eyesight return to normal, she watched with trepidation. Well that's promising, she thought, but didn't voice her fears. The engineer had set about attempting to fix the wiring, and she wasn't going to distract or demoralise him. He was the one, however, who struck up a conversation, introducing himself as Felix.

The Sapishte woman, Yvene, replied first. As she held her hands out to both her and the other Tulak, Ziola hesitated before returning the handshake. Reasons. They all had their reasons, their dirty secrets. Even in a situation like this, it was probably best not to get too close to anyone.

Next up was the white-haired, one-horned man, Typhon Leverenz. Ziola stiffened at the mention of his last name, that of a well-known noble family on Vai'Ralu. Prisoners aboard the Alcatraz were far from the only ones with dirty secrets, and Ziola knew exactly what kind of corruption society's upper echelons kept hidden from the public. That and the way he'd so readily admitted to being an assassin... Ziola doubted she had a right to judge. She was, after all, a murderer herself. Still, his revelation didn't fill her with confidence. Inching away from him, she glanced around at the others, and took a deep breath before giving her own introduction.

"My name's Ziola." She didn't give her last name, but if Typhon connected her to that high-profile case just from her first, awkward questions would abound. "Again... reasons."

Before anyone could respond, a garbled voice sounded from the intercom, making her jump along with Yvene. "De-de-de-stination set: Medical....Ple-e-ease keep all ha-nds o....the tram will be departing the sta... mome-me-me-ntarily."

Ziola let out a small sigh of relief. "To think a message like that is actually a good sign." It said a lot about their current situation, but even if the worst happened, better to die here than at the hands of the Draughts.

Stranded: Blacksite (High casual Sci-fi/fantasy Horror)

@Heckno12@Strawberry

Blackness engulfed everything, before red flickers illuminated doors and cases snapping open. At once, Ziola grabbed her belongings and hurried from the cell, into the hallway. With the modicum of freedom came a rush of relief, although the imminent threat closing in... That was a bit of a damper, to say the least.

Just because they were all out of their cells, that didn't make this place any less of a prison. A prison that housed high priority criminals no less, all now allowed to run rampant. The stench of rot and rust drifting down the hallway, making her clamp her hand over her nose, served as a reminder that some people here must be pretty unhinged. There was nobody to trust. Hell, she couldn't even trust herself any more.

As more coughs echoed, Ziola's stomach clenched. She froze for a moment, wishing there was some way to assist those further down the block, but rationally she knew there wasn't, even if abandoning those whose lives were in danger went against everything she believed in. "Wow, flu season's really come in with a vengeance," she muttered, approaching the technician. His mention of Lea soothed her fraught nerves somewhat. "And sounds like a plan. You know, I used to be a doctor. If she'll let me, I can try to help with this."

Letting a prisoner help wouldn't exactly be orthodox, but neither was what the engineer had just done. Desperate times, desperate measures and all. Plus, for a prison worker, Lea was notably easygoing and open. Maybe it wasn't quite true that nobody could be trusted - out of all the staff here, the ship's doctor was the only one she had a shred of faith in.

Just as she made to follow the engineer, a whale-like cry from somewhere in the distance sent a shiver through her. A sound of pure distress. "What the...?" Her muscles tensed as she weighed the options - search for this person, but abandon everyone else, and stand little chance of finding them in time anyway? Or stick with the others and leave yet someone else behind? Next to her, a Sapishte woman stood rooted to the spot, staring in the direction of the sound as if struggling with the same dilemma.

"We really need to go," the Sapishte finally said.

Gritting her teeth and clutching her medical kit, Ziola nodded. "We do. Everyone, come on." They had to stay together, maintain some level of order amidst the chaos, and get to the bay as quickly as possible. Forcing herself not to look back, she stuck by the engineer's side.

Stranded: Blacksite (High casual Sci-fi/fantasy Horror)

@Heckno12

Ziola suppressed the urge to sigh. She hadn't expected the technician would let on much, so she shouldn't have gotten her hopes up. "Nothing new then," she muttered, although she couldn't shake the feeling something was up. She slumped back onto the bed, looking away as she once again listened in.

Coughs sounded from the feed, along with the voices of medics. Some kind of outbreak? The need to do something kicked in, instilled in her by years of medical training and practice, but it wasn't like she could any more. Her days as a doctor were long behind her. Fists clenched, she enhanced her hearing again, to pick up what the medics were saying.

Just in time for a cacophony of screams and gunshots to bombard her ears.

She gasped and ended the effect at once, reeling from both overwhelm and horror. While she'd dealt with some grisly situations during her career, nothing had ever compared to what she heard now. The staccato of gunfire gave way to crackling and snapping. Flames. Another shot. Silence. She stared at the two men, the technician's face paling as he took it all in.

"Correction...Things aren't alright at all," he replied.

Ziola gave a grim nod. "That's putting it mildly, by the sound of it. Y'know it's all hit the fan when a paranoid guy has every right to be." She stood, pressing a hand against the glass. Although she fought to breathe deeply, and kept her expression as composed as possible to tamp down panic, she'd probably gone as sickly pale as the technician. Other prisoners called out, trying to convince him to help - as if he was at all likely to do so. Right now, she wished more than ever she and the others could put faith in the staff here.

Even so, there was nothing to lose by trying. "They're right. Please, listen to us. If part of your job is to watch over us, then it's also part of your job to make sure we don't end up as overcooked mincemeat." She edged closer to where her medical kit and surgical tools were stored, ready to grab them. "We'll all stand more of a chance if you let us out. All of us, including you."

Hoseforn’s Academy for Gifted Adventurers: Rebirth

@ChaoticLaw @StOpossum

As Sa'Hari prodded the runestone with his sword, Karya wondered if she should have left the fire as it was, for his sake. Magic was a normal way of life for her, but not everyone was so used to it, or comfortable around it. "If you prefer fires, that's ok! I'm guessing it's true that it's a common sight around here." She struggled to keep her smile from turning into a grimace. "So I'll have to get used to it sooner or later." When Sa'Hari reached out his hand to feel the warmth, however, he visibly relaxed and told her it was all good.

At his question, about whether dryads were like oreads, Karya nodded. Sa'Hari appeared to be a human - although she'd never met one with bright yellow eyes like his - and while the few human traders and travellers she'd met had seemed pretty decent, she knew the rumours that some were less than kind to races unlike their own. Still, there was no disdain in his voice, only curiosity.

"In a way. Dryads and oreads are both nymphs, although we live in forests rather than mountains. Hence not mixing well with fire." Even heat runes had to be handled carefully, lest they set grasses alight. "And if we get burned, it's pretty nasty." She looked him over, drunken double vision setting in, making it difficult to focus. "You're a human, right? And I'm going to guess you're from the wilderness too?" Probably in or near a mountainous area, if he'd met oreads. She'd heard they'd been hunted almost to extinction in the past, by greedy city folk, for the gems on their bodies. As a result, they rarely ventured far from their mountain homes. Why some people placed more value on rocks and minerals than on others' lives was beyond her.

Hearing the door open again, Karya looked over her shoulder. Her eyes widened, and she beamed. "Ohh! Hi there! It really is turning out to be quite the gathering!" She couldn't believe she'd failed to spot the third bed, but drunkenness and getting distracted by fire did that to a person. She swayed as she approached the figure at the doorway, a white haired - man? Woman? She couldn't tell - with a pair of curling horns, and elaborate robes. With a deep bow, they introduced themselves as Taari. "My name's Karya," she replied.

This time, when she returned the bow, she lost her balance, tottering and falling in front of the newcomer. "Ehhh, whoops!" She staggered to her feet with a strained giggle. Not the best first impression, but she laughed these things off quickly, and thanks to her tough skin, she wasn't hurt. "That must've been some pretty strong wine earlier."

"I highly recommend a glass of water," Athena piped up. "The glasses by the beds refill themselves."

A glance over confirmed the glass she'd emptied earlier was indeed now full. "Oh nice, that's some impressive magic! Topping up water, I wonder if it'd work on lakes and rivers? It'd be helpful in a drought." She headed over and took a sip, hoping it would clear her head a little.

"It's more a case of the room providing whatever its occupants may need," Athena explained.

Well, this was more sophisticated than anything Karya had seen before, and it'd take a while to get her head around this kind of magic, but it was certainly convenient right now. "Still sounds neat, and anyway." Her eyes flicked to Athena, to Sa'Hari, to Taari. "It's great to meet all of you!"

Be my Sanctuary

Jessamyn "Jess" Bailey

Along the hallway, Jess kept it together. However, once in her bedroom next to the spare room where Roxy would sleep, she didn't mean to slam the door, but somehow did. Her hands shook with the barely-controlled anger of two people. She strode to her bed, flinging the bag onto it, and in a considerably Roxy-like gesture, punched the pillow. Once she'd taken several deep breaths, she set about unpacking.

As soon as she was done, she joined Roxy in the hallway. While neither of them looked forward to the talk, it was something they'd have to get out of the way. "No matter what kind of person he makes you out to be," she whispered as they headed towards the living room, "I know you're not like that." Yes there was still much she didn't know about the anchor and her past. What she did know, though, was that under Roxy's standoffish exterior was a genuinely kind person, willing to sacrifice much for others. It was also all too clear Reginald liked to twist the truth, making people look bad.

She trudged into the living room, where her mother waited, seated in an armchair across from the couch. Taking a seat, Jess braced herself for the inevitable.

"Now," her mother began. "I'm sorry, Jess, that the weekend has to start this way, but there are just a few things to talk through." She gave Jess an apologetic smile, before her face turned stony again, eyes fixed on Roxy. "Your father mentioned you've had some... issues, in the past. Issues he's been trying to help you through, and that Jess and I need to know about. First of all, he mentioned stealing is on your record. What really happened there, and why?"

Stranded: Blacksite (High casual Sci-fi/fantasy Horror)

@Heckno12@Emeth

Lying on her bed, pretending to doze as a commotion rang out, Ziola was doing what she did more and more often these days. Eavesdropping.

She stared up at the ceiling, the noise coming from above the cells. Two voices, one calm and controlled, the other panicked. Another inmate whose sanity had given out, by the sound of it - such happened all too frequently. Drawing on what little magic she had left, she heightened her hearing just enough for the muffled speech to sharpen into intelligible words.

"-wouldn't have been time to get into a vent, and you certainly wouldn't have made it far."

The other voice remained frantic with fear. "You don't get it, I heard they're clearing whole cell blocks now. I'm not gonna be dragged to the depths, no. Whatever's down there's gotta be worse than starving to death in the vents!"

Clearing cell blocks? The slightest furrow creased Ziola's forehead. She knew better than to take such ramblings completely seriously - being locked away in the literal middle of nowhere did strange things to people. Still, she hadn't heard that one before - and the whole situation had struck her as suspicious right from the start. Hence why she listened and watched for information as often as possible.

Which wasn't always easy.

"Woah woah, let's not get ahead of ourselves buddy. I'm not about to deal with a corpse blocking the climate control again." Metallic clatters, yells of protest. "The last one had the starboard cellblocks reeking for weeks even after... So, out..." The voices faded in and out of clarity. She sighed and pushed herself harder, but all she heard was the clang of a door bursting open, more screams, someone yelling at the men to shut up, footsteps. Considering it unlikely there was any more useful information to gain, she let her hearing dull to its usual mundane level.

Cut off from mana in this sterile cage of steel and glass, it was a struggle to use magic for any length of time, and said perception of time had probably become skewed anyway. Ironic, considering how hard she'd fought to keep helping people with her attunement - yet also karmic, considering how she'd used it in the end. With a humourless huff of a laugh, she shook her head, as if that would keep the memories at bay. They kept trying to creep into her mind, as if seeking a chance to destroy her, but she had to keep her wits about her. To the extent that anyone locked in the Alcatraz could, anyway.

She sat up, watching through the glass pane as a worker headed to a terminal, shortly joined by a man in a labcoat. They stood close enough that she didn't need her attunement to hear the scientist's words - a camera was out. There'd already been some talk of malfunctioning surveillance, and this confirmed it was a growing problem. She stood and headed to the pane, tapping on it. "Excuse me," she called. "The struggle just now... If I may ask, what happened?"

As she spoke, she took care not to let on exactly what she'd heard. Although she refused to show it, the staff here always set her on edge. Some of them let power go to their heads, dragging prisoners down the hallways and beating them just because they could. So much for trusted protectors, she thought. She doubted they'd tell her much, but if they replied at all, she'd glean what she could from their words.

"Is everything alright?"

It wasn't. She knew that much, and it was a matter of figuring out what was wrong.