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 Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2025 5:15 pm
This was how you got stronger, apparently.
She wasn't sure exactly how it worked, but she supposed that she was adventuring - that there were random encounters, or perhaps monsters in the tall grass that was the general supernatural jungle of Destiny City. She was also fairly certain that she shouldn't be doing this alone, but the only other magically-inclined creature she knew well enough to invite along with her was Creedence, and she was both irritated at the cat and also fairly certain that she wasn't going to be too terribly much use of something awful happened. She was, in fact, partly convinced that Creedence herself would spirit the awful happening directly into existence simply by virtue of being there, as that had seemed to be the general shape of things so far.
Given that her only other encounter with the manifestations of magical malice had led her to something like death, she had not set out that evening, in her rare state of powered up, feeling especially emboldened.
Whatever courage she had mustered had died just a few moments before, when the wind itself had seemed to coalesce into awful teeth and sharp eyes.
Wisdom told her: don't run from anything shaped like a dog.
Instinct said: ******** that and go as fast as you can.
But she had felt the pursuit, and became aware that in true movie monster fashion, the thing pursuing her was not going to give her up. So it was that in an empty parking lot covered in a thin blanket of snow, a strange senshi - looking very small - turned to face a monster that seemed to be giving chase in the form of the weather itself.
She had not yet learned to listen to the awareness in her head of others nearby, and so she thought, still, that she was alone, and in a fashion not at all befitting a protagonist, she had fallen still, neither fighting nor flying, gone pliant and paralyzed.
Looking clearly at her foe for the first time and truly seeing it, her courage failed her. She did what was natural to her, and which she had always done with a particular aplomb: she screamed.
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Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2025 5:58 am
He'd already been making his way towards the signature he'd picked up on. When he heard the scream, though, he picked up his pace and summoned his weapon for good measure. And was grateful he'd thought that far ahead when he saw a wild looking senshi facing one of those ******** ice wolves. Mentally tallying up his options, Xibalba sighed a little and rushed the damned thing, throwing himself at the hind hip and hoping to knock it off balance enough to buy the senshi time and get himself out of the way of those jaws. He felt his shoulder impact with cold, icy fur. Felt the wolf stumble slightly. And then, he rolled, coming to his feet close to the senshi and pelted the damned thing with little fireballs from his sling. He already knew the wolves weren't youma, so his magic would have very little effect. Which as a pity, but right now he just wanted to keep it distracted for a bit longer. "C'mon lass," he rumbled by way of encouragement. "Git yore arse movin'. We cannae stand aroun' screamin'."
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Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2025 6:47 am
It would have been nice to think that she would have a little quip ready about screaming and such: some snappy one-liner to throw out and look Cool about, making him understand the true and humbling power of her Sphere. Instead she only gaped at him over her mask as he hurled magic missiles, and supplemented her stupid expression with a very stupid observation: "Do they recruit you guys all the way over in Ireland?" she said. Geographical ignorance aside, she did seem to at least be moved to attempt something, leveling an accusatory finger at the wolf and mumbling something under her breath. This didn't seem to do much in terms of damage, but if distraction was the aim, it wasn't wholly ineffective: the creature's visible confusion culminated in a sudden wild, piercing howl, which seemed to require all of its focus. "Holy s**t," she said, again somewhat stupidly. "I can't believe it works on dogs." Whether it generally worked on dogs or if this was another lucky stroke was unfortunately impossible to say. She was becoming rapidly acquainted with the fact that her powers were nothing if not unpredictable.
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Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2025 9:15 am
Gritting his teeth, Xibalba reminded himself that not everyone understood the difference between Irish and Scottish and he would not be annoyed that this weird girl was one of those unlucky folk. Instead, he grunted, “I’m sure Ireland has given some of her own t’ the cause, but I was woken up here!” His little magics were just about out of time and the burly knight wondered what on earth he could use to defend a girl who was, clearly, an idiot. He wasn’t exactly keen on being caught in another set of those snapping jaws after the first time. But, by the same token, he didn’t want to let a baby senshi get eaten either. Before he could consider the problem further, the girl pointed at the wolf and mumbled something. He was no expert, but he suspected that she was calling on her own magic and he was proven right when a piercing howl rang out and the wolf backed off very slightly, clearly confused. Heard her talk again and didn’t bother to keep his sigh purely internal this time. Reaching out, he grabbed for her arm, wanting to put some distance between the icy brute and themselves. “Wolf, lass. Not dog,” he murmured. “Move along now.” He didn’t think that they had much time left before the wolf was on them again. Since his magic was fairly useless and hers only seemed to cause distraction, physical weapons would be needed. Fortunately, despite being empty of cars and people, the parking lot they stood in was rich in potential weapons. And they were magic people granted enhanced physical abilities. Darting to a cart return, he muttered a half-assed apology for what would be viewed in the daylight hours as sheer vandalism before reaching out for the chain locking the carts in and ripping it from its moorings. Swinging it, he grinned a little. Oh, he could break some of those teeth with this beauty. “Find y’rself a weapon, girl,” he barked even as he adopted a defensive stance. The wolf was already moving for them. “If y’can, aim for th’eyes. An’ try to not get bit, aye?” Hardly encouraging, but he meant well.
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Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2025 12:49 pm
eldritch stardust you can decide who it goes for lol It finally seemed to click for her that she was in imminent danger, and the senshi moved with sudden speed to collect one of the newly-freed shopping carts. It must be said that she did not exactly radiate danger, since she looked more or less like a horror cosplayer who had forgotten to pick up a couple of things at Target before hitting the con, but a shopping cart certainly had the advantage of being a cumbersome piece of metal between her and the wolf. Probably, with senshi strength on her side, it could do a little damage if rammed with sufficient enthusiasm. She also, to her credit, almost immediately swung out in such a way as to flank their adversary, getting enough distance between the two of them to force it to choose a target without getting too much to make them unable to help one another. "A wolf is a dog," she called stubbornly, not quite liking to be corrected on this and unwilling to let it go despite the circumstances.
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Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2025 1:38 pm
Gods above and below, was she one of those types who saw wild animals as potential friends? Or was she literally just an idiot? Who could tell? Right now it served no purpose to get into an argument with her. “Call it whatever y’like, mah wee numpty,” he said calmly. Almost too calmly. He looked relaxed now that he had a decent weapon in his hands and his eyes were beginning to glitter in anticipation. “Who’m I tae try an’ step in where your bio teachers failed, eh? Jes’ beware o’Spot’s teeth!” Gripping the chain in both hands, Xibalba decided that he wouldn’t wait for the wolf to reach them. Oh rather, not exactly. Now that the little senshi was armed and mostly ready, he felt comfortable enough to take a step closer to the charging beast, beginning to laugh in glee as he swung the chain in circles before letting one end fly out and aiming directly for the icy muzzle. He remembered other encounters with these things. Hurt it enough and it would go away. Kind of like the ******** chicken monsters over the summer. God, he hated those chickens. The sound of chain striking bone and flesh was an interesting one, he thought. Glancing over his shoulder, he raised an eyebrow in a silent but still clear WELL?!?, inviting the girl to contribute to taking the beast down. He had no doubts that between the two of them they could manage it. Especially if he could keep the creature off balance whilst she battered the everloving hell out of its ugly hide. Rejam he’s an a**, but a chivalrous one, i’m sorry XD
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Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2025 5:49 pm
This was, compared to giant leviathan whales and resurrecting fungal skeletons and even cursed board games, a piece of cake. She charged in the direction of the wolf with her cart, actually giving a little skip of enthusiasm as she did so - a mannerism distinctly at odds with her fuku, which was as nightmarish as they tended to come. Whatever her taxonomical concerns about wolves, she was clearly not one of those people who considered anything animal-shaped to be off-limits for violence - especially not something shaped like this particular, very scary animal. The cart collided with it with a glorious crash, and she pulled back to give it another ramming, or else to give him room to continue beating it with the chain. She also, somewhat worryingly, laughed.
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Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2025 9:13 am
Feeling positively cheerful now that he was fighting, Xibalba gave a nod of approval as the senshi began to laugh as she rammed the wolf with a grocery cart. He’d waited politely for her to back up for another run before winding up and letting the end of his chain fly out, catching the wolf in the mouth and breaking off a couple of teeth. The sound of the teeth breaking was very like a glacier melting and cracking, only on a much, much smaller scale. Even more interestingly, he could see something clear oozing from the wolf’s mouth where the injury was. On anything else, he would have thought it was blood. Maybe it was blood, of a sort. But from his angle, it looked like clear slush. Did these big bastards not even know how to bleed properly?!? Regardless, this meant that they could hurt it. And proved that they weren’t dealing with an actual, real wolf. He didn’t have to feel guilty hurting this thing. “Oy, lass!” he murmured, keeping his eye on the dazed monster. “If Ah can get m’chain wrapped ‘round the wee beastie’s leg and pull, think ye could topple him o’er wit’ your cart? See if we can’t break a limb an’ slow him down, aye?” Was it a brutal and borderline cruel idea? Possibly. But Xibalba remembered what a bite or scratch from one of these things could do and he was in no rush to watch frost growing from a wound again. Nor in seeing the senshi sprout icicles.
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Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2025 10:45 am
Proving surprisingly effective with the cart both as shield and weapon, she laughed again. "Give it the AT-AT treatment," she agreed, pulling back a few yards to give herself a good run-up, with another little skip of enjoyment. "I should start carrying antifreeze!" she called out as she went, a strategic idea that had just occurred to her.
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Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2025 2:44 pm
For a moment, Xibalba had to stare blankly at the girl before his brain caught up and he nodded. "The ruddy great walker things in Star Wars, aye? Somethin' like that, I s'pose." He felt a little bemused to see her so very cheerful about all of this given how she'd been screaming earlier. Maybe she'd just needed the confidence boost from knowing that she could fight back? He'd likely never know and he wouldn't ask. Such things were private as far a he was concerned. Instead, he hefted the chain and studied the wolf for a second. It was acting more cautiously, though it hadn't stopped snarling. Front legs would be the better targets. Hmm. Yes. Nodding sharply tot he girl to let her know that he was ready, Xibalba spun the chain in the air, wanting plenty of force behind his casting. Then, he let fly and watched with satisfaction as the chain hit hard and true, wrapping tightly around the wolf's foreleg. Rather than wait for physics to ruin his lovely idea, he yanked on the chain in a hard, sharp motion. The wolf lost it's balance and went down. He yanked again to keep it off balance and to tighten the wrapped chain. It was too bad they didn't have an extra chain to try and throttle the damned thing with. THough he had to be honest and admit that he'd have looked ******** stupid in a gold bikini.
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Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2025 2:59 pm
It might, perhaps, have been more the domain of Alekto, quite accustomed to portraying damsels in distress in various stages of scantily-clad and also bloody. But she had neither chain nor bikini either, only a shopping cart, which she now deployed with vigor. "I thought every time something attacked you it just kept getting worse til you died!" she called out cheerfully, unknowingly answering the question he had not asked, although it was a bit swallowed up in the chaotic crashing sound that ensued when cart met wolf. Since it was down, she availed herself of two or three more good rams. "Whoa," she said, as it started to flicker in a strange way. "Look at that. Maybe it's like. A projection or something." The cart went sideways after a particularly enthusiastic blow and her foot sliding on the ice and slush, and Alekto scampered out of the way of a snapping pair of jaws, pulling one of the many trailing parts of her fuku with her and out of reach. "Or not."
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Posted: Thu Dec 25, 2025 12:14 pm
For a moment, Xibalba forgot to breathe as the senshi got far too close to the wolf's jaws. The fact that she'd managed to scarper without injury gave him very little relief. They'd been playing this far too cavalierly and she'd nearly paid the price. It was time to end this. The wolf was down and clearly battered. The flickering was a good sign as far as the knight was concerned. As the wolf lay there, glaring balefully at them, he slowly and carefully began to wrap his chain around his hand and forearm. He was strong as a regular human. He was even stronger as a knight. But there was no harm in taking precautions and giving himself a little extra zest. "Stay back, lass," he ordered quietly. "Yon beastie didnae bite ye?" He was reasonably certain she was unscathed, but it didn't hurt to verify. And it gave him something to fill the silence as he stalked towards the wolf. "Hmm, be a good child now an' give the wee ******** some room. We're nae supposed to be sadists. I want this o'er." Studying the creature, Xibalba sighed. He was going to end up bitten, there was no help for it. Pulling back his reinforced fist, he brought it down in a furious punch at the wolf's orbital bones. After the beating it had taken, they'd be the most compromised. And if an ice wolf could be said to have a brain, this was also the easiest way to terminally injure it. He heard the felt the bones break and the wolf gave a last snap before shuddering and going still. He waited a moment, then, straightening up, he turned to face the senshi and said, "Ireland?!? Really? That was your first guess?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 25, 2025 12:47 pm
The senshi - in her grim and tattered garb, her appearance of menace and ominous darkness - was jumping up and down with her arms in the air. She actually said the word yaaaay out loud. She gave him a winning smile from behind her veil as she bounced a final time on her heels, obviously unhurt, and then did not spare her new ally a verbal injury. "What?" she asked innocently. "Are you English or something?"
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