[X] Yes, you'll go help Motoko out with her problem. It shouldn't be too difficult if you're just there to be muscle. (Sprite Route)
It's down to this or work for me, but it was implied we sort of had a choice with work. Let's help the friend out - I'd rather not hear something later that makes us regret leaving her hanging.
[X] Yes, you'll go help Motoko out with her problem. It shouldn't be too difficult if you're just there to be muscle. (Sprite Route)
The day passes by slowly. You put up with the inanity of the rich and famous, letting the meaningless gossip go through one ear and out the other. You're certain that a business-minded person might find what you overheard from your classmates useful but you couldn't care less.
Tetsuya doesn't show up at Lunch, having some sort of meeting with his clique. There are many cliques among the student population – they ranged from some particularly wealthy or famous student and their entourage to gatherings of people with the same interests that weren't part of any club. You'd been invited to many cliques during the latter half of your first year and your second year but you'd always decline them all.
You were too busy studying to have much of a social life.
Now that you're a senior, backed by several years of intense studying and natural ability, you've been finding things to be far easier for you this year than it has been for the last several years. That's probably why you felt it was alright to forgo your usual studies and help Motoko with whatever problems she was having after school today.
After what felt like an eternity, classes are finally over for the day. As agreed on in the morning, you meet Motoko behind the school. You find the black-haired beauty waiting for you by a black van instead of the expensive car that usually drops Motoko off near the school's entrance. Next to Motoko is a tall woman in a black suit wearing black sunglasses. You recognise the woman as Miss Nanase, Motoko's most trusted family servant.
"You made it, Shinzo-kun!" Motoko looked relieved that you had shown up. Why wouldn't you show up? You made a promise after all. "I'm glad that you decided to come. It'll be a big help to me and Sakura."
"I always keep my promises, Nagamori-san. So what exactly is going on?" You ask.
"Well, it's kinda hard to explain here so why don't we all get inside the van and I'll explain when we get there," Motoko confesses, looking a tad sheepish. With a nod, Miss Nanase opens the van and gestures you and Motoko to come.
Nodding back, you squeeze through the van door and find yourself surprised by the luxurious interior of the van. There are only two back seats in the van but there was also a small fridge, a pull-out table, and what looked like a small dressing room that took up the back of the van. While it was a bit of small for you, it was quite spacious for a normal person such as Motoko.
"Welcome to my private outfitting van, Shinzo-kun!" Motoko explains as she buckles up. You have no idea what she meant by outfitting van. Buckling up as well, you sit patiently as Miss Nanase gets into the driver's seat and starts the engine.
Soon the van is out on the road, headed to wherever Motoko needs you to be. You spend the ride, eating snacks that Motoko had hidden away in the van for such occasions as well as passing the time with more small talk. Today, you learn that Motoko used to have a fiancé but was able to get the arrangement cancelled thanks to a combination of her digging up dirt on the man she was going to be married too and tricking the guy into humiliating himself at an important business dinner.
The van finally stops in front of someone's house. Motoko pulls out her phone and sends a message to someone before getting out of the van and a few minute later a girl with honey brown hair and green eyes pops her head out from one of the windows on the upper floor, holding her phone. Upon seeing Motoko, the girl disappears back into the house and about half a minute later comes running out of the house. The girl is Sakura Avalon, and she is Motoko's best friend.
"Motoko, what are you doing here? Don't you have club activities today?" Sakura asks. Thanks to where you are sitting as well as the tinted windows, she can't see you in the van.
"Silly. What else? You didn't come to school today so I came to see you." Motoko happily explains but you're certain there's more to this than just that.
"Gee, thanks for coming. Sorry I couldn't come to school today. Something important came up so I couldn't go today."
"That's alright. You needed to recover after fighting that monster last night." Wait what?
"Thanks for under – ", It takes a moment for Sakura to properly process what Motoko just said but when she does, "HOEEE?!"
"Sakura, is something wrong?" Motoko asks, tilting her head slightly in confusion.
"W-What are you talking about? Why would I be fighting monsters? Monsters don't exist. Hahaha, that wasn't a very good joke, Motoko."
"I have video evidence," Motoko states bluntly, freezing her friend in her tracks. "Would you like to see?"
"Y-You saw whatever happened!?"
"Uh-huh. Let's go inside so I can show you."
"Hoeee….."
You watch as Motoko and Sakura head into the house, the latter slumping in defeat and the former looking over her shoulder and giving you a peace sign, leaving you alone in the van with Miss Nanase. An awkward silence descends and you start to feel slightly antsy. You decide to break the silence by asking Motoko's bodyguard slash servant slash watcher what all this was all about.
"That's information is on a need to know basis. And you don't need to know. Yet." The woman answers coldly. "Lady Motoko wishes to explain the situation to you herself so please be patient and wait."
Inwardly grumbling at the unhelpful bodyguard, you sink back into the leather seat of the van and wait. Around half an hour later, Motoko and Sakura exits the house, with Sakura looking resigned to whatever Motoko has in store for her. You notice that Sakura has changed into a tracksuit pant and jacket and was also carrying a backpack.
Opening the van door, Motoko and Sakura enter the van at which point Sakura becomes aware of your presence.
"EH?! Why is Shinzo-san here?!"
"Do not fear, Sakura-chan! Takagi-kun is here to help us fight Star Sprites!"
Wait what? You were not told that you'd be fighting against whatever these Star Sprites are. Not that you wouldn't since you did fight a clay monster last night so maybe this is related to that?
"HOLD THE PHONE HERE!" A voice suddenly cries out from Sakura's backpack. The backpack wriggles for a bit and what looks like a stuffed teddy bear with wings pops out and lands on Sakura's shoulder. "You can't go around dragging in other people into this! I'm already breaking a lot of rules here and bringing unrelated people into this mess is just going to make things worse!"
"Mulder!"
"..." There is silence as you stare at the talking teddy bear and it stares back.
"...And I just made it even worse by revealing myself, haven't I?"
You nod before turning to Motoko and Sakura, with the former smiling serenely and the latter having broken out into a cold sweat."...I would like an explanation on the situation if you please."
…….
Explanations take a little while since you have many questions but eventually you get the general gist of what's going on.
The three star collision that happened a month ago was, in fact, three spaceships crashing into each other. You have no words for how something like that could happen, especially when you're trying to wrap your mind around the fact that aliens are apparently real. Mulder is some kind of alien ghost that has taken to possess a teddy bear in order to move and interact with people. Apparently, he was in charge of moving a bunch of powerful creatures called Sprites to some place in another part of the galaxy so that they could be sealed away but thanks to the accident, they ended up getting released all over Yorizen.
These Sprites are in most cases sealed inside some kind of containment ball that resembles a pokeball. These sprites, when freed, bind themselves to whoever released them with some kind of contract and are able to give that person superpowers. However, several of these sprites have gotten out and have integrated with part of the environment. Without anyone to imprint on, these Sprites have gone out of control. Mulder, needing to get the Star Sprite back under control, recruited Sakura who had been fortunate enough to find a dormant Sprite and get it to imprint on her without issues.
After that, Sakura has been going around Yorizen trying to find and recapture these Sprites. So far, she's managed to find Sword and Shield. Unbeknownst to Sakura though, while she was capturing Shield, she was caught on tape by none other than Motoko. Thankfully, Motoko only wanted to help Sakura fight these Sprites and has dragged you along since you were the strongest person in Maxwell and she believed you could help.
All in all, it sounds like the plot of some magical girl show. There are still questions that you would like answered such as while was he transporting a whole bunch of these Sprites across the galaxy in the first place, and why do these Sprites exist in the first place. However, the bear was not forthcoming about anything at all and was doing its best to get you to leave.
"Alright then, Takagi-san. Forget about everything you just heard and vamoose." Needless to say, the teddy bear wasn't too enthused about you getting involved in all this. Well, even if this all sounded strange and suspicious, you made a promise to help so you weren't going to go anywhere.
"Now now, Mulder-kun. I'll have you know that Takagi-kun once took on a hundred gangsters all at the same time and won." Motoko informs Mulder in an attempt to convince him. Mulder pauses and gives you an examining look.
"I don't know...it's still dangerous business. I mean, look at last night. It's a miracle that Sakura got out of there without getting injured. I admit it was mostly due to us not knowing what the Sprite was capable of though so we should be able to defeat it this time and bind it to Sakura."
"Um, guys? Do I get a say in this?" Sakura pipes up, having been mostly silent for much of the conversation.
"Ah, right, Sakura. Sorry about that. So what do you think? Is Takagi-san in or out?"
"Well...I know that he's strong but these Sprites aren't like humans. They have incredible power and I don't know if Takagi can handle that kind of thing."
"I can." You simply declare. "I did so last night."
"Eh?"
You proceed to explain how you fought this man-sized clay doll thing and shattered it with your bare hands. Motoko and Sakura are impressed by your story while Mulder simply frowns.
"Mulder? Is there something wrong?"
"What? Oh no. I was just thinking about your story. I swear I heard about these clay dolls with crystals inside them from somewhere but where."
"Ahem. If I could have your attention, please. We have arrived at our destination." Miss Nanase interrupts. The van has stopped near the outskirts of the city, close to one of the forests around Yorizen.
"This is - " Sakura stares into the forest with a nervous look.
"Yeah, this is where we fought Wind." Mulder finishes. The alien-possessed Teddy bear turns towards you and crosses its arms. "Alright then, Takagi-san. I'm making you a substitute Catcher. I don't know anything about this whole crystal or clay monster thing but I do know Sprites. And right now, we really actually need help. So please help us defeat Wind!"
There is no need for Mulder to ask. You were going to help whether they asked you to or not.
"Oooohkay! Now that we've got Mulder's approval, we need to get Sakura ready." Motoko declares. Suddenly it dawns on you exactly what the van is for. "Sakura-chan! If you're gonna go capture a Sprite, then you're gonna need a battle outfit and I got just thing."
"....Battle outfit?" Sakura suddenly looks apprehensive, far more than she was before. "T-that's not necessary! I'm fine as I am right now!"
"....Miss Nanase, I require your assistance! Takagi and Mulder, please wait outside while I get Sakura ready."
"Hang on! Wait! Stop Motoko! Where are you touching!?"
"Fufufu, don't worry Sakura! We're both girls so it's fine."
You stand watch outside as you do your best to ignore the voices and sounds coming from inside the van. Besides you floats Mulder who turns to you and shrugs his shoulders. "No matter what species they are, you just can't understand girls, huh?"
You couldn't help but agree with that statement.
= = = = = = = = = = = =
POV switch! Choose your character!
[ ] Sakura Avalon - Novice Sprite Catcher
[ ] Motoko Nagamori - Fashion Designer and Cameragirl
[ ] ???????? - Observing Collector
[ ] ???????? - Monster Tracking Collector
[ ] Actually you know what, just stick with Takagi
Adhoc vote count started by shibosho on Apr 30, 2017 at 8:33 PM, finished with 113 posts and 10 votes.
"Is this really necessary?" Sakura asked as she stared at herself in the dressing room's mirror.
"Of course, Sakura! You can't go fighting alien monsters without the right outfit!" Motoko claimed as she made minor adjustments to the outfit. Sakura inwardly sighed. As much as she loved Motoko, there were times where she just didn't understand her best friend and this was one of them. "And that should do it! What do you think?"
"Hrmm…." Sakura was now wearing a long dress with long sleeves which was split at the waist on the front of the outfit to show a pair of black shorts as well as her navel. The dress was light pink with black rims and small yellow flowers dotted the corners of the dress. Sakura also wore matching black gloves and a pair of thigh high boots along with a cylindrical hat with a black rim based on the same style as the costume. All in all, while it did look something out of an anime, Sakura felt strangely comfortable in it and it did make her feel a little more confident about the whole thing.
Then Motoko had to remind her that girls weren't the only ones around here. "Come on Sakura! Let's show the guys!"
"Wait! I'm not emotionally prepared for - !"
"Too late, Sakura!" While Motoko was usually gentle and kind, when it comes to clothes, particularly the ones that she designed herself, Sakura's longtime friend was impossible to refuse. Sakura quickly found herself outside the van, being given the once-over by both Mulder and Shinzo Takagi. "Well, what do you think guys?"
"Not bad, not bad at all. You know, the Sprite will definitely take you more seriously if you look like you mean business. This outfit has my seal of approval!" Mulder seemed to like it a lot. Shinzo, on the other hand, had a frown on his face.
"Mulder-san. If the Sprite is serious, wouldn't that mean that it would fight harder, making it more difficult to capture?" Shinzo pointed out.
"Hmm, I suppose the big guy has a good point. It might be better to catch the Sprite off guard rather than have it go all out at the very start."
"Oh? I was merely pointing out the flaw in what you said, Mulder-san. I honestly think that Sakura's clothing do not remotely look suitable for combat at all and I believe that the Sprite would think the same as well."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"What? Did I say something wrong?"
"...Alright then! Let's go kick that Sprite's butt!"
Leaving whether Sakura's outfit was suitable or not, two girls, a guy and a winged teddybear headed off into the woods. Sakura was nervous, recalling how her last encounter with the Sprite had ended. Motoko, for some reason, had a camera out and was filming everyone - Sakura in particular. Shinzo was constantly looking around, his body tense and alert for any danger that approached. And at the head of the small group was Mulder who was sniffing the air for the scent of the Sprite.
"....It's close." Mulder suddenly stopped in the air and pointed towards a clearing. Sakura could hear a slight breeze blowing through the air. There was no doubt about it, it was here. "Get ready, Sakura. This time, we're capturing it for sure!"
"Right!" As though a switch was flipped within her, all of her anxieties disappeared as Sakura steeled her resolve. "Come forth, Starshine!"
In order to fight against a Sprite, one needed to have power equal to one. In this case, another sprite was needed to fight a sprite. When Sakura had found her first Sprite, it was still dormant and when she accidentally activated it, the Sprite had imprinted on her and created a strange mental link with her before disappearing into something akin to a pocket dimension - at least that what it sounded like when Mulder had explained how being a Sprite-Catcher worked.
Through this link, Sakura was able to use the power of the Sprite. She could either summon it fully, making it manifest into the world as a separate independent entity that could fight on its own, requiring only orders from the one that owned it. However, using this method required a lot of energy from the owner and the energy requirements only increased the further the Sprite was from its owner.
In this case, however, Sakura was making use of the partial summon. On the top of her hands, two yellow stars that looked like badges appeared. With a partial summoning, the energy needs were greatly reduced and the power of the Sprite could be precisely controlled. The downside was that a partial summon required that the manifested form be attached to the Sprite's owner and needed a great deal of concentration to keep manifested.
Starshine, originally the Blast Sprite before Sakura renamed it, was the easiest and most cooperative of Sakura's Sprites. At the very least, Sakura was confident in making full use of its powers.
No sooner had Sakura summoned Starshine, the wind suddenly picked up. It knew that she was here. No point in keeping it waiting.
"Motoko! Shinzo! Stand back! It's coming!" Sakura ran forward and out into a large clearing. There, floating in the air, was the creature known as a Star Sprite. It had a sleek mechanical form, more curves than edges, and of silver, gold, and red. It had the appearance of a floating top half of a knight's armour, with thin arms and large claws, and its head was like that of a bird's beak. On its back were wings of metal, gleaming in the light of the setting sun. Upon noticing Sakura's presence, the Wind sprite clanged its claws together and let out a mechanical screech.
Sakura immediately began her attack. Concentrating power into the stars on her hands, she brought her arms together and aimed towards the Sprite. "STAR FIRE!"
With a large cry, energy erupted from the stars on top of Sakura's hand, spreading out in a cone shape and enveloping everything in front of her. Well, almost everything. The feral Sprite was fast, fast enough to escape Sakura's initial attack. It shot upwards into the air, barely avoiding the attack. Just as Sakura realised her target had vanished from her sight, the Sprite dove towards the Sprite-Catcher with its claw out to tear the girl apart.
Narrowing her eyes, Sakura shifted her aim up towards the diving Sprite. Before, when she had fought it previously, she had tried to hit it with dozens of energy bolts but that had failed. It had been too fast, too nimble, and too small to simply shoot at it and hope for a lucky shot. The wide-angled energy blast was Sakura's answer to defeating the Wind Sprite. This time, there was no avoiding her attack.
"SKREEEE!" WInd shrieked as it was engulfed by the blast. Sakura smirked and pushed more power into the blast. This time, she wasn't going to lose.
"Amazing Sakura!" Motoko could be heard over the sound of the energy blast, praising Sakura.
"That's it, Sakura! Keep it up!" Mulder was cheering her on while Shinzo simply watched and kept silent.
After half a minute of continuous fire, Sakura finally lets up as her pool of power ran dry. Collapsing to her knees, Sakura stared at the large trench that her power had dug up. A cloud of dust had been tossed up into the air by her attack, making it hard to see the defeated form of the WInd Sprite but after taking an attack like that, how could it possibly be able to move?
When the cloud settled however, Sakura paled as Motoko gasped in surprise and Mulder cried out in horror. At the far end of the trench, Wind laid on the ground, wrapped in a metal shell formed from its wings. With terrible slowness, Wind unfurled itself, revealing that it had indeed taken some damage from Sakura's attack but its winds had been strong enough to protect it from further harm.
Caught off-guard by Wind's ability to use its wings as a shield, Sakura could not react in time as Wind suddenly stretched its arms out and slashed the air in front of it. Like magic, a small tornado erupted from Wind, headed directly straight for Sakura.
"ARMAROLL! PROTECT!" Sakura screamed out as she summoned her one of her other Sprites, the stars on her hand disappearing. A large mechanical insect-like sprite appeared, wrapping its legs around her arm - its shell becoming a shield to defend against enemy attacks. It was, however, a last ditch defence as Sakura had already used up much of her strength earlier. There was no way she was getting out of this without getting cut up.
As the tornado blast nearly reached Sakura, she closed her eyes, awaiting the inevitable blast that would leave far more than a few bruise and scratches.
The wind blew around her as it struck against her. The only thought in Sakura's mind was that she hoped that Motoko was making her escape. Seconds crawled by and Sakura quickly realised that something was wrong. Why hadn't Wind's attack torn her apart yet?
Opening her eyes, Sakura gaped in shock.
"SHINZO!?"
Standing in front of her, holding firm against the miniature tornado, was Takagi Shinzo. His clothes were ruined by the slashing nature of the feral Sprite's wind but his flesh was unmarked, untouched, and brimming with violence. Impossible. How could Shinzo withstand winds that were capable of tearing through trees and stone?
"Avalon." Shinzo suddenly said. Sakura couldn't see his face but there was something in his voice that made her pay attention."Fallback. I'll handle this!"
"H-Hai!" What could she do but say yes to that?
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
You are Takagi Shinzo and right now you are using your body as a shield to protect Sakura Avalon, who has apparently used up her pool of power and was unable to defend herself properly. Your clothes are ruined so you're going to have to get Motoko to fixed them later.
However, the same heat that accompanied you as you crushed that clay doll from last night has returned. The heat permeates throughout your body and you know that it's what's keeping you alive against this whirlwind of destruction.
However, you can't stand here acting as a wind barrier the whole time. You must act. You are at one end of a forest clearing. In front of your is a Sprite (that had gone feral according to Mulder) that has no qualms about attacking you and others. Behind you is Sakura Avalon, the novice Sprite-Catcher who recently caught a well-known criminal. Nearby is Motoko who is recording everything on film, and Mulder who is an alien-possessed teddybear.
Adhoc vote count started by shibosho on May 9, 2017 at 3:05 AM, finished with 126 posts and 9 votes.
[X] You got this! This thing is fast, nimble, small, and able to use it's wings as a shield. You just need to get close enough, to eliminate almost all of those advantages! Run forward, use one hand to hold its wings together, and the other pummel it into pieces.
Is there something we should know about our powers? Do we believe that only magical girls can hunt sprites, and our React gave us what we sorely needed to defeat it?
[X] You got this! This thing is fast, nimble, small, and able to use it's wings as a shield. You just need to get close enough, to eliminate almost all of those advantages! Run forward, use one hand to hold its wings together, and the other pummel it into pieces.
[X] You got this! This thing is fast, nimble, small, and able to use it's wings as a shield. You just need to get close enough, to eliminate almost all of those advantages! Run forward, use one hand to hold its wings together, and the other pummel it into pieces.
[X] You got this! This thing is fast, nimble, small, and able to use it's wings as a shield. You just need to get close enough, to eliminate almost all of those advantages! Run forward, use one hand to hold its wings together, and the other pummel it into pieces.
[X] You got this! This thing is fast, nimble, small, and able to use it's wings as a shield. You just need to get close enough, to eliminate almost all of those advantages! Run forward, use one hand to hold its wings together, and the other pummel it into pieces.
[X] You got this! This thing is fast, nimble, small, and able to use it's wings as a shield. You just need to get close enough, to eliminate almost all of those advantages! Run forward, use one hand to hold its wings together, and the other pummel it into pieces.
