[Log] A Ghost In The Machine? Usagi and Mako-chan Return!
Who: Usagi Tsukino (Sailor Moon!), Makoto Kino (Sailor Jupiter!), Takaya Akizuki (Boogiepop Phantom!), Abel Nightroad (Um, Father Abel?), Masataka Takayanagi (The Boy Who Reminds Mako-Chan Of The Senior Who Broke Her Heart!), Hard Drive (NPC'd by Makoto), Motoki Furuhara (also NPC'd by Makoto)
What: A villainous feline interrupts a blossoming romance and after-school activiites! Justice is delivered!
Where: Crown Game Center, Azabu District, Tokyo
When: Friday, after classes at Number 10 Middle School
Watch For: Pretty Sailor Soldiers! Masataka being badass. Justice Speech!
Its not quite The Kaiju-ravaged Tokyo(tm), but given how often its been invaded by strange creatures from other worlds and dimensions, this will do for now. Today, though, this version of the Azabu district is quiet and peaceful. Classes at the Number 10 Middle School have finished for the week, and the students have fanned out to their various after-school haunts to enjoy the weekend. Like the Crown Game Center, where we'll find a young ponytailed girl furiously working out her physics test result frustrations on her favorite game of Sailor V. "C'mon!", Makoto yells as she slams the joystick from side to side. "No way that last shot hit me! I jumped right over it!" WHAM, her fist goes down on the jump button. "ARGH! No fair! I cleared that one too!"
Off in the background, sitting at a table next to the toy machine, a taller blonde boy in a change apron sprouts an oversized sweatdrop next to his head as he looks on nervously. "She's already broke three machines already," Motoki sighs. "At least she did make me this awesome bento!"
Behind Makoto, a girl with yellow pigtails bobs and punches the air along with the action of the game while she waits for her own turn.
"You totally did dodge it! I saw!"
She squeals.
"Look out, look out! He's throwing bombs!"
Meanwhile, in the basement, trouble lurks behind an old game cabinet. The main Gates for this world are protected by the local governments and people named O'Neill and Weir and such. However, there's one that so far has escaped their notice. Its escaped notice so far because of its small size, and the fact that it opens into the musty basement of a video game arcade. Its too small to be of use to anyone of nefarious interest, and generally is used by video game conisseurs wishing to see what the latest game craze of 1994 was like or a random traveller. Motoki has noticed a few odd faces around the center, but as long as they're paying yen, he doesn't mind.
Somehow, someway... The Kresnik found himself here in this city... More importantly in this strange place with many different sounds ringing in his ears. Ow. He looks out of place, yep!
One of several unfamiliar faces in the arcade, the oddly pretty Takaya Akizuki had been looking at the cabinets with mild interest. Igarashi-sensei had sent him on another silly errand, this time to retrieve a souvenir from another Tokyo. He wasn't sure what made other Tokyos more special than his own world's, but Sensei has always been a little weird like that, it's probably just for the novelty of it.
Of course, that doesn't mean he won't goof off when he has the chance. His metal-cornered briefcase is currently sitting at his feet as he toys around with one of the arcade games, occasionally glancing at the next cabinet over and the frighteningly tall girl who seems intent on beating it... literally.
Lately? Things have kind of sucked for Masataka Takayanagi. Recently hospitalised after his elimination from Mortal Kombat at the hands of Peleps Fals - the very person he beat to win the /last/ interplanar tournament - the golden-eyed teen has since been released, and got to hear all about how now nobody can oppose Shao Kahn in the tournament, and how Kahn is a big ugly jerk. To say the least, Masataka's mood hasn't... Really been all that great, lately.
So, for one reason or another, he's in this other Tokyo which seems so terribly different from his own. It seems so relatively carefree, after all, and nobody here knows him. Yeah, it's possible Masataka's taking things a bit too hard, and a bit too personally, but the whole 'evil conquerer of universes' thing has got him feeling kinda down. He's been here for a bit, and played a few of the games, but somehow he's only just noticed the commotion caused by the two energetic girls, as he walks by, looking over at them curiously.
They /really/ get into their video games.
The video games aren't the only things she gets into, Masataka.
Makoto catches a flash of black hair from the corner of her eye. The distraction is enough to ruin her timing and expend the last of the little pixelated Sailor V's lives on another failed jump, but its all completely forgotten as soon as she gets a full look at the passing boy. The brunette's eyes quibble, her cheeks start to flush, and there's a soft gasp as her heart starts to flutter. "He- He reminds me of the senior who broke my heart~"
"Whuh?" says Usagi. She looks from side to side. "Who does? Where?"
She doesn't try hard to hide her excitement at the sighting of a cute new boy-- there's absolutely nothing wrong with window-shopping, she believes, especially when your boyfriend's not around.
She finally follows Makoto's gaze to the appropriate subject. "Ohh," she says, taking in his hotness discreetly, as any good-hearted young girl attached by destiny to One True Love would do.
"You should go talk to him!"
Abel enters the arcade in hopes that someone will know where he is. Pale blue eyes scan the area before he goes to push his glasses up with an gloved finger, placing them in the proper position on his nose. Who will be a good person to ask for directions?
As Takaya is ogled by Usagi, he quickly turns his gaze back to his own arcade cabinet, not wanting to be caught sneaking glances at the pair next to him. Just keep on playin' those video games, Takaya, there's nothing to see over there.
Of course, as he's playing games, he doesn't notice Abel and his rediculously stand-outy clothing. It figures that the most suspicious person in the room is the one no one is paying attention to, doesn't it?
Though he's noticed, Masataka doesn't really notice what's going on in turn, even if he /is/ looking directly at Makoto and Usagi after all the fuss they were causing at the Sailor V machine. Tragically, he suffers from a serious case of being girl-dumb. "Uh... Hi," he says, lifting a hand to wave at the girls looking his way, since he /does/ notice that much. But the rest, the context, the meaning? Nope, right over his head.
"Fun game?" Masataka asks a moment later, indicating the machine the two girls were at, in a desperate grab at making 'small talk', complete with a slightly unsure smile. He's bad at this, girls are strange and mysterious creatures. All he knows is horrible, horrible violence.
The tall man in the odd clothing and the kid with the suitcase should set off Sailor Soldier Suspicion Sensors, but Abel and Takaya are in luck with our resident shounen retard running interference! The taller of the two girls looks back anxiously at the other's suggestion, and she nods once before turning her star-crossed green eyes back to Masataka. "Huh? Oh, the game! It is!", Makoto answers with un-Mako-like nervousness, and she nearly bumps into the boy(?) next to her as she wiggles the second controller on the console. "Its a two player too, if you want to join us!" Sorry, Usagi, you'll have to wait a little longer!
Usagi opens her mouth and knits her eyebrows together, looking at Makoto for a second in surprise and concern.
"...I didn't know it was two-player." she says. She knits her fingers together behind her head and laughs outright in embarrassment. "I watched you play that game like a million times!"
Abel continues to scan the room before noticing the girls and Motoki. He smiles at the boy with the briefcase and offers him an friendly wave before going to walk towards Motoki. "Um... Excuse me?"
Casting another glance at the pair, he notices the apparently easily-flustered Makoto begin to scoot in his direction, and casually scoots a few himself to avoid getting bumped. This glance also affords him a chance to see Abel, which causes him to pause. That's an... interesting... outfit. Almost as interesting as his own, but at least he keeps that silly black cloak in his briefcase when he's not using it. The pale-haired man is giving a hesitant wave in return, before he returns to his game. Creeeeepy. But not setting off his evildar, so it's okay.
Honestly, Masataka has no idea why Makoto is so nervous, but he just smiles boyishly in response. "Really?" he says, tilting his head a bit and looking at Usagi as she laughs nervously. "I dunno, I'm not very good at these kinds of games, and I think your friend wants to play..." His golden eyes catch the light from the screen faintly, which is... Kind of odd, perhaps. "Um, I could watch you two play, until I think I have the hang of it?" See? He's dumb when it comes to girls. But at least he's polite about it.
"I'm Masataka, by the way. Masataka Takayanagi." It's not a mouthful of a name where he comes from, honest.
"I'm Makoto. Makoto Kino," the brunette bows her head, "My friend is Usagi Tsukino. And, if you want to, we can do that, yeah." Another glance is stolen towards the meatball head's way to gauge her reaction, even if she already knows what it'll be. Some people you can read like an open book. Makoto's in the young adults section, and Usagi's has lots of pictures.
Motoki has a pleasant enough smile for the tall kreznik, and is about to wave back when Disaster Strikes! All at once, every game in the room shuts down to a chorus of words that we really can't repeat here because its a kids' anime. Makoto's still lovestruck enough to only blink in astonishment at the blank screen on her game. "Huh? What's going on?"
The answer, dear Miss Kino, comes in a sinister voice that seems to be racing from game kiosk to game kiosk. "ARGH! This is insane!" OK, sinister and frustrated. "This isn't anything like the power grid in MegaKat City!" From the last console, a figure literally bolts out of the screen, a mohawked man in a huge steel blue overcoat covered with crackling streaks of electricity. A mohawked /feline/ man that is. "How am I supposed to take over Tokyo if I can't even get out of a stupid game arcade!?"
"What are you doing in our video games?!" Usagi demands of the racing voice. She was so close to finally getting to play the Sailor V game! Then, as she looks on in horror, a strange cat-man leaps out of the video screen and into the real world. She's seen weirder, but this doesn't prevent her from diving behind Pac Man, and, for a moment, covering her head and whimpering.
"Give Sailor V back!" she meekly demands from the floor.
Yay! Someone that the Kresnik can talk to! Though when the disaster strikes! Abel whirls his head in the direction of the source and quickly goes to place himself between the two girls and whatever just came out of the machine. o_o
As the electricity starts to go out, Takaya's gaze immediately turns towards one of the far game consoles, as if he can sense something within it. His eyes move to follow the voice as it echoes from the different cabinets, before finally locking on the feline creature that leaps out of the final game.
Should one look at the schoolboy's face, it's expression has become a stark contrast from what it was before. His skin seems to have become paler, and his lips darker. His expression is blank, apparently unsurprised by the appearance of the monster from the machine.
If anyone is sensitive to spirits, they'll also notice that Takaya is giving off a COMPLETELY different aura, as if he has become another person. A far more powerful person.
Takaya Akizuki switches armor modes to Boogiepop.
Man... Poor Usagi, deprived of getting to play the game again. Masataka is pretty surprised when /all/ the games shut off, much less at the voice moving from arcade machine to arcade machine... This place is pretty whack. "Makoto-chan, Usagi-chan," the martial artist says, and yeah, he went right to being all familiar like that! "Maybe you two should hide yourse--er?" Well... It looks like Usagi was way ahead of him on that.
Either way, the golden-eyed youth interposes himself between the girls and the evil furry that jumped out of the video games as best he can, because hey - he thinks they're perfectly normal girls, and he's kind of heroic. But after the shot his confidence took during Mortal Kombat, he's actually /not/ rushing over there to punch the whatever-it-is in the face.
"How chivalrous," said trenchcoated furry sneers at all the good boys (and priest) rushing to defend the girls. "So you want your Sailor V back? Here, you can have her!" Hard Drive flings a hand at Boogiepop and the lightning arcing over his jacket suddenly leaps out at him/her, Abel, and Masataka.
Makoto only took a step back and behind her boycrush, so she can see everything - including the, um, tactically withdrawn Usagi. What happens next doesn't make for a happy sailor soldier. "Lightning strikes? In MY arcade!?" In a flash, she's got her teammate by the hand and is racing for someplace out of view. "C'mon, Usagi! We're needed!" Hard Drive's cackling laughter and second wave of electric attacks fortunately washes out the nearby shout of "JUPITER POWER, MAKE-UP!"
As for Motoki, he's dashing down some aisleways fretting and checking over the game machines. "The boss is gonna kill me if any of these things fry!"
You switch armor modes to Sailor Jupiter.
Usagi stumbles reluctantly to her feet at the pull from Makoto's hand. Why does Mako-chan have to be so strong? And pushy? Usagi was going to fight on her own! She was waiting for the right moment!!
They duck into the restrooms and Usagi throws her hand into the air.
"Moon Crystal Power, Make Up!" she cries. As the two girls transform, the small bathroom is filled with beautiful light--and for a moment it is the prettiest bathroom in the world.
Abel lets out an hiss as the lightning strikes him and he goes to hunch over. His own element! "You will back down and surrender peacefully." He goes to warn Hard Drive and slowly straighten back up.
Dammit, this place is too crowded, and there are likely people hiding in the bathrooms. There's no place for Takaya(?) to do his /own/ transformation (read as: putting on his costume, like a NORMAL person). He'll just have to kung-fu normally, and hopes people don't remember his face. The schoolboy(?) dives to the side as lightning arcs through the air, tumbling as he lands so that he can quickly roll back to his feet.
"You are an enemy to these people, you won't recieve mercy," Takaya says simply, his voice hovering somewhere between the male and female ranges, and free of emotion. Despite his warning, however, he hangs back-- in these circumstances it would be best to observe those around him before acting, he can feel that there is something unnatural about his 'allies'.
Okay then! With the girls apparently fleeing like they're supposed to, Masataka is about to realise that maybe - just maybe - he should've rushed the bad guy... Cat... Whatever when he had the chance. Lightning is not something he's a fan of after the /last/ time he fought an electrokinetic. "Gah," he grunts in pain, muscles clenching and twitching as he gets /friggin' electrocuted/.
Coughing a bit, and still crackling a little with electricity, Masataka /now/ decides to rush forward, crossing the arcade in a quick sprint with his teeth gritted. That did not feel good at all. Heedless of the possibility of getting electrocuted /again/, he tries to get a hand on 'Hard Drive' - actually both hands - palms open, heels of his hands pressed together in an 'open clamshell' position, and then invisible force winds its way through Masataka's body, whirling along his arms, to strike the catlike humanoid - in fact to strike /through/ him - the golden eyed youth's ki lashing out with terrible force. "Hakka Soudoushou!!"
"Surrender peacefully?!" The mohawked feline cackles again, blue bolts arcing across his fingertips as he raises a hand. "If this is all this city can offer than-" Oh hey, incoming Masataka. "You fool!" Fool who has a ki blast, that is. FOOM! A very surprised Hard Drive is sent flying back into the game machine, upsetting all the little cheap toys inside and depositing a plush Sailor Moon and Sailor Jupiter in the drop bin. "What the- That's impossible! How did you- GRAH!" Realizing that the more he stammers, the more likely the black-haired boy will blast him again, the villainous furry jams one hand into a power socket and aims the other at Masa. "I'll show you!"
"Not in /my/ video arcade, pal!" Look, over there! On top of the Boulevard Brawler II game! A figure in white and green, with a golden tiara, long ponytail, and legs that go on fore- er- are really really long. Sailor Jupiter folds her arms in front of her bow and levels a LOOK at Hard Drive that would send chills down Chuck Norris's spine. She, however, pauses, because Sailor Moon has a better way with justice speeches and priority in introductions.
From the top of the Claw Game-- it's a girl with long blonde pigtails! Knee-boots! Leotard! Schoolgirl skirt cut high! Making love-signs with her hands, she points at the sky, then folds and unfolds her arms, while twinkling, magical sounds cut through the relative quiet of the room.
"How dare you interrupt this fleeting time of relaxation for Tokyo's stressed out youth?" she accuses the cat-man. "For love and justice, I am the pretty-suited soldier--Sailor Moon!"
"And I am the soldier of thunder and courage, Sailor Jupiter!"
"In the name of the Moon..."
"We will punish you!"
The priest lets out an sigh as the mohawked feline refuses to do such an thing. It's far too bright for him to go Kresnik so Abel will do the next best thing. He reaches under his capelet and pulls out the 'Peacemaker'. He takes careful aim at the creature's arm and fires an silver-tipped bullet. If it hits, it will cripple the creature. If it hits or not, Abel goes to quickly try and tackle it, holding it in place.
Aaand it would seem that 'Takaya' was right. These other combatants are far from normal. The boy can channel energy-- perhaps he's some form of evolved human?-- while the two girls are quite clearly Magical Girls. He's had to deal with far more of those recently that he would care to, but at least these seem to be good Magical Girls.
When the feline creature jams its hand into an outlet, the schoolboy turns his body slightly to hide one of his hands from the assembled group. Said hand is pointed at Hard Drive's arm. Without warning, an immense wave of pressure falls upon the arm, aimed to tear it out of the wall socket.
"Ready, Sailor Jupiter?" says Sailor Moon. From her perch on the claw game, she begins to swing a red scepter to and fro, in all sorts of subtly variant, seemingly premeditated ways. She swings it and swings it, for what seems like five or ten minutes.
(It seems that Sailor Jupiter does not actually need to be ready; she could probably make a quick phone call or run down to the store before Sailor Moon has fully prepared her attack.)
Unfortunately, it seems Masataka hasn't /completely/ recovered from his Mortal Kombat match, especially with getting electrocuted on top of that. As the fuzzy bad guy points his hand his way, he has little choice but to grit his teeth and face it down... Until suddenly there's... Two girls in weird costumes. "...Huh?" the youth wonders in confusion, his attention turning from the villain to gaping at the two senshi.
"Whoa," Masataka mutters to himself. "Those are some short skirts." Hey, he's a teenager, what do you expect? In what might've been a moment too late, he remebers: Somebody's trying to blast him, but it seems Abel and Takaya are on the case, while Masataka doubles over a bit, golden eyes taking the situation in as best he can. This? This is some pretty weird mamajamma, by his reckoning.
One would like to think that she has plenty of time, but as soon as Sailor Jupiter answers "Ready!", she starts her own attack sequence: Raising her hands out front and concentrating on her target as a small golden antenna sprouts from antenna. The clouds over the game store converge into a dark mass, and bolts of lightning streak the sky.
This too, is going to take a little while.
Not that the villainous furry will be able to do anything about it now that he's DODGING BULLETS! He has a neat method of doing so, since his Surge Coat allows him to transform himself into electricity! A blur of blue, and he vanishes into the wiring while Abel's bullet strikes the poor crane game instead.
Alas, Hard Drive is not that smart of a criminal, and he bolts out yet another video game to appear right next to Abel - and still in the Sailor Soldier's line of sights. Like what can a pair of short-skirted teenage girls do to him?
"Moon Princess Halation!" says the pigtailed Sailor Soldier. A spiralling blast of white light comes streaming out of her scepter, pressing for the game-hopping cat-man.
(Meanwhile, the claw game is destroyed, but this is not the worst thing ever to happen in the world. Just as a broken escalator is nothing but an elaborate staircase... a broken claw game is really just a box of free toys.)
Motoki sobs. "Our insurance won't cover this..."
"Supreme Thunder Dragon!" By powers that will remain a mystery to all, a massive bolt of lightning strikes Sailor Jupiter's antenna from the heavens! Her arms throw open wide and enough electricity to power a small African nation coalesces into the form of a huge glowy blue dragon!
When asked later what Hard Drive's last words were before being blasted, then swallowed whole, one witness said, "mommy"
Abel was quite surprised that this creature can dodge bullets. Hmmm, perhaps it was best that he didn't go Kresnik in case this thing was an type of vampire. Once those skimpy dressed girls destroyed the creature. He just goes to blink and idly shakes an hand. He goes to look around to see briefly if anyone was hurt and smiles as it only seems to be reduced to property damage + dead-creature. This also seems to be a good time to exist stage left now so he begins to head back out.
As Hard Drive disappears in a puff of logic (and lightning (and horrendous pain)), 'Takaya' watches expresionlessly. He hasn't done anything out of the ordinary, just said that the monster wouldn't get any mercy. And he made sure to keep his hand out of sight when he blasted Hard Drive's arm. Yes, there should be no questions here, he was just an ordinary, if brave (stupid), bystander.
The emotionless expression upon his face drops into one of confusion, color returning to his face and his lips lightning to a more normal shade. "Ah," Takaya says, holding a hand to his head, organizing his thoughts. "That was... different." A nervous laugh. "It's really hard to keep your cool in danger like that, huh?"
Taking a few careful steps closer to the wreckage of the UFO catcher, the schoolboy looks at it thoughtfully, and the two plush toys in the bin. Hmm. Pulling a couple of coins out of his pocket, he puts them into the dead machine machine and takes the plushes. "Since they're here and all..." he says to himself, before going back to pick up his briefcase.
That... Was pretty nuts. Masataka watches the whole impressive display, and by the time Hard Drive is done, he sags back against the nearest arcade machine, brushing a hand through his black hair and taking a deep breath. "Geez," the teenager mutters, frowning a little. On the upside, he only got electrocuted /once/, so that's progress. "I guess they're used to handling stuff like that 'round here, that was a quick response..." Almost... SUSPICIOUSLY quick.
Ah, but not really.
One small problem: Hard Drive is still here. His fur's charred, his Surge Coat is toast, and when he wakes up in Enforcer hands, he's going to have one heck of a headache, but he's still alive.
An outcome that has Sailor Jupiter scratching the back of her head. "Don't the monsters usually vaporize when we're done with them?", she asks her partner - who is no longer atop of the crane game. Or anywhere else in sight, for that matter. Not a bad idea, actually, since there's still a Masa in the audience.
Oh, right. The Boy Who Looks Just Like The Senior Who Broke Her Heart. Jupiter swallows hard, unsuccessfully trying to hide the growing faint feeling in her body, and plants her hands at her hips in a victorious pose. "That'll show this creep that love and justice will always prevail!", she shouts. "He'll think long and hard about the bad things he did while he's rotting in jail! Now one of you can call the police, me and Sailor Moon have to go!" Whoosh! Jupitervanish! Because real superheroes don't go all quibbly-eyed and wobbly-legged while out in public!
Makoto will just do that after she 'n Usagi make the bathroom the most beautiful bathroom in the world again.
What: A villainous feline interrupts a blossoming romance and after-school activiites! Justice is delivered!
Where: Crown Game Center, Azabu District, Tokyo
When: Friday, after classes at Number 10 Middle School
Watch For: Pretty Sailor Soldiers! Masataka being badass. Justice Speech!
Its not quite The Kaiju-ravaged Tokyo(tm), but given how often its been invaded by strange creatures from other worlds and dimensions, this will do for now. Today, though, this version of the Azabu district is quiet and peaceful. Classes at the Number 10 Middle School have finished for the week, and the students have fanned out to their various after-school haunts to enjoy the weekend. Like the Crown Game Center, where we'll find a young ponytailed girl furiously working out her physics test result frustrations on her favorite game of Sailor V. "C'mon!", Makoto yells as she slams the joystick from side to side. "No way that last shot hit me! I jumped right over it!" WHAM, her fist goes down on the jump button. "ARGH! No fair! I cleared that one too!"
Off in the background, sitting at a table next to the toy machine, a taller blonde boy in a change apron sprouts an oversized sweatdrop next to his head as he looks on nervously. "She's already broke three machines already," Motoki sighs. "At least she did make me this awesome bento!"
Behind Makoto, a girl with yellow pigtails bobs and punches the air along with the action of the game while she waits for her own turn.
"You totally did dodge it! I saw!"
She squeals.
"Look out, look out! He's throwing bombs!"
Meanwhile, in the basement, trouble lurks behind an old game cabinet. The main Gates for this world are protected by the local governments and people named O'Neill and Weir and such. However, there's one that so far has escaped their notice. Its escaped notice so far because of its small size, and the fact that it opens into the musty basement of a video game arcade. Its too small to be of use to anyone of nefarious interest, and generally is used by video game conisseurs wishing to see what the latest game craze of 1994 was like or a random traveller. Motoki has noticed a few odd faces around the center, but as long as they're paying yen, he doesn't mind.
Somehow, someway... The Kresnik found himself here in this city... More importantly in this strange place with many different sounds ringing in his ears. Ow. He looks out of place, yep!
One of several unfamiliar faces in the arcade, the oddly pretty Takaya Akizuki had been looking at the cabinets with mild interest. Igarashi-sensei had sent him on another silly errand, this time to retrieve a souvenir from another Tokyo. He wasn't sure what made other Tokyos more special than his own world's, but Sensei has always been a little weird like that, it's probably just for the novelty of it.
Of course, that doesn't mean he won't goof off when he has the chance. His metal-cornered briefcase is currently sitting at his feet as he toys around with one of the arcade games, occasionally glancing at the next cabinet over and the frighteningly tall girl who seems intent on beating it... literally.
Lately? Things have kind of sucked for Masataka Takayanagi. Recently hospitalised after his elimination from Mortal Kombat at the hands of Peleps Fals - the very person he beat to win the /last/ interplanar tournament - the golden-eyed teen has since been released, and got to hear all about how now nobody can oppose Shao Kahn in the tournament, and how Kahn is a big ugly jerk. To say the least, Masataka's mood hasn't... Really been all that great, lately.
So, for one reason or another, he's in this other Tokyo which seems so terribly different from his own. It seems so relatively carefree, after all, and nobody here knows him. Yeah, it's possible Masataka's taking things a bit too hard, and a bit too personally, but the whole 'evil conquerer of universes' thing has got him feeling kinda down. He's been here for a bit, and played a few of the games, but somehow he's only just noticed the commotion caused by the two energetic girls, as he walks by, looking over at them curiously.
They /really/ get into their video games.
The video games aren't the only things she gets into, Masataka.
Makoto catches a flash of black hair from the corner of her eye. The distraction is enough to ruin her timing and expend the last of the little pixelated Sailor V's lives on another failed jump, but its all completely forgotten as soon as she gets a full look at the passing boy. The brunette's eyes quibble, her cheeks start to flush, and there's a soft gasp as her heart starts to flutter. "He- He reminds me of the senior who broke my heart~"
"Whuh?" says Usagi. She looks from side to side. "Who does? Where?"
She doesn't try hard to hide her excitement at the sighting of a cute new boy-- there's absolutely nothing wrong with window-shopping, she believes, especially when your boyfriend's not around.
She finally follows Makoto's gaze to the appropriate subject. "Ohh," she says, taking in his hotness discreetly, as any good-hearted young girl attached by destiny to One True Love would do.
"You should go talk to him!"
Abel enters the arcade in hopes that someone will know where he is. Pale blue eyes scan the area before he goes to push his glasses up with an gloved finger, placing them in the proper position on his nose. Who will be a good person to ask for directions?
As Takaya is ogled by Usagi, he quickly turns his gaze back to his own arcade cabinet, not wanting to be caught sneaking glances at the pair next to him. Just keep on playin' those video games, Takaya, there's nothing to see over there.
Of course, as he's playing games, he doesn't notice Abel and his rediculously stand-outy clothing. It figures that the most suspicious person in the room is the one no one is paying attention to, doesn't it?
Though he's noticed, Masataka doesn't really notice what's going on in turn, even if he /is/ looking directly at Makoto and Usagi after all the fuss they were causing at the Sailor V machine. Tragically, he suffers from a serious case of being girl-dumb. "Uh... Hi," he says, lifting a hand to wave at the girls looking his way, since he /does/ notice that much. But the rest, the context, the meaning? Nope, right over his head.
"Fun game?" Masataka asks a moment later, indicating the machine the two girls were at, in a desperate grab at making 'small talk', complete with a slightly unsure smile. He's bad at this, girls are strange and mysterious creatures. All he knows is horrible, horrible violence.
The tall man in the odd clothing and the kid with the suitcase should set off Sailor Soldier Suspicion Sensors, but Abel and Takaya are in luck with our resident shounen retard running interference! The taller of the two girls looks back anxiously at the other's suggestion, and she nods once before turning her star-crossed green eyes back to Masataka. "Huh? Oh, the game! It is!", Makoto answers with un-Mako-like nervousness, and she nearly bumps into the boy(?) next to her as she wiggles the second controller on the console. "Its a two player too, if you want to join us!" Sorry, Usagi, you'll have to wait a little longer!
Usagi opens her mouth and knits her eyebrows together, looking at Makoto for a second in surprise and concern.
"...I didn't know it was two-player." she says. She knits her fingers together behind her head and laughs outright in embarrassment. "I watched you play that game like a million times!"
Abel continues to scan the room before noticing the girls and Motoki. He smiles at the boy with the briefcase and offers him an friendly wave before going to walk towards Motoki. "Um... Excuse me?"
Casting another glance at the pair, he notices the apparently easily-flustered Makoto begin to scoot in his direction, and casually scoots a few himself to avoid getting bumped. This glance also affords him a chance to see Abel, which causes him to pause. That's an... interesting... outfit. Almost as interesting as his own, but at least he keeps that silly black cloak in his briefcase when he's not using it. The pale-haired man is giving a hesitant wave in return, before he returns to his game. Creeeeepy. But not setting off his evildar, so it's okay.
Honestly, Masataka has no idea why Makoto is so nervous, but he just smiles boyishly in response. "Really?" he says, tilting his head a bit and looking at Usagi as she laughs nervously. "I dunno, I'm not very good at these kinds of games, and I think your friend wants to play..." His golden eyes catch the light from the screen faintly, which is... Kind of odd, perhaps. "Um, I could watch you two play, until I think I have the hang of it?" See? He's dumb when it comes to girls. But at least he's polite about it.
"I'm Masataka, by the way. Masataka Takayanagi." It's not a mouthful of a name where he comes from, honest.
"I'm Makoto. Makoto Kino," the brunette bows her head, "My friend is Usagi Tsukino. And, if you want to, we can do that, yeah." Another glance is stolen towards the meatball head's way to gauge her reaction, even if she already knows what it'll be. Some people you can read like an open book. Makoto's in the young adults section, and Usagi's has lots of pictures.
Motoki has a pleasant enough smile for the tall kreznik, and is about to wave back when Disaster Strikes! All at once, every game in the room shuts down to a chorus of words that we really can't repeat here because its a kids' anime. Makoto's still lovestruck enough to only blink in astonishment at the blank screen on her game. "Huh? What's going on?"
The answer, dear Miss Kino, comes in a sinister voice that seems to be racing from game kiosk to game kiosk. "ARGH! This is insane!" OK, sinister and frustrated. "This isn't anything like the power grid in MegaKat City!" From the last console, a figure literally bolts out of the screen, a mohawked man in a huge steel blue overcoat covered with crackling streaks of electricity. A mohawked /feline/ man that is. "How am I supposed to take over Tokyo if I can't even get out of a stupid game arcade!?"
"What are you doing in our video games?!" Usagi demands of the racing voice. She was so close to finally getting to play the Sailor V game! Then, as she looks on in horror, a strange cat-man leaps out of the video screen and into the real world. She's seen weirder, but this doesn't prevent her from diving behind Pac Man, and, for a moment, covering her head and whimpering.
"Give Sailor V back!" she meekly demands from the floor.
Yay! Someone that the Kresnik can talk to! Though when the disaster strikes! Abel whirls his head in the direction of the source and quickly goes to place himself between the two girls and whatever just came out of the machine. o_o
As the electricity starts to go out, Takaya's gaze immediately turns towards one of the far game consoles, as if he can sense something within it. His eyes move to follow the voice as it echoes from the different cabinets, before finally locking on the feline creature that leaps out of the final game.
Should one look at the schoolboy's face, it's expression has become a stark contrast from what it was before. His skin seems to have become paler, and his lips darker. His expression is blank, apparently unsurprised by the appearance of the monster from the machine.
If anyone is sensitive to spirits, they'll also notice that Takaya is giving off a COMPLETELY different aura, as if he has become another person. A far more powerful person.
Takaya Akizuki switches armor modes to Boogiepop.
Man... Poor Usagi, deprived of getting to play the game again. Masataka is pretty surprised when /all/ the games shut off, much less at the voice moving from arcade machine to arcade machine... This place is pretty whack. "Makoto-chan, Usagi-chan," the martial artist says, and yeah, he went right to being all familiar like that! "Maybe you two should hide yourse--er?" Well... It looks like Usagi was way ahead of him on that.
Either way, the golden-eyed youth interposes himself between the girls and the evil furry that jumped out of the video games as best he can, because hey - he thinks they're perfectly normal girls, and he's kind of heroic. But after the shot his confidence took during Mortal Kombat, he's actually /not/ rushing over there to punch the whatever-it-is in the face.
"How chivalrous," said trenchcoated furry sneers at all the good boys (and priest) rushing to defend the girls. "So you want your Sailor V back? Here, you can have her!" Hard Drive flings a hand at Boogiepop and the lightning arcing over his jacket suddenly leaps out at him/her, Abel, and Masataka.
Makoto only took a step back and behind her boycrush, so she can see everything - including the, um, tactically withdrawn Usagi. What happens next doesn't make for a happy sailor soldier. "Lightning strikes? In MY arcade!?" In a flash, she's got her teammate by the hand and is racing for someplace out of view. "C'mon, Usagi! We're needed!" Hard Drive's cackling laughter and second wave of electric attacks fortunately washes out the nearby shout of "JUPITER POWER, MAKE-UP!"
As for Motoki, he's dashing down some aisleways fretting and checking over the game machines. "The boss is gonna kill me if any of these things fry!"
You switch armor modes to Sailor Jupiter.
Usagi stumbles reluctantly to her feet at the pull from Makoto's hand. Why does Mako-chan have to be so strong? And pushy? Usagi was going to fight on her own! She was waiting for the right moment!!
They duck into the restrooms and Usagi throws her hand into the air.
"Moon Crystal Power, Make Up!" she cries. As the two girls transform, the small bathroom is filled with beautiful light--and for a moment it is the prettiest bathroom in the world.
Abel lets out an hiss as the lightning strikes him and he goes to hunch over. His own element! "You will back down and surrender peacefully." He goes to warn Hard Drive and slowly straighten back up.
Dammit, this place is too crowded, and there are likely people hiding in the bathrooms. There's no place for Takaya(?) to do his /own/ transformation (read as: putting on his costume, like a NORMAL person). He'll just have to kung-fu normally, and hopes people don't remember his face. The schoolboy(?) dives to the side as lightning arcs through the air, tumbling as he lands so that he can quickly roll back to his feet.
"You are an enemy to these people, you won't recieve mercy," Takaya says simply, his voice hovering somewhere between the male and female ranges, and free of emotion. Despite his warning, however, he hangs back-- in these circumstances it would be best to observe those around him before acting, he can feel that there is something unnatural about his 'allies'.
Okay then! With the girls apparently fleeing like they're supposed to, Masataka is about to realise that maybe - just maybe - he should've rushed the bad guy... Cat... Whatever when he had the chance. Lightning is not something he's a fan of after the /last/ time he fought an electrokinetic. "Gah," he grunts in pain, muscles clenching and twitching as he gets /friggin' electrocuted/.
Coughing a bit, and still crackling a little with electricity, Masataka /now/ decides to rush forward, crossing the arcade in a quick sprint with his teeth gritted. That did not feel good at all. Heedless of the possibility of getting electrocuted /again/, he tries to get a hand on 'Hard Drive' - actually both hands - palms open, heels of his hands pressed together in an 'open clamshell' position, and then invisible force winds its way through Masataka's body, whirling along his arms, to strike the catlike humanoid - in fact to strike /through/ him - the golden eyed youth's ki lashing out with terrible force. "Hakka Soudoushou!!"
"Surrender peacefully?!" The mohawked feline cackles again, blue bolts arcing across his fingertips as he raises a hand. "If this is all this city can offer than-" Oh hey, incoming Masataka. "You fool!" Fool who has a ki blast, that is. FOOM! A very surprised Hard Drive is sent flying back into the game machine, upsetting all the little cheap toys inside and depositing a plush Sailor Moon and Sailor Jupiter in the drop bin. "What the- That's impossible! How did you- GRAH!" Realizing that the more he stammers, the more likely the black-haired boy will blast him again, the villainous furry jams one hand into a power socket and aims the other at Masa. "I'll show you!"
"Not in /my/ video arcade, pal!" Look, over there! On top of the Boulevard Brawler II game! A figure in white and green, with a golden tiara, long ponytail, and legs that go on fore- er- are really really long. Sailor Jupiter folds her arms in front of her bow and levels a LOOK at Hard Drive that would send chills down Chuck Norris's spine. She, however, pauses, because Sailor Moon has a better way with justice speeches and priority in introductions.
From the top of the Claw Game-- it's a girl with long blonde pigtails! Knee-boots! Leotard! Schoolgirl skirt cut high! Making love-signs with her hands, she points at the sky, then folds and unfolds her arms, while twinkling, magical sounds cut through the relative quiet of the room.
"How dare you interrupt this fleeting time of relaxation for Tokyo's stressed out youth?" she accuses the cat-man. "For love and justice, I am the pretty-suited soldier--Sailor Moon!"
"And I am the soldier of thunder and courage, Sailor Jupiter!"
"In the name of the Moon..."
"We will punish you!"
The priest lets out an sigh as the mohawked feline refuses to do such an thing. It's far too bright for him to go Kresnik so Abel will do the next best thing. He reaches under his capelet and pulls out the 'Peacemaker'. He takes careful aim at the creature's arm and fires an silver-tipped bullet. If it hits, it will cripple the creature. If it hits or not, Abel goes to quickly try and tackle it, holding it in place.
Aaand it would seem that 'Takaya' was right. These other combatants are far from normal. The boy can channel energy-- perhaps he's some form of evolved human?-- while the two girls are quite clearly Magical Girls. He's had to deal with far more of those recently that he would care to, but at least these seem to be good Magical Girls.
When the feline creature jams its hand into an outlet, the schoolboy turns his body slightly to hide one of his hands from the assembled group. Said hand is pointed at Hard Drive's arm. Without warning, an immense wave of pressure falls upon the arm, aimed to tear it out of the wall socket.
"Ready, Sailor Jupiter?" says Sailor Moon. From her perch on the claw game, she begins to swing a red scepter to and fro, in all sorts of subtly variant, seemingly premeditated ways. She swings it and swings it, for what seems like five or ten minutes.
(It seems that Sailor Jupiter does not actually need to be ready; she could probably make a quick phone call or run down to the store before Sailor Moon has fully prepared her attack.)
Unfortunately, it seems Masataka hasn't /completely/ recovered from his Mortal Kombat match, especially with getting electrocuted on top of that. As the fuzzy bad guy points his hand his way, he has little choice but to grit his teeth and face it down... Until suddenly there's... Two girls in weird costumes. "...Huh?" the youth wonders in confusion, his attention turning from the villain to gaping at the two senshi.
"Whoa," Masataka mutters to himself. "Those are some short skirts." Hey, he's a teenager, what do you expect? In what might've been a moment too late, he remebers: Somebody's trying to blast him, but it seems Abel and Takaya are on the case, while Masataka doubles over a bit, golden eyes taking the situation in as best he can. This? This is some pretty weird mamajamma, by his reckoning.
One would like to think that she has plenty of time, but as soon as Sailor Jupiter answers "Ready!", she starts her own attack sequence: Raising her hands out front and concentrating on her target as a small golden antenna sprouts from antenna. The clouds over the game store converge into a dark mass, and bolts of lightning streak the sky.
This too, is going to take a little while.
Not that the villainous furry will be able to do anything about it now that he's DODGING BULLETS! He has a neat method of doing so, since his Surge Coat allows him to transform himself into electricity! A blur of blue, and he vanishes into the wiring while Abel's bullet strikes the poor crane game instead.
Alas, Hard Drive is not that smart of a criminal, and he bolts out yet another video game to appear right next to Abel - and still in the Sailor Soldier's line of sights. Like what can a pair of short-skirted teenage girls do to him?
"Moon Princess Halation!" says the pigtailed Sailor Soldier. A spiralling blast of white light comes streaming out of her scepter, pressing for the game-hopping cat-man.
(Meanwhile, the claw game is destroyed, but this is not the worst thing ever to happen in the world. Just as a broken escalator is nothing but an elaborate staircase... a broken claw game is really just a box of free toys.)
Motoki sobs. "Our insurance won't cover this..."
"Supreme Thunder Dragon!" By powers that will remain a mystery to all, a massive bolt of lightning strikes Sailor Jupiter's antenna from the heavens! Her arms throw open wide and enough electricity to power a small African nation coalesces into the form of a huge glowy blue dragon!
When asked later what Hard Drive's last words were before being blasted, then swallowed whole, one witness said, "mommy"
Abel was quite surprised that this creature can dodge bullets. Hmmm, perhaps it was best that he didn't go Kresnik in case this thing was an type of vampire. Once those skimpy dressed girls destroyed the creature. He just goes to blink and idly shakes an hand. He goes to look around to see briefly if anyone was hurt and smiles as it only seems to be reduced to property damage + dead-creature. This also seems to be a good time to exist stage left now so he begins to head back out.
As Hard Drive disappears in a puff of logic (and lightning (and horrendous pain)), 'Takaya' watches expresionlessly. He hasn't done anything out of the ordinary, just said that the monster wouldn't get any mercy. And he made sure to keep his hand out of sight when he blasted Hard Drive's arm. Yes, there should be no questions here, he was just an ordinary, if brave (stupid), bystander.
The emotionless expression upon his face drops into one of confusion, color returning to his face and his lips lightning to a more normal shade. "Ah," Takaya says, holding a hand to his head, organizing his thoughts. "That was... different." A nervous laugh. "It's really hard to keep your cool in danger like that, huh?"
Taking a few careful steps closer to the wreckage of the UFO catcher, the schoolboy looks at it thoughtfully, and the two plush toys in the bin. Hmm. Pulling a couple of coins out of his pocket, he puts them into the dead machine machine and takes the plushes. "Since they're here and all..." he says to himself, before going back to pick up his briefcase.
That... Was pretty nuts. Masataka watches the whole impressive display, and by the time Hard Drive is done, he sags back against the nearest arcade machine, brushing a hand through his black hair and taking a deep breath. "Geez," the teenager mutters, frowning a little. On the upside, he only got electrocuted /once/, so that's progress. "I guess they're used to handling stuff like that 'round here, that was a quick response..." Almost... SUSPICIOUSLY quick.
Ah, but not really.
One small problem: Hard Drive is still here. His fur's charred, his Surge Coat is toast, and when he wakes up in Enforcer hands, he's going to have one heck of a headache, but he's still alive.
An outcome that has Sailor Jupiter scratching the back of her head. "Don't the monsters usually vaporize when we're done with them?", she asks her partner - who is no longer atop of the crane game. Or anywhere else in sight, for that matter. Not a bad idea, actually, since there's still a Masa in the audience.
Oh, right. The Boy Who Looks Just Like The Senior Who Broke Her Heart. Jupiter swallows hard, unsuccessfully trying to hide the growing faint feeling in her body, and plants her hands at her hips in a victorious pose. "That'll show this creep that love and justice will always prevail!", she shouts. "He'll think long and hard about the bad things he did while he's rotting in jail! Now one of you can call the police, me and Sailor Moon have to go!" Whoosh! Jupitervanish! Because real superheroes don't go all quibbly-eyed and wobbly-legged while out in public!
Makoto will just do that after she 'n Usagi make the bathroom the most beautiful bathroom in the world again.