6th Blog - Let's Rock (ง •̀_•́)ง

[majestiq]

After Party - Action - Genessia City

[ The initial quake brought back terrible memories for Mariko, rendering her paralyzed under a table where the party was held. But her panicked state of mind has made her make a terrible decision of rushing to Nova City once she snapped out of her shock, for that's where she feels she would be safe away from all of this. But she underestimated the amount of these invaders lurking outside of the event space, and the distance it would take to Nova City's archway. Not even far from where the party is held, Mariko is pinned down by an intersection with throngs of these spirits being lured by her fear. Despite being dressed to impress, Mariko's fear is evident in the cracking of her usual stoic facade, squeezing the trigger of her magical rifle firing buckshot-like energy rounds, able to push any invading spirit back.

Mariko grumbles to herself, frustrated at that she wasn't doing much to really push these things back with the shotgun mode. She can use her guitar to blast these things out of her way, but that's risky and makes her stationary. She can fly, but there's more of these things in the air than on the streets. Buying herself a few precious seconds, she transforms her rifle's shotgun form into a shoulder mounted cannon. A squeeze of the trigger produces large clusters of energy from the cannon's muzzle, pushing back and exploding with a bright azure light like a bomb from a magical rocket launcher. Mariko looks over her shoulder, seeing more people fleeing from the assault on the city. She's hoping one of them is a pendant-wearer or someone with fighting capability, because she can't handle this alone for long ]

Hey, can any of you fight?

Search and Rescue - Audio - Genessia City

[ While her initial goal is to return home to Nova City, Mariko had a change of heart right before she passes through the archway to her new homecity. Gaining a little more confidence in fighting these spirits, Mariko decides to listen to her nagging conscience and do her part for Genessia. So while in a safe zone, Mariko sends an audio to the entire network ]

Anybody stuck in Genessia City and can't get to the safe houses? Let me know asap, I'll come to get you.

Comments

[majestiq]

No. I'm going home. I'm sure the city is safe that I don't have to run into a safehouse there.

[ Nova City is well-protected, after all. And huge enough that it would take some time before it gets overrun by these things.
Mariko frantically looks to her sides, seeing more and more of these spirits converging on their position, making her look like she's ready to run ]

Ugh, I can't catch a break! Let's go- And where did you get that sword?!

[daemonsheir]

[He purses his lips. Trying to convince her otherwise is probably a moot point, but...]

You're probably right, but I think it would be better to be safe than sorry.

[His attention is drawn away from her and to the next wave of spirits. He narrows his eyes, taking a step past Mariko to get between her and the larger group. He twirls the sword in his hand.]

It's a long story, let's just concentrate on getting to Nova.

[He doesn't have time to explain- nor does he really want to. He draws his arm back before lashing it forward, the beam of his sword stretching itself out into a whip and sending off a massive shockwave to force the spirits to scatter again.]

Come on, let's move!

[majestiq]

[ Mariko isn't as argumentative as she normally is right now, which might be a good thing. Though even if she is, Rowan's seriousness and his brief display of combat skill has left her stunned, only managing to utter a small noise of disbelief. This is the Rowan she knew?

Mariko just stood there, aiming her cannon down along with the dropping of her jaw.
Even after Rowan tells her to move, Mariko was just frozen in place ]

... Uh, oh, okay.

[ Mariko blinks, shaking her head lightly as she snaps out of her trance-like state, at least for a little bit. She's still so boggled by this new side of Rowan, who she only knew as an awkward transfer student. As she starts to run,
Mariko's combat alertness starts to come back to her ]

Hey, can you drive?

[ Mariko asks, watching the rear while Rowan takes the lead. She raises her cannon just as she asks him, firing a charged shot that comes out as a steady stream of magical energy, ridding them of any spirits who want to attack from behind. ]

[daemonsheir]

[Not being argumentative is one thing, but Rowan's not exactly used to Mariko being so hesitant. He doesn't suspect it has anything to do with him, so he's concerned that something may have happened before he found her. Now isn't the time to ask, so he'll do that once he knows they're in a safe position to do so.

He whips his sword in front of them again, sending another blade beam to cut them a path through any spirits that might appear in front of them. Damn, there were a ton of these things. Why did he have to be the only person from the Sector? He as a lot to make records on to report to them later on, or so he hopes.]

I had a permit at home, never had a chance to get my license. [Not that he has any idea what this has to do with the situation at hand.] I'm not gonna 'borrow' anyone's vehicle if that's what you want to suggest.

[He makes sure to say that last bit in a joking tone. Of course he can manage a small joke in this situation, he hasn't let Malphas take over yet for him. The super serious stuff comes later.]

[majestiq]

[ He read her mind. Was she that obvious about stealing a car that much? Mariko groans ]

Excuse me if I doubt those chicken legs of yours can run fast enough and avoid these things!

[ Mariko yelled back, as the noise of the chaos was making it hard to converse on normal volume. Despite her loud reply, she was also just joking. In her usual, utterly dry tone ]

[daemonsheir]

[... wait, she was serious? Yeah no, he's not gonna become a criminal so soon after arriving. What kind of fancy little heiress privileges does she even have if she thinks that's okay? Geez.]

Hey, have you seen how fast chickens can move sometimes?

[He knows that was meant as a dig, but he takes it in stride. It really is kind of funny how she doesn't think she can handle himself.

His thoughts are interrupted when a spirit suddenly swoops down in front of him, causing him to do a backflip in the last second to get away from it. He straightens himself again and lashes his energy whip at it to send it reeling into retreating. He shrugs his shoulders, glancing back at Mariko casually.]

I'm pretty sure you don't have to worry about me.

[majestiq]

[ Mariko was about to dig some more, and suggest to keep moving if they're really interested in going for Nova City. But then the spirit lunges at them, which Mariko was ready to push back by alternating the form of her cannon into a shotgun form. But then she sees something she did not expect - Rowan dodging out of the way and taking it out with trained precision.

Much to her disbelief, that this was a kid she always judged as pretty weird, was even more dangerous in a melee confrontation than she is? It was a lot to take in, but it isn't necessarily a bad thing. In a feigned and exaggerated expression of frustration, awe, and amusement, Mariko throws her gun aside on the ground and shakes her head with a half-grin, putting both her hands on her hips ]

Yeah, you're definitely gonna explain that to me later. I'm not accepting any excuses.

[ Mariko's gun flies back to her hand, transforming back into a cannon before she starts jogging passed him. ]

Ugh, this day is just so weird! Come on.

[ But dat backflip doe ]

[daemonsheir]

[Ohhh, yeah. He was waiting for something like that. He'd kind of hoped the situation would have distracted her enough from having her attention on whatever moves he was pulling out, but... well. That was probably a dumb thing to hope for. He kind of had to make sure they both were safe, which meant pulling all the stops (or at least some of them) and of course the "weird transfer student" would stand out for doing which flips and shit.

In an attempt to bring back the awkward kid act, he grins sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head like he has no idea what he did.]

I'm, uh, not sure you'd believe me even if I told you. [Maybe if he makes his job sound as absolutely absurd as possible, she won't buy it. That'd be the best outcome. He watches her jog past and runs after her.]

Say, where'd you get a gun like that? I can't imagine you can buy one of those in Nova City.

[majestiq]

At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me.

[ Mariko was about to retort some more, only to have more spirits converge against the direction she's heading. Instincts kicking in, it seems it was her turn to show off. Jumping and doing a front flip about twenty feet into the air, Mariko's perception of time to slow into a crawl while she was upside down in mid-air, giving her ample time to aim her cannon at the spirit in the middle and squeeze the trigger. A magic circle appears at the muzzle as more than one cluster of explosive energy fires from her cannon, causing quite an explosive light show that drove the spirits away from her and Rowan.

She lands on her feet with a loud thud and cracking of the pavement, being a few meters away from Rowan with some destroyed street in between them ]

Not one word.

[daemonsheir]

[He instinctively covers his eyes from the light show, and when it dims, he watches the spirits retreating back into the sky. He lowers his arm and looks at Mariko... then at the street between them.]

But that would make coordinating a plan a whole lot harder, wouldn't it?

[Cheeky. He hops across the street rubble, perfectly balancing on a few pieces that any normal person would have easily fallen off of and leaping off of them, landing near Mariko's side. Man, the Ishiwatari girl really was packing. He slowly looks back at the road.]

Oohh, I hope we don't have to pay for that.

[majestiq]

[ Mariko rolls her eyes. She forgot that, despite his awkwardness, the guy can be as cheeky as the rest of them. Mariko, despite what she's already seen of Rowan, is still surprised when he hops across the damaged pavement and landing with relative ease near her. ]

We won't if we don't get caught.

[ Mariko starts running, leaving Rowan behind just as she said that. So it's almost like a cruel joke like skipping out of dinner and leaving the bill to whoever is left at the table ]