327/Kappa Chameleon!

Kappa Chameleon!
Date of Scene:	29 August 2023
Location:	Beach
Synopsis:	A simple visit to the beach before school starts up again turns hostile, when a monster steps out of the sea. Fortunately for the people there, an Oni, a Pirate, a Pretty Cure and a Samurai are there to deal with it.
Cast of Characters:	Hinata Muramasa, Erika Shimizu, Yayoi Kise, Kureha Senkenzan

---

Hinata Muramasa has posed:
    It's a pretty standard afternoon, school isn't due to start just yet and plenty of people are soaking up the remaining pleasant weather on the beach.
    The sun is starting to dip, but there's still a few groups huddling around portable barbeques, a few finishing off their sandcastle masterpieces and others stragglers just milling around.

    One of these is an unassuming young girl holding a parasol. She's standing on the tidewall above the sand, looking out across the water. "It's coming." she murmurs to herself, but what she could be referring to is up for debate.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    You know who loves the beach?
    Erika Shimizu loves the beach, that's who.
    Being among those people making a sweet sand ship-castle, she's dressed in a cutesy swimsuit with skull and crossbones print all over it.
    Anyway, with her totally awesome sand ship complete she cracks open a bottle of cola and chugs it in celebration.
    Right up until she spots a familiar face on the tidewall. In an instant, Erika's expression changes...

    :3

    Padding her way back up through the dunes, she scoots low to not be seen as she makes her approach, as sneaky as a train wreck.

    >:3

    And then she attacks! ... Or that is to say she attaches, hugging Hinata's arm to her chest.
    "Hinaaaaa~. I didn't expect to see you at the beach today, you should have texted me! We could have hung out. I built a sand ship and everything!"

Yayoi Kise has posed:
Yayoi Kise is drawing on the beach, she has a big easel and a big canvas and she's sketching on the canvas, sketching the harbor and the waves. She isn't getting involved in anything right now, happy to be unbothered as she sketches a big ol' cargo freighter that's out on the water in her canvas. She makes littlwe light notes about the color of it in the lines of the picture she draws so she knows what to paint it when she gets home later, and the note of the time of day, the sun is juuust going down, isn't it?

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    There are many experiences Kureha Senkenzan has yet to enjoy. One of these is a walk on the beach - or at least near it. Once again clad in a very old-fashioned but summer-friendly yukata, the short girl walks along a sidewalk that runs parallel to the beach, taking in the sea breeze and watching the people with faint interest. Accompanied by one of her attendants, the tiny scion of the Chikafuji family walks and watches, dividing her attention between the people on the beach and the stands, stalls and shops along the sidewalk. She does see some girl sketching a ship on a canvas, and watches with interest, briefly; but otherwise, she's mostly just walking.

Hinata Muramasa has posed:
    Hinata notices Erika's approach long before the little blonde gets close, but she's focussed out to sea. When Erika latches on, she finally turns her eyes away. "Something's coming, Erika-chan." she says in that soft voice of hers. She looks then to the people on the beach, as a few start to look a little bit less chipper than they did a moment before.

    Then, something peeks out of the water, a pale green face, a beaked mouth and spindly limbs. It's head is filled with water as it slowly skuttles up the beach. Gradually it emerges, a pale yellowish turtle shell and predatory eyes glaring at the civilians, who are starting to keel over from the Dark Energy emanating from this beast.

    That's when something rustles out of Hinata's bag, the long-nosed face of a teeny tiny Tengu peeks out, and squeaks in alarm.

Yayoi Kise has posed:
Yayoi Kise is drawing the water and the ship as something peeks from the water and crawls out from it and soon she's... cartoonishly drawn it already and it's awful and she quickly erases it from the scene as she cries out. Noooooo. Why is there a monster here!? Is that...is that?

A Kappa? Is this another Bad End Kingdom drain. It...it doesn't feel like it. So maybe it's something else. Regardless. She ohs. "I should uh. find my swimsuit." she mutters as she quickly flips into a swimsuit changing tent...!

Then out comes Cure Peace who dramatically poses. "D..don't...w..worry. I can. Handle this... maybe..." she says as her pose slowly falters as she bends in on herself with every word more and more.

"Just. Give me a moment..." huff. deep breaths. Deep breaths!

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    Kureha's foot stops at about the moment her foot touches down on the sidewalk. Her eyes have fallen on what looks to be a giant kappa - and people are showing some signs of fatigue that are depressingly familiar.

    The yukata-clad girl holds up a hand to stop her attendant cold. "E-Emi. We need to be leaving. Now." Emi looks up, slightly confused, until she sees the monster; and then her expression actually relaxes. "Oh, don't worry my lady, that's just someone in a costume. It's not-"

    People are keeling over from apparent exhaustion. The woman blinks once, then says, "...well, I suppose if you find it distressing, this might be a good time to leave, yes." She turns to go, with Kureha hurrying behind...

    ...only to stop briefly, and glance back at one of the collapsed people. She doesn't seem to realize she's reached up to touch the pendant underneath her clothes.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    In fairness, Erika's stealth skills are... Lacking.
    She's not exactly the most subtle girl, and it's compounded by the fact that she was prettymuch scuttling in plain view anyway.
    "Eheh heh~." The blonde gremlin giggles at first before green eyes blink.
    Hina might notice that Erika feels kind of... Cold. Even this close. But it's probably just a clammy sea-breeze feeling or something.
    Right?
    But then something comes out of Hinata's bag.
    That. ... That is a tiny Japanese gremlin of a tengu.
    Up comes Erika's finger and she opens her mouth.
    She stares for a beat.
    Then she lowers her finger and closes her mouth.
    "Well that's no good, now is it?" The blonde sighs when she looks to the sea and sees the BIG GREEN WATER GREMLIN Kappa crawling out of the water.
    Again, she raises a finger and opens her mouth. Before lowering her finger and closing her mouth.
    Sigh.
    That's when the gleaming glint of a gold coin appears in the girl's hand, dancing between her fingers.
    "Things just got weird." She admits as the coin flips from knuckle to knuckle as she lets Hinata go.
    "I think I've kind of learned to stop questioning weird, at this point, though." She admits before flipping the coin into the air with her thumb.

    "Under a black flag we sail and the sea shall be our empire! Take what you can. Give nothing back!" She says as she snatches the coin out of the air on its way down.

    In the next instant she's a pirate. Bicorne hat, greatcoat, and everything.
    Drawing a cutlass from the inside of her coat she hops off the tide wall.
    At least she won't be handling it alone as Cure Peace emerges from a nearby changing tent. But there are still innocents around.
    Best get the beast's attention before it can hurt anyone else and--
    "SON OF A SUBMARINER." She snaps as the kappa monster has committed the most grievous of sins.
    It tramples her sand ship. This has her stomping in fury.

Hinata Muramasa has posed:
    Hinata nods to Erika... she then boops the tengu on the giant tip of his nose. He squeaks again then holds up a fragment of metal, with a fragment of an inscription in sengoku-era japanese.
    Hinata takes the fragment, holding it close to her chest as she recides a haiku.

    "Good habitation
    A luminous, dark flame eats
    because of the sword"

    Opening her eyes, they shift jet black for a moment as a wash of sakura petals whip up around her. The whirlwind of dancing blossoms comes to a still and vanishes, leaving a fully armoured samurai-girl in place. The tengu has floated off to one side, pulling out a pair of signs on sticks, they have 'Go Go Shogun!' written in a cartoonish script.

    The Shadow Shogun holds her right hand out to the side, as if grasping something. A flute of bamboo appears in her grasp as she announces in a clarion call. "Rally great heros. The Moon Halo shines upon thee." She then brings the flute to her lips and begins to play.

    The music would bolster those that hear it, and seem to cause the Kappa to come up short before it can grab one of the civilians.

Yayoi Kise has posed:
Cure Peace gets bolstered! She..still is breathing, trying to gain her bearings. "Okay. I can do this..I'm.. a big. brave dog. I'm a big brave dog..." she says as she unfurls and then runs into the fray, drawing out two fingers. "I'm a big brave dog!" she says as she hears the music, pointing those fingers at the Kappa.

"I'm..."

"I'm a scardeeeeey cat!" she cries as lighting sparks at her fingers and zaps off towards the Kappa- as she cries, before lowering her fingers and furling back into herself again. "Sc..scardey cat!"

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    It takes Jolly Roger a second to recover from her fury as she takes a slow, steeling, breath.
    Cure Peace has the right of it, she should focus on being a big brave dog and fight the monster.
    And as the Shadow Shogun's music washes over her and causes the kappa to pause, she draws a flintlock pistol with her free hand and fires it at the youma, tossing the spent gun away it turns to seafoam and sparkles as it hits the ground.
    "Ah..." Muttered as she spies Kureha and her attendant. They're certainly familiar faces; but she knows nothing of the girl's true strength.
    "Alright, ye bilge rat! Look at me. I'll be the one shivering yer timbers today, so don't pay them no mind!"
    She's... Very loud. She's trying to draw its attention to her so no one else gets hurt.

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    Kureha doesn't see the beginnings of Hinata's henshin. But she certainly sees the end. The flurry of sakura petals, the appearance of a girl clad in samurai armor. Red eyes go a bit wide in surprise, especially at the sound of the flute. And then they settle on the civvie that's very close to being grabbed.

    Emi has clued in to something weird at this point, even if her conscious mind won't let her acknowledge it, so she's very much starting to hurry. To the point, perhaps, where she doesn't notice that her charge has fallen behind. Or ducked behind a food stall.

    It's hard to miss the car that goes hurtling through the air towards the youma after Jolly Roger's pistol shot, though. Or the oni girl, clad in black-and-crimson kimono, who leaps out directly after the vehicular projectile.

Hinata Muramasa has posed:
    Lightning lances out and slams into the Kappa's shell, electricity arcing over the beasts body and making it howl in an unnatural way. It skitters aside, the bullet from Jolly Roger's pistol glancing off of its shell as those beady eyes lock onto the blonde pirate girl.

    And then Onihime comes in from the top rope with a CHA--- CAR! The vehicle slams into the monster, compressing against its armoured hide and knocking the thing tumbling backwards to the waters edge. It rolls weakly over from its back to its stomach, then jams its head into the sea to refill its head bowl, before snarling and firing a dark energy beam from its mouth, raking it between the three mahou directly attacking it.

    Hinata's music comes to a close, but that 'buff' will linger for a while yet. She twirls the flute, letting it vanish in a swirl of sakura petals. "Hold and Hail, the Blade glints in the setting light of the Sun." she announces, mantling over the tidewall railing and landing lightly on the sand, as she draws her swords... the blades sheathed over her shoulders. She charges in from the flank, aiming to slash up the Kappa with a flurry of slashes from both blades. She hops back so the others can engage again, but leaves behind an ofuda slip with 'Purity' written on it. This seems to sear the beasts's scales and cause it to take more damage from the others attacks.

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    Where another magical girl might evade, might conjure up a shield, or something, Onihime just... takes it. She crosses her arms in front of her face, and soaks the dark energy directly. Teeth gritted, she throws her arms down, dispersing the energy around her; though the blast has left her singed, bleeding from a cheek wound, it's far less damage than would be expected of most girls just taking the beam outright. And it hasn't slowed her down in the least.

    Soon after the blast, she goes charging right in past Cure Peace, geta-clad feet kicking up plumes of sand, rapidly closing in; and then after the mystery samurai's attack, the oni leaps a second time, soaring briefly above the sand. Her right arm cocks back, eyes ablaze with ferocity as a huge, flying roundhouse is swung downward at the youma in the shape of a fellow youkai.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    "That's right! Look over here you scum scupperin' swabbie! I'll--"
    That is a car.
    Jolly Roger was ABOUT to lay on thick with the threats and taunts when an honest to goodness car goes sailing through the air and slams into the kappa.
"..." You know. Sometimes. Sometimes she just has nothing to come back with.
    Right now is one of those moments, before the kappa unleashes that dark energy beam from its beak.
    She almost forgets to dodge, in fact when the searing ray makes its way towards her, prompting her to tumble in a roll to the sands at the last second, a segment of her greatcoat burned away.
    By the time she gets up though sakura petals flow by and she claps her hat to her head while the Shadow Shogun weakens the kappa with blade and ofuda and...
    Onihime soaks the majority of that dark ray.
    "Har, and I thought I be a hardy one." Muttered as she picks herself up. It's as Onihime sails through the air that Jolly Roger employs a different tactic.
    Tugging open her greatcoat, an honest to goodness ship's cannon drops to the sand as though it simply fell out of an inside pocket.
    Planting her boot on the cannon she adjusts its aim with her foot, leering like a maniac.
    "... Fire in the hole." She declares before the cannon goes off with an impressive BOOM aimed for the kappa's center of mass while that ogre-strenth roundhouse comes down on it.

Yayoi Kise has posed:
A Dark energy beam lances out from the creature's mouth and Cure Peace's eyes go wide and she gets raked by the blast, sending her backwards. She gets flung into the sand and rolls around as she 'nrrrggggs' "O..owwwww..." she goes as she crawls upwards and grips her right arm.

Now's a good time to run away. That girl just threw a car at the creature, surely she's better equipped to defeat it, right? Wait. No! Sh..she's a big brave dog!

She leaps into the air and attempts to land a dramatic punch into the creature's bowl shaped head, trying to channel her inner Cure Sunny for a moment as she calls out. "Hiya!" she goes as she's still has wide, wet eyes from the crying. One eye peeking closed as she punches.

Hinata Muramasa has posed:
    Ogre-strength punch comes down atop the Kappa's shell, sending the thing belly down into the sand, and a few inches further from the impact. The shell cracks from the strike, but this is a tough thing and even an Oni's power isn't quite enough alone.

    The cannon shot rings out, and strikes another part of the beast, sending more cracks running around the beasts body, leaking a black mist.

    Cure Peace shows how brave she is, punching down into the bowl in the beast's head and knocking its head down into the sand, and splashing the water out at the same time.

    The Shogun then sets her legs wide, head bowed as she holds one blade at her side, the other returning to its sheath on her back. A moment passes, and with a firm "KIAI!" the samurai-girl is suddenly on the other side of the Kappa, clicking her blade into its sheath as the thing just, falls apart as if cut from many angles.

    The fragments evaporate into a black mist, though the malaise that's suppressed the civilians won't be lifting just yet.

    Shadow Shogun is the first to detransform, her armour shattering and blowing away like a thousand cherry blossoms on an unseen breeze. She pockets the fragment of metal, and takes a look around where the Kappa was laying moments before. "Just an echo..."

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    As Kureha steps back from her great big smash, she turns to glance at the others - just in time to see that one girl over there drop a cannon out of her coat.

    The oni girl stares.

    She stares a second longer.

    "What."

    There are several things about that she has objections to! But they have more important things to deal with. Like the kappa still being on its feet, so to speak. Even after taking Cure Peace's... decidedly forced, but still potent attack. But the Shadow Shogun puts on an impressive display of iaijutsu, and the monster is felled at last.

    "I hope it needn't be said," Onihime begins, reaching down to brush some sand off her kimono. "But even if I may look like a youkai, I'm not like... whatever that was." She straightens up, folding her hands in front of herself... and after giving the other three a brief look-over, promptly turns to walk away, without detransforming. "Well, if you'll excuse me." She's leaving already?!

Yayoi Kise has posed:
Cure Peace watches the monster dissipate into nothing and she whews and then dramatically poses. "I did it!" she says. She turns around and points a hand to the sky. "I'm the bravest!". Candy lands down on her head from apparently, nowhere, and says. "You did it-kuru!" she announces.

"Now I shall mysteriously disappear." she says, turning around and splaying her fingers out. "FOR I must keep my identity secret!" she announces.

"Yayoi-chan, why are you being so dramatic-kuru!?" asks Candy, aloud.

"Candy!" she goes with a frown. "That's a secret!" she says as she wilts, loudly. "Ugh..." and then she just de-transforms finally right there, and fluffs the side of her head. "Moooooou...."

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    Much like the spent pistol before, Jolly Roger's cannon dissolves into seafoam and sparkles once it goes off. And once the kappa is defeated; turning to black mist, the pirate-themed mahou crosses her arms.
    "Alls well that ends well, huh?" She muses, twirling her bicorne on the tip of a finger before she sets it back to a jaunty angle on her head.
    And in a gentle flare of seashell green light and seafoam, her greatcoat and pirate regalia vanish, leaving Erika Shimizu in her skull-and-crossbones swimsuit once again.
    Only to hug Hinata's arm to her chest once again.
    "Eheh hehhh~. That was super cool, Hina~. I didn't know you had *that* in you." She says as...
    Oh no. No no no, where does Onihime think she's going?
    "I mean it's pretty obvious you're not like that one!" Erika points out. "-- You're leaving already? I mean this is usually the point where we celebrate!" She points out, releasing Hinata long enough to tromp through the sand to a nearby cooler and kick it open like a treasure chest...
    And it is a treasure trove indeed, brimming with ice cold bottles of Jan Ken Pop.
    One of which she passes over to Yayoi with a big grin when the girl's apparent mascot ruins her secret identity and she de-transforms.

Hinata Muramasa has posed:
    Hinata looks at Onihime. "I never would assume." she replies softly, then blinks as the other girl turns to leave. "..." Hinata reaches out a hand, lips parting to say something but... the words die in her throat and she just lets the arm drop.

    Her little tengu companion floats over to land on her shoulder, and her attention is drawn to Yayoi... she bows slightly... and is grabbed again by Erika. "Mou, Erika-chan, you're so clingy sometimes." she admonishes softly, though the harsh words are softened by the gentle smile. She then straightens, and offers an introduction. "I am Muramasa Hinata... yes, from that Muramasa family."

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    Yayoi detransforms out in the open and Onihime doesn't pause. The sound of Hinata's movement behind her doesn't stop the oni girl. But Jolly Roger calls out, and the kimono-clad magical girl pauses, turning to look over her shoulder. "...I don't do celebrating. I only assisted because that thing was disrupting my walk." Her back still turned, the short powerhouse pauses; this time, that fire-colored eye turns to look straight at Hinata, regarding her with sudden curiosity. "...a storied name like that to carry on your shoulders. You have my sympathies."

    A rare acknowledgement from the horned girl! She still hasn't given her own name, though.

Yayoi Kise has posed:
Yayoi Kise sighs and accepts the soda with half her intro in it and opens it up, but Candy tries reaching for it , nd gets it before she can, stealing a sip, Yayoi 'heys!' and steals it back and steals her sip before passing it back to Candy.

"My name's... Yayoi Kise. OH That's a famous name." she says.

"Well, it's good to meet you both." she says as she looks over to Onihime.

"Uhm. We've met before, though! Remember...the Penguins..?" she asks.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    "This is the perfect time to celebrate! We just stomped a monster, Hinata got a thingy back, and I have plenty of cola!" Erika points out, waggling a bottle. "Join us~." She says, plopping down on a beach towel. "Oh yeah, Hina comes from an important family. I'm Erika, though. Or well. 'Jolly Roger' if we're standing on magical ceremony stuff."

Hinata Muramasa has posed:
    Hinata shakes her head. "This one was just an echo.. the real fragment is, somewhere else." she corrects her friend. "Oh, yes, if we are offering our... hero? Names?" she doesn't seem to sure about either of those words, "I am the Shadow Shogun." she then lifts her hand to her tengu shoulder ornament. "This is Yo-Jim-Bo."

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    Blink. Blink blink. The penguins...? ...oh. Oh.

    Yayoi can see the moment Onihime remembers that particular escapade.

    "You're a magnet for strangeness," the horned girl observes simply. "At this rate, I feel like I am as well." There's a faint bit of irritation to her tone at that. She keeps getting swept up in this stuff!

    She looks between Hinata and Erika then, and arches an eyebrow. "...I don't have a name to give, magical or mundane. I'm trying not to get involved with any of this nonsense." It just keeps cropping up on her. She does, for a moment, stare very hard at that bottle of cola. It's... tempting. But no. No! No attachments, no entanglements. Not even for soda. "I should be going. I have someone who will notice my absence... eventually."

Hinata Muramasa has posed:
    "It must be lonely... always pushing others away like that." states Hinata with an odd iron in her tone. She stares at the oni-girl's back as she turns again to leave. "You keep encountering this stuff... it'd be easier to deal with if you have allies at least."

Yayoi Kise has posed:
Yayoi Kise frowns at Onihime. "I'm not strange!" she says dramatically. "Or a magnet for strange!" she says as she frowns. "Just because the penguins we're my problem..." she says a little tearfully as she sniffs and huffs as Onihime starts to walk away again. She looks back to the group.

"Uhm. C..Cure Peace." she says.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    Erika doubletakes. "WHAT? You didn't even get anything out of that? That's just as bad as opening a treasure chest with no booty in it!" She huffs indignantly. "At least I get gold coins when I beat down the monsters that took my treasure." Harrumph.
    Ah yes. Of course a coin-hungry marauder would thinks only of acquiring treasure.
    It's not Erika's fault she's a coin-hungry marauder though.
    Or well. It kind of is, but that's a story for another time.
    "Ah..." She murmurs after a beat. "Thing is though..." Erika starts to speak, pausing only long enough for a sip of her cola.
    "As strong as I am. As strong as you are. Strong as Hina and even Yayoi are alone... We're all stronger together."
    "One day you're gonna have a better reason than 'my walk was interrupted'. Just like one day I know something'll come along that's more important than any treasure in the world." She says sipping again before side-eyeing her friend.
    "So what's this about penguins???"

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    Onihime is turning to leave, but Hinata and Erika's words bring her to a complete halt. Total stillness; she doesn't look over her shoulder again, but she falls silent for several seconds. With her back turned, it's hard to read her body language; when she speaks, it's in a softer, but noticeably colder voice.

    "There's no such thing as 'friends' or 'allies'. Only creditors waiting to call in your debt. I'd rather not be involved in this monster business at all if it means constantly wondering who I'm going to 'owe one' to next."

    When she starts walking again, her pace is noticeably more brisk. She's rather obviously heading straight towards a now-abandoned food stall for somewhere to de-transform safely.

Hinata Muramasa has posed:
    Hinata doesn't say anything further to the retreating oni-girl. She frowns a bit, then finally takes a bottle of soda. "I should head home, Yuri-oneesan and Hachi-oniisan will start to worry if I stay out too long after sundown." She says, then plucks her little mascot off her shoulder, stuffs it back into her satchel bag and heads back toward the stairs... "Thank you, for helping with this at least."

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    'No such thing as friends or allies' ...
    Erika frowns, brow knotting.
    "That ain't no way to live." She mutters. "A sad existence that." The blonde mutters, losing her mood for celebration as she rubs her face with one palm.
    "Yeah... I should probably get going myself. Text me later, Hina."