1102/Maybe We're Myth-taken: The Noticorn

Maybe We're Myth-taken: The Noticorn
Date of Scene:	10 February 2024
Location:	Mitakihara Ward
Synopsis:	Kaiju Hime and Culinary Guardian Sukiyaki encounter a creature that looks like a dark, twisted version of a unicorn. They stop it from stealing the life energy of innocent people on the streets of Tokyo and then go on their separate ways (both for some late night foodage, as it turns out).
Cast of Characters:	Ren Morimoto, Kaori Jira

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Ren Morimoto has posed:
    It's pretty darn late. Late enough that the crowds have thinned on Tokyo's streets, down to a slow trickle of late-night workers and party-goers that stick mostly to the main thoroughfares, avoiding darkened alleys and sleepy side streets alike. The high towers of Mitakihara Ward create artificial valleys for a cold wind to whip through, necessitating heavy jumpers and puffy coats, scarves and gloves and warm knit hats. Even just a street or two over from the still-populated areas, things are quiet except for that tell-tale low howl of the wind.

    For those late-night social media scrollers, though, something is definitely up in Mitakihara. First it's a pretty grainy video that's been posted, something zoomed in pretty far and with a definite glare from being taken through a window: something prowls the lonely streets, a four legged creature... and is that something strange jutting from its forehead? No, must be a trick of light and shadows.

    And then, soon enough, more pics and vids start flooding in as an actual, in-real-life, massive-looking horse has found its way into downtown Tokyo somehow.

    Ren's not all that far off from where the sightings are happening. Thankfully it's the weekend, otherwise he'd feel bad about being out this late, but he has no responsibilities in the morning so what does it matter if he sleeps in? It's a good thing, too, because when he pulls out his phone and sees the link to one of the horse videos in his baseball club's group text, something immediately twists low in his gut, making him queasy.

    That his spirit guide, Umeboshi, who is currently floating over his shoulder in ghost-cat mode immediately leans in and makes some unhappy rumblings suggests that he's not the only one feeling it. "Maybe we should check it out," he says, voice uncertain. But Ume only nods vigorously, and then they're off.

    A few minutes of rooftop-hopping later, they land down on the streets with a low "oof," of effort, and it's Guardian Sukiyaki, not Ren Morimoto, who just wall-jumped his way down from a skyscraper. Shaking out his legs uncomfortably, he mutters, "Maybe I'll take the lift next time."

    He hasn't yet noticed the slumped over figure at a nearby bus stop, the man in his rumpled suit breathing still but looking rather grey in the face.

Kaori Jira has posed:
How did Kaori Jira have a phone when she didn't exactly come into this world with any funds? Well...some questions weren't really that polite to ask. Besides, technically this was the third phone she'd possessed since coming to Earth, but it had survived better than most. She was even starting to get her head around this searching and 'surfing' thing on the internet, but it was baby steps for the Kaiju girl who was currently making her way through the ward with her prize foe the evening: a cup of this amusing 'tea' that had those small squishable jelly balls in them.

While the tall girl in the beat up jeans and jacket was left to contemplate the joys of boba, the sudden cries of panic about massive creatures moving about pulled her from her enjoyment to her curiousity.

Was it something like her or...something else?

Well, only one way to find out!

Ren Morimoto has posed:
    "Sir," comes a frantic voice from nearby, "Sir, can you hear me? Wake up!" That's Guardian Sukiyaki, bent over the unconscious form of a business man at a bus stop down the street. He's shaking the man, gently, by the shoulders, but nothing seems to be doing the trick. "He's breathing," says the guy in the kimono and pants with the big sword, to no one in particular apparently as he is otherwise alone. "But he won't wake up!"

    And he's so focused on his worry over this guy that he doesn't notice the quiet clop-clop of hooves on the asphalt. Down the street comes a hulking, four-legged figure, and as it passes between the shadow of two buildings the moonlight catches it.

    It's not a horse. It's massive like one, like a Clydesdale, though its limbs are lankier, almost to the point of being gangly. All white fur, silvery mane and tail, and... yes, that is indeed a spiraling horn emerging from its forehead.

    Except it's not a unicorn. There's something wrong with its head, which looks... well, like whoever dreamed it up had only seen horses in old medieval tapestries made by people who they themselves had somehow never seen a horse before. Proportions are all wrong; the eyes aren't quite in the right place, the mouth stretches too wide, the nostrils too low.

    It snorts, loud in the quiet of the street, and that's when Sukiyaki looks up.

    "Uh... that's... not what I expected," he says, at length.

Kaori Jira has posed:
Ironically enough, Kaori wouldn't have even known the creature was abnormal were it not for the reactions of those around. Panic, fleeing, someone actually bumped into her shoulder and nearly had her dropping her drink.

Truly, he had no idea how close he'd come to death.

Shaking her head, the raven-haired girl moved closer, closer still, finally laying eyes on the creature from the distance and Sukiyaki himself....and seemingly just staring, sipping from her straw as others might run in terror.

Ren Morimoto has posed:
    There's no waking the guy at the bus stop, and now there's a big scary monster trotting down the street towards him. And there's no missing the waves of dark energy rolling off of the noticorn, which seems to darken the shadows it passes through and dims the lights of the storefronts it walks by.

    "I'll take care of this, you should run!" Sukiyaki says, and he's apparently talking to Kaori, given he's twisted to look over towards her. His sword, the Giant Cleaver, is held defensively in front of him, nearly matching his height in terms of its length.

    Sukiyaki turns back to look in front of him, to face the creature as it approaches. Someone tries to dart across the street ahead of it, towards the safety of the alley, but they only make it so far before they stumble, losing their feet from underneath them, and fall in a slump onto the sidewalk, unconscious like the man at the bus stop. Whisps of energy can be seen (assuming one is capable of sensing such things) floating from the young woman's body towards the creature.

Kaori Jira has posed:
And sure enough, energy was being pulled away, drained from the humans passing by by this creature ahead of them as if it were nothing.

Sukiyaki didn't seem affected...and strangely enough, neither did Kaori.

Of course, that wasn't entirely true...energy -was- being pulled from her, but the princess of the titans had a lot more than her teenage frame might suggest in the tank.

Of course, she might not be about to pass out anytime soon, but well...the audacity of it?

Sukiyaki had his back turned to her, so what happened next was only going to register as an explosion of heat and a sound like some great beast roaring to the sky...when the flare of glowing blue flame dies out, revealing the scale-armored melding with bared skin and her tail returned as the Kaiju Hime steps forth.

Ren Morimoto has posed:
    Sukiyaki can feel it himself, his energy being sapped, but thanks to his spirit guide's protection, he supposes it could be worse. Per Umeboshi's whispered lecture on things like energy and shields and batteries, which Ren is trying to ignore given that he's currently facing down a unicorn monster.

    He points his sword at the noticorn, his mouth opening to shout something. Maybe an introduction, maybe a command, who knows, as he's cut off by the sudden blast of heat and noise that hits his back. Fearing another attacker, he swings around, only to see... "Oh! Oh, okay, that's good, great, yes, uh -- team up?" He doesn't quite sound nervous, but definitely a little started, a little hesitant.

    What answer he's going to get, he's not sure, but either way Sukiyaki has to turn back to face down the monster. Who is now much closer, "Oh jeez!" He takes a step backwards, but then realizes he's supposed to be the one fighting it, so he darts forward and slices at the creature...

    ...only for the noticorn to use its horn to parry the blow!

Kaori Jira has posed:
When you're in need and facing a monster? It pays to bring a bigger monster. Even if that monster looks like a teenage girl with glowing eyes, sharp teeth, armored limbs and a tail.

A tilt of her head, the request seems to be considered for a moment before she nods her head and flicks her hand free of the melted plastic that had once been her drink.

"I will help you," she speaks, her breath coming out as heated steam despite the weather.

A surge forwards as the parrying happened, Kaiju Hime's shoulder charges into the horse creature, hitting with far more force than her frame should offer.

Ren Morimoto has posed:
    "Fantastic!" Guardian Sukiyaki calls back, just before he leads with his attack. Maybe Kauju Hime's support is precisely what he needed to propel himself forward like that! Even though he's routed by the creature's horn, it's at least a first step in trying to counter the beast.

    As he scrambles away, putting some distance between himself and the noticorn, Sukiyaki feels the rush of air as Kaiju Hime charges past, and his eyes go wide.

    Because she collides with the creature dead-on, and its hooves scrape against the asphalt as it is driven back several meters, sent swaying on its scrawny limbs as it tries to recover from the impact. It's definitely woozy, and little fluttering whisps of pale energy escape from its form, shooting out towards the distance. Does it seem to be shrinking, slightly?

    Ren's head turns, like he's listening to something, and then he calls out, "Damaging it releases the energy it's stolen!" And yes, in fact, the girl that has collapsed in the street has started to rouse, her hands landing palm first on the ground as she tries to sit up. But she's awfully close to where the noticorn has been pushed back to, so Sukiyaki runs forward to put himself between her and the beast, and this time he swings his blade around at the noticorn's flank.

    This time rather than parrying, the beast dodges back, but Ren tries again and manages a shallow cut, which leaks more of that faint, fog-like energy. Down the street, the man at the bus stop groans.

Kaori Jira has posed:
The slam of the impact has her ready to jump back into the fray. Hell, she was grinning wildly at even this conflict, brief as it was. The youma was ready to hit her back and...and Sukiyaki was jumping in to protect her. Noble...but entirely alien to the girl who had been a titan.

A snarl, there was a moment as she draws back...but it did give her a moment to see he was right. Damage seemed to be pushing the energy out. That was worth knowing.

Blue flame glows inside her, rolling through her skin and her hair, her scales...but she pauses for a moment. Releasing the blast of energised fire probably wasn't the best course of action.

Most magical girls had powers, enchanted weapons, so much more. Kaiju Hime? She had claws, teeth and a tail.

Surging in, her claws slash and scratch to try and do exactly what Ren had managed with his sword.

Ren Morimoto has posed:
    Battering the beast seems to be doing a treat. Kaiju Hime's claws draw deep gouges in the noticorn's form, which does not seem to be flesh and blood, but a shell of pure dark energy. A shell containing all of that stolen life energy from the people of Tokyo, which begins to spill forth and slip out from each claw mark.

    And the noticorn does not seem to know how to react to the flurry of attacks, as in the immediate aftermath of Kaiju Hime's initial strike, all it does is try to rapidly back up away from her. No parrying, no attempts to batter her with its own hulking form. It's just the right amount of pause necessary for Sukiyaki to realize this is a good time to help out.

    Apparently his combat reflexes and intuition are still pretty green.

    But he's there at Kaiju Hime's side momentarily, slicing and dicing (and julienne fries!) at the noticorn with his Giant Cleaver, and each attack lets slip more energy, returning it to the previously unconscious people littering the streets!

Kaori Jira has posed:
If she could still roar like she used to? She might be roaring away now. For now? She was grinning, giggling in such a way that one might be concerned that she might actually be a villainess herself. But she was helping the good guys, to that was probably a good sign, right?

Strikes from that horn come back, scratching and stabbing but only causing sparks from the friction of meeting her scaled armor on her arms.

He might be green to violence...but she seemed disturbingly comfortable with it.

As Sukiyaki's Cleaver sliced, it created an opening and she pounced, knocking the creature onto its back and practically straddling the thing before she stabs and slices over and over till there's no energy left. Or monster for that matter.

Kaori Jira, the Kaiju Hime...not exactly the typical Magical Girl.

Ren Morimoto has posed:
    Sukiyaki's blade slices through the air, taking out a chunk of the noticorn's flank. Another strike leaves a mark criss-crossing that one, and another, and another. His attacks don't come as rapidly as Kaiju Hime's, but he does his best to keep up as much as he can, and between the two of them their efforts have led to the beast shrinking rapidly in size and energy.

    But then one final attack gives Kaiju Hime that opening, and she jumps, which requires Sukiyaki to pull back rather than risk hurting her (not that he's all that convinced that he really could hurt her).

    It doesn't much matter anyway, that he can't attack. Because she's handling it just fine; the stream of light energy pouring out of the noticorn is a steady one now, multiple strands of it floating away to find their original owners. Finally, one more swipe of claws lands, and the dark energy shell of the beast collapses inwards into itself, shards of it skittering across the street until the dissipate into nothing. The last of the captured energy is freed, momentarily suffusing the area in gentle warmth before it too drifts away to find its right and proper place.

    "Uh..." Sukiyaki says, standing to the side, both taken aback and pretty impressed by Kaiju Hime's abilities. He looks around, seeing the young woman from earlier and the business man at the bus stop starting to stand. "I think it worked!"

Kaori Jira has posed:
Left sitting on the ground, her tail giving a swish and her face still beaming with the joy of the fight even if it was over. Making a little motion to lift herself up to her feet she looks back towards Sukiyaki, tilting her head to the side. "Seems it did," she speaks before exhaling a breath of delight. "I feel better already..."

She stands, tall as the teen kaiju-hybrid was and smiles down at him. "And now...I'm going to get some food."

Ren Morimoto has posed:
    "Great work." Sukiyaki knows that Kaiju Hime did the bulk of the work there, but he's happy with his contributions, even though he knows he's still a newbie. He steps back, nodding to her as he swings his Giant Cleaver up on his shoulder, his eyes scanning the streets to watch people scurrying away, looking confused and tired but undeniably alive.

    He smiles when she mentions food and flashes her the V-sign, before he turns towards the horizon. There's no telling what time it is, with the sky still pitch-black and the moon hanging above them, but he knows it's late-late. "I need to go too. Be safe out there!" And then he leaps up onto a street light, feet nimble, and makes another jump up towards a nearby building.