931/It's a Bear Market

It's a Bear Market
Date of Scene:	28 December 2023
Location:	Four Clover Mall
Synopsis:	Ruby and Yukiko went to the mall for lunch. Ember went to the mall to wreak havoc and harvest dust. Ruby and Yukiko found their groove, and Ember found out her competition is no joke.
Cast of Characters:	Rubi Hanabusa, 201, Ryoko Gushiken

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Rubi Hanabusa has posed:
The past few weeks of Rubi and Yukiko living together has been a bit rough. Rubi is outgoing and friendly, while Yukiko...has a lot of pressure on herself. Rubi is loud and energetic and Yukiko...studies. A lot. It doesn't help that Rubi has begun to foster a tiny and frustrating crush on the girl.

Well, now that the semester is over and they have a tiny bit of time to breathe, Rubi has asked Yukiko to the mall! 'It'll be a fun way to let your hair down! I heard there's a clothing store you might like!' She'd try anything to make a friend at this point. Her sister is still busy back home and hasn't showed up to school yet.

The girl is wearing dark jeans with Sketchers (With white, pink and blue laces!) and a red hoody, unzipped over a t-shirt of a popular action anime. Her somewhat wild and shaggy hair is untied today, and falls about to her shoulders. She glances about the mall and flashes her grin at Yukiko.

"Check this place out! The mall back home was SO tiny! Isn't this cool? So, where do we start?"

Yukiko Fuyuhime (201) has posed:
Most people would expect that the 'rich girl' would spend her holiday time away from the academy at home, probably waited on hand and foot...yet Yukiko had stayed, remained in their room and absolutely studied way, way too much. But after a while, even she needed to break to eat, even she needed to get out...and Rubi was going to keep hovering until she agreed anyway.

Having given in, Yukiko was dressed in a grey skirt that transitioned to white at the ends of its pleated lengh, a white off-the-shoulder sweater that cloaked most of her form and a scarf around her neck to fight the december cold, the platinum blonde girl moved alongside Rubi, already exhaling a exasperated sigh. "Why don't we start at the food court and plan out where we're actually going to go, rather that running from place to place."

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
Ember walked around the mall looking every bit a cosplayer. She was wearing a red velvet minidress with gold details and black lace at the hem, matching over-the-elbow gloves, and a lush crimson cloak with a fur-lined hood. It kept her nice and warm on the chilly winter nights. It also concealed the swords and quiver affixed at the small of her back.

She was on the hunt. Her prey? Angry people. Cynical people. Depressed people. Despairing people. They weren't exactly hard to find, really. But she was looking for prime examples because she really wanted to make a big impression as she stepped out into the public eye. The Grim Queen had high expectations for her, and she would not be disappointed. Ember would make sure of that.

That's why she'd come to a mall, after all. What better place to find people at their worst than at the biggest shrine to consumerism in Tokyo? There's just something about shopping that dysregulates people, and that's what Ember was counting on. She was not disappointed.

Having found a perch in the rafters over the food court, she spotted a rather tense discussion happening in one of the fashion outlets just across the space from her vantage point. A middle-aged, American woman with a blonde bob was berating the store manager, and the store manager was very patiently enduring it, as she had done so many times before. Ember grinned. It was perfect.

The two blades of Nightfall were in her hands a moment later, snapped together at the pommels to form a bow, a string of inky black shadow running between the ends. Reaching behind her into the quiver, she turned a dial and pulled out two arrows black as night. She nocked them both, took aim, and let them loose.

The arrows flew straight across the food court and into the store, each one hitting their marks in the shoulders. On impact they just kept moving, melting into an inky blackness that started to engulf the now screaming pair. Then those screams turned to roars as they were completely enveloped and grew in size. Two massive, shadowy black bear-like creatures with a skull-shaped helmets and bones sticking out of their arms and legs.

And they were still fighting, but now it was every one else's problem, because seconds after they changed, they both barreled out of the store and into the food court.

Rubi Hanabusa has posed:
"Oh, that sounds awesome. I heard this place has a great takoyaki place in the food court! It's on me!" Sure, Yukiko has a LOT more money then Rubi, but that's really not the point. "I saved up for a few weeks for this trip, so I wanna enjoy it!" She started towards the food court, annoyed heiress in tow.

"So...um. Do you have a favorite subject so far?," Rubi asked, glancing over at the other girl. "You study a LOT so one has to have stood out to you so far, right? I like art a lot. I suck at all the perspective stuff, but that's not the poi-." And then people were screaming, and something else was roaring.

Her eyes widened and she sprinted forward, rounding a corner to see the two Grimm in all their horrid glory. Her stomach sank. She'd only seen Grimm once before, and it was when the Queen attacked her home. Those ones were more wolflike. These ones were bigger and thicker. "What?? Here??"

Glancing back at Yukiko, she pointed at her. "I saw that emblem before! If it does what mine does, we gotta act! If it doesn't...just...please...stay here and be safe, okay?"

In sight of only the blonde, she gripped the rose necklace and closed her eyes. "Red like roses. Hear my prayer."

There was an eruption of sound and smells and light. Rose petals blossomed out and flew in all dfirections, spiraling about the teen as she transformed amid them. Gone were the jeand and sketchers and hoody. Dark leggings and boots, with a red and black skirt and a matching corset top with long sleeves. A billowing red hooded cape finished the outfit...along the absolutely enormous scythe held in her hands.

When Rose Red opened her eyes, they were not dark, but a blazing silver.

"Let's kick some butt!"

Yukiko Fuyuhime (201) has posed:
"You don't have to pay for me Rubi," Yukiko begins, a shake of her head. "I'm quite capable of..." she begins, but it was hard to miss the screaming and roaring filling the space. That was no post-christmas discount riot, that was something more. A point well proven when the black, bone-laced creatures came thundering into their space. Eyes go wide, concern on her features passing only for a moment before she blinks back into concerntration, focus on the task. Stay here and be safe? She wasn't doing that...but to be fair, right in that moment Rubi couldn't be certain the snowflake-shaped emblem she wore at her neck was anything more than some alternative jewelry.

The call from Yukiko's lips? They were more melodic, they might almost be musical notes rather than words, but it was hard to tell as the sudden swirling rush of glowing light and whipping ice-cold winds filled the space.

Her casual clothing was gone, instead the now white-haired girl with the silver crown-like hairpiece was wrapped in a blue, long-sleeved top bolero with a white and light blue bodice paired with deep blue opera-styled gloves. A matching skirt comes to mid-thigh, along with a pair of white leggings and tall, elegant pale blue/grey boots.

Yes, Yukiko was indeed another magical girl.

With the silver rapier taking shape in her hand, she rolled her shoulders and began to stride forward with the weapon at the ready. "Come on then!"

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
The Grimm looked like bears, and they acted like bears too. They. Smelled. Food. They were also already enraged, and so they saw each other as competition. All those pesky people? They were just obstacles to what they really wanted. The delicious morsels of fat and salt and sugar that they could smell all over.

One Grimm ran down a table full of people eating takoyaki, and just grabbed hold of the entire table with it's massive jaws and jerked it's whole body and flung the entire table several feet, sending the food flying everywhere, and the people running.

The other Grimm seemed considerably smarter, barreling across the food court directly toward the Cinnabon. Why bother with the tables and people when they could care the people away and go right to the source? It was a very effective strategy as the Cinnabon employees did, in fact, abandon their posts and run away screaming well before the Grimm leapt over the counter to go back into the kitchen where it could smell the big pot of gooey frosting and sweet, sugary dough.

And that's when the first one noticed what the second one was up to. It let out a roar that sounded entirely too loud, and then started bounding across the food court toward the Cinnabon. It was not about to let that other Grimm have all of that.

Ember snaps Nightfall in two, and stows the swords under her cloak, and then just squats on her spot in the rafters, watching the chaos she's sown. And it is utter chaos. The Grimm are destroying everything in their path, and the civilians are running around screaming like people do in these situations. It's perfect. Exactly what she wanted.

Rubi Hanabusa has posed:
"Oh, that is a ho-...cool look!," Rose Red exclaims as Yukiko transforms! She only gapes for a second, though, before the rapier-wielding girl is on her way to battle. Rose Red twirls the enormous scythe like it weighs nothing and sprints to follow. She weaves through the paniced crowd, ducking and diving and leaping far, far too high and far to be normal. She went from being a fairly athletic tomboy to a gold medal winning gymnast and track star and then some!

Seeing the second Grimm begin to sprint after the first, she decides to target that one. "Get the one with the cinammon rolls! And grab me one while you're in there!" She makes another startling leap and lands a bit in front of and to the side of the rushing one, swinging her huge scythe around in a wide, and low arc...aiming for the lower legs of the huge, barreling beast!

Yukiko Fuyuhime (201) has posed:
"You don't need to tell me what to do!" Yukiko offers back to Rose Red's instruction...but that didn't mean that she wasn't going to move that way towards the charging creature headed for the Cinnabon. Whirling around her weapon there's a crackle of magical energy flowing through the girl and down the weapon to where its tip touches the ground. Ice surges from the contact, spreading with an audible crackling of snap-freezing air to surge in an intercept of the beast, sending it skidding or sprawling to a crash while she was already pouncing towards it.

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
The huge mega-fauna sized Grimm loses it's footing and goes slip-sliding along it's last vector of motion directly toward the Cinnabon, and also Rubi, who landed just in front of it. Did she end up landing on the ice?

The other Grimm, well, it's acting the part of a evil Yogi Bear, ripping the pot of the mixer the icing is made in right off the mixer and bringing it up to try and stick it's skull-covered head into, trying to get at the icing with it's tongue. Much less scary that way, really. Almost cute. Almost. Still utterly terrifying actually.

Ember just watches, her eyebrows arching at the appearance of a couple of emblem users. This was an interesting surprise. She didn't expect to have competition. Well, she could still harvest the dust. Let those girls do all the hard work. She evil laughed under her breath. This is why the Grim Queen entrusted her with implementing their plans. She was clever, and good at delegation.

Rubi Hanabusa has posed:
"Oh! Sorry about that!," Rose Red calls out to Yukiko in regards to giving her orders. And yes, the burst of ice DID catch her off-guard. It isn't like the two had ever fought side by side together before.

She loses her balance and skids for a few feet on the ice, smashing into a table. With a groan she shoves herself back to her feet, turning her attention back to the Grimm that was sli-sliding along. With a twirl and an audible CHA-CHINK sound she spun the scythe, and the huge blade folded back, turning the whole thing into, well...the equivilant of a .50 caliber rifle. The kind that takes out tanks. She rests it atop a table and crouches, staring down along the sight before she pulls the trigger.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

Off go the heavy shots, dust erupting from the barrel to send the projectivles. Her aim is excellent.

Yukiko Fuyuhime (201) has posed:
Not...perfect, especially when she watches Rubi go spilling over, bringing a little hitch of her breath...but only for a moment before she returns to business, light steps surging her towards the other Grimm that was curretly feasting on the icing. Bringing her arms in a sweeping spin there's an electric crackling of lightning surging around her before the next glyph takes shape.

A 'magical tazer' was probably fine right? Bringing a little shock to try and put the thing down without actually killing the person beneath.

Then there's the booming rattle of the gigantic rifle from Rubi, bringing a little blink. Not exactly elegant, but undeniably powerful.

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
Ember watched from her spot as she saw the girls do their thing. They had no teamwork, but they both had some skill. She needed to move fast if she wanted to harvest any dust. It's good thing she already stowed Nightfall. She stands up and runs across the rafter like it's as wide as a sidewalk toward the other side.

Each of the bullets hit the grim. Each of them right where Rubi meant to put them. One, two, three tank-destroying rounds tearing the shadowy flesh of the beast from it's body. The last bullet tearing the last of the darkness away, leaving the American woman to collapse to the floor. A cloud of dust surrounds her.

Yukiko's glyph zaps the Grimm with electricity, causing it's body to freeze and convulse. Then the shadowy black stuff of Grimm melts away leaving the store manager unconscious on the floor of the kitchen, covered in icing, but not dust.

Ember leaps down from the rafters her cape trailing up behind her as she draws Nightfall from it's holders. She lands on the floor of the food court between Rubi and the cloud of dust surrounding the American woman, her swords held in front of her guarding against an attack.

"Thanks for doing all the hard work, girls," she says with a laugh. "Now I'm just going to collect this dust and be on my way."

Rubi Hanabusa has posed:
Rubi pumps her fist in victory as the shadows are blown away from the woman, leaving her unharmed and unconcious. She sees the Dust scattered about her, and she begins to stand. That's when Ember drops into view, and she freezes. Who was this? With a twirl the gun becomes a scythe again, and she levels Crimson Rose at the other girl.

"I don't know who you are, but it's two against one now. And you saw what we just did with two V two. So you might wanna pack up your bags and head on back to wherever you came from."

She leaps over the table seperating them and her red cape snaps behind her in a non-existant wind. "You aren't gonna do anything good with that Dust...so we're -definatly- not gonna let you have it."

Yukiko Fuyuhime (201) has posed:
Much neater, much more reassuring, as the shadows melt away from her target and leave the mostly unharmed civillian, the girl gives a little satisfied flick of her weapon back down to her side and turns to see Ember dropping down on Rubi. Newer heroine or not, Yukiko was fairly sure she knew a villain when she saw one...so she steps up, placing herself at Ember's other side and lifting the 'White flower' rapier towards Ember, point extended like a challenge.

"Stand down and surrender," she offers, tone firm and confident. "I won't hesitate to stop you if you try any more of this...stuff." Yukiko adds, her 'cool' aura perhaps fizzling a little at her loss of words.

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
Ember slowly steps backward until she feels the heel of her boot nudge the unconscious body of the American woman. That's just where she wants to be standing: amidst the cloud of dust. Now all she has to do is kill enough time for Nightfall to harvest it all. They're good girls, so she figures they'll probably engage in a little banter before they attack her. That should buy her all the time she needs.

She starts off with an evil laugh. "As if you girls can stop me from getting what I came for," she sneers. "If you think taking down these two beasts is a proof of your skill, then I'd suggest you run along like the schoolgirls you are. You're not ready to fight me."

Rubi Hanabusa has posed:
"Are you the Grimm Queen's lackey, or something?," Red Rose asks as she watches the girl begin to harvest the Dust. Her silver eyes narrow. "That old lady and I have some things we need to talk about. Rough things. With...-fists-." Oh, yeah, Rubi. Awesome line. You're killing this whole magical girl thing. "So how about you send her a message for me?"

And then, unlike what Ember might have expected, the rather foolhardy Red Rose is charging. She brgins the enormous scythe around for a wide sweep, though this is a high one, aiming around chest level. The thing must weigh an insane amount, but she angles and adjusts it with ease, her other hand catching it's centerpoint just after the swing to adjust and ram forward with a blunt attack with the top of the scythe, lower down. The long blade adds quite the width to the attack, too, should Ember try to dodge to the same. And leaping backwards puts her closer to that cute roommate of hers. WAIT. No. Closer to that skilled new friend of hers. Better, Rubi. Get your thoughts in order.

Yukiko Fuyuhime (201) has posed:
The problem with Yukiko's powers? Well...explosions of elements or intricate glyphs tended to need a little more coordination if you were going to be throwing them in the same space that a teammate was zipping around. Given this was the first time that Rubi had seen proof that Yukiko could even transform? Well...that was a little lacking.

A noise of frustration, Yukiko considers, weapon still pointed almost like she were trying to aim it like a wand before her gaze shifts and she considers.

If she couldn't -fight- Ember...well, she could outplay her.

Stepping forwards the 'White flower' was swept around almost defensively, but she didn't move in to strike...instead the 'Ice Princess' began to draw in the dust, intent to remove the prize sought before Ember could actually get what she'd come for while she was tangled up with Rubi.

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
Lackey?! Ember was not The Grimm Queen's lackey, she was her trusted lieutenant. It was totally different. Not at all the same thing. Ember scoffed, "As if."

She leaps up high, too high, and then lands on the flat of Rubi's scythe. She runs down the handle and then does a front flip over top of Rubi's head landing on the floor right behind her on a single foot. The other already hurtling in a sidekick directly aimed at Rubi's back, meant to send her hurtling directly into Yukiko.

That dust was hers. She runs back toward the cloud, slamming the two pommels of her swords together, and pulling three arrows out of her quiver and nocking them to the string all in one smooth, practiced motion. She draws the string back as she runs and lets the arrows loose toward Yukiko. Each of them impacting the floor around her in a triangle, A one foot circle glowing around each of the points before they erupt in firey explosions.

"You girls have no idea who you are up against."

Rubi Hanabusa has posed:
Rubi sure doesn't! Heck, this is really her second real fight! She's acting mainly off of the natural skills granted by transforming into Rose Red, along with the basic fighting skills her dad taught her and her sister. If her sister was here, this chick would be toast! But, she isn't, and the kid doesn't see the graceful leap and sprint coming. She also doesn't react in time for the kick.

"GYAH!," she manages, quite eloquently, as she is kicked towards the Ice Princess with that supernatural strength. Right before she hits her, though, she swings Crimson Rose down to dig into the tiles of the floor, and it whips her around. She ends up standing on the end of the handle, balancing with ease. She glowers at Ember, brushing her hood back. "A lackey. That woman doesn't share power." She doesn't know Ember, but she knows all about the Grimm Queen, as she'd been close with her family up until the Emblems had been discovered. She'd even vaguely remembered the woman, from when she was really little. She'd always looked so sad.

And then there are the explosions. Even if they throw her companion off, she focuses on the scythe she is standing on. The blade begins to glow red, and the dust near it begins to transform into rose petals, swirling and being absorbed. Between her and Yukiko, she can at least guarantee this girl won't get near all of the Dust!

Yukiko Fuyuhime (201) has posed:
Arrows, that was new, but explosive circles of magic? Well, that was her thing! Still enough to make her jump back, abandoning siphoning up the rest of the dust.

Still, she leaps up into the air, a flashing circle of light forming a platform for her to spring off of and bring her silver weapon down on Ember's own defense.

She could see Rubi had picked up on her own plan and seemed happy to keep her teammate covered!

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
Between the small amount Ember collected, and what Yukiko had already harvested, Ember knew that Rubi would get the rest. That meant there was absolutely no reason for her to stay and fight. No reason except for her fury at being so roundly defeated.

Her bow breaks apart again and she catches Yukiko's blade with hers crossed above her head, and then leaps up in a backflip kick aimed mostly just to get her away, but also to send Yukiko off balance.

She sticks her own landing and turns around with a flourish. Her cape swirling around her as she clips her swords back in place. "You're welcome for the dust, girls. I won't go so easy on you next time."

And with that she does another series of handstand backflips until she's far enough away to just turn and run. She knows when she's beat. At least she got a little dust.