1335/Birds of a Feather

Birds of a Feather
Date of Scene:	23 March 2024
Location:	Plot Room 2
Synopsis:	Phantom and Scorn have a chat.
Cast of Characters:	Scorn, Phantom

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Scorn has posed:
This is the throne room of the Phantom Empire. Queen Mirage is!.... not in right now. That doesn't mean loyal servants aren't still here, doing their duties. The Deep Mirror only speaks when it wants to and right now it's silently watching while Scorn stares at a mirror floating in the air.

She's watching images flash over it. Different cities. Untouched and unattacked. She sighs and slacks.

"Stupid sparkledorks." she mutters under her breath. "Stupid... Cure Tide. Cure Daybreak. I hate them all." she says as she raises her hand to the mirror, darkness emanating from her hand as she makes an image of Cure Tide appear. Why does she hate her so much. Why did she steal Corvus from her!? She blasts the mirror, glass breaking. 70 years bad luck.

The mirror mere is cracked in the end. It'll repair itself over time. They always do as she lowers her hand and looks crestfallen.

"What am I going to do."

Phantom has posed:
Having returned from his trip to Germany, and depositing a new Cure in the Graveyard - which Scorn may have observed in one of those very same mirrors she's looking into at the moment!, Phantom was making his way towards the throne room in order to report in. Surely, Mirage will be pleased with his progress, but as he arrives in the spacious room, he pauses momentarily. It seems that Queen Mirage is away at the moment, and in her place is Scorn.

He takes a moment, not overhearing her words, but noticing the image she has brought up. He is keenly aware of who the girl in the mirror is and her relation to the girl staring at her. His footfalls are noticable, only a small pause when she blasts the mirror. "There are more productive ways to take out your agressions." he points out to the former Cure as he comes over to join her.

Before she can say or react to anything, he sets a small bag next to her. The writing on the bag is for some shop in Germany. When it's opened? There's a small plush crow within. "You are going to get Corvus back." That part he did hear.

"You will need to formulate a plan, a way to isolate Cure Tide and liberate your partner from her clutches." A glance aside to meet the girl's eyes. "I have faith that you can do so."

Scorn has posed:
Once Upon a time. Phantom caught Cure Gull. Haruna Kurosawa. But he knows this.

Now she is Scorn. She is better. Maybe. This way.

She looks over to Phantom. Phantom is the Queens favored, and she has no quarrel with him aside from wanting to one up him on the body count of captured magical girls. But that's basically every Phantom Empire general's fondest wish. It's nothing new.

She's about to speak when a bag is plopped down and she looks at the foreign writing on it and carefully opens it. It's a plush crow.

She gently smiles and gives it a squeeze. "Oh this is wonderful, thank you." she says. "It's no Corvus though." she says glumly looking down at it.

"You're right. I need to. Draw her out. But Terribads are just gonna make a rukus and summon everyone. I need a smaller diversion."

She sighs. "I need to think outside the box." she says.

"I know I can do it! I just.. need more time." she says, floating down to sit on air.

"I'm gonna punch her. Shove her in a mirror and take back my crow!" she says. Nevermind he's a seagull now.

Phantom has posed:
"No, it's not Corvus. But it's a reminder that you need to find him." Phantom did it on purpose. It was also a reminder that she has failed her partner and needs to work harder to get him back. Cure Gull -- Scorn -- was one of Queen Mirage's first forays in turning the Cure in the mirror into a General. It's not an idea that Phantom agreed with at the time.

But he doesn't question Her orders.

And Scorn has not been a disappointment. Yes, she is much like what she was before the Eternal Gauge. But that's youth. She hasn't had the time to mature and develop into a proper general.

His arms fold behind his back, resting on the sheath of his sword. "You need to find something more personal." he points out to her. And with that, he shares one of his secrets for seperating Pretty Cures and isolating them. "Find something she enjoys greatly. Something that is hers alone. That is what you need to target. The Pretty Cure I just deposited - she enjoyed sightseeing, so I waited for her at one of her favorite spots and ambushed her."

"You have so much contempt for Cure Tide, what do you actually know about her that you can use in your favor?" he asks, a glance towards Scorn, his blue eyes studying her thoughtfully.

Scorn has posed:
Scorn doesn't remember much. Sometimes she has feelings she can't explain. But that's just her. She huffs a little and looks away from Phantom a moment. "I'll find him." she says. She looks down at the plush crow and gently squeezes it a little reflexively as she huffs.

She listens to Phantom. "What do. I know about Cure Tide?" she asks curiously. "I know she's... dumb." she says, placing her hands on her hips and looks back towards Phantom. She NODS matter of factly. Like that's enough information. She then face faults a little.

"Wait."

"I know she owns a coffee shop, too!" she says dramatically. "She told me who she is and everything, you know. Because she's dumb. She keeps asking me to come back home. Like she knows me!" she says.

"I don't even know who Haruna is she keeps calling, me that and it's dumb. She's wholy dumb."

"Okay so that's what I know." she says.

Oh yeah. Haruna's in there somewhere. It's just twisted and weird Haruna.

Phantom has posed:
Lips pressed into a thin line, Phantom listens. He's judging how her mind has done since she was freed and brainwashed. As he listens, he realizes he may need to put in a suggestion to Queen Mirage that she may be due another dose. In the meantime? He reaches into the bag and pulls out the other item he brought. Cookies. Elisenlebkuchen, to be exact. Sprinkled with an extra ingredient.

Dark magic, not love.

"So now you know a place that she frequents." Though he considers that prospect. Having her so close to a familia connection may prove to be problematic. Were it anyone else, he'd consider this a chance to possibly get rid of some competition for Queen Mirage's attention.

But the Queen has taken a liking to this girl, and he just follows along. "Haruna. Never heard of her." he says finally, as he plucks out one of the cookies to snack upon.

"Do you feel that this coffee shop would be a spot to confront her at?" he asks between bites. "I feel as if she knows it well, then you would find yourself at a disadvantage." comes the explanation as he takes another bite from the cookie.

"It sounds as if you want to know more about how to defeat Cure Tide, you will need to learn more about her - other avenues and weaknesses that you can exploit to your advantage."

Scorn has posed:
Scorn's only been purified once and it wasn't enough to fix her. But Queen Mirage was upset and had to double dose her to get her to stop saying the word 'krefluffle'.

She huffs. "I should destroy that dumb shop!" she says as she sweeps her hand out, before sighing. "No that'll be dumb. Other girls, boys, will come then too." she says.

"I saw you place a new girl in your little collection." she says, finally. She says this without emotional connection. No worry or judging. This is what Phantom does. This is why he's the right hand.

"Is that all there really is to it? Learning more about your opponent. How do you do that? Just watch. Learn from afar?" she asks softly.

"Maybe I should fight directly. No Terribads. Me and.. her! Alone! A Duel!" she says.

"No."

"That'd be a bad idea."

"I almost caught her once." she says. "But some girl with a rocket launcher ruined everything. What kind of sparkledork has a rocket launcher!?" she asks.

A pause. "You've been gone a while. Has Queen Mirage called you back? Can she not handle all the Cures you're putting away?" she asks.

Phantom has posed:
That is totally justified, because kerfuffle is a terrible word. Brouhaha is far more dignified. "Cure Rhine." Phantom responds when Scorn brings up the new girl. "Are you jealous?" he asks her, just the slightest of teases in his voice, though his focus remains on the conversation.

"Observation is most of my work, Scorn." he admits. "Watching, learning. Though when you have done this as long as I have - you can start to see patterns in those that you're facing. It becomes familiar after a while. And that's when it becomes dangerous, because you can fall into assumptions."

"You are right, though. Attacking the shop will bring multiple numbers against you. I could find someone to tail her for you, to watch her day, to see the things she does - to offer you intelligence that you may not have the patience to gather otherwise." A small bit of goading there.

As the question comes up of his return, Phantom offers a nebulous shrug of his shoulders. "Perhaps she just missed me." Wishful thinking there. "But I'm sure, from what I've observed recently, it may have more to do with the string of setbacks we have been facing in other parts of the organization and our Queen wants to show the others how to handle things properly." Another small smile towards Scorn, a compliment, in a way.

Scorn has posed:
Scorn pouts when she's asked if she's jealous. "Well yes I am!" she says. "I'm extremely jealous. Even Madam Momere is winning against the team of Cures she's against. I was sent to America for a bit and I was doing great before Cure Daybreak came out of nowhere." she says. "Because that dumb idiot..." she dare not say the name 'Blue'. She did once, it didn't go down well. "...keeps sending his Cures to help others, now." she says.

"Oh. No doubt. Tokyo is a literal mess of everything. It isn't like all the other places you've been. It's crawling with...sparkledorks of all flavors. The Deep Mirror...." she side eyes the mirror from a distance, it's still quiet. "Called me to Tokyo to help support the group there." she slacks.

Oresky Trio she mouths, but doesn't say.

Phantom has posed:
"We're all working for the same team, Scorn." Phantom reminds her with a small snort of a noise that could have been amusement. "I'm sure in time, you will have your own graveyard to fill." How's that for encouragement? There's a thoughtful pause as he considers Scorn, however, "It has been a while since I have seen you in action." he admits.

When she brings up the situation in Tokyo, those lips press back into their more familiar thin line. "I was briefed a little on it. Apparently they have all gone into a school or some such?" he asks, having at least grasped that idea. The she mouths those words and his lips curl into a smile, his hands coming out from behind his back. And he gives her shoulder a light squeeze. "You're learning."

"Perhaps I should accompany you. See how you've improved in my time away." He releases her shoulder, only to offer her a cookie with the other hand.

"As you said, they may be working with others now, but even Cures value their personal time away from others. They have their hobbies, their interests, their play. That is where you will find their weakness, my Scorn. They wear their hearts out, loud and proud. It is their beacon. It is also their downfall."

Scorn has posed:
"Most go to that school it seems. At least the ones who we know who they are. Don't attack the hornets nest." she says rolling her eyes. "I mean. You're not going to. Maybe I outta pretend to be a student and walk around there." she says. "Try to watch people." she says, trailing off....

"Ugh that's dumb. I couldn't use my powers then." she says. "I'd have to hide and stuff." she says as she considers.

When Phantom says she'll have her own graveyard she sighs happily. "That'd be so neat. Queen Mirage would call me good names. Or at least acknowledge my existence like she does yours." she says.

"But that's still a bit away. Cure Tide first. I know where she works. I'll start there. I ..." she seems to momentarily remember something, but then she seems to forget it... eyes lighting up, then going dark a moment as she seems to think, bringing a lip to her bottom finger.

"Dancing. Something about. Dancing..." she taps her finger.

"Huh where did that come from that was weird." she says.
Defiantly check with Mirage about the brainwashing, right.

Phantom has posed:
"Some learning to use your natural talents without relying on your powers could be good for you, Scorn. But you would probably need to disguise yourself. After all, if Cure Tide has started calling you by a name, if she sees you on campus, she may try to kidnap you." Phantom offers in a bit of worry for the teenager, "But learning stealth, disguise, and going incognito could help you."

A small grin at the fact that Scorn admits Mirage acknowledges him. "I'm glad that my service to Her is recognized." he offers politely before watching how Scorn goes through a slight change and seems to be grasping onto something. He gives a soft hrm of thought. "Probably something you saw, Scorn, and remembered. We are always busy after all. "And you seem to have given yourself a task. I look forward to seeing your progress with it."

And convincing Mirage to give her another dip of the brainwashing. In the meantime, however? "Enjoy your cookies, Scorn. I brought them all the way from Germany."