791/Bones and Crowns

Bones and Crowns
Date of Scene:	19 November 2023
Location:	Pikarigaoaka Ward
Synopsis:	Cho is helped out of a difficult spot, a youma is defeated, cake is eaten.
Cast of Characters:	Cho Konishi, Tadase Hotori

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Cho Konishi has posed:
It wasn't often that the Lady Bone Demon made her presence known, of all Obsidian's employees she was one of the least active. Or maybe she just preferred to spend her time scheming rather than actually fighting. However, today was a particularly fine day for it. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and Wukong had been sent through a tree thanks to the corrupted power of the 'Achilles' youma. A twisted youma that had been brought about at the opening of a new movie about the 'Myrmidons'.

This Achilles was, unfortunately for Wukong, a brawler. With great, metal boots he had leaped across the battlefield... so as Wukong laid there, giving a soft groan, she saw those illfated boots descending on her from above.

Lady Bone Demon stood a bit away, having possessed the body of one of the students who had been planning to see the movie, the student's hair now long and white, a fan in hand as she chuckled darkly. Today was the day Wukong met her end...

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    "Soverign Shield!" a voice called, a voice that was familiar to Wukong but not one she could place, and a shimmering golden barrier appeared in front of the dowwned girl - along with its caster. Someone tall and slender - a boy from the sound of his voice - carrying an ornate staff and with a red and gold crown atop his head was standing behind the shield - between Cure Wukong and Fake Achilles. The metal boots collided with the shield but did not break it, though like any shield, it wouldn't last forever, and like any youma, Fake Achilles wasn't stopping, and the boots came down over and over against the golden shield.

    "Ruler's Ray!" the boy called as his staff transformed into a scepter - one which was royal looking like his crown, and yet familiar to Cure Wukong, back in her mind, somewhere. A silvery light gathered at the tip of the scepter before blasting outwards into Achilles and staggering them, giving the boy time to turn to the downed Cure.

    "Cure Wukong, are you alright?" he asked her, the voice familiar despite having no IDEA who the staggeringly handsome boy was. "I'm so glad I was able to help, I owe you more than one. Let's do this, together." he said, reaching out a white-gloved hand to Cure Wukong.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cure Wukong stared up at him. Oh. Oh wow. He... he... He was *incredible.* He was so handsome and he arrived at just the right moment to save him and oh my gosh in her mind's eye he was even sparkling like, well, like the prince.

She was, internally, melting. For a moment forgetting that there was a youma out there. Buuuuut only for a moment. "I... I'm okay," she said, a single heart coming off her, in her mind's eye. She reached out to take his hand, letting him help her to her feet. "Y-yes! Let's do this together!"

Achilles had righted himself, charging at them once more. Lady Bone Demon had snapped her fan closed. "Destroy them both." her words as cold as her.

In a stunning twist of events, WUKONG moved to shield HIM! Her staff growing out, she drove it forward, connecting with the boots and buying time for him to launch another assault!

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    "Thanks, Cure Wukong!" he says in response to the shielding. "But we're never gonna finish this just blocking him. We have to go on the offense. Let's see... He's supposed to be Achilles, right? So maybe he has a literal Achilles' Heel!" the boy says. He moves around to the back of the fake historical character - for all he knows the Cure's enemies don't inherit their historical opponent's weaknesses, but worst case... well, he'd blast the heck out of the back of his foot.

    "Ruler's Ray!" he calls again once he's manouvered into position, the silvery-white surge of energy targeted right at the bottom of the opponent's foot. Would it cripple him? Who knows. Would it hurt the heck out of his foot? Very Yes.

Cho Konishi has posed:
The youma's focus was on Wukong, already preparing to launch another strike... Unfortunately for it, that left it vulnerable to the sudden Ruler's ray! The blow struck its boots. It was about to make a snide remark about how 'Wukong tried that already!' ... Except Platinum Royale struck it on the back of the heel. While that wasn't its 'weakness' anymore (thanks to the metal shoes, cheater that he was), it DID manage to knock its feet out from under it. It went head over heels for a moment, crashing to the ground with such force the ground shook.

More importantly, that was EXACTLY the opening Wukong needed. She quickly began going through the katas as the youma laid there, clutching its ankle(turned out hitting it directly on the heel WAS quite effective, boots or not). "72 earthly transformations purification!" Cure Wukong yelled.

Once more, a beam of pink light erupted out from her, enveloping the youma. It let out a furious cry, before, with a resounding clatter, a movie ticket dropped to the ground.

"I'll remember this..." Lady Bone Demon said before turning her glare to Platinum Royale, then fading away. Wukong leaped towards her... and barely caught the student before they could drop, muuuuuch gentler when she lowered her to the ground, the victim's hair now a brunette.

Once she was sure they were okay, she looked towards him and... "Hi! I'm Cure Wukong. Which... I guess you already knew, uhhh... nice to meet you. Are... are you new? I mean, you knew who I was, but uhhhh... you looked really cool out there. And that shield of yours was really cool! Kind of... familiar, though. I... don't know why."

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    When the Lady Bone Demon turned to glare at Platinum Royale, he only smiled back at her, this time complete with actual, not-in-Wukong's head sparkles.

    The unnamed boy looked at Cure Wukong confused. "Yes, I know who you are, we've worked together be-Oh!" he said, blinking his bright reddish eyes. "Right. Henshin. This is a real Character Transformation! Sorry, I'm not used to having one that works like everybody else's and so I assumed you recognized me. That's why I look familiar. My name is Platinum Royale, but you know me as..." and then his henshin 'popped' away and there was Tadase Hotori (and of course, Kiseki, looking so smugly proud of himself.) "...Tadase Hotori."

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cure Wukong was a little confused when he sparkled. He... could sparkle too? Wow. Her friend was going to be amused when he heard another hero was--

And then, he ended the henshin. Cure Wukong stared at him for a moment before, finally, she ended her own henshin. And then she HUGGED him. Full arms around the neck, possibly having to spin a bit just to avoid being knocked over by her hug, style hug. "You did it! I knew you could! I'm so PROUD of you!"

That was many days ago. But... today? Well... today things were different. The Royal Garden was quiet... Kiseki wouldn't have much to worry about once Tadase had been forced to run off for a moment.

Duunn dunnn... duuuuuuunnnnn duun.... duuunnnnnnnn dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnn dunnnn.

Of course, then suddenly, as the kingly chara was eating... a (very padded) shoe box appeared around him. Capturing him...

*Soon after*

As Tadase would make his way back into the royal garden, he'd feel... like somebody was watching him. Someone... was waiting for him. Somebody was--

"Hi King!"

Dropping down upside down from a tree, holding a box in both hands that, through skill, finesse and a bit of luck, held a... cake. A simple cake, yes, but one with a little crown on it, the symbols of cards(hearts, spade, diamonds and clubs) and the words '#1 King!' on it...

"... P-please take it, I can't pull myself up without dropping it," Cho said sheepishly.

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    When Cho dropped - or really, hung down - from the tree Tadase jumped back, startled. "Oh man, Cho, you gave me a heart attack." Tadase says, looking at the upside down girl - then gingerly taking the box from her. "Did you make this?" He asks, as he looks at it and smiles. "It's very thoughtful either way, though." he says. "I'll put it on the table. I'm looking for Kiseki - I figured he might have stayed back here to eat. He's not with me and he's usually with me so it's just weird when he's not around." Tadase explains.

    "But after we can totally eat together. But why? Why'd you make a cake for me?" he asks.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi let out a sigh of relief when he took the cake. She then climbed up, only to drop down a moment later. "Uhhh, isn't it obvious?" she asked before grinning to him. "The prince became a king, how is that NOT worth celebrating? Now the council has TWO kings. And, to celebrate your corronation as Platinum Royale... I bribed Wuwu to kidnap Kiseki for a little bit. They're in the supply closet," she said, motioning down the way where the supply closet held some of the materials for the garden and for the student council.

"I know you may not see it as that big a deal, but you got your henshin! That's AWESOME! You've been doing this for, well, probably longer than I have, but you've always had to kind of hang back. Now you can do the really cool stuff. Have you jumped from rooftop to rooftop yet? how about stood on top of a street lamp and looked out ominously over the city, like some kind of super hero searching to find the darkness that lies in the hearts of man?" she asked, walking backwards in front of him, hands held behind her back.

"Besides, friends should always celebrate accomplishments together. The whole.... magic thing means we can't share them with everyone we care about. But... at least someone else on the council knows and can celebrate with you. Hopefully that's enough."

"... But no, I didn't make it. I'm not very good at uhhh... cooking vanilla cakes. And I wanted it to be especially good. I did, however, do the frosting words." Pause. "They're vanilla too, but frosting is easier to make."

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    Without Kiseki around presently, he doesn't fully chara-change, but he does mumble grumpily about being called a Prince, even in past tense. "Oh. So you're why I can't find him, then." Tadase muses, some of that grumpiness fading as he speaks. And then come the monkey-speed questions, rapid fire. "No, I haven't done any of that stuff yet." he admits. "Being chara-transformed, fully henshin'd, is different than being chara-changed. Kiseki and I become one person. Which has... some penalties. It's also something that makes me tired. I've only done it twice. Once in a Labrynth and then that time. I'm still learning. Some of this stuff I just know, but it feels like I'm only scratching the surface of what I can do." he states.

    "But I really appreciate you thinking about me. The fact that you did the frosting is even moreso thoughtful." Then Tadase pauses and looks at Cho, like there's something on her face.

    His eyebrow raises. "... is this to celebrate that I have a full magical-boy henshin now... or is this to celebrate that now you don't have to respond to every schoolground youma alone?" He asks. Then after a moment of faking seriousness about the question, he just starts laughing a little. "You've worked hard, and I thank you. But I'm glad I can help out now, too. Without worrying I'm going to fold like a wet map when I get hit." Then Tadase pauses. "Well, I think I won't. Black Lynx has the same sort of transformation and he's very tough in it. So I presume I am. Not in a hurry to test it though."

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi chuckled when he recounted his experience when henshining and gave a nod. "Yeah. It can... really feel different. I mean, I don't know if it feels EXACTLY different, in the same way? But I definitely feel more wild when I'm like that. I think the tiredness... kind of wears off after a bit? At least, when you get more used to it it's less exhausting. The first time I henshined I just about collapsed into bed, but now I can do my big finisher blast attack and just need a minute or two to recover. If you ever want to practice, let me know. Magic makes no sense and it's worth it figuring out what field of nonsense your powers operate in."

... Says the girl modeled after Wukong.

"I only try to think of you as much as you think of everyone else in the school, your highness," she said in a teasing tone. "And both can be true! Doing it all alone is hard. I have Yellow Voice I can call on when I need it, but well... it feels... different, I guess? Calling on a friend is hard. But you're a friend and on the council, so I know you'll have my back when we need to deal with these things. And I know it must have sucked, having to sit on the sidelines like that for so long. While you were helpful a lot... it still... always feels like you should do more, right? So... I'm happy you won't have to feel like that anymore."

"Ohhhh! Black Lynx! I... have no idea who that is! Is there a third cat boy in black now?" she asked. "Oh! Or a black cat girl? Which reminds me. I ran into this cat boy the other day. Cat Noir. He had a staff, like mine! And was pretty cool. He's a good guy, it seems. I... thought he was a bad guy at first, though. He dresses like a bad guy."

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    Tadase chuckled a bit. "Well, you don't merge with Wuwu, either. That's probably part of what makes it slightly less stressful for you. Kiseki is me, but he's... a less mature and more focused version of me, so having him sharing my head is something that'll take some getting used to." he notes. "But maybe now I can go to the Totally Normal Self Defense Classes." Tadase adds. For someone who only recently got a full Henshin he's not entirely out of the know.

    Tadase looks down at the cake and smiles. "I know myself too well to think there's ever going to be a point where I won't want to do more." he admits. "But yeah. Maybe now you'll feel less bad about calling me in, right? Plus I'm on Student Council like you said, so dealing with troublemakers on and near school grounds is part of the job." A wink, a sparkle.

    "A good guy who dresses like a bad guy, Cat Noir..." Tadase muses. "Well, that's not Black Lynx. He's somebody I know outside of magic but... he's going through a time, trying to figure out if he's a good guy or not, I think. I advise people to still treat him with a bit of caution. Trust, but verify. As far as I know he still technically works for Obsidian, though he's trying to get out. It's a whole -thing-." It's more of a thing than he cares to share even with close friends.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi gave a small nod. "Yeah. Admittedly, having to fuse with Kiseki would likely stress anyone out. I know I certainly wouldn't want to merge with... well. My 'goals' a year or two back. I do often wonder what it would have been like, knowing you back then. I'm sure Inai-sensai would love to have you around for lessons," she said with a wink.

As they approached the table, she reached over to take the cake, racing to the table and... started cutting it. Why?

So, in a moment, she could turn and bow, holding out a piece.

It was a big piece. With a crown on it. "And, to celebrate, today's newest king can be served by the oldest king."

If Tadase looked over her shoulder he might notice Wuwu disappearing... with one normal and one Kiseki sized piece of cake as well...

She sat down, grinning up at him and taking her own piece. "Though, don't expect the Monkey King to serve you all the time," she said in a playful tone. "But, for a friend, we all make the occasional exception."

"... Though, who knows? Maybe next time, Black Lynx will be able to join us. There's few things in life as great as sharing desserts with your friends." And few people as worth sharing it with, than those you cared for most.