[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/5r7OTIh.png[/img] [b][color=Aquamarine]wordcount:[/color][/b] 2783 (+4) [b][color=Aquamarine]Midna: level 8[/color][/b] EXP: [color=Aquamarine]//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color](107/80) [b][color=Aquamarine]Location:[/color][/b] Gutsford [color=Aquamarine]Warp Charges:[/color] 0 [hider=warp locations] Virgin Victory teleport room Top of the Split mountain Outside the Convent of Our Lady of the Charred Visage Tostarena Town [/hider] [color=f49ac2]Sakura Level 8: 78/80[/color] [/center] Midna hopped from shadow to shadow, tailing the bikers through the streets, and, sure enough after finishing their joyride the small gang rolled up to what looked like a hideout of some kind, one next to a gas station and mechanic’s shop of some kind. She gave a quick glance to said shop, eyes drifting over the weird wrench jugglers and instead spying Tora and Poppie walking away from it. Which was good. If she needed backup they’d be nearby. Unbeknown to her, of course, there was already backup on the scene, something she found out at exactly the same time as the punks as she slipped on into their den before the door shut. Kasugano Sakura had been led there by Edge. She had swung open the door dramatically upon arrival, only to find no one there. Thus, she set her plastic bag full of radios down in the corner and tried to look as cool as possible, crossing her arms and leaning against a table. It wasn’t long before the bikers arrived. [color=f49ac2]”Well, well, well. Look who it is-”[/color] Sakura began coolly, only for the bikers to react immediately and with violent intent. This immediate escalation took Sakura aback. [color=f49ac2]”Woah, woah! The door wasn’t even locked!”[/color] Sakura said defensively. She got into her light-on-her-feet stance as the green haired one approached, dukes up. Face Paint joined him, looking to reach Edge, but Sakura was feeling greedy. She ducked underneath Green Hair’s punch and shot her foot out towards Face Paint, interrupting his approach on Edge. Then she jabbed Green Hair on the mouth and torso twice, forcing him backwards. Both of them were surprised by just how much the blows hurt, and Sakura grinned. [color=f49ac2]”Listen- you win, you get all the money I got on me and these cool radios. I win, I get your bikes. Deal?”[/color] She offered. “What the hell’re you talkin’ about?!” Green Hair said angrily. Face Paint turned his attention to her, his nasty looking spiked brass knuckles catching the light. “You’re in for it now, little girl.” [color=f49ac2]”That’s [i]Miss[/i] little girl to you.”[/color] [color=Aquamarine]”and you can call me your royal highness”[/color] came a voice from behind the goons as Princess Minda rose up from the shadows, giving those that turned a vicious little toothy grin while adding [color=Aquamarine]”when your begging for my mercy”[/color] The blond one with the dragon tattoo’s jaw dropped, causing his toothpick , tiny cigar or something (Midna had no idea what it was) to drop to the floor, while the big guy who thought a padlock was a fashion accessory responded by trying to punch her in the face. [color=Aquamarine]”Rude”[/color] Midna told him as she raised her spiky shield to block the blow, causing the guy to go “yowch” and back off shaking his prickled fist. Then he looked up agog at the bright glowing hand Midna’s hair had turned into [color=Aquamarine]”Mines bigger”[/color] she informed him, before slamming the brawler into a wall with what she judged was enough force to hurt, but nowhere close to squish. At Midna’s sudden arrival, Sakura was as surprised as the punks. She deflated slightly, then perked back up. [color=f49ac2]”Guess a two on one will have to do. Look just don’t hit these guys in the back of the head, okay? ”[/color] Sakura said to Midna. Face Paint and Green Hair rallied, looking to tackle her to the ground. She leapt just above their heads and moved her legs out to the side, shoving them underneath her. As they turned around, Green Hair was blasted back by a [color=f49ac2]”[i]Hadoken![/i]”[/color] That sent him crashing into a table. She rushed forward and fired off a series of jabs towards Face Paint, forcing hims arms upward. She grabbed said arm, breaking his block, and threw him over her shoulder. [color=f49ac2]”Easy!”[/color] He hit the floor with a thud and then stood back up to his feet. She grabbed his arm and threw him over her shoulder. [color=f49ac2]”Easy!”[/color] She said again. He rose again, slower, only to get grabbed and thrown over her shoulder. Breathless, he didn’t get up. [color=f49ac2]”Now I just feel bad.”[/color] Sakura said, setting her fists on her hips for a moment before turning to face Green Hair, who had picked up a heavy looking wrench. [color=f49ac2]”So far so good, Edge-kun!”[/color] She said to her observer, who had elected to just enjoy the show after all. Green Hair rushed her, swinging his heavy wrench towards her head. Sakura Focused, briefly channeling an inky black energy. The wrench bounced right off her skull, much to Green Hair’s dismay, before he received a crumpling knee to the chest. He was knocked around by an elbow, a pendulum-esque double fisted attack, a spin kick, and a rising uppercut that sent him crashing into the wall. Sakura landed, bouncing on her feet. [color=f49ac2]”I like your outfits, but, other than that, you bring shame to punks everywhere. Where’s your heart-of-gold and sense of community?”[/color] She chided her fallen opponents before turning to see what Midna was up too. Midna had found her own two goons to be a rather annoying combination of squishy and durable. The big guy she’d introduced to the wall had, remarkably, picked himself up right afterwards, very much worse for wear but still spoiling for a fight. Yet she did not want to dig into her growing arsenal of weaponry, because all of it was all way too cutty or burny or toxicy. Even her shield was pointy and potentially lethal. [color=Aquamarine]”I should get a beat stick if I’m going to do any more arresting”[/color] She said to herself as she sidestepped a kick from blondie, and then made to grab him. Yet as she did so she found the big guy rushing in, fist raised and then slamming down into her helmet, which was not too sore, but it did let blondie dance away from her grabbing hand. [color=Aquamarine]”Ow.. Uh oh”[/color] She skipped back another step, but the two were on her, and the inability to just stab them or smash everything lest she damaged the bikes meant she was going to have a bit of difficulty fighting them two on one when compared to how easily Sakur had handled that. So the princess just evened the playing field [color=Aquamarine]”Sike em”[/color] she commanded, jabbing a finger forward as she summoned her Wolfos, which proceeded to do just that. The beast raced out of the twilight realm via a portal, dodged around a shoddy kick from a startled big guy and then darted in to bite him. Right on the butt. What this meant was, that when Sakura turned to see how Midna was doing she did not see the princess embarrassingly on the defensive, but instead her snatching up blondie like a doll with her shadow hand, and the big guy running towards her, or rather, away to the happily painting wolfos that had bitten a hole in his pants, the two playing the parts of unfortunate postman and territorial housepet respectively. [color=f49ac2]”Miss Princess Midna, this…this isn’t very sportsmanlike.”[/color] Sakura said, no-look kicking Face Paint in the side as he tried to get up. She watched the wolfo chase the poor punk around the room. [color=f49ac2]”You’re not gonna let your magic dog eat him, are you?”[/color] She asked. [color=Aquamarine]”I think it deserves a nibble, don’t you?”[/color] she joked, before responding to the point about being sportswomanly with [color=Aquamarine]”I think coming two on one against a pretty lady who was never taught how to throw a punch is the real unsportsmanly thing to do”[/color] before turning to look at blondie, who she was holding upside down in her massive magical shadow hand (which could punch through a squads of men in a single strike) and saying [color=Aquamarine]”don’t you agree?”[/color] The thug nodded in desperate agreement which earned him a [color=Aquamarine]”Good boy”[/color] from the princess before she turned back to Skura, indicating to the man with a dainty gesturing hand, and said [color=Aquamarine]”See? Even he agrees he’s in the wrong here”[/color] Sakura winced out a smile and walked over and picked up her plastic bag of radios. [color=f49ac2]”Let’s just wrap this up, okay? It’s pretty clear we win.”[/color] Sakura said, a little uncomfortable with [i]this[/i] level of gloating. [color=Aquamarine]”Fine fine”[/color] Midna replied, before whistling to call off her wolfos, and then tossing blondy at the big guy to deal with the both of them. [color=f49ac2]”One of the reasons I came here was to grab their motorbikes. I figured maybe we could use ‘em?”[/color] She said, looking the vehicles over. [color=f49ac2]”Yay! The keys are all still in the ignition.”[/color] Sakura said. [color=Aquamarine]”Ahhhh, same here”[/color] Midna said as she floated over to check out the bikes [color=Aquamarine]”So they’re like mechanical horses instead of mechanical chariots I guess? Interesting. Want me to stash them?”[/color] she asked, before leaning in a little closer, the imp floating at just the right position to look like a devil on Sakura’s shoulder from where Edge was standing, and saying [color=Aquamarine]”ooooooor do you wanna give them a go?”[/color] Sakura glanced up at Midna from where she was sitting on one of the motorcycles, already attempting to give it a go. At some point she had yoinked Green Hair’s green goggles and had them resting on her forehead. [color=f49ac2]”Eh? Stash them?”[/color] She asked. [color=f49ac2]”Where? We need them, don’t we?”[/color] She glanced around at the other three motorcycles. [color=f49ac2]”...Huh. How [i]are[/i] we gonna get all four of them out of here, anyway?”[/color] Sakura asked, having not thought that far ahead. Sakura was both one step ahead of and two steps behind the proverbial devil on her shoulder. Midna had mentioned her ‘pocket dimension’ in passing during the Meet and Greet, but Sakura both forgot that part due to the impressive display afterwards, and also didn’t know what a pocket dimension was in the first place. [color=Aquamarine]”Oh, right, you don’t know”[/color] Midna said, before beckoning her wolfos over and giving him a pat on the head before saying [color=Aquamarine]”Watch”[/color] as she summoned a portal and had the wolfos duck down into it back home. Then she ducked down herself, patted the same portal, and pulled a long sword out of it, standing back up and hefting the blade it over her shoulder as she explained: [color=Aquamarine]”So yeah, as you can see, I can stash stuff in my home realm for storage. Beasts too. Just no people. Because they turn into beasts”[/color] Sakura scratched her head, impressed. [color=f49ac2]”Wow, cool!”[/color] She glanced down at the motorcycle between her legs and sighed. [color=f49ac2]”...I guess you’re right. We should probably do that. Instead of riding them out of here. In a really cool way.”[/color] She began to reluctantly step off her new motorcycle, convinced by Midna’s rational and reasonable plan of action. [color=Aquamarine]”Nonononon. Sit. Siiiiit”[/color] Minda insisted as she very lightly pushed Sakura back down onto the bike’s seat using her shadow hand, while at the same time floated around and tapped the other bikes to send them away for storage (though not before also re-storing her sword). Sakura’s mouth formed into a small ‘o’ as she hunched her shoulders, placed back onto the bike. Then Midna plopped her butt down on the metal rack sticking out the back of the bike the street fighter was on, both legs dangling off one side ever so unsafely, and commanded: [color=Aquamarine]”Let’s ride!”[/color] [color=f49ac2]”Oooh, okay. If you insist!”[/color] Sakura said, smiling. She brought up the kickstand with her foot and then walked the cycle around. [color=f49ac2]”Bye, Edge-kun. You really helped us out, so thank you very much! We gotta get these back but, afterwards you and I have a fight, okay? It’ll be fun.”[/color] She turned to face the exit. She felt bad both about leaving Edge still Gleaming, and also the short walk he was left with, as they needed all the motorbikes. [color=f49ac2]”Oh, uh. The garage door is still closed. We need, um…we need the switch.”[/color] She glanced around for it. [color=f49ac2]”There! See that little grey box on the wall? Can you use your giant magic hand to flick it, Princess Midna-san?”[/color] [color=Aquamarine]”San?”[/color] Midna asked about the little addition to her name, even as she did exactly that, a big orange hand reaching up and , after a moment of squinting from the princess as she endeavored to get it just right, delicately flicked the switch. Sakura pumped her fist as the garage door began to slide open. [color=f49ac2]”San? It means ‘Miss.’”[/color] She explained. She pulled the google down over her eyes, covering the world in a vibrant green. Minda raised an eyebrow, only for said eyebrow to be covered up a moment later when she slid the half section of a psycho mask she’d tinkered with and tinted up to lock in with her helm. [color=Aquamarine]”Seems a bit redundant after princess, but sure thing”[/color] she said, voice muffled by the air purifier now covering her lips. [color=f49ac2]”...Huh. I think you’re right.’”[/color] Sakura realized. The long standing habit of hers didn’t really work if they already had a title. She also remembered something and nodded her head to the plastic bag slung over her shoulder. [color=f49ac2]”Oh! These radios- or walkie-talkies, haha- can you put them in your magical pocket for now, Princess Midna? They’d be safest there.”[/color] Sakura asked. [color=f49ac2]”Sure thing”[/color] Mdina agreed, picking them up with her shadow hand while still sat upon the bike, like she was some kind of crane attachment, and then lifting them up and over so she could touch the bag and store them for later. [color=Aquamarine]”Also if you just want to call me Midna-san, or just Midna, that’s fine. We’re part of a team after all, so no need for honorifics if you don’t wanna use them. I’m no full of herself Queen Sectonia, that’s for sure”[/color] Sakura nodded. [color=f49ac2]”Sure thing, Midna…san.”[/color] She couldn’t quite leave the suffix off, it just felt rude, which the princesse found quite endearing. Once all that was settled, Sakura adjusted her grip on the handlebars, palms sweaty. [color=f49ac2]”Ready? Hold on tight.”[/color] Sakura said, turning the ignition and revving the engine. [color=f49ac2]”It’s loud!”[/color] Raising her voice over the noise, she looked back over the street. Pulling on the handlebar lever the motorbike accelerated far quicker than Sakura anticipated, and for a moment the front wheel left the ground. [color=f49ac2][i]”Eep!”[/i][/color] Midna was for sure glad she’d taken Sakura’s advice, her claw like fingers gripping the bike rack nice and hard meant that she only [i]almost[/i] fell off. As it was she only gave an equally embarrassing, if muffled, yelp of surprise alongside the schoolgirl. Sakura cleared her throat. [color=f49ac2]”Pretend I said something cooler than that.”[/color] Gaining confidence, Sakura treated the motorbike like a bicycle she didn’t need to pedal, and began to head back to the agreed upon meeting point in a distinctly street legal way. [color=f49ac2]”Wee! Defeats walking!”[/color] [color=f49ac2]”You’ve got that right!”[/color] the imp agreed from where she was riding side saddle behind her, before giving a big shadowhand of a wave to Torra and Poppie as they raced on by them, the pair of biker girls still entirely ignorant of how much actual danger was lurking in this sleepy old university town. Sakura’s plan was to drive them back to the meeting point she had mentioned earlier- the train station.