lostcarnival | ⇨ INVASION!

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⇨ INVASION!

Who: Everyone! But especially HARBINGERS!
When: S2:D16-22
Where: All over Wismuth!
What: As the Harbingers reveal themselves, those among the carnival that Creation has chosen will start to discover new powers within themselves. It's because they're magical girls, yo.
Warnings: Harbingers being assholes.

HARBINGERS OF VOID↴

On Day 16, the Harbingers begin revealing their new selves... in the form of wreaking havoc on the city! CY-Ren isn't looking for mass panic or serious structural damage - instead she wants constant annoyances and distractions, of the sort that will keep those that might be on her tail distracted from her true plans. However, when Creation is faced with the threat of twelve new Harbingers, it will have to fight in kind...

► HARBINGERS: Your job is to use your powers to create messes for other people to clean up! CY-Ren gives no specific instructions outside of a general framework... flex your powers! See what you can do. Don't destroy the city or anything, but give Creation a run for its money. She needs these civilians alive for her later plans.

► STAR GUARDIANS: Twelve members of the carnival have been chosen by Creation to fight in its name, even if they don't realize it yet. When confronted by the Harbinger's chaos, their Sparks will make themselves known in whatever form is appropriate to the character - and they will be asked if they are willing to use the power of their soul to fight the darkness. How this scene plays out can be flexible, but essentially they will find themselves faced with the question: are they willing to fight for the preservation of life? If they say yes, their Spark will emerge, and they will be able to trigger a magical girl transformation, as you do.

► CHARITY CONCERT: While everyone else is busy with the sudden rise of the Harbingers, CY-Ren's PR team is releasing a statement -- they will say that new information has revealed that there had been bomb threats made against the canceled concert, which are now being blamed for the damages. CY-Ren will make a personal statement, saying that in order to apologize for the failure of her previous performances, a new free to attend event is being planned for the near future - people who had tickets to the previous event and had to go home early get top priority!

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There are a lot of things Lambert was prepared to deal with.

Seeing an older, grimmer, pointier Steven emerge from a giant flower certainly isn't one of them. For a moment, all he can do is blankly gape, just as frozen as the tiny produce animals looking adoringly at their ... creator? Suddenly, their origin makes sense, but it raises about a hundred new questions.

However, it wouldn't be Lambert if he didn't quickly take advantage of a situation to be the biggest asshole possible. So after that moment of sheer, actual 'what the fuck' on his face ... his next move is to wave a hand and send all the fruity animals around him flying with a blast of air.

Then he actually says something.

"What the fuck happened to you?"

The ring of animals go flying with surprised expressions on their faces, disappearing over the tents. Steven frowns as that happens, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, that was rude," he comments before Lambert presses him for an explanation. At that question, he ends up grinning again, as if very pleased with himself. He languidly sits up so that his paws are folded beneath him, making a grandiose gesture with his arm.

"Oh, I wish you could have seen it! I've learned so much over the last few days. It turns out that CY-Ren was the right one, this whole time. Trying to get in her way was kind of dumb."

"Super rude," Amethyst interjects from where she's just hopped onto Steven's shoulder -- the one without all the spikes on it. She can fit there because right now she's a very small bright-eyed catlike creature with a big puffy tail and dark purple fur. She's got her chin propped on one paw and she's holding a stolen pastry that's nearly as large as her head with the other, despite its lack of any visible opposable digits. "You oughtta watch your language, dude, there are kids around."

Lambert looks between Steven and Amethyst, still plainly wondering what the fuck is happening here. Steven's explanation isn't much of one either, making him scowl. Lambert hasn't met a lot of brainwashed people in his life, but he sure knows bullshit when he hears it.

"Did CY-Ren put you through puberty too?" he asks, skeptically. "Because she could have at least finished the job."

The reaction is immediate. Steven flushes, angry and embarrassed - that's clearly a sore spot. He suddenly finds himself doubting his transformation, wondering if he did it right, if he should have done it in the first place. Maybe he should have made himself older? Old enough that Lambert couldn't disrespect him like this!

He gets to his feet, wings spread - deadly serious, now. Or at least as deadly serious as he can look while still being an honestly adorable looking kid.

"Yeah!" he shouts back, defensively. "I bet you think you can just be a jerk to me all the time, and that nothing will ever happen, because I'm too nice to say anything! I bet it feels really great, picking on a kid!"

He lifts his left arm, which is ostensibly made entirely of vaguely crystalline vines. The vines shift, growing sharp and spreading wide, becoming a more formidable weapon.

"...But I'm not just a kid, anymore."

"Haw haw haw," says Amethyst, and stuffs the pastry in her mouth. It pretty much just disappears in there -- logically it shouldn't have fit, but it's just gone now. "Kick his butt, Ste-man."

"I pick on everyone," Lambert retorts, pointing out what (to him) is eminently obvious. "You want special treatment or something?" Duh, Steven, he picked on you before, he's obviously not going to stop picking on you just because you're evil now.

At any rate, at least it's useful to know he's not as untouchable as he'd like to seem, is he? Good to know, but that sharpening of vines -- so much like the Rose -- draws Lambert's attention immediately, even as he narrows his eyes and sizes up his options. Adrenaline's already kicking up in his blood, making his blood run faster, ready for a fight.

"You wanna prove you're not a kid anymore? Then show me!" Never mind that he hasn't got any sort of plan or real weapon here, just the feather blade in his pocket and whatever witcher signs and dragon breath he can call on.

Steven grits his fangs, successfully agitated by Lambert's response and bolstered by Amethyst's encouragement. So, Lambert wants to fight him? Fine! Maybe then he'll finally understand what he's dealing with.

"Fine!" Steven roars back, and leaps off of the giant sunflower, lifting himself into the air. With a gesture of his hand, the flower tilts its face in Lambert's direction - only for the petals to start spinning as a brutal volley of football sized sunflower seeds get shot at the Nightrider like bullets.

Assault by sunflower seeds -- huge ones, at that -- isn't exactly what Lambert was expecting. His eyes widen just a fraction of a moment before a gesture of his own casts a barrier around him, a protective bubble of orange light that the first volley of seeds crashes into. With a sustained assault like that, though? It doesn't hold for long. The shield shatters with a booming crack, kinetic force blasting out around it as it disperses the energy it's absorbed, and the rest of the seeds slam into the witcher. The force flings him backwards off his feet and he crashes with a hollow, sing-song clatter into a stall selling handmade wind chimes.

Turned head over heels, Lambert lays stunned for a moment, the world spinning as the wind's driven out of him. His body aches from the impact -- but he doesn't think he's broken anything yet -- but the seeds keep coming. At least, he thinks inanely, these probably aren't poisonous. But if there was ever any doubt Steven wasn't in his right mind? That's gone now. And it pisses him off.

As he's rolling to his feet, reaching for magic he knows he doesn't have -- he can't summon another spell, not that quickly.

But he could. Almost imperceptibly, time seems to slow down, each seed's rotation suddenly clear and distinct to his eyes, as something under him, around him, presses a question into his mind. There's power for him, power he can borrow. The power to preserve life, if he reaches out his hand to grasp it, and uses it to protect this world.

All right, Lambert thinks, but can this power protect him from getting his face smashed in by a flower?

Creation doesn't talk. But it may, just possibly, be able to shrug.

Fuck it. Fine.

And as he accepts, suddenly, he's surrounded by golden light as Creation's magic takes hold.

Amethyst's eyes widen a little, and she looks sidelong at Steven. "Uhhh, Steven?" She glances back at that surge of golden light. "I dunno what this is, but it don't look good."

Steven is slowing his fire, even before Amethyst points out the lights. He doesn't want to kill Lambert, after all, he just wants to beat him down. So, after hurling him into the wind chimes, he's feeling like maybe that'll do to get his point across.

But no. Instead the light of Creation blooms before them, and Steven feels a kind of primal opposition to it in his heart. It's his natural enemy, now that he's on this path. As much as he knows that, though, it can't keep the sight from inspiring a melancholy feeling inside of him, like he's looking at something he used to have, but lost.

He can't let it stop him. He can't. So instead of just gawking, he summons up crystal vines from the ground, diving at the light as if hoping to smother it out.

As the crystal vines dive at the ruined stall and the light shining within, they're answered by the loud, unmistakable sound of an engine roaring to life -- and something smashes through the vines, shooting straight up. As gravity slows its skyward momentum down, leaving it briefly suspended in mid-air, it's finally possible to see what it is:

A sleek motorcycle, bodywork chased with scarlet and gold chrome -- and clinging helplessly onto its handles and trying to scramble is Lambert, now dressed in an equally glittery outfit that leaves entirely too little to the imagination. As he finally manages to find a seat, the bike angles down and lands hard on the ground, skidding away from Steven with a squeal of tires.

Panting, and still distinctly bruised and winded, Lambert looks wildly down at the bike, at his outfit, up at Steven, and back again.

"You've got to be kidding me."

For a couple of seconds, Amethyst just boggles at this spectacle...

Then she gathers her wits back about her and yells, "Nice outfit, ya dweeb! You look like a busted up disco ball!"

Edited 2018-02-16 04:58 (UTC)

Steven looks at the outfit, the motorbike, and the obvious influence of Creation, and he's just... angry. Angry that Creation would get in the way of this, angry that Lambert was chosen by the more glamorous and comprehensible side, that is wrong none the less.

He'd been looking forward to winning, but... well, screw it. He can still win. He'll still win, even if Lambert is a Star Guardian.

"I'm not done, yet!" Steven yells after Lambert, and flies after him. Forget magic - Steven is going to use his physical strength to tackle him right off that motorcycle, if he can.

Straddling a motorbike, distracted by wearing clothing that's pinching him all over in places he isn't used to being pinched, and still puzzling out what sort of a sick burn being compared to a ball (what's a disco???) Lambert makes an easy target even for someone like Steven.

Or he would, if the bike didn't suddenly kick up on its rear wheel seconds from Steven making contact, making Lambert yell in surprise and grab at the handles to stay on as his unexpected ride rears like a horse. The yelling is almost immediately drowned out by the rev of the engines as the motorcycle promptly starts going backwards out through the farmer's market, still on one wheel. Any unfortunate produce that doesn't scramble out of the way is getting crushed.

"Hey!" Lambert shouts, his voice trailing off as the abrupt retreat puts distance between him and Steven, holding on to the bike as tight as he can. "What's ^{the ^{big ^idea?!"}}

Edited 2018-02-16 17:50 (UTC)

Steven swoops past the motorbike too quickly to change his direction, lifting himself back up into the air at the last moment and trying to right himself - but not quickly enough that Lambert isn't already in the process of wheelying out of the farmer's market.

Growling, Steven flaps his wings with supernatural speed, doing what he can to catch up. As he starts pulling into range of the front of the motorcycle, he reaches forward and grabs the front wheel, jerking back with his wings and trying to drag it to a stop. This isn't his Harbinger strength, really - this is just plain old Steven strength, and it's considerable.

"You - said - you'd - fight - me!" Steven roars, voice momentarily bestial with anger. It's not something he's ever been feeling aggressive enough to trigger before.

"I'm trying! Do I look like I'm driving this thing?!" Lambert yells back, just as frustrated, a small burst of flame licking around his fangs. The motorcycle keeps right on driving back, though Steven's wings and strength slow it down to nearly a halt, and for a moment they're just locked in a tug of war, Lambert still clinging onto the bike while it drives like it has a mind of his own.

And then the bike talks.

"Lambert, hang on."

The surprise of the woman's voice suddenly coming out of the air startles Lambert, but there isn't any time to think about it. Without warning, the bike stops going backwards, letting Steven yank it it towards him ... and then the wheels start spinning again, only forward, aiming to plant a wheel in Steven's face and somersault over his head to land behind him.

The bike successfully catches Steven off guard - so much, in fact, that the front wheel manages to drive up his chest and over his face, using the teen's body like a ramp with which to do a sick flip.

Give that it's a magical motorcycle, this is enough to half plow Steven into the ground. Not enough to seriously injure a gem, let alone a Harbinger, but it's enough to daze and confuse him long enough for Pig to make an escape.

Meanwhile Steven is just going to lay on the ground and hold his face, because what the fuck. That stings.

A few feet away, Amethyst picks herself up and starts to pad back over to Steven. Getting hit in the face by a motorbike has a way of knocking off small animals perched on your shoulder, it turns out?

"... Dude," she says, peering uneasily down at him, "are you OK?"

In all the struggle, all the pulling and yanking on relatively freshly healed-over wounds has made some of the deeper ones tear open again -- not that Steven has time to wonder about how Lambert got those on his arm. AS the bike's maneuver pays off, it's not even going to wait and see if Steven's recovered, though Lambert's cursing up a storm and spares a moment to glance over his shoulder to make sure Steven's not actually dead.

And then, with a screech of tires, they're gone.

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⇨ INVASION!

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