yumemigaoka | ★ blind the masses with a grin, stir up the media

Yeah, I'm ready too.

...Probably should have brought an extra pair of socks.

[Ango wonders if everybody else has wet feet too, or if there was some memo that went out to the experienced Dreamers. Soggy stockings haven't dampened Ai-Doll's enthusiasm.

Although it may look like Decadence and Ai-doll are chaperoning a pair of kids on a field trip, the truth is that Ango's been a Dreamer for barely a month, that it's his first time venturing on an Excursion, and that if anything, the brat in the middle school uniform is chaperoning him. That's fine by him, though - he's not exactly the responsible adult type.

Still, Ango's gotta at least pretend that he knows what he's doing. Sunglasses and a perpetual slouch go a long way towards making him look like an old hand at this Dreamer buisness.]

Aw, it's not that bad! You'll get used to it in no time!

[Says the child who's feet are barely skimming the water because he's using his floating abilities to keep above it, like an asshole.

While Hanako's only had about a year's experience under his belt and a very recent graduation, he was also trained by one of the best, and took to Torment fighting like a duck to water. So when Ai-Doll asked him to come along for this Excursion (his first as an actual chaperone instead of the one being chaperoned), how could he refuse? Granted, the other girl-- Rhodonite, was it?-- looked somewhat familiar, and instinct was telling him to keep her at least a person's distance away for now, just as a precaution. (Seriously, it was getting so hard these days to dodge fellow Dreamers in Yumemigaoka, it was ridiculous!!) The older dude along for the ride proved to be a good buffer between the two, and if anyone were to ask, he could just claim he was keeping the newbies protected from the other end. Easy peasy!

Still, the excitement of getting to explore more of the unknown was hard to contain, and he can't help but cheerfully raise his fist in the air, a rallying motion for the start of their journey.]

Lead the way, Senpai! Let's go!! ☆

[ Over her shoulder to Decadence – ] You'll be fine! I can guarantee your legs will be warm and dry again as soon as you wake up. So you just have to bear with it a little longer!

[ Or for, you know, however long they're stuck in this dream. She turns her attention to Rhodonite and the playful grin she'd been favoring Decadence with softens just a bit and turns into something more acceptably senpai-ish. ]

You get used to this part quick enough! And maybe you'll pick up a trick like Hanako-kun so you can avoid the worst of it.

[Sheesh, Ai-Doll pivots on a dime... well, it probably comes with experience and also being a celebrity on both sides. Rhodonite nods, giving as honest a smile as she can manage right now.]

I'm not so worried about this part. It's a little uncomfortable, but I can deal. We've got work to do, right? [She does glance over briefly to Decadence after the complaint, then to Hanako who... yeah, that is a handy trick, and her eyebrows raise, before she shakes her head softly.] I'll save neat tricks for after I can make sure I can get through a trip in one piece.

[She's confident she's the least senior person here, and she knows the most senior person here. The other two are a toss-up, but she has a feeling it's Hanako next-most-senior. That's mostly going to be important (to her mind, at least) to know who's going to carry if things go pear-shaped.]

[Well, shit. After an earnest, enthusiastic declaration like that, Ango can't totally slack off. Unfortunately, he's lacking in neat tricks - befitting his ninja-themed aesthetic, his powers as Dreamer Decadence are geared towards sneaking and subterfuge, not direct combat. He can juggle knives pretty well, though.]

So, uh, we got a plan here, or are we just winging it?

[But he was the prefectural judo champ back in middle school, so at least he can rely on his fists. Sure, that was like 25 years ago, but who's counting?]

That's the spirit! [He laughs a bit merrily at Rhodnite's words, before adding:] Though these "neat tricks" can be also be the key that saves you from turning into Torment chow, so don't knock whatever quirk in your abilities you come across along the way, 'kay?

[After all, he's only gotten this good at floating so far thanks to his life literally depending on it-- though that was less due to fighting and more due to some... unorthodox training methods. His point still stands, though! (Even if he really could have chosen his words better)

Decadence brings up a very good question, however, and Hanako taps his finger against his chin in thought.]

Hm... we just eliminate whatever we come across, I guess? Senpai and I get the big guys, and you two get the small fries for practice...?

[But Hanako's for sure not the top dog in charge here, not by a dang continent, so he peers over towards Ai-Doll, large eyes questioning.]

Actually, he's right-- what are we doing exactly?

I wouldn't go as far as saying we're winging it... [ Which, to those of you playing along at home, should be taken to mean that they're Definitely Winging It. ] But I don't want us to get too focused on fighting today. You should think of this as a field trip!

[ As if in response to her words, the world around them and the train tracks under their feet seem to fluctuate for a second before stabilizing again. They're probably close to someone's dream, but it's not quite ready for them to pass into it just yet. ]

The City is good and safe, but sticking to a place that looks so much like the real world is no good when it comes to working out what you can really do over here. So we're exploring! I want us to find a good place to really explore and investigate, so we can see just what you can imagine up over on this side.

[ 'We' mostly meaning 'Rhodonite', obviously. But she's not gonna just say that. ]

[Ai-Doll-senpai, no, please don't even suggest you're winging it, Rhodonite is going to cry. Still, that's a good point - they're not going hunting today, they're out exploring. So it's... probably okay not to have a plan?]

We'll have to see - I don't know if I have anything in me that isn't for fighting, if the vibes I'm getting are right. Then again, anything can be a non-combat power if you try hard enough, right? [Commanding attention would be great if she ever tried to put on a show on this side...]

Ah, and sorry, I didn't mean to knock your powers, either. [A glance at Hanako again.] Floating is cool! I just want to start with the basics and go from there. No point in being able to do cool stuff if I get smacked in the face anyway.

Don't worry too much, kiddo - Ai-Doll's got her shit together, so everything's gonna be fine. If we manage to do something cool, that's just icing on the cake.

[Ango is the youngest of his family and doesn't have any junior siblings, but if he did have a cute little sister, she might be something like Rhodonite... so if some Torment tries to smack her in the face, he'll smack it straight out of the Dream Sphere, lack of combat powers be damned.]

Seems like we're getting close, right?

[Ango squints into the mist around them, hoping that his power of sharpened vision works through sunglasses.]

I can kinda see flashes of... something out there.

[Hanako peeks around Decadence to beam over towards Rhodonite, a silent means of accepting her apology (though there was no offense taken, really!), as well as a means to reassure her.]

Yeah, what the old guy said! [Hanako, are you already trying to be a pain in the ass this early on the trip, oh my god--] You're in super good hands with Senpai, and! You got me to look after you guys, too! So there's absolutely nothing to worry about.

[A beat, and then:]

... well, except maybe running into some crazy high-level Nightmares or something, but the chances of that are reaaaaaal low. Probably.

[Please stop trolling the newbies, child.....

He perks up as Decadence claims to have spot something in the distance, though, shifting his cap back a little as he tries to get a better look for himself.]

Ooooh, good eyes! It probably won't be long now 'til we get in. [He kicks his feet a little excitedly as he hovers in the air, the thrill of exploring somewhere new and unknown thrumming within him.] I really hope it's someplace cool!

Edited 2023-06-09 02:21 (UTC)

Good catch! I think it's still forming, but–

[ Just as she says those words, the timbre of their footsteps change. Rather than the swish and splash of water around their ankles, it's suddenly the deep, resonant clack of old stone, marble. Ai-Doll's gaze drops just in time to see what looks like stone platform set into the ground, glinting in dreamy colours before the rest of the dream rushes out and forms itself around them.

It happens dizzyingly fast, with only a few seconds before they're suddenly under a beautiful twilight sky with stars twinkling so bright and so close it feels like you could reach out and pluck them from the clouds. From the vantage point they have, they've got a perfect view of every other island hanging in the sky with them and Ai-Doll practically twirls on the spot in her eagerness to take it all in. ]

Just look at this! I can't believe we ended up somewhere so perfect on our first try! Isn't it lovely?

[Rhodonite sends an appreciative glance at Decadence, and a half-hearted glare back at Hanako, but she notices when the expected dull sploosh of her heels into water doesn't come. Her pulse quickens, but as she looks around at the atmosphere around her, her breath catches in her throat. Of all things, this isn't at all what she'd expected out of this place. She's used to the City, to the couple of other places she's seen briefly. This is...] ...pretty! I didn't think we'd end up somewhere like this.

[It's like the whole place glows. She could be happy just standing here and taking in the scenery for hours, glimmers and glows in the darkness catching her eye every time she turns her head. Energy flows through her and she just wants to go, to run around and explore, but Ai-Doll's voice is a reminder she's not here alone, and with visible effort she reins herself in, still grinning, eyes bright.] I wish I had a camera! Well, not that I can, but. You know what I mean!

...Well, shit.

[Ango pauses for a moment to lower his sunglasses and really take in the scene around him. It's... actually beautiful. The Slumbering City is nice in a pastel-pretty sort of way, but it's still vaguely reminiscent of the real world. This is the kind of place that can only exist in dreams. Delicate bridges of faintly luminous stone connect floating palaces, butterflies flit between pleasure gardens, and the streaking light of meteors glints off gilded citadels. Ango is so preoccupied by looking up that it takes him a moment to realize that there's no ground beneath the floating islands, only an endless void that gradually fades into night.]

Weird-looking meteors, though... kinda looks they've got faces.

[There's a small clack of heels gently settling upon the old stone as Hanako's feet finally touch the ground a small distance away from the group, large eyes somehow wider from all the wonder around them. He was, for lack of a better word, star-struck. This wasn't his first Excursion, not by a long shot, but... in all of his travels, there had never been anything quite like this. It felt as if they had stumbled upon an ancient lunar paradise, adrift in space, with a night so clear and ripe with stars that it would put the most ideal dark sky site to shame. For once, Hanako's speechless, only managing a dumbfounded nod at Ai-Doll's and Rhodnite's gushing over the scenery.]

... yeah.

[Truth be told, he couldn't agree with them further-- if it were possible, he had wanted to bring his telescope here, to chart each and every one of these stars and see if they matched up to the ones he knew. Heck-- they might not even be the same constellations and bodies back on Earth, which made it even more exciting of a prospect to explore. But Amane was the one with the passion for astronomy, not Hanako-- and if he wanted to maintain that divide between his identities, he probably shouldn't nerd out about this sort of thing out in the open and have others wind up connecting the dots.

He's pulled from his daze by Decadence's comment, though, and his eyes focus on said meteors, close enough in this vast expanse of sky to pick up on their features. Yep, those definitely weren't your average shooting stars, alright.

With a twirl of his fingers, he summons his Sandglass weapon, a clear knife with white, starry flecked red sand within, holding it at the ready as he eyes the approaching threats.]

Ah-- you two might wanna get your weapons ready, then! Things are about to get just a little less pretty around here.

Uninvited guests already, huh? [ With a flurry of stardust, Ai-Doll draws her wand and stands perfectly poised. Almost as if she totally anticipated happening and isn't at all surprised to see them already coming under some kind of threat. But surely not. ] Or I guess if you want to get technical about it, we're the uninvited guests!

[ She laughs merrily and then strikes the heel of her foot down decisively, fixing herself in place with the steady confidence of a Sentry ready to take to battle. ]

Alright, then – Hanako-kun, you take the lead! The two of you, fall back and keep pace with me! Everybody ready?

[It takes Rhodonite a bit longer to process the incoming enemies than the others - whether she was distracted by the sparkling night sky or just hasn't developed the right threat detection skills yet is anyone's guess - but eventually her eyes sharpen as she realizes that, yes, they're under attack. She's been expecting something since they arrived in the Slumbering City in the first place, mind, so it's a matter of swinging her bass over her front with a small flourish, red sand in the body glinting dully in the starlight, pick between her fingers. Ai-Doll's orders are quick and easy to understand, and she nods sharply.]

Y-yes! Ready as I'm getting!

[Her hands are shaking just a little, again, as she repeats herself and completely misses that she's done it. On the one hand, she has new power within since the last time she did this! On the other, if there were any Mentor she'd freak out training under, it's Ai-Doll, embodiment of her ideal and legend in her own right. She's playing music for an idol and two other Dreamers. Can she handle it...? Still, she won't fall behind, at least. If she's going to screw this up, it'll be by Ai-Doll's side where she's supposed to be.]

[Ango unsheathes his Sandglass weapons - a pair of glass kunai daggers, befitting his ninja image - and takes a few steps back towards Ai-Doll. Two musicians and two guys with knives sounds like an unbalanced team, but what the hell does he know? He's never ventured past the low risk areas close to the Slumbering City.

Presumably Rhodonite isn't planning to bash Torments with her bass (although that would be cool), so she's probably got some music-based defensive powers... and Ai-Doll is a Sentry, so she's going to be focused on defense, too. Which means that a Dreamer like him, whose combat abilities are limited to light attacks and sneaking around, is probably most useful where he can mop up any Torments that manage to sneak past the two of them.]

Yeah, yeah, I'm ready.

[He cracks his knuckles and stretches his shoulders. It's Ango's first official Excursion, but it's definitely not his first fight.]

[Ai-Doll's orders come as a bit of a surprise to him-- Hanako had come along under the (rightful) assumption that he was her back-up, and that she would be taking the lead on whatever battles they found themselves in. After all, she was the most experienced Dreamer of this pack, and had MANY more years of Torment fighting under her belt than he did. It was an awful lot of responsibility to place upon the shoulders of somebody who only just graduated ranks, but... well. How could he resist the opportunity to show off, especially in front of his former Mentor and a couple of newbies?

He grins, almost bordering on a smirk, making sure the others' weapons were summoned before making any moves. Wouldn't be fair to go on the attack if they were still defenseless, after all!]

Gotcha! ☆

[And at that, he darts forward, neatly dodging around the formation they've found themselves in and keeping his eyes squarely fixed on the front-line of the meteor swarm. Once he's deemed himself close enough, he leaps into the air, taking full advantage of his Dreamer agility to launch himself right into the fray.]

Hakujodai!

[At his call, two orbs of ghostly, semi-transparent light swirl into existence, zipping to slam into the closest Torments they can home in on. Using the nearest meteor monster as a stepping stone, he slashes at the one above him, his Striker advantage helping it poof into a shimmery cloud of dust. For as speedy and strong as he is, however, Hanako's still very much a glass cannon, and he can only do so much leaping and dodging on his own before he'll wind up getting hurt. He already knew Ai-Doll had some excellent defensive capabilities, but he was hoping the other two had some abilities that could cover the spots that they'd somehow missed. It was hard to gauge a Dreamer's power just by their weapons (because a lot of times, they really weren't weapons-- Rhodonite's guitar being a key example), so there was no telling just how this fight might shape up at the moment.

Wide-range fighter Hanako was not, however, and as a few Torments hurtle past him towards the group, he shouts over his shoulder:]

Incoming on your right and left, guys!!

[ Strike.

When Ai had asked him to come along as her backup, she hadn't been lying – at least, not outright. She rarely does to Amane nowadays, not when he's gotten so good at catching her out. But artfully sidestepping the exact truth and not letting on to the full scope of her intentions... maybe it makes her a scummy adult, but she doesn't mind doing that as much.

This isn't just a test for the novices, after all. If Hanako really has graduated and if he really is saying he's ready to start taking newbies under his own wings, then Ai wants to see the fruits of his labor before she can give him her full approval. She'd told him she wouldn't be letting him out of her sight just yet, hadn't she? ]

Decadence to the left! And Rhodonite... [ Ai-Doll claps her hands together and that radiant spotlight encircles her, drawing the attention of the remaining Torments. ] It's a little unconventional, but how about duetting with me?

[The cacophony of drawn weapons - and in Hanako's case opening fire, the Torments nearest him being taken down, somewhat to her surprise - does nothing to calm Rhodonite's nerves. Still, she's in good hands - nobody in this group wants anything but the best for her and all of them, and she'll have to depend on that. Now, she just has to convince herself she can handle it. Which is also a wash when Ai-Doll offers to take Rhodonite with her. Her pick nearly drops from suddenly nerveless fingers; if her bass weren't slung over her shoulder she'd have dropped that too. Her, in the spotlight? The literal spotlight, as she feels the air shift and Torments looking in her direction, her own gaze coming up to stare at Ai-Doll just as surely? She'd been thinking about it in the abstract before! She's not ready! Can she... stand in that light? Should she?

That nausea from the other day is back in full force, but she marshals her performance anxiety and nods, not able to find her voice just now. Tentatively, carefully, she draws on her power. She wants nothing more than to disappear like a low, flat note into the endless twilight; instead, she fires off a harsh, rich chord, and adds her own power to Ai-Doll's to make sure they have the Torments' attention between them. Her face is pale, but Rhodonite is stubbornly holding her ground.]

L-l-le- [She grimaces and swallows hard. It's pretty clear to anyone looking at her that Something Is Wrong, but it's way too late to back out now, as she does her best to smile and probably just manages a pained expression.] Let's go, senpai.

The kid seems nervous - not that Ango can blame her. It's her first real fight, and she's gotta perform in front of the Dreamer Union's top idol. He might have spent the past two decades cultivating a disaffected "cool guy" persona, but Ango still remembers being a nerdy, nearsighted kid with sweaty palms at his first martial arts tournament. He'd been scared shitless, and he'd lost his first bout... but after his nerves settled, he won the second and the third, and soon he realized that he was actually kind of good at fighting. What Rhodonite needs right now is a solid, well-earned win.]

YEAAAH! Rhodonite, that rocks!

[He grins and flashes her a hand-horns sign before returning his attention to the Torments. While the defensive wall of sound knocks most of them back, a few of the quicker ones change direction to evade the counterattack.]

Not so fast, you little shits...

[Ango throws his knives into first two Torments, extinguishing them, but the next meteor crashes against his armored fist and explodes into stardust. Damn, that's satisfying. The little buggers are fast but they don't have a lot of power, so taking them out is like a musical arcade game - it's all a matter of timing.]

[Amane hadn't reflected much on Rhodonite's behavior until now-- he had chalked up her extreme nerves when they had met at the bookstore to be due to the thunderstorm (and, to be fair, he was rather freaked out too, so he couldn't blame her!!), but seeing her in battle now... it seemed like she was just an anxious person in general. But who wouldn't be, when thrust into a situation like this? If there was anything Hanako had learned in his brief year as a Dreamer, though, it was to feign confidence-- after all, how did that saying go? "Fake it until you make it"? It's how he got this far, at least, and doesn't mind bolstering Rhodonite's self-esteem along with everyone else if it helped her on her journey. (But boy, if he ever found out about this being a Final Test of sorts on Ai's end... he wasn't going to be thrilled!!)

As the chord resonates through the hoard of Torments, pushing them back, Hanako perks up, that starting note invigorating him already.]

We get our own fight music?! WAHOO!

[Energized by this new line of defense, he leaps from Torment to Torment, taking some well-aimed swipes and stabs to pick off a few from the ones drawn in by Ai-Doll's and Rhodonite's lure. Best to thin that bunch a little so things don't get too overwhelming, but considering she was in Ai's hands-- he had a feeling the ladies would be alright. With that in mind, he draws his focus to the craftier creatures, alternating between slashing the closer ones, and using his Hakujoudai to pinball them in Decadence's direction. Rhodonite wasn't the only Novice here, after all, and while Ai-Doll seemed to be better suited to train her in her abilities, Hanako could already see some ways he could help this guy out with his own.]

Hey hey, old guy! Wanna see how many we can get in a row?

[ Hanako has Decadence covered - or at least, covered enough that Ai-Doll feels confident in turning her full attention over to Rhodonite. They're both illuminated in the spotlight's vibrant glow so for once, Ai-Doll's light isn't quite so overwhelming. Of course 'not quite so overwhelming' is still 'overwhelming' and the way she beams at Rhodonite isn't helping matters at all. ]

That leaves me and you to clean up the stragglers, then. We can handle that much, right?

[ With a flurry of bright starlight, she manifests her Sandglass and strikes down an approaching Torment with it. For Torments this weak, one or two blows should be enough to take them down... it's being swarmed that's the real problem here. ]

Let's draw them in and pick them off one by one!

Who the hell are you calling an old guy, brat!? I'll kick your ass right back to elementary school!

[He isn't even 40 yet, damn it! He still has all of his hair! He really isn't that much older than Ai-Doll... although her good looks are probably helped by clean living and moisturizer, whereas Ango lives on a diet of cigarettes and conbini snacks and only exercises when he's running away from the consequences of his own actions.

Spurred on by righteous indignation and the totally mature and adult need to impress a snot-nosed middle schooler, Ango focuses on pulverizing Torments with his fists and feet. Neither he nor the brat is really a distance fighter, but between his throwing knives and the kid's Haku-whatevers, they can at least funnel the Torments into range.]

Keep'em coming! I ain't even broken a sweat yet!

[Hopefully the deer-in-the-headlights expression on Rhodonite's face captures her inner terror well enough. Sure, she can handle it, but her mind is building her up to an impossible standard. The cheering from her fellow Dreamers is helping somewhat - she's not completely frozen, and her mind's still whirring - but this is still rough on her. But... she also can't run away. Ai-Doll is trusting her. The others trust Ai-Doll and so are trusting her by extension. Running would mean they'd all just...

Rhodonite trembles for a moment, pulse pounding in her ears, as she shakes her head violently. She won't let them disappear. She'll protect them, however she can. If she has to throw herself in front of a Torment, that's what she'll do. And if she can remove the problem before it's a threat, well... that'll work best.]

R-right. Right...!

[She's still visibly shaken, and Lisa is going to regret this Dream when she wakes, never mind that she needs to thank Hanako and Decadence (or their civilian selves) for their support later. But the fire is back in her eyes, smoldering yet not extinguished, and the sand in her bass shifts and glimmers as she adjusts her grip, before slipping the strap off her shoulder and swinging the body out with a flourish, taking a Torment apparently by surprise and blasting it aside. These things are going to pay for making her look so unreliable in front of Ai-Doll and the others...!]

★ blind the masses with a grin, stir up the media

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