savetheearth | [open] If Santa Claus isn't coming to town, we have to go and find him.

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[open] If Santa Claus isn't coming to town, we have to go and find him.

Attention! By popular vote the Big Finale has been postponed!

Who: Everyone!
What: As announced, the NSCG+friends have been called to Lapland! There, they travel North, hunt down some kidnappers and finally discover...
When: 13th-~~19th 24th of January~~ after Toushiro and Dani's post.
Where: Lapland
Warnings: Abduction of children, scary Santa Clauses, violence, one instance of (not graphically described) brutally murdered reindeer

On the David Graibiger and Monika Hallbach will greet the numbered in Rovaniemi and together they will all get on a bus northwards. Up there, they will all room in a few cabins, each with two four-person-bedrooms; food will be provided and the beds are made, but they'll have to cook for themselves. TV is available in the living room/kitchen of each cabin, but the internet connection sucks. Up there, they will be taught how to drive a car in the snow, how to drive a snowmobile, how to shoot a rifle if they have no combat power (for self defense). They will then be tasked with one of the following things:

1. People with combat powers: Go out there and hunt down the kidnappers! If those people seek for long enough, they will find:
- Haggard, wild looking old men with unkempt beards who are either dressed in red santa's clothes or have been jammed into green fur suits, their faces painted green with what appears to be markers. These men are feral: They will run away but, if attacked, use hands and teeth to fight, and not be afraid of injuring a person in any way. They are superhumanly strong, but seem to be incapable of human speech - they can seemingly neither speak nor understand what is said.
If a child of up to 14 years is with the group, they are much more likely to find one of these as the beings are seeking out children. They will try to get their hands on and run away with the child in question.

2. People without combat powers: They will be sent on various trips to look at sightings, talk to people, etc. These include, but are not limited to:
- Talk to the parents of abandoned children. There isn't much information to be had from the conversations themselves, but keen numbered will realized that there are vermini in the bedrooms of the vanished children...
- Checking out a flock of reindeer that was bitten to death - yet whatever killed them doesn't seem to have eaten anything. Disturbingly enough, the brave researcher will realize that these were human teeth that killed them...
- Checking out an abandoned excavation site. The only description is that the mad guy who just recently started it (no, nobody knows who he was or why he did it or how he got the permission) hasn't be seen in almost a month now and the workers left for Christmas and didn't return after it. The place is full of vermini, but vermedi can also be found. What they will find too is a letter in Russian, written by the two last guards of the place, in which they resign from their spot, quoting that none of their tasks, which they describe as "watching lunatics and guarding the rise of a monster", was in the job description and that they just aren't paid enough. If someone wants to try, these guards can be tracked down, just comment to the Lapland plot post and ask for more information.

3. Everyone:
- Captured not!santas and not!grinches, after having been tied up or locked up or something similar, need to be watched. And questioned, but really, they will only be violent and still not say a thing or show intelligence above a scared badger. The only way to get any information out of them will be to set one free and hope that they lead the numbered to the place that they live in, but through trial and error one who attempts that will realize that they'll only return there once their mission of kidnapping a child is accomplished.

4 And last but not least
- Much more MUNDANE and nothing that they will strictly be tasked with but: Cooking! Fighting over the shower, throwing things at the snoring person in the next bed. Learning how to shoot, learning driving, petting reindeer, fun in the snow, do you want to build a snowman... go wild!

Please start your own threads and head over to the Lapland plot post if you have questions, need more information on something, want an NPC, want more tasks, etc.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah....

[That's it? She kind of thought that... oh, there she is.]

Uh, just a sec.

[She turns back to the phone.]

Uh... could you tell us exactly what they're up to over there?

[A beat later, there's a Lily sticking her head out from the same door that Winter left. She looks nowhere near as drowsy, although she is just now putting her glasses on.]

The police looking for us directly is never a good thing, even when they're on our side. They're doing what?

[Her eyes trail back into the bedroom.] We can be there pretty quick if we have to be.

They're ...angry in their cells. [He lacks a few words to describe it properly, but that really seems like a fitting descriptor.] And we think that they might manage to break out - we're not sure if they just didn't try before or became stronger, but...

Uh, right.

[She might be entirely the wrong person to be go-between for this conversation but whatever! She's not a damn secretary, she doesn't do... phone etiquette.]

Yeah, I think they need us to come down there and kick some ass.

[Her blood runs cold. If they get free... Toushirou. Dani and Toushirou are here. They'll take them away, and-]

I can arrange some ass-kicking, if that's what they need. Tell them we're coming as soon as we can. Lily, we have to move!

[Paying absolutely no attention to how she's dressed, she throws open the door and starts to bolt outside. She gets exactly one step into ankle-deep snow and bone-chilling wind before she recognizes her mistake, letting out a shrill sound and wrapping her arms around herself.] Fuck, it's cold- Raquel!

[The tiny blue plushie had already been moving by this point; he arrives just as Winter hits the threshold, and the hallmark ice-blue light shines into the cabin as Winter transforms. She comes out a foot above the ground, and as she touches down she's already moving, getting a few more steps from the cabin before she stops and turns back.] There's no time! Come on!

[Okay, clearly moving is a necessity. Lily recognizes that and is about to take a step back for her coat... when Winter bounds out of the cabin. In her pajamas. She can't help but gawk for a moment, a comment hanging on her tongue before her partner has realized her momentary folly and calling for Raquel.

It's at this point she just grabs a light coat off the door handle and retrieves her transformation trinkets.]

Oh, screw it.

[A moment later the cabin is illuminated with a bright light, as Cure Moonlight bounds out after the blue Cure. The police station isn't far, and they can probably get there by leaping or Lily flying as quick as it would take to summon the Heartcatch Mirage, so she doesn't.

Gathering up everyone else also would take time that they don't have, so she only prays that other messages have gone out as well.] Raye! Come on!

[Whenever they get to the police station, they will come just in time to see one or two numbered already fighting the flood of santas and grinches that are storming out of it, and... directly going in for attacking numbered. They downright ignore everyone who doesn't have a number, and five of them are headed for the new arrivals.]

[Raye just sits there for a second, watching her two companions in superheroing go rushing out the door in the cold. She kind of stares at Winter's shriek then again when Lily dives out the door.]

Uh, okay. We'll be right there. Senketsu--!

[CLICK]

[When next we join Raye, she's screaming out of the sky in her STUPID JET FORM and aiming to land right in the festive fuckheads' path with a wide swing of her Scissor.]

WE'RE HERE!

[They pause for a moment, dodging the scissors but... otherwise waiting, almost as if they want the other two to come down first before engaging.]

[They'll get their wish; it's not long before Diamond comes flying at them, violence on her mind. She's mindful that damage here is to be avoided, but they can't let these things get away. Opting to start with physical attacks and switch to magic later, she dives in, not bothering to check if Moonlight is behind her - she trusts Lily to be there.]

We can probably handle this with just our physical attacks! Try to limit damage to the area - this isn't Locke! And when we're done here, I want a headcount - make sure everyone is accounted for! Now, of all times, we can't afford to make a mistake!

[Not when mistakes mean missing friends.]

[Moonlight is indeed right behind her. She swoops down, cape billowing out behind her. Perhaps not moving quite as fast as Raye was, but still flying. Actually, she never stops flying, and instead uses her momentum to slam a fist into one old man as she passes by. Not aiming to do any lasting damage, but she's not going to be terribly heartbroken if anything breaks on his end.]

We need to do this as fast as possible, though! Something is happening and we need to know what!

[For the moment, the santas will try to take the flying attackers down - grab them and hold on to them, not particularly caring if they dig their claws into skin in the process. They are wiry and sturdy and strong, and also... fast, and faster than the light in bouts, as if they can step out of time for a couple of metres or a few motions.]

I got it, I got it!

[With the freaks making a grab for Moonlight and Diamond, Raye moves fast, lunging into the path of a few coming at them from the side, swings her blade and... and what she's swinging at just isn't there anymore. Blinking, she hops a step or two, off balance by her wasted attack.]

What the crap?!

[She's relieved that Raye has the situation under control, and continues preparing to strike as planned. Diamond isn't designed as a melee combatant, not like Moonlight is. But she's got a lot of strength available to her, so it doesn't matter terribly much.

Until Raye doesn't have the situation under control, and Winter lets out a breath.] What... what was that? Everyone, keep your distance! They- wah!

[She probably shouldn't have taken her attention off them to shout orders. As she gets the words out of her mouth, two of them come flying at her. She manages to dodge one, but the other gets close enough to be a problem, and she aims a kick at it... which would be fine if it hadn't blinked through her and reached out an arm with functional sharp things on its hands from behind her.] No-!

[Luckily Moonlight is moving at a fairy decent clip as hands grab for her, and she drops to the snowy ground in order to engage them hand-to-hand as Diamond had suggested. No need for a bunch of firepower, they'd be...

Moving way too fast to detect well. One nearly gets her right in the face, and she moves so scarcely fast enough that several strands of bright purple hair go drifting off free in the wind. She's bounding out of the way, mind racing on how to deal with this. Her eyes lock on Cure Diamond, just as she sees her opponent appear behind her and...

That's as far as the hand-to-hand suggestion goes. In the next instant there's a blaze of light in her hand, and it's firing out with all the speed of a bullet, aiming to collide with the Santa reaching out for Diamond. There's a loud sound as Moonlight's boot hits the ground, and it cracks and then explodes beneath her as she sends herself rocketing across the way - and through anything that gets in her way - to try and grab the blue Precure and pull her some distance away. The blast to the Santa, if it connects, will deliver considerable concussive force - but it won't kill or otherwise destroy anything.

A Precure's magic is to heal, not expressly destroy - even if they could do that, too.]

Winter! New plan! Freeze them, lock them down!

Edited 2015-01-27 06:00 (UTC)

[The santa, too forced on his target and too mid-jump to control his movement fully or use the blipping out of time to his advantage, is hit but the blast and throws him out of the way - he goes sailing right into a grinch that was running by towards a different numbered, and they go down in a heap.

The remaining four santas fan out into a rough circle formation, looking at the young women with crazy eyes.]

[Well, that's annoying. Fuckin' teleporting, huh? For now it doesn't seem like the freaks are paying much attention to her, instead focusing their attention on Moonlight and Diamond giving her a second to look over the situation. Two of them are down for now, four of them up, and she hears Moonlight shout her plan. Alright.]

Senketsu. [She settles into a runner's stance, holding her sword back behind her back.] Crank up the speed, let's fence the bastards in.

Understood.

[And she takes off at a run, moving at blurring speed as she circles around the four assholes. She's not attacking yet, just hoping to keep them occupied long enough for Diamond to toss her ice attack in there.]

[She can feel everything slowing down, as the thing reaches for her, and there's nothing she can do about it-

There's a sharp force that hits her right in the stomach, and she's winded and dazed for a second, until bright lilac hair flies into her view.] Lily? You saved me... again. [Some small portion is engaged in the fact that, when Lily saves her, Winter is never injured, but Lily often is. Something in her becomes hyper aware, and even as they fly through a third tree and glance off a lightpost with a painful sound that may have been someone's arm almost breaking, she's determined to make sure Moonlight isn't particularly notably injured.

As soon as they come to rest, Diamond's arm is out to the side, and her Love Heart Arrow falls into it. Untangling herself from Moonlight, she nods, face setting into a terrible rage.] It would be my pleasure.

[Diamond leaps into the sky. aiming to get a clean shot and also not hit Raye. Slotting the Loveads into her Arrow and running her finger up its spine, she sighs.] To hell with all of you. Precure Diamond Shower! [A tambourine rings across the town as Winter calls a storm to freeze the Santas into place. It's a huge storm, but hey, someone could get lucky.]

[As they come to a rather rough stop - somehow, Lily just hasn't gotten down the landing a hundred percent of the time, even precisely a year later - she passes Diamond a small smile, just... something to tell her quietly and quickly that she's okay. As she gives the blue Cure a once over visually to make certain she's alright, to. But she knows almost instinctively what Winter's concern must be - she'd be a fool not to.

As they right themselves, and Raye runs her distraction tactic, Lily slaps her flower brooch and summons her own weapon - the Moon Tact. She stands off to the side of Winter as she attacks, light glistening off the item's crystal tip, power humming faintly. If their foes avoid this, or somehow break free...

Cure Moonlight would be ready with immediately retaliation.]

[The santas don't know what is coming, but they sense that the girls are moving out of the circle and when Diamon shoots, two of them are suddenly outside Raye's circle - the two who were on the ground were still busy getting up, and the third and fourth were trying to figure out what Raye is doing and how to get her. Getting into her way looks like a bad idea even to them.

Well, staying was a bad idea too, because there's four frozen santas now.

Two remain, both of them standing there and staring up at the two Cures, trying to figure out how to get them out of the sky.]

[As soon as Diamond's storm comes down, Raye changes her path, carrying herself just out of reach of the freezing blast. Her foot hits the ground and there's a brief pause in her rush, just for a second as she picks her two targets, considers, and then flips her Scissor around so the blunt edge is forward.]

Ho ho ho, motherfuckers!

[And then she's surging forward again, and swinging her weapon at the two staring up at the Cures.

It's unclear whether she paused to consider a non-lethal attack, or to come up with a one-liner.]

[As much as she's supposed to be focused and reasonable about all this, Winter is inwardly pleased that she caught a couple more of them. The girls now outnumber their enemies, which is good.

And then Raye dives in to cut them to shreds. Winter's immediate thought is to keep them from getting away, which means she holds her Arrow back up and taps it again, snow casting out to the sides of Raye's approach vector. If she's doing her physics right, she should be able to bracket the fake Santas into one place, and make them easier for Raye to cut down.]

Shine, flowers!

[She can't fire just yet, but Moonlight raises her baton, the crystal shining brightly as a giant, bloom-like pulse of energy appears above her.

If the remaining Santas avoid Raye's blow, and Winter's ice... she has one surprise all ready for them.]

[One of the santas remains staring up at Moonlight, her attack keeping her established as a combatant; the other notices Raye and tries to escape to the side, but then can be seen pressed almost flat against Winter's ice wall. He must have had significant speed running into it.

So both are still there when Raye arrives.]

[She sees the wall of ice go up, and watches the santa smack face first into it and then grins.]

We got 'em! Let's do it!

Right!

[Light shines from her and Senketsu, but not the same furious red glare as the time they attacked the mafia. It's lighter, perhaps warmer somehow. Created by the two of them coming together for a single purpose. Synchronized.

Stars flare up along the Scissor Blade and the weapon folds out, extending into Decapitation Mode and she gives a yell as she swings, her follow through carrying her to a stop on the other side. A thin line splits across the ice from where the Blade had cut through both it. And anything else that was in its path.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[open] If Santa Claus isn't coming to town, we have to go and find him.

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