[She side-eyes the group. This is no job for a doggy and some battered goth model. Elphelt is having doubts this is a fish at this point. Maybe the fishermen snagged a submarine?]
I don't want you to get hurt. Stay back, I'll handle this.
[As she says that, she is pulled ahead. She steels her footing before she can be pulled into the water, but only barely. She definitely needs a helping hand, but maybe someone beefier. A human hand won't do, that is for sure.]
[Regarding this in increasingly peeved silence, A2 steps forward anyway, grabbing the netting and digging in her heels before yanking, and hard. Even she briefly struggles against the sheer might of this freaky ass fish. But soon enough, the freaky ass fish begins to lose ground. The combined effort pulls it forward with increasing ease.
A2's expression remains focused and devoid of much emotion, though as she continues to pull, she wonders aloud:]
[Elphelt wants to reiterate her warning to give the fishy danger a wide berth, but she drops it when the woman's efforts are immediately noticeable. The fish will not win!]
Whatever it is, it's no match for double the girl power. On three, let's go all out! One, two, three--!
[Deciding it is now or never, Elphelt gives this her all. The air crackles as she taps into her magic. That extra strength combined with the assistance of her new galpal is enough to finally win the tug-of-war. They pull the net from the water and it--and its contents--arc over their head, casting a wide shadow over them. It lands on the beach with a crash.]
[Okay, that's not what she's expecting. She feels something too, something a little like... a machine signature? No. Like that round thing. Emil?
... Hm.
Her gaze shifts to Elphelt, and she looks ready to ask a question when... their catch is revealed to be a monster, too massive by half and angry to boot. The crowd of fishermen scream and haul ass away from the dock, but A2 draws her greatsword and makes a beeline toward the shore.]
Shit-! Pod, Koromaru! We gotta get that... thing away from civilians! [The dog and drone both leap to attention at her command, but A2 spares a look over her shoulder to Elphelt.]
[In a blur, Elphelt bolts ahead to cut the weird, murderous group off and holds her hands out for them to stop.]
How do you know he's dangerous? There's no reason to jump right to hurting him!
[As a monster and miniboss herself, she finds it mean they would automatically assume the only solution is violence, assuming this is even a situation requiring a solution. ]
Let's resolve this peacefully. We can--
[With no other targets, the monster chomps down on Elphelt. Her limbs flail from the maw and her shouting is muffled.]
Auuuugh! Gross, gross, gross! [She pries the jaws open. Before Elphelt can say anything more, the monster decides this is too hard to eat (or tastes funny) and begins flailing its head in an attempt to dislodge her.] Stoooop! This smells awful!
[As a miniboss herself, whose phasers are set to "kill" at any given moment, being stopped from doing the one thing she's good at (killing) makes A2's expression light up in offense.] How do I know? 'Cause it's huge and it's obviously a killing machine! If you don't move out of my goddamn way-
[Her potential threat is cut off by the monster doing pretty much what A2 expected it to do, which is try to eat its would-be savior. A2 backflips, elegantly landing in a crouch in the sand in order to avoid the same fate, and at a safe distance, watches the creature flail around with the woman still lodged in its maw. Slowly, her features flatten out again.
She asks, to her little RPG party of drone and dog:]
Can we just leave her in there? Maybe it'll go back underwater once it eats something. [But Pod says Negative, right as Koromaru gives an indignant yip, and, rolling her eyes, A2 drags her feet forward with a:]
Fiiinnneee. What a pain in the ass...
You two, flank it. [And as for A2?
With a graceful leap and an acrobatic spin mid-air, A2 lands atop the head of the beast in a catlike flourish, and, somehow managing to keep herself balanced even with all the thrashing, strikes it in the center of its skull with a mighty blow of the pommel of her blade. And she'll keep doing it, either until the dumb monster releases the dumber girl or until she gives it a concussion. Whichever's first.]
You know what they say about judging a book by its cover!
[She shouts as the monster alternates between trying to eat her and trying to dislodge her from its mouth. As the thing gets donked in the head, its bite weakens and Elphelt falls to the ground.
This is awful. Her jacket is covered in drool. :/
With a blur, Elphelt scurries up the limb of the beast and onto its head to join miss crankypants. Er, miss cranky, at least; Elphelt notes the lack of pants. Rather than joining in on the bullying of the not-fish, she rips off the net tangled around the things neck and tosses it to the ground. As the monster flails in a dazed panic, Elphelt drops down so she can look directly in the eye.]
Don't worry, li'l guy! We'll get you home.
[With a series of wet-sound slaps, she gives the monster a series of heavy pat, pat, pats in an effort to comfort it. If anything, this only appears to make it more confused, panicked, and concussed.]
What are you doing-?! [The jostling is making her wobble some, and she glares at Elphelt and her (to A2) increasingly absurd and baffling behavior toward this freaky fish monster thing that obviously wanted to eat them.] You're just going to piss it off mo-
[Her sentence is cut off when the beast whips its head hard enough to send her flying off of it. She twists in the air and Pod catches her mid-way before she can crash down to the earth like a steel meteor. From her temporary higher vantage point, she yells at Elphelt.]
Stop screwing around! We have to get rid of this thing!
She sounds like him. [To herself, in a deep voice:] "Stop screwing around, damn it! You're starting to piss me off!"
[Pretty girl on the outside, old man on the inside? What a weird lady. After all this is done, they are going to be BFFs. They can pet the dog together and pet that weird floating toaster, too, maybe. But she can't get ahead of herself! They still need to fix this mess before anyone or anything gets hurt.
As she thinks that, the flailing monster finally dislodges her, sending her flying. With a twirl, Elphelt lands on her feet behind the monster, which is now making an attempt to either attack the doggy and the toaster or to get away from the crazy women. It is hard to tell, but before it's made clear, Elphelt hugs its tail.]
Ding! Please begin boarding your flight!
[It is slow at first as she gradually turns in place. The air crackles and her blue eyes glow ever so slightly brighter as she goes at this with more gusto. Slowly but steadily she and the monster turn. Faster and faster. The monster's confusion gives way to panic which gives way to something between resignation and dizziness. Once the two are a blur, Elphelt lets go. Like a Frisbee, the monster spins off into the distance, crashing into the water far from the shore.
There, problem solved! She thinks. It's hard to tell as her vision is still twirling. She takes a step toward what she thinks is the other woman, but is off by a number of degrees and promptly falls on her face.]
[In stupefied shock, A2 watches this impressive display of strength. Pod glides her gently back down to the earth beside Koromaru as she stares, wide eyed, following Elphelt's wind-up, her eyes tracing the great beast as it lands back in the distance with a huge SPLASH!
She watches, dumbfounded, as the girl wobbles in front of her before falling on her face. A little huff escapes A2.
Slowly, she crouches down in the sand in front of Elphelt. After a moment of unnerving and silent observation, she holds out her hand, palm up.]
Great job, dummy. Didn't know you had it in you.
[She sounds wryly impressed. Koromaru steps forward too, to give a few concerned sniffs.]
Thank you, ma'am. Glad you know I'm not just a pretty face.
[Elphelt is immediately to her feet, as if she did not just hammer throw a monster into the distance or ate the ground a moment ago. Now that she is not distracted, she can take in the motley crew. A good little doggy, a babe who has seen better days, and a...toaster? Should he be out here near the water? Definitely a weird gang.]
Don't let anyone tell you Elphelt Valentine can't solve problems as quickly as she causes them! Err, forget everything I said after 'problems'.
[She hunches down to finally pet the doggy while cooing babytalky nonsense at him.]
Were you gonna throw down with that big lizard? What a bwave and handsome wittle guy.
[Standing back up, A2 watches the strange woman after she gives her spiel, and frowns a little at her babytalking of Koromaru, who, to his credit, seems more than happy to soak up the attention. She crosses her arms again, she and Pod watching in unimpressed judgment as the dog rolls over to have his belly petted.]
You don't have to talk to him like he's an infant. He understands language.
[He's smart ok... she is aware that most animals aren't sentient, but Koromaru has combat experience and emotional intelligence, in her opinion.]
[Elphelt considers pointing out that one cannot resist babytalking when one sees such a pwecious wittle handsome face, but she resists. Instead, after some vigorous belly rubs, she abruptly stands upright and salutes the dog.]
Ahem! Yes, thank you for your assistance, sir!
[Elphelt takes Koromaru's paw and shakes it firmly, made the more awkward with the dog flopped over.]
It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Elphelt. May I be so bold as to request the name of such a distinguished gentleman?
[A2's brow wrinkles further. Is she making fun of them, she wonders? But the greeting to Koromaru is respectful, so she can't really gripe about it. Koromaru barks in response, wagging his tail. He's a friendly little guy!]
His name's Koromaru. [A2's thumb jerks in Pod's direction.] This is Pod.
[Elphelt puts a finger to her chin as she closely inspects Pod. Interesting. She takes Pod's 'hand' and shakes. ]
Nice to meet you, Mister Pod!
[There is a gentle yellow glow from her hand. Just as she thought; no magic. Out of the corner of her eye, she gives A2 a lookover before turning her focus back to Pod.]
You're some serious black tech. Don't see things like you every day back home! Speaking of which-- [Elphelt spins on her heel and holds a hand out to A2.] --last but not least, the mysterious, beautiful leader of the Three Musketeers would be...?!
[Pod is amicable enough to handshakes, but A2 stares at Elphelt like she just grew a second head, somewhere between puzzled and too-alert. She does not hold out her hand, having noticed the odd glow and too paranoid about it to do much more than stare, hard.
Eventually, in a reluctant mutter:] ... A2.
[Outside of the excitement of combat, she seems less vocal, and much more awkward and unfriendly.]
......
[Pod, noticing its charge's customary descent into uncomfortable silence, speaks up on her behalf.]
Your assistance with the unknown creature is appreciated.
[Awkward. Maybe she's shy? Well, there goes that chance to confirm a few things, but all of that can wait. As nice as it is to learn about the other people here, it isn't urgent.]
No, thank you and Miss Ayetoo. And Mister Koromaru, too, of course!
[She returns to petting Koromaru, who she is confident is not a robot.]
That monster must have been hunting the same fish the dock workers were angling for and got stuck in the net. Nothing malicious. So, I'm glad we could resolve the issue without hurting it.
[A2 doesn't say anything right away, but she frowns to herself, turning away to stare off into the distance. She also spares a frown to Koromaru, who in true dog fashion, is really loving the attention and not thinking about what a traitor he's being.]
Pretty sure it's dizzy as hell, though.
[Said dryly, after a moment.] It was trying to eat you. [She points out, after a moment.] What if it comes back and decides to make a meal of these villagers?
[They should have just killed it, is her implication. Neutralize the threat and be done with it.]
[Finger guns! She goes right back to playing with Koromaru. No harm, no foul--no one was hurt and better it try to eat her than a human. Or a snake-human? ]
If it comes back, we can shoo it away again. And again. Until it knows it's not worth the trouble, which shouldn't take much.
[Resorting to killing at the first sign of conflict is a very human response to a problem. But maybe it's easier to say that when you're not under any threat. She was the scarier monster of the two, after all.]
Even monsters want to live. It was probably as scared as the villagers.
[Brow furrowed, A2 is obviously confused at the slang but makes no move to ask questions or get any further clarification. Instead she listens, shaking her head but passing no further judgment.]
Whatever you say.
[She sounds unconvinced, but she's disinclined to argue her point beyond what she already asked. Pod, however, floats over to Elphelt to observe for a moment before speaking.]
Analysis: Subject "Elphelt's" abilities are of unknown origin. Request: please state your intentions.
[A2's gaze is still pointed toward the horizon, but she glances over her shoulder at this, listening in.]
[Elphelt tilts her head, eyes flitting between Pod and A2.]
Do you interrogate every new friend Ayetoo makes? Or have I set her heart so aflutter that I'm gonna get the shovel talk?
[The ancient texts from Japan have spoken of this--The type of girl to hide her feelings and lash out the stronger those feelings are. A2 is too shy to even look her in the eyes!
Yet they are both girls...?!?!?
Elphelt (reluctantly) pauses her doggy fawning to stand upright. She has an uncharacteristically serious expression as she decides to properly answer Pod.]
Okay, okay. As not only the sole representative of my world, but the First Illyrian Royal Family as well, I'll lay my intentions bare. That is...
[Elphelt spins on her heel and throws up the horns.]
[Pod and A2 observe this in stony (A2) and questioning (Pod) silence. A lot of the things this new person says and does is very confusing for two beings from a wartorn hellscape.
Eventually:] All new subjects are monitored as a part of this Pod's responsibility to observe and investigate new phenomena.
[A2, on the other hand, frowns in clear confusion. To Elphelt:] Nothing you say makes any sense... this place has enough rocks.
[She barely knows what music is, OK.] ... Anyway. There's an inn in the city near this one. Place is kind of a wreck right now. But the humans will give you a room for free.
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expiationlogs2025-04-13 10:48 pm
no subject
I don't want you to get hurt. Stay back, I'll handle this.
[As she says that, she is pulled ahead. She steels her footing before she can be pulled into the water, but only barely. She definitely needs a helping hand, but maybe someone beefier. A human hand won't do, that is for sure.]
no subject
A2's expression remains focused and devoid of much emotion, though as she continues to pull, she wonders aloud:]
What kind of weird fish is this-?! What the hell?
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Whatever it is, it's no match for double the girl power. On three, let's go all out! One, two, three--!
[Deciding it is now or never, Elphelt gives this her all. The air crackles as she taps into her magic. That extra strength combined with the assistance of her new galpal is enough to finally win the tug-of-war. They pull the net from the water and it--and its contents--arc over their head, casting a wide shadow over them. It lands on the beach with a crash.]
Uh, that's not...
[...a fish. It is the size of a bus and more lizardy than fishy.]
no subject
... Hm.
Her gaze shifts to Elphelt, and she looks ready to ask a question when... their catch is revealed to be a monster, too massive by half and angry to boot. The crowd of fishermen scream and haul ass away from the dock, but A2 draws her greatsword and makes a beeline toward the shore.]
Shit-! Pod, Koromaru! We gotta get that... thing away from civilians! [The dog and drone both leap to attention at her command, but A2 spares a look over her shoulder to Elphelt.]
If you can fight, c'mon!
no subject
How do you know he's dangerous? There's no reason to jump right to hurting him!
[As a monster and miniboss herself, she finds it mean they would automatically assume the only solution is violence, assuming this is even a situation requiring a solution. ]
Let's resolve this peacefully. We can--
[With no other targets, the monster chomps down on Elphelt. Her limbs flail from the maw and her shouting is muffled.]
Auuuugh! Gross, gross, gross! [She pries the jaws open. Before Elphelt can say anything more, the monster decides this is too hard to eat (or tastes funny) and begins flailing its head in an attempt to dislodge her.] Stoooop! This smells awful!
no subject
[Her potential threat is cut off by the monster doing pretty much what A2 expected it to do, which is try to eat its would-be savior. A2 backflips, elegantly landing in a crouch in the sand in order to avoid the same fate, and at a safe distance, watches the creature flail around with the woman still lodged in its maw. Slowly, her features flatten out again.
She asks, to her little RPG party of drone and dog:]
Can we just leave her in there? Maybe it'll go back underwater once it eats something. [But Pod says Negative, right as Koromaru gives an indignant yip, and, rolling her eyes, A2 drags her feet forward with a:]
Fiiinnneee. What a pain in the ass...
You two, flank it. [And as for A2?
With a graceful leap and an acrobatic spin mid-air, A2 lands atop the head of the beast in a catlike flourish, and, somehow managing to keep herself balanced even with all the thrashing, strikes it in the center of its skull with a mighty blow of the pommel of her blade. And she'll keep doing it, either until the dumb monster releases the dumber girl or until she gives it a concussion. Whichever's first.]
no subject
[She shouts as the monster alternates between trying to eat her and trying to dislodge her from its mouth. As the thing gets donked in the head, its bite weakens and Elphelt falls to the ground.
This is awful. Her jacket is covered in drool. :/
With a blur, Elphelt scurries up the limb of the beast and onto its head to join miss crankypants. Er, miss cranky, at least; Elphelt notes the lack of pants. Rather than joining in on the bullying of the not-fish, she rips off the net tangled around the things neck and tosses it to the ground. As the monster flails in a dazed panic, Elphelt drops down so she can look directly in the eye.]
Don't worry, li'l guy! We'll get you home.
[With a series of wet-sound slaps, she gives the monster a series of heavy pat, pat, pats in an effort to comfort it. If anything, this only appears to make it more confused, panicked, and concussed.]
no subject
[Her sentence is cut off when the beast whips its head hard enough to send her flying off of it. She twists in the air and Pod catches her mid-way before she can crash down to the earth like a steel meteor. From her temporary higher vantage point, she yells at Elphelt.]
Stop screwing around! We have to get rid of this thing!
no subject
[Pretty girl on the outside, old man on the inside? What a weird lady. After all this is done, they are going to be BFFs. They can pet the dog together and pet that weird floating toaster, too, maybe. But she can't get ahead of herself! They still need to fix this mess before anyone or anything gets hurt.
As she thinks that, the flailing monster finally dislodges her, sending her flying. With a twirl, Elphelt lands on her feet behind the monster, which is now making an attempt to either attack the doggy and the toaster or to get away from the crazy women. It is hard to tell, but before it's made clear, Elphelt hugs its tail.]
Ding! Please begin boarding your flight!
[It is slow at first as she gradually turns in place. The air crackles and her blue eyes glow ever so slightly brighter as she goes at this with more gusto. Slowly but steadily she and the monster turn. Faster and faster. The monster's confusion gives way to panic which gives way to something between resignation and dizziness. Once the two are a blur, Elphelt lets go. Like a Frisbee, the monster spins off into the distance, crashing into the water far from the shore.
There, problem solved! She thinks. It's hard to tell as her vision is still twirling. She takes a step toward what she thinks is the other woman, but is off by a number of degrees and promptly falls on her face.]
no subject
She watches, dumbfounded, as the girl wobbles in front of her before falling on her face. A little huff escapes A2.
Slowly, she crouches down in the sand in front of Elphelt. After a moment of unnerving and silent observation, she holds out her hand, palm up.]
Great job, dummy. Didn't know you had it in you.
[She sounds wryly impressed. Koromaru steps forward too, to give a few concerned sniffs.]
no subject
Thank you, ma'am. Glad you know I'm not just a pretty face.
[Elphelt is immediately to her feet, as if she did not just hammer throw a monster into the distance or ate the ground a moment ago. Now that she is not distracted, she can take in the motley crew. A good little doggy, a babe who has seen better days, and a...toaster? Should he be out here near the water? Definitely a weird gang.]
Don't let anyone tell you Elphelt Valentine can't solve problems as quickly as she causes them! Err, forget everything I said after 'problems'.
[She hunches down to finally pet the doggy while cooing babytalky nonsense at him.]
Were you gonna throw down with that big lizard? What a bwave and handsome wittle guy.
no subject
You don't have to talk to him like he's an infant. He understands language.
[He's smart ok... she is aware that most animals aren't sentient, but Koromaru has combat experience and emotional intelligence, in her opinion.]
no subject
Ahem! Yes, thank you for your assistance, sir!
[Elphelt takes Koromaru's paw and shakes it firmly, made the more awkward with the dog flopped over.]
It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Elphelt. May I be so bold as to request the name of such a distinguished gentleman?
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His name's Koromaru. [A2's thumb jerks in Pod's direction.] This is Pod.
Pod 042. Greetings, Subject Elphelt.
no subject
Nice to meet you, Mister Pod!
[There is a gentle yellow glow from her hand. Just as she thought; no magic. Out of the corner of her eye, she gives A2 a lookover before turning her focus back to Pod.]
You're some serious black tech. Don't see things like you every day back home! Speaking of which-- [Elphelt spins on her heel and holds a hand out to A2.] --last but not least, the mysterious, beautiful leader of the Three Musketeers would be...?!
no subject
Eventually, in a reluctant mutter:] ... A2.
[Outside of the excitement of combat, she seems less vocal, and much more awkward and unfriendly.]
......
[Pod, noticing its charge's customary descent into uncomfortable silence, speaks up on her behalf.]
Your assistance with the unknown creature is appreciated.
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No, thank you and Miss Ayetoo. And Mister Koromaru, too, of course!
[She returns to petting Koromaru, who she is confident is not a robot.]
That monster must have been hunting the same fish the dock workers were angling for and got stuck in the net. Nothing malicious. So, I'm glad we could resolve the issue without hurting it.
no subject
Pretty sure it's dizzy as hell, though.
[Said dryly, after a moment.] It was trying to eat you. [She points out, after a moment.] What if it comes back and decides to make a meal of these villagers?
[They should have just killed it, is her implication. Neutralize the threat and be done with it.]
no subject
[Finger guns! She goes right back to playing with Koromaru. No harm, no foul--no one was hurt and better it try to eat her than a human. Or a snake-human? ]
If it comes back, we can shoo it away again. And again. Until it knows it's not worth the trouble, which shouldn't take much.
[Resorting to killing at the first sign of conflict is a very human response to a problem. But maybe it's easier to say that when you're not under any threat. She was the scarier monster of the two, after all.]
Even monsters want to live. It was probably as scared as the villagers.
no subject
Whatever you say.
[She sounds unconvinced, but she's disinclined to argue her point beyond what she already asked. Pod, however, floats over to Elphelt to observe for a moment before speaking.]
Analysis: Subject "Elphelt's" abilities are of unknown origin. Request: please state your intentions.
[A2's gaze is still pointed toward the horizon, but she glances over her shoulder at this, listening in.]
no subject
Do you interrogate every new friend Ayetoo makes? Or have I set her heart so aflutter that I'm gonna get the shovel talk?
[The ancient texts from Japan have spoken of this--The type of girl to hide her feelings and lash out the stronger those feelings are. A2 is too shy to even look her in the eyes!
Yet they are both girls...?!?!?
Elphelt (reluctantly) pauses her doggy fawning to stand upright. She has an uncharacteristically serious expression as she decides to properly answer Pod.]
Okay, okay. As not only the sole representative of my world, but the First Illyrian Royal Family as well, I'll lay my intentions bare. That is...
[Elphelt spins on her heel and throws up the horns.]
...to spread rock! Metal! Love! And peace!
no subject
Eventually:] All new subjects are monitored as a part of this Pod's responsibility to observe and investigate new phenomena.
[A2, on the other hand, frowns in clear confusion. To Elphelt:] Nothing you say makes any sense... this place has enough rocks.
[She barely knows what music is, OK.] ... Anyway. There's an inn in the city near this one. Place is kind of a wreck right now. But the humans will give you a room for free.