Scene #8574: PRF - Escape From Darkness

Owner	Pose
Futaba Nuki	Once again, Angel Grove Youth Center is... Actually kind of okay for now? For now. There's no ant-summoning towers wedged into the earth, no creepy rubber mascots loitering around to terrify children nor create volcanoes, and not a single thing in the sky that shouldn't be there. The only thing that looks out of place, even, are all the construction vehicles and workers moving in and out of the youth center, along with a handful of motorcycles and APCs bearing the insignia of the Earth Defense Force. An armed and lightly armored soldier is also standing around the entrance to the main building, bushy red hair allowed to breathe freely for once without a helmet covering the man's head. He grins widely as he sees the first of the Elites coming over, raising a gloved hand in a firm salute before waving everyone over. "There you are! I was hoping you'd all show up sooner rather than later. Training's still happening for the new recruits, and the new base in being setup downstairs-" He gestures towards the building, but... Wasn't the interior ruined the last time everyone was here when the giant anthill appeared inside? "-so there's not a lot of free bodies around to keep an eye on things up here." Indeed, there's only a token military presence here compared to the none whatsoever last time, but it doesn't look like there's even enough people for a single squad. There's only about a dozen other soldiers milling about outside, certainly nowhere near enough to fill a single APC here without leaving the other vehicles empty. Anyone looking inside the youth center, meanwhile, will notice that what used to be the main lobby/open area now has a huge sloping tunnel going downwards deeper into the earth. Before Jackson can really explain anything else, however, an alarm atop one of the APCs starts blaring while the ground starts to shake not unlike the last time an anthill exploded into existence, but far less pronounced that it could be mistaken for a smaller earthquake. Rushing over to grab the radio, Jackson listens for a few seconds before cursing under his breath and slipping his helmet on. "Right now? Goddammit... Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but more of those bugs are coming!" He pauses to listen to the radio again, then grimaces before shouldering his rifle and taking aim at the sky in the distance. Even now, it's possible to see a swarm of hornets flying over the city. The main indication that they're not what they seem, of course, is that they're actually recognizable as hornets despite clearly being well over a mile away in the sky. "We've got incoming from above, and our crew downstairs is reporting ants coming up from below. My team can take whichever angle all of you don't, but we're going to need some coordination for this one. Which way do you want to go?"
Captain Hook	Captain Hook really has no interest in Angel Grove. It has no interesting landmarks to liberate, no cultural treasures to appropriate, no ancient artifacts to British Museum, et cetera. All in all, Angel Grove is a little place only made remarkable by its inhabitants. The multi-colored multi-cultural teenagers with attitude who transform with ancient power coins. One of those coins is in Hook's treasure chest already. And not only that, but these attitude-laden youths also happen to be profitable - they seem to attract all manner of interesting magical and alien problems. Also, Jeanne shows up sometimes, and Hook still has a bit of a thing for her, so that's a nice bonus. He's obviously not joining the EDF. No self-respecting pirate would join a government force. That route leads to privateering, and, as Will has said many times, privateering leads directly to legitimacy, and William Hook would rather go down with the ship than wind up a legitimate member of the government. He's a respectable pirate, thank you. He's also not really here to help. He's not here to hurt, but he's here to...well, follow along and purloin profitables. His contributions are a lazy shot from his flintlock every so often, and, largely, following along people far more invested than he is in the whole affair. William Hook has never made any secret that he's an opportunist, either.
Stelle	Once more, Stelle is around. No smoothie this time, alas, since they ruined the juice bar inside to make a tunnel! No, she arrives on scene destroying a fast food burger like she's never had one before in a mixture of awe and pure, almost radiant, joy. Spoiler: She has never had a hamburger before. She is as pleasant as one can be with their mouth full, listening to what Jackson has to say. At least until the alarms go off. Her attention swivels to the incoming hornets, and her eyes narrow as she chews. She makes some unladylike and annoyed grunt before she truly engages in unladylike behavior and eats half of a burger in two bites. "I'm gonna stay up here and hit those things."
Dysnomia	Dysnomia had almost grown accostomed to the odd feeling of terran terrain and cityscapes, at least enough to realize things weren't really on fire yet, as she touched down, following the cry to aid down to its sources, eager to find a distraction from the tedium of patching up disused Watch safehouses. "Right. So what's the d--" Her eyes snapped up, toward an otherwise nondiscrept patch of sky, eyes narrowing. "Are bugs normal for you?" She murmured, non-commitally, focused on something out of sight. Mere moments later, they began to crowd the sky, and alarms began to sound. Mia tugged at her collar, a wispy something crawling down to the ground. "Guess not." "I'm better at carving things out of the air." A pair of smoky wings open behind her, beating with inexplicable force as they tested the wind.
Angela	Angela has, of course, sent MINIONS to help Hook out as usual. Today Nonon and Shajo are the Agents helping out Hook today and she is still nearly seven feet tall, the latter holding onto the pad that has Y'arrrr Pirate Angela present therein (that is to say, Angela wearing a pirate captain hat) ((just wait until you see the porygon version wearing it)). Nonon is distracted by military agents briefly before looking back to Hook to see what Hook is up to. "Ah, sorry, we're working with the Hook Office today." Nonon winks. Shajo gives a hapless shrug and follows up Hook's flintlock pistol by swinging a large bloody axe at ants. So bloody, in fact, that it's rusted. Nonon just sort of hangs back for the moment. She does, honestly, feel like fighting ants is a bit like punching down, even if they happen to be giant ants. She does give the hornets a bit of a thoughtful look, though--briefly--before jogging after her fellow agent. "Does this mission--" "Bug me? Yes." Shajo interrupts. "Are you feeling--" "Antsy? Just a little bit."
Futaba Nuki	To Hook's credit, Angel Grove is still basically just 1990s California. Aside from the color-coded teenagers with power coins of dubious origins and their many battles against the forces of size-changing evil, there's not really much else to speak of about this region of this version of the world! Sadly, Jeanne's not here today. She's had prior arrangements actually helping to ostensibly protect humanity elsewhere, but that's a story for another time. Weirdly enough, he also doesn't see any of those Power Rangers around today, as though they might be occupied with something two screen transitions over. He might, however, see Futaba scurrying about in the background into and out of the main building, moving fancy-looking crates into that tunnel. Stelle's burger devouring adventure is noticed by the previously helmetless Ranger, and he laughs as she shovels it down before declaring her intent to get into striking range. "Really raring to go at them, huh? You and that wiry guy both." A pause, and then he strokes his chin even as the hornets' buzzing starts to grow loud enough that the occasional window hums in their approach. "Then again, maybe he wanted it to get away faster." Dysnomia's question about the bug normality gets a laugh from Jackson as well despite the apparent danger coming towards everyone. "A few years ago, maybe! But not since then, no, and definitely not out here. If this IS anything like what happened back then, though..." He exhales softly, then shakes his head before responding with all the gravity of a grizzled veteran in his late twenties. "... Maybe I'll tell you about it another time." He doesn't even look shaken by the appearance of her wings. Pirate Angela and company, too, get knowing nods and chuckles from Jackson as he takes Nonon's response in stride. "That's fine. I usually work better without orders, too." He replies, a genuine attempt to build camaraderie without realizing what she might actually mean by that. Noticing the axe, he strokes his chin while glancing between Shajo, Dysnomia, and Stelle again. "Sounds like you all want to stay up here, then. The EDF'll take care of whatever's coming at us from below, so make sure to smash those bastards out of the sky. We're counting on you! But before that..." "Any of you need a lift to get up there?" He asks while gesturing towards one of those boxes Futaba is moving around, directing one of the troopers to retrieve it so everyone can see what's inside: Wings. Thrusters, even, that look kind of like stylized technological wings that have a pretty wide wingspan, but will grant anyone that puts them on limited flight capabilities. Once that's all taken care of, Jackson and the surface troopers rush into the youth center, down that tunnel as cheers of "EDF! EDF!" follow them into the depths. That leaves everyone up here to deal with the swarm of hornets that have finally reached the youth center. Their attention is currently scattered, though, but the reason for their numbers becomes clear. In unison, the hornets rear back before flinging their lower bodies forward, firing a volley of stingers downwards not unlike a storm of arrows the size of light poles, including at the gathered Elites!
Captain Hook	Hook just sort of smiles at Stelle. People enjoying life to the fullest, even the little, pointless, meaningless little things, always makes him wistfully happy. Yeah, he's a pirate, yeah, he takes things that make people happy frequently, but a man who lived in a world of puppets and shadows for his whole life can't help but appreciate people expressing their emotions and desires loudly. Hook doesn't do things, halfway and neither should anyone else as far as he's concerned. The Captain looks over his shoulder at Nonon and Shajo with a wry smile. "Who knows? Maybe we'll find some remarkable new imagining of mankind for you to put in a bottle." It sounds sassy, but it's actually true - Hook pretty much does that exact thing anyway. "If this is a waste of time, then I'll get you dinner." Get. Not buy. Hook doesn't buy anything. "Oh, giant bugs aren't so odd," he says to Mia as he twirls the flintlock around his hook-hand, "If you can recognize them, you know, they're almost comfortingly normal." "It's the ones you can't say 'that's a giant spider', or 'that's a giant ant,' or 'that's a giant mantis,' that's when things get bizarre." Hook spins his pistol into his powder-pouch and levels it again. "'What in God's name' usually prefaces when something is odd." The hornets come, and Hook is ready. The volley of stingers finds no purchase - his blade flashes into his hand and knocks aside every oncroaching shot. One, two, three, four, like an elegant dance, Hook bats them away, his cutlass catching the light, his flintlock tearing through bugs. Then one of them chooses not to fire, and just stabs him, and it disrupts his rhythm entirely. The stinger goes right through his shoulder. He fires a shot into the thing's head and falls backwards, giant hornet corpse still attached to his arm. "God's wounds..." He mutters. Awkwardly, he wrenches his cutlass into the thing's body under cover-fire and pries the stinger free so he can at least stand without the weight. The blood's bad but he'll be seen to. In the meantime, he's things to do. Mia suggests grouping them up. Hook opens fire with another shot, then stows his pistol in his coat and wrenches the stinger free. His hook-hand digs into insectile weapon before he casts it aside. "Come on, then!" He whistles loudly to punctuate his cry. A high-pitched whistle, too, the kind that cuts through noise and buzzing real real hard. Once he's done that he puts his hook hand on his hat and goes running towards Mia for a good, convenient location, trailing blood as he goes. Hopefully the insects are bloodythirsty.
Stelle	The giant hornets are coming fast. Stelle's golden eyes glint as she gets a little maniacal smile. This is going to be fun. Her right hand crosses to her left hip and she draws a weapon from nothing. It's not the bat this time. Instead the long handle of a massive, flame colored lance manifests as she pulls, the weapon easily as long as she is tall. Licks of fire dance along its length as she draws it free. Glancing at her assembled, well, allies, she drives the tip into the concrete, sending a wave of warm heat towards the assembled. It's bolstering, even bracing. Protective. This is the Path of Preservation. She hefts the massive weapon in one hand with ease as she waits for the hornet to come at her, which of course it does. A giant hornet is still an incarnate ball of fury and hatred for all life. It's just bigger. One comes for her and she braces, a bloom of guardian flame surrounding her, warding the massive beast's strikes away. She shifts to the side, snapping the lance upwards and pivoting to thrust at the improbable insect as it passes.
Dysnomia	Dysnomia her wings and took off into the air, smoke coiling around her body, a shimmering veil of blue-violet. The hornets loosed stings in a wave, and Dysnomia made no effort at all to dodge, as they punctured right through her body, leaving trails of misty starstuff behind them... ...And the holes in her body sealed immediately, filling with more of what seemed like smoke, until it became her body again, just what did they hope to accomplish? Then, that same smoke spread forward, coiling the air, like too-long arms, even spreading into five digits, and... <J-IC-Scene> Dysnomia says, "If we can get them close together, I can try to burn them." <J-IC-Scene> Captain Hook, with good cheer, says, "Good a plan as any, then!" <J-IC-Scene> Stelle says, "Heh heh heh" Gleaming claws carved through the air, burning through exoskeletons as they appeared in the around around them, each bright and searing. She turned the air around her into a cloud of eviserating plasma. It coiled around the mass, trying to chase the hornets in toward a central point in the air, because to move otherwise meant death.
Angela	Nonon says, "Hahaha, well it wouldn't be my bottle!" with a grin. "You could get us dinner even if it isn't a waste of time." Shajo laughs, "Feeling hungry already, Nonon?" "I'm just expecting to work up an appetite!" Nonon doesn't usually mean anything. She's a straight shooter, more or less, and trends towards saying what she means directly and not relaly thinking about other possible meanings or takes. In short, maybe she comes off as a bit of an idiot, but she keeps on smiling that good-natured grin as if HORNETS ATTACK. Nonon pushes Shajo out of the way, taking several stingers across her upper body. She grunts despite her fair resistance to RED damage, flexing, out some of the stingers and then sinking to her knee, spitting out some blood because they may not have penetrated her too deeply but that's still huge ass stingers slamming into her. "Oi!" Shajo steps forward, deflecting other stingers with the axe. "You okay??" "Hanging in there..." Nonon grins before hefting Shajo up and flinging him up into the air so he can take a few swings at the bugs with his axe. "What a time to not have guns... Try to get 'em to bunch up Shajo!" But Shajo is already kinda falling back down. They are pretty limited in dealing with aerial assaults.
Futaba Nuki	The hornets look like they might number well over several dozen, maybe even a hundred or two for a more generous estimate. It'd be hard to blame anyone for thinking the sky is falling with how many of them there are, too, as the sun is already being blotted out by their presence in this one specific area. At least they are, in fact, recognizable as hornets. Newsstand-sized, truck-sized, delivery van-sized hornets, but they're still hornets in shape and (mostly) function! They do seem to have some sort of vaguely higher intelligence, though, when they notice that one of them actually managed to stab Hook by diving at him instead of shooting, and start to adjust their tactics accordingly. Said tactics adjustment might not work well for them in the short run, though, as moving closer makes it much easier to start guiding the hornets' movements. Hook proves to be ideal bait between just shooting and stabbing so many of them in their faces, and also with the bloodied arm making it easier to follow him by scent and the obvious trail. It does make them far easier to aim at, too, as they're grouping up somewhat predictably in their rush to get closer to him and Mia! Naturally, that means the hornets are also putting themselves in range of Stelle's ba... Lance? That's not a bat at all! Undeterred by the flame, the unlucky hornet dives at her and sails right over her head only to get skewered in the process, giving her something resembling shoddy camouflage for at least a moment! This, too, means there's fewer visible targets outside of Hook, Mia, and the Agents, making it even easier to bunch them up! And bunch up they do, much to Mia's potential delight as she has no shortage of targets to rend those hornets apart. They're more suicidal than expected for what they're supposed to be (or perhaps just as expected?) as they swarm at her, too, seemingly putting the good of their swarm (via stabbing Mia) over their personal good (in not dying horribly). The screeching from those that do get burned alive suggests that they very much feel pain. There's just a boatload of them, and the Agents from the Corporation get a front-row seat at seeing what a giant hornet-themed invasion could look like at close range! RED damage certainly seems to be the order of the day here, too, as the stingers are very much a physical threat more than a mental one, and their wielders are just as susceptible to the axe getting swung about and the Shajo being flung about to make sure he can take off their heads, wings, whatever's in reach with each swing. Nevertheless, the swarm is undeterred despite getting shot at, pierced through, and swung at by so many Elites. With a clear indication of who's actually trying to fight back versus those who are just panicking and rushing inside, the hornets seem to know who to actually aim at through their own hornet-y communication system. That, of course, means the Elites are going to get swarmed in full force now. Another volley of projectile stingers comes raining down, but they're followed by the hornets actually dive bombing from the sky, aiming to impale people, cars, and even some trying to break open the youth center with their own bodies. It certainly doesn't make sense tactically, but... Hornets have to eat, too. The closer they are to someone, the sooner they can try to eat them after the fact!
Captain Hook	No, no. Not again. William's already bleeding out of one arm. He's not going to lose the other. He sheaths his blade. He can't use it anyhow, not with his arm like this. He's going to have to work with nothing but his hook and a smile. Ah, well. He's been in worse situations. The hornets surge in and Hook meets them head-on. He fences with his hook-hand, slashing, grabbing, dragging, tearing. He rips wings off at the most delicate bits. He skewers through joints with the leverage of his arm. At one point he even sticks his hook directly into the mouth of one of the angry hornets and rips upwards, tearing through its brain, a trail of ichor behind. He falls back behind the Lobotomy Corp agents. "A moment, would you?" He says, exhaling, as he goes to dig some cloth out of his jacket. "Need to bandage properly."
Stelle	The defending flames are not enough this time. The hornet comes back around and hurls stingers her way. These are handled by the heat and by Stelle hefting her lance to duck behind it. What's not so easily dealt with is the ramming impact by the hornet. The Trailblazer is blasted off of her feet and punched through the trio of trash bins nearby. They clatter around her and she's still on the ground for a moment before she bursts free in a shower of surprisingly clean refuse! "First point, bugs. Second point's gonna be mine. Lance ablaze!" The Trailblazer flicks her lance, ignoring the burn of venom in her veins. It bursts into flame, the heat of it making the air ripple. She takes a few steps forward, leaving smoldering footsteps in her wake as boots click on concrete. These few steps turn into a sprint, a tail of flame coming after her. She jumps, finally gripping the lance with both hands as she drives it towards the beast. She shouts, arcing through the air, a rush of fire following her. "Flaming lance! Forward!" The weird part is that she doesn't actually strike the hornet. She strikes the ground near it, causing pillars of liquid fire to erupt from the ground, instantly drying the air and igniting anything loose and unattended. Stelle's coat flaps in the murder wind, her golden eyes shining with power, purpose and glee.
Dysnomia	Dysnomia felt flickers of intent from the others, of maybes and mights. Their intents solidified, burned bright and sure and absolute, and Mia knew just what to do. She narrowed her focus in on Stelle, and dove UP. Stingers lanced through her again and again and AGAIN. She grimaced, her form beginning to disintegrate while the pain mounted, her body restoring itself even as her focus took the beating. Still, she held on. With a sudden flap of her wings surged through and ahead of them all, while the hornets turned to pursue her. Particulates of dust swirled around her, a light burning in her chest, as her mouth opened. She caught the hornets, pinned between the surge of Stelle's inferno... ...And the light of blazing plasma that erupted from her mouth, filling the air with the smell of ozone as it arced through the crowd of hornets, a solar flare from the minature star that burned in her heart. Plamsa from above twined together with the fire from below, trapping hornets between electromagnetism and flame.
Angela	Nonon asides to Hook, " Sure! Don't mind us!" Shajo, wrestling with a hornet in midair that is attempting to piledrive him into the dirt, "You can mind us a little!" He shouts while hacking away at it. The bee and Shajo crash into the ground and Shajo is thrown clear, he bounces across the floor a bit, groaning because hoo boy that STINGS. But he doesn't seem like fatally wounded so much as roughed up and bruised. Nonon moves over to help him up and she says, "You look almost as bad as when I pound your ass." "Hahaha they're close please kill them now." Shajo say before Nonon stretches out her arms from side to side, grits her teeth in a big ol' grin and darts forward, her punches growing faster and faster with each consecutive punch as she channels the power of the GOLD RUSH into her body. "Captain, have you fought beasts like this before this latest series of adventures?" Angela finally speaks from Shajo's pad.
Futaba Nuki	Despite their size, the hornets aren't nearly as sturdy as they could be. Perhaps it's a matter of their size combined with their ability to actually fly, perhaps it's because they have to reproduce so quickly, or some other matter entirely. Whatever the case is, the wings don't have any special protection that keeps Hook from hooking his hook into them and ripping them right off, and their bodies certainly have less luck with him tearing upwards through them as well. Those that try to come in after his shots and ripping, his stabs and rending, and especially those that try to catch him while he's taking a breather find that he's no easy target thanks to the Agents that Angela's sent to work alongside him. Shajo might be having some trouble with the hornets displaying something resembling wrestling maneuvers, but Nonon's rapid punching interrupts any of the other hornets' attempts to repeat that success to a fatal degree, punching entire segments of their bodies right off. It's all a rather gruesome display that, although it doesn't do much to dampen the hornets' spirits, it certainly does seem to illustrate that pure physical force can and will work wonderfully on these things! Physical force isn't the only thing that works, of course, as those that aren't lucky enough to get torn in half are instead treated to Stelle's smoldering lance coming right at them. The hornet she dives at, acting on the honed insectoid reflexes of 'don't get hit by something approaching rapidly', flings itself backwards, but it turns out her target wasn't itself at all. Feints aren't a thing they particularly understand, though, and several hornets dive right at her, spying an opening to take down one of the many threats to their feast. While Stelle draws the hornets' attention downwards, meanwhile, Mia does just the opposite to force them to start pursuing her upwards. An isolated target is an easy target, after all, and chasing her away from her allies means she'll surely be easy pickings for those that remain and desire an easy meal. They get closer and closer, nipping at her heels (figuratively), ready to drive those stingers upwards to take out a second Elite in short order! Alas, those easy meals are not to be for the many hornets coming after Mia and Stelle. Stelle's flames burst out of the ground just as Mia turns that blinding plasma downwards, sandwiching the buzzing beasts between the plasma the eruption shoving them upwards without leaving so much as a trace left of their presence by the time all the flames and blinding lights lose their momentum. The hornets' numbers rapidly drop by the minute, first dropping to two thirds, then half, then a third of their number. Those that still live are also hanging on by a thread, too, with their weaker soldiers already decimated and the strongest hornets covered in harsh burns and oozing wounds. Nevertheless, they're committed to whatever this attack is for, simply hurling their bodies at the Elites until that number becomes zero, bringing an eerie calm to Angel Grove.
Futaba Nuki	SOME MINUTES LATER The doors to the Youth Center open, and Jackson comes barreling out, doing quick sweeps with his rifle before signaling for his own group to fan out from behind him. Once they confirm that the hornets have been destroyed, there's another moment of silence before the soldiers erupt into cheers of "EDF! EDF!" while Jackson gets his helmet off to approach the Elites with a wide smile. "Well, damn! Looks like both of our groups pulled through, huh?" He asks in a not-really-asking-but-confidently-asserting kind of way, shouldering his rifle and glancing back at the building entrance briefly. "Maybe not unscathed, but... That's the kind of threat we're facing with these kinds of numbers." Futaba comes out a little bit after that, helping to drag out some limping troopers on one side and another pair with unfamiliar gear on the other side. She's looking a little paler than she did when she went in earlier. "... Still, that's what every EDF soldier is prepared for." He whistles lightly, then turns to the Elites again while eyeing all the blood going around. He looks towards Hook and Shajo in particular (what with the arm and the axe, respectively), then raises an eyebrow. "Did you two...? Anyway. Now that we're clear for now, you got any questions about all that's going on?"
Stelle	Stelle has to backdash away from the combo conflagration. She winces from the light and the heat, but can't help but grin like a fool. She hoists her flaming lance in salute to her combo-mate before she makes ready to keep fighting. Except there's nothing to fight. Lowering her weapon, she turns as the EDF starts pouring out of the building. She opens her hand, and the lance seems to derezz, going back to wherever she pulled it from. "So, why are these giant bugs here again?"
Dysnomia	The swirling smoke faded away, and Mia pinched off the fire in her belly, the plasma release slowly fading by gradients, electricity visibly lancing through the air and into the ground, until there was nothing but a glassed scorchmark on the ground below. Her body, mostly scattered to the winds, recongealed back together as she descended. When she touched down, she was none the worse for wear, brushing off her jacket, smiling slightly, giving an acknowledging nod to Stelle, then Hook and the Lobcorp agents who'd chased them all into position. "And what in the stars ARE they, anyway?"
Captain Hook	"Didn't do a thing, my good man," Hook replies, wiping the hook-hand on one of the dead bugs, "Just good old-fashioned human stick-to-it-ive-ness. Not a magic bone in my body, nor a cybernetic one, nor whatsoever other sorts of superhumanity you might find lying about." He bends down to wipe the other side of the hook and examine the wasp. "I would suggest them to be vespa cabro, upon a brief inspection - European hornet, the only sort you find in North America. Could be vespa vulgaris, though - common wasp." "Otherwise, I should presume them to be either the work of that delight of a lady Bandora, else some other problem stemming from the erstwhile agents of justice who make their home here."
Angela	Shajo geunts and groans, looking over towards Jackson. "Eh?" He asks. "..Oh! The EGO? Don't sweat it. It looks spooky but so long as I've got a handle on it it ain't nothin' more than a fancy a--ahh!" The 'ahh' comes when Nonon hefts him up in one arm and kisses him on the cheek. "Look at you. talking all cool!" Shajo's cheeks pinken faintly and he says, "Heey I'm just trying to reassure these guys." Any questions? They seem content to leave questions to Hook. They wouldn't begin to know what to ask about Bandora. "What's her deal anyway?" Nonon immediately violates the last line there when Hook mentions her name. Looks like she was just waiting for soneone to touch on the topic first. Shajo dangles his legs over Nonon's shoulder and sort of wraps his arms around her head, resting his own in her mane.
Futaba Nuki	> 'So, why are these giant bugs here again?' > 'And what in the stars ARE they, anyway?' "Oh yeah. I did say another time, didn't I? This is another time enough." Jackson laughs at his own joke, then tugs over what's left of a hornet's thorax and gives it a few text pushes with his rifle before taking a seat right on it. "A few years back, there was a humanitarian mission that was supposed to bring a huge shipment of food to one of those... Starving African countries? Yours truly was the pilot, but some crap out of my control happened, and things went real bad, real fast. The carrier got shot down out in the..." He pauses, straining visibly to try and remember to no avail. "... Out at sea somewhere, and it crashed on an island. Turns out, whatever was in the food and the energy drinks mixed up just so that it made the animals there super huge, and super violent. I even got hit with some of that juice, too, but I learned to control it." He flexes briefly, and for a moment, his bicep looks like it might just burst his sleeve open. He watches Mia, Stelle, and Nonon briefly for their reactions, then coughs into his hand before holding his hand up to his head (at sitting height). "Think a.. Panther, but this tall. Or a wasp this wide. Nothing like today, but... Anyway. We had to track down the rest of the crew so we could get out in one piece, and we ran into some weird cheetah guys, and..." He lets out a wistful sigh, then realizes he's doing it before clearing his throat again. "Uh. Long story short, some aliens got a hold of the stuff. Probably... Because it made them huge? And they escaped with the stuff in that shipment. Our best guess so far is that they've been biding their time to try and conquer earth, but the ones that have been showing up lately..." He furrows his brow. "No talkers yet, just bugs. No giant frogmen, either, or guys in space suits." >'Didn't do a thing, my good man,' >'I would suggest them to be vespa cabro, upon a brief inspection - European hornet, the only sort you find in North America. Could be vespa vulgaris, though - common wasp.' "Could've fooled me, with the moves you were pulling off this time and the last." Jackson laughs again and raises a hand, ready to clap Hook's arm before catching himself. He's not about to smack a wounded man, after all, especially since they're nowhere near close enough for him to do that even if he wanted to. "I don't know a thing about wasps, but I know these things have been giving some of our tanks trouble. Frankly, we would've been in big trouble if all of you weren't here when you were." He gestures around himself at the parking lot. Several of the APCs and motorbikes have already been destroyed in the crossfire, but notably- "We didn't bring any tanks. Hell, we weren't expecting anything more than those summoning beacons from last time." Now there's a name for that pink jeweled thing from last time. >' It looks spooky but so long as I've got a handle on it it ain't nothin' more than a fancy a--ahh!' "... Heh. Aw. You two look good together." Jackson affirms with a confident nod, giving Shajo a thumbs up when he thinks Nonon isn't looking. >'What's her deal anyway?' "That's... Honestly, something you might want to ask one of those Power Rangers, but from what they told me?" Jackson looks to the left, to the right, then up at the sky before leaning in to lower his voice. "They don't know, either. They heard that name, too, but they keep swearing there's something wrong with this Rita lady. She doesn't sound right, she's calling herself something else, her monsters aren't usually this weird... I haven't heard anything about her working with these aliens yet, but we're keeping an eye on that in case anything changes. If we're unlucky, this could be an even bigger threat to earth than just the ants."
Futaba Nuki	ELSEWHERE 'If we're unlucky, this could be an even bigger threat to earth than just the ants.' "Did you hear that, Your Evilness? That soldier sounded worried about something." "Those aliens he spoke of could be quite the valuable allies, my Queen. Perhaps we could extend an olive branch to their leaders." "Joining forces? With them? More like use them! We can have them do the heavy lifting, destroy those pesky Power Rangers, and conquer Earth in one fell swoop, and then..." "And then...?" "We take over their planets, too! Huhahaha! Hahahaha!"