Scene #8362: The Ultimate Ham Radio Operator

Owner	Pose
Shadow	"This is Uniform Lima Tango. Repeat. This is Uniform Lima Tango. I'm on a boat anchor with a rubber duck, full quieting. Repeat. This is Uniform Lima Tango." Shadow isn't hard to find. His signal is blasting out across practically an entire world's width and breadth. Specifically, he's in the control room above the giant concrete dish that is the Arecibo Observatory. The one from Goldeneye. Just go look it up, there isn't going to be some lovingly handwritten description of it here. There's a bunch of guards, technicians, and tourists that have all variously ran or gotten knocked out. Anyone coming into the suspended control room would have to step over at least one KO'ed guard on the way in. Shadow's at a control panel in a circular observation room. He has to stand on a crate to reach the controls. "CQ Contest," he says into the transmitter mic. There's a faint vibration in the air as he holds the transmit button down, just from the strength of the frequencies. "CQ Contest. Uniform Lima Tango." After a few moments, he turns to whoever else has managed to get into the control room by that point (or just to Rouge, if nobody else is there). "I thought this was supposed to be fulfilling. I hotwired a personal radio, just like the psychonaut said. But all I'm doing is either talking or listening to people complain about the frequencies I'm transmitting on." <"Uniform Lima Tango! Get off of this frequency! If you fail to comply, we will send-"> Shadow reaches over and turns the volume down. "And if I wanted to hear people complain, I can get plenty of that at home."
Angela	Justin Rook, Captain of the Control Team of Lobotomy Corporation, is being sent on what Malkuth assured him would be a milk run to prepare for their eventual mission the following day but as this is the team's first official outing into the grander multiverse--or through the Warpgate Abnormality Tool as it is being called around the company--he has brought along a full team alongside him. And so the first indication that Shadow has been followed into the control room is a bluehaired gender-ambiguous individual with a side-shave blowing out a big pink bubblegum bubble that pops. Chewing the gum, the Agent says, "It's a talkin' hedgehog, Captain. How dangerous you're thinking?" "Anything we run into is to be considered WAW Class until we gather more information." Justin Rook, a long black-haired man wearing a gakuran and carrying a large bat at his side pipes in. "Anyway, he's an ally." Two other agents are behind them. A bald man with a goatee who is smoking and a long blonde haired woman who is twitching. All of them are staying close to one another for the moment and wearing the same black suit with a red armband with the letter M on it. That is, except for the brown tussle-haired man in a brown uniform fingering a sidearm and looking a bit jittery, using the Agents as cover. "Yeah it's a bummer to get on the talkbox only to get a litany of demands huh?" "Ooh Attachment..." Random whispers. "What's a psychonaut, captain?" "Hell if I know," Justin says. "But it sounds like they'll be sending company. We're here to support the Hedgehog. If that doesn't trouble you much?" That last question is directed to Shadow.
Bowser	Bowser is in the control room as well, taking up a large portion of it with spikes and shell. Bowser has been going along with this whole thing for a while, because punching people with your friends is pretty easy. "What, yea, did you not have a plan? Look, usually what you do is play some sort of hypnotic music or like, music that'll explode a castle so you can take the princess on a date. That sort of thing. Or uhhh, oh! You tell everyone that you are now in charge of them. It's great!" Bowser flexes an arm, "It shows everyone who is the boss!" Suit people, Bowser squints at them, but they seem villainous enough to probably belong here.
Kukuru	The unconscious guards don't have to worry about waking up with sore necks or backs, at least. Headaches, probably, but not those other things by the time Kukuru is done with them. On her way through the facility, the sleepy-looking lady in the grayish purple jacket and shorts combo takes the extra couple of minutes in total to make sure they're lying flat on their backs with slightly oversized bath towels (Concord branded, of coursE) bunched up to support their necks. "CQ, CQ... Umm. What's that mean again?" She asks in-between light yawns, one hand rubbing her midsection while the other dangles lazily at her side. She pulls over another crate for Shadow just in case he needs it, then an extra set for Rouge just in case in case she also wants to stand up there for whatever reason. Spotting several more unfamiliar faces in matching suits, though, Kukuru claps her hands together with a pleasant hum and upwards lilt in her voice. "Oh, he-llo there~ Are you all here to help Shadow, too?" She asks the agents, already having her curiosity confirmed by their own question. Naturally, she shakes her head, then starts digging into her shorts pockets. "Not at all, no trouble... Oh. Here you go, then. My name's Kukuru." She announces while taking out several little plastic containers, one for each agent, Shadow, and Rouge. It's pretty obvious not even one of these things could have fit inside her pocket, never mind all of them. There's fried meats, crispy mushrooms, and something shrimpy inside each of those little boxes! Bowser gets an entire quart, as befitting his size. "People have been complaining a lot, yeah... It's been kind of rough to listen to. Maybe we should give them something fun to hear instead! Like... Uh... A story? Or singing, or jokes..."
Shadow	> "Ooh Attachment..." Random whispers. "What's a psychonaut, captain?" "Psychic secret agents, or something like that," pipes up Rouge, has very good ears. > "If that doesn't trouble you much?" "... Depends." Shadow's eyes narrow. "You from the government?" > "What, yea, did you not have a plan?" "This was the plan. I go out, find a new hobby. Which I did." Shadow shoots Rouge a glare. Rouge ignores him, so Shadow keeps on talking. "And now we're here, so we might as well make the best of it." "You tell everyone that you are now in charge of them. It's great!" Bowser flexes an arm, "It shows everyone who is the boss!" Food arrives. Shadow abandons the console briefly, because food is important. When he's eaten at least some of it, though, Shadow responds. "... That could be something," he says. "Let's see... what was the frequency for the multiversal banter channel..."
Bowser	"MUSHROOMS?!" Bowser starts to pull the mushrooms out of the box, muttering to himself. This will take a while, and he throws them out of the side of the control room, onto the satellite dish. This takes a little while. "Oh, yea, there's that girl that everyone yells at, and that guy that yells at everyone else, and that woman who is always loud." Bowser flaps his hands in intimation of talking. "We are WAY COOLER at talking." He shoves some of the meat into his mouth, chewing as he talks. "No more complaining about stupid things."
Angela	"Heh, nah." Rook says. "I'm a company man. Normally don't even get out from the branch I'm holed up in but thanks to you I got to see real daylight a day early. Was told to expect strange folk from our perspective, but I bet in a few weeks it'll all be normal to us." "Captain..." The timid brown haired man. "Yeah Jeff?" Rook asks. "There's a giant turtle," Jeff says, weakly. "Giving dating advice." "Thinking of taking him up on the offer?" The blonde woman asks. "...No Parker." Jeff says. "Haha, I like him. He's sharp." Parker says, grinning ferally. Then finally they see another human. Well, until they notice the horns. "Yeah, we're here to help Shadow too." Rook offers Kukuru his hand. He seems easygoing, calm, professional--and most importantly careful. "Don't mind them too much. I'm Rook, that's Parker. Jeff's the Clerk. Bubblegum kid is Random and Baldy is...Yaboy." "I wasn't always bald," YAboy complains. "It's because of that damn Tool..." When Kukuru mentions giving them something 'fun to hear' instead, the majority aside from Rook tense up like they're expecting a shoe to drop that will explode. "...Yeah, you got any good jokes?" He asks Kukuru.
Bowser	"Can you all wear name tags or something, all of you look the same."
Angela	"Nametags aren't regulation." Rook says. Maybe they really are villains.
Kukuru	"Aw, don't be like that, Shadow. Governments are okay if they're with the Concord!" Kukuru chimes in to reassure Shadow about the Agents' presence, giving the group a hearty thumbs up... And then covering her mouth as she yawns. It's a loud, open-mouthed yawn, though, so she doesn't really hide any of it convincingly. "And these new friends aren't, so... It's okay anyway!" "It's good to have more hobbies, mhm. Entertaining people and making them happier with one is even better, too! And it feels great telling stories when you know people wanna hear more from you, even if it's not about you. But the stories we could tell..." That's where Kukuru draws a blank at first. She snaps her fingers several moments later, though, gesturing at Bowser with a broad smile. "Oh! Maybe you could go with his idea about the... Um. Who's in charge thing. Once everyone knows how great the Concord is, I know they'd love to join us~" Rook gets a firm handshake from Kukuru. Her double-handed grip is gentle and practically radiating warmth, although there's just the vaguest hint that she's being careful not to hold on too hard at the cost of being way too soft. "Rook, Parker, Jeff, Random, and Ya-boy. It's nice to meet you all~" At the very least, she can help provide the frequency. Taking her earpiece out from underneath a wad of hair and from behind one of her drills, she inspects it briefly before just handing it over to Shadow. "Um... You know how to find it on these things, right? I just got it like this, so..." Her uncertainty continues when Rook asks her about jokes. Instead, Kukuru just chuckles awkwardly and shakes her head. "I used to, but I found out that the kids were only laughing because it was polite. But I think we can come up with some good stories if we put our heads together!" Bowser chucks out the mushrooms, and Kukuru's face contorts considerably. She's still smiling, but there's a sudden air of danger around her as she stares directly at him.
Shadow	"Ah. A company man. That's fine then, Jeff," says the hedgehog. "My name is Shadow. I am the ultimate life form." The hot sauce haired hedgehog says this entirely seriously. "If this is your threshold of unusual, I think you are likely not cut out for this job," he continues. "I would go back. Push papers around a desk. Let the barrier of reports and documentation protect your fragile mind from the everyday horrors of the multiverse." He pauses. "That said, it's slightly less hazardous out here as of a few days ago. The Paladins contained a known infohazard." The Kukuru aura activates. Shadow conscientiously pauses to clean his plate down to the last bit. "Well then... what say we make some introductions to the rest of the multiverse?"
Angela	''I am the ultimate life form.'' "Neat." Rook says before stepping a bit away from the radio so it doesn't pick out everything he says. "Glad the ultimate lifeform found a hobby. And don't you worry none, the only weird part about it is that you haven't tried to kill us yet." "Or turn us into some kind of monster," Parker chirps up helpfully. Jeff whimpers. That siad, they didn't immediately start eating until they saw the hedgehog start eating. And once they do, well, they seem happy to eat except for Jeff who is still kind of trembling. "Jeff," Rook says. "Don't upset the lady. Eat the food." "What if it turns me...into a mushroom?" Jeff asks. "Eat the damn mushrooms, Jeff." Rook insists before asiding to Kukuru. "Sorry, that guy had a rough encounter last week. S'nice to meet a friendly face out in strange lands." He cracks a small grin. "Yeah Manager seems real hopeful that our agreement with the Concord'll work out. What'd you say your name was again?" He bobs his head as Kukuru suggests putting their heads together for a story. He gets a real thoughtful look in his eyes.
Angela	"Nevermind," ROok adds when Kukuru introduces herself over the radio.
Kukuru	Shadow's attentiveness gets a more pleased smile from Kukuru, and she's more than ready to join in on the introductions with the official broadcast of their... "... Oh! Is this what it's called to be a pirate radio station? I hear those used to be really popular in some places." She pipes in with a bit of useless 'trivia' that's probably novel to her. Noticing that momentary hesitation at eating, Kukuru giggles and beams proudly. "Don't worry! All the food I make, I make sure it's safe to eat by tasting it myself while I'm making it." She says with a reassuring tone, although her expression turns to a more sympathetic one when Rook explains Jeff's particular hesitation. Without missing a beat, she approaches him, arms held out wide to try and pull his head in for a gentle hug to her chest. It's midlly smothering, of course. "Aw, don't worry. You're safe as long as you're with us, okay? I won't let anything kill any of you and keep you dead for long." Kukuru assures, sounding confident even as she promptly remembers a rather pivotal moment where that precisely did not happen. Her expression darkens briefly, and then she gives him one more gentle pat on the head before stepping away to start munching on her own food.
Bowser	gogogogogogo The menacing signals from Kukuru fly at Bowser. They keep going at him, but moving across him. Bouncing off. GOing over his head. Bowser eats a handful of shrimp with his bare hands. He shovels them in, chomping loudly. "Yea, as long as you are here, we won't let anyone else but us beat you up." He brings a big hand down on Shadow's back, "Great! Now! Tell the entire multiverse what you are going to do! And how powerful you are! And how they are all LAME AND DUMB compared to you! GWHAHA HA HA HA HA!"
Shadow	> "Or turn us into some kind of monster," Parker chirps up helpfully. "No, that's my cousin. And not so much 'monster' as 'robot'." "... Oh! Is this what it's called to be a pirate radio station? "Actually, playing pirates might be preferrable," says Shadow. "This feels like it's been entirely a bust and a waste of time." As he says that, anyone with sharpened senses (including Rouge, who sits up) might notice that there's a few more people in the vicinity than there were before. Local soldiers are arriving. And they don't look happy that the telescope's occupied. They look, specifically, like they're going to do something about it. The 'doing something about it' starts with one of the soldiers at the edge of the big dish firing something through the glass window - a smoke grenade!
Angela	Jeff is hugged to Kukuru's chest. He will now die for her. Or more accurately will not be allowed to die for her, perhaps? He's unclear but Kukuru makes Jeff feel safe and he hasn't felt safe in a long time. He thinks of his mother, back in the Nest. WHen did he last see his mother? Is she getting the money he is sending back? He wanted her to be able to stay in the Nest even after dad vanished... He closes his eyes for a moment, allowing himself to feel... Safe... Sure, it's mildly smothering, but only mildly... He doesn't see Kukuru's expression darken. The others do and don't remark on it. "Heh," Rook has a small chuckle at Bowser's words. It's actually weirdly comforting to have the giant mushroom hating turtle. If the giant mushroom hating turtle with spikes on his back is a team player, well--all the better. He can just think of him like any other Agent. Then a smoke grenade is fired through the window!! "Noooo! Kukuruuu!" Jeff shouts as he leaps forward, gets clobbered in the head by a smoke grenade, and goes down bleeding from his forehead. Rook pinches the bridge of his nose. He gets a message on private comms and he says, "I know, I know Malkuth. It's fine." He crouches down, stealing Jeff's sidearm as he makes his way to the window and starts firing out of it towards their attackers.. "HEY FUCKERS YOU'RE RUINING MISS KUKURU'S LUNCH! SHE WORKED HARD ON IT, YOU DICKS!" He glances over to Kukuru. "Pardon for the language, Ma'am." The others (minus Jeff), start pushing their way out so they can confront their attakers. Parker takes her lunch with her and a knife large enough that it might as well be a sword.
Bowser	"Pft, this is a little boring. But we got a free lunch. We didn't get to punch any heroes or knock anything over." Bowser is the kind of guy who is bad at vibing. "I can get the go-karts." Just as Bowser is about to try and convince everyone to go-kart like he does every single time, a smoke grenade flies into the window. A big hand comes up to catch it as it bounces off Jeff's head. He peers down at it until it explodes outward with smoke. "UGH! HACK!" He starts coughing furiously, fire starting to come out of the hanging control room. Smoke fills up the room. Black smoke billows out from the windows and doors. Fire suddenly parts the smoke, orange spheres firing blindly out of the smoke before the dark swirls back in. The smoke swells out and bursts, trailing ribbons of black around Bowser, twining away from his limbs. The concrete dish ripples and cracks as the Koopa King lands, the ground shaking under the feet of the troopers. A deep breath, then a roar, breathing fire up into the air in a fierce arc.
Kukuru	"Aw, don't worry, Shadow. We met new friends, we've been having fun talking, and we're spending time together. Isn't that what really matters?" Kukuru chimes, sounding like she genuinely believes everything she's saying (because she does). "We've even got some friends coming. Riiight?" She parses what she's hearing far differently from how Rouge does as she looks over towards the window with a broad smile, gesturing towards it as if she was introducing friends. Instead of friends, though, she gets... Jeff? Jeff leaping in the way of a smoke grenade, anyway. That is most certainly not a thing new friends would do, and Kukuru purses her lips just a bit as she sees what's really going on with the agents starting to retaliate. The obscenities have her frowning briefly, too, but she giggles softly once Jeff apologizes. "It's okay~ The important thing is to know that you made a mistake, and then learn from it!" Naturally,s he puts her words into practice as she starts stepping forward to join the melee, healing nanites spreading from her body to aid in patching up her allies as they fight back against those coming after the crew. Instead of just walking all the way over there, though, she opens up a cloud of ominous demon-like energy in front of herself to fall through it and disappear as it closes right back up. Seconds later, she comes out of a similar looking cloud above the big dish, stepping towards one of the assailants with her hands held out to grasp them firmly by the shoulders. If she gets a good hold of them... The good news is that she doesn't pull in opposite directions, and she doesn't push inwards in opposite directions. The bad news is that she's still squeezing really, really hard, all with that same serene smile on her face. "Hey, you. Behave, okay? And I'll fix it later if you're good~"
Shadow	"Nevermind," declares Shadow. "Now that people don't want me to have this thing, I am suddenly incredibly enthused about retaining it. Defend it with your lives," he orders. "It's so nice that he's making friends, finally," comments Rouge, who hasn't moved from her perch despite the battle erupting around everyone. he agents pour out and confront the soldiers. They're easily enough pushed back - and several others scatter the moment Bowser shows up, with more deciding to make themselves scarce when he actually breathes fire. Kukuru's captive makes a gurgling noise. The others open fire - it's become clear to them that it's not some run of the mill randoms that have taken over the telescope they're responsible for. Bullets fly. "Cease fire! You'll damage the observatory," calls one of the commanders, to no avail. "This is useless - someone send in the rangers!"
Angela	"You got it, Ultimate Lifeform." Rook quips to Shadow the Hedgehog, apparently thinking nothing of the callous command. "Any Fixer worth their salt'll put their lives on the line for the right amount of pay." Not that Shadow is paying him but the people who want him to help Shadow are. Jeff bleeds on the floor until Kukuru heals him up. Fortunately, this is just normal violence so even Jeff isn't going to shoot himself in the face in terror at these people--plus there are Agents around, he feels a keen serenity from his position on the floor. Rook runs out of bullets except for one--you never use the last bullet in a clerk's sidearm since the last bullet has a different purpose in mind. "Tch. I'm out. Maybe the Manager can use the Warpgate as a workaround to get us more bullets. Too expensive in the city." "You're tellin' me." Ya-Boy says on his way out. Rook hangs back for the moment, staying near Shadow to stand guard by him (and the radio) while Ya-Boy, Parker, and Random pour out. These people are maniacs and feeling INVINCIBLE thanks to Kukuru's healing, they readily take bullets and go in swinging with their combat bats. Once they bowl over anybody they can reach, they'll keep on beating them until there is nothing viable left to recover. Standard procedure. "POKE POKE POKE!" Parker screams as she dives at a poor guy, likely getting sprayed in gore in the process. "Think I'll get an EGO after this??" "Nah you have to work on the Abnormalities to earn those! Just enjoy the sunshine and fresh outdoors!" Ya-Boy shouts back.
Kukuru	"Don't worry. I won't let anyone die, so fight with all~ Your~ Might~" Kukuru calls out not unlike a cheerleader might if a cheerleader was actually someone pretending to sound like their mother pretending to sound like a cheerleader. She even claps with each of those words, notwithstanding the blood on her hands from the gurgling guard. Rouge gets a knowing wink and thumbs up. Bowser's fire gives Kukuru some ideas, though, and she makes some mental notes she probably won't remember before realizing that the guards are starting to just shoot right at herself and everyone else. Several of those bullets punch right through her before she remembers to just grab that guard again to use them as a shield long enough to start pushing towards those actively shooting at her and her companions. More of those healing nanites go out, partially because the Agents might need it more than her, and partially because giving them more JUICE means less relative effort is needed herself! "Hey. Cut that out, or we're gonna have to really hurt you all." That doesn't mean she can rest on her laurels, of course, as she warns the guards once she draws close enough to one of them (through a combination of teleporting and jumping forward really far in one bound). She goes for the same grasping technique as before! The difference this time is that she does just pull in opposite directions. Her warnings might have some more weight that way!
Bowser	Bullets fly. Scales flicker with light as the bullets skip off or shatter. Secondary sharpnel strikes across Bowser's face. At first, he's simply able to plow forward, putting one foot in front of the other, swinging his arm like a MIGHTY CHAD. His swagger is incredible. And then the bullets don't stop. They keep hammering into Bowser. A foot falters, and his next step is shorter. Then another, and another shorter. Finally, Bowser has to actually lift an arm in front of his face, covering his eyes as the bullets become too much. All of the tall turtle mass goes forward, then pulls inward. Head, limbs, tail, all of it disappear from sight into the shell. Then the shell whirls. A sudden spirals that draws guards in with the force of wind!
Shadow	The agents spread out, causing further chaos and bodies and gore as they go. These are theoretically well trained and equipped soldiers. In practice, they haven't had to deal with coordinated private security like this. "Hmmf... pay..." Shadow pulls out his Dorado Black Card and slams it down on the counter. "Put it on my tab." There's another bit of gore as Kukuru makes good on her threat, and then Bowser doing his BOWSER DEATH SPIRAL CHAOS ULTIMAX TORNADO++ just simply turns what was once a battlefield into a rout. "Dang it, where are the rangers!?" calls the commander. "They're-" someone responds, but gets cut off. The lights go out. (Despite it being outside in the middle of the day.) And then one by one, three spotlights appear - stars, shining light down from the heavens onto three individuals as they each make their sudden appearances. "Justice arrives... periodically! Astronomy Ranger Frequency!" declaims the green ranger. "If evil won't retreat... we'll make it hertz! Astronomy Ranger Wavelength!" cries the blue ranger. "And the force we'll use against you... is at a peak! Astronomy Ranger Amplitude!" declares the red ranger. "Arriving like a kessler cascade - we're the astronomical Astronomy Rangers!" they all call together, posing. They hold the pose for a few seconds too long, then split up. Red goes for Bowser, forming a sparking electric sword. "MAXIMUM VOLTZ!" Blue makes a beeline for Kukuru, swinging a scepter that launches waves of energy water. "Crashing Signal!" And green starts trying to club Parker with the dull end of a toyetic spear. "Periodic Beatdown!"
Angela	NEVER SAFE FROM TOKUSATSU. Let's just say that the Control Team wasn't expecting THE RANGERS to arrive. To be clear, they thought the rangers were, well, RANGERS not, you know, POWER RANGERS. Rook readies his own spiked bat, but seems content to let his team do the heavy lifting while he keeps guard on Shadow. THis is mostly because he's interested in this conversation with Bowser about Soccer. This is the most interesting thing that has happened to him in years and he is seriously invested in Soccer with Bowser right now. He is also fending off Angela's complaints about them getting too 'chummy' with Kukuru. Angela will back down with a 'do what you want' eventually, though. But for now Parker laughs manically as she's about to rip off a dude's face and wear it when a spear clobbers her in the head. She was not exactly the most stable lady to begin with and she goes down like a heap of bricks. "Parker! Fuck! They got one of us!" Ya-Boy shouts. "Still alive, though." Ya-Boy takes a wild swing, trying to bash into Green's hand and send that toyetic spear flying! "Is this an abnormality??" Ya-Boy shouts. "Treat it as one, suppress, focus on saving resources!" Random shouts back.
Bowser	Bowser puts his fists on his hips, broad muzzle turning up into a smirk. Then a great laugh. Ah, he feels good when people run. Because how COOL AND STRONG HE IS. Then the lights go out again. Lights come down in a beam, then again, then once more. Bowser staggers back one step. Heroic puns?! He steps back again. Attack name call outs?! Bowser leans back forward, suddenly snarling. "You aren't REAL heroes!" He lashes out with his hand. THIS TIME, the hand catches the blade. The blade catches, but electricity rolls up his hand and then arm. It rolls up to his face, electricity crackling between his open mouth. He pulls on the sword, drawing it towards him and lashing out both arms to grab at the Astronomy Ranger Amplitude. He drags the Ranger in close and leaps up into the air. "BOWSER!" "uhhh..." He is spinning in the air a couple times, thinking. "OH YEA, SLAM!"
Kukuru	Bowser pulls himself into... Himself? After wiping her hands off on her shorts (which doesn't really clean her hands at all), she claps lightly in amusement while recalling those good old days back home where one of the neighbor kids would do such fun little tricks like that. It really was a simpler time back then, when she... The lights go out, cutting her brief flashback moment off early. Turning her attention to the spotlights as they appear, Kukuru oohs and aahs at each Ranger's introduction, silently mouthing their names after they announce themselves. She tries to, anyway, but... "That's a bit of a mouthful, isn't it? It's a good theme, but don't you think kids at home might have trouble repeating that?" Tapping her chin, Kukuru mulls over it for a few seconds before snapping her fingers. "Oh! How about the Star Ran-" And then she gets blasted with that water geyser head on. It drowns out anything else she might be trying to say, and for a moment, it looks like she might be getting consumed entirely by the high budget blast! Except she isn't, since another cloud of her teleportation-signaling energy appears within that cloud, depositing her a good ten feet above Blue moments later. Thankfully, all that water means a good quantity of that blood and gore is washed off. "You have to... Think about the kids!" Kukuru reminds(?) the Rangers as she dives at Blue, oversized claws in hand as she slams them downwards at Blue with enough force to smash a small crater right into the observatory's ground on impact. There's little finesse behind that move and not quite as much raw force like her previously more gory attacks, but it's still certainly enough to pack a punch! She'll have to check on Parker later, but she's not too worried as long as nobody's dead dead.
Shadow	"Ah ha - wait, jeez, the filler minions are weak this season..." says Green, distracted enough for Ya-Boy's swing to disarm him. "Hey! This isn't abnormal!" "This is very..." The camera zooms in on Green's masked face. "Frequent." Rimshot. "I am thinking about the kids!" yells Blue, as she closes in on Kukuru. "They love this observatory! I- AAH!" She goes down. But not like, down down. The transformation didn't turn off so she's still in the fight. Red gets it worst. The Bowsemkin Buster sends him tumbling off across the hard concrete after landing, earning overtime for the stunt coordinators and some serious bruises for Red. "Quick! Let's summon Cosmononoger!" calls Blue. Red brings up a saxophone to his mask and plays a few notes. Three different color-coded flying telescopes come out of nowhere and form a giant robot, which the Rangers are suddenly in. This sequence takes a full two minutes of airtime to play out, and cannot be skipped. "Alright, Cosmononoger, let's make them see stars!" Astronomy Ultimate Cosmononoger sets about the local Concord forces with a variety of Robot Punches, Robot Kicks, and Robot Justice Astronomy Beams!
Kukuru	"That's good! Kids need to learn more about the world so they can do better than we ever did." Kukuru actually sounds like she's agreeing with Blue, notwithstanding all the violence. She's a good sport about giving Blue a chance to get up, too, since... Wait. Kukuru's totally watched these kinds of shows before, hasn't she? Whatever the case is, though, she's more than content to let the Cosmononong.. Ong... Big telescope robot show up and go through its entire transformation sequence, taking that extra time to tend to her allies, fix up their worst wounds, and even revive and stabilize the more direly injured/dead guards (including that one she tore up pretty badly). Good timing, too, since the giant robot with the name she's unable to repeat starts throwing giant fists, boots, and beams all over the place at them! Kukuru's not exactly the agile type, though, so she has to settle for just blocking against and putting herself back together through the hits she can't evade (all of them). By the time the dust settles, she's still on her feet! The editors are probably going to need some discretionary light beams with how messed up her outfit's gotten, though, but at least she has one more trick up her sleeve to keep the camera off herself: "Bowser! Rook! jeff! Random! Parker!" Wait, is she still down? "Ya-boy! It's your turn to get big, too!" And so, Kukuru does what any good mom does when the chips are all down: Blow out all her nanites into every one of them, providing them with far more than is reasonable for people/turtle beasts their size to handle in order to bolster their strength to greater heights! It's enough to temporarily enlarge them by a huge margin, too! Kukuru herself, though, stays the same size she usually does. She settles for handling things from the ground level, though, teleporting once more to start tackling the Cosmononoger from the bottom up. Claws start tearing into its ankles, shredding 'metal' and plastic alike in a whirlwind of wild claw slashes, grasping and tearing at whatever she can reach!
Angela	Parker, already downed, is somehow spared from being just squished by a giant robot but Ya-Boy and Random aren't so lucky. Random is blasted back by an ASTRONOMY BEAM and sent crashing to the ground, a burn erupting out of their chest that encompasses like a full third of their body. Ya-Boy isn't so lucky. He tries to jump out of the way but his lower half gets caught by the Cosmonoger and just outright disintegrates, covering the Cosmonoger fist in red film. The upper half crashes down by Parker. "Gonna have to step out." Rook says to Shadow. "Hopefully his brain didn't shut down immediately." He makes his way out, swinging his own bat over his back and tapping it to his shoulder as he steps out the door, approaching the giant robot. "Man, definitely better get a bonus out of this. Not sure how to deal with somethin' this big." Random stirs as healing nanites infuse them. Jeff is still inside the tower and immediately tears it apart as he is enlarged while lying on the floor, no doubt causing immense unintentional damage. He lets out a thin half-wail, half-squeak of terror at the unexpected terror. Ya-Boy's body enlarges too but he isn't going to get up but you can get a nice view of his ribcage like this. But the one who is most relaxed and composed about this change in his stature is Rook. "Startin' to see why they're calling you the best den-mom, Kukuru." Rook says, stretching out his shoulders and neck. "You're a real sweetheart, just like they said." Agents love buffs. Rook darts forward in a sudden burst of movement towards Random, leaping into the air-- --Random brings up their hands and tosses Rook into the air who spins in the air once. "I'm more the type to knock down a 'Star' myself." Rook says. "Don't blame us for this fight you picked." By his estimation that's how it is as he brings down that heavy spiked bat towards the head of the Cosmonoger.
Bowser	Bowser disassociates as he watches three telescopes. Watching them come together and start to shift, rotate, and combine. Two full minutes. Bowser retreats slowly into his mind. Two pong paddles move up and down. Beep doop. Beep boop. Boop b- "SOLAR! ECLIPSE! BEAMUUUUUUUUU!" The two cores slowly come together and the halo around the eclipse suddenly lash out, becoming a bright orange beam. It lances out towards Bowser, smashing through him. It lifts him up off his feet, blasting him fully across the concrete disc! He slams into the other side, and the beam sears around him, pushing him further into the concrete. The concrete shatters once, pushing Bowser deeper in. Then again, pushing him until he is buried. DEEP IN BOWSER. "Well, it happened again." "Flick the starter flame back on." Click... click... "That ain't it." "Hold on. Someone is coming." Two cells sit in Bowser's adrenaline glands, watching as a flood of computer squares suddenly come into view. "WHERE IS THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM." "The what?" "... WHERE IS THE THING THAT MAKES THE THING GO." The two cells jerk their thumbs backwards, and the squares suddenly flood past. Bowser's eyes fly open, stretching wide. He thrusts an arm out of the hole, and pulls himself out. As he pulls himself out, he is already growing, and his first step out of the hole is the size of a tank as he stretches up to match the robot. Flames snort out of Bowser's nostrils as he lifts his arm. The classic windmill starts, arm spinning around in a circle as he builds up speed! Then, a single thrusting punch across the concrete at Cosmonoger!
Shadow	"Wait, these are acting a lot more like dead people than squished muddies," observes Blue, at the red mist. "It's... an illusion," says Red, since the alternative is that the Justice Astronomy Rangers just stepped on a person clean in half. Everyone grows. This is As Expected. It's a bit less expected when the half a person grows too, causing Green to briefly become more so at the sight. The claws start tearing it up, causing the Cosmononoger to start losing its balance. Bowser comes at it next, his flailing causing it to fall backwards... ... And Rook comes straight down, bat in hand, to deliver the final crushing blow! Deep inside the compacted Cosmononoger, the Astronomy Rangers look at each other. They're not physically hurt, fortunately, but they look stunned. "... Well, we lost." "This is when we get the mid season upgrade, right?" "Yeah, that'll power us all back up and let us win!" But no upgrade is coming. Outside, Shadow walks out of the control room, and looks around. "..." "I'm bored again. Being a radio operator was boring." He crosses his arms. "You all weren't totally useless, at least." "I liked that idea someone had. About the pirate radio station. But minus the radio station part." With that, he leaves without another word, and is gone before anyone can comment. "Sorry, he's... kind of like that," says Rouge, as she emerges from the control room as well. "We're working on it. Thank you all, though."
Bowser	Bowser rapidly shrinks as the adrenaline leaves his body. He topples forward, face striking the floor. "Gonna... steal a pirate ship..."
Angela	Killing the Rangers isn't Rook's job, especially once Shadow decides he's done with radio as a hobby. This job was actually an escort job, after all. It was SUPPOSED to be a milk run but nobody expected color coordinated rangers and a giant astronomy powered robot. He (and the others), shrink as Rook crouches down by a fallen and blood-splattered pack of cigarettes--previously carried by Ya-Boy. He takes a cigarette and lights it up and blows out a plume of smoke. "Ya-Boy..." Random is more affected, shedding a tear. "Don't get too attached." Rook scolds them, though not too harshly. "There's enough to bring back. L Corp might front for the ressurection." Random snorts, "And waste energy?" "You'd be surprised, but we'll have to get it back." Random bows his head to Kukuru. "It was a pleasure, Kukuru." He nods to Bowser. "You too. Think this partnership will work out great." But Shadow is leaving. Rogue apologizes and Rook waves it off. "Aw don't you worry about it none." Rook assures her. "He's actually one of the nicest employers I ever had." In the City, active disinterest is often the best you can hope for.
Kukuru	"Mm? Oh, thanks! Hehe... I try, you know?" Rook's words have Kukuru beaming (figuratively) as the robot is brought down, although she has to take some mental notes on who's where when she realizes some of the agents are a little less intact than she had expected earlier. Regardless, the Concord is victorious! Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, Kukuru actually runs a bit to make sure she can catch Bowser and/or Rook before they fall in a bad way, taking those excess nanites back from all over the place until there's just enough to keep that healing juice flowing without keeping anyone stupidly large. At hearing Shadow, she lets out another laugh as though she wasn't covered in random parts and missing half of theclothes she brought out here from sheer battle damage. "The important thing is we all did it together, and now we know! It's... Um. It wasn't a bad thing to do, even if it was.. Different. Really different." She claims, trying to find some good in this whole thing even if the actual operating part was kind of... Not a thing she'd want to do again. Waving at Shadow as he leaves, Kukuru turns to Rouge next with another playful chuckle. "It's okay. There's been kids like that back home before, too. He'll come around." And with that, she starts making her rounds, checking on the Agents that are still intact enough to heal normally while shoving an excessive amount of nanites into those that are a little more... Dead. They'll get better once Kukuru gets that work in. It's just going to take a while, but she's willing to put that extra elbow grease in despite how sleepy she already/always looks. Better yet, L Corp won't even have to pay for it!