Dino Scouts (private)

[TrashRabbit]

Our main thread. Your first task: post about what your Friday looks like. While you all have your fossil on you, possibly as a trendy accessory, none of you have ever used it. The first transformations of the girls will be the goal of this episode as well as establishing which girls know which- this can be discussed in depth in the chat. But go ahead and get those sweet sweet intro posts rolling.

Trillobit city is a mid sized bustling place with flourishing small and eccentric businesses. Its a place of arcades, specialty shops, aquariums and niche clubs. Its just the kind of place your parents wanted to raise you. Your high school, Opal Heart high school home of the Cadets, is big and well funded by the city, it has art, a pool, a stage- you dream it they got it. Its a place of four seasons, public art, and renewable energy. It's in a future not so much distant as adjacent to our own- the colors are more vibrant, children's laughter is a little more sweet here, dogs are even cuter, the wifi always works. This is the stage our magical girls will step into on an idyllic, sunny Friday afternoon in spring. This is the world they bleed for.

 

[Sophos]

Barbara Brown, Barb to everyone who knew her, was at band practice. Her band, "K-Pg Impactor" was not what most would call "good music" but then, neither was most grindcore. Still, they did try to improve their skills at least once a week. The current song they were working on was a 12-minute monster of a song titled "Epoch". It was given its title by Barb's girlfriend, Dina, who was the technical genius and artistic talent behind the band's only album (also titled "Epoch") and the band's logo.

 

[theunderwolf]

Arin moved through the kitchen like a machine, a whil of motion that was half dancing and half cooking. She always listened to music when she cooked, it was her time, focusing on making good food and getting a bit of a workout doing it. Today was great, she had set her web player to random and was getting a delightful mix of Metallica and Bach. The only real downside was that every once in a while her player insisted on giving her a song by that... Lexi girl. Ugh. She hated Disney pop and while it was fine that a local girl was getting attention, she resented her and her stupid, normie synths. Every once in a while Cady asked her how she knew Lexi and Arin had to insist that she went to the same school and shared no classes. Speaking of Cady, Arin skipped to the fridge and reread the list, leg bumping to "Hero of The day". Carrot cake for her fathers birthday (Not that he'd be there) , lunchboxes for the twins weekend activities and granola for Zander's audition were the only things left to make and with a clumsy giggling headbang she started absolutely eviscerating carrots as the necklace of plates she had put that weird bone on jangled around her neck.

 

[ValtheStarGal]

This rig is technically overkill, but Rachel Shepard is happy to build it. Dressed in stained and pockmarked work clothing, and with The Glitch Mob blasting away on her portable speaker in the makerspace's metal shop, Rachel is hard at work building a launching rig from tube steel purchased by the Trilobite City Youth Space Program. Having designed the rig and measured the cuts herself, Rachel moves from cut to drill with ease, always double-checking her measurements to be sure. She references her drawings every so often; they depict the eight triangular support frames and the four structural frames that will make up the rig, showing the lengths of each piece of metal and where holes need to be drilled so that the rig can be bolted together. Not pictured is the piece of plywood with a hole drilled through its center will serve as the standee that the TCYSP's rockets will be fired from, to instruct the next generation in rocketry and physics. When she is done, Rachel checks all of the cuts and holes to ensure they are all on target, taking photos with her phone to send to her mentors at the Trilobite Aerospace Museum. Satisfied with her progress, she wipes the oil and metal shavings off and sets them all aside in a storage locker before cleaning up the metal shop, collecting her speaker and backpack, and leaving the shop for the day. She dons the necklace she made from a chain and Spinosaurus fang she found in the City Park before putting her headphones on and resuming a podcast about Cassini's mission to Saturn, making her way to the bus stop to head home and clean up.

 

[Graystone713]

The challenge was pretty much won at this point. The barrel diameter seemed right, everything seemed properly sealed, and she was sure she could ignite the propellant with the spark wheel she installed. All that was left was a test. And the makerspace didn't have anywhere approved for the testing of potato cannons, pumpkin chunkers, or even those custom nerf guns. She'd tried playing with those, but starting from all that prefabricated junk felt wrong. She preferred starting from scratch anyways. As she picked up her mighty cannon, she heard the music shut off. And the other girl was gone, before she could say anything. She wanted to start a conversation. She never could. So, eventually, she found herself out at the field behind the school, just after the sports clubs were all done. She situated herself at one end of the field. She set up her little phone on its little tripod, and spoke to it.
"You said I couldn't make a pumpkin cannon, and even if I did, I couldn't launch a pumpkin very far. I am proving you wrong."
she said, holding up a very small pumpkin and slowly shoving it down the barrel of her bazooka-like contraption. Then she opened the caps on the back end, and sprayed a LOT of hairspray in there. Once it was really full, she sealed it all up, and shouted.
"PUMPKIN CHUNK! CLEAR THE FIELD!"
It was pointless, because she was the only one there, but... Well, she pulled the trigger. Nothing. Again. Hm. She spammed it a bit, and-FOOMPH. There it went. She needed to tighten that trigger up. She grabbed the phone and walked. At the other end, there was the splattered remains of her tiny palm-sized pumpkin.
"Shorter than I'd like, and not as accurate, but that's mostly the pumpkin's shape. I know you'll say I cheated. But you never set out rules, so what rule could I have broken?"
She said, then sent the message off to the one who challenged her. The guy was sure to whine about it, but she was right. And the materials for a bigger cannon were way out of her reach right now. Honestly, a cannon much bigger than hers wouldn't be possible without much thicker steel, and blacksmithing skills she didn't possess. Maybe the science teacher could, if the school felt like having a repeat of the trebuchet incident... The thing misfiring and throwing its load backwards into the principal's car was funny at the time, but the professor wasn't allowed to do that sort of thing anymore...

 

[Goblin Society]

Step, step, turn, pump, kick-

No. Off the beat, just a little. Again!

Step, step, turn, pump, kick, turn-

Better, but too slow! Again!

Alexis was in a studio her representation had rented out for her, facing a mirrored wall, as her phone played the syrupy synths from her latest song. She'd stayed past when her backup dancers went home for the day, laser focused on perfecting her choreography. Sure, today was the first day of practice, but if she didn't give it her all, if she didn't give one hundred and ten percent--

She'd reached her limit, and her legs began to shake, and she managed to catch herself on the bar mounted to the studio's mirror. Ugh, fine. Fine! She could stick at giving one hundred percent today. The extra ten could be paid back later. Exhausted, she reached for her water bottle with a trembling hand, and drained it in a single, long drink, and waited for her energy to come back as the music continued to play without her.

 

[TrashRabbit]

The storm builds quickly, humidity rising and storm clouds rolling in from the sea. Its just like any other storm you've watched roll in- save it feels in fast motion. It feels constructed- you can't put your finger on the sense it brings you, because its not dread or fear; Its a beautiful storm. And when the rain bursts from the sky, with a clap of thunder loud enough to deafen, the rain droplets fall warm and fat.

You don't see it- it happens to far away, in a junkyard near the sea. But you feel it. A sucking emptiness that vibrates through your fossil and into your own bones. A flutter in the heartbeat. A shock through your chest. Something has been lost and you aren't sure what.

And maybe you do see it- when a girl crashes to earth in the middle of the park- clipping through the statue of the founder of Trilobite city and furrowing through the earth of the soccer field like an impact crater.

Or maybe you see the bolt of blue that strikes the fountain, blinding and hot.

Or maybe you see the thing, glimpse it like so much blurry cryptid- all grey steel, humanoid and pocked surfaces.

Maybe you see none of that. Maybe its not till the creatures start knocking cars around- rhino like and chest tall, metallic and crackling with a light that is not of this world. It sends a car through a storefront with the flick of its horn, and there are far too many around town- if you didn't see it when it started you hear it when the flood sirens go off.

Today will not be like other days, not for our girls and not for any soul in Trilobite city.

 

[ValtheStarGal]

"So Enceladus, yes, Enceladus presents some of the more exciting possibilities for a future mission. For the longest time, we couldn't be sure if it was like Europa or simply had cryovolcanoes on its surface, but we got a lot of data back from Cassini that points to there being an entire subsurface ocean. If the moon's core is heated by tidal activity like Europa, then there's even a chance that life could have arose beneath the moon's surface..."

Rachel feels something change about the world, something that upsets her. Her attention thrown from the podcast, she realizes that she hears something underneath the chatting scientists, something that doesn’t fit with the audio. She takes off her headphones and immediately recognizes the sound of the flood sirens. Is there a tsunami coming? She has to get to high ground right now. She turns and searches for the nearest hill and-

Darkness.

Rachel’s eyes need seconds to adjust to the light. She feels weightless: she feels things shift around as though she is no longer under gravity’s pull. She sees twinkling lights out in the darkness, still too indistinct to fully see. It’s weird, they look like…

…they look like stars.

That is because they are.

“Who said that," is what Rachel tries to ask. She hears nothing.

She tries to take a breath and feels no air enter her lungs. She feels her lungs expand as though having inhaled, but no words sound from her threat. She just now notices that she cannot hear anything beyond her own heartbeat.

You are here because I needed more time.

“Where am I?” Rachel tries to ask.

You know, little one.

Rachel’s eyes have adjusted to the light, and she can no longer deny that she is looking out upon a vast field of stars. There are more than any she has ever seen before: her view is filled with them. But that shouldn’t be possible: she’s seen a star-filled sky, and nothing like this.

Rachel looks behind her, and is blinded by the sun. She holds her hand up, blocking the sunlight, before realizing that there is far less light then there should be. From as far out as she is, the sun looks only like an exceptionally bright star. Rachel cannot see any of the planets.

I promise you, answers will come. I need you to trust me now.

“Who are you?” Rachel asks.

I am hanging from your neck.

Rachel looks down: she sees the Spinosaurus fang. She cannot believe her fossil is talking to her. She also cannot believe that she is suspended in the vacuum of space, the sun a bright point in a field of stars.

And yet it moves.

Despite it all, Rachel smiles at the joke.

“What do you need me to do?” Rachel wordlessly asks.

I am a fossil, but I am also a weapon. Draw me.

“For what?” Rachel asks, fear creeping into her heartbeat.

Your city is not menaced by a flood. It is something else, something worse but that can be fought - and beaten. There is no time to explain: each second gambles a life. If you trust me, draw the weapon.

"But why me?" Rachel asks.

You wished for it.

Rachel gets the sense that there is no more time for questions. She senses that she has to trust the thing in the fossil. Her intuition, such an unstable thing lately, tells her to take hold of the fossil and draw the weapon-

Rachel is back in Trilobite City, the alarms still wailing. She can hear sounds of a nearby struggle: metal tearing, rumbling explosions, sounds that she’s only ever heard in sci-fi movies…and screams. The nightmare is blocks away, and still much too close. There is no more time.

Rachel’s right hand goes to the fang on her neck, the other undoing the clasp keeping it hanging there. One second, she doesn’t know what to do with it: the next, she does. Rachel spins the fang in her hand, and casts her right hand out.

Light and heat burst from the fossil as world is turned inside out around Rachel Shepard. The fossil becomes heavy, but she becomes strong. The fossil grows from half a foot to six and a half feet, ringing as though drawn from a sheathe, but she takes hold of its haft and begins to spin it around her, the weight of the thing reassuring like a comrade at her side. The fossil hardens and cools into the Aegyptacus Glaive; Rachel Shepard becomes the Ingenious Voidwatcher.

The world around the Voidwatcher reverts back to four dimensions, and she knows what she must do.

The Voidwatcher hears a plea for help, and answers the call, rushing on to battle.

 

[Graystone713]

Shale had only just packed up and was about to head for her truck when she felt that dread. She saw the storm, moving unnaturally swift. The streak of light, crashing somewhere in the city. The park, maybe? Then the sirens and the rumble. What? She could hear something in her backpack, and pulled it out... Right, the broken locator. She didn't know why it was near that crater, or why something like this would be made of such extravagant materials, but... The little screen on the back was on now. Tracking what must've been its own location, the location of the meteorite, and... What else? Some things were noted in green, like the locator's location. The meteor was a BIG red dot. but now there were lots of little red dots. At least three were headed her direction, and started flashing... Wait. She could see something. Oh hell, this thing was tracking actual targets! Something else flashed on the UI. The icon looked a bit like a cannon, and next to it was an x1. No way. Was this thing designating targets for artillery strikes? She didn't have a lot of time. She could clearly see whatever it was charging her. They looked like steel rhinos, charged like goddamn tesla coils. And they knocked a bunch of cars out of their way, seemingly ignoring other students.
"S-STAY BACK! I'LL SHOOT!"
She shouted, aiming it at them. No response, they just kept on going. She gritted her teeth, held down the trigger, and the laser pointers came on. Then... THOOM! She missed! She fucking missed! It landed behind them, and she was fucked. So she braced herself, dropped her backpack... And jumped aside. The horns grazed her. Shit shit SHIT she was gonna die. They were taking their time to wheel around, so she ran to the crater her shot left behind. Something was in it. It looked like a small artillery setup. The hell? Having no better ideas, she jumped in, and looked for controls. If she hadn't fired a gun so much as summoned one, she had to get shooting NOW. Suddenly, she found herself strapped in, and things got... Glowy. Her outfit transformed, and so did the little artillery setup. The mechanical limbs strapping themselves to her own restricted her for a moment, and she felt the right arm jack into the weird target thingy. Then the helmet came down, and she heard the voice.
"Dreadnoughtus fossil online. Artillerosaur form engaged. Resuming tracking."
"Who? What? W-What is this?"
It didn't answer, but she could see the massive cannon over her shoulder moving into position, and targeting displays come up. When did her life turn into a goddamn mecha anime?
The enemy was closing. She took aim, and she fired, screaming out a battle cry.
"THIS AIN'T NO PUMPKIN!"
She would get better at the battle cry thing later.

 

[theunderwolf]

YOUNG QUEEN.
The voice burst into Arin's head like a cartoon anvil and she buckled over as it hit her.
Compose yourself, majesty
Arin stood straight, warily looking around for the source of your voice. "Hello? Are you in here?" She asked, not seeing anyone.
Don't bother I am speaking to you through my, fossil.
"This thing?" Arin asked, holding her necklace in her hands. Sure enough it felt warm in her hands, "Are...you a dinosaur? Or a mammoth?"
Your highness jests, I am the Proud Empress of Spikes, Picontre the stegosaurus.
"Oh- ok?" Arin said, "How are you talking in my head."
That is a long story your highness, but for now, i have found you to be the one most fit to be queen, and take on my mantle in the current age.
"Alright but, will I have to leave my family, I still need to care for them!" Arin felt her feet move, the voice Empress was getting impatient, tugging at her to get moving outside, then up the stairs of her apartment complex.
You will be burdened yes, but we monarchs must wear many crowns. The Empress spoke as Arin walked on the buildings flat roof, discovering a signifigant alteration, a throne. Too call it anything else would blaspheme it, but it was something out of myth. Made of thousands, if not millions of interlocking spiked cones and triangular, sharpened sails, the throne was a thing of brutal artistry. Arin felt humbled by it, as its very presence shook her on a deep level. She looked around and saw that she was surrounded by the spikes, the path ahead was littered with them like growths and spires bigger then her rotated around the throne like silent watchers.
That is my throne, and soon it will be yours. Will you take it?
"I-I will," Arin said, stepping forward and immediatly there was another crushing pressure. She felt it in her bones, in the fossil she wore. The crushing weight spoke to her and she felt the weight of her brothers, her parents, all the emotions around them and the burden of their care. It was physical for the first time, and she felt a green mantle surround her, weighing her movement. But she took another step towards the throne. She felt the entire cities weight on her back, the city that she would be responsible for, in all things. Its keeping, its hear and its protection. But what was one more burden? Arin took another step, feeling the weight of her charges sink into her. She saw the faces of people she knew. There weren't many but they weighed on her nonetheless. But she took another step. And before the throne, she saw herself. transient, without much weight. She felt it like a mist, and that it should be...heavier. Like the burden she needed to bear was gone. She stared at the throne guiltily, then sat down resting her head on her folded hands. Picontre appeared before her, in her full glory. A massive, spiked creature, covered in armor both natural and forged. She saw the Empress like a reflection and they spoke together.
"I am the ruler and the servant of my realm. I will protect and love my people and be their spined bulwark. This I swear and I arise The Shining Queen of Spikes.
Arin stood, but she wasn't herself. Her hair had lengthened and she both looked and felt older. She slammed her new combat boot on the ground and from the floor her massive spiked club emerged, she caught it and spun it gracefully as is whirred heavily through the air. Her coat flapped in the air and she looked down, she was in a beautiful green coat that felt like it was made of scales. Not in a leather way, but like her own scales, protecting her skin. She grinned, "Wow," She declared, "I feel good. " The empress was feeding her information and she followed it, slamming her club into the ground, jumping on the spikes that emerged, and riding them like a wave into the city. She could feel the streets pulse and stop as she passed over them, riding the waves of spines that emerged from the buildings and streets. She stopped at the park, and looked down, seeing the carnival below.

 

[Nimbus]

Even though Sunny hadn't yet gone to the gym today, she got decent strength training lifting bags of peat soil for the Opal Heart Green Thumbs. They'd cleaned out an old utility shed and stocked it this afternoon as the first step to preparing for the spring's flurry of planting. Folks seemed to be impressed that she could carry a couple bags over each shoulder and in each arm while keeping her balance. Sunny kinda forgot how weird but good that sorta thing felt. As her fellow club members trickled towards the south side of the courtyard, the club president stopped fussing with the baby Echeveria in her portable terrarium and saw all the club members off after locking the shed.

When it was Sunny's turn, she said, "Thanks for helping out on such short notice, Sunny."

They bumped fists because Rosalina Espinosa was cool like that. And also because last week’s hug was extra awkward for a girl who was about hugs and another girl who was more used to grappling.

"Aw, it's no biggie," Sunny said, because it was true, "that utility closet was way too cramped for club stuff anyway."

"Could even fit a mustard seed between the junk in there. Hella un-snappable," the prez joked.

Sunny laughed, even though it was more the kind of cornball joke she’d expect her weird auntie to make. Even though she wasn’t the type of person Sunny expected to admire, let alone befriend, Rosalina was a good kid.

"Text me if you need an extra pair of hands for a project, kay?"

"Will do! Oh, yeah, I was thinking of maybe asking the City if we could plant a grove of trees - Maples or maybe Ginko; I haven't decided and Phoebe is still working on the budget - in the spot where the park got cratered. It just kinda looks sad-"

Rosalina had to have stopped because she saw the look on Sunny's face when she mentioned the City Park.

"You not a fan?"

Explaining the weird feeling Sunny felt from that place was next to impossible. She hated it.

"Uh, yeah. Well, no, not really. Er, I mean...not always, but now, since, you know. There's a big ass hole in the middle of it, so like, it does need to be patched up. But maybe the city already got a handle on it. They might be planning some big deal ribbon cutting event. Cos you know there's nothing much to see there except-"

A weird wave of cold – the first one today - hit her so hard her knees buckled.

“Sunny!” Rosalina closed the gap between the two girls, phone at the ready to dial for help if need be.

It was hard to stay standing, like there were shockwaves pulsing beneath her feet, but Sunny managed. And when she stood, she looked up to follow a streak of light in the darkening sky.

"Stars. In these clouds?" Sunny wore a very “what the fuck?” face because this shit didn’t make any sense to her.

Rosalina’s face was also “what the fuck?” but for different reasons. "Girl, did you forget to eat lunch today or something?"

"No. I’m good now. If you’re gonna call anyone, maybe try your mom. See if she can pick you up.”
BOOM went the sky, which made both girls jump just a little. They were disappointed in the weather not turning out as forecast, sure. But Sunny felt more. She needed to know what that was and what she could do about it.

“I’ll be alright,” Sunny continued, since Rosalina didn’t look convinced, “I don’t live too far. But y’all might wanna go straight home today. ‘S gonna come down like a sack of bricks.”

She gave the older student a quick, one armed hug and headed for the main doors of the school. Other students outside were clustering together, huddling under awnings and _ frantically texting, snapping and ‘gramming the freak storm cell as it happened. More sensible kids ducked into the nearest building,

Sunny couldn’t ignore her gut, which was crying "no" but real fast like nononononononononono. And the world was bumping, but not the bumping to sick beats with heavy bass kind. Sunny felt another chill – it wasn’t the wind, even though a storm like this could drive fierce winds – and a thud from the inside of her backpack every time a drop of rain hit.

As the sirens blared and the faculty herded the remaining students towards emergency storm shelters, Sunny went in a different direction. Not home, like she had suggested, but towards the park she’d been avoiding ever since she found her fossil.

 

[Goblin Society]

Alexis had finished her practice, and was walking home when she saw the shooting star. She stopped in her tracks, reminded of her wish, which she knew was the only reason she had come his far. Maybe the only reason she'd even started this. And then, the star turned down, shooting directly for the park, and from all around her, she could hear a sound that sounded like a hunting horn, reverberating through the city streets, almost deafening, as though all the energy in the tubular fossil she had cut into a bracer and carved with elaborate designs that came to mind as she stared at it had suddenly emptied in a deafening blast, and she hadn't even known what was stored inside. It felt... hollow. Like it was hungry, now. Like it was pulling her in.

She was frozen, for a second, trying to figure out what had happened as her heart started to race. She'd felt like she had the wind knocked out of her, even when she had only just got it back. And then, she saw the monster, and she saw what it was doing. A girl with short, curly black hair was huddled under a store window, covering herself as the monster thrashed on the street, lobbing a parked car in a lazy arc through the air that would smash the window and crush the girl.

"What are you goi-" A voice in the back of her head started, but Alexis was already running for the girl, not sure how she was going to protect her, but knowing she had to. "Oh, you'll do well." The voice's tone was low and amused. "Tell the world your name. Do not allow it to forget."

Alexis turned to face the car, and with a hand on her bracer, she cried out, "Princess Acoustica!"

The world seemed to freeze for a second, and she swept a hand over her eyes, a mask appearing over her eyes, and growing back through her hair, weaving it through a lattice that culminated in a crest behind her head. Her red jacket glowed, and shifted, becoming more martial, more formal, and her pants merged into a long flowing skirt. A cape appeared around her shoulders, and she looked at herself, surprised. She was... Some kind of lady knight now? Then... She held out her hand, expecting a sword. Instead, her fossil slithered into her hand, and formed into a megaphone. Alexis lifted it to her lips and shouted. "Stop!" and the force of her words pushed the car away, launching it at the monster. She looked back at the girl. "Don't worry. It's gonna be great!"

 

[Sophos]

Barb is walking home from practice with her friend Cade, when suddenly the sound of thunder splits the sky. In the distance is the sound of crashing cars, and suddenly a metal-ish rhino-like creature comes around the corner and charges the pair. As it rapidly approaches, Barb shoves Cade out of the way, and yells for them to run.

Young One, you wished to protect your friends. You now have a chance to protect not only them, but all the people of this realm.

The last thing Cade sees before Barb disappears in a flash of light is a look of shock on her face. The odd monster runs directly into the shining form of Barb, and stops dead in its tracks. The light dissipates and standing in Barb's place is a valiant-looking knight, holding back the beast with a single hand, before slamming her mace down on the thing's head, causing it to collapse.

"Reporting for duty, Grand Knight..." she pauses, almost as if she is searching for the rest of her name, "Grand Knight Barb, I suppose. Get home, I'll handle this thing," she says to Cade, before turning her attention back to the monster.

 

[ValtheStarGal]

The Ingenious Voidwatcher​

“Help us, please!”

The cry is strained, the voice issuing it hoarse and wet. The Ingenious Voidwatcher can hear the uncomprehending fear in it, and rushes toward it. Something heavy slams into the street around the corner, a car to tell by the sound of crumpling aluminum and the impact tremor. Something else roars, the noise like a Tesla coil but distinctly not from this Earth. More screams issue from around the corner, driving the Voidwatcher forward: bracing for combat, she twirls the Aegyptacus Glaive around so that it is in her left hand, her grip just above the dark-metal Spinosaurus skull where she can feel the tug of the black hole housed within.

The Voidwatcher turns the corner just in time to face down an SUV as it tumbles end over end, right for her.

Thinking fast, the Voidwatcher glances off to her left, channeling the power of the Aegyptacus Glaive to exert her will on spacetime itself: the space off to her left contracts as the space to her right expands, pushing the Voidwatcher twenty feet to her left with her only taking a single leftward step. Reality quickly stabilizes and the SUV tumbles harmlessly past her. The Voidwatcher hears another Tesla-coil roar from straight ahead of her and stares down the source of it.

Rhinoceros is what the mind would jump for when describing the thing roaring at the Voidwatcher, but that would be for want of a better term. The thing staring down the Voidwatcher is rhino-shaped, but the resemblance is superficial: its silver form crackles with energy and its silhouette shifts like a video game glitch come to life, its edges jagged and shifting faster than the eye can track. It brandishes a wicked horn, the point of which shifts and stutters with the same non-pattern as the rest of its being but with an unmistakable purpose to it. The thing thrums, radiating a deep and otherworldly malevolence. The Voidwatcher senses its attention turn to her, the air around her taking a charge that sets her hairs standing on end.

Rachel Shepard will wonder later how she knew the thing she faced is called a “star.” She will also wonder how she knew that it was about to charge her. She will have many, many questions after this day; right now, the Ingenious Voidwatcher takes the measure of her enemy - and has her attack planned before the second between the thing spotting her and charging her passes.

With another sharp roar, the star charges. The Voidwatcher counter-charges, glaive at the ready. She gives the thing three seconds to think she is simply going to run at it before calling on the glaive to contract the space between her and the star. With a single step, the Voidwatcher closes the gap, swinging her glaive around so that the blade swings short but that the counterweight slams right into what would be the head of the rhino-star. She feels the blow connect, and the roaring takes on a radio-interference like distortion as it is knocked off the course of its charge, its 'belly' exposed. There is no pain in the sound like a living thing would feel pain, and neither is there any outrage.

But the thing will not have time to feel either of those things as the Voidwatcher’s grip slides down the haft of the glaive and as she twirls it back around before throwing an uppercut swing that slices right through its center mass. The blade cuts through something buried inside the star, triggering a sonic boom that dispels its energetic aura. The star isn’t roaring anymore, but instead wails a heavily-distorted but unceasing scream. Stepping back with the momentum of her follow-through, the Voidwatcher twirls her glaive around, poising it in her right hand as she watches what happens to the star.

Which does what any dying star does: collapse.

The Voidwatcher witnesses the jagged mass of the star begin to crumble, whatever thing at its heart was sustaining its existence unable to keep it going any further. The thing falls to the ground, screaming as the space it occupies contracts without losing any mass. It gets smaller and smaller, the screaming fading with it, until the charge in the air suddenly vanishes and the noise stops altogether. The Voidwatcher hears a clatter like a stone dropped on pavement, as the core of the star falls to the road, a tiny black marble all that is left of the once fearsome uncreature. Heeding her will, the marble falls up and toward her, coming to rest in her hand as reality quickly reasserts itself.

Another scream calls the Voidwatcher’s attention up the street, beyond where the first star stood: four blocks away stands a dark-skinned girl in clothing suited for gardening, wide-eyed in terror. The same Tesla-coil roaring booms from around a corner, another star barreling toward a defenseless victim. The Voidwatcher is off to help the girl within the second of hearing it, dropping the marble without a thought and her grip on the Aegyptacus Glaive firm.

She is about to call upon the glaive to close the gap quickly just as a light bursts from the girl’s backpack, a momentary sunburst that the Voidwatcher has to throw her free hand up to protect her eyes from. The flash subsides, and standing where the girl once was is a warrior with glowing golden patterns orbiting her, her fear obliterated and a hardened resolution taking its place. The warrior raises her fists as the roar gets louder and louder…

 

[Nimbus]

Sunny was a comet, sheering away the cold around her. The faster she ran, the warmer she felt. She wondered if maybe it was psychosomatic - that she was doing the right thing, so her brain was actively engaged in not making her life suck? But then she noticed a drumming in her head. Its beat reminded her of something she couldn't quite place. The light bent in places it shouldn't, like it was acting out against the storm. Kind of like it was directing her!

"Keep going...almost there."

Before she got to the park, however, a metallic clang followed by the dulcet screech of metal scraping sidewalk clashed with the drumming sound. A car slid across the road on its side. People nearby screamed and scattered as it kept going up onto the curb.

Sunny attempted to alter her course, but another car flew overhead and crashed into a nearby light post.

"Aaa, what The Hell?!"

The girl slid on wet grass as the metal post bent nearly all the way back. She looked up and saw the cause of the chaos: beasts the size of great Danes, plated like rhinos but…wrong in their joints and their skin in a creepy kind of way.

"Oh shi-"

Sunny didn’t get why they needed to throw cars around, they could’ve easily caused as much of a ruckus if they formed up and stampeded through the park. The amount of destruction that would cause! Even if the park was deserted now, the trees, the fountains, the sandboxes where kids created empires from their heads – would all be in jeopardy, if someone didn’t do something about it.

Stars, came a voice, more pulse than sound, don’t listen to the heartbeat.

A girl who had fallen time after time stood up on her feet again. Sunny needed to protect the park Rosalina and her fellow gardeners wanted to save. The park she wanted to save. And she didn’t have much of a plan. But she had two fists and knew how to use them.

Now, go there.

Sunny had no problem getting those fists within reach of where they needed to be. As she sprinted, rain drops fizzled out when they made contact with the air around her skin. From her lower arms to her finger tips, a translucent glow engulfed her. Sunny curled one hand into a fist and the glow solidified into a pair of bronze-plated gauntlets. She cleared the sidewalk with a leap, the burden on her back lightening. A soft weight settled on to the top of her forehead, soothing as a cool towel after a good sweat.

Let them see you shine.

“Hey Ugly,” she shouted – engulfed in the light of a newfound resolve, “Go back to the sky where you belong!”

In response, one of the not-rhinos roared and turned about in a wobbly motion, stomping the ground and lowering its head. Sunny roared right back, gunning straight for the monster as the light stretched out to protect her from the incoming collision.

As its horned head swiped at her, Sunny juked to the left and dropped low. Tossing cars wasn’t adequate training to take her on. Or at the very least, that’s what her gut told her as she reeled in for a punch to the beast’s under-snout.

“Take this! Prism Upper!”

The not-rhino’s head lolled back with the impact. A right hook follow up drove it back further with a satisfying crunch. Sunny took her chance and kneed the foe up under its jaw. It made a strangled noise, thrashed its head blindly and slumped to one side in mid charge. And then it exploded. Sunny got knocked back by the blast, falling on her bum and losing both her sandals in the process.

"Aw hell, this is gonna take for fuckin' ever if I keep losing my balance every time this happens."

 

[theunderwolf]

Collab post with Graystone713
A:So things were getting crazy. There were monsters everywhere. One was enough but theses thngs were swarming all over the park and wreaking havoc. Desperately, Arin looked for a way to help and saw a... bunch of guns wrapped around a girl? Well of course, if she had learned anything from her brother's stupid shows it was that robots always appeared to fight monsters. And the robot did seem to be shooting...something. But looking down, Arin saw something else, three of the creatures barreling down on it. Relying on instinct and muscle memory, she propelled herself into the air with one spike then bounced over towards the robo-girl "Um..." She yelled,
more regal Pico whispered in her ear,
"Oh Um... LOYAL GUNNER BE AWARE THE ENEMY IS UH.... screw it.... THREE COMING FROM YOUR RIGHT LADY!!!!!"
Shale
Shale was panicked. She couldn't quite calm down enough to listen to the tracking numbers and instructions, but she was still hitting targets with direct hits. Then she thought she could see something. Locator identified it as a green dot, and suddenly it pulled a big anime move and shot itself up through the air with an earth spike. It didn't look like a rhino, and before she tried shooting it, it started talking. She was talking. Three on the right? Locator agreed, and she wheeled around, firing wildly at them. They weren't direct hits, but she still got them in the splash zone. "Green is allies... I have allies. Okay. OKAY. We can hold this area... Wait. I thought you had a gun. That is a very jaggedy sword... You... You gonna be okay with that?"
Arin: Holy crap..." Arin said as the lady rained heck down on the rhinos. She was instantly impressed of course, but it was an earthshaking barrage, she breathed in and landed next to the bigger girl, "Dame of Guns," She said trying to do the regal things, "Your fire is truly marvelous, as for me my..." Arin was unsure if what she had could really be classified as a sword. Her answer was cut off as she sensed the footsteps of a monster who made it through the storm of fire, charging full speed. Arin breathed in and followed what the empress told her, slamming the club into the ground. Massive spines shot from the ground like spears, catching the creature mid leap, impaling it on the phalanx of the massive spines. The effort exhausted her, she had... overreacted and spines that size were...exhausting. "My tailspine will do My Lady, as I hope you can see."
Shale: "... Are you a time traveler? You're talking very... Old-school." said Shale, honestly more impressed with the earthspikes than her clumsy attempts to shoot things with her big gun. After all, the one that just got impaled was one she failed to kill. She also paused. "My lady?... Did... You call me that?..." She said, really unsure of herself. This girl was pretty and strong and elegant and she was sure she was blushing, but she also maybe had a crush on someone else and she just felt so awkward right now. She eventually shook herself out of it. "Ah, not the time! There's more things to shoot, right? There have to be." She said, checking her little locator... She was coming up blank in their immediate vicinity though...

 

[ValtheStarGal]

((A collaborative post with Graystone713 and theunderwolf ))

Rachel: As the girl down the block turns out to be less defenseless than the Voidwatcher would have guessed, a tesla-coil wailing pierces the air from blocks away. The watcher, seeing that the girl can handle herself, turns and uses the glaive to warp space-time, clearing city blocks with a few running steps. As she arrives at the site of a battle, she finds two more warriors like herself who she knows by intuition to be her comrades in the struggle against the stars. With another step, the watcher clears the block, space-time quickly reasserting itself as she steps up to Arin and Shale, glaive at the ready. "I'm glad to see there's more than two of us! Call me the Voidwatcher for now, we can do proper introductions once these things are dealt with!"

Shale: The Artillerosaur was only just recovering from her awkward feelings when the Voidwatcher appeared and another wave began. Why were there so many pretty girls turning into superheroes today? And she looked just like-... Wait. No, it WAS the girl from the makerspace! It was hard to tell for some reason... Hm. Yeah she wasn't gonna think too hard about this, it was probably a magic thing. Wait, shit, she was supposed to say something. "Uh, Artillerosaur? I don't know, it's what the robot suit said it was and I have no idea if we need secret identities or not!" She said, lining up her aim on two rhinos... But she wasn't gonna fire just yet. They had a lot of time to see it coming. She wanted them closer...

Rachel: Somewhere in the back of the watcher's mind, there is a faint recognition of the girl piloting the mech, but not enough to place her - and there are more pressing matters. Following the Artillerosaur's gaze downrange, the watcher spots the stars barreling toward them, their deadly purpose clear through their alien form. Of course, the gunner would want them closer to fire on - from this far away, they would have precious seconds to dodge. Unless, for some reason, their attention was distracted...which still left the pale centipedal monstrosity that she knew to be the white star. "Artillerosaur, if I took down one of them to break off their charge, do you think you could hit the other one from this range?

Another one! There were three of them now and this fact gave Arin a rush of fresh confidence, it didn't show on her new regal visage but the exastion was getting to her. But as the Voidwatcher floats down she sees recognition in Artillerosaur. "I am from this Era Dame Artillerosaur, I just speak beffitting the politeness required of my station. Dame Voidwatcher, you are a welcome sight as well!" She called out and stabbed her club into the ground, "I am the Shining Queen of Spikes, but as we are equals in station you, Lovely Sisters and Warriors may just refer to me as Spike or whatever pleases you." She looked at the Voidwatcher call and saw the approaching monsters, fighting down her fear she took up her club again, "Dames, if you can strike them down I shall protect you as you do so."

Shale... uh... She wondered about that spiky one. But ‘Voidwatcher’ had a good idea, and her royal spikiness was on board. “They’re in range now. I’ll lock a solution for that one on the right, if you can take down the left. And Spike, I’d appreciate something like a palisade. Some good spiky barricades to blunt the charge, instead of a high wall I have to shoot over.” She said, scoping in, reading the distance, judging it... She could do this.

Rachel: "Take down the left one - got it! Here we go," the Voidwatcher declares with a flourish of their glaive. She eyes her target with its shifting form, her attack already planned: as before, she breaks into a charge, running a short ways before bending spacetime around her. Straining to stay on target, she rapidly closes the distance with only a few running steps. The stars are both unprepared for her to be that close that quickly, breaking off their charge as she leaps into the air. Bringing the glaive down in a wide arc, she feels it pierce the heart as she slashes through the star's eldritch hide, wrenching a scream from the star as it falls and collapses into another marble. With a tweak to gravity, the Voidwatcher falls up and back, landing on her feet and facing down the star who is in for a big surprise...

A wall of spikes or a...palisade? or... oh I know! Looking over to Shale she quickly judged where she was aiming and with a grunt of effort she released a long wave of extending, low angled spikes that wrapped around the Voidwatcher, effectively punching the legs out from under the creature that was charging towards her. "You may fire when ready Dame."

Shale had nothing to say, really. She just waited until the right moment, pulled the trigger, and BAM! Rhinosaur exploded. "Nothing to it... What's left? Anything?"