Welcome to the Augusta Hotel's Art Exhibition hall. The exhibition has gone mostly as planned up to this point. This is not a super formal event, though some people have still dressed up. There was no chairity donation on the way in- and there's no cover charge. There's small raised platforms in an arc arranged each with a contestant's piece--- including Hiroko Kumoto's, Reiko Touyama's and Naru Osaka's and a few others even!
Reiko's piece is the one Naru saw her working on, of Uminari Bay not too long ago-- fully finished in oil paints. Depicting the bay from the boardwalk outwards. You can see the theme park and the skyline.
Hiroko's is a more subdued piece of black and whites- done in charcoal- of Mt. Fiji from Tokyo. Not as colorful- yet the characoal captures everything great.
Reiko Touyama herself is stress eating. Yes. There are snacks. Not super fancy. The kind of cheaper Hours de' vour you expect. That is to say- Reiko has eaten way too many tiny hot dogs in pastry by now as she worries and worries because Judging is commencing right now.
She looks towards Momo and Hoshi worriedly "Oh god. I'm so /nervous/." she says.
She looks around for Naru and her eyes end up on Hiroko- who is waiting- alone- vaugely in front of her piece. She seems confident and cocksure at the moment her usual graceful way. Not a nervous wreck like Reiko.
Results should be coming any moment now! They're almost done judging. Almost.
Hoshi squeezes Reiko's hand, and softly says, "If you win, we'll go celebrate. If you don't I'll buy you some koi." She promises, knowing full well that won't make up for losing, but that Reiko would appreciate them anyway. An emotional bandage, so to speak.
Yuzuki Amemori doesn't know anyone here! Well, she doesn't think she does anyway. Art events a neat though, free food, lots of pretty pictures, an excuse to listen to music and wander around aimlessly while hoping for inspiration, good times! She's even being polite and has her music at a respectable level. That is, you have to be standing next to her to even catch it. She's at least wearing a button up, sky blue blouse and long black skirt so she looks presentable. She has her laptop bag doing double duty as a purse today and it's slung over her shoulder.
There is one quick and easy way to get her attention, that isn't the art or her music and as such, she's at the snack table, occasionally grabbing something to eat. Just a few here, there, here again and over there. What, they're small, it's easy to lose track!
Eilam was here primarily because Reiko invited him to come along. Sure, he might now and then attend an art exhibition, but today? Well, might as well come along and see what was going on. Among those who were dressed nicely enough was Eilam, as he ever was when out and about, wearing a nice crisp designer suit and tie. Nothing terribly formal so much as enjoying his money looking nice. That's a benefit after all, a little thing in life. And enjoying those benefits? Today was a decent day. Wasn't feeling too terrible, which was a plus, was walking around on his own while idly carrying the stave he always had along but not relying on it too much.
Overall? Just wandering through the Exhibition hall now that he'd arrived. He stopped near the entrance and pulled out his cell phone to text Reiko with a simple enough, 'I am here.' and then started to walk along and look around, seeing what exactly was there.
It's an excellent excuse to get out a pretty dress, and Naru is determined to make good use of it. Brightly coloured in yellows and blues, sleeveless with a fitted bodice and a gently poofy skirt, Naru is doing well at not twirling in it just because she can.
At least not inside. The parking lot might have been a whole different question.
Naru's art is a bit of a cross between Reiko's ahd Hiroko's. A drawing, rather than a painting, of people at market. Inks and coloured pencils give it life, and there's a delightful joy that eminates from the people captured in the drawing, a grandmother bending to give her grandson a treat with many of the sights and sounds of everyday life captured behind them.
Naru turns, just a /little/ swirl of skirt to go with it, to smile at Mamoru and Kazuo. "I'm so glad you two could come with me."
Momo Akatsuki held up her camera and snapped a picture of Reiko and Hoshi in front of Reiko's art, briefly blinding herself and perhaps everyone else. Through blinks she offers Reiko a blinding smile. "If it counts, you totally won already in my eyes. Your picture is perfect!". She turned around, camera still grasped in hand before offering a little finger wave to Hiroko, who she was familiar with and a judging eye to all the other submitters.
She lifted her camera and started flashing pictures of each of them for good measure, but taking a few extra of Reiko because she was most definitely biased at this moment.
Kazuo's opinion of these things is that in social situations, men exist largely to give women a backdrop to stand out against. He is, thus, even more monochrome than usual: black jeans rather than blue, a black blazer, the usual white shirt worn open at the collar. He did not in fact step out of Hiroko's charcoals, but it's a little hard to tell.
"Someone should be able to speak to how well you do," he says to Naru. "And have done already." There have been a lot of submitters. Getting onto one of the raised platforms is a notable step by itself. From here it's as much the judges' biases as anything.
Nagina Hasane had heard of tonight's event. Though not one much for art, she kept getting texts from her parents urging her to go, urging her to sniff up the culture, to experience new views to help her grow. Thus.. She came with a hint of a prejudice, wearing a red checkered tartan dress with black stockings black stockings below, as well as a pair of mary janes to go with it. Though paused at the entrance where she took a breath, she did not halt her advance entirely, pressing onwards afterwards and starting to roam, not taking too much interest in the snacks, or even the paintings at that..
Nay, it seems that the people drew her eye more. Watching the collection of others, listening to their conversations, mostly focusing on those that discussed the pieces. She did look at the pieces, yet the words spoken earned her focus, letting them sink in during the watching, attempting to grasp just why people seemed to enjoy visualizations, sometimes more abstract than others. She held her arms behind her back in a somewhat neutral posture, almost pouting if people happened to hush to listen to the upcoming judgements, though she supposed another explanation about what the appeal was might be given, should the judge(s) decide to enlighten people as to the whys of their decisions.
Mamoru came in with Naru and Kunzite-- and as always, when not completely overdressed, he's a rich hipster and wearing wildly expensive clothes designed to look a little worn and casually thrown together. A skinny yellow t-shirt bearing the iconic figure of Pikachu that's only pastel because it's been washed enough times to make it look old, a light grey military jacket with the sleeves taken off, and stonewashed jeans with artfully applied 'wear'. His shoes are pretty amazing: they're Fluevogs, with yellow toes and uppers, and an antique floral brocade body. ( http://bit.ly/2bfNc78 )
Once inside, his aviators get hooked over the collar of his shirt and his regular glasses get swapped out for them.
The high school senior gives Naru a crooked little smile. "Just so," he nods to Kunzite, then amps up the wattage on his smile to Naru. "Hey, if I didn't love your art, would I really have hired you to mural up the walls? This is the perfect opportunity to subtly gloat in public over how awesome you are." Apparently he's feeling a lot better.
The judges move from painting to painting. They're almost done. This'll take a moment or so.
In the meantime she smiles at Hoshi. "No worries Hoshi-chan! I'm sure everything will be okay. I mean. It's just a contest. The hard part is the antcipation!"
She blushes a little at Momo, does her best to smile of the picture. "He-he I'm doing my best--oh!"
She texts Eilam and motions him over. "Guys this is Eilam-kun! He's a friend of mine!" she smiles. Hoshi is... probably not surprised Reiko knows another bishy older guy.
Hiroko Koumoto eyes glance over to Reiko's group and she gives something akin to a straight faced frown, before her eyes glance over to Mamoru and friends. She takes a few steps over there. "Chiba-san." she says politely as she can. "Who are your friends?" she asks softly, gracefully.
The Judges walk back to thier table and talk amongst themselves. Hoshi's dad included.
"If we can have all the contestants to the front please." a call goes out. Reiko sheepishly excuses herself to the go line up in front of her piece. Hiroko politely excuses herself. "Excuse me." she stands next to her piece. Next to Reikos. Hiroko looks to Reiko. "I hope you will lose gracefully, Touyama-san." she says mutteredly to Reiko.
Reiko Touyama frowns a bit at this as she bites her tounge and just looks forward. She looks to her left. Where Naru should be- her piece is there. "Good Luck, Naru-chan!" she says with a smile.
She looks forward and then--- sweat!
"The first place winner... for the Tokyo Toursim Board's Art contest-- and the piece of art that will be on the cover of brochures around the world is....."
"Reiko Touyama!"
Reiko lights up. "Eeeeeeeee!" she rings out. "Noway!".
Hiroko's expression goes a little sour. She's upset- though her subdued expression probably belays just how upset she is she lost.
Reiko's koi join in, to either side of her shoulder. One throws it's fin's up in a cheer, the other blows a tiny confetti horn. Hiroko has turned to walk off already when Reiko blinks and turns to her. "W--wait, Hiroko-chan!" she says. She chases after her. "That was fun, okay!? Your piece was really good..." she says quietly. "I was re-----"
Hiroko, who's turned to face Reiko blinks merely once. "Touyama-san. What are those... things... following you..." she says to the koi. Wait. wait. She can /see/ them?
"They look like...."
Reiko blinks dumbfoundedly. "He--let's go somewhere else and.. we can. Talk about that..." she says softly.
Hiroko seems to go deadpan. A neutral expression as she grabs Reiko by the wrist. What happens next seems to be sudden. Hard fast. Extending from Hiroko's and Reiko's location it's a burst of black, dark energy that flashes out. It feels like a Shade in many respects. It turns the room grey-- it steals color. It affects the people stealing thier color--- turning them grey and causing them to waver and fall over. Hiroko stands there staring at Reiko as she leans in--- Reiko looking shocked and terrified about what's happening...
"Prism Keeper..." she says in a voice not her own. One that at least Hoshi and Momo knows.
Griselda.
And there she was! "Hello." was offered rather simply towards those that Reiko attempted to introduce him to, nodding a bit their direction. Though before too much could be said, the judges came out and started to do their thing. Eilam listened to the short exchange between the girls and found himself amused a bit but didn't say much on it, instead simply watching and listening as Reiko was informed that she was the winner. Stepping back just a little to allow her and her friends/companions to sort out the elation of emotions that came of such(and because he didn't really want to interject in the moment), Eilam reached into his suits lining and pulled out a wrapped gift box he'd seemingly gotten for Reiko on the assumption she won(or maybe it was a consolation prize too if she didn't?)
There was hardly a real chance to do anything on his part, though, because just as he noticed the other girl take Reiko's wrist... he could briefly see, then feel, as he just sort of lost his energy and slumped down to the ground. The stave and box he had his hand on fell along with it, overall his ensemble and even the fairly bright rainbowey hairdye he'd had done a few weeks back quite sedate now.
"Hiroko-chan! This is Naru Osaka and Kazuo Takeba," Mamoru tells Hiroko cheerfully, gesturing to each in turn. "It's good to see you! I'm glad you're competing-- getting your art out there. Though I am sad to see you haven't snuck in any watercolors, I understand..."
And then the judges are calling the contestants up, and Mamoru lightly puts a hand on Hiroko's shoulder. "Good luck!" he tells her, then turns to give Naru a squish of a quick hug. "Break a leg! Wait that's theatre," he tells the older girl, laughing, then lets go to let her go up to her place.
He stands back with Kunzite to watch, then, smiling a little-- and then smiling more. It's rough when you know all the contestants and wish them all the best-- but it's also nice because no matter how you swing it, someone you like is winning. His smile goes a little brittle at the reaction he can read from Hiroko, and he watches Reiko chase after her...
And then his eyes open wide, and he rushes forward. "Naru!" he calls sharply, pushing through people, very clearly and obviously reaching for her as he gets closer to the contestants' area. "Naru, get over here--!"
"Yes, probably." Naru notes to Mamoru with a smirk. "It's an added bonus that you aren't likely to 'accidentally' need more renovations after it's done. Hopefully." She laughs warmly and turns to be introduced to Hiroko. "Pleasure.".
Not that there's much time for Naru to be social, as she gets called up to stand with her work and the other artists before she really gets much of a chance to chat. Quick hug, and then Naru heads to stand by her drawing. A bright smile for each of the other two already there, and a chipper. "Good luck!"
As the announcement comes, Naru looks delighted, no matter that it means that her piece did not win. "Congratulations Reiko!" She clasps her hands, excited for the other girl, amused at her shock and with a little giggle for the antics of the koi.
When it's clear that Hiroko's not the most gracious of losers, Naru hops down to approach the conversation, to help with the smoothing things over perhaps.
And then things go grey. Which is entirely different from things going black, which Naru is far more familiar with, all things considered. She stumbles back a few steps, blinking with a soft 'ooof' as the colour is ripped from her. She isn't quite flattened, but she clearly is affected. "Seriously!?" There's a generous dollop of irritation in her tone.
Narus weeble and wobble, but they don't fall down.
Naru turns towards Mamoru as he calls her name, taking a few steps closer to him. "Ping!"
When Reiko wins, she cheers her friend on. When her other friend, well 'friend' may be the better word runs off, she looks upset. When she sees things turn grey, hears that voice, she looks horrified, and runs off. Perhaps one might assume it's in fear, but no it's not.
"Chroma Prism Yellow, Transform!" From one of the bathroom stalls a bright yellow light glows, and soon enough Prism Keeper Yellow is coming in. "Griselda!" She shouts, sounding quite upset, "You give the colour back to these paintings and people right now."
Hiroko? Competing? Kazuo's eyes flick to the charcoals at once, and he gives Hiroko a silent half-bow. No words, but Mamoru has enough for both of them; he adds a nod to Hiroko as well as one to Naru as they're called up. Well done on all parts, winner and otherwise --
Until it goes black. And grey.
It's hard to tell how much it affects him, but he's not falling over. "I don't think I can block that," he says to Mamoru, tone as level and apparently unconcerned as if they were trying to figure out what place handled the catering, and then he's moving for Naru's ping, cutting through the crowds of crumpling people to focus on one. Not that he's not alert to other things happening. The feral little smile when Prism Keeper Yellow's voice rings out is enough evidence of that.
Yuzuki Amemori is distracted briefly by an outfit that she's not entirely sure isn't part of the exhibit. Distracted, she turns quickly towards the table and grabs a few more snacks before hurrying along. Mostly this means she's not at all paying attention.
Unless she's also paying attention, Nagina would find herself bumped into by Yuzu! Who, regardless of the outcome would quickly hop away with a grin while saying, "Sorry! Should have been watching closer." Taking the time to at least avoid the second group of people standing around being affectionate. Hm, how to get out of this situation, she wonders to herself. Then calmly, she takes one of the snacks and takes a bite. That works right?
There's a burst of dark energy and she's quite confused by this. It's not as flashy as a sandstorm, but it has similar effects. Maybe it's a dream thing again? She backs up and avoids touching anyone right up until she realizes there's a few people still standing. "I don't like artsy black and white movies though!" is all she can think to say. Turning to make sure Nagina's not being bowled over, or potentially still standing. Huh, wonder what the correlation is. Regardless, she moves her hand to the red cord bracelet around her wrist. She needs a handy pamphlet for this. She rounds a corner or three and tries to find a quiet little area without witnesses. Pulling the cord around the wrist while saying, "Grasp the cord of fate!" and yanking. There's a half-second where she wonders if did it right, then the same thing as last time happens with a burst of red cord and a the faint smell of gunpowder and sake. That one continues to confuse her. Still, armor in place, checked with a slap or two to her shoulder and thigh armor. Sword ready, tested by holding it out and almost unbalancing herself. Good to go. She rounds the corner and begins looking for- ... what should she be looking for this time, it won't be ninjas again will it?
Camera flashing away as Reiko is victorious, Momo kept her hand on the button of her slim pastel pink digital camera. She wanted to capture the moment, and if the screen on her camera was any indiciation she was capturing every moment possible. That was why she saw perfectly in the lens of her camera the moment when everything went square-shaped.
"Chroma Prism Pink, Transform!. She didn't go anywhere special to change, in fact she was still standing right there in the crowd. Nobody would remember an eight year old, right? Hopefully... She was horrified though that it was Hiroko, who she'd considered a semi-friend, that was doing this right now and she didn't rush to attack as she stood there with her eye still plastered to her camera.
Nagina Hasane held her eyes to the display, not getting the answers she might have wanted, seemingly about to turn around until she got bumped into, recoiling a hint only to straighten herself to look at the one who bumps, forming a rather quick reply "Ah, it's ok..." Followed by a little nod... Which in turn got followed by her gaze turning to what seemed to be drama of sorts forming!
Whether she was able to see said koi or not herself, she was unaware of, still being a touch new to the whole magical scene, somewhat. One supposes they would be somewhat vague to her in her current experience. Nonetheless! She saw colour start to drain. A hint of panic kicked in, parting her lips for what seemed to be a gasp! Yet the was no noise of inhaling, only a very faint hissing like a garden hose spurting water through a small opening, only managing to quickly mumble a little 'Kuraken, help!'. Kuraken, the tiny snake tucked away into her chest pocket, lost a few scales and the girl grew some fangs hidden behind her regular denture, folded back. Whether she lost colour or no, she used her ability to drain energy to attempt and steal back whatever she might be losing!
It left her in that somewhat shocked looking expression, though, hopefully her lack of noise drowned out by that of others, if not she'd look more petrified than anything with her hands hanging by her sides. The white ribbon she held in her hair for a little ponytail, the white ribbon that accompanied Kuraken, luckily both already being colourless, as is. The time of inhaling was taken though, to decide.. Should she flee? Hope a transformation would kick in to drain what seemed to be a curse in the air? For now it was perhaps a combination of the both, not quite slumping down as much as just standing there.. Acting frozen... Holding action, somewhat like a creature playing dead. Not even twitching her eyes, trying to take in as much of the current sight before her of what seemed to be the source. The only thing she could not quite stop? The beating of her heart, in this situation foreign to her, still.
Reiko Touyama just stands there, shocked, with Hiroko grabbing her wrist. Speaking like Griselda. She's at a loss for words as the color drains from the area. This close to the epicenter, her Chroma Prism thrums out. "H--hiroko-chan! Y..you can't.. be...!"
"YOU CAN'T!" she yells out. "L-let me go...!"
Hiroko Koumoto looks over to Yellow. And to Pink. And the others. Her expression sours- she does let go-- but not for good reasons....
She throws her hand out--- a gem of dour grey appear floating in front of the palm. "Chroma Prism Gray.... Transform." she says coldly.
The transformation is much like how the Prism Keeper's go through. Dancing rainclouds and mists of dreay rain make an elegant, princess-like dress form--- clouds forming into a perfect parasol which she grasps-- and when it's done-- she's Griselda in full.
"Such silly arrogance. All of you..." Griselda talks. She suddenly looks down at Reiko as she moves to float into the air with the help of that magical parasol. "I expected so much better of you Touyama-san. Still playing the silly little game even when it's real...."
"IT ISN'T A GAME!" she yells.
She looks toward's Yellow and Pink. "And you two. What do you hope to accomplish? Defeating me?" she asks expectantly as she looks over to Haukomaru and past Nagina.
Reiko Touyama goes to grasp her Prism but ends up grabbing nothing as she blinks. "W..what?" she asks as she looks down to her shirt-- the necklace around her neck not there anymore.
"Looking for this...?" asks Griselda with what amounts to a high and might smirk as she holds the dangling Orange Prism by said necklace.
"...oh no..." mouths Reiko.
Griselda uses the parasol to draw charcoal in the air... rainclouds- that turn into honest to god thunder clouds appearing as grey lighting zaps throughout the air-- arcing down at Yellow, Hoshi and Hakuomaru and anyone else that appears to be a magical target.
"A light ping at least." Naru corrects as she comes to stand with Mamoru and Kazuo, blinking a little as she tries to shake off the feeling of grey. "It's a pretty gentle drain, all in all. The lack of colour is disconcerting, but I'm not finding the energy stealing to be all that bad. At least it doesn't hurt."
Naru has Opinions about drain, every new one is like trying a new wine, except that the wine is vaguely trying to kill you. Some more actively than others.
"I am pretty sure that not having her crystal is all sorts of layers of bad." Naru comments to Kazuo and Mamoru as she watches the scenario unfolding, not really able to affect it, per se. By rights, she should be the same sort of faceplanted that the other mundanes who were here are, but Naru is made of tougher stuff than that.
"Lightning is not good, however!" Naru fairly instinctively holds her hands up to at least not get hit in the face by zapping lightning that may or may not be headed in their direction, moving generally out of /that/ line of fire, although in the trio standing together, the two boys are tall enough to be lightning rods long before the much smaller Naru is.
Hakuomaru hefts the sword to her shoulder and points at the grey lady while calling out, "You aren't what I was expecting! I intend to accomplish helping all of these people that you've-" she looks around, stepping carefully over someone, "Done something... to. Look, give them some color back, give her the necklace back and-" Oh hey, lightning. She steps in front of Nagina, noting the look of panic, something she's still kind of tempted to do. She stabs her nodachi into the ground and slams her foot down, a barrier of soil and rocks errupting before her to catch the lightning bolt, though she does get a weird tingly feeling in her hands and the smell of ozone right after! Shaking her tingling fingers, she draws holds her sword in her left hand, balanced under her arm. Looking over her shoulder, she says, "Run or get down." And assumes a defensive stance in front of one of the few people still standing, but not clearly fighting back or getting down.
She has no clue what's going on now though, she barely knows what to do with nightmares and that was an experience in and of itself. Literally.
Eilam was fairly unconscious at the moment, out of it, though thanks to his curse it would seem that the color is slowly enough returning to him. It's not immediate, but when he starts to realize something happened, he's still on the ground and just kind of staring blankly towards the going-ons. What /was/ going on? People were talking, magic? He wasn't sure. Reiko hadn't transformed yet, though, so it wasn't that bad surely. He hadn't quite realized just yet that her gem was taken from her.
"The Orange Prism!" Yellow looks shocked by this revelation, and even panicked. "Griselda, -- Hiroko! you can't do this." She rushes forward recklessly, getting zapped and wincing but not slowing down. "You're right. This isn't a game."
From up close a multitude of stars star to blink and spin and twirl around Griselda, each blink just enough purifying Yellow energy to be highly distracting to dark energy beings, using them in an attempt to distract away from the star fan's attempt to take the chroma prism. "And that's why I can't let you destroy Orange."
Hold hands up. Yes. Become a less small target. Kazuo's already-black clothing flares with lightning and shadow, becoming something nearly as monochrome but far less dark -- the details of it are hidden in the swirl of a white cape, as the taller boy pulls Naru against him to shelter her from the gray lightning. "Take cover first," he tells her, the shocks from the thunderclouds sparking off his cape. "Then critique."
The prism being out of Reiko's hands is bad, yes. But of their group, neither he nor Naru is the one suited to being a jewel thief. And besides, if he stays closer to the sidelines, maybe he won't distract Yellow at the wrong moment.
A glance back at Kunzite -- "Check!" calls Mamoru, and he lets his guardian head for Naru first -- especially since she halved the distance for him. He changes his angle to go more specifically toward Reiko and Griselda and the other Prism Keepers. People are dropping left right and center, and there's already magic at play aside from Griselda's -- and Mamoru's faded yellow shirt, as he tries to get through the horribly increasingly less panicked and more monochrome crowd, isn't getting any brighter. By the fifth time someone crashes into him and toward the ground and slows him up, he's getting really impatient.
Finally-- literally no one is looking at him because with everything going on /why would they/ especially since those damn yellow shoes are now damn grey shoes. So there's a distinct surge of 'eff this noise' and a much less distinct wash of shadow and golden sparkling, and abruptly a large black shape rockets up out of the crowd and vanishes into the rafters or ceiling decorations or whatever.
A half-second later, and there's -- somewhere -- the sound of a chord strummed on a classical guitar and the rhythmic percussion of a castanet sting; deep red lightning crackles through the air, trailing a long-stemmed rose as it aims directly for the Orange Chroma Prism in Griselda's hand. Or possibly Griselda's hand, though not for the purposes of impaling it. She's Hiroko, after all.
Then a resonant voice calls out from above, and Tuxedo Kamen stands on the lighting rigging for the exhibits, red and black cape billowing gently behind him. "Those who would leach color from the world seek to drain it equally of light, beauty, and happiness! To change the brilliant and vivid cacophony of hues this world displays to the dull colours of the most ancient of the combined efforts of Zworykin and Farnsworth is unforgivable! I, Tuxedo Kamen, will not stand for this-- and luckily for me, neither will the Prism Keepers!"
Prism Keeper Pink tucked her real camera away just in time to throw up a big, blocky early nineties looking pink Nikon to block a bolt of lightning as it arced towards her. It blocked the attack, but exploded into little pink sparkles after it was struck and Pink started trying to dodge between all the older people towards Griselda, Reiko, and Yellow. Familiar people, and honestly she had things to say.
She was unfortunately blocked in by a tall man with his hands held to his mouth screaming like a little girl as his garish toxic green suit turned grey. Flutter, flutter, up and at 'em she goes into the air over the man and others head, rushing towards her friends and.... Her fremeny.
Nagina Hasane almost felt saved at feeling the gray one look past her.. ... ... Suppose they're all the gray ones by now, but whom seemed to be the instigator of the situation! Still, now was not the time to move, she kept telling herself.. Wait, what's that crackling sound? One might swear they could have heard a gulp, only to find Hakuomaru before her, a savior it would seem, for the girl was not quite scaled up, nor that knowledgable on if they could even deflect such an element. She spoke a little 'Thank you' after the blast seemed over, yet before the other could even look over their shoulder, the girl had slipped off already, looking for a place to hide one would suspect.
It would take about half a minute, true. Kuraken would slither out of the girl's pocket, her clothes seemingly sinking into her skin as the skin turned to scales the moment Kuraken started slithering her way into it. Not so much making a hole to do so, though, it being more akin to the skin becoming a bit of a portal, almost. By the time she slipped out of a little sideroom, there would be little left to recognize of Nagina. Eyes turned slitted, yelowish, hands more akin to dull claws, still holding a slender figure, remaining humanoid, yet with a long thick tail dragging out the back, all clad in white scales that mixed in with the colourless motif.
She wanted to take a moment and see just what the -insert unspeakable words here- was going on, so many strange figures and the like! And surely they had it covered? Still, the adrenaline got to her, pushed her to transform, might as well do something with it! Slipping onto all fours, she seemed faster than running awkwardly with that big tail dragging around, darting about a bit like a gecko might, though with a wiggle in her physique like a slithering snake, sticking to the walls, keeping her head down before attempting to get below the stage if at all possible. If not, then to slip around the edge, trying to sneak upon Griselda, trying to grab her by the ankle, so that one of those scales one the girl's hand might pop open and reveal itself to have been the top of the head of a white snake, slithering forward so it might get a chance to sink its fangs into the ne'er-do-well's ankle. Should it succeed? There would be a strange sensation, a painless bite yet energy would start getting drained bit by bit in an attempt to weaken the victim- Ehr, target. Nagina even looked up with a wide, somewhat dopey grin as if in convince herself all was well rather than anyone else.
Griselda floats there, the Orange Chroma Prism dangling in her grasp as she purses her lips. Reiko Touyama just sort of stands there. Helplessly. No prism. No transformation. "G--give it back!" she demands. She begins to panic. This is similar. Similar to dream she had sometimes in the past-- well more of a nightmare.
Griselda is beset by various things. First, sparkling, purifying light stars that try to distract her. This works. But not as well as Yellow hopes. She isn't just a Shade, she's Griselda, Princess of the Grey Kingdom. Her Parasol closes up tightly and she swings it for Yellow's postion to try to hit her away-- to keep her out of grasp.
The parasol reopens as a Red Rose slips directly into her hand. Aimed perfectly in such a manner that it doesn't impale her hand--- though the thorns do scrape just softly, into her clutch as she purses her lips at it in thought.
There's a hint of... something there. Eyes scan the room as she hears the various voices. "Color is an aberation. Chaos. People... fight over fashion and colors and other such meaningless things." she replies to the justice speech and to Hakuomaru who both demand the color back.
She still has the Prism as a snake makes it's way to her in the air-- somehow.
Griselda though suddenly alights into dark power. Something fell and terrible overtaking her currently. It feels... different. The snake on her ankle may not like this much when she bites. Griselda winces. But not much.
"Goodbye... Orange...." she with some sort of twisted smile as a bolt of dark energy shoots down the cord of the necklace and into the orange prism. This also has the side effect of causing the rose to explode into a flurry of grey petals around her hand.
Reiko's eyes go wide and she suddenly buckles. Something is wrong here. "D..don't do this.. Hiroko...please...don't.. you can't... you have to... fight..." is all she can stammer out. This hurts a lot.
They're also the last words that she speaks before there's a Shatter of Orange mist. There's a scant second--- before following a bright, shockwave of orange that orginates from that postion that sweeps outwards--- past the walls and away.
Everyone magical in the room just felt that something /very bad/ and /vaery grave/ happened. Like something just became very wrong with the world suddenly when the shockwave passes.
Reiko Touyama stands there. Hair now a deep gray and slacked in posture. Not talking. Eyes blank as she begins to topple over somewhere to the right.
Griselda's dark aura, whatever that was, dies down as she smirks- cocksure. Arrogant. "One down....."
She looks towards Yellow and Pink. "Two to go..." she says lightly as she raises her parasol again---- a blatant gust of wind flaring out to try to blow them away the two other Keepers.
She seems to have ignored-- or not noticed the snake on her ankle yet. It bit her earlier but it was during ... something odd.
Nagina , to reach the other, was standing up straight at this point. On her toes if she had to, with an arm up and a snake standing straight, if need be. What she felt, that dark energy? Felt like what she got the urge to transform for to begin with. Perhaps not quite a curse, but it seemed in the general direction enough, as bland or bitter as it might taste. What did tempt her to let go, though, was the sheer overflow. The shudder of sensation one as inexperienced as herself might think of as world shattering in an odd way. A moment where, as she had other scales start to open up to form more snakes to handle the overflow, she could feel her muscles forced to open her hand by virtue of mere shock.
A sensation that carries over to the snake it would seem, as if they shared the same muscles.. For the snake itself opened its jaws to let go, allowing for the girl to stagger back a hint and stare at her arm in an attempt to comprehend just what happened, the snake slithering its way back in to form that smooth scale pattern. 'Twould seem this was not a fight her henshin would be in favor of fighting, though that did not mean she would not bide her time, taking a few more steps to stick a bit closer to the wall, where her pattens might blend in just a little bit more. Not truly camouflaged, merely just being that bit harder to notice from the corners of one's eyes.
Hoshi is thrown back by the parasol, and the shockwave, and then she watches Griselda destroy Chroma Prism Orange, and she looks terrified. She rushes out to grab Reiko, vulnerable and weak as she is, and take her away from Griselda, "This is awful, Hiroko." She says softly, anger palpable in her voice.
Yellow never gets angry.
Tuxedo Kamen's cape sweeps up to shield his eyes from the light of the explosion, and when he drops his cape, his eyes narrow as he crouches up on the rigging. Reiko's still alive. Well. That's definitely an improvement from the last time he saw someone's magic crystal shatter. But--
"Hiroko!" he yells, and it's a demand this time; he jumps down from up high with some gratuitous acrobatics mixed in, and lands in front of Hoshi and Reiko with an immense flutter and flare of black and red cape, which he immediately spreads out to shield them with a dramatic flinging of his arm.
His eyes are very, very blue as he glares up at her through his white mask. "Color isn't what causes fighting. Greed and pride and jealousy do! Are you jealous that they get to use color and your parents won't let you? Are you too proud to accept help? Is that why you're letting this person take you over? You can stand up to her, and you can stand up to your parents! You have p-power, n-not--"
That is a mighty wind. Mamoru's braced, but it's strong. "Not her! You! Hiroko-chan! Listen to the girls who would be your friends if-- if you'd l-let them--"
He's being distracting. He's HOPING he's being distracting ENOUGH.
"I am taking cover." Naru points up to Kunzite. "Behind you." Granted, she really can't rely on that /all/ the time, but for the moment, it seems to work out alright for her.
Just perhaps not alright for all that long. Not as the orange shockwave rushes over the hall, the people, the ART. "So many layers of just not good even a little." Naru mutters towards Kunzite. "I have /commissions/. Can we get Reiko out of the line of fire?"
Naru is leaving the protection of the cape to head towards things, to try and get Reiko as well, getting her out of the middle of everything, especially now that Yellow is Angry. Possibly not the best place for Orange without her orange to be right now.
Eilam had just stared to realize what was going on when he started to put things together. Reaching around to find his stave and grasping part of it, he used it to slowly push himself up, clothes still fairly drained of color but otherwise physically looking /somewhat/ back to normal. His curse didn't really extend towards his effects or belongings. He stood just in time to see something happen, just what he wasn't entirely sure, just... orange, and then nothing.
"Reiko..." he saw her standing there, the expression, the lack of color, looking like she blended in with the surroundings a bit more. The blank look. This is why he didn't enjoy getting attached to things, losing them hurt. He'd lost a fair bit in his life, but he'd done /so well/ about compartmenting his lives that he didn't generally feel attached. Reiko was kind of his introduction to the magic world, and even if she didn't realize it, he kind of wanted to keep her safe if he could just because of that alone. "Damn..." looking down at the wrapped gift box on the floor that had fell out of his coat earlier, when he'd pulled it free, he saw the one who had done the entire thing and a bit impulsively decided to take a chance on something. Others were distracting Griselda, so he gripped his stave and twisted it, pulling it open enough to pull out the long thin guardless estoc he kept inside, only to pull it free and take the opportunity to try and walk up behind and attempt to get close enough to wrap an arm around her/press it to her throat. He fully intended to try and put her at risk and demand she fix Reiko, mostly because he doesn't have magic, and doesn't really care about redemption or hope or anything like that. He only had more mundane methods.
"Kamen's on that," Kunzite says to Naru, but -- Naru is Naru, and thus Naru is out from his hold and heading into the problem. He lets out a breath between his teeth; at least she's not the problem's primary focus this time. And it frees his hands --
He lifts them as Griselda lifts her parasol. Shadows curl into life in the air above others' heads, a hemisphere of darkness that intercepts the wind before it can catch Prism Keeper Pink, deflects it around her to keep her in flight. It's not a perfect shield -- too quickly raised, too physical a target, without direct connection either with him or with the earth. But it will at the least help.
And black fighting gray is a statement, too.
Hakuomaru watches that explosion of orange with confusion. Especially as it seems to strip most of the color from her armor, which gets an angry shout, "Hey! I JUST received this!" While starting to charge forward, sword hefted in a ready-to-slash position and she skids to a stop, almost finding herself off balance when Eilam makes his move. The gust of wind isn't as flashy as the lighting, so she's unable to get an earthen shield up in time. Stabbing her sword down again she draws one of her flintlocks attached to the back of her bely, wood, steel and emblazoned with a twisting green inlay. Resting it against the hilt, she lines up a shot with the enchanted weapon, though she doesn't act due to the confusion.
Prism Keeper Pink froze mid-air, and was only saved from being buffeted back like a bird in a typhoon by the quickly erected shield. She started crying where she hovered in her air, sunset pink tears trickling down her face. "Why Hiroko? Why would you do that to Reiko-sempai's crystal? You were so nice... Why are you Griselda?". She started sinking towards the ground until she was on her knees. Prism Keeper Pink had finally had too much for her anger to over-whelm. Her girlfriend in a hospital, one of her friend's is an evil person apparently, and she just grievously hurt her sempai.
Griselda seems perfectly content with the events that just transpired. She doesn't seem to stop Yellow from trying to save Reiko, but still keeps the blast up all the same--- even as Tuxedo Kamen moves into to tank it. Tuxedo Kamen talks. She listens and responds...
The voice isn't one with confusion or of someone being sway. "Point of order." she says. Royal arrogance of her voice. "I am Princess Griselda of the Grey Kingdom. Understand. Good."
"Secondly. Grey is wonderous, beautiful and serene. Subdued. Yet refined...." she speaks a little callously. "You should be so lucky to express yourself with such intricacies." she spits out.
She looks to Pink and hrmphs. "She wanted to play that pretend game still." she spits. Eilam tries to theaten---- he gets blown back by a gust of wind--hard and fast to send him flying.
"So do you. And Yellow." she says. She clearly doesn't know WHO Yellow and Pink are at least.
"I belive my point is made. I'll come back later. For what I'm due..." she says ominously at the other two Keepers--- as dancing billowing clouds form around her in a wisp--- and when they dissapate in a puff...
She's gone. Likewise... the colors seem to suddenly suck back into existence from it's point of origin-- where Reiko and Griselda were earlier-- without Griselda in the area. Minus the color orange. Which is still very gray.
Reiko Touyama herself is easily carried. She seems completely out of it at the meantime. Unresponsive. She is breathing. She is alive. That's.. something. She occasionally blinks.
"Kuso," mutters Tuxedo Kamen almost viciously under his breath as he straightens up, letting his cape fall around him. He glances back at Hoshi and Reiko, grimacing. "I'm sorry. I was her tutor for a while-- I didn't know. Let me know if there's anything I -- or the Senshi, or the Shitennou -- can do." He looks across the room toward Naru, then Kunzite; he sees the other magical heroes; he looks down toward Hoshi again. "Do you want me to carry her? Does she need the mahou clinic?"
"Or me." Naru adds to Tuxedo's list of people, as she falls into neither of those groups that he's offering, to see about helping. She comes up to where Reiko is, and sighs softly. "I have no clue what losing one's colour actually means, but if its anything like losing your emotions, it has got to /suck/ a whole lot."
"What's the mahou clinic?" Naru asks of Tuxedo Kamen as he mentions it. "Certainly she can't be left alone like this, it's not safe at all."
"She's... I thought she was a friend." Yellow sounds angry, betrayed even, but with Hiroko gone, she doesn't have any outlet, so it fades quickly enough. "I don't know whether we need to get her to a hospital... better save than sorry." She answers Tuxedo Kamen softly, sounding ... somewhat despondent. "What's going to happen now that Orange is gone..."
Prism Keeper Pink just slowly stands up and glances over towards where people are helping Reiko, giving a little nod before letting her eyes roam the entire room. Then she walks towards the door, face puffy and red from crying. She needs a little time to herself.
The shadows midair shifted as Pink settled to the ground, keeping her covered -- now, with Griselda gone, they dissipate entirely. Kunzite paces up beside the smallest of the Prism Keepers, keeping far enough back not to be threatening, close enough to defend her if the vanishing act was a ploy. When she starts toward the door, he glances after her, but lets her go.
"You take care of her," he says to Yellow. "You take care of each other, and stay close when you can, so you can defend one another. And you call on your friends."
Staying close to a desperately unhappy eight-year-old, unfortunately, is easier said than done.
"Dr. Shelby's clinic," Tuxedo Kamen tells Naru, "she's a Device user, and she takes care of magical injuries and injuries where hospitals would ask too many questions. And he bends to take Reiko from Hoshi. "I'll get her there," he tells Yellow solemnly. "And-- well, yeah. Exactly what Kunzite said. I mean-- you're in Virtue for a reason, you know? That's who you call on when a problem's too big for just one person, or just a small group, to fix."
Straightening up with Reiko in his arms, Mamoru bites his lip as he glances down at the grey girl. "I call not-it on telling Tadase. See you in a bit," he tells Kunzite and Naru. Then to Hoshi, "I'll text you the clinic address as soon as I get there."
That said, he basically jumps over the entire room of people, then heads out with the unresponsive girl.
Reiko Touyama is mostly slack. Silent. and blinks once. Yeah. Reiko's out of it for the time being. She may improve a little bit but right now. It sucks to see nothing but boring , dull grey everywhere you look and in your head.
Of and away!
It's sad she can't appreciate being princess carried right now.
"I can come and be moral support in talking to Tadase if you want, Yellow." Naru offers, and there might be just a couple questions on that offer, but there ya have it.
She watches Tuxedo Kamen head out with the unresponsive girl and then turns back to the one who has ended up the point of contact for all of the Prism types. Lucky Yellow. "It'll be okay. Even if it isn't right now, it'll be okay."