summertime chill // OPEN (Event)

[nosotros]

Who: Everyone!
Where: Downtown
When: June 24th, evening
Summary: Ice pixies are such jerks
Rating: PG-13

It should have been a nice balmy evening. Instead it's chilly, and only getting colder.

Throughout downtown various civilians are asleep on their feet. In some cases literally. What's more the ice pixies, little humanoid creatures that look like tiny and slightly spiny ice sculptures, are out in force, flitting about in groups of two and three and generally causing problems.

But the citizens of El Sera aren't alone. The magic stirring in the air calls out to the mages and magical boys in the city, seeking to draw them out of their homes and to the defense of the city...

(ooc: Go nuts, guys! You're free to NPC the ice pixies on your own, as I won't have time to reliably do so myself. However, I can provide prompts, IC stumbling blocks, or other tools for you to play with on request!)

Comments

[warmgun]

Strong enough to put all those people into comas.

[Even still, John considers the move. He doesn't have anything with him for close-range combat and the Ryu's moving with what John would consider unnatural speed. The empty tanks can probably make decent clubs, though. Even as the thought occurs, the flame sputters and cuts out on the flamethrower. No time like the present to test a hypothesis.]

Damn it.

[The curse is muttered as he unhooks the straps and wrenches one of the propane bottles free. One of the pixies, attempting to take advantage of his distraction to come in close is the first victim of the canister. The thing isn't dead, but it's 'limping' in flight terms as it buzzes off.]

How many more do you reckon we'll need to take out before they back off?

[Even if the dragon doesn't know where the pixies are from, he's obviously magic. That's about the best recommendation for an opinion on the matter in the circumstances.]

[amnesiadragon]

[Ryu goes for that one, slicing through it to finish it off.]

I don't know. They're not like the fairies I know. They wouldn't do anything like this.

[warmgun]

You know fai- Nevermind. Of course you do.

[John's brows knit together as he takes another swipe at a pixie. They're backing off now, which he doesn't particularly like. They group together and move higher, settling over the frozen river. A small barrage of ice chunks follows that is annoying, if not deadly. Even if his shoulder hadn't been shot, John doesn't imagine he can lob his propane tank high and far enough to bother them. Luckily, Ryu's got wings, and John's got his gun plus an extra clip of bullets. He sets down the tank and pulls the gun from his waistband at the small of his back.]

Let's finish off this lot, at least.

[He starts shooting, though the bullets have minimal effect, and he keeps having to duck the pixies' volleys.]

[amnesiadragon]

[Ryu steps in front of the volleys of ice, doing his best not to cry out. He doesn't do well with the cold, but he doesn't want John to get hurt, either. He fires off another few bursts of fire, but he's starting to run out. Relying on his sword wouldn't be too bad, but it's not as effective.]

[warmgun]

[John frowns when Ryu takes the first hits meant for him. Then the next. Using a human - or half-human - shield makes him uncomfortable, however tough the young man might be.]

Dodge. Don't take the hits straight on. I can move and find cover if they're too much a bother.

[They are enough of a bother that he's out of bullets with only two of them down out of the assembled dozen. There's the blue magazine clip in his pocket. He doesn't particularly want to use, it but he's drawn to it, just as he had been the day he'd arrived in El Sera. With a muttered curse, John ejects his spent clip and slams in the other magazine. He transforms in a burst of light. He's in a black vest, pair of shoes, and slacks, with a fancy white shirt and electric blue cravat. The costume is embarrassing, but considering present company and the new white and blue assault rifle in his hands, he's not going to mention it.

John zeroes in on the pixies again, and when he shoots this time, the bullets come with their own crackling light and shatter the pixies they hit. He'll worry about how this makes absolutely no sense once they're out of danger.]

[amnesiadragon]

[He nods, and steps aside, mouth hanging slightly open in shock at the assault rifle. He's never seen a gun like that before.]

[warmgun]

[To be honest, John's never seen anything like it before, either. The pixies, seeing their fellows fall more swiftly now, begin to scatter. John dials in on them with an accuracy that feels wholly unnatural and shoots, hardly feeling the recoil. This is very wrong, but it's getting the job done. He stops shooting once the last few have fled too far, and looks down at himself.]

That might have come in a bit handy earlier. Sorry. This doesn't usually happen when I change magazines.

[He wonders if he's got some kind of time limit, too.]

[amnesiadragon]

Change... what?

[Guns fire magic not bullets duh!]

[warmgun]

[Dragons breathe fire and don't exist, as well. Unfortunately, the universe had other things to say to both John and Ryu on these matters.]

The magazine clip.

[A crash course in guns really wouldn't go amiss if the young man doesn't even have that much. John pulls the empty one he'd pocketed out. A very brief crash course.]

It's where the bullets are stored. I'm not entirely sure about this thing, though. [He hefts the rifle.] I know I shouldn't have that many rounds... especially considering this thing was a pistol a moment ago. I can show you later, if you'd like. Bit pressed for time just now. Probably.

Why don't we see to a few of those things down on the pier?

[amnesiadragon]

I don't think Ursula's gun has things like that.

[He nods at the question, and thinks for a moment.]

Just... as long as they don't get me into the water.

[He shudders at the thought.]

[warmgun]

[John raises a brow and smirks.]

I think most would say it's a little cold for a swim, mate. Or is there something more personal there?

[He begins walking, headed toward the water, body tensed to pull his gun into a firing stance at a moment's notice.]

I don't suppose hybrid-dragons much like the cold?

[And that invited the question of whether Ryu was cold-blooded. John thought it prudent to hold off on scientific inquiries just then, though.]

[amnesiadragon]

Some might, but I don't at all.

[He keeps his sword at the ready, prepared to attack.]

[warmgun]

[They make it midway before there's another challenge to their movement. John thinks the numbers seem thinner than what they'd seen from the air. Perhaps there are more... people like them throwing in to help.

These remaining pixies appear larger, stronger. The chunks of ice they hurl at John and Ryu from a distance are more akin to bowling balls than than the baseball-sized stuff they'd been dodging at the river.

The pixies are also smarter.]

Christ!

[John only just ducks out of the way as an ice attack comes from the side. He's been focused on what's in front of him. Stupid. More attacks come from other directions. They're being circled.

Any chance you've got something good for an area attack?

[amnesiadragon]

[There's a noticeable pause before Ryu answers, sounding slightly amazed at himself.]

... Yes.

[He braces himself to take a few ice attacks while he transforms back into hybrid form. He doesn't stop there, though - a large black dome appears over him before he busts out and releases a large laser, obliterating the nearby pixies and transforming back into hybrid form.]

[warmgun]

Jesus...

[John can't help staring. What on Earth? No. Not Earth. He's firmly convinced nothing like Ryu could have started on any form of Earth even distantly related to John's own. He resolves firmly to never piss off Ryu. Ever.

He snaps out of his stupor long enough to snipe a few of the mot distant pixies that managed to escape the blast.]

I think that worked.

[It's a moment later that the chill begins to leave the air. It's not entirely absent, but the bite has gone out of it, and the sense of something more - John's hesitant to call it magic - has dissipated.]

[amnesiadragon]

[He relaxes visibly as he transforms back, letting out a long breath.]

... Good. I'm tired of being cold.

Maybe here would be a good place to wrap it up?

[warmgun]

Can't have the man who can summon fire stuck in a blizzard for the rest of his life.

[John quirks a smile at Ryu. He has no idea how the half-dragon's powers work, but perhaps it's something like that Pokemon game one of the lads in his unit had been on about. Imagining Ryu as a Pokemon really doesn't help him keep his sobriety in the impossible situation.]

I think- Oh!

[He breaks off when he sees the door to one of the crashed cars in the street open. A man heaves himself out of seat and blinks dazedly. John's half-tempted to go over and give him a physical to make sure he's all right, but his current state of dress probably doesn't lend itself to appearing non-threatening and sane.]

Right. Might want to head somewhere that isn't going to be crowded and double-check all the pixies are gone, yeah?