Scene #3019: Mischief of the Wind

Owner	Pose
Mai Tokiha	All around the Multiverse, a strange rumor had started to pop up. People mentioned women's underwear going missing at incredible rates. Some even said they'd seen some sort of tiny lizard-like creature with hair actively stealing the things. Nobody knew quite for sure, but tracing the rumors and rash of thefts back a little would lead people to a surprising point: a recently unified version of Japan. Specifically, the small city of Fuka, where the famous Fuka High School was located. Strange as it may seem, it appears that this was their starting point... &r Mai Tokiha had begun to wander around the school looking for Mikoto. Once again, she hadn't shown up for class, so Mai had to guess that she'd probably spent the day napping somewhere. And with this weird panty thief stuff happening, too! "I'll have to start making her go before she gets in trouble," she says with a sigh. Thankfully she didn't wear bras yet... Mai's had been safe this whole time. Maybe this was all just a little overblown? The train of thought is knocked out of her immediately as Mikoto makes an appearance--and dives right into Mai's chest with her face. "Mai!" Mikoto cried happily. "Are you done with school? Can you make me some food?" Mai smiles and rubs her hair. "Sure. Let's see if we can't find Natsuki around somewhere. Maybe she can tell us why she's been trying to fight us this whole time..."
Yuna Kagurazaka	Normally, Yuna isn't all that worried about her underwear being stolen. Mostly that's because of where she lives; nobody in Ponyville is particularly interested in Yuna's underwear, and it's far enough off the beaten tracks of the Multiverse that she doesn't need to worry about obsessive fans tracking her down and rifling through her dresser. But the idol singer doesn't spend all her time on Equestria; she still has some things in her room back at her parents' house in Shiraokadai, and her work has her visiting other worlds on a fairly regular basis, for all-out concerts or just for live appearances. And it was during one of those tours that she came back to the dressing room to find clothing scattered all over, and a few items missing. Elner did the research so Yuna could focus on more important matters ... and the tiny robo-faerie managed to come up with some likely leads; Fuka High School was the most probable of those, although as Yuna walks around the campus, she has to wonder why an underwear-stealing animal would be HERE of all the possible places.
Maya	Maya while not the up tight and very anti girly woman she was when she first arrived in the multiverse? Maya was till ultiltirian as she ever was when it came to clothing for hte most part. IT been strange that some of her undergarments, she was embassed about that and Runner had picked up something. Whatever it was it had lead Maya to this seemingly sleepy little world. She'd left the leather, metal and guns behind wearing something far more suited to a world like this, t-shirt, cargo pants for the most part. She had a fate deck on he she was well armed as it was and likely had hidden a knife somehow on her still though where to follow things? It was seeming to lead to a school all places. Funny no monsters on the way there...so different from back home.
Bertram Silent	Bertram's underwear has not been stolen, but he's heard reports filter through the Adventurer's guild, and so he decided to investigate. Which, evidently, led him here. The White Mage is walking onto campus, not a care in the world for the fact that he stands out quite a bit. He's holding on to his usual staff, a long magic implement with several sharp ends, similar to some kinds of mace. "Where to look next." He wonders aloud.
Shigure	A gaggle of girls, disparate in age and height appear on campus. They'd heard, over the radio and via TV and other sources, about the thefts. Most of them were too busy to investigate... until Yamashiro came back to Hikari after sortie to find her room and items scattered about. This has prompted the entire Fifth Force Assault Fleet to deploy... though they haven't brought their Rigging, at least not in a visible way. "Kuma~, what are we looking for here, kuma?" asks the short brunette with the epic-level ahoge as she walks in the lead, turning to look back at her girls and walk backwards, totally not looking where she's going.
Mai Tokiha	The view of the school as they arrived was quite impressive; fields, dorms, a pool--even a church, a huge garden filled with pink flowers with a small mansion nearby. It is indeed strange that this seems to be the source of all the commotion. As everyone comes onto the school grounds, school was letting out, and they were starting to get a lot of really odd looks and whispers from the students that saw them. "Did one of the clubs do a cosplay event without telling anyone?" One guy whispers to the girl next to them as they pass. "If they did, they're gonna have Suzushiro on them in a heartbeat... Do you know how long she yelled at me when she caught me skipping?" The girl responds with a groan. Those that aren't openly staring or talking are quickly making their way back to the dorms. Mai eventually wound her way to the front of the school in her search for Natsuki, but she was so caught in her search that she didn't notice, at first. Mikoto is much more observant. "Mai?" She says, stopping and tilting her head at these new people. "Who are they?... They look weird." Mai stops to turn around and admonish her, but when she sees Yuna and Bertram... She might be right. "W-well... Still, don't be rude, Mikoto. Maybe they're sponsors...?" Mai frowns for a moment as she considers her options, before finally going over to the ground with a smile and a wave. "Ah, hello everyone. My name is Mai Tokiha. Are you visitors here? If you want, I can show you to the Student Council Room? If you have business here, that's the best place to start."
Yuna Kagurazaka	Yuna smiles, bowing politely (and formally) to Mai and Mikoto. "I don't believe my business is anything the student council can directly help with, unless you've had reports of a little lizard creature with some hair on its head and a penchant for rifling through girls' personal things ... I'm Yuna Kagurazaka, it's good to meet you!" Meanwhile, substantially far overhead, the little robo-faerie who accompanies Yuna so many places makes a gesture akin to a human's sigh, and resumes scanning the campus. Elner is here partly in case Yuna needs to transform, but also to help try and track down that lizard thing if it actually IS here; Elner's sensors can cover a wider area than Yuna's eyes can, although the herald of the Queen of Light has severe doubts that a mundane life form that size is going to stand out on regular sensor scans.
Bertram Silent	Bertram is close to Yuna and overhears that, and so he approaches. He awkwardly returns the bow, and then makes his introduction. "I am Bertram Silent, a member of the Adventurer's Guild of Eorzea, and I am following up on reports of missing undergarments." He smiles, and the butt of his staff touches the ground. "I likewise have received reports of little lizard-like creatures being responsible, and every trail of investigation led me here."
Shigure	Voices gain Kuma's attention, and she turns around... just in time to walk into the wall beside the gate. CLANK. She stumbles back, then thumps to the floor. "By Dose, kuba." she whines, rubbing her face. Yamashiro blinks, but before she can help the cruiser up, the Destroyers jump in. So, instead, Yamashiro turns and bows toward Mai. "I am Yamashiro, second of the Fusou-class Battleships. We are here to investigate some thefts that match a few we have heard of on the Teletransmission Visual device." Someone is a bit behind the times~.
Maya	SO a school, she wans't looking so much cosplay like, just that she clearly wasn't japanese. A tourist? IT's har to tell but mai would soon find that Maya was looking her and Mikoto over curiously and then she's greeted. "Hello, my name is Maya. As for looking around yes, I'd been looking for something that seemed to be headed this way...wait. Your tracking that as well?"
Mai Tokiha	Mai smiled bashfully at Yuna's formal bow, while Mikoto stares at the whole group openly with a look of bewilderment. Mai doesn't take long to join her, though, when she hears about Bertram and Yamashiro. Battleships? Adventurers? Eorzea? "Huh?" She mumbled in confusion. This... This wasn't normal. And not even her kind of normal. "You... You aren't from Fuka, are you? You're not even from Japan. Wait, are you guys from... outside? I remember there being a government annoucement a few weeks before I came to school about it. I didn't really get it at the time." Hearing that these people were so foreign, Mikoto's look suddenly becomes a lot more interested. In fact, she approaches each of them and looks them up and down with a nod and a grunt, before announcing, "I am Mikoto Minagi! I live with Mai, and she's mine." With a firm nod, she wraps her arms around Mai's stomach and hugs her tightly. When she thinks, however... "So you saw the thing too. I was napping this morning and it woke me up. It had something on it's head..." She scratches her head, then shrugs and nuzzles Mai's chest. That brings Mai out of her stupor. "Ah--right! The panty thief! How did you hear about that?" She frowns suddenly. "... That sounds... I'm sorry. I should ask you all to leave. There's something really weird going on at this school. Something dangerous. I don't want anyone to be threatened by it."
Shigure	Kuma gets up, rubs her face one last time, wiping away some black, soot-like material from her close encounter with the wall. "Don't be silly, kuma! We're tougher than we look, kuma!" she asserts, grnning at Mai. Nowaki and Shigure nod in agreement, while Yamashiro sighs softly. "Yes, we are from the..." she pauses, looking back at Shigure for a moment, who makes a soft sound in her throat, before speaking up. "Multiverse." Kuma lifts her hands, clenching fists with a determined look. "Noone steals from Kuma's fleet and gets away with it, kuma! Not even magic lizards with fuzzy hats, kuma!"
Yuna Kagurazaka	Yuna grins, waving to Kuma and her fleetmates, and (belatedly) giving Bertram a polite nod/bow. "I know I look pretty ordinary, but I can fight to protect myself or others too ... and if you've got a known panty thief running around campus, isn't it in the best interests of the school to stop whoever or whatever is rifling through innocent schoolgirls' belongings? Whatever's going on, if I'm able to help, I want to ... and not just for personal reasons." She's not about to come out and admit openly that anything of HERS got stolen, but ... honestly, does she still have to say as much?
Bertram Silent	"Miss Tokiha, I am a trained military suport mage. I'm sure I can handle a little danger, and some of these other people who have arrived are people I either know, or am aware of, and I trust them to be fully capable of handling danger based on personal experience or reputation. Pray don't worry about us, we can handle ourselves." He holds his staff aloft, and to support his point he starts casting Proshell on all present, a gentle blue magical field designed to reduce the energy of all incoming attacks, whether magical, kinetic, chemical, thermal or otherwise. "Do you have any leads as to the location of this thief?"
Maya	Maya says "Yes I'm not even from earth, but I am human." Maya grins at Mai for a moment longer she tilts her head a little bit looking at Mikoto and Mai nodding at the further introductions. "It ...." Maya turns a bit red at this point. "Stole some of my own personal undergarments!" Maya's embrassed but she's being honest. "I'd like to recover them. As for myself I'm able to handle myself well enough the local wildlife on my world has predators that consider humans to be food. I should be fine with anything ehere. If you got any ideas about where to find this thing? I'd be thankful for the help."
Mai Tokiha	... There really was no talking them out of this, isn't there? Mai lets out a little squeak as she sees and feels magic being used around her. Mikoto nearly goes for the sword bag over her shoulder before tilting her head and stopping. Mai glances around quickly, nervously trying to see how many people were still watching. Thankfully it seems most have left at this point. Those that remain now stare at the group with wide eyes as they shuffle of. Mai sighs and rubs her face miserably. "There's going to be rumors all around school about this." As Mikoto goes to stand in front of Bertram with wide eyes and an entranced smile, Mai smiles sheepishly to Yuna, Maya, and the fleet. "I'm sorry that your underwear was stolen. There has to be a reason why it's stealing that, right? We need to find one more person to tell about this. Follow me, okay?" With that, she turns on her heel and leads them into the school's entryway. Mikoto is quick to turn and follow as soon as she hears Mai's footsteps. The halls are mostly empty now as they enter the school building. "So... I guess it's important for you to know. I'm a... HiME, I guess. Highly-advanced Materializing Equipment. That's what I was told, anyway. Really I don't know what any of it means. Just because I can see a stupid star..." She mutters to herself and shakes her head. "So I can fight too. Nagi said I had to, against the Orphans. Monsters. They nearly killed Takumi, my little brother. Mikoto here is another one... So is Natsuki, the person we need to find. I don't know why, but Natsuki says we're being brought to this school by some group that has bad intentions." After some more walking, they found themselves in a large glass dome at the end of a window-lined hallway. The center of the room is sealed off with railings that are covered in wishing ribbons. Next to the railing, a man holding a sword bag is laying on the ground, motionless. Mai gasps and quickly runs to his side. "What? What's the kendo captain doing over here?... And why is your nose all bloody!?"
Shigure	Kuma and the Fleet follow along, most of them are eerily silent, 'listening' to something or other, hands lifting to cover an ear occasionally. Elner might pick up radar sweeps coming from them. The little 'fins' on the sides of Yamashiro's pagoda ornament are the most telling, as they shift and twitch. The fallen man gains all five girls attention instantly. "Kuma. Gear up, kuma." states the short cruiser girl. Flashes of light in multiple hues, blue, green, white, yellow and red, mark the materialization of the girls Rigging. Various cannons, guns, torpedo launchers and other ship equipment appear on the Fleet, mostly anchored to their backs, but some pieces appearing on hips, thighs and shoulders.
Yuna Kagurazaka	Yuna's expression darkens slightly into a frown as Mai explains about the Orphans and the rest of it. "I'm not a HiME," she explains quietly to Mai, "but I'm - sort of a magical girl, it's a long story. I don't really like talking about it much, but it's relevant here ..." That's all she really has time to say before reaching the rotunda and the unconscious man with the bloody nose; the Fleet's transformations prompt a wry look from Yuna. That seems a LITTLE pre-emptive to her, but if they need the extra time to 'gear up,' who is she to argue? Yuna's going to wait until the actual monsters show up before she transforms. Mai is going to have company examining the kendo captain, though: there's a blink of light, and the tiny form of Elner materializes next to Mai and Tate. "I'm scanning him for injuries," Elner reports, doing so ... there probably won't be too much to find, though. "I haven't been able to pinpoint our suspected underwear thief yet, either," the robo-faerie adds as a side note.
Bertram Silent	"I see." Bertram follows along, unaware of the importance of keeping magic secret or otherwise keeping people unaware of what he's doing, so the unconscious kendo captain receives the benefit of Bertram's regenerative magics, soothing energies that knit closed wounds and restore energy, even to the point of bringing back those wounded beyond most aid. He kneels next to the young man, trying to make sure he's doing well.
Maya	Maya says "my pet sensed something and tried to go after it, but it got away." She moves to follow and pauses for a moment and peers. "You don't seem synethic to me to be honest." ?Maya notes but who knows right? She listens a bit to the detail and nods. "So there's horrors hiding in the dark Understood." She stares at the guy sighing and moves to go help the Kendo Captain.
Mai Tokiha	The teen slowly blinked his eyes open as he suddenly heard everyone around him. Scans revealed no injuries at all, really, and the blood was dried. He looks confusedly at everyone until he sees Mai--and he quickly tries to come to his feet, moving away from everyone as he did so. He bowed deeply. "Tokiha-san! Please tell Kuga-san I'm so sorry, I never meant to..." Slowly, a drip of blood hit the floor beneath his feet. "Damn! I think she's in the bathroom. Sorry!" And with that, he quickly runs away covering his nose, his eyes wide and cheeks flushed. Mai, for her part, seems completely nonplussed as she watches the captain go. "... What happened with Natsuki?" She mumbles confusedly. A young, boyish suddenly rang out in the room. "Princess Mai, who are these unnannounced guests?" Mai gasps as she looks across the wide room. A young boy with light green hair is balancing precariously on the railing with a book on his head. The smile he sends them is vaguely predatory. "Interlopers to the land of Fuka! I'm afraid I must tell you to leave Mai and the HiME alone. You are an unnecessary complication--do us a favor and go back to your homes outside of this world." Mai lowers her voice to speak to the group around her. "That's Nagi... He's the one who told me about being a HiME. It seems he knows what's going on."
Shigure	Something about the newcomer's voice causes every single gun barrel that can traverse towards the source of that voice to do so, though the girls have enough control of their gear that there's no reports... yet. Kuma turns a frown up at Nagi. "Kuma thinks you know something, kuma." she says, arms folding over her chest, even as her 15cm cannon almost glares ominously at the guy. "Kuma wants to know what the magic fuzzy hat lizard is, and what it did with Yamashiro's superstructure support, kuma." Yamashiro grks at the Cruiser's words, but doesn't say anything, only turning a shade of red.
Yuna Kagurazaka	The attitude being sported by Nagi makes Yuna twitch, ever so slightly, but she turns and bows politely to the light-haired boy in spite of that. "I, in turn, am afraid that something native to this world has made it our business to come here. There is a creature which has rifled through our possessions - most of us, at least," she adds with a glance and a wry grin at Bertram, before turning her attention back to Nagi. "Items which are precious to us were stolen, and we've come a long way to see to their safe recovery. If you seek to keep this place closed off to outsiders, perhaps you should strive to convey to such beings that the borders of this world are closed to them as well, their departure forbidden." She pauses, looking at Mai and Mikoto. "Of course, if you tried to prevent the passage of humans like Mai and Mikoto outside of this world, I doubt very much that they'd be willing to abide by such a restriction, particularly when there's so much opportunity for them to make friends in the wider Multiverse. The students here might find much to learn, if you dare to let them study abroad in such a manner ..." Her attention returns to Nagi; her smile hasn't even wavered.
Bertram Silent	"Look sir. If you tell me I am an unnecessary complication, I get suspicious. So pray, tell me why my presence is undesirable in plain terms or I'm sticking around as long as I deem necessary." Bertram says in no uncertain terms, holding his staff tightly, knuckles white as he considers him. "I am not at all bothered by being an 'unnecessary complication' but I am bothered by people who think they can tell me I'm an undesired complication. Makes me think they've got something to hide." The Warrior of Light takes a step forward, "Anyroad, I have a contract to investigate the case of missing undergarments and if possible return the undergarments of my clients; and I must needs chase all leads I have, which lead me here."
Maya	Maya looks at Nagi for a moment she tilts her head for a moment. "Something from your world came and caused trouble for me on my world personally and has done the same for the others." Maya's tone and stance has changed she's seriously and clearly not going to be told to leave. "We're here to recover personal items and then we will depart." Maya's going to get her unmentionables back one way or another.
Mai Tokiha	Nagi blinks and raises his brow slowly as he steps a bit closer. Even with all eyes and guns on him, he seems to be entirely ignorant of their threat to him. "You really have no idea what's happening here. The HiME must be pure so they can save this land." He chuckles as he shrugs nonchallantly. "That's what they've chosen, when they took up their Child. To fight for the future. Isn't it, Mai-HiME?" His eyes narrow slightly as they fall on her. Mai shakes her head slowly, dropping back a step, away from his gaze. "I just wanted to save Takumi... I don't want anything to do with that stuff!" Mikoto growls as she unzips her sword bag. She doesn't quite understand what's going on, but she draws nearer to Mai to support her. Nagi notices none of this turmoil. Instead, he's looking at the rest of them with a confused expression. "Stolen underwear?... Ahh. You must mean the Orphan that is running about. Terrible thing, isn't it? That such lovely ladies items would be ruined!" He raises his hands up joyously, then drops them. "But I don't know where it is. It could be anywhere. It could be..." There's a sudden sound of scuffling, and just at their feet came a little speeding blur of a rainbow that darted past them. Anyone who was quick could see it was a wad of bras and panties held in the mouth of a little green creature. "Oh, there it is! Go get it, Mai-HiME!" Came Nagi's cheerful voice. Just as it passed him and their eyes moved away, he has disappeared.
Shigure	Shigure blinks, turning as her radar picks something moving at high speed. "Flagshi---" And she's sent spinning from it breezing past. She bumps into Chitose, who stumbles into Kuma, who then trips over Nowaki and sends Yamashiro toppling over at the end. The Fleet is now a tangled pile of limbs, guns and garments... they'll be fine, but it'll take them a bit to untangle themselves.
Yuna Kagurazaka	Yuna's first impulse is to transform and chase the creature. There are a couple of problems with that, though - the first of which is that while she wouldn't mind transforming in front of Mai, or even Mikoto, Nagi for some reason sets off her mental radar and has her not wanting to let the little jerk see what she can do. Which may be out of her control in the long term, but here and now, she'd rather look like a civilian. The sudden tumble-tangle pile of the shipgirls is a second reason; they're actually in Yuna's path if she were to go chasing off after the alleged panty-thief. By transforming she could probably vault over them, but bolting in pursuit without helping her friends? That's just not in Yuna's book when there's a choice. And then there's the fact that the creature is just too fast for her to follow WITHOUT transforming ... but Yuna has an ally who isn't so hindered. Once Nagi has vanished, Yuna glances to Elner. "Can you chase it? Find its lair?" "Should be able to," Elner replies - and then disappears in another blink of light, the first in a series of staggered teleports to keep pace with the creature. Elner can also simply fly straight, but it's similarly wary to Yuna about being noticed by strangers. Teleporting makes it easier to dodge random onlookers.