First Training Session

‘Well, now seems as good a time as any.’ Jupiter mused as she stretched her long legs in preparation of the morning training session. The girls should already be out in the training grounds warming up; she wondered briefly how they would take to sharing their drills with a bunch of boys, but quickly decided that they’d get over it. And besides, they needed experience working with other guardians in case they were pulled into a trans-systemic cooperative effort someday. Maybe they could even consider fostering them out to one of the senshi-less planets of Kakyuu’s initiative, just to give them some experience. But then… Jupiter exhaled, bending to stretch other muscles as she dropped the idea; she and Mars had talked about it a few times, but Serenity wasn’t in favor of it, citing that they were too young still. She was frightened for them – of that much she and Mars were sure – but perhaps, more than that, Serenity was concerned that sending the Quartet off, even with Uranus, Neptune, Mars or herself watching over them, would also mean sending Small Lady with them and she wasn’t quite ready for that. Stretching out her arms, Jupiter mused over the possibility of trying again in a year or so… Or, perhaps, when the Galilean “Knights” were ready for their first field test.

Finished stretching, Jupiter strode down crystal hallways towards the open expanse of the training grounds far behind the palace. Taking out her communicator, she switched to the Crystal Palace Exchange and dialed in the Knight’s room number, going for intercom mode. ”Knights, report to the training grounds behind the palace for training.” She switched it off before she could hear the replies, if there were any, and was glad for the personal communicators each boy had in case they were out of their room at the moment. Should she have told them ahead of time...? Nah. Surprises were part of the game. If any of them were late they’d be exposed to the same penalties the Quartet were subject.

She wondered briefly if she and Mars should’ve discussed the general plan ahead of time, but figured winging it should be good enough.

The sun was warm, but the overall temperature was cool – perfect for training. Soon the grounds came into view and she had to smile at the scape Mars had selected, all jagged edges, precipices and boulders – it was like a rocky desert. Standing near the center was the Quartet, messing with each other as per usual. As she approached, so did Mars, and the two of them met on the grounds and made up a brief schedule. Nodding appreciatively at the traps and surprises they had in store, Mars returned to the programming hub to dial in the challenges, and Jupiter approached the Quartet.

“Good morning, girls; I trust you’ve been practicing?” she asked rhetorically, noting any guilty glances that she could use against them later. “Pallas,” she singled out, “how is your Ooze attack coming along?”

ooc:

Ganymede was already awake and was out and about in the nearby city. He was walking down the streets watching shops opening up for the day. He said hello to the shopkeepers as he passed by their shops. Ganymede was glad that everyone was nice in Crystal Tokyo. Also it was just nice to be around other people in general. It was starting to get old playing tricks on his fellow knights. Now that he was here he had fresh meat.

As he stopped to look at a bookstore his personal communicator went off. He heard Jupiter's voice talking about reporting for a training session. A smiled appeared on his face. Today would be the knights first training session and probably their first time really interacting with the Quartet.

Ganymede remember from yesterday the looks on the Quartets' faces when he was swearing his oaths to Jupiter. They didn't look happy to see him or his fellow knights. He hoped today's training would change their attitudes. He was a lady's man after all so it shouldn't be too hard to become friends with them.

Training, training. That was all they ever seemed to be doing lately, and now that those knights were here, it looked like there would be even more training on their schedules for the future. Not that Pallas minded. She treated her training like a game, and so it was always fun to her. And those knights? The other girls seemed weary of them, but Pallas was excited at the prospect of fresh meat for her pranks.

While they weren't being watched, the quartet had taken a short break, and had been discussing the new knights when Jupiter had arrived. Having been testing how long she could hold a handstand, Pallas pushed off the ground, and flipped so that she was standing the right way up again.

"Hiya!" she greeted the older senshi, not a guilty speck on her face. She didn't see the problem in taking a little break every now and again.

With a little chuckle Pallas grinned, giving Jupiter a thumbs up. "Going great!"

Spinning around on the balls of her feet so that she weren't facing any of the others, she raised a hand in the air for effect. "Pallas forceful ooze!" she called out, bringing her hand down in the direction of a very unfortunate knight who had chosen that exact moment to show up.

The knight was covered in a sticky substance, and his movement was restricted. Rather than freaking out and apologizing like someone else might however, Pallas just burst out laughing, holding her sides as they began to sting.

Spoiler:

OOC:

Spoiler:

Ganymede found the training grounds and saw Princess Jupiter talking to the Sailor Quartet. As he got closer he noticed one of them shouting out an attack. He heard its name thought about how odd it sounded. While in deep thought, Ganyemde didn't notice that the attack was approaching him. Suddenly he was covered in a sticky substance. He couldn't see and he tried moving his body, but the sticky substance would not allow him.

He then heard a voice burst out in laughter. It had to belong to the blue hair solider seeing how she was the one that launched the attack. Sailor Pallas was it? Ganyemde had a hard time remembering their names seeing how they weren't formally introduced. Hearing her laughter made him want to laugh too. He was happy knowing that one of the Quartet had a jolly nature like him.

Ganymede tried moving his mouth, but like his body the sticky substance prohibit it. He just stood still waiting for someone to set him free.

Europa had been running from the palace's library to the Knights' Barracks to get his things before trying to dash to the training grounds. To say the least, the young knight was not only somewhat winded but he was nervous. What would Princess Jupiter say? She was his boss now, sthe trainer and he could only hope that she wouldn't be as strict as Callisto was. Or was Io the strict one? Well the past didn't matteer at that moment! Just the possible future of Europa getting reprimanded or worse.

Suddenly, he heard a faint shout. Something like "Ooze!" And the figure that, until that moment Europa had assumed with Ganymede, was covered in a sort of goop that reminded him of that 'taffy' he'd seen some kids eating in the city. Nonetheless, Europa rushed to his fellow knight's side. Looked like he'd be even later then he already was.

"Ganymede!"

Jupiter half-smiled appreciatively at Pallas’s enthusiasm for practicing her newest attack iteration. While the Quartet’s attacks started out as a complete unknown, untied to elements and so not easy to predict, over time it became clear that each power suited the girl herself, playing to her strengths and likes and making it easy for the girl, if not the mentors, to understand and command. Pallas’s attacks, for example – “Pallas Forceful Ooze!” the senshi cried with a smile – could be aimed towards – Jupiter’s eyes followed the sticky substance all the way to… its target?! – the mischievous.

Internally gasping in surprise, Jupiter kept her outer appearance calm and detached, looking over her shoulder at the ooze-covered Ganymede with her hand still on her hip, but the trace of a smile was gone. How would the Knight react? Pallas was all giggles, but for someone who didn’t know her or appreciate a prank, the giggles could sound malicious, as they had when these four were the Amazoness Quartet rather than the Sailor. She herself remembered hearing a version of that laughter and feeling her hair stand on end with fear those many years ago. The Knights had no official dealings with the Quartet; and the tall knight, Ganymede… she tried remembering back to the interactions she had had with him so far, but only really remembered flipping him and now he good-naturedly flipped back on her with his quick and good-natured acceptance of her overpowering him. He didn’t seem like the sort to get overly mad, but then… she had been oozed before and he wasn’t going to be moving or reacting any time soon.

“Ganymede!” another Knight cried; a flutter of nervousness rose in Jupiter’s chest, but when she saw it wasn’t the little fighter that had run to his friend’s aide, the nervousness faded somewhat. Europa seemed to have a good head on his shoulders – he wasn’t as aggressive or inflammatory as the shor—er, Io, and didn’t seem nearly as serious as Callisto. She wondered how he would react to the senshi?

Jupiter then looked back at the Quartet expectantly, at Ceres in particular but not exactly letting Vesta, Juno, or the still-laughing Pallas off the hook either. This was their problem and their responsibility; now how would they solve it?

A flash of red caught her eye and Jupiter glanced over to see Mars ready with the ooze-solvent Mercury had concocted, but Jupiter caught Mars’s eye and shook her head faintly. Mars smiled imperceptibly and nodded once in both understanding and agreement. If the Quartet or Knights wanted to unstick Ganymede, they would have to ask for the solvent; their mentors were through with the days of just handing stuff over for nothing.

As soon as he'd heard the announcement, Io had jumped at the chance to begin some real training. He's been in the middle of cleaning his sword, pretty much already bored and itching for something to happen. He'd made his way as quickly as he could towards the training ground... but unfortunately had gotten himself lost.

While the others had spent the time to try and learn the castle layout, Io had been convinced he didn't need it, and instead had been confident in his own ability to find himself around. Now he just hoped he wasn't too late, remembering the times he had scolded the other knights when they had been tardy.

As he rounded the corner, the sound of laughter hit his ears, as well as Europa's cry for their fellow knight. Drawing his sword he ran in the laughter's direction, believing an enemy might have appeared, or that this was their form of training.

"Ganymede! Europa!" he called out, rushing to their side to discover that Ganymede was covered in some strange substance, not being able to move. "What happened?" he glanced between the silver haired knight and the laughing blunette, a part of that quartet that didn't seem too fond of them... was this their idea of revenge of some sort?

"Sorry buddy," Io smirked, smacking the side of his sword against the goo in attempt to break it. Not really sorry, he just hoped he didn't hurt the other... too badly.

Sailor Ceres watched as Sailor Pallas used her "forceful ooze" attack to cover the poor unfortunate Ganymede. She smirked as the boy laughed it off and couldn't help but hold back a small giggle when his comrades in failed attempts tried to unbind him from his sticky goo prison. She walked forward and touched Pallas's shoulder and gave her a thumbs up. Pallas made it look like so much fun, and she too wanted to have her fun with the "new" meat Sailor Jupiter had so kindly shared with them. She aimed her attack at the unsuspecting Europa Knight when she called forth her first attack. She would give them all something fun to play with.


"Ceres Growth Burst" She called out summoning a huge hungry Venus flytrap that lunged at Europa Knights's head. She wouldn't let the carnivore eat him but perhaps just have a fun little game of cat and mouse. The flytrap grabbed Europa by the collar of his shirt and pulled him off the ground and began swinging him back and forth like a pendulum. Ceres then heard the other girls snicker and burst out in a fit of giggles as they watched the show unfold.

The knight frowned at his comrades' carefree attitude. Weren't they concerned with the fact that one of their so called "teammates" attacked them! Europa walked closer to Io and Ganymede, "Come on guys! Stop messing around! We go--"

"Ceres Growth Burst!"

His first instinct was to grab for something, a weapon that should have been strapped to his back but his spear laid in the grass where he had dropped it. Here he was, yelling at the guys, when he couldn't even handle his own business!

No ammount of frustration with his own shortcomings would have stopped something firm yet hairy from lifting Europa up into the air. He yelled in shock, trying to regain his thoughts through his disoriented daze.

Down on the ground, the Quartet, whom Europa's respect was dwindling for more and more, were laughing like...well, like schoolgirls who had just successfully pulled a prank. Something that was more or less true. This was the end of it though! Europa had seen enough of the circus tricks.

"Guess I'll show them actual powers," he muttered to himself. The strange plant, or it at least looked like a plant, had stopped swinging the boy and was more focused on chewing on his shirt. The force making Europa fly side to side was subdued to a point where he could at least focus.

Holding his hand high above his head, Europa called out "Europa Frozen Storm!" Dark storm clouds formed in the sky above the training area, just a few but enough. Thick, heavy snow whipped around in the small tempest wind that arrived with the clouds. Hail the size of his fist dropped down nearly all at once, potentially pelting the ones below. If not, at least blinding them long enough for one of the Knights to make a move.

The member 'Europa Knight' has done the following action : What Will Happen?

'Did I Make It?' :

Things had escalated much more quickly than Jupiter had expected. While Io’s attempt to free Ganymede was amusing, she found herself still watching the Knights when she suddenly heard Ceres call her attack, “Ceres Growth Burst!”

“No!” Jupiter growled, quietly and too late. She turned angry green eyes at the supposedly mature leader of the Quartet, pinning her with a glare the entire Quartet should well fear by now. While Pallas’s attack was harmless and distracting, an entrapment and nothing more, Cere’s attack was clearly offensive, not entirely under her control, and in no circumstances should be used against allies. Especially the fly-trap – how many times had it gotten away from her and had to be put down?! Lightning crackled around her hands, gaining the attention of at least one of the giggling members of the girl group. As Juno silenced nervously and poked Vesta for attention, Jupiter caught the movement of Mars towards the field, her hands rising to release a fire attack that should subdue the giant plant.

But then the sky darkened in an instant and they were surrounded by thick snow. Surprised, Jupiter turned back to the Knights to find a white-out. A smile grew across her face – a snow storm? Cold, obscuring the enemy’s vision… nostalgia made her smile grow, remembering the numerous instances wherein their team was saved by Mercury’s bubbles. This, though… Europa’s snow was colder than Mercury’s bubbles. As if confirming her suspicion, frost grew over the grass, creeping across the field from the direction of the Knights. Jupiter chuckled – maybe they didn’t need the solvent after all; enough time in this temperature might freeze the ooze enough to be knocked aside, and Ceres’s Flytrap should be feeling the frost right about now…

ooc:

Unacceptable.

Callisto made his move at last, stalking towards the Quartet under the cover of Europa’s storm. He had waited long enough, actually coming to the practice fields early that morning to study the field and backing away when the Quartet arrived, then stayed back to see how it would play out. He had hoped to learn about them and their powers firsthand, to see them in action before having to work with them, but before their training session started his own communicator buzzed with Jupiter’s orders to report to the field. He hung back for the moment, still intent on seeing more of them than they of he.

Ganymede arrived and was instantly covered in ooze as the blue senshi sent an attack flying, but from his vantage point in the shadows near the ground he had seen Eternal Sailor Mars reach for a packet of powder and start towards Ganymede and he knew his friend was in no real danger. When Mars stopped, catching Jupiter’s eye, Callisto grew suspicious – why had she stopped her? The two senior senshi nodded imperceptibly and he thought he understood; they were testing them all, seeing how they would react. He would have done the same thing were he in their place. Europa appeared, then Io, and the pink senshi stepped forward and attacked them again. He didn’t consider it very sporting – they were down a man, but if her attack was anything like the blue senshi’s it was nothing to worry about. Io and Europa should be on the defensive by now, they could avoid any such repeat easily; but then a giant plant appeared.

He recognized the plant from Io Castle’s vast greenhouses and gardens, and his suspicions of its carnivorous attributes were realized when the plant lifted Europa and started shaking him around. His eyes narrowed, turning back to the Quartet with distaste; they were laughing. Ridiculing the new arrivals seemed to be their thing; and their mentors – had they been wrong about Princess Jupiter? Was she someone who supported this kind of behavior? Callisto turned to find his Princess, wondering if they had made a grave error in choosing to come to Earth, but her expression assured him that they were of the same mind. He appreciated the small lightning bolts that played at her fingers, a memory flickering somewhere at the back of his mind. Regardless, the girls would know that he would not allow his teammates to be made into laughing stocks when they were unprepared. He started forward.

“Europa Frozen Storm!” Europa yelled and Callisto froze, waiting for the cover of thick snow before he continued his quiet advance on the girls, his shadow chakram appearing in his hand at his call.

Io watched the ooze after his sword slammed down on it, though it seemed to have some effect, it didn't destroy it. He let out a growl of frustration, whacking it again just to be sure, even if it did have no effect.

As the plant had attacked Europa, he had been ready to go swinging at that instead, something to vent his frustration, and really, he just wanted to hit something anyway.

Though when he drew near he shivered at the sudden cold, aware of what Europa had done. He wasn't the smartest in the bunch, but he was pretty sure the giant flower wouldn't appreciate it much.

Instead he drew his attention to the laughing quartet, his eyes narrowing. At least the ooze hadn't seemed that harmful, but this plant could have easily have badly injured one of them... and if they didn't play nice... well he didn't have to either.

"Do you want a piece of me?" he called out, trying to sound tough as he held his sword before him. Though he wasn't really one to pick fights with girls, he was sure these ones could more than handle themselves.

Spoiler:

The member 'Io Knight' has done the following action : Fate Roll

'Did I Make It Happen' :

Was the Frozen Storm always so cold?

Europa could have sworn the attack didn't leave this much of a chill in the air but maybe he was mistaken because the boy was freezing up in his death trap of a flower. Wait, a flower.

Europa could see how the blades of grass were freezing over and the cool mist that filled the air. He pulled the mist in closer to himself, and the plant, hoping that it would begin to kill the bane that was the senshi's attack.

The member 'Europa Knight' has done the following action : Fate Roll

'Did I Hit It?' :

The leaves of the plant and a few of the cillas along the jaw like petals began to freeze over. It seemed to be working but, alas, it didn't. No more of the plant was frozen and what was touched by Europa's attack wasn't enough to kill it or immobilize it.

Cursing under his breath, he was left to dangling as the Knights and Quartet made their next moves.

The member 'Europa Knight' has done the following action : Fate Roll

'Damage - Hit' :

Ganymede heard his fellow knights talking about getting him out and then suddenly heard a different member of the Quartet yell out an attack? He felt really confused to why someone why would fight at a time like this. He then heard Eurpoa calling out his ice attack and Io trying to fight something off? What the hell was going on!?!

He then suddenly felt the air getting colder. He felt a chill go down his spine. The coldness was probably from Europa's attack. As it grew colder the ooze around his body started to get harder. Ganymede wondered if this was his ticket out of this mess. He began to move his arms first. He could hear the ooze cracking so he pressed his arms harder against the ooze. He then heard a loud crack and his arms were free! He moved them around to get the blood flowing again. Ganymede then placed his hands on his head and smashed really hard on the hard ooze. It broke off and fell of his head. Ganymede took a deep breath and was happy that he could see again.

He then let out a gasp when he saw a giant venus flytrap attacking Eurpoa and Io. He then quickly worked to get his legs free. Once the ooze broke off he quickly ran to the monster and got out his hammer. When he got closer to the monster, he made his attack toward its body.

The member 'Ganymede Knight' has done the following action : Fate Roll

'Did I Hit It?' :

((First Roll - Did he sneak up on the Quartet?
Second Roll - only counts if he didn't succeed - he tries "Callisto Encroaching Darkness" to add more confusion))


((See below for results))

((Quartet sense something might be coming (they're suspicious) but they don't know for certain what's coming or from where.

Callisto does not use Encroaching Darkness.

I'll continue when the Quartet respond to Europa's ice storm))

The member 'Callisto Knight' has done the following action : Fate Roll

#1 'Did I Get Away?' :


--------------------------------

#2 'Did I Make It Happen' :

The member 'Sailor Vesta' has done the following action : Fate Roll

'Did I Hit It?' :

Europa continued to dangle from the fly trap's grip. He had tried to freeze the beast with what was left his Frozen Snow but that didn't do much of anything. Ganymede, who had burst out of the ooze like some super-powered giant, had attacked the flytrap's base with his hammer. It hadn't had much of an effect though, other than making Europa shake from the tremors.

He was trying to come up with another idea; if ony he had his spear! Maybe if he aimed it just right, another Frozen Storm could blow it up. "No don't be stupid," he thought, "You know that won't work,". Besides, even if it did, anymore snow would be a really bad idea. The palace grouns were already having a White Christmas a little early, no need to get all of Crystal Tokyo involved.

Europa continued to weigh his options when he was suddenly falling. Correction: the whole PLANT was falling! This massive, genetically modified Frankenstein of a flora was crashing down to the cold, hard ground with Europa still clenched between its jaws.

The knight couldn't help the yell of fear that was ripped from his throat but he was still able to bull himself in a tight ball before he hit the ground. His reaction, thankfully, left him slightly bruised but not too badly injured. Staggering, Europa rose up to his feet, pulling himself free, finally.