aboxfullofstars | 20 [Open Post] Merry Chistmas, A Happy New Year, And All The Happy Winter Holidays Ever!

20 [Open Post] Merry Chistmas, A Happy New Year, And All The Happy Winter Holidays Ever!

The Winter Holiday Season has come, and City ***** is all a-glitter with pretty holos and other holiday things!

The Market Square and WorldTree-Mart are having all kinds of Winter Holiday sales, including Christmas Sales and Hearth's Warming Sales, soon to be followed by New Years Sales, etc.

Mayor Inverse is hosting City *****'s Annual Christmas and Winter Holidays Party, and it's bigger then ever this year.

And several parks, hotels, spas, onsens and other services are offering Special Winter Holiday Plans for a cosy time in cabins or small hotels!

But wait, something else seems to be happening, as it so often does in the World Tree System - All of a sudden, a large influx of new people, new animals and new beings from other worlds and times seem to be arriving in City *****! And a lot of those people seem to be alternate versions of the people already here, or otherwise have some kind of connections to the people already here, oddly enough...

[The new characters brought by the Reality Wave will be characters that have some kind of connection with the characters already here, such as AU versions and crossover versions of the characters themselves, family members, friends or pets(both alive or deceased in their homeworlds and times) etc etc. The new characters brought by the Reality Wave will automatically be sent back to the worlds and times they were teleported from when the Winter Holiday Season ends, or whenever their Muns want them to.]

[Whether the characters are affected or not are all up to their Muns. The Muns can make up their own Winter Holiday themed events, and thread with each other, too.]

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[Yuuko snickered as she watched Sumomo run around the Shop, setting up a Christmas Tree.]

[This was going to be fun.]

One of the two pairs of steps in the snow began as a pair of heavy metal boots that sank through it with little trouble. But as the steps progressed, they gradually shrank in size and distance between footsteps, turning the enormous steps into daintily winter boots for a woman.

There was teasing on the way, even laughter at times, but what was Marie's familiar voice was instead accompanied by a woman that looked like either her older sister or her mother. The two of them proceeded through the snowy forests to the Inn housed in a massive cabin resort.

She pushed the main door open. A reverb of almost a hundred conversations and a wave of sheer warmth surrounded the two of them, as they saw over a hundred guests huddled around an enormous bird and bright chimney fire.

Joan stepped into the cabin alongside Marie. Out of her armor, and clad in a winter coat that provided more warmth than she expected, Joan found herself smiling in private. With her much smaller frame, she easily made her way into the table to serve herself some catnip-tasting brown ale, and strutted beside Marie towards a comfortable couch.

After the ability to transform became not only a side-effect, but a power of its own right, Joan had gotten used to her female figure, and came to accept it, even cherish it. She occupied half the space her Spartan form did, weighted only as much as a feather for the same amount of power, and was easier to go incognito whenever she was in crowds.

Marie shuffled closer to lean on Joan. And on times like this, she was actually comfortable.

[Kasumi grinned, then, as came up to them, a pack of pamphlets in her hand, and handed them their card keys.]

Honored Customers, thank you so much for choosing our Winter Cabin and Onsen plan A14...

[Aand then, Gilbert and Elizaveta came by too, both carrying massive amounts of Prussian and Hungarian fusion food to the Winter Holiday Buffet table!]

...Ms Joan!

[Elizaveta said with a smile and a wave, while Gilbert goggled a bit.]

- So you're a woman today, Master Chief? Too bad! I was thinking of asking you for a practice bout later on if ya had the time, but...

[And then, he snickered.]

..Though I must admit you look nice like that too, ha ha ha!

[Elizaveta glared at Gilbert, and then managed to give him a smack on the head without dropping any of the food she was carrying at all, much to the amazement of the bystanders.]

- Stop being such a pig, Gilbert -

[And then, it was her turn to snicker.]

...You know, I have this vague recollection of proving again and again that I actually was capable of defeating you. With a frying pan, no less. And I'm a woman, right?

Edited 2018-12-15 05:37 (UTC)

Of course. John was known as the strong one, while Joan was assumed to be the more elegant, demure version that relied on magic and hard light, less on melee power, particularly due to the frame one foot that she sported like this. Further accentuated by being nested inside a comfortable wooly coat.

Joan closed her eyes, and calmly took a sip from her ale, predicting that Gilbert would get smacked on the back of his head. All of it was half-correct. What isn't mentioned was how lightning-fast she was as a senshi, nor what kinds of arts did she learn along hard-light.

"I can fight like this," she simply says, looking up as Elizaveta angrily berated Gilbert.

Marie grinned, "sometimes it doesn't matter as much the gender. Know how to beat 'em, and they fold!"

One hand over Marie's hair was enough to calm her down. In that moment Marie huffed when she was held back onto Joan's chest, the senshi turned around seeking for space for the two of them to at least show what they could.

In that tightly packed cabin, Joan spotted a man looking from either the wild west or an era similar to his own sharing beers with his squadron, four idiots with a useless goddess with blue hair that voraciously held onto a sake bottle, two plumbers accompanied by a tiny toad-man and a princess sharing hot cocoa by the fire, a tiny fox accompanying a tinier rabbit while surrounded by numbers of massive humans, without even counting the rest of the peoples Joan noticed...

She then glanced back up at Gilbert, "you do know it's too tightly-packed to spar?"

[Gilbert's eyes widened at that, comically.]

...You mean you'll do it? Really? Truly?

[Aand then, he quickly looked at Kasumi, his eyes glowing crimson.]

...Owner, owner, lemme, lemme, please! I promise I'll work double shifts tommorow... Just let me use the one of the Arenas now!

[Kasumi nodded at that, looking not all all put out.]

- Double shifts are not neccesary, Gilbert-san. I'll give you the rest of your shift off for today- That should be 4 hours, correct?

[And then, she made a note on her Phone.]

...You can put in a extra half-shift after the Winter Holiday Season is over, for the cleanup. Is that all right with you?

- Yes, yes, of course! But the Arena? Lady Kasumi, please...

[Gilbert was making puppy-eyes toward Kasumi, who seemed to be taking this in stride.]

...Hmmm. Arena No.3 should open up in about 30 minutes, if that is agreeable to both you and John-san - Ahh, excuse me, Joan-san.

[And then, Kasumi came up to Joan, and bowed slightly, smiling.]

- I know this was not on part of the scheduale today, but... You really will make Sir Gilbert happy if you would do this, Joan-san.

[Marie, in the meanwhile, was looking at Gilbert and Kasumi, an odd expression on her face.]

...Huh. He's acting like Ms Kasumi was - Well, not really his Leader, maybe, but at the very least like she was some kind of Regent or something.

[And then, she thought some more.]

...And I also have the feeling he's getting sort of...younger?

Joan found herself blushing and moving her head back as Gilbert came to her with an ecstatic face. She turned to Kasumi, whose polite commands Joan now carefully followed to do her best effort not to break anything (and the reason she became a woman for the holidays -- less space to ruin anything Kasumi owns).

"Are you sure?" She asked Gilbert. But once he instead begged Kasumi for another shift to work during the winter, it became clear he had been waiting for this for a long time!

So once Kasumi agreed, Joan overheard some interested stares and even slight cheers. She saw one or two beers at the proposal of seeing two heroes spar during the holidays.

Joan did like to fight. But in front of so many people...

She held her mug close to her, and chugged it down -much unladylike of her, to the amusement and cheers of the patrons as the whole beer simply disappeared-, before leaving the empty mug on the table. Marie clapped at the sight of it!

Even standing up in the middle of so many heroes watching the two of them, Joan looked like a comfortable tourist wrapped in a thick green coat, smiling, playing nothing but a cheerful sport for the holidays, with Kasumi still having the presence of an arbiter.

No matter the form, Joan always loved to compete and win.

"Let's do this."

An unisonous 'yeah!' filled the cabin, as she turned to Kasumi to be led to the arena.

[Joan and Gilbert were first led to what seemed like a big ornate changing and fitting room.]

...So it's to be a bout with swords, we believe? Please choose your weapons, clothing and other equipment!

[The AIs chirped, and made lots of holos of various kinds of swords and other equipment float in front of Gilbert and Joan.]

...Let's see, let's see, do you have a sword made of Gundaminum, Elsie darling? I've become really fond of those since I started wandering the Multiverse...

[Gilbert said with a laugh, sorting through the holos.]

[And in the meanwhile, on the chairs surrounding Arena No.3...]

[James came crashing down into a chair, a large amount of presents crashing down around him.]

- Yikes!

[He groaned, and then stood up, trying to figure out who he was - ]

[Aaand that is when a cute red fox woman came crashing down on the seat of the row in front of him!]

[James sighed in relief as he saw that Retsuko had hit one of the floating carpets he'd bought as presents, instead of the hard floor or seats.]

...Are you OK there, Miss Retsuko?

"Aiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeee! I'm really, really sorry!" Retsuko immediately darted forward to bow numerous times in an apology. This really wrecks hell on any hopes she had on being an Instagram celebrity, which is probably for the best given how much of a basket case she is and how much does everything conspire to make her life hard.

The tiny red panda girl looked around while wibbling, looking nervous, "w-where are we!? I was heading home in a train after being with my coworkers! I really hope I haven't ruined... anything..."

For a moment, Retsuko's own panic faded for a moment, as she believed she recognized a human woman with long, brown hair in a green wide coat, stepping into a very ornate changing room. And looking out below, she realized this looked like a jousting arena of sorts, in a place meant to be inside of a cabin and yet with an arched roof extending well upwards with windows on the edges to show the falling slow, with everything inside with warm colors and public firepits for heat.

"Are those gifts? ... why are we in a stadium?"

For a moment Joan thought she had seen something. Her brunette head turned upwards, then to her side, believing she had seen a friend. Then, she wandered into the changing room.

While such a place would have allowed a Spartan or even an orc to suit in, the possibilities in her small size allowed for greater flexibility. She could spread an arm and not have it touch anything near her, even if she was roughly Gilbert's height.

The swords did look good. Joan put a hand on her cheeks, studying them as her winter boots stepped over the wooden floor. Those were all good weapons, but... she slowly shook her head. John had gotten far too used to energy blades -- especially after fighting against alien enemies over eight feet tall.

In comparison, what the Spartan had in sheer strength and proficiency with firearms, Joan had in skill and power of hard light and magic, and fencing abilities beyond any superhuman masters.

Except, perhaps, Fred.

She stepped back, spread her stance, and materialized a blue longsword from sheer light. In some shades, it looked as if the sword was wholly made of sapphire, and yet it was lighter than air, and harder than steel.

Joan lifted the sword to show both Gilbert and the A.I.

"I can use this," she said, then lowered it to allow the A.I. to inspect it if they wished. While hard light could morph in numerous shapes, the hardlight sword Sailor Reach used never changed shape -- though in this case, it was materialized with blunted edges for sparring.

Joan turned her head to Gilbert, waist-long hair waving behind her, studying which weapon would he pick, and study accordingly.

[James groaned.]

...Yes, those are the Winter Holiday gifts I was planning to give to my friends, and as for why were are here...

[He grinned a bit then, to make Retsuko feel better.]

- Well, World Tree strikes again, I suppose!

[Inside the fitting room]

Please do not make your hard light blade change shape doing the bout, Ms Joan

The AI said.

We are trying to make things both fair and fun, if you get what we mean...

[Gilbert snickered at that.]

- Well, if this was a real war or something, I wouldn't be complaining about a enemy using a shape changing blade, but on the other hand - This isn't supposed to be that kind of battle, soo, in this case, I do agree with Elsie, I'm afraid!

Let us battle with sword, like men!

[Elizaveta groaned at that.]

...Um, Gilbert?

[Gilbert sniggered again.]

- Well alright, like warriors, then!

Ah! The Tree World! Of course it would pull her in the middle of work days, especially now that there's numerous clients demanding their projects finished before the end of the year to have tax exemption and having more work thrown at her by her Pig-For-A-Boss! Now it wants her to vacation in the middle of this...

... warm, food-filled, friendly, sports location where she can also sit someplace with a glass of beer to relax, see John again, perhaps even get a present...

"Alrighty, then~!" Retsuko chirps as she now skips over to follow James while holding his hand in sheer joy. "Who are these presents for?"

Edited 2018-12-29 02:54 (UTC)

Joan moves a forearm to wave her long hair as she steps beside him. "Haven't seen a warrior yet."

Being obsessed with competitions, Joan did not cheat. In fact, she's even allowed opponents to do so, always expecting the situation in front of her to be challenging, never fair, but always one which she could overcome. Even if she could, Joan's blue hardlight sword was meant to remain in the same shape, unable to be shifted around in comparison to the rest of her powers, only made to be blunt in this occasion instead of the supersonically-vibrating nanoserrated edges such a weapon would get for safe sparring.

By the confident walk as she stepped into the lights of the long stadium, filling in with a handful of spectators on each side (most often inside of the playgrounds themselves), Joan let out an aura of confidence and ferocity for her fight, sporting her hardlight blade as a part of herself, green wool coat and long brown hair waving behind her.

The thing was, Joan took every competition seriously.

The moment Gilbert takes position, Joan would raise her forearm. The yellow topaz would shine like a sun. Unlike the rest of the senshi, there are no long sentences, no acts of grace. Instead, when she sets her arms in position, she simply commands her suit to materialize in one word:

"Reach."

Joan glowed. She spun. In a flash, she was covered in the leotard, green skirt, long boots and long gloves of Sailor Reach, to spectators that suddenly stepped backwards as she prepared for a fight. Beautiful, as she was lethal, and unexpected.

In a short moment after Retsuko recognized Joan as John, she immediately began to question things about herself the moment Joan wore a sailor fuku.

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senshiofreach - 2019-03-02 05:32 (UTC) - Expand

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badassbooksnake - 2019-03-09 05:42 (UTC) - Expand

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senshiofreach - 2019-03-09 06:02 (UTC) - Expand

[Madoka was smiling as she checked the swimsuits she was planning to wear in the warm water pools.]

[Yes, this would do nicely.]

Edited 2018-12-22 05:02 (UTC)

[Homura brushed against Madoka warmly, smiling at the collection] "I can't say which one is my favorite for you, madoka. they all suit you perfectly."
[madoka giggled and nuzzled her back] "I guess wehad good intuitions , including a cute new swimsuit in your christmas gift, Homura!
[Madoka's mother called from downstairs] "are you girls almost ready? we're going to leave soon!]

[meanwhile in the city,not far from the onsen the girls would be going to, two young men, physically around early and later teens, with fluffy tails and two pairs of fuzzy ears with certain markings only certain people could see , had arrived in thiss world recently. the more sensible younger one looked around thoughtfully" "So then Nan, it seems we are in another dimension, or rather somewhat a group of dimensions. with other time, currently in yule season, for unknown reasons. "
"Duh, I know that, Hach!"" [the older wilder lookig one swigged a drink] "So can we still mess with Niners plans here at least? "

Of course we can, Seven!

[Eight said with a laugh.]

Messing with Niner's plans is always a go for us, right?

[But then, he paused a bit, and sweatdropped a bit as a very young and cute looking Kyubey went running past them, giggling.]

...What??? But we - we were created full grown, right!? I never was a child, as far as I can recall!

[And in the meanwhile...]

[Madoka and her friends were now waiting in line outside the Misty-Yu Spa and Onsen.]

...Onsens and hot water pools, what could be better then that?

[Kyoko grinned.]

Edited 2018-12-29 01:54 (UTC)

[Nan shrugged ] "Probably part of one of his schenmes , or that things a defect. And don't call me Seven! Im not a damn number!"
"Right, I'm sorry Nan. Still, if Kyubey is around he4re, we must be careful." [Hachi looked around, frowning] '"I can sense some puella magica nearby. powerful ones at that. In fact, the potential of two of them match Queen Verena's, even more. We need to check this out..."

[Sayaka chuckled] "well it's definitely upon the top great things. Even better that we got the deluxe springs thanks to Madoka's mom!"
[Madoka giggled] Mama really is a great businesswoman and make lots of business friends!"

...Oh, I don't think that little Niner was "defective" at all, by the way. Such a powerful aura, and - and it was almost like...

[Eight said, blinking slowly.]

- It was almost like it had Potential, or something.

But that can't be right, right?

[Eight and Seven both looked at each other, then, blinking.]

...Huh. That's...sort of interesting. We'd better think more about this later, then.

[Eight said, and then turned to go.]

- But first things first. Let's go see those Magical Girls, OK?

[The girls, in the meanwhile, were now changing in the locker rooms.]

Wooo! Even the changing rooms are so fancy!

[Nagisa said with a giggle.]

Edited 2018-12-29 03:18 (UTC)

“ right right.” ( they headed off. Nan made a face.) “ magical boy niner. What a nasty pain.”
“ considering his human form, the girls would like it.” ( havhi shook his head) but who knows, perhaps this one would have developed a soul and true mind like we did. That would be welcome.”
“!if he doesnt turn out to be a psychopath like Four apparently did.”
“ true. But it would be good to habe a new ally.”

“It is!” Madoka giggled as she headed into the shower to rinse off before bathing

[The girls all showered and washed their hair, and then put their hair up with a band.]

...OK, so where do we go first - The big Indoor Baths, the big Outdoor Baths, the Hot Water Pools, or the Deluxe Spas?

[Sayaka asked, grinning.]

- Well, in that case, I think we should try out the Indoor Baths and Outdoor Baths first! And after that, we can have fun at the Pools.

[Kyoko said with a grin.]

...We'll probably have to make a reservation for the Spas anyway, I think. Hey, AIs, could you do that for us?

[Mami said with a grin.]

[And in the meanwhile, Eight and Seven had were now entering the Misty-Yu doorway in their standard humanoid shapes.]

(...Brrrrr. I do wish you hadn't mentioned Four, Eight - I mean, what if some version of her just showed up here?)

[Seven said with a sigh - ]

[- Aand that was when an odd looking critter with grey markings came through the door behind them, and walked up to the desk.]

...Hello. I am called Yon, and I have a reservation here, I do believe?

Edited 2019-01-05 03:20 (UTC)

[and Nanbei's eyes twitched in disgraught upon seeing the possibly female critter, recognizing her,theng lared at Hachibei] "yeah, you had to mention Four. F*** you, Hachi. And now who will show up? Five? creepy Six? NINE?!"
[and indeed the extra adorable,unusual Kyubey they saw earlier padded up to them] "Kyu?"
[Yon blinked] "Is there something wrong?"

[Seven and Eight looked at each other, and sighed.]

...Well, if you must know, the last time we checked, an different version of you was trying to destroy the universe we lived in, soo...

- Oh, that.

[The other Four sighed.]

...I got over that, eventually.

I mean, doing the exact opposite of what you were created to be just because you're annoyed at your creaters is - sort of stupid, you know?

I was just letting them define my existance in other ways, instead of actually going off and doing my own thing.

[And then, she sniggered, her eyes going a bright red.]

- I did succeed in destroying the group that created us back in my world, though - And darn, that really did make me feel so much better!

[Seven and Eight stared at each other, then.]

...You...You...You destroyed the Better Energy Company!?!?

- That's - Not even we managed to get around our programming to that extent!

“ i hope they found Another universal energy managing system.) ( hachibei shook his head and snmiled hopefully at yonbri) “ i hope this means, we can be allies now?”
( nanbei instictively stomped down onto the adorable kyubey that had arrived)

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