The Riot Force base, such as it was at the moment, was packed full.
Initially, Ifrit had planned on a small gathering of the core Riot Force members before shifting into the hustle and bustle that the Legendary base was bound
to be. And so the gathering had begun. Slowly, people had trickled in, from Sell-Sword in polished white armor that got several snickers from the more
geek-oriented members, to the rest of Ifrit's apartment mates, Sammy having been kept remarkably to a containable level of sugar. And, even though a
majority of the heroes, active and currently inactive off Riot Force's roster had shown up, some dressed up, others not, the base still had plenty of room
for everyone.
Naturally, when Ifrit commented on this to her girlfriend, she glanced over as the teleporter disgorged Rhea, Lisa, and Terrence, the former two in cat
costumes as Terrence was, amusingly, dressed up as an enormous mouse. Sammy's eyes went very, very wide as Ifrit slipped around Living Reactor and Mr. Grey
with Nene in tow to great the group.
"Well, as odd as it is to say it, I didn't expect to see you three here," Ifrit noted. "We expected you'd still be at the Legendary
party."
"And I see you talked him into costume idea number 2 behind the Mag costume," Nene noted with a conspiratorial smirk at Lisa, who merely smiled in
return as Terr tossed a suspicious look at the redhead.
"Well, we were, but then things got....complicated...." Terr started to explain.
"We got invaded by crazy hippies for cruelty to animals," Lisa added, causing Nene to almost do a spittake.
"Crazy hippies?"
"Yeah. Crazy super-powered hippies. Eventually we managed to explain to them that we didn't hurt animals. Mr. Whiskers had to do a lot before
they'd sit still, though. And by then, all of Eva's pretty decorations had gotten torn up by the cow lady and the evil trees," Rhea said with a
frown.
"Evil...trees," Ifrit echoed.
"Yeah, I know," Lisa said. "Anyway, they're still cleaning up over there, so I figured we'd come over this way, see you all. So, how
many of the women here are Sabres in disguise?" she smiled.
"...more than you'd think, but not as many as the rumors say," Nene chuckled. "Still, come in. We've got non-alcoholic punch enough for
everyone, and with Enynn's help, we even managed to bake enough cookies for everyone with a ton of extras."
Terr visibly cringed at the mention of the flaming redhead, but Rhea perked up at the mention of cookies, and Ifrit guided the trio over towards the dessert
table, grateful that not all these sweets would go to waste. Nene just laughed as she said as much. "Careful, you'll jynx it."
"How can I jynx non-attendance?" Ifrit blinked behind her genie's veil.
Nene just smiled slightly.
***
Naturally, that was hardly the end of it. They'd come in a few at a time. Solo or in clumps. But slowly, it seemed word had gotten out among the Legendary
that the Riot Force Base was hosting another Halloween party, and that their base, at least, did not have a giant cow woman shaped dent in one of the hosting
areas' walls. Ifrit was amused by the initial few arrivals, which slowly turned to surprise....then shock....then bewilderment as more and more and more
came through the base teleporter, seating space soon ending up at a premium unless one wanted to use the floor. Miranda and a few other teleporters were
dragooned into getting additional food, candy, and sweets for the party as the base began to fill, as the teleporter bay and invention areas were temporarily
shut down and repurposed into additional lounge space for the rapidly expanding party.
"You jynxed it," Nene noted with a smirk.
"Don't you start," Ifrit noted, looking a little more frazzled at the sudden surge in management of the growing party.
"So does this mean that if you wish for us to have little food, a banquet will suddenly appear?"
"Nene, I love you, but shut up, please."
"Hehehe."
***
Nene darted throughout the party, dodging people as she performed a dance that she thought on par with at least some of Linna's lesser routines to avoid
bumping into anyone while simultaneously keeping her plate of snacks upright. Thus, she was in a perfect position to observe as the new duo stepped out of the
teleporter. At which point she almost dropped her plate in surprise.
"Nene, you look so formal. Isn't this a costume party?" Sylia said with a slight quirk of her lips. The Silky Doll's proprietor and leader of
the Knight Sabres(even if almost none of the Sabres here would recognize her as such) was dressed from head to toe in an elaborate replica of a European
nobleman's fashion from some earlier century. A black tunic with gold embroidered edges extended down to mid thigh over black silk trousers that were
complemented by what Nene could swear were authentic leather boots with slight fur trim in the interior visible. A stark white neckerchief was tied about her
neck as a collar, hanging down elegantly with a single ruby stud in the middle. Over this was a dark black greatcoat, the interior trimmed in red, embroidered
with similarly red flowing patterns that were echoed by the long, forearm length red cuffs that came just short of Sylia's elbows. Completing the ensemble
was a long, flowing black cape with matching red interior, a length of golden cord holding it about her shoulders, the collar flaring up behind her head in a
very old West European manner. Sylia herself was impeccably groomed as ever, every hair in place, though her makeup was a touch more pale than Nene remembered.
But more startling was her companion for the evening. The gown was resplendent in white silk, its neck dipping daringly below the bustline as sheer fabric
interwove with the flower patterns to give tantalizingly clear yet brief glances at the skin beneath. Elegant, understated jewelery adorned her wrists as well
as a single white silk collar that extended about her neck, complemented by a slender golden necklace. As with Sylia, her skin was pale, but her lips were
vibrant red with lipstick and artful application of additional makeup drew attention to her piercing red eyes. It was those unique eyes, which Nene knew to be
natural rather than contacts, that clued the red Knight Sabre into the fact that she was looking at Priss, despite the long black wig that extended to her
midback.
"...did you lose a bet?" she wondered after a moment of staring, taking in every detail.
The calm, composed expression broke into slight embarassment, ruining the illusion as Priss blushed. "Well, Sylia thought it'd be interesting to wear
matching costumes. I didn't know she had something like this in mind," she said, her voice a touch off for some reason.
Nene blinked, looking at her. "...is there any particular reason you're lisping slightly, Priss?" she asked.
Priss smirked, as behind her, Sylia gave a slightly more open smile of amusement, a pair of subtle fangs making themselves visible to Nene, which had her eyes
widening slightly as she looked at Priss, who flashed her a smirk that revealed her own pair, which caused Nene to giggle.
"You're going to cause people's eyes to pop out of their heads."
Sylia stepped off the teleporter platform, helping Priss along with every nuance and step of a refined gentleman escorting his lady, flashing Nene another
small smile.
"That, Nene my dear, is the idea."
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
Initially, Ifrit had planned on a small gathering of the core Riot Force members before shifting into the hustle and bustle that the Legendary base was bound
to be. And so the gathering had begun. Slowly, people had trickled in, from Sell-Sword in polished white armor that got several snickers from the more
geek-oriented members, to the rest of Ifrit's apartment mates, Sammy having been kept remarkably to a containable level of sugar. And, even though a
majority of the heroes, active and currently inactive off Riot Force's roster had shown up, some dressed up, others not, the base still had plenty of room
for everyone.
Naturally, when Ifrit commented on this to her girlfriend, she glanced over as the teleporter disgorged Rhea, Lisa, and Terrence, the former two in cat
costumes as Terrence was, amusingly, dressed up as an enormous mouse. Sammy's eyes went very, very wide as Ifrit slipped around Living Reactor and Mr. Grey
with Nene in tow to great the group.
"Well, as odd as it is to say it, I didn't expect to see you three here," Ifrit noted. "We expected you'd still be at the Legendary
party."
"And I see you talked him into costume idea number 2 behind the Mag costume," Nene noted with a conspiratorial smirk at Lisa, who merely smiled in
return as Terr tossed a suspicious look at the redhead.
"Well, we were, but then things got....complicated...." Terr started to explain.
"We got invaded by crazy hippies for cruelty to animals," Lisa added, causing Nene to almost do a spittake.
"Crazy hippies?"
"Yeah. Crazy super-powered hippies. Eventually we managed to explain to them that we didn't hurt animals. Mr. Whiskers had to do a lot before
they'd sit still, though. And by then, all of Eva's pretty decorations had gotten torn up by the cow lady and the evil trees," Rhea said with a
frown.
"Evil...trees," Ifrit echoed.
"Yeah, I know," Lisa said. "Anyway, they're still cleaning up over there, so I figured we'd come over this way, see you all. So, how
many of the women here are Sabres in disguise?" she smiled.
"...more than you'd think, but not as many as the rumors say," Nene chuckled. "Still, come in. We've got non-alcoholic punch enough for
everyone, and with Enynn's help, we even managed to bake enough cookies for everyone with a ton of extras."
Terr visibly cringed at the mention of the flaming redhead, but Rhea perked up at the mention of cookies, and Ifrit guided the trio over towards the dessert
table, grateful that not all these sweets would go to waste. Nene just laughed as she said as much. "Careful, you'll jynx it."
"How can I jynx non-attendance?" Ifrit blinked behind her genie's veil.
Nene just smiled slightly.
***
Naturally, that was hardly the end of it. They'd come in a few at a time. Solo or in clumps. But slowly, it seemed word had gotten out among the Legendary
that the Riot Force Base was hosting another Halloween party, and that their base, at least, did not have a giant cow woman shaped dent in one of the hosting
areas' walls. Ifrit was amused by the initial few arrivals, which slowly turned to surprise....then shock....then bewilderment as more and more and more
came through the base teleporter, seating space soon ending up at a premium unless one wanted to use the floor. Miranda and a few other teleporters were
dragooned into getting additional food, candy, and sweets for the party as the base began to fill, as the teleporter bay and invention areas were temporarily
shut down and repurposed into additional lounge space for the rapidly expanding party.
"You jynxed it," Nene noted with a smirk.
"Don't you start," Ifrit noted, looking a little more frazzled at the sudden surge in management of the growing party.
"So does this mean that if you wish for us to have little food, a banquet will suddenly appear?"
"Nene, I love you, but shut up, please."
"Hehehe."
***
Nene darted throughout the party, dodging people as she performed a dance that she thought on par with at least some of Linna's lesser routines to avoid
bumping into anyone while simultaneously keeping her plate of snacks upright. Thus, she was in a perfect position to observe as the new duo stepped out of the
teleporter. At which point she almost dropped her plate in surprise.
"Nene, you look so formal. Isn't this a costume party?" Sylia said with a slight quirk of her lips. The Silky Doll's proprietor and leader of
the Knight Sabres(even if almost none of the Sabres here would recognize her as such) was dressed from head to toe in an elaborate replica of a European
nobleman's fashion from some earlier century. A black tunic with gold embroidered edges extended down to mid thigh over black silk trousers that were
complemented by what Nene could swear were authentic leather boots with slight fur trim in the interior visible. A stark white neckerchief was tied about her
neck as a collar, hanging down elegantly with a single ruby stud in the middle. Over this was a dark black greatcoat, the interior trimmed in red, embroidered
with similarly red flowing patterns that were echoed by the long, forearm length red cuffs that came just short of Sylia's elbows. Completing the ensemble
was a long, flowing black cape with matching red interior, a length of golden cord holding it about her shoulders, the collar flaring up behind her head in a
very old West European manner. Sylia herself was impeccably groomed as ever, every hair in place, though her makeup was a touch more pale than Nene remembered.
But more startling was her companion for the evening. The gown was resplendent in white silk, its neck dipping daringly below the bustline as sheer fabric
interwove with the flower patterns to give tantalizingly clear yet brief glances at the skin beneath. Elegant, understated jewelery adorned her wrists as well
as a single white silk collar that extended about her neck, complemented by a slender golden necklace. As with Sylia, her skin was pale, but her lips were
vibrant red with lipstick and artful application of additional makeup drew attention to her piercing red eyes. It was those unique eyes, which Nene knew to be
natural rather than contacts, that clued the red Knight Sabre into the fact that she was looking at Priss, despite the long black wig that extended to her
midback.
"...did you lose a bet?" she wondered after a moment of staring, taking in every detail.
The calm, composed expression broke into slight embarassment, ruining the illusion as Priss blushed. "Well, Sylia thought it'd be interesting to wear
matching costumes. I didn't know she had something like this in mind," she said, her voice a touch off for some reason.
Nene blinked, looking at her. "...is there any particular reason you're lisping slightly, Priss?" she asked.
Priss smirked, as behind her, Sylia gave a slightly more open smile of amusement, a pair of subtle fangs making themselves visible to Nene, which had her eyes
widening slightly as she looked at Priss, who flashed her a smirk that revealed her own pair, which caused Nene to giggle.
"You're going to cause people's eyes to pop out of their heads."
Sylia stepped off the teleporter platform, helping Priss along with every nuance and step of a refined gentleman escorting his lady, flashing Nene another
small smile.
"That, Nene my dear, is the idea."
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
