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thenashira2026-01-06 04:03 pm
nashiramods) wrote in thenashira2026-01-06 04:03 pm
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Game Update: September I 2377
🎶 Recommended Listening: MOON PRIDE - Momoiro Clover Z ♪
september i 2377
EPISODE 9: Cosmetic Crashout! All That Glitters Must be Mine!
September 1 - September 15
Constellations: 2/7 Constellations captured. The Nova Knights have the Dancer and the Three Sisters.
Weather: Summer in Chalra City is finally winding down, but it's not over just yet! Although the taste of fall is in the air, the days are still long and the afternoons still get pretty warm. The die-hard beachgoers are getting the most out of the last few weeks of good beach weather, but the crowds at Littleneck Beach have thinned out significantly. The highs for the month average around 81°F/27C° with lows around 68°F/20C°.
Recap: August II was a little bit of a welcome lull in the action, although after Nova Sunbeam and Nova Crescent were claimed by the Abyss, the rest of the Nova Knights found it difficult to relax. Still, there were plenty of end-of-summer distractions with the spicy food eating contest and the Chalra City fireworks festival — or if you prefer your nights quiet and contemplative, the Midnight Diner was serving pieces and beach sauce just about every night.
BY DAYLIGHT
⭐︎ If there's one summer trend that's here to stay for the rest of the year, it's glitter-filled body products! After the popularity of PEARLESCENCE™ in the sunscreen market, a host of shimmery lotions and palettes populate the makeup section from drugstores to high-end boutiques. A new brand emerges amidst the hype: Shimmersea Cosmetics has products everywhere makeup is sold, and all of those products have glitter in them. Every single one. Shine on, baby.
Chalra City's perpetual trend machine turns Shimmersea products into a sensation almost overnight, and pretty soon the whole city is wearing something a little glittery. Even your painfully fashion-shy neighbor seems to be carrying around a little tube of roll-on glitter by the end of the first week of September. Maybe there's just something empowering about wearing glitter, because the Chalra City residents who take to Shimmersea Cosmetics's line seem to be acting...bolder.
⭐︎ The early stages of hype have begun for one of the premier fall culture events, the Chalra City Arts Council Couture Benefit! Jointly sponsored by Shinebow Arts and Four Clover Works, the Arts Council stages an elaborate fundraising experience to support its continued activities bringing art of all kinds to the people of Chalra City. The event is usually hosted by the Everwave Museum of Art, and while the proceedings of the dinner itself are swathed in secrecy, the red carpet portion for the gawking public are usually held in the museum's lobby, the ceiling of which is painted to look like the night sky with dozens of shimmering constellations. For this reason, it's known as the Celestial Gala for short. A few decades ago, celebrities started bringing their pets as their plus ones, dressing them in haute couture to match. This was met with explosive popularity and these days, it's pretty much a given that most attendees will have a lavishly costumed animal in their company, giving the event its other famous nickname: the Pet Gala. There are entire circles of Couture Benefit enthusiasts who focus solely on the changing winds of pet fashion.
The Celestial Gala won't happen until the end of September, but that doesn't stop the rumor mills for churning out wild speculation about the theme. The theme for each year's Gala is released only two weeks before the event itself, at which point the haute couture machine in Atlace goes into a frenzy brainstorming, designing, and executing insanely high-concept costumes for those famous gala appearances. Rumors of designers putting finishing touches on their clients' outfits just before they step out of their cars onto the red carpet are common, and last year one celebrity debuted with her tailor still sewing the train onto her dress — though she insisted it be considered a part of the costume's concept.
It remains a mystery what the Chalra City Arts Council Couture Benefit will look like this year, but you can be sure it'll be absolutely fabulous.
BY STARLIGHT
⭐︎ Hope's Prophecy: Thanks to their past life as a diviner for the Oracle, Hope may occasionally receive prophetic dreams that give the Knights a hint about what's to come. Hope did not have a prophetic dream this time around either, but there's always next time!
⭐︎ Hideout Status: Nothing new, but as a refresher, as of August II the Training Room has been unlocked, which contains the Star Plus series, a few arcade-style cabinets the Nova Knights can use for training: Star Plus Blazer, a target practice game to help hone weapon proficiency; Star Plus Light Catcher, a Whac-a-Mole style game where you bop cute little star-shaped monsters; and Star Plus Beats, a drumming game with two large drums that helps with magic power circulation.
⭐︎ Maomao's Garden: Maomao seems to be making some progress on her xenogardening experiments based on the intermittent cackling coming from behind the closed doors of the Lab. She's been showing her face around the hideout a little more, but trespassers into the Lab will still be hissed at and chased out.
⭐︎ Nautis Updates: On the evening of September 1, Nautis messages the Nova Knights with uncharacteristic reluctance to inform them that Nova Valorous has been captured by the enemy and now joins their other comrades in the Abyss. She's worried about morale, and she does a bad job of hiding it — but keep that chin up and let this fuel your determination!
> We'll just have to redouble our efforts from here on out. After all, there are still 9 of us! 10 if you count Niangniang! ( •̀ ^ •́ )✧
> I mean, I don't, but I think it's important to round up for morale.
> You've all been working so hard, so remember to take a little me time every now and then!
> I'd like to say the lull in the action continues...but then I'd be lying. And lying is wrong (ᴗ_ ᴗ。)
> Unfortunately, it looks like Prince Shellustria is up to his usual tricks. My sensors tell me there's some nasty Harbinger magic at work in Chalra City. I'd bet doubloons to bells that he's trying to steal the energy of the hardworking people again!
> For real, though, the Harbingers are soooo unoriginal.
> If I were trying to take dominion over Earth, my plots would be way more interesting. I wouldn't use the same idea twice. I've got SO many ideas.
> But I'm not, so don't worry about it ദ്ദി(ᵔᗜᵔ)
> Anyway, it's worth looking into anything new happening around the city. If nothing else, there's always something new around here!
> Congratulations on body glitter finally becoming an accessible beauty product, by the way. I'm overjoyed that the people of Earth are FINALLY developing a sense of taste ◝(ᵔᵕᵔ)◜
> Seriously, you're all absolute eons behind the times from a Hassalean perspective, but I'm really starting to feel at home here on Earth!
> I've managed to stabilize the Three Sisters, by the way. They're in need of some serious magical repairs, but we'll be able to restore the Constellation to its former strength.
> I'll need some help from you all when I'm ready, but hold tight for now. The Harbingers will pay for what they did to our precious Constellation!
⭐︎ Intel: Once again, Nautis is right — by the second week, the Nova Knights have caught onto the fact that the Harbingers are using the current cosmetic craze to camouflage their latest energy-gathering plot. Sorry if you were getting really into the Shimmersea Cosmetics lineup because that's the bad guys' brand actually :(
It seems to be doing more than just your classic energy harvest, though. Like the Potari Sweet plot back in August I, the body glitter also seems to influence the behavior of those who wear it: people are making pretty bold and daring choices. This isn't the extreme risk-taking behavior the Nova Knights witnessed at Littleneck Beach, though; rather, people wearing Shimmersea Cosmetics seem uncharacteristically unafraid to make a Statement.
With Nautis's help and some good old-fashioned investigation, the Nova Knights track the distribution of Shimmersea Cosmetics to a street kiosk in the red-light district. The shopkeeper herself turns out to be the boss monster Shimmeronica, guarding (of course) a pocket dimension where the harvested energy is being stored. When the Nova Knights face off against her, however, some of those newly bold and daring customers become possessed, and while they don't try to attack the Nova Knights, they're pretty effective human obstacles. Fortunately, the recently acquired Star Suite Power Soul Flash can free such people of the influence of the Abyss!
Some of the Nova Knights dedicate their efforts to cleansing the Abyssal influence from the victims while the rest throw hands with Shimmeronica in the pocket dimension she guards. In the end, not only are they victorious, they manage to reclaim the stolen energy as well, ensuring it doesn't go back to feed the Abyss!
Shimmeronica's pocket dimension begins to collapse in on itself after her defeat, but before it does, something unusual happens: it creates a brief link to the Dark Ocean through which the Nova Knights can temporarily see. It's similar to what Maya and Hope encountered when they escaped from the Abyss, and the Nova Knights witness a private conversation between two of the Harbingers:
Click here for a cutscene! (˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧
"No! Are you s— argh! No! No!"Shellustria's agonized voice echoed in the small confines of the engine room as he watched the Nova Knights trash his precious energy-hoarding pocket dimension in realtime via datapad. A torrent of catastrophic readouts cascaded down one side of the screen, narrating to him its destruction with accuracy as crisp as video footage. The monster guardian had been more or less magically vaporized, and the meddlesome Earthlings had even cut loose the harvested energy before it could be transported back to the Dark Ocean. Damn it, he thought he was being careful this time. Mistiluxia had even managed to re-cloak the ship from the Nova Knights' prying sensors — or so she claimed, anyway. How did they keep discovering his every plot?
"Shimmeronica," Shellustria wailed, mashing his forehead against the wall-mounted datapad, "how could you fail me like this? I gave you everything you needed, didn't I? Why couldn't you pull through on this one simple task?"
"Oh, dear," said a voice by his ear, "it doesn't look like things are going very well, does it?"
Shellustria jumped as Mistiluxia materialized at his side, both feet fully clearing the floor, and when he landed he stumbled back into the wall. When did she get here, and how could he have not noticed? She stood there with her hands clasped in front of her, her smile patient but expectant.
"M-Mistiluxia! I can explain!"
"Oh, I don't think you need to explain anything," Mistiluxia said with her usual good cheer. "It's abundantly clear that whatever tenuous handle you had on this situation with the Nova Knights has completely slipped from your grasp. Not only do they keep discovering your plans before you can finish executing them, you didn't even bring anything back with you this time! Perhaps you'd like to supply the Dark Ocean with your own energy again?"
Shellustria's mouth snapped shut on any protest of insults to his professional competence, his face draining of color.
"No!" he said, a little too quickly, his voice a little too high. He backed a full step away from Mistiluxia, realizing with dismay that she was between him and the door. Cold sweat prickled along the back of his neck. He fought to quell the traitorous tremor in his voice. "No, that — that won't be necessary."
Mistiluxia tilted her head to the side with a concerned smile, touching a finger to her chin. "Are you sure? Perhaps I should call —"
"I said it won't be necessary," Shellustria said, the heartbeats in his ears almost drowning out the sound of his own voice. He was holding his fan in a white-knuckled grip. "I will be successful next time. I'll take care of this. This is the last time they get in my way."
"I can see you're quite motivated, Master Shellustria! In that case, I'll give you one last chance." Mistiluxia lightly clapped her hands together with a bright-eyed smile. "But if you can't finish the job, then I'll simply have to ask someone who can! You've lost a Constellation and four captured Nova Knights so far, and I'm afraid to say that your track record isn't looking very good. In fact, the most helpful contribution you've made so far is as a living power cell for the Dark Ocean! Perhaps you might consider a change of career?"
Mistiluxia tittered to herself as though she'd just made a pleasant joke. Shellustria flinched despite himself at the implied threat and tried to back away further, only to discover that she had backed him into a corner of the engine room without his realizing. She leaned in further, invading his personal space, and booped him on the nose.
"I'll be cheering for you from the sidelines, Master Shellustria!"
"I'll take care of it," Shellustria ground out as Mistiluxia turned and bounced on her heels towards the door. He clenched both hands into fists, not permitting them to shake, but his face was still a ghastly pale. "Just you watch, Mistiluxia — I'll prove my worth as one of the Lalixian Royal Family! I am totally worthy of ruling this miserable puddle!"
🌊🌊🌊
...And that's all the Nova Knights see before the pocket dimension collapses in on itself and boots them back out into the real world.
After the dust settles, Shimmersea Cosmetics products basically disappear from shelves overnight, as does the kiosk in the red-light district.
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"I wanna get better, you know?"
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"Yeah. Yeah, I do know." Nova Vortex lowers her head. The words of an extremely precocious teenager press back against the desire to just hide away from it all. The loss of Nova Sunbeam after the loss with him still hurts deeply. Of course it does. But she can't stop. Not now, not here. She can't look him in the face again if ever she could if she didn't keep trying to do what he... What he disappeared doing. The tumult of emotions pass through her eyes, but outwardly? She does only one thing.
Nova Vortex slaps herself in the face with both hands, hard.
Nova Vortex reaches out, grabs the pink and yellow toy hammer, and says resolutely, "then let's fuckin' do this."
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What Glimmer's more certain she does is;
"Don't worry. You've got this, Vortex."
With that gentle encouragement, Glimmer slams the 'start' button, and the machine starts spitting light and sound to grab their attention, beginning the play sequence.
lookit em gooooo
The first adorable rounded yellow star pops into being just in front of Nova Vortex, and she immediately double-handed home runs it with the hammer. Vortex thought that she might freeze, but perhaps she is startled enough that the physical flows from it? She finds a rhythm with Nova Glimmer, ducking behind her to hit a sneaky star appearing right there, leaning back to let Glimmer get a slam in. Nova Vortex is quiet and focused.
It's unnerving to be around.
Nova Vortex is never quiet, going about everything with a carefree affect and a rapid chatter to fill the spaces in the world around her. Without it, she's effective enough, but it's almost like fighting beside a pale ghost, claiming vengeance on the squishy star buddy that's done her wrong.
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Vortex, Pandora, Justicar, Pastos, and all the rest... there's so much she doesn't know about them. Even Sunbeam, who she'd known since he was a child— did she know how he fought? Did she know his friends? She needs to be better about this, to become a better teammate.
But, at the same time, this is supposed to be at least a little fun, isn't it? As much as they need to get better, Maya has to wonder if this is really okay.
Still, she fights as seriously as she can alongside Vortex.
"Whew! Okay," she huffs as their score displays. "That wasn't so bad...!"
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Vortex stays there, stuck in a frozen moment, as the last pixely creation vanished into sparks. Her hands tremble on the handle of the hammer, and she sets it down gently beside the machine.
"Yeah, Glim. Not so bad." She turns to Nova Glimmer, opens her mouth and closes it again. Then- "Do ya- do ya think Sunbeam might be okay, somewhere, somehow?"
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"Pandora and I came back from the abyss, didn't we? And Sunbeam shines brighter than either of us."
With an easy, confident smile, perhaps even in a bit of imitation of Kalim, Maya adds—
"Knowing him, I bet he's more worried about us back here, and rooting for us to do our best!"
keep it together, Harls
She sees it. Nova Vortex, for just a moment, sees Sunbeam in Glimmers smile, heard him in her words. It feels, for just that moment, that he really is out there, pushing us on. Pushing Nova Vortex on. So she can't give up. Not here, not now, maybe never. She won't let Nova Sunbeam down again.
"Yeah!" And if her voice chokes with tears and a genuine smile, perhaps neither of them mention it. Or perhaps they do! Who really knows?
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