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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 3:24 pm
It was only a few days until Thanksgiving, and Super Sailor Scylla was going down her mental list, relaxing on the roof of one of the local stores. In the windows, Christmas decorations were already out, the lights twinkling innocently. In the parking lot, a fifteen-foot tall Pilgrim and his twelve-foot tall wife, surrounded by turkeys as tall as Scylla herself was and little garden statues. 'On Sale!' the signs proclaimed. On Sale, bah. Who wanted a Pilgrim taller than their house? And he had a terrible hat to boot.
It had been a whole year since Jada had last needed to think of her 'grateful list' and she wasn't much looking forward to it. She never did, since not much had ever changed for her. She was grateful for cars, and jewelry, and her fabulous house. But this year so much in life had changed. What was she grateful for?
1. She was alive. 2. All of her family was alive, even if the unit itself was fractured and broken. 3. Most of her friends were alive. 4. She had the power to keep them that way. 5. She was rich. 6. She was gorgeous. 7. She had a fabulous sense of style. 8. She was eighteen. (See number 5.) 9. She was grateful for the people she had met. Virgo, Alexandros, Castor, Laocoon and Audrey. She was grateful for Fallon, and was grateful for the support of her friends.
It took no effort to push herself to her feet from where she'd been crouched, watching the Pilgrim's hand waving in slow motion in the breeze. Left and right he tottered, swaying as though he were almost living. It was eerie, with the way he faced, as though his black Pilgrim eyes watched her, judging her. "And what do you know anyway?" she asked him. "All you need to do is stand there and look festive."
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 3:38 pm
Reusable shopping bag in hand, Tallulah Cowden stepped out of the store and gave the giant pilgrims a suspicious look as she passed them. They were entirely too cheery for her tastes, but at least they were in season. Not like the lot of Christmas Trees set up across the street - Christmas was a month away! If you bought your tree now, it would be bald by mid-December.
She scowled at the trees and rounded the pilgrim. On Sale? What kind of nutjob would buy a pilgrim you could see from space? Probably the same kinds of nutjobs who spent thousands on the light bills during December, but it bothered her and her eco-concious self.
Staring up at the pilgrim, Tallulah could have sworn it winked at her. The girl took a step back, eyes carefully trained on the balloon. Was its movement from the gentle fall breeze, or from something more sinister?
The balloon bowed over at the waist, coming down on top of the girl, and Tallulah scrambled out of the way. Oh yes, it was grinning at her, a maniacal gleam in its nylon eye.
She dug around in her pocket for her pen, held it out, and exclaimed, "Europa Moon Power, Make up!" In a flash, she was replaced with her senshi self, and her sweet potatoes and canned corn went rolling away across the parking lot.
She circled the pilgrim nervously as it straightened itself back to standing. The things they turned into youma these days! Was nothing sacred to the negaverse?
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 3:50 pm
Judgmental to aggressive in five seconds flat. The taller balloon bowed over, smashing into a girl she may or may not have seen before, and the wife came smacking into the building, crushing Scylla herself ignominiously under its airy weight. "Oof!" was all Sailor Scylla could say as the air was punched out of her lungs. "Too... many Marshmallows, lady." The beady eye didn't flinch, just pulled back and dropped back down on her again. Apparently youma didn't much care if Senshi insulted their weight.
Scylla managed to roll across the roof and scramble over the ledge. She hit the ground hard, almost landing on a startled civilian who was pushing her cart out of the store. The cart hit her in the side, and the woman screamed.
The civilian who had gotten hit by the man-balloon was gone. Sailor Europa was there now, dancing around the enemy. The two Pilgrims were eying them. As... were the turkeys. "I think they've changed the menu on their Thanksgiving feast." Scylla called out, to alert her fellow senshi to her presence. Really, the trouble that Europa brought with her. "Cornbread stuffing for two Senshi turkeys?"
The civilian was still screaming.
A turkey charged.
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 4:54 pm
Europa sidestepped the turkey and gave it a good kick, sending it careening into a parked car where it shattered and left a huge dent in the door. It certainly gave a new meaning to turkey bowling, she couldn't help but think as she dove out of the way of another careening piece of plastic statuary and grunted, "I hope they've got insurance."
She came out of her roll and onto her feet, and made eye contact with the other scout for the first time. "Good to see you again, Sailor Scylla!" she called. "Shall we show them what we to do lawn ornaments who don't know their place?"
She kicked another turkey. This one went flying into the balloon-pilgrim's stomach and ricocheted off back towards the scout. Europa ducked clumsily out of the bird's flight path, which seemed to have it heading for Scylla.
"Heads up!" the dark haired scout called, as she charged for the pilgrim. It was like the battle with the elephant. Maybe if you popped it, it would behave and deflate like it ought to.
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 5:20 pm
"That was my car, you vandal!" the civilian's screams turned to high pitched shrieks behind Scylla. "Someone call the POLICE!!!!"
Ugh. "Shut UP, lady!" Scylla took a lawn ornament to the leg, falling to the ground with a huff. There was a weight on her back, driving her forward into the ground; the shrieks turned silent, and Jada turned to see the turkey with something glowing in its beak, hobbling away across the parking lot. While the woman was now silent (and not complaining about her car) this wasn't the way she wanted anyone to shut up. Her curse was loud, and she started off like a sprinter after the hobbling plastic lawn ornament.
Why was it whenever she was with Europa... know what? Never mind. Maybe it was the sick sense of humor of some Higher Power.
She tackled the plastic ornament, landing on it and hearing something in the plastic shell crack. "I'll be taking that," she told the ornament, and felt plastic claws dig into her midsection. Luckily the wings were built in to the item, or she may have been buffeted by them. Hard plastic nails tore at her midsection, and when she finally pulled the starseed from its beak, she was assaulted by a plastic maw as well.
Her heel went through its forehead, and the demonic light in beady plastic eyes dimmed.
Behind her, Europa was still facing the Jolly Giant Pilgrim (and wife) along with the majority of a platoon of five-foot turkeys, which were making their way towards the sliding doors of the store, opening for a small squad of youma as they neared the entrance, stomping over the unconscious body of the woman whose starseed was clenched tightly in Scylla's gloved fist.
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 5:29 pm
"Aw, nuts," groaned Europa, chasing after the turkeys. She had to stop them before they got inside or else all hell would break loose. It went without saying that Scylla ought to give the civilian back her starseed without further ado, so Europa didn't mention it as she bounded towards the turkeys.
"Stop right there!" she exclaimed, landing in front of the turkeys. "Still waters run deep! I'm - aw forget it, EUROPA DEEP OCEAN PRESSURE!"
If plastic turkeys could work bewildered, these certainly did, at least for the few seconds it took before the ten or so nearest to Europa cracked at the seams and fell to pieces. Europa knelt by one and investigated it to make sure it was really dead. A sticker on its bottom said, "Made in China" and Europa put her foot through its side to make sure before turning to the fifteen or so that remained. Now that she knew it would work, she didn't worry as much about being in the dark with these things.
Taking a few steps towards the advancing platoon of plastic wildfowl, Europa thrust out a hand and declared, "Europa deep ocean blackout!"
The air filled with the sound of clattering plastic as the birds fell apart and the vicinity went pitch dark. The scout frowned and inched forward, crunching through the hollow plastic shells. She thought she'd gotten them all with that - Europa used deep ocean blackout and it was super effective! - but then, only time would tell. She wouldn't be able to see the results of her attack until the dark lifted.
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 5:48 pm
She hadn't wanted to use her attack for fear that the heaving of the sidewalk and flying cement would damage the body of the civilian lying there. More people were screaming inside, and the store manager was waving his arm around, a cordless phone up to his ear.
Heels crunched in the plastic shards of the turkeys as she knelt next to the unconscious woman. Her face was paling and her skin was going cold. What had she learned about Starseeds? Could she just... Her hands lowered the star seed to the woman's chest, pushing the soft glow back toward where she imagined it belonged. The glow dimmed and faded away, and the woman took a breath. The balloons made a moaning noise behind her, and she turned to face them, scowling her blackest scowl. The other turkeys might be gone, under the cloud of darkness that seemed to be obscuring the area behind her. Nice.
A turkey seemed to be moving in the wind, the plastic shell inching toward the sliding doors, and to be sure it was harmless Scylla drove her heel into it viciously. It cracked, finally falling in half.
"Vandalism... Assault!" she heard through the opening and closing of the door.
"PoPo is on their way." she called, and hopped back up towards the roof of the building. The foot soldiers were down, but the balloons were still glaring with their beady eyes. As if infuriated at the loss of their Fowl companions, one of the balloons toppled over into a really nice looking truck, denting the roof. Scylla waited patiently, wanting to make sure Europa was out of range of her attack before she let out their helium. Another car bit the dust as the Pilgrims wife toppled over as well.
The civilians were staying inside; the woman had apparently been pulled in with them, if the absence of her body among the plastic turkey shells was any indication.
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 6:03 pm
Europa's darkness faded, leaving a battleground of ruined turkey-youma. She glanced nervously at the flabbergasted manager and gave him a slight wave. "So sorry about the damage! They were ugly, anyway!"
Europa could already hear the police sirens down the street. She scowled and scanned the skyline for Scylla. Spotting the other scout, she took a running jump onto the roof and landed a few feet off from the other girl.
She turned her attention to the pilgrims, busy taking out their frustration on every automobile in sight, and asked Scylla, "What's your plan for them? From what I remember, you hit pretty hard."
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 6:13 pm
The darkness faded and Europa came out of it, moving to where Scylla stood. The two senshi in one target area made the ballons stand straight and tall, pulled up to their full height as though it made them more intimidating- which, truth be told, it did. "Well," Scylla said, giving Europa a wry smile, "Why change a good thing?" How was she going to take care of the balloons, not what she didn't have to worry about the plastic foot soldiers? "I'm going to pop them."
The balloons swung down towards them, and Jada spoke the word that made her power fling itself out of her like something physical. "Scylla's Hunger!"
The same familiar arms that were from her previous attack thrust through the cement, eight of them, wrapping around the balloons, catching them before they could hit the senshi on the roof. A car parked near where the balloons were took a chunk of cement through the windshield. The arms were the same 'disgusting' tentacles as before with one distinct difference. The suckers seemed to have mouths, teeth that sank into the balloons and made loud popping noises as they tore through the heavy plastic. Squeezing the Pilgrims and tugging them down towards the cement, holding them there.
Scylla's face held a sort of cold satisfaction as the balloons stopped waving, finally, deflated. It was a look that didn't belong on her face, perhaps. Maybe it did. (She would say she never felt satisfied over choking out a balloon.)
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 6:29 pm
Two squad cars with their lights flashing pulled into the lot as the balloons sank to the ground. Europa glanced over at Scylla and jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "We ought to get going before we make the eleven o'clock news," she chuckled, and then frowned at the orange smear on the concrete that had, ten minutes ago, been a bag of sweet potatoes.
"Aw, nuts," she groaned. "I gotta go find another grocery store where I'm not a wanted criminal. Happy Thanksgiving - you got any plans?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 6:43 pm
Europa's voice startled Scylla's attention away from the balloons. "Huh?" How very articulate, Chamberlyn. "Oh!" the police were stepping from their vehicles, staring at the destruction around. "Right." She moved away from the edge of the building, checking the sky for police helicopters. Nothing yet.
"There are a lot of grocery stores in town." she commented. "I'm sure we haven't decimated at least one of them. And yes, happy Thanksgiving."
Any plans? What a question. Szelem was going to be in Italy, Zora to New York to visit Lucas and Michael. Kayley was in Switzerland, where the Thanksgiving Holiday was not celebrated. "Nothing in particular." she said finally. "No one to really share it with." Her plans had consisted of a frozen pizza, since the hired help would have the day off.
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 7:01 pm
Europa gave Scylla a sympathetic look, but couldn't exactly offer her a place to go. Her mother was already going mad cooking for six, and Tallulah couldn't exactly justify inviting a girl who she wouldn't even logically know as a civilian. "Maybe someone from your team?" she asked. "It's... it's kind of corny, but it sucks to be alone for the holidays."
She stepped wincingly towards the far end of the roof. "Anyway," she sighed, "I gotta go. My mom's expecting me back with the groceries, and it looks like I've got to go get them all over again."
"See you later, okay? It was good working with you again."
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 7:07 pm
Someone from her team? Scylla blinked for a moment, then gave a wry smile. "Maybe." she said finally. "Take care. Don't go shopping anywhere that has more Pilgrims out front."
She moved over to the edge of the building with Europa, dropping off the edge. Her muscles were sore, but a hot soak would fix her problems this time. "See you later." she told Europa, and moved off in the other direction, sliding into the treeline to make her way home.
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