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General Zinkenite and Super Sailor Akerian fell through the floor together, and landed in the room below with a pair of loud thuds. The doors to the room above closed as quickly as they had opened, and the two were together in a dimly lit room on the basement level. Somewhere down there, Tanzanite gave another agonized scream, and Zinkenite would be able to hear it much more loudly than those upstairs.

From Akerian's belt hung a key. A key that the others would need.

As for Zinkenite and Akerian? Well... the Blood Moon Court was not a court of mercy, and it was obvious what must be done for Zinkenite to get that key.

He landed with a stumble, not as graceful as her, he wanted to pull the goggles down, they gave him small blind spots at the corners of his vision that he couldn't afford, but he couldn't afford to be blinded by her either. For now they and his mask would remain.

He straitened and dusted off his coat like she'd just invited him for tea.

"Really..." He said with narrowed eyes. "... So this is how the people who call US sociopathic have fun?"
His hands went to his pockets, casual as anything, except that there were things in those pockets she wouldn't much care for at all...

He stepped backwards, one quick foot slide back to make sure he didn't trip over anything, or find that there was in fact no ground.

"If you didn't have what I needed." He told her as he pulled his hands free with some of the same little 'starseeds' he had tried to throw through the barrier at her before.

The kick flipped the star seeds into the air and he yanked his hand back to his chest in a recoil of pain and a curse. But with the screaming he was hearing, it was nothing compared to what the others were going through.

The 'starseeds' fell to the floor with the thin pitch of breaking crystal. their fragile casing skittered across the floor like translucent insects as their contents billowed upward in a noxious cloud with the properties of teargas.

"Cry for me senshi..." He hissed through the fabric of his protective mask, behind his goggles he had an slight advantage even as he clutched his hand to his chest, and then moved, he meant to be lost in the smoke before she realized what she was up against.

He counted his steps, it was almost all you could do in thick smoke even with the goggles to aide. His hand throbbed and he hoped it wasn't cracked, or broken, he'd been careless... he had no idea how much damage a hand could take either, but it didn't matter now.

He went in low, crouching, short already it put his center of gravity lower, it put him at distinct risk that she might land on him if he miscalculated but he darted forward trying to knock her off her feet by aiming for her lower back or side if she had turned. He just prayed he didn't run into a foot in an errant kick.

Her fingers claimed good grips in the fabric of his coat, and if she reached far enough the chain that rode around his waist under that great-coat.

He turned his shoulder and tried to roll, he wanted the great equalizer, he wanted her on the god damned FLOOR so his hight wouldn't matter so much.

He stifled a half hearted attempt to be witty, leave that for the people who could back it up with great heavy handed punches, he could be witty when there was room to move, when he'd laid the groundwork of doubt.

There was no time for that here and now, there was only her and the Key.

-s**t-

Boots to the stomach drove breath clean out of him, he felt sick and dizzy and tried to suck air as hard as he could through his mask before she launched him through the air, he turned, trying his best for a 'cat like grace' but it ended up more like 'hurdling Aunt Mildred's yapper-dog', small and graceless despite the speed and strength his rank granted him.

He slammed off the wall, stars exploding at the edges of his vision and darkness crawling at the edges of it like emo-rock as he slid to the ground fumbling in the smoke to find his bearings as the world lost sound for a moment.

For a spit second he couldn't remember what he'd been doing, where he was, why he was there and then it snapped back like a rubber band along with all the ache of his landing, and the dawning realization that the other 'crystals' in his pocket were fractured and his pocket was belching forth a white haze that would have done puff the magic dragon proud.

He pushed himself up the wall on shaky legs too sick to his stomach to laugh, too determined snap a comment.

He moved forward pulling the cracked crystals from his pocket and tossing them towards what he could make out of her in the smoke, let them finish divulging their contents where it counted most.

He reached out half blind for her, he didn't much care for what he grabbed he just wanted this OVER with. He had a limp, the room felt like it was tipping slightly as he moved forward because his head ******** hurt, and he was still feeling short on air. But he was FINISHING this.

"Give me the ******** key and you might -live- through this... god knows I never wanted to be so intimate with strangers but I WILL rip out your star seed and kill you."

He stepped forward fast, arm reaching out and concentrating so that it would pass strait through her, reaching for that vital glimmering point deep in side even as his other arm reached out to circle around her and draw her close. The encircling arm's sleeve snagged, folding and pushing up his arm as he drew her back towards him. There, just in her reach, seated in some kind of wrist/arm mounted contraption, that seemed to be associated with the crystals he had to late preferred to launch by hand... was the crimson crystal.

All along it had been in the same room with her, all along within her grasp.

His fingers closed around the seed, it was so warm in his hand... so exhilarating, intoxicating... addictive almost.

"I would say...tell Dioptase hello, but they reserve a -special- hell for people like you." He whispered in her ear and pulled it free.

He stood again and straitened his uniform, just a pretense for catching his breath, the star seed and the key clasped tight in his hand, he stuffed the star seed deep into the top of his boot where it would not be lost or pick pocketed... and teleported back to the others.