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 Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 7:38 pm
Tony had been working late, as usual, but his mind was elsewhere. It was probably what was making his work go so long. He had not accomplished any of the little tasks he usually set out to complete before opening the next day. Books were stacked by the check in computer, to be taken back and rough sorted. There was already one cart in the back room, waiting for the same fate, and another cart of sorted books waiting to be returned to their proper homes within the library.
He had not done an in-house pick up. There were even still book sitting in the drop off bins outside. No, he had accomplished absolutely nothing beyond shutting down the computers, making sure no one was left in the library, and cleaning a few of the table tops.
Ever since discovering he had this... secret ability inside him, and it had only just awakened for him, he found it hard to focus on other things.
But that was not an excuse to slack off, he reminded himself. He had a job to do, and he couldn't start being suspicious about it now, could he? He would have to come in early to get everything done, unless he wanted to stay all night. And he didn't. He really didn't.
Dogby was at home with Nathan, the little puppy having picked up a cold from somewhere. Tony felt terrible about that, but at least now he could power up without worrying about her. He snuck away from the library to do it, wanting to see if he could find a youma, something small and weak he hoped, to see what Camelot could do.
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Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 9:22 pm
Luckily for Camelot there was indeed a youma about. Unluckily Braden there was indeed a youma about.
The night for the young man had started innocently enough. A run through the park to get in his track practice and creep on jogging women, a quick shower at the gym, work, and then a late night walk home. All in all a fairly average night for the guy; until he made the mistake of stopping to tie his shoe and spying something farther down the alley he'd paused near. There was a woman on the ground, hunched and clearly afraid, and over her was a -thing-. Braden hadn't recognized it as any monster he'd ever read or heard about-- It was like living shadow had swallowed a mountain and the crags and peaks of stone were jutting out of the shadow at uncomfortable places. Not knowing what else to do the blonde had slipped off his still untied shoe and thrown it as hard as he could at the monster. Anything to save the poor woman it was ... He didn't even want to know what the abomination was doing to her.
Big mistake.
A big mistake that the boy was still paying for as he sprinted for his life, sans one tennis shoe, and rapidly losing breath and a drive to keep his muscles moving. He couldn't even make himself do more than throw whatever he could find behind him in the hopes of making one hell of a rucous(he'd heard of vigilantes... Vigilante the hell out of this monster please!) and causing the thing some kind of harm.
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Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 9:31 am
Camelot had made it to the park for his venture at patrolling, looking around with his keen green eyes.
Now that he was starting off and getting into it, he was in a split decision about his predicament. He wanted to find something, to practice and to see if he really could be useful and help those that most needed it. He also didn't want to get himself killed in record time for a newly awakened whatever he was.
Maybe he wouldn't run into anything, but not for lack of trying. Then he could just go home, telling himself he had tried, and then go to bed. But that, he knew, wouldn't be good enough.
Any subconscious or denied hope of that was dashed, anyway, when he heard a scream nearby. By the time he reached the source, a blubbering, terrified woman, she was barely coherent enough to get her story out. A monster had attacked her, and someone else had saved her, but now the monster was after them. Another senshi or page? Camelot reassured the woman as best he could, got trapped in a tight hug for a moment longer than he wanted, then assured her he would get the monster.
She didn't seem to have any trouble trusting a random guy dressed as a knight. Maybe because she was in shock and freaking out. He left her after helping her call for someone to come find her, unable to just abandon her, then took off down the path. He found he was much faster in this form, and didn't need his cane to support his weakened leg.
"Hey!" he yelled, when he saw the shadow looming ahead, following after a young man. "Stop!"
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2011 11:27 am
Maybe it was instinct. Maybe fear had filled his head with a bad case of the dumb. Whatever it was when a voice bellowed 'Stop!' Braden stopped dead in his tracks. The monster chasing him did the same for whatever reason, stopping full on into the young man. Both tumbled forward and it would have been Loony Tunes hilarious if the blonde human wasn't positive that he was about to get mauled and eaten in his school uniform. Panicking, he turned around to face the hideous creature and gulped as his eyes darted to the figure that had called out to them.
Was that a knight?!
"Great." He muttered to himself. He was about to get rescued by a freaking Knight In Shining Armor like a damned Princess. This was definitely being entered into his lists of 'Most Embarrassing" and "Don't Tell Dad". Braden was pretty sure this had just made the top of both of those lists and he wasn't feeling too good about it. Involuntarily burping a little he could tell that the adrenaline was wearing off at a really bad time and his stomach was reacting the way it always did when he stressed out. Closing his eyes he tried to fight it but his body betrayed him and-- HURK.
He'd just projectile vomited all over an eight foot tall monster and now he honestly prayed the thing would kill him now.
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2011 4:53 pm
Camelot tried not to look puffed out by the time he caught up to the youma and the kid, though he didn't say anything right away. If he did, it would be an octave or two higher than he was used to speaking with, and that would just be embarrassing.
Hopefully he could avoid embarrassing himself in every way.
"Oh!" Camelot said, wrinkling his nose when the younger man vomited. His own stomach did a flip at the sight and he put his hand up to his mouth just in case. A gut instinct, as it were. He grimaced and looked away, reminding himself that he was a Knight and he could not get sick, and then looked back.
Now he had to fight a youma with throw up on it...
He blamed the civilian silently for making things even worse for the newbie knight, but said nothing out loud. He just had a heavy glare glued to his face as he stared at Braden accusingly. Subtle.
"Stay back," he said, which was a bit late as the youma didn't take kindly to being thrown up on. It reared and moved as if to tackle the boy. Camelot immediately leaped in front, the youma slamming into his shield as he tried to stop the attack. This force sent Camelot flying backwards, slamming into Braden and spilling them both to the floor.
He rolled away as quickly as he could, thinking 'don't throw up on me' while he scrambled back to ask, "Are you okay?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 3:23 pm
The glare was obvious and though his stomach felt a lot better it dawned on him that he'd probably just made things much worse for everyone. Even possibly the Knight. "Oh God. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He couldn't tell if he was aiming it at the monster or the other man, but either way he really hoped it helped.
As it was? No. The monster lunged, the movement slicking away much of the sick, and Braden was positive he was going to get mauled mutant-bear style had Camelot not moved equally as fast and gotten between them. The both being shoved back was ungraceful and the boy felt even more upset as he figured that if he hadn't been there neither of them would have tumbled to the ground. Hell, if it weren't for him the Knight wouldn't have to be fighting a youma just now. "This is what I get for helping," he bemoaned miserably. There was no way he was going to live this down or make this up to his rescuer. No way in hell.
And the youma was making its way over to them. Slowly, as it turned out, and Braden wondered if monsters got cocky as well. Scrambling to get up, he offered his hand to the Knight without thinking in order to help him up as well. "Yeah, I'm fine. Are you okay?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 8:37 pm
"I'm fine," he said in a rush, though he probably should have said something more heroic, like 'do not fret about me, citizen'. He wasn't yet thinking himself a super hero, though. Just a man with a strange ability to don some chain mail, and an impossible to ignore urge to throw himself into trouble.
So if someone asked him if he was okay, he would answer honestly.
"A little bit nauseous," he added, reminded that he was supposed to be honest. He looked a little pale, but only at the thought that he might have gotten some on him in all the chaos. He decided to just not look, lest his stomach flipped or just escape through his throat.
He took the other's hand, then pulled him close only to shove him hard away as the youma barreled toward them. Camelot leaped sideways. The youma didn't have the best breaks, but it whipped its arms around, first one way, then the next, slamming into Camelot's side and spilling him to the floor again.
"Damn!" he said, pushing himself up. He had to stop the thing, and the only way he could think to do that was run at it and leap onto its back before it could get to Braden.
It was very close, however, and the youma was still trying to paw at him even as Camelot jumped on its back and wrapped his arm around it's neck.
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 12:27 am
Braden instantly moaned in embarrassment at the mention of nauseousness and knew it was all his fault. It wasn't his fault, not really, but at the same time it was. It was all very confusing for the young man and became even more confusing as the Knight pulled him close. The rescue wasn't even over yet, and hey-- He wasn't a damned princess! Blushing deeper than the sunburn that already spread over his face he looked down at the ground and stammered. "Y'see I'm not really like that, but I'm really flattered that even through all this you think I'm attrac-" It was at that point he was shoved, very hard, away from the barreling youma that was heading their way. Oh, well that explained things.
From his sprawled spot on the ground he grimaced as he tried to get up and realized that his hip hurt. A lot. Stubborn as he was going to be about things this time, he still struggled to stand as a very large shadow was cast from the lamplight overhead. A shadow that was then added upon with the other man threw himself onto the back of the creature. From his vantage point on the ground Braden couldn't tell if the knight was trying to pummel the beast from behind or what but he knew he couldn't take the chance that he wasn't. Crawling every which way and searching furiously for something the dude on it's back could use as a weapon as well as something the young runner could use to defend himself, he scurried left and right as the youma followed and swiped after him. There were definite claw marks on his back and the backs of his calves by this point but fear of death ruled everything else out.
Finally, he spotted something. A metal trashcan lid and a discarded oak two-by-four. Grabbing at them as fast as he could he flung the lid at the knight like a frisbee. "Here! Catch this!" As soon as it was out of his hands he looked down at what was left.
That wasn't right.
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Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2011 8:41 pm
Camelot would have given Braden such a look for his comments, but he didn't have time to be admonishing anyone for inappropriate allusions at the moment.
What with the whole 'angry because it was thrown up on' youma attacking them still. And to be fair, Camelot couldn't blame it for being mad. But he did think it was overreacting just a bit.
Trying to kill them and all.
He looked up in time to see a trashcan lid flying at him. Now what in the world did he need that for? He already had a round, flat object to beat the youma with. He couldn't catch it, either, clinging to the youma as he was, so the thing hit him square in the head. It made him lose his grip anyway and he hit the ground, the youma instantly on top of him.
"Arrghh!" he yelled pointedly, frustrated and pained at the same time. He was not Braden's biggest fan at the moment, but his impulse to protect and serve was over ridding his irritation and embarrassment.
He managed to sock the youma in the face, then kick it and make it stumble back. He then scrambled to his knees and brought his shield forward, leaping forward and slamming it into the youma's exposed neck. It started to choke and stumble, giving Camelot a moment to gather himself.
"Find somewhere safe, for Christ's sake!" he yelled at Braden emphatically. This was one of the worst civilian rescues he had jumped into so far. He'd have to do better to regain some posture.
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 1:11 pm
If this were a fairytale this would have been the part where the mystical narrator pointed out that none of this was Camelot's fault. Braden was the fool, and even before the trashcan lid hit the unintended mark the boy had his face in in his palm and wanted to disappear in a hole and be forgotten by everyone ever. The sounds of pain followed by the thrashing of a proper mauling made Braden uncover his eyes and look up. Just in time to see the knight-thing get the upper hand and tell him to run.
Except that Braden didn't have anywhere to run to without his shoe.
Yes, it was that important to him.
Standing, he hefted the two-by-four and held it against his shoulder like a baseball bat. Gulping down all fear and panic the teenager ran towards the battle of good vs. evil and when the monster fell backwards grasping it's throat he took the wood in his hands and swung down as forcefully as a good athletic boy hopped up on adrenaline could. Which, as it turned out, was enough judging by the strangled scream that came from the youma.
He wanted to say something witty, but the creature wasn't gone and he figured it was the hero's place to say something anyway. Wasn't that how the books went, anyway?
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Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2011 10:57 am
Camelot was not used to using his strength in battle. Punching and kicking and actually being effective with it. He had sold himself out as weak a long time ago, and had come to terms with it just as long ago. Except now things were different. He had powered up now and he could actually throw a hit or two.
He could do this.
Still, the youma was strong and Camelot was going to be feeling this in the morning. He groaned, trying to keep the youma on the defense and batter it until it exploded into a satisfying cloud of dust.
Apparently the young man was not too great at listening. Why was it whenever Camelot told people to run and hide they came to fight? To help him. He looked up as the younger man came in swinging. The youma let out an awful noise and Camelot winced at it.
Instead of waste time chastizing the civilian, Camelot got up and raced to finish it off, slamming the sheild so hard into its face, into its eye, that it fell backwards and hit the ground hard. It exploded into dust soon after. He took a moment, then looked back at the young man.
"That was a very dangerous thing to do. You could have been killed trying to fight it! Are you alright?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 9:43 pm
That had felt ... Good. It had felt satisfying and as the knight rushed in and finished the monster off Braden let himself celebrate the victory as quietly as he could. Eyes widening at the dust now settling, he kicked the collecting pile and smirked a little. No, he wasn't good at listening and for once he thought that this time it may have been a good thing.
Until he got chastised.
Looking up from the youma pile now drifting away on the slight breeze he shrugged sheepishly. "You could have been killed too, I s'pose." He just wanted to help god damnit.
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 12:01 pm
"No! I'm meant to do this kind of stuff: I have abilities you lack, and you risked your life to..."
He paused. He realized he was arguing with the young man for being a responsible person, for feeling obligated to help. For leaping into a fight because he felt he had to, for whatever reason that spurred him.
The same thing Tony used to do.
"Well," he breathed, offering Braden a smile. "At least you didn't vomit. You're right, I could always get myself killed, too, and I thank you for leaping in to help. Still, I think leaving the fight to the fighter will do you better in the long wrong? Just in case."
He dusted himself off, glancing around to make sure there was no more trouble, of any kind, before looking back at Braden.
"Seriously, though, you weren't injured, were you? How do you feel?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 4:44 pm
Braden shrugged with a little frown on his face. He was pretty used to getting talked down to for doing the right thing, or anything really, so it wasn't like this was anything new to him. Until the knight smiled at him-- Was this some sort of set up? He could instantly see it in his head, a kind word and handshake, and then later finding out that all of the other knights were spreading the tale of the vomitting kid and how not to help him next time.
It never dawned on him there was no possible way for him to find something like that out.
Patting himself over he shook his head at the older man. "Nah, I'm cool. My back might hurt for a few days but it's nothing Icy/Hot won't be able to help." Scrunching his face up in concern he offered his hand out to the knight. "Sorry about the ralphing, by the way. My body doesn't know how to react to stress and terror filled running apparently."
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Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 11:50 am
Camelot sighed, imagining he might be in need of an Icy/Hot patch as well. He was feeling sore already and he needed to get home and relax. Maybe some pain killers and ice would suffice.
He smiled again, casual. Not the smile of someone who was going to smear anyone's name.
"Oh, don't worry about it. I'm sure people have done much worse. And you were very brave. Don't worry about it. Your secret is safe with me," he chuckled, and shook Braden's hand before glancing around.
He would probably do best to get out of there before he attracted more trouble by being powered up.
"Well, if everything is alright, I'm going to head out. I just wanted to make sure you were fine, you have a way home? I'll make sure nothing else attacks you." It was the least he could do, after all.
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