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 Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 1:44 pm
"Of course it got stuck in my head," she muttered to herself as she hummed a song she'd been listening to all day on repeat. It was one of those upbeat, catchy songs that anyone would just want to dance too. Machholz stood on a billboard over Main Street. She'd fount this spot a while ago and found it perfect to peer down allies to spot any White Moon Senshi. She knew their goal, she'd been given the run down by Leto and a few others.
The pale girl took a deep breath to keep from singing out loud and just tapped her foot instead, arms crossed under her chest.
In the back of her mind she was wondering what Erythrite was doing. "Better not be flirting with someone," Machholz mumbled to herself, starting to pout. Ery was a flirt, she knew that, and it was harmless, but there were days --
Wait no. She couldn't be thinking about her girlfriend. Shaking her head, Machholz walked across the scaffolding a few times before jumping onto the roof of the nearest building, landing with a flutter of fabric and the gentle tap of her foot on the solid roof. That's when she felt a familiar energy tickling the back of her mind. Who was that? Squinting a little, Machholz toyed with her fingernails because she could and it was kind of a nervous habit. So familiar and yet she couldn't think of a name.
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 1:56 pm
Newgrange was doing what he told himself he'd do: he was out, trying to get the hang of this whole powering up thing. There was an almost unfair loneliness he felt any time he powered up, and he considered that it had to be because most of his nights were spent either by himself, or taking care of youma that crossed his path. Tonight almost felt like it wasn't going to be any different—until he felt a faint energy signature.
Dark Mirror Senshi were rare; he had only met one of them so far, so he couldn't help but immediately assume it was Canopus. Besides—hadn't he been on the roof the last time he'd met her? This seemed like the perfect location for her to be hanging out in.
His mood instantly picked up and he tried to direct himself closer to the energy signature; though he followed it, it wasn't until he was almost entirely on top of it that he even realized he was absolutely not near Canopus.
This girl…was entirely different.
And also entirely familiar.
He looked at her for a long moment and opened his mouth, though words were slow to come out. She looked like the senshi he had met once—they'd talked about youma and experienced senshi and…
And, he'd never gotten her name, but that didn't make him feel any less awkward about this. "You look familiar," he said slowly, though seemed a bit embarrassed after he'd spoken. "I mean, hi. Newgrange," he introduced, though then added uncertainly, "Have we…met?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 2:03 pm
Oddly enough she'd been looking the other way when the energy signal got closer. It didn't feel threatening. No really. Still, it was waiting that made her nervous. When she heard a footstep fall behind her on the roof, she turned during the introduction and then laughed softly. "I... think we have," she said with a voice that was light and friendly. "Machholz. We've met before Newgrange... I was... different then." She moved a little closer to him, holding out her hand with a wide smile. Newgrange hadn't changed. This was her first time meeting anyone she'd met before, aside from Damocles. Okay, so he was he first Order aligned meeting from her old life. "We talked a while ago about a few things." Would he recognize her? Her hair, uniform and eyes had changed. She had a long scar on her face and on on her arm just under the laced glove, obscured from sight unless someone was scrutinizing her. "I think we talked about ...youma battling and more experienced senshi, maybe?" It was a question because her memories were a bit hazy after her brush with death. ...Twice, her brush with death happened once with Buddington and once with Erythrite, only the latter resulting in her changing.
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 2:09 pm
Maccholz. It felt good to put a name to the face…even though it seemed like a different face. Well—it was the same face just a different…
Everything else.
"I thought so," he said, extending a hand uncertainly. He hadn't had any bad run-ins with the Dark Mirror Court, and while he couldn’t say that he necessarily explained all of this, he didn't see her as a threat. Clasping her hand, he gave her a quick shake. Thinly, a smile appeared on his face, and though he was happy to see her, it was clear he was still processing things in his mind.
"I remember our talk, I wondered what had happened to you. This is…interesting," he said, giving her a quick look over. "Different."
Not quite exactly what he had expected, but he wasn't about to start judging her.
"What…happened?"
Because, honestly? He didn't know. He had never known that senshi could change so drastically—much less why or how they could go about doing it.
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 2:15 pm
She shook hands with him and eyed that thin smile warily. Judgement time, she supposed. Ah, well.
"...It was this or death," she answered after a moment of thinking about it. "...I got in a fight with a Nega officer named Erythrite after I healed from nearly dying from my fight with Buddington. ...Erythrite was more ruthless than me. I very nearly died. Worse than with Buddington. ....I ended up powering down, revealing my civilian side and Erythrite's last attack stopped because.." Her voice wavered and she swallowed hard. "...We had a connection on our civilian sides. A big one. Anyway... Erytrite knew Leto and it was either die, lose my memories and become a Nega officer or..." She motioned to herself and then sighed. "And now you know what happened. Life or death."
Having your home planet ripped from you hurt. Left you with an empty feeling until you got used to being a Dark Mirror Senshi. "You win some, you lose some, right? I just have to get stronger so I don't almost die a third time, you know?" She grinned at him and then her eyes flashed. "Say, you wouldn't want to spar? It's been a while for me and I need to limber up!"
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 2:20 pm
"Ah," Newgrange replied; for a moment he thought about what she had said. He recognized none of the names she had provided, but it didn't change how he felt about any of it. "That sounds awful. I don't blame you for choosing the Dark Mirror Court over the Negaverse. They seem much nicer. Of course, I've only met Canopus. We fought a youma together."
He considered the youma then—and Maccholz's offer to spar.
You could do that?
Things were slowly clicking into place—limber up, get some battle experience…
Live to fight another day?
Yeah, he could work with that. They both could—whatever it took to stay alive, right?
"You should spar with her sometime," he said, smiling. "But in the meantime—yeah, that sounds good. I'm not the best fighter," he confessed, wondering briefly if he should have told someone who was not a Knight that information, but…
He wanted to trust Maccholz.
"So you might have to forgive me if I mess it all up. But I'd like to see what you could do! I've heard that senshi have magical attacks, have you used yours?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 2:27 pm
"I've used a magic attack once or twice." When she'd been a basic Senshi. With a smile on black lips, Machholz jumped away from him to give space between them. "My magic was lower then!" She didn't think she'd be using a higher level attack on him. She honestly didn't know how powerful it was or how he would react to it.
She took a breath and let it out in a hard puff before readying herself. She got into stance. Machholz had been taking lessons on fighting from a few different people, so she didn't have a specific style, but it should be enough to protect her. "I'll look up Canopus. I've never heard of her. It could be fun!" With that, she took off towards him, looking to rush him, swinging a fist in his direction. Even though the DMS said spar, it was almost like she was taking this personally. She wasn't, of course, but she was taking it seriously.
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 2:42 pm
Once or twice was still far more experience than Newgrange had with any magic, but he didn't have time to mull over it before Machholz was attacking him. He barely managed to stumble backwards enough to avoid the fist, but she was still obviously more skilled at throwing a punch than he was at avoiding them. He had to scramble to regain his balance, but even when he did he was flustered. "You're fast," he said promptly, trying to get into a better stance. "Where did you learn all that?"
Was it something the DMC taught her? Because, seriously, he would have loved to meet someone who could teach him to fight as well as she seemed to. He was durable, he knew that, but his strengths beyond that? He didn't know what you were supposed to fight with—or where you were even supposed to hit a girl…
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 3:01 pm
"Well, after Buddington and Erythrite I had to learn to protect myself. I take self protection lessons, spar with a few friends.. After this I can teach you?" She gave him a little wink and pushed back a bit to give him time to breath and figure out what she was going to do. A knight actually taught her the basics of fighting, and from there her battle experience combined with paid lessons were apparently doing their job.
"Come on. Throw a punch at me! Let's see if you've got any power behind that fist. She didn't know he was going the whole not hitting a girl route. She would just have to hit him to provoke him if she knew.
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Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2014 10:49 pm
Again, names Newgrange wasn't familiar with, but he tried to be a good sport all the same. Self protection lessons and sparring with friends sounded like a good plan, though he was a bit sheepish at the idea of Machholz teaching him. "I don't want to hurt you," he said to her, but had to debate with himself internally. They were sparring—there was always a chance of getting a little scuffed. He wasn't fighting with intent to hurt her…and if he was always pulling his punches, how was he going to improve? What if she was someone who really wanted him dead and he was screwing himself over by not at least trying?
Though it was reluctantly, he moved to engage her, throwing a fist at her gut.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2014 2:37 pm
"Don't worry. I think unless your out to murder me I can handle a few punches," Machholz said. She hummed softly as he got himself ready. He was really adorable. She prepared herself as he seemed to come to a reluctant resolution with himself. The internal struggling was something she was very familiar with. She still struggled every time she saw her black fuku. "It'll be fine. I won't use magic unless you do, so don't worry about it!" And then he actually moved and threw a low punch. Machholz grabbed his wrist, yanked him close and pulled his arm behind his back before sweeping her leg behind his, aiming to make him fall to the roof.
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Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 1:14 am
It wasn't too terribly hard to get Newgrange to fall to the roof; he wasn't as fast as Machholz and certainly wasn't prepared for that type of response. He hit the roof with a thud and a small grunt, but beyond the pain of a throbbing tailbone seemed relatively unhurt. He should have gotten up but seemed more like he was taking a few extra seconds to process just what Machholz had actually done.
And then, he laughed.
Not a boisterous or delighted laugh, but he wasn't mad. He was just very, very awful at fighting and Machholz had caught him completely off guard. He leaned back a bit to rub at his back. "I think that one's going to be sore in the morning," he said, flashing her a brief smile. "That was good, I didn't see that coming. At all. I'm really impressed."
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Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 7:14 pm
She winced when he hit harder than she thought he would. But, he laughed, and so did she before grinning at him and clicking her tongue. "...Well, I'll try not to drop you that hard. I honestly didn't mean to! Unfortunately fighting has consequences." She tapped the scar to her cheek and shrugged lightly. "Hopefully we can get you to at least dodge attacks better than I did before I changed." With that, she crouched down a little and waited for him. "Now, try that again but don't be so tense. Don't hesitate. If you do hit me, I've been through worse, alright? It'll be fine." Hopefully she was using a tone that wasn't condescending but more teaching than anything. She didn't have much experience as a teacher, but damn it, she was going to try!
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 11:03 am
Newgrange stood and brushed himself off, nodding. He didn't seem insulted by her words; he was genuinely grateful that she was there to teach him. "If you say so," he said, and the hesitance was still in his voice.
But she was right—they were sparring, and this was fighting, and he was screwing up because he didn't want to hurt her. What other fighter was going to wait for him to get up before attacking again?
He rolled his shoulders and tried to relax, and though it took him a few extra seconds, he seemed prepared to go at her with a new state of mind. This time, he wasn't trying so hard to pull a punch; he gave her a look to make sure she knew he was ready, and then moved, aiming another punch towards her. His movements were far more fluid, but he still lacked the finesse of a skilled fighter.
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 12:09 pm
The change like that caught Machholz off guard and made her blink. She was ready though, still in her stance. She wanted to test his strength and automatically wished she didn't. Machholz took that punch and managed to dodge most of it. It landed on her chest instead of her face, only because she tried to jump to avoid. Grunting a bit, she rubbed her chest as she stumbled back, right under the collarbone and coughed. It took her breath away and she could only grin as she tried to get herself under control. "G-good. Good. I was testing.. your power and ow." That was going to leave a bruise. Oh well. Shaking it off, Maccholz grinned and ran towards him. "Coming at you! Watch out!" Then she swung, much like he did, only she didn't lack all the finesse.
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