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It was nighttime and summer, which meant Bo Hanley was out drinking. He had already managed to arrive late and leave early from three different parties, only one of which he was actually invited to attend, and was on his way to catch a bus out to the ocean -- or at least as close as he could get. Then he planned to henshin up and go for some super powered swimming. (Seriously, everyone needed to try it.) Somewhere along the way, Bo lost his shirt and was wearing only a pair of loose fitting khaki cargo shorts, flip flops, and a trucker hat that said What's Cookin'?.

Up ahead, he saw a flash of familiar pale blue and ruffles sprint by under a street lamp... and then a dark shadow of a youma chasing behind into an alley. "Why is it always alleys..." Bo mused aloud. Odds were, he figured, that this senshi could handle herself, but something was itching at his curiosity.

Carefully, Bo crept up to the edge of the alleyway and peeked out. The girl was cornered, her body nearly totally blocked by the youma's. It leaned to the side, and he got a good look at her face -- a familiar face. "PISCES!" Bo shouted loudly, stepping into view and waving.

He realized about a second later how stupid that was when the chimera youma turned, glared at him, and then began to charge.

...probably should have transformed into his powered self before shouting near a youma.

As Pisces unleashed the dragon, so to speak, Bo took the opportunity to make himself considerably less squishy. "Neso Power, Make Up!" he called, henshin pen in hand. A swirl of glitter and rush of air lifted him up, transforming him quickly into Super Sailor Neso, Senshi of Summer. Since it was actually the season of his namesake, his transformation was much bright, more powerful. Until things transitioned into Fall, Neso would be at the height of his power, a lot stronger than his normal senshi self at least.

Maybe that would come in handy now.

Clad in tiny short-shorts, bare chest, and sunburst coat, Neso sprang into action as best he could. "Here is where I try to be helpful," he announced. The chimera youma was distracted by the dragon. Bo decided to attack once more. "Summer Strike!" he called, raising his fist above his head. It swelled and pulsated as the heat of summer was sucked into it.

Neso landed a solid punch in the chimera's back, and it howled in pain, recoiling from the white energy. "Hey, not bad!" Then the youma turned on him, ignoring the dragon. "Okay.. BAD!" It slashed a hand out and sent him flying into a nearby set of trashcans with a clatter and bang.

Neso used the momentary distraction of Pisces throwing the trashcan lid to attack again. "Summer Strike!" he called, fist charging. This time, his punch managed to sever an arm off of the beast. It fell to the ground with a wet squish, but didn't stop moving. Instead, the hand hopped up, fingers like little legs, and latched on to Neso's throat.

It squeezed and he wheezed, hands tugging at its grip. His legs kicked weakly. "Oh... no..." he hissed out, before his windpipe was totally closed off. Fists clenched and pummeled the arm. It winced under the blows, but kept its grip on Neso's throat.

The rest of the chimera stalked toward Pisces to attack her while its discarded arm took care of Neso.

The strike distracted the youma long enough for its grip to slacken on Neso's throat. He squeaked out, "Summer Strike, Power Up!" His fist began to glow brighter than before, and this time when he punched the chimera youma, it let out a scream of pain and staggered forward. For a moment, the senshi of summer believed it might be dusted... but alas, the youma was still kicking.

"Almost there, right?" he said, dodging at the chimera swiped at him once. The second time, it knocked his legs out from under him and he went sprawling.

The concrete bit into his hands as he pushed himself back up. "It's like the old days, eh, Pisces? Just, you know, I'm here instead of a beefy Zodiac soldier," Neso said, smiling through the pain. He was a handmaiden to Chronos. In the past, he only sprang into action to protect the princess. The Zodiac soldiers did all the heavy lifting.

Pisces' latest attack brought a wash of anger from the youma. It advanced on her, letting out a vicious growl. It slashed at her with its tail. "Pisces!" Neso called out, running to try and help. "Summer Strike, Power Up!" He threw himself onto the back of the beast, took a head butt to the face, but then punched it in the side of the head as hard as he could. A bright light nearly blinded him and then he was falling to the pavement.

The youma was dust.

From his back, Neso propped himself up on both elbows and stared at Pisces. "So, I may be having a personality crisis because this is the second youma I have helped kill in a week, which makes that the first time I have done that... ever. Does this mean something bad is coming? I feel like it always does."

When Pisces got close enough, Neso grabbed her wrist and pulled her down to the ground on top of him, squeezing her in a tight bear hug. "Pi-Pi, I can't tell you how good it is to see you," he said. "And hug you. Hugs, not drugs. Or maybe drugs too, you know, both are good."

Man, it was raining Zodiacs lately, which was the best kind of rain -- his favorite kind. If only it would rain Chronos back home to him. "Pi, I got to know, where have you been? It's been... I don't know, forever. Roughly forever."

Neso sat up, Pisces still slung across him. He eased her to a sitting position and then stood up. His hands extended, a silent offer to help her to her feet. "DCU? All right, college girl. There are some fantastic parties near the DCU campus. I can introduce you to very good people." The truth was that Neso made friends basically everywhere he went, and he liked college parties, which meant he was hanging around DCU more than the average non-college student.

"What's the major? You going to be an artist, scientist, lawyer, or maybe an lawyer of arts and sciences?"