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Hers was a simple life- an innocent life. There were shadows in her past; painful things that she did not like to think about and which, by virtue of the fact that she wasn't really the contemplative sort, she did not think about. They were in the past. She had already dealt with them and moved on.

But this-

This was different. This was now.

Vanessa, preoccupied as she was with the way this villainess had her hand stuck in Hairy Pete's chest, did not notice as Scheelite moved in for a kill of his own. Beads of sweat started on her forehead as she continued to fight against the hand that violated Hairy Pete. The sunglasses on her face hid the fear and hatred that she felt so sharply -so poignantly- it was hard to breathe. She was gasping for air even before the smoke enveloped the room.

Super Van choked on Ares's attack, but was uninterested in separating herself from Nealite- and, for that matter, from Hairy Pete. Vanessa wrapped her free arm under his arm, and was intent upon dragging him along as this villainess manipulated her like a puppet. Golden eyes shone on the starseed clutched in Nealite's hand.

She didn't know what it was. Nor did she know why they wanted it so badly, but she had, ultimately, connected it with the end of her friend. They'd stolen it from Pete, and all traces of life had slipped from his body.

Logic suggested that returning it to him could only mean good things.

"Give that to me," she coughed, the hand in her captor's twisting angrily. She purposefully attempted to stomp on Nealite's foot, "PUT IT BACK!"

There was a window at the end of the hallway, impossible to see behind the curtain of smoke that snaked through the apartment. If it was found, it would be easily broken. Vanessa was very pale, struggling to breathe and fight back all at once.

"I don't know where out is!"
Despite this he was going to find it. He desperately wanted to dive at that energy signature he thought was way too close to Nealite's own but he wouldn't disobey her order. He wasn't too happy about it though, not that he was happy about much going on at the moment anyway.

Right, so the door lie behind the struggling people before him. That wasn't going to work, as any attempt on the door would end up in him tripping over someone in the smoke cloud or getting dragged into the scuffle. This wouldn't help much in him finding a way out. So, onto other plans! Scheelite's own coughing grew distant as he forged a new path. In a temporary stroke of 'genius' he figured his best bet was to keep one arm on the wall and feel his way around the apartment. Eventually he'd have to come to a window right? Unfortunately every moment spent in the smoke was making him dizzier and closer to feeling like he needed to just pass out. This wasn't good.

Cough. Hack. Wheeze. If he could see anything at all he'd realize Van was paler than he was (though he was swiftly catching up), but now wasn't the time for such observations. Instead he stumbled his way into the hallway and felt along the wall until he eventually reached the end of the hall. There he felt what he was looking for. Glass.
"Over..." Cough. "here!"
But he couldn't just sit around and wait for her to reach his side. He'd likely pass out if he did! So their escape route found, Scheelite pulled out his weapon and bashed it as hard as he possibly could against the glass window. He could swear pieces of the controller had broken but it didn't really matter, afterall it'd be fixed next time he called for it right? What was more important was the fact the glass of the window also shattered, letting in a much needed breath of fresh air.

A squeak of surprise was torn from her lips, amidst all of the coughing and choking, when another pair of hands appeared out of the smoke and thrust her out of the way. Her grip on Hairy Pete's body slackened, and Vanessa's golden eyes widened with furious tears when Nealite, and the bit of life she clutched in her hands, fell away from her.

She could see nothing through all of the smoke and her own tears. Vanessa, feeling angrier than she'd ever felt in her life, wiped away at her eyes with the back of one hand. Knees buckled under Hairy Pete's deathly weight, and she fell with him to the floor.

"Pete," Her throat felt raw. Voice croaked audibly when she spoke. Super Van leaned over the lifeless form of her friend, and peered desperately into his face. "Pete."

There was no response. A dozen expressions of pain seemed to pass over her face all at once. None of them did her justice.

From the end of the hall she heard Scheelite's voice call out to his companion, and an image of the window there flashed through the back of her head the moment she heard the glass shatter. She swelled with rage.

"You can't leave!" Super Van tried to roar, but the volume of her voice was inhibited by the smoke and another fit of coughing. She struggled to her feet, and left Pete's body for the first time since Nealite had robbed it of everything that had made him him. Skinny fingers found the hallway walls, and she was staggerings towards the boy who'd just watched as Hairy Pete had died. She would get in the way. She would stand in front of the window. They wouldn't get through her.

Except that she was finding it harder and harder to breathe- harder to think.

"Dammit."

The young lieutenant had stayed by the window, grateful for the cool refreshing fresh air it let into the apartment. He was still coughing, but at least now he could get a deep breath in between his choking and not just breathe in more smoke.

It was a start.

Vanessa's sudden 'roar' brought Schee's attention away from the window, and the boy turned to try and find her in the smoke filled hallway. It didn't seem to matter much in the long run anyway because before he could even think to prep for an attack Ares had bounded forward and maneuvered her way between the two. Well -damnit-, there went a quick and easy hostage situation leading to them getting the hell out of here.

"Nealite! Come on we can't just stay in here!"
Like that wasn't -obvious-, but it definitely wasn't healthy for either of them to be breathing all this in, and he was pretty worried about the captain. Casting a final glance back at the window (how he wished they could just jump out it and be done with this whole mess), Scheelite took in a breath and ran forward straight at Ares. She wasn't about to land another blow on Nealite, not as long as he was still standing. The only real warning was the 'clack clack clack' of the still glowing glowsticks against his legs as he leapt at the Senshi.

It was difficult to think clearly through the haze of the smoke and the grief and the rage. Super Van was on her way towards Scheelite, though she could not see him, and she gasped in surprise when Ares appeared to her out of the smoke. Vanessa bristled visibly and her hands balled into fists in her sides. She was determinedly prepared to defend herself against this beautifully terrifying stranger, if the situation called for it-

And then Ares was clamping a sash over her mouth, yelling something in her face, and Vanessa was struck dumb by the reality of how very weak and pathetic she felt. The smoke violated her throat and stung in her eyes. Super Van squeaked in surprise when this powerful stranger, whom she'd come to realize through her smoke-addled brain was a good guy, pushed her and tumbled into the open doorway of the extra bedroom.

Everything was happening so fast. Adrenaline pounded through her veins. Super Van landed, hard, on her a**, but did not feel any pain.

The sash made breathing a little easier. She was dizzy from the lack of oxygen, but no longer choking.

Vanessa was wild with her temper, still crying, and not content to simply sit and wait while Ares did all of the work. Super Van was a hero too! She'd started this career for a reason. Danger was an occupational hazard. And, she had a friend to avenge. Vanessa hadn't the slightest clue what it was that Nealite had removed from Hairy Pete's chest, but she had been able to tell that he needed it.

Ares had told her to stay out of the way, but Vanessa had never been any use when it came to obeying direct orders.

She crept back out into the hall on her knees, with one hand still pressing the sash to her mouth, and tried to peer through the smoke; searching for movement, (mostly) prepared to help the Senshi of Smoke in whatever way that she could. If it meant saving Pete, Super Van was willing to do anything.

The clacking sound of Scheelite's glowsticks was terribly, terribly close. She did not know it, but she was crouched between him and the senshi.

One moment she knelt, breathing haggardly through a sash on the floor, and the next she was being yanked to her feet. Vanessa pulled in the other direction reflexively, but was, at once, outmatched by the strength of her manipulator. She gasped and struggled against Ares's power; aspiring to stay, to get revenge, to tear the throats away from the people responsible for Hairy Pete's death.

But she, a silly little civilian with big dreams and a valiant heart, was helpless to resist as Sailor Ares pulled her to safety. Vanessa sobbed in the other girl's arms, and the sound of her cries was carried with them through the mirror. She was blinded by her rage; shaking with terror, and wished fiercely that she had not invited Pete up to Big Willy's.

"Where are we?" Vanessa whirled on Ares, forgetting to be thankful to her for coming to her rescue, and was jabbing an angry finger at the other super hero's chest. This explosion was not meant for Ares, but there was nowhere else for it to go. Vanessa was just as helpless under the weight of her passion as she had been to defend herself against the Negaverse. Her cheeks were stained red with tears. "You have to take me back!"

They'd left Pete. They'd left him.

Super Van suddenly felt sick. She swayed where she stood, and sagged to her knees in front of Ares. She was not ready to admit defeat, but defeat had come looking for her.

It hurt Vanessa like nothing had ever hurt before.