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 Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2011 9:11 pm
Ghen tripped up a little as his intense hunting was suddenly interrupted by a harsh whisper from somewhere behind him. He faltered and reached out to steady himself by putting a hand on a nearby shelf. It wobbled dangerously for a moment and he stood up stock still, hands spread out and ready to try and catch the whole thing if he had to - never mind that it would probably crush him.
A couple of random do-hickeys fell to the floor in a mostly soundless thud and the rocking petered and finally stopped. He let out one slow sigh and sent an irritated look over his shoulder at Meri, who was motioning at herself like she had just discovered she was an indigo child. He didn't care unless she was going to use her telekineses to destroy the youma.
He made one last motion for her to get moving and then started on his way again, suddenly very conscious of how unstable shelves could be. Maybe it was just the brownie talking, but he suddenly felt like they might topple over on him any moment unless he tried very hard not to touch them. The end result was a prance that looked something like a ballerina's tip toe and someone trying to avoid stepping on a mind.
It was only luck that got him to round the corner just as Meri shouted out. He seemed stunned for a moment, looking for the wings on the beast that was about to dive bomb his partner. Then he realized there were none and, forgoing his sudden fear of being crushed to death beneath a row of shelves, he made a gamble and ran for Meri.
With one reckless dive, he barely managed to hook an arm around the tiny Pluto page and drug both of them down to the floor. Just as they were out of the clear, the youma landed with a loud, blubbery smack next to them.
"Gross," Ghenna managed, even as he was trying to disentangle himself from Meri.
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Posted: Mon May 02, 2011 8:23 am
Cimmerian would have bitched at Ghen for knocking s**t over, but she was too busy waiting for the snail youma to burn a hole right through her. Why were they always falling on her? Was it because she was small? Did they just like picking on the little guy? It was truly tragic that Meri missed out on seeing Gehenna prance down the aisle. Truly.
Just as she lifted her hands over her head to withstand the attack, Meri felt herself thrown to the side by a barreling Page of Mars. His timing was fabulous, but he would get no thank-you. Instead, Cimmerian wiggled out from under him and hopped to her feet just in time to see the youma breathing deep.
"What is it..?" she began, already backing away. With a wet squelch, the youma spit out a ball of acid. It hit the wall behind Meri, thankfully, and then fizzled loudly. "Don't touch it, Ghen!" she shouted. "It'll burn you. We have to do this at range." Ranged. That was really her business. But what good could blunt arrows be?
Staring at the wobbly shelves, Cimmerian realized what they had to do. She just... couldn't say it. In her head, she imagined all the money the studio would waste, feet bouncing around as she prepared to dodge another acid ball.
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Posted: Mon May 02, 2011 9:20 am
As Ghen struggled to get to his feet, not for the first time that night, he was dimly aware of Meri shouting out about the youma. Alarmed, his head jerked up while he was still in a half-crouched position, just in time to see an acid ball whiz by just over his head - missing Meri by inches.
The close encounter was enough to remind the page that this s**t was serious business and his mouth instantly stretched into a grim line. He pushed himself up to his feet, still a little wobbly but successful none-the-less, and planted himself firmly next to Cimmerian. If he couldn't touch the thing, he could still take a blow for her. Not that it would feel nice, but she was so tiny he imagined it would eat through her in seconds. Then, of course, he wished he hadn't thought of that at all. It was gross.
He chanced a brief glance down at Penny and opened his mouth to see what she thought they should do - he wasn't a thinker, this was not his forte. His style was 'beat the ******** out of s**t'. Except, when he looked at the Page of Pluto he noticed she was looking at a shelf. A shelf full of large, heavy studio equipment. Her idea spread to him like wild fire without a word, but none of her caution managed to make that leap.
"Come the ******** on Meri, it's you or the damn studio." Not that he expected that to matter - she'd probably die for the damn place. Regardless of her feelings, though, he took the few short steps to the shelf in a sprint and reached out to grab it by the intersecting bars. One good heave and it was tottering dangerously - then falling with a wave of noise as projectors and cameras came crashing down.
Ghen managed to leap back out of the way just in time, but he had to count on Meri to have enough common sense to get herself out of dodge this time.
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Posted: Mon May 02, 2011 9:52 am
One hand reached out to stop Gehenna from toppling the shelf, but froze mid-air, fingers twitching helplessly. Most of the stuff back here was either outdated or something they might loan to high schools or colleges in the area for a tax write-off. She had been a producer long before she became a crimefighter, and it physically hurt her to watch Ghen send one of the smaller shelves toppling to the ground.
Instinct had her leaping backward. Her muscles twitched to loft her bow, arrow hooked on the taut string. She had to cut back on the time she spent kickboxing to work on archery, but the work was already beginning to show. She held the bow differently, stretched her arms differently, leveled her eyes differently.
The youma shrieked in wet, gurgling cries. It spit acid out in front of itself, dissolving a trail for escape even as more gear began to fall. With one final leap, the snail youma burst forth from the wreckage, inky blood trailing behind it. Cimmerian released her arrow. It sailed through the air, charging for the monster.
With a blunted end, it struck the youma between the eyes, passing through it like a knife through butter as the creature disintegrated into dust. Meri slammed her eyes shut, but the dust dissolved in the air before it could make contact. She stood frozen, then slowly eased her bow back at her side. "We are getting damn good at this," she said, hooking her bow around her body.
Meri turned to Ghen and went for the highfive. "Now we need to get back to my office and hatch a story about how two crimefighters burst in through my ceiling because they got our little chase here on camera -- guaranteed. Or maybe I could just make a special trip to the security office..." Babbling about all the ways she might destroy the tape, Cimmerian led Gehenna back through the maze of the studio to the sanctuary of her office as if nothing had happened at all.
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