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Ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod, no way. Elara felt cold sweat stand out on the back of her neck as she saw the young man, younger than her she thought, stride in and grab one of the drunks. Spinning around, she heard the door on the other side of the shelter slam shut as well, and knew that there was no other way out. She was going to have to henshin up. In public. Or people were going to die.
One trembling hand went into the pocket of her battered jeans, and came out again gripping the pen, hard. She had to do this fast, before they noticed her! If they saw her civ identity, she gulped, not wanting to consider the possibility.

The hand rose, uncertain, wary.

"Elara Power, Make-Up!"

Sugilite's arm relaxed, and she dropped the man she had pinned to the wall. She had limited herself to drawing energy, still aware that they weren't supposed to outright kill civilians now. Not unless they were interrupted. Turning towards the shout, she saw a strange shimmering light between her and the civvies who were stumbling out of the way, pushing at each other, like dumb animals stuck in a cage. Her pleasant, if slightly vicious smile dropped a little, and she surreptitiously moved back a little, putting more meat shields between her and the light. A senshi? Here? Well, with any luck Benitoite could take care of her.

Sugilite grinned as her teammate went in for the scrap. Better her than him, she didn't feel like getting her dress dirty by scuffling on the floor. Besides, she had done her share of physical activity for the night, chasing that other civilian. Instead she turned and scanned the room. Sure enough, there was a security camera, lights on. Now would be a good time to cut its footage, as the last thing destiny city police needed was to witness a battle of senshi vs negaverser.

Sugilite hadn't played much sport requiring aim, but as she summoned the small gyroscope into her hand, she hoped that she had a good enough eye to hit it. If not she'd have to rip it off the wall herself. Taking aim, she flung the heavy metal toy at the recording camera. There was a crack, and the camera jerked up in its stand as the gyroscope knocked it out of position. Now all the camera would record was the ceiling, and the shouts.

Turning back to the room, she hurried to grab a man who was making a break for the door. No one was getting out on her watch.

"Achoo! S-stop right there evildoer! Pretty cold senshi sailors will defend the drunk middle class from your nefarious schemes! In the name of Elara y-"

She didn't get a chance to finish her speech, instead dodging back a few paces and raising a leg, his kick glancing off one of her bronze shin guards. Elara stumbled, and grabbed at drunk for stability. That hadn't been a good idea, as they both toppled to the ground. Rolling to the side quickly, trying to put some distance between herself and the boy, she raised a hand, fingers curled into the firing position as if she was trying to take aim. A flair of magic sparked at the end of her fingertips, and her eyes narrowed.

"Elara Bronze Shot!"

The swirling spark of green and brown grew, and formed a miniature bronze cannon, hanging in midair. Then, it jerked back as though firing, and a ball of the same energy around the size of a baseball shot out of the barrel, straight towards Benitoite.

Sugilite rammed into the man at the door, driving her elbow into his stomach and causing him to wheeze as the air was driven out of his lungs. Then, his shoulders shook and he doubled over, throwing up the remains of what looked like a rather expensive meal onto the bus shelters floor. Sugilite danced back in a flurry of disgust, nose wrinkling at the display. Perhaps that hadn't been the smartest place to strike him. She made a note of that as she swivelled around and dashed across the shelter, tackling one of the remaining three upright drunks. The other two cowered in a corner, unable to move without getting between the senshi and Benitoite. Pulling herself upright on top of the splayed out man, she gripped him firmly by the shoulders and began to drain.

Elara had taken his totter backwards as her cue to jump up and rush him, pausing for a moment to curse and untangle one of her wrist guards from the coat of the man she had brought down accidentally. Unfortunately, fingers stiff with cold were slow at fiddly tasks, and by the time she was dislodged a boot was heading her way. Dodging to the side with a yip, she managed to stagger up. Taking a step backwards, she raised her fists in a defensive position, bracers gleaming under the cheap neon lights of the shelter.

"For someone who says w-we talk a lot, you sure love the sound of your own voice!"

Damn! That would have sounded so much cooler if she hadn't stuttered! Elara cursed the speech impediment that had hounded her throughout her entire life. If only she could keep her voice steady, she was sure she'd get a little more respect. She frowned at the young man over her fists, trying as always to understand why he was doing this. He didn't look like a psycopath.... or at least, what tv showed them as.

Oh for - what did he want? Drain? Sugilite slammed the head of the man she was draining into the ground, hard. If it made a cracking noise, she didn't notice. She looked over at the two, irritated. Did he really expect her to walk him through the entire thing? What kind of an answer was he expecting? She stood up and looked around at the two humans still cowering in the corner and the man on the other side, heaving. His stomach had run out of contents, but his body still shook and retched. Which one to drain first, which one? She didn't have time to bother with her impromptu partner's questions. When she spoke, her normally pleasant voice had a small ringing note of impatience, as if she couldn't believe he didn't see the clearly obvious answer himself.

"So she gets back up and possibly kills one of us? We are at war my good man, take her down."

Drain? He took the time out to ask if he should drain her? As if it was no problem, as if she would go down like a chump! Elara's eyes flared, and she swung up one arm to block the overhead punch, gritting her teeth as his other hand struck her breastplate. It offered protection for her, and she was aware that if he struck it his hands would certainly sting enough.

What the heck did they think she was? She'd show them! Screw defense, if she kept playing it safe, the other psycho would finish up join in and she'd really be in deep s**t. As the first hit connected with her stomach, she reached over and grabbed the collar of the guy's shirt. Her other hand grabbed at the fist aimed at her face, trying to pull it aside. She lowered her head and rammed forward, intent on flattening Benitoite's nose across his face.

"What the hell? P-pervert!"

Elara struggled to get free, swinging her leg up to kick him where it hurts. It wasn't fair but she wasn't going to let this psycho grope her up, even with the metal breastplate between them. At the same time she raised her free hand and brought it up. If he had thought she was out of juice after just one attack, he was wrong. She certainly had enough magic left for one more cannon blast, and if she could do it straight to his face, it would be way more satisfying.

Sugilite turned away from the two, and continued at her work, careful to pull every last drop that she could without killing them. It was tempting to go further but you had to let them live, if only so they could be milked again. Really, it was like raising farm animals. You sheltered them and protected them, but they had to give back. Unfortunately for most people, they didn't see eye too eye. She supposed it was too much to ask for them to be grateful. Her back still to the two struggling teens, she moved over to Vomit McPuddles, trying to grab him without getting to close to the regurgitated dinner. It was tempting to tell him to hurry up, but she held her tongue. Rushing was certainly undignified, and so was impatience.

It was a mistake to pause, she realized as the Lieutenant launched himself at her. For a moment, anger had flickered and been replaced by guilt, and she had stopped, stepping forward to check on him. Elara still refused to believe that the Negaverse was actually taking lives, still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that that these kids were killing other people.

Sure she knew that they would ******** you up, and maybe burn down your house and rough up your family if they found out your civilian identity, and maybe the big generals at the top might kill you, but not the kids. Not the teens, who looked like they could have gone to her school and sat beside her in class.

No way was this boy actually trying to kill her.

She took a step backwards and gasped as his hand plunged into her chest, her eyes wide with shock and her mouth parted slightly. The bus shelter filled with silence for one frozen moment, and then she began to scream, the pain lancing up and down her body, making her shake like a rag doll.

As soon as the crystal was ripped from her chest, Elara's screaming stopped. A ringing silence fell over the bus shelter as she slumped to the ground. Her face was blank, emotionless, the only sign of life were the fresh tears that covered her cheeks. As she collapsed, her fuku exploded into brilliant light, then dissipated, leaving her in the grubby hoodie and torn jeans that she wore while out on duty.

Her face would dry soon, and her body would be found, removed, and eventually buried by mourning family. People would say she fell in with a gang, or got hooked on drugs, and shake their heads at her in disappointment and shame. Elara had been careful, no one knew her civilian identity. No one would mourn what she had been, how she had risked and lost her life to save a handful of unknown drunks. No one would give her the soldier's burial she deserved.

Sugilite stepped over the girl's still body, careless of treading on her hair or clothes. She grinned and held up a sizable ball of energy, the amalgamation of all she had drained from the people. For one nights work by two lieutenants, it was impressive. Not to mention the starseed of a senshi. Shoving the prize forward, her glasses caught the reflection of the light and lit up, like an animal in the dark.

"All accounted for and present, there isn't so much as a drop of energy left in this tacky hovel. And now that you've taken care of that pest, we'd probably best be off. I'm sure the security guards must have woken up after the screaming came, and I'm not in the mood to drain police officers, let alone attempt to dodge bullets."