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 Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 7:26 am
Late night. 2 AM. The witching hour -- another detention with Marlo Xanis; Marlo had finally been sent off to bed looking like a zombie who'd had too many long days and not enough nights, and Gunn Killingworth was outside the gym. He slept seldom. Khaldun knew this. He was leaning against the outside shed smoking a cigarette -- it was strange how eclectic he was with his cigarettes; different brand each time, always as beaten-up as though he wadded up the packet in one pocket. Filtered. Unfiltered. Once, memorably, the gross black sticks of clove cigarettes, though even Charonite had quit those after about a week.
He saw Hematite coming out of the night like a wraith, partially leaning in the shadows as he was, and didn't have to hold up a hand or make a sign to get Khaldun to come towards him. His expression didn't change at the pent-up frustration as Khaldun stomped the concrete; his eyes were masked behind his sunglasses -- sunglasses, still. 2 AM. That was Charonite for you.
"Khaldun," he said. He was starting to smoke the cigarette quicker, as though smoking it quicker meant Khaldun wouldn't notice he was smoking at all. He was irritated Khal had caught him smoking; Hematite could hear it in his voice, that tiny ping of annoyance.
Like that was abnormal.
"Report already."
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Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 8:02 am
Khaldun was a mess. Dazed from sleeplessness, sleepless from fear, fearful of the exact scenario he'd walked in on. The punch to the face he'd taken had just barely begun to swell, but the caked dried blood would probably say enough. One arm was cradled by the other, and one leg had started to develop a bit of a drag after such a far walk in bad condition. The teenager had changed back to human guise upon approaching the Hillworth grounds, rather predictably a ratty and treasured Led Zeppelin t-shirt (blood-free, thank goodness), jeans, and scuffed sneakers.
But he smelled the part-time gym teacher and full-time General-King before he saw him. Khaldun could have given a decent chronology of Killingworth based off the smells alone, smoke and tar and all the odd distinctions cigarette brands seemed to have. They were all rather unforgettable when they ended up clinging to your clothes and hair for weeks secondhand, or longer. Nothing could be gathered from making eye contact with the sunglasses except the knowledge that one sure as hell wasn't going to be able to avoid talking to the owner of the pair now. He slowed his pace, giving himself time to try and fail to get his anger out ahead of time.
"Sir," he began, dejectedly watching Killingworth suck the cigarette down as he spoke. His voice was not as carefully measured now as usual in the presence of his superior officer, but going over a day without sleep and then being beaten in a fight by a girl had the tendency to do that to men. And alas, Khaldun was but only a man. "I very nearly had that senshi star seed you wanted. But I promise you this time, even if it was a girl who did this to me, I made a move on her at the end of the fight and not the beginning. Oh, and speaking of fighting, I think I'm going to need a new weapon... mine's pretty nonexistent now."
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Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 10:15 am
"God," said Charonite in disgust: to be honest, the General-King was a little Spartan about his sensibilities. Come home with your shield, or on it. "How the hell did she take out your weapon, Khaldun? I want you to tell me everything she damn well did -- who the hell was this girl?"
The cigarette was quickly being dispatched. Honestly, it was a pretty light reaction from their dear leader. After everything that had happened Hematite could have expected a punch in the face. Maybe he was starting to cut his cigarettes with something else. "I want a god damned ******** explanation from you -- one better than the last time, you damn well hear me?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 10:55 am
He was doing all he could not to make a retort to the brief exclamation. Charonite told him to go out there and get a star seed, and for once he'd tried. That should have been mightily impressive from someone like himself who was so well-versed in flying under the radar.
"Ah - her attack -" Straining a bit with his injured arm, he made a motion with his hands about the size and shape of a basketball, first in front of his chest and then more up in the air between himself and Killingworth. It was like an imaginary defense, but somehow the lack of physical violence so far was a mix of reassurance and fear for each second it had yet to come. He wasn't dead, yet. After a few seconds he returned the arm to a more comfortable position of not doing anything useful. He was asked to talk, so he talked. "She threw some kind of black ball-like that at my watch and whatever it hit disappeared. Not broken or anything, just gone. 'Void's Rescind,' I think she kept shouting every time. Took a chunk out of a wall that way too. I'm just glad she never managed to hit me with it; I can't tell you what it does when it hits a person but I can imagine. You'd get a clear view right through their insides."
Khaldun watched the cigarette disappearing like it was some kind of timer on how long he had to get his information across, a hint of fear crossing his features. His gaze returned to the sunglasses, and then above and just a little to the right of them, because even Khaldun couldn't pretend to lock eyes with the General-King for long. First the senshi had beaten him to the ground and interrogated him, and now that he'd walked all the way back to Hillworth it had been right in front of Charonite's nose as well. "Her name is Tisiphone, Sailor Tisiphone, something or other about the void also. She's dangerous."
"But I almost had her star seed. Sir." A last second comment, just to make absolutely sure Killingworth was aware.
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 4:12 am
For long moments, there was silence. Charonite was smoking -- and thinking -- furiously, staring into the dark middle distance, absorbing what Hematite was saying as he was absorbing the two hundred chemicals that went into his death stick.
"Void's Rescind," he repeated, but it wasn't with the low, mocking tone his boss liked to emulate when he was pissed off and about to go apeshit on whoever the messenger was. Charonite had never heard of "don't shoot the messenger." "She was playing with you, Lieutenant. She was ******** with you."
He shook ash off the end of his cigarette. "Sailor Tisiphone," he said, naming her, "has been a person of some interest... for a god damn while, if you get my drift? She was screwing with you. She's not even Super yet. She's been doing this for a while, and she's not even ******** Super yet. I don't know what the ******** Astraea's waiting on, I'd give ******** money for her ******** rubric. So if you had her star seed, really ******** nearly did and you're not just shitting with me like you do ninety percent of the rest of the ******** time..."
The cigarette got stuck back in his mouth and he took a deep breath of it. "Lieutenant," he said, fatally, -- "I have a new mission for you."
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 4:30 am
There wasn't much to say to that, so he simply nodded at the appropriate points. Sailor Tisiphone had been, at least by the end of things, ******** with him. b***h made things personal. Even Khaldun wanted that star seed now, whether or not Killingworth still did. She'd pay. And he'd come so close to getting her starseed even then - at least, before she'd punched him in the face. That was when it all went downhill. Thanks for the memo on dangerous senshi to avoid if I plan on getting laid before I get buried, he wanted to shoot back. It wasn't worth it, it wasn't worth it.
Khaldun watched closely, practically feeling the bullet he dodged go whooshing past, and hugged his near-useless arm to his chest a little tighter. Given the last mission was 'get a senshi star seed or you're dead', this didn't sound good. But what was he going to do, turn this new mission down? Only if he wanted to die that soon and that badly.
"... Yes, sir?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 12:12 am
"You're going after Sailor Tisiphone's a**," said Charonite bluntly. "You're going to take her star seed, and you're going to bring her down before Astraea gets to her and makes her Super. Do I have to make myself any plainer than that? Do I have to draw you a god damned picture?"
He blew out a puff of ghost-coloured smoke. "You'll see how this might be difficult for you," he was saying, "you know, sans weapon, and the fact that she wasn't even trying in terms of wiping your a** across the pavement. This is your chance to prove to me that you're not a complete ******** failure who should just be put back in cold storage until the Apocalypse comes. This is your chance to actually be ******** competent."
Another puff. "I want her star seed, not dead."
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 3:03 am
"Star seed crystal-clear," he finally managed to utter after a small silence, looking a little surprised. It was the first time in a long time Charonite was sending him on a mission worth bothering with, in his opinion. Senshis in general had begun to spark an instinctive loathing in Khaldun now, but this Tisiphone was the worst of the lot by far. Danger wasn't worth it in a chance meeting; Khaldun played a major avoidance game with such battles when not under explicit orders. But imagining the look on the senshi's face as he ripped her senshi-heart out, oh, even he would have very nearly volunteered to do something like this. He could afford to look competent for once, since he'd finally be acting like it.
So he didn't have a weapon; it wasn't exactly something he was heavily reliant on. He'd spent an entire year learning to spar in unarmed combat against Obsidian and Charonite (with varying degrees of success against the former side and none against the latter). It was more experience than plenty of people had when it came to fighting weaponless, and perhaps Khaldun's only saving grace in battle. No one ever expected a fistfight with senshi magic at their disposal, so Khaldun's unorthodox and dangerous strategy could take them by surprise. Well, so long as they didn't show him up with a close-range attack. The kind Tisiphone had, and had apparently gone lightly on him with. Uh-oh.
But hey, he could sleep on it. There was plenty of anger inside him to tap into for inspiration, and there was more than one way to skin a senshi. "I'll track her down. 'Competent' is my middle name. You'll see."
"Just one question," Khaldun began, slowly, attempting to look like he had a better grasp over the situation than he did. Hunt down a powerful senshi before she became even more powerful, fight her, and rip out her star seed. That was an awful lot of work, potentially lethal work (what wasn't these days?). But was there something more still? "When you say 'not dead'...?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 3:15 am
"I mean breathing," Charonite said shortly. "I mean not an ex-Tisiphone, you ********. I mean you can do whatever the hell you want so long as she still has a pulse by the time we get to her -- and don't yank out that star seed too ******** fast; bring it to me and the body, do you hear me?"
The General-King rummaged around in one pocket and came up with a battered, dented carton of cigarettes. And then he did something incredibly unusual; he flipped it up with his thumb and offered him one. This was not a choice. It was a, 'You got it, and you had better ******** smoke it.'
"I want the body," said Charonite, in a tone that brooked no jokes about this made in his hearing. "I don't care if you have to sack her to avoid the police."
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 4:08 am
"I'll be taking my time with the star seed, and a few other pieces of unfinished business. Does she need to keep her tongue?" It might have been a joke. It might not.
Khaldun stared at the open box, then the General-King. It had all the makings of a trap to him - Charonite had not been understanding the first time he'd caught Khaldun smoking. The Lieutenant had tasted ash for a week. All future cigarettes were smoked quickly, quietly, and discreetly outside of the gym teacher's view, deadly secrets wrapped in paper and at one end. The heavy tobacco smell that permeated Charonite had always served to mask his own during close calls, at least. Khaldun disentangled his arms to reach his good hand over to the pack and slowly ease a cigarette out and moved it to his mouth as though it were a stick full of cyanide. He didn't dare to ask for a light.
He found his voice again, finally, the box of cigarettes having temporarily scared it off. The cigarette was briefly removed from its perch clenched between teeth and nervously rolled between two fingers. "The body. Of course. Once I have it - and I'll have it, really, no doubt about it - where do I bring it to you?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 4:18 am
"Here," said the General-King. He hadn't even lifted an eyebrow when Khaldun had mentioned, does she need to keep her tongue?. He was busy relighting another cigarette; he was stressed, Khal could tell. If he was even SMOKING in front of him it was a bad sign. "So long as she's breathing -- if you make her a corpse I'm going to make you a corpse, you ******** understand, and don't you ever dare bring a body onto the property here."
The lighter took a few times to throw a spark. The last few times Charonite had caught him smoking he'd threatened to push the next cigarette up into his nasal passage -- none of that this time. "I want her intact," he was saying. "Don't ******** get ahead of yourself."
And, mystifyingly: "Keep this in mind, Lieutenant. You are not going to want this b***h hating you that ******** much."
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 5:27 am
"Yes, sir. And I've got no intention of becoming a corpse - I like living too much." The General-King wasn't looking so good lately. The frantic, rabid devouring of cigarettes, in public no less, was a bad omen. Things were going on, unspoken things, After receiving a light, the few seconds of which were the closest the lieutenant could handle being in proximity to the superior officer, Khaldun took a drag and watched Killingworth warily. This was suspiciously calm, like a coffee break in a tiger pit. He couldn't fathom how bad things must be going - minimal voice-raising, a cigarette, and advice that wasn't too cryptic or peppered with colorful expletives to the point of being unintelligible. And as much as he liked the idea of bad things happening to Killingworth, the man always seemed to make sure his lieutenants suffered tenfold what he did.
The lieutenant sighed smoke, and drew his own conclusions. Senshi were dangerous, and if this one was needed alive... "You're right. I need a senshi b***h holding a grudge against me like I need a hole in the h- oh wait, I suppose this one can do both."
"Rough week," he stated vaguely, grasping for small talk straws. Joking around was too dangerous with Killingworth. The cigarette returned to his lips, while dark eyes attempted to make something of that shielded expression on the General-King's face.
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 8:11 am
"You're not going to want this one specifically," said the General-King. "You don't want that kind of ******** grudge up close. I'm not going to protect your a**."
That was still a little mystifying, but whatever. They both stood there in what could almost be called "companionship" had it not been, you know, General-King Charonite, standing there smoking their cigarettes, the chill autumn air making the smoke hang there like mist.
He then said, "You're on a time limit, Khaldun. I want you tracking down Tisiphone this goddamned week, I don't want you stretching this out for months on ******** end."
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 8:55 pm
"Of course not." He seemed to be replying to both statements with one answer. Khaldun figured the bruises, cuts, dried blood, torn fabric, and unrestrained hair made it quite clear that he protected his own a** as a full-time job. He was glad of the cigarette under these circumstances, it was keeping him in check. Cigarettes were not obtainable often enough for Khaldun to call himself an addict, but he was something very close to it. This whole quiet, nonviolent atmosphere was still unnerving. He watched the smoke curl in the air as he breathed it out, always keeping the General-King in his sight.
It took about three seconds for Charonite's next stipulation to hit him, hard. This got him doubled over coughing. "What - she - this week!? Months, no sir, I wouldn't dream of keeping you waiting that long, but maybe if you could... maybe even a little extra time, keep things from being rushed, and you said yourself she's a difficult opponent even as a regular senshi..."
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 9:35 pm
"Seven. Days," repeated the General-King. "Hurry up, Khaldun. That's seven ******** days from tonight. The more we ******** around, the greater the chance is that the Void senshi will get a boost from Astraea when she's ready for it -- and then she'll be unstoppable, she'll NEVER come off even in a fight with you. You'll be in the ******** morgue before I can even spit on your toe tag."
The smoke from the cigarettes rose up. So did the reek of tobacco. Charonite never coughed. "I said what I said," he snapped. "I don't want any ******** failure from you again. You've had way too much god damned leeway, Khaldun. I swear to God, all this time and you're still a little pissant I have to deal with -- I swear to God -- shape up, you're an embarrassing Lieutenant who's been in that rank far too god damned long."
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