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 Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 3:30 am
Despite Hillworth's general view of Zachary as prudish and boring, he found that there was one advantage to his good behavior, and that was his free weekends, when he was actually permitted to leave the school and simply be a schoolkid, not some convict locked away on a barren hill run by harsh wardens. The first few free weekends had been spent with family, but now that he had his bearings and felt fairly confident in the continuance of such visits, he decided to contact a few of his fellow teammates for a friendly lacrosse skirmish on one of Destiny City's more open parks. Zachary had imagined that the team would have enjoyed taking time out of their Saturday for a little practice before the season began, or simply to see an old friend. He had imagined that there would be enough players to actually get a game going.
He was met with a single boy and a glorified game of catch.
Ned had been a freshman the previous year on Meadowview's lacrosse team, and was still awkward as ever as he lopped the ball towards his senior. "So, have you decided if you're going out for Hillworth's team in the spring? You'd totally make it, man," the boy said, watching the ball fly smoothly into Zachary's net. Zachary replied only with a scowl from under his glasses, cradling the ball before sending it back, perhaps a bit harder than he should have. Ned stumbled backwards, barely catching the thing, and Zachary sighed.
"Dunno yet," the senior admitted, casually walking towards his former teammate to help him. "I guess it beats doing nothing." Ned, however, did not seem to be interested in his friend's chatter, nor Zachary's hand when he extended it. The boy's gaze was somewhere in the distance, and frozen in horror. Vaguely, Zachary could hear a distant thump from the playground, and he turned around to get a better look.
Something had decided it was going to lay waste to the empty jungle gym, though exactly what it was, Zachary couldn't say. It looked vaguely like a giant bear with a hawk's talons and a snake's eyes, but Zachary stopped trying to compare it to anything once it's head reared upward, slitted eyes focused on him. It began to stumble free of the carnage it had already caused, and only then did Zachary realize the danger he was in. He tried to step backwards, but fell backwards as he felt his lacrosse ball roll out from underneath him. Nevertheless, he continued to try and shuffle back from his fallen position, his grip on the lacrosse stick growing tighter by the second. Part of him asked where Ned had gone, but part of him already knew that the boy had fled the moment he found his legs, hopefully off to get help of some sort. In the meanwhile, Zachary could only continue to scoot backwards as the creature lumbered at him, fangs bared and ready for blood.
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Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 3:54 am
It was after she had been approached by the talking cat and told that she was a Sailor Senshi, meant to protect the world from evil that Eve Summers understood why she liked hanging out in parks so much. She was the Senshi of Spring. Though, she could very well have been mistaken for Senshi of Flowers, with all the petals swirling around her when she first transformed. But really? Awakening her in Autumn? If it wasn't for the fact that the Astraea was a guardian cat and knew a lot of stuff she still had to learn, she would have asked bluntly why she hadn't been awakened in Spring time.
Plus, winter was soon to come, and she hated it. Another thing she could blame on the whole senshi thing, she supposed. She didn't like the cold, the slush...and damn, did this mean she had to wear that skimpy (but pretty) outfit out to fight monsters when it was snowing?
Eve couldn't help but groan, shutting her eyes. The girl was seated on a bench, head lolled back with her face directed at the sky, contemplating the new turn her life had just took. Sadly enough, Eve wasn't given time to simply relax and breathe in the fresh air peacefully, for a few screams in the distance made her blue eyes snap wide open and look towards where it had come from.
Awwww, s**t. Her lips drew back into a grimace as she spotted the youma and the poor guy who seemed to have captured its attention. Time to play hero, she thought, wincing as she ducked behind a tree, making sure no one was looking before she transformed to Sailor Flora, stepping out of her hiding place amid sparkles and petals. "Wouldn't you rather be interested in a Sailor Senshi instead?" She yelled as she ran towards them, hoping to distract the youma from the boy and give him enough time to escape.
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Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 4:11 am
The youma seemed suitably distracted by the call of the senshi, lifting up its ugly head in outrage, and that gave Zachary the opening he'd needed. While the thing began to thunder it's heavy way over to the nameless voice, he scrambled to his feet, still holding onto his lacrosse stick as if it was some sort of magical monster repellant. Once he was at least running-distance from the beast, he readjusted his glasses to get a clearer view of the situation, his heart still pounding from the fright he'd just received.
What he saw made his heart sink in despair: instead of going for him, the thing was now after a girl his own age, decked out in a fanciful uniform that couldn't possibly offer much protection. At least Zachary had on a light jacket to combat the autumn air, and most importantly, he had a lacrosse stick, which somehow made his frenzied mind feel safer throughout the whole situation. Zachary had never thought of himself as very chivalrous, but somehow the girl reminded him of Evelyn, and he suddenly decided that he couldn't risk her being attacked by the beast. So, in a move that was fueled more by adrenaline than brains, he ran forward and slammed the youma in its matted flank with the blunt end of his lacrosse stick, swinging with all his might.
The youma hissed in irritation, then turned back again, claws raking for Zachary's stick. He felt the jarring sensation of talons ripping into metal, then watched with wide eyes as the monster swiped his safety aside, suddenly staring down the beast again. Well, he'd succeeded in distracting the monster from the girl. If only he had a plan for what happened now...
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Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 4:26 am
"I knew you'd rather go after a Senshi." Flora grinned, triumphant that she had managed to distract the youma, eyes flickering from it to the boy to make sure he was at a safe distance before she unleashed her attack. She couldn't go about causing people allergies, could she? Not with the reports in the news giving them a bad name...oh, it was horrible, really. Though she could understand, for she had been one of those who mistook her call of duty to be 'Come join the Sailor Senshi, we have Talking Cats!' in a bid to get more people to terrorize Destiny City.
Awwwww, s**t! Her mouth dropped open in horror as she had prepared to shout out the three magic words (No, she wasn't about to confuse the youma by saying 'I love you'!) when the boy decided to return to battle the youma. What in the world was going through his mind?! Sure, it was probably as reckless she had been in her first battle, but at least she was a Sailor Senshi! He was just a normal civilian, and didn't have the powers she had...and could get himself killed. Biting back a groan, and a temptation to yell 'HAVE YOU NOT READ THE REPORTS ON MAGICAL GIRLS IN UNIFORMS BEATING THE s**t OUT OF THESE MONSTERS' at the boy, she focused on getting the youma away from him now.
Sailor Flora wished that she had a better attack or that some other senshi was around to help her, but settled for snatching up an umbrella on the ground someone had inadvertently left behind in their bid to escape. She rushed in front of the boy protectively, opening it to form a makeshift shield. "Get away from him, youma! I'm Sailor Flora, and I'll make you wither!"
Apparently, the senshi thing also came with cheesy quotes she was unprepared for.
"Get back!" She hissed to the boy behind her, while trying to fix the youma with an intimidating glare. "I'm not having any casualties on my watch!"
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Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 6:43 am
Logic told Zachary that it was a good idea to get away from the big scary monster threatening to chomp him to bits. Logic told him that he was probably better off wherever Ned had gone, and normally, logic would have won out. And maybe if Zachary hadn't been so out of the loop for the past six months, he would have known about these mysterious senshi encounters. However, there was something about a little blonde girl wanting to defend him from aforementioned big scary monster that threw a wrench into Zachary's logic machine and forced it to spew out highly illogical responses, like the one that had left his lacrosse stick in a mangled heap nearly twenty feet away.
If the youma had been irritated by the lacrosse stick, it became enraged at the sudden flare-up of the umbrella, hissing at it with a crackling snarl before swiping at this new intrusion as well, batting it away like it was a little fly. Blinded by animalistic rage, the creature no longer seemed to care what it attacked, so long as it charged forth.
"What the hell?! On your watch? What the hell is this?!" Zachary nevertheless took a step back, if only to retrieve Ned's lacrosse stick (at least, that's what he told his ego, for running when the girl was fighting). However, there was some part of his irrationality that accepted that the girl knew what she was doing, and as such, he subconsciously stepped back, allowing her to work. Once at a suitable distance, he tried fumbling for the cell phone in his pocket to call the cops, but his fingers shook too much to dial the number. He cursed under his breath, only to accidentally press the 'picture' button on his phone, creating a loud shutter noise and causing him to curse even louder. The last thing he needed was for him to get munched because the girl thought he was playing at being paparazzi. Shoving the phone back in his pocket, he reached for Ned's discarded stick and held it up defensively (a good fifteen feet away from the actual youma, mind you), just in case the strange flower girl needed backup.
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Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 7:03 am
"Good grief." Flora said, scowling at the monster (though it was really directed at it and the boy) while trying to jab at it with the tip of the umbrella. "Do you not pay attention to the news? I'm a Senshi. The good guys. Trying to rid the world of evil. Just close an eye about the Sailor Nea thing; I have absolutely no idea what is going on there." She hadn't had the time to bug Rea about it, and she hadn't seen even Astraea's tail about. Being new and clueless to most things really sucked.
"Alright." She said, pursing up her lips as he finally decided to back away, though it was too soon to heave a sigh of relief for he was still hanging around. Flora was torn between wondering if it would be better for senshis to have come across youma when civilians decided to run away screaming like idiots or when they were brave (and stupid) enough to fight back. "That's it, youma! Victory shall blossom!"
Flinging the umbrella directly at the youma in an attempt to distract it for a few moments, she immediately took a few steps backwards. "Hold your breath!" She yelled back at the boy. "Don't ask why, just DO IT!" Not even pausing to look back and see if he had listened, for the youma was lumbering towards her again, she flung out her arms, shouting. "Flora Pollen Fever!"
Please let this work, please let this work, please let this work.
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Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:54 pm
While this youma in particular was big, it didn't seem to be the craftiest of the beasts, and seemed thoroughly distracted by the thrown umbrella, snarling at it with it's vicious fangs as it batted at the object. When the thing didn't bleed as expected under the youma's claws, it seemed to only become angrier, letting out a roar to the mangled plastic on the ground. The umbrella seemed no worse the wear for it, and in utter rage the youma roared a second time, and then a third. Plastic or not, it would have the trinket cowering in fear.
That, or it would get a jaw full of pollen just as it inhaled for its fourth roar.
The creature stumbled backwards, yowling in pain as it uselessly rubbed at its eyes. Zachary had in the meanwhile done as he was told, both holding his breath and shutting his eyes for good measure. Therefore, while he could not see the actual occurance, he could hear the pained cries of the youma, the way its breathing became labored, and a slow and painful-sounding thump as it fell to the ground. He also vaguely felt like his skin was covered in dust, but that possibly could have just been his nerves playing tricks on him.
It was quiet for a second, and Zachary decided that things must have become safe. Opening his eyes, he realized quickly that he was viewing the world through a powdery haze that had accumulated on his glasses, and removed them for a thorough cleaning. He opened his mouth to ask if everything was safe (since he couldn't very well see what was going on), but all he could manage to do was cough, having inhaled a small amount of the remaining pollen in the air. Damn, but what had that girl done?
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Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 9:38 pm
Flora grimaced, watching the poor umbrella get shredded from the youma's claws; that could have been any poor civilian had there not been a senshi nearby. They really needed to work out this whole patrolling thing; they couldn't rely on stumbling into the path of a youma every time they went out, could they? It wasn't as though they had a built-in youma radar.
She grinned, breathing a sigh of relief as her attack hit and did what it was supposed to do; make it sneeze like hell. She was however, apprehensive of what would happen next, and simply watched, backing away in case it decided to swipe at them randomly. The poison soon settled in, and Flora could not tear her eyes away, no matter how much she wanted to, watching in horror as the youma succumbed to the poison and fell. "Oh god." She muttered, knowing how Rea had felt about dusting that dog-like youma. Granted, this one was big and scary, but she still was horrified that she had caused such a slow and painful death.
There's nothing to feel sorry about. She reminded herself. They killed people. It would have killed that boy. ...The boy! She had momentarily forgotten about him, and she whirled around, wishing that she had told him to run away as she spotted him still standing there.
"Dammit." She muttered, grabbing his arm and hauling him away from the pollen-filled area. "You should have just ran away, you know?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 12:11 pm
There was a hand on his arm. Zachary was aware of that, and in all honesty would have preferred to keep his personal space as it was, but his body wouldn't listen, still coughing all the while. Granted, the place smelled entirely fresh and new, like spring had descended on the cold autumn day for a moment, but that was precisely the problem: everything seemed too crisp for him to inhale, too heady a perfume for his lungs to handle, and it was for that reason that Zachary blindly followed the guiding force pulling him away from the disaster zone.
He noticed that as he moved away, his breathing grew easier, and by the time they'd walked about twenty paces or so he sneezed, his nasal pathway cleared enough so that he could actually breathe. As soon as he felt like it was safe again, he pulled away from the girl's grasp, taking a moment to collect himself and clean his glasses of the pollen grains that had stuck to the glass. "You didn't tell me to run away, you told me to hold my breath," he retorted in response, tilting his glasses in the light to make sure they'd been cleaned. He wiped one of the lenses again with his shirt, then returned them to their resting place on the bridge of his nose, looking to the center of the field.
Strangely, he was shaken by the sight of the beast, dead on the park green, and looked to his savior with a wide-eyed stare that bordered on fear. "What the hell did you do?" Suddenly feeling a strong pang of self-preservation, he took a step back, feeling lucky to still have Ned's lacrosse-stick in hand. After all this, he really couldn't be sure if he'd stumbled upon one of the good guys or just a lesser, cuter form of evil.
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Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 1:42 am
"Okay." She conceded with a shake of her head, watching him with an expression of what could be classified as bored interest. "My bad. It's just that civilians usually run away screaming at the sight of a youma, not try and play the hero. With the exception of the police, of course." Her face darkened slightly at this mention, still remembering when the guns had been pointed at them, the senshi, who had taken out that crazy octopus youma.
"Oh...I..." She followed his gaze and wrung her hands in agitation. The body of the youma suddenly shuddered once again and she took a step back, wincing, hoping that it wasn't about to revive itself. Luckily, it only burst into dust, and Flora was thankful that they weren't standing close; she was not about to get youma dust on herself. "I wonder if Astraea would kill me if I had to explain things to a civilian." She muttered to herself before flashing him a smile in an attempt to lighten things up. "That was, y'know, one of the monsters rampaging around Destiny City. And I'm one of the Sailor Senshi, the good guys whose mission is to take out those monsters." This was followed by a suspicious stare. "You really don't pay attention to the news, do you?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 8:00 pm
Monsters? Senshi? What the hell was a Senshi, some girl version of a Power Ranger? Zachary couldn't help but feel that he'd just stumbled onto the set of some movie, or that he was moments away from having some obnoxious dude run out and tell him that he'd been punked. It seemed like he was having that feeling a lot these days. Why couldn't Destiny City just be normal anymore?
"I don't really watch a lot of TV," the boy conceded, rubbing the back of his head. He flinched as the monster turned to dust, but other than that seemed unwilling to ask anymore questions about the subject. He had never really gotten answers to the first, other than little snippets that made him question the whole affair even more, and as strange as everything was, he was starting to accept the general level of weird around the area, at least until he found some normalcy so he could appropriately spazz.
He looked almost forlornly at the shattered pieces of his lacrosse stick, a part of him tempted to simply tell Ned that it had been the Meadowview boy who'd lost his equipment in the monster fight, given that he'd been the one to run away. But no, Zachary was better than that, and he knew that he'd probably spend the rest of his day taking the bus to Ned's house to return his stick and at least thank him for the time he'd spent before returning to Hillworth. But, for now, at least, he supposed he should try to kill the awkward silence that had permeated around the two. Zachary rubbed his elbow, looking at the pile of youma-ash in front of him.
"Thanks," he said awkwardly, with a frown. "You know, for saving me and all."
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Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 8:49 pm
"You don't read the news either?" She raised an eyebrow, almost looking annoyed, but partly amused that he seemed pretty oblivious of all these supernatural going ons. Flora had thought all of Destiny City's citizens would have known about all this already, though they might be mixed up about the Senshi and Negaverse's true intentions. Which really was what could be called as information failure. That darn Sailor Nea. "Or at least heard the gossip about 'magical girls in sailor uniforms beating up monsters'. Though now people are thinking it's more of 'magical girls in sailor uniforms terrorizing the city as well'." Under her breath, she muttered. "Bullshit."
She beamed at him; it actually felt good to be acknowledged and thanked for, instead of being mistaken as a terrorist. "A word of advice. Run away as fast as you can when you see one of...those...monster things. Unless, of course, you want to die. And I think that a boy of your age would have so much to live for." She winked, then clapped him on the shoulder. "Get home safely!" With that, she turned and ran away, hoping to find someplace she could duck into to transform back into normal Eve Summers.
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Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 9:33 pm
"...Okay...Uhhh, bye then..."
Zachary watched the girl leave with a confused look on his face, rubbing his shoulder where he'd just been touched by his supposed savior. He wasn't sure that he liked being rescued by a girl. Something in his masculine pride told him that he could've taken the thing on. He looked at the remains of his lacrosse stick wistfully. Something in his brain told him that if he'd tried, he would have looked something like that.
He supposed that he was more confused about the girl's words than her actions, though. Did it really matter that he'd not been in the loop the past few months or so? Zachary had more important things to be thinking about then some tabloid talk (which had turned out to be more true than he would have taken it to be). Did he really have so much to live for? He had his family, to be sure, but a boy of his age wouldn't really take that as anything special. He had his crappy school, which wasn't really much to live for at all. He had acquaintances, but he'd never been all that social, anyways.
Did he really have anything to live for?
Perplexed by the words of a pretty soldier, Zachary could do nothing more than shake his head and turn the other way, off to return a misplaced lacrosse stick and purchase himself a new one if time allotted. If nothing else, he didn't want to be there when the clean-up crew arrived.
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