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((Both, perhaps? I’ll do my best to keep it completely fair, is shouldn’t be too hard, don’t hesitate to tell me if something is wrong. XD))

Not so far ahead in the line, was standing a brunette with a distinctive fangirly look on her face. Alessa either didn’t go to see movies too often either, though for a different reason; she couldn’t afford to see every action movie in the hope it would also be fun and cheesy, and she was rather picky when going out. Today, however, was different. She was out to see the latest Tarantino movie.
“Wheeeee Tarantino Tarantinooooo” chanted the excited girl as silently as possible as not to upset the whole line. Inglorious Basterds just sounded like the perfect thing to see to feel like home again.
Alessa’s glasses didn’t help her notice her surroundings, she was much too absorbed by her inner praising of her one and only god. If she did, she would have seen that the popcorn stand was being raided by gluttonous teenagers, that the waiting woman holding a baby right in front of her had a hard time calming him down, and that there was a very low grumbling and a cry coming from deeper inside the cinema.
And even then, she would have thought it was the latest horror movie claiming yet another victim. Not quite.

Since she was but a few feet ahead, Alessa overheard Aurora, and replied out loud to the schoolgirl she didn’t see: “As long as your movie involves a lot of screaming and shouting, it should be alright. And anyway, they usually calm down after the first scary parts.”
The woman moved one step forward, and so did she. She was well on-time to buy her ticket early and get delicious, mandatory junk food. However, the stream was behaving quite erratically, and pushed several people in the line in order to get out faster. “Was the movie that terrible? Please watch your step!” asked the girl with a slight hint of anger, while an ominous growling shadow followed slowly the panicking humans from one of the now empty theater.

A sudden wave of horrified people broke utterly the vacillating order of the line, much like a sea of bowling balls over a proper row of pins. Everyone’s survival instincts did not trigger on time, however. Within the next seconds, the main hall was completely deserted, safe for a few staff members rushing to find a room to lock themselves in, a couple teenagers covered in popcorn looking like deer in headlights, and Alessa, her arms raised to shield herself from the crowd.
The whole area was silent, safe for panicked cries from the teens that started crawling to the exit. It had been so sudden the schoolgirl only registered the real danger when she took a glimpse at the origin of the mass escape.
A horrible beast, dark, taller than a human, with the twisted head of a lion, and broad bandages around its shoulders and upper body. Something like a mummified lion… or a creepy take on the MGM logo.

Alessa didn’t waste time analyzing the underlying symbolism. “Holy s**t! Holy s**t! HOLY s**t!!” screamed the poor girl who dropped on her knees, paralyzed by fear. Her arms, raised once again in front of her face, the only thought that crossed her mind was a desperate cry for help. Oh, and also, that she didn’t expect to die this way after years and years of running. If I survive this, I should definitely work on that fear paralysis problem.

The meek girl looked up in direction of the voice. The situation was becoming more surreal by the minute. “Oh thank God”, whimpered the (now less) scared brunette, before finding suddenly her strength back into her legs. Well, it was time. She eventually did what she had planned to do in the first place: RUN. And off was she in direction to the exit.
As the screams of horror outside started fading, a lingering doubt made itself known in her mind. A nagging feeling, poking her good and pure conscience. This girl, she might be brave. But this is no proper armour for the job. Such pretty, translucent clothes, delicate fur and fabric. If the beast catches her, she’s done for. Are you going to leave her all alone?
Hesitation. She couldn’t just run away like that and not care about her fate. Her steps slowed down, and still shaking, she looked back. And her shoes stopped resonating on the hard floor.
… and now, what was she going to do? Run back and kick it, maybe? Who was she kidding, exactly?
“B-but I have to do something”, whined Alessa. She watched carefully the whole scene; the girl reminded her of something very vague. Surely must have seen a similar design in a fashion magazine. She took a single step back, ready to turn and run out of there if it really was getting dangerous, and surrounded her mouth like a megaphone. Cheering on the damsel looked like the best idea. “Be careful! I don’t know what you’re doing, but good luck!” she shouted.

The youma approached Sailor Polaris with the obvious intent to turn her into a starseed-less pile of meat and fabric. He crouched and wriggled his behind up in the air, ready to leap.

Well, at least, she did what she could do. Nothing interesting in the lobby she could throw that would hurt the monster; besides, it might not be an excellent idea to remind the lion a perfectly vulnerable prey was available.
Alessa raised her fist for a last encouragement to the hero of the day, but she braked right in her tracks when she heard Sailor Polaris.
Wait a second. A sailor? Didn’t they talk about it in the news, adding several negative superlatives along? But… terrorists don’t stand against monsters, do they now?!
Oh, cruel dilemma! Her hand dived back into her handbag, searching for her cell phone. She could still call the police, and if she truly wasn’t a criminal, they’d just release her…

The youma’s strong legs allowed it to jump a longer distance than expected. No matter his agility, nonetheless, he couldn’t dodge all the poles while in the air. A pole hit him right on the hind leg, making a cracking noise. Another pole flew next to the other one, but the red rope linking it to yet a third propelled pole wound up around his left hind leg. The rest of the poles lost their momentum after going past the youma, but it was hard for her to predict where they would be going next, and now he was hindered, it wasn’t any easier to guess where he would land either.

Alessa watched the magnetic field in action with her mouth agape. Nope, now's not the time to call the police. Nonono. No.
Even if she’s a terrorist, she’s just going to deflect bullets somehow. Probably. She put her phone back and shyly cheered some more. For now, Sailor Polaris < the lion < police < herself. “You… err… keep going! Whatever is it that you’re… doing?”
In case of doubt, cheer some more, and enjoy the show.

An inappropriate tugging appeared in her heart as the unfortunate witness watched Polaris attacking the wounded monster. It looked like a lion, it sounded like a lion…
…”senshiiiiiiiiii…”
… it sounded like a lion. The tugging instantly vanished. Nope, not just a wounded beast. She loved animals, but she set the limits at beasts that couldn’t speak. In hindsight, she should have excluded oversized animals and predators coming out of nowhere in her mental list of “things she shouldn’t pity, really”.

A brief look through the glass doors confirmed that she was one of the only insane fools to stay and watch the fight. When her eyes turned back to the centre of everyone’s attention, the girl was falling on the ground clumsily.
New dilemma time, same question! Do I leave, do I help her, and how?

The youma threw his paw full of razor-sharp claws in direction of Sailor Polaris, and panting, tried to get up. Where the pole hit him, his hind leg was bent in an unnatural and cringe-worthy way. The velvet rope hindered him the most; it appeared the bandage slipped and flew back around his upper body wherever the senshi wasn’t holding them. Unable to free himself from that trap with his dead weight of a limb, he reached out for the warrior again.

Bam! Time’s up! What’s your answer?
Alessa would have wanted to put more thought into this, and also act more brave, but there was only one thing she could think off that didn’t involve her running away for her life (which was, admittedly, sane and rational, but should Sailor Polaris suffer more irreversible consequences than scars, the guilt would have tormented her for the rest of her life). And that thing was flailing and shouting. “Hello! Behind you! Look at me! Look at me! I’m your distraction of the day! Look at me please!”
Aahh, if only she could come up with a witty line.

Great, it was working!
It was working so well the youma found her even more appetizing than the ivory-haired girl. Whoops. A powerful roar went through every inch of her body, and made the glass behind her vibrate and emit a low noise. His claws, now coloured with a lovely shade of red, ticking on the hard floor, resonated as a last warning. Tick tick tick.
Alessa promptly turned and pushed the glass door to get out. Except that the door didn’t move an inch, as it was locked into place. Blam, she went, repeating an age-long overused gag. She landed on her butt, slightly disoriented. It took her several seconds to stand back up and try and push the door again. “It won’t move!”

Tick, tick. It was getting really close. She sprinted along the doors to the farthest wall, barely avoiding slashing claws that slightly cut her calf, but ruined the leg of her jeans. With the distance she just imposed upon the creature, she had more than enough time to check if the farthest door was, in fact, unlocked. Nor the faint tingling pain, nor the bleeding was noticed by that point, as she was basically overwhelmed by sheer terror.