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 Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 3:03 am
[NOTE: IT IS ASSUMED THAT EVERY SINGLE NEGAVERSE OFFICER PLUS TISIPHONE PLUS CORRUPTED CAT IS PRESENT FOR THIS MEETING. YOU WERE PULLED FOR THIS MEETING. THIS MEETING IS NON-OPTIONAL. WE WILL NOT BE RUNNING THIS MEETING IN TAG FORM BECAUSE THAT WOULD TAKE TOO LONG. INSTEAD, IF YOU WANT YOUR CHARACTER TO MAKE A POINT AT ANY TIME, PM ME FIRST WITH THE GIST OF WHAT YOU WANT AND I WILL TAG YOU.]
*
And there were the Negaverse, spread out before him.
A multitude of uniforms -- no longer the rote grey with piping that had characterised the Dark Kingdom before. In the soft light from the crystals, in front of the throne room that Tanzanite had bitterly cleaned up on her tidying detail, they were bordering on twenty strong -- five times the number of the Dark Kingdom before, more than triple the number he had started out with so long ago when the Negaverse had begun its run in Destiny City. That had started with Lieutenant Hematite, the only one not present -- Lieutenant Hematite was still in a hospital bed.
There they all were, on one knee. Lieutenants Bixbyite and Serandite looked little more than children, which they were: why not corrupt children? Who were more carelessly cruel than children? Some of them looked, in their uniforms, as if they were more destined for a concert than for military duty. Valleriite. Scheelite -- whose a** still needed kicking: he looked sober today, green eyes wide in the dimness. Torbernite, who looked uncomfortable. So did Moonstone. The clever muted marsh-coloured eyes of Janice Fitzpatrick, Lieutenant Uranophane took everything in, too clever to look as though she were doing it on purpose, and Linarite --
-- had pink hair --
-- ugh.
The front row was reserved for his oldest, his most experienced. Obsidian looked as though he'd seen it all before, though they'd never had a meeting this large. Caine and Grendel hugged the wall, Caine leaning against it with his bare feet, Grendel arms-crossed and looking irritated. Tisiphone stood by the other wall, kneeling as the other officers knelt, her long long hair pooling all around her.
There was no place for Nova. Nova lay sleeping in a crystal coffin many rooms from there -- much like Jadeite had slept, though she hadn't been destroyed by Beryl.
And as for Beryl.
Nealite sat in the throne, uneasy, legs tucked up underneath her in her Captain's dress rather than the deep-hued purples of Queen Beryl. In the dark. The front row probably wondered where she'd gone: without her and Khaldun, Obsidian dominated the front of the ranks. Nealite sat plunged in darkness, and Charonite stood before her, looking over the kneeling crowd.
"I'm not going to bullshit you with small talk," he said. "I'm not going to lie about our failures. Barren Pines has given us twenty-strong youma; every Captain will be issued with one. They talk. They take instruction. They're three times as strong as the piss-weak little monsters we have running around the city."
But Barren Pines hadn't been a success --
"First things first."
He paced the dias in front of them. Some of them averted their gaze: Moonstone's dark eyes were fixed down in front of her, whereas the bright blue ones of Dale Spencer were all on Charonite. "The Zodiac Guard and their princess are back. This is a ******** atrocity. Every single Zodiac senshi is double strength at least to a first-level sailor senshi. Go out in pairs. Go out in threes. I am <******** off at everyone going out singly -- if you're fresh, you have a death wish, and I'll make it come true for you rather than letting someone else do it."
He stopped. Charonite pushed his sunglasses high up on his forehead. "Here are your orders," he said. "Keep collecting starseeds. Don't be afraid to consume one if you need to. Do not consume more than one at a ******** sitting; I don't want you losing your mind and turning into a god damned youma because you wanted a quick battery. Use every resource you can. Someone's new in town."
Still the eyes flicking away.
"A cavalier."
The word didn't sink in.
"Kunzite."
Nor that.
"If you see anyone wearing white and wielding a sword, DO NOT ENGAGE. Get the ******** OUT OF THERE. Do not call for backup. Leave. Make a ******** scene if you have to get a distraction. I want you to get the hell away before you say a ******** word. You are no match for Kunzite and you probably never ******** will be, looking at how some of you little ******** train. Kunzite killed Nova." Was that a reaction? "I will be taking most of you in hand personally over that." He cracked his knuckles. "You will not enjoy me."
(That was a promise.)
"Bottom line: you see someone in white with a real sword? GET THE ******** AWAY."
It was humiliating to have to give an order like that.
"I speak about our failures. None of those god damned matter." They did, but -- "We have one up on the senshi. We have the key to destroying the entire ******** city if we want to, but we don't want that -- we want control, not wholesale ******** destruction." He sounded too tired. He hadn't slept. Khaldun was in the hospital. "I give to you the future heir to Earth, the true queen of the planet, the woman you will all swear fealty to -- "
Nealite stood now. She knew when to stand.
"Queen Beryl of the Dark Kingdom."
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 12:00 pm
"Thank you, Charonite. Your loyalty knows no bounds."
Heels clicked across the marble as she stepped forward, chin held high. Narrowed eyes looked down and studied the Lieutenants kneeling before her, her gaze slowly moving from one end of the group towards the other.
It was easy to read their expressions, to tell what many of them were thinking. Out of the entire group, only a handful had never had the opportunity to be graced with the Captain's presence. Therefore, as she was addressed by a different name, confusion was evident across many of their faces, save for Uranophane, who merely kept her knowing grin to herself.
"I assure you all," she began, one hand rising to cover her chest, "That I am more than the Nealite you have fought alongside, looked up to and avidly admired." Eyes moved from Moonstone to Linarite, her grin widening, "The Queen herself chose me as her vessel and we have merged together into one being."
A step forward, and her gaze traveled to stare at Obsidian, slowly moving across the line over Val, Var, Schee and then settling on Tanz. "Beryl had a dream, a goal. To return the Earth into the rightful hands of its people. I will succeed in accomplishing that goal, and we will take the Earth for our own, as it belongs in our hands. Too long have we been kept asunder, too long has the Moon Kingdom fought to take that which does not belong to them. The Dark Kingdom will rise, and it will triumph."
Another step forward, and she began to walk in front of the group. It was obvious that the young woman had thought over her words prior to the meeting, but as her eyes met with those familiar to her, even the Lieutenants could tell that something was different about Nealite. Something was off.
"Stand by me and you will possess the power to conquer worlds. Betray me and you betray the Negaverse itself. I expect only the best of you, and failure will not be tolerated. The General-King has given you reason to fear in the past, but know that fear is only the beginning. I will brook no failure. Failure is death. There is no room for forgiveness, not when there is so much at stake. Kunzite is powerful. Kunzite will kill you. But he is finite, all the Cavaliers are, just as you are. He can be killed and he will be killed."
She paused then, and her hands folded together, the grim expression on her face slowly curving up. "While I may prove in time to be more... unforgiving than the General-King, I also understand that there is more to life than war, more to life than battle. If there is a reason for celebration, it should not be ignored."
Nealite turned and made her way towards Charonite, giving him a sly grin before pivoting back around towards the Lieutenants, her smaller form now standing alongside the taller, intimidating man. "Which is why I am joyfully expecting your attendance to our matrimony this Friday evening and witness a merge of power as the Negaverse not only gains its Queen as we enter a new era, but its King as well."
A hand flew up, a silent message to her betrothed that they could discuss this later if he had issues, and then she paused again.
"Gifts are not optional. I'll be sending out details later tonight, to each of you."
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 5:41 pm
Charonite rubbed at his temples. Charonite looked a little aggrieved. Charonite, in this case, was more than welcoming one of the hands that flew up -- "Bixbyite. Make it quick."
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 3:34 am
When Bixbyite had been informed that this meeting was not optional, she'd assumed it was just going to be more of the usual. Defeat the Senshi, steal starseeds, rinse, repeat and condition to taste. What she had NOT been expecting was to hear that Nova had been killed. Nova was one of the few who had never made it onto Bixbyite's mental hit list. Nova had been too ******** strong and unbalanced for Bixbyite to even consider targeting her. And to learn that she'd been killed by some person armed only with a sword? Unfathomable.
And where was Hematite? He should have been kneeling up there with Obsidian. But something in the General-King's voice and manner kept her from voicing that particular question. Instead she focused on the title of the one who'd slain Nova. Cavalier. It sounded important.
However, none of this was as momentous as Charonite announcing that Nealite was Queen Beryl. And even that bit of news paled in comparison to Nealite/Beryl's words once she had the stage. Her words were encouraging at first. But to waste time announcing that they were being gang-pressed into watching her get married? And that they had to bring gifts to boot... Had Bixbyite not spent most of her formative ears in the performing arts, she might have been foolish enough to allow some of her dismay to show. As it was, everything she was feeling remained behind a mask of polite deference. What in the screaming gay blue hell did one give a Queen of the Negaverse and her King for a wedding present? Matching his and her towel sets? An emobossed fondue set? The young Lt. supposed she could sew something for them. But while Nealite might go for cute matching linens, she doubted they were Charonite's cup of tea.
Quick eyes caught the General-King's slightly aggrieved expression. Well, this might be a good time to win some brownie points with him. Raising her hand, she decided that this meeting needed to get back on track. Besides, she wanted more information on this Cavalier.
Obeying Charonite's sharp order, she lowered her hand and spoke in her usual soft, courteous voice.
"Lord, Lady," she began, already working on soothing Nealite's potentially ruffled feathers, "while I do not wish to interupt Her Highness' announcement, nor dampen her joy, I would like to know something. What exactly is a Cavalier? A new kind of Senshi?"
She allowed only a hint of puzzlement to leak into her words. She'd find out about Zodiac Senshi later.
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Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2009 7:08 am
"You will refer to Beryl as her majesty," said Charonite, but didn't sound as though he were about to rip her head off. "And I am your General-King and that is not about to change any ******** time soon. But you're wrong. A cavalier isn't a new type of senshi." He folded his arms; Deathcord whispered at his hip with no nice promise. "A Cavalier is -- a Negaverse soldier who's betrayed our ideal, our goal. Our oath."
Wait: you could betray the Negaverse?
"They're swordsmen, not senshi. They don't ******** with magic. Their swords -- only if they're bonded to another senshi -- may have some magic to it. May. But stay the ******** away from them no matter what you do, and Kunzite in particular. The rest of them will be armed with rapiers. Kunzite? Has a full-bladed sword, and unless you want to go toe-to-toe with someone who will slit you neck to navel you will. Go."
He waved her down again. "Is there anyone else with a question?"
That was not to do with weddings. That was not to do with weddings.
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Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2009 12:59 pm
Ulexite hated meetings. No, hated wasn't a strong enough word. Loathed? Despised? Perhaps a synonym that didn't exist quite yet? Meetings were at the top of his list of "Things that Would Make Shoving an Ice Pick Under My Fingernails Pleasant". Considering it didn't involve killing anyone, one would think that it would be mildly less hated than actually going out into Destiny City to hunt starseeds. But there was something present here that wasn't present when he was out in the city not succeeding (he still wouldn't bring himself to call his runs failures).
General-King Charonite.
The man made Ulexite want to piss out blood from sheer fear. And his words to them did absolutely nothing to appease the poor Lieutenant's quivering kidneys. There were stronger senshi on the prowl, and as such they now had to go out in multiples. Sure they got youma to help but...even as such, would he be able to really do his job? Doubtful. And now whoever he got stuck with would see just how miserable of a Negaverse agent he made. And if they told Charonite...the thought made him physically ill with worry. He wouldn't be surprised if some ulcers popped up after this. The silver lining to all of it was his orders to not engage and run the ******** away from whoever this Kunzite was. That sounded more up his alley. He could do that, he was damn good at running, and getting pretty good at the roof jumping thing. If Charonite wanted him to run, he'd be the goddamn Roadrunner.
"Not successes," his brain silently corrected Charonite's use of the word failure and then ground to a screeching halt when the words "none of those goddamn matter" reached it. Did he really just hear him right? No, he had to have been daydreaming, imagining, perhaps he had secretly slipped into a coma and was living an alternate universe his mind had concocted for him. But his announcement shed all too much light on why he'd said that, and Ulexite had to resist the urge to plant his forehead on the ground like some groveling monk.
As someone on TV once said: s**t just got real.
Bright blue eyes watched Nealite move with a mixture of confusion and awe. He didn't know Nealite, but he knew of her, knew she was once just like the rest of them. And yet, somehow, their queen who had been long gone had managed to merge with Nealite, one of their own, and here she was, speaking to them. It was...inspiring. And suddenly, there was a part of Ulexite that didn't want to not succeed anymore, he wanted to succeed, he wanted to make his queen's dream a reality, most importantly: he wanted. And that part of him kept him from cowering when she talked of being even harsher than Charonite.
Of course the wedding announcement came clear out of left field and beaned him across the head with the force of a freight train. So much for not being afraid. The words "wedding" and "gifts" and "not optional" danced around his head like torturous pixies. "I have to go to a wedding? What do I wear? Do we wear our uniforms? Do I buy a suit? And gifts? I'll have to ask Muter and Vater for money but what do I tell them?! 'Guten tag, I need money to buy a wedding gift! For who you ask? Oh just the King and Queen of the Negaverse.' Yeah, that'll go over real well. But what do you get your queen and your king? Statues? Statues! No! I can't commission for marble statues! There's not enough time! But don’t married couples register at stores and such? That’s it!"
Before Ulexite knew it, his hand was up in the air. Bully for him it wasn't quivering (noticeably). “Y-yes your majesties,” he managed to speak up in an almost steady tone, “are there ah…um…g-gift registries?”
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Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2009 1:40 pm
Dark orange eyes lit up with excitement as her hands came up and clapped together, the sound muffled by her gloves. Nealite hadn't had the faintest idea of how to handle Bixby's question, so it thrilled her for the discussion to finally move towards a topic she certainly excelled in.
Before Charonite could open his mouth to ask if there were any other questions, she was quick to cut him off.
"Why yes! What a good question to ask, lieutenant!"
Using her fingers to count them off, the Negaverse Captain went down the list of the various stores she'd taken the time to register for the future Mr. and Mrs. Gunn Killingworth. It only took a few seconds for the list to already surpass the number of fingers on both of her hands, and it didn't take long after that for the female lieutenants (and Scheelite) to realize that she may as well have simply pointed them to the mall directory, for she'd listed practically every store in the mall, save for the Hot Topic and Gap. No, wait, somehow Gap made it in there too (what the hell? Gap had a registry?).
It was just as she was finishing her list that a soft giggle erupted from among the group of lieutenants. Her grin quickly fell into a thin line, and narrowed eyes searched the crowd. That giggle was recognizable. Recognizable, hated, and most definitely unwelcomed.
"I'm sorry Linarite, is there something you wanted to say?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2009 10:26 pm
In all her thoughts of why Nealite was missing from the formation, this was nowhere within the realm of possibility. As the words impacted into the girl's brain, she had several reactions. The first, was sheer horror. The second, denial. Most potent was the absolute anger that she felt, and how unfair the whole thing was. There she knelt, wishing and thinking that one day she might actually have the power to bring Castor over to their side. She could convince Charonite that he would be a most excellent addition, seeing how he threw Nealite's fat a** over more than once.
And now, now, that orange-haired b***h was their queen?! She had the power to do anything she wished, to anyone. Suddenly everything fell into place. The engagement, the sudden interest in presents and desperation to smother the General King with affection. Queen ******** Beryl was none other than Ursula Johnson! And this was chosen?! What kind of woman were they serving, that Ursula would be the prime choice? Yet another crack opened wide in the slowly blackening heart of Audrey Collins, and it bled sluggishly with the pain of dashed hopes.
A hysterical, ironic giggle bubbled through her lips before she could control herself, and go figure - Nealite had paused for a breath in listing her many registries! (Because that was absolutely Negaverse business? Darkness save them all!) It was somewhat pleasing, however, to realize that queen or no, she was still petty. Petty enough to snap, at least.
Pulling her face into an emotionless mask, Lina rose with all the pride and dignity she could fit into one tiny, seventeen year old body, and bowed perfunctorily. Her thoughts and feelings aside, Charonite seemed ready to murder anyone who offered any disrespect to their new ah...ruler. And even with Nea as queen, Lina wasn't ready to die. After all, Queens didn't always rule! "Forgive me, majesty, general sir. I simply marveled at our success as an organization, that we might entertain less serious matters at our gatherings. It's really quite heartening."
It was to her credit that her lips barely even twitched during this entire little speech of her own. "Though I must ask one thing. You've solved the answer to where Captain Nealite has gone. But where is Lieutenant Hematite? I know they are familiar, and he would not want to miss her moment of glory." That was a real concern, and perhaps she could derail them from this damn foolishness about a fraudulent wedding. Oh, the emotion was probably all there...on Ursula's side. Of the General-King, she was doubtful. "I am concerned, sir."
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Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2010 5:02 am
The look that Charonite gave her should have, by right, melted Linarite down immediately into a puddle of goo. This would have garnered mixed reactions. Thankfully Hematite was not present to protest the rendering-down of the girl who had of lately been the only one to swap saliva with him, though they might have been a little baffled at this meeting and each other anyway; and Nealite might have welcomed that as a wedding gift -- well, she wouldn't have, who would she lord things over. Obsidian? Drew never gave the right reaction.
"Lieutenant Hematite," said Charonite, "has been excused."
On account of severe head injury.
"Though that reminds me."
The General-King looked at the crowd of kneeling officers. "There are two senshi who may currently be counted as kill on sight. This is the opposite order to Kunzite. If you encounter Sailor Castor or Sailor Nerissa -- both of them super senshi..."
He let that linger. "They are kill on sight. First one to get a head will be rewarded. I want a head. Do not let them go. Call for backup. Engage. I want them <******** dead."
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