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Fallon was not the type to look for trouble. Trouble implied that the situation was undesirable, that something unexpected and unwanted had happened. These were things that Fallon did not want. She preferred to know precisely what was going to happen.

After her brush with a youma and her resulting encounter with Sailor Virgo, Fallon had become far more careful about how late she stayed out and where she went. The area of town where she had met the bizarre cat youma had not been a good one, but tonight she was somewhere much better -- the boutique district! It was late, and the shops had been closed for hours. Hand-painted signs announced pleasantries: See you tomorrow! - Until we meet again! - Closed Until Sunrise. A typical sign would not do for the independently owned shops that lined the narrow street.

It was a few hours past Fallon's latest self-imposed curfew, but it was a risk she felt willing to take. The seafood market across town had the best king crabs in town, and since the season for fishing them was ending, Fallon felt it necessary to make the purchase before it was too late. Some steamed crab legs would be a nice change for her diet anyway. She had made it there on time, and now dragged a small icebox on a cart full of the bounty. In her joy, she did not notice that she was being followed.

At first, it felt like an itch at the back of her neck. Then it grew to a persistent tingle. Fallon swatted at her neck, furrowing her eyebrows. There was something oddly familiar about this.

All at once, Fallon became aware of the darkness behind her. There was a small metal bench. She stared at it, trying to differentiate a shape in the darkness. Something moved, a flicker of leaves, perhaps? And then a pair of beady red eyes were staring up through the slats in the bench.

"Oh," Fallon said, a whispering breath seeping from her full lips. She didn't think. She ran. Spinning on the toe of her heel, the cinnamon-haired girl took off at a sprint, letting the cart fall behind her. The bench shot into the air and a black mass of writhing fur and snapping jaws followed behind it. A youma!? Again! Fallon ran as fast as her heels could carry her, but the wolf-like youma crossed the distance in no time.

It reared back and made a move to leap at her.

When the wolf youma moved to leap, Fallon let out a choked scream, pitching forward on to the concrete of the street. Her knees took the brunt of the damage and came up sore and bloody. She had just flipped on to her back to try to face the monster head-on when what appeared to be a glowing ballerina descended from the rooftops above and effectively roundhouse kicked the monster in the face.

After meeting Sailor Virgo, there was no doubt in Fallon's mind who this person was. There must be a whole colony of them living on rooftops. Did they all prefer the "fall on top of it" method of attack, too?

The youma fell forward, snout slamming hard into the ground as all four legs sprawled out under it. It was clear that the monster had not expected an attack from above, but it was not dead yet. Staggering to its feet, it snarled, exposing two rows of pointed teeth and then dove forward toward Sailor Cancer's throat.

On the ground, Fallon rolled quickly to her side, hopping to her feet. Her gray dress was badly stained, and blood poured from the cuts on her knees. But her heels were still on. So... that was good. Her eyes widened when the monster lunged again, but there really wasn't a whole hell of a lot for her to do but stare and gasp.

The scent of blood in the air must have distracted the youma. It turned to stare at Fallon's knees, struggling to decide which girl to destroy first. That moment of pause would be its undoing. When Sailor Cancer swung again, the youma took the full hit of the blow, flying a few feet into the air. Fallon gasped as the thing barreled toward her, throwing her arms in front of her face.

The youma exploded into dust and disappeared before touching her.

Fallon was frozen, arms covering her face, as she shivered and waited for contact. It never came. Slowly, she lowered her arms. There was no wolf. Just the sailor and her. Her knees smarted with pain, but Fallon was too perplexed to think about it. "Where... did it go?" she asked, words stammering.

This attack was nothing like when Sailor Virgo saved her. This monster didn't take a hit and then fall away. And she never saw the other youma be defeated. It simply stopped chasing at some point. She hadn't fallen the last time either. Her knees continued to ooze blood, but she noticed the cuts on Sailor Cancer first. "Can that get infected? I have ice." Fallon made no move to retrieve her chest of king crab and ice.

Fallon was too busy breathing hard and bleeding to think about her intended dinner, but Sailor Cancer seemed to remember it just fine. "Crabs?" she said at first, confused. She glanced to her cart. "Oh! Yes. Crabs. It's the end of king crab season so I wanted to pick some up before they were no longer available. I was going to steam them tonight." Her eyes fell to her bleeding knees, a thick trickle of blood splashing on to her shoe. She groaned.

Fallon hobbled over to a bench near her cart. She turned it back up and popped the lid off to check on the numbed but living crabs. They seemed fine. She dug it a pocket of the cart and pulled out a tiny first aid kit. Really, Fallon should've been a Boy Scout. She was always prepared.

Tearing of a few squares of cotton, Fallon dabbed gingerly at her knees, grimacing. There were some rocks in the cuts. She could feel it. "This is going to be uncomfortable," she said, grabbing a bottle of peroxide and twisting off the cap. "So you might not think I'm so controlled in a second." If she wasn't bleeding so much, Fallon might have done this all at home. But she had senshi protection and her shoes were at risk! She took them off and set them on the bench beside her. "Sorry, just give me a second. You don't mind... staying by while I do this?" If the Sailor left, Fallon would be a sitting duck.

Not waiting for an answer, Fallon let out a breath and then slowly poured the peroxide on her left knee. The only sign of pain was a tightening in her jawline. The red of the knees turned white and a few rocks scattered out. The rest Fallon started to carefully dig out with tweezers, grimacing every so often. "Thank you," she said, trying to distract herself from the task at hand. "Thank you for... saving me." This was not her first time at the rodeo, but Fallon would be careful to always share her gratitude, especially if this getting attacked thing was going to become a habit.

Sailor... Cancer? Fallon froze mid-pour over her other knee. She didn't do it quite fast enough, and a drop splashed out, landing with a sizzle on her cut. She grimaced. "Cancer... like the Zodiac?" The bottle was already in her hand and Fallon gave it a pour, picking out the rocks as she went. The process was a little gruesome, but once Fallon had an order in mind she put everything else out of her head and focused on completing the tasks in order.

Shaking hands hadn't been in that equation.

Fallon glanced to Sailor Cancer's outstretched hand. "Not sure I should shake hands just now," she said, waving around one bloody palm and one holding the peroxide, "but my name is Fallon. And it's great to see you. Really great -- bloody knees and all." Leaning over, she peeked down at the raw pink flesh of the scratches. New blood had started to run, but it had already begun to clot, even if slowly. At least the rocks were out.

Sucking in a breath, Fallon pulled a little gauze out of her kit and slowly began to wrap her knees. "I met Sailor Virgo. Do you two know each other? I just... I see the Zodiac thing. She helped me a bit ago, like this too." Fallon let out a sigh. "Some girls have all the luck, right?" Another attack? Great, Fallon was a beacon for youma apparently.

She more or less ignored the bit about crabs. She thought it was a joke, and like most jokes, Fallon didn't always give the appropriate laughter response. She herself was not a particular funny person and had the tendency to give away a punch line before she was supposed to. Besides -- no way was she not cooking those things, especially after all this mess.

"Do you need a band-aid or anything? I have extra."