|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 6:27 pm
While destiny park had been a 'no-fly-zone' for a while, there were shops within a good hundred feet or so of said park and this made it bad for business what with the recent odd activities. Well, generally having a shop or establishment in Destiny city was a little risky, but hey, we all have to make a living.
Which brings us to the quaint little Cut'n'Color on the corner of an intersection. With large glass windows open to the view of a cordoned off park and a sign in the window proclaiming 'open' right above another sign featuring the words that every woman loves to see at a hair salon 'half-price cuts, today only...' Cuts'n'Color was... doing well considering that people had been avoiding the nearby shops like the plague the last few days.
Abeline Froust had gone in for a cut-- not a color. Her hair seemed to be growing at the back (and she suspected it was directly resulting from the fact that her hair grew every time she henshined and that this might mean she'd never be an old, bald woman-- this made Abeline happy....) and Abeline had a 'thing' for keeping her hair just right. One might say that she had a hair fetish. One wouldn't say it to her face.
With all the events of the past week or so-- hearing about the Princess' tragic loss of her crystal, new villains, a strange urge to stalk people and her own sexuality coming into question every time she was near another certain zodiac... Abe felt that she was 'stressed' enough to indulge. After the hair-cut, she would go and get an ice-cream sundae. And she would go shopping. Daddy had kindly supplied his credit card.
It was early, barely even nine in the morning, and apart from Abeline there were only two other customers in the shop- together with the staff, that was a whooping seven souls. Next door was the best butcher in the whole city, and people were passing by, furtively and hurriedly not trying to stay too long so close to the park...
Abe had just placed her handbag on the chair and started pulling the ribbon from her hair when she heard the door chime, signalling the end to a quiet morning...
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 8:06 pm
Fallon liked being up in the mornings. It was always quiet, and it was free of the danger she'd run into on some of her late night encounters. The nagging tingling feeling that plagued her from time to time receded like the ebb of the ocean. So lovely! Talking to Dr. Price three times a week had opened up a world of experience to Fallon. With his encouraging words, she felt more at peace with herself and less ruffled. Just yesterday, she stepped in a pile of dog s**t and didn't feel the sudden urge to race to the nearest bathroom to scrub it off. To the average person, that might not be a big deal, but to Fallon, it was an epic day.
That morning, she set off toward the edge of the park to pick up some pastry dough from a little shop by a hair salon. The woman who ran it was chatty and kind, and once Fallon dropped the hint that she was interested in baking, the shop owner agreed to let her stop by early to purchase some raw dough. "Thank you!" she shouted over her shoulder, waving back to the flour-covered woman behind the counter. Fallon slipped out into the chill night air, drawing her peacoat close around her.
It was a foggy morning, and she couldn't see more than three feet in front of her. "Eerie," she whispered, sliding the bag up her arm. Fallon tucked a piece of hair behind her hair and, unaware of anyone else in the park, began her quiet trek back to Crystal Academy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 8:15 pm
The one in danger, ironically, was not Fallon.
Ilie took a calming breath, shallowly, through her mouth. The smell of human hair, the shampoo, the patterns on the floor. Ugh. Ugh. She clenched her hands in her pockets, mouth pulled into a long frown. As if it wasn't bad enough she had to look like a human to go out in the day, she had to find her way into the most terrible places. She wouldn't ever leave the tree if she thought Iyero was letting up in his energy absorption. No way would she give that fluffy-haired b*****d any leg up over her!
Her critical gaze swept across the inside of the salon. That human over there shouldn't be cutting her hair that short, she decided quickly, and that one by the window--
"So, what trend are you supposed to showcase," she asked Abeline, her tone that of derision, "Please tell me, so I can avoid it."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 8:36 pm
Another person entered the shop and Froust looked out the window, glancing over the other girl's shoulder, Abe saw a familiar figure passing by the window. Her personal chef! Fallon. "Fallon! Good morning." She called out. Unusually loud, especially for her. What with, the actually waving and calling to someone.
She wanted to know how those crabs had turned out. Wait, that was Cancer knowledge... s**t, now what was she going to say to Fallon?
Froust turned around at the sound of someone bad-mouthing her lovely luscious hair. Ohh boy. Did this girl want to start something? Obviously she was jealous and... the beast was unleashed.
"That's rich; what happened to your hair under that hat? It looks like a rat brushed it." Mreowww! Abeline was doing this girl a favour, blessing her with Abe's wise and insightful words. Obviously she should be grateful.
Obviously there was a gap where Abe couldn't hear what came out of her own mouth. Besides, of course people were jealous of her unusual and cool style. Who else had such a cool ribbon in their hair?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 9:21 pm
Fallon was click-clacking on her merry way, bag swaying happily by her side when a sharp voice broke her pleasant reverie. She spun toward the window -- and the girl who had shouted loud enough for her to hear through the plate glass window.
Wow.
Abeline had certainly changed since Barren Pines, and she wasn't the only one. Did Fallon mention that she stepped in dog crap and didn't have to immediately wash it off? This was a Very Big Deal. She even put a special sticker in her calendar to mark the momentous occasion.
As much as Fallon would love to brag to Abeline about the dog crap thing, she doubted the girl would share her enthusiasm. Instead, she backtracked a few paces and popped her head in the door. "Hello, Abeline," she said, oblivious to any tension. "I'm running some errands -- sorry, I can't stay to chat. Perhaps dinner later this week? You have my number." Fallon was perfectly on schedule right then, and she didn't want to waste time dilly-dallying with Abeline over haircuts.
With little more friendliness, Fallon offered a polite wave and headed back out into the fog, stopping a few feet away to lean down and buckle her shoe.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 7:37 am
For one moment, Ilie looked murderous, and a little hurt. Then she remembered she'd let Ishi help her this morning, and that brought her rage down a little, enough that she sighed instead of growling, though her scowl was still impressive. "Highly saturated colors look terrible on you--you're too sallow. Of course, all of you are," she advised, picking through her pockets. Well, she didn't want to use Mantiz on this stupid little human--didn't want to waste her time, not when there were other humans with terrible fashion sense for her to harass. It was practically a racial trait.
She set down Shutta's card in the entranceway, smiled thin-lipped at Abeline. Then she stepped out of the shop, brought her flute to hand, and played Shutta to life. "I don't care what happens to her," said Ilie to the Cardian, "Just get her away from me."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 8:12 am
-If it hadn't been for the almost blinding flash of light and the awesome flute solo, one might have guessed the unassuming little 'man' that appeared in the doorway was nothing but that. Standing at a whopping four foot tall, buried in his chocolate colored trench coat and wide brimmed hat he looked like nothing more then a midget.
Well.. then again.. with the grin that was peeking through the fabric, midget flasher was a definate possibility.
Get her away? Do not care? His obscured eyes focused on Abeline in her chair, a less than pleasant noise sounding as he scuttled forward on his tiny legs.- "Shu..shu..shu..shu..shu.."
-Sleeves slid back as he neared, two giant camera lens gleaming in the artifical light of the hair salon, and as the tale tale CLICK of a picture being taken sounded, the room filled with light, as if the flash had bounced off of every damn mirror in the place.-
"Shu shu shu shu shu" -He cackled. Pretty pretty picture time yes? Sooo much bubbley energy to steal.-
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 3:36 pm
Abe waved to Fallon as the other girl stepped back out. Ahh, a schedule, Abeline sort of understood. If she took too long cutting her hair; she'd never get all her shopping done! The horror.
As for this poor fashion-disaster looking for her guidance (that was Ilie, in Abe's mind) she didn't have...
What was she doing with that tarrot card? Was she some sort of witch placing a curse on the shop!?! Eww! And then, worse, she started tooting on a flute and...
Then there was a midget flasher in the room. One of the store-clerks let out a scream of shock/terror; which carried since the door was still open. The salon was flooded with light, and Abeline thought she'd gone blind for a few minutes.
And then the flashing started. Abeline knew something was wrong when two of the clerks suddenly sat down; the wave of energy drain washed over her as the weirdo-creepy-midget-man got some of her in his photo.
She knew there was something really odd about it; because she stumbled. Abeline Froust Never Stumbled. not obviously anyway....
She only had one reflexive action when someone came at her with a camera that was draining her energy and making spots dance before her eyes. She knelt, hands fumbling for her bag before she pulled it open and retrieved her henshin pen.
While the store was wheeling with loud shouts and a girlish scream, Froust slipped behind the staffroom-keep out door and transformed taking advantage of the general chaos to go unnoticed. Her energy bolstered; but not a lot. She didn't think even Cancer would take more than a few direct shots of that camera.
What was really weird was this wasn't like the normal feeling she got from a youma. This thing gave off... odd vibes.
"Hey! I'm only going to say this once you creepy flasher-- put down the camera and leave, or I will break you like a bug." Well, if it was a youma, no doubt it would say something intellectual like 'brains' and attack her.
And no, it never occurred to Abeline that there was a connection with this thing and the card. Youma didn't come from cards. They were like fruit from a tree or something... right?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 5:14 pm
Fallon had just stood from buckling her shoe when the scream ripped down the foggy street. The voice was not familiar, not Abeline. She froze, hand gripping her purse. The bag of pastry dough swung lazily beside her. Fight or flight senses screamed for her to make a choice, and everything in her head screamed, "Youma. Danger. RUN!" Fallon had been on the receiving end of monsters before, and she didn't see a skirted schoolgirl skipping around the park waiting to save her.
Something else was missing. That... feeling. The weird prickle that she found herself wandering aimlessly toward sometimes, the annoying pull that led her into danger. Azzo said they he could detect monsters, and Fallon had thought he was crazy. Had. That was before she found herself stumbling into the very same situations that the puppet-enthusiast described. But in the foggy street, Fallon could not feel that tell-tale prickle. The hair of the back of her neck did not stir. So what was the scream?
Another crash sounded from the store, and though it was diffused by the fog, Fallon saw bright flashes of light. Was it a gun? God, she was already taking too long. There was no youma, right? This was a run-of-the-mill situation. Actually, it might not even be a situation. It could just be some stupid kid throwing firecrackers into the store, or a light bulb popping. That happened, right?
Fallon was taking too long. And it was Abeline in there -- not some random stranger. She had lost a lot of friends in Barren Pines. It was about time she started fighting for a change. Fallon moved back through the fog, dropping her pastry dough on a low bench. Her hands fumbled for her cellphone and she called 911.
The operator had just answered when Fallon saw the strange thing in the coat and a semi-familiar senshi within. She crouched down beneath the window and the cellphone skittered out of her hands. When had they started shaking? When had her knees began to tremble?
There was a sailor senshi here. If only she could stay hidden, if only she could remain silent -- perhaps she would escape from the strangeness of Destiny City one more time?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 8:16 pm
As she was walking away, she noticed another human. A little irritated--why were the humans so common?--she returned towards her, intending to shove her into the path of Shutta and his camera hands. Just in time, in fact, to see her pick up her cell phone and dial something. Damn, she'd heard about those things. Never had one herself, didn't want one particularly (they were human technology and therefore below her notice) but she knew what they were for. The first guy Ilie had ever gone after had used one and then there had been law enforcement officers. She did not want law enforcement officers here.
She stood behind the purple-haired girl, scowling as she considered what to do. Summon another Cardian?... Shove her in anyway? Her problems were solved when the phone fell to the ground with a clatter. With some aplomb, Ilie stomped on the cell phone. Too late, though; as she ground it into the concrete with the heel of her shoe, she contemplated the many ways people might be able to trace a cell phone.
Then she sighed and shrugged. Did the human girl know that one of her ridiculous buns was off-centered? Ilie smiled. This one had talked to the girl that had dared to insult her--she deserved to die.
"Save your friend if you can," she sighed, tapping one fingertip against her cheek.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:18 pm
-Somehow in the chaos of flashes and scream he'd lost the one he'd been sent after, but the tiny Cardian didn't seemed particularly phased. If his mistress noticed and started to yell.. well then.. maybe he'd worry about it, but for he leaned this way and that, snapping photos left and right of the salon girls that were, by now attempting to make it towards the various doors.
He could feel the energy collecting, so so delicious! And he could see some of the girls beginning to droop. He focused his attention on one girl, click click click, cackling as he watched her fall back into a chair, looking just as terrified as she looked exhausted.
He was doing GOOD. Good good little cardian.
Pivoting as a voice boomed through the small shop, he looked over the new figure curiously. My my, with an outfit like that his photos might have actually looked like a peeping tom. But then.. they weren't really photos anyway. Not yet.
Raising his camera, he grinned. Bring it on.- "Shhhh utaa!!"
-A stream of photos began to fly out of the camera in a manner quite similar to 52 card pick up, most of which missing. Some would hit though certainly. Stupid human, take that!-
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 1:59 pm
Something hit alright, a few of the wildly flaring flashes caught Cancer square on and she crumpled to the ground as though, against all odds; she'd tripped.
Cancer felt her energy zapping away, like the flashes of the camera were draining it out of her... and it felt... weird. She moved quickly however, the shop was small and she needed to find some room to maneuver, luckily she found herself a small mirror between the flashing creepy midget guy and-- her. She felt better already, just not being in the line of that... camera. And then Cancer frowned; she was a senshi, she fear no creepy midget with a camera!
"Everyone, get out of the shop, now!" She howled to some of the women still screaming and running around- of course it was worse now because they weren't being flashed, they were being... uh... flashed?
And then Cancer had a terrible idea.
Her fists balling, she stood and vaulted over the back of the mirror and sink she'd 'paused behind' (she didn't hide from youma! she'd merely regrouped!) and launched herself, sliding across smooth laqucered surface, dislodging a spray-bottle and scissors on her way to kick the midget.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2010 5:34 am
A lot of things were happening at once, and Fallon did her best to multitask. Normally it would have been a cinch. But normally monsters weren't involved. Crouched on the sidewalk, Fallon nearly jumped out of her skin when the strange girl addressed her. She would have jumped higher if she knew that one of her buns was off-centered. "Who are you?" Fallon spit out. Did that matter? No. She was too calm to not be involved with the mayhem going on inside. "Leave Abeline alone. She's got nothing to do with the Negaverse!" It was hard to be intimidating while crouching on a dirty street, but Fallon's nerve endings were buzzing rapidly. So was this the face of the Negaverse? This girl didn't look like the boy from the running trail, the one who terrorized her and reduced her to a pile of tears on the ground.
It was hard to keep her knees from shaking, but years of control and centering herself gave Fallon the strength. She didn't think it was wise to turn her back on the strange girl in the street, but she heard another crash inside, more screams, more flashes. And it was Abeline. Abeline who was with her in Barren Pines. Abeline who came to her dinner parties. Abeline who she respected -- absolutely. Respect meant a great deal to Fallon, and so did loyalty. She might not always be the most pleasant girl in the world, but she refused to lose one more ******** friend to the horrors of Destiny City.
Magenta eyes narrowed to slits. "The sailors will destroy you." She rose to her feet, hands gripped at her sides. She was holding something in her left fist. Her purse tipped over at her feet. "So do us all a favor and <******** off." That might have been stupid, but it felt good to say. Fallon was about to do something stupid anyway. Might as well get her money's worth?
Peeling past the strange girl, Fallon burst into the hair salon, ran up behind the dwarfed coated figure, and slammed what she held as hard as she could toward the top of his head: a long, silver knitting needle.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2010 12:02 pm
The Negaverse? Why should she care about whatever this Negaverse was? It was hardly likely they could do her any harm at all. "I don't care," she said, "and I doubt they can. Fix your hair while you're in there, by the by." If the sailor senshi could have done anything, like they did against Eiru and An, they would have done it by now. She shrugged, watched the battle inside with a cold smile. This was thrilling--all this energy! Iya whined over how weird Ilie's Cardians were, and now look. The tree could do for ages if she could always have a pull of energy like this...
She watched the idiot girl attack, and then teleported away. Everything was going well, and hopefully they would all be too tired to do anything for a good while after.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2010 6:55 am
-He never even saw it coming...
One moment he's happily taking pictures, woman are sceaming, his body just swelling with the energy being sucked in through his hands. And the next moment he's being double teamed from behind!!-
"SHUUUUUU" -He screamed in retched agony as a sharp pain crashed through his head, his hat (now pinned via lovely needle) perhaps the only thing that saved him from a total head scrambling lobotomy. Oh it ached, his eyes squeezing shut. And then.. before he could even react, there came a crushing BOOM at the bottom of his calves, skittering him to the floor on his cardian a**.
In rage he swung behind him at his surprise attackers, trying to turn, frantic like an animal. There was a sound of cracking glass as one of the lens broke as it impacted something. The floor? One of the girls? He howled again in discontent.
Raising his other hand, last ditch effort, he pointed to his attackers, a stream of polaroid-esque squares flying 'dangerously' their way.-
((It's not that dangerous FYI XD Paper cuts, pokes, and irritation unless you'd really like it to slice good.))
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
