[R] I Need a Hero (Taranis/Sydney) FIN

[Syusaki]

Sydney Martin wasn’t afraid to be alone and outside at night, not at all. So what if these so-called terrorists were skulking around town at this hour? So what if people usually rushed into the safety of their cozy abode and locked the doors tight? She didn’t think it was a big deal. Everyone was just blowing the issue to epic proportions. People are over reacting. She repeated the sentence in her head a second time.

The wheels of her skateboard continually grinded against the grainy pavement of the sidewalk, emitting a steady hum as the tall redhead propelled it forward by occasionally pushing off the ground with her left foot. It was comforting, Sydney thought. The rumbling gurgling that her board produced was somehow soothing. After skateboarding for so many years the sound had turned into a soft, reassuring sound. Vivid brown eyes peered out from beneath her helmet, intently staring at the street for oncoming lamp posts and benches.

A passing shadow in an alleyway caught her eye. She angled her head in its direction, but it had long disappeared into the darkness by then. An uneasy feeling bubbled in her stomach. She was just imagining things, right? Sydney reluctantly refocused her gaze back to the sidewalk. She wanted to go home, go home fast. Had her classmate insisted to meet on an early weekend morning rather than a Friday afternoon, she wouldn’t be in this predicament.

“All this terrorist hysteria is getting to me. Dammit,” Sydney hissed as she shuddered. She was alone, alone. What if something happened to her? Terrorists? Doubt it. But what if she got kidnapped or she got severely injured? No one would be there to help here.

Another shadowy flicker caused her to pick up the speed.

A large figure scrambling into the middle of the road caused her to screech to a halt. “What the crap?” she muttered as she stared up at the creature with stunned eyes.

It could only be described as a Frankenstein-esque feline plushie gone wrong. It towered over her, which was a statement with her five-foot-eleven height. The creature seemed to be messily sewn together and consisted of differently-colored fabric. Various puffs of stuffing stuck out from the loose threads. One beady red eye was larger than the other and it held a psychotic beam. Threads of drool lazily spun from its gaping mouth as it took a slow step towards her, chuckling.

Sydney took a startled step back, her board tightly clutched in her arms. “Wh-What the . . . ?!”  

[Akina Tokuwa]

Skateboards had never appealed to Sailor Taranis. He owned a pair of roller blades as a kid and spent an entire summer trying to learn how to grind a rail. It gave him scraped knees and little else. While the hum of a board over cement soothed Sydney, it irritated Taranis, like someone was constantly running a blender in the back of his mind.

It was almost a relief when the youma forced the girl to stop her rolling along.

Perched on a nearby rooftop, Sailor Taranis decided to go with his favorite technique: throwing a sand blast while he was out of harm's way. He tiptoed closer to the edge of the building, trying to give himself the best odds of landing a good shot.

Hands swelled wide around him. "Taranis Sand Blast!" The globe of sand spun faster the longer he held it. It threatened to topple off of his fingertips, and at the last minute, he released it. The youma was a big target. It wasn't hard to hit it in the side.

The youma stumbled sideways, but appeared otherwise unharmed. s**t. It was a big puffy youma. Apparently that meant it had high defense. With the civilian still at risk, Taranis had no choice but to jump from the roof and sprint toward Sydney just as the youma geared up to strike.

Sailor Taranis leaped forward, tackling her and sending them both into a rolling somersault. Hey -- at least he hadn't let the youma take her head off?  

[Syusaki]

To say that Sydney was stunned with fear would be an understatement. She was petrified, terror filling her body right down to the tiny hairs on her skin. Never once did she ever believe that she would be face to face with a monster, a creature that could have popped straight out of a children’s story book of horrors, but here it was. Its blank eyes shined in the lamplight, reflecting her horrified face right back at her.

I should be running right about now. was the thought that ran through her mind, but her feet held firmly to the ground.

Death by plush, who would’ve known? She lowered her head and shut her eyes tight, looks like this was the end. As Sydney waited for the imminent crushing blow, a clear voice echoed through the cool night air. “Taranis Sand Blast!” Various images of different video games flashed through her mind, and she mused that things were starting to turn quite weird.

Just as Sydney dared to open her eyes a foreign creature collided into her side. s**t, now I’m gonna di--- Nevermind. Just a weird boy in shorts. Her bare arms grated against the cruel pavement. Sucking in her breath, she held back a pained groan. “Is this the part where I’m supposed to stand up and run away screaming?” she mumbled, rolling onto her stomach. “Because I’m not that inclined to do it at the moment.”

The youma let out a mangled yowl. Quickly recovering, it turned its cold, beady eyes toward the senshi. It slowly opened its giant maw; the sewed threads that once sealed its mouth shut easily ripping apart to reveal razor sharp teeth. Taking another clumsy step forward, it swung back a burly arm for another attempted strike.  

[Akina Tokuwa]

Statistically-speaking, Sydney's surprise at coming face-to-face with a youma was a little misguided. People got attacked in Destiny City all the time, some ending up dead, others in comas. Then again, the senshi rushing to her rescue was not exactly a silver-lining kind of person. Taranis was more of a 'what are all the ways that this can turn horrible' kind of person.

The tackle saved Sydney from the swipe, tossing both of them to the ground. "Run away, no screaming," he said, getting to his feet with a grunt. The youma latched on to his ankle before he could turn around, knocking him back down. Taranis flipped over onto his back and kicked both legs at the youma's chest.

They sunk in to the soft plush and then bounced right back out. "s**t, I can't damage it," he said. The youma opened its crooked grin of pointed teeth and bent forward to bite. Taranis rolled to the side, away from Sydney. He'd been doing this long enough to know that the action should always move in the opposite direction of the civilian.

Why was the girl still here, not running? "Not inclined to run away?" he said indigantly. "Am I really trying to save the one person in Destiny City with a death wish?" Taranis jumped backward from the youma strike, attempting to keep a bubble of safe distance between the two of them.  

[Syusaki]

Without a doubt, such attacks were commonplace in this town nowadays. Sydney had gone through countless school lockdowns herself. The first few times had been exciting (somewhat) and suspenseful (sort of), but after doing it a billion times, the thrill wore away. Another Code Red? Sydney needs to use the restroom first. Another death last night? Condolences to the family, but it’s not that unusual anymore. She had never seen the attacks first hand, so it was like there was a wall between her world and the other side of Destiny City.

But now, that wall had been broken. “No screaming, I’ll remember that,” she mumbled, slowly pushing her body up and silently thanking her helmet for protecting her delicate skull. “Perhaps you should light it on fire,” Sydney suggested with an uneasy smile, ignoring the rapid beating of her heart.

“Sorry, but if I happened to meet another of these suckers on my own, I’d be in pretty deep s**t,” she lamely answered in an upbeat voice. But really, the chances of that happening seemed pretty low. Perhaps she was just afraid of being alone and paranoia was getting the better of her.

“Who are you, anyways? You must be crazy, fighting a monster in shorts at night by yourself. I give you bonus points for the cool boots, though.” She bent down to pick up her fallen skateboard, wondering why the hell she was still lingering. Run away, already!

Feeling nothing at the boy’s measly kicks, it smiled widely. Its eyes gleamed with amusement, as if to say “What’s wrong, senshi? What’s wrong?” Pleased with the turn of events, the cat plushie continued to stomp forward, taking one shaky step after the other. Speed and balance clearly were not its strong points. It waddled towards Taranis, paying little attention to the civilian that was off to the side.

Not to say that Sydney was safe, because in its clumsy haste its long tail ended up whacking her in the chest, sending her stumbling backwards.

Wonderful.

[[ I feel like there's something odd about this tag of mine. Oh well. D| ]]  

[Akina Tokuwa]

The youma swiped and Taranis leaped backwards. "Do you have fire breathing capabilities?" he snapped, squatting down to avoid another strike. "I deal with sand, if you didn't noti--" The youma snapped its teeth perilously close to bare skin, and Taranis jumped, stumbling backwards to put more distance between them.

Bright eyes searched the cat plush youma's body, looking for some point of attack. His first blast had done almost nothing; he needed another plan. Meanwhile, Sydney was chatting him up like they were chatting over lattes. He swerved to glare at her. "Do I look like I have time to talk right now?" Just then, the youma waddled closer.

Taranis lifted his arms to fend off an attack, but it was Sydney would took a tail slam to the chest. He glanced over to where she stumbled. It wasn't too bad of a hit. Leaping forward, Taranis punched again. He hand bounce right out. So he kicked at the joint where the leg met the body. Still nothing. The youma wrapped both arm's around the senshi, fixing him in a tight bear hug, and opened its jaws wide.

A curse fell from his lips, fingers searching for purchase on the youma's wide body. He scratched along the plush back, nails dragging across the fabric before catching on the seam. A seam? As the youma leaned down to bite, Taranis latched his finger on to the thin stitching that held the youma together and tugged.

The youma dropped him, roaring up into the night sky. A tuft of puffy black material was exposed on its left side, and it slowly began to drip ooze onto the pavement. Before Taranis could stand back up, the youma caught him with a claw swipe and threw him into a nearby bush.

Then it turned its gaze to Sydney and slowly started to stalk toward her.  

[Syusaki]

“No, I don’t breathe fire, but I wish I did,” she answered with a disappointed sigh. The obvious danger that the youma posed was clearly flying over her head, probably because the threat was being blocked by her trusty helmet. “Well, doesn’t it get lonely while you fight? But I guess you’re too immersed in your work to notice that. Never mind then.”

Sydney continued to observe the fight, growing more and more confused as it went on. Why was this stranger dressed so weirdly? Why was he fighting that monster? Was he using magic? Where did that he get magic? Questions flooded her mind and overwhelmed her, leaving the scrawny girl speechless and firmly planting her to the ground.

Which was why she only noticed the youma’s tail at the very last second. “Oof!” The impact shot all the air out of her lungs and sent her stumbling backwards. It was nothing life threatening, but enough to leave her disoriented for a few precious seconds.

By the time Sydney pieced her senses back together, the animated toy was already hanging over her, innocently smiling like a killer in a horror movie. She stupidly stared at it, occasionally flickering her gaze left and right. Was she supposed to run? Sydney tried to jump out of the way, but snatched her up in its felt claws with ease.

Panicking, Sydney kicked at the youma, silently thanking her freakish height and long legs as she scuffed its eyes. It screeched, stubbornly tightening its grasp on her and flailing her around instead.

“Aw crap,” she wheezed. Spotting the torn hole on its side, Sydney instinctively reached for it, grabbing a handful of fabric and letting the youma do the rest of the work as it swung her. Releasing another pained howl, it dropped her with a soft PLOP. While she rolled away the creature flung its arms to the large wound, attempting to prevent the stuffing from escaping.  

[Akina Tokuwa]

Sailor Taranis regrouped while Sydney kicked up at the youma. She seemed to be doing well enough staying alive, that was all he asked. Sticks and leaves from the bushes littered his hair. He started to run, boots pounding on the pavement. The youma let out a howl just as he launched himself forward. His hands found purchase around the things next, feet digging into the plushy joints of its legs.

The youma bucked backward, and Taranis lost his grip with one arm. The other held tight. His finger searched for the nearest seam, hooked under it, and yanked. There was a loud snap as the string ripped. Taranis wrapped his hand in a tight circle, unrolling as much of the stitching as possible.

White tufts erupted like puffs of cream, and Sailor Taranis ripped and ripped until a cloud of stuffing spilled to the ground. The triumph was short-lived as the youma recoiled with a howl. It lifted Taranis with one hand and slammed him on to the hard ground. "Goddammit," he spat, trying to wiggle from its grasp.

It lifted him again and slammed him down again, as if the Senshi of Sand was a toy at its disposal.  

[Syusaki]

Kissing the hard, cold pavement a second time, Sydney shuddered against the prickling pain of her scraped skin. Thank God she could always write off the bruises and cuts as the results of a major wipe out rather than from some monstrous toy trying to kill her. While she recollected herself she heard the feline plushie screech in the background, the high-pitched scream making her wince.

She sluggishly rose to her a feet, reluctant to stand up again. Was this exhausting ordeal over yet? All adrenaline had been spent and she was thinking more clearly now. A glance to her fallen skateboard and Sydney idly thought that she could probably leave now. Wouldn’t he appreciate that?

Her attention turned back to the fight when the youma began cackling, repeatedly smacking the poor boy against the ground like he was a doll meant to be tortured. She stared at its side, constantly trickling out wisps of stuffing into a little puddle. Its life was slowing draining away and it obliviously continued on. Another couple strong hits and it would be game over.

Though it seemed that some assistance would be needed if the brawl continued playing to the toy’s pace. Butterflies swarmed her stomach as she impulsively ran behind it, ripping and exacerbating the torn wound in its side. It let out a stunned yell, releasing its clutches on Taranis.  

[Akina Tokuwa]

Taranis fell to the ground with a heavy thud, and the youma swung its arm right for Sydney. A long string of seaming hung from its arm. That string connected across its stomach, tracing up to its throat. "Gotcha," Taranis hissed, leaping forward on his stomach. He snatched the end of the string and started to pull, yanking it as he rolled in the opposite direction.

The youma let out a bellow. It staggered after the rolling senshi, but its leg detached from its body, releasing a puff of stuffing. Its arm dropped to the ground too and then its belly ripped open. The white stuffing turned gray, dissolving into a familiar dust. The youma screamed one last time before its head dissolved too, reducing the monster to a pile of fading dust.

Dusting his hands off, Taranis crawled to his feet. "You all right?" he asked. It was a standard senshi question.  

[Syusaki]

The blow to Sydney’s stomach sent her reeling backwards for what seemed like the millionth time. She skidded across the ground, giving birth to multiple abrasions and scrapes on her arms and legs. Sydney muttered curses and swears in a low voice as she reluctantly pushed herself back up again. The youma’s howl caught her attention and she immediately turned towards it.

The scene that rolled out afterwards was like the ending of the climax in a movie. Frame by frame the creature began to fall to pieces, the last struggling threads of one of its legs finally snapping. Not long after an arm flew after the dismembered leg. No longer able to hold the youma together, the seams gave way and it took its final breath before collapsing into a pile of stuffing and torn fabric. But what shocked Sydney the most was that the remains began to crumble into dust, which began to fade into oblivion.

“Holy crap,” she breathed, still staring at the spot the thing had once laid. She heaved herself to her feet, her legs feeling like jelly as she shakily went to pick up her skateboard. “Yeah, just lots of scratches and stuff. But more importantly, who are you?” Sydney’s eyes glowed with an intense curiosity that clearly said she wouldn’t be leaving until she had some answers.  

[Akina Tokuwa]

Sailor Taranis was staring at the cuts on his fingertips when Sydney began her questioning. There was a piece of gravel in his index finger, a little gray nub sticking out from a bloody cut. He grimaced, yanked it free, and then popped his finger right into his mouth. Only after the wound had been cleansed by his saliva did he take the time to respond. "Sailor Taranis," he said, bored. "Senshi of Sand." It was a familiar introduction, one that had been done a hundred times before.

The injured hand was shook at his side like a dirty rag. Taranis eyed the cut again. "Damnit. Gravel in a cut. Never good." He seemed less concerned with Sydney and more with his finger. Apparently he did not grasp how special this was for her.

"You should get peroxide in that. Stay indoors more. Don't travel alone, so on and so forth." It had been a long night, and Taranis didn't seem terribly concerned with imparting his usual safety speech.  

[Syusaki]

His disinterested attitude made Sydney wonder if he had went through this routine numerous times before. Did he do this every night? Was he out saving idiotic civilians (like herself, she wasn’t afraid to admit stupidity when it hit her in the face) day after day? It must be tiring, mused the tomboy. What impelled him to do this?

Not to say she wasn’t annoyed, because she was.

She furrowed her eyebrows at the title he droned out. Sailor Taranis? Sydney was going to pretend that was perfectly normal. “Seinshi?” she repeated before shaking her head and giving up on making any sense of this predicament. Whatever.

“You don’t need to say it twice. I’ll be more careful now,” Sydney murmured. She shuffled over and leaned forward to closely examine his finger like it was the most interesting thing since the X Games. “My house isn’t very far from here. I can patch you up there? Or, go away and patch yourself up instead. Whatever you please.” It was the least Sydney could do after he got himself scuffed while saving her.  

[Akina Tokuwa]

"Sen-shi," he corrected, brushing a clump of sand off of his manly, manly shorts. Sailor Taranis was used to these vocabulary lessons. Dropping the word youma typically ensured a twenty minute question and answer session. On one hand, Taranis believed on informing the public. On the other hand, it was super ******** frustrating.

Taranis was still staring at his hand when Sydney offered help. "No," he said sharply. "It's nothing. I'll take care of it. But you're good? If you're good then... I'm leaving." There wasn't much more to say, was there? He'd warned her. He'd told her to be careful. He offered the walk home. It was a textbook civilian-saving event, right?

There was no goodbye. Sailor Taranis just wandered off in the opposite direction, eventually disappearing into the shadows.