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 Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 7:31 pm
It wasn't that she didn't like to patrol. She did! Patrolling was the single greatest joy of her night, now, after sleeping and showering and doing her homework and--
Okay. She didn't like to patrol. Hated it. It was cold sometimes, and dark always, and sometimes she was alone. Tonight she was alone and the air was a little bit chilly. So it was with her arms crossed and her shoulders hunched forward that she was hurrying towards the far end of her patrol route. It took her past the library--and it wasn't too late, only around nine o'clock. She knew the library usually closed around then, and kind of held out hope she might see Mr. Darrow. She always held out hope she might see Mr. Darrow. He was-- um-- well--
She flushed bright red as she crossed the street. The first thing that struck her about the local library was the fact that--well--there was a massive tiger-like youma prowling the parking lot.
"Oh no," she said, and picked up the pace.
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 8:02 pm
Anthony Darrow was not a man of many possessions. He did not have a house of his own, never finding need to buy one, and instead kept an apartment near his place of work. He had a collection of books on ancient legends, specifically Arthurian, but even that was fairly paltry considering he worked in a library. He wasn't attached to anything, really, save his car.
At least for the moment.
He had left the library in order to pick up a parcel from the post office. Apparently they had gotten the shipping address wrong and it got redirected to them, and instead of being nice and correcting their own mistake by sending it out to be shipped again they wanted him to come and pick it up. So, after grumbling about it yet not offering them any kind of argument, he had.
They had left someone there to wait for him that night, since he had gotten off work late, and that person had been annoyed with him for it. Tony took it in stride, bringing the large stack of individually wrapped books back to the library in his car.
And that was when he discovered his love for his plain, old, barely puttering car. It, as it turned out, was a marvelous shield against giant tiger monsters. Or it had been, until the beast had ripped off the top of his car and dragged Tony, nearly with the seat still attached, out of the thing.
"Someone HELP!" He heard himself yelling like an idiot. It was all very difficult to wrap his head around. Giant tiger monster. Destroyed car. Blood. The monster had dropped him and he, being brilliant, had slipped under his car to shield himself. And there he was stuck, the beast prowling around him and the car, trying to drag him out.
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 8:26 pm
Oh no, oh no, oh no. She jumped the rest of the way, jerking herself upright to point at the tiger; it looked her way, its fur (did youma have fur) standing on end as it snarled. Virgo eeped, and then said in her strongest voice, "I'm Sailor Virgo, Zodiac Senshi of Innocence. In the name of the Princess, I will destroy you, so won't you please give up?" Of course the youma did not give up, they never did, ever. One day they would and Virgo would be really surprised.
The tiger was not exactly blindsided by Virgo vaulting the car and planting her heels in its side. Nor was it exactly pleased, letting out a howl that made Virgo's blue hair stand on end. She didn't blame the monster, of course not. She had also had people hurt her sides. What she did blame the monster for was the wreck of the car, and--
Her stomach flipped when she smelled blood and she stopped moving. Where was it coming from? Somewhere... around... Virgo didn't have an opportunity to identify the source before the massive tiger batted at her with one paw, knocking her flat on the ground. This, in addition to giving her some lovely abrasions right on the same side of her face as the scratch from the youmacorn, put her staring right at Tony. "Oh, hello," she said, a little faintly. This was a really bad time to be thinking of things other than tiger youma monsters! "Mr. Darrow. Please do not worry, I'll get rid of it."
And she pushed herself up off the ground and threw herself at the youma again. Maybe Mr. Darrow had his cell phone? Calling the cops might be smart. Virgo would have told him this, except she was kind of busy narrowly avoiding swipes from the enraged monster. All her breath was going to that endeavor.
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 8:38 pm
Tony, panicked, had his head covered by his hands, his body flat on the floor under his car. He heard some scuffling and someone speaking above him, somewhere nearby at least, and then a thud as something hit the car. Blinking, he peeked from under his hands, and was in the odd situation of being face to face with someone telling him they would get rid of it.
She would get rid of it? And how was that? Throw a ball of yarn and hope it went for it?
Panting, pain throbbing in his body though he was in no capacity to really know what had happened to himself, he tried to get out from under the car. He was struck with the idea that maybe she needed his help, maybe he would have to save her, in turn for her coming to save him. He wasn't sure how it worked, exactly, but his gut instinct was to protect her despite the fact that she was there to do that exact thing for him.
"Be careful!" he yelled, rather uselessly, as he climbed slowly to his feet. He leaned on the car. Glancing at it, he then noticed it was not much of a car any more. Not the one he had known so well, anyway. It seemed he had gotten it changed into a convertible.
Shaking his head, he tried to think of something he could do. Besides either passing out or getting himself killed. He imagined both of those would be really easy for him, but neither were the right answer. He felt in his pocket for his phone, dialing 911 and wondering what, exactly, he was supposed to say to them.
All the while he was watching the beast, not wanting it to do anything that might cause his savior harm.
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 8:54 pm
If, in this case, 'ball of yarn' meant 'kicking it again, kind of pathetically' then yes, Virgo was throwing balls of yarn and hoping the monster went for it. She was stuck in a weird in-between place of wanting to stop and throw up (there was blood, Mr. Darrow's blood, all down her arm where she'd smacked into the pavement) and knowing she had to stay on her feet to save him. Immaculate Reflection didn't work on civilians; she had to do this the normal way.
(He wanted her to be careful! Virgo was temporarily enchanted.)
The tiger corrected this lapse quickly, by lunging towards her while she was distracted. Virgo was caught off guard and went flying--she tried to speed up her spin, get her feet under her, but it didn't quite work. She landed on her knees, within arm's reach of the remains of Anthony's car. The senshi didn't seem to notice the tiger prowling towards her, hunched over and taking deep breaths to avoid letting everyone in the world know what she had eaten for dinner.
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 9:05 pm
Tony managed to say where he was and that there was an attack before he dropped his phone in panic. He saw her get slammed by that monster's attack, saw her hit her knees, and saw the tiger looming toward her.
"Oh good heavens," he was saying to himself as his feet started to move mostly of their own accord. He ran. Not away, like sane human beings might, but toward the creature. Toward the girl that had saved him and now, as Tony saw it, was in incredible danger because of him. He lunged, tackling the tiger monster with everything his body had to offer by way of force and momentum.
"Run!"
Yeah, that was a good idea. Why hadn't he thought of that himself? Away, at any rate. Not toward. He'll have to remember that for next time. The monster slammed its elbow into Tony's gut-or he thought it was his elbow-and Tony was sent sprawlin off him, landing hard on his back. Not much of a rescue attempt, he had to admit. Plus, he was bleeding from, as he had discovered while tackling, claw wounds on his shoulder and arm.
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 10:04 pm
Someone was running, and Virgo looked up to gape at Anthony. Was he really attacking the monster? Gosh, she knew he was really helpful but this was way too helpful he was going to die and it would be all her fault. She looked around in a panic, and her gaze alighted on the remains of the roof of Mr. Darrow's car. It was sharp. It was metal. And it was well within reach--she grabbed it, hauling herself up along with the heavy hunk of steel.
She planted her feet and swung the remains of the roof of Anthony's car. It didn't slice cleanly through the tiger--she wasn't quite close enough to sever the head entirely, and the edge wasn't exactly smooth or tempered or good for cutting at all. Virgo was pretty strong, that was the only reason her desperate gamble worked. The chunk of metal flew out of her hands, away from her and Anthony; the momentum had been the only thing keeping it in her hands after she'd started the swing.
As the monster collapsed into dust, she planted her hands on her knees and took shallow breaths through her mouth. This was only for a moment, though; she straightened up and hurried over to extend both hands to Tony. She had to swallow thickly, looking at the blood; she pulled her hands back, stripped off the white fabric and then reached out to pull him up again. "Are you well," she was asking; she could hear sirens off in the distance. She couldn't stay long but it was her responsibility to stay with the civilian until she knew he'd be okay.
...She also kind of liked being around Mr. Darrow. Her and her embarrassing crush.
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 10:18 pm
Tony, panting, did not see as the girl picked up the metal roof of his viciously murdered car. He looked up, though, in time to see her throw it, which made his mind jam in neutral for a moment. He didn't know how such a petite girl could throw a roof of a car at a giant tiger monster.
But since there was a giant tiger monster involved at all, that kind of negated his shock and awe at anything else. He should pretty much accept anything that happened from the moment he saw the monster as fact and just move on.
Trembling, he just stared dumbly at her as she came over to him, reaching up to take her hand. Gripping it tightly, he tried not to pull her down on top of him as he struggled to get up. His shoulder burned angrily and, of course, he managed to do exactly what he had tried not to.
Pulled her down on top of him.
"A-ah!" he yelped helplessly, going still so he didn't make a mess of anything else. He looked up at her, surprised, but too panicked and shocked to really be embarrassed about anything.
"You... you killed that thing!" He informed her, as if she hadn't been present for that part, "with my car! How... how did you do that? What was it?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 10:56 pm
W-was he scared of her? Virgo hoped not--it was so hard to go to the library already when she was already utterly convinced he did not realize she really existed. If she thought that she was scared of her senshi appearance, she would probably just never ever show up again.
Well. Except to return her last book. And if she happened to spot a book she wanted, she did have a membership--
This train of thought ended when she toppled with a squeak on top of Mr. Darrow. That was what she got for being so distracted; she halfway scrambled up, but stopped when he addressed her. Her entire face was red, from her collarbones to her hairline. "I--I'm sorry, should I have not--" He was still talking, so she covered her mouth with one bare hand. Her fingernails were painted a sparkling bronze, the same color as her circlet. (This was, weirdly, part of a senshi's transformation, along with lip gloss. Virgo was unsure why.)
"I'm sorry," she said, "I shouldn't have used your car to kill it." Was he mad at her? She squeaked again when she realized she was still laying on him, and she rolled off, scrambling to kneel on the asphalt again. He was still bleeding--Virgo bit her lip and pressed her hands over what looked to be the deepest gouge, clearly trying very hard not to hurt him or think about what she was going. "It was a monster." As if that weren't obvious. "They're called youma. They attack people because people have something inside their hearts that the monsters want--I don't know, that's just how you do it, you know, um--"
She glanced down at her hands and visibly swallowed. The sirens were getting closer. "I should go, or they'll catch me and I'll be in trouble," she said, looking over her shoulder towards the sound. "D-do you think you'll be okay, Mr. Darrow?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 11:23 pm
Though he felt like he had been hit by an eighteen wheeled truck with a full pay load, twice, he managed to sit up when she had rolled off of him. He was still rather stunned, mouth hanging slightly open, staring at her in disbelief. He took in he appearance, shaking his head in wonder.
"W-wha..." he started to ask, knowing he had more questions, but his brain jammed again and nothing came out. He shook his head abruptly, to clear it maybe, and managed to force out a laugh, "don't apologize! That was the most useful that thing has been in years."
He'd miss his car, but he was certainly glad it had given its functionality to save him. Of course, it was just the tool. She had done it.
Blinking, he saw the expression on her face as she tried to apply pressure to his aching claw wounds. He caught her wrist carefully in his other hand, using his pained on to pull out a cloth from his pocket. He used it to clean his reading glasses, which he never wore anyway, and often remembered the cloth in the morning on the way to work and not the glasses themselves. Numbly, he dabbed at the blood on her hands, thinking she was uncomfortable with it. Not that it was doing much, but he had lost some blood and had been banged about: he wasn't at his most lucid.
Hearing the sirens getting closer, and when she said she had to leave, he looked at her with an expression that was almost betrayed, like a puppy that had been kicked.
"You can't yet! I have so much to ask you! This is all... very much over my head. Monsters and things in our hearts and... and you! I... I don't understand any of this." He was feeling very light headed.
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Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2010 9:31 am
The way he was acting worried her. Was he going into shock? It was a pretty shocking situation, she would give him that, not every civilian got attacked by giant tiger monsters every day. "Still, it was yours," she said, but didn't argue further. Now it was certainly too destroyed to be repaired--poor Tony would have to get a new car. Her expression held clear undertones of apology, even if she had obediently stopped articulating the words.
That kept her there long enough for him to take her hand and then she flushed cherry red again. Had she really been so obvious with how uncomfortable the blood made her? She was trembling, but how could she leave when he was looking at her like that? And holding her hand? It was like, very very very impossible.
"I know," she said, "It is really unbelievable." She gave him a sympathetic look, flinched when a door slammed. "I'll come back and explain, I promise!" The zodiac soldier looped one pinky through his and smiled again, though she looked very worried and was already standing. "Be careful, okay, Mr. Darrow? I'll see you at the library--"
Then she was up on her feet, pulling Anthony with her. "Be careful," she repeated, lamely, and then she turned on one heel and bolted. A bolting police officer yelled for her to stop--but either she didn't hear or she really was afraid of getting caught, because she kept going until she was out of sight.
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Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2010 9:57 am
There were a lot of things Tony prided himself on. The library being the main one, of course. But he also liked to consider himself a very rational man, intelligent enough to understand the world and people around him, at least. Now, however, he was pretty sure the sky was made of pudding and stones tasted like cotton candy. That would all make about as much sense as young girls with super powers killing giant tiger monsters with cars.
He heard the emergency crews rolling up, though he was more focused on the fact that she had hooked her pinky with his, nodding dumbly when she said she would see him at the library. That was a good place to find him, he thought.
Tony got to his feet slowly, with her help, managing not to pull them both over that time. He used his opposite hand to grip his injured arm opening his mouth to ask her something else, but she was gone. A police officer made to follow but Tony stopped him, saying she had helped him, and didn't need to be chased. Paramedics came over to him and helped him to the ambulance, though he protested by saying they were only scratches.
He ended up having to go to the hospital, and got a few stitches on his shoulder and down his arm. To prevent him pulling at the oddly placed stitches he had to wear his arm in sling, which gave him a rather pathetic look, despite his tough guy goatee. He was a bit bruised and very sore, but ultimately not the worse for wear, considering he had almost been a tiger snack.
Not heeding his doctor's advice, he was back at work as soon as he was out of the hospital. Or he would have been, had it not been early in the morning. But he was there to open, and to resume his duties at Circulation one armed.
And wait for that explanation he had been promised.
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