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 Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 9:39 am
Tonight was going terribly.
The first monster she'd encountered was equipped with sharp claws, dark and somewhat... soggy in the fur. There were three parallel swipes across her bicep showing how hard the monster had fought, but she'd got it in the end. The next one was more humanoid, and she was wheezing a little still from a ribshot it'd gotten in before she had set it on fire. Now she had been on her way home, and she would have ignored this oversized bat of a beast except the goddamn thing had had a kid in its claws. She'd long since decided it was her duty to intervene where children or civilians were involved; so she'd leapt right in, like an idiot. The little kid had gotten away, thankfully; but she was stuck with the monster.
No uses of her attack left. And the monster had a long-ranged sonic wave thing, one that had given her such a migraine she couldn't even contemplate thinking of running. Her reflexes weren't good enough to dodge its swooping attacks, and she was forced to contemplate the possibility that she might die. Due to a massive bat.
It was not a good possibility.
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Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 10:02 am
Super Sailor Europa was back in top form for a school night. With her coma behind her and endless nights of patrol ahead, she was starting to enjoy this whole senshi thing again: the wind in her face, her crisp white uniform, beating Youma to the ground, and scaring the occasional negaverse agent away from innocents in dark alleys. It was easier when you were stronger, although she still limped into swim practice with her fair share of bruises and scrapes.
She was about to call it a night and pack it in when she heard a most peculiar sound. Far away, for sure, but piercing. Grating. Something was going bump in the night, and she was never one to leave bumps alone.
Arriving on the scene, she came across the same red-haired scout who she'd helped out a few weeks back, and also a bat-looking thing. No, not a bat, Europa assured herself after an initial spurt of panic. It was a youma. And it didn't even look all that much like a bat, it was just the wings that were making her think that way.
"Sailor Gunn!" she called, leaping into the field of battle. "Mind if I cut in?"
The girl looked like she needed help. Europa hoped to dear god that it wasn't because she was still afraid to use her attack and instead because she'd had a rough night. It looked like she'd had a rough night.
Europa set her sights on the youma, still stubbornly refusing to acknowledge it as a bat. No, no, she didn't think the dark would do her much good here - she dithered briefly over what attack to use, then exclaimed, "Europa deep ocean pressure!"
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Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 11:35 am
Gunn's attempts to dodge were weak and rather pathetic; her uniform looked like she'd run it through a paper shredder, and her head was pounding. The sudden darkness of Europa's more powerful attack would have been welcome, but instead she just watched the bat monster crash to the ground where it mewled quietly. With the monster out of the way, she collapsed to the ground, clutching her head. "******** my life," she was saying quietly, voice rather taut with pain.
Her eyes flicked upward after a minute, catching sight of the familiar Super Sailor; she didn't smile very widely, but she did smile. "I'm out of power," she said, through gritted teeth. "I can stomp on its head but that's about it."
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Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 1:28 pm
Europa looked sympathetic for the other girl for a second, but that was it. "So stomp on its head!" she exclaimed, and dove at the creature, foot extended for a kick. It grunted in pain on connection, and Europa landed neatly.
She glanced back at Gunn. "What's wrong with you?" she asked. The girl looked like she was in pain - was it just because it was a long night, or had the youma done something to her?
The creature grunted, struggling under the weight of the attack, and Europa kicked it again. She glanced back at Gunn. "Are you okay?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 1:39 pm
The loud tone of Europa's voice made her flinch; it wasn't a cutesy little shudder, either, but a full-body jerk that made her head feel like she'd banged it against the wall. Easy for the more experienced sailor soldier to say. Her head didn't feel like it was just waiting for internal brain-melt temperature to be reached. It didn't feel like her brain was scrambled eggs, either, she was willing to bet.
"My head," she said through clenched teeth, fingers digging harder into her skull. "It was screaming." She scooted backwards, to the wall, and braced herself against it to stand; then, balance achieved, she stomped on one distended wing, was rewarded with a sharp crack. And it might have been all right, except then the monster let out another shriek like grinding metal and Gunn screamed, losing her balance to fall, clutching her head. "<********>," she whispered, "******** ******** ******** <********>--"
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Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 1:49 pm
Europa clutched her hands to her ears and fell to her knees beside Gunn. The attack had worn off and the badly-damaged Youma was advancing towards them. Unable to fly, it dragged itself, shrieking plaintively as it struggled towards the scouts.
Europa winced back, kicking at it as she scooted across the concrete and squinted in the streetlights, that were suddenly burning her retinas. She pulled one hand away from her ears long enough to thrust it at the creature and cry, "Europa deep ocean blackout!"
The world became quiet and dark, and her brooch lit up. Europa pulled her hands away from her ears and blinked the dizziness out of her vision. She got to her feet and gave the pathetic creature another kick. It was weakened - surely it wouldn't take much more.
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Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 2:15 pm
"I am just going to lay here and die," she said, dimly; she was on her side on the asphalt, eyes tightly shut, fingers plugging her ears. Europa's shout made red light shoot across the insides of her eyelids and she gritted her teeth for a moment, but after that, she dropped her hands. Silence, and a cracked eyelid revealed darkness. She sat up, relieved; Europa's most recent attack dispersed the shivering, whimpering beast, so she flopped back down on her side.
Gunn curled her knees up to her chest, hands pressing into her temples, tightly. "My brain feels like scrambled eggs," she whispered. How was she going to get home, god, maybe she should just call her house and ask one of the staff to get her. They'd just attribute it to underage partying gone bad and it wasn't like she had a parent or something to be reporting to anymore. Mutti and Vati had, alas, died in the coma surge; now it was just her, and some family in Germany who didn't have any legal hold over her.
After a moment, she thought to crack open both eyes and say, "Thank you," as calmly as she could.
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Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 3:06 pm
"Come on," sighed Europa, pulling Gunn up by her underarms. "Let's get you out of the street." She stumbled a bit on the curb - apparently the darkness moved with her - but managed to get the other girl propped up on a bus shelter bench without much further incident. "It'll wear off," she said sympathetically, assessing her wounds in the otherworldly blue glow of her brooch.
"We've got a healing factor," she explained, as the glow faded, the darkness vanished, and the bus shelter's fluorescent tube flickered back to life. "Like Wolverine."
(Europa had gotten caught up on NCIS and started watching superhero movies to pass the time until next season.)
She was quiet a while, and then added, "You're welcome."
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Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 4:01 pm
She sagged, grumbling ("Can't I stay here?") and then attempted some form of self-locomotion that kept her on her feet until they hit the bench. Once there, she snuggled herself back into the fetal position, forehead directly on her knees. "Oh great that is just what I needed," she muttered, lowly. Ugh, this was the worst night she'd ever had, she felt like s**t. So, after a minute, she dropped her transformation, pulled out her cell phone.
The migraine was slowly fading, she felt like she could brave the light again--but experimentation proved this to be untrue. She slapped her head down on her knees again, whimpering quietly as she could.
"I just want to die," she moaned, pressing her face against her knees. "This sucks. I set myself on fire twice."
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Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 4:38 pm
Europa bit her lip and then gave Kaatje a tentative pat on the back. "It gets better," she assured the other girl, although she felt like she was kind of sort of lying based on the fact that she'd never been set on fire. (Twice!) Mostly she'd just flailed and fought garden gnomes.
After a bit of awkward silence in which her arm was shrugged away, Europa looked Kaatje up and down and asked, "How are you getting home?"
She got to her feet and offered the girl a hand. "Where do you live? I'll give you a piggy-back ride."
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Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 5:22 pm
This whole cosmic soldier of love and justice ordeal getting better seemed like a very hollow promise right then; she knew that she should nod and smile and say thanks for the reassurance. But you know, she'd just buried her parents a few days ago, and she was tired and her head hurt and she'd just recently been confronting the reality of her own mortality. Maturity and manners seemed like things that were a far leap away. She rubbed under her eyes and looked up at Europa, sulkily, and then she got up rather unsteadily.
For three seconds, this lasted, then she toppled back onto the bench. "I was going to call home," she said, "but." And her face flamed stop-sign red, clear as a light in a dark room against her milky skin. She didn't really want to be thought of as an invalid, but at this point the help probably would call the grandparents, and then she'd just be ********, they'd send one of her cousins to watch her and.
She took Europa's hand, pulled herself up. For her height, she was scarily light, and her grip rather weak. "It would be appreciated, I live--not that far away, a block or two?..." She combed through her head for the exact address. Her face looked drawn, although it was probably more due to embarrassment than impending nausea. "It's... number four, up around Janesen Park. On Rose Hill?" Not that far indeed, and in what one might term as the "classier" area of Destiny City.
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Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 6:57 pm
Europa offered Gunn an apologetic smile and crouched to allow the other girl to climb onto her back. "Yeah, I sort of know where that is. You'll have to show me when we get close."
She took a running leap down the street. Kaatje was scarily light for her height, and the basic enhanced strength that came with being a Senshi made it even easier to carry her. "I lied," she intoned. "I don't know if it gets better. I think it gets easier, or else you just get used to it. And some night you can even enjoy it."
Europa, personally, was addicted to it. She couldn't remember who dull, ordinary Tallulah Cowden had been before she'd been the pretty-shorted warrior of justice, and certainly would hate to go back to being that person.
"Is it this house on the left?" she asked as they bounded into a swanky neighborhood.
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Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 7:26 pm
She nodded, and once she'd clambered onto Europa's back she slid her hands back over her eyes. Her head was still pounding, but she nodded a bit into the more experienced's shoulder again. That was more what she wanted to hear; she hmmmed and rubbed at her temple.
"You can control your attack," she said, resentfully; "of course it'd get better for you, of course it would," but she fell quiet, her breathing more jagged.
The house she indicated didn't look occupied; well, there was a light on in one window, but no cars were parked in its street-side spots. "Thanks," she said, sliding off Europa's back and stumbling. "They'll probably just think I'm... drunk or something. Hard-- hard night partying, or something." She smiled a little bit, and then took a few steps towards the stairs. "Thank you," she said, embarrassed. "For the save and the... the help home."
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Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 7:35 pm
Europa bit her tongue, deciding she wasn't in the mood to argue with Kaatje. The other girl had had a hard night. She'd taken a tough hit and trying to reassure her just tasted sort of sour.
"It's nothing," she said quietly, holding an arm out, afraid Kaatje might topple down the stairs at any moment. "Senshi have to look out for each other."
Kaatje seemed to be walking okay. Europa gestured vaguely, unsure of what to do with her arm, and added, "Really, any time you want someone to patrol with, you can call me."
She glanced around the empty foyer. Who else was home? Surely Kaatje didn't live here alone...
"I guess I should get going," she said awkwardly.
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Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 7:47 pm
Pridefully, she didn't take Europa's arm. Kaatje unlocked the door, stood inside her house and kicked off her expensive-looking sneakers. "Thanks," she said again, awkwardly, getting a little annoyed--but this sailor soldier had probably saved her life, so she bit it back. It wasn't like there was anything to accomplish that way and her head still hurt. She leaned into the doorframe as a light flicked on deeper into the house. "I'd ask you in but... dunno if you want to be seen. If you dropped your... transformation, you could probably play the good Samaritan, but..."
She tilted her head. "I'll call you next time I head out." But there was a definitely masculine form heading their way--the butler, though Europa might think it was her father.
"Think fast," Kaatje warned.
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