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 Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 4:20 pm
Time had passed since the terrible Halloween Masque, and even less since the considerably more horrible battle between Taranis and Castor on the dreaded playground just a few blocks away. At first, the senshi of sand thought he might hole up for awhile, maybe just sneak into Magellan's house at night and otherwise shirk his duties. But something about his terrible interaction with Castor had the boy on edge. He didn't want to hide out in a bedroom, regardless of the warm body that shared that space with him, and regardless still of his bruised ribs.
As much as he resented the royal ruling class of the senshi, Taranis could not argue with the presence of the crystal at the Ball and the words that Serenity had said to them. There were more. There were more of these little crystals of great power floating out in DC. The Negaverse already had one too many. Taranis did not intend to let another crystal slip out of their hands so easily.
It was with that in mind that he insisted one of his favorite trainees, Sailor Themis, go on patrol with him. Both boys were sporting charming injuries, even if Themis had the more obvious of the two. On the phone, Taranis insisted that senshi had to be on guard at all times, injured or not. He told Themis that he would need to learn how to fight regardless of how sick or well he was. He more or less said anything and everything to convince the senshi of noise to come out with him that night.
Perhaps Taranis himself was not sure why it mattered to him that he saw Themis. The boy had proven himself as reliable when he hopped up to challenge Beryl at the Ball. He continued to prove himself in his willingness to come out that night. Most importantly, Taranis felt like Themis would not ask probing questions about Castor, or Linarite, or everything that had happened. And if he did, Taranis thought Themis would have the good sense to back off if he asked it.
Hanging out on the edge of a roof, Taranis scanned the street below and waited for his apprentice to arrive.
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Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 4:41 pm
It had been an epic battle that had been fought on two fronts, that one. The first had been with Taranis, on his senshi phone. He couldn't see himself being all that useful with his main arm broken. Sure, it didn't hurt anymore, but it was still encased in fiberglass (now somewhat glitter-covered, thanks to Istas) and mostly useless. In his mind, being nice and quiet would assure he healed quickly, and thus, returned at full strength faster.
Maybe a part of him just wanted to cuddle up with Bell. That was always a nice activity.
Taranis had been oddly insistent, and it was easy to tell that there was something on the other boy's mind, but he hadn't asked. He could see the logic, which had helped.
The other front of the battle had been with Bell herself, and that had been a small miracle in itself, but somehow, he'd managed to convince her that this was better. With his pen, at least he could henshin up and run away. Or something.
But he had a very, very, very long list of promises to keep. Don't patrol outside the training. Don't fight alone, if you have to fight. If anything weird was spotted, he was to call her, no matter the time of the day or night. And he was certainly not allowed to die, or she'd go and kill him.
He pointed out that she couldn't quite kill him if he was dead. She hadn't found him funny.
And that was how Sailor Themis was now making a series of very calculated jump to his destination. He was not sporting the sling he used while being Xavier - that was like walking with a bullseye consisting of 'HI, IM INJURIED, COME PUNT ME'. That was just plain common sense. His fuku more or less hid the cast as well, but his movements betrayed the injury - his right arm was stiff and jerky, if not hanging more or less uselessly at his side while he wasn't in motion.
At least, he did the last jump, landing on the roof Taranis had been waiting for him on. He wasn't going to do the same mistake twice, and now it was Themis' turn to wait for Taranis to notice him.
Probably wouldn't take long.
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Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 4:47 pm
Despite his quiet jumping, Themis still stuck out to the senshi of sand as he made his approach. It probably had something to do with the puff of light energy that the boy carried with him, an aura that registered in his mind the moment Themis came into range. Taranis raised one eyebrow at the sight of a glittery cast peeking out from beneath the other boy's long coat. "Do you... have a little sister?" he said, fighting the urge to laugh.
Taranis pushed himself to his feet, wincing a bit. Apparently he wasn't so good at hiding his injuries either.
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Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 4:53 pm
Themis rose an eyebrow at that, clueless for a few seconds until his brain caught up, and he folded the sleeve of his coat over said glittery cast. "No, just a little girl I know." He'd wondered, sometimes, what it was like to have been an older brother. He probably would never get to know - if his mother had spawned again with her ********, he'd never been aware of it.
And he felt sorry for the kid if she had.
"You're sure you're fine ?" Really. He'd said he was also hurt when they spoke earlier, but that didn't look pleasant at all. At least his broken arm wasn't fresh anymore. It had also been a clean break - small bout of lucks in his misfortune.
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Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:10 pm
The arched eyebrow bounced back down, a little chuckle rumbling past flat lips. He had always been an only child. The only sister he had died before he got a chance to know her. A part of him liked to think she wouldn't be the type to turn his cast into a glitter factory either. Having a sibling might have been nice... The idea cropped up quietly in the back of his mind.
Taranis led the way across the rooftops, hopping first and finding the easiest paths for Themis to take with his injury. "I'm fine," he said at last. "Just stay worried about yourself."
One hand hooked on a low drain pipe, and Taranis went swinging to the next roof. He let out a sharp cry. It was too much of a strain to do that. "Ah, I'm fine," he said again. Taranis cupped his ribs, moving slowly along the edge. His eyes strayed to Themis. "So, what's new?" Apparently, Taranis wanted to engage in a little small talk that night.
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Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:20 pm
That was going to be a little harder than that. Just like the senshi switch had refused to completely turn off during his little hiatus of sorts, the part of him that worried also refused to completely turn itself off.
He landed right after Taranis did, ready to at least try to do an epic one-arm catch if it was needed. Didn't look like it would, thankfully. "Not much." The answer only came when he deemed that Taranis wasn't about to barrel off the building. "Im right handed, so im kind in my own little personal, boring hell at the moment."
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Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:23 pm
The roof ahead was a long one that stretched the length of a shopping mall. Taranis took the free strolling time to gently stretch out his sides. "Ribs are used for everything," he mused, a hint of annoyance touching his voice. "But it's not my first time dealing with it. When I first found out I was a senshi, the second youma I ever met broke two of my ribs. I was out of commission for a month." He shook his head at the memory.
Yeah, things definitely could be worse.
After a few more steps, Taranis threw a sidelong glance to the senshi of noise. "The Masque was interesting," he said. It was his form of an opener. "Was that... the first time you've seen Serenity?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:32 pm
"Ouch." He said, sympathetically. Yeah, it sounded like he had the better end of the stick, even if he had to most obvious injury. He fell into step beside his teacher easily enough, and seemed content to follow until Taranis deemed it otherwise. Themis had never been much of a leader-type. He was more of the quiet, trying-to-be-efficent type, as the senshi of sand had probably already noticed - which was a little ironic, considering his sphere. "I guess I got lucky. Youma threw me the hell around, but I never got anything worse than bruises."
And then he got his arm broken. By a blue-haired b***h with moose antlers. Yeah. Not his most shining moment. He was completely unaware Taranis has his own issues with another, much stronger blue-haired negaverse agent.
"Yeah. 'Interesting'." One handed air-quotes and all. The ball still made him a little cranky. He paused at the mention of Serenity - as if he didn't know what he was talking about, but then it clicked. "You mean the ghost-like woman ? I'd never seen her before, but... it felt like I heard her voice somewhere before." But that made no sense, right ?
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Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:53 pm
"Not yet," Taranis interjected. "Injuries are just a part of the job."
The alleyway loomed up ahead, a gap between the stretch of shopping mall and the next building. "That ghost was our Queen," he said, scratching at the back of his arm. "Serenity. Apparently, she has appeared to others before, but," Taranis shrugged, "that was my first time seeing her. Or... a form of her." It was an oddly honest moment for the senshi of sand.
Truth was that he was pretty confused about seeing their supposed queen. Not too long ago, he had teased Castor for even believing in her. To see her there, to feel the warmth she gave off... It confused Taranis. He wasn't sure what to do. So apparently, Themis was his sounding board about it.
"If the crystals are out there," he began, balancing one foot on the edge of the building. "Then we need to find them. We can't let any more fall to the Negas."
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Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:58 pm
"Serenity, uh." He pondered out loud, a thoughtful look on his face. "...Seems like she's aptly named, at the very least."
Thankfully, he had at least some base facts of what had happened after he'd hit the wall and passed out. The Queen's words had echoed in his unconscious mind - his teammates had filled most of the rest. This saved him from being completely clueless. "How do we know where they are and when they'll come, though ?" Maybe he'd missed that memo, but he didn't remember anything about timing and such. "And how many are there ?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 1:17 am
It was nice being around someone who didn't think the sun shone out of their absent ruler's a**. Unfortunately, after her brief appearance in the Masque, Taranis was starting to feel warm fuzzies when he imagined their Queen. It was precisely the kind of of warm fuzzies that were bound to hold him back from asserting a new ruling class, the kind that he had dreamed about the entire bus ride back from California.
But that was before he discovered Magellan was alive, before he saw Castor kiss a Nega, and before Serenity had appeared to comfort them all.
"Serenity is the reason we exist," he said quietly. "For better or worse, we do owe her some kind of allegiance. I'm just not sure we should sit on our hands until she gets here." Taranis waved a hand at the air. "It's like evangelists waiting for Jesus to fall from the sky again."
Even as the words left his mouth, Taranis felt a need to suck them back in. Serenity was not a perfect ruler, but from the moment his eyes fell on her that night, he felt... something. When she told them to get the crystal, he jumped into action. At the time, he thought it was of his own ambition, but now, looking back, the senshi of sand could remember feeling pushed to do it by a sense of duty -- a sense of duty to Serenity.
When it came to the crystals, Taranis had less guidance to impart. "We just need to make sure we get them next ti--" A noise in the alley below them silenced the senshi. He held one hand up to stop Themis. One boot was poised on the edge of the roof. Taranis leaned forward.
From where they stood, he could make out a pair of bare female legs... and the wriggling blob of some kind of giant squirrel youma perched on top of the prone body. It was unclear whether the woman was alive, but in a flash of a second, Taranis knew it was his duty to fight as if she were. "Civilian!" he hissed to Themis. No sooner had the words left his mouth, and Taranis was in attack mode.
His hands swelled around him, and he shouted, "Taranis Mud Blast!" The ball formed, spun, and was fired down below, a rocket off of his fingertips. The youma turned in time to see it and banked left. It survived the attack, but lost its right arm. Judging by the way it suddenly began to scale the side of the building, teeth gnashing and tail whipping wildly, it was none too pleased about being interrupted either.
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 9:13 am
The blonde listened, silently, at what Taranis had to tell him. Any information was better than no information. He knew it to be true, deep inside him. Serenity is the reason we exist. It was so odd, to feel this way about a woman he had effectively never met. But the memory of her voice returned, and it all seemed to snap into place. It made him feel the very same warm fuzzies that Taranis felt. Her voice had been gentle and kind... much like a mother's voice, in a way.
"I don't think she wants us to wait." The words were out before he could truly think about them, but he didn't take them back. "Why would she have urged us to action, otherwise ?" They weren't expected to just sit on their asses and wait. At least, this was the impression he got.
Whatever else he had meant to answer to Taranis' last statement was lost along with the rest of the other senshi's sentence, and he waited, sliding into a less relaxed stance. It was easier to bolt at a moment's notice if he wasn't just standing around like an idiot.
But then a single word was enough to make him freeze. Civilian. The closest he had gone to a situation were civilians were involved in a youma attack was that one night where he had met Gunn - and they had only been under a spell that had easily broken off once the youma burned out by its own ghostly fires. This... wasn't exactly the same situation. Were they too late ?
His mind was racing. He couldn't attack here - the youma would probably fall back down, right to it's intended prey again. It was better if the very pissed off squirrel made it's way to them first.
"Ill do my attack when it's up here." He finally said. "I don't want it to fall back onto the woman. Ill distract it and you can finish it."
That was a somewhat solid plan... in theory.
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 10:32 am
The squirrel youma dug its claws into the brick siding of the building, sending great chunks of hard material raining down on the alley below. Taranis backpedaled quickly, looking around for some kind of weapon to use against it. The best he saw was a bent piece of metal that had fallen off a steam pipe. He snatched it up, tested its weight in his hand.
As the youma rounded the lip of the roof, Taranis locked his eyes on its beady yellow eyes and the swish of its puffy tail. "Themis," he said sharply. "Do what you have to do, but then check on the civilian. We'll -- ughnf!" A long bead of spit struck the senshi of sand in the chest. It tightened and then pulled him forward with the same force as a frog's tongue.
Apparently the youma had some other tricks.
Taranis lifted the metal piece and bashed it into the side of the youma's head.
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 10:41 am
Oh, god. Okay, that was gross.
And then he just as quickly deemed it to be close enough. His right arm rose in the air, and he called out his attack.
Taranis didn't even have time to get a headache - the attack had only barely started that it faded away. Themis hadn't tried to do his attack with his broken arm before. Turned out, it was a bad idea. The senshi of noise had a similar look at Taranis had earlier, after his jump.
OWOWOWOWOWOW. He was also muttering something. It was probably better that it wasn't understandable.
He didn't have time to worry about his own pain, though - instead, he charged the youma to punch it with his left. It was his weaker hand, though, but at least he still hit.
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 11:57 am
The squirrel youma clenched its remaining hand around the senshi of sand's throat and began to squeeze. The momentary flare of Themis's attack stunned it enough to drop Taranis, and the ensuing punch gave him even more time to gain his bearings. When he did, however, he was not happy. "THEMIS," he shouted. "Go to the civilian! I've got this."
Just to prove it, he stabbed the metal piece into the foot of the youma, and it let out a bellowing wail, its tail puffing up like a balloon. "GO!" The youma was back on Taranis. It lifted him up by one foot, and he kicked at it with his other boot. The youma dropped him again, and Taranis let out a painful wheeze.
Yeah, this was going to be interesting.
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