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 Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 6:06 pm
Asahi Kumoru Asclepius had taken several days off from being a superhero following her rather unfortunate loss. If nothing else, she was afraid that any further injuries would really worry her parents - the "falling down the stairs" excuse had backfired somewhat, with her mother scolding her to be more careful more than was entirely necessary, and the girl was afraid if she had to use that one again anytime soon, she would never hear the end of it.
It was also just a little hard, getting out to do the superhero thing again knowing that she was likely not going to stand a chance if the need to be a hero actually arose.
And if there were supposedly so many other senshi out there, why had Asclepius not seen any since Iris?
Her heels sounded awkwardly loud as she made her way down the sidewalk that ran along one side of the park. Running her fingers lightly along the fence railing, she studied the many colors of the bruises on her forearm in the light of the street lamp overhead, then turned her attention back to the park. Hopefully, she could jsut finish this walk, call the patrol done, and get home. Sooner rather than later.
Not that she was really scared, just ... needed more time to recover. Also, it was cold out.
Asclepius' heels clicked faster. Lithia_Brandon Chaonis spotted the other senshi without much difficulty, watching her from a rooftop for a moment as she hurried along. Was she on patrol, or scared of the dark and trying to get home? He saw women walking like that with bags of groceries or their purses held tight to their chests, with long shadows pursuing them in the night, or maybe just in their minds. He didn’t think it was very fitting for a senshi to be looking so fearful, though, and he decided to check things out.
His way.
Instead of dropping down in front of her and letting his presence be known, he dropped down from the other side of the alley, some feet behind her, landing as lightly as he could after scaling down the drains that ran down the side of the building. He brushed off his padded armor, though the white was as pristine as ever, and then made to follow her, grinning as he stuck to the walls and slinked through the shadows.
He did, however, make sure his footsteps made sounds before cutting off as he hide, making it clear that she was being followed. They made it to the park, though, before he was close enough for these efforts to actually pay off and reach her ears in the stillness of the night once she came to a stop. He stopped soon after, only to follow her again once she was moving. Asahi Kumoru The third time she felt the fine hairs on the back of her neck standing on end, Asclepius was no longer sure that she could blame it fully on the wind. It was still somewahat chilly out, but warmer than it had been. Normally she would have dismissed it as paranoia, but it seemed now like it could be a dangerous thing to ignore the sensation that she was being followed. She stole a glance over her shoulder and quickened her steps.
Part of her insisted that, while she was still on the mend, it would be best to avoid fighting entirely. But then she was supposed to be a superhero now. Maybe it had been a bad idea to come out here in the first place, if she really wanted to rest, though. Maybe now that she was out here, she might as well just see who was following her.
There was a space in the fence that circled the park up ahead; Asclepius slipped through the opening and up the path that went into the park. Not far ahead, there was a small cluster of trees. She could try hiding up in there or something, and see if she could catch a glimpse of the pursuer.
Jogging a couple steps, she got a good running start and jumped, aiming for a low branch in the nearest tree. At least this whole senshi thing had improved her tree-scaling skills. Lithia_Brandon Chaonis grinned, now close enough see her expression when she turned to look around her. It was kind of funny, pretending to be a bad guy, just to see how she reacted. Of course, if she turned out to be super powerful he really wouldn’t want to jump out at her and get himself killed or maimed. He would have to know when to end his game, but he was sure he’d see that moment when the time came. Anyway, he got bored easily, so there was that to think of as well.
They had met before, though he didn’t know it, and he had called on her to help him with his father after that night Tony got dragged into Elysion. Of course, she hadn’t exactly been the nurse he was expecting, and they ended up taking him to the hospital anyway, but at least she had come over when he called her in an effort to help. But she knew him as Nate, not Chaonis, and likewise he would only recognize her in her civilian form.
He saw her get through a fence and followed after her, pausing a moment before rattling the fence.
Then he hurried along after her, noting that she was running now, grinning broadly when he saw her disappear into a tree. He shook his head as he decided to reveal his location, but of course he was interrupted as a real shadow crawler, a youma that had been hunting her for a much shorter period of time, appeared. It had seen her jump into the tree and had been nearby, and now it lumbered over to the tree to get her down out of it.
Chaonis arched his eyebrow, wondering if she would think the youma had been the one following her all along. Asahi Kumoru The Senshi of Medicine was gathering up her skirts as much for modesty's sake as for camouflage's when she heard the park fence rattle. Her head snapped up and she held her breath momentarily, scanning the stretch of grass, mulched flowerbeds, and hedges for signs of movement.
The white armor of the other senshi caught her eye first, but Asclepius did not recognize him, either. And if he was another senshi, why had he been stalking her? Weren't they all supposed to be on the same side?
Another, much closer movement caught her attention then, however. This one was something not conveniently clad in white armor or robes like herself or the stranger, and in spite of Asclepius' eyes being more or less accustomed to the dark of the city, it felt like even the street lights and the lamps in the park made it difficult to make out the exact shape of whatever it was approaching her tree. Paranoia said that it was after her, and the rest of the girl agreed; worriedly, she glanced between it and the stranger, then picked her way through the tree to go out on a limb on the opposite side. She would see what the other senshi would do.
Also maybe try to catch a better look at the monster that had just reached the base of her tree.
Asclepius scanned the next tree over for a good landing spot, then jumped over there as carefully as she could. Her bruised arms picked up a few extra scratches from various twigs, but she made it alright.
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Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 11:40 am
The Senshi of Danger grinned. This was the s**t he lived for.
Fighting monsters, impressing the ladies, punching s**t in the face. What else could he want? True enough, the first and third things on his list were mostly the same, but then, he didn't always have to be hitting the monster in the face to be having face. This time it just happened to work out that way, as he had no reason to punch the other Senshi.
Even if he had just been stalking her. He wasn't a bad guy, just not a great guy.
It made sense in his head.
He ran over just in time to see the other senshi leaping from one tree to the other. He grinned at her, not sure she could see his face but putting on a show anyway. His focus then slipped to the youma, which had heard him coming and turned expectantly toward him. All the better to hit it, he decided, and he launched himself at the thing's head. It was built like a rino or a tank, or something, with a small head like thing attached to a large, thick body. Chaonis quickly learned it was very much like a catapult instead of the other choices, as it lashed its head and dislodged the senshi from it easily, sending him flying into the tree with Asclepius.
Literally: he slammed into her as if the youma had been aiming.
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Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 10:01 am
Convinced after her last encounter that she was useless on her own, Asclepius waited to see what would happen when the other senshi started to make his move. She could support him, at least, but apparently he would have to be the one to throw the punches.
... Speaking of throwing--!!
As the youma bodily hurled the other senshi at her, Asclepius started to half-stand on the branch, eyes widening as the limb quivered slightly. Her head snapped from side to side in search of another branch that looked close enough to jump to and strong enough to hold her; all this meant however was that she was not looking when Chaonis finally hit her.
With a shriek, the girl fell over backwards, and would have dropped straight out of the tree had her leg not caught over the branch. Asclepius panicked momentarily, until the impact with the ground never came and she realized that she was still dangling upside down from one leg. With two senshi on it, the branch was bowing slightly, but Asclepius could still not touch the ground with her hands.
Coming down gently then fell off the list of options as the youma turned its attention to her. Its head was too low to the ground to quite reach her, but it seemed to have realized that its broad shoulders would do quite nicely for bumping her the rest of the way out of the tree.
Squirming a little, Asclepius sat up and tried to grab the branch with one hand to pull herself back up onto it, but had a bit of trouble.
She closed her fingers instead around a trailing length of police tape (apparently part of the other senshi's uniform?) and tugged on it hard enough to be sure she had his attention but not hard enough to risk dragging him out of the tree, too.
"Hey, can you give me a hand?" she asked with a touch of reluctance in spite of the urgency of the situation. The sting of the tree bark scrape on her leg was setting in, and the youma looked like it might start just shaking the whole tree with its huge body if it could not pick off Asclepius by herself.
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Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 4:55 pm
Chaonis grunted as his body crashed into something less hard than the branches should have been. He knew it was the senshi he had been teasing, and then trying to help, but he didn't have time to think about it since they were both still trapped in the momentum of the throw.
At least he had been slowed down a bit by the heavy hit.
He clung to the branch, not sure if he was backwards or upside down or what was going on for a moment. He struggled to restore some sense of equilibrium, nearly falling out of the tree himself as he rolled too far one way. He yelped in surprise.
"Hey, let go," Chaonis said, realizing the other senshi was latched on to the bow he wore, made of caution tape. Stronger than caution tape, of course, though he wouldn't have minded if it tore and she dropped like a stone because of it. He noticed she wasn't trying to pull him out of the branches, at least, but he still frowned moodily.
The youma was making its way over toward them, and might have been able to reach her as she dangled if it tried to. And it was trying to, picking up speed. Chaonis saw that and cursed quietly, rolling his eyes and reaching down for Asclepius to grab his hand and for him to pull her back into the tree.
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 11:53 am
"Thank you," Asclepius murmured as, with his help, she managed to right herself on the branch again. She remained seated on it for the moment, and swung her other leg over to sit sideways.
The youma, meanwhile, no longer having the opportunity to knock her off the branch, instead seemed to have settled on charging the tree.
The Senshi of Medicine chewed her lip for a moment, glancing between the other senshi and the charging monster. She had no choice but to rely on his help, she had learned through hard experience last time, but she was still reluctant to have to count on anyone she did not know. And she sure as hell was not going to look like she was waiting for him to make the first move.
There was really only a second before the youma would hit the tree head-on. Asclepius did not want to slip or fall out of it again. So she slid off of the branch, jumping down to land on the youma's broad back, and clung to its matted fur while it ran into the tree.
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 6:09 pm
Super Sailor Chaonis eyed her furiously. He was annoyed that the youma was now focusing on them, trying to knock down the tree, and he blamed her fully for that. True enough, he had been stalking her and probably led to her being targeted by the youma because she had been trying to get away from him. True enough, he had just jumped on the youma's face and angered it, getting himself thrown into the tree with her.
But none of that matter.
This was clearly still her fault. And he chose to be angry at her for it.
Chaonis looked at the youma as it charged, then at the senshi beside him."What are you waiting for? An invitation? We're ducks in this tree!" Sitting ducks, of course, but he didn't need to explain that to her, did he? He was sure she had to be clever enough to know an old adage when she heard part of it, though... she was just sitting in the tree while there was a youma butt to kick...
He leaped from the tree, landing on top of the youma. He wasn't exactly careful, and had no real plan in mind. It had just seemed like a good idea at the time, and now he had to work with it. He was surprised, then, to find she had jumped with him.
"Well, hello! You got an attack?" He asked, gripping the youma as it slammed into the tree, then began to try and toss them from it by shaking and bucking. As best as it could, anyway. It was not built like a horse or bull, and its feet weren't exactly made for kicking. Still, it was difficult to hang on.
Chaonis clambered nearer to its face, swinging a punch for its eye.
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Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 6:47 pm
Asclepius, for one, was fairly certain this guy had lead the youma straight to her, and she had to wonder if it was on purpose. Seriously, what had that s**t-eating grin on his face earlier been for anyway?
So when he snapped at her, the Senshi of Medicine had to resist the urge to deck her supposed ally.
"What, you had to lead this thing straight to me because you couldn't handle it yourself or something?" she shot back, her voice strained with the effort of clinging on to the youma's back. Gritting her teeth, she hauled herself up onto its back like she was going to ride it, and steadied herself as well as she could.
The momentary rush of extra adrenaline after nearly falling out of the tree was starting to fade a little bit, and the unsteadiness of the thrashing monster made her body ache. But now, with this other senshi here apparently wanting to be a pain in the a**, Asclepius could not show any signs of weakness. Or any hint that she was worried about how this might turn out.
For now, if she could only hold on with one hand, then she could punch the beast with the other. There should be some spot in the shoulder, some tendon or ligament, that would hurt if she jabbed it just right....
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Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 11:21 pm
Chaonis looked at her, his jaw dropping a bit.
"You... what. What. No. I don't need your help. What exactly do you think you're doing, as far as helping me goes? Besides being a good catcher's mitt and falling out of trees?"
Of course, it wasn't the best time to get his pride all bunched up like the proverbial pair of panties.
Chaonis was bucked from the monster, since his hold wasn't exactly secure considering he was punching the thing in the eye, and he went sprawling to the floor. He rolled, scrambling to his feet as fast as he could.
"Warning!" he yelled, frustrated, "Earthquake zone!!"
He lunged for the youma then, punching whatever he could reach. He had a boost of power in him now because of his magical attack, though he could not stretch it for too long. That was fine: the attack always went out with a bang, which he thought his partner would get a kick out of it. He would show her not being able to handle it.
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Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 9:04 pm
"So why were you following me?" Asclepius asked between clenched teeth as she struggled to keep the beast from throwing her. A shriek of surprised indicated failure, as she tumbled from its back a moment later, as well.
She rolled clear as well, and pushed herself back to her feet, though not quite as quickly as the other senshi. The youma almost immediately started coming after both of them again; fortunately or unfortunately, it looked to be a bit too close to build up enough speed for a particularly dangerous charge.
The Senshi of Medicine was starting to feel a bit winded already, but did her best not to let it show, instead clenching her fists and moving to stand beside her impromptu battle partner. Then he made another move to attack, apparently using his own magical ... person ... magic. He was senshi of something else, and she did not know what yet, but the girl supposed she would find out in a moment.
In the meanwhile, he rushed at the beast as well, swinging another punch at the creature. Asclepius' medical training so far served to give her a better idea where it would hurt most to hit a person, but she was mostly making things up as far as this monster's anatomy was concerned.
As her fist connected with hairy hide (did that hurt the youma any more than it had hurt her knuckles?), she glanced over to see how the other senshi's assault was going.
And then it registered in her brain that the tape wound around his waist said, "CAUTION".
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 9:29 am
Chaonis was enjoying himself. The youma was slow to him now, at least because he was getting used to how the thing moved. He punched the youma repeatedly, around its head. He didn't care if he was doing damage or not, though he had to keep bouncing around to make sure he wasn't thrown again by it. He laughed wildly, finding the exercise a very good stress release.
Or whatever he had that qualified as stress, at least.
"Alright, big boy!" He said, grinning ear to ear. He knew Asclepius was helping him out in the fighting, but he also knew that she was a senshi and she would be able to get out of the way of his attack with a little warning. That warning came as a very potent look and a jerk of his head. More than enough, clearly.
Focusing, he felt the energy of his attack dispel, and the real magic, as he liked to think of it, made the earth beneath their feet start to shake. The tree they had been in fell over as the earth split and the youma rocked, a large crack opening underneath its feet. The floor right under Chaonis seemed unaffected, but the same couldn't be said for anything around him. But he didn't care about the collateral: he was focusing on the youma.
It got jammed in the earth, unable to get out or attack them. Leaving it vulnerable to attacks that would turn it to dust, hopefully. Unless it managed to get itself out.
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 6:17 pm
Asclepius caught his gaze and nodded, then jumped away. Almost immediately, a sound like an approaching eighteen-wheeler filled the air, and the branches of the poor, abused nearby tree started rustling as the ground beneath it shook.
Even when she landed, she could still feel slight trembling, though fortunately it was not difficult to keep her footing. The whole tree fell over, and the girl dodged to the side again to avoid the crashing branches. Wasn't it kind of bad that they were tearing up the park?
Though, it was still a relief to see the youma trapped.
Once the ground stopped rolling and rumbling, Asclepius hurried back in to continue her onslaught as well. Maybe not as impressive as the other senshi's attacks, but it felt good to be on the winning side of a fight this time.
As for showing off her own senshi power, well ... only if it was absolutely necessary. This youma seemed pretty durable, but the park did not. It seemed pretty soundly stuck in the ground, too, though, and so she took advantage of this to pummel on it.
... Just how much of a beating could this thing take? At least the oversized mosquitos had been relatively fragile.
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 7:22 pm
Chaonis looked proud of himself. It was rather hard to distinguish this look from his general expression, one of haughty confidence, but there was a slight spark in his eyes that was just slightly more keen than usual. His grin curled in a different way. He had his hands on his hips and he let out a laugh, dipping backwards as he did so.
"Whoo!" He said, letting out a breath. It took it out of him, sometimes, to use that attack. Especially when he put so much focus in bending the earthquake to target someone. But even so, he generally though that the outcome justified the exhaustion afterward.
Anyway, he thought it all looked and seemed pretty damn awesome, and he looked at Asclepius for her opinion on the matter. A look of awe would suffice.
He let her finish it off, taking a moment to catch his breath. It wasn't long for the world, and it exploded into dust before long under her attacks. He grinned, sitting down casually on the felled tree.
"You're welcome," he said, grinning broadly at her.
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 7:58 pm
Asclepius finished beating the monster back into mysterious bad guy stuff, then tilted her head slightly to one side as she turned to look back at her ally. She quirked one brow, and declined to respond to him until she had caught her breath.
"What's your name, then, dashing hero?" the girl inquired after a few moments, voice dripping sarcasm at the moniker. She crossed her arms and remained standing where she was beside the newly-formed fissure in the ground.
Part of her wanted to thank him, since it was obvious after her last encounter that she was not cut out for fighting alone. But the rest of Asclepius was not sure how she felt about doing anything that might lead to having to fight another battle with this guy. True, he had done the job, but was all that flash and show really necessary? If she had to have a partner, Asclepius wanted one who would get the job done quickly and be through with it.
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 8:42 pm
Chaonis chose to ignore her sarcasm, deciding himself the hero she must have really been thankful for, or she wouldn't have said it at all. Even hidden under sarcasm, which, of course, he was selectively not hearing anyway so it didn't matter.
"Sailor Chaonis," he said, with that cocky grin, offering her his hand, though he didn't get up from his tree. She would have to come to him if she wanted to meet him properly. And it was rude to just leave him there with his hand offered, wasn't it? "Senshi of Danger." Super Senshi, as it were.
"I noticed you didn't use your attack. So what are you? The Senshi of Inconvenience? Really Long Coats? Short Skirts? Because, to be honest, I've seen shorter." He tilted his head at her, still offering his hand for as long as it would take for her to come over and shake it.
His keen eyes settled on her face, after looking her over critically.
"Are you new to this scene? I haven't seen you patrolling around here before."
True enough, he didn't exactly patrol this area regularly, but he was around enough to at least feel like he could say that and get away with it. Anyway, the best way to get someone talking was to make assumptions about them, and see how they reacted and responded. It usually worked, and being blunt with thoughts was a lot better and more interesting than p***y footing around.
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 10:41 am
The girl reached up to brush a few hairs away from her face, then extended her hand as well ... and stood right where she was also.
"Sailor Asclepius," she replied flatly. "Senshi of Wouldn't You Like to Know." To her, the sphere seemed obvious from her name, but, well, looking at this guy ... probably not.
"Do you do this a lot? Lead monsters to girls so they attack us and then beat them up and act like you're doing us a favor?" Her eyes narrowed slightly. "And is my skirt long enough that you won't do it again?"
Asclepius did not bother to answer his other question. Mostly because the answer was yes and she did not want to let that on. Part of her worried if she did, she might never get rid of this guy. Suddenly self-conscious of the bruises on her arms from her last defeat (and noting that he did not seem to be interested in meeting her for a handshake), she withdrew her hand and crossed her arms.
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