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After wrapping up the 11:00 News at DCNN and dropping Kam off at his place, Penny had made her way back to her apartment only to find her fridge beerless. It was a frustration for her. The way she liked to unwind after a long night was with a beer and a cigarette. With a groan of frustration, Penny transformed quickly into Cimmerian and decided to use the speed boost to make the trip a little less time-consuming.

She was already on her way back to her apartment. There was a six pack of beer under her arm and a cigarette dangling from her lips. At 5'0" flat, the 27-year-old crimefighter didn't look like any kind of super hero. A homeless man glanced up at her as she jogged by, a blur of too-quick motion for his bleary eyes to focus on.

There was a path through the tiny park the city had installed to try to green up her neighborhood. It was badly lit and a haven for crime, but with her Page self in full swing, Cimmerian didn't think twice before veering a hard left and jogging into the darkness. She had beer to drink and didn't want to waste a moment of time.

The javelin landed directly in front of Cimmerian. She let out a gasp of surprise and slammed to a stop. Despite dedicated years of kickboxing, Meri was still not agile enough to predict the future. She didn't see this coming, her toe caught on the shaft of the spear, and she went sprawling forward. The beer bottles shattered upon impact pressing bits of broken glass into the exposed flesh of her stomach.

Rolling out of the fall, Meri popped up quickly, which was impressive enough. "What the ******** ********," she swore. A particularly large shard of glass was caught just above her belly button. She grimaced in preparation and then pulled it free, tossing it to the ground. A thin trail of blood dripped from the cut down to the line of lace at her waist.

Youmas didn't throw spears, and the only other Knight she knew of was Gehenna. He fought with gloves. Reaching out, Meri tugged the spear from the ground and stared at it, squinting in the darkness to try and see who had thrown it. Her elbows were grass-burned, her stomach had a few pieces of glass still buried in it, and her beer had been destroyed. "You're paying for that s**t, I hope you realize," she said.

The inexperienced Page had no idea that there might be something to fear. She had always been headstrong in this way, even as a civilian.

Cimmerian jumped as the javelin disappeared from her hand and reappeared in the stranger's. That was... a new trick. Her own weapon was strapped across her back. She clutched at the taut bow string. Something prickled in the air, but Meri was too inexperienced to realize what it was. She had seen footage of the magical schoolgirls and the militant fighters in plenty of news reels, but she had never been able to tell much of a difference. Now that she was face-to-face with this girl, Meri honestly had no idea what she was. There was a crackling of dark energy. She could feel the difference between this girl's vibes and her own, but she had absolutely no idea what that meant.

Instantly, she regretted going out with Gehenna. The first time she did it, a youma attacked her, and Kurma happened to come along to save her. The second time she did it to make it to work on time, another youma came for her. This was only her third time transforming into Cimmerian without Gehenna at her side, and she was already encountering someone that was making her stomach clench tightly.

Esabel had told Penny what it meant to be a Knight. She had neglected to inform her about the Negaverse.

Cimmerian frowned. "I stink of booze because you tripped me and smashed a six-pack on my stomach, you mouthy t**t," she said, pointing at the bits of glass that still clung to her. There was another big piece. She pinched it out with another swear. Meri had a mouth on her, and that mouth was full of dirt.

"I'm not a senshi, I'm a ******** Page, and you are a goddamn asshat. These are the things we know." A hole. Meri was digging it. Even as her head whirled with alarm bells, she could only find herself fixating on the annoyance of the issue at hand. If this girl wanted to attack her, she would have, right?

Page? Book? Oh, cute. This one had some banter. As someone who spent her days pulling news stories, overseeing edits, and finally helping stream line them to make it on air, Cimmerian had the fight to urge to dispense a series of pointers to the other girl. Then a word left her mouth that had Meri's vision blurring: Negaverse.

Of course she was a Nega! How could Meri have been so stupid?

Before she could even pull her bow from her shoulder, the Page of Pluto was slammed with three blows in quick succession. She managed to mildly deflect the final one to her back with a quick turn, but that was thanks to years of kickboxing, not because of any actual fighting experience.

Toppling forward, Meri wiggled her bow over her shoulder and pulled free an arrow, hopping to her feet as quickly as she could. She was already bleeding from the glass, and now her shoulder and thigh stung from the blows. "******** you!" she shouted. It did absolutely nothing to help her in battle, but it sure did make her feel better.

She tried to run backward and notch a blunt arrow in her bow, but Painite was too close. The string of her bow hadn't even been stretched when she let the arrow drop to the ground. With no options, Cimmerian hefted her bow above her head and swung it forward at Painite, aiming for the girl's neck.

Cimmerian had trained with a hanging bag. She had occasionally gotten in the ring when challenged. There had been some scuffles in high school, a drunken bar fight twice in college when her mouth got ahead of her. None of these things properly prepared her to face a Negaverse Captain. The only thing that was keeping her alive was agility, and a good portion of that was due to the suped up nature of her Knighthood -- even then, Painite was stronger by much too much.

Her strike with the blow hit, but the resulting parry from Painite was barely dodged. Meri came away with a shallow cut on her arm. Her stomach, her arm -- this girl was really trying to ******** her up? It was perhaps then that Cimmerian realized how serious this was. "Get AWAY from me!" she barked, throwing a rapid series of punches and jabs. Her fist packed more power than a senshi, but she was still fighting a losing battle against a Captain.

Without Gehenna at her side, Cimmerian felt incredibly vulnerable. They might not be the most experienced crimefighters in the world, but together, they had managed to dust a few youma without major complications. She did not fancy herself someone who really needed other people in order to be a success. In that moment, facing an opponent she knew was better than her, Meri could only think of Ghen and hope that he might fall out of the sky to help her beat this. Becoming a Page had been startling, but there had been an excitement in her awakening too, a power-high. Now, Cimmerian was experiencing her very first extreme low.

“You AREN’T clever!” she snapped. There were so many insults that Meri wanted to hurl at Painite, words to tear her down. The girl was a master at words – but not one harsh snap or stinging quip would help her beat the Negaverse Captain. No sneer would make the spear move slower. No crude comment about her intelligence would turn the tides. Cimmerian was on the run, and she saw no escape in sight.

It was terrifying, even for a girl who was normally so adaptable and determined.

The swipe of the javelin set her off-balance, digging a nasty gash across her bare stomach as she swerved to avoid a killing blow. Tears stung her eyes. She swore loudly, tumbling backward. Her fall was broken by a bright orange cone. Flat on her stomach, Cimmerian could feel the world buzzing in and out of focus. If this fight went on for a moment longer, she knew the probability of her surviving would be slim. One hand reached blindly forward to grip for her bow. Instead, she felt the metal rim of an open manhole.

There was no time for second guessing. With a cry of pain, the Page of Pluto forcibly threw herself down into the pitch black hole. She felt ten feet straight down. Her shoulder slammed against the metal side and dislocated. Another cry of pain echoed out. Sludge and grime three feet deep provided enough cushion for her to fall without breaking her neck. Her wrist felt sprained. The filthy water burned in her cuts like acid.

Sobbing and barely coherent, Cimmerian gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand. She could barely see six inches in front of her, but still, she ran. She ran blindly, limping through the tunnel, and did not stop until she was certain no one would find her.