|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 11:23 pm
Asclepius dangled her legs off of her little balcony momentarily as she checked the zipper on her small backpack full of first aid supplies, then slipped off the rail and dropped lightly to the lawn. Sneaking out at night had become disturbingly second-nature to the girl who ordinarily eschewed parties and social gatherings in favor of studying. But, well, times had changed. Her work had changed.
Mindful of her phone, and also of whatever energies were in the area, she darted won the street to make her own patrol - not really hunting foes to defeat so much as anyone in need of help. The Senshi of Medicine was not sure she was quite cut out for battling. Certainly not on the scale she had seen on the night when so many friends and foes had gathered for that massive war in the abandoned sector of town. Learning to mend the body was difficult enough without also having to work to learn about tactics, killing blows, and the like. The girl figured she could stick to her strengths in superhero form, as well.
It seemed like someone was out to ruin her evening, though - before she was out of her neighborhood, Asclepius sensed an uncomfortable darkness from the park near her house. Something big. Something that she was not really sure she wanted to battle tonight. Mostly because her luck in such matters had been so terrible lately.
Still, though, crazy as it was, there were still sometimes joggers or dog-walkers or kids with too much money and not enough supervision down on the trail in the woods. Well, or as close to woods as one could get in this part of the city. It was secluded enough for Asclepius to suspect that someone would need help, and so the senshi made her way to the trail and headed down the jogging trail as quietly as she could manage.
... It really was dark here at night. Asclepius crouched by the side of the trail near the bushes, just waiting and listening as she willed her eyes to adjust to the lower light more quickly.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 12:37 pm
Themis wasn't getting much better lately - he henshined up to escape his civilian worries, and avoided henshin to avoid his senshi problems.
Neither were working very well for him, through he could at least pretend that things were fine to most people he met. Expect Bell. Bell had a damn radar on her. Maybe it was secret girlfriend power.
But there was no amount of love and care that Bell could give to him that would magically solve all these problems for him. Because, really, it was all that it was - multiple problems, though all important, but all of them added up created a mass that seemed unsurmontable.
It wouldn't stop until Themis stopped running and faced his own problems - he wouldn't stop feeling lost, beaten, and bruised until he faced everything, every issues that he had, in of coat and out, one by one, and untangled the weave that was slowly choking him.
Tonight, distraction came quickly - in the form of a mass of dark energy. His experience told him that it wasn't any negaverse agent. It was youma. And by the look of it, multiple youma.
This could get messy, but he could also feel another senshi nearby - no need to call backup, most likely. He went in the direction he felt the auras come from.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 11:44 am
The feeling of another nearby senshi came as a relief to Asclepius, though her heart still continued to flutter nervously. Enjoying being helpful was one thing; the girl hoped she would not once again end up being the one in need of help, though.
Somewhat reassured by having help close by, the girl edged along the side of the path. The woods were sort of difficult to negotiate stealthily: the path was open, but also possible to move through quietly; the brush provided more cover visually, but Asclepius knew she would sound like an elephant trying to "creep" through that.
And tonight just did not feel like a good night for getting knocked out of a tree again.
The Senshi of Medicine still rustled as she moved over the gravel, and, after a moment, gathered her trailing white skirt up and draped it over her arm to keep it from dragging. Whenever the fabric got dirty, it never seemed to stay that way, but it still helped reduce the noise a little. Though it did not help with her being brilliant white in the middle of the woods.
But, regardless of Asclepius' attempts at stealth, they did not seem to make much difference to the youma when she finally came close to it. Either there were multiple snake-like creatures keeping an eye out in all directions, or the thing had multiple heads. One of them spotted her, though the other four still looked distracted; Asclepius froze.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 12:05 pm
The ******** was this thing ?
There was only one youma, and yet there were many - each head had it's own distinct power. Did that mean all of them needed to be dusted separately ?<******** his life.
Thankfully for Asclepius, this was the moment where the male senshi caught up. She did perhaps the worst thing she could do when faced with a youma - freeze up - but in a way, he couldn't blame her. He'd done much the same thing when he'd started out, and beyond being able to feel that she was a normal senshi, he had no idea what experience she might have.
Themis ran right past her, graped a fallen tree branch on the way, then went right toward the youma just as it was about to get it's collective mind together and go for her - the limb snapped with the strength that he crashed it on the side of one of the creature's neck, but he'd managed what he wanted to do.
Make the thing pissed at him long enough for her to unfreeze.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 6:42 pm
Fortunately or unfortunately, Asclepius had not yet learned why freezing like that was wrong. She looked up as the other senshi darted past, though, and caught on that she really should be keeping mobile. Especially with this thing's multiple heads. Since he was going in overhead, then maybe she should... move in along the ground. That sounded right.
Running in, she jumped just high enough to clear the underbrush and swung a punch at the weaving neck of the nearest head. Hopefully it would have its attention on the other senshi just long enough for Asclepius to land her hit. All of these stupid monsters were too different from each other, but the long weaving necks seemed like good enough targets for the moment.
Leaving the stranger on his own to fight all -- how many heads did this thing have? Well, it did not seem fair. Asclepius would just have to do her level best not to let her lingering inexperience show too much while she helped him. Even if she could most likely take care of it, someone getting hurt on her account was not something the senshi of Medicine needed tonight.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 9:22 am
Themis thought that he had seen and fought every kind of youma possible. Obviously he was wrong, because he'd never fought something like this before. Four for the price of one ? No thanks, in this case.
And there she was - good. Freezing up was the best way to have a youma home on you and get injuried. They didn't need any of that, now did they. "Careful, this this is-" Four youmas in one, he wanted to say, but that was when one of the heads collided at his side and sent him flying, and Themis ended his joyride crashed against a nearby tree.
Ow.. He shook his head, not quite out but also more than a little dizzy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 12:40 pm
Asclepius nodded as she moved in to attack, but the head she had been aiming for sort of decided instead to attack the other senshi first. The girl sailed in past where it had been, attempting along the way to swing a punch at it as she passed, but could not get much force behind it. Her kick also landed a bit weakly against another swerving neck of the multi-headed youma. Which promptly turned its attention to her.
Trying not to stumble over scaled necks as she landed among them, Asclepius worked to gain her footing to either jump away or make another attack. "Are you alright?" she asked, not venturing to tear her gaze away from that of the one head paying attention to her.
The question of which direction to move next was one the youma then took over answering for her, though; just as Asclepius started to jump upwards in hopes of punching one head from underneath, another head came swooping in from the side much as it had attacked Themis, and knocked the Senshi of Medicine away, as well. She crashed unceremoniously into a somewhat prickly bush, and had to take a minute to tug her trailing skirts out of the brambles.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 15, 2011 4:57 pm
"Fine ! Im fine !" It was a little clipped, but he really didn't want her to worry about him, didn't want her to take her attention away from the all-in-one youma even for half a second. She kept her eyes on them, which was good, but then was kicked away, which was bad.
Then she crash-landed in a bush, which made it worse. With those skirts... Well, she would need time. Themis could get her that.
"Themis Noise Storm !"
His circle of influence expended quickly, and soon enough the multiple heads of the creatures were more busy looking for the source of an invisible noise cyclone than to care for the Asclepius as she untangled herself.
"Okay." His voice echoed within his influence, seemed like he was screaming even though he was all but whispering. "This thing... I think each head is it's own youma. I can feel four, for four heads... I think we're gonna need to kill them all." Fun times. And really no time to call for backup...
When the girl managed to set herself free, he had no other choice but to let go - his arms and legs were trembling under the strain.
"What does your magic do ?" Even as he asked her, he was already charging the beast again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 6:51 pm
Asclepius nodded once, keeping her eyes on the youma as she worked to pull her skirts free of the bushes. She ventured once or twice to look away as she worked to extract the fabric, but it looked like the other senshi had all four of the youma's heads' attention. It also gave her a good vantage point as he cast his senshi magic; that also helped distract them further as she finally freed herself.
She saw the bubble of effect of his magic fade, and immediately darted in, swinging a punch at the nearest head. The scales of the creature were tough, scuffing her knuckles a little, but she felt soft flesh give underneath. And, by the dirty look the youma gave her, it had hurt.
One of the other heads distracted her, though, and all she could do is call out in acknowledgement to the stranger. Her sense of the evil from it was not as specific as Themis', but she could at least tell that it was pretty big. Asclepius lashed out another punch at the incoming youma head, and then swung her other fist at the first head.
Then, jumping back, she told him, "My magic lets you use yours again! I need a second to cast it, though." He felt like he was one of the Supers, still her senior in power, so she could not give him one hundred percent of his magic back, but it looked like whatever he had done before had been effective.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 9:44 pm
As she moved, so did he - attempting to take the youma from the opposite side that she was attacking from. Dealing with two youma was harsh, to say nothing about four, especially as a normal senshi. If he could take some of the heads' attention away from her...
Her words surprised him. Could what ? He'd never met a senshi who could do something like that. That sounded rather handy, though... how did she fight by her lonesome.
...Probably much like he did. Really.
"Okay... Go ahead. I'll keep their attentions." A strong kick was aimed at the base of one of the necks, and Themis was rewarded by the sound of bones snapping - and a mini cloud of dust. "Yeah ! One down !"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 3:11 pm
"Good!" Asclepius called in response, a grin spreading across her lips. Easier on the both of them.
Then, making sure she had a bit of distance, she cupped her hands together and shouted the name of her magic: "Eucrasia Remedy!" Obviously magic could not just be instant - it required some flash and show to really get the point across - but Asclepius willed the whole conjuring procedure to hurry up. With her eyes closed in concentration, she could still hear the sounds of the other senshi's grunts of effort, the youma's various noises, and the snapping and rustling of branches and leaves.
Once the little shimmering dish of magical tisane had formed in her palms, she quickly shouted to her ally, "Here, come drink this! I can't promise it'll taste good, but it should help a lot, especially since your attack looks like it can hit all of them at once!" Asclepius started to twitch in anticipation, wanting to jump back into the fight as soon as she had handed off the magical medicine and could be sure she would not spill it or something.
The potion would not allow as powerful a second attack as the first, since Themis ranked above Asclepius, but a second run still could only help.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 4:14 pm
Themis was just doing his best to be as good distraction as possible - had this been one youma, this would have been easy. Even with only three heads remaining, this was much more challenging than it usually was. He really hoped they could make short work of whatever was left at this point - sure, he still has his weaker, first attack, but the effect wouldn't be as good for them.
That, and if he kept this up for too long, it was very likely he would tire out. He had so much more stamina now that he had before becoming a senshi - but that didn't mean he wouldn't run out eventually.
Asclepius eventually did call for him, and a sharp kick along the ground sent dirt flying - blinding one of the heads as he made his escape, and took the offered pot carefully.
...How different ! Really, he had never seen anyone actually conjure something like this.
Oh well... Down the hatch it went. "It... ain't that bad, actually..."
But no time for that, though. Themis knew what he had to do. "Themis Noise Storm !"
And sure enough, it worked. Things were different - the amplification was weaker. It was odd that he could feel the difference, as if he had, somehow, done this all his life.
It was both amazing and worrying all at once.
It was weaker, but it would have to be good enough for their purpose. "Go for it ! I can't move and keep this going !" The downside of his attack, unfortunately.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 8:50 pm
Asclepius ran in to the fight again once Themis had the magic dish; fortunately, it took him a lot less time to drink it than it had taken her to summon it. She came at the monster with her fists flying, getting two hits in before having to dodge another head coming in to defend its companion. One of the remaining three snake-heads seemed to be doing alright, but the other two looked like they were not long for this world.
She stole a quick glance at Themis again as he activated his attack, and crouched to jump at the creature again. But first,
"It's okay if I jump into- into your noise storm, right?" The senshi of Medicine hopped to the side as a tail flicked past her, though it looked more a swing of desperation than a well-aimed attack.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 3:01 pm
"Yeah, it should be fine." Themis was whispering, but his voice came across loud and clear. "Usually it's just like a faint buzz against your conciousness. The worse feedback I got was a headache."
Asclepius wouldn't have to hurry, though - from the way Themis's risen arm was shaking, the second wind of the attack didn't have long left in the world.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 25, 2011 12:24 pm
Asclepius' curls bobbed as she gave a quick nod, and ran in to the edges of the bubble of effect with her fists ready. One of the youma's heads loomed above her, and she crouched for a second before jumping upwards to hit it under the chin.
Apparently that had served as a killing blow, as its skin cracked like ice at the impact of her punch. "Aggghh, gross," the girl groaned as she landed lightly just in time for the shadowy dust from the vanquished part of the monster to come raining down on her.
Unfortunately, the shower of whatever blocked her view long enough for the frantically flailing tail to come back. Asclepius yelped and stumbled as the scaly tail swept back and caught her in the leg.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
