|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 11:59 am
The Destiny City Players had wrapped their hit production of Phantom of the Opera within the last week, but the posters had yet to come down. After doing her usual patrol run of the parkside commercial district, Europa followed the advertisements back to their source, just for a quick look. After show week the chances were the theater would be deserted this time of night, which lowered the chances of finding a civilian needing help... but made it more likely that there was some unsavory beastie lurking around in the dark.
The darkened art-deco building didn't manage to look quite creepy, but there was something decidedly unnatural about seeing the marquee with all the lights off. Half the letters had been removed, half the posters were gone from the cases by the box office. The twinkle lights in the tree outside were off.
Europa crossed her arms and looked up and down the darkened facade. No, it wasn't creepy... but it still didn't feel quite right. "Better take a look around," she said to herself.
The front door was locked, as it should be, and she wasn't in the mood for breaking and entering. Luckily, she remembered the side entrance in the alley.
This was conspicuously ajar. "Someone is lurking where they shouldn't be lurking," said Europa to herself, pursing her lips in suspicion as she slipped backstage. The blue running lights were on, but not the normal fluorescents. Strange.
She continued in past the dressing rooms, making sure to be as quiet as possible. Something definitely, definitely felt off about this place.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 12:17 pm
Perhaps 'fate'--a concept Spinel was still exploring, really--had led him to find the open theater door. It was true he usually lurked the theater district--he tended to fit in a little more, then, and be given a little room on the street besides. Couldn't let an actor be late to his show, after all. Or... that seemed to be the general feeling. Perhaps it could also be the darker aura, pervasive and somewhat oily-feeling to others.
It just seemed warm to Spinel. A warm darkness, like before you wake out of sleep--he took it as another sign that the Negaversers were right.
Luck certainly appeared to be on his side, though--for in the deserted theater, he'd found exactly one target. One small enough that he could probably get enough energy and go, but old enough that he didn't feel quite guilty. The girl was rummaging around in a prop box that seemed to be full of mostly jewelry--poor, he figured, from the ill fit of her shirt and the beaten-up appearance of her shoes. Her hair, too, indicated that her family didn't make much money. It looked like it had been cut by... a non-professional, was the kindest way to say it. And distressed...
Maybe he could even offer to help her. He left the shadows to kneel beside the young girl. "What are you looking for," he asked, catching her hands in his.
She yanked her hands away, looking at him wide-eyed for a moment before looking away and to the left. He followed her gaze to the jewelry box, and it occurred to him that she seemed to be looking for something specific. She'd only been picking up the silver pieces... "My locket," the girl said, "I'm not stealing! I lost my locket."
He wished her voice wasn't so loud, he thought he'd heard something...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 12:31 pm
Loud enough for Europa to hear, at least. The theater definitely wasn't empty, and from the way the speaker had phrased herself - an objection, a retort, defiensive - the senshi of the deep surmised that there were at least two other people in the building. And one of them was producing the inky-dark sense she was feeling in her bones.
Europa picked up her pace, hurrying towards the cracked door that the voice had emanated from. She leaned in close and peered through, into the prop room beyond.
Yes, definitely two of them, she realized. A fragile looking girl, and a tall man in what was unmistakably the garb of a corrupted senshi. Europa felt the bile rising in her throat. It had been a long time since she'd tangled with that particular breed of nasty, but the wrongness of them always struck her.
It was lucky she'd arrived when she did - he looked ready to make a move.
There was no guessing what he might do when he saw her, but she knew that the frills of an eternal senshi were enough to make most negaversers think twice. It would only be once the battle started that he found out she had some of the most useless attacks known to man.
Europa kicked the door open and rushed into the prop room. "In the name of Europa," she exclaimed, "Step away from the girl."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 12:50 pm
Europa was right, partially. When the door was kicked open, the corrupted senshi stepped away from the cringing civilian, hands in the open air where they could be seen easily. Nothing there, he seemed to be saying. Nothing to worry about at all, right? Except then the mahogany eyes lit upon the feathered bow, and his expression turned into irritation. Nothing he could hope to face on his own, then, unless...
Well, she was small, too. Fit, and obviously experienced, but he had a gratuitous hand in the sheer fact of his height. All he really wanted was to get a bit of energy off the little brunette, after all, he didn't want to hurt her. A good night's sleep and she'd be right as rain.
"Look," he said, in a soothing tenor. "I'm not going to hurt her. I was concerned because she clearly broke in here."
The little girl looked panicked at this. Now that she was standing, pressing herself against the wall like she wanted to disappear, he could read the legend Shut up, Shinji on her shirt. Dress. Shirtdress? "I didn't! I have a key, I forgot m-my locket and it wasn't where I left it!"
Spinel shrugged. "A likely story. Sailor Europa--that is your name?--she's probably lying," he said, over the girl's panicked denials.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 1:02 pm
"Thief or not, starseed theft's hardly an appropriate penalty," replied Europa stonily, keeping her eyes fixed on Tall, Dark, and Evil. The civilian could be dealt with later, and Europa was inclined to believe her professed innocence. The corrupted senshi, on the other hand, she did not trust as far as she could throw him.
"Keep your hands where I can see them, and no sudden movements," she said, echoing every episode of Law and Order, ever. It was unlikely to work: the man's slick politeness left a greasy taste in her mouth. Encounters with corrupteds always left her feeling ill - didn't they know they were wrong? Didn't some small voice deep inside cry out that it wasn't supposed to be like this?
"You're not supposed to be here," she said to the Negaverser, keeping her voice even as she took a small step towards him. "You're not even supposed to exist."
This was wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 1:31 pm
He actually had no intention of stealing the girl's starseed, but since he'd been accused of it, why not? A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth; and, slowly, he let one hand drift towards the bandolier of bells. His seventh bell was still missing--that god damned red-haired senshi had it still--but he only needed the sixth.
Just in case. It'd help to knock the little civilian out, too.
His ego was already... fragile... over the encounter with Sailor Nothing. And then this b***h. Starseed theft? Hardly ever, anymore, he didn't see why she thought she had any right--
Deep breaths. He was fine. Fate had brought him here. Fate knew he was supposed to be this way. Reborn in Earth's loving embrace--
It didn't work. No sudden moves? Suddenly, the little civilian had no starseed. It was tempting to eat it, just to show her--but no. Deep breaths. The girl hadn't done anything, and he believed her when she said she didn't want to steal. That was why he'd made the grab fast--she wouldn't even remember it. "Check your premises, senshi," he said through clenched teeth, the starseed pulsing like a heartbeat against his palm. "I was always meant to be this way."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 1:40 pm
Oh no he didn't. Detective Benson was looking down from TV Heaven and frowning in disapproval as Europa launched herself at the corrupted senshi, grabbing for the starseed in his hands. "You eat it and you die," she snarled - strong words coming from a girl who had trouble killing cockroaches. But this civilian wasn't going to lose her life, not on Europa's watch.
"Senshi are sworn to protect life," she cried, "Not destroy it. Haven't you looked the word up?" she demanded. She had. It meant soldier. Guardian.
And then it occurred to her that there was an easier way to get the starseed back than wrestling with . Something that would stop him in his tracks. "Europa deep ocean pressure!" she cried, flinging a hand at the corrupted senshi and praying it worked. It had only been half-decent on Tisiphone, all of a year ago. But maybe it would be enough to save the girl.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 2:04 pm
"Senshi are guardians, aren't they? Sworn to protect life?" It was a taunt, jeering, and not something Spinel would usually stoop to. He tried to be polite. He tried to be professional with these--these invaders and they just threw it back in his face. Like he was such a monster for knowing the truth about them!
It disgusted him. It made him want to forget all the times he'd tried so hard to stay calm and just...
Rip out a teenage girl's starseed. He shoved the senshi off, sheer brute force and knowledge of where exactly to find a weak point aiding that attempt. Sure, it was something he'd done a hundred times before, but in this case--maybe the senshi's words were making him doubt--in this case, it seemed monstrous.
The hesitation didn't help him avoid the senshi's attack; in fact, his distraction made it more effective. He crashed to the ground, letting go of the starseed in the process. It rolled across the floor, coming to a stop against the prop chest that the civilian had collapsed in front of. Spinel, for his part, was taking his sweet time getting up.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 2:11 pm
Europa knew her attack and she knew what it could do - she wasn't one to take her sweet time once it kicked in. As soon as Spinel dropped the starseed, she was on it, chasing its skittering path across the floor and snatching it up with a white gloved hand. She rubbed it quickly between her palms, wondering briefly about how sanitary it needed to be before she shoved it back into the unconscious girl's chest, and then clambered over to the fallen civilian.
...How did this work, again?
Biting her lip, Europa pressed the starseed to the fainted girl's sternum. "Come on," she hissed, "I can't hold him off forever, wake up."
She glanced over her shoulder towards the fallen corrupted. He had almost regained his footing - it always bothered her, how they seemed less affected by her attacks than normal enemies - but she thought she'd saved the girl.
That was, as long as...
Europa glanced back down at the civilian in her lap. "Wake up! Please!" she begged.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 2:45 pm
The starseed slipped back into its rightful place, and the civilian jolted awake. This didn't require any medical training to see--she threw herself away from Europa, fingers snagging in some of the fallen necklaces from the prop box. She scraped them off, sending the costume jewelry clattering down with a plastic sound--all except for one, a silver locket with a blue stone inset. It sounded rather heavier, more like a true silver necklace, and clicked open when it hit the ground. Maybe that was the one she'd been looking for? The dark-haired girl didn't seem to notice, though--and who could blame her? She whirled and fled through the door.
Just in time for Europa's spell on Spinel to break. After twenty seconds of feeling like he was trying to move under constant pressure, he reveled in the feeling of speed he got--zero to sixty in half a second, or something like that--he was standing over the kneeling senshi, the bell already in his hand. "Not supposed to exist," he said, mockingly, just in time to activate his own ability.
With less than ten feet between Europa and the wall, if she didn't move fast she'd be trapped. And if that happened, the escaping civilian was doomed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 2:58 pm
Europa hoped to dear god that the civilian had been scared enough to be leaving, but she doubted that: civilians so rarely did what was convenient for senshi. She scrambled away from the approaching corrupted senshi, scared simply by his lack of scruples and the prospect of what he might do to her if she were caught in his attack.
After scrabbling a few paces on her hands and knees, brushing past the fallen necklaces and grabbing the locket in the process, because it looked like it might be the one the girl was looking for, Europa pushed herself on to her feet and ran back out the door. Backstage was a maze, but it was important to keep moving - and to find the girl before her attack did.
After a long moment of fruitless searching, Europa conceded that a theater-oriented senshi would be better suited to this fight. She didn't know the first thing about the layout of this place.
She held up the locket and examined it as she continued to hurry through the crowded wardrobe. Definitely the real article. She'd figure out if it was stolen once this was settled.
All that remained was finding the girl and getting out of here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 3:04 pm
Spinel had to wait ten seconds before he could follow the escaping senshi--it rarely, if ever, happened that they moved along with his attack, which was why he had been so confident. But in this situation, it seemed he had shot himself in the foot. Again.
--
Erika didn't know what was going on. She'd just come back to get her necklace, she had to get home before her brother did--and then that man had appeared out of nowhere and it was just. What was she supposed to do, hide?
Well, she could do that. She knew her way through the theater, had worked there for the duration of the show so she could watch Phantom, and knew that if she ran up to the very top of the ampitheater-style bowl she would find the lever for the chandelier. It had been rigged to fall for this production. She could drop it, couldn't she? On the frightening man...
She wrapped her fingers around the lever, and when the man emerged onto the stage she pulled it.
The man disappeared, leaving the brunette standing uncertainly among the levers and switchboards of the crew.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 3:08 pm
Europa finally found her way out into the audience just as the chandelier fell, just in time to see the corrupted senshi wink out. She'd forgotten they could do that! How... aggravating! But perfectly useful, as well, because it meant that the threat was neutralized and that was all that mattered.
She glanced around, hoping to catch sight of what had caused the fall, and spotted the civilian girl standing up at the lighting booth, her hand still on an important looking lever.
Europa grinned and bounded up the stairs, three at a time. Brilliant thinking on the civilian's behalf! If the girl were a senshi, Europa wouldn't have minded having a brain like that on her team.
She came to a stop in front of the sound boards and held up the necklace. "Is this yours?" she asked seriously, appraising the girl's expression when she answered.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 11:21 pm
What had even just happened, that can't have been normal, the man had just disappeared--had there been a trapdoor there? Erika didn't remember, no one was there during the show so she never had to worry. The gray eyes were wide, but guarded as she watched the senshi approach; when she saw the locket, they went wider and she reached out, her hand snagging around the pendant. "It's mine," she said, "let it go, it's mine--I won't give it to you. I won't!"
She wouldn't, she thought, fear and a fierce desire to have the necklace back warring in her expression. The necklace was hers. It had been Mama's. Now it was hers, it had her brother's hair in it. She hadn't stolen it. Was this senshi going to take it from her?
The moment the thought occurred, it was overpowering. Of course the senshi was going to take it. Nothing ever went right for her--she just evaded an attack, how could she possibly get two good things in a row? No, it was more likely the serious senshi would take the necklace and keep it for her own... Erika swallowed down bile. "It's mine," she asserted again, hand still clenched around the silver locket.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 11:35 pm
Europa didn't need to be told twice. The girl's reaction seemed genuine to her, and she let go of the chain. "That was good thinking with the chandelier," she said, smiling. She wasn't even going to think about how the corrupted senshi getting away - Europa was hardly bloodthirsty, just glad that they were out of danger.
"Sailor Europa, at your service," she added, still genial, curtseying lightly. "Seeing as you've just saved both our asses tonight," she added, "May I ask your name?"
She was feeling strangely chivalrous tonight. It must have been the adrenaline.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
