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 Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 10:00 am
Camelot was just about to start his patrol. He had gotten off of work an hour or so ago, and had dropped Dogby off at home so she could be safe and warm in her little bed, with her food bowl and water. And with Nate watching her, hopefully, though Camelot could not count on that boy to do anything helpful.
He had returned to the library, mostly out of habit and because it was becoming his area to patrol and keep safe, though he branched off as much as he could each night.
This was just his starting point, and he liked to keep the place safe.
Tonight, as he bounced onto the roof from a lower building, getting better at the jumping and running thing, he felt a spark of energy tingle in the back of his neck, an aura of something corrupt nearby. Not anything like a knight or a senshi, certainly, and he recognized the feeling as a Nega.
Around his library? Not for long.
Though Camelot was not an overtly attack oriented knight, he prickled at the idea of a Nega coming around his library to steal energy or cause trouble. If there was one place in Destiny City that Camelot could keep safe from any and all danger, for anyone who sought shelter there, it was going to be the library.
He moved to peer over the building, then dropped down into an alley beside it, looking for the source of the aura.
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Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 10:51 am
Ilmenite's original plan had been to scope out the entire city looking for Senshi hang outs, hunting down strange energy signatures, taking note of where he'd encountered the opposing forces, as well as the details of his encounter.
About an hour in, he was bored to death by it. His expectation had been that he wouldn't be able to take a step without running into someone. He'd spent a too-large chunk of his time wandering aimlessly, his planned-out-route crumbling to nothing as he tired.
Instead, he ended up on more familiar ground. Camelot peered down the alley, shifted and hunted, frowned, and all he had to do was look up: a familiar [if changed] young figure sitting on the edge of a building across the street, duct-tape-covered boots hanging absently out into space.
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Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 11:18 am
Camelot's eyes managed to settle on the source of the aura without too much trouble. He recognized him slowly, realizing it was the same Nega that he had encountered here before, but under a different set of circumstances.
Tony had been on break, and he found the Nega, looking different then, draining a civilian of their energy. He had also thrown Tony's cane, like a jerk, when he was trying to help the civilian.
Also, he had gone to jail for that. He had taken her to the hospital by car, and the security guards didn't think he was as innocent in her strange state as he insisted. He was held until she woke up and cleared him. She had never seen him before.
The police in this city were... special.
Of course, Camelot couldn't reveal that he knew this Nega, even if he was looking different now. Ilmenite couldn't know Tony was now the knight in the alley. So Camelot had to stamp out his urge for some revenge, noting in the back of his mind that the power signature he was feeling was stronger than the run of the mill Nega.
"Thinking about causing any trouble?" He called up, his expression not too amused. He reminded himself that vendettas served no one, and were mostly to blame for how terrible things were between senshi and the negaverse.
Still. He didn't like the guy.
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Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 2:50 pm
He'd felt the brush of unfamiliar energy signal himself, had turned his attention downward to watch Camelot round the corner. By the time the man looked up he was grinning -- but it was, at least, a perplexed grin. Not senshi nor Negaverse, and he would certainly have recognized a corrupt senshi. This one tugged at the edge of familiarity, something he'd seen but couldn't place, just yet...
"I don't know. You planning on picking a fight?" A pause, a breath, a dramatic gesture -- his hand pressed up against his forehead and boots kicked out as he leaned back. Not the kind of power Camelot was used to, perhaps, but at this point he was hardly rare, was he...
"Or worse -- preaching at me about the way of 'good' and 'light'?" Sarcasm crept in toward the end there. Ilmenite didn't believe a word of it.
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Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 6:00 pm
"No, I've no plans for it," the Page said warily, though he tried to sound calm. He certainly wouldn't mind it if Ilmenite punched first, but he couldn't just start a fight unbidden. That would go against everything he was working toward.
He forced a smile.
"I suppose you're not much for good and light, then? You prefer darkness and chaos, stealing what's not yours to take and killing those who get in the way. Because you must, in the name of your purpose."
He watched him, considering his options. Climb up there? Not necessary. They didn't need to be close to talk.
"I any case, I'm not a senshi. I'm not your enemy, and I'm definitely not a preacher."
It wasn't uncommon for the people, senshi or nega, he ran into to now know what he was. Knights, he had learned easily enough, were new and scattered, not enough to out number the senshi and nega forces in the city. But enough to do something, he imagined. And hoped. To help both sides, and the helpless caught in between.
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 11:15 am
"You sure as hell sound like one." And Ilmenite know a thing or two about that. He leaned out a little farther, head tilted to the side, dark eyes taking in as much of Camelot as he could. No, definitely not a senshi, either, in that get up. there was a very long pause while he considered the man.
His final reaction was to grin, wiggling his eyebrows. It wasn't open and friendly: there was definitely something mocking behind his expression, and even more so in his tone of voice. "You look, however, like you just came from a joust. The hell are you wearing, man?"
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 11:49 am
Camelot didn't doubt that he did sound like a senshi. It wasn't his fault, most of his experience prior to becoming a knight revolved around Senshi saving him. So he picked up a few of their habits and their deliveries, maybe.
But he was still learning, and getting more used to things on his own. Like talking to Negas.
Except normally he didn't have any past history with them. It was hard not to keep glaring at Ilmenite and try to make his head burst into flames with laser vision Camelot didn't have.
"Well I obviously didn't design it," he pouted, looking at his outfit. He thought his chain mail and bracers looked rather cool. Dressing like a knight was something he secretly took pleasure in, in all this mess of a new existence. "Anyway, yours isn't much better. At least I don't have to use duct tape to keep mine on."
Juvenile, he knew, but for some reason he just couldn't help it.
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 12:19 pm
Ilmenite didn't seem to mind; he grinned back down at Camelot, finally shifting up to stand with a look shot sideways to the fire escape. He was, perhaps, considering heading down to see what the other man could really do. And if he'd try something, or if they could play nice. It was a risk he wasn't sure just yet he wanted to take, but...but he could entertain the notion.
"I'd wear this. Out of uniform, I mean, I think I'd be willing to wear this. And it blends in a bit better..." He realized only after he'd said it that, in a way, that spilled too much information. So Ilmenite made a dismissive noise, shrugging that away and considering the man below him.
"What's your name, then?" His tone was carefully coaxing, changing the subject and digging for information at the same time.
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 9:44 pm
Camelot watched Ilmenite, trying to look relaxed.
If they started to fight, would the Nega try to take his shield and throw it down the alley? He wouldn't give him the chance. But he always wouldn't throw the first punch. Probably. Unless Ilmenite did something to push the wrong button.
For some reason, all the pacifism he had been building in himself, all the understanding and patience, had been forgotten. Camelot was looking at someone he really didn't like. No, he still did not think fighting was the answer to the war. He did not want to kill or see this nega dead. But he would not be against punching him in the face.
Maybe just once.
"I don't think I know anyone who would wear something like that by choice," he said. Obviously not true, but neither could possibly be aware. "You can call me Camelot. Yours?" It was always a tradition in some honorable societies to exchange names, even (or especially) on the battlefield.
Or, in this case, tense, loud conversation in the alley.
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 9:33 am
There was a moment's pause, calculating, as he tried to decide if his name gave anything away -- and he landed on no, not really. Let them have it. A description was much more useful, anyway, and the plaid marked him pretty clearly...
"Ilmenite." He was shifting as he said it, not rising to stand on the roof but dropping easily down to clank against the fire escape. One level, and then another, hands in his pockets. He moved slowly, trying to be non-threatening, perhaps; just wanted a better look at Camelot and his uniform and the shield held up between them.
"Captain. If you couldn't tell. What the hell are you?" Another level; he dropped down off the stair to the metal floor, boots ringing out to punctuate the question.
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Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2011 6:55 pm
Camelot didn't know the name, but he wasn't going to forget it now. They had been so busy bickering and throwing canes down alleys he hadn't thought to ask before.
He tensed as Ilmenite moved closer, growling softly. Why did he dislike this nega so much? Besides the obvious. Camelot considered himself a very peaceful sort. Except right now, apparently.
Right now he was a teenager wronged, and wanted to get some pay back.
But he fought the instinct, instead just holding his ground and watching the Nega keenly as he moved down the fire escape. It didn't look like he wanted to fight, at any rate, which was supposed to be a good thing. Camelot was supposed to avoid those, as much he could, wasn't he?
"I'm sure your companions already know. But I'm a knight. Not a senshi," in fact, he knew the Negaverse was aware, because he had spoken to some who knew him as a knight before he had to tell them. Most, however, didn't.
Now that they were on level ground, Camelot felt his muscles coiling and his old, brawlers instincts suddenly flaring to life. Instincts he really hadn't felt since he was, in fact, a teenager.
"Page of Earth," he expanded, "and this is my territory to protect."
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Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2011 7:21 am
He dropped the last few feet to settle lightly in the dirt of the alleyway and then paused to blink at Camelot, perhaps reassessing. The other man was taller than he'd expected, and broader -- and also, perhaps, a bit older. Ilmenite tipped his head as he considered that, straightening and tugging the hem of his jacket into his place. After a moment, he snorted.
"Protect from what, exactly? From me?" There was scorn in his voice, not just at the idea of Camelot protecting anything from him but moreso at the fact that he'd need to. Ilmenite rolled his shoulders and took one step forward, carefully, trying to keep his posture relaxed.
"I don't feel like them, but...you kind of do talk like them."
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 1:22 pm
"From you, maybe, if you're up to anything. Or from anyone like you, if I have to. I'd rather not have to, though, if it's all the same."
He watched Ilmenite keenly, and something in his stance seemed to say that he would, in fact, not mind 'protecting' the alley from Ilmenite's... just being there. But only because he was so pissy and acting juvenile despite clearing being the Nega's senior.
He reminded himself for the thirtieth time to stay relaxed and calm.
"My only goal is to help you both. I might sound like them, but only because they have the same general idea as me. We fight for good and light and all that, yes. We protect civilians from you and your energy stealing ways. But I am also from Earth, like you. This is my home, and I want to see it peaceful again."
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 4:42 pm
Ilmenite's gut reaction was to say something snide about that, was a bubble of anger and frustration that seemed near-constant at this point. Instead of letting it out, he drew in a breath, trying to cool it down, and actually considered those words and what to do with them. His mouth shifted. He was watching his tongue, perhaps.
"...what about the other civilians?" He blinked at that, hauling on a carefully innocent expression, his shoulders rolled in a shrug. "You know, the ones who have bigger problems. Getting the crap beaten out of them by other civilians, or exhausted due to lack of sleep?"
He made a so-so gesture, wobbly eyes sliding off of Camelot. "Pretty sure this place wasn't peaceful even before the most current war started up...have you considered working on that, instead?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 2:44 pm
"If I can help anyone, I do. The manner in which I do it is for me to figure out and balance. But there doesn't need to be a youma or one of you menacing someone for me to protect them."
He considered Ilmenite's words, but tried not to take them at face value. Ultimately, the Nega was just trying to get a rise out of him, or mock what Camelot held as his duty.
Jerk.
"I've been given these abilities for a purpose, and I'll complete that task before I start worrying about the flaws of human nature. Anyway, we have normal police for normal criminals. Consider me a special task force for now. Once this war is settled, maybe then I can shift careers."
Unlikely, but he was just talking for the sake of it now. He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck and trying to relax himself a bit. He didn't want to fight, or rather he did but he told himself not to, but he couldn't let the Nega go off and hurt someone, could he?
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