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 Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 1:57 pm
Having successfully distracted the youma from the two young girls it had cornered, Babylon was at a loss to do next. The man-bat, however, had lost one prospective dinner and was keen on finding another. Closest menu item? Mercury Page in a light coating of sweat.
A late afternoon thunderstorm had left downtown wet and covered in puddles, and Babylon was quickly learning that his boots were only waterproof to a certain point, and once they weren't - they really weren't. He squelched along, barely outpacing the youma pursuing him, glowstick clenched in his teeth so his hands would be free to climb. He was desperately seeking a way off the street level, but nothing was jumping out at him.
Well, except for the man-bat, which in a final lunge managed to grab hold of the page's legs and tackle him to the grown. Babylon yowled a most unmanly yowl, grabbed the glowstick out of his mouth, and whacked the creature with it, while trying to get his legs free enough to kick.
He partially prayed for rescue. He also partially prayed that his death was quick, painless, and minimally embarrassing. Not like this at all.
"Get back!" he grunted, giving the man-bat another whack across the bridge of the nose. It squealed a sound somewhere between a pig with a hernia and a bat with a headcold.
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 3:22 pm
Vindemiatrix sensed the youma and something with it, and, though it was not precisely on his ordinary patrol route, he figured that it was not exactly like there was anyone holding him to the same streets every day. Especially since the weather had gone out of its way to pour on him, which was also not normal.
It was nice and cool out now, though. The Senshi of Wine had just removed his chaperone to carry the sopping thing instead, as the damp on his hair was a little uncomfortable. The breeze that now blew over the rooftops with the senshi was refreshing on his damp clothes, at least.
Still, though, the whatever-it-was with the youma rather perplexed the boy, and he was trying to catch up to it. The Senshi of Wine was fairly sure that he would have to offer some sort of help, figuring the other powered person was running, and when he heard the groan of discomfort from down below, that pretty much sealed the deal. Vin stopped on the edge of his current rooftop and peered downwards, just in time to see a hand with a glowstick flailing at a winged youma.
Attack plan. Uh.... Maybe just jump down and distract. Then there would (hopefully) be two of them to swing punches. Yeah, jumping down sounded like the best idea. There did not appear to be much time to waste.
"Hey, over here!" Sailor Vindemiatrix called out, leaping down about ten yards from the youma. He waved at the creature, then started rushing towards it. Either it would come to him, or he could jump into the fray, just as long as he got its attention off of the other guy long enough for him to get up.
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 3:41 pm
Babylon did not know if he had ever been happier to see a senshi in his life. However, when you'd only had one previous occasion to see a senshi and said senshi was in fact your best friend, you didn't have much to go off of. At any rate, the creature currently slobbering on him had keen hearing and a few taunts were all it took to get it to look over its shoulder.
Babylon reached up with the glowstick and gave it a solid whack to the side of the head. His weapon being a glowstick, this was about as effective as one would imagine hitting a gorilla-sized man-bat with a glowstick would be. It grunted and rolled away from him, choosing instead to focus on the slim, skirted senshi.
It took Babylon only a moment to realize that it was another pretty boy in tights. Would the wonders never cease? "The answer to my prayers," he said, un-ironically, as he chased the man-bat. It would really suck if his rescuer wound up as gored as he'd almost been, and with two of them here they might actually stand a chance.
Foregoing the the glowstick, he brought a foot down with a crack against the youma's spine.
"Come here often?" he asked, making eye contact with the senshi over the youma's struggling bulk. "Or only when handsome knights need rescuing?"
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Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 10:35 am
As soon as the monster was nearly within range, Vindemiatrix stopped, shifted his balance, and lashed out with a kick just as the youma practically ran into the end of his foot. His toes smarted a little, since it had been running right at him, but it looked like the bat thing had ended up on the worse end of that attack.
Taking the opportunity presented by the momentary dazed expression in the youma's eyes, the Senshi of Wine kicked again, this time aiming for the side of its head. Then he brought his foot down to switch to the other one, meaning to kick again. But as the stranger he had saved addressed him, it broke the senshi's concentration for a second.
"Wait, what?" Handsome? Vin had not really gotten the chance to get a good look at the other guy without a mound of evil furry batwinged flesh in the way.
But the distraction was enough for the creature to lunge at Vindemiatrix. The boy grunted as the thing checked him in the chest, sending him sprawling backwards.
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Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 11:18 am
Babylon rushed at the bat thing when it tackled his rescuer, crashing into its side with his shoulder and shoving it away. "You can't eat him!" he yelled, pinning it down with a knee to its chest and a leg on one of its wings. "I just met him!"
The creature thrashed. Babylon struggled to wrap his gloved hands around its muzzle, trying to close its mouth. It was like riding a mechanical bull, except covered in slobber and matted fur. And with all of his limbs spent restraining the youma, he wasn't exactly in any position to actually fight it.
He settled for trying valiantly to slam the back of its head into the ground. The creature tensed, resisting him. Babylon's glowstick had rolled away against a dumpster on the other side of the street, and it was probably for the better because he wasn't really in a position to use it.
"Hey, pretty warrior sailor something," he called to the senshi. "You got any bright ideas for doing this ******** in?"
Because Babylon was pretty sure he couldn't hold this chokehold much longer.
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Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 1:39 pm
Vin got to his feet as quickly as he could manage, sparing a second to shake out his hands. Wincing at his scuffed palms, he hurried back to where the stranger was, for the moment, managing to pin the youma down. He quirked a brow at what the other boy said, but shrugged them off this time. Maybe the guy was just weird. It would not be the first time.
"I've got something that will probably help! Here, don't let this hit you," Vin called back. Then, "Standard's Grip of the Grape!" There were dangers in tossing wine around so close to an apparent ally, but he was not sure either of them had the luxury of time; the boy with the brown hair looked to be having quite enough trouble holding the thing down. It helped that the youma's furry face absorbed some of the wine and helped keep it from splashing, and it seemed to like the taste of it, judging by the way it was licking its cheek and chin where Vindemiatrix had doused it.
Just as long as the monster did not consider it an apéritif.
"Unless he can really hold his drinks, that should at least make him dizzy," he said, then ran up to kick towards the downed youma's shoulder. "Can you try to get off of him?" Vindemaitrix could take a turn pummeling now, to give the other boy a chance to disengage.
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Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 2:38 pm
"Sure thing," replied Babylon, giving the creature a good, solid sock in the jaw before pushing himself away from it. It immediately began to flail, but without any real sense of focus, and it took the page a moment to process what had just happened.
He covered for his bafflement by scrambling to retrieve his glowstick from the puddle it had rolled into. "So," he called, "You're the senshi of making things drunk?"
Why did everyone else get useful powers except for him? Camelot had a shield, Lina had her scanner-thing, he didn't know what Gianfar did but he was sure that it wasn't nearly as lame as having a glowstick. Sure, he could illuminate things. Here, let me just illuminate this monster to death.
Glowstick in hand, he ran back over to the writhing youma and the attendant senshi, and gave the man-bat a bone-cracking kick to the ribs. The youma yowled.
"This has been fun and all," said Babylon breathlessly, trying to catch the senshi's eye, "But I think we ought to think of a way to put this thing out of its misery."
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 1:16 pm
"Wine, actually," Vindemiatrix replied through teeth clenched with effort, but not frustration, as he kicked the rather solid furry monster again.
He tried to catch glances of the other boy out of his peripheral vision as he darted off - was that a glowstick? - but had to keep the brunt of his attention on the youma. It was having a bit of trouble getting up, but it still had arms, and wings, and was making an effort to knock Vin's feet out from under him. It became like some sort of sadistic agility training, having to try to get kicks going while at the same time hopping over leathery or fur-covered limbs.
"We can keep hitting it," he suggested, starting to work up a sweat. "Or I can hit it with more wine, I guess, if you want to make sure he stays down while I summon it. Or," the Senshi of Wine looked to the stranger again, "If you've got any tricks, you're welcome to show off."
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 1:46 pm
Babylon redoubled his efforts to hold the monster down, pressing his glowstick down on its neck with both hands. "I've got a glowstick, a compass, and some boots," He grunted as coherently as one could while straddling a youma the size of a silverback gorilla. A gorilla-sized youma that was currently wheezing and thrashing and turning slightly blue.
"You ready with that wine?" he called, barely managing to keep the creature from flipping him onto his back. He slammed it down against the concrete with all his might, trying to keep it down. Maybe, if they could make it chill out again, they could suffocate it before it came back to its senses.
"Stay down, you damn dirty ape," he grunted at it. Most unappealingly. He was sweating buckets underneath his fur-lined uniform. It might be suitable on Mercury, but on a steamy Destiny City evening he wanted to strip it off as soon as this was over and dive headfirst into the nearest lake. Maybe he'd invite the Senshi with the Nice Legs to join him.
The man-bat bucked again. Babylon pressed the glowstick to its throat harder. "WELL?" he called plaintively to the other boy.
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 5:14 pm
"Standard's Grip of the Grape!" Vindemiatrix shouted again, dramatically sweeping his arms to summon the ethereal stem glass of wine before ... rather anticlimactically pouring it onto the pinned youma's wing. It might have a chance to flip some of the liquid into the air if it kept struggling like that, but he was fairly sure the wine would lose its potency once it had made contact with the youma.
Just to be sure, once he had had half a second to watch the monster's struggles, he clamped one foot down on the bone of the nearest wing. And wobbled as the youma kept flapping it. The black-haired boy was fairly sure he could keep his balance like this for now, though, especially since it felt like the beast was tiring.
Or maybe he could get a hit in. Shifting all of his weight onto the creature's wing, Vindemiatrix kicked at the monster's shoulder again, and winced slightly at its cry. Hard to feel bad for something with that many teeth and an eye on eating him anyway, but it was still obviously in pain.
"Just beat it up, I think it's nearly spent," he called to the stranger, then stumbled as the youma tried again to yank its wing out from under his foot.
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 5:32 pm
Babylon didn't feel comfortable getting off the youma for long enough to kick it again, mostly because he was afraid that if he did, it would sink its teeth into one of the senshi of wine's lovely legs. And that would be bad because they made such a good team so far and he would love to continue the endeavor.
"I'm trying," he barked through gritted teeth, trying to flip his legs around while keeping the creature pinned. It seemed to be getting drowsy, but that wasn't enough for Babylon - he wanted it dead. Drowsy meant it could still buck and recover and terrorize the city another day.
"Eat snowshoe, ********!" he exclaimed, shoving his leg between his arms and wedging it against the underside of the youma's chin. He pushed down and back, cutting off its dwindling air supply and also applying pressure to the foramen magnum. Freshman year anatomy said that eventually the spinal cord would dislocate.
...Did youma have spinal cords? Question for another day-
Apparently they did, because there was a sickening crack and the monster went still. A moment later, and it disintegrated, leaving both boys sitting in a six-inch-deep pile of oily black dust.
Babylon brushed his hands together a few times and turned to the senshi, smiling brightly. "Well!" he said. "If you're what rescue looks like, I don't mind being rescued. Babylon Page, by the way - not a Negaverser, I ping different on the Spidey sense. Could you give me a hand?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 7:17 pm
As the youma smothered, it started flailing in earnest, knocking Vin to the pavement as it succeeded in freeing its wing with a frantic tug. He swore softly as he picked up a few more scrapes, and rolled away to give himself a chance to get up. Once he was on his feet again, he jumped onto the monster with both feet, and, to his relief, felt them sink into the fur as it dissolved into shadowy dust.
It felt sort of gross, really, even through the tights, he decided a moment later; the black-haired boy stepped back, then offered the stranger a gloved hand to help him up, too.
"Glad I could help," Vin replied with a smile. "It's what the power's for, really, so it's no trouble." The Senshi of Wine eyed the stranger and nodded slowly. "Nice to meet you ... Babylon?" He tilted his head a little, unsure of the proper nickname. Unfamiliar as he was with Pages, Vin was already relieved by the apparent animosity between this Babylon and the youma.
"I'm Sailor Vindemiatrix, Senshi of Wine." His helping hand turned to a firm, friendly handshake.
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 7:34 pm
"Just Babylon is fine," the Page confirmed, quirking an eyebrow at the dark haired senshi. Looking him in the eye, he realized now that his rescuer was a good inch or two taller than him. Which was to be expected since Finn hadn't grown taller since the age of fifteen and steadily blamed it on caffeine.
He stepped gingerly off the pile of dust and rubbed his boots against each other. His hand stayed clasped against the senshi's firm grip. Babylon considered this, then looked back up at the other boy's green eyes. "I'm just going to call you Vin," he said, "If that's okay with you."
He hoped it was. Suave as he may be, Babylon did not trust himself to reliably not ******** up the many syllables of Vindemiatrix.
"So," he said, handshake still engaged. "Civilians rescued, monster defeated, neither knight nor senshi got their pretty little asses handed to them... I'd dare say we make a pretty good team... what's next?"
His smile suggested that he had ideas; ideas that Vindemiatrix was just going to have to wait to find out the details of.
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 6:32 pm
The taller boy nodded, wondering as he finally got a good look at Babylon how old the other boy was. "Vin is fine," he agreed, smile taking over his features as he nodded. "The full name is a bit of a mouthful, so I totally understand." The Senshi of Wine rather wanted to change it. To be perfectly correct in the Latin, it should be "Vindemiator", since he was a boy; moreover, couldn't it be dangerous, having such a mouthful of a name to call out in order to power up?
As for what was next, "Were you out patrolling?" Vin inquired. "Have any more ground to cover?" No reason why they could not keep patrolling together, if that was the case. It had more to do with safety in numbers in general, rather than figuring the boy with the glowstick would need any more help. Sticking together would be safer for both of them.
... Probably. Whatever that smile meant. Vin grinned back for the moment, keeping his uncertainty masked as well as he could manage as he awaited Babylon's response.
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 7:02 pm
"I wasn't, well, strictly patrolling," answered Babylon, pulling Vin along. Where were they going? Who knew. Babylon himself wasn't exactly sure where this alley spilled out to. "More like I saw huge, pale, and hairy back there trying to put the moves on some ladies and decided to cut in."
The girls had not been particularly interested in their suitor. To be honest, omnicidal man-bats weren't really the page's type, either. But the fight had brought him something better. "That's, um, about when you showed up," he said, peering out around the end of the alley. He turned to the Senshi. "It would appear," he said, "That we are in Chinatown."
He let go of Vin's hand long enough to leap onto the lowest level of a fire escape, then waved for the senshi to follow. "You stay down there and you're just gonna start smelling like the fish market next door," he called. "And that would be tragic. Come on."
He leaned against a low wall and waited on the roof for the senshi to catch up with him. He knew he'd heard about them being girls in miniskirts, but so far he'd only met pretty boys in tights. The previous night's conversation with Camelot aside, Babylon was feeling pretty good about this kind of inter-faction cooperation. It made him wonder what other sorts of "cooperation" were possible - it was hard to get a grasp on Vindemiatrix's exact age, but they couldn't be too far apart, he figured.
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