[R] Dangerous Territory (Arsinoe x Mica)

[The Red Dame]

Another long night in a string of long nights. Mica had been out collecting energy every night for going on two weeks now, on top of working her day job. Sure, her co-workers were making an increasing number of concerned comments, but that didn’t stop her. She wanted to be a Captain, wanted it bad enough that she could taste it, and that meant she had to step up her game.

Currently she was in the dingy Heritage Park, perched on top of a rusted swing set. She looked at ease, rolling a small energy orb between her fingers as she watched an antsy man – dealer or user, obviously – wait on the street corner, occasionally tossing uneasy glances over his shoulder. Unsurprisingly, he couldn’t see her; she was hard to spot at night in her black bodysuit. He was wise to worry though, because she was watching, watching and waiting for the right time to strike.

More Senshi seemed to be trickling into Knocktown, much to Mica’s displeasure, but it still didn’t seem as overrun as the rest of the city, especially that Senshi-magnet city central park. The last Senshi Mica had encountered had been a pain, using pitiful threats when it became obvious she was going to lose, but Mica was still quite comfortable in her territory. The sights (drug deals, prostitutes), smells (garbage, stale beer), and sounds (shots, sirens, car alarms) all let her know she was home.  

[TheMadHatter]

The area of town he'd eventually found himself in wasn't anywhere near his usual hunting grounds. He was used to the nice, posh, areas near his cousin's home and his school. This .... this was far from anything he recognized or actually wanted to be in. Luckily everyone he'd come across so far had been too preoccupied doing unsavory things to notice him hopping from roofs and streetlights.

He had eventually found himself drawn to the park. He felt another energy source from that direction, one of the dark ones, and since they seemed to be about hsi own level he hoped he could actually do something smart and useful.

Information.

That is what he was going to get this time. He made his way carefully and slowly toward the source of the energy keeping an eye out. His dark clothing serving him well as he stopped, perched in the branches of a tree, and spotted a dark shape by the play sets. Biting back the urge to just attack the figure he clenched his fits and waited.  

[The Red Dame]

As Mica watched and waited, she felt an annoyingly familiar sensation. Either those damn Senshi were becoming more bold or they were breeding like roaches, but it had the same result: more of them slinking around her streets. She didn’t like it. She didn’t like it at all because they were hard to get rid of, another trait they shared with roaches.

Oh, she imagined in a fair fight she squish one of the weaker ones easily. Problem was, Senshi didn’t fight fair. They had dirty magic tricks.

Well, Mica had a trick of her own, though she’d never bothered to use it. Summoning her cane – it wouldn’t do to be caught unarmed – she gripped the jeweled head carefully in her hand. Her eyes remained trained on the man, flickering slightly when a car pulled up and then man approached a rolled-down window to talk, but all the while she was aware of the other presence.

The car finally peeled off, leaving the man behind as he tried to stuff a baggie into a too-small pocket. Having watched long enough, Mica leapt off the swing set and began to walk in a slow, calculated fashion, one that let her move real quiet-like.

‘ Are you watching, Senshi?’ She wondered as she crept towards her oblivious target. She didn’t plan to kill the man, but if she had an audience she figured she could put on a show. If not… well, it was a good stress-release.  

[TheMadHatter]

Somewhere in the back of his mind something said he should be helping the man but it wasn't loud enough. It was obvious the man was a druggie and he wasn't really concerned with people like that being saved from anything. Maybe were the man not drugged up on god knows what he'd be smart enough to notice the woman walking up to him and notice the danger. For now? no. He deserved his fate for his own stupidity.

He balanced carefully on his perch as he watched the Negaverser walk up to the stranger. He'd never seen her before, which was good since all the ones he recognized were far too dangerous to come upon alone, and tried to commit what he could to memory.

The cane was the big thing. The Negaversers probably changed just as they did as they got stronger so memorizing her outfit wouldn't do much god.  

[The Red Dame]

The fact that she was not being attacked by some skirted terror, despite being able to sense them, was putting Mica on edge. Not being attacked was a good thing, certainly, but why weren’t they attacking. Was it a trap? She wouldn’t put such a thing past the Senshi, not after what the BMC had done.

Such thoughts made Mica cautious, meticulous. She didn’t want to be caught on unawares in case this was a trap. As soon as she was in range, Mica put on a burst of speed, catching the druggie on the temple with her cane and sending him sprawling. Once he was down, Mica knelt over him, one boot heel resting lightly on his throat to keep him quiet and in place as she reached down and began to siphon energy off of him. She didn’t turn her back on the Senshi’s signature though, oh no. If that Senshi didn’t keep to the sidelines, Mica was going to know.  

[TheMadHatter]

Damn. He had hoped that in concentrating ond raining the man's energy that the girl would ignore him for a moment. It must not have taken as much concentration as he thought to drain the energy if they didn't have to put their full attention into it. It was a handy piece of information but not all that useful for saving someone's life.

He dropped from the tree he had been hiding in, sandals clacking softly against the sidewalk, and watched. He couldn't use his lantern, not yet, and there wasn't really anything he could throw at her. Tackling her was an option but his ribs still hurt some times when he thought about the last fist fight he'd been in.

"You really have no shame ..." She had to have known he was there and yet she still kept on draining the civilian. It was sad to see what those who'd lost themselves to the darkness would stoop to.  

[The Red Dame]

A boy Senshi. Mica knew of them - the infamous Castor was amongst the Most Wanted - but had never seen one on a one on one basis before. He looked like something that had walked out of a cartoon.

Here he was, in the open at last and looking down his self-righteous nose at her. Ironic that he should say she had no shame; ironic, but not surprising. Typical Senshi nonsense. As if he didn't know the crimes his own kind had committed. That was a point she wouldn't let pass.

" I've no shame? What about you, Senshi? Kidnap anyone lately?"

Mica wanted to keep the Senshi talking. As sickening as their speeches were, they tended to give them while standing around, not while fighting. If Mica wanted to get this energy then she'd have to stay in contact with her victim, which meant no fighting, so she resigned herself to trying to prolong the Senshi's lecture.  

[TheMadHatter]

"Kidnap?" His brow furrowed slightly . What was she talking about? No senshi he knew had ever kidnapped someone. They were usually stuck saving stupid civilians who got themselves kidnapped. "What are you talking about, more lies?"

He was used to lies from them at least. It was nothing new. Anything to get the senshi to get mad and stop thinking. He wasn't falling for that anymore, ever again. "I would have shame about anything if i knew i had done something wrong. So far ... no." He had no reason to feel sorry for what he'd done to any of the Negaverse.

Civilians perhaps but he wasn't going to go into that. Not with someone like her.  

[The Red Dame]

Now the Senshi was trying to change the subject, go back to making her the bad one. It was an irksome Senshi habit. There was no winning in an argument with these worms, but she needed just a bit more time to collect the energy.

“ Trying to deny what your precious Blood Moon Court did? Pah!” Mica spat.

This was one of the many problems with Senshi. They were either superb liars, thus making them some of the worst hypocrites, or they were absurdly disorganized. Mica almost hoped it was the former because if it was the later, the Senshi shouldn’t be such a constant thorn in the Negaverse’s side.

The talk, unpleasant as it was, had served its purpose. Mica felt the small little ball of energy form between her gloved fingers, which she quickly grasped as she stood, careful not to put any extra weight on the foot she kept on the civilian’s neck..

“ I’ve got what I want,” she said,“ and I didn’t kill him. That’s more kindness then your Blood Moons showed.”  

[TheMadHatter]

He frowned slightly, a bit taken aback, and lost his original train of thought in the face of the Negaverser's odd line of questioning. "What Court?"

He hadn't ever heard of anything called the Blood Moon and if anyone had asked him he'd have said it sounded like something the Negaverse would have come up with. Sure he'd heard of the White Moon, they supposedly had one of their princesses or something, but he hadn't heard of anything else.

"Kill him or not you shouldn't be doing that to anyone. All you're doing is feeing the planets and the universe's eventual downfall"  

[The Red Dame]

Mica had planned to flee with that last parting shot, but seeing the Senshi getting temporarily sidetracked had caught her attention. She knew she’d probably have better luck trying to show a jihadist the error in his ways, but if there was even the slightest chance she’d make an impact then it was her duty to try. But damn it all, did she ever hate being responsible sometimes!

“ Is that what you think? You, who clearly doesn’t know the truth of your own faction; who missed the memo about an entire Court?” Mica snorted. “ You’re in no position to lecture me.”

A couple slow steps back had Mica making a gradual exit, having not prepared for some great philosophical debate. Clearly she’d had to make note cards for future run-ins.

“ Why don’t you go fill in the gaps in your knowledge and then try me again later?”  

[TheMadHatter]

"The only court i know that has any standing is the White Moon..." And he'd only vaguely heard of that because he'd seen it's sort of-princess. The Negaverse should have known how disorganized the Senshi were. He knew there had to be someone in their ranks who reveled in that fact.

Something he wanted to be able to fix.

The Blood Moon though. That didn't sound pleasant in the least and would be something he would have to look into.