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 Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 9:04 am
Europa had just met Babylon Page five minutes ago, and she hadn't reached a solid conclusion on how she felt about him yet. He wasn't exactly fresh out of the box, but he had a flailing sort of immaturity about him that couldn't help but get on her nerves. Not to mention the useless weapon - were all pages that ill-equipped? She'd only met a few, and never in battle before...
Babylon, for his part, thought this senshi wore entirely too many frills, but that she knew what she was doing. That alone was enough for him to follow her anywhere. The uniform was fancier than anyone else he'd met so far, which seemed roughly like a mark of status... but he wasn't a senshi and didn't know how this worked.
This evening's youma was roughly the size and shape of a shetland pony with too many legs and had taken off running as soon as they tried to engage it in battle. Babylon was inclined to let the thing go, but Europa insisted - if they didn't destroy it, it would just get up to more trouble. So they were basically the glorified magical pest control, running after a rat.
"Charming," spat Babylon as they pursued the youma down narrower and narrower, darker and darker streets. He was beginning to regret coming down here, but Europa urged him on and from one dorky glowing superhero to another, he couldn't just abandon her. She had her s**t in order, and that was a tall order - He wanted to impress the strange magical girl who outranked him by a long shot.
The narrow alley suddenly opened up into a vast construction site. The youma charged ahead, flitting in and out of shadows as it approached the skeletal office building before them. "Come on!" yelled Europa, following it, and Babylon was already too far in to do anything but follow her.
The inside of the building was a maze of concrete, steel and scaffolding. The pair could barely keep up with each other, let alone the youma, and within a matter of minutes they had lost it.
Europa finally stopped running, breathing heavily. Babylon skidded to a halt, nearly knocking her over.
"So where'd it go?" he panted. Europa yanked his glowstick out of his hand and tried to illuminate the inky shadows that surrounded them.
"I dunno," she wheezed, handing it back to the indignant page. She didn't want to say that she had a bad feeling about this... but she did have a bad feeling nonetheless.
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 12:38 pm
General Painite was hoping to run into a senshi or a knight, but one of each? It was almost too good. Of course, at the moment she was hiding in the run down building and the moment she saw them coming, even before she had felt their power signatures, she powered down and used the shadows to conceal her.
It was a dangerous tactic, she knew, but as long as she did not power up in front of them and did not let them see her, then she could swing it. If they found her before she could spring her trap she would just act like another helpless civilian in need of aid.
How lucky was she? Here were two good guys running into her trap without even realizing what they were doing. And it wasn't with her bait! There were three civilians around the building, and none of them had been responsible for leading the do gooders into the trap.
An unwitting youma had done the job for her.
As they walked forward they would hear a low, pained groan from a civilian on the floor up ahead. Of course, if they weren't careful they would fall from a hole in the floor, covered deftly by a tarp that didn't look like it was covering a hole. Of course, if they tried to go around it there were back up plans. Painite hadn't cut corners here, and once she had one hurt or trapped, she would power up and leap into her game.
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 3:52 pm
A cry in the dark...
"Did you hear that?" asked Europa, glancing in the direction of the sound. Babylon, still nursing his ego, nodded. "Sounds like it came from upstairs," the senshi continued, turning to see if the page was still listening: he wasn't. Babylon was already off running, charging ahead in the direction of the voice, glowstick clutched above his head.
"Babylon, wait!" yelled Europa, picking up the chase. Didn't he know it was dangerous to go alone? Especially in a dark and dangerous construction site like this one. There could be all sorts of loose tools and concrete, maybe even some unmarked holes-
From up ahead she heard a crash. Europa's eyes went wide and she hurried to catch up with the page. She didn't see him anywhere - not even his dorky glowstick! It was pitch dark up ahead!
Babylon rolled over slowly from where he had fallen. "********," he muttered. It didn't feel like anything was broken, but it had definitely been a tumble - knocked the wind right out of him.
And then Europa fell on top of him and knocked the wind right out again.
"Damn it," swore the senshi, pushing herself away from the page. Her wrist felt sprained. "And that's why you don't go running off at construction sites."
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 4:17 pm
They would find themselves in a strange room, filled with debris, but pitch dark. There were no windows down here, it seemed, though if they had been able to explore a bit more they would have found that the windows were simply covered and seal. The door, as well, was jammed shut and blocked on the other side.
They would feel a sudden burst of nega energy above them, a chaotic aura breaking through what had been peaceful with the two goodie goodies keeping each other company.
From where they had fallen a shadow was standing, looking down at them. Not the tallest form, maybe, but she was holding a long, dangerous looking weapon and her head was tilting down. She was looking at them. Light above flickered and revealed her expression, set in a mocking grin.
"Fall down a hole?" She called, not yet really believing her luck. A senshi and a knight, all hers for the picking. And now that she was powered up, she could feel that the senshi was strong. An Eternal senshi. She wasn't scared, however.
How could she be? She had the upper hand! And she was a General now. She wanted to test out what new strength she possessed.
"How did you two get all the way down there? Do you need a hand?" She shifted her stance then, her outline moving to lift the spear up, holding it like an olympic javelin thrower might, over her shoulder and ready to be thrown.
Now which one would she aim at? It was dark, so she threw it at the one source of light she could see down below: the glowing stick.
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 4:58 pm
It was a trap, Europa realized within seconds of the dark energy signature crackling through her mind. "Move, move, move!" she grunted, shoving Babylon away from his glowstick. Of course the general would target that - there was nothing else glowing down in that hole. Babylon scrambled with her, noticing only moments later that his weapon had been left behind.
He reached for it - too late. The javelin met its mark, and the glowstick didn't just leak - it exploded like its contents had been under extreme pressure. A small tidal wave of blue ooze surged forth, splattering both senshi and page and transforming them from shots in the dark to glowing targets. It showed no sign of fading - and why would it? It was the light of Babylon. It glowed eternal.
"I didn't know it could do that," said Babylon lowly, although internally he was mourning the loss of his weapon. It was lame, but it was his, and now it was splattered all over his uniform.
"Shut up," groaned Europa, sizing up the room. Nothing useful, except the spear - maybe. Negaverse weapons were known to disappear. She flexed her injured wrist experimentally, winced, and made a lunge to grab the javelin.
"What are you doing?" called Babylon, still trying to force air back into his lungs.
"Saving our asses," grunted Europa, closing her hand weakly around the shaft. Well, maybe. She gave it a sharp yank and glared up at the general. "You make a habit out of not playing fair?" she called.
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Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 11:55 am
"Look how pretty you two are now! Thanks, whoever brought that glowstick. You accounted for something I didn't," she laughed mockingly, arms folded over her chest. She very much liked the way her voice echoed down the chamber.
Very sinister.
She often took a moment to consider her accent in moments like this. Working with British accent was complicated, as sometimes it could be cute and sweet and other times it fulfilled its duties as sinister. At the moment, though she was laughing and having fun, she felt she was using her roots well for her goals.
The accent just made things sound cooler and more wicked.
She watched as the senshi tried to grab her weapon, holding out her hand and summoning it back to her. It vanished from the hole, appearing back in her hand after a moment.
"Playing fair? There's just one of me and two of you. And you're trying to steal my weapon. That's just rude, frilly miss! But if you want it so badly, here."
She pulled her arm back and threw it at the glowing senshi below. The glowstick really was useful, she would have to thank them again for that. She was standing at the edge of her trap, and the floor under her was crumbling, though she didn't seem to notice.
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Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 3:22 pm
Europa was thankful for three things: backlighting, forethought, and knights with the good sense to stay out of the way. Babylon hadn't moved from where she'd left him, although that may have been on account of the questionably cracked ribs. She leapt away from the spear as it struck, one of her long trailing ribbons becoming entangled and ripping nastily, but otherwise unharmed.
She flung a hasty arm towards the general and shrieked, "Europa deep ocean blackout!" Hopefully the pressure would knock the general back a bit, and at the very least she needed to kill the lights while Babylon was still a sitting target.
It was suddenly pitch black, except for the senshi's glowing brooch. Babylon squinted through the darkness at her, then rolled over onto his hands to try to push himself to standing. Something warm and metalic filled his mouth when he coughed - blood? The page spat and shakily got to his feet.
"I don't see how this is helping," he stammered.
"Shut up!" hissed the senshi from the other side of the room.
"How long does this last?" asked Babylon, who was a bit disconcerted by the sudden, total blackness.
"About a minute," snapped the senshi. "I said shut up."
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Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2011 9:35 am
Painite frowned as she was pushed back by the Eternals attack. Eternals were the most annoying of the whole bunch, she felt, as they had powerful magic to aid them. She didn't attribute the skill to the senshi themselves: they were just lucky to have some strong, stupid power to aid them.
The Negaverse fought with weapons and their own strength: that was the mark of a real warrior. And that was what would win the war for them, in the end. They didn't have to rely on shouting stupid things and hoping their magic lasted long enough to run away or managed to actually do some damage. They took the battles into their own hands and forced the outcome for themselves.
Or they planned things out in advance, and made it work.
For now, the two targets were hidden in that blackness, and Painite wasn't going to go anywhere near it. She considered throwing her spear again, but any attack never reached the duo, even as they sat and waited. She could imagine their fear.
When the spell did ebb, however, they would find the General falling down into the hole with them, hitting the floor hard and in a daze, blood running from her nose. At the mouth of the hole far above them another form stood, arms folded over his chest, looking down at the duo and the nega.
He had gotten the drop on Painite.
"Two of you can't handle one Nega, huh?" Chaonis grunted, sounding annoyed and amused at once. Condescending.
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Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2011 9:58 am
It was the first and last time her super attack had been useful, thought Europa as she gazed slowly upwards from the fallen general to the smug-looking senshi. "We were doing fine before you got here," she retorted, although considering that Babylon had only now managed to get a steady sense of where his feet were and was making his way forlornly towards the remains of his glowstick... No, it was probably a lie.
The senshi of the deep took a distasteful look at the dazed general, and then an equally distasteful look at the limping knight. "You think you can jump out of here?" she barked at him quickly. Time was of the essence, she couldn't help but think. There was no telling how long the general might stay down.
"I can barely walk," Babylon called back, nudging his punctured glowstick with a toe. All of the light had gone out of it, but the liquid was still glowing. Would it be fixed next time he powered up? Or was he just going to be a page of Mercury without a light forever? And what would his ancestor say? He already dreaded his next trip to Babylon.
Europa, dissatisfied with the answer, looked back up at the other senshi and waved him down. "Help me get the useless page out," she ordered. They were both wearing buttwings, but she was the one in the hole and for some reason she had decided that gave her authority over him.
Babylon opened his mouth to object, but thought better of it. "Hey, Europa," he said, glancing over at the negaverser on the floor. "I think she's waking up."
Europa rolled her eyes and yelled at Chaonis, "NOW."
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 11:47 am
Chaonis was not about to offer them any help. he had already gone out of his way to get over her, jump into this fight and get himself involved. he punched the nega into the hole, what else did they need him to do? There were two of them down there, and he could tell that the senshi was an Eternal like himself.
Why hadn't she been able to handle that General?
Of course, Chaonis did not get a look at the woman before he had punched her in the face. He didn't even know that it was a girl, or that it was Painite, someone he had met before. And hated. She was laying down in the dark hole now, trying to get her senses, pushing her hands slowly under her but not moving very fast. She was still dazed.
"Now why should I do that? I already did all the work! Why don't you do something useful, since it's obviously not fighting Negas, and get him out yourself? Or better yet, why doesn't he get himself out? What is he, a baby?"
Chaonis didn't move, arms folded over his chest, grinning at them in the dim light. Painite, on the floor, groaned, giving them incentive to move a bit faster. Not that Chaonis often reacted to things like that. If they wanted to get out of the hole, they were going to have to figure it out.
While he mocked them.
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 12:03 pm
Really? Was he really doing this to her? Europa glared savagely at the a*****e senshi up on the ledge, wishing that they had some kind of authority figure she could tattle on him to because he definitely deserved to be tattled on, and then stomped over to Babylon, pausing on the way to give Painite a frustrated kick in the side. She wasn't much for kicking someone when they were down, but the general was stirring and anything she could do to keep her from getting back up would be useful.
"You," she yelled at Chaonis, "Are an insufferable p***k."
Babylon shot the dark-haired senshi a questioning look as she approached him. He'd only ever encountered senshi in the heat of battle or solo before, so it had never occurred to him that they were anything other than some kind of unified front. Watching Europa and the newly-arrived boy hurl verbal abuse at each other was something completely alien, and while he understood their words perfectly, their conflict had might as well been in Chinese for how much sense it was making.
"It's only like what, a story? A story and a half?" Europa asked him, looking up at the hole they had fallen through appraisingly.
"I guess so," said Babylon, itching to ask her about her fight with the other senshi but sensing this wasn't the time or place. "Look, I think I'm okay to jump--" He didn't want to be a burden.
"A minute ago you could barely stand," Europa shot back. Babylon jerked a thumb towards the ledge.
"Gotta save some face, yeah?" he asked, wincing. The girl rolled her eyes. God help her - it was some kind of manhood thing.
"You fall on your face and I'm leaving you here," she said, not really meaning it, before stalking off and jumping neatly up beside Chaonis. Babylon followed clumsily a moment later.
Europa rounded angrily on the menshi. "I had that perfectly under control!" she lied angrily. "You used my attack as cover! I gave you an opening! Don't go claiming all the credit, you-" She paused, trying to think of an appropriately strong insult, and then concluded lamely but with no less fury, "Kill stealer."
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 12:30 pm
Chaonis took that as a compliment, he really did.
"Insufferable? Just what I like to hear. That means just by being here, you're going to keep being annoyed. Does my work for me, at this point. I appreciate you making things easy for me."
He watched them, eyes keen. Was he messing with them, or just trying to see if they could, in fact, get out? As far as Chaonis considered, he was the top dog in any situation, and all the other players had to prove themselves to him. Even, in this rare case, another Eternal senshi was not exempt from these rules of his game.
And the Page definitely had a lot to prove, as he was already established to Chaonis as a useless wuss. And he hadn't even spoken to the guy.
"I would love to see you fall on your face. In fact, I'm placing a bet right now. Don't let me down, glow boy." He chimed, listening to their conversation. He looked at Europa as she landed next to him, grinning at her as if she were greeting him nicely. "Awww, don't get your frills in a twist. I know you're embarrassed, but don't take it out on me. Maybe you should have just fought better."
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 12:45 pm
If Europa's attacks were friendly fire-capable, she would have cast Deep Ocean Terror on Chaonis and strutted off into the night, mission accomplished. Except they weren't, and while she was usually thankful for this, tonight she was really pissed about it. Because this jerk was like Castor minus all of the redeeming traits. (Although she could not accurately name any of Castor's redeeming traits, she knew he must have some because she actually enjoyed his company.)
"Maybe you should have minded your own business," she snapped back. Never in a million years would she admit that he had probably just saved both their lives. No, that wasn't going to happen, and he could just keep dreaming.
Babylon watched the exchange unfold with a distinct sense that it was wrong and he ought to step in and do something. On the bright side, Europa had found someone new to direct her rage at. Still, he wasn't exactly helping, was he? Babylon knew he wasn't exactly the most chivalrous person alive, but he knew he couldn't just stand here and let this guy beat up on Europa for something he knew instinctively was his fault.
"Hey, a*****e," the page interjected, surprised at his own boldness. "Didn't your mother ever teach you how to talk to a lady?"
Europa took a step back and glanced at the knight, horrified and certain he was about to get his a** handed to him.
"And besides," the page admitted with a scowl. "You shouldn't beat up on her. It was my fault we wound up in the hole. I walked into a trap."
Europa felt a small swell of pride and thought she might have to re-evaluate her opinions on Babylon. In taking the blame where he deserved it, she felt he was demonstrating at least a small degree of maturity.
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 4:01 pm
Chaonis grinned at her. Europa might not admit it, but he was certainly going to remind her. He thought the exact same thing: without him, she would not have been able to survive. And that Page would have been cat food.
Clearly.
He growled when Cat Food spoke up, eyes shifting over to the Page down in the hole.
"I'm not surprised you walked into it. Either of you. Probably holding hands and skipping, just asking for trouble. But I've decided that you, Not A Senshi, are not worth my time. So ******** off." He paused for a moment, and then as an afterthought, attached to a wry and completely insincere grin, added, "please."
"I'd like the whole lot of you to do just that," Painite mumbled, getting herself to her feet. She leaned on her weapon, having gotten the wind knocked out of her with her fall.
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 4:13 pm
"Maybe I will," retorted Babylon indignantly. He wasn't in the mood to stand here and get insults hurled at him - in fact, he was never in the mood to do that, and least of all when he was injured and covered in the luminescent remains of his own weapon. It was time to go home and sleep for fourteen years, and even then he'd still feel the shame and indignity of tonight.
"But," he added, glaring defiantly at the senshi once he heard the general's cry of protest from down in the pit. "If you're so big, why don't you go down there and finish her off yourself? Or are you only good for sneaking up on girls and attacking them from behind, in the dark?"
It was a pretty good zinger, Europa had to admit as she watched the page turn and limp away. She looked back to Chaonis and settled her hands stubbornly onto her hips. "So?" she asked. "Are you going to go down there? Or do I have to beat you to it?"
Because she was itching to use Terror on someone tonight, and at this point it didn't even matter who.
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