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It had taken an hour of hesitating, excuses, and distractions before Sugilite had slipped out of her civilian identity, and dorm room, and out into the city. The thrill of hunting, of rushing around in the dark, was slowly diminishing. Sure, some days were moderately good, but more than often she'd end up cornering a drunk hobo, and after realizing that her target just urinated out of fear, would get smacked down by a senshi. She had figured out by this time that each of them had a theme, some sort of quaint idea that all their attacks and tacky outfits revolved around, but the only ones she ran across all seemed to be based around 'pain'. Oh why couldn't she just one run into a senshi of lint? Or light breezes? Or cuddles?

Sugilite felt the most she could deal with that night was cuddles.

Nevertheless, responsibilities had to be fulfilled. Working for the negaverse was not like volunteering for the 'hug the puppies' charity group. If you turned up with no energy, you didn't get a sad frown and an ex besides your name on a clipboard. Instead it was kind of like working for well ... a radical militant terrorist group. Only of course, while most of those were staffed by ignorant idealists trying to impose their twisted vision of the truth on an innocent public, this one was doing noble but necessary deeds of sacrifice to save a blind planet from it's unfair enslavement.

And so, to assist her group in its cause, and fight for .... earth, she supposed, Sugilite slipped down alleys and hurried across rooftops, eyes open to any sign of life, whether friend, foe, or prey.

Inwardly, Sugilite sighed. Outwardly, she casually spun around to face the senshi, calm and composed. Smiling cheerily, she took a step forward and bobbed a surprising curtsy in greeting. While inwardly she seethed and raged at the senshi, outwardly the only feelings she showed was a hint of amused surprise. Don't let them see you sweat. At least, not yet.

"Oh, don't you worry dear. The last thing I want to do is cause any trouble with a fight. So why don't you go skip off so I can take care of my business and you can stop some big mean bully from hurting poor innocent people? I'm sure your nights are just filled with all sorts of acts of charity like that."

Behind her thick glasses, Sugilite's eyes darted around, taking in the area around her, looking for any impromptu weapon. She didn't even bother maintaining eye contact as she spoke, secure in the knowledge that the other girl couldn't see what was behind the layers of glass.

One hand theatrically flew to her chest in mock surprise and Sugilite gasped loudly. Big gestures, make lots of big gestures. That way she wouldn't react as fast if Sugilite jumped for a trash can and hurled it at her tacky face. Throwing her other hand to her brow and staggering as if wounded, she gasped again, her face a mask of shock and distress.

"Me? A bully! Slander and lies darling, slander and lies! I would never stoop to hurting the innocent. Why, I spend my nights, sacrificing my own life to protect the good people of this city. I fight lawlessness and crime, and guard those who cannot stand for themselves. And yet you come here and fling such accusatory words in my face, why it makes my heart break!"

Her hands dropped and came up again, clutched together at her breast. She took another step forward, shaking her head and sagging a little, seeming almost exhausted from the outburst. Her shoulders drooped and her head hung low.

"And as you throw barbed words in my face, you say I'm polite. Polite! As though I would be anything else! Do you always jump to such bitter and judgmental conclusions with everyone? Or do you just enjoy seeing a young woman hurt in this way? What have I ever done to you?"

Was this senshi really that dumb? The words trusting or friendly never even registered in Sugilite's head, instead naive, easy mark, and flat out retarded stamped themselves over the girl's name. As she had talked and wavered around, her eyes had picked out everything in the alley that could be used as a potential weapon. There was an industrial garbage container behind the senshi. Impossible to lift it in her civilian form, she would still struggle as a lowly Lieutenant. But if she did manage to lift it, she was sure the results would be oh so worth it.

Behind her, she had remembered seeing a cluster of garbage cans and bags, piled beside the backdoor of some restaurant, closed for the night. The cans would be full, though she hesitated at throwing the bags, full of raw garbage. The would most likely explode on impact, and while disgusting, they would work effectively if the senshi was the kind to get disgusted at being covered in slimy food peelings. Most people were the type, really. What Sugilite could really use right now was a civilian or two to use as meat shields, emergency bargaining tools, and when all else failed, weapons. She also, of course, had her spinning top-thing. Hurrah.

"Oh, no dear, I'd be the first to admit that some of my associates are little more than brutish thugs. Why, to think of the kinds of tactics they stoop to makes me quite faint."

Sugilite was standing quite close to the girl now, one more step forward and she could reach out and touch her. As she chatted amicably, her hands fluttered around in exasperated gestures and she swayed back and forth, her body and expression seeming to wilt and grow depending on what she was talking about. When the girl complimented her on her hair and dress, she beamed happily and took the final step, her hands reaching out to clasp the other girl's in a warm manner.

"Why thank you darling! I do try and keep appearances up, even though we are given no real choice in our uniforms. I imagine it must be the same for you, it is so hard to be taken seriously when we are given dresses and heels to do battle in."

As the hands pulled back, Sugilite inwardly sighed. There went her plan of slowly draining the senshi as they talked and 'bonded', she supposed she had been hoping for too much. It was a pity, and it forced her hand. There wasn't any way she was going to allow Albireo to go off and continue her little nighttime crusade. The girl wasn't stupid enough to actually let an enemy agent touch her, but she had let Sugilite within touching distance. It was all she needed.

"You really will insist on being so cold? On driving a wedge between what could have been a grand friendship? And all because of who I am? No, no it's simply too cruel."

Her hands shot out again, however this time they roughly grabbed at the senshi's lapel and hair, and the lieutenant twisted and heaved, attempting to throw the other girl as hard as she could into the garbage cans behind her.

"I won't let you get away with breaking a young girl's heart like that, you monster!"

She was fighting the senshi of carhorns. The actual senshi of actual carhorns. Sugilite had been about to throw back a biting and needles to say incredibly witty reply to the senshi, when Albireo opened her mouth and shocked Sugilite with the most unladylike sound she'd ever seen coming out of a girl. Fingers firmly in her ears, she thought furiously of some old car models. Your friends are a Model T and ... a clown car? She'd have to read up on vintage automobiles, the next chance she had.

Hands still raised to her ears, she backed up slowly, till her back bumped up against the industrial dumpster. Sugilite kept her eyes fixed firmly on the other girl, determined to wait out the disorienting honking before bothering to waste her energy on attacks, verbally or physically. She stood tense, prepared to whip her hands down and defend herself if the senshi decided to press forward. She could sidestep, grab the girl, and slam her headfirst into the bin, knocking some sense into Albireo's brain, if the girl tried to charge her. 1924 Bently. Despite the danger, Sugilite smiled.

The senshi had run? Sugilite blinked in surprise. Usually she was the one booking it in the end, barely staying ahead as she pounded down alleys and tore up fire escapes. And here she was, free to continue on her way. It was slightly disconcerting, as though the other girl had picked up a chessboard and tossed it on the floor, then given her a trophy and walked off.

She hesitated, wondering if it could be a trap. Would the senshi be stalking her, waiting for her to let her guard down? Could all that naive innocence have been the act of the century? Frowning slightly, and glancing back over her shoulder every now and then, Sugilite turned and headed off in the opposite direction of Albireo, to continue on with her hunt.