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 Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 2:22 pm
His mom was late, and a quick text confirmed that she had been out doing errands and the time got away from her. Something about a sale and a huge line and how sorry she was and for him to stay put because she was on her way.
Peter didn't mind too much. He sat on a swing in a park a couple blocks away from the school. It was the same park he and his mother would sometimes go after he got out, so meeting her there wasn't anything unusual. His feet kicked at the wood chips under his feet, wishing he'd brought his tablet to school with him that day. If he was allowed to run around he wouldn't mind the lack of technology, since he usually just made stuff up on his own, but it was boring just sitting around. There weren't even any kids around for him to play with. Well, there were some college students playing with a frisbee in an adjacent lot, but they looked like they were about to leave.
His backpack had been discarded near the slide and his sweater had been left there, too. If he could have changed out of his uniform he would have already. It was warm out, and he could still get away with wearing shorts, but not for much longer. And then it would be back to long pants and jackets for winter.
He supposed he could work on his homework, but then why would it be called homework...? So that was out of the question. Instead, he just let his mind wander. To that girl in the tree with stars and moons on her strange pajamas... and to the talk of 'monsters' he sometimes heard about, but his teachers denied. It was kind of crazy, thinking that there could be monsters and superheros and badguys running around in Destiny City, but... why not...? It would make for a good movie, at least.
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Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 10:49 pm
Paris was running late. Not that it was especially important for him to get back to the store at a certain time when he had someone covering the evening shift on the days that he had dance, but he still liked to run things himself with his father more or less out of commission, and even though he'd been the one to stay behind at the studio for a little extra practice, he wanted to at least get back before it was time to worry about closing up, if only so he could sit behind the counter and take some time to rest.
He was exhausted. He briefly thought he wasn't built to work such long hours, but he pushed the weakness away and told himself giving up wasn't a luxury he could take. He'd fooled around enough. This thing with his dad was serious, and it was up to him to make sure everything was under control. He had to keep it together, because no one else would.
He came across the park as he was heading for one of the nearby bus stops, and on instinct looked toward the playground equipment to make sure all was well -- you never know what sorts of things could happen in this city anymore, and it was his job to be vigilant. Thankfully, it didn't seem to be a busy afternoon and few people were there. In fact, he only saw one figure by the swings.
A rather familiar looking figure, if he were to be honest.
Curious, Paris came to a stop by the fence surrounding the park to look in on the young boy sitting across the way. When he came to the decision that, yes, he did know that boy, he forgot about the bus he was supposed to catch and pushed open the gate, crossing in to begin making his way across the dirt and mulch.
"Peter?" he wondered as he drew closer, glancing around to see if anyone else was around. His heart skipped a beat when he thought that Chris could be near, but he knew in an instant how foolish a thought that was. "What are you doing here?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 11:09 pm
He was so lost in his own thoughts and fantasies that he almost didn't register his name being said. But after a few moments he did look up to see who it was. At first he didn't recognize him, if only because he hadn't seen the older boy in a while, but it wasn't like it was difficult to forget someone who owed him money.
"Waiting for my dealer," he said rather casually, pushing at the ground so he could rock the swing back and forth. He was sitting on a swing... what did it look like he was doing there...? "Mom's on her way to pick me up... she's running late," he shared after a few moments to letting Paris wonder about his first statement. If his mom wouldn't freak out, he could have just taken the subway and buses home, but apparently ten was too young to go home on one's own.
Peter looked Paris over, as if trying to remember something about him. "You owe me," he pointed out after a few moments. His payments were late, but it wasn't like he ever saw Chris or his 'girlfriend' so it was to be expected that his money not make it to him. "You don't have to pay me now, but I'll be expecting it soon. You can just mail it to my house. I'll give you the address," he offered, but he didn't get off the swing just yet.
"What are you doing here, anyway...?" he wondered, glancing around to see if Chris was with him. Nope... thank goodness. He didn't want to deal with his brother nagging at him for who knew what. It wasn't that he hated his brother. He was just obnoxious... and he wasn't in the mood to deal with that today.
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Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 12:32 pm
Lifting a brow, Paris stepped closer to the swing set, putting his dance bag onto the ground and plopping into the swing beside Peter. "I don't owe you anything anymore," he told him, gripping onto the chains and lightly pushing himself back and forth.
He didn't know if he was upset by the fact that Chris hadn't told his family they'd broken up, or hopeful that it meant he might want to try to still be friends somehow. He squashed the thought before it could take much shape. Chris hadn't bothered to contact him at all since their meeting on Saturday. Granted, Paris hadn't tried to call or text him either, but considering he'd been the one to do so beforehand, he didn't want to end up being a bother now that they seemed to have come to a silent agreement to go their separate ways.
"Chris and I broke up," he said, seeing no reason to hide it. Peter would have to find out eventually, whether Chris ended up telling his family or not. Paris wasn't exactly going to be paying the kid off anymore. "He knows. I told him. So it's over, and you've got nothing to hold against me anymore."
He looked next to him and grinned lightly, though he didn't feel very amused. "Sucks to be you."
Not that Peter hadn't made quite a bit off of him already. In the end, Paris was the one who got it worse, or at least he thought so, seeing as he'd screwed up so badly. He'd had the most to lose.
"And I was heading back to my dad's store when I saw you sitting here. I just got out of my dance class," he shared, motioning toward the bag he'd set down. "Some of us can't goof off at school all day. While you're playing with your friends and acting obnoxious, I've got to do the whole adult thing -- work, cook, clean the house. You'll get to see what it's like when you're older."
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Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 1:10 pm
Peter's eyes widened in surprise when Paris told him how he and Chris had broken up. "Oh? What, you just told him? He wasn't angry?" Yeah right... Chris got angry about everything the rubbed him the wrong way. He lowered his head a bit, feeling kind of bad now that he knew they weren't together any more.
"Sorry," he said with a small shrug. He hadn't meant for them to break up. It wasn't like he didn't like Paris, after all. Unless Paris was glad that they were broken up, but he had been pretty desperate to keep Chris from knowing.
"I don't goof off. I've got one of the best grades in my class," Peter informed the older boy sitting on the other swing, glancing up at him with a frown. "At least I go to school," he added, giving Paris a pointed look. "I heard mom talking to Chris saying that you'd dropped out to help your dad." It wasn't anything to blame Paris for. It was a nobel endeavor in itself. It was just... it might ruin Paris's chances later on in life. His mom had been worried about that, at least.
He opened his mouth to say something else, but whatever he was going to say was quickly forgotten. There was a growl from across the park where there was an alley going between a couple buildings. It wasn't anything like Peter had ever heard. Like a cross between a lion and some kind of snake.
"What was that??" he asked out loud, pausing in pushing himself on the swing so he could look up and over to where the sound came from. There wasn't anyone around now... Maybe a dog had gotten lost...?
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Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 1:28 pm
He didn't bother to explain what had happened. He wasn't going to talk about his failed relationship with a kid. Peter already knew enough as it was. It was hardly any of his business, and Paris wasn't exactly in the mood to talk about it to begin with. It's not like Peter would be able to understand. He wasn't even at the age where he should be getting interested in girls yet.
He shrugged it off and tried to make it seem as if it didn't bother him all that much, when it was probably fairly obvious to anyone who might happen to cross paths with him that he was just not dealing with it very well.
Paris was about to make a comment about his own schooling when Peter seemed to notice something, and it was only a couple of seconds after that when he realized that something in the area wasn't quite right. Awash in his internal grief, he heard it before he sensed it, but he couldn't have mistaken a growl like that for anything else. That was no dog. Dogs didn't sound like that. He thought the most vicious dog in the world would sound positively sweet compared to a sound like that.
"Peter," he called to him before he could get very far, jumping from his swing to grab the boy by the shoulder. "Come on. This way. You need to get out of here," he said, quickly grabbing his discarded bag to sling it over his shoulder. He looked toward the swings where Peter's school bag sat and debated whether or not they'd have enough time to retrieve it, before deciding it was better to leave now than risk the couple of yards it would take to grab it, too.
It could be too late by then.
"Leave your school bag," he told him. "We'll come back for it. Just come on," he said, and began steering him away as quickly but as inconspicuously as possible, heading in the opposite direction of the offending alleyway.
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Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 1:45 pm
"Hey!" he gasped when he was grabbed onto, quickly spinning around to see where his bag was, only to be told to leave it where it was. "Hey! My phone is in there! I need it!" he demanded, pulling against Paris's grip as he was lead away. "What's the big deal, anyway?? It's just dog or something!"
This was ridiculous. He wasn't about to leave without his bag, much less without his phone.
Peter twisted out of Paris's grip and ducked away from him, darting around the poles of the play set to get to his bag. He leaned down to pick it up and sling it over his shoulder, but when he looked up he saw what must have spooked Paris into wanting to run.
Standing in the opening of the alley was an animal, dark and almost smokey looking, as if it was half a ghost, or had just been on fire and was now smoldering. He could only see its head and shoulders, but he could make a good guess that it was on four legs, and had to be some kind of mutant dog with long fangs and an even longer tong lolling out of its mouth, dripping saliva onto the ground.
"What the hell?" he gaped, stumbling backwards in shock and ended up tripping over one of the poles of the swing set. What the heck was that creature??
Whatever it was, it had caught sight of him and was turning to lunge.
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Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 2:04 pm
"Peter!" Paris shouted at him, muttering a curse under his breath when the younger boy was able to pull himself away. "Screw your phone! That thing isn't going to want your phone! We can come back for it!"
He chased after him, skidding to a halt when the monster appeared in the mouth of the alleyway and muffling another curse. The youma lunged, throwing itself into the park, all long tongue and teeth and smokey body, and Paris grabbed Peter by the shoulder again to shove him away, only to catch a claw in the arm for his efforts. He let out a shout and stumbled backward, but had the wherewithal to kick a shower of wood chips into the direction of the youma's eyes. It howled and shook its head to remove stray shards of wood from its vision, and Paris used the opportunity to grab Peter again and drag him away.
"You idiot! When I tell you to go, you go!" he barked, unzipping his dance bag to dig through it for his pen. Once his fingers circled around it, his slipped the bag off of his shoulder and flung it behind him, right into the charging youma's face.
It managed to trip the monster up for a few moments, but not nearly long enough for them to get away. Paris dragged Peter around the park, looking for a way out, or at least a place to stow the kid while he was busy, but the youma would get to them before they could reach the gate on the far side, and the only piece of playground equipment tall enough to where it might not be able to reach was the slide.
"Okay," he said, circling around the merry-go-round and the jungle jim, and then ducking through the swings and pushing them all into motion as he passed, relieved when the youma did as he'd hoped and attacked one of them, ripping into the rubber and straining the clanking chains. Moments later, he and Peter came to the slide again, and Paris looked over his shoulder to make sure they had enough time before urging Peter up the ladder. "Climb up, Peter! Hurry! I can take care of this!"
He hoped...
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Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 2:27 pm
Peter yelped when Paris grabbed onto him again, moving him out of the way from being dog food. "Paris!" he gasped, watching in horror as the dog thing managed to claw the older boy's arm. This thing seriously was going to try and hurt them?? But what was it?? It wasn't anything he'd ever seen before!
He didn't know what to do, and he stood, frozen to the spot until Paris grabbed onto him and dragged him around, not knowing what Paris was doing, but apparently he had an idea.
"Watch out!" he gasped again when the dog jumped at them, but Paris already had that covered with the swings. And once he got to the ladder he climbed up as fast as he could, only to turn around in shock when Paris said he'd take care of it. "What are you talking about?? Come up here, too! I can call the cops or animal control or something!" he shouted down at Paris, waiting for him to start climbing up as well.
The youma by then had decided that the swing wasn't anything worth attacking and had once again turned its attention to the two boys. It let out a sound that was crossed between a growl and a hiss as it made its way past the swingset, ready to attack its rediscovered prey.
"Go away!" Peter shouted down at it, reaching down with one hand to pull off his shoe and throw at the creature, significantly distracting it from Paris... for a few moments, at least. "Paris, come on!" he pleaded, his face probably white from shock and fear. What the hell was going on??
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Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 2:46 pm
"Don't call the cops!" he demanded, not really in the mood to deal with that sort of interference on top of the presence of the youma. "And animal control's not going to be able to do anything! That thing isn't an animal! It's a youma," he said. He shook his head quickly after when he realized Peter might not quite comprehend the word. "A monster!"
He didn't know what to do. He could always try to take it on like this, he knew, but he wasn't sure how well that would turn out, and he'd really rather Peter not get hurt in the process. He spared a quick glance toward his arm. The youma hadn't managed to dig in too deep. It was a shallow wound, and wasn't even bleeding all that much, but the sleeve of his shirt was torn and his arm stung where the claw had caught his flesh.
So he had to worry about claws and teeth. He wondered if the tongue would end up being a problem -- would it have a long one like that if it were useless? -- and Paris dug his feet into the ground a bit and took a breath to try and get himself under control. Should he try to do this without powering up or not? He'd put so much effort into keeping his identity a secret, and to have it revealed now, to Peter of all people...
But Peter was Chris's little brother, and as obnoxious as he was, Paris was at least fond enough of him not to want to see him hurt, and if he let that happen he didn't think he'd ever be able to look at Chris or any of the other Gallos again, not when they'd all been so kind to him.
Civilian or powered...? Civilian or powered? What was the difference, really? He didn't use his magic all that often... but then he could jump higher and he was quicker when he transformed, and he'd stand a better chance of getting Peter out of there if he needed to.
As the youma began to approach again, Paris made a split second decision once Peter had thrown his shoe at it, and he thrust his pen into the air and said the words he knew he must.
He didn't look up at Peter once he stood there as Sailor Ganymede. Instead, he kept his eyes locked on the youma which, after tearing into Peter's shoes, turned its attention back to him. Ganymede took another breath and spared a few glances in each direction. First thing's first: he needed to keep its attention off the slide.
"Stay where you are, Peter!" he called up and then darted off in the direction of the merry-go-round, watching as the youma followed.
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Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 8:14 pm
Peter sputtered in surprise when he was told not to call the cops. Well, what else were they supposed to do? Wait until it ate them or something crazy like that?? "A youma?" he repeated curiously, even if his mind wasn't really focusing on technical terms. He was kind of freaked out that there was a monster trying to attack them. And did attack Paris.
He winced as his shoes got torn up, but it was better than Paris getting torn up, but... Paris wasn't there any more! Instead, where he'd heard some kind of strange chant or something was... a strangely dressed boy. With a little hat... and boots and a skirt over some shorts and some weird train in the back.
"Paris??" he gaped, his mouth wide in shock. "Wait, you're Paris??" he sputtered as he was told to stay were he was. What the hell?? Paris was a super hero? His brother dumped a super hero? Or maybe the super hero dumped him? Then again, he didn't know how 'super' Paris was, but... he definitely looked the part.
"Wait, what are you doing to do??" he called, wincing as the youma lept over the merry-go-round to get to Paris easier. "Spin it!!" he called, trying to at least give the older boy some help from where he was watching above the scene.
This had to be the strangest thing he had ever witnessed...
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Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 8:56 pm
Ganymede jumped across the merry-go-round instead of circling it, and his efforts were paid off when the youma jumped onto it to follow.
"What do you think I'm doing?!" he shouted back to Peter, eyes on the youma as it began to prowl toward him.
On the opposite side, Ganymede grabbed onto one of the merry-go-round's railings and began to push, putting all of his strength behind it as he ran around with it, waiting until he had gotten it up to a decent speed before letting go. The youma growled and howled but didn't move, perched between two handle bars as it spun around and around. Ganymede quickly turned to put some distance between them, his eyes scanning around the playground as he went.
"I need a weapon..." he muttered to himself. "I need a weapon... I need a weapon... I need a weapon..."
It was a familiar dilemma, one he seemed to encounter each time he powered up. He didn't want to risk using his magic if it was just going to make the thing more ferocious -- it had happened before -- but there didn't seem to be very much around for him to use, just the wood chips at his feet and the playground equipment, but he didn't exactly like the idea of trying to throw a jungle jim at it.
He spared a glance over toward the slide to make sure Peter was still where he'd left him, then glanced over his shoulder when he heard the youma release a mighty roar. The merry-go-round was slowing. The youma stumbled off and shook his head and seemed to try and get its bearings. After a few attempts, Ganymede saw it setting its sights on him again, and he sprinted toward the closest piece of equipment he could find.
He grabbed hold of two rungs on the monkey bars and jumped just in time for the youma to streak passed right below him. It skidded to a halt with a spray of wood chip to turn around and make another go of it, but Ganymede was ready. Hanging from the monkey bars, he struck his foot out and kicked the youma beneath the jaw, sending it backwards into a dazed heap of claws and teeth on the ground.
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Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 9:25 pm
"Yeah! You can do it!" Peter shouted from where he was on top of the slide. He had rummaged through his backpack to pull out books and rulers and pencils that he could use to throw at the monster if it decided to come his way. So far, though, it seemed as though Paris was keeping a decent control over it.
It was giving him a lot of questions he'd like to ask... Like... how long had Paris been doing this? And if his brother knew? And if anyone else knew? And if there were monsters like this all over... Ah, which reminded him to take out his phone and send his mom a text.
Text from Peter Hey mom. Try and take your time getting here. I'm in no rush.
"Careful, it's coming back!" he called to Paris the super hero when the youma shook its head and made his way back to where the senshi was on the monkey bars. Of course, all the yelling and shouting seemed to have gotten its attention and the monster turned Peter's way, sniffing at the air. It seemed to decide something and turned to lunge towards Peter, instead, attempting to get up the slide with its claws scrapping into the metal like nails on a chalkboard.
Peter threw one of his text books at it, hoping to at least get it down and ended up slipping down the slide, himself. Well, that wasn't good. He pulled up his legs quickly so that when he got close enough to the monster he could kick out his legs. It was so busy trying to climb up that it didn't seem to notice the little boy hurling towards it and when Peter's feet made contact with its face, it was thrown off balance and fell off the side while Peter slid all the way to the end... and off the bottom and into the pile of wood chips. He was quick to scramble to his feet, though, and hurried over to the monkey bars to climb up as well.
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Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 9:44 pm
"Don't go over there, you dumb thing!" Ganymede called after the youma when it seemed to decide that Peter would be more appetizing prey. "You're supposed to be focusing on me! Get back here!"
Releasing the rungs of the monkey bars, Ganymede landed on his feet and began running after the youma, letting out a shout of alarm when Peter fell down the slide and started zooming right toward it. He didn't allow himself to feel relieved when Peter's feet connected with its ugly face, and he grabbed Peter's arm the first chance he had once the boy clambered back to his feet, and he dragged the kid a bit faster toward the monkey bars.
"Up! Up! Climb up! Hurry!" he told him.
The youma was back upright as soon as they got there, and roared in displeasure. It lunged for them again, sprinting from the slide to the monkey bars, and Ganymede pulled himself back up to kick at it again. It fell for it a second time and careened into the ground with a groan.
"Dumb thing," Ganymede repeated, dropping down after making sure Peter was safely away from it. "Stupid... dumb... idiot... moron... no brains..."
He supposed he should feel fortunate that it wasn't more intelligent. Deadly it might be, but it didn't seem to think very far.
He scanned the area once again, quickly deciding what to do. "Stay there, Peter. It shouldn't be too much longer," he said, and darted off toward the fence, shouting and making enough noise to have the youma following him. He could hear it raging and growling behind him. His goal was a tree on the far side of the playground. If he could only make it in time...
All of a sudden, something grabbed onto one of his ankles and he was jerked to a stop, tumbling down to the ground. Turning over, he saw that the youma had lashed out with its long tongue, wrapped it around his lower leg. He shrieked loudly, and jabbed at it with the heel of his other boot, more than relieved when it released him.
"Gross... Jesus, these things just get worse and worse..."
He was back to his feet in a flash, rushing the rest of the way to the tree and grabbing onto one of the lower branches within reach to hoist himself up.
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Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 10:11 pm
"I'm climbing! I'm climbing!" Peter called back down, pulling himself up on to the top of the bars so he could turn and look down at what Paris was doing now. He had to take a moment to realize that Paris was calling the monster dumb and stupid and not him. He happened to think he was quite intelligent. More so than the youma or whatever it was called.
"Oh, yeah, I'll just sit up here. No problem, you go and fight it," he called down as Paris took off to do... whatever he was planning on doing. What else did he expect him to do? Fight it? Yeah right. That thing had nasty teeth and claws and he would much rather go home in one piece. How was he going to explain his shoes to his mom, though? Maybe Paris could vouch for him and say that a dog ate his shoes or something...
"Look out!" he called again right as the youma wrapped its tongue around Paris's ankle and brought him to the ground. Peter winced and almost climbed down to see if he could help somehow, but... what could he do, besides getting in the way? "Hurry up, it's getting back up!" He would very much prefer for Paris to get out in one piece, too.
Wow... Chris had been dating a super hero. Why the heck did he break up with him then?? Well, yeah... Paris had been tricking him into thinking that he was really a girl. That was probably a big thing to it, but still. It wasn't every day that someone has the chance to date super heros, right??
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