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 Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 1:22 pm
 It had been almost a week since the last time Sailor Polaris had patrolled. It wasn't that she had been avoiding it or anything, that amount of time without a patrol would have been considered unexcusable to the senshi of magnetism. Even when she'd be splitting her time between space and below she'd been patrolling more often. It was just a series of events that had led to the circumstance.
Wednesday she had gotten a good nights rest in preparation. Thursday.. a night of scurrying around and making sure the last details were attended to in regards to her contest. Friday through Sunday she'd been busy dutifully watching and running her little contest. Which was a great success if you asked her! And then Monday... well.. with children and adults running around all night in costume and going door to door it hardly seemed a good idea to run about henshin'd up. There was far too great a chance of being caught or questioned and with so many out well... she could hope the Negaverse wouldn't be able to find any solitary targets to go after. And if they did well.. she did have her cellphone out on the counter beside her bowl of candy for the kids.
But by Tuesday she was practically itching to get out, especially when she realized just how long it had been. The sun had barely set when she'd slipped out of her apartment window and up the fire escape, and she spent the next few hours leaping rooftops.
After four or so hours she'd dusted one youma... and scared off a few loitering teenagers.. but it wasn't enough to satisfy her, to let her return home and to the warmth of her bed. Thick boots made muffled thumps on the rooftop as she paced back and forth, eyes on the street down below. There was something out there.. she just knew it, it was only a matter of time and effort before she'd find it.
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Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 2:02 pm
Polaris' something happened to be two new dark mirrors who were up to no good. Of course, Deneb Kaitos did not see what he was doing as wrong.. Killing them would be wrong. Energy, well, they'd recover and could go on with their lives just fine.
It probably sucked, but life often did suck. They just had to deal.
This was one of Al-Janah's first patrols, he knew, so he'd been more than willing to hang out with him and teach what little he knew - he wasn't sure exactly how much Leto had told him before she'd had two senshi double-team her.
Unfair, really.
"It's pretty easy, actually. They make it sound complicated but it's like the wraith just kno-" He stopped, suddenly, body tensing, sixth sense tingling.
They had company.
Not the right kind of company.
He couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was beside trouble. Trouble that was waaaaay beyond their abilities to deal with.
"...You remember where the mirror is, right ?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 9:47 am
Let Deneb Kaitos take the high ground; the fact of the matter was that Al-Janah was here to smash some s**t up. The idea of taking energy was highly entertaining and seemed like all sorts of good fun to him. People who went out at night, and had fun, instead of lurking around their homes like the sane simply deserved a good kick in the a**. And a fun kick in the a**.
He was probably still grinning from the patrol, from the rooftop travel, from just how ******** high he could jump now. From how strong he was. Al-Janah was a mother ******** super hero, now.
Or villain, maybe. It didn't make a difference so long as he had the super powers.
He paused when DK did, though, picking at that strange sensation like it was a loose tooth, shrugging in response to the question like it didn't matter. That aura was much more important, really, cutting across his senses like nails on a chalk board. "You feel that, huh?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 9:05 am
Tired of her pacing she returned to rooftop jumping, only making it two more before something hit her. It was only a soft tingle, likely because of the distance between them, but it was definately and unmistakenly there. She'd been doing this for over two years now, the picking up of aura was ingrained well into her subconcious, along with some familiarity of telling each kind apart.
This one though... it was strange. Both familiar and unfamiliar, power level uncertain. Whatever it was though, she didn't pause to consider the source, simply turning her attention to trying to find it. She scurried between the two nearest rooftops, searching high and low until finally she found it.. or rather them.
The nearer she slinked, as if she could really sneak up, the more it made sense, the pieces clicking together. It had seemed unfamiliar because it was the same as that mirror walker that had been captured in the Surrounding. And she hadn't been able to tell the power because she'd found two. Jackpot.
Fighting multiple opponents alone was never a very good idea. Even if she was stronger... even if they were unexperienced, which was something she didn't know for certain anyway. But logic was being thrown out the window tonight as if she were a dog that had gotten her teeth on a bone.
Mirror walkers... agents of Chaos. The darkest portion of the BMC broken off. From all she'd heard she'd be doing the world a service by taking care of and nipping the group in the butt.
She'd learned her lesson about announcing her pressence and giving people a chance to respond before. Not tonight.
Around the two menshi there was a loud quaking of metal clattering and shivering, and just as suddenly they were being shattered in the assorted metal bits ranging from the tinest screws to a half corroded chunk of muffler.
"Mirror walkers huh?" She called out as she finally stepped out of the shadows amid the chaos. "You picked the wrong neighborhood to be causing trouble in tonight"
She didn't know the senshi so she felt no confliction of feelings even though perhaps she should have. If only she'd known however that these two were a part of that same group she'd been so furiously trying to protect not long before. The ones she'd grieved when she thought they'd died, and celebrated when she'd heard they were okay. And here she was, not unopposed to killing them. Funny, ironic thing life was sometimes.
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Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 10:39 am
"Yeah... Let's-"
There had been no time. No sooner had the two less-experienced senshi had caught her presence, they were being pelted with stuff. It took a moment for Deneb Kaitos to realize what was going on, that they were being assulted by...
screws ? Still, hands and arms went up to shield his face, bits bouncing off his bracers in a small ping of metal on metal.
But now, their attackers revealed herself. Buttwings. Eternal.
Very bad news.
"GO !" He certainly had no wish to stay here and die, and he doubted Al-Janah would, either - still, he knocked some wooden debris toward her in hope to buy some time.
If they got to the mirror before she caught them, or broke it... They should be okay.
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 8:20 am
Al-Janah's reaction was about the same as DK's; hands up and head down, wincing as a bolt made it past the block of his wrists to bounce off his cheekbone, leaving a welt and a scratch in its wake.
He was still learning what the levels meant, couldn't draw 'Eternal' to mind, but he did remember that they were supposed to run if they saw ribbon wings. Those were trouble, if he recalled correctly. More self-righteous than the others. They'd chase. They'd hurt.
So, sure, they'd head back toward the mirror. But he took just a moment before he did, arm shooting up into the air, to call on his attack. The bird, red and ghostly, slammed against his wrist as Al-Janah stumbled back a few steps. His fingers fumbled with the jesses, but at least he mastered the launch, throwing the bird easily back in the air and pointing meaningfully at Polaris.
Above her, the summoned creature moved in a tight circle, marking out the bounds. Should she step outside of that circle, it would shoot down, attack and distract. In the meantime, Al-Janah spun on his heel and ran.
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 9:16 am
They didn't respond to her directly, which was actually a little bit strange. And suddenly they began to hightail it out of there, were they retreating? Perhaps they'd actually been better trained then the negaverse. Certainly it was a smarter strategy to run when you didn't think you could beat your opponent... But after meeting so many proud and mouthy opponents in her past... and being so proud herself... she truly was flabbergasted for a moment by what she saw.
One of them had set off magic.. or something. Her eyes quickly flashing upwards at the circling bird above her head, uncertain of what exactly it was doing. Pointing her position out for stronger reinforcements? The thought flashed through her mind, kicking up her pulse a notch. Two opponents was bad enough.. there was no way she could handle more than that.
She bolted after them suddenly, hoping her speed would make up for their head start. A high pitched shriek a soft warning of the fact that she was indeed following. As she reached the edge of the 'marked' area the bird dove down, talons raking like tiny little dagggers, leaving behind a few slim and stinging cuts across her arm and the top of her head.
She hadn't been expecting it. Not at all accustom to aerial attacks and with little protection on her upper half. Her hands flailed to try and shoo away the ghostly bird that, unbeknown to her, was already gone.
One hand lifted to the stinging and bleeding place on her head but she kept running nonetheless. She just needed a second to gain enough energy and focus to launch another attack at them. "Cowards!" She called out in frusteration.
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2011 1:33 pm
"s**t s**t s**t." Maybe the bird had just infuriated her. If he could, Al-Janah would have done it again -- but alas, he was a bit of a one-hit wonder. Now he wondered what the ******** he was supposed to do if they kept coming after that one-hit came up, what other weapons he had in his arsenal. Fists, maybe. Those frustrating heels on his boots...
Which were not helping, right now, though he was getting the hang of it. He at least didn't lag too much behind DK, only a step or two, still launching himself wildly back toward the nearest set up mirror. He'd be breathless and frantic by the time they got there, watching purple legs disappear through.
It wasn't smart, but Al-Janah risked another look back at Polaris, watching the senshi run in a somewhat panicked way, before he moved to tumble through as well.
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2011 1:35 pm
The trickle of warmth on her forehead was unsettling, beginning to stick pieces of hair together and otherwise unnerve the already flustered senshi. Was the bird still coming for her? Or reinforcements? The echoed words of the two menshi and the noise of their retreat mingled with the beating of her pulse in her ears and the loud huffs of breath escaping her. She swore she heard things. That shadow there.. Was that something!?
A cry of frustration escaped the senshi of magnetism, with a sweep of her hand she was ready for her attack again, a shower of metal flying towards the pair and the wall they were quickly skirting around.
Perhaps it was the rage and frustration that pulled all the metal forward, many were bigger and larger chunks than had flown in the first attack. And amid it all one of her favorite weapons flew through the air, though she would quickly find out that on this night the familiar metal receptacle was not her friend.
The trash can smashed against the building wall with a loud clang and groan of metal, a huge dent crumpling into the side before it clattered to the ground followed by a loud WHOOSH. In the poorer parts of town the alleyways were dirty, and the alleyways behind restaurants... well there was a reason rats and cats scurried so freely. There was food waste, paper products, and behind this particular poor Asian eatery, grease. Lots of grease. The fire that had been burning in the trashcan sparked and spilled outwards, seeming to find every burnable piece of grease and trash to consume, flaring higher. Growing, reaching, consuming as if it had a life of it's own.
It seemed like slow motion to Polaris. She's seen it all happen, her eyes darted over the very first sparks, widening in surprise. But even in slow motion it'd all happened too fast for her to do anything to stop the events set in motion. Polaris had been able to do little more than come to a stop before the fed fire licked up the side of the old building, engulfing more than she could ever hope to put out herself. Without realizing it she was screaming, her voice shrill and frantic in the night. "NO! No. No. NO!!!"
In that moment everything else was gone. The menshi she'd been chasing. The bird. The shadows, the worries of what else was lurking in the dark waiting for her. If any were around and intent on attacking her they'd find her completely oblivious and distracted, running quickly forward to try and yank at the door the faced the alley. It was heavy and locked, probably multiple times from the way it rattled and clicked the more she shook and pulled it. Had she been clearer minded she might have just used her powers on the, most likely, metal locks and hinges of the door. But her mind was as clouded as the smoke that was beginning to pour out of the lower windows, a loud BOOM being heard from inside.
She rushed around the corner and back towards the front of the door, thankful for the wall that helped her keep her balance upon the quick pivoting. By now the bums that had been sitting around the stolen trash can fire were beginning to disperse, yelling at the senshi who had just caused the damage, though they were too frightened to actually get in her way. Not when they'd just witnessed what they did.
She probably looked crazed as she burst through the front door, a harsh jingle and a loud slam accenting her scream. "GET OUT!" Inside though things were already getting crazy. Customers were looking nervously and uncertainly towards the kitchen. Some frantic foreign words could be heard from the back too. Many starred at the 'terrorist' frozen, until the high pitched whine of the fire alarm suddenly kicked to life. And then people were shoving each other towards the door, chairs flung carelessly outwards, shouting adding to the noise.
In the nicer parts of town most restaurants and buildings had safety regulations implemented. But they weren't in the nice part of town, quite the opposite. It was just some family restaurant in the more impoverished part of town, an immigrant family from the look of the workers hurriedly heading in and out of the kitchen. One look towards the ceiling confirmed the lack of sprinklers. And the bamboo and paper that made up much of the decor... the rickety old building wasn't much better than a glorified matchbox.
Most of the customers had left, having no attachment to anything but their safety. The workers however... Polaris pushed through the kitchen doors to see three of them trying valiantly to fight against the aggressively rolling flames that had by now began to char the entire back wall and work around the sides. The two small fire extinguishers and a bucket of water being used weren't making a dent however, the flames seeming to lick forwards double fold for every tiny bit they seemed to put out. The heat was intense and rolling, making her skin uncomfortable to be anywhere near it.
"You can't save it, you need to get out!" She cried as she grabbed one of the men's arms, trying to guide him out. She was met only with a look of frantic confusion, and a fist swinging to hit her in the collarbone as he pulled back from her frightened. None of them seemed particularly inclined to leave and the woman with the bowl began to wail miserably in despair. "Our restaurant. Our home."
It was almost like clockwork, the woman’s words were followed by the sudden sound of wailing from upstairs quickly drawing the senshi's attention, searching frantically for the stairwell that she was soon taking three and four steps at a time. Up above the smoke was growing... Harsh, thick, warm, and overwhelming. It burned her eyes and tried to slip into her lungs as she pounded open every door she came across.
Children. There were children, wailing in helpless terror and pain. Her heart dropped into her stomach, an unpleasant churning making it hard for her not to just keel over and vomit. Instead she pressed into the room, grasping the wrists of the little boy and girl before quickly leading them out and to the next door. Behind the next door an elderly couple and a young man. A teenager and preteen were behind the next, both fighting Polaris in broken English before she finally got them out of the room. The smoke just kept getting thicker and darker, coughs sputtering from Polaris and the small group with her as the heat grew more and more intense. Slamming through the last door on the top floor the shrieking of the fire alarm was met and matched by a set of human shrieks. The ceiling was already beginning to fall apart in this room, night sky visible outside a ring of burning ceiling. A baby and mother screamed, the mother's arms pinned beneath smoldering and hot wood and metal in what looked like it had been an attempt to keep the debris from falling onto the baby.
She could feel the heat and searing pain even through her thick boots as she kicked the piece of debris off the woman, trying hard not to look at the terrible burns and blisters the woman had ended up with thanks to her act of motherly bravery and protection. She couldn't pick up the baby, so Polaris did it for her, carefully tucking the young child against her chest before she began to motion with her free hand back towards the door and the stairwell. Her voice was already hoarse and painful from the smoke and the screaming, but it didn't stop her from screaming more. "Get outside. We need to go, please! PLEASE!" Whether or not they could understand her actual words, hopefully they'd understand the tone or the situation on their own.
The group moved as quickly as it could through the hallway, but with the corridors awfully cramped, the smoke hazardously thick, and the short legs of the tiny and slower legs of the elderly it was slower then Polaris might have hoped, her mind finally having time to catch up with everything. Deep coughs shook through her, jostling and upsetting the child, which only upset her more. She hadn't realized she was rocking a little until they finally reached the stairs.
The roar of the fire was loud, but not louder then the pops and snaps and cracks of wood and groans of metal beams weakening and bending. She literally jolted each time a piece of ceiling or debris crashed to the ground somewhere behind them. Trying to hurry the people in front of her, trying to fight the sudden panic and worry that they weren't going to make it out.
If they didn't make it.. If they all died.. if any one of them did... She could see it all over again.. the trashcan sailing through the air and hitting the wall. The fire consuming the building. It was all her fault. Every last ounce of it was her fault. She couldn't even blame it on the menshi.. or the bums. It was all her. Her eyes were burning and itching from more than just smoke now, a heavy sob escaped her, before she sucked in a giant breath of smoke and began coughing and sputtering again.
There was relief as they finally reached the ground level, the three in the kitchen had finally given up as more than half of the room was filled with angry flames and heat, instead coming to the aid of the group as everyone tried to make their way through the kitchen and towards the doors. They were so close to escape. She could see the door that led out into the cool night from the doorway of the kitchen. But they were all getting so slow and so weak from the smoke.
Another collapsing piece of ceiling crashed down nearby sending a shower of embers at the senshi. The door out was less than 100 feet away. Safety, freedom, repentance all within reach. But as more of the building was consumed and more of it started to give way the showers of debris and roaring flames were getting more frequent and less dodge able. The ceiling groaned loudly, low and long before the sounds of snapping was followed by a deafening crash, the whole corner of the ceiling and all the furniture that had once been above it crashing down onto the stoves, a rush of air blowing the flames towards the group. If she wanted she could leave herself. Grab the other two children by the arms and led the three to safety quickly. Then at least they would be safe. But what about everyone else? Continuing as they were she didn't know if they'd make it, they were so close but still so far away. The ceiling began to groan and shift again, and Polaris made her decision, quickly shoving the baby into the arms of the teenager near her her voice shrill and cracking. “GET OUT”
How could she chose some of the people over the others. How could she justify the young over the old, or saving some and not others. There was no way to do it 'fairly'. Not when they were all innocent. Not when this was all her fault. HER fault. HER mistake. She'd been the one to head after the menshi instead of just calling it a night. She didn't usually go after enemies that didn't provoke her in the first place. She was also the one that hadn't been paying enough attention. Sure it had been a mistake.. but when mistakes cost people their lives they suddenly became less forgivable. So what did that leave?
Only a hope and a prayer that she could buy enough time.
Hands lifted towards the ceiling she shut her eyes, concentrating the best she could as smoke tried to steal her breath and heat made her skin tight and dry. Her lips and throat was dry leaving nothing more then a whisper to call forth her attack. “Magnetic field”
Her attention was on the ceiling and the metal beams and screws and anything and everything else metal that was hidden inside and might help to hold up the ceiling. She was aiming it upwards towards the sky, anywhere but down and onto the escaping group. The ceiling groaned even louder as it suddenly found itself fighting both gravity and her powers. It just had to hold long enough for them to get out. After that... Well everyone knew that things that went up eventually went down. Polaris knew.
One might argue that the life of the senshi was worth more then that of any other one random person. That her lose was a greater one then someone else's because of the work she did. But how could should ever know? How could she know that one of them wouldn't one day wake up to fight the good fight? Or that they wouldn't make some contribution to the world far greater then she could ever do? Even without such lofty thoughts... their families... their hopes and dreams... Her time in the Surrounding, watching those civilians die while she was helpless... She never wanted to feel that way again. Not when there was something she could do about it to save them. Even if the cost ended up so high. It was her fault after all. Her fault...
She couldn't even feel the heat of her tears against the heat of flames dancing wildly around the room. Couldn't feel the fatigue and pain that was taking over her, even as her lungs screamed for air and her legs began to wobble from lack of oxygen and extra adrenaline. All she could feel was the power inside her, the power she was trying to push with all of her might upwards and outwards. It had to be enough.
Her life was flashing before her closed eyes. Memories so old she didn't even realized she remembered them. Her mother. She could see her mother holding her. It wouldn't be too long now. Soon enough they would be holding each other again.
Her decision was made, a decision that was perhaps selfish. Because it wasn't just one she was making for herself. She was making it for her family... her friends... her senshi allies. In the end, eventually, someone would pay an unfortunate price. Pain and loss. But the loss of just her... that was better then the loss of them all right?
The senshi of magnetism could feel the power draining from her, her energy flowing away from her like a tide racing out to the sea. She was just so tired.
“I'm sorry Papa."
"I'm sorry Azzo....”
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2011 1:47 pm
Only a hope and a prayer that had reached far out into the echoing cosmos through the heart of a senshi could have sustained her for as long as it had. The amount of power that Sailor Polaris was expending was beyond anything she could have previously called upon, beyond anything that she could have even considered had the situation not been so very dire. That she was being recklessly selfless was not something that bothered the senshi as her energy start to flag. Those that could see through the smoke of the building as the girl's energy flagged, apologizing to those she loved, would have noticed something odd. The Star of the North, the namesake of the senshi who was trying so valiantly to save lives, was shining just a bit brighter. It was almost like something out of those silly cartoons, the song speaking about 'When You Wish Upon A Star' in all of its naive foolishness. Sailor Polaris had wished upon her star for strength and would now receive it.  Inside the building there was a multicolored flash that had nothing to do with the fire, and everything about the power of a star that had been stretched and expanded into a new brilliance; Princess Polaris. A hope and a prayer answered in a moment of perfect need. (( Congratulations Iris! ))
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