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 Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 11:24 am
Essays needed finishing before the weekend and so Anandi Rai, student from HITS and aspiring... something or other (something impressive, says her parents, so perhaps a surgeon) was finishing up her studies at the Destiny City library. The head librarian, Anthony Darrow, was around to help supervise. It was getting late, Anandi's watch reading just before 10PM. The poor man was kind enough to stay up with the addled student and when she realized the time, Anandi sputtered and quickly picked up her things.
"Oh thank you thank you thank you Mr. Librarian! I promise I'll come back with something tasty for you because you've been so nice to me! But I gotta go now before mom decides to kill me so bye!"
In a huff and whirl of coats and books and papers, one Anandi Rai burst through the doors of the library, nearly tripped three times down the steps and finally made it in one or more pieces onto the sidewalk. It took her a few moments to rearrange everything into some semblance of order before starting her walk home. It wasn't too far away but no doubt her mother would have a herd after her daughter came home looking like a disheveled mess. But she tried very hard! Honest!
Anandi's own worry over her mother's actions caused her not to see the glowing green eyes out of the shadows, and the sound of her shoes against pavement hide the creature's breathing. It wasn't long before a hideous, filthy creature with black spines came lumbering out of an alleyway and Anandi's scream pierced the night air. Her books and coat went flying into the gutter and she went down with it, trying to crawl away all while shrieking bloody murder. Monsters weren't supposed to be real!
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 12:08 pm
Tony knew now that walking home was never uneventful. Even before he had powered up, he'd learned that lesson. There was always something out there that wanted to attack him. Something that wanted to eat his starseed or drain his energy.
Before, that had been cause for dread. Now? He was always on patrol, powered up or not. He hadn't had time to slip away and power up yet, obviously, because the library had not yet closed. He was already anticipating it, though. Like most nights, he would lock up the front and side doors, then go up to the roof and power up into Camelot.
He was a very nice man. He did his job well, and always bore in mind the people he was serving. Maybe a librarian was kind of like a knight, in some small ways. At least the kind of librarian Tony tried to be. He didn't mind letting students stay in the library, especially ones that looked so haggard and determined as Anandi had proven to be. She clearly needed the time, and he wasn't going to begrudge her that.
He watched her go and shook his head, chuckling and then moving to close the place up as he normally would. He got his coat and his cane and limped out the front doors a few minutes after she had burst through them, locking the doors. He stopped before going back in and sealing the doors, blinking as he heard screams.
Patrol was starting early tonight.
Dropping his coat, he gripped his cane and hurried over, spotting the girl and the youma soon enough. "Hold on!" he yelled, running over as best he was able, swinging his cane at the youma and making it back up. He was getting ahead of himself, engaging the youma without powering up, but everything had happened so fast he hadn't had time to even think about it.
All he saw was someone in danger.
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 2:07 pm
"Oh em gee OH EM GEE! This isn't supposed to be--- AHHH!" came the shrieks. Anandi scrambled away from a claw digging up concrete just to the left of her. The youma was about to slice her in two when Tony's voice and cane distracted it. It reeled back on its haunches and hissed at him, displaying rows of nasty teeth. The terrified Indian student struggled to her feet and hid herself behind poor Tony. He had a cane! What was she thinking? What was he thinking? They had to get out of here!
Anandi started to tug at whatever clothing of Tony's she could find in a desperate attempt to have him flee. "Mister! Mister Tony, we gotta go! Like gee-two-style please!" It seemed as though her chatspeak leaked into her every day lexicon but in the sheer face of danger, she didn't care. The youma looked like a crocodile figured out how to walk on two legs with enormous limbs and a great long tail. One swipe sent a trash can reeling like a metal bullet down the street, as if it weighed no more than a sheet of paper. Once the monster recovered, a long tongue snaked out of its lips to lick one of many rows of teeth.
She was suddenly glad she went to the bathroom before leaving the library...
The beast seemed more sure of itself and lunged forward, causing Anandi's hair to stand on end and she shrieked a string of who-knows-what while maintaining a deathgrip on the older man's shirt.
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 2:53 pm
Tony had to admit that it was impressive for her to have such lung capacity. She was the loudest person he had ever saved, and he had heard a lot of screams in his day. Youma were very good at making people scream, after all. How often did normal people see monsters?
He had to focus more on actually helping her, though, and less on her screeching. Fear could often make a situation far worse, and he had to make sure that didn't happen here.
This thing was ugly, and Tony was desperate to find a way to hide and power up to properly fight it. He would be able to handle it as a Knight, surely. But as a cane wielding civilian with a limp? He felt very unsure of himself, but he held his ground.
It was harder to do than he would have liked, considering her clinging to him like a baby koala.
"I'll protect you, don't worry!" he yelped, struggling. He moved to pry her off of him, but he couldn't do it before the youma started to attack. He grabbed her and held her to his chest instead, dropping to one need and sheltering her with his body instead, back to the youma as he shut his eyes and braced himself for what he imagined was going to be a very strong, very painful hit.
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 3:21 pm
The next thing she knew, Anandi was being shielded by the older man and awaiting the final blow. She didn't want to die like this! She also sincerely didn't want Tony to die like this either! He was being so selfless, trying to protect a student with his life when he probably had a wife and child waiting for him back home! Anandi clung to him and started to cry, wishing there was some way someone could show up and save them. Like a super hero! The youma's roar pulled her out of her fantasy and slammed her back into realty.
"But I don't wanna die! Nobody should have to die!" she cried, looking up at the claw that was coming down to end both of them. In a flash though, a golden light shimmered between the two huddled civilians at the beast about to kill them. It shone warmly, dazzling the creature's eyes and forcing it to turn away. It was fascinating, enthralling, and gingerly did Anandi leave the older man's grip to reach out to it. "Mister, what is...?"
Her fingers barely brushed the golden light, which worked itself into the shape of a golden telescope. Before Anandi could ponder this much further, a piercing white-blue overtook her. Crystals and light were everywhere and in the blink of an eye, there stood a young lady in what looked to be Garb of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Anandi yelped. "Wait, what happened?! Did I gain a level!?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 5:19 pm
Tony's eyes widened as he saw the item appear. It certainly wasn't for him: he knew that only because his own shield had come to him some time ago. He blinked at her, then realized she was awakening as a knight.
He stared at her once the light show had faded and she was standing before him, a brand new Page.
"In a way, you did!" He gasped, moving to get up and join her side. The youma had been thrown off by the event, which was good for them. It gave them time to regroup, and Camelot made the choice to power up as well. The Knight of Earth was soon standing beside her, large shield on his arm, raised and ready.
"I promise I'll explain everything to you after! But right now, we have to focus on destroying this thing!" He was feeling a little stunned by this turn of events. And if he was stunned, he could only imagine how she felt.
Completely overwhelmed and utterly confused probably didn't cover it.
"Stay behind me, I'll protect you. My name is Camelot, of Earth. I'm a knight, like you are." With that, he charged at the youma, swinging his heavy shield.
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 5:29 pm
"Camelot?" Anandi parroted, blinking wildly at the man who was once Tony. No longer a civilian, she stood in awe of the man now clad in armor with a great shield. "You mean like ham and spam and..." Wait, there's no time for that! Bunching her hands up around her mouth, Anandi had the little telescope tucked in her forearms. "A knight? But... but how do we kill this thing? Do you smash it with you big ol' shi---EEP!"
A swipe of a claw stopped her mid-sentence and Anandi all but climbed onto Camelot to get away from it. Her little sugar plum fairy dress wasn't going to keep her safe from razor sharp claws, that much was for certain. Gingerly she took out the telescope and extended it, swinging wildly at the youma's hand. She succeeded in rapping it across the knuckles which did little more than piss it off. The youma shrieked its anger at her and the fledgling page about crammed herself into the knight's armpit for safety.
"D-d-dyu have guns or something, Camelot? Shield Bash? I dunno what to do!" What good could come of a telescope? Sure, she could see the thing long before it killed her but how useful was that?
The youma took a step back and readied another charge, earning several squeaks from the page.
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 5:38 pm
Camelot chose to selectively not hear what she began to say, focusing on the youma intently just to make sure he heard no comment of spam or ham or anything of the sort.
"Ah!"
The youma had swung in a way he hadn't anticipated, true enough, but it was Anandi's actions that got him more by surprise. He stumbled a bit with her clinging to him, basically wearing her like a backpack at the moment until she dared attack the youma, and then latched onto him in a new way. His cape fell over her, and he held his shield up in front of her.
"I'll take care of it!" he said, struggling with her as the youma slammed into his shield. He had to use all his strength to brace himself against the thing, now slipping back into how serious the situation could be. He pushed against his shield and found his footing slipping. Damn.
"Terra Viridis Crystal Power!" He yelled. The crystal under the dragon on his shield pulsed, and then a powerful burst of light erupted from his shield. It send the youma crashing backwards, and Camelot had a moment to breathe. He looked at the new Page, smiling warmly but urgently. "If you let go of me, I'll go finish it off."
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 5:50 pm
The laser beam was quite impressive. Anandi nodded numbly and, after a few sobering moments, unhinged her fingers from Camelot and took a step back to allow the poor man some extra room. She took up her little telescope and looked on, wondering if Camelot had an arsenal built into that shield like some kind of robot anime. She'd seen it on her forums. "You... you ah, do whatever you gotta do, Mister Camelot!" She thought maybe that was encouraging. Maybe.
The youma, meanwhile, landed face first into a large truck parked on the side of the street, setting off the car alarm in a shrill squeal that pierced the ears before it was suddenly silenced. The weight of the youma simply crushed most anything it stood on. Hopefully whoever owned the truck had youma insurance. After stumbling for a few moments, the youma roared and started another charge. It was determined to kill and eat at least one of their starseeds, and the knight's looked to be the tastiest of all!
Anandi, meanwhile, tried to keep her screaming to a minimum and slapped her hands over her face, dropping the telescope.
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 6:15 pm
Camelot liked to think he would pay for the damage he caused that truck, but seeing it made him decide that running away from the aftermath once the youma was dead was probably a much better decision. He was not going to be caught red handed and certainly could not afford the bill.
Sorry, truck owner.
Still, wasn't the real payment the fact that he would be taking a youma off the streets? People would be safe from this monster, and that was something they never saw. He braced himself, expression set, eyes serious.
Many things had changed for Camelot as he grew through his three ranks. Now, as a Knight, he was not the helpless one he had been before. He was experienced and he was strong. As humble as he was, he had to believe in himself.
He heard the telescope clatter, but didn't turn. Instead, he lunged to meet the youma, turning to smash his shield into the youma's head.
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 6:30 pm
Anandi let out a muffled yelp and turned away before she could see shield connect with youma skull. The force was incredible, smashing the youma from consciousness to death in one swift blow. Looks like it was all bark and hardly any bite? The youma dropped to the ground like a sac of potatoes and immediately rotted, disappearing into the night air like so much dust. The people of Destiny City must've gotten used to random monsters and fighting in the street as few of them poked their heads out of windows to see what was going on. When the sounds stopped, Anandi turned to face her savior, scooping the telescope up off the ground.
She dug one ornate booted toe into the ground shyly. "Thank you, Mister Camelot. You... you saved my life." Because she wasn't sure what else to do, the fledgling page trotted up to the knight and gave him a warm hug. "Do you do this all the time? Are we... are we the terrorists now?" Anandi sounded crushed, unsure of what to make of all this. All she'd ever seen were the senshi destroying property and reveling in destruction in news reports on the television. "Are we... the bad guys?"
She moved the telescope over and over in her hands, inspecting it. What was all this about? She didn't understand. What was up with this silly dress?
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 6:41 pm
Camelot was surprised by how fast the youma dropped, stumbling but catching himself and looking down at the dust that was created. He took a slow breath, centering himself and trying to push the adrenaline down. He turned to look at her then.
"You saved mine, to be honest. That youma would have killed me if it had hit me full on. Your item appeared just in time," he smiled, nodding his head at her in a little bow.
When she hugged him he was a bit surprised, but he was a warm and loving kind of guy, so hugs were not beyond him. He hugged her reassuringly, just to make sure she understood that she had survived and she would be fine. He wasn't about to abandon a brand new Page.
"We're not terrorists," he said patiently, watching her. "We're knights. We fight for good, for peace. We protect those that need protecting. How can we be terrorists if we're not out to cause terror? The news is warped, and they're giving the wrong story. "It's a very long story, though. You must be tired... do you want to go home? I'll walk you, if you want, and we can talk along the way."
He powered down, then smiled.
"Just think about being yourself again. You'll turn off the power until you need it again, then you just call on it."
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 7:02 pm
The girl nodded briskly. So they weren't bad guys, they were knights! But... she looked down at her outfit and then back to Camelot. She certainly didn't look like a knight, but Camelot did! Why was that? "Ah, Mister Camelot, you said you were 'of Earth'. What does that mean? And why don't I have armor if I'm a knight too? And what do I do with this?" She held up the telescope and something that had been nagging at the back of her head came back. Sutai. Camelot was also Tony, so was her new name Sutai? What did that mean? Camelot was a place with a castle and maidens and all that, so what was Sutai? Was that a place with a castle too?
It was all so confusing.
Anandi yawned a bit when the knight mentioned that she must be tired. Being scared out of your wits does have a habit of making one tired! She shook her head. "Sure I'm tired but... I mean, we can walk and talk, right? What's a knight supposed to do? Am I... supposed to fight the monsters? But I don't have a laser beam like you do... Do I?" Anandi brought up the telescope to look through it, adding pew pew pew! as sound effects to see if it would work. No dice.
"...poo. I guess I have to level up more to get the laser beams, huh? Oh em gee..." Obviously she couldn't tell her friends on the forums about the whole knight thing if everyone on the news painted them with such a horrible brush. Anandi didn't want to be known as a bad guy. She had to help people like Camelot said! She nodded when he explained that to be normal again, you just had to think about it. Still, this was rather overwhelming.
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 7:30 pm
"You are from a different planet than I represent. We are allies, and all knights represent other planets. I'm not sure I know what yours is... but then, there are Senshi out there who have their own knights in their service as well."
He grinned a bit. He looked sheepish. He knew it was very complicated, and it would take a lot longer than one walk to her house to fill her in on everything. But he would do his best to help her.
"Ah, no, no laser beams I'm afraid. My Crystal is something I came across largely by accident." Accident being a squirrel that ran into his hospital room while he was healing from a fight. It had been carrying the crystal, but there it was. And now it belonged to Camelot.
"Ah. Level up. Yes. Well. I suppose that's one way to look at it. As you are now, you've no magic to draw from, as far as I know. You're a Page right now. I am a Knight. I know that's a bit confusing. Between these two stages is Squire, and then you'll get some magic of some sort, I believe."
He explained to her quickly what a senshi was, and about the Negaverse and chaos, as best he could while they walked. There really was a lot to cover.
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 7:56 pm
The whole senshi and Negaverse and chaos and planet stuff would take a while to sink in, and it was evident that the process hadn't even started yet while Camelot was deep in explanation. All Anandi (or was it Sutai now?) would do is smile and nod without a hint of comprehension in her eyes. Maybe she'd sleep on it and some of it would sink in. Really, it was anyone's guess at this point.
More training would obviously be required.
Turning the telescope over in her hands, Anandi could see her house coming up in the distance. She didn't live all that far from the library, but what would her mother say if she saw her child in this sort of frilly froufrou outfit? She'd be grounded for sure. Stopping suddenly, the frail Indian student concentrated as Camelot explained to do, and she found herself back in her original outfit, before any of this madness transpired. Even her papers were stuffed into her coat pockets, what little she could save. She made a little dance in place to celebrate and blushed when she realized she was being watched.
"I better get going, Mister Camelot. Thank you, thank you for helping me." After a moment, she added, "I promise I'll do well! I promise I'll go and help people and save lives like you do. But it could be hard with schoolwork, but I'll try hard! I promise! For the Earth like you too!" Anandi gave the knight another sudden hug and smiled to him before dashing away to her home. Sudden shouts could be heard - obviously the matriarch of the household had a few choice words for her daughter.
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