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 Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 9:31 am
Camelot had a lot to think about.
he had been acting so strange recently, and he was not really sure why. He was happy in his life, he knew he was. Tony was getting married, he was going to move on with his life. Maybe the next step was finding a proper home, with him and his new family. It was the perfect situation.
There was nothing wrong at work. he had good help and he still maintained the love of his job that had remained constant through his twelve... thirteen? years there.
He just celebrated his 40th birthday. Yet becoming a knight, training and fighting in the name of good, kept him feeling young and alive. Thrilled and constantly on the edge of danger, sure, but he felt he had found a balance. He could handle himself, his confidence grown, his skills to match.
Except he had lost that fight with a Negaverse general. He had lost it because he had lost himself in anger. Hatred, even. That wasn't something the knight was supposed to be fighting for was it? Fighting with? He felt like he was losing himself more in the details of war, the battles and the enemies, then he was remembering why he was fighting.
Peace. It had always been a contradiction, but now it seemed like a joke. He had to get himself back on track, somehow. Was this a midlife crisis? He didn't think about it in those terms.
For now, he just patrolled. He walked along the quiet streets, shield on his arm, eyes scanning the area with a detached kind of attention.
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Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 9:24 pm
After a long day of working, Jett couldn’t have thought of anything better than gathering energy to wind himself down. He’d been stooped over the computer, sifting through boxes to organize and catalog a new shipment of items his boss had called in.
He hadn’t minded, of course; he always loved examining everything that came in. But he probably should have taken that lunch break instead of sitting in the same position for six hours straight, because his back was <********>. He’d never be able to sleep with it as sore as it was now, so he figured he’d spend some time gathering energy, loosening up his muscles. He’d been out for half an hour, drained some cranky old man shouting from a park bench, and already was feeling almost like new.
But, hey. Why not press his luck.
He’d picked up an order signature—and a powerful one at that. Curiosity was a sort of weakness for Remarque; he couldn’t help but make his way towards the energy source.
In the back of his mind, he wondered if he was going to run into Celsus again, or some other knight he’d pissed off in the past.
When he turned the corner and came face to face with the man, he found himself stiffening out of reflex.
Camelot.
Who had only been a squire the last time he’d seen him.
Who he had never imagined he’d ever run into like this.
Hastily, Remarque attempted to disguise his surprise and continue his rather casual stroll, though he had absolutely no idea what hew as supposed to do. He had met Camelot as a civilian several times, and had come to hold a strange sort of respect for the knight all those months ago. Never had he met him while powered, nor considered what his reaction to be. Remarque wasn’t the sort to just run away, though he couldn’t imagine fighting Camelot--and wasn't sure the knight would be so friendly with an agent of chaos as he was with a civillian.
But a fight just seemed unfair.
Here he was, young, strong, and at the prime of his life—and there was Camelot. Gentle, older—and yet, still carrying around a big a** shield.
Remarque didn’t want to make his impression any more awkward, and it wasn’t like he could just slip away without being seen, so raised his hands to let them fall on his hips as he stood, observing the male. Camelot’s new garb reminded him very much of the knights of old, whose exploits were recorded in the form of expertly crafted tapestries. He couldn’t resist; “Nice costume. You headed to a party or something?”
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Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 10:12 pm
Camelot felt someone nearby, of a chaotic nature. He didn't break stride, walking at the same leisurely clip he had before he noticed his unexpected guest. Was it really unexpected, though? Or was he out here looking for an agent of chaos?
Looking for a fight?
He did slow and then stop when the source of the energy rounded the corner and came to a half pause in front of him. He looked at the dark senshi thoughtfully, his hand instinctively tightening into a fist, arm moving slightly in front of him with his shield at the ready. It was not a defensive posture, however. He was ready to attack if he needed to.
He didn't take his eyes off the dark senshi as he sauntered coolly down the street.
"At least I could blend in at one. What are you supposed to be?"
Camelot found himself speaking before he thought, and reminding himself far too much of his son. Where was this attitude coming from? And why was he letting himself be so angry all the time, for no reason at all? Yet here he was, holding his shield up so he could get into an attack motion swiftly.
Maybe get a sneak attack in.
He did not recognize this knight, but he could not seem to really control himself. And at the moment he did not care to. Letting off some steam seemed like a good enough idea, though he forced himself not to attack out of no where. Not to be the bad guy.
He was not a bad guy.
"But we're not out here for parties, are we? Are you draining people of their energy? Or something worse?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 3:29 pm
Remarque watched Camelot, thinking that already this was a much different experience than he’d already had before. Camelot had been so welcoming and inviting before, but now he was clearly on edge.
Well, he should have been. Remarque was a dangerous fellow, and he might have been insulted if Camelot had greeted him as if they were friends.
He had never seen anybody actually use a shield in combat, so it was difficult for him to tell exactly what he could expect. It didn’t look like Camelot had taken up an offensive position, but how the hell was he to know? He couldn’t see behind the shield; for all he knew, Camelot had picked up a few sharp sticks and was waiting to skewer him if he got too close.
He didn’t mind the little jab regarding his outfit—he’d started it, after all--and though he might not be so quick to defend his appearance, he certainly took pride in it. He’d rather walk around with a little extra flair than looking like an old washed up suit of armor any day.
“Something worse?” Remarque prompted, thinking this to be an interesting concept. He continued his leisurely saunter, despite being just a bit more wary of Camelot. “And here I was, thinking your lot figured gathering a bit of extra energy was just the worst thing anyone could get up to.”
Was the Negaverse up to something more nefarious in recent times? Did he have something to be suspicious of? “What else could I possibly be getting into that—by your standards—is ‘worse’ than gathering energy?”
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 4:31 pm
Camelot narrowed his eyes at the Dark Mirror Senshi.
"If you don't know, I'm not going to tell you," he said with a very tense shrug, "I am not here to supply you with bad ideas. I thought that Chaos you've let brainwash you was doing that well enough."
He tapped the bottom of his shield against the floor, watching as Remarque continued to walk. There was tension in the air now, and it was clear that Camelot was not in his usual mood. There was no patience, no understanding. There was no willingness to listen and learn, and certainly no will to help.
A frown was etched on his handsome, but aged and worn face. The crystal in his shield, hidden in the dragon's eye, glistened.
"Whatever the case, I won't allow you to continue. Not tonight. You have the option of turning around and leaving, and not letting me catch you again. Or you can stay, and see what happens." This was his street tonight: a fairly darker Knight was in service to his Kingdom this evening.
He had a strict No Chaos policy.
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Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 12:02 am
Oh. Oh, that was a cute little threat. Remarque absolutely couldn’t take Camelot seriously. He paused, moving to rest his hands on his hips as he looked at the knight. “You know, I’m kind of curious to see what happens if I stay. I do hope it isn’t a fight. I don’t feel particularly inclined to smash your face into the cement, but I’m no more keen to just turn and walk away. What I do is of no concern to you, Knight, so mind your own business. If you’ve got a problem with people draining energy, then you should put that shield down and stay home. Sit by the fire with a nice book, sip some wine, and go to bed. You have no place out here, anyway. You’re out of your league.”
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Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2012 1:07 pm
"You won't get the chance to do anything of the sort," he said, lowly. He watched the dark senshi. He wasn't sure why he was looking for a fight, but it seemed he had found one. Now he just had to make sure his face wasn't bashed into the cement, or he'd be made a liar on top of being a loser.
Which would just be salt in the wound.
"I don't think you understand who you're talking to."
Who was he talking to? A forty year old man in armor. Not the most intimidating thing out there, certainly, but he frowned and held his ground. So he had nothing to back that up with. He had a shield and a crystal to do the talking for him at this point.
"You had your chance," he said, before he brought his shield down and he lunged in Remarque's direction. He had his shield up against his body, as if blocking himself, but when he was close enough he would lash out with it, swinging it as hard as he could for Remarque's midsection.
This was probably not going to improve his standing with the dark senshi community.
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 2:05 am
In hindsight, Remarque probably should have formulated a plan before provoking Camelot. To take on a Senshi was easy—they didn’t have any sort of armor. But Camelot? Hell, he was decked out. And that shield?
Remarque was strong, but he didn’t figure he could punch through the damn thing.
“Jesus,” he blurted, a bit surprised by how quickly Camelot had moved. He was light on his feet, though not enough to be completely spared; the tip of Camelot’s shield grazed him, and while the sensation was uncomfortable it did not necessarily hurt.
“—Aren’t you supposed to be a protector of the peace? –I wasn’t actually trying to pick a fight,” Remarque said, taking a few steps back. He seemed honest enough, though honesty was never really Remarque’s strong point. At the very least, at least he was given a few seconds to make a plan of attack. He wasn’t about to run, but Camelot didn’t exactly make for an easy target, all wrapped up like that. “–You’re pretty belligerent for being the ‘good guy,’ you know,” he added when he was away from the shield. Even just the little brush had been too close a call for him, and damn, that thing was stinging. “You sleep all right knowing you’re the one picking the fights?”
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 12:02 pm
"Aren't you supposed to be a worshiper of chaos?" He countered, keeping his guard up, his muscles coiled and ready. He had his shield up in front of him, just in case anything happened.
He frowned, feeling guilt biting in the back of his mind. What was he doing here, attacking this guy so angrily, not giving him any fair chance? Not supporting the peace he thought about so much. The peace he had promised himself, and everyone he met so far, he protected.
Remarque was right, he was supposed to be a protector of peace, not some grumpy old man in armor, using his powers to settle his bad temper.
"I sleep just fine," he grunted, but that wasn't true. He was a wreck at the moment, and he was not able to figure out why. He just wanted to shut the kid up, and get home. Maybe petting Dogby would make him feel better. This certainly wasn't doing it. He forced himself to stop, though, growling at the Dark Senshi.
"Alright, get out of here then. If you don't want to fight, I don't want to see you around here. You stay, you pay for it, understand?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 11:49 pm
Remarque scoffed, out of arrogance and annoyance. There was a logical choice—he could always just throw his hands up into the air and walk away. Pfft, like Camelot was going to know what the hell he did for the rest of the evening.
But that was unlike Remarque, to just walk away. To avoid all the trouble.
“I don’t worship anything. What the hell is your problem?” he asked gruffly. “You really can’t expect me to be intimidated by a threat like that. If you gave me a good reason to go home, sure—but what right do you have to be out here that I don’t? How do you know I’m not just out looking for my dog or something? It’s not all about gathering energy, you know. We don’t just wander around and ruin lives.”
He feigned a bit of hurt, a bit of desperation, and then just shook his head and sighed. “You just. You don’t get it. It’s fine for you to be out here and fight for what you believe in, but just because I’m out here, too, that makes us enemies? I don’t wonder why Ares wants to get out of here.”
Maybe he was playing it up a bit. Maybe he didn’t care if Ares wanted to go anywhere. Remarque liked Earth and had no intention of leaving it and the ones he cared about—few as they were—behind. “…Who’d you meet that made you hate Dark Mirror Senshi so much?” he asked, brushing himself off. Though he pretended to be more preoccupied with adjusting his attire, he kept an eye on Camelot, waiting for another unprecedented attack—some excuse to retaliate with one of his own.
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 11:45 am
"This is my planet," the Knight said. And in many ways he believed that. He had not awakened very early in life, and spent a lot of it battling strange things without the aid of powers. Now, with them, he was a knight of Earth in the truest sense. He fought for the people, for the planet. True enough, he meant anyone who lived there. He wanted to fight for peace.
But this was his planet to protect.
"If you want to leave it, you certainly have my permission."
He did not make a comment on the dog crack, as he had no right to. He could not jab him for looking for a lost dog while powered up, because he had done just that not too long ago. Dogby was a very important member of his family, and he did everything he could think of when she was missing to find her.
He had her back now of course.
He did not charge again, this time holding his shield. The eye of the dragon emblazoned on it glimmered.
"Terra Viridis Crystal Power!" He said, almost calmly. He never used his crystal without needing to, except recently. A beam of light exploded from the shield. It would do no physical damage, but it would hurt. That was all it did, momentary pain, but it did it well.
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 1:48 pm
Just when Remarque thought they might have a nice little conversation—Bam. ******** crystal.
He had been attacked by ignorant Senshi and Knights no good reason, but Camelot? Well, Hell. He’d almost even admired the guy.
But it was hard to like someone when they were flashing a crystal that ******** hurt. There had been nothing to block, no way that he could have darted out of the way to avoid it. He was cringing as it struck him, scowl in place as he glared at the knight.
Whatever he had used—that crystal—was a real pain in the a**.
“Cute,” he spoke through grit teeth, trying to will the burst of pain to ebb quicker. “Also really underhanded for a ‘good guy’.”
The words were spoken bitterly—for several reasons. If the knights thought themselves to be the hero of this planet, they were sorely wrong, and if this was how they were going to react in the middle of an—albeit slightly hostile—conversation, Remarque had very little hope for them. It didn’t help that he’d always thought Camelot was different from the other knights. Always thought of him as better.
Perhaps Leto was right in her manner of dealing with them. He hadn’t thought of murder as an acceptable solution before, though he was still of the belief that there had to be something the knights were good for.
Apparently not.
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Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 10:09 am
"Good guys can have bad moments."
He felt guilty for what he was doing, as he had in the last fight he had picked mostly unwarranted. He was not this guy, and it did not sit well with him despite that he was the one in control of his actions, making the decisions to react so angrily to everything. He needed to stop, calm down.
He stood there, growling and watching.
There was nothing he could do to salvage this encounter. By the time he cleared his head and remembered what he was meant to be doing, it would be far too late to try and make up for this particular attack. That was troubling, but not entirely strange. Most of the Dark senshi he had met ended up hating him for accidents or for weird reasons. At least this was actually justified.
He took a breath, trying to calm himself.
"Get out of here, before this goes any further," he said tensely, though his tone held some slight hesitance. He didn't want to hurt anyone, not really. He was doing a bad job of it.
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Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 9:56 pm
Remarque’s eyes lingered on Camelot for a long moment. It was a cold, thoughtful gaze, as though he were making up his mind. He had the opportunity to stay, extract revenge on the knight, or fight until one or the other killed themselves. But there were so many better things to do.
He’d come to gather energy tonight, and he wasn’t going home until he had.
Camelot could wait. He had no doubt in his mind that Leto had plans for him—and who was he to interfere?
The male brushed himself off, straightened himself, and then just turned away from Camelot. “Fine. But don’t you dare chalk this up as a victory. I’m leaving because I don’t want to see you sully your name anymore. You know—once. Once, I almost even rooted for you. I thought you might have some good in you. Even after all this time, I still haven’t had a bad day. I just don’t get it. You can justify hurting someone that wasn’t up to anything, but it’s wrong if I drain a little energy? Not even from good people. I prefer criminals, scumbags. Don’t get me wrong. I’ll go, I’ll leave you to your own devices—but I just have to know. Do you protect them, too? The criminals on the street? The thieves, the rapists, the murderers? As long as they don’t have chaos coursing through their blood, are they under your protection, too?”
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 11:42 pm
Camelot felt his words bitterly, but he did not look away. He held his gaze and his stance, holding himself up with pride he did not feel and will he did not have.
He was just the same as they were, though his methods and what he was after was different. He might not be draining energy, but he justified who he was fighting against and why it was okay to fight them. Because Chaos made them momentary enemies, and these small skirmishes were unavoidable. But was that really true? There was a time when he did not believe that. Some how, he would have to get back to that place.
It was that argument. That draining energy from someone who was a 'bad guy', attacking an agent of Chaos because they're a 'bad guy', some how made it okay. It didn't. There were always reasons, always back stories, always need and pride. It did not matter who was fighting for what purpose, what trouble they were making for others.
In the end, there would never be true good and true evil. The lines would always be blurred.
"I protect those that cannot protect themselves," he said stiffly, not recognizing his own voice. That was the only defense he put forward, the rest of it locked up in his head as thoughts. Arguing was hopeless for him right now, as he was.
He had to clear his head. This wasn't the way to do it.
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