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It was December in Destiny City, the streets being decorated with the coming of Christmas and other holidays as well as the well-needed relief of students everywhere, even if it was only for a few weeks. Not that the ever diligent and prowling Senshi of Tigers cared for such trivial matters such as school or preparing herself for life that came after school. No, Super Sailor Tsui was more focused on her duty of defending the streets and citizens of Destiny City than figuring out math equations or the importance of a date in the past that had absolutely no relevance to her, neither now or in her future. While other students were preparing for finals, Tsui was determined to keep them safe from harm, and that meant for her to do what she felt she did best.

Prowl.

So, this brought the Senshi of Tigers out into the streets once more, navigating the streets and moving into a familiar district full of privately owned shops. If her memory served her correctly, this was rather close to where Jett's family had placed their antique store, as well as the pet shop that Jett had told her to check out. She never did get around to giving it a look, but now, while she was the area, she figured she'd give it a gander, keeping her senses on high alert and trying to seek out any Chaos energy, wherever it may be. 'There was an attack here before... better keep my wits about me. Don't want to get caught with my britches down, especially not by a damned youma.'

She passed by a flower shop, not once giving it a glance over though unable to fight off a sense of deja vu. A strange occurrence for her, but she ignored it for the time being. "Now, let's see if this pet store has any hidden youma to be sniffed out?"

Now, Super Sailor Tsui wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but she felt that she was one of the sharpest swords on the mantle, especially when it came to combat. Having survived many harrowing ordeals, either just barely or sailing with flying colors, Tsui had grown quite confident in her ability to sense danger and stay on her toes. If there was something Tsui hated, it was being caught unaware, so when she felt the sudden spike of Chaos aura coming from behind, she was quick to turn around and face the challenge.

Only to receive a fist straight to the jaw, knocking her senseless and throwing the smaller Senshi back a few feet from the impact, tumbling into a pile of snow though it did little to cushion the fall. Snow and specks of water flew from the pile, and from within the pile, one could hear the incoherent groan from the Senshi of Tigers.

"Ugh... what the hell...?" Moments later, Tsui had managed to pry herself out of the pile of snow, some of it falling from the rooftop of the building's gutters and hitting her on the head. If that didn't do the job in snapping her back into reality, it was the sight of the Negaverse lieutenant that got the drop on her. "Thanks for the reminder that most of you guys are cheap-shotting assholes..."

Tsui had seen anger before and sometimes, she had been the cause of such anger, but all of that she had seen was nothing compared to the hatred she saw in those eyes at this very moment. She was still recovering when she made her retort, and it seemed that whoever her assailant was was willing to take advantage of her momentary confusion.

Of all of the Negaverse officers she had run across in her time, she had met a few that were willing to gloat their feat, or eventually introduce themselves and then proceed to berate her for various reasons, but never before did she seem to have one that hadn't even muttered a single syllable to her, much less attempt to choke her with what she thought was a toy snake. Whoever this Negaverse lieutenant was, he was quick, strong, and he looked mad, and Tsui, ever the fighter, began to struggle immediately with her opponent, thrashing about and then slamming her foot into his exposed gut, hoping to throw him off of her and free herself from his death grip.

All the while, she threw angered, breathless threats at her assailant, for once thankful to have some form of heels in her boots and driving them into his gut both mercilessly and desperately. "Get-the-hell-off-me! I'll-have-your-face!"

The only thing that saved the Negaverse lieutenant from a verbal beatdown was the fact that Tsui was now coughing and sputtering for air, her airways open and no longer in danger of whatever weapon the lieutenant had tried to kill her with. It had been a long time since someone of the opposing side had tried to kill her, and the attempt on her life was both infuriating, but mostly frightening. She pressed shaky fingers against her throat, unable to see the full extent of his assault but having a sinking feeling in her gut that'd she have to wear a turtleneck for the next few days.

Though hiding the marks was the least of her concerns... this guy just tried to kill her! And when she had spotted the device he sought to kill her with, all of her fear had turned into rage. She didn't scoop it up, but she did kick snow at it, and her wounded pride would NOT allow this insult to go unavenged. He had the nerve to try to kill her, Senshi of Tigers, with a damned rubber snake?

She glared at him as he threw his accusation at her, and her retaliation was fairly swift, considering she knew she had never seen this lieutenant before. "Not NEARLY enough for you to think you can just try choking me with that ridiculous toy of yours!"

That alone was far more insulting to her than the attempt on her life, and she allowed this rage to be seen as she summoned her white aura to her wrists, not even bothering with any kind of warning. After all, he didn't give her the same courtesy- why should she? She charged forward with a roar, "Striking Tiger Flurry*!"

If she could at least land the blow, she could try weaseling some answers out of him, and she made sure to aim straight for his legs, knowing that he's be conscious but helpless. She wanted answers out of this guy; who was he, and why did he seem so intent on attacking her?

-----

Super Sailor Scout Attack: Striking Tiger Flurry.
SailorTsui’s Tiger Fist Strike’s power is enhanced significantly, as not only is her blow knocks the enemy back, but it also stuns them if she is able to make it connect, leaving them open for attack. This attack still requires her to be in close range combat, much like the first attack, but she puts more ‘umph’ behind her blows to physically stun the enemy, in hopes of preventing an immediate retaliation. Her time spent honing her powers has allowed her to aim at particular body parts, giving her the time to aim for an arm or leg to strike to immobilize that part of their body for 5 seconds, though at the cost of her having a more likely chance to miss. If she connects, she can knock the enemy back with a chance to stun.

*Knocks enemies back 4 feet
*Chance to physically stun enemy for 5 seconds
*Can attack twice turns per battle

Normally, Tsui would revel in the fact that she was able to hit someone, or anything, really, as more often then not she'd miss or her opponent nimbly dodged out of the way (or in that ONE occasion, completely shrugged off the blow all together). And yet, his attempt on her life and the immediate use of her attack afterwards had left her a bit winded herself, tumbling into the snow and trying to get herself upright so that she could face her enemy once more. Seeing him on his knees did wonders in bringing that smile back to her face, and her approach was slow, but steady.

"Alright, jerk, remember you're the one that picked the fight with me!" Tsui spat to him, trying not to sound too out of breath and hiding it with a rather smug laugh. She paid no attention to his movements, and she tried to take in his features, wondering if she had met this lieutenant before and simply hadn't remembered. Tsui wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but she wasn't THAT forgetful. She remembered most of her encounters, for better or for worse... "Now, I want some answers out of you. Who are you, and what the hell did I supposedly do to you?"

She stopped when she felt that she was at a safe distance, not completely dropping her guard but obviously feeling as though she had gained a good control of the situation to warrant an interrogation. She waited eagerly for answers, growing impatient by the second. Normally she wouldn't care, but she never had someone attack her out of pure rage like that before, and now, she was simply curious.

Tsui was expecting this long, heartfelt and maybe even heart wrenching story about how she had wronged him in the past, even the distant past, in which she was ready to scoff and push aside. The past lives past was the past... how was she expected to control any of that now. Or perhaps he simply hated all Senshi because it was what was expected of him and he was just as misguided as, say, Carnelian or other Negaverse officers she had encountered. Yet, what she wasn't expecting was his short words, and the snowball that was throw at her, hitting her smack in the face and taking her completely off guard.

Part of her wanted to seethe in anger, melt the ice with her rage alone and assault him with fists and kicks and even a few angry words. And yet, another part of her wanted to laugh. And that part of her won out in the end, giving a strained laugh as she wiped the ice from her face and contemplated and throwing it right back at him.

"Look, unless you give specifics," Tsui said, when her laughter had died down. "I can't help you get over whatever I supposedly did to you. Now, are you going to give me your name or am I just going to have to start calling you a*****e?"

Super Sailor Tsui knew that she had a pretty piss poor memory, but she was certain that she'd remember this lieutenant's name, just by the amount of venom that dripped from that voice of his when he spoke to her. Before she had the chance to badger him more about what she had supposedly done, the effects of her attack had worn off and he and his rubber snake were making a run for it. This enticed the Senshi of Tigers to give chase, and yet, she couldn't bring herself to do so. Perhaps it was the 'honor code' that others had spurted at her to allow a fleeing victim to go, even if it was strategically bad (not that Tsui really cared for strategy, at least not one that didn't involve her simply going forth and attacking).

No, the Senshi of Tigers wasn't that bloodthirsty, at least not as bloodthirsty as her opponent, and now that he had disappeared from sight, she brought her shaky hands to her throat. She wanted a mirror to access the damage, but part of her knew that she wouldn't like what she'd see. "Serpentine, huh? If your rubber snake did this, I'd hate to see what you'll get when you move up in the ranks..."

Yes, when, not if. A guy with that kind of determination, audacity to sneak up on a Senshi of higher rank than him and then having the nerve to accuse her of a crime that she apparently didn't remember doing was going to rise in the ranks, and part of Tsui welcomed that. Perhaps it was the thrill of the fight that made her wanting to fight him again... or perhaps some personal revenge of her own now. No one successfully takes a tiger off guard and NOT suffer the consequences later. Cats were very vindictive creatures, and what was a tiger if not a simply bigger, stronger cat?

"One day, I'm going to catch you, and I -will- get an answer out of you, one way or another..." Tsui said with a gritty growl, clearing her throat and going about her business once more, though this time she made sure to be more alert... should someone else try taking advantage of her this night.