Richard Moreau was never the type to believe in karma, and if he had, he would have completely understood the situation he now found himself in. He wasn’t a Saint, nor did he truly want to be, but he also wasn’t a criminal. When it came to his civilian life, he pretty much felt that he was a law abiding citizen, though every so often he had tried to bend the rules, just enough to get what he wanted without having to appear on any officer’s radar. Well, unless it came to public intoxication, in which he was a constant offender, but he never hurt anyone! At least, not that he could remember.

Even in his powered life, he hadn’t done that much damage had he? Alright, not that his mind was racing and the topic was brought up, he could remember throwing soup in the face of an unfortunate cook and his torture of the waitress that had spit in his soup, but beyond that, who did Buddingtonite hurt to deserve this? If anything, Knights and Senshi were the ones hurting him, and all because he was simply doing his job. Why did things have to turn on him so quickly? What had Richard, or Buddingtonite, do to deserve this?

He wasn’t even planning on powering up this evening. No, recent endeavors left him sore, both physically and mentally, and he was perfectly content with ‘calling in sick’ in regards to his Negaverse duties. It wasn’t as though his absence would have made a difference he had thought bitterly, as he leashed Baldwin and hit the streets to walk his dog. Let the Negaverse deal with the Senshi this evening; all he wanted to do was walk his dog in peace, and he was going to let nothing or no one stand in the way of that. He even passed up his liquor cabinet this evening, like a good boy, and Baldwin couldn’t be any happier with his master. He was making all the right decisions this evening.

So why on God’s green and blue Earth was he now being attacked by whatever the hell it was that was attacking him? Richard thought little of it and actually wouldn’t have noticed it if it wasn’t for Baldwin. His large but docile Irish wolfhound was sniffing around, taking his sweet ol’ time looking for a spot to mark, and right as Richard was going to scorn him to hurry along, his floppy ear twitched and shifted back, and the sound that came out of the dog outright frightened Richard. Baldwin growled, and Baldwin never growled. Ever. Even with his fear of the maid and maintenance that came to their condo, Baldwin never showed aggression, and that was a clear indication that something was wrong. Had Richard been drunk, it would have sobered him up right then and there, but he didn’t need alcohol in his system to jump in fright and fall on his butt, and he looked around to what his dog was growling at. Was it a Senshi? A Knight? Maybe another Negaverse officer, or perhaps a youma?

No, what he saw didn’t register any sort of familiarity to him, and there was little time to investigate what it was that had spooked his dog so, before it lunged towards them. Richard did what any self respecting man would have done, knowing that the life of himself and his dog was on the line- “Baldwin, follow me! Bacon! Bacon!”

That had gotten the Irish wolfhound’s attention, and just like that, the dog twisted around and practically galloped in the opposite direction of whatever was chasing them, dragging his master along behind him. Now, more than ever, Richard was thankful not to have dipped into the bourbon reserves this evening, as he would have no doubt fallen right on his chest and been dragged throughout the streets by the large and well meaning dog. Surprisingly enough he kept up with him, even though he threatened to rip his arm right out of its socket, and he dared a glance back to see if it was following them still.

What a stupid question! OF COURSE IT WAS STILL FOLLOWING THEM!

Baldwin wanted to go faster and faster, but Richard knew that he couldn’t keep up with him. Not unless he powered up, and perhaps powering up would snap the unknown assailant back to its senses- it certainly wasn’t anything of the White Moon Court, so perhaps it simply didn’t recognize him as Richard Valentine Moreau? Perhaps Negaverse Lieutenant Buddingtonite would register in its puny little mind that he was an ally?

He waited until there was no one there to transform, not only sparing his identity but sparing himself the embarrassment of anyone he knew seeing him being dragged along by a now super excited dog that was roughly the size of a small horse. The rush of power felt good, as it always had, and the burst in speed allowed him to keep up with Baldwin, at least to where he wasn’t feeling the constant pull to his arm. Now, as Buddingtonite, he turned to whatever creature was following him and took an authoritative done, suspecting the creature to be a youma and therefore, his to control.

“Whatever you are, cease and desist! Do you have any idea who you are-AAAAAAAH!” He had gotten through most of his speech before it was literally upon him, grabbing onto his hand and forcing him to drop the pinwheel, his only means of defence. Now he could see it clearly, a mirror like creature, and the sight of his hand passing through the glass absolutely horrified him. “What hellish Lewis Carroll nightmare did YOU come from! GET OFF OF ME!”

He shook his hand frantically, unwillingly releasing the leash and allowing Baldwin to run a few more feet before the dog stopped and looked back at him. Had Baldwin been another Negaverse officer or even just a regular civilian, he would have berated him for just standing there and watching, but Buddingtonite looked back at his dog and screamed at him to flee, using a tone that he hoped would get through to his pet. “D-don’t worry about Daddy, Baldwin! I’m alright! Go someplace safe...”

What Buddingtonite was afraid of was that his dog would do something stupid, such as try to attack the creature and get himself hurt in the process. Part of him was afraid that Baldwin would simply just abandon him. Yet, what he saw was the dog’s head tilt, and there was no recognition on his dark, chocolate brown eyes. He didn’t run away, but he didn’t move to help him. Instead, he looked as though he was wondering why this man was talking to him in the first place. “You... you got to be kidding me! You don’t recognize me? It’s me, Baldwin... Ri-AH, LET GO OF ME!”

In his momentary distraction, the creature had managed to latch on even tighter, moving up his arm and looking to be growing larger, more solid, and in return, Buddingtonite couldn’t help but notice just how tired he was becoming. Was it draining his energy? Certainly felt that way! Maybe it was a youma, and he berated the creature, his mind completely off of his dog right now and worried more about what he had done to deserve this fate and how best to escape it. “You... stupid, useless thing! Don’t you know who I am? Don’t you have any idea... that you’re not suppose to attack ME?!”

It didn’t seem to care. If it had ears, than it wasn’t listening to him. If it had eyes, than it was ignoring what it saw. If it had a brain, it was shut down, and it continued to try to engulf him. He struggled, but the more he struggled, the more it seemed to grow, and the weaker he got. He had no idea what it was, who it belonged to, and the best he could figure was that it might have had something to do with the Dark Mirror Court. Given that it was a mirror. It was getting hard to think now, and in the end, what did it matter what it was and who it belonged to? What if it engulfed him entirely? What would happen to him? Would he be corrupted, again, for the Dark Mirror Court? Would he simply be drained of his energy and left to die? Or would be appear in this new, Wonderland-esque place, left to roam a world crazy beyond imagination? All of these seemed like valid fears, but Buddingtonite was desperate to avoid it, despite the weakness spreading throughout his body and the uselessness of it all.

“For the love of bourbon... why? Why did you pick ME?” Buddingtonite cried out, so weak now that he felt himself falling to his knees, as the mirror got bigger and stronger. He once thought he had endless amount of energy, but how wrong was he and how eager was this creature to prove him wrong? The situation was beginning to grow useless, but still, if he was going to go down, he would spend his last breath cursing fate and this stupid creature that thought to end him right now. He was so weak that he didn’t notice what had become of his dog, nor did he feel the blip of aura until it was literally upon him. “Of... the thousands... hundreds of thousands of people in this stupid city... you came after me?! ME?! What... kind of luck is that?”

He had not join the Negaverse to avoid this? Being attacked by youma, or whatever the Dark Mirror Court’s equivalent was was something that wasn’t suppose to happen to someone who worked for the Negaverse, was it? What did it matter in the end? He had done nothing to deserve this particular fate, and while he wasn’t sure if death awaited him or simply to be left to die (and wishing death’s sweet embrace would take him away), he was going to allow it and anyone else around him to know that he wasn’t happy with the outcome, regardless if he could change it or not. The idea of accepting his fate with quiet dignity was simply not something that ever crossed Buddingtonite’s mind as a possibility. Dying with quiet dignity was for someone else!

“I hope you choke on me! I... I hope the years of alcohol abuse and sugar ruin you... I HOPE YOU DIE!”

How strange was it that the moment he uttered those words, it seemed that his wish had come true? It wasn’t like he did anything, either. All he did was scream, and just as suddenly as it had latched onto him, it exploded. Cracks appeared and as shards of glass shot out, his body was released and he went flying back a few feet, only then did he see the white aura and the outline of his unlikely savior that had struck the mirror creature from behind. By this time, his vision was fuzzy and he could barely hold himself up, but he could see the Senshi, decked in white, grey and white, and instead of feeling relief or gratitude, he immediately panicked. Of all of the ones that he could run into now, it had to not only be a Senshi, but an Eternal, as the wings were plainly visible, even from this angle.

“Out of the frying pan... into the fire...” Buddingtonite sighed, looking up at the senshi and had he not been weakened and panicking, he might have recognized her. The stripes should have been a dead giveaway, as well as the scars at her side, but given the condition that Buddingtonite was in, he was simply in no mood to defy her. All he could do was beg, and the expression she wore spoke volumes, as she wasn’t quite expecting the sudden plea to come from the drained lieutenant. “Look... senshi... cut me a break... I didn’t do anythin’ tonight... and I’m nothing but a lowly lieutenant... throw me a bone. Just this once?”

He knew it was shameful to beg, but this was a Senshi, someone capable of speech, coherent thoughts, and, most importantly, destroying him. The Senshi gave a chuckle, but otherwise said nothing. She didn’t strike him, which was enough for him to have some hope, and the best indicator that she might have actually been willing to spare him was how she simply walked away from him and moved beyond him, towards the Irish wolfhound. The dog remained where he was, looking up at the Senshi, and immediately, Buddingtonite turned about, fearing that she was going to do something terrible to his dog. He stumbled on the words, not caring if he gave away his identity. “Wait... stop... don’t go near him... he’s an innocent! Have a heart!”

He tried crawling towards her, but he was too weak to stop her. She held out a hand to the dog, maybe to blast the poor thing away, or take him away from him. He managed to pull himself a few inches, but he was just too weak to get too far. He could feel unconsciousness beginning to pull at him, but he couldn’t let her hurt him. He had to save Baldwin...

The Senshi did no such thing. All she did was pat the dog on the head, and the last thing that Buddingtonite had seen or heard from the Senshi before blacking out was her rather kind remark. “Good dog. You remind me of another sweet heart I know... keep an eye on this one, okay?”

And what a terrible time to blackout...

(Word Count: 2290)