The hardest part wasn't kicking the large drum down the street. it wasn't finding the poor fop who meandered the streets at night. It wasn't tying him up, or hoisting him off the ground, or finding the proper location for the deed. It wasn't summoning the gall to commit such an act, or formulating the plan from start to finish. It wasn't even finding the barrel of liquid, or breaking into the lab that housed the materials.
It was waiting.
He completed his setup in nary an hour, and stood by to admire its beauty. Its simple magnificence. Every detail bore some insight into the human mind, some tiny clue that promised revelations when studied at just the right angle. Each piece lay perfect in its simplicity, yet the end result was such a complicated matter. Add in a senshi, and it increased the possibility for the coming events to end downright messily. But that was to be expected - from his experiences, the White Moon Court had a habit of bastardizing all art and expression.
All fun and excitement.
But tonight... He would allow one lucky senshi the opportunity to become the crown jewel of the final product. The piece de resistance.
Bischofite smiled languidly in his musings, all but ignoring the ceaseless protests of the man only a yard away from him. He paged through the infinite outcomes, possibilities, disasters stemming from his antics, and all appealed equally to him. Even if no one died that night, he'd leave the scene knowing that lives were forever altered, and he granted them the gift of a memory etched into a lifetime. Wasn't that a proper parting present?
"Please, just let me go! I promise I won't press charges!" The beleaguered man choked out. His face looked swollen and red; Bischofite didn't know if that was a result of the blood rushing to his head or the fat pooling around his chin. "Take whatever you want! I just want to go home to my family! I'll forget this ever happened!"
"Shut up," came a terse response. "What good are my actions if you don't remember zem?" Bischofite smiled; obviously this man's intuition clued him in on the gravity of his situation. He approached the man, who hung suspended by a thick cord. The raven-haired captain pressed his hands to the cool metal of the drum. He leaned in close to the man as he spoke. "Haf' you ever noticed how many stars are in the sky tonight? Zat's why we're here, it's why I picked you. You're going to help me lure zose stars to ze ground. And I'm going to drag zose stars srough hell." He practically purred his last words.
Without waiting for a response, Bischofite replaced the ductape over the man's mouth and stood back to admire his handiwork. The man was suspended using a cord tied underneath a manhole cover, to the ladder descending to the tunnels. It ran up and over the nearest fire escape, and was then wrapped around both of his prisoner's feet. The man himself hung a good five feet off the ground, just above a large, uncovered barrel labeled with a fire diamond. The diamond displayed a 4 in its blue section, a 0 in its red section, and a 1 in the yellow.
Hydrofluoric acid.
Even thinking the word coaxed a crooked grin out of his features.
The hardest part wasn't obtaining the civilian. It wasn't overcoming human compassion, evading notice, or coming up with the materials.
It was waiting.
Waiting for someone to discover his genius, his passion, his endless capacity for violence.
Bluefire Dragonz
Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 6:30 pm
The feel of a chaos signature had made Ida's skin crawl and the fine hair along her neck and arms stand on end. This whole night had seemed eery and strange to her, just subtly off, and now this... but she couldn't run away from it, forget what she felt and leave whatever horror was happening for someone else to deal with. It just wasn't in her to do so.
Pacing down the empty street, she shuddered as she felt a breath of wind brush past her, sending litter tumbling over the concrete. Was that a voice she heard? Two of them? This didn't bode well, because one of them sounded scared. Well, time to get to business then... but should she call Athene and Tsui first? Maybe... but later. No sense in pulling them away from whatever they were doing if she could handle whatever or whomever was up ahead.
The scene that greeted her felt like it had come straight out of the comics and for a moment she was almost at a loss. ... Really? A villain holding a civilian over a tub of some ominous fluid? When had her life become a cartoon?
"I don't suppose if I asked nicely, you'd just let him down and send him on his merry way, would you?" She said as she walked slowly closer, her hands on her hips by her transparent bows and her scarf framing a serious face. She might not look like a super hero in her short skirt and jewelry, but... well, maybe she did... She'd just have to fill the part then.
Bischofite felt the girl long before she made her approach. A pinprick against the edges of his mind, soon growing a thousand-fold while she closed the distance to his location. She burned his thoughts unknowingly, set his composure alight in the scathing sense of her bright aura. He hated the feeling, hated how it seeped beneath his skin and festered into a need to claw the sensation out, to scrape out his nerves. Maybe once he'd rendered himself numb, he'd never subject himself to the ceaseless irritant known as an order signature.
Once he'd set his golden sights on her, he donned a mischievous smile. "Hello, beautiful," he greeted with a mock bow. She looked a proper target for his unconscionable depravity. "You certainly haf' a way wis' words, don't you? I'll tell you somesing, since I'm in a good mood right now. Zis man -" He paused, and in a fluid gesture, indicated his unconscious hostage. "- I'f' had in my company for some time now. You see, I'f' been looking for you. Someone like you. Someone wis' your... sensibilities." Just the word coaxed a smile out of him. "Zough, I hadn't expected someone quite as breas'taking as you."
Truly, she earned every single word. Her outfit, though comical in its appearance, was coordinated well and complemented her skin tone. While the hood lent an air of mystery to her identity, it never obscured his view of her face, and that countenance... That utterly serious countenance won him over easily. She'd certainly play an excellent part tonight, and perhaps grace him with an exquisite performance. Visually pleasing and morally endowed - a combination he could only wish for.
Bischofite paced around the vat of acid as he spoke, hands folded behind his back in an almost militaristic fashion. "Let's play a little game, just somesing to pass ze time. You see, I find myself getting bored lately, and sometimes zese expeditions bring a spark of excitement to my life. So - I'll get to ze point. Zis man, we'll call him Schlafenman, is suspended abof' a vat of hydrofluoric acid. You could saf'e him from a horrible fate by playing my game, or you could try to break ze rules and attack me instead. I don't recommend it - zis rope is pretty easy for me to break, and it's all over for him once he reaches ze acid.
"I will gif' you a few choices. You can let me rip your starseed out, and I'll let Schlafenman go free. However, I'm not known for keeping promises, my dear." He paused in his pacing and flashed her a toothy grin. "You can find me a replacement civilian, someone you sink should be damned to deas' and I will release him in favor of zis new arrival. Finally, you can also make a trade. Offer me somesing equal to a life and I will release him wis'out qualms. Now - if you run, I will drop him. If you attack me, I will drop him. And if you try to impress me by playing dirty... Well, I might just free him." Bischofite breathed a relieved sigh, as if exhausted by his lengthy speech. "Now zat ze formalities are out of ze way, you haf' sirty seconds to make your decision. Choose wisely, Liebchen."
Bluefire Dragonz
Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 1:20 pm
The eery feeling of displacement grew the more the Negaverser talked, the feeling of having walked out of her safe, bright little world into something far more dark intensifying. He certainly looked the part, too... black and gold, dark feathers and what she could only guess was facepaint.. and had they been standing side by side, he'd have topped her by a good eight inches in height. He made her feel like a tiny butterfly trying to stand up to a bright-eyed raven...
Jerking herself from her thoughts, the orchid senshi shifted from foot to foot as he remarked on her looks, unable to hide the heat in her cheeks. She knew she was nothing more than average, plain even, and while the words were embarrassing, she knew they were just lies meant to fit whatever little twisted game he was playing here. The rules of it seemed pretty clear, at least, and Ida knew that even so, she couldn't trust him to follow through on any promises he made... she was going to have to play his game carefully, and keep both her and the poor civilian alive.
"You'll have to give a little more than thirty seconds, I'm afraid... you know how girls are, taking forever to make up their minds... And if you got impatient and dropped him, well! That would be the end of the fun, wouldn't it?" The senshi said as she clasped her hands behind her back, thumbing open her phone as it appeared in her hand. She pulled up the contacts by feel and hit a random number, praying whomever it was, they would answer and realize what was happening... or at least come to see what the problem was. The tactic had worked before, hopefully it would work again this time when she desperately needed some back up.
She took an idle step forward as she kept a careful eye on captor and captive, playing up her innocent look with widened eyes. Focus on me, not the civilian... look at me, all soft and weak... I'm not clever enough to trick you...
"I need assurance that you won't hurt him, that you'll let him go free on his own two feet, before I give you anything. If I give in and give you my starseed, I need to know you won't just snatch him up afterwards."
Bischofite laughed. It lacked derision, malice, hate. No, this was a laugh of simple enjoyment. Of playing a game with an opponent capable of matching him in wit. "Well said, girl. You are correct - it would be ze end of ze fun, but watching his bones decalcify into knots might be a fleck of entertainment. Fine, you'll earn more time." He had no qualms in allotting her a small reward for her excellent sportsmanship. After all, with a clever play like that, she earned it.
As she approached, he watched her relentlessly. He studied her every step, how she held herself as she walked, the minute movements of her body while she studied the scene in awe. In trepidation, even. She carried a certain ancient grace that served her well, that seeped into every twitch of her muscles flawlessly. Perhaps this was the kind of beauty poets wrote about, the kind observed by great minds like Keats and Frost. Or maybe, she expressed herself in such a fashion that her emotions were almost tangible, easily perceptible in her every idiosyncrasy.
And he liked her for that.
"You can't know, child." He punctuated his statement with a sigh, almost crestfallen in its expression. "You'd be dead. Zat is the necessity of trust here. Surely you're aware of it - wis'out trust, zis man would'f never fallen into my grasp. It is ze epitome of strengs', isn't it? Being able to trust someone is ze hardest sing in ze world, but I'm sure you can find it wis'in yourself to trust me to let some nobody continue his meaningless existence, since I'f received somesing wors' far more zan his deas' would ever yield."
The man suspended by the string groaned and struggled against his bindings, hoping that each motion might loosen the ductape preventing his speech. His meager efforts produced little more than an irritated huff from his captor, and a seething groan from the ropes around him. Despite his juxtaposition to certain doom, he still fought valiantly for some sliver of survival. Perhaps in his struggle, he could convey to this girl that he had a family, he had hopes and dreams, he had merit to his life.
Yet those machinations were easily halted by the production of gleaming chakrams by the captain. "Don't interrupt," he commanded, without a glance in the man's direction, and he received silence in return.
Bluefire Dragonz
Clever! I like it!
Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2013 9:36 pm
Honestly, Ida was scared. Deep down, she was terrified of what might happen if this man actually got a hold of her. On top of that was her sense of duty, her courage, but there was no way to completely stamp out the fear that was rooted deep in her heart by a certain other chaos agent. She would never forget the feeling of steel slicing through her side and the sight of his weapon suddenly appearing in his hands brought it all back to her.
Thankfully, she controlled her expression to little more than a thinning of the lips and her dusky complexion paling a few shades lighter as coldness slid down her spine. Firming her resolve, she stepped closer, her phone clutched in her hands behind her back. Had someone picked up? Could they hear voices speaking?
"Then why don't we make a deal... release him first, let him walk free, and I swear on Ida that I will allow you to put me in his place. My word as a senshi." She was dead serious about this promise and she tried to put some measure of that in her words. "Since you have the upper hand, perhaps its you who should trust me."
There had been really no thought needed for this decision. She'd made up her mind before ever showing herself. She just hoped that once she put herself in this dangerous situation, she'd be able to get herself out again. The damsel in distress rarely the one to save the day, but she would have to manage somehow if help didn't arrive in time.
"And if you indulge in a little subterfuge, zen who is at a loss here?" He leveled with her in growing impatience. Didn't she understand that her word meant nothing? That swearing on her actions as a senshi mattered even less? "I sought you were doing such a good job before. It's a shame to see your silver tongue slip so quickly." Did all senshi behave in this fashion? Were every one of them selfless do-gooders looking for a reason to pat themselves on the back? Didn't any of them recognize that their actions were wholly useless, both in the eyes of the public and in reality?
Leda felt the odd sensation of a cell phone buzz, yet she knew she didn't have hers buried in her uniform. "What's going on?" She asked aloud, while she searched herself for some sign of the vibration. Somehow it felt like it was localized to her head more than anything. But who stored cell phones in their heads?
Finally it dawned on her that it was her senshi cell phone, and she checked the message as soon as her fingers could pull it up. "Um, I don't even recognize that number..." Then again, she did just recently add every number she could come across for the advent of an emergency. It had to be a senshi, right? Pizza places couldn't accidentally call her on her senshi cell phone, from what she remembered. If they did, that'd just be awkward.
After holding the phone to her ear, she spoke tentatively into the speaker. "Hello? Um, who is this?" However, her questions went unanswered and all she heard was the faint sound of speech. As she listened, she made out a few key words, and the louder voice she finally identified as a senshi. Thankfully her declaring her word as a senshi helped Leda to iron out what might be happening on the other end of the call. So, this senshi was definitely in trouble, and she definitely needed to help.
It would take her a while to identify their location, but maybe by listening she might discover some cross streets.
Despite their impasse, Bischofite came to a relatively simple solution. "Attack me, zen. Whoever wins forces ze loser to act accordingly." Surely she could agree to that. If not, then perhaps he'd enact his will with little resistance.
Bluefire Dragonz
Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 7:02 pm
Well shoot, so much for that. She had hoped he would have taken her offer so at least the civilian was out of the way. It would have given her time to get herself out of harms way, but now she was back to square one.
"Considering what team you are on, you are hardly one to talk about 'subterfuge'. I keep my word when I give it, Negaverser." Ida said as one hand curled in a fist. "Though, I never said I was good with words..."
So much for the villain and hero act they had been putting on... his demand to attack had broken the eery scene they had seemed to be trapped in and brought Ida, at least, fully back to harsh reality. This wasn't a comic book or a cartoon. This was real life and there were real consequences for failing to win this fight.
"Fine then... we'll test our skills and see who is the stronger." She said, letting go of her phone so it dropped to the ground behind her. Hopefully it stayed open when she dropped it and kept the call up, but there was no time to check it.
Covering the drop of the phone, the senshi of Orchids rushed at Bischofite, darting left, then right and spinning as she moved around him, lashing out with a kick aimed for his kidneys that used her momentum to add force to her senshi-improved strength. As long as he was fighting her, he was not attacking the civilian, and that's all that mattered.
Her rush wasn't unexpected. It wasn't unusual; he'd seen it before. These senshi needed close proximity to land physical blows, since only their magics could manifest at range. The problem wasn't an unpredictable nature, because that simply wasn't the case.
The problem was her speed.
Were she a normal senshi, he would've easily evaded her attack by now. However, she could easily keep up with him in her altered state, her senshi state, and that fluidly fast kick struck him in the side when he tried to slip out of the way. In an instant, he slammed against the brick wall with only his shoulder to break the impact. Due to the pain stemming from her actions, it took him a moment to peel himself off of the wall.
Bischofite stared her down with a feverish gaze, if only for a moment, before he returned her move in kind. It was time for her to learn a charge that wouldn't yield so much leeway, and he would be obliged to teach her. He would show her the ferocity he's harbored, waiting for this moment. Waiting for her to make her move. Now that the silence was broken and the two were wholly engaged in violence, he had every reason to demonstrate just why he was so damned depraved.
It might've taken some wandering, but she definitely felt two energy signatures.
The fighting helped. The scuffle of shoes and varying intonations gave her some perspective to work off of. As she approached the signatures she'd detected, she distinctly recognized one senshi signature, akin to her own, and one Negaverse signature, equal to the other one in power. That didn't bode well; it wasn't easy to fight someone of that level tete-a-tete; she remembered that one from experience. Still, she approached the scene, if not with more urgency than before. Knowing someone's life was in jeopardy spurred her into action, but knowing a fellow senshi was also at stake lent exigence to her actions.
By the time Leda stumbled into the alley, she found the scene immediately confusing, if not downright bizarre. The senshi who must've called her was deeply engaged in battle against a Negaverser she'd never seen before, and between her and them was a man suspended above a vat of something that smelled downright awful. She'd never seen a setup like this before. What in blazes was he doing with a man tied up over some acrid fluid?
Nevertheless, while the agent was distracted, Leda set about puzzling over how to rescue the poor man trapped in all this violence. Moving the barrel might cause it to spill, and she didn't know how horrific it would be, so that action was out of the question. She could also cut him down, but she had nothing to slice the rope. Besides, he'd just fall into the liquid unless she could move him first.
Then again, she realized, she could just pull him back up over the railing of the second floor balcony. Why didn't she think of that before?
Leda easily closed the distance between herself and the balcony, and set about tugging the suspended man back up to the deck. Meanwhile she watched the battle below warily; should the agent notice her actions, it may put the other girl in danger. She seemed to be holding her own, though. Leda continued carefully raising the man to the second story, toward safety, and became engrossed in the act when she nearly hoisted him to safety. She kept tugging, kept persevering even though his sheer weight caused her arms to hurt, but
a chakram sang by her head, precariously close to her ear. She shrieked, and almost dropped the man. Now the fight was on - either she got that civilian to the balcony now or they'd both suffer for her indiscretion.
Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2013 8:25 am
She had be expecting him to dodge her attack, or knock her away or something. The fact that she managed to strike him and knock him into the wall actually startled her and it was the opening he needed to return the attack in kind. Ida yelped on impact, but moved with it, rolling out of his reach and into a defensive stance.
Oh, the look on his face was positively murderous... good job Ida, for provoking him into a fight. Now you just have to deal with the Negaverser who's out to kill you. At least she'd been in that situation before, right...? The flower senshi put what little she knew about combat into a desperate fight to survive, wondering in the back of her mind how long she could last before she exhausted herself. She highly doubted that she'd be able to defeat him on her own...
Seeing him suddenly throw his chakram startled her and for a moment she was confused why it hadn't been at her... untll she realized there was another senshi up on the building, and she was working hard to rescue the civilian. Oh, thank god... If she could just distract Bischofite a little more, they might be able to pull this off.
"I'm over here!" She shouted as she swung for him again, hoping to keep his attention firmly on her. "You wanted my starseed, right? Then come and get it."
Leda hurriedly continued with her attempt to rescue the poor man, and finally managed to pull him over the railing to safety. With a relieved huff, she untied his ankles as quickly as she could. He deserved freedom before she joined the fight, right? After dismantling his bindings, she directed him toward the fire escape and urged him on as best she could. "Go through here! Just try to get as far away as you can. We'll be fine; we've done this before." After a quick reassuring smile, she turned her attention back to an unnamed comrade fighting an unnamed enemy.
The chakram still laid against the grated floor, not far from where she stood, so she scooped it up. The unusually light metal nearly bounded out of her hands. Once she grew accustomed to the weight, she stood poised to throw it, with the weapon high above her head, when it simply... disappeared. She no longer felt it in her grasp. Upon looking at her empty hands, there were no signs of the thing. What happened to it? Did she somehow drop it? After glancing toward the ground, she realized there were no chakrams in sight. None but the two in the agent's hands.
... Oh. That's what happened to it. But how does that work?
"Danke dir," he shot breathlessly, turning on the dark-skinned senshi once more with the force of both weapons. The loss of the civilian was moderately inconsequential; he now had two senshi to deal with. At that moment, during the midst of a frenzied assault on the girl, he realized the folly in his plans: any number of senshi could overwhelm him easily. Next time he would simply require a little help.
That proved an easy solution to a perplexing problem.
However, the two problems pincering him proved much more difficult to solve. With every attack he tried to land on Ida, the girl behind him sough to foil his attacks. At first her efforts were meager and easily dismissed, but she was quickly learning the finesse of battle and adjusting her feats accordingly. He needed to be rid of her so he could focus on his once chance at salvaging his evening. The girl already offered her starseed; it was simply a matter of taking it. Closing the distance. Slipping his hand through skin and sinew and bone. Reaping the infinite warmth from her very core.
But that damned senshi behind him wouldn't allow him to close that gap. With an irritated huff, he kicked over the vat of acid in her direction; with any luck, she might fall in it, and that would be the end of her.
Leda had to descend to ground level to try and stop the agent from trying to mulch the other senshi. At first all she could find to distract him was trash, but after a while she realized half of the masonry surrounding the adjacent building was loose. With a little prying, she freed a few bricks and hurled them at the enemy, careful to avoid the senshi. The first pair flew wide, but with steady concentration, she managed to sling them precariously close to the assailant. With some luck now, she might be able to hit him in the head.
But those hopes were dashed when a vat of awful-smelling liquid spewed in her direction. With a loud scream, she dashed out of the way, though a bit of the fluid splashed onto her shoe. It didn't seem to be melting, so that was a good sign.
Now that she was directly behind the agent once more, she began readying her attack. "Hold him steady!" She called, as she carefully formed the ball of steam between her hands.
Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 1:46 pm
Taking the civilian out of the equation made everything a lot simpler, and truth be told, it gave Ida a small measure of satisfaction to know that she had interrupted the officer's plans so well. He had lost most of the control of this situation, and that was all to the good. Now though, she needed to find a way out for herself and he was no longer playing around with her.
Ida's word narrowed to the space between them and while those heated eyes were on her, he had her complete and undivided attention. He was no longer a crow... He was a demon and they were dancing through the streetlights.
Deep down, she was honestly terrified. Past experiences haunted her, but she managed to push down those feelings and focus instead on dodge, parry and attack. Hearing his breathlessness made her hopeful, but there didn't seem to be an end to it... Right until she stumbled as she backed up, wobbling for a precious moment as her guard dropped.
Dark eyes widened as she struggled to use her momentum to spin out of his way, hoping whatever the other senshi was doing, she would get it off successfully. She'd shown good thought by launching debris at the officer, but whatever this was, like most senshi attacks, it obviously took more concentration.
The fight to shorten the distance between them proved a challenge, especially with the errant debris landing all around him. Once the rain of detritus ceased, Bischofite seized on the opportunity to lash out at the dark-skinned senshi in her state of temporary weakness. She offered him her starseed, so her starseed he would reap. Even if it meant withstanding the other senshi's bizarre onslaught, he would not rest until the girl's soul warmed his hands.
He reached outward and gripped her throat deftly, tightening his grasp to the point of pain. After drawing her in, he brushed his fingers against the soft cloth of her cowl, just above her chest. "Lay bare your soul, little girl," he muttered with an almost honest look, before plunging his hand through the folds and into her chest. He knew right where to look. He knew how warm and inviting it felt. But... The thought of squeezing that innocent little starseed until it shattered within her body proved a tantalizing idea. What would she look like afterward, as a youma? As an ex-human? Would she look akin to Bazzite? He flashed the girl a sinister grin just as his fingers reached the surface of her starseed.
One life ends as another life begins. Even as they're pulled through time.
It took a great deal of focus for Leda to form the ball of steam rather than watching in horror at the agent's actions. However, standing there slack-jawed and petrified would do nothing for the girl, whereas finishing her attack might save her yet. But... what if she missed? What if it didn't do enough damage? Then the other senshi would most certainly die, and he'd come after her next.
She didn't like the thought of witnessing another death.
Finally the ball of steam was fully formed. "Leda Scalding Blast!" She belted out with as much confidence as she could muster, and hurled the ball at the agent. It felt akin to throwing a softball, something she hadn't done in a long time, so she hoped what she remembered of aiming might help the attack connect. If not... She didn't think she could save the poor girl in time.
He already lingered with her hand in her chest, and Leda couldn't watch something like that.
Something impacted his back with a decent amount of force, sending him into the girl he'd entrapped. Then it hit him - a fierce, boiling pain, threatening to warp his skin and cook his flesh. Bischofite hissed through clenched teeth, features disturbed by the ensuing hurt. His grip tightened on his captive's neck, if only as a means to transpose some of the agony.
The steam had exploded across the ground, swirling upward into a scathingly hot fog. Bischofite had to relinquish his quest for the dark-skinned senshi's starseed long enough to cover his mouth and refrain from inhaling the steam. It already scorched into his lungs, despite any efforts to deter it. "I'll remember zat pretty face; you won't escape me for long." Afterward he simply disappeared, along with the dwindling steam.
Leda visibly slumped over the railing near her with an exhausted sigh. "My goodness, that was close... I thought you were going to die for a minute." And she might've, if Leda had frozen and refrained from attacking. She shuddered to think that not long ago she would've done just that, as a plain old sailor scout petrified in the midst of battle. "Um, do you want to like, walk home together? I don't know if he totally like... hurt you or anything. ...Oh! Um, I'm sailor Leda." She offered her new companion a welcoming smile before hopping the railing and lighting on the ground with a meager measure of grace. "It's nice to meet you."
Super Sailor Scout Attack: Leda Scalding Blast Leda positions her hands as if she's holding onto a softball, and steam swirls into the empty space between her palms in an orb shape. She then throws the ball of steam at the ground or a foe, and the ball explodes into a puff of steam spanning a ~10 feet diameter from that area. Being hit with the ball scalds rather badly, yet can be dodged easily. The surrounding steam is more bothersome, like her first attack. Range: ~20 feet or so. It depends on how hard she can throw the ball. Time: ~3 seconds.
Bluefire Dragonz
Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 11:24 am
Ida's world collapsed down to a very small, very intimate place as she felt a hand like steel close around her slender throat. Her smaller hand flew up to grasp at his wrist, but her struggles did little against his strength. It was terrifying to be so close to a negaverse officer... A terror that came from anticipating what always seemed to come next.
Dark eyes wide enough to show rims of white, like a doe in the teeth of a wolf, she knew the feel of his hand before he even touched her. The gentle brush of fingers before the plunge was a stark, ironic counterpoint to the situation and she thrashed helplessly. And then his hand was in her chest, seeking out her pulsing starseed, and she would have screamed if she could have managed anything past Bischofite's cruel grip.
Ida had felt this sensation before... That time at the carnival when Opal had tried to take her seed. It felt even more painful and invasive than she had remembered, and worse than she could imagine a knife to the chest felt. He was just hurting her, it was like he was touching her soul itself. Without a starseed, she wouldn't just die... She would cease to be, forever beyond the cycle of reincarnation her mother had spoken of. Time seemed to stand still as the devil's fingers seemed to stroke her soul and then...
He was gone and coldness rushed to fill the void behind him, even as the flower senshi got a face full of scalding steam. She fell hard on her backside when her knees failed to hold her and she pulled her scarf over her face as she gasped and coughed air past her bruised throat. Ida felt delirious with relief and lingering fear, tears welling up as the other senshi joined her. She caught the gist of what she was saying and the teen nodded shakily.
"I-Ida." She croaked, taking a moment to gather herself and push down the urge to cry. She never claimed to be so tough she could just brush something like that off, but it would only get in the way right now. Later, she could indulge herself. Climbing shakily to her feet when she felt ready to, the flower senshi moved to follow her new comrade out of the nightmare scene.
Strickenized
We can probably wrap this and start a new one for the walk home! =D
