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There was blood trickling from Xenotime's lip as she jumped down from a rusted fire escape to land with a grunt in the alley below. Blood, and the beginning of a nasty bruise decorating the side of her face. Evidence of a hard night, and a close fight. It was unusual for the lieutenant to walk away from her scuffles with any substantial injuries, but something she'd faced had certainly given the girl a run for her ******** b*****d," came in an angry hiss as she began moving gingerly towards the shadows. Seeking the seclusion of darkness before she could drop her powered guise and disappear off the radar. She couldn't feel the blazing aura of the eternal she'd come face to face with, but she didn't much feel like tempting fate. Not with her ribs and face throbbing in a constant ache.

She was good, but ********, man. There were limits.

To add insult to injury the girl never caught the a*****e's name. Hell, she hadn't even managed to get a decent look at him before he'd clocked her in the face and sent her reeling. It was a cheap shot, and Xenotime was convinced she would have gotten a few more good hits in if there hadn't been an explosion of spotty lights peppering her vision for the first furious seconds of the fight.

It was a damn fine kick to the head that had let her get away in the first place, and once she'd gotten that distance she'd kept moving until she couldn't feel him anymore. Now all she wanted to do was make it home and crawl into bed. Her own or one of the boys. Granted, with how sore she felt, Sawyer was probably the safer bet.

The General-King's very sudden and casual beside the Lieutenant inspired a startled yelp from the young woman, followed by a hiss of a wince when jerking away jarred her rips painfully. "Ow, ********!" She glowered at him, wondering just how irate she could be without potentially pissing him off.

Outside of their uniforms she'd have taken him on any day of the week, but powered? Oh hell no. She did not want to tango with the General-King.

"Oh no," she countered sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I just thought I'd let them get a few hits in, boost their self esteem." A distinctly unladylike snort followed. With a grimace Xenotime brought a hand up to press against the left side of her chest, sighing. "Skilled though I may be, Eternals with a modicum of technique are just a little out of my league." She sounded thoroughly dejected about the whole thing.

Clearly Xenotime had some sore loser issues.

Scowl fading just a touch, she looked back at him, taking what she could from what she could see of his face. He didn't look mad, that was good sign. "So what's up?"

Another eye roll followed his comment, but it was half hearted. The adrenaline was beginning to fade now that the danger was over and there was an all mighty General-King playing her personal escort.

It also didn't hurt that he was listing her over all success rate in all her former battles with the white moon. Well, except for the time with the building, but clearly that was a special case..

Her eyes narrowed just slightly at the mention of someone having stepped above their abilities, but she didn't think that comment had anything to do with her. So far as she knew she'd been a model little soldier. Even going above and beyond in some cases.

"Thanks for the ego-stroking, Boss. So to what do I owe this honor?" Curiosity was beginning to overcome sullen grumpiness.

Thin shoulders rose in a small shrug at his comment. "Yeah, kinda, but it's not like I'm not gunna follow any orders to the letter." She snorted, glancing side long at the General-King, curious as to just how serious he was being at the moment. She'd never been a terribly formal person, but that didn't mean mean she wasn't a good soldier.

As he continued she actually stopped walking at the mention of being called captain. Just froze in place, staring straight ahead before turning her head completely to stare those short inches up at the other man.

A few quiet moments were taken to search his features for any signs of sarcasm of jest. When none could be found she let herself smile, a bare twitch of brightly painted lips, brows dipping as she let the idea wash over her properly. "I think I'd wear the title well." God, if he was joking, ranks be damned, she was going to slug him right in the face.

But if he wasn't.. How long had it been since Po had accepted her role as Xenotime? How long had she been wanting to climb that ladder of power. Too long.

Her head tilted as she wondered after that logic before grey eyes narrowed. Not necessarily at him, but at the implications he was hinting at. She didn't say anything though, and instead continued to watch him, a little less sure of what was going on then she had been a moment before.

The pat on her back probably should have been comforting, it wasn't. Neither was his hand sinking into her body between her shoulder blades to wrap firmly around her star seed. It made he stiffen, pale eyes going wide as her hands came up on either side to grasp at air.

All at once the memory of the pain that proceeded her original corruption came back to her. She had seconds to brace for what she knew was coming, seconds dread the pain that crash through her, then she was screaming. It felt like her blood was boiling. As if she would be ripped apart by every last fiber. All encompassing, mind numbing pain.

Worst this time, or maybe she'd made herself forget what it had felt like the first time.

As his hand pulled free of her body her breath rushed back in a rattling gasp. The abrupt shift from pain was enough to stagger her, and she had to catch the wall to keep from falling. "Fuuuuuck, that hurts." Understatement of the year.

Clasping a hand over her chest she turned, staring up at the General-King as he further explained her new task of forming a team. Two names immediately came to mind, but she was going to have to give some serious thought towards who might fit Zink's specific specifications. "Yes sir."

Drawing in a deep breath, the Captain let it out slowly as she looked down at herself. The skirt was gone, replaced by some pretty seriously bad a** suspender leggings. She still had her little jacket, but now it was sleeveless, and a hood was drawn up over her head. She really wanted a mirror right that moment, but what she could see looked pretty damn hot, and she felt amazing now that the last remnants of pain had faded.

Still fiddling with one of the pouches on her corset, she looked up again. "So I can teleport now, right? And get into the rift on my own?"

That news seemed to perk the new captain up quite a bit. She'd been envious of Painite's teleporting, and it certainly would have helped in tonight's wonderful failure of an encounter.

His question made her grin, and she dipped her head in a nod. "I've got one or two people in mind. I'll have to speak with them about it, of course, but I'll get back to you after I have," Funny how both potential candidates happened to be her neighbors now. How convenient was that?

"Yeah, the skirt was hot, but I like this better. Suits me better, I think." She smirked, brushing her hands down the front of her new attire, though winced slightly when the smile tugged at the bruise forming on her face. Shame the promotion couldn't come with instant healing, but whatever. She'd been hurt worse then this before.

"I've got a few plans in the works, actually. I was thinking of officially advertising within the negaverse for one on one training in personal combat and defense." How many comrades had she met now that couldn't throw a decent punch? Too ******** many.

Tea? She blinked, lips twitching slightly before she shrugged. "Sure, why not." But after that she was going to crawl her happy a** into bed. Probably someone else's bed.