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Chibi Sailor Syrinx was not really sure what he was supposed to be doing. A candy-covered kitty had come and made him say some magic words and then he was in pink and yellow. GAG. The last time he had worn something this ugly, he had made certain that his mama never ordered from that costume designer again. Honestly, who combined cowboy wear and pink?! Wasn't it bad enough that his hair and eyes were that noxious color? UGH.

Still, he had to admit, the added athleticism was pretty cool. He felt better than he did after warming up for a pageant. He felt like he could swim a million laps in the pool and... and he totally could! The little boy grinned and made his way from the area around the library where his parents expected him to be. (Yeah, right. Waste one of his last free days before school started listening to some bozo talk about the dangers of propane and propane accessories? NO WAY.)

Sure, it was broad daylight, in the middle of Destiny City, but he was in disguise and he knew the shortest way to the pool, and by gum he was going swimming at the public pool!

Syrinx was oblivious to the stranger trying to keep tabs on him. Mostly because he was trying to unravel a puzzle. See, in order to go swimming in the public pool, he was going to need a swimsuit. If he got out of his new clothes that hid his identity, then someone might recognize him and he wasn't exactly wearing a swimsuit when he went to the library either. He was pretty sure that he did not have a magic dressing room with a magic pair of trunks that would appear for him--or at least, the kitty hadn't mentioned it. So... how was he going to go swimming? Would he be able to take off his clothes when he got there? ... did he even have underwear on under these pants?! HE HAD TO KNOW--

But any ideas about suddenly yanking down his brown pants were crushed whenever he felt a peculiar knot in his stomach. It was sort of like the feeling he got when he ate too many of his mom's delicious three bean nachos, and sort of like the feeling he got when he forgot to eat before a big modeling session, and yet at the same time like neither one of these things because it felt harder, heavier, darker. Syrinx didn't like it, and it clearly showed as his face scrunched up.

He looked around to see if he could find anything that might be the cause. He sniffed to see if maybe he had accidentally stepped in something icky, but couldn't detect anything. Oh, he had better not be getting sick!

"Hey, hey!" Syrinx was not at all expecting the sudden appearance of a man from the rooftops. He kicked and struggled and wondered why nobody was helping him when, hello, he was being kidnapped?! If he hadn't been taken by surprise, maybe he could've put up a better fight.

As it was, he was picked up like a sack of potatoes and tossed into a wall! "Watch it, pencil d**k!" He pulled himself to his feet and flipped the guy off. "Not looking for trouble - was going swimming. But you want trouble? You got it!"

Syrinx puffed out his cheeks before blowing out a deep breath. What was it with this stomach-churning guy? The Chibi Senshi had been minding his own business and had nothing to do with him - if anyone was a troublemaker, it was this garbage muncher!

The boy did not as much as flinch whenever knuckles cracked. His brothers used those kinds of intimidation tactics all the time, so it was nothing new for him. He took a more useful approach.

He swung a foot towards the other man's crotch.

Syrinx's foot hit nothing but air, but as soon as it came back down to earth he stamped it. Not because of the taunt - just because he hated missing. He shot back, "Yeah, well, in video games shots on tiny targets give you extra EXP so it's pretty much an instinct to go for your shriveled nutsack."

He was decidely less than impressed by the baton. It was a stick. Big whoop. He played with sticks every day. "Negaverse? That your loser club for stick fighting? Not interested."

Sheesh, all he had wanted was to go swimming. But it looked like it was punching time! He aimed for the stomach with this next strike.

Syrinx opened his mouth to give an explanation of just how much he totally did know what a nutsack was and how he had already said he didn't want to be part of the stupid Megaworst to a cat when he first got the gig. But then he was talking about dying? Wait, who said anyone had to die? He was just beating this guy up, however poorly, to get him to leave him alone. When did dying come into it?

The baton landed with a sharp crack against the side of the Chibi Senshi's face, and the boy fell to the ground. His mouth filled with tangy, hot blood that he then spit out. He was too surprised to fully register the pain of the blow. At least, at first. When it did finally come, he winced and touched his cheek as it began to swell. "You're a freakin' pyscho, you know that?"

Syrinx squinted at the man through his aching head. He was in a war? Okay, he had sort of figured that out with Horatio and the blue-and-white cat she had been fighting. If they were fighting, then he would be fighting at some point too. It honestly didn't bother him. He was a natural fighter, standing up against bullies and his brothers, but that had nothing to do with being in his new costume. All he could do was summon a lame, pink flower. How was he supposed to fight with that?! Some "power." At least this guy had a stick. A stick could hit people. A flower? Not exactly known to be deadly. If he was a Senshi of Cacti, then where were the spikes? That would be a weapon!

Still, he knew that he couldn't run from a bully, which is pretty much what this guy had turned out to be. A pyscho bully with a stick. A pyscho bully with a stick who seemed to think he had more power than he actually did. Why tell him otherwise?

Now fully on his feet, the Chibi called out his attack. "Syrinx Cactus Bloom!" The shimmering pink flower appeared in his hand, and he brandished it as best he could. Sure, it hadn't really scared the dark cat but this guy didn't know what it did. Maybe it would at least buy him some time to locate an exit.

So far so good. The stick guy was tensing and was afraid, and Syrinx wagged his flower a little more as though to indicate it could do a little more damage than it appeared capable of. It could do not real damage, of course - based on how Horatio had described her feeling after eating it, it seemed to have only very minor healing abilitiy. He was basically capable of producing hearts like in Zelda.

And apparently the stick guy now recognized it too. Great, just great. There were few things that bothered him more than disrespect, and laughing at him was some serious dissing. His brown cheeks became rose-dusted and his booted foot stamped the ground. He shoved the flower in his mouth and swallowed it down to keep his head from pounding along with his fury. He was literally too mad to even shoot off his mouth!

When the stick came swinging for his head, he ducked to the ground and skittered forward on all fours. He just needed to get some distance and then, screw it, he was going back to the library as fast as his boots would take him. Propane suddenly seemed like the most fascinating topic in the world!