Darren Waughner had to be either retarded or crazy with a couple of screws loose in his head. Or thinking with the brain that resided within his pants which wasn't an uncommon occurrence for boys as far as Hafwen herself understood. She was totally convinced that the reason he managed to earn himself her very first date in her life ever despite the odds that were stacked against him had to be due to one of those. Why a guy would willingly allow himself to be subjected to the physical abuse he had gone through from her challenge for a chance to get to know her better over dinner was way beyond her that was for sure.
She had stopped by The Sugar Shanty en route to the entrance of the mall where she was supposed to meet Darren, having run out of the chocolate caramel with sea salt that she had come to love so much since her initial visit and had a tendency as of late in keeping a stash of it in her dorm to nibble on while she worked on her assignments. In the bag that she now carried with her as she strolled down the street to her intended destination was another smaller bag with the exact same content - a small sample she had thought of letting him have since he did want to know more about her after all. All part of the first date package, was how she chose to view her otherwise rather uncharacteristic choice of action.
Stopping right next to the fountain that was located in front of the mall entrance itself, she lifted her wrist to check on the time, a pensive expression on her face as she searched the crowd to try to discern for herself if he had managed to arrive before her when she was a good 15 minutes way ahead of time.
ChibiGingi
All
Quicksilver the Archangel
on board
Torvil
the quote
elza magica
train~ =3
Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 10:49 am
Darren was probably guilty of every accusation that was currently floating around in Hafwen's mind. He was a young man, prone to fits of insanity when the opportunity to spend time with a cute girl was concerned. Of course, that also meant that he sometimes over prepared. He had cleaned up quite a bit, though the green in his hair hadn't really washed out - but that was fine.
He had dug through his clothes until he'd found a nice button down shirt and some of his better slacks, having paired them with some of his better tennis shoes. He didn't think a tie would have been the way to go, so he'd left the first two buttons open on the shirt.
He was a little early, but he preffered to be early than late, so when he'd seen Hafwen walking up to the fountain ahead of him, he raised his hand over his head and called out "Hafwen!"
Increasing the pace of his steps, he closed the distance between them quickly. Taking a second to catch his breath a little he smiles broadly at her and nods his head. "You look really nice today."
He had to call in so many favors but he could no longer put this off. He had put it off for as long as possible, almost to the point that he had almost forgot about it, but the smallest things sent him reminders. He wanted to put it off, but he knew he couldn't, and today was the day. Today had to be the day.
When Hafwen had arrived at Sugar Shanty, he knew it was time. Richard Moreau made a quick call to his brother, as he needed someone to man the store while he was out. He had no choice in the matter, being his brother and all, and he could only hope that the customers wouldn't be too disappointed him his absence. No, his customers being disappointed was nothing compared to the if he'd disappoint the Negaverse.
He had a second call, not with any phone but with his crystal, and he waited as patiently as he could. Richard did not follow Hafwen to the mall, but Captain Buddingtonite did, and now, he was waiting as patiently as he could, in full attire and in hiding until Captain Serpentine could arrive. He put this off too long, but perhaps for the best.
"If this isn't a public affair, then I don't know what is..." Buddingtonite muttered to himself, from where he hid in the scaffolding. He was stationed, right above the fountain, where Hafwen, where is mistake and target was, and the sight of the civilians roaming around beneath him hardly bothered him. The sight of the young fellow that approached Hafwen, however, made him a little nervous, and he muttered aloud, hoping that his partner would be able to hear him. "Oh, looks like she has a little friend... guess we could make this a tag team. Or would, if he'd ever arrive..."
Quicksilver the Archangel
elza magica
We are at the mall! c:
baby_gwing
Torvil
Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 11:55 am
It was not unusual for Richard or his alter-ego to call for the rainbow-haired man who hastened towards the mall. He called for all sorts of reasons--to offer an invitation to lunch, to laugh at a customer who had just walked out, to chat whenever he was bored. Even a call for backup like the one today was not too unusual. Yet there had been something in his friend's tone, his urgency, his stress, his... harshness that was not in keeping with the Buddingtonite he had come to know. Always demanding, now he sounded plain desperate. That, if nothing else, had hastened Serpentine's arrival.
The captain followed the dark Chaos energy to above the public fountain. Reaching the spot was not especially hard, but to do so without being seen was... far trickier. Serpentine was not ashamed to be seen, but if they were to go hunting, the prey needed to be unaware. He had decided to come in from the skylight. Using his whip as a means of anchoring himself, he slowly lowered until he had reached solid ground. He landed with a soft thud behind Buddingtonite and resummoned his whip back to his hand. "I am here."
He looked over the crowd and spied Hafwen. A tinge of remorse shone in his normally cold gaze. She had admired his flowers, and he did not forget such genuine smiles as hers. Still, he knew pity was useless. Energy draining, even publiclly, would not cause permanent physical damage. Pyschological, perhaps, but an example had to be made. For his partner's sake. For the first time, he allowed Buddingtonite to give the orders. It was his future on the line, afterall. "What would you have me do?"
Beautiful mall. Shiny mall. Center of commercialism, how Ruthie loved thee. She plopped onto a bench facing the fountain and leaned back. She took a massive bite of her chocolate chip cookie. The fountain bubbled. Passersby laughed. She smiled. How nice, this seemed. Easy. Heels clacked. Bags rustled. A blue-haired girl greeted a boy. He walked so quickly. She chuckled.
She glanced at her cast. It anchored her to her duty, reminded her she had to find the purple-haired one, or at least, reminded her of the dangers of the Negaverse.
Maybe they would kill her one day.
She frowned.
But not today! Today she shopped and feasted on cookies and studied the fountain. Gurgle gurgle. Bubble bubble. Nothing ominous or dark or scary, just her, people-watching, totally not feeling like a creeper.
Yep. An ordinary day. Nothing to fear. Nothing at all.
baby_gwing
ChibiGingi
Quicksilver the Archangel
Torvil
Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 10:03 pm
In stark contrast to the amount of effort that Darren had put into making himself presentable, Hafwen had opted for something casual and comfortable which was the norm for her. No make up. No fancy dresses. Nothing that wasn't her. If he truly liked her for who she was, this was the real deal instead of some fancy image that she would be trying to live up to in his mind. She had rationalized with herself way before the impending meeting.
"Thank you... I guess at least half of the people here now know my name all thanks to you." She wore a small smile on her face as she pointed that out to him, a soft blush on her cheeks at his compliment while her hands moved to retrieve the small bag of chocolates she had gotten for him. "A little something for you since you did say that you wanted to get to know me better. Chocolate caramel with sea salt. It's my favourite..." She offered sheepishly, holding up the larger bag she had gotten for herself as if to prove her point.
Darren laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head for a moment before taking the bag of candy. "Thanks, and sorry - didn't really think that one through."
He wasn't sure that it was actually an issue, but regardless, he felt compelled to apologize. Opening up the bag, he popped one of the candies into his mouth and started to chew. His eyes grew wide almost instantly and he blinked a few times.
Okay - these were actually really, really good. Swallowing he chuckled at Hafwen.
"Duly noted, now I know what sort of candy to get you. You'll have to tell me where you got it, because it's really damn good."
Offering her his arm, he motioned toward the mall. "Shall we?"
baby_gwing
ChibiGingi
Quicksilver the Archangel
elza magica
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 9:29 am
To say that Buddingtonite was uncharacteristically nervous was a gross understatement, and Serpentine's sudden appearance almost made him lose his footing, but thankfully he managed to steady himself before he made a fool of himself. Oh, and possibly kill himself in the fall, which would have been embarrassing to take with him to the grave. He thought little of that possibility- in the grand scheme, what good would that do?
"Good, you're here! Now, we can get started..." Buddingtonite said, offering his partner a crooked smile in hopes of hiding his unease. He looked back down at the scene below him, as the two conversed, trying not to think about the fact that one of them looked dressed for a date. A date! His Hafwen was on a date? He pushed the thought from his mind, trying to siphon some of Serpentine's calm and focus in hopes of quelling the growing disgust within him. He wasn't used to taking point and he wanted nothing more than to throw it at Serpentine to handle. After all, he was the smarter of the two, more serious... but no. He had to do this himself. Prove to Ilmenite and the rest of the Negaverse that Captain Buddingtonite had it in him to take control of the situations, even ones brought about his own careless mistakes. This was his responsibility, and he would follow through with it. Even when the sight of seeing Hafwen so happy hurt him inside. "So, I was rather hoping there wouldn't be a big crowd, but I suppose that's the curse of me being so damn attractive... we're going to have to take care of that, so I'd like for you and your saucy snake lady to do crowd-control. Meanwhile, I'll do the honors of nabbing our lucky lady and drain her energy."
He glanced around the crowd, looking at everything and everyone but his target but knowing that they were in sight still. "No doubt that between my dazzling charisma and the combined efforts of you and Stheno will attract a Senshi's attention. All we need to do is grab enough energy from her to prove that she'd not so valuable to me, and then be on our way. Unless you feel like having a good throwdown, in which case I might join you depending on their rank. Not that it ever stopped you before."
What he wanted to do was thank Serpentine to assisting him, but now wasn't the time for such a luxury. Especially when he noticed the young man that offered Hafwen his arm. That was a universal sign for 'let's go', and that was Buddingtonite's queue. He bit back his nervousness and swallowed it down, forcing a more eager expression on his face as he made his descent. "Looks like it's time. Lights, camera and... action!"
Not once did it cross his mind that he could have miscalculated his landing and landed in the fountain, or on top of poor Hafwen and end up breaking her neck, or his leg, but it seemed like it was unlikely to pass, as the moment he planted his feet onto the side of the fountain, he was already reaching for Hafwen's chest. "Just dropping in on you two lovebirds! Hope you don't mind?"
Quicksilver the Archangel
elza magica
baby_gwing
Torvil
ChibiGingi
Dapper Grabber
Offline
Quicksilver the Archangel
Beloved Seraph
Offline
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 3:22 pm
Serpentine listened to Buddingtonite's plan passively. It was simple enough - a distraction and then a grab. Certainly his candy-making friend couldn't resist sprinkling in words about other things, but they were not essential. Richard talked much, but this talk was slightly more worrisome than it was annoying. His partner could tell that he was trying to appear more aloof than he truly felt. Then again, the speech also made the green-and-gold clad captain smile slightly in pride. When they had first become partners, the ginger captain would not have been able to put up such a brave face even when trying to pursue his duty. ... come to think of it, Buddingtonite might not have even taken his duty as seriously. His friend had grown a great deal in their time together in the Negaverse, and the vain florist could not help but see his own care as one of the causes. Certainly his friend had more experiences now, both in battle and in responsibility, but had not Serpentine been a driving force? Just as a flower grew due to the hand of the gardener, as well as environmental forces. All the more reason to make sure the situation went smoothly.
"It will be done." Those were the only words that the taciturn Captaiin offered, and even if he had had more to say, Buddingtonite would not have heard them. The black-coated captain leapt down from the fountain almost as soon as the plan left his silver-tongued mouth. In truth, there was no need to say else. If a Senshi appeared, there was no doubt what Serpentine would do. Unless it cost Buddingtonite his needed enegy draining or the building was on fire, he would fight.
Serpentine landed not too far away from his partner, but they were soon seperated when Buddingtonite when after Hafwen. Had he known the plan in advance, he would have patiently taken the time to gently rouse her from the Rift. As he did not have that luxury, his mental cry was short. It was a powerful summon, and it came with a powerful reaction. A cloud of black flared at his side before Stheno slid out of it, as though shedding her skin. The Naga's slitted eyes glanced around the veritable buffet that surrounded her, but Serpentine's sharp orders kept her from attacking on her own. "Not yet. Stay with me."
Partially this was to keep the youma in control. Partially it was so that he could lean on her for support. What he had saved in time, he had paid for in energy. Thankfully, the two of them could be intimidating without being overly active. One hand on Stheno's shoulder, the other held his whip and began to crack it above the heads of those civiians closest to him.
ChibiGingi
quote]
elza magica
baby_gwing
Torvil
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 7:53 pm
After all, it wasn't like agents fell from the sk--
Down came the agent! He reached for the blue-haired girl.
That escalated quickly. Ruthie's eyes widened. Another cracked a whip and summoned a snake-lady? Bad. Very bad.
Sounded like a job for SAILOR MEDEA SENSHI OF ENCHANTMENT.
Groaning, she slouched forward. She felt sick. When would things normalize? When would agents leave town? Would she ever feel safe again? They tainted these public spaces. She couldn't even buy yellow sandal-heels without running into terror, and this blue-haired girl--this sweet, unaware blue-haired girl--would fall by their hand. How awful. Ruthie felt powerless to stop them, but she could try.
Leaving her bags on the bench, not even sparing a moment to study the agents' faces, she rushed to the bathroom and locked herself in. Civilians wouldn't find her there. She powered up and emerged, dashing toward the agent reaching for the girl when--
It wasn't a big deal that warranted an apology on Darren's part really. The boy was excited for the first date that Hafwen had made him work so hard for. Even a blind person could probably see that plus she wasn't normally as unreasonable and obnoxious as she was trying to make herself out to be back when she was trying to dissuade him in his pursuit of her affection.
She smiled wide at his raving comment of the chocolate that she had gotten him, pleased that he too had found it to his liking since she kinda prided herself on being a foodie who only reserved her praises for things that really impressed her. "The Sugar Shanty. The owner of the store, Mr Richard, recommended this during my very first visit there and I've been hooked on it since. We could drop by the shop another day or later if time permits?" She waved off his apology with her hand, moving to close the distance and take his proffered arm when Buddingtonite chose that exact moment to plonk himself directly between them both from above.
"Y-you..." Startled, she took a step back from the Captain, her eyes wide initially with undisguised surprise before curiosity took over the moment she realized who he was. "Why're you here..?"
ChibiGingi
Quicksilver the Archangel
Torvil
elza magica
Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2013 5:12 pm
"Y-you...Why're you here..?"
Darren had about to mention how he'd love to make a trip to the Sugar Shanty their second date if things went well, or even as a night cap, when out of the sky came a uniformed man. As he landed, Darren was frozen for a moment in shock. Obviously one did not just appear from nowhere.
Darren had yet to meet an officer of the Negaverse. He didn't recognize the fact that he was the "enemy" as it were. He didn't even see the senshi run up to confront the redheaded man either. Though he heard a second feminine voice - but it didn't register nor were the words important enough for him to process.
His brain was clicking through different options and scenarios how to handle this: Pull Hafwen out of the way and to him, start running and hope this other gentleman didn't have any friends and get Hafwen the hell out of there. Power up, risk exposure, and spirit Hafwen away via his powers at Corinth. No. Put himself between Hafwen, puff up and try to intimidate the obviously older man away. Jump on him and punch him until he stops moving. Hafwen is shocked by his presence and he is not acting like a friend. Engage.
The right answer came to him pretty readily. It was the same answer he'd always chosen whenever his sisters had been teased or their honor's questioned.
His eyes narrowed and his face contorted into an angry scowl, and without a word, he reached out for the older mans arm, his other pulling back to punch him in the side of the head. He would do so until he was pulled away or the other man stopped moving.
He must protect Hafwen - Overprotective Watch Dog Mode Activated.
There were times where Buddingtonite wished he were like Serpentine. He had wished that there was a way that he could look within himself, find the switch that controlled his emotions and flip it on and off as needed. Perhaps that's why he felt that he could not get much further within the organization, but he was not Serpentine, nor Mica, and nor could he be. He was Captain Buddingtonite, and though striking against Hafwen wasn't what he wanted to do, he had his orders. And what was the point of not enjoying himself?
So he forced a smile to his face, allowing a childlike glee to overcome him and letting that be his mask as he addressed Hafwen's question. "I've come to correct a mistake. Please, take no offense!"
As Serpentine and Stheno did a wonderful job in keeping civilians and the one single powered aura at bay, Buddingtonite was free to strike, but Hafwen's escort was determined to make his task difficult. He had to hand it to the young man that he knew how to take action, and he certainly had some strength in that arm, as the blow not only knocked his cap off and sent it flying, but it made his ears ring. It was more than enough to wipe the smile off his face, but only for a moment, as he instinctively struck out against Darren, forgetting for a moment that he was nothing more than a civilian and that his strike might have done serious harm. He couldn't risk another blow like that, even from a civilian!
"Oh, we have a feisty one," Buddingtonite snarled, gripping his boomerang and attempting a swing at him to force him back and away from his initial target, and fearing that Hafwen would have used this chance to escape, he made a motion with his hand, summoning his own personal youma. Within seconds, a small dog sized crab emerged, bubbles and saliva pooling out of its tiny mouth and its beady red eyes glowed from within dark, sunken-in husks, and he tossed the youma at Hafwen. "Gra, do not let her escape! I'll take care of her guard dog myself!"
And then there was the matter of the Senshi he felt among the crowd, and without looking over, he called to Serpentine as he focused his attention onto Darren. "Be careful out there, and whoever that senshi is, don't let them near! Hold the line!"
((If anything is confusing or OP, let me know and I'll change it immediately))
Quicksilver the Archangel
elza magica
baby_gwing
Torvil
Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 12:26 pm
The puff of Order aura was enough to make Serpentine halt Stheno's intimidation tactics. He had been walking with her up and down in mostly a straight line, and those that his whip could not hold back the sight of her fangs did. He took no pleasure from the terror he saw in the eyes of those he held back, but it also did not pain him. He was not hurting them and did not intend to hurt them, but this mission had to succeed. So now, when a Senshi decided to make herself known, he still prepared himself for a fight although his strength had not fully returned.
With one last stroke of his youma's scaled hood, he answered Buddingtonite's call. "On it." He locked his gaze on the Senshi decked in pink, yellow, and black. Unlike the other people in the mall... Serpentine had every intention of hurting her. He had not faced her before and did not know what magical powers she might have at her disposal. The hand clutching his whip tightened in memory of the painful strike he had taken from the steam-based Senshi. Charging head on was not the way.
So, he tried one of his more effective techniques: distraction. To Stheno he whispered a simple order, "Blind her." The Naga spat a stream of venom towards the Senshi at Serpentine's command but did not slither any closer to the target. Then, he rushed towards the Senshi's right side with a crack of the whip, trusting that the youma would provide him the time he needed to strike.
ChibiGingi
elza magica
If the venom hits Medea's eyes, it stings and causes temporary blindness; if it misses or hits the skin, no effect! :3 (And Medea is completely okay for dodging both/either strike as you like)
Oh look the large serpent approached. Oh no. Why did she grow closer? What did that mean, Medea? What could the serpent possibly want? Oh wait. Oh no, now your eyes burn and you can't see? What is this? Medea cried out and rubbed her eyes as she stumbled out of the yellow-eyed one's path--too frightened and distracted to notice the crack of a whip.
She clumsily ran in the direction of the girl and boy and Buddy, bumping and tripping into civilians, crying "Sorry!" as she tripped over her feet and stumbled onto the tile. Oh this was bad. She hoped the civilians wouldn't attack her, though could they really tell who were Senshi and who were captains? Costumes on both sides seemed fairly outlandish, and maybe they felt too frightened to strike?
"Owowowowow--" She sat on her knees in her panic, trying to stand. She squinted--teary-eyed as the pain slowly, slowwwwly subsided. "Owwww,"
