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 Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2013 1:27 am
Spears met as did glaring slate eyes in a clash of two dark powered. Benitoite had been out patrolling, enjoying the evening and gathering energy, when suddenly he'd found himself knocked to the ground by...himself? Startled he'd slipped, hesitated, and had paid for it. Already he was bleeding from a gash along his side; learning just how sharp his weapon really was. From there he'd rolled up and onto his feet and summoned his own weapon. It was while he'd circled the other that he'd noticed the differences, or rather the big glaring one, this other him looked like someone had put some form of a filter on their image. Everything around them was bold and in color where as they looked like someone had put a gray filter over them and only them. It was odd and concerning to see this copy, or double, of himself wielding the same weapon he did and with the same deadly intent he brought it to bear with when against senshi or knights.
To be on the pointed end of his own weapon was...troubling. hat was going on and how was this possible? It wasn't that he didn't believe it was possible, in this city and in this war you learned to accept a lot of things, but he wanted to know the how behind this clash. He had a feeling, a rather strong one, that this had to do with that Eclipse. The moon still didn't shine in the sky and those winged bunnies were just too abnormal to be innocent and harmless. So for now, until proven otherwise, he was blaming this doppelganger on that moon and those winged bunnies.
Diving out of the way of the spear again he brought his own up and swung at them as he turned to face them. Them hadn't said a word, though they did keep making sounds, and he wondered why nothing was said. If this really was him why didn't they talk like he would? Were they too busy trying to kill him? Cause it sure seemed like it. His vest was already stained with blood and his side throbbed with every beat of his heart; he'd see about finding some way to get stitches later. As his weapon met theirs, he'd been aiming for flesh, he narrowed his eyes as he put pressure down onto his weapon hoping to get them to give, even a little. As they took a step back he found himself jumping a step back and then taking a step back as soon as he landed in order to avoid being stabbed. They had thrust the damn thing out like it was a lance, or some giant poking stick.
Finally he decided to try a new tactic, he had to break this trend and put them on the defensive. Teleporting behind them, weapon already up and ready, he brought it down in a slash across their back. Watching as fabric gave way and a slice appeared in the thick fabric of the coat, and cape, he felt a smile blossom upon his face. "Your mine now..."
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Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 6:10 pm
A round of applause split through the dark night, cutting sharply through the sounds of the battle being waged not far off.
“Very good, General Ben, you've successfully stabbed yourself in the back.”
From the shadows of an alleyway nearby and into the soft yellow glow of a streetlamp stepped a slim figure in white, red, and black. Eternal Sailor Ganymede stood within the circle of light like a spotlight, one hand propped on her hip as the other idly twirled a blonde curl around one of her fingers—around and around in a tight spiral, only to release it and start again. Her voice was light and airy, deceptively chipper, perhaps forcefully so, and the expression on her face was one of crass amusement.
She had not forgiven Benitoite for his actions at the Carnival, nor had she any desire to run into him again with the memories of Maia and Valhalla still fresh in her mind. But it seemed the General was impossible to avoid. Typical, really, and to be expected when one went out patrolling enough. At some point they were bound to run into one another again.
“You going to rip out your own starseed, too?” she wondered snidely. “Do you even have a starseed? Or'd they take that from you to have control over you? You think that thing has one? Well, I'm sure you'll do whatever it takes to find out. Go on, reach into its chest and have a little look see.”
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Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 9:26 pm
”What is it…?” Valhalla mumbled, moving from the shadows as well to try and get a better look at the apparent double of General Benitoite. “A youma…? No…” he corrected himself, casting a glance towards Ganymede and her comments, but not saying anything to reprimand or counter her.
Seeing as he and Maia had been the ones who were almost killed, well… he obviously hadn’t forgotten what Benitoite had done at the Carnival, and seeing him now, viciously attacking someone who looked just like him… Well, it made him a little apprehensive.
Valhalla stood near Ganymede, his arms crossed over his chest, but his expression was leery, not sure what to make of the situation. In many ways, it would be poetic justice to see Benitoite get his a** kicked by his own shadow version of him… on the other hand, it was Benitoite with the upper hand in this situation, it seemed.
“Do you think they have to do with the eclipse…?” he wondered wildly, not being able to come up with any other logical reason. After all, there was another eclipse in the sky, that night. That wasn’t logical at all…
“He’s not worth it, Ganymede,” was his only comment on his partner’s snide comments. The last thing he wanted was for Benitoite to turn on them once he was done with his shadow.
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Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 10:31 pm
Too caught up in the fight he hadn't felt the signatures; he should have. So the words caught him off guard and caused him to slip, to not avoid the incoming kick which sent him stumbling back, loosing his balance, and landing flat on his a**. It was down, on the rooftop, that he took the time to quickly remove his cape and even his coat. The two garments were in the way too much right now; too easy to grab hold of and use against him. The pile of fabric uniform discarded on the ground he picked himself back up slowly. His weapon, which had left his hand when he'd landed, was summoned into his waiting right hand.
A glance was spared to the two down below and he raised a fine ash brow at the two. "Oh, I'm sure I have a starseed still - I assure you. It's what's grabbed and filled with energy with each promotion so I can assure you I do in fact posses one." Jerking his head to his replica, his eyes still focused on them, he spoke up again. "I doubt they do but I do intend to find out. I'd prefer not to leave this...copy of myself running about at night - it would be rather irresponsible to do so." He stated before having to leap back only he decided to bring this fight off the roof top. He leapt backward off the roof and landed on the ground not far from the two.
"While I'm sure it would please you both if this should take my life I am unsure, at this time, if it would continue and be a risk to civilians." And while he might take energy from civilians, and on the rare occasion kill them, he was out to protect civilians - it was why he was in this war!
His head tilted upward as he waited for the thing to come off the roof and continue the fight, as he was sure it would, he pressed one gloved hand to his wounded side. Applying pressure as he wondered if he could perhaps ask Bischofite to tend to the wound when he got home, if the other was even home hen he returned. He should also, after being tended to, report this event to the higher ups.
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Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 2:28 pm
Worth it or not, Ganymede took some satisfaction in seeing Benitoite have such a hard time with his look-alike.
She was not, however, completely sure of her feelings regarding the possible death of this... man-boy... at the hands of anyone, mysterious doppelganger or some other enemy. Death was not a concept she was comfortable with under normal terms, nor had she ever really managed to work out exactly how she felt about it in regards to the war—except that it was always a possibility and in some ways an eventuality, but one she would very much like to avoid experiencing or witnessing. Therefore, Benitoite's comment about she and Val being pleased by the thought of his demise left her feeling quite troubled.
He'd done an awful thing, it was true, and he would likely continue to do awful things, and Ganymede could not imagine ever forgiving him for the attempt on Maia's and Valhalla's lives. But if he died, she certainly didn't want to see it, nor would she experience any joy in knowing about it.
A small bit of a relief, maybe, said something in the depths of her mind—but never joy.
“I suppose that's the only logical conclusion,” she answered Valhalla rather than rebutting any of Benitoite's comments. “But then is this... thing... things? How many of them are there, do you think? Are they causing the eclipse or is the eclipse causing them?”
In the end she figured it didn't matter much, except that they might be able to better find a way to deal with the problem.
Crossing her arms over her chest, Ganymede glanced over Benitoite with clear disapproval. She found it difficult to feel sympathetic toward his injuries and could only continue to look severe, taking a few steps forward and nonchalantly placing herself a little in front of Valhalla.
“I'm not sure I believe you care about the risk these things might pose to civilians,” she said to the General. “Is that something they teach you in Nega training, caring when it suits you and then preying on all the poor, innocent people you've tricked and lied to and caged up at camps and carnivals? It's such a convenient little game, and somehow you still think you're in the right?”
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Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2013 11:29 am
Valhalla grimaced when he saw the blood on Benitoite’s side, ready to step out and try to offer him help, but Ganymede had already placed herself in front of him. He knew what she was trying to do, and he appreciated it, but Benitonite was human, too…
However deep Chaos had embedded itself into their hearts, officers of the Nevagerse were all still human… right?
“Do you think they have anything to do with those creatures that came down the first night?” he wondered as he watched the exchange between officer and shadow.
“He’s hurt,” Valhalla pointed out to Ganymede, his voice soft and sympathetic, although he was sure she already noticed the General’s predicament. He knew the risk he would be taking in trying to help the other young man, but… he wasn’t going to be the reason why this man died.
Holding up his compass, Valhalla waited until the shadow attacked the General again and used his magic to counter it. Whatever the shadow tried to do, it would find itself doing the opposite. He knew Ganymede would realize that it was him who helped Benitoite, but hopefully because he wasn’t yet making an effort to move around her and negate whatever protectiveness she was feeling over him, she wouldn’t be too upset.
If he was honest with himself, he wasn’t in any hurry to offer Benitoite a handshake, much less an opening to reach into his chest once more, and no matter how much he wanted to protect Ganymede in return, she had every right to want to keep him safe — especially after how much it had affected her, emotionally.
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Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 5:50 pm
He didn't expect sympathy, or anything nice, from the two members of the white moon. Why should he? He had tried to kill one and the other was clearly with the one he'd tried to kill. He knew if someone tried to kill, or even hurt, someone he was close to he would seek their demise in some painful and bloody manner. He was surprised that neither decided to help this clone of himself; he would have. Why did neither of them attack him? Why not take advantage of this - of him? It made little sense to him; unless this was pity or some other such thing.
"I do not seek to kill civilians. I seek their energy - yes. But rarely have I ever taken a civilian life - twice in fact. I fight to protect them." He bit the words out harshly, he was clearly offended by the others words. "You talk about a carnival and a camp, the camp of which I do not know about, but what about people in space? Clearly we did not bring nor send them there." He stated though he did not delve further into that line of thought. He had the bring his weapon up to block the incoming shadow of himself, as they had dove off the roof aiming a familiar spear at him. Blocking the weapon he pushed them backward several paces. With space between them he turned his eyes on the other two once more.
"I have learned to never believe in coincidences. The fact the eclipse continued, and those winged rabbits came down, I would say those events and these...copies are all related." He stated calmly even as he turned back to his close. Watching at it looked as though it wished to attack him but found itself moving backward instead. He couldn't help it - he laughed. Nothing evil sounding, not cackling or anything, but openly laughed as the poor shadow seemed to not catch on to it's predicament and learn to over come the knights magic. "Oh how very amusing..."
He wouldn't have liked the spell used on himself, and he was rather sure it once had been, but here he found himself appreciating it. Taking a step forward he winced in pain, he really was going to need stitches, a gloved hand went right to his side and pressed into his side almost harshly. Drawing his hand away he took hold of his weapon with that hand now, so now he grasped it with both hands, and made his way toward his clone. "I do believe it is time to find out if you posses a starseed..." Those words seemed however to register with the thing. So, it knew what a starseed was...how nice to know. It seemed to also not like his idea as he teleported, much like he would, and was up on the roof top again. Did he need to teleport up after it? Should he even?(I do plan on keeping it alive for another fight or two.)
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Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 4:10 pm
While Ganymede had every intention of standing back and watching the fight to determine whether or not she should intervene, she did not hold it against Valhalla for helping the General. She wasn't even sure who she wanted to help or how she intended to go about doing that. Helping the General seemed displeasing when she remembered all the things he'd done, but then helping the General's clone seemed rather counterproductive, in a way. She didn't know what it was, but she also knew it wasn't something they could allow to remain.
So she was content to wait and watch and let things develop on their own. Yet if Valhalla should wish to offer his assistance, she had no intention of preventing him from doing so. He could make his own decisions. It was very like him to help, even someone who'd previously tried to kill him.
And she liked that about Valhalla. She appreciated that about him.
But she still had every intention of standing between them, just in case the General should finish up with his clone and get other ideas in his head.
Ganymede frowned as the General's attention turned to the matter of the clone's starseed. She'd been the one to encourage that topic, of course, but it made her uncomfortable to think of what might soon happen. She took a step forward as if the stop the Genaral, but came to an immediate halt when she noticed another figure appear on the roof close to the General's clone—a slight figure adorned in constricting attire, with a long train of loose fabric fluttering in the night breeze.
“Another one,” she observed instead of responding to Valhalla or countering any of the General's comments. The second presence was enough of a distraction to thwart any further argument.
It stood there on the edge of the roof for a few moments and seemed to examine the scene, looking from the General's clone to the figures below before seeming to come to a decision. It disappeared on the spot and was gone for a few moments, but flickered back into sight not longer after, directly in front of Ganymede.
Suddenly Ganymede was looking into a face very much like her own. The colors were off, just like the General's clone, but it was still her face—made up to look sultry, sophisticated, but beneath all that make-up it was young and pretty, framed by pale blonde curls turned silver. It smiled at her like she might smile at herself in the mirror, but the eyes looked wrong, not just in color but in expression. There was something dark about them, something malicious, and the sound the came from the clone was the sort of low, sick laughter Ganymede never had reason voice.
These observations she made in a split second. Before any of them could react to the presence of another one of these creatures, the clone had grabbed Ganymede by the wrists and held on tight. The clone's smirk widened, and Ganymede knew what was to be done to her before the clone could even utter a word.
“Searing Passion,” it said.
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Posted: Sun Nov 03, 2013 8:25 am
Valhalla wanted to comment on the two starseeds that had come from the General’s jacket at the carnival, to sadly point out that those had been civilian as well, and that those lives, unless Cora had been able to reunite them with their owners, had been lost as well.
Regardless of what had already happened, and how he wanted to see this man brought to justice for his actions, he also didn’t want to see him die at the hands of his copy… but it looked as though Benitoite had the upperhand in the fight, anyway…
The knight of Jupiter stood poised and ready to use his magic to possibly stop Benitoite from killing the shadow creature, still not sure about their intentions… when another one showed up, as Ganymede pointed out. His attention was drawn from the fight before them to the other figure that soon joined them. But this time it was a copy of Ganymede.
He stared in surprise, just as Ganymede did, but once its intentions were known… once those words were uttered, Valhalla sprung into action. He might not be able to stop the attack itself, but he could at least try to get the shadow away from her.
His hand shot out to grab onto the shadow’s shoulder, ripping it away from Ganymede so he could deliver a right hook to its face, sending it to the ground. But whether or not he was going to be able to see if Ganymede was okay, or if he was going to make sure the shadow stayed away from her, he felt the strangest sensation of dizziness and disorientation. Suddenly he wasn’t sure if the ground was even the ground any more, but dropped to his hands and knees for any attempt at reorienting himself.
Another shadow joined the fray, this time with a compass encased by rings as its weapon of choice.
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Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 8:20 pm
He had sensed it, of course he had, but he had hoped it was after the trail of their real self. He had hoped that the real self wasn't here, amongst them, but he also knew that was not likely the case. So the appearance of another clone gained his momentary attention. It looked like the senshi them self had a clone - how lovely. He didn't like that idea, now if they shared this senshi's attacks, as he could easily remember the pain of that senshi's attack. He was sure he wouldn't forget that burning sensation any time soon, would this clone use that attack on the blond haired senshi?
"It seems we've gained more company...I do hope you'r both up for a fight." He stated over his shoulder to the two, there was no way he could manage or would manage to handle all three. These two had better be ready to fight and not play nice with these things, as he could remember this knight and his pacifist ways. Benitoite hoped the Knight would lay those aside for the moment.
With his clone on the root top, and himself not in the mood to go up after it, he focused on the second clone to join them - this one the knights clone. "Looks like you have a clone also." He stated while casting slate hued eyes on the knight's clone. Deciding to break the clone's attack, now was not the time to leave the knight or the senshi suffering under any form of magic, and aimed his spear before throwing it like a javelin. If he could knock that weapon from it's hand he hoped it would break the magic - anything to try and help his odd, maybe if you squinted, allies for tonight.
It was just as his weapon left this hand that his own clone took advantage of the opening, and his lack of a weapon, and dove off the roof top again aiming at him again. This time the cut was only a minor thing, he'd noticed just in time to side step it. Grazed and sliced he was not pleased and felt rather cornered considering the Jupiter Knight and the senshi both were preoccupied. He could only hope he had broken the spell on the knight.
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Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 9:56 am
Ganymede had felt pain before. She knew all types of pain.
Emotional pain: The pain of confusion, of a lost childhood; the pain of abandonment, of watching her mother leave her; the pain of losing her father, of seeing him first waste away despite her attempts to help, and then knowing with certainty that she would never see him again. That pain lingered, dug its claws in deep and refused to let go. Time did not heal that pain, only numbed it.
Physical pain: The exertion and strain she felt daily from ballet; the injuries she sustained, from ballet, from her life as a Senshi. Her first battle, a broken wrist. And many other wounds since then—welts, cuts, both shallow and deep, heavy bruises that were often difficult to explain to those who had no knowledge of the night-time patrols. She feigned clumsiness (though she was hardly clumsy), blamed ballet when she could.
Emotional was worse, she'd concluded. Physical pain passed; it could generally be healed and corrected, in her experience. Emotional pain, on the other hand, was a constant presence. Eventually it might fade, but it was always there, and at times it would erupt again, stronger than before.
But this magic pain was different. If she had to describe it (if she had the wherewithal to do so) she would say that it felt like the worst emotional pain she could imagine (in her case, the death of her father) manifested in physical form—a form meant to hurt, to main, to cripple. The brief feeling of desire that preceded it was forgotten as soon as the heat grew, burning low and spreading out as it flamed, until she felt it sear through her entire body, stronger and stronger as it went. It was like fire (invisible, contained), and it left her reeling.
Ganymede screamed. She could not help but do so. She did not see Valhalla come to her assistance, or the General come to Valhalla's. She did not notice the presence of the third clone or see the General's descend from the rooftop. She could not even remain standing, but fell to her knees on the ground and writhed in agony.
Shade Ganymede had fallen, startled by Valhalla's fist connecting with her face, but she spared only a moment for annoyance. The sight of the Senshi on the ground amused her and she giggled malevolently, relishing in the human's pain.
“You'll die,” the shade said, as if the thought pleased her.
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Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 5:09 pm
The knight’s clone hissed in anger as a spear came soaring towards it, nearly hitting it had it not jumped out of the way, breaking its beam of magic. Whatever the General had done, Valhalla noticed right away, as he suddenly regained control of his movements.
Nothing could have scared him more at the moment than the sound of Ganymede’s screams, and disregarding his own clone, as well as the present Negaverse officer, Valhalla launched himself towards the shade. “Like hell she will!” he let out a growl.
He didn’t know what he was going to do once he’d tried attacking the clone. If anything he just wanted to scare it away, get it to leave Ganymede alone, just as he’d wanted Benitoite’s shade to leave him alone… and now he had his own shade to deal with?
A brush of his fingers against the signet ring on his opposite hand had claps of thunder booming with each step. He was desperate, but he wanted these creatures to go away. “Leave now!” he said, his voice crackling with electricity and the crack of thunder. He’d never needed to use such magic before, but when it came to an attempt at intimidating the opponent, it was the best he had.
Valhalla shot a glance towards Benitoite to make sure he wasn’t being accosted by his shade, hoping that his attempt at scaring the other two away was enough for his as well.
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Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 9:45 am
The scream which tore the air and stabbed at his ears had the blond wincing, he almost felt for the downed senshi. He knew the pain of that attack, and for a brief moment wanted to point out that now the other knew what they'd used on him felt like. He did refrain however, now was not the time to start a fight with them, this was a time to handle these doppelgangers and put aside his dislike for the white moon and it's followers. For tonight, and maybe only tonight, they had a free pass sort to speak. He would not be attacking either of them - he had more then enough beings to fight anyway.
Positioning himself between his shade, and the knights, and the downed senshi, the senshi's shade, and the knight the General stood firm in his opposition as he summoned his weapon back into his gloved hand and held tightly to it. A glance over his shoulder at the three and he shook his head briefly. "Just handle your senshi's shade." He stated right before something unexpected, and unknown to him, happened. Thunder....and the others voice had altered. Should he question the knight on just what he'd done? It seemed, when he glanced o his and the knights shade, to have surprised them both.
Well...this was interesting. He watched his own seem to waver, seeming to maybe want to flee. And deciding to help that decision making along he lunged at his own shade, bringing his weapon up as he closed the distance, and swung down at his own shade. "I think that whatever your doing is working on my shade at least." He called over his shoulder, just to let them know what was going on. As his weapons blade connected with his own shade, slicing across the chest, and split fabric and even flesh, they shrieked and stumbled back away from him.
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Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 10:30 am
Eventually the pain diminished. It rose higher and higher toward its peak, and when the moment came when Ganymede thought she couldn't bear it any longer, when she was sure it was going to kill her, the magic ceased. It faded quicker than it came—the desire gone, so insubstantial she had no memory of what she'd wanted, and the fire left with it.
Her screams broke off and for a moment she collapsed against the ground, supporting herself on her forearms and knees. She breathed heavily, her eyes squeezed shut against the lingering weakness. Ganymede could not even care that she put herself in a vulnerable position in doing so. She could hardly move. She needed a moment to collect herself, to recuperate. She needed to know that it was truly gone, that it was over and she was still alive.
She'd known it hurt. She'd known the first time she'd used it on a youma. She'd known even better the first time she'd used it on another human being—and it seemed ironic to her now that Benitoite should be there when it was used on her. Still, in all of her experiences, Ganymede had not expected it to hurt quite like that. She didn't really know what she'd imagined before now, but none of it had effectively prepared her for it.
Ganymede gulped down the cold night air and finally managed to lift her head at the sound of thunder, watching as Valhalla threateningly approached her clone. She felt disoriented; everything was a little hazy, but awareness was starting to return.
“Val,” she said weakly, struggling to climb back onto her feet. “I'm okay.”
Well enough, at least. Still, she had absolutely no desire to experience that again. She spared a brief glance for Benitoite; her pale face looked guilty.
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Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 5:35 pm
His magic wouldn’t work. He knew that without needing to try it. Something innate resonating in the claps of thunder and electrified air, reminding him of all the things he once knew, but still couldn’t quite remember. Even now he couldn’t say he knew what he was doing, but he did know that his aspect would at least be enough to startle the clones. At least that was his hope.
“Back!” his voice boomed as he moved towards the clones, his fists raised as a way to defend himself should it come do it, and while his own clone didn’t look too threatened by defensive stance, it did seem to think twice about Benitoite’s spear, and eventually faded into the darkness, surely biding its time for a later attack.
Now all that was left was to make sure Ganymede’s shade, and Benitoite’s, fled as well. Valhalla turned once more to the the clone resembling his partner, and took a swing at it with a fist, knowing that any contact would be just as thunderous as his foot steps. He could hear Benitoite’s call to him, as well as Ganymede’s promise of being okay, but until he was certain that there was no more threat, he wasn’t about to back down.
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