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Megiddo was giving this quote-unquote patrol thing a try - not that she wanted to, or anything like that, but apparently her magical cosplay outfit came with magical powers and she sort of really wanted to try those out. So, there she was, minding her own business, hopping around on top of a set of poles that divided the pedestrian walkway from the parking lot just because she could, when this guy just approached her. Out of nowhere. Because that was normal - right? Megiddo narrowed her eyes at the newcomer, and his aura tasted spicy and jumbled - Chaos for sure. She clutched her pitcher, fingers tightening against the metal.

"Thank you," she said uncertainly, thrown off by the compliment. She looked him up and down, and noted that they sort of matched. As if she'd ever be caught dead following the same fashion trends as - whatever. It wasn't like she was actually involved in this or anything. It wasn't like she actually cared.

"I like yours, too," Megiddo answered, because that seemed like the polite thing to do. She'd rather avoid a fight, even if that was theoretically what she was supposed to be doing right now - she ought to jump this guy, right? Before he jumped her?

"Do we fight now?" she asked, screwing up her nose. "Because I'm sort of new at this and, to be honest, I don't really want to." He wasn't like the other captain she'd fought, who got the jump on her when she wasn't even powered up. Maybe the Negaverse wasn't all made up of creepy wannabe rapists. That would be a relief. Sort of.

Megiddo nodded, reaching up to tug on a loose lock of her hair. "I'm rather fond of it myself," she agreed, and loosened her grip on her pitcher somewhat. "I mean, my hair grows like this, so I'd be s**t out of luck if I didn't like it." And she'd admit it - she did preen a little bit when he called her pretty. Even if he so wasn't her type. Evil and male were two insurmountable turnoffs as far as she was concerned. Also, he looked old.

She giggled, still perched on the pole and looking down at him. As long as she held the higher ground, Megiddo supposed this conversation was okay. Although she'd never met Camelot one way or the other, the mispronunciation of his name caught her in some deep, childish place. "I'm Megiddo. Page of Saturn," she said, and pulled a face.

"Being a knight's okay, I guess." She sighed exaggeratedly. "But it comes with all these responsibilities. And I've gotta fight people. And supposedly it's my civic duty to go on patrol, but come on, I'm not even old enough to vote yet."

She rolled her eyes at him - surely he understood her complaint, right? "Then again," added Megiddo, leaping from one pole to another, two yards away, and sticking the landing. She raised her hands above her head, posing like an olympic gymnast. "Ta-daa! It does come with some pretty sweet perks." Was it worth it for the super-powers? Well, she was coming around to it.

Probably, it was worth it for the super-powers.

Megiddo frowned at the captain, watching as he sat down and relaxing further. Clearly, he wasn't a threat. "That sucks," she said. "About almost killing your crush and all. And about turning into a monster. But that kind of sounds like it's in the job title, doesn't it? Negaverse. Chaos. I mean, when has anything good ever come with the prefix nega? Like. Scott Pilgrim aside."

Carefully, she sat down on top of the pole, and her legs still dangled several feet off the ground. "That's a good way to look at it," she agreed. "Enjoy the perks and ignore all the hard stuff. But then maybe you should do that, too. Enjoy the perks and ignore the whole sneaking up on girls in alleys and killing people part of your contract." She thought she had this all figured out pretty well now: everyone's jobs would be a whole lot easier if they just enjoyed the fact that hey, we can leap tall buildings with a single bound! and stopped trying to off each other.

"Hey," she said. "Would you believe me if I told you I was abducted by aliens about two years ago? Because I was, and I saw people die, and I saw people get turned into those creepy senshi with the eyes on their collars, and no one believes me, and I'm tired of everyone thinking I had some kind of psychotic break."

"Um," said Megiddo, frowning, and the benevolence she'd felt towards the captain lessened somewhat. "Yes, there is something wrong with sneaking up on girls. Because that's creepy." She was pretty sure this anecdote was worth at least five hundred notes on tumblr. A thousand, if she optimized her tags right and got picked up by the right blogs. "And if you snuck up on me, I would kick you in the family jewels and I'd feel pretty okay about it."

Also, weren't most of the girls in this business underage?

Whatever.

"Yeah, I had to go to a therapist and then when I still said it had happened my parents made me go live with my cousins on a farm for a year and a half," she sighed sourly, editing the story for identifying details. How many purple-haired girls in Destiny City had cousins living in Golan Heights, after all?

"It was so scary," she confessed, standing carefully back up - still on the pole (this was sort of fun). "I thought I was going to die like. Twenty times. But I never did."

"I mean, how you approached me earlier wasn't creepy," shrugged Megiddo, tossing her pitcher casually from hand to hand. "But there was a guy a few days ago who like, snuck up on me and tried to grab me? And that was creepy. I gave him, like, a black eye and stuff. But if you don't try to touch me, I won't break your nose, and so far so good." She caught the pitcher one last time, and then began trying to spin it on her index finger like a basketball, something easier said than done.

"I guess the balance is wrong," she said finally, pursing her lips at the pitcher as she clasped it firmly in her hands once more. Maybe she'd get it another night. Maybe.

"Yeah, death is usually permanent," she agreed. It didn't seem important to point out that she had classmates she thought she'd seen die who were perfectly alive. That could very easily lead to mentioning that she went to Horizon Institute, and from there it was only a matter of process of elimination. She was the only six-foot-tall purple-haired girl in her grade. "So I'm pretty happy I avoided it! Anyway--"

She hopped down from the pole at long last, landing neatly and smoothing out her skirt with her hands. "I had better get going soon. Class in the morning. It's been a pleasure - I don't think I ever caught your name."

"Mariposite," repeated Megiddo with a nod, trying to make sure she'd remember that. It seemed like no one in this whole damn war could have an easy name - and she wasn't going to shorten it, because that implied cordiality, and polite as he was, they were still on opposite sides. "It was... interesting to talk to you, Mariposite."

She watched him walk away. "It's Megiddo!" she called, bristling at what she considered an indignity. If she was going to have a dumb superhero name, then god damn, she wanted it to be pronounced correctly - or not at all. "It's Megiddo, and don't you forget it!"