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 Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2013 6:08 pm
Natron deeply enjoyed the feeling of power that came from being a General. It had only been a few days, but he was already feeling quite settled into having an actually deadly weapon. He hadn’t had much of a chance to use it, unfortunately - his patrols had been boring, empty, and he had been quick to head home and make sure Clary was alright. She needed him right now, far more than he needed to be patrolling to all hours of the night, and he had a boyfriend to consider on top of that. So although he was heading home, he was still on alert.
He intended to make this evening a bit more memorable, if he could. Perhaps leave some dead Senshi for their comrades to find.
He felt a pair of Senshi auras, one regular and one Super, and he grinned. Testing himself against two opponents at once? That was an absolutely excellent idea. If worst came
to worst, he could simply teleport out of danger. And this was an opportunity, anyway. If he left one alive, it would serve as a warning to him or her - the Negaverse is not to be trifled with.
He approached, grinning and swinging his weapon casually. It was two girls, somewhat similar in appearance - the Super Senshi obviously older, and she moved to place herself between him and the younger one almost as soon as he walked up.
“Good evening,” he said. His tone was anything but friendly.
“Back off,” the older girl growled.
“I think not,” he said, and he teleported the last few feet to them and attacked.
The actual battle was short. They were desperate, but he was trained, and a year and a deadly weapon made a huge difference. He simply moved too fast, never stayed in one place long enough to be a proper target, and even two on one, his sheer confidence gave him something of an edge.
He was a General of the Negaverse, and no damned Senshi was going to take him down.
In the end, there were two Senshi bleeding to death at his feet. He’d intended to leave one alive, but the weaker one had taken what should’ve been a death blow for the stronger, and then the other one had fought all the harder and he’d had no choice, really, but to cut her throat.
“I’ll kill you,” the older one snarled, trying to push herself up. “I’ll kill you for what you’ve done!”
“You won’t last long enough to.” Natron replied, and he turned and walked away, leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind.
That was his first mistake.
He walked the rest of the way home, powering down outside the door to the bookshop and unlocking it. In a fit of paranoia, he glanced behind him - he was distinctly feeling that he was being watched - but when he didn’t see anything, he slid in.
That was his second.
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Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2013 6:28 pm
Natron’s mistakes bore fruit the next evening.
The General was out patrolling, a street that was mostly but not entirely empty. There were a few people out, and most of them gave him a wide berth - although he made no threatening moves and his weapon was away, his uniform was unusual enough that they avoided him without so much as thinking about it.
He liked it that way, honestly. He wasn’t hunting civilians, not yet, just getting the lay of the area he’d be stalking later.
It was a surprise, then, when a young boy - maybe eleven or twelve - came running over and tugged on his jacket. The General paused and turned, leaning down to get on the kid’s level.
“Can I help you?” He asked. He could feel eyes on him, alarmed ones - a lot of passersby were concerned, he supposed, that the man in the strange outfit was talking to a child.
“The nice lady paid me twenty bucks to give this to you,” the kid said, holding out a folded piece of paper. Natron took it, frowning.
“What nice lady?” He asked. The kid turned, and pointed.
“She was right there, but she’s gone now.” He said, and then he frowned.
“Well, thank you anyway,” he said, standing back up as the kid ran away.
He frowned and examined the paper. No one in the Negaverse would communicate with him that way - a civilian, maybe? He unfolded it, and horror twisted in his chest.
Gabriel,
I know who you are. I know what you’ve done. I have your parents. Come to the roof of the new apartment complex on 23rd and we’ll talk.
Oh, and come as yourself, not as General ********. I’d hate to think they might not recognize you when you come to their rescue!
Play nice and I’ll give them back. Don’t, and they die. It’s that simple.
He stared in silence at the note, hands shaking. Then, he started to first walk, then run, towards the location it mentioned, ripping it up as he went and letting the bits and pieces scatter.
He hadn’t spoken to his parents in months, but that didn’t mean he wanted them dead. And he especially didn’t want them to suffer for what he had done as an officer.
If that meant prostrating himself in front of an enemy, so be it. He’d make sure that whoever it was died as soon as he was sure they were safe.
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Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2013 6:51 pm
He was glad the building was finished and he could take the elevator to the top floor, and from there the stairs to the rooftop were easy to find.
As requested, it was Gabriel who pushed the door open, heart racing with fear. He was immediately confronted with the sight of a Super Senshi with a bandage around her neck. She was standing over his parents, both tied up, right by the edge of the roof.
To his horror, he realized he recognized her.
And that he had ******** up.
Very badly.
“You’re the girl from last night!” He said, breathlessly. Good god, she knew him. She had to, if she had taken his parents.
“Glad you remember me, General.” She sneered. “Now why don’t you tell them why you’re here?”
“Gabriel, sweetie, stay back, she’s dangerous,” his mother said, and he sighed.
“Mom, please.” He stepped closer, running his hand through his hair.
”Goddamnit, tell them what you are!” The Senshi shrieked.
“What is she talking about?” His father asked, tone wary.
“She’s talking about the reason I didn’t want to go to college. The reason I was up so late - still am.” He took a long breath. “Do you...remember that documentary Tag Swagger did a few months ago? About the terrorist threat to the city? I was...I was one of the people in that documentary. Natron.”
“What?” His mother asked. “Is that - is that why you were so desperate to watch it?”
“Yeah, among other reasons.” A slight smile crossed his face, briefly. “She’s one of the terrorists. A Senshi. Last night, we fought, and I killed her partner.”
“Not my partner, you ********, my baby sister!” The girl growled. Then, suddenly, she grinned very, very crazily. “You see, your son is a murderer. I don’t think he attacked my sister and me because he thought we were terrorists, I think he did it because he enjoyed it.”
“You’re wrong!” His mother protested. “My baby would never…”
Gabriel was silent, and his hands clenched into fists. Suddenly,t he Senshi said something under her breath, and his eyes widened.
“You killed my only family, General. Now I’m going to take yours.” She yanked his mother to her feet, and before he could react, shoved her over the edge.
“No!” He ran forward, already powering up, but he was too slow - his father went over too. She was moving at a speed that seemed impossible, even for someone with powers.
Magic, obviously.
His parents’ screams echoed in his ears as he launched himself at her, slashing with his kusarigama and cutting deep into her torso.
“You psycho b***h, I’m going to make sure you stay dead this time!” He said, and she laughed, throwing her body weight into him and sending him sprawling to the ground.
This time the fight was tight, close-quarters, violent, bloody - he could feel it soaking into his uniform, and he hoped the majority was hers - but it ended with her underneath him and his hand in her chest.
“Killing me isn’t gonna save them,” she said, grinning widely.
“Neither is letting you live,” Natron growled, and then he ripped out her starseed and crushed it in his fist.
He walked to the edge of the roof. There was already a crowd gathering, and he could see two broken bodies. There was no way they had survived.
Something inside him turned to cold stone. He didn’t have time to mourn, not now. He had to make sure Des was okay, that his mistake hadn’t cost him his boyfriend too.
And he had to make sure that no one close to him was ever vulnerable again.
[total words: 1,540]
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