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 Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 3:45 pm
They stopped at Taco King first, because Babylon was one for keeping promises - especially when they applied to the person who was going to save his newly-minted friend from mortal peril. He’d meant to only stop in long enough to get a combo-meal for Iris, guessing about her preferences for meats and sauces, but then Gunn had decided to get herself involved and that was how they showed up at the park with the two white moon senshi in their party eating quesadillas. Gunn, he worried, did not fully grasp that this was a life-or-death situation for himself and Spinel. Or else she did and she just didn’t care. He wasn’t sure which one would be preferable at this point, and the senshi beside him quietly repeating to himself that he was going to die did not really help. “It’s going to be okay,” he said. They’d been back on Earth for roughly half an hour. Avalon probably hadn’t even noticed they were back yet. She probably wasn’t even powered up. They arrived at the park five minutes before midnight. Babylon took a seat on a convenient picnic table and gestured for Spinel to join him, while Europa and Gunn chose to keep their distance - clearly deep in conversation, the nature of which Babylon could only barely fathom. “Come on,” he said to Spinel. “It’s going to be fine. She’ll be here soon.” Europa inclined her head towards Gunn as she picked at her quesadilla. “I should really tell him,” she said.
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 3:46 pm
Spinel had been quietly focusing on trying to keep track of every single powered aura around them, and it kind of showed; he spooked whenever he sensed a Chaos aura, even if it was as small as a Lieutenant. You never knew what the Negaverse could pull out at the drop of a hat, and either way it went, Spinel didn’t have the energy in him to manage more than one teleport. He waited outside while Babylon and Gunn did their thing in the Taco King, standing awkwardly quiet with Europa. He didn’t ask after Tallulah; he had to just trust that, in however long it took to purify a person, she’d be alive and he’d remember enough to know that he loved her.
After all--he wasn’t purifying for her. He was purifying because he was tired of being jerked around, of feeling like he was a tool and worse than that a tool without purpose. Even the purposelessness of his existence on the side of Order would be better than what he got under the Negaverse. (He thought of Shay, and the two murdered senshi, and Babylon walking to Avalon.) Was there room for heroism and devotion and honor in the Negaverse? Yeah. He’d seen it in Tanzanite, a long time ago. In Hematite and Charonite and Nealite. But none of them led the Negaverse now.
No. He had to do this. They got to the park and Spinel settled with Babylon, ‘settled’ here meaning he sat on the edge of the bench and tried not to fidget.
Gunn, for her part, took a hearty bite of her quesadilla and swallowed it before saying, “No time like the present. Either he’ll be purified in a bit or he’ll be dead. Because I’ll break his neck if I have to in order to keep my wingmen safe.” She patted Europa’s shoulder. “No pressure, babe.”
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 3:47 pm
Ever the enabler, that’s what Gunn was. Europa rolled her eyes and passed the rest of her quesadilla off to her. Purified or dead. Well, she supposed this was preferable to having to dump a known serial killer - she didn’t want him to be dead, but, well--
It wasn’t exactly like there was much choice in the matter. She approached the picnic table, and Babylon glanced towards her as she neared. “Can you give us a second?” she asked the knight. He nodded and went to stand by Gunn, and Europa took a seat on the bench beside Spinel - not so close that he might feel crowded by her presence, but--
“Hey,” she said, offering him a grim smile. He didn’t - he didn’t look well. He looked tired. He looked stressed out. Hopefully purification, and getting him away from Avalon’s talons, would fix that. And, she thought privately, she wanted to be part of his recovery. So Sailor Europa couldn’t kill people correctly - but maybe she could help save them instead.
“I know you’ve been really worried about whether or not Tallulah’s safe, and who’s watching her,” she said, and there was - there was no good script for this. Disclosing her civilian identity now was harder than it had ever been with members of her own faction. And there was no telling what his reaction would be. Surely he’d be angry with her for lying, or for risking her life to be here tonight, or-
“And I wanted to make sure you knew that she’s okay. She’s safe. And she’s here right now, because she’s me and I’m her,” said Europa, putting one of her hands on the bench and hoping he might reach for it. “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you before. It wasn’t the right time.”
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 3:47 pm
Spinel took a deep breath as Europa approached. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her, although he didn’t, or because he really wished she were watching Tallulah, although he did, it was just that… he’d tried to kill her. He kept waiting for her to bring that up. But she never did. She asked Babylon to go, and Babylon did. Gunn immediately dove into conversation with him about something, doubtless the housing project he’d heard of from Babylon during their long stint in space. Which left… Spinel and Europa.
“Hello,” he said, “yes, actually. Tell your knight friend thanks for keeping me updated.” He probably would’ve gone actually insane without those updates, to be honest.
She told him how safe Tallulah was, and Spinel's first reaction was relief. If Tallulah was a senshi, then she was going to be alright--she was never defenseless in the first place--he'd gotten so worried for nothing. But that was just his first reaction--his second was horror. Not because she was a senshi, but because--because--
The way he got up from the bench was indescribable in its speed, in that there was no disgust or horror for her. It was all self-loathing, like he needed to put space between them for her safety. Maybe he did. "I tried to kill you," he said, falling another step back. "You're Tallulah and I tried to kill you."
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 3:47 pm
She didn’t try to follow him. Not here. Not for this. He needed space, and she would give it, for as long as he needed. “It was a long time ago,” she said evenly. Europa hadn’t forgotten those fights, but she’d already considered them and come to terms with them. They hadn’t know each other. Spinel had been far deeper into his corruption, singlemindedly devoted to the negaverse and his dark purpose. And she’d decided she couldn’t hold it against him. Not after how well they’d gotten to know each other since. And certainly not after the letter he’d sent her.
“You were following orders, and so was I,” she said, rising slowly from the bench. “Your orders said to collect starseeds and to kill senshi, and I got in your way. But it was a long time ago. We’ve both changed since then.” She’d killed. He’d started towards redemption. “You didn’t know me.” And maybe, if he’d succeeded, he never would have - it wouldn’t have mattered to her. She wouldn’t have been alive to know what she was missing.
“Paul,” she said quietly. She didn’t want to call him Spinel right now. It wasn’t his proper name, and in a few more minutes it wouldn’t be his name at all. She’d have something else to call him. “I’m okay with the past. I just wanted you to know who I was. I didn’t like lying.”
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 3:48 pm
“Yes, that’s not an excuse,” said Spinel, and now that he was really looking he could sort of see how this senshi in front of him could be Tallulah. Taken individually, she didn’t look all that different; the same dark hair and the same brown eyes and the same--he took a deep breath.
It was the same damn hairclip.
“Okay,” he said, running a hand over his hair. “Okay. I need a minute. To process this. And I think Iris is going to be here soon and I don’t want to be. Frazzled.” Was he frazzled? He felt frazzled. He felt like he’d just gotten blindsided with a test he hadn’t known to expect.
Midnight chimed on the great city clock, and Spinel took a deep breath. Here went nothing.
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 4:20 pm
Three days had been pushing it, but Iris had been able to build herself a makeshift team for the evening. It took plenty of preparing ahead of time, seeing as one party didn't really speak enough English to get by on a night as complex as this one. It involved phone calls with Lydia and a lot of translating to get the orders to the senshi that accompanied her now.
A familiar and hungry manx had also been acquired for the evening, and was easily stowed away in Psyche's arms.
Each had their own tasks to attend to, and in the eternal senshi's mind, every component was important.
"I smell cheese," was the plain observation from the manx.
"...no... ya don't get any until after ya make sure everything goes down smoothly..." It wasn't hard to locate the multiple auras in the park, and at midnight on the dot, three figures had appeared.
Eternal Sailor Iris, Super Sailor Psyche, and ********* the Guardian Cat.
In a cheery tone, the tailless Mauvian greeted "Hi everybody!"
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 10:49 pm
Psyche had been in the same position as Spinel. She had been in the park with both ********* and Iris, and she too had been a Negaverse Senshi. She had been given careful instructions, tediously translated to her between Ellie and Lydia. It wasn't easy by any standard given her native tongue was Greek but it had been done. It seemed she understood everything clearly, and they'd triple checked to make sure. Not understand English very well? Oh, it made complicated situations more complicated than they needed to be.
She was clear on her role here though, no matter how many times they had to check to make sure. She knew that no matter what power signature she felt here, she was to stand by and not kill the monsters. She would only use force if necessary to defend Iris in the situation her Captain was unable to or explicitly asked her for her assistance. Her bigger purpose here? She had to take her best friend home along with *********. It would be like any night, and it was strangely telling of the first night she could remember in this world.
Squeezing ********* furry belly softly in her arms, the senshi stood silently beside Iris as her eyes surveyed everyone with suspicious grey eyes.
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 11:32 pm
Cat. Princess. Assistant. Everyone who had come to meet them had clear roles in tonight's drama, actors assembling to perform some great classic play. Europa had no such clearly-defined role, besides perhaps that of audience. She'd done her best to clear things up between herself and Spinel, in what could have been the last moments she had a chance to, and it was out of her hands now. Wordlessly, she stepped back, going to go stand beside Gunn. Babylon, for his part, held up the Taco King bag as Iris arrived with her entourage. "There's plenty to go around," he assured the cat in Psyche's arms - powerful sense of smell on that one, he figured. " After," he added. "Like Iris said." No 'princess' this time, he was certain to remember. He glanced to Spinel, trying to get a read on the senshi. They'd come this far and gone through all the lead up to get here, and while he knew his conviction was solid - a very small part of Babylon still feared the worst. But in a few minutes more, they'd be out of Avalon's immediate reach. She'd have that much of a harder time finding any of them. And that made all the stress of the last few days seem inconsequential in comparison. "We made it," he said encouragingly, holding up his lantern.
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 12:32 am
"Hello," said Spinel, because there wasn't much else to say. He felt hyperaware of the audience around him--Babylon, Europa, Gunn, then the cat in the silver-clad senshi's arms. What did any of them know about him? They didn't know about… everything, did they? He took a deep breath through his teeth and tried to smile, but it came out as more of a death's-head grin. He stopped smiling and. Just.
Prove to her he wanted it. He had no idea how. But he'd waited and he hadn't gotten killed and he hadn't gotten re-educated, he'd just, come back. Like she'd asked. "I admit I don't know what to do now," he said.
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Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2014 7:05 am
Since the cat wasn't loose and able to approach the table on her own, it meant Iris was able to go to the table and snatch up one of the wrapped burritos from one of the bags. It was almost as if to spite the cat, who was staring at her with the biggest eyes. To reassure the others who were apparently going to be a part of this viewing party, she casually mentioned "I ain't gonna get to enjoy this after..."
The manx let out a small whine as the blonde eternal senshi unwrapped the burrito and squirmed slightly as she devoured the entire thing rapidly. Sure, Taco King burritos weren't necessarily large by human standards, but that didn't make it any less difficult to watch.
Wiping any stray sauce from her lip onto her white glove (hey, it was going to clean itself off later anyways through magic). she crumbled up the wrapper and shot it towards a nearby trashcan. "...woosh..." she murmured before clapping her hands together.
"Alright f*ckers... let's do this!" She started to rub her hands together before closing her eyes to concentrate.
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Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2014 11:57 am
Psyche stared at Iris as she crammed the taco into her mouth, looking down at *********. The expression on ********* face melted the serious face that Psyche had and she found herself glancing awkwardly between the Taco King bag and Iris. She waited for when the attention was on Iris after she closed her eyes to concentrate, and then Psyche went in for the grab.
For ********* stood behind Iris and slightly to the left, quietly unwrapping the taco and holding it to ********* face. How dare they starve *********? ********* wouldn't be able to eat it later, either! Psyche was aware of both of their duties so that Psyche didn't try and cling to the guardian cat when she was needed. With such knowledge, how could she deny ********* (who was clearly STARVING) a snack? A devious, knowing smile swept across Psyche's lips. She may not speak English very well but she totally knew what she did but it wouldn't be hard to play innocent later if necessary.
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Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2014 1:17 pm
The burritos, apparently, were a huge hit, and Babylon was thankful he'd insisted they stop and get them - after all, who didn't love a little bribery, especially when the bribery was delicious? And, the more he was exposed to Princess Iris, the more he liked her attitude. No wonder she hated to be called Princess - the connotation was all wrong. She was much more of a warrior queen.
"Alright," the knight agreed, falling silent, and turning his attention to Spinel.
Europa, still at her post a few meters away, reached for Gunn's hand. Whatever happened next - she sighed, forcing herself to be calm. It was out of her hands.
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Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2014 5:00 pm
Iris eating the burrito did not even phase Spinel. He'd watched people eat others' souls with less grace and aplomb. So, like, if she wanted to eat like a savage, that was fine. He didn't care. He could actually literally care less. "As you please," he said, and then--as if by silent cue--he fell silent, too.
For her part, Gunn didn't see why the cat would need a burrito. The cat was a cat. Cats actually couldn't eat lactose. Maybe it was a magic cat, but did that make biology a nonissue? Maybe. She didn't know. She squeezed Europa's hand comfortingly, but what she said was completely nonplussed: "Yep, let's get this done. We are the best kind of ducks right now." Here meaning, sitting ones.
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Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2014 5:48 pm
The Mauvian seemed to perk up as her current ride shifted and managed to snag something delicious for the Guardian. A very gentle purr escaped her, as if to thank the Super Senshi silently as she began to gobble up the snack as quickly as her little kitty mouth would allow. Despite her muted thanks, ********* was anything but quiet. It was a crispy taco, and every time she bit into the shell, a very audible crunching sound escaped her.
********* might have been embarrassed if she had the necessary shame to match.Iris' concentration did seem interrupted when she mumbled something along the lines of "... f*ckin' cat..." However, it was not broken. Her fuku began to glow a heated white color, shifting into something that was definitely a lot longer than the typical short skirt she wore. Her tiara faded to show the symbol of her world burning across her forehead. The long strands of hair that framed her face seemed to whip out, growing out rather suddenly until they were touching the ground. When her full outfit had changed and all seemed to be finished, rather suddenly she let out a subdued grunt as two sandy colored wings seemed to force their way out from her shoulders. The light from her outfit finally faded, leaving her in a floor length gown in light yellows and pinks. If only that was the end of the show. When she finally opened her hands and her eyes, there was the Iridian Crystal, hovering up from her palms. It seemed deceptively simplistic in form, but as a pair of golden eyes seemed to narrow as she focused on the crystal, it began to glow intensely. Every so often a pulse would escape it in one of the colors found in the rainbow. First red, then orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, then violet. Upon the final pulse, the crystal momentarily seemed to turn white before it splintered into its most powerful form. It was time. In a clear tone, the winged figure called out "IRIS CRYSTAL POWER!!!" With that call to power, the area flooded with a white light, covering all, but most importantly Spinel, in the crystal's aura.
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