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 Posted: Sun May 03, 2015 10:32 am
The crowds cooled out with approaching eve, and after the sun dipped below the horizon, little more than a handful of stragglers remained on the streets surrounding the fountain. The day proved prosperous, with many wares sold (though few of his own), and Slate gathered a considerable amount of tips inside his violin case. He packed up the performances over an hour ago, and sat against the cool sculpted concrete that formed the fountain, plucking away a nameless tune on his violin. Darkness encroached on the horizon, but he didn't mind - the coming night felt serene enough.
It's been a while since we've had calm evenings. Usually people just scuttle off once the sun goes down. There's been talk of monsters, but that sounds farfetched in a city like this. Maybe they're just urban legends told to get people's panties in a twist.
Scuffling footsteps drew his attention, causing him to pause his tune to watch a pair of teenagers sprint down the street toward one of the narrower alleys. Instinct informed Slate to pack up his s**t and go, and he set to it almost immediately, tucking his violin into its sculpted depression and latching up the case tightly. However, by the time he lifted the case from the ground, a set of blackened legs trembled the earth and drew his attention. He looked up abruptly, only to see an ashen creature that looked uncannily similar to an emaciated centaur.
"s**t," he cursed abruptly. The creature took notice of him almost immediately, prompting the redhead to freeze without thought. All survival tactics ever issued by his brother shot through his mind - waving arms and screaming to intimidate, remaining motionless, and every warning against bolting away from creatures far faster than himself. And considering this creature out of a nightmare stood over a foot taller than him, Slate guessed that waving his arms around like an a*****e wouldn't help his situation. Instead he remained motionless, breathing shallowly, and hoping that any muscle twitch he felt went unseen by the creature.
But it seemed capable of staring him down easily enough, and the creature approached slowly. It brandished its clawed hands with a deepened roar, expecting its prey to take flight.
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Posted: Tue May 05, 2015 1:06 pm
Camelot was finally feeling closer to his normal self. He was on his feet, able to walk around without being too pained or running out of energy too quickly. It was nice to be on the mend so quickly, considering it really had not been all that long since he should have rightfully been killed. Now it was almost like it had never really happened.
Except for the scar on his back and his leg, and the limp that followed him even when he powered up now.
Like he hadn't limped enough before.
He was on top of a roof when he heard a cry that was most decidedly not human. Though not all youma sounded alike, there was the common thread of sounding completely alien from anything meant to be in the human domain.
There was a youma down below, and he saw what it was roaring at as well. A human that was... just standing there? Not running, as they usually did, or trying to fight it themselves. The Royal Knight leaped off the roof top and aimed his fall, aiming to land in front of the centaur like youma in a proud and intimidating way.
But his aim was off, as he was a little out of practice, and instead of landing in front of the youma, he landed on its back.
"Oh dear."
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Posted: Wed May 06, 2015 5:20 am
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Posted: Wed May 06, 2015 6:48 am
Strickenized Nothing adds to embarrassment like also being thrown into a fountain.
Which was not something Camelot had ever had any interesting in doing, considering how stupidly dangerous it seemed. To accidentally, and quite literally, fall into a situation just like it was less than pleasing to the Royal Knight.
But he held on for all he was worth, since he had no better ideas.
"Listen, buddy, I don't like this any more than you do!" he continued to yell at the youma, looking around to try and figure out his next move. It seemed it would continue to involve holding on for dear life, and for now he was okay with that. "Oh come on, do either of us need a bath right now?!"
He moved to try and wrap one of his arms around the youma's neck, as if a submission hold might help the situation. It could, in theory, or it could just succeed in making the youma even more furious. Either way, Camelot needed to stop the mad bucking and spinning around, or he was going to be sick on top of everything else. He did notice the civilian still hanging around, though he could not spare much of a glance in his direction before the youma circled his vision away.
"Perhaps you should find some place safe?!" he suggested, though his voice came out a little strained.
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Posted: Thu May 07, 2015 5:26 am
To Camelot's credit, the submission hold stymied the wild bucking and spinning. In another point, Camelot's full-bodied armor left his arms protected enough that the youma claws could not penetrate and leave deep ruts in his flesh. But the youma tried, despite these setbacks, to cleave off the Royal Knight's arms with its own claws. When that attempt produced no results, the youma defaulted to a last-ditch-effort attempt to remove the man with the fountain itself. Body slamming against the scalloped surface hurt the youma somewhat until it could aim to crush Camelot between itself and the sculpted concrete.
Meanwhile, Slate marveled that the fountain hadn't yet been reduced to a pile of rubble. In fact, it looked quite intact for the serious abuse it received. Most of the water sloshed out on the floor, and only when it reached his feet did he realize that, for one, the man on its back was speaking, and for two, he should probably leave in the immediate future - violin or not.
Slate began edging backwards when the youma let out a strangled roar. Tin Can was right - a safe place seemed like a better idea than gawking. But... "I would," he yelled, hoping the man heard him over the raucous flailing. "But my violin's over there. By the fountain. If you can get it for me, I'll just go hide over here-" he paused to point behind the Blue Moon Cafe, "and wait until this thing is... Dead, or something." And possibly piss on its body afterward.
Yeah, that sounded like a good idea.
At least the creature's distraction ebbed some of his fear-driven adrenaline, though his heart still pounded furiously at the sight. What the hell were those, and what were they doing in the city of all places? They appeared far more common here - in conversation, in newspapers, in the streets, in people's homes...Yet out in his old home, he heard about one maybe once a season. Was the city their origin? Who the hell decided to make monsters and send them parading around town, anyway?
With one last longing glance toward his violin, precariously close to one of the monster's feet, Slate darted back behind the mentioned building, where he crouched down inside the alley.Lithiasaur aww yeah camelot takin a bath with a youma
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Posted: Thu May 07, 2015 11:14 am
Did that kid say something about a violin?
Camelot was a bit too distracted to really be able to focus on what was going on around him while he was clinging so desperately to the youma's neck, pulling his arm back and holding it with the other, doing his best to choke the thing and calm it down.
For some reason, the centaur just seemed angrier for all his efforts.
"Ack!"
The youma was smarter than Camelot gave it credit for, or maybe Camelot himself was just not as smart as he might give himself credit for, and surprised the Royal Knight by dropping him in the water. That was enough for Camelot, who released his hold on the centaur and called his shield to his hand while struggling to get out of the water. His cape was like a sponge, and it quickly became unpleasantly cumbersome.
He hauled himself forward and slammed his shield into the youma as hard as he could, which was profoundly hard considering his power level. He was frustrated, and maybe taking it out on the monster a bit too much, but at the very least he just wanted to dust the thing and get out of the fountain. Knights were not meant to be unceremoniously dumped into fountains, damn it.
With the youma gone, he stood up and frowned at the dust now clumping against his damp armor, sticking like mud to him. Shaking his head, he climbed out of the fountain, leaving his cape in it, and picked up the violin the young man had been so concerned about. Where had he said he would be?
"It's alright to come out now," Camelot called, taking a slow breath and calming himself as best he could. Not one of his finer fighting moments, he could admit.
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Posted: Thu May 07, 2015 5:36 pm
Slate waited behind the building, mind running wild with the rampant splashing followed by another unearthly roar. It sounded pained; was the man with the metal body armor winning? Soon enough the noise died away, leaving nothing but the clank of armor, and finally, the man's voice. Had he done away with it, then? Was it gone for good? Would he find a body if he turned the corner? No, if he remembered correctly - if these were the same beasts.
Slowly slate crawled out from behind his hiding wall and peeked first, only one eye and a shock of read hair showing beyond the corner. The scene looked blank. Only a pile of ash remained where there once was a large centaur - and the man who presumably defeated it sported water and ash. He looked a mess, surely, but not hurt. Afterward the redhead crossed into the marketplace, eyes initially set on Camelot before they roamed for the violin he hoped to keep safe. "Uh, thanks for dropping in?" The praise came more as a question. "I mean, that thing came out of nowhere. And you showed up like, right after it popped up. Pretty damn good timing." Almost suspiciously good. Not that Slate would complain that he survived, but unless the man just happened to loiter in the area, it seemed a little too convenient.
"So those things, do they come up often here? They're... Kinda ******** up. Pardon my French, but holy s**t." His last words came out almost breathless in a whisper.
Luckily, he spotted his violin in pristine condition. It still sat upright, undisturbed by the tussle that happened moments before. A whispered 'yessss' came from the redhead while he crossed to the other side of the fountain, rescuing his violin from prior abandonment. He would've hugged the case had he been completely alone, but with present company...
Which brought to mind questions about present company. Like how present company jumped off a building and landed on the thing's back. And how present company survived being bashed into a concrete fountain without breaking his ribs. And how present company destroyed the thing in the first place. "And uh, don't take this the wrong way, but shouldn't your torso just be obliterated by now? I mean, it bashed you into a fountain and all that. And on top of that, you did just fly off a building to land on it, which I'm pretty sure should've smashed up your pelvis a good bit. What gives?" Were these some kind of superpowers befit to anyone wearing knightly armor?
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Posted: Thu May 07, 2015 6:50 pm
"They tend to do that. Come out of no where, I mean. Not very nice guys, but I've never seen one look like that before. I think I'll take 'monster rodeo' off my bucket list now."
He understood the questions the younger male had, though it did sound from his words that this was not his first encounter with a youma. Not surprising. When Tony had been a civilian, before knights ever made it to the scene of Destiny City, he had run into what had to be a hundred youma over a relatively short period of time.
He had been an expert in the war, before even joining it. Well. Maybe not an expert.
He still wasn't that.
"Ah, yes. Well. I suppose it won't sound as strange as it should, since you did just witness a fight between a man in armor and a centaur, but I have ah... some rather unique powers that let me jump off of buildings and get bashed around without being hurt too much."
That wasn't to say he was not sore. He was. Profoundly. His leg and his back, particularly, were mad at him, but even with the armor he would sport a few bruises from the fight. Thankfully, he healed very quickly, and could take a surprising amount of abuse. He just preferred not to.
Oddly enough.
"I protect this city, to the best of my ability, and people like you, from those monsters." To prove that he was not just an incredibly lucky crazy person, he called his shield to his hand to show Slate, since it magically appeared from no where, before sending it back to where it came from. "But we try to keep it on the download, as much as we can. Download? No, that's not right. Now I sound like a grandpa."
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2015 4:53 am
Slate simply stared.
Had he heard the guy right? Unique powers that let him jump off buildings and get bashed around? And he was serious about this? Considering he did jump off a multistory building onto the thing's back, and the fact that those creatures existed, it hadn't seemed like such a far stretch. "Well s**t, sign me up." He wouldn't mind sporting some fancy armor and dishing out payback to those creatures. And Camelot rendered it fairly easy-looking - aside from the whole rodeo bit, it sounded like one smack and done with that beast. It hadn't even left a body.
And then the shield appears from nowhere, as if being incredibly magically resilient wasn't enough.
"Really? Why not just like, call out the cops? I mean, they're supposed to protect the city too. Most of them just look like they hang out on the road giving speeding tickets though. It's a little weird. I'm sure they could use the exercise, and I mean, guns ought to help. Unless they start shooting you, of course." Then again... "But I don't think that'd be much of a problem to you. Probably bounce right off." He might sport a dent in the armor from that one, but Slate doubted it. Mr. Metal lacked dents already.
"Or even just give the cops superpowers. If you can do that sort of thing. I haven't read too many comic books, but unless you get your abilities from some weird radioactive tick or something, it should be possible, right? Or you can just pass the tick around. I dunno, but you could sure use more of... well, you. There seems to be a lot of those things around here. A lot more than I'm used to." And it surprised him that Destiny City remained as intact as it did; he saw his share of abandoned or severely impacted buildings here or there, but they remained quite scarce. He counted maybe two that showed clear structural damage to walls, and both were written off as vehicle accidents, but the shape of one demonstrated otherwise. And, with the fountain... Maybe Destiny City was built to last.
"Or is there even just a way to help out?" Staying out of the way sounded ideal. "And what's your name, anyway?"
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2015 8:20 am
"I'm not sure the cops are quite prepared to deal with monsters and the other things that lurk in the shadows of this city. We do what we need to, in secret if we can, to keep people safe. There's a lot more going on here than most can notice, and most of the time, it's for the better that way. Still. At least you know now what time to pack up the violin and head home."
Camelot had been shot before, and it was not a fun situation to be in. Of course, at this point in time, Camelot was pretty sure he had experienced enough to relate to any story anyone tried to tell him. Even the fantasy ones.
"But we can't really hand out powers, I'm afraid. We're sort of chosen for the job, born with the potential and awakened when we're needed. As far as I know, everyone carries the potential to be like us." He couldn't go in to too many details, though, not wanting to give the civilian too much information that might end up getting him in trouble.
"Oh, my name is Camelot, Royal Knight of Earth. I know, sounds silly, but ah. Well, it's nice to meet you... uh..." he waited a beat, for an introduction, though he added, "do you need any more help, getting home or anything?" Sometimes, civilians did not want to walk alone after a youma attack. Not that he blamed them.
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2015 3:21 pm
Camelot (what a fun name, Slate thought) sounded like he thought about the police angle before, and probably had good reasoning for declining help from the cops. Slate didn't pry. Considering that he still felt shaken from the incident, and the ash pile was probably still warm, he felt more inclined to scuttle away than stick around to chit-chat about particulars. "Yeah. Yeah, I definitely know what time I wanna bail the hell out of here..." Assuming he even wanted to revisit this place, in light of what happened.
Knowing himself? He would.
The lack of handing out powers sure was a pisser, though. Slate would've liked to go building hopping and pummeling the creatures that previously scared him half to death. 'Born with the potential and awakened when we're needed.' And if everyone carries the potential... Damn, that's shitty. I could've awakened to knightly greatness right about then. It would've been really ******** useful too. Maybe whatever it is knew that this guy was around for the ride and just decided to let me sweat it out. I don't know. The whole thing sounds pretty fairytale, if not for the whole fact that Mr. Knightly just did all this wicked s**t that would've ended in death for just about everyone else on the planet.
The introduction was received well, at least. Slate spared a wide grin. "Brave Sir Camelot," he jested. "Slate Blackwell, violin extraordinaire. I had a brother once but I'm pretty sure one of those things was the end of him." The topic still smarted, but he weathered it well.
"Uh, I think I can get home okay. It's not super far. Just..." He paused, drawing breath through teeth for a light hiss. "Yeah, it's fine. Thanks for the help though, seriously. I probably would've been painted all over that fountain if you hadn't shown up to uh... Ride it. Who knows, maybe I'll awaken on the way home and then I can join you in your uh... monster fighting spree?" He shrugged as he started walking backward, in the direction of his home.
Until he stepped in the thick pile of ash. Groaning in disgust and utter creep factor, Slate dumped the instrument case and lifted his foot abruptly to beat at it with his hands. Only when he thought the boot was entirely cleared of ash did he reclaim his case and finally resume walking.
Yeah, definitely gonna be a jumpy walk home.Lithiasaur can probably wrap here, unless you wanted to close on your end! always a joy to play with camelot!
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Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 11:30 am
Camelot nodded his head and let Slate head off, watching him as he walked backwards but not thinking the questions really needed to be answered out loud. After all, Camelot could only sense those who might awaken as Knights, and he was not getting that feeling from this civilian. That did not mean it might not be in the future, and it did not mean he was not going to awaken as a Senshi. Or something else, he supposed, if Chaos got there first.
Hopefully that would not be the case.
He waited patiently and watched until he could not see the civilian any more, just so he did not feel too guilty about not following him home to make sure he was safe. Once he could not longer see Slate, after the younger man's encounter with an ash pile, Camelot sighed and looked down at the soggy, ash covered mess that was his armor.
It had been a long, embarrassing night, but his patrol was not over yet. He would go find a nice place to power down, but then power right back up and head back out into the night to defend the city for a few hours more.
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