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It was their first night on patrol.

At least, that's what Penn---err---Stella had called it.

His older sister had sent him a text on the way home from school, going on about some kind of quota and that it was time to learn the ropes of what their job was in this new, crazy cool club they'd managed to stumble across. He hadn't paid terribly close attention to what exactly she'd said - all Alrik knew was, he now got a chance to try on his cool uniform again and he wasn't about to say no to that!

So there they both stood, highlighted beneath the glow of a street lamp as Epidote continued to fidget with the remote control in his hand. He'd dutifully been pressing the buttons every time he'd seen any sort of electronic device... this sucker had to work with SOMETHING, for goodness sake.

"So, uh... energy collecting." Gloved hands quit messing with the remote for a moment as he glanced towards his sibling, "I know the jist of what we need to get, but not the how. Can we do something a little more hands on than verbal instructions, Stella?"

Epi was always more of a "figure it out by taking it apart" kind of guy anyways.

Unlike his sister, there was no shiver of anticipation that stirred in the pit of his stomach, but instead, an awkward wave of nausea began to form. Something, simply put, just felt off and Epidote couldn't place his finger on what that feeling was.

His muscles tensed as that feeling intensified, almost as though it was working towards growing stronger. Was this what his sister meant, when she said they would be able to sense other powered individuals? And why was it such a distasteful feeling?

Eyes narrowed as it dawned on the teenager that perhaps they weren't expecting another ally, but an enemy.

"Stay behind me, Pe--Stella." Damn, he'd have to get used to switching the names around. One arm moved to gesture for her to keep behind him, not that the blonde seventeen year old really knew what he was about to do either. She was his sister - he would protect her, regardless.

He felt his grip on the remote tighten as the asshat in front of them gave his sister a rather contemptuous attitude. It didn't matter that he'd dismissed Epidote as nothing more than a buddy to the situation - no one sassed his sister but him.

"Are you normally this big of a jerk or are your shorts on too tight tonight, buddy?"

Arms moved to cross over his chest, less he break his useless toy by gripping it too tight. He attempted to match the smirk of the other boy, his feet dragging together as he struck the most casual Team Rocket-esque pose that he could muster. "Then again, I might have a chronic b***h face too, if I'd been given an outfit like that."

There. That sounded semi-cool, right??

His reaction speed in-game was quick, but as he felt the man's fist come into contact with his shoulder as he did his best to duck, Epidote realized that he still had a lot of training to do to reflect his skills in the real world.

He winced as the force of the blow knocked him off balance, one hand flying up to grab at the now-sore shoulder as his other moved out to blindly swing back at the senshi. Epidote had never been much for fist fighting in his earlier years at school - every dispute could be handled off the playground and inside, in front of a television screen. Punches and kicks were foreign to him, even when it came to preschool tussling with his older sister.

Though his arm hurt like crazy, he did his best to at least act like it wasn't a big deal. "You're just jealous because I've got a cooler outfit!"

Epidote opened his mouth to elicit another rather witty comeback, but the wind was knocked out of his lungs the moment the other man's knee came into contact with his stomach. The force shoved upwards, Epidote's hands instinctively flying down to grip at his injured front. Instead, hands moved around the bare leg of the senshi, creating a horrified expression across the teenager's face as he realized he wasn't holding against the bottom half of his awesome looking shirt, but the hairy, hairy naked leg of his enemy.

Hands flew off and he stumbled backwards, falling directly on his butt as green eyes stared up at the angry looking Order member.

There were no words, except one.

"GROSS."

Despite his stomach killing him and his butt now stinging like crazy, he couldn't help but rub his palms against the sides of his pants in disgust as he glanced over at his sister.

He'd have been lying if he denied being impressed by the senshi's leap backwards or the magical feather in front of him. So instead, Epidote didn't say anything at all, choosing instead to continue rubbing his hands against his pants. His muscles ached - is this how his characters felt, when they'd been defeated in battle? Sheesh.

Stella hadn't fought his battle for him, she'd just stepped in to tag-team by his side. Like Jesse and James, Bonnie and Clyde. At least the guy had figured out that the odds were against his favor, despite Epidote's obvious lack of fighting talent.

"Yeah, I guess." The words were followed by a heavy sigh and then a grunt, the teenager moving to return to his feet. Brushing the dirt off his hands, fingers moved up to brush through blonde hair, a sign of irritation on the Lieutenant's part. "I can't promise I'll go easy on him next time, though."

He was mindful enough to keep quiet and not exacerbate her headache; Stella was clearly not happy with how the so-called fight had dissolved and he wasn't about to add to her pains.

Fingers brushed against his cheek and his hand covered hers, enjoying the feeling of knowing his older sister was there for him, concerned for him. If it hadn't been for Penny, he'd be wasting another night away on the computer, lost in a digital world. Instead, she'd offered him an opportunity of a lifetime and he wasn't going to mess up, not when this meant so much to her.

"Just my pride, mostly." Gripping her hand in his, he pulled her fingers from off of his face, his somber expression turning into his best grin. "Nothing I can't handle after a nice... consolation prize pizza. Pepperoni, maybe?"

He laughed as she shook her head and turned, chasing after his older sibling as the Lieutenant walked off. Epi knew she'd cave in; they could both use some cheesy junk food after a night like that.

"I'll even let you read me your new story for proofing!"

His voice rang out after her as long legs moved to catch up to the blonde, the teenager linking arms with the eldest Rey as they made their way back to her apartment.