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Tiberius was on loan, sort of. He'd loaned himself out,
when he'd noticed the curly-haired lieutenant heading out on patrol from Romano's after having dropped off a score or so of reports to the Headmaster's office where the Mauvian just happened to be walking through. That cat-door he and Bob had installed sure was a handy thing.

So he'd decided to stop the bespectacled git and hitch a ride-a-long, see what might happen.

Ian - and then Keyite - had acquiesced to his demands after finding out just whom he was attached to. Apparently Tiberius' mistress really was magical and her name could open all sorts of nifty doors. "Alright Specs, lets go!"

Tiberius hopped from the desk to Keyite's shoulders, noting the difference between the way he carried himself from his Mistress. Broader perch, but less assured, less stable. Ah well, there were worse things, certainly, and his claws sank just as well into the material of Keyite's uniform as it did hers.

Better, actually, as he didn't bother being quite as careful. He was pretty sure the guy was muttering nasty things in French as they went on patrol.


Keyite was not entirely unhappy to have a Mauvian companion - the fact that Tiberius could mask his energy signature as he worked was absolutely fantastic and he planned to make great use of it for his energy collections that evening.

He was not happy to have one, either, mostly because Tiberius was a cheeky creature and tended to call attention to himself no matter how many times one requested otherwise - Keyite had seen the Mauvian around the Citadel many times. But he would tolerate the massive, furry yoke around his neck, even though it slowed him down and made movement that much harder, for the benefits far outweighed the negatives.

They made it through six energy collections uneventfully and were working on the seventh when one of the myriad Order-based energy signatures seemed to come a bit closer than the others previously. It was only a basic signature, but Keyite had so been looking forward to not having to get into any spats with order idiots that night. Go away, there's nothing here to see.

He willed whomever it was to just go the ******** away - it wasn't like they could sense him there, after all. Not with Tiberius.

kuropeco

"Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it looks like we got company incoming." Tiberius grumbled and hopped off of Keyite's shoulders, taking up a stance flanking the officer; he had no idea how the stupid senshi - for that's what it was, the familiar feel of one that should have been his sliding across his senses even as the Order aura grated - could have discovered them, not with him engaging his aura masking powers.

That had been the entire point, hadn't it? For him going with Keyite? To keep the curly haired git from being noticed. In exchange he'd get a ride to the Finn's place where he could waltz in and order a pizza. Which he would eat before the big grump brought him back to Stroud's flat - or gave in and simply contacted Laz to let him know that Tiberius would be sticking around for the eve.

But if the stupid senshi had somehow managed to sense them through his powers?

That was a problem. A problem that would need to be reported to Axinite as soon as possible. If it were only him, that was okay. Maybe he could be fixed. Or if it were only that one senshi...they could just kill the piece of trash and not have to worry about things. If the senshi were carrying some new Order-based tech that nullified his abilities? The absolute worst case scenario possible. All of the Chaos Mauvians would have to shift their personal projects aside and work together to offset the potential damage from such a thing.

Tiberius shuddered, ears going flat against his head and fur standing on end. "I hope you're stronger than you look, Specs."


Keyite held his tongue, he had no idea what horrific luck had brought them a senshi, but with what the cat was saying and how he was acting...there was no doubt it was going to happen. "Dammit."

He drew off as much energy as he dared, leaving their victim unconscious but still in possession of their star seed; there was no point in taking it, that wasn't on his list and the last thing he wanted to do was ******** up the good work the Negaverse PR department had been doing.

As the senshi asked asinine questions, Keyite pushed his glasses up his nose and sized him up. "Bright one, aren't you? Obviously, we're part of the Negaverse." His French accent had lessened some over his months teaching at Romano's, but it was still there, and if Hermes had imparted disdain into his words, the officer's dripped derision and a hint of laughter.

"I am Keyite, you dull creature. How did you find me, I was masked."

kuropeco

Okay, so the senshi looked like a ******** p***k, even more of a stuck up b*****d than Specs - and that was hard to do - but he was kind of funny. Tiberius wondered which of the two stuck up snobs would win the contest of snobbery and stupidity...which was perhaps not very kind, but he wasn't really feeling kind.

At least he understood now that it had been the idiot officer's stupid shoes that had ******** things up, instead of some failure on Tiberius' own part. That was awesome, because it meant that he didn't have to make a report about that, didn't have to worry about being experimented on or anything.

Tibs was pretty happy. "Well Specs, ******** him up. What are you waiting for?"

Keyite really could have done without the scathing commentary from the cat. He was already having to deal with the stuffy senshi.

"Oh, absolutely. We'll just be on our way." Keyite made as though he were contrite and picked Tiberius up. The cat did not seem pleased. The cat would be less pleased momentarily, because Keyite ******** tossed him at Hermes before charging forward and dropping down to do a leg sweep while the senshi was - hopefully - distracted by an irate Mauvian.

Being chucked like a sack of potatoes wasn't something Tibs wanted to experience, it did not please him. At all. So when it happened, he went CLAWS OUT, snarling. Keyite would pay. But first, he had a senshi to maul.

It was impressive, really, how quickly the garish senshi recovered from having a twenty-some-odd pound ball of fur, fang, claw, and fury thrown directly at him. Especially since Tiberius had absolutely no intention of letting Hermes free of his tender mercies so easily.

"I didn't chose to be thrown!" The massive Mauvian spat, raking his claws at the senshi's wrists and screaming, banshee-like, directly into his face like any normal, angry cat might. The only difference was that Tiberius was doing it with purpose, to disorient and dismay, rather than on pure instinct.

With only one hand, it was easy for Tiberius to get another slash in across the senshi's front, this time going for his throat but miscalculating the distance and trajectory and instead snagging on the costume at the chest. Keyite had deflected most of the kick and was--well, doing something that was bound to be unpleasant, so Tibs let himself be removed, bouncing away from the senshi and officer with an aggressive flounce and a hiss.

Keyite grabbed Hermes' ankle and yanked even as he was pulling himself up, using leverage and the fact that the senshi was still off balance to make an attempt at dropping him.

"Cowards?" He spat invective, epithets in French rolling from his tongue like water, like music. "Your lot have nothing to be saying for that!" Even if he couldn't drop the senshi, Keyite's gloved hand closed around a handful of detritus, which he threw up into Hermes' face; he had no scruples - this was war. War was not a game for idealists or dreamers, it was the gritty reality of blood, death, and destruction.

He would do whatever it took to win. Happily.

As far as Tiberius was concerned, Hermes was disgusting, dirty and vile - he was clean, awesome, and amazing, thanks. Stroud made sure of that with daily grooming, healthy food (that he supplemented with garbage), and regular veterinary care.

Still, he wasn't going to get further involved if he didn't have to. Keyite was a garbage lieutenant and had thrown him without asking, which wasn't okay. Tiberius fully intended to tell his Mistress and have him punished for it, when this was all over.

Which meant he got to watch as Keyite fumbled around after the senshi cast his magic. It was pretty funny.

Keyite took the kick to his shoulder but grimly hung onto the senshi's leg until the magic hit, at which point all hell broke loose because the lieutenant could have sworn there was suddenly a second assailant alongside the senshi attacking him, breathing heavy over his shoulder somehow. Keyite rolled away from Hermes, wanting to get away from both senshi and shadow opponent, wanting to know whom had joined - they were familiar, but he just couldn't place his finger on how he knew them.

"Cheap senshi magic, utter garbage! Can't fight me like a man!" Did he take a few swings at the shadow-opponent? Yes, it didn't connect, at all. But he felt fingers trailing along the back of his neck, along his shoulders - cold and creepy. Horrible. <******** that senshi.

Eventually, the Mauvian tired of watching the curly haired lieutenant floundering around - though not before taking some video to use as blackmail for later - and sinuously stretched from his 'hiding' place to go give the poor sod a helping paw.

"Hey Lieutenant Dan, that Senshi? He's long gone. You're shadow-boxing." It seemed that the knowing helped to break the magic's hold on Keyite and realization flooded with pinked cheeks and that delightful rage tremble. No one liked to be made a fool of, after all.

The cat sidled over, expression as smug as the slight c**k in his banner of a tail arched over his back. Keyite didn't speak cat, but even he couldn't miss the meaning there. "C'mon, nothing good to be found here now, let's go get some tea or whatever you posh snobs prefer to lower your blood pressure before you take me back to my Mistress."

Getting bossed around by a Mauvian was no balm to his raw nerves. Keyite wanted nothing more than to punt the fat, fluffy demon into the nearest dumpster before dumping accelerant in and setting it alight. But the beast served the Hellbeast General. He would not cross that one, so he curbed his temper and choked bile back, acquiescing to the feline's demands.

I hope your Mistress skins you alive, you horrible bag of fleas...