Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was cold and damp in Destiny City, the temperature rapidly falling after the sunset. Even though it was a few days shy of spring the weather begged to differ, the only saving grace was that the city, being lower on the East Coast, hadn’t been hammered by the consecutive nor’easters like the Northern states had been. They were just cold as hell. Not that any of that was currently affecting the young senshi and the slightly older page, both of them were dressed for the cold. A necessary precaution as the duo were currently patrolling the knight’s local area.

The senshi paused outside the boundary of the park, eyeing the shadows and leafless trees. “Are you sure?” The young lady questioned her friend.

“Yes. I heard it from my brother, the lake overlook is really popular with seniors at night. It’s a prime location for chaos action.” The page nodded her blonde head in confirmation to her statement. She didn’t want to go into the creepy park any more then her companion but the page knew it needed patrolling. At the disbelieving look that the senshi tossed the page snarkly added, “you're the one who wanted this ‘sleepover’ to be a good training so grow a pair.”

“Now that was just rude.” Ellicott huffed and stalked into the park. The older girl was right though, Elli had been the one to push for the dual patrolling, convincing their parents to allow the sleepover so they could ‘study’, and hadn’t hesitated sneaking out to go out searching for chaos.

Any conversation the duo would have had was quickly squashed under the oppressive feel of the park. One could imagine their current surroundings to be the perfect setting for a slasher flick, the dim shadows reaching out for the two young girls. The tree branches jabbing and poking like skeletal fingers grasping at them as they walked past. Cold wind shaking the leafless branches into a cacophony of otherworldly sounds and sending shivers up the spines of the intrepid heros. But even with the spooky atmosphere neither girl expected to stumble upon a body, the figure sprawled facedown on the well trodden track.

Khali raced to the body as Eli stood back, her senses on high alert. Burj Khalifa, or Khali for short, quickly determined that the body, a young man, was - “Dead. He’s dead.” Her voice wobbled a bit as blue eyes raked the darkness around them.

“The overlook! Where is the overlook?” Ellicott turned towards her friend, her voice snapping the other girl to attention. The likelihood that this poor boy wasn’t alone was astronomical and if they didn’t move their asses they would have more dead bodies on their hands. This boy was beyond their help but there could be someone out there that they could still save. The young senshi didn’t even wait for Khali to do more then point before she was off running, each time her shoe struck the dirt a silent prayer was sent out into the universe. Please don’t let us be too late..

“Eli!” Khali called out, worry coating the single word. She didn’t even have to say anything else as she kept pace with her younger friend.

“I know. If we can sense them it’s already too late.” The no nonsense senshi hadn’t even slowed when she picked up the aura of a much stronger chaotic person. She knew that her ‘range’ was much smaller than those with more power so when that darkness appeared Ellicott knew they had been ‘spotted’ well before now. Leaving was not an option, not if there was someone they could save. That was the whole reason for being a senshi or a knight right? To protect and serve others? To be the police of the magical side of the city? A police force of children…

Even with her heart in her throat and the knowledge that they would be facing someone stronger then them Eli forged on ahead. The duo bursted out into the opening of the outlook to find a man and the slumped form of a girl. Was she alive? “Back away from the girl! Now!”

“She’s not a bloody cow you… you…” Ellicott practically hissed, stumbling over what exactly to call him and lamely finishing with, “You monster.” The verb wasn’t far off actually. The man, young man really, seemed to have fully embraced the chaos that lived within him. His eyes were a dead give away, as if the things coming out of his back didn’t give the two girls a hint already. Their opponent almost exuded darkness, between his actions and his appearance it was no wonder that Khali had unconsciously stepped back when the Captain started towards them. Elli had a bit more spine, or atleast a more reckless streak because she didn’t back down. Instead the young girl in the winter jacket and pants, her on fuku was not suited to chilly weather let alone winter, sprang into action.

Ellicott had been training in dance for most of her life and in kung fu for the last few years since she became a senshi and decided to truly fight in this ‘war’. She was confident she could at least hold off this monster while Khali got the girl to safety choosing to ignore the little factoid that the young senshi had really only been in a few fights mostly with youma, none with a Captain or a General, most of her experience came from training. Something she would come to regret dearly before the night was over.

Falling back to her most practiced move, her most comfortable move, the senshi preformed her low palm strike as she mentally called it. Elli had speed, precision, and balance to work with. Even with her growth spurts she didn't really have the muscle mass to beat a older male in hand to hand so she needed to be precise and wickedly fast, something she had been working on for a while now.

In a gliding move the combined both dance and kung fu, mostly the later, Ellicott struck out at him. She zipped in low, rapidly dropping into a move that had her leading leg stretched out in front of her while her body was crouched down, nearly to the ground, as her back leg mostly supported her weight. From there she shifted forward in and up in an explosive moment. Her right hand, which had been open and by her front leg arched up even as her entire body moved. All total her full attack couldn't have taken her more then a few heartbeats. She had been aiming for the bottom of the Captain's ribcage, hoping to drive an open palm against it as she shoved up and out with her body. It had her full force behind it, not only her physical strength but momentum as well so with luck he would be driven further away, giving Khali time.

Elli knew however that there were many ways to deflect this kind of attack but it was one of the few she knew she could pull off flawlessly. One that she had practiced over and over again. It never failed her in training so she didn't fear it failing her now in a true fight.

The flash of vindictive pride Elli felt when her palm struck the negaverser in the ribs disappeared like fog burning away in the morning sun when the Captain released some type of magic. The smoke billowed out from around the nega, rapidly surrounding her, choking her. Her gasp of surprise rapidly changed to a coughing hack as she accidentally inhaled the noxious cloud. What in the bloody hell had just happened? Negaverser’s didn’t have magic! Ellicott’s mind spun trying to understand what had just occurred as she stumbled a bit in the fog of smoke, her eyes streaming and her throat horse. “Kha-” her call to her friend was ended prematurely by another coughing fit.

She needed to get out of the smoke! Now!

With that desperate thought in mind the young senshi tried to move quietly out of the haze, her voice rasping as she did her best not to break into yet another lung ripping coughing fit. Unfortunately her subterfuge was completely ruined when a arm shot out at her from her left out of nowhere. Her squeak prompted more coughing even as she flinched away only to be brought up short as the grasping hand latched onto her wrist. “Get… off…” She tugged and twisted, her order interspersed with coughs. “Khali, RUN!”

It couldn’t be magic! Negaversers didn’t have magic. It couldn’t be magic. Smoke bomb? Smoke grenade? Lighting a pack of cigarettes? A carton? Spontaneous combustion? There had to be another explanation besides magic because negaversers couldn’t have magic. It just wasn’t done! Ellicott’s mind spun fruitlessly as she slowly choked on the smothering smoke, her fingers scrabbling at the hand that was digging into her wrist keeping her pinned in the smog. She needed to get out of there! She needed to get free! She needed to breathe! Her struggles grew fainter as the world around her started to recede. Black ate away at the edges of her sight and even sound was muffled, as if cotton had been shoved in her ears, as lack of oxygen started to affect her brain. Even the ringing sound of pipes being struck was but a distant nuisance for Elli as she struggled to remain conscious however even she couldn’t miss the restraining hand on her wrist letting go.

Staggering back Ellicott collapsed just outside of the suffocating smoke and gasped in fresh air. Glorious, glorious air! Once again she coughed but unlike her body desperately trying to absorb oxygen from smog her body was trying to expel that same toxic. It surprisingly didn’t take her long to atleast get a lung full of air without trying to heave out her liver in the process but it apparently took too long for her friend’s sake. The moment Elli was able to breath in a semi normal fashion she turned towards the enemy only to spot Khali on the ground clawing at a smoke snake wrapped around her neck, the nega’s back was to her revealing the ‘appendages’ he sported. Magic, she mentally hissed as she climbed to her feet. He had magic! He had range magic that was offensive and was currently HURTING HER FRIEND! She didn’t care that her wrist was burning from his grip earlier or that her lungs still felt like they were covered in smoke, she had even pushed the death of the boy to the back of her mind. No, what she was currently fixating on was the fact that this creature was hurting her friend.

With more instinct and muscle memory then real thought the young dancer glided towards the nega’s back, she had fallen closer than had been really safe, and immediately dropped into fifth position. In a matter of seconds she quickly transitioned from fifth position to second, then fourth before pushing off into a rapid spin of a classic pirouette. At the last second before she completed the first full rotation she let her right foot, which had been bent and resting just below the front of her left knee, in passe technically, lash out. If her anger hadn’t clouded her judgement and the a*****e who was trying to kill them with second hand smoke didn’t realize what she had done, if all went the same way it had gone the hundreds of times before, then her shin, far stronger than her ankle or her foot, would rocket into the side of her opponent. The force of her body, the skill of her move, and the physics behind the centrifugal force should do some damage… if it didn’t break her tibia in the process.

Khali on the other hand was just fighting to breathe. The smoke snake was constricting around her neck even as she choked on the smog that was leaking into her lungs with every gasp. Oh God! She couldn’t die here! She still had a five page paper to write for English!

Ellicott had feared that her kick would be countered by a leg grab, she had known it was a possibility but she hadn’t really thought that it would happen. She knew the theory behind getting out of such a hold but had never truly practiced it, not that she would ever let such a flaw be revealed to her opponent, however executing such a counter strike was harder then it seemed as the negaverse officer turned with her inertia. It was all Elli could do to keep herself centered and properly balanced without using him as a hold. All of this while she tried not to breath as the bloody b*****d released yet another cloud of smoke around them. Her mind raced, trying to figure out this puzzle she had found herself it even as her lungs started to screamed at her, she was running out of time. Soon she would have to breath and when she did she would be inhaling the nega’s toxic gas, an option she wanted to avoid at all costs.

Unfortunately for the young senshi it wasn’t something she could avoid. It had been forced upon her in the most undignified and disastrous way possible… by her fellow order member, her friend, her companion. She couldn’t help the explosive huff of breath she released upon impact with the knight, or the instinctive inhale that came right after. One was bad but both occurring was horrendous as it ended with her choking once more on the noxious fumes the negaverser had created. The only good thing that had happened from the ‘friendly fire’ attack, if one could even categorize it as good, was that Ellicott hadn’t lost her balance when the knight rammed into her. She wobbled a bit, bent at the waist some, but overall she remained upright. For good or ill the leg that the nega had pinned to his side helped stabilize her. Had he not still held her, she and Khali probably both would have tumbled right into him like some clown act at the circus.



Khali feared for her life, she feared for her soul in all honesty, the black bile staining her uniform was a stark against the pale blue of her jacket. She had no idea what she had just inhaled, what that attack had done to her or would continue to do, but she did know that her friend was still fighting. No matter what happened Khali in the end, she couldn’t… wouldn’t leave the young senshi without backup. Elli was nearly done her attack when the knight charged towards them, prepared to attack the nega from the back while the senshi made him focus on her however the best laid plans always went awry and this wasn’t even a half baked plan.

While Khali thundered closer the dark b*****d let loose yet another smoke screen, this time she wasn’t fooled into thinking it was something mundane, not after the smoke snake tried to choke her to death. The appearance of the demon gas had her nearly fumble as she raced towards the duo but she caught herself, covered her nose and mouth with her jacket sleeve, the fur tickling the side of her face, and barreled into the smoke. The knight had intended to tackle the captain, maybe take him to the ground where they could restrain him, but that's not what happened. Not at all!

The figure she ran into was Ellicott not the negaverser! Somehow the two had reversed their positions just enough that Khali ran into her friend rather than tackling the captain. She tumbled to the ground, having just clipped her friend, and struggled to breath as the knight accidently took in a lungful of the magic smoke from surprise and horror from her ill fated attack.

Freed from the grip of the negaverse captain Ellicott staggered out of the cloud of noxious fumes the bloody b*****d had created, gasping and choking as she brought lung full after lung full of clean air into her body. She wasn’t the only one who was coughing up a metaphorical hairball, she could hear Khali coughing from somewhere behind her, the sound of her friend wheezing drove the young senshi to search for some kind of weapon. Anything! Her mind skipped back to a training session she had with a dickhead of a knight where he said anything could be used as a weapon but there wasn’t anything nearby to use. Frustrated and angry she nearly let out a curse as dark eyes raked the surrounding parkland for something to use. Khali’s call out to her had Elli scrambling for a branch, her friend’s tone was filled with fear and worry. Heaven’s only knew what that man was up to while hidden in his smokescreen. The page needed her help and by God, Ellicott would help her, even if she was armed only with a rather flimsy looking stick.

The young girl spun back to the poisonous cloud at the cry of ‘Elli, get out!’ Her time had run out. It was due or die and there was no way she would leave her friend behind but she had gotten further away then she had intended in her search for a decent weapon. She hadn’t even gotten two steps when a heart wrenching shriek ripped through the air, it was bone chilling, freezing the chibi to the ground as the sound echoed through the empty park. The abrupt cutting of the sound was just as jaring as the scream itself and as the smokescreen dissipated Elli saw the reason behind the cry being cut off. “Khali?” The young senshi practically sobbed out her friend’s name when she saw the still figure on the ground, the captain hovering over her like some fictional monster, a glimmer in his hand the only indication as to what truly happened.

“Khali!” Anger and fear and guilt surged through Ellicott, the heat of the emotions breaking her free of the terror induced immobility, and propelled her towards her downed friend. “Khali,” She screamed the name, rage hazing her vision as she took a swing at the figure lurking over her friend and companion. It didn’t matter to her that the branch she was using was relatively thin or probably could be snapped in two by a toddler, it was what she had and what she was going to drive through the bloody b*****d’s heart. The chibi senshi was beyond practiced moves, past calculated thought, and without worry of her own mortality as she let the fury roar through her. She had been mad at the death of the boy, saddened at the assault on the girl, frustrated at her own inadequate attacks, but all of that paled in the light of the violent energy swirling through her.


Khali screamed as pain tore through her. She could feel the claws wrapping around her starseed, the first time it had ever happened to her actually, and it hurt. It hurt so badly.

It hurt

It hurt

It hurt

Darkness claimed the young knight. Another light dimmed in the universe as the girl’s soul was ripped from her chest leaving the husk behind.

In a small quiet part of her brain Ellicott knew some kind of block or counter attack would result in her strike, she knew that her attack wasn’t good enough to end the fight and save her friend. She knew this and yet she didn’t care. She didn’t even blink at the kick that the captain used to drive her back. The young girl took the strike in directly, his boot driving into her stomach even as the force threw her backwards to tumble into the dirt. Gasping and wheezing, her abused lungs trying to gain back the air that had been kicked out of her, the chibi senshi scrambled to face her opponent.

Just in time to witness him bite down on the glowing starseed of her friend.

“Nooooooooo!” Her cry echoed in the darkness, she wasn’t even aware of the tears that had started to fall from her eyes. What little hope there had been was ruthlessly crushed when the negaverser consumed Khali’s seed, now there was nothing but emptiness and rage. The anger rapidly boiling through her demand revenge. Vengeance. Blood.

With a inarticulate shout of anger Ellicott pushed off of the ground and launched herself at the captain. She had no plan, no idea, no attack, in mind. She just wanted to hurt him. Hurt him the same way he hurt her.