[PRP] Out of the Frying Pan [Gremlin/Eleonora/Diesel]

[Indigo_Plateau]

Fuh-rick.

Long claws scittered over cracked concrete. Frozen droplets spun out of puddles as he disturbed them. Wind whipped and tugged at his ears. Gremlin's breath came in sharp little pants as he swiveled his head to look behind him and kept running. Something dark and roiling slammed into a garbage can behind him, and the thing used its... arm-tentacles? To right itself as it bolted after him.

It didn't matter where his allegiance lay. A Guardian was no youma's friend, especially not a stupid, oozing feral one that could hardly tell a civilian from a senshi. Gremlin wasn't completely stupid. He wouldn't disturb a youma regardless of who it was going after- But maybe loitering around to watch the monster harvest its meals from unsuspecting worthless trash bags called humans wasn't his finest moment. The thing only had to lay eyes on him once before it decided Gremlin was the worthier prize.

On one hand: fair.

On the other, he wasn't going to let himself be youma chow! And Gremlin had been reasonably confident that he could outrun and outmaneuver some stupid monster. He still figured that on a good day, he probably could at least manage to keep his distance until he could message for a rescue from a general who'd put the stupid monster in its place. But the air was freezing. Snow and sleet and ice dotted the roadways. The dark of night had chased any heat from the sun away, and this was, admittedly, not a good time for Gremlin to be out.

If it was warm, he'd show up any stupid youma! But it wasn't. The air was cold enough to burn his throat, and he could hardly feel his paws where they collided- dragged- over the ground. It was fine for him to be out while he had cover and his blankets and trinkets, less so while he was exposed. Even the magical nature of his figure wasn't enough to completely alleviate the pitfalls of being furless.

At this point, there was only one thing to do, "Help!" He yowled, ducking beneath a bush that separated the street from the sidewalk and knowing that would hardly be a deterrent for a monster. But he couldn't keep going, he couldn't. If he hung out in the cold for another second, he'd definitely be getting that hypothermia... He already felt short of breath, and his paws were cold, so cold.  

[Shanyume]

For the first time in the past week, Breana had decided to take a break from trying to hunt down her sister. There was only so much she could do to try and reconcile things between them that it finally reached that point where even she had to take a step back.

Rather than waiting outside of the ice rink like a horribly obvious stalker, she instead decided to go to the grocery store and pick up a few things they were running low on at the house; things like dish soap and kleenex since this winter had been brutal on his sinuses. Bags were stowed in the back seat of her car when out of nowhere she heard a desperate call for help.

Breana glanced around, wind whipping her snow-colored hair to the side. The parking lot was near empty and of the few people that were walking into the store, none of them seemed to be under any durres. She turned again, looked up and noticed one of the surveillance cameras pointed in her general direction.

“No good…” Here was not a safe place to power up.

Quickly she closed and locked the doors, left the shopping cart where it was, and hustled to a dark area behind the building on the opposite side of the grocery store. With her pen she powered up and that was when she realized that the shout for help didn’t come from a civilian but rather someone powered running from what felt like it was a youma that was chasing them.

“I uh.” Think… think… What would Alcor do? Not get involved for starters. The one doing the fleeing was obviously chaos and not worth her time after they nearly corrupted them both. But that wasn’t how Eleonora functioned. Youma were serious business and if a member of the Negaverse couldn’t control it if they got injured or died.

“I need something, something- AH HA” There, at the end of the alley, was a metal garbage can that had been kicked over. Debris littered the ground but to the side was a metal lid, “That’ll do.” A wide grin pulled her lips into a wicked smile.

The smell left something to be desired but after calling out her magic “Touch of Heat,” Eleonora was pleased to see the metal begin to glow as red as her hands.

“Run this way!” She shouted. With something of a weapon to defend herself with, albeit flimsy and non-magical in its existence, she took off in the direction of the shouts with the intent to in essence shield slam the youma with the hot disc of metal hard enough to disorient it so that they could either get away or dust the damn thing.

show spoilerhide spoiler

Sailor Scout Attack: Touch of Heat (no flame is involved)
After calling out her attack, Sailor Alcorb (Eleonora) hands get very hot and take on a redish tint which lasts for 15 seconds. In order for this attack to be effective Sailor Alcorb (Elenora) must make physical contact with the opponent or object. Once contact is made the area begins to get hot at a rapid rate and burns will spread no more than 5" from where her hand is so long as she can maintain contact for 5 seconds. Effect wise against an oponent the area will take on what could be considered a really bad sun burn (like fell asleep on the beach) of pain/ discomfort, if contact is maintained for more than 5 seconds blisters may appear. Otherwise, if she is holding onto an object it might make it uncomfortably hot like removing a potato from the oven (depends on the objects material). The burn duration lasts for 20 seconds after contact is broken for the person to 'cool down' time may take longer depending on weather. Severity of the blisters TBD by the player.
This attack can be summoned 3 times.

Indigo_Plateau

 

[Indigo_Plateau]

Shanyume

A sound like a whimper escaped him, and Gremlin drew his frozen limbs in close to himself as he gazed with widened, icy eyes from between the foliage of his cover bush. The youma still lumbered after him, all roiling limbs and disjointed body. It had slowed a bit now that Gremlin was out of its sight, but the Mauvian knew better to expect that was the end.

It drew near, close enough for him to smell: like... charcoal and cotton. And musty dog. What a piece of work.

Gremlin tensed as it entered his immediate vision. He had one good blast in him, and while it seemed unwise to use it out here in the cold, while he was alone and unprotected, what other choice did he have? If he got a good hit in, maybe it'd dust the worthless thing and then he'd have a second to breathe. And send for summons. He shifted his weight, drew up on his paws. A branch crackled, leaves rustled. The monster moved for him.

And then something else fizzled at the edges of Gremlin's senses. And presumably, the youma's too. Both paused. He felt it like a little flare, a magical signature of some White Moon rat. He might've scoffed, but he guessed the senshi had probably seen the monster and was hunting it, so he wouldn't complain.

'Run this way!'

And then he heard her. Immediately, he thought he recognized the voice, though it took Gremlin a second to place it as- that snooty witch from the park. Who's said he looked homeless. Gremlin's lips pulled back in a snarl, and as the youma moved to chase the much more worrisome senshi signature, Gremlin poked his head out of the bushes and swiveled to face the girl. Sure enough, it was the white-headed wench from before. Well, maybe she would like a monster to fight, and maybe he hadn't learned his lesson about not loitering around to watch.

But he wasn't about to leave cover to meet up with anyone from the White Moon. He could hardly even stand, his paws were so numb, anyway. So he just sneered from his bush, "Not a chance, idiot girl! Hope you're looking to have your starseed removed tonight!"  

[Shanyume]

“Ugh,” Eleonora rolled her eyes in disgust. “Hey there Chicken Nugget, fancy running into you again.” Had she’d known it was him out here, then she would have probably listened to her sister's advice and not gotten involved. But now Eleonora was committed.

“Twice now without an agent around, are you sure you’re not homeless?” She smirked in his general direction and when the youma shot out at her with one of its tentacles, she raised the trash can lid.

Kinda really gross that its flesh made a hissing sound and left a burnt sort of smell but whatever, just think of it as cooking calamari and it’d be fine. What mattered most was that her idea worked, kinda, enough so that she felt pride roll through her when the youma recoiled away.

Indigo_Plateau

 

[Indigo_Plateau]

Chicken nugget!

How insulting!

Gremlin bristled from his place beneath the bush, head poking out and teeth bared at the girl. You know what, fine. If she wanted those to be her last words, who was he to take that from her? A lone, basic-a**, worthless senshi would be a good distraction while he sent out a retrieval message. The youma could eat the girl. And if it didn't, the one who came and found him definitely would.

"Imagine the trouble you'd be in if I wasn't alone," he hissed, likely too softly for it to carry to her and over all the excitement she was experiencing. Her aura and challenge had suitably distracted the youma, so all Gremlin really had to do was watch and wait to see how things unfolded.

But first, his pen. So that when one of them went down (irrelevant of which), he'd still have someone coming for backup to protect him from a stupid White Moon girl, or a feisty youma. The creature recoiled from the assault, sizzling where the lid had burned it and letting out low, wailing sounds as it regarded the senshi.

Ultimately, it wasn't like it had anything to lose. Get starseed or be dusted back to the Rift, and the lure of a senshi starseed outweighed most fear.

Typing wasn't his forte, but Gremlin pulled his Negaverse pen from subspace and spoke into the little microphone. "Did you even bother to wonder why I wasn't at home? Come get me! ******** worthless human." He only had to scroll through his contacts and select his person of choice to send the message away, with a blip of a dot on a map to signal his location. Admittedly, not a general, who'd probably be more useful in this situation, but a little Firestarter who'd warm him up from the frostbite he was getting...  

[Shanyume]

Eleonora let out an undignified sounding snort and rolled her eyes at that last comment. Note to future self, let the naked mole-rat fend for himself.

The youma, much to her dismay, took her moment of distraction from their bickering to lash out at her again. This time, rather than striking at the heated ‘shield’, it struck out at her ankles. A tentacle wrapped firmly around her lower leg and yanked with enough force to knock the Senshi of Heat on her backside.

Black spots littered her vision when the back of her head connected with the concrete, left her dazed for a hot moment but with at least a shred of sense to try and roll out of the way.

It held fast which forced her to expend another use of her magic. “Touch of Heat,” she hissed. Sitting up with an audible groan she grabbed the disgusting appendage.

Ugh, ******** gross. felt like picking up one of those banana slugs, just … no- Eww. Eleonora groaned while scrambling towards the mauvian. ‘Come at me’ he invited and she was more than happy to oblige; this was, after all, his problem to begin with.

She had no idea what he was doing in the bush, except for hiding like a scaredy-cat. But if it took grabbing him by the scruff and pointing him in the direction of the youma until he used the little beam trick she knew he was capable of, then that’s what she’d do to force the ornery piece of s**t to help her kill it because, on her own, this wasn’t a fight she could win.

Indigo_Plateau

 

[Indigo_Plateau]

Shanyume

Gremlin’s ears snapped upright as he stared wide-eyed at the girl vaulting away from the youma and toward him. He lurched back from her advance and fumbled to get his paws functioning enough to move- to evade, but there was nothing for it. His bare little paw pads were frozen stiff, the ends of his limbs numb from the cold with an uncomfortable tingle traveling up to his shoulders and hips.

All he succeeded in doing was flopping backward as he tried to dodge the girl, and a second later, he drew his numb paws toward himself as a barricade between the chilly earth and frosty air, and his rapidly cooling torso.

“You stay away from me, stupid girl!” He spat, scrabbling away from her with graceless kicks and fumbles. If anyone had ever said he looked diseased, well, he for sure did now, with jerky, uncoordinated movements and wild blue eyes. But it didn’t matter what she saw. Didn’t matter what a worthless White Moon brat thought of him. If he just stayed out of her grasp, the youma’d have her, anyway. Gremlin scooter his way out the back of the bush, popping out the other side where the divide shielded the sidewalk from the road.

His back paws didn’t even realize they were going over the edge into the gutter, but the rest of his body felt it all at once, a plummeting sensation, though it reasonably shouldn’t have been more than a few inches. His paws hit water cold as ice, then his bum, then the rest of him slipped in.

Gremlin froze in terror. Everything stopped functioning. Couldn’t move his limbs, couldn’t pull himself free. His breath was shocked to a stall in his chest.

There was just a high-pitched, terrified, wailing yowl as his head disappeared under water, into a puddle inexplicably deeper than he could imagine.  

[Shanyume]

When s**t hits the fan, oh man do things get messy.

If it wasn’t for the very real threat of danger hot on her heels, she would have wondered where the hidden camera was at. There was no way that her Captain America entrance turned into this Tom and Jerry scene of the cat chasing the mouse while the dog chasing the cat, but the powered version obviously, just turned into the parking lot puddle jump joke all within a few minutes time.

It was a laughable transition from one into the other and looking back on this, she might even laugh. BUT as things currently stood, her hairless beam blaster just Houdinied himself into a sinkhole of sorts since it was too deep to be a pothole.

“I REALLY HATE YOU FOR THIS!” She yelled, drew in a deep breath and jumped in after the mauvian before he sunk too deep for her to fish him out. Hopefully, the youma was aquaphobic because she really couldn’t deal with an angry cat, cold waters, and a monster all at once.

Indigo_Plateau

 

[Indigo_Plateau]

Shanyume

He was shocked still, body entirely frozen up and unfeeling, unmoving as Gremlin sank into what should have been a puddle barely deep enough to cover his paws. But it kept going and going: icy darkness that he could neither move nor see through. Where was he and how? It was just a gutter puddle! How could he possibly be sinking as if in frozen tar? When an arm clasped around him, he was no wiser for it, only aware passively that there was a spot of warmth somewhere against his skin.

Logically he knew that any feeling of warmth in an icy depth probably boded ill for the damage it was causing him. But he knew it was there, he could feel it like it was real, and if he could, he pressed to it, leeched from it. He didn't want to die a catsicle!

The youma, for its part, could only see that all of its prey had disappeared down a shallow hole in the ground. A tentacle dip in the subzero water was enough of a signal to its tiny mind that it did not want to give chase. But these were living things that needed air and warmth, and they must breathe. It would wait. It would wait for them to resurface and then it would have them both-

Presumably.

Another aura prickled at its senses. Chaos, maybe. A kindred spirit. But senshi, definitely. Enemy, enemy, enemy, no matter what it fought for. All senshi were only enemy. And one had already momentarily evaded it. A second would not do the same. It folded roiling tentacles over and over itself as it swiveled toward the next prey: a boy with a mane of highlighter flame hair, stepping from the top of a building across the street and landing several yards away.

Diesel stood for a moment, staring at the youma that loitered where his cat had pinged him to. Gremlin had angrily messaged him for a retrieval, and Diesel hadn't thought anything about the harsh tone, but if there was a youma and a White Moon aura here, and no sign of his Muvian, then...? More danger than he'd anticipated.

He hesitated only because the youma was still.

It wasn't his place to go around dusting the Negaverse's monsters, and so long as they weren't after him or their Guardian allies- Then it burbled out a blundering caterwaul and started tumbling toward him. So, not friendly. Not friendly, and where was Gremlin?

Diesel vaulted from where he stood. If the monster wanted a go at him and had scared his cat into hiding, then they'd have a go. And he'd seriously have to ask someone why his faction's own monsters were trying to pick a fight with him when there were Order signatures around- Or maybe that was why. The White Moon was somewhere agitating the creature's senses, though Diesel couldn't see it. Stupid monster probably couldn't, either.

Regardless, it was something he couldn't waste his time with, if Gremlin needed help. When Diesel's fist hit a mound of tentacles, he summoned his magic and sent the creature rocketing backward. Not dusted, but at least out of his way for a moment.

"Gremlin?" Diesel shouted as he scoured the area. "Where you at?"  

[Shanyume]

There’s cold, then there’s ******** freezing, this definitely fell in the spectrum of the latter.

As a civilian, she often avoided going to the ice rink unless it was to watch her sister's skating performance. Swimming was an ehh… thing to do; open water, definitely not unless it was tropical. Public pools, only if they’re heated. Jacuzzi - in a heartbeat. Unlike Fiona whose life theme song was ‘Let It Go’, the cold definitely bothered Eleonora every damn day.

The longer she stayed under, the harder it was to move, joints becoming stiff- lungs burning, desperate for air. But to stop kicking her feet meant certain death and who knows how far down this hole was. Would anyone ever think to look in a streetside puddle for a missing body? Probably not. Another missing person, and cat, to be thumbtacked to the corkboard at the precinct.

Lovely.

Chaos or not, Eleonora couldn’t bring herself to let the mauvian go and instead shifted him slightly. One arm held him close while the other reached up in desperate search of the opening she had jumped into. No doubt the youma was up there waiting, but the two of them were nearly out of time.

Searching fingers found purchase on the jagged edge of crumbled concrete and small stones There… almost… I- Holding on hurt like hell but with a fair amount of effort she kicked her legs and pulled them both up and out of the hole in the ground.

A moment to catch her breath before the mauvian was set aside long enough for her to pull herself the rest of the way out of the waterhole and to open her subspace pocket where that blessed blanket was kept. “Do-don’t yo-ou-ou dar-r-re die on m-m-m-me. I ne-e-e-ed you-r-r-r st-t-t-upid beam-m-m.” Eleonora stiffly moved to wrap the hairless goblin in the fleece blanket to dry him off, warm him up, yell at her or something.

Indigo_Plateau

 

[Indigo_Plateau]

Shanyume

They landed on the sidewalk next to the gutter in a sopping wet splash, as if the girl had just pulled herself out of a pool, with a stiff, limp cat in tow. He hardly registered the cement against his flank, was barely aware of the tiny ice crystals that started forming over him and on the ground around him as his body met the chilled air. No thoughts, no movement, glazed eyes, parted maw. Just the shallowest rasp of air from his lungs to indicate he wasn't yet gone.

And the girl, the girl pulled him back to her, bundled him up in a blanket, scrubbed the ice and water from his sides and limbs. What was this stupid girl even still doing here? His beam? She wanted him to exhaust himself trying to fend off that youma for her? She'd reached in for him just to make use of his abilities? Rude, selfish thing.

A choking, chittery, weak rumble vibrated through him.

Her long white hair spilled over her shoulder in a tangled mess, dripping ice where she leaned over him. His frosty gaze slid judgingly to her, and he could see where the ice formed on her too. She was wet. She was wet like she'd jumped into the water. Not just reached into the puddle, but jumped into it. Just so he could beam the youma? They could've both died. Still could, probably. Her shoulders were bare. Gremlin was bundled in fluffy fabric. His throat stung from the cold, but he could breathe. He hadn't sucked in any water, despite the shock. 'Stupid witch.' The thought was poison, but he couldn't articulate it. His head only bowed toward her, into the blanket.

"Uh..." Diesel squinted at the whole person who'd just climbed out of a roadside gutter. Yeah, sure, magic and all that, totally possible. But also, what? And how? And why. Her aura definitely sang of Order. Her soaking white clothes indicated as much even more. But if it was something from her magic, would she be so... pale and blue-looking? And trembling and chattering? And what was that she was leaning over...?

He stared, he squinted. He waited for her to shift enough for him to see, and it wasn't until the bundle tucked forward that he recognized- "Gremlin!" Diesel shrieked as he flew to the girl's side.

The shaking girl, soaking wet and chattering and drenched completely through her fuku, furiously trying to dry off a vibrating Mauvian. "Yo, that's my cat," he exclaimed toward the girl. "What're you doing? How did this happen?" His fingers hovered at her side, not touching but still compelled to try and... do something? Get his Chaos Mauvian away from this White Moon girl who could be as hostile as any youma.  

[Shanyume]

Teeth chattering like one of those table-top windup toys, Eleonora looked up in obvious confusion at the corrupt. He was most definitely not who, or what, she was expecting when they emerged from the puddle. That, however, was not what her thoughts got hung up on.

Gremlin, that’s what this little nugget’s name was? How fitting. The desire to laugh at the irony of it was definitely there, but the cold shivers made it difficult to do so.

A moment spared to glance over to the aura she had expected to see and it was there, a short distance away, she noticed the monster's lengthy arm writhe. Eleonora shifted, held the bundled chaos cat close and moved away from the corrupt. “Youm-m-ma first-t.” pointed a shaking hand towards the beast in case her stuttered words were too incoherent. “Pleas-se.” Storytime would come after that creature was gone.

“To-ouch of H-heat,” both hands glowed a bright red and carefully she roamed them over the blanket just long enough to warm it and the mauvian bundled inside of it. The magic, however, was dismissed before she burned either one of them.

Indigo_Plateau

 

[Indigo_Plateau]

Shanyume

Uh, no?

Diesel's impulse was to refuse. He didn't know this girl, didn't know the story of what was going on here, and definitely didn't want to be caught conspiring to aid the enemy. He wasn't going to just take out one of his own monsters because she- what, asked? It probably wouldn't even kill her; it just wanted some of her energy.

He craned his head to peer over her shoulder at his Mauvian. Gremlin's whole state could be her fault, anyway. Why would he help her?

Well, maybe because it didn't really matter whose fault it was. Both Gremlin and the girl didn't look that well off. The cat was in her grasp now, like some sort of hostage situation, and all three of them were youma snacks. Not a one of them could control it, and it definitely didn't like anyone present: two senshi and a Mauvian. If the creature was just going to be a nuisance while Diesel tried to figure out what the heck this puddle party was, better to just be rid of it.

"Fine," he grumbled, whipping away from the girl and toward the writhing creature as it bumbled back toward them. But only because he didn't feel anyone nearby. No Negaverse to see him dusting a youma, and no White Moon to come around and gang bang him once the creature was dealt with. Just Diesel, this one basic girl, and the cat. And the monster trying to hunt them.

He moved to intercept it before it could come draw too much closer.

---

The magical warmth flooded through Gremlin's body like a radiant little flame, blossoming despite the cold weather. It almost felt like his senshi's magic, but softer somehow, quieter. Diesel's was always loud, snappy, and abrupt, and this was just... more peaceful.

He flexed his claws, stiff muscles trying to come back to life as he kneaded sharp claws into the fleece.

It was foolish of her to bother with him. Her jumping into the puddle did her no favors. He was cold and wet and probably wouldn't be firing off a blast anytime soon, and now, so was she. If she tried to run, that youma would catch her easy. And if it didn't, she wasn't getting away from a corrupt super. She was toast, all cause she tried to jump in after him.

"Didn't think that through very well, huh," he rasped softly at her, wide eyes angled just so as to barely peer in her direction. "Bet you wish you woulda just ran. Saved yourself the trouble."  

[Shanyume]

“Heh…” Despite the small laugh, she felt no humor towards their situation.

Even if the corrupt disposed of the youma for them; Eleonora was under no illusion as to how much of a disadvantage she was currently at; cold… wet… and only one use of her magic still remained. “Con-contrary to your cynicism-m. If I kn-knew then-n what I kn-know now…” A small smile tugged her lips when she looked down at him. “I wouldn’t hav-ve changed a thing.”

“One of my best f-friends is a mauvian. I could only hope th-that if he was in tr-trouble that someone would step in t-to save him regardless of what side they’re on.” While there was no mirror around to be seen, Eleonora felt certain that her lips were turning blue and with how her joints ached as if she had a flu only time would tell how long this little evening dive would leave her feeling sick.

“Even though you’ve scratched the s-s**t out of me, I wouldn’t have left yo-you to the mercy of tha-at youma.” He could berate her for the decision, call her stupid or ignorant because it went against his own nature, but she wasn’t in the market of abandoning her values for the sake of his pride. No doubt a simple show of gratitude or quiet thanks would likely kill him which is why she decided to gloss over that part of the conversation and add a sincere “you’re welcome.”

Indigo_Plateau

 

[Indigo_Plateau]

Shanyume

What a ******** mess. What a load of absolute bullshit. Diesel cast one glance over his shoulder at the girl, then turned to size the youma up. It was going to be hugely inconvenient if this got reported. Just because he couldn't sense anyone nearby, didn't mean no one was watching, and it'd be a great wreck if some Negaverse civilian was loitering in the shadows, watching out for information on how this was going to play out.

He definitely wouldn't out it past them.

But Diesel just wanted his cat, and then he'd be out. Might as well get it done. The youma was only a couple of yards away: a great tangled ball of tentacles or vines or whatever the hell it was. Diesel was convinced it was a stupid one, easy to meet head on and punch it's lights out, so long as he avoided any retaliation.

His magic burst in a flurry of heat around him as he kicked off the ground and launched himself at the monster. He'd only had a handful of chances to use his super magic, and for obvious reasons, never against a youma. The things was a tumbling, writhing ball: hardly a speed demon. And when Diesel landed in front of it, it had only a second to lash out, tentacles like a whip as Diesel used another spell to rocket himself to the side (side of the youma? He couldn't even tell where the front of it was).

But it didn't matter. A flurry of magic-infused, heat-packed punches was enough to first stun, then disorient, then finish the creature. If it could communicate, it definitely wouldn't have any good things to say about him.

And he'd shown off a bunch of his magic where this enemy girl could see. His brother would be so disappointed...

Just get his cat and leave.

Diesel moved back to the pair, crouching down to the ground to be closer to Gremlin despite how the senshi girl was mostly keeping him to herself. Gremlin's response as his senshi was ******** finally next to him was just a spit of annoyance in Diesel's direction. His boy would have let him die, just cause he didn't show up when Gremlin called! What a lousy ******** senshi.

He huffed softly (more of a beleaguered exhale than true frustration) and then muttered just one curt word at the girl, "Liar." Because all humans were. He didn't know what she got out of this- except he guessed he did know, since the youma wasn't after her, anymore. And all she had to do was get around Gremlin's stupid senshi boy and she'd be home free.

But, admittedly, most humans who'd been awakened to this power knew better than to abandon a Mauvian. He doubted anyone would abandon her Guardian friend, like Gremlin expected to be abandoned himself.

He was uniquely unwanted.

Diesel reached to smear a hand against the top of the Guardian's head as he glanced to the girl. "Look, I appreciate it, but I can take him now, okay? It'll be better for me to take him home, rather than you trying to do anything else out here. The youma's gone, so you can get lost somewhere unbothered."