Indra was not a creative man. When things deviated from the unexpected, he often found himself struggling to come up with solutions on the fly. The situation with youma was no different. How was he supposed to deal with them when they cropped up anywhere and everywhere? It might be different if he had something to fend them off with, but he didn't. Just a little glass jar, hardly more than a paperweight. Since they often came about exactly when he didn't want them, it was impossible to feel prepared, regardless of any precautions he might've taken.
It frequently seemed like the best solution was to lure them somewhere he could deal with them: somewhere he could pick up an effective weapon, or somewhere tall enough that he could simply trick them into falling to their demise. Away from his place of business was often his greatest priority.
Such was why he was sprinting hard down an alleyway behind a parking garage only a block away from where he worked. The thing that followed him was fast practically gliding after him on silent paws that left Antisana little room to come up with an alternative besides simply flee. Unlike most monsters he'd faced thus far, this one was deathly silent. Hardly more than a shadow. It certainly would have easily incapacitated Indra while he took out the trash from the shop, except Indra was paranoid for youma now, always looking for something out of the ordinary.
It barely took more than the flutter of a shadow to set him on edge.
The end of the garage suddenly seemed very far away, too far away for him to outpace the monster in a straight shot, even with Antisana’s increased speed. He’d been doing well enough dipping through turns and dodging against corners, but for a long, unbroken alley? He could feel it on his heels.
Straight wasn’t going to get him anywhere. In an idiotic moment of desperation, Antisana pivoted, dove for one of the gaps in the parking garage railing, and was instantly-
Punished for shoddy decision making.
Jaws clamped around his thigh, and a spike of fear jolted his spine because he didn’t feel it, just the tug that ripped him off the wall and sent him careening into the side of a dumpster with a shout and a thud.
It moved in complete silence. Its bite caused no pain, though when Anti looked, he could see deep punctures dribbling red down the leather of his pants. This youma was the ultimately stealthy killer, displaying practically no warnings before or even after it struck. The only reason he’d noticed it at his work was because there shouldn't have been movement where there had been movement.
Imagine if he had been slow or frail or easily frightened... How many times over would he simply have just died?
But it wasn’t looking like his fate would be especially different, regardless. He clambered his way atop the dumpster, and when the youma dove for him a second time, his foot cracked hard into its chest, earning him only one swipe from its claws before his knee buckled from the earlier bite.
Another loud thud resounded down the alley as it collided with the parking garage wall with a seething hiss, but it was back on its paws quickly, and Antisana wasn’t sure what else he could do here.
xShanyume
Backdated to March 20, 2022 or so?
Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2022 1:45 pm
True to form, Hannah was once more late leaving work again. Another nurse had called out sick and she stayed late to cover half of their shift. Jamison had come in early to relieve her, thankfully, but after a 16-hour shift, Hanna was exhausted and ready to go home.
Her car had been parked on the third floor of the parking garage; the tall structure across from the emergency room. Usually, there was someone in the pay booth but it appeared that they were perhaps on their lunch break. No matter. With her pass, she would still be able to get out without their aid.
As she walked from the main entrance over to the stairwell in the corner of the building, Hannah heard the startling sound of a man shouting followed by a sickening thud as if the person had fallen off something high up.
It wasn’t uncommon for transients to find their way in here, to find a spot between parked cars to take a sheltered nap or to scope out vehicles that might have something valuable left inside. Try as they might, security for the hospital was short staffed and they could not keep an eye out here at all hours and unfortunately, the hospital was not exempt from the crime that ran rampant through Destiny City.
For a brief moment she considered calling the post in the ER and have Keith come out and check on the disturbance, however, she was acutely familiar with the area, and after speaking with some of the security officers, Hannah was well aware of all the blind spots where cameras could not see her, including the one she was currently standing in.
Against her better judgment, Hannah powered up before investigating the situation and was quickly met with the realization that the shout she’d heard was not some drug addict looking for their next hit.
Well within her sensing range, Acrucis felt the aura of a youma and a page on the south side of the garage. Both appeared to be moving, which left room for hope that the Page would be able to hold out until she got there to help them.
The Senshi of Prayer wasted no time in rushing towards the Pluto knight and when he was within sight, she quickly cast a heal on him without even knowing what kinds of wounds he’d so far sustained. “Prayer of Healing.” Both hands were brought together in a prayer-like motion and then extended out towards the Page who was soon bathed in soft yellow light.
Super Sailor Scout Attack: Prayer of Healing Sailor Acrucis brings her hands together in a prayer motion and whispers her attack after which she holds her hands out in front of her in the direction of an injured individual within 15 feet of where she is standing. Both Acrucis's hands and the individual are bathed in a soft yellow light as a heal over time is cast.
This attack can heals moderate cuts, scrapes, bruises over the next 10 seconds (minor injuries heal in 5 seconds). It can reduce the severity of a major injury but will not completely heal it** and can be cast 3 times.
In the event that there is only one target to heal her Prayer of Healing does a double heal which increases the time from 10 seconds to 20. This heal does not heal severe wounds it can only reduce the recovery time it takes for severe wounds to heal.*see below* - More useful in battle situations outside of ORP's - It is a heal over time that allows a target to continue fighting while still receiving the heal benefits up to moderate wounds. - The moderate wound still heals at the 10 second mark and anything after that provides relief from the pain of anything deemed severe. (ie if a wound is received at the 2 second mark it will heal at the 12 second etc.)
**After using all 3 of her Prayer of Healing's on one individual who has suffered a severe wound OOCly please follow post 1 to determine the number of days for reduced recovery
Indigo_Plateau
Shanyume
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Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2022 8:19 am
He needed something- he needed something to deal actual damage with to the youma if he had any hope of dusting it. Around the garbage was usually where he found his typical choice weapons of two-by-fours or old pipes, but something about this dumpster being by a parking garage instead of, say, a shop or store meant that the pickings were slimmer. Tons of paper trash, food containers, and messy towels from car clean-ups. And not much by way of weaponry with good range. Broken bottles were probably the most help he would get here, and if he was close enough to stab the youma with a broken bottle, he was close enough to get his throat ripped out by claws.
But what other choice did he possibly have? Running was off the table: it was faster than him and had already wounded him. His jar of dirt probably had one swing in it, and Antisana doubted it would be a killing swing no matter how hard he tried.
The flimsy dumpster lid creaked precariously under his weight as Antisana shifted backward, toward the brick wall behind him, watching intently as the shadowy youma picked itself up from the kick, gave a shake of its head and stalked toward him. The page's gaze flicked up quickly, searching, searching for some kind of fire escape ladder he could scale to at least gain a little extra lift. Maybe one good pounce would do it in, and if if didn't...?
Both Antisana's and the youma's head turned quickly as a new aura sparked to life nearby. For Anti, it meant another body to help distract the monster. For the youma, it was senshi: vermin worse than any page. It snarled as it swiveled to find the source, but it seemed to think better of giving immediate chase. Finish the weaker opponent to keep it a one-on-one. That's what it should do.
Antisana slumped to the side to snatch up the nearest broken beer bottle off the top of the pile. The creature seemed frustrated with his positioning: the page on the "high ground" and backed far enough away to make one good swipe difficult. But the frustration didn't stop it from lurching forward, vaulting to the narrower side of the bin, and throwing itself atop it, crashing hard into Antisana and jerking both of them back to the ground in a messy tangle of limbs and teeth.
Jaws clamped and gnawed at his forearm where Antisana braced it in front of himself as a barricade against the creature finding his throat or face. But he had absolutely no protection on his arm, and though he felt none of the bites (no sting, no hurt, only pressure), the sight of his flesh getting shredded and torn by shakes of the creature's head was the only thing in his line of sight.
It would kill him. Itwouldkillhimitwouldkillhimitwould- With his other arm, he stab- stab- stabbed into the creature's side with his weapon, but it wasn't enough to dust it.
The other aura was on top of them now, and it took a very slight cant of his head backward to see the woman rushing toward them, magic at her fingertips the second they were in sight. Antisana had a fleeting moment of recognition.
The senshi from Erytheia.
From both that experience, and the warm yellow glow that now surrounded him as the skin on his arm continually tried to stitch itself together aroudn the youma's teeth, it was no stretch of the mind for Antisana to gather that her magic was focused on healing. She wouldn't be helping him to fight, but she could keep him alive while he injured himself. He didn't know how long it lasted, though. "Keep-!" He swallowed while trying to find his voice. "Keep it on me," he shouted to her, though the instruction was probably obvious.
If- if he could have just a few moments of not worrying about how damaged he could be, Antisana could get out of this. She wouldn't have to fight. He knew he could.
He jerked his arm out of the creature's mouth. The momentum of the movement sent the youma very slightly off balance, just a split-second for Antisana to rearrange himself and shove his entire hand down the monster's throat, nails scrabbling to rake against muscles and tear anything he could "grab" in the confined space. It made no sound, but it did try to shake free and back off. He didn't let it, instead throwing his weight up and around, and flipping them so that Antisana had the youma pinned on its side, one hand down its mouth while it continued to desperately chew on his arm, and the other jabbing more viciously with his broken bottle.
Shanyume
Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2022 2:18 am
Quote:
Trigger Warning
As she was, there wasn’t much that Acrucis could do aside from watching in horror as the youma’s sharp teeth rend the man’s flesh as he struggled for his life. His form lamplit in a pale yellow light as the shallow tears and puncture marks healed quickly but the deeper ones bled freely.
Working in the Emergency Room had provided ample opportunity for Hannah to witness some of the most gruesome things one could imagine. Stab wounds or gunshot injuries were less traumatic these days, as were patients walking in casually with missing fingers in plastic bags because they got into a fight with a table saw and lost. Burn marks and blistered skin from fireworks were not unexpected, especially during celebrations or holidays. But vehicle accidents, vicious animal attacks, and missing limbs still shook her.
In the moment, she could steel herself and focus her mind to perform the task at hand as the doctors instructed her to do so. But in the aftermath of it all, Hannah still had a weak stomach.
Never in all her years as a Senshi or a nurse, had she ever had to bear witness to wounds rapidly healing only to be re-torn again and again. It was borderline torture; her magic wasn’t saving him. It would be the cause of a slow death if this continued. The blood-smeared concrete beneath him continued to spread, mingling with loose rocks and oil slicks.
Keep it on me! His voice cut through her horror-filled panic like a glass cup shattering in an otherwise quiet room and for the briefest of moments it looked as if the Page had the upper hand with the youma pinned beneath him as he repeatedly stabbed at it with his broken weapon. The beast let out no sharp yelps or sounds of distress, but it was not dead yet.
Still, it gnashed its teeth, clamping onto his arm in desperation.
All too soon the yellow light began to fade from him and her hands that were still pressed together. Acrucis could feel the panic rise and even though she had just spoken the words, for a fleeting moment, she could not recall the words to reapply her magic. Her lips parted but there was no voice, no strength. Only silence as the beast continued its assault.
Breathe, the voice of an old friend, a former mentor, echoed in her mind. You got this, and like many times before, she followed the kind reminder.
“Prayer of healing-” Acrucis whispered the words and the dimming light became radiant and brighter.
Indigo_Plateau
Shanyume
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Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2022 9:19 am
It was writhing more than attacking now, silently squirming as it lashed its paws out at Antisana's chest and tossed its head to try and get his hand out of its throat, black eyes desperately bouncing around in its skull. A bubbling, red-tinted foam formed on its maw, and Antisana's weapon moved from stabbing it into the side, to jabbing it in the neck. The youma had all but twitched into complete stillness before it crumpled into itself in a wave of black dust that melded into the seeping red pool that had formed beneath them.
Antisana sucked in a breath, slouching forward to brace on his weapon-wielding arm as the animal-like body beneath him disintegrated.
It wasn't that bad, Antisana tried to reason as his gaze traced over the outline of a myriad of red smears where they'd tumbled around each other and he'd smashed the creature into the pavement. Maybe it looked like a lot of blood just because it was so spread out. The pale yellow glow around him showed that the tears and scratches on his skin were still knitting themselves back together. There didn't even feel like there was any bruising. He still felt no pain from any of the youma-inflicted injuries, no warning signals that he wasn't as well as he should be.
How long would that last, he wondered.
But regardless of his exact level of agony, any strength he might have had in reserve was just completely gone. His good arm had supported him for a few seconds, but now that he was more or less convinced that the threat was actually gone, it too crumpled, and he flopped onto his side in a pool of ash and blood.
The woman, whose name he didn't know even though re recognized her, was still standing a few paces away, her magic still a warm glow around him. "You did it," he told her quietly, dark slate eyes hazy but still plainly looking at her. "You did it... Thank you." He didn't doubt that he would have completely lost an arm without a healer there to make sure it kept regenerating from any damage. And if he'd been too worried about what harm it would cause, he didn't think he would've been able to grab it by the inside of its throat, either.
A piece of him maybe thought he should apologize. Antisana really did prefer not to involve anyone, if he could help it. One of them would inevitably kill him one day, and no one needed to be there as an additional casualty afterwards.
But she was a senshi with healing magic. It felt like her duty to be there to support whoever was fighting. He wouldn't apologize for her stumbling upon him here.
Shanyume
Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2022 2:01 am
In the same moment that the youma’s beastly form turned into nothing more than a layer of ash that peppered his uniform in a light-grey dusting and mingled with the blood that had been smeared on the concrete, Acrucis was in motion running towards him. Slowing in her approach, the Senshi of Prayer lowered herself to her knees, immediately going from magic healing to what would be expected from a trauma nurse who worked in the Emergency Room.
“It wasn’t me-” she replied, carefully lifting one of his arms to see that her magic was still knitting together flesh; these cuts were shallow, thankfully. But there were puncture marks up by his elbow that gave her reason to worry. “I don’t have the magic to help fight it, all I could do was make it so you could.
Blood stained her white boots red and dampened the hem of her skirt but she paid it no mind.
What she did note was the amount of it and how she felt certain that her magic only closed wounds, it didn’t replenish blood lost before she arrived. “I’m going to need you to trust me, please.” They were strangers and she was asking him something that most would immediately balk at, but Acrucis’ tone was most serious. Soon his adrenaline would wear off and with his slowed, quiet speech she worried that he might very well blackout.
“If I hadn’t used my magic I’d be able to take you into the hospital. But I did, and without visible wounds, it will be difficult to get you set up with a blood transfusion. I can show them this-” she gestured to what looked like a murder scene. “However, nobody will believe it was yours.” No doubt they might think that he had attacked someone instead.
Acrucis tried to remain calm as she attempted to explain the situation to him, but her mind was going a million miles a minute; running through the checklists and procedures she’d normally go through when receiving a new patient.
“I’m going to take you to my homeworld, I should have something there. Just- please try to stay awake.” A difficult task to be certain but even with her Senshi strength, she wasn’t certain that she’d be able to carry him to the infirmary.
Once more she cast her Prayer of Healing on him before summoning her phone to teleport him to the only place she knew he’d be safe.
Indigo_Plateau
Shanyume
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2022 9:02 am
A nerve of anxiety twinged in his chest as he watched the senshi run toward him. Antisana wanted to caution her against coming too close, of letting her guard down just because one youma was removed from the immediate picture. There could be others, waiting to strike after judging how their brethren fared... But he didn't sense anything nearby, besides her, and the senshi's aura was certainly stronger than his.
She probably knew more of what to expect than he did, even.
He tried to let himself relax as she looked him over; not terribly difficult, honestly. His limbs felt impossibly heavy, the rapid racing of his heart had slowed. There wouldn't be much he could help with if there was a second assault wave, and even if the girl was practically a stranger, he knew she'd gone to help another knight, Erytheia, who'd needed her. Antisana did trust her. It wasn't like he had much choice in the matter. She'd lifted his arm to see the effects of her magic on him, and his fingers encircled around her forearm, smearing red from his fingers against her pale skin, as he gave a tiny nod to acknowledge his faith in her.
"I would... be unable to go to a hospital, regardless," he murmured softly. Antisana had no idea how long that would take: waiting around to be seen, waiting around for treatment, waiting around for treatment to take effect. He couldn't hang around a hospital full of injured people for an unspecified amount of time, when something could barge through and ruin all of the other people that would be there.
He couldn't. It would accomplish nothing besides a scene.
And he wasn't hurting- which he knew wasn't a fair expression of injury, but it did make the immediacy of wanting to be seen to less... potent. ...The youma had truly been a dangerous monster. Antisana was lucky it had found him before harassing this girl, who must have been nearby from the start.
But- the corner of his lip just barely ticked up- he could be amenable to seeing another's homeworld. Erytheia's had been experiencing some trouble, but from what Antisana understood, that was atypical for other knights and senshi. Other planets were usually safe. Nothing could reach them there. Better for Antisana than being in a hospital. Better for the senshi than hanging around him while he could barely move to defend her.
"That is probably the best path forward," he agreed as she took out her phone and whisked them away.
