Heatwaves (11) : An unfortunate dry spell has come over Destiny City, and a heat wave has made it all but unbearable. The heatwave is only projected to last for a week but it’s been rough. Plants are wilting, people are wilting. The city is experiencing blackouts, which isn’t helping. Thankfully, the reservoir is always open. Just, crowded. It might just be the worst part of the summer. People are passing out regularly, and the hospitals are getting too many admissions to keep up with. It’s probably just the heat and not anyone up to anything nefarious, right? Better stay hydrated and try to keep cool, and maybe avoid everyone in weird costumes, just in case.
Damn did Adonis dislike the heat.
And he disliked chasing quotas in the heat, too. It was always this time of year that he switched off of gathering energy to taking starseeds — because it was easier, faster, and it kept him from perishing under the unrelenting rage of the sun. The quota was never that bad for a Super Senshi, especially an experienced one, and sometimes it was easier to just pick off a few lads than set up some whole elaborate scheme for fondling someone and taking their energy.
In the beginning, that's what he did — a starseed here, a starseed there, quota acquired. But that always attracted more notice, and soon a White Moon super senshi tracked him down with as much piss and vinegar as the sun. Wasn't that a delight.
And that whole fiasco ended in a draw. Adonis didn't get the pleasure of killing her, and she didn't get the satisfaction of confiscating his starseeds. They both split off — bloody, but alive. And Adonis had half a mind to eat one of those starseeds to recover himself, but even the thought of doing that in this heat? Made his stomach start to flip. No, he needed to cool down first.
So he sat on a bench near a fire hydrant that some brave souls busted not too long ago. It sprayed against his thigh, but he didn't care. Felt good, anyway, having all that water soaking through his fuku. Kept the starseed in hand, took, in case he changed his mind on eating it.
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2022 11:04 am
It was too hot to parkour. Spei couldn't recall when it had been this hot in early summer in Destiny City. It was simply miserable, not even the respite of a breeze. Didn't seem to quell the excitement for the Star Festival, though – there were still a few folks wandering around even at this hour of the evening. The Moon Knight avoided them as best as he could, sticking to shadows and alleyways. Safer this way.
But oh, was he ever hot. He didn't know if he could open his tailcoat or loosen the ascot around his throat and unbutton the shirt beneath, or he would have. Anything to cool off.
He heard the sound of water at about the same instant he sensed the nearby presence of a Chaos aura. Peering around a corner, he saw a fire hydrant that had been broken open, spraying water into the air like the fountains at the Bellagio. And on a nearby bench was the source of the Chaos vibes: a corrupt Senshi, happily soaking in the shower from the hydrant.
It was tempting, the fountain of water, despite the presence of the Senshi…
Spei threw caution to the non-existant wind. Stepping out of the shadows, he approached the burst hydrant and the corrupt and held his hands up.
"I don't want trouble," he said as he walked under the water. Ohhhh that felt good. Dropping his arms, he closed his eyes and raised his face to the sky and allowed himself to get soaked. He nearly forgot about the corrupt Senshi sitting on the bench enjoying the water as well.
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Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2022 12:42 pm
Ah, ********. He felt it — some Page strolling outta nowhere. Queue a weary slouch from one Negaverse Super of Skin. There were no safe spaces in Destiny City, were there?
He looked over at the sound of I don't want trouble (and thought, maybe trouble wants you?). On the other side of his personal waterspout was a knight dressed very unfortunately for the weather. Couldn't tell what the hell allegiance this knight had, didn't look like any other brand of knight he'd met, but he didn't go out of his way to meet knights much. Adonis decided he could ask the dude questions later, if the dude was in any condition to answer them.
Which was its own consideration, because — well, it really was too hot to fight, and Adonis really didn't want to deal with accusations of treason after his boss defected to their side —
And, come to think of it, their outfits had similar colors. And symbols. And —
Welp, now this poor ******** had to die. "Sure, I got you," Adonis answered as he shut his eyes. Won't be any trouble to kill you.
He was gone, and then he was there, at the Page's back, reaching for the starseed that would stop any battle dead in its tracks.
tatterpixie
Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2022 1:32 pm
In the span of a breath the corrupt Senshi vanished, only to reappear behind Spei. Before the Moon Page could even turn around he felt the exquisite pain of a hand entering his body. "Aaaaaah," he cried out before his survival instincts took hold and he broke away from the Senshi, leaping out of range and twisting in the water-filled air to land facing him.
"What the ********, dude," he gasped, the pain lingering in a most discomfiting manner. "I called truce, and thought you agreed. Guess I know better now than to trust any of you Chaos sorts."
He stepped further away, still facing the corrupt, the shock and horror of what just happened beginning to settle in. What had the guy been trying to do? He recalled something about starseeds and how Chaos agents would try to steal them. If that was what was going on, Spei wanted no part of it. He could still feel the sensation of the other man's hand slipping into his back like a hot knife into butter lingering in his flesh; it wasn't something that would be easily forgotten.
If there was ever a time for him to parkour away, this was it. But he merely leapt to the back of the bench, where he balanced on the edge of the boards, not wanting to leave the cooling spray of water immediately. Besides, he wanted to sear this Senshi into his memory for future reference – as someone to avoid.
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Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2022 1:53 pm
"Surprise, I guess?" Adonis shrugged, palms supine. War's war; what did this Page expect?
"Look, my dude, we're not here to let you guys take over the place. Don't you have your own Wonders n' Worlds? Then why do you need this one?" He was reasonably sure those lines were in line with the Negaverse's code of ethics (or whatever passed for that these days). Right or not, the great big Whys never mattered much to him. He got his power, and he was given some tasks to retain access to that power, and that was good enough for him.
Especially when the Negaverse, as a contact, could do some good for his admittedly mediocre life.
"Tell you what. I'm feelin' generous." He wasn't, but the longer he talked, the longer he got to stand in the broken hydrant's refreshing spray. "I'll give you ten seconds to get lost. And if you don't? I'll melt your face. How's that?" He even flashed the Page a bright, pearly grin.
tatterpixie
Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2022 2:25 pm
Maybe Spei had been expecting this to be a civilized war, with truces called on the regular during holidays and other trying times. This, he realized, was a terribly naive notion. The corrupt Senshi was right: War is war, and all war is messy and ugly and lethal if you don't defend yourself or fight back.
"We don't want to take over the place. We just don't want you guys to take over the place and kill everyone." Or take over other worlds, like the Moon. He didn't want this war to spread off of Earth again, as it had in the past during the Silver Millennium. That was what the Code had instilled in him from the beginning, and he'd taken it to heart. Especially now that he'd experienced what the forces of Chaos were capable of first-hand.
"So, I don't want to fight you – I would lose anyway," he said from his perch, the spray of the hydrant still raining down on him. "And I don't want my face melted. Give me two minutes to at least cool down and I'll gladly get lost." Spei's expression remained flat and emotionless and unreadable, though inside he was praying that this negotiating tactic worked. At least it gave him more time in the cooling water.
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2022 4:06 am
Adonis thought, very briefly, about coming off as a hardass to this Page. Really, it was all a no-hard-feelings move. If he swept the board, it wasn't to slight this Page personally. But if he could get a free starseed because the dude wasn't paying attention…
Well, that was different from picking a full-on fight, here, in this heat. He was betting on this knight taking the time Adonis gave him and hitting the road, but here he was, trying to negotiate. In this economy.
Adonis sighed something audible, then melted to the ground in a seated position. "Yeah, whatever, s'too hot to be doing all those acrobatics n' s**t. We'd both get heat stroke and perish on the side of the road, and I dunno about you — especially since you got the situational awareness of a concussed mouse, no offense — but I don't wanna go out that way."
He considered renegotiating for a seat on the bench, but he didn't think he was interested in getting up. He just spent all that energy teleporting, for no score, and now he was overheated and tired.
So — sure. This time, let the Page have his damn seat.
tatterpixie
Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2022 8:43 am
Spei didn't thank the corrupt Senshi – he didn't want to come off like a concussed mouse, as the other had so delicately put it – so he simply hopped down to the seat and sat on the back of the bench, blissfully allowing the water from the damaged hydrant to soak his uniform. If he hadn't been desperate for some relief from the heat, he would have taken those ten seconds and gotten the hell out of there; his back still felt the pain of the Senshi's attempt to steal his starseed, and he didn't want to risk that again. Or worse.
He knew he still had a lot to learn, not the least of which was when it was okay to engage the enemy in conversation, negotiation, or some other type of communication, instead of just backing away and leaving. His job as a Page was to keep himself safe and not risk getting hurt or killed, which he very nearly had. Spei wasn't a fighter, and he knew it; he hadn't learned parkour to use it as some kind of martial art. He'd learned it so he could avoid conflict, not seek it out.
Two minutes passed far too quickly. Spei stood, sopping wet but cool, nodded at the corrupt, and leapt over the back of the bench, doing a mid-air somersault before landing and dashing away as fast as he could.
