[B-AWA] From the Empty Jug (Rich, Helio, Vio, & Zot/Dumuzi)

[Seiana_ZI]

Perhaps it was an abundance of caution that brought her there today.

Her brother was out practicing. Meet season was mostly over; it was a bit too cold to do most of what they did outdoors, and Zot stuck mostly to the bigger events these days anyway. Something about being near or even past the prime "retirement" age, something Shikora wasn't about to pretend to understand. In her view, she had a long time before anything approached that.

But sports were a much different game than psychology, and though her brother was as fit if not more fit than ever -- modeling deals had a way of doing that, too -- there was usually a point when people were expected to stop playing as much.

It didn't ultimately matter, really.

The reason why Shikora was out there, as Richtersveld, was because he was out practicing when a lot of people had moved any of their remaining practice activity indoors. The track was quiet. She had learned over the years to trust relatively little in Destiny City, and although it was likely her twin brother would be fine during his unnecessary outdoor practice session, being by himself made him a prime target.

She made sure to stay out of his view line, both for his protection and hers--didn't want anyone associating the two of them together or it might be trouble--and hung around the perimeter.

Hopefully, he'd be done soon...

Not that he knew she was here.

Kolina

 

[Kolina]

Helio didn't often venture out in the daylight hours. It was just easier to hide in the darkness, but he tended to also be busy with work, classes, and whatever else needed to be done or taken care of while a majority of the city was awake. But today had been one of those oddities. Work had called to cancel, and his ballet class was taking place later than usual to accommodate a show happening that required the use of the practice rooms. So, he opted to take advantage of it.

As it was, he decided to venture out of his usual haunts. Considering the time of day, he opted for one of the many schools within the city limits. Students were out of classes, but he was banking on some extracurriculars happening yet or even catching a few unlikely students on their way home. As it so happened, he got lucky.

He eyed the man as he moved around the field. A single soul out practicing whatever it was he was involved in. Track and field perhaps? Helio wasn't sure as sports had never been his forte. But by himself, the man made easy prey. Such a tempting target but for one problem, there was a signature close by.

It wasn't terribly close, but close enough that he suspected he'd be spotted quickly in the field as surely, he had been noted as well. So, leaving the lone boy in the field alone, Helio went in search of the signature to find himself a squire. "Well, hello there." He said from afar as he walked towards her, stopping several feet away. He noted the sheer size of the woman. She was what Helio though many would call, for good or not, an amazonian woman.

He propped one hand on a hip, the other dangling at his side as he sized her up. "Playing guardian angel over the students?" He questioned.

Seiana_1ZI

 

[Seiana_ZI]

She felt the signature before it announced itself, and she found herself steeling for at least encouraging this source of chaos away. Richtersveld would rather not fight if she could avoid it, but in defense of her brother... she would do anything she needed to do.

Especially since he kept insisting on training out there when so few still were.

He spoke, and Richtersveld took one final glance over the seeming student--she'd take him being called a student versus being linked to her in any way--and turned her back to him, for the most part, to keep the super in her line of sight. A super senshi. In her experience, corrupt super senshi had been one of the groups to give her the most trouble. There was that one at the fight for their souls against the Chaotic infiltration about a year ago, for one. The reason why she possessed the strength she did now.

She glanced down at him, sizing him up herself. Would he fight her the way that other did?

Richtersveld held tight to the rope that held her terrarium.

"Yes. And seems like I'm doing so for good reason if you're out here." She rubbed the rope with her thumb. "You're not going to be able to bother them, so I suggest you leave this area alone and go elsewhere."

Kolina

 

[Kolina]

Helio chuckled. "A single squire isn't going to deter me." And it was true. Helio had enough experience to work his way around this squire and manage to grab energy from his target. Was it a waste of time? Would it be better to find an easier target? Sure, but there was no guarantee the squire wouldn't just follow him. He could teleport but that was more energy wasted than it was worth in his opinion.

"Interesting how you're standing guard here of all places though considering most are hiding away inside now." And it was true. This area wasn't really a prime location this time of year. But the rare lucky chance that someone was out alone well...it was always worth a check.

"So you have a choice. Hang out here while I do my thing, or you can try and stop me yourself." He shrugged.

The squire would be a fun challenge, but he was confident of his abilities. So, he crossed his arms and waited on her to make that decision.

Seiana_ZI

 

[Seiana_ZI]

"Most, but not all, and the remaining ones make easier targets."

No matter what her brother had said to her, he had made himself an easier target by coming out by himself. It was one thing to try and go after a few people when there were many around. Would make it harder for them to operate in the shadows if there were more people watching to see something unusual happening. The Negaverse didn't oft seem to operate in large, populated spaces.

Not never, but not often.

Richtersveld knew when her own starseed had been taken. It was when she had been walking home, alone, taking back alleys. And a track was still a public enough space, but for the number of people outside, it might as well have had the same population as that back alley. It could have even had the same population as the back alleys she rescued people from or tried to heal them in when one of these types took their energy...

She thumbed the rope of her terrarium carefully, letting it swing at her feet.

"Leave this area alone, senshi."

Kolina

While Richtersveld channels her magic, the person she is targeting gets an overwhelming feeling that they should be patient, perhaps, for example, waiting to proceed with whatever action they were going to do or taking some time to think. There is no need to obey this feeling and the target could choose to proceed anyway despite the debuff if they have a strong enough will to fight the feeling off. Richtersveld can channel this magic for up to 30 seconds.

 

[Kolina]

The channeled magic was subtle. Subtle enough that Helio hadn't noticed it. Instead of feeling the intense need to kick off to his intended goal, he instead opted to hang around the squire. Patient enough to let things move at whatever pace they wished to go. "Hm...no. I don't think I will." He was not inclined, though to completely skip out on his target.

He waited a moment. And another. The patience to wait began to ebb though as the seconds ticked by and Helio found himself growing bored. The magic, which he had come to realize was the source of his contentment, was fading as his own interest in moving things along began to grow.

Still, it had bought the squire some time. How she dealt with the reprieve was her own prerogative.

"Let's kick things up a bit." He said with a snap of his fingers.

Quote:

Sailor Scout Attack: Cascade
Visual: An opaque wall of hot water shoots up around the target before cascading inward and slamming down on the target.
Duration: Immediate effect lasts 25 secs
Effects: The pressure of water is great enough to make it difficult to move away and could knock the target off their feet. It can cause the sensation of bruising, first-degree burns, or drowning with lasting damage at players' discretion.
Area of Effect/Range: Anywhere from Heliodor to up to 8 feet away from him. Can be used 3x per battle.
Preparation/Incantation: Snapping his fingers, a ring of small golden spheres appear around the feet of the target just before the wall of water shoots upwards.

Seiana_ZI

 

[Seiana_ZI]

Richtersveld had quickly learned what her time bought her. About a half-minute by her estimation, a half-minute that might feel like a slog to some but was important to her getting able to do anything to defend herself and others. Others, in this case, being her dumbass brother, who had been insistent on not listening to a damn word she had told him earlier, and she wanted to punt him across the damn field he was training on--

Not important.

Normally, while the opponent calmed, she'd try to chat them up. Ask if they were okay, ask what was bothering them, ask if there was something she could do to help them feel better. Doing any of the such would only eat up limited time, and while she did ask if he was, "Feeling better?" she at the same time picked up a nearby discus and chucked it in the direction of the field, hoping it'd distract her brother enough to make him move.

She saw him look toward it and slow down. It'd have to be enough.

The senshi wasn't calm anymore.

"I'd rather not." Richtersveld didn't have much of an outwards escape path, so instead, she took all six feet and three inches down face down onto the ground so the water wouldn't overwhelm her, clamping her mouth shut as it came in hard enough to bruise. With one of her other legs, she reached out and kicked out against it, attempting to use the force of the water against him to knock him back.

She wasn't much of a fighter. Richtersveld would have to figure out how to use her environment to buy her brother enough time to flee. And hopefully, he'd actually leave.

Her brother, who had wandered over to the discus on the ground, plucked up her attempt at distraction and wondered who the hell had overthrown that badly. Zotsholo looked around for another owner; he found none, but -- was that a torrent of water up in the stands?

The ******** determined he'd take a closer look, but he did so by taking himself out of immediate sight, first.

Kolina

 

[Kolina]

Richtersvelt's attempt to hit him back with his own attack resulted in nothing more than the corrupt getting splashed by the hot water. He frowned at his wet Fuku. It may have felt comfortable now, what with the water being hot, but it would quickly cool leaving him both wet and cold. Not a combination he was particularly a fan of.

When his magic did finally let up, the wall of water dissipated as quickly as it had shown up, revealing a sopping wet squire. Well, at least he wasn't going to be as miserable as the squire would be.

He glanced in the direction that Richtersvelt had chucked a piece of field equipment just before his attack had hit it's mark. He frowned, noting the disappearance of the man. "Damn it." He huffed. "You went and scared away my target."

Being such close proximity, and the squire beat down from his attack, Helio attempted a quick draw of energy from her. "You can make-up for it now." He dragged at her energy without the need of physical touch. it was a gamble, sure. And in honesty, he didn't expect much, but hoped to keep the squire off her game and make sure all 6foot plus of her stayed down as long as possible.

Perhaps if he was lucky and she proved to be completely useless in a fight, he'd be walking away with yet another starseed too.

Seiana_ZI

I am iffy with writing battle posts so lmk if you would like/need anything adjusted as we go. <3

 

[Seiana_ZI]

Richtersveld was damp, but she was relieved, ultimately. Zotsholo had gotten the hint. Hopefully, he would stay away. All she needed to do was extract herself from this situation before either she got hurt more or Zot didn't realize what was best for him and come wandering back.

(He was, unfortunately, prone to that kind of thing.)

"Good," Richtersveld felt her energy flag a bit and had the sense he was trying to pull at it. Better to start to back herself up before he got in too deep. She would have rolled, but she didn't know if their positioning on the bleachers was particularly safe for that, so she backed up by sitting up and scooting back in hopes of disconnecting the energy draw. Richtersveld had no real way to block that; it wasn't like knights came with anti-energy withdrawal shields.

"Better someone who can defend themselves than them."

Richtersveld was nonviolent, but in defense of others, she'd do what she had to do. Around her head, she swung her terrarium, aiming to gain momentum before swinging it forward in an attempt to smack him further away from a bit of a distance.

She didn't realize her brother hadn't quite left.

He had gone out of immediate sight on the field, sure, moving to the other side of the bleachers and pressing his back against a post so he could take a closer, albeit narrow look. Why the ******** was there some b***h in a poofy dress fighting some dude with a million robes on? Where had the water gone?

... Aw, s**t, was this the magic bullshit his sister dealt with?

... Wait. He knew that poofy dress.

Kolina

you're good!!

 

[Kolina]

Violane typically kept to herself. Her interest in actually doing anything beyond the bare necessities as an agent was nada. Things were just easier that way and she could focus on herself and what she wanted. As it was though, she wasn't about to bypass a fight. Not when she was in a foul mood and wanting a way to exert some pent-up energy.

So, the Lieutenant meandered her way into the fray, popping herself behind the Knight. "Hello there." She practically purred to the tall woman whom, she had to admit, was a bit of a looker. Violane could get behind the whole amazonian woman height. It didn't help that she was a few bleacher seats down from them either making the Knight appear even taller.

--

Helio's eyes dragged from Richtersvelt to the agent who had decided to push her way in. He gave her a long look, but said nothing as he stopped pulling at his quarry. Having someone else there, even a lieutenant would push his foe to either flee or make some rash decisions. Fleeing meant he could go back to what he was doing, and rash decisions meant an easier fight.

Golden eyes raked over Richtersvelt. "Look, a little nap never hurt anyone." He said with a grin. "Most never complain." Most never got the chance to voice any complaints, honestly. And if they did, the better target to silence with a good-old starseed yank. "It's only you order people who seem to have an issue." He shrugged. "Making a mountain out of a mole hill, really."

Seiana_ZI