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"Come onnnnn, you know you want this." On his elbows and knees. Hybris waggled an open churu enticingly at the bushes in front of him. "Nom-nom-nom, oh it's sooooo delicious!" Pretending to nibble at one end, he made eye contact with the fluffy white persian hiding in the shadowy depths of stick and leaf.

A silvery line caught at the corner of his eye and his heartbeat picked up speed. That was definitely a spider web. There were spiders in here. The clouds above slid past, the moonlight revealing that there were likely many spiders in there. Hybris froze, then slid his attention back to the cat, telling it, "I can get you out of these scary woods and I can give you treats, but I can't deal with these. It's your turn to be an apex predator, okay?"

A different flavor of Chaos than he'd been treated to arrived, and thankfully it wasn't like, a worse type of youma than the ones that already gave his nights a little too much excitement. Except when he sat up to look over he definitely saw a Worse Youma chasing after a senshi of some flavor.

Scrambling to his feet, he waved her away, "No incoming! Don't come..." She made right for him, possibly expecting help of some kind. Maybe she was the Senshi of Disappointment, since that's what she was in for.

Seeing that she seemed tired and possibly ready to stumble and fall, Hybris decided that maybe it would be okay so long as he ran faster than her and left the Worse Youma to its crimes of opportunity. Taking off, he called back over his shoulder, "I'll go get help!" Maybe he would even get Lenka over later, once it seemed safe, she had a first aid kit, right?

Unfortunately for him, the Worse Youma was either like all the other youma in the city that liked to play chase, he felt, to Hybris in particular. Or it was just really attracted by the open churu still in his hand. Maybe it just felt that it could deal with the new target and circle back to the clearly weakened one. Either way, the creature picked up speed and ran past the corrupt senshi, quickly closing the gap between it and Hybris.

A white, furry head finally peeked out of the bush, giving a small complaint over the snack that had run away.

When the crashing behind him paused, Hybris took a risk and looked back at his impending death. Which was turning around! Relief flooded him, and he was about to pick up speed when the furry white object and the other senshi's words finally registered.

"Mr. Christmas! No!"

The bear thing turned back to Hybris, and he hurriedly added, "Wait! Not me either!"

In a panic, he swiped a hand over his face and...

Suddenly, in his place, a second bear thing stood, making an unintelligible plea.

Seeing that Mr. Christmas had escaped to safety and the other senshi had succumbed to exhaustion? Internal injury? Hybris took a moment to be relieved. After that moment he realized he was the last one standing and he can't have that!

The bear thing probably didn't think it was using much strength with its test swipe, in fact...it didn't even feel its paw connect but then its doppelganger was dramatically spinning with the force of the hit? It was stumbling and falling to the ground? It was coughing up a mouthful of blood as it gave a pained roar that trailed off into a ingle, wheezing last groan.

The bear thing stared at its paw for a moment. Then Body #1. Turning, it glanced at Body #2 which was on the verge of death. After a few breaths, it abruptly held up its arms with a great roar, a victorious snort, and then sauntered back in the direction of the old power plant.

Good thing too, since didn't take long for Hybris to turn back into a Real Boy again.

With a groan, the bear faded into a slightly worn young man, fake blood still glinting brightly down his chin. "I am not okay!" He sat up suddenly in protest at even the idea that he was even slightly okay. Throwing an arm across his tortured visage he proceeded to languish. (He was fine.)

"But I suppose I must survive. For Mr. Christmas!" His dog walker would be so so sad if the neighbor's cat got eaten by a bear-thing.

"I'm Hybris, the Senshi of Eggplants...I know what it's like to be chased down for being delicious," he sighed dramatically. Glancing up at her, he admired the uniform, and the little vanity gremlin at the back of his head was already appreciating it on himself just as much he was enjoying it on her. "So I suppose I won't be mad about this."

"Mr. Christmas is the cat of a ne," he coughed, realizing he probably shouldn't be giving out his address in this form. "The cat of a nice little old lady. I saw her searching and decided to help her," he sighed, and proceeded to look even more pathetic and wronged. If she was a member of Order, he'd have played up the part of do-gooding a lot more. As it was, Hybris wasn't sure if the Negaverse was into that sort of thing, or if it would be better to play up his do-bading when he ran into them. Psilomelane didn't seem like someone who was out to play tricks and sic youma on people, though. Well...maybe accidentally...

He perked up a little at the Mirages, though, feeling a sudden thematic kinship. Of course the Haunted Garden (his name) was where his dubious loyalties remained. But it was nice to know another member of the Spherehood of Liars, Cheats, and Scoundrels (his name).

That didn't mean he was entirely letting her off the hook, though. "I just need a few moments, to get my bearings. But if you could get Mr. Christmas, I think he likes you more than me." The accompanying sulk here was genuine.

Admittedly, he kind of liked being admonished? So he gave a tiny little wiggle, and then nodded solemnly, "You're right. That would have been so much smarter and more mature, to prioritize my responsibilities to the Mirror. Maybe this all wouldn't have happened...but then we wouldn't have met here! So we can just call my mistake a pleasant bit of fate, right?"

For some reason, instead of getting his bearings, Hybris actually felt a little more tired now? More than just using his magic, or the aftermath of the rush of adrenaline should cause. Huh. Sitting up again caused a moment of dizziness.

Not far from where she stood, Psilomelane would find a large lump of white fur. Mr. Christmas seemed to be a bit too still for a moment, but upon checking, she'd find that he was merely sleeping.

"Did you drain me?" Hybris called out, the question lacking any accusation, but rather his total and utter confusion.

Brightening up at the sight of Mr. Christmas, Hybris took the offered hand, ready and willing to hobble off into the sunrise with Psilomelane like a pair of wounded vets escaping the battlefield.

Normally, talking about himself was something Hybris liked to avoid doing too much of. He liked fun and he liked experiences, but he didn't like to be too interesting beyond his face value. One of his favorite things was other people's stories, interesting lives to dip his toes in while never getting his own hands wet. But, since she had been very nice and very helpful , pretty, and was a fellow sphere of dubious nature, he started talking instead of trying to tease out her life bit by bit as they walked.

"This wasn't that bad really. I'll be okay. Last month, Arrow Princess shot me full of magical arrows. And Mister Fire..." he paused, considering her affiliation and the possibility that they might be best friends or something, "...was very brave in trying to fight her. Anyway, I saw a page get stabbed and try to fight a sword with a fan. I think knights might actually be the craziest? The Mirror doesn't have them, I don't know why...maybe they're all trapped in mirrors or something? Like cold storage in case we need some firm, strong hands to protect our Mirror Honor..."

It felt, possibly, like a longer walk than it was, but it was also pretty companionable at least.