[ Shu Amiguchi might be the most infuriating boy Ryoko has ever met.
She'd had the misfortune of coming across him during a battle with a kaiju. It'd been a surprise – she knows there are other Sentinels of course, she's not so arrogant as to assume she can save the entire world all by herself. But she has no desire to fight beside any of them. She has her own duties to fulfil and the others would be a distraction at best. She can fight by herself.
Which is why it's so– frustrating, to put it mildly, that she isn't being allowed to do just that. Fighting side by side in a single battle when they have no choice is just fine, but since that passing encounter Ryoko feels like she's seeing Amiguchi everywhere she goes. Any time she sets out to patrol for kaiju, he's there and no amount of cold passive aggression or outright sharpness has been able to dissuade him or turn him away. Not that it's stopped her from trying, of course.
It's a warm, sticky summer evening with the late day sun casting everything in oranges and reds. The low light bouncing off windows and glass makes her usual headache even worse and things aren't helped at all by the fact that she's being dogged by an even more persistent headache as she sets out. ]
You really can't take a hint, can you? [ Not that it's a hint at this point. ] How many times do I have to tell you I can handle things myself?
Hehheh. At least once more. Can barely hear a thing when my heart beats this loud around you, you know.
[The evening finds Shu in fine fettle, fast as he is on the heels of a real cutie, the sunset on her dark hair soon to gentle into mauve and twilight and dusk. It's the time of day that blends his autumn-gold colors into her night ones, and he's happy to cede the sky to her, metaphorically speaking, in exchange for time with her on the ground.
Ryoko Shinonome is gorgeous in any light. When the first light he saw her in was the light of battle, interposing herself like a shield of gauze, porcelain, and crystal between a kaiju's claws, who can blame him for being dazzled? He follows her now, drawn in her wake like heat pouring along sunshine, like the warm yellow that clings to a candle's cool, blue heart.
He doesn't tell her he worries about her. In some part, he doesn't; he admires her too much, one of his seniors among the Sentinels, for worry to be everything that pulls him after her. But she fights alone. Every time he sees her, in her bruise-purples and stars, she's alone. And what kind of guy lets a girl fight monsters all on her own? What kind of person lets another kid fight monsters with no one else at their side?
Miyuki wouldn't have it. He hasn't told her all the specifics yet, but he knows enough about her--his Pyxis, his compass--and enough about himself to know neither of them could let this stand. Perseus was a hero before he was a constellation, famous for freeing chained Andromeda from the rocks. Sentinel Perseus can be no less. So, Shu tags along after Shinonome-senpai, regardless of the stony glares she throws his way, secure in the belief he's doing the right thing. Enjoying the view, enjoying the company and the experience of fighting beside her, is icing on the cake.
[ Ryoko isn't really a girl who can afford to get too involved with others. She's quiet and keeps to herself, which is usually all she needs to do to keep out of people's way, but on the occasions some well-meaning busybody (like someone she could mention) gets it into their head to 'help', she's gotten good at turning them away – sometimes cool passive aggression and sometimes with words pointed enough to punctuate their enthusiasm. ]
All I hear is someone who likes the sound of his own voice a little too much.
[ Her voice is low and irritated, but she knows there's no point. None of it works when it comes to Amiguchi. She's learned by now that no amount of barbs she sends his way will do anything to deflate him. Whatever she does, Amiguchi is going to continue dogging her steps with that effortlessly clueless grin on his face. ]
If you're getting that dizzy in the head just from following me around, you're just going to get in the way when we find a kaiju.
[ Now that part is a lie. For all that she finds frustrating about Amiguchi, his ability as a Sentinel isn't one of of those things. He certainly isn't as skilled or as well trained as Ryoko feels she is, but it'd be untrue to say that his heart isn't in the fight.
Which just makes her all the more irritated with him. It's a lose-lose for her, either way. ]
If I do, you'll have every right to plow right through me. I won't hold you back, Senpai. I promise.
[Picking up like a breeze, Shu hops ahead of Shinonome and turns, walking backward so he can keep smiling at her, trusting his feet on these familiar sidewalks.]
Besides, twice the fighters means half the time, right? Could be we'll both finish our rounds early. [Even though that's not how keeping watch works--standing Sentinel, as it were--Shu's grin broadens at the idea of a shortened shift. His voice goes sing-song.] Could be, if we've both got the time, I could take you somewhere. Show you a side of the city with way fewer monsters. I know this great ramen place, it'd be my treat.
[He knows she won't go for it. That's just not Shinonome-senpai. Still, he likes to float these scraps of peacetime normalcy past her when he can. Maybe one day, he'll even catch her giving actual thought to one of these daydreams of his.]
[ And in return, Ryoko makes an incredibly offended little noise and narrows her eyes, subjecting him to the full force of her glare now they're facing each other. ]
If you have time to slack off and stuff yourself with ramen, you have time to patrol for kaiju.
[ And that's that. It's the reason she makes excuses to leave school early when she can, why she rebuffs any and all attempts from her classmates to invite her to outings, clubs, any of it – time not spent on the kaiju is time wasted. And it's not like she'd have schoolmates to waste time with if the city was reduced to rubble. She's sure Mr. Ida would say the same.
She has another barb lined up, but before she can say anything else, pain spikes across her forehead and she feels her expression crumple if just for a moment. She doesn't know if Amiguchi feels it the same way she does, but it's unmistakable. ]
... speak of the devil. I think we're getting close... or that one just spawned.
[He doesn't, no--not like she does. When she winces, he stiffens and then turns, leaving off his friendly flirting to confirm the danger in his own way. The warm evening breeze teases his curling, too-long hair away from his ears as he pulls up one side of his headphones. He listens.]
That way.
[Shu points down the road towards Sumire Bridge, sounding sure.]
I think you're right, it's new. There's noise around it I don't like. Should I call Yuki-chan for backup?
[He knows the two of them have worked together without him, and she's a fantastic fighter. If Shinonome will accept anyone else's help, it might be hers.]
No. [ She's already breaking into a light jog as she responds, catching up to and overtaking him without even missing a beat. ] We don't know where she is and we can't afford to wait around for her to arrive. If this is a new kaiju, we need to take care of it as quickly as possible.
[ She hasn't questioned his direction, even as she rebuffs his advice – for all her other complaints about Shu Amiguchi, she's learned not to question his sense for tracking kaiju. In that sense and that sense only, they make a good match – Ryoko can feel when they appear and Amiguchi can hear where they can be found. If he weren't so infuriating, Ryoko might be tempted to call them a good team.
Maybe when hell next freezes over. ]
I'll scout ahead with my shield. Just make sure you watch my back, alright?
[Shu falls easily into place behind her, his athletic, loping stride so natural to him, he could have been born to do exactly this. Maybe he was. Miyuki hasn't told him how Sentinels come about, if they just happen or are chosen by forces which he isn't yet aware of. All he knows is that doing this is right. It's like he's done it all before, for years--spent a lifetime fighting monsters in a dream.
He's fast enough not to let Shinonome-senpai get too far ahead. Sumire Bridge, and the kaiju this side of it, looms nearer. Without breaking stride, Shu lifts his hand and draws it lightly through his hair, over his ear, to begin his transformation.]
[ In a perfect world, Ryoko would give hersef the moment she needs to do things properly when she transforms but with a kaiju who knows how close, she doesn't have time for formalities. She swipes her hand through the air above her knee and pale light scatters apart before her eyes. She's done this enough times that she doesn't even have to think about it – one, two, three more steps and then she throws out her hand and the weighty glass shield she knows so well forms at her fingertips. Ryoko Shinonome grasps it and Sentinel Scuti lifts it, shielding the two of them as they make their way to Sumire Bridge. ]
What else can you hear?
[ She doesn't even turn to see if Perseus is at her heels – she already trusts that he's there and ready. ]
['Everything,' he'd like to tell her: the music of the city and the river and the breeze drawing notes from every instrument in its path. It's beautiful, what he can hear, and probably only Lyra can appreciate it like he can. She might even understand it better than Perseus does. For him, the wind's roaring joy in his ears, both in flight and in freefall, is a part of the song, and she's a little more traditionally musical.
Either way, that's neither a helpful nor pertinent answer. He closes his eyes, blocking out the distraction of his own gold and autumn image, and listens.]
I'm not... sure. [Immediately, though:] Big one at 10 o'clock, a handful of underlings scattered around it. Sounds like rocks falling. Or wrecking machines.
[That, at least, he sounds sure about. Sentinel Perseus frowns, fingers twitching in the air from which he draws his weapons.]
But there's some kinda--distortion behind it, or--if you can cover me for a sec, I'll figure it out. Yeah?
[ For a moment, Scuti feels a little whirl of uncertainty in her stomach. She's fought alongside Perseus enough times now (willingly or otherwise) that she's gotten a good idea of what they can handle as a team. She wonders if maybe stopping and waiting for Takamiya would have been the better call after all – but every second they wait is another second the kaiju could be causing damage, hurting people or worse. They don't have the luxury of dawdling while waiting for anyone else to show up.
So they'll deal with this themsevles. They have to.
She gives him a curt nod, steadying the shield on her arm confidently. ]
[He nods, and when they break onto the scene, he closes his eyes and stretches his hands out, exposing the whole of both palms to the air. He doesn't need to to hear the kaiju, of course--no one does now, not when the big, earthy beast lumbers above them, a groaning roar in its throat like tumbling boulders down a cliff. Its waist emerges from the ground of a large construction site like the trunk of a massive, calamitous tree; the rest of it must extend underground. Smaller, eyeball-shaped stone creatures surround it, hovering impossibly on their whirring wings. They turn towards the pair of Sentinels as one. The larger kaiju ignores them, gathering its strength, moaning.
The nearest of the cannon-fodder screech--Perseus flinches and grits his teeth--and, with a thunderous flap of their wings, summon a storm of crude rock javelins to hurl at Scuti's shield.]
[ Perseus's flinch passes through her as if it'd been her own and Scuti grits her teeth in turn, her hands twisting on the handle of the shield so tight her skin tingles. It's wide and heavy enough that her movements should be sluggish, but when the kaiju begin their attack, Scuti wields it with a confidence that makes it seem half as heavy – less than, even.
She swings the shield around just in time to catch the full brunt of the javelins' impact. Her arms buckle briefly under the force and she has to lock her legs into place to keep from staggering back. But with a huge cry of exertion, she manages to follow through with the swing, sending the piercing rock sailing back through the air and towards their attackers. ]
[The returned fire takes two small fry out in an instant, crushing them with their own stone. It knocks another out of orbit, sending it spiraling crazily down on the single rotor-like wing still functioning. That leaves two small monsters unharmed and a heckton of rock shrapnel volleying down from the collision.
Eyes still closed, Perseus cuts one of his arms sharply through the air. A shockwave of wind intercepts the shrapnel and then explodes, still high above the street. What's left of the fragmented javelins after Scuti's rebuff breaks down further into gravel and dust. Pulverized. Perseus's invisible air mines also catch the edge of one of the remaining whirring rock things and it plummets, at least temporarily disabled. That leaves one little floater and the big guy, which bellows and lowers its big, goat-like head towards the Sentinels, scraping at the ground with its hooves.
Down, down, beneath the streets, where the kaiju's lower half disappears from view, groundwater slowly trickles upward, pulling against gravity. It draws from the river and water mains alike to finish composing the brand new, still-forming kaiju Capricorn.
And Perseus still can't place what he's hearing--the faint, liquid echoes coming from somewhere. Before he can, the one remaining minion tilts forward and divebombs them, flinging its entire stone body at them with force.]
[ Even through the noise and the chaos, Scuti doesn't really feel fear anymore – fights like this have gotten almost routine now and for all that she's groused about Perseus tagging along, he's a capable ally. If she truly has to have one.
She peeks out from behind her sheild, eyes narrowed and gives a small tch when she realizes there's still small fry to deal with. Every moment they're forced to play around with the smaller kaiju is another second the city and the people in it are in danger. It's times like this she almost resents her shield – she's certain she could do more if she had a more direct method of attack.
Not that it stops her from following along with Perseus' warning and swinging it up to catch the attack before it can hit either of the Sentinels. The noise of stone scraping against her shield makes Scuti grit her teeth, but if it's just one minion, she's sure she can manage it. ]
[Perseus's eyes fly open. He drops his arms, lowers his center of gravity, and then dashes around Scuti and her shield like an eddying wind through canyon walls, like nothing stands in his way. Air rushes beneath him, becoming a cushion beneath his feet, and he leaps.
Up, up, high above the tableau of Sentinel, shield, and stone monster, Perseus reaches the peak of his jump and hangs suspended for a moment, silhouetted against the sinking sun. Then, as momentum swings the other way, he grins, turns headfirst into his plummeting descent, and enacts his own version of Yuki-chan's--Sentinel Pegasus's--signature move.
He flips and brings his heel down in a devastating axe kick, driving a diagonal spike of air pressure into the remaining minion, knocking it away and down and into crushed-rock oblivion.]
All right!
[It wasn't as powerful as Pegasus's leg spike would have been, but Perseus's versatility knows almost no bounds. Air catches him up like a beloved child and he touches down lightly, in front of and to one side of Scuti.]
[ It happens almost too fast for Scuti to follow – one moment, Perseus is behind her shield and the next he's a blur in the sky, already spiking down even in the moment that she registers that he's in the air. In the moments it takes him to come back down, Scuti thrusts up her shield as hard as she can and sends the minion spinning back into Perseus's attack.
She doesn't even wait for it to be dashed against the ground before she heaves her shield up, readying herself to swing it around and take any surprise blows that might come their way. ]
Yes, yes, I saw. [ She sounds a little harried, but it doesn't seem like she's being purposely dismissive for once. ] ... I'm impressed you could pull that off as well as you did.
[Delight suffuses, charges every fiber of him. It’s so bright and fills him so completely, he doesn’t even have space to feel afraid as sound shifts—as the ground shifts—as the battle’s second act rises under Sentinel Scuti’s feet.]
Scuti, watch out!
[Without a thought, he sends the wind that caught him so lovingly all to Scuti’s defense, wrapping her in a sphere of whirling air that deflects the massive jet of water that punches through the earth beneath her, air that cradles her even as the force of the eruption sends her—and chunks of street and stone—flying. She escapes it all unscathed.
Perseus isn’t so lucky. The blast catches him, unarmed and functionally naked, and throws him into the side of a construction vehicle.]
Ugh…!
[His body drops into a rising stream of water, which then continues to rise, shifting and forming a thick coil of tail. The goat half of the main kaiju raises itself on its two legs and bleats; the pillar of water that makes up its back half solidifies into a finned, serpentine tail twisted around Sentinel Perseus’s dangling form, like a baby with a rattle.]
[ It feels like it happens in the space between one blink and another. One moment, Perseus is in front of her, beaming with delight so bright she almost wants to shield her eyes against it. The next, she's cushioned by warm air that smells like evening sunshine. Chaos erupts around her and passes her by, untouched and unharmed.
The same can't be said for Perseus. She loses sight of him for a heart-stopping moment and then when she can pick out his prone form again, it's too late. She has a vivid image of bait, suddenly, dangled from a hook and though she knows it's wisest not to bite–
How could she do anything but? ]
Perseus–
[ Her mind reels. What can she do? All she has is her shield and though she's fought kaiju like this by herself before, it's never been with someone already in its clutches. She needs to hang back and make a plan, assess the risks and take a carefully planned course of action.
So of course, she does none of that. Scuti snatches up her shield and charges forward, not considering the risks, not considering the damages and not even sure why her heart is in her throat. All she knows is that she needs to do something to save Perseus. ]
[Predictably, kaiju Capricorn bares its flat goat teeth at Scuti and bleats its defiance towards her. Now fully formed, it beats its two hooves on the ground and starts to push itself--
Backwards. Away from Scuti. Towards the river, where it can swim. Its tail lashes with the effort, urging it on.
Perseus hangs in the thrashing loop of the kaiju's tail, stunned. Stars bloom and throb in ugly colors across his vision. It's hard to breathe. Still, he can hear Scuti call out after him.
That's what makes him kick weakly at it, what makes him lift his head despite a wave of sickness and try to answer her.]
Se...npai...
[He's alive. If he survives this, he'll probably be all right. But if he's dragged into the water in this condition, even Sentinel Perseus, blessed as he is by air, will drown.
Flailing, a hoof strikes a glancing blow against an abandoned crane, causing the heavy load it still holds suspended above to sway slightly, perilously. The kaiju has managed to turn itself around and over so it faces the river. The crane's load hangs right over its head--like a guillotine.]
[ As a Sentinel, Scuti isn't really made for speed – she's supposed to be steadfast and strong but now, she's tearing after the kaiju as fast as she's ever moved, feet pounding against the ground with each step so hard the impact rings through her with an ache. Even then, she knows she won't make it in time. A horrible cold dread fills her stomach, overflows until she's brimming with it from head to toe. She can't just do nothing, but– but what can she do?
Her eyes flit around frantically and it's only when the equally frantic motion of the kaiju's kicking hooves upsets it that she notices the crane. She watches it sway precariously and in the few seconds it takes to start swinging back towards the kaiju it all the time she needs to decide what to do.
She skids to a halt and steadies herself as best she can even with her whole body still burning with nerves. She doesn't trust herself to get this right if she gives herself time to overthink it and so she winds back and with all the strength she has left in her arms, sends her shield cutting through the air towards the crane.
It cuts through the bindings holding the load aloft and then collides with the crane itself, shattering away into fine dust that fades into nothing. That's all it needs to do – the momentum of the throw and the force of the strike sends the crane's load soaring down onto the kaiju's head. ]
The kaiju's cry of surprise and pain comes to an abrupt, crunch-squelching stop as the load crashes down on its skull. In an instant, the monster breaks apart, front half crumbling into earth and tail splashing open like a water balloon, spraying everywhere. Perseus lands with a splat and is Shu Amiguchi once more, muddied, drenched, and coughing weakly.
The glamorous life of a mahou. He's beauty, he's grace, but he's alive, there on the bank of the river as Sumire Bridge arcs high above.]
[ She only waits for the half a second it takes to confirm for sure that the kaiju's dead before she goes pelting after Perseus – Amiguchi – again. She doesn't bother taking the long way down to the river bank, instead just dropping herself right off the side of the bridge and landing in cold, wet mud. She slips and staggers all the way up the bank, looking like she might topple over any minute and then when she reaches his side, Scuti goes down onto her knees in the sodden earth anyway. Her dusk colours end up dull and dirty with mud but for now, her attention is all on him. ]
Amiguchi! [ For once, there's no irritation or admonishment to her tone. Just raw panic and sincere concern. ] Are you– you're not–?!
[ She's almost afraid to say it, as if voicing all the ways he could be hurt might suddenly make them real. ]
[His name pierces right through his pain and the roaring, pounding pulse in his ears. His name, shouted like that, in Scuti’s voice—no matter what, Shu would hear it. Even if he were deaf. Even if he were dead, probably. As she scrambles towards him, he stirs in her direction, drawing up one leg and biting back a groan. His skull throbs, throwing red and black across the inside of his eyelids. Shu carefully covers the place where his head cracked against something, keeps his other arm wrapped around his ribs, and wheezes out:]
I’m—I’m okay…
[The mud sticks gritty and clammy against his cheek. It still hurts to breathe. Hurt to move, too, so Shu stays where he is, opening only one eye to confirm Scuti’s presence at his side. Thank goodness. From what he can make out, she seems all right.]
[ It only takes him a moment to respond but even that beat of silence makes cold panic root itself inside her and her mind goes reeling with helplessness all over again. She wouldn't be able to do much of anything to heal him if he's truly hurt, she's never been any good at that.
Once he cracks his eye open and looks at her, Scuti feels her whole body just sag. She's not even sure if she can call it relief yet, not when he's clearly so hurt but... he's alive. That's a good start. ]
It's dead. [ said with a little savage satisfaction. ] I killed it, but... you still ended up like this...
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She'd had the misfortune of coming across him during a battle with a kaiju. It'd been a surprise – she knows there are other Sentinels of course, she's not so arrogant as to assume she can save the entire world all by herself. But she has no desire to fight beside any of them. She has her own duties to fulfil and the others would be a distraction at best. She can fight by herself.
Which is why it's so– frustrating, to put it mildly, that she isn't being allowed to do just that. Fighting side by side in a single battle when they have no choice is just fine, but since that passing encounter Ryoko feels like she's seeing Amiguchi everywhere she goes. Any time she sets out to patrol for kaiju, he's there and no amount of cold passive aggression or outright sharpness has been able to dissuade him or turn him away. Not that it's stopped her from trying, of course.
It's a warm, sticky summer evening with the late day sun casting everything in oranges and reds. The low light bouncing off windows and glass makes her usual headache even worse and things aren't helped at all by the fact that she's being dogged by an even more persistent headache as she sets out. ]
You really can't take a hint, can you? [ Not that it's a hint at this point. ] How many times do I have to tell you I can handle things myself?
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[The evening finds Shu in fine fettle, fast as he is on the heels of a real cutie, the sunset on her dark hair soon to gentle into mauve and twilight and dusk. It's the time of day that blends his autumn-gold colors into her night ones, and he's happy to cede the sky to her, metaphorically speaking, in exchange for time with her on the ground.
Ryoko Shinonome is gorgeous in any light. When the first light he saw her in was the light of battle, interposing herself like a shield of gauze, porcelain, and crystal between a kaiju's claws, who can blame him for being dazzled? He follows her now, drawn in her wake like heat pouring along sunshine, like the warm yellow that clings to a candle's cool, blue heart.
He doesn't tell her he worries about her. In some part, he doesn't; he admires her too much, one of his seniors among the Sentinels, for worry to be everything that pulls him after her. But she fights alone. Every time he sees her, in her bruise-purples and stars, she's alone. And what kind of guy lets a girl fight monsters all on her own? What kind of person lets another kid fight monsters with no one else at their side?
Miyuki wouldn't have it. He hasn't told her all the specifics yet, but he knows enough about her--his Pyxis, his compass--and enough about himself to know neither of them could let this stand. Perseus was a hero before he was a constellation, famous for freeing chained Andromeda from the rocks. Sentinel Perseus can be no less. So, Shu tags along after Shinonome-senpai, regardless of the stony glares she throws his way, secure in the belief he's doing the right thing. Enjoying the view, enjoying the company and the experience of fighting beside her, is icing on the cake.
He places his hand over his heart, grinning.]
Can't you hear it?
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All I hear is someone who likes the sound of his own voice a little too much.
[ Her voice is low and irritated, but she knows there's no point. None of it works when it comes to Amiguchi. She's learned by now that no amount of barbs she sends his way will do anything to deflate him. Whatever she does, Amiguchi is going to continue dogging her steps with that effortlessly clueless grin on his face. ]
If you're getting that dizzy in the head just from following me around, you're just going to get in the way when we find a kaiju.
[ Now that part is a lie. For all that she finds frustrating about Amiguchi, his ability as a Sentinel isn't one of of those things. He certainly isn't as skilled or as well trained as Ryoko feels she is, but it'd be untrue to say that his heart isn't in the fight.
Which just makes her all the more irritated with him. It's a lose-lose for her, either way. ]
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If I do, you'll have every right to plow right through me. I won't hold you back, Senpai. I promise.
[Picking up like a breeze, Shu hops ahead of Shinonome and turns, walking backward so he can keep smiling at her, trusting his feet on these familiar sidewalks.]
Besides, twice the fighters means half the time, right? Could be we'll both finish our rounds early. [Even though that's not how keeping watch works--standing Sentinel, as it were--Shu's grin broadens at the idea of a shortened shift. His voice goes sing-song.] Could be, if we've both got the time, I could take you somewhere. Show you a side of the city with way fewer monsters. I know this great ramen place, it'd be my treat.
[He knows she won't go for it. That's just not Shinonome-senpai. Still, he likes to float these scraps of peacetime normalcy past her when he can. Maybe one day, he'll even catch her giving actual thought to one of these daydreams of his.]
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If you have time to slack off and stuff yourself with ramen, you have time to patrol for kaiju.
[ And that's that. It's the reason she makes excuses to leave school early when she can, why she rebuffs any and all attempts from her classmates to invite her to outings, clubs, any of it – time not spent on the kaiju is time wasted. And it's not like she'd have schoolmates to waste time with if the city was reduced to rubble. She's sure Mr. Ida would say the same.
She has another barb lined up, but before she can say anything else, pain spikes across her forehead and she feels her expression crumple if just for a moment. She doesn't know if Amiguchi feels it the same way she does, but it's unmistakable. ]
... speak of the devil. I think we're getting close... or that one just spawned.
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That way.
[Shu points down the road towards Sumire Bridge, sounding sure.]
I think you're right, it's new. There's noise around it I don't like. Should I call Yuki-chan for backup?
[He knows the two of them have worked together without him, and she's a fantastic fighter. If Shinonome will accept anyone else's help, it might be hers.]
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[ She hasn't questioned his direction, even as she rebuffs his advice – for all her other complaints about Shu Amiguchi, she's learned not to question his sense for tracking kaiju. In that sense and that sense only, they make a good match – Ryoko can feel when they appear and Amiguchi can hear where they can be found. If he weren't so infuriating, Ryoko might be tempted to call them a good team.
Maybe when hell next freezes over. ]
I'll scout ahead with my shield. Just make sure you watch my back, alright?
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[Shu falls easily into place behind her, his athletic, loping stride so natural to him, he could have been born to do exactly this. Maybe he was. Miyuki hasn't told him how Sentinels come about, if they just happen or are chosen by forces which he isn't yet aware of. All he knows is that doing this is right. It's like he's done it all before, for years--spent a lifetime fighting monsters in a dream.
He's fast enough not to let Shinonome-senpai get too far ahead. Sumire Bridge, and the kaiju this side of it, looms nearer. Without breaking stride, Shu lifts his hand and draws it lightly through his hair, over his ear, to begin his transformation.]
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What else can you hear?
[ She doesn't even turn to see if Perseus is at her heels – she already trusts that he's there and ready. ]
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Either way, that's neither a helpful nor pertinent answer. He closes his eyes, blocking out the distraction of his own gold and autumn image, and listens.]
I'm not... sure. [Immediately, though:] Big one at 10 o'clock, a handful of underlings scattered around it. Sounds like rocks falling. Or wrecking machines.
[That, at least, he sounds sure about. Sentinel Perseus frowns, fingers twitching in the air from which he draws his weapons.]
But there's some kinda--distortion behind it, or--if you can cover me for a sec, I'll figure it out. Yeah?
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So they'll deal with this themsevles. They have to.
She gives him a curt nod, steadying the shield on her arm confidently. ]
As long as you need. I'll handle it.
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The nearest of the cannon-fodder screech--Perseus flinches and grits his teeth--and, with a thunderous flap of their wings, summon a storm of crude rock javelins to hurl at Scuti's shield.]
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She swings the shield around just in time to catch the full brunt of the javelins' impact. Her arms buckle briefly under the force and she has to lock her legs into place to keep from staggering back. But with a huge cry of exertion, she manages to follow through with the swing, sending the piercing rock sailing back through the air and towards their attackers. ]
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[The returned fire takes two small fry out in an instant, crushing them with their own stone. It knocks another out of orbit, sending it spiraling crazily down on the single rotor-like wing still functioning. That leaves two small monsters unharmed and a heckton of rock shrapnel volleying down from the collision.
Eyes still closed, Perseus cuts one of his arms sharply through the air. A shockwave of wind intercepts the shrapnel and then explodes, still high above the street. What's left of the fragmented javelins after Scuti's rebuff breaks down further into gravel and dust. Pulverized. Perseus's invisible air mines also catch the edge of one of the remaining whirring rock things and it plummets, at least temporarily disabled. That leaves one little floater and the big guy, which bellows and lowers its big, goat-like head towards the Sentinels, scraping at the ground with its hooves.
Down, down, beneath the streets, where the kaiju's lower half disappears from view, groundwater slowly trickles upward, pulling against gravity. It draws from the river and water mains alike to finish composing the brand new, still-forming kaiju Capricorn.
And Perseus still can't place what he's hearing--the faint, liquid echoes coming from somewhere. Before he can, the one remaining minion tilts forward and divebombs them, flinging its entire stone body at them with force.]
Above!
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She peeks out from behind her sheild, eyes narrowed and gives a small tch when she realizes there's still small fry to deal with. Every moment they're forced to play around with the smaller kaiju is another second the city and the people in it are in danger. It's times like this she almost resents her shield – she's certain she could do more if she had a more direct method of attack.
Not that it stops her from following along with Perseus' warning and swinging it up to catch the attack before it can hit either of the Sentinels. The noise of stone scraping against her shield makes Scuti grit her teeth, but if it's just one minion, she's sure she can manage it. ]
Destroy it, then we can focus on the leader!
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[Perseus's eyes fly open. He drops his arms, lowers his center of gravity, and then dashes around Scuti and her shield like an eddying wind through canyon walls, like nothing stands in his way. Air rushes beneath him, becoming a cushion beneath his feet, and he leaps.
Up, up, high above the tableau of Sentinel, shield, and stone monster, Perseus reaches the peak of his jump and hangs suspended for a moment, silhouetted against the sinking sun. Then, as momentum swings the other way, he grins, turns headfirst into his plummeting descent, and enacts his own version of Yuki-chan's--Sentinel Pegasus's--signature move.
He flips and brings his heel down in a devastating axe kick, driving a diagonal spike of air pressure into the remaining minion, knocking it away and down and into crushed-rock oblivion.]
All right!
[It wasn't as powerful as Pegasus's leg spike would have been, but Perseus's versatility knows almost no bounds. Air catches him up like a beloved child and he touches down lightly, in front of and to one side of Scuti.]
Did you see that? How cool was that?
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She doesn't even wait for it to be dashed against the ground before she heaves her shield up, readying herself to swing it around and take any surprise blows that might come their way. ]
Yes, yes, I saw. [ She sounds a little harried, but it doesn't seem like she's being purposely dismissive for once. ] ... I'm impressed you could pull that off as well as you did.
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Scuti, watch out!
[Without a thought, he sends the wind that caught him so lovingly all to Scuti’s defense, wrapping her in a sphere of whirling air that deflects the massive jet of water that punches through the earth beneath her, air that cradles her even as the force of the eruption sends her—and chunks of street and stone—flying. She escapes it all unscathed.
Perseus isn’t so lucky. The blast catches him, unarmed and functionally naked, and throws him into the side of a construction vehicle.]
Ugh…!
[His body drops into a rising stream of water, which then continues to rise, shifting and forming a thick coil of tail. The goat half of the main kaiju raises itself on its two legs and bleats; the pillar of water that makes up its back half solidifies into a finned, serpentine tail twisted around Sentinel Perseus’s dangling form, like a baby with a rattle.]
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The same can't be said for Perseus. She loses sight of him for a heart-stopping moment and then when she can pick out his prone form again, it's too late. She has a vivid image of bait, suddenly, dangled from a hook and though she knows it's wisest not to bite–
How could she do anything but? ]
Perseus–
[ Her mind reels. What can she do? All she has is her shield and though she's fought kaiju like this by herself before, it's never been with someone already in its clutches. She needs to hang back and make a plan, assess the risks and take a carefully planned course of action.
So of course, she does none of that. Scuti snatches up her shield and charges forward, not considering the risks, not considering the damages and not even sure why her heart is in her throat. All she knows is that she needs to do something to save Perseus. ]
Let him go!
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Backwards. Away from Scuti. Towards the river, where it can swim. Its tail lashes with the effort, urging it on.
Perseus hangs in the thrashing loop of the kaiju's tail, stunned. Stars bloom and throb in ugly colors across his vision. It's hard to breathe. Still, he can hear Scuti call out after him.
That's what makes him kick weakly at it, what makes him lift his head despite a wave of sickness and try to answer her.]
Se...npai...
[He's alive. If he survives this, he'll probably be all right. But if he's dragged into the water in this condition, even Sentinel Perseus, blessed as he is by air, will drown.
Flailing, a hoof strikes a glancing blow against an abandoned crane, causing the heavy load it still holds suspended above to sway slightly, perilously. The kaiju has managed to turn itself around and over so it faces the river. The crane's load hangs right over its head--like a guillotine.]
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Her eyes flit around frantically and it's only when the equally frantic motion of the kaiju's kicking hooves upsets it that she notices the crane. She watches it sway precariously and in the few seconds it takes to start swinging back towards the kaiju it all the time she needs to decide what to do.
She skids to a halt and steadies herself as best she can even with her whole body still burning with nerves. She doesn't trust herself to get this right if she gives herself time to overthink it and so she winds back and with all the strength she has left in her arms, sends her shield cutting through the air towards the crane.
It cuts through the bindings holding the load aloft and then collides with the crane itself, shattering away into fine dust that fades into nothing. That's all it needs to do – the momentum of the throw and the force of the strike sends the crane's load soaring down onto the kaiju's head. ]
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The kaiju's cry of surprise and pain comes to an abrupt, crunch-squelching stop as the load crashes down on its skull. In an instant, the monster breaks apart, front half crumbling into earth and tail splashing open like a water balloon, spraying everywhere. Perseus lands with a splat and is Shu Amiguchi once more, muddied, drenched, and coughing weakly.
The glamorous life of a mahou. He's beauty, he's grace, but he's alive, there on the bank of the river as Sumire Bridge arcs high above.]
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Amiguchi! [ For once, there's no irritation or admonishment to her tone. Just raw panic and sincere concern. ] Are you– you're not–?!
[ She's almost afraid to say it, as if voicing all the ways he could be hurt might suddenly make them real. ]
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I’m—I’m okay…
[The mud sticks gritty and clammy against his cheek. It still hurts to breathe. Hurt to move, too, so Shu stays where he is, opening only one eye to confirm Scuti’s presence at his side. Thank goodness. From what he can make out, she seems all right.]
A…and you? Did you get it?
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Once he cracks his eye open and looks at her, Scuti feels her whole body just sag. She's not even sure if she can call it relief yet, not when he's clearly so hurt but... he's alive. That's a good start. ]
It's dead. [ said with a little savage satisfaction. ] I killed it, but... you still ended up like this...
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