Once a soldier, always a soldier (Active/Open)

[umi_talisman]

Characters: Michiru Kaioh and anyone who comes across her.
Content: A new arrival to the city... and in a miniskirt no less!
Location: Streets near Bryant Park Hotel
Time of Day: early evening
Warnings: None yet

Comments

[dreadthered]

Renji nodded and gestured for her to follow him through the snow. He jammed his hands into his pockets after slipping the red baseball bat back into its holster, "Careful. There's some pretty nasty things out here...although if you're what I think you are then I have an idea that you can take care of it." That wasn't to say that he was going to leave her completely defenseless, after all what if she wasn't as strong as Minako...plus Minako had a tendency to loose her transformed state after awhile. "Just...don't let your guard down," he finished, taking a moment to scan the area for any Crabs.

He pressed forward, "Well, for one, there's a giant monster roaming around the place...accompanied by a lot of little ones. The big ones easy to feel comin' but its the smaller ones you have to watch out for...they travel in packs and have a taste for humans." He shook his head in frustration, "There's other little things about this place too...food mysteriously vanishing, days and people also disappearing without reason...not to mention the fact that most people are weakened here."

[umi_talisman]

Sailor Neptune frowned slightly. Had Minako told him? How careless... "If I'm what you think I am?" she mumbled, more to herself than anything.

She trudged on after him. "Youma.... of course," she whispered. That's why so many buildings were vacant... "Food vanishing? Days.. people... all of them disappearing?" Her eyebrows furrowed. "And weakened? As in....?"

[dreadthered]

"Hn," Renji wasn't sure how to reply to that. He'd know in time, he could already kind of tell from her spitiual aura, her reiatsu, it was different than most humans...it was also different from Minako's. He had a feeling she was more perceptive in the spiritual area than Minako was.

He stopped suddenly, he thought he had heard something, the snow muffled a lot of noises however so it was hard to tell. He glanced over at the woman, "Weakened, as in if you've got any powers they're going to be cut in half if not more." He frowned, it was one of the parts he hated most about this place. They could probably take on the giant monster easily if they all had their powers at full strength.

There was a noise again, Renji was sure this time, the shinigami reached for his bat, stance shifting and looking cautious, "You hear that?"

[umi_talisman]

Sailor Neptune wasn't too fond of the idea that her powers were cut in half, if not less than that. She made a face at the idea but didn't have long to dwell on it. She continued to follow the gentleman (even though she was slightly wary of trusting someone right off the bat.... then again, he knew Minako...) and paused as she started to hear the noises. They had company... and it didn't feel human.... or like youma she was used to.

Aqua mirror now in hand, she tightened her grip on it and glanced around. "Yes... I can feel they're close..." she replied quietly. And she wasn't wrong either. A pack of the little creatures were slowly making their way to them (the snow didn't slow just them around, but also the creatures it seemed). Without hesitation, the ocean senshi held out her mirror and readied an attack. "Submarine Reflection!" she called out.

That, really hadn't worked as well as she'd been hoping. While the creatures were hit by it, they weren't as stunned as she'd intended them to be. "These are the creatures you told me about, I assume?"

[dreadthered]

Renji pulled his bat out and tightened his grip on the handle. It was time to get to work. The shinigami lunged at the oncoming crabs just as Neptune let loose her mirror attack. Renji noticed that it didn't do much good but figured that was more the city to blame than anything else since it did still seem to pack a punch. Renji stuck the crab with his red bat and grunted, realizing the woman had asked a question, "Yeah, this would be them."

He really needed to look into getting an actual sword instead of a red bat, he knew Zabimaru didn't like it either way but that was just how things had to be. Renji struck the crab down with a forceful blow to the head. "Tch, guess they're just as hungry as the people trapped here are," Renji growled, swinging at the crabs that got too close since it looked like Neptune had more range than he did.

[umi_talisman]

He was doing a good job keeping those ones from getting any closer. However, Neptune's worry was now directed to another creature that decided to join the fun. She spun around, her mirror disappearing as she did so, and drop kicked the parasite behind her. She managed to backflip out of the way as it moved to attack her.

These were definitely much different than anything she'd come across back in Tokyo. "Deep Submerge!"

The creature stumbled back as she managed to get a little farther from it. Why was she already feeling so worn out? She'd only used her attacks twice so far... She glanced around, looking for some sort of weapon to pick up. Her mirror usually wasn't something she'd lament over having, but right now she'd rather have Uranus' sword. A mirror would not kill these creatures (though she idly wondered if they saw their reflection they'd die of fright?).

[dreadthered]

A different attack was called out, Renji was half listening, trying to get a feel for how the woman fought. She relied mostly on spell based attacks but luckily she knew how to fight physically as well...it didn't seem to be her strong suit however.

One of the monster's claws raked across his jacket, tearing the cloth but not getting deep enough to get the skin because Renji pulled away just in time. He spun on his heel and drove the handle of the bat into the crab's body. He then jumped up and over the crab, kicking the one behind it in the face and flipping back to take care of another.

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Neptune shouted out another attack, despite the weakness that was starting to wash over her. The monster was backing her into a corner, it felt like. Or rather, right back to the man she'd been talking with. She glanced over her shoulder at him. "How tough are these things?!" she asked exasperatedly. She glanced back in front of herself and kicked the creature away.

It stumbled. That was a good sign. One more attack and it'd be finished off, she was sure of this. Crying out one last attack, she watched it crumple over under the power of her attack. Unfortunately, she wasn't sure she could use another attack without risking a power down. She took a deep, sharp breath of air and did her best to keep from falling to the ground.

[dreadthered]

"I told you...they like to travel in groups...that's what makes them such a pain," he growled, striking down another. He felt her small back press against him, they were really getting their asses kicked. Renji hated the idea going through his mind but he knew they didn't have much of a choice, they just might have to make a run for it.

He let out a breath, "I think we might need to run. I can get you a head start." He was going to have to exit his gigai for a brief moment to do it but he felt that if he did one huge attack with Zabimaru they would be in the clear. His grip tightened on his bat, "This might look a bit weird but trust me it'll work."

Renji didn't wait for her answer, she'd run if she were smart if not then she obviously felt she could handle it. He released himself from the fake body that was the gigai and felt the handle of Zabimaru materialize in his hand as soon as he was in Shinigami form. Renji was quick to unsheathe it, "Howl! Zabimaru!" The sword changed shape as he released it from its seal and immediately arched towards the attacking crabs, slicing through them like cheese. Renji made sure to stand over his fake body and prevent crabs from taking advantage of its limp form. As soon as the crabs were pushed back or cut down Renji sealed his sword again and slipped back into the gigai, running as soon as he could, "GO!" he shouted at the woman if she had decided to linger. He couldn't be sure how many more crabs were still around or when they would charge again after his attack from Zabimaru

[umi_talisman]

Neptune turned to look at him, as now all the monsters were on his side. She watched as he exited his body and wielded a sword that cut quickly through the monsters. She froze when he shouted for her to go, something she had no qualms with. She quickly turned and followed him, away from the hoard of monsters they'd left stunned in their wake.

"How much farther?" she asked, gasping to catch her breath in the frigid air. She'd bring up what she'd seen later, when she had warmer air to breathe and more time for idle conversation.

[dreadthered]

Renji looked up at the buildings, "Round the corner...down the block." He led the way, figuring it'd be best to show her. She certainly ran fast for a human. It wasn't long before they reached the doors to the Mansfield, you could tell it was lived in since some of the lights were on and there were more footprints in the snow than in front of other buildings, "This is it."

He cast a glance over his shoulder, "Better get in and block the door...case those things followed us."

[umi_talisman]

Neptune's eyes locked on the hotel as they neared it. She nodded her head and quickly ducked inside, glancing back only to make sure there weren't any nearby to worry about immediately. She didn't need to be told to move one of the couches in the way of the door, she was already pushing it.

But it wasn't much warmer in the hotel than it had been outside, and that was something she'd been looking forward to. She glanced around the lobby. There was a fire going in the fireplace and the rooms off to the sides looked like they'd been turned into something else... "So everyone just finds wherever they can to stay, then? This is a nice hotel," she commented under her breath. "And that trick you did earlier, that was impressive."

She'd never seen anything like it before, to be honest.