Chapter Seventeen:
Ready To Rumble

by Angie, Becky, Colin, Matt and Tami

Adam rubbed at his temples and sighed. Oh, he had known this wouldn't be easy. Sweet Legba, Rafe wasn't easy. But he had hoped for a slightly better reaction than this. "Rafe, mon ami, come on. I promised Ay and her and I can't break that." Standing up, he shoved his hands in his pockets and paced slightly in the grass. "You've already been in a fight. Anyway, you're tough. Nyssa and Willow have been in at least one fight. They know what to do. Just, um... Be nice to them, okay? Nyssa's got a bit of a temper and Willow... She's a smart kid but I don't think she's quite squared away with her new powers yet."

"Girls." The brunette potter's voice was flat. "You're sending me out alone. With little girls. Why not just give me a sign saying, 'Hey, Drop Your Pants And Come On Down, I'm Bending Over'?"

"Because then the line would just be too damn long, hm?" Adam grinned suddenly up at Rafe. "Okay, look, mon ami. I'll make a deal with you. Be nice and take this in stride and I'll... Well, me or my maman will make you a big pot of that gumbo you like. How's that?"

Food. Adam saw Rafe's mouth twitch for a moment; petulantly, the potter snorted. "...Hmph."

Seeing he was making progress, Adam switched his smile to charming and further needled, "And I swear on everything I hold holy that I won't do this to you ever again."

".... little girls. Not even boys. Wimpy little girls..."

Adam's mouth tightened and his hazel gaze cooled slightly. "So? They're capable."

"Girls! Hmph. They shouldn't be fighting. They'll be useless. Sit down and cry the moment someone hits 'em in a fight. Liability. Especially tiny little young ones."

"... We're all liabilities until we know what we're doing, Fabrizio." Adam's voice had gone soft, his original Southern accent slipping into the Italian. If Rafe was smart, he would pick up on the tone of warning. "They're not going to be any worse or better than you."

Rafe, sadly, wasn't smart. "Well, no, if they were a couple feet taller and were men." He rolled his eyes. "Hmph. Go on, Le Blanc. I'll handle the wailing bambinos."

That just did it. Standing straight, Adam strode over to glare at his friend, hazel eyes cold. "Rafael Fabrizio, you had better not be trying to tell me that you're a damned sexist," he growled. "They may be smaller than you but that doesn't mean they're less. In any way."

Rafe raised an eyebrow at Adam, surprise obvious in his chocolate-dark gaze. "Dio mio, Le Blanc. I grew up in the company of men. Who the hell pussywhipped you so much?"

"Oh, do excuse me, Fabrizio." Jaw tight, Adam stepped away and bent to retrieve his duffel bag with a snort. "I had no idea that being equal and polite and not a bastard made one less." He shouldered the bag roughly and shot Rafe a glare heated enough to melt iron. "If you're a fine example of virile, strong manhood, Fabrizio, I'm turning in my damned Y chromosome."

What was making mellow Adam so pissy? What had he said? "Hmph," Rafe said roughly, angry and - though he would rather die than admit it - hurt. "Effe. Donnicciola."

Adam gritted his teeth. "I'll do the rounds with Mathilde quick, Fabrizio," he muttered through them. "Then I'll find you and the girls. Follow that damned route I set for you or, so help me..."

Rafe never found out the end of the threat as the other dark-haired young man spun on his heel and strode out of sight, somehow managing to hit the ground hard enough that even his worn, soft-soled sneakers slapped audibly on the pavement.

With an explosion of breath, the potter leant back against the wall, looking stunned as well as furious. What had that been all about? What did Adam care if he didn't like little girls? Useless, moronic, heinously stupid creatures, who never got much better growing up. Why did Adam have to yell at him?

Hah. He'd meant what he'd said. He wasn't going to apologize. Practically boiling, in an utterly foul mood, Rafe began to pace, waiting for the hapless two Kemet girls known as Willow and Nyssa...

Willow's life had taken some interesting twists and turns.

First came her graduation from Ambrit--near the top of her class, naturally. The problem was that she now had more time on her hands than she knew what to do with. She had an idea for taking self-paced classes to fill the gap, but that would take awhile before the bureaucracy's wheels turned fast enough.

The second thing that had happened was affecting her this morning. Her clothes were fitting a little too tightly. "Oh bugger," she muttered. What a time to be hit by puberty...again. It meant new clothes, which she'd probably outgrow in a month or two.

And it was about that time that she had received a call from Adam (sigh...) asking her to go to some obscure pottery shop. He mentioned something about a new patrol pattern, and he wanted her to team up with two others. Deep down, there was a part of her that wanted to patrol with Adam, but she pushed that aside, and kept to her more "mature" demeanor. He was just another person...

And so, later that evening--and after she bought herself some new clothes, she found herself walking down the street toward said pottery shop, wondering who she'd be doing this patrol with.

There was a man leaning against the outside of the building, long dark hair pulled back in a ponytail and the reddish highlights glinting in the evening sunset. He didn't look all too friendly, unlike Adam; there was a scowl on his face.

"You DeHavelind?" he grunted, as soon as she came near, and looking as if he hoped she wasn't who he thought she was. "Or Sibley?"

This is who I'm patrolling with, she thought with dread. Well...maybe he's just bad when meeting strangers.

She adjusted her glasses and looked up at him. "Willow DeHavelind," she confirmed. "And you are..."

"Fabrizio," he said shortly. "Rafe Fabrizio. Le Blanc's gone off to babysit some other damn senshi. He won't be here."

"And Nyssa will make three," she said to no one in particular. "Did Adam give you a patrol route? I'd like to study it, if you don't mind."

"Down the alley, to the docks, over some stupid rooftop, home again." What the hell did the route matter? After a few seconds pause, Rafe burst out, "How old are you?"

Willow blinked at the request, but she really shouldn't have been surprised. "I'm fifteen," Willow replied, "if you really must know." He certainly wasn't the sociable type. And where was Nyssa?

Nyssa shoved her hands in her pockets and glared at the pavement. She had been working on a conceptual piece when she had received the phone call from Adam: they were going to patrol tonight. That wasn't too bad, but together with the lecture she had received from Menes, she wasn't in the best of moods.

Although the idea of being lectured by a hyperactive talking labrador was amusing, after awhile she had to take him seriously. He lived with her, after all. For the past few days she had heard a lot about treating her teammates with respect and she was tired of it. It was almost a relief to get out of the house (she couldn't count how many times Max had walked in on them unannounced!), but it was dulled by the fact that Menes had ordered her, in no uncertain terms, to treat her teammates with respect. They were, after all, her teammates. She bit back an especially vehement response and fairly fled, seeking solace in the streets. As she slouched toward her destination, she remembered that Adam had said he was bringing someone along. She wondered who this someone might be, but she didn't have long to wait.

There, on the street corner, was Willow, apparently talking to a man who looked...well, grouchy. Nyssa mustered all her patience and moseyed over to the two. She waved politely to Willow, then looked over the man.

"Hello," she said to Willow, then nodded to the man. "Hello." She frowned momentarily, then asked "Where's Adam?"

"He's out babysitting someone else," the man said tartly, staring at both of them. Girls. Little girls. Little, tiny girls. "Holy Madre, have either of you sprouted pubes? It's one thing to go out with goddamn women, but another to go out with bambini in diapers."

Willow's mouth dropped open at the rather vulgar question. She couldn't believe her ears, and she very obviously blushed at the obtuse inquiry.

"I BEG you pardon!?" Willow said rather sharply. "Where do you get off being so crude!? If we're going to be working together, I suggest you develop some manners."

Rafe's gaze travelled up and down Willow, from her black hair to her feet. "You grew those breasts how long ago? A week? You're still a baby girl. And you - " He turned to Nyssa, smirk on his mouth. "Have you even got any?"

Nyssa's mouth fell slack for a moment, and her face turned a shocking crimson color. Her mouth worked soundlessly for a moment. She stamped her foot into the ground with as much force as she could muster and glared at Rafe with all the venom she could muster. "What's it any of your business anyhow! I'm not a child, any more than you're acting it, you...you jerk! What's your problem, treating us like this? Stop it right this instant!" She commanded, accentuating her command with an impressive foot stamp. The blush that covered her face began to spread to her vision, and her eyes stung with tears.

"Crying little babies," Rafe added smugly, but his expression shifted slightly when he saw real tears in Nyssa's blue-green eyes. "... Oh, come on. Hmph. Don't make with the... eye watering."

Deep down, Willow knew that this infighting wasn't going to do them any good. If they were fighting each other, they wouldn't be able to fight their real opponents. Intellectually she knew this. Emotionally however...

"If you're through asserting your male insecurities," she said sharply, "I would suggest you save your petty opinions for later. We have a patrol to conduct."

Nyssa surreptitiously slid her hand across her face and blinked. Her face was still red, but she was blushing a little less. She remembered what Menes had told her, not to fight with her teammates. Obviously, it was going to be a little harder than that. She was grateful for Willow's comment, however; she sensed it was probably more effective than her own, and anything to keep Rafe off of that subject would be great. That, of course, would be her own little secret.

With a snuffle, she kicked a rock (only in the most general direction of Rafe) and glared at the ground. "You're right," she mumbled, clenching her fists tightly.

"Hold on, hold on," Rafe interrupted bluntly. "Let's get one thing straight, hm? I'm in charge, on account that I'm bigger than you, stronger than you, older than you, and Le Blanc left me in charge. We go when I say we go, and you two don't fuck up. Capiche?"

Willow had an idea on how important a chain of command could be; it could spell life or death. She said she'd support her fellow Senshi and allies--even though she objected to the war and she meant it big time. But for now...

"Fine," Willow said plainly, hiding her annoyance. "Then I suggest you start leading."

Nyssa winced but didn't say anything. If he wanted to be the leader, that was fine with her. It wasn't like she wanted to lead. "You do that. Just don't boss me around," she said plainly, then added under her breath, "'Cause I'm not a kid."

"I'll boss whoever I want to boss, babies," he said tartly. "Hmph. Children. Come on, get into that alley over there..."

Willow just rolled her eyes at his underwhelming charisma, and proceeded into the alleyway. If he wanted to be the big boy, fine. She was already predicting disaster under his watch.

"Just keep in mind Rafe," Willow warned, "If you intend to keep up this poor attitude of yours, the only children you'll be 'bossing around' is yourself."

With that, she removed her scarf from around her neck, and prepared to transform.

"I still can't believe you're so excited over this, pet." Cecily McRae shook her head and studied the young boy sitting on the immaculate couch in her shared flat. "Wouldn't you rather be home watching the telly or something?"

The little blonde's legs practically kicked in excitement. "No way! I had to beg and beg and beg and beg until Papa said yes! I'm not missing out on this for anything! This is so cool!"

The tall redhead couldn't help it and smiled despite her misgivings; his excitement was contagious. "Okay, okay." She raised a long finger and shook it teasingly at him. "But you're going to do every single thing that Savina or I tell you to do, Alix, okay? No ifs ands or buts." Turning, she smiled at the young woman beside her. "Right, Savy?"

Savina finished brushing her hair, "Alix, my little gentleman; while you might be full of excitement, allow me to remind you that what we do is not all fun and games. Furthermore, half, if not all of these people would be nothing more than bad influences. I merely go out on these patrols to see that their gutteral mouths kindly refrain from tainting anyone else."

She picked her phone, keys, and wallet off from the foyer table and delicately put each item into her Prada bag. She looked back at Alix and continued, "It is very important that you pay attention to everything Cecily and I do and stick close in the event we need to make a quick escape." She applied some light cosmetics and gave herself a once over in the mirror. Savina turned to the others, "Shall we, darlings?"

Alix nodded, fascinated, obviously admiring Savina as one of the most beautiful women in the world except for Miss Cecily. "Okay, Miss Savina. I promise to listen to you and Miss Cecily and I'll stick close and I won't jump down walls or anything."

"That's a right love." Shrugging into her jacket, Cecily offered a hand to Alix. "Come on then. We're off."

Pacing down the dark backstreets of Rome with all the dignity a man in a dre - tunic - could muster, Khnum Kamen looked back to give a dark glare to his two companions. The only thing that seemed to happen when they transformed was that they got outfits even sillier than Adam's and that Nun grew breasts, but otherwise, they still looked as useless as before.

"Hmph," he grunted. "Route's almost over, bambinos."

Willow had to admit: She felt more whole when she was a Senshi. Stronger, faster, more perceptive. It was as if a part of her that was asleep suddenly awakened. She was Nut, Goddess of the sky and stars... Yet she was still Willow.

And Willow was an analytical mind. One thing was kept untransformed was a small notebook. As they went, she tailed the other two Senshi, and wrote down various things. Khnum Kamen's tunic, Nun's transformation, opinions of her two companions--in particular Khnum's overall attitude and leadership abilities and a map of the patrol route. She'd put in small details later from memory, but for now, she just wanted the rough. Depending on whether or not there was an encounter, she'd use this to help narrow down where the other Senshi were strongest.

"Hm," Nut barely took note at his idle banter. "Only counts when it's over."

"It's over when I say it's over. I'm not hanging out around here with you two baby prostitute-lookalikes any more than I have to."

"And I'm fairly certain neither of us want to stick around with the next Taliban poster boy," Nut retorted.

Please dear lord, Nut thought, just let us get home and call it a night. She was certain that, if they met resistance, he'd get them killed.

"Fuck you too, four-eyes," Khnum said maturely.

That was absolutely pathetic. It was becoming obvious to her that Khnum Kamen was a poor verbal duelist; hardly worthy of her skills. Then again, the best thing he could call them was "baby-prostitute-lookalikes". She dismissed him, and her opinion of him was going even lower, if that was possible.

She was worried about two things: Whether or not they'd meet resistance, and how Nyssa was doing. So, she decided to find out. "You okay Nun?" she whispered to her.

Sailor Nun had barely even listened to the conversation. After all, what point was it listening to Khnum's insults? He had already gotten to her once, and it's not like they were very original. They did, indeed, have a very limited scope in subject matter. Instead, she had been keeping her eyes peeled for enemy senshi, even though she knew the enemy would hear them long before the Kemet saw them coming.

"Yeah," Nun replied, leaning in confidentially toward Nut. She was actually very pleased with the way Nut was handling Khnum, but she would never actually admit that; she was fairly sure it was implied. "As long as you can keep him on a leash, I can keep an eye out for other stuff. Unless you'd like to trade off?"

In fact, Nun was fairly confident in this body. Somehow, it worked wonders on her self esteem. She knew her body was great, even if nobody else seemed to notice.

"Nah," Nut responded. "I'm more than willing to keep 'Fearless Leader' on his toes. Just keep doing what you're doing. At least one of us is doing our job."

"Could you two play a little game of 'shut the fuck up'?" Khnum grunted. "Can't hardly hear myself think with you twits gossiping."

"I'll try," Nut said, "but it might help if you didn't listen in." She kept the more venomous responses in check, and casually made more notes about their surroundings.

Khnum suddenly spun around; with no preamble, he plucked the notebook out of Nut's hands and narrowed his eyes at it. The elder Kemet snorted in derision, pulling it further away from her. "Remember with your eyes, bambino, not with your pen. This isn't going to help you any little bit, and if we get ambushed - they're going to go with the girl who don't have any hands free, and I'll laugh. Got that straight?"

Nut had a rather shocked look on her face at first, but then something snapped inside of her.

Her eyes narrowed, and before anyone could react, she leapt up, snatched her notebook back, all without her eyes leaving his. "These notes will combine with what my eyes see for a more concise analysis," Nut said in a low voice. "And if you're so worried about an ambush, why are you wasting your time talking to me?"

Without even thinking about it, Khnum gave Nut's face the back of his hand; it wasn't so much a heavy slap as a sharp, stinging one. "Hmph. Were you born this idiotic or did it just come to you slowly? Put it away, girl!"

Sailor Nun had been chanting to herself under her breath as Khnum and Nut argued. "Teamwork, teamwork, teamwork..." she muttered, her eyes scanning the surrounding area. She pushed her companions out of her mind until a sharp sound brought her back to reality. For a moment the world stood still as she stared at Khnum an Nut. Her arms began to shake and she clenched her hands into fists.

"STOP IT!" She shouted, pointing at Khnum. "You just stop it right this instant." With her knees shaking in frustration and anger she grabbed Nut's arm above the elbow and spun her around, positioning her on her own left side, with her own body acting as a barrier. Her eyes narrowed as she turned back on Khnum, and she pointed at him with as much authority as she could muster. "You. Stay there." She turned to her left and pointed at Nut. "And you stay there. Now", she continued, unclenching her fists, "you will both stay there for the rest of the patrol. You will knock it off now and we will continue in peace." She finished, crossing her arms over her chest and sticking her chin out defiantly.

Nut was incredibly furious. She had never been this angry in all her life. NO ONE had ever struck her for expressing her opinion before. She was moments away from doing just about anything. Thank God for Nun. Her opinion was right: She was the only one of them doing their job. "I'm...willing," Nut said evenly. Just a little longer, Nut thought, and we can go our separate ways.

Khnum looked at Nun's angry little face and then, surprisingly, laughed. His expression was still stony, but it melted with something that was amusement tinged with respect. "Yes, woman," he agreed. "I'll do as you say."

"Then, lass, tell him to run." A tall, slim figure, backlit by streetlamps, stepped out into their pathway. Bringing a spear to the fore, crossways over her body, the woman tilted her head as if studying the small group. "Not Noord," she announced abruptly. Suddenly, she whistled, piercing and sharp. Then she took a step forward and the faint light fell over her face. Pale and stern, she regarded them with ice-blue eyes. "I'm Hodr."

A small figure darted out of the darkness besides her, pale head crowned in flowers, a crystal staff in one hand as he grinned at the three Kemets. His eyes were wide in the night, almost black. "I'm Balder."

"Why, hello, darlings!" A final figure stepped gracefully out of the shadows, spear in hand, sporting a most alluring smile. "I, Sailor Heimdall, am most pleased to make your acquaintance!" she gave a polite curtsey, "And just who, if I may be so bold, might you be?"

"Kemets," the only male in the group growled, fingers tightening on the wicked chisel in his hand. "Madre Maria, and I thought my two looked bad. You look like a whore and her tits're practically hanging out her top."

"And you're wearing a bloody dress, mate." The tall redhead smirked and took a step forward, shifting her grip to raise her spear in preparation. "Nice knees."

"...It's a tunic!"

"And I'm wearing an anorak."

This was getting nowhere, Nut thought. "And if I may say you wear it well," Nut said.

Heimdall was clearly not going to have any of this 'whore' business. She took deep, calming breaths, pointed at her accusor and said in a stern, yet dignified matter, "You have no right to go about making such assumptions about persons you barely know! Furthermore, I find your mini-skirt as it might be to highly last, if not two, season. You, darling, have abnormally bad taste, and subsequently, no right to question the virtue of a lady or speak about various facets of her anatomy!"

"It's a tunic, bitch!"

Rose-crowned Balder looked at Heimdall and Hodr regretfully. "Papa told me I shouldn't poke fun at men who wore dresses," he said, every inch innocence.

Hodr spared a glance and an affectionate smile in the direction of her younger companion. "Oh, pet, that's very sweet of you but I hardly think this one counts as a man. Dress or no dress." The redhead fixed her gaze levelly at the dark-haired man in question. "So are we going to do this, mate, or are you worried about chipping your tunic?"

The ceramic-armoured senshi was practically shaking with anger, his low voice a harsh rasp. "I'm going to fuck you none too gently with my chisel, you redheaded witchqueen!"

Bounding forward, the other senshi obviously having disappeared except for Hodr, chisel raised as he muttered something under his breath. A simple terracotta pot appeared, balancing precariously on the tip; he grabbed it and slammed it down on the ground as it dissolved into billowing clouds of thick, choking, blinding dust. The entire battlefield became obscured, the figures in the night and the darkness shadowy and hazy outlines as Khnum pounced forward to his target.

Only to be met with a spear crossways across his stomach and a choked laugh as Hodr unerringly deflected him. Sometimes going sodding blind had advantages, she mused. Roughly, she pushed her spear outwards, shoving her attacker backwards a step. Then she shifted her grip and brought the end of the spear up, aiming in the general direction of where she reckoned his temple had to be.

Khnum managed to pull back; there was a jarring sensation and snarl of pain as the spear hit one of his hard ceramic horns. Like a cat and with little to no finesse, he pushed and slammed and grappled towards Hodr with absolutely no regard for how much he was getting injured.

A hissed English curse slipped from Hodr and she ducked to catch his renewed attack on her shoulder. With a neat point turn, she spun him past her, grunting nonetheless with effort. He might not have had a single ounce of technique but he had physical, brute strength. As he slipped past her, she crouched and swung her foot out into his path, hoping to catch what she couldn't quite see.

There was a thump and a roar of frustration as Khnum went head over heels, landing painfully on the concrete. A strong, large hand went out to grasp Hodr's ankle; on his belly he swiped, chisel cutting a gash in her calf as the senshi scrabbled for any purchase in the fight whatsoever.

"Bastard!" The dust was slowly clearing from the scene of battle; the wind driving it away. Hodr felt her knee automatically cave at the pain and she quickly shifted her angle to fall on the belly-down Khnum, her knee landing squarely in the small of his back. One gloved hand reached down to grab a handful of dark hair and yank backwards, arching the man's head back painfully. Her knee drove further into his back as she sought to ignore the line of fiery pain along her calf.

The Kemet squirmed and hollered obscenities in quick, rough Italian, back arching as he tried to shake Hodr off him. He wheezed as she knocked all the air out of him, kneeing him painfully in the kidneys, chisel falling with a clatter out of his hand.

With a sudden, sharp movement, the redhead bounced her opponent's head off the hard macadam beneath them. She wanted to push the chisel further out of his reach but she didn't dare release her hold on him. Twisting slightly, she called over her shoulder at the others. "Is this a bloody garden party? Heimdall, watch Balder!"

"Hodr, what do you think I've been doing? My nails?! The four of us have been watching you two go at it like, what's the phrase..?" she paused and looked for her words. "Slack-jawed American tourists? Anyway, I fear that I digress, darling."

Heimdall took a step in front of Balder, raised her pole-arm into a pleasantly defensive stance and turned her attention to Nut and Nun.

"Balder, dear, just stay back there and watch Miss Heimdall take these two to charm school!"

Balder bounced up beside her, staff at the ready and beaming all over his face. "But, Miss Heimdall, there's two of us and two of them and I bet I can take one of them... no offense," he said hastily to the two Kemet girls.

Oh dear God, Nut thought. He's just a little boy. "None taken," Nut said, surprisingly nicely, "all things considered."

Heimdall beamed at the two girls, "Isn't he just the cutest thing? Now, which one of you will be first? It's very unladylike to keep your company waiting, you know. Some of us need to get our beauty sleep," she vaguely gestured towards Nut," and it's definately not you, darling. Honestly, if you just cut an inch or two off of your hair..."

"I wouldn't know," Nut admitted. "I'm not relying on my 'beauty' to get me ahead in life--and if I were you, I still wouldn't." She kept a pleasant smile on her face.

"Clearly, my dear," Heimdall answered in a learned tone, "you have no idea, nor clue as to the use of modern aesthetics in today's society. I believe it is a sad state of affairs when today's modern girl, that's you, darling, has lost total faith in using her figure as a medium for personal communication!"

The other girl had definately struck a chord and Heimdall was desperately trying to keep her composure. It was excruciatingly un-gentile, in Savina's book, to take the first strike.

"Well...if I wanted a career in pole dancing, I'd reconsider my position," Nut replied. "However, since I've been gifted with an actual brain, I decided to look in a more...shall we say...long term approach." She refocused her attention to Heimdall, readying the long scarf for the first set of pattern defenses against her foe.

"Regardless of what you might think, I am a proper lady and demand that you have the first strike." Heimdall was worried that this might turn in to some sort of long, drawn out stand-off. No worries, however, she knew that she had the clear advantage of personal confidence.

"As you wish..." Nut got the ribbon airborne, and lashed out toward Heimdall.

At the last moment, she altered its course. Instead of heading upward, it headed downward--to the leg that supported Heimdall's weight. It wrapped around the Noord's ankle, and with one heave, she uprooted her balance violently.

"Whoa!" Dropping his staff, which landed with a crystal clank on the floor, Balder dived behind Heimdall to steady her, stamping on the scarf. "Pick on someone your own size, ma'am - I'm closest to that!"

Nut was caught in a quandry. She couldn't...couldn't...

"I'm sorry," Nut said quietly, "but I won't attack you, and she did request that I provide the first strike. Now please take your foot off my scarf."

Balder grinned, leaning down to pry the material from Heimdall's ankle before jumping in front of her. "C'mon, ma'am. I can fight as well as the others, okay? I mean, this's my first battle, but I'm not stupid or anything..." He turned around to Heimdall. "Miss S - Heimdall? Why don't you go see to the other girl? I'm sure me and Miss... 'scusi, what's your name again? Sorry, didn't catch it - can do just fine."

After Heimdall had sized up the situation, she was most certain that the other girl didn't pose anything of a threat to Balder. She looked over to shoulder make sure Hodr, or that poor, albeit heathen boy, weren't dead yet. Then she glanced over at the third member of the other team and smiled, almost beckoning the girl to her.

Sailor Nun rolled her eyes at Heimdall and sighed. She really didn't want to fight, but the aggressive actions of both Khnum and the Noord made that impossible. Truthfully, she was worried for Khnum, but he looked much better to handle the situation than she. Thankfully she wouldn't have to fight the little one; he was even smaller than her! Nun's eyes narrowed as she surveyed the Noord senshi, and tried to think of a plan. Seeing as she didn't have a weapon, that put her at a distinct disadvantage. Unless she could take that factor away...Nun smirked as she slowly brought her fists up in front of her face.

"Are you ready? Or maybe you're afraid you might chip a nail. It would be horrible to ruin your perfect ensemble, no?" She taunted, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Heimdall made a haughty snorting sound, "Silly girl! Clearly, you must be new at this, which, I suppose, makes my job very much easier." Unlike Sailor Nut, this other girl was unknown territory which meant that Heimdall could not play with her.

"Furthermore, darling dear," she said as her spear swooped gracefully down and behind Nut's ankles, subsequently tripping her, "you seem to have failed to notice my javelin. I trust the floor isn't too wet or dirty; I know I'd hate to see that cheap knock-off for Donna Karan does ethnic soiled. Quite a shame, really."

Nun was tempted to roll her eyes at this senshi again, but the move with the javelin took her attention away from the bashing of outfit choices. The javelin caught her under the ankles and she tottered, falling to the ground and grappling for the blunt end of the javelin.

Unfortunately for her, however, the javelin seemed to be attached to a cord, which was attached to Heimdall's bracelet. Cursing under her breath, Nun scrambled to get back up, careful to stand on the javelin.

Nut and Balder stood off to one side, still immobile and eyeing each other warily.

"So...," Nut started uncomfortably, "do you really want to fight? Because I'm not sure I can, in all good conscience." She realized two things. First: She might not have much of a choice. Second: He still had her hand on the other end of her scarf.

Balder took his boot off the end of her scarf, twirling the crystal staff in his hand with a professional air that belied his age. He may have looked tiny and young and surreal, pale blonde hair crowned with flowers, but he obviously knew how to wield his weapon.

"Well, yeah," he piped. "I've never had a real fight before, just training. But if you don't want, I guess we don't have to," the Noord agreed, solicitous. "It's just that Miss Hodr and Miss Heimdall and Papa Odin'll probably be disappointed if I don't. Duty'n all. But they're kinda busy. D'you like football? I like your goggles, they're cool. What's your name?"

She whipped the scarf back to her position. The lower section wrapped around her midriff like a thing alive. If things went bad, she'd be able to bring it back in play just as fast. But as long as she had him engaged otherwise...

"Well, allow me to say it's easier to think about fighting than to actually do it," Nut said. "As to your other comments, in order...I enjoy what they call football here. Thank you, I kinda like them myself. And I'm Sailor Nut, Ba Senshi of sky."

"I'm Balder." The blond's smile was infectious. "Sailor Nut? Don't you ever get teased or something? It's not that hard to fight, y'know, Miss Heimdall and Miss Hodr are going at it fine." Balder swung around to look at Hodr and Khnum, the latter of whom was busily having his kidneys kneed. "Oh, wow, that looks painful. You get him, Miss Hodr!"

Bashful, he looked back. "Gee, I hope I didn't hurt your friend's feelings."

"Don't worry about it," Nut said. One, I wouldn't consider him my friend, she thought, and two, he's getting his body too badly hurt to worry about his feelings...except his pride.

"And while it may not seem that hard," she continued, "It's still not an easy thing to do, knowing that you could actually hurt someone...maybe even permanently. I know I don't like the idea."

"You don't have a guardian, do you?" The little senshi twirled his staff absently in his hands. "They're the ones who teach you 'bout duty and stuff and maybe it's not okay but... If I hadn't been meant to do it I wouldn't have been born like this so there's no use in saying no. You can't think about okay when you're wearing the outfit. If you can't go out and protect and fight, when the final battle comes, I'll lose, and y'know, dying'd suck."

"So, it's better to hurt someone else," Nut replied. "Is that it?" Nut slowly approached Balder, in a non-threatening matter.

"I have a feeling that, if the Guardians weren't telling us what to do, we could easily become friends," Nut said with absolute faith. "If we're reborn, then maybe it's for a better purpose than just picking up where we left off." She stopped a mere three feet away from him, and got on her knees.

"But if you really think that being born the way you are is a reason to fight..." she paused looking Balder in the eye, "then go ahead. Hit me." She couldn't believe she was going to do this, but the hate had to stop somewhere.

Balder stepped forward to her, his eyes black in the darkness, hair leeched white. His face was somber as he looked down at the slightly older girl, expression more than a little surprised.

"Y'know, Miss Nut, my papa always tells me there's more than one way to skin a cat. Okay, then my cat gets mad. But he's right. And I don't think you really want me to hurt you, right? It's wrong to hit girls, anyhow."

He sunk to his knees, slowly, facing her, both of them now a hair's breadth away from touching. The little Noord's voice was light, his smile unbearably tender. "It's kinda scary, huh? I didn't want to fight either. But I don't think I can ign're what I am." His staff disappeared as he squeezed his fist down on it, a softly glowing necklace instead appearing around his neck. "Feel any better?"

"A little yes," Nut admitted. "You're right on both points. I really don't want you to hurt me, and there is more than one way to skin a cat."

She let go of the other end of her scarf and let it wrap itself over her shoulder. The stars on her fuku seemed to sparkle a bit more brightly in the light of the soft glow.

"So," Nut continued, "any ideas how we skin this particular cat?"

"Well," he admitted, "there's one way."

Hands quick as lightning, Balder grabbed the scarf, tugging as hard as he could and rolling backwards with it as he quickly tucked it into his shirt. Triumphantly, he stood up and back, grinning at her sunnily as he hastily backpedalled. "This'll just make things a bit easier," he said apologetically. "I'm a footie player, Miss Nut, and I'd be a bad one if I left my goal open. So I'll just take this pretty scarf of yours. It'll come back to you 'ventually. Can't skin a cat without gettin' messy and bloody and stuff. Not that I'd skin a cat anyway. I like cats. D'you like cats?"

Nut was shocked at first. Then she was angry. "You tricked me," she said sharply. �I was trying to find a way of...of...and you had to go and do that!�

She wasn't going to hurt him, no matter how angry she was... But he had her scarf, dammit. Why did everyone try and take her scarf?

"Right," she said in a dangerous tone, "I don't like to skin cats either, but I have no problem with caging one. IN THE NAME OF THE STARS AND SKY, I BAR THE WAY!"

Suddenly Balder found a shimmering curtain of blue energy in front of him, behind him...suddenly he realized that it was over and under him as well. He was trapped!

"Care to give it back," she asked icily.

"Well, uh..." Balder pressed his hands to the blue wall in front of him, hitting it; it didn't give. He smacked it again, starting to get claustrophobic; he didn't like enclosed spaces. He felt like a mime in a box. Pushing the scarf down further his shirt, he gave a beam of cheerfulness he didn't quite feel. "Well, no, not really."

He kicked it. It still didn't give. The little boy played his last card, hollering at the top of his voice, slightly panicked. "MISS HODR!"

Head snapping upwards, the senshi of blindness took in her little charge's situation in less than half a second. Then, without thought, she abruptly slammed her opponent's head into the ground one final time, feeling Khnum go suddenly limp and unconcious beneath her. No words left her, though, and the tall redhead was standing and moving almost before Balder's scream finished echoing in the still night air.

However, there was a hiss of breath and a grunt of exertion as Hodr's white gloved hand connected with the concentrating sky senshi's face. The blow told true, whipping the younger woman around with the force of it. "Get the hell away from him," the redhead hissed, eyes pale and practically glowing in the darkness. Then she abruptly crouched down and swung a long leg out; Nut's footing was stolen as her legs were knocked from beneath her by the calculated sweep.

Nut was seeing stars and cobwebs, but she realized her situation. Bad. Her face was numb, but she knew that would change soon. The back of her head hurt; she might be bleeding. She had Balder, true enough, but now she was facing the big gun of the Noord. She trounced Khnum with contemptuous ease...

But not unscathed. She noticed the wound on her leg. That might prove important. "I'm sorry," Nut said groggily, "but not until he gives me back my scarf. I won't leave without it."

The forelocks on Nut's forehead began to glow.

Before anything else could happen, though, the tall redhead had grabbed the strips of white hair in two iron-gripped handfuls and pulled forward. There was no fighting that inexorable motion; Hodr had the surprise and the advantage and the pure physicality.

Suddenly, a grey-clad knee raised and Hodr jerked downwards once more, introducing Nut's forehead to her knee very intimately and very forcefully. Then, with a contemptuous snort, she shoved the smaller woman backwards, throwing her to the ground. "Oh, yes, you will," she spat, aiming a swift whip kick at the limp girl's knee.

Despite the fact that Hodr was yanking at her hair, and bashing her head against her knee, Nut really didn't feel much of anything; the world just got blacker and her body became heavy, and she didn't really even hear her last comment.

The force field dropped from around Balder, since she couldn't concentrate on that anymore. He was free. Yet Hodr didn't notice that the white forelocks on Nut's hair were searing hot; at least not until she found that her gloves were burnt through and smoldering.

Impatiently, Hodr stripped off her gloves and let them fall onto the prone girl. Then, without another glance, she strode over to hoist Balder to his feet, absently cuddling him to her side.

"Oy, Heimdall! Stop playing with the last little Indian standing and let's leave."

Heimdall parried one of Nut's hits, "It's time to go already, darling? I think I've got this one adequately dealt with, just give me a moment s'il vous plait!" She proceeded to jab at Nut's stomach with the butt end of her spear.

Nun grunted as the spear hit her stomach and backed up a step, glancing around at the battlefield. With shock, she realized that she was the only Kemet left standing. For a moment, she chewed on her lip indecisively, wondering if it would just be better to give up and lend help to her fallen comrades. It seemed to her, however, that that would be giving up, and she didn't like that idea very much either. She was tired, though, and knew she couldn't fight much longer. With one last surge of adrenaline and determination she aimed a healthy kick at Heimdall's stomach, then fell back into a defensive crouch, eyeing the Noord team warily.

Balder tugged on Hodr's hand slightly, cheek pressed into her shoulder, half-curled into her side. "C'mon, Miss Hodr. Let's go. They're all beaten."

"Ugh.." Heimdall groaned as she picked herself back up, "I think, Balder-dear, that would be a very good idea." She looked over her shoulder to confirm that the Kemet were actually beat into the ground, raised her arms and yelled, "Bilfrost Bridge!"

"Lovely idea." Eyes fixed on the two unmoving forms and their crouching teammate, Hodr gently steered Balder towards Heimdall. "Let's go."

In a now familiar flash of light, the rainbow bridge fell down from the heavens in front of the Noord. Heimdall whispered, "Home," to the prismatic light and walked over the bridge. Before she was completely engulfed by the light she looked back at the fallen Kemet one last time, "It's a shame, really," she said as she was whisked away.

"You know, this is still the coolest thing ever," Balder confided to Hodr, and then stepped towards the bridge. He looked back at the prone form of Nut; she was lying limp, like a rag doll, and his heart ached. He'd never seen a girl all unconscious like that, and it was sending uncomfortable shivers down his spine. Quickly, he pulled her scarf out of his shirt, ran over to the prone form, and dropped it on her before heading to the Bridge to disappear.

Hodr also hesitated a moment, pale eyes solemn on Nun. Then she shook her head sadly and shouldered her spear. "Wake them up when we're gone, lass," she murmured. "Don't let them go back to sleep afterwards. They've got head trauma." With a final sigh, she stepped backwards into the light, gaze unwavering. There was a shimmer and then the form of the tall redhead wavered and faded.

The battleground was left in complete silence - two prone forms and a shaking young woman.

return to the legend