2014-10-23 - Not About Love
| Title: Not About Love | |
|---|---|
| Summary: Mamoru knew this was coming eventually. So did Ami. And they both knew he'd lose. | |
| Who: | |
| Where: Juuban Public School Theater | |
| OOC - IC Date: 31 March 2014 - 10-23-2014 | |
<Pose Tracker> Mamoru Chiba [Ohtori Academy (12)] has posed.
Most of the cast members have gone home or scattered off to different parts of the school ground; the overhead lights are on, and there's a radio on the stage playing solo classical piano. The sound is tiny and tinny and scratchy in the vastness of the room, and one absurdly tall bespectacled boy is leaning on a broom next to a pile of sawdust and dust-dust and bits of detritus, by the garbage bin.
He's got a book in hand, flipping pages with his thumb-- it's on semiprecious gems and minerals. Apparently it's breaktime from sneezing during cleanup.
He's alone, and he seems eminently comfortable with that state.
<Pose Tracker> Ami Mizuno [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Ami showed up to practice on time and read her lines, but that's about it. She can't quite be counted on to do much else, at present. No heroics today, it seems; perhaps she felt bad about being so helpful last time as regards the set.
She's disappeared for the moment, letting Mamoru read alone. For a while, he does indeed get to be alone with his thoughts and his book. It doesn't last forever, though... all things, after all, must come to an end.
Heels clack against the floor after a few moments of Mamoru's aloneness -- and emerging from the shadows of the stage is none other than Sailor Mercury. A Sailor Mercury clad in black, mind -- a Sailor Mercury whose tiara terminates in the middle with a data diamond -- but Sailor Mercury nonetheless.
She regards him coolly and quietly for a moment -- but there's a certain eagerness in her expression that can't quite be hidden.
<Pose Tracker> Mamoru Chiba [Ohtori Academy (12)] has posed.
Heels clack, and Mamoru closes his book. He looks up, and his movements slow down-- the book gets placed, with a long reach, on the edge of the stage.
So do his glasses.
Then the high school senior stands and regards Dark Mercury with something like resignation. "Sure you don't want to beat me at chess instead?" he asks into the silence.
He's perfectly still, but it's not the perfect stillness of arch confidence: it's the no-sudden-movements type. The height disparity might almost make it comical, but somehow no one's laughing-- the boy's pale, and his face is set.
<Pose Tracker> Ami Mizuno [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"You know the time for that has passed," Mercury says, coolly, eyes neatly resting on his. "Though I wonder now if there was ever a time for it at all, Mamochan~" Her voice drips with sugar there for just a moment -- but it's solely in hopes of frustrating the older boy.
A gloved hand comes up as she takes another step toward him, asking, "Are you sure you don't want to just leave? I'd hate to break those glasses.... but after how things went last time, I have to remind you that I'm serious."
'Last time'... a fight with Rei that went just poorly enough to make her worry about herself. And, for that matter -- worry about her former friends.
<Pose Tracker> Mamoru Chiba [Ohtori Academy (12)] has posed.
"Of course I want to just leave. You could crush me without trying," Mamoru says evenly. "I don't have powers like you. Like any of you. The best I could hope for is getting away and only needing a hospital stay."
Still, still, he doesn't henshin; the glasses are safe away up on the stage, and he's here on the floor, paces away from where she stopped. He opens his hands at his sides. "I thought we were friends, at least a bit, in as much as I've ever /had/ friends -- but then Usagi-chan told me you didn't trust me. It shouldn't have been news, honestly."
His hands drop. "But if I turned and walked away, I don't think you'd let me. Am I right, Sailor Mercury?"
<Pose Tracker> Ami Mizuno [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"You're right," Ami says, coolly. "And you know what? I was right, too. It just turns out there were even fewer people I should trust than I thought." Taking a long, deep breath, she says, flatly, "It's all about you, though, isn't it? 'Oh no -- I've never had friends.' 'Oh no, the friends of people I care about worry about me.'"
The ensuing roll of Mercury's eyes is long and slow. "Come off it. Do you even listen to yourself when you think those kinds of things?" There's another step closer, now -- this one a hair more threatening, more confident. "It's insulting. But I suppose sitting alone and brooding and feeling sorry for yourself is your normal..."
<Pose Tracker> Mamoru Chiba [Ohtori Academy (12)] has posed.
"It's all about what this is doing to your friends," says Mamoru firmly, pulling his mental armor up first. She steps closer, he takes a step back. "I care about you. I worry about you. But I'm not one of you. What is there I could do that your friends couldn't? What is there I could say? This isn't about me at all; you're going to hurt me because it'll hurt them."
Then he gets to the point where he can't back up anymore; he hits the stage, his back to half a wall.
"I'm sorry for what could have been. I'm hopeful for what can be again. Your strength always impressed me, Mercury-- in the field and off it. Your strength -- the strength of all of you -- is only magnified when you're together. And I believe in you, and the friendship of all of you with each other--"
No space left to go, and running out of words, running out of the belief that he can say something she'll hear.
The high-schooler's henshin is an understated thing, dark colors and subdued lights, over and done with in a heartbeat.
"And I believe this is going to hurt me a lot more than it's going to hurt you."
<Pose Tracker> Ami Mizuno [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"I doubt that," comes Ami's reply. "And -- /please/, don't patronize me. My /friends/ are fine. And as for you..." She brings her hand up to her mouth, laughing into it lightly. It's not her usual quiet giggle at all -- and in this place, designed for acoustics, it resonates harshly.
"You're right." And with that, she bolts forward rather than merely stepping, aiming a harsh elbow for Tuxedo Mask's stomach. While the old Ami would've started off by spraying bubbles, by trying to gain some sort of tactical advantage, Dark Mercury just goes in.
"Do you have a tone that /isn't/ patronizing?" she adds as she moves in, hoping to throw Tuxedo Mask off balance mentally as well as physically; it's not the greatest comeback, but... it's really more about getting /herself/ into the game than anything else.
COMBAT: Ami Mizuno has used Running Elbow Smash on Tuxedo Mask. COMBAT: Ami Mizuno has finished attacking. COMBAT: Tuxedo Mask narrowly dodges Ami Mizuno's Running Elbow Smash, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Ami Mizuno is Psyched! Tuxedo Mask's Flash ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Tuxedo Mask [Ohtori Academy (12)] has posed.
Throwing himself to the side as Ami rushes him, Tuxedo Mask's detached analytical mind's marveling at her increased speed; he's clipped in the arm, numbing it a little and, indeed, putting him slightly offbalance. His somersault up onto the stage is off form, but he does land upright and on his feet, blocking out the overhead lights as he towers from an even further height advantage-- but it's over fast, since he's backing away from her again, watching every move.
"I could be sarcastic," he allows, "or imperious, but those are easier. When I try for sincerity it always comes out patronizing, I'm not sure why. Got any pointers?"
He's not throwing an attack, he's just-- he's just working on autopilot, trying to find something to throw Ami offbalance while he grasps at whatever shreds of strength he has, in the hopes that he won't /actually/ need the hospital.
COMBAT: Tuxedo Mask has used Mantle of the Earth on Tuxedo Mask. COMBAT: Tuxedo Mask has finished attacking. COMBAT: Tuxedo Mask accepts Tuxedo Mask's Mantle of the Earth, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Accelerate and Withstand applied to Tuxedo Mask!
<Pose Tracker> Ami Mizuno [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Pressing the offense, the shorter Ami doesn't let Tuxedo Mask get in her head; she knows what he's trying to do, and she does her best not to let it get to her. "None I'd like to share with you," she says, doing her best to stick to her advantages.
/Now/ she's ready for bubbles. Raising her hands and crossing her arms, she calls out, "Dark Sabao Spraaaaaaaaay!" Sure enough, what issues forth from around Dark Mercury is indeed a wall of bubbles... but this isn't the pure, fresh water that those who know Ami are used to.
No, this feels... oily. Sticky. It's uncomfortable -- and fatiguing besides. But then... isn't that to be expected, given the circumstances?
COMBAT: Ami Mizuno has used Dark Sabao Spray on Tuxedo Mask. COMBAT: Ami Mizuno has finished attacking. COMBAT: Tuxedo Mask narrowly braces Ami Mizuno's Dark Sabao Spray, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Blind, Cripple, Stun, and Trap applied to Tuxedo Mask!
<Pose Tracker> Tuxedo Mask [Ohtori Academy (12)] has posed.
When Mercury lifts her arms in that pose, Tuxedo Mask knows-- thinks he knows-- what's coming; he pulls his cape up around him, ducking behind it and vanishing his hat in with him--
If it were the normal attack, that should have been enough to weather it, but this /isn't/ water. It sticks like un-lit greek fire, rooting him to the spot and soaking through the cape and making his clothes stick to him and beginning to sap his energy.
"Gross, Mizuno-san," he says in mixed disgust and appreciation. "Seriously gross. Maybe you should change its name to black-lung snot rocket--"
He can't move reliably, the stuff's dripping into his face-- but one hand's still holding that hat, and he whips it out from under the now-heavy cape, throwing it at Dark Mercury's face.
COMBAT: Tuxedo Mask has used Señor del Antifaz on Ami Mizuno. COMBAT: Tuxedo Mask has finished attacking. COMBAT: Ami Mizuno narrowly dodges Tuxedo Mask's Señor del Antifaz, taking 10 Fatigue damage! Tuxedo Mask is Psyched! Ami Mizuno's Fade ability activates! Blind and Diversion applied to Ami Mizuno!
<Pose Tracker> Ami Mizuno [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"You come up with that, and /I'm/ the disgusting one?" comes Mercury's reply, a small sneer starting to reach her face; she knows she's letting him get into her head, but she can't help it. Something about having her new strength be called 'gross' bothers her -- and lowers her guard a little for that hat.
She still hops to the side -- but it totally diverts her attention, and the hop is late enough that it's pretty taxing. Reaching up to her face, she calls forth her visor, rather than press forward. She feels pressured -- and it's times like those that that little tool is at its most important.
At the /very/ least, it gives her time to reassess her surroundings, which is exactly what she needs now.
COMBAT: Ami Mizuno has used Tactical Advisory on Ami Mizuno. COMBAT: Ami Mizuno has finished attacking. COMBAT: Ami Mizuno accepts Ami Mizuno's Tactical Advisory, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cleanse! All of Ami Mizuno's debuffs are cleared!
<Pose Tracker> Tuxedo Mask [Ohtori Academy (12)] has posed.
"I'm the one who had to actually witness snot rockets in the locker room in elementary school," Tuxedo Mask says with a shudder, stumbling back a pace while Ami's regaining her bearings. He lifts a soiled white glove to his face to mop off the worst of the clinging ooze, then unclasps his cape from his shoulders and swirls it back away from him. Maybe it's the rose-scented wind that accompanies the gesture, maybe it's magic-- but it's somehow cleansing, clearing the energy-sapping ooze from him, drying it out some, leaving only the marks of a serious trip to the dry-cleaner's and the tuxedo's owner a little the worse the wear for it.
"What can make you happy? How did they fail you? Do your new friends laugh with you, eat ice cream with you, go to the arcade with you--? Do they love you? If they love you, I'm happy you found that again..."
COMBAT: Tuxedo Mask has used Maskerade Rosen on Tuxedo Mask. COMBAT: Tuxedo Mask has finished attacking. COMBAT: Tuxedo Mask accepts Tuxedo Mask's Maskerade Rosen, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cleanse! All of Tuxedo Mask's debuffs are cleared!
<Pose Tracker> Dark Mercury [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Fists clenching as Tuxedo Mask continues to stay away from her, Dark Mercury moves closer, visor on now. This line of questioning is making her a little uncomfortable -- so it has to stop. "I don't care about love!" she replies, bitterly. "I wanted a /purpose/ -- I wanted a /dream/! And they gave me that in a way no one else could!"
Her eyes narrow and she begins to advance on Mamoru again -- only this time, she isn't so gentle. Once again raising her hands, she calls out, "Dark Aqua Cutter!" Even if he's started to clean himself off, she can still keep the pressure on... if not /quite/ as well.
Blades of slick black ice surround her waist like an angry belt, and she dashes forward, letting their whirling speed do the work for her. "How /dare/ you act happy for me," she hisses, as they continue to spin around her.
COMBAT: Dark Mercury has used Dark Aqua Cutter on Tuxedo Mask. COMBAT: Dark Mercury has finished attacking. COMBAT: Tuxedo Mask perfectly dodges Dark Mercury's Dark Aqua Cutter, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Critical Dodge! Tuxedo Mask's Flash ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Tuxedo Mask [Ohtori Academy (12)] has posed.
Maddening. Not getting hit, he's only making her angrier. But he still believes, somewhere, that maybe words can help. Words are the most powerful things he has-- words of encouragement, of admonishment, of mockery, of comfort-- he still believes. But then, he still believes he can save Zoisite. Hope is a powerful and damning thing.
The tall, thin boy, minus hat and cape now, vaults into the air and somersaults over Mercury's head, landing on his feet on the floor behind and below her.
"You /had/ a purpose, you /had/ a dream-- you had more than one dream, Ami Mizuno! You want to be a doctor, you want to help people get well-- you want to know all that you can, to help keep the people you love safe-- you have a Princess to protect, you have a kingdom to rebuild, you have enemies to defeat-- enemies that will leave the world in ruin, with nothing but bones and ashes and darkness! You're needed, you're loved-- they can't do it without you, and they know it! How did they fail you, Ami-san? Did they not help you when you needed it?"
Then, desperate, hands clenched in fists at his sides, "Did you TELL them you needed help? What could make you drop your ideals, your dreams, your purpose? WHAT?"
COMBAT: Tuxedo Mask has used GUTS GUTS GUTS on Tuxedo Mask. COMBAT: Tuxedo Mask has finished attacking. COMBAT: Tuxedo Mask accepts Tuxedo Mask's GUTS GUTS GUTS, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
<Pose Tracker> Dark Mercury [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Those things..." It takes Dark Mercury a moment to formulate a response to that -- there's some truth in those words, certainly, but... "Those weren't things I chose! Those fell into my lap! I didn't choose any of that!" Her fists clench tight, and she rushes in toward Tuxedo Mask, considering her options. She could try to finish him off right now -- but it'd be a waste of energy and she knows it. He's playing it passive because he's waiting for her to overextend.
Just a little longer, she tells herself -- she needs to play along with him just a little longer, and mess with his rhythm.
"Now -- now I have people I really, truly care about -- who really care about me!" There's a hint of desperation there, even as she says it -- and once again, throws up her hands and creates a barrier of inky bubbles around herself. Her course of action seems clear, now.
COMBAT: Dark Mercury has used Dark Sabao Spray on Tuxedo Mask. COMBAT: Dark Mercury has finished attacking. COMBAT: Tuxedo Mask perfectly dodges Dark Mercury's Dark Sabao Spray, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Critical Dodge! Tuxedo Mask's Flash ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Tuxedo Mask [Ohtori Academy (12)] has posed.
Except that that aggravating /boy/ leaps out of the way again, his own desperation coming to the fore, now, no matter how hard he tries to keep it reasonable, calm. Civil. Amiable, even. He can't keep it up. "Wanting to be a doctor fell in your LAP?" he repeats incredulously as the viscous attack splatters exactly where he'd been standing a moment ago, some of it splashing up to cling to his shoes-- which he hurriedly kicks off.
So now he's standing in his sock feet, back up on the stage across from Ami, maybe four meters away. "That's not the kind of thing that FALLS IN YOUR LAP, Mizuno. That's the kind of thing you pour all your effort into, that you choose HARD. That's a DREAM. Protecting the Princess, keeping the Dark Kingdom from getting their hands on the Ginzoishou-- maybe that fell in your lap, but it's a clear purpose, tied to a beautiful destiny I can't even dream of-- and one that's impossible without your strength, your patience, your-- your quiet insistence that things be done /right/, that we do our very best--"
And that's when he pulls his cane out of thin air-- maybe his sleeve? Who knows! And brandishes it defensively. His other hand wings out toward Dark Mercury, and the red lightning of one of his roses crackles through the air, beelining for the Dark Soldier, petals first. "And I'm going to do my very best not to let you hurt the other girls or distract them from their duty by taking me out! One more thing to worry about isn't what they need right now!"
COMBAT: Tuxedo Mask has used Cavaleiro Luar on Dark Mercury. COMBAT: Tuxedo Mask has finished attacking. COMBAT: Dark Mercury narrowly braces Tuxedo Mask's Cavaleiro Luar, taking 4 Fatigue damage! Blind and Cripple applied to Dark Mercury!
<Pose Tracker> Dark Mercury [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Bracing herself for the incoming pain, Ami takes the rose squarely across the face; she winces a little, even though all it leaves is a tiny scratch under her eye. She's got to squint a little -- it /stings/ -- which means...
... well, she's got to do her best here, and there's only one real solution. "Yes! Not that anyone would ever listen to me about /that/," she shoots back, choosing to ignore his talk of the destiny that fell upon her. "And speaking of which... I think it's time for /you/ to stop talking."
Drawing her hands up to either side, Mercury flares out her fingers, drawing the energy of her heart out. Practically glowing, she swoops down toward Tuxedo Mask, slamming her hands into the ground. A veritable tidal wave sprays out from her in all directions as she cries out, "Crash -- /Launcher/!!" The wave threatens to sweep Tuxedo Mask away from the stage -- and maybe even out.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Dark Mercury has used Crash Launcher on Tuxedo Mask. COMBAT: Dark Mercury has finished attacking. COMBAT: Tuxedo Mask narrowly braces Dark Mercury's Finisher, Crash Launcher, taking 55 Fatigue damage!
<Pose Tracker> Tuxedo Mask [Ohtori Academy (12)] has posed.
"They're learning! You're all learning-- you were all learning together--" cries out Tuxedo Mask, openly pleading now. And all the jumping around's cost him, as did the oily and clinging attack earlier; a cane, no matter how magically it may have appeared, isn't going to block a tidal wave. So he does the best he can to weather it, arm up over his head and deep breath taken, leaning into the wave--
--but the wall of water hits him with tremendous force, an all-encompassing battering ram that sweeps him off his feet and hurls him into the empty audience; he crashes into the chairs and half falls down between them.
It's a long second before a white-washed glove comes up over the top of one, and a sick, wet-sounding coughing fit precedes the hoarsely called words--
"Tuxedo la SMO--" *cough cough* "--KING BOMBER!"
COMBAT: FINISHER! Tuxedo Mask has used Tuxedo la Smoking Bomber on Dark Mercury. COMBAT: Tuxedo Mask has finished attacking. COMBAT: Dark Mercury narrowly dodges Tuxedo Mask's Finisher, Tuxedo la Smoking Bomber, taking 28 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Dark Mercury's Fade ability activates! Stagger, Stun, Tangle, and Trap applied to Dark Mercury!
<Pose Tracker> Dark Mercury [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Tuxedo Mask's blast of energy sure hurts Dark Mercury -- but it doesn't stop her from pushing forward, hopping above the majority of the blast and continuing her dead-on assault. There are no words left in her -- she's done talking to Mamoru, she knows better than to try. For the moment, they simply can't understand each other -- that much has become achingly apparent.
Deciding to take a page from her new playbook, she lands neatly in the pile of chairs, seemingly undeterred by its difficult terrain. She wastes no time in going on the offense, either; her leg snaps up with tremendous force, aiming a heel squarely for Mamoru's jaw in the perhaps-vain hope that it'll get him to stop talking. She follows up with a second, slightly lower kick, hoping to make her point /acutely/ clear.
COMBAT: Dark Mercury has used Standing Heavy Kick on Tuxedo Mask. COMBAT: Dark Mercury has finished attacking. COMBAT: Tuxedo Mask narrowly braces Dark Mercury's Standing Heavy Kick, taking 1 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Dark Mercury has used Standing Medium Kick on Tuxedo Mask. COMBAT: Dark Mercury has finished attacking. COMBAT: Tuxedo Mask fails to brace Dark Mercury's Standing Medium Kick, taking 14 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
<Pose Tracker> Tuxedo Mask [Ohtori Academy (12)] has posed.
It sure gets him to stop talking; his head snaps back, nearly dislodging his mask, amd his teeth clack together. Since half of him's shielded by the chair he's keeping himself up on, the second kick gets him squarely in the chest and knocks the wind out of him, slamming him back against the seat behind him. He's making that sound people make when they're trying to catch their breath, and he's not doing a lot of thinking clearly-- only clearly enough to raise his arms up to cover his head and slide further down between the rows of chairs. He starts to curl up, body anticipating what his mind currently can't even process.
COMBAT: Dark Mercury has used Chair Kick on Tuxedo Mask. COMBAT: Dark Mercury has finished attacking. COMBAT: Tuxedo Mask accepts Dark Mercury's Chair Kick, taking 10 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Dark Mercury has used Standing Heavy Kick on Tuxedo Mask. COMBAT: Dark Mercury has finished attacking. COMBAT: Tuxedo Mask accepts Dark Mercury's Standing Heavy Kick, taking 10 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Dark Mercury has used Standing Medium Kick on Tuxedo Mask. COMBAT: Dark Mercury has finished attacking. COMBAT: Tuxedo Mask accepts Dark Mercury's Standing Medium Kick, taking 11 Fatigue damage! Tuxedo Mask is unable to keep fighting!
<Pose Tracker> Dark Mercury [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Rather than let him off when he's trying to defend himself, Ami just keeps coming. She starts by kicking one of the other chairs in the pile at him with force; when that doesn't do /quite/ enough, she plants one leg in it, then quickly hops and gives it the /other/ leg, too, hoping to leave Mamoru as crushed physically as she hopes he -- and the rest of the team -- will be emotionally.
When she's satisfied with her handiwork, she walks away, fists still clenched. "Change -- over," she says, voice hitching as Dark Mercury evaporates, and once again in her place is perfectly normal student Ami Mizuno.
"See you at the next play practice," she says, offhandedly. For a moment, she considers taking his book with her, too... but no, she thinks -- that's too petty. It distracts from the situation itself. Best to leave him with his pain.
