Chance Me Now [Sutekh, Mars, ...Naoko?!]

[Arashiyama Kiyoshi]

A young man, blond and built along delicate lines, yawned and stretched contentedly as he surveyed the streets below him. There had been better days, certainly, but none quite so utterly satisfying as this one. The weather, just a bit nippy, was fair enough for his purposes, and he'd gotten much of his schoolwork out of the way for the time being. A nice meal at a little known restaurant deep in Crystal Tokyo's China Town would have capped the day off for any normal person.

Anyone not strolling idly on a rooftop three stories up, white gloved hands cracking open a little fortune cookie to reveal the tiny paper cradled inside. Idly casting the snack off to the wayside, he read it with more than just a passing interest.

A smile like a knife's edge cut across his lips even as the remnants cracked against the sidewalk below, and people like ants barely took note of what great things were about to begin.

One hand swung through the air, upraised and beckoning, as the shitennou Sutekh called without a word. The winds kicked up around him, pulling at his hair like playful fingers and pulling at his cape to make it billow like a pale shroud against the darkening skyscape. He laughed--giggled, really--at some point as the very clouds heeded him, the sound swallowed up by a sudden rumble of thunder.

This, this was what he'd needed all those days. That rising pressure dotted with wild dreams had finally come to fruition. The preternatural obsession that had pushed and pulled at him for days, months, maybe even years had finally found its outlet right here.

And he brought his hand down, releasing the scrap of paper that caught up in a gust of wind and danced playfully before it vanished in a sudden flash of light that arced to Earth.

Someone was screaming, a raw and horrified sound.

His only response, with another sharp smile and a twirl that took him to the rooftops edge, was to raise his hand again before bringing it down like a god's unflinching judgment.

And again.

'Your secret desire to completely change your life will manifest,' indeed.

"Attention, Crystal Tokyo!" Sutekh called gaily from his perch, one hand cupped close to his lips. "Let's play a little game!"

And again.

Maybe, just maybe, he was going a little bit mad, but it felt so very right.

[Hebuno Naoko]

The day had started out perfectly wonderful. Naoko had humored herself by picking a random 'suspect' and satisfied any stalker needs by fallowing said target around. Of course, being stealthy was clearly key, and it had been fun. However, like all things, it lost it's flare and the girl had wandered off the path of her prey. By now the lady in red was probably so far away, Naoko would never see her again. What it mattered was absolutely nothing, because honestly, there had to be something of entertaining value around here. Anything would suffice. All Naoko knew was that she was bored, which was always bad in her case. Once today she had already come close to getting a restraining stapled to her forehead, any more of this random nonsense and Naoko would have a criminal record even the queen would be scared to hear about - and that lady had seen some criminal records, that was for sure.

"How the hell... Naoko had managed to get herself lost in China town. And besides that, she had just discovered China Town. Was this hear all along? Baffled, confused, and more then slightly annoyed the girl came to a halt in the middle of the sidewalk. From nowhere, a piece of what could only be a fortune cookie landed in the center of her purple head. Swift hands reached up and plucked the assaulting cookie, as narrow golden eyes glared at it. If not for the fact the wind suddenly picked up, Naoko would have launched into a rant pointed at said cookie fragment. However, the sudden storm did indeed disrupt those plans.

The offending snack fragment was tossed aside, Naoko's undivided attention shifting to the sky. A sharp flash and the girl was pressing herself desperately against the wall. Someone screamed, clearly finding the random lightening to be quite disturbing. Naoko was in the same boat as the person screaming their head off, though silent as a church mouse. Very few things startled Naoko into utter silence, that had certainly been one of them. It wasn't everyday that the weather went from fair to disastrous in 2.2 seconds! Thoughts of a world-ending storm whirled about inside that strange cranium, her lips sealed in a tight line.

A voice ripped her from that little dreamland, though it was fairly faint as far as she was concerned. Edging away from the building, curious eyes searched around for whoever was speaking. They found the woman still screaming her bloody head off. Wasn't someone going to slap her already? Had she been standing there just screaming? And how the hell did she manage! The woman had to have some serious lung capacity to pull that off. Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Naoko left that subject to search for whoever had been speaking and found the source. It was, from her point of view, a blue figure with a splotch of yellow at the top. For all she knew, it could be a guy or a girl or a damn painting. Whatever it was, it had peaked her interested.

Pealing her small backpack from her back, Naoko began rummaging. Now, if it weren't in the street, she'd have certainly pulled the various items out - now wasn't the time though. A camera was drawn from the depths of the tiny bag and she swiftly zipped the sack closed and pulled it back on with one arm. Carefully aiming the lense, Naoko zoomed, and focused on the blue figure. A soft CLICK and she looked at the screen on said digital device. Scrunching up that small nose of hers, the girl turned, found herself a building on the other side of the street and darted. Maybe, just maybe, if she got higher a better picture could be taken. You never know when random pictures of figures in blue could come in handy. What if he was some criminal? She could sell it to get some money, right? Yeah right!

[Administration]

A bamboo plant. Forget the Chinese gourmet, Okibi wanted a bamboo plant. It was the sole reason for her entering China Town today. Earlier, the red head had finished rearranging her room. This was something that usually occured at least once every six months. She'd pushed her bed underneath the window, smooshing her computer desk off next to the closet. This had left a huge gap in the space in the right corner. Okibi had stood there, scratching her head until it suddenly hit her like a lightening bolt. She wanted a bamboo plant to fill that empty, lonely space.

And what she'd found was exactly what she'd come here for. There was a particularly nice Chinese antique shoppe in the center of China Town that happened to have a really lovely looking bamboo plant in the window. Okibi had rushed inside, almost demanding that the lady sell her the plant for $20 instead of the ticketed sale price of $35. After a bit of haggling, Okibi had managed to succeed in getting what she wanted. Grinning to herself triumphantly, Okibi glanced towards the window. Nice weather outside. She turned her head to look at the clerk.

Wait. What? Quickly, Okibi jerked to gaze back towards the window. What happened to the nice weather?! It was suddenly storming! Her blue eyes widened in surprise. Clutching her yen in her hand that she was about to give the woman, Okibi nearly jumped out of her skin as someone screamed. "What the hell?!" Forgetting her bamboo plant, the red head rushed out of the store and into the street.

It was pouring, and this obnoxious woman was continually screaming. Narrowing her eyebrows, Okibi cupped her hands to her mouth and yelled. "SHUT UP, YOU TWAT!" Almost as soon as she finished yelling at whoever it was that wouldn't be quiet, Okibi was startled by someone yelling into the wind. There the fuck was THAT coming from? It sounded almost omnipresent. Instinctively, Okibi directed her gaze up to the sky, shielding her eyes from invading rain drops with the palm of her hand. "Who's this crazy fag in the Aquaman cape?!"

[Arashiyama Kiyoshi]

"God, actually!" Sutekh called back, and the offended tone in his voice carried down to the fools below quite clearly. Another broad gesture before he sharply threw his hand down once more, and a bolt of incandescent lightning came in a branching arc from the skies above.

It struck, the crack of thunder a split-second later almost deafening.

On the upside, the hysterical screaming stopped as the perpetrator of that bit of idiocy collapsed in a heap. Nonetheless, it seemed to spark a great deal of hysteria with the rest of the denizens of the city on the street. For good reason, it seemed, as his gaze riveted on the girl that had insulted him.

And one more time, with style, he was getting the hang of targeting individuals.

Lightning flashed.

[Administration]

God? GOD? Oh, that was hilarious! Either this guy had an extremely large ego or he was absolutely flipping crazy. Okibi began to laugh, loudly and obnoxiously. However, she didn't have a chance to do much else before another crack of lightening came crashing down somewhere not too far. A shriek of surprise escaped from her lips as she jumped from the mere sound alone, covering her ears out of pure instinct. This guy was going to end up killing someone! Once the effect faded, she glared up at caped retard.

"God? That's laughable! You better watch it, you sparkling fairy, before a white senshi comes and kicks your ass!" Which they will in about two seconds if I have anything to do with it. Okibi pulled her hand down from her eyes and looked around at all of the panicky people. They had better get the hell out of the area and fast if they had any hopes of surviving. There was only so much one senshi could do.

As she was looking at the scattering civilians, another loud crash broke through the air and lightening slammed into the ground a mere two feet from her. It knocked Okibi clear off her feet, another loud scream of surprise echoing from her lips. As her ass slammed into the broken and smoldering concrete, Okibi gasped. The wind had been knocked out of her.. and her clothing was burnt. She could feel her heart beating within her chest so quickly that she felt it would burst.

Okay, she had to get out of here and transform NOW. Scrambling to her feet and adopting a faux look of fear as if to throw the freak off the trail, Okibi ran in a mad dash for the inside of a building. She looked around, a clothing boutique that was absolutely deserted. She had no doubt everyone hopped in their cars and left. Slipping into a changing booth just to be safe, she thrusted her hand into the air. "Mars Power, Make Up!"

Within a few seconds and with a few flashes of light and fire, Okibi had become Sailor Mars. Of course, she didn't want to rush out the way she'd entered as a civilian, so Mars took her leave by means of the back door. She stood out in the alley, staring up at the building. Getting up there was prudent, and it was lucky that there was an escape chute on the back of the building. Taking a jump, Sailor Mars grasped onto the chute and pulled herself up. Once she reached the top of the building, she was little out of breath.

"Ugh.. Gotta get in shape." She muttered to herself, lifting her gaze up to find the blue boy again.

[Arashiyama Kiyoshi]

Run and scatter; oh, how they fled the scene of his lovely debut.

It was Sutekh who laughed as he watched their movements. It was he who savored their cowardly responses to his amazing power. Even the girl who had found a moment to scream her defiant insults had fled into the safety of a nearby building. Of course she did, it seemed his power was far more wondrous than he had first imagined.

What she'd said had shaken him, however, more than her faintly familiar appearance.

White senshi. White senshi. Figures in sailor suits, sepia-toned or vivid black, all of them faceless; oh, he had dreamt of that so many terrible times. Too many nights he awoke shaking, rushing and stumbling to get it all down with violent brushstrokes on the nearest canvas.

Several sharp gestures brought with the corrosponding strikes. People tumbled to the ground like marionettes with cut strings, and he decided...

Let them come.

The blond lifted his face to the sky, seemingly transfixed by the what he saw above. It was spreading outwards, the storm, but the worst of it was a near pitch-black patch of clouds congregating directly above the building he stood upon. Those were his, all his, and the pitter-patter of rain threatened a deluge in short order.

He turned, raindrops tracing trails down his cheeks as he heard that soft voice complain, "Oh?"

White senshi.

"Oh goodness, are you here to play my game?"

[Hebuno Naoko]

Apparently the journey up the stairs was a bit more of a hassle than Naoko had originally thought it would be. The young girl had to push and shove through teaming masses of screaming and frightened people. For some reason, she didn't feel much fear. No, there was something else. Somewhere inside her something tugged and pulled, trying to get out. It was enough to cause Naoko to grow dizzy and lean against the railing in the stairwell. People shoved past her as gently trembling hands gripped the smooth metal banister. Whatever was causing the dizzy spell came in small waves, and slowly faded enough for Naoko to launch herself up the stairs at a faster pace. I can't let that slow me down! Urging herself onwards as a headache formed at the core of her head, the girl threw herself at the door to the third floor, bursting into an empty office space. Would this be high enough?

Without taking a chance to even gasp for breathe, Naoko rushed to the nearest window. Nearly collapsing into the nearest chair, she had to stop. Air came in short, pained breathes as she tried to compose herself. For some reason she had the nagging urge to attack something, let loose some unknown fury that she'd never felt before. It pulled and ripped at her mind, like something was clawing it's way to the surface, begging to be released upon the world. Naoko, slowly began to fill with a sense of dread stood on shaking legs. Pulling the window open she leaned half out, looking at the seen below. What she saw was enough to make her head spin. Remind me to never do this kind of thing again.

Those golden, curious, eyes shifted from the boy in white and the new arrival, a woman in white and red. Who the hell was that? Curiosity burned brighter than anything, pushing back that urge to attack the senshi in red. There was something about that white and red outfit that had triggered some unknown anger and hatred. Naoko didn't know why she felt like this, but ignored it for now. Emotions always came after possible stories to sell to the new stations. That was what Naoko believed at least. So, she went to work. Her camera clicked about a 20 times before she stopped for a moment to try and catch whatever conversation was going on.

"Whoever that guy is...He's dreamy!" purring, Naoko looked as if Cupid had taken his hole quiver of arrows and turned Naoko into a Love-Arrow Porcupine. The girl was almost drooling as she stared longingly at whoever he was. Something about his blond hair, the way he made fighting sound like a game, it was fascinating. Then, it hit her again, like a ton of bricks falling from the top of Tokyo Tower. Is slammed her so hard, she stumbled back into the chair, wheeling away from the window a few feet.

What is this!? Whining, Naoko clutched her head desperately, leaning forward in the seat. Pain echoed through her mind, it was like someone was screaming inside her head and pounding at it with a jack hammer. Squeezing her eyes shot, the young woman focused on whatever that pain was, trying to urge it back to a dull pain. Whatever it was subsided a little now that she couldn't see the senshi and the guy in blue. Sighing with relief, Naoko straightened up, feeling like her head had nearly exploded. "What is going on with me today? Damn!" Rubbing her temples, she stood and looking to the window, then to the camera. For a second Naoko considered going and snapping a few more pictures but a fresh wave of dizziness caused her to sit right back down.

"Guess I can just sit and watch for a little..."

[Administration]

Okay, she had to catch her breath and she knew she had to do it fast for this Lightning Ballerina was going to end up kicking her ass. Taking a deep breath, Sailor Mars let her dark blue eyes fall upon this boy in the blue as he spoke to her once more. Sometimes Mars wondered how people didn't realize who the senshi were, but at this moment in time she was quite grateful that her identity was hidden by some odd form of moon magic.

Her eyebrows narrowed as the water rained down on the both of them, her hands resting her the pleats in her red skirt. She knew that she'd have to concentrate in order to keep herself from tripping in these heels, especially with the water. Of all the senshi she could have been, she was the one with pumps. "To play YOUR game? Honey, we're here so that you can lose at MINE."

Her eyes stared him down, briefly thinking that he looked like too much of a pansy to get his clothing dirty. No matter, Mars still had to learn hand to hand combat anyway. He burnt one of her favorite outfits. She absolutely had to get him back for it. "So, let's not make this a drawn out introduction, shall we? I'm Sailor Mars.. and, well.. I don't really care who you are so I guess we can just skip that."

[Arashiyama Kiyoshi]

Sutekh lowered his head slightly as she started shouting at him, features obscured by long bangs. She was challenging him, how intriguing, how... infuriating. They already held his nights hostage from him for months, years even, and now they thought they could just flounce right on in and be a bother during the day?

No.

Oh no, this wouldn't do at all.

The blond's shoulders shook ever so slightly, but when he glanced back up at the red-garbed soldier he was smiling. There was something there that wasn't quite sane, certainly, something a little bit deadly. "Oh, then we should really get to starting the game... but..."

He paused, catching sight of a little something out of the corner of his eye. Raising his voice with all the practice of a thespian, he called without quite yelling across the way to where their witness was apparently staying, "No flash photography!"

The wind began to pick up as his attention reasserted itself on the miniskirted twit that seemed so fond of threatening him.

"Honestly, some people," he murmured conversationally before he slashed his hand through the air, bringing with it another bolt to light up the darkened sky. He'd end this game with 'Sailor Mars' right away. Even before it landed, his hand was moving again, fit to bring another right on its heels.

[Administration]

Okay, so apparently this guy was ridiculously dramatic. He must be one of those drama queens that do drag shows down at the gay club on the weekends. Mars raised her eyebrow, obviously not amused by anything that this blonde was doing. "Flash photography? Who'd wanna take a picture of YOU? If anything, people want pictures of you falling to your doom."

Sailors Mars had barely had a chance to form the last word properly before the crazed psycho threw a huge bolt of lightning at her. Her blue eyes widened out of shock, because she, once again, had not been prepared. With a loud gasp, Mars dove off to the left in an attempt to escape from the bolt.. but she could feel the heat on her ass. "Aw, fuck!" She crashed to the unforgiving roof top with no grace involved. Pain shot through her knees as she rolled over, looking up just in time to see another bolt coming right at her. She rolled over again in an attempt to flee from it.

"Oh, fuck this!" Wincing in pain, Mars brought her arm in towards her torso and then quickly threw it outward. With the motion came a small flash of fire that flew towards Sutekh. It was weak enough as it was, conjuring fire without her actual attack.. but she hadn't even thought of the rain possibly putting it out before it got to him.

[Arashiyama Kiyoshi]

Sutekh purred something about schaudenfraude and perhaps a curtain call, but it was just as well as if he'd said nothing at all. The staccato claps of thunder that followed the strikes had swallowed his words as she scrambled to avoid his immense power. This was proving to be rather fun, and he couldn't be faulted for the laughter that slipped past his lips as she swore and winced. It was this overconfidence, this hubris that proved to render him briefly vulnerable to a counter-attack he didn't recognize as coming.

Fire flashed forth, bright and sudden in a flash of color against their muted surroundings. He reacted quickly enough, grasping the edge of his cape with two white-gloved fingers, flinging it up in a protective gesture. It struck despite the rain, a hiss slipping past his lips that suggested the combined defense of rain and dampened cloth failed in some small way.

"How unsophisticated!" he snapped venomously, and he gave himself away in that exact moment. It was in the way he moved, he had to glance downwards to assure his footing, briefly taking his eyes off his foe to drop down off the edge to the rooftop proper while flinging his hand up towards the sky in its beckoning gesture.

It was gradually getting harder to bring forth that energy, and he looked up with a glare as the combination of capricious overuse and brief lack of concentration stalled him all of two seconds before he could begin to bring it back down.

With it, a bolt seemed to cleave the sky in two.

He would end this.

[Hebuno Naoko]

Paying attention was always her weak point, especially when it came to a boy she deemed handsome. So, when Sutekh spoke to her, Naoko hadn't heard it. Oh no, she was so far wrapped up in a fantasy that she didn't even notice he had spotted her. Nor had the young woman even noticed a battle had begun. Her mind was filled of images of her and the blue-clad gentlemen having a romantic encounter, blissfully embracing one another in ways Naoko could only dream of. They were raw, naughty, and filled with x-rated passion. It was making the girl grow slightly red in the face and a trickle of blood to etch it's way from her nose, down to her lips.

The bitter, copper flavor of the blood shattered the dream, causing Naoko to curse and pinch her nose, scrambling for the tissue box on the desk. Wading some of the white tissue paper up, she gently plugged up the bleeding nostril, cursing her perverted mind. Had she missed something important? When the hell had some kind of fight broken out amongst the white-clad bitch and the handsome blue-clad gentlemen? Naoko rushed to the window, camera at the ready. The soft click of the shutter was rapidly heard as if she were trying to make a stop-go animation or something out of the pictures.

There was still that nagging feeling in the back of her mind, a dull pain, and a unreasonable urge to rip the girl in white apart. However, the need for a scoop and to have photographic evidence that she witnessed such an event was more powerful and muscled it's way to the front. The other feelings remained cowering in the corner of her mind as the girl snapped various photos. Having taken note of how wonderful the light colors stood out against the dark sky, the flash had been taken off - not knowing that it would be to Sutekh's liking. Had she know the young gentleman asked for not flash photography, Naoko would have squealed in delight for being noticed and swiftly turned it off. However, she had to come to her own reasoning for turning said annoying flash off.

[Administration]

Sailor Mars didn't give a flying rats ass about being sophisticated. This was battle and there was absolutely nothing sophisticated about it. Really all she wanted to do was choke the hell out of his guy and burn his pretty little eyebrows off. His distraction with her fire and his cape allowed Mars enough time to scramble to her feet once more.

This rain was starting to really get on her nerves. The harder it fell, the harder to see it was becoming.. And now she realized that it would be that much harder to keep her fire dangerous and alive. "Oh, boo fucking hoo, blondie!" He was such a whiner! "Why don't you just tough it o--" She abruptly shut herself up as her eyes recognized an opening.

As the caped crusader jumped down from the ledge and brought his arm up to gather more of his irritatingly obnoxious energy, Sailor Mars took a running dive towards him. The plan was essentially to take ahold of him around the middle with as much force as she could muster and knock him off course. Of course that would throw herself for a loop as well but she was willing to take the chance. With any luck she would be able to wrestle herself free from him and knock him over the ledge.

The lightning that ripped through the sky just as she went to make her move was an extreme issue however. It was going to hit her directly if she didn't abort her movement. But it was too late, she had to keep going. The momentum was too strong and the rain made the roof entirely too slippery. As the lightning crashed into her leg, she screamed from the pain though her body continued to move through the air.. it was more like sailing helplessly towards Sutekh's body now, but at least she was going where she wanted to.

This was a fiasco. It was truly.. and unless the rain let up, a combination of her high heels and this fire being almost useless unless at close quarters was going to make her lose very badly.

[Arashiyama Kiyoshi]

It was a choice, Sutekh noted in the fraction of a second of the senshi charging him, between Scylla and Charybdis. When Scylla was a twit in high heels with a mouth on her and Charybdis was getting a little too close to the edge for comfort, he certainly couldn't move fast enough to avoid the collision. An indignant yelp escaped the usually composed shitennou as they went down in a tangle of limbs, the blond catching himself half-propped up with an elbow against the gravel-strewn rooftop as he hissed a rather outrageous epithet under his breath.

Given little else to do, the young man brought back his hand in a sharp gesture as if to strike her open-palmed out of instinct. Though he might have been better served by trying to shove her off of him, immediate retribution still came to mind far quicker.

[Hebuno Naoko]

Naoko watched, eyes drawn to the attacks and movements of both the senshi and the young man. Each move was fairly well thought out, as if these people were born to do this. Then again, she assumed, they probably were in someway born to do that. Still, she was enthralled. Her mind reeled and spun and twisted itself in knots trying to figure out exactly why she longed to jump into the fray. It was as if a part of Naoko's mind was whispering ways for Naoko to help her new found love, the boy in blue. From nowhere she could feel a pull on her mind, nagging and begging for her to take action. But, what could she do? Naoko was just a girl, and these people clearly had control over fire and the weather. It was clear to her that it wouldn't be too wise to get involved in the fray.

Still, that small headache, the itch on her forehead, the way she wanted to jump in on the fight. It had to mean something. Whatever it was, Naoko was starting to get fairly annoyed with it. Her golden eyes narrowed on the senshi in red, pissed that the girl had landed any kind of a blow on the delicious young man. "Bitch..." mumbled Naoko, sitting back in the chair and sighing as another wave of dizziness rushed her.