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WELP.

If Themisto was anything, it was Definitely Not Ready to hit the streets again in senshi form. He decided shortly after “awakening” via ridiculous talking cat that he had had well enough of magical nonsense to last a lifetime. Instead, one Zachary Calloway kept his head down and finished school like his father wanted, looking for a job after that. More than anything, he wanted to make a man of himself, someone his father could be proud of.

But despite even his best efforts, duty seemed to call to him whether he liked it or not. Guilt gnawed at his heart ravenously even while studying for finals or prepping job applications. It wore him down at night when trying to drift off to sleep. Reluctantly, he would power up only once ever few months, just to say he did. Themisto did not seek out youma, did not seek out other senshi. He wanted a normal life filled with normal things and pretty girls.

Tonight though, the universe had something else in store for him - a youma, much like a rhino made of tar, had been chasing the boy. Themisto, still not used to his ridiculous footwear, was rapidly losing ground and wondering if this would be his last night in earth. Sure, he'd seen the monsters on television, he'd seen the reports of X number of people dying to them. But that was like a dream, wasn't it? It wasn't real, it didn't happen to people like him!

Breath hitching in his throat, Themisto slid around a corner and into a narrow alley separating a small bistro and mobile phone shop, ducking behind the dumpster. The youma, enraged, was grunting and stomping around nearby. Themisto couldn't help but shake like a leaf, having been scared out of his mind and twisting his ankle upon entry. This wasn't manly, not at all! What the hell was he supposed to do?!

Sailor Kari was still...not really used to being more powerful. She really didn’t think she deserved it...especially with…’dating’ that Negaverse agent. They were dating, but they were not together, and that fact still made her head spin with utter confusion. It just...it didn’t make sense...how could you do one without the other?

She was walking on a rooftop when she felt it, the awful slimy presence of a youma...and the feeling of a senshi.

Well. Well maybe she could make up for her failing romantic tryst with some good deed done tonight. Carefully, she hopped off of the rooftop and landed with as much grace as she could, atop the dumpster that Themisto was hiding behind. Blinking, she looked at him and gave a small smile. “Hey. I get the feeling you might need some help, hm?” Kari turned to look at the youma and felt her small amount of courage leave in an instant. “Oh s**t. Maybe that’s a little too big for me to help with…”

But she had to do something...and running away didn’t count. “I don’t...uh...suppose you have any good magic we could use to stop this thing?”

Kari’s sudden appearance gave Themisto a start. He scrambled to his feet and found his injury was a bit more serious than he initially thought. The young man tried desperately not to show it and leaned heavily on the dumpster, as if trying to be cool. “Oh, uh… yeah, I could use some help.” His breath was still ragged. Definitely not the manly man he was hoping to portray himself to be. Themisto simply didn't have the experience.

“I uh…” he stammered, flinching when the youma roared somewhere out in the parking lot. He was not cut out for this, but with a pretty lady to impress, Themisto had to make due. Gotta remember how to even use the magic, dammit. Kari’s appearance gave Themisto a bit of courage, but not the ability to shoot laser beams from his hands or something. “I've never actually used my attack before…”

True, and embarrassing, in a way.

The youma had then figured out where the two senshi were - what it lacked in intelligence, it made up for with stamina and strength. It's bright green eyes flashed and it lowered its great head to the ground, displaying an impressive set of horns even the oldest and heaviest of rhinos would envy. Themisto’s eyes went wide and in an effort to appear valiant and courageous to the young lady, hobbled to put himself between the youma and Kari.

“Okay… okay… gotta do this…”

Okay...so he had never used his attack before...that was fine. Right? That was totally fine...maybe. “Do you...do you know if your attack is offensive?” Kari suddenly felt as though she would have been much better off just running off the other way, but then again that might have gotten this senshi killed...but that couldn’t have...she wouldn’t have even known...so now they were both going to end up dying, and...ugh.

She was such a waste of everything.

“Hey...don’t do that. You’re hurt and I am stronger than you...if you don’t even know your attack...maybe mine will do something...but I’ve never...never used it against a youma before, I’m not sure…”

Kari sighed, then drew in a calming breath and took a step in front of Themisto. He was hurt, she couldn’t just...let him get speared to death by a giant death rhino. “Loyalty Hurts!”


He certainly hoped his magical attack was offensive. Truthfully, Themisto didn't think much about being a senshi beyond oh god why do I have these stupid shoes and why is this cat talking to me?? After deciding it wasn't for him a few years ago, Zachary did everything he could to put the whole experience from his mind and live a normal life.

This young lady was more powerful than himself, Themisto realized that much based on the energy signature she was giving off. Dammit, now it's all coming back. Zachary knew this was a terrible idea! He couldn't stop Kari before she fired off her attack and cursed himself for the negligence. He leaned around her to see what had happened to the rhino. To his surprise, it seemed to be in immense pain. It's roars and shrieks weren't aggressive like before, but shrill and stunted. Suddenly the rhino seemed to have a difficult time walking and it began to scrape its face against the concrete.

Themisto was amazed. “How… what did you do? I mean, not that it's a bad thing…” He leaned against the opposite wall and chuckled. “Pretty and kicks a**, wow."

“I think...if you can manage to jump onto that roof, and jump down onto its neck...see how its head is down like that? Maybe if we both jump and land our heels into there...maybe that will work on getting rid of it.” She hoped she sounded brave...she felt a little better as she saw how much her attack was working on it, and that made her feel a lot better, to be honest.

She glanced to Themisto. “Do you think you’ll be able to? I know you’re hurt but…”

Blinking, Kari shrugged. “That’s uh...that’s just my attack. People don’t seem to like it very much. They always say how much it hurts...so I hoped it would hurt the youma...and I guess I was right. It did.”

The senshi flashed a smile and hopped up onto the nearest roof, ready to jump off. As she waited for the other senshi’s help, she hesitated and called her attack once more, pointing her hand at the youma.

There was no use in letting him feel better when they were right on the verge of getting rid of the monster!

Kari’s plan made a great deal of sense, and she seemed much more practiced in fighting the monsters than Themisto could ever hope to be. The gaze he gave her was one of trepidation and embarrassment - wasn’t he supposed to be saving her? But then again, he couldn’t even manage to run in these stupid shoes, so how was he supposed to protect beautiful women if he kept twisting his ankles?

Watching the super senshi jump to the roof, and feeling the throbbing in his ankle, Themisto swallowed the lump in his throat. If he didn’t do it now, he’d chicken out. “Yeah, I have to, right? I should. I have to…” Mustering up whatever courage he had left, his stupid shoes in tow, Themisto leapt up to join Kari on the rooftop. Not having powered up in ages, Themisto overshot by about two feet, nearly tripping over himself as he landed. “Jesus!” he spat. Did they always jump so much better than like, normal people?

The youma seemed to be in a great deal of pain, which was great for them. Waiting for Kari’s signal, the boy jumped on cue with her, both of them landing on the neck of the giant rhino. Their combined weight, along with Kari’s heels, seemed to deliver the deathblow. The youma wailed, lifting its head and throwing off its assailants, but it was no use. With a crushed windpipe, black tar oozed from its neck and mouth as it slumped over.

Themisto landed squared on his rear, propping himself up with his hands. “Is… did… did we do it? Is it dead?”

Kari grinned, quite pleased that her plan had worked...or almost worked...weren’t these things supposed to turn to dust? Wasn’t that how they died? Regardless, she was feeling really...really good for the first time in ages, and before she answered Themisto’s question, she walked over to the youma and kicked it as hard as she could right in it’s stupid ugly forehead, giving a yelp of surprise when it turned to dust then.

Well there. “Now it’s dead. We did it. Thank you for your help...I really appreciate it...I don’t think I could have done this alone.” Even though she had been the one to seek him out and help him...she still felt the overwhelming need to thank him for his part.

She was really, really bad at the whole ‘being a hero’ thing, and she knew it, but that didn’t stop her from trying…

“Is your ankle okay? I know you were acting like it was hurting earlier...I...How...how much do you like the side that you’re on?”

It was a very strange question, and she was sure she could have phrased it better, but still...the cat had told her that she could heal people now...so that was an interesting concept...and here was someone in need of healing...so she had to try, right?

Themisto was quite stunned about it all. Sure, he felt the pull of responsibility and the guilt for having ignored it for so long, but nothing prepared him for staring down a hell-rhino. It was real, breathing and thinking and terrifying, and Themisto wasn't safe from being killed by it. He wasn't safe on the other side of a television screen, covered in blankets and with a roof over his head. When the news anchors called in a war, they weren't kidding!

The base-level senshi’s hands were trembling then, and Kari seemed amazing to him then - she seemed calm, as if she'd done this a thousand times.

“I… Jesus…” he stammered, struggling to get onto his feet. His stupid shoes didn't help matters much either. “....I… yeah, my ankle’s not too bad… I just fell and you know, twisted it. I didn't get reasonable footwear like you did. I can't run in these stupid things…” Themisto kicked the ground, his geta making a lovely wood-on-concrete scratching sound.

He wasn't quite sure how to respond to Kari’s second question, however. “How much do I like the side I'm on? What does that mean?” Themisto tried to recall much of his awakening, but since he considered it both unwanted and terrifying, not much about it really stuck. Except for the whole “talking cat telling you that you're a warrior from space” thing…

The moment Themisto realized that Kari had overdone it, his ankle was all but forgotten. He leaned forward swiftly to try and support Kari with his shoulders, to keep her from falling into unconsciousness. The boy's utter ignorance when it came to the war led Kari's magic to be almost meaningless, however...

While Themisto didn't know what it meant to be loyal to the Shite Moon, he was loyal to Kari, and perhaps that sense of loyalty was loophole enough to give his ankle enough healing to make it home in one piece without risking further - or permanent - injury.

"Kari? Kari, stay with me. Please don't overdo it. I'll.. I'll take you to a hospital or something. You saved my life, Kari! I owe you everything just please..." Themisto's heart had leaped into his throat, anxiety overcoming his sense of reason. He sincerely thought Kari would die if overtaxed, that she was in very serious danger. "Kari, what can I do? Maybe I can carry you home... or I could call a cab!"

Never in a million years did he think he would ever be in this position - utterly powerless, confused and terrified.

The boy seemed relieved, his shoulders slumping over once the tension started to ease up. "You're sure? Cuz I could call you a cab if you need it..."

As Kari stood, Themisto slowly came to the realization that he was the damsel in distress in this situation and was thoroughly embarrassed. He stood up, careful not to lean too much on his twisted ankle, and dusted himself off. Kari mentioned it was nice to meet him. He blushed slightly, scratching at his cheek absently. "....yeah, it was real nice to meet you too, Kari. I owe you my life. I-I-I'll make it up to you, I promise! Maybe... maybe I'll take you out to dinner or something. My treat?"

Themisto decided then that he had to train more, he had to get better. For Kari. Besides, how was he going to save beautiful women like her if he always ended up in a sticky situation? It wasn't very manly to be rescued by pretty girls...

Mimicking the super senshi, Themisto had almost forgotten about the whole cellphone thing. "Say cheese!" He made a stupid face to hopefully make her smile and snapped a quick picture. His phone did the rest, registering her as Super Sailor Kari with all the pertinent information. "Be safe, okay? I promise I'll see you again... under better circumstances."

Now was the time to slink home and come up with a good excuse as to why he was limping... Maybe saving a pretty lady from a robbery... yeah!