Quote:
Fire Ant Fiasco (14): Fire ants are an unfortunate part of summer, but this year they're worse than ever. It's bad enough that they're so plentiful, but their bites also burn far more intensely than usual. What begins as a sharp sting quickly spreads into a sensation that feels like liquid fire running through your veins. The heat can become overwhelming. Some victims compare it to a severe allergic reaction; others insist it feels as though they are overheating from the inside out. Skin may flush, muscles may ache, and everything can suddenly feel unbearable. The effects are painful, but never lethal. Cold showers, ice packs, frozen treats, and air conditioning can provide temporary relief, but there is no known cure beyond waiting it out. For some, the symptoms fade within minutes. For others, the feverish sensation can linger for hours. No one knows what's causing these unusually aggressive reactions, but you should probably be extra careful outside this year.


Why, Ilmare thought, fanning herself, did I ever think going out during the day to patrol was a good idea. Bad enough she was wearing dark colors in layers. But the worst had to be her hair. It clung and stuck and felt like it was overheating her skull. She could feel tiny rivulets of sweat within the roots and it was, frankly, ******** miserable. But she had to look at the bright side. She was in the middle of the park, in a section that rarely saw visitors. She could at least salve her conscience a little by saying she was doing her job, but gosh darn, there simply hadn’t been anyone around to hurt.

Not that she minded. In fact, she’d been testing her aura sensing. The number of times she’d been snuck up on was disgusting and she needed to learn to pay better attention to that particular sense. The one that she was ‘watching’ at the moment wasn’t terribly strong. She suspected, she actually might be the stronger. But it had a pure, almost icy ‘taste’ to her mind. It didn’t make her feel sick like she’d been told her own aura did to Order. But it definitely didn’t feel good either. It was an awful lot like being the victim of a brain freeze after sucking down an Icee too fast. Interesting, all in all.

She was distracted by what felt like a sudden, hot pinch on her leg. Instinctively slapping, she saw the remains of a big ol’ fire ant. Great, she thought. Lovely. Still, she’d been bitten before and survived. She’d survive again. Turning her attention back to the Order aura, she felt an odd trickle of intense heat inside of her skin snake out from where she’d been bitten.

Okay, maybe she would survive.

—

Despite Creedence's lectures - which were more like narration for some sort of training montage that did not exist - Alekto's own aura sense was not at its sharpest. Nor was her ability to pick up obvious visual cues.

Hence the voice that accompanied the owner of the aura was initially one of concern, belted out as she ran over to be a useful citizen. She'd heard some rumors. This poor girl probably needed to be extracted and assisted in some vague, superhero sort of way.

"Oh. Yikes. I heard they're real bad this year. Are you -"

She paused. In fairness to her, maybe there was a reason she was bad at visual cues, given that she looked quite a bit like something that went bump in the night, rather than something that was supposed to theoretically save you from such a thing. Her eyebrows wrinkled above a sheer veil that, from a distance, gave the impression that her mouth was yawning into an anguished scream. The barely-visible mouth beneath it, however, was instead twisted up into a pursed expression.

There was a certain reluctance to her. Which perhaps made it a little more startling when she reached out and attempted to give Ilmare a shove, instead.

–

Oh! The senshi (because that’s what she was apparently) had been closer than Ilmare had thought. Well, that was all right and she’d already opened her mouth to answer that she was okay, just a weird reaction to an ant bite. Then, she got a really good look at the other senshi and felt her jaw drop a little. She couldn’t begin to parse what this person might have power over and honestly, if it weren’t for the lack of holes and darker bodice, she would have thought that she was looking at a newly recruited corrupt.

She noticed the odd expression and began to try and reassure the other girl when she felt another little fire and hissed, turning briefly away to slap at the ant. And in the process, found herself shoved over and halfway atop a soft mound of dirt. Indignity flickered on her face before being rapidly replaced with horror as she realized that she’d just been turned into a target for fire ants.

“Are you crazy?” she shouted. “Is that your problem? You just ******** shove me into a fire ant hill?!?” She was already scrambling back and brushing away ants. But the nest had been roused and there was absolutely no reasoning with angry, bitey little insects. And, in a moment of spite that she was sure she’d feel really bad about later, Ilmare swept out a leg, kicking up a cloud of dirt and ants at the other girl.
_____


A series of - well, not screams - yelps emerged from the senshi, who began dancing around and swatting at all the red-hot needles currently infiltrating the complicated layers of her fuku, which god knows gave them plenty of places to hide.

"Because you're - ouch! - one of the - ah, geez - one of the bad guys! You feel all gross! But not as gross as ants!"

This last was nearly a wail of despair.

She managed, however, to recover herself enough to point an angry, accusing finger at Ilmare - whose fault this clearly was, in her eyes - and hiss: "Don't you want to scream?"

Quote:
Sailor Scout Attack: Don’t You Want to Scream?
The target is overcome with a feeling of suppressing a long, loud scream. The desire to release the tension is overpowering, but can be overcome. It is, however, intense, creating a sensation of pressure and a sore and aching throat, which worsens if the desire to scream is succumbed to. At the target player’s discretion, this discomfort can linger beyond the battle.


__

“So you just, oh Jesus ow! Attack for no good, ******** little ********! Reason?!?”

Under normal circumstances, she might have just rolled her eyes and muttered something about judgemental twits in tiaras. But not, being eaten alive by fire ants from Hell, she wasn’t feeling so generous. And the angry glare and pointing didn’t make her feel any better. Especially as it was followed by what was clearly magic. And a hint into what Miss High and Mighty ruled over. And Ilmare didn’t like it at all.

But she was a stubborn b***h and if the other girl wanted her to scream, she was going to fight as hard as she could. But between the fiery threads coursing just under her skin and the pressure within her throat, it was hard. Tears began to pour down her cheeks as she inhaled sharply through her nose. She wouldn’t scream. She wouldn’t scream.

She. Would. NOT. ********. Scream.

She would, however, happily ball up her fist and launch herself at that screaming face even as she clamped her own jaw. And as she swung down, through gritted teeth she managed to spit out the words, “******** off, scream queen!”

__

Being called Scream Queen was terribly nice, but there wasn't much time to enjoy it, given that she was also being punched in the face. She had just enough wherewithal to take a clip to the jaw rather than receive a black eye, but this was not much of an improvement.

"Not the face! I need that!" she yelped, trying to point at her again but altogether more concerned with extricating herself and attempting to make a break for it. This lack of focus - she was glad Creedence wasn't here to see this - was probably not helping her already-unstable magic. But ******** focus, she wanted to run.

She managed to mumble the attack phrase again, wagging her finger over her shoulder like an embarrassed road-rager who realized they'd challenged someone much larger than themselves but still attempting to muster outrage during their exit.

__

Ilmare heard the mumble and tensed, expecting to feel the urge to scream get worse. Instead… nothing. Or at least, no doubled up urges. Did… did senshi magic just not work sometimes? Concerning thought, but one she’d worry about later. All she wanted right now was to lay hands on the other senshi and heave her into the ant hill before running like fury for home. Keeping up the chase, she put on a burst of speed, hands grasping for anything they could seize hold of.

C’mon, Santa, she thought wryly. I haven’t been that bad this year. Just let me have this one little thing…

__


Unfortunately for Alekto, she was a veritable buffet of convenient things to grab onto. Her fuku was an array of dangling bits and trailing bandages and carved mouths that might as well have been rock climbing handholds and straps and belts. Someone a little bigger than Ilmare could probably have bundled her up and carried her like a duffel bag without much trouble.

As it is, she made a noise like an angry cat when she got caught, and was thrashing around a bit like one too. Adrenaline had made her mostly ignore the first wave of ant bites, but she was all too aware of them now, and aware of what anyone with any sense would be using as a weapon in this situation. And this stranger, apparently, unfortunately had sense.

She was aware, dimly, that her magic had misfired. This happened with distressing regularity. That first exhilarating shriek, the night she had awakened, had set her - and Creedence - up for a constant series of disappointments, and this was yet another.

Still flailing like a cat being shoved into the bathtub, she opened her mouth and supplied what Ilmare had not: an ear-piercing, incredible scream, stretching on and on, which might have delighted the most stoic of slasher film directors. There was no magic in it. It was just one of the only things she was really and truly good at, and she needed to be good at something right now.

__

As soon as she’d caught up parts of the other’s fuku in her hands and pulled, Ilmare had felt a sense of satisfaction mingled with a touch of guilt. Maus would probably be questioning the choices that led him to helping her if he ever found out. So we don’t tell him, she thought as she heaved the girl towards the ant hill and spent a moment watching her be swarmed. She had little doubt that the girl would survive. Fire ants weren’t like the soldier ants down in South America. Or the Siafu. There was little danger of her dying. And while she thrashed and swore, it was an excellent opportunity to make her own escape. Especially since she felt like she had a fire under her skin, consuming her from the inside out.

With that thought, she turned and ran, jumping slightly as the other senshi’s screams followed her. And only when she was far enough away and unable to detect any auras around her did she power down and stroll out of the park as calmly as she could manage.