Drunkard's Walk Forums

*Snff*
*snfff*

The desolate Brickstown stoop played unwitting host tonight, to a bedraggled young lady, a Paragon City Sewer manhole leaning against her knees, a rusty broadsword in an ersatz sheath on her back. Rain spattered intermittently off the manhole cover, occasionally mixing with the tears on the careworn face of Jeena Malso, known as Lost Sabre, leaving trails in the dirt and grime of the street.
A blast of jets and the muted clank of a hardsuit dropping to the pavement brought Lost's eyes up, and the slender armored form of Silicon Sabre stood in front of her, holding out a hand. Lost took her hand, and the two disappeared in a crackling of golden light. Ouroboros flickered into being around the two, and disappeared again as they shunted through space and time. Talos island clarified about them, and Silicon drew the passive Lost to the Base Portal at the foot of the hill, and they disappeared again, into the Riot Force base. Silicon handed Lost into the shower and moved off towards the locker rooms herself. Lost moved as if in a trance, slowly but thoroughly cleaning herself, Lost let the hot water of the shower beat some of her misery out of her.
Afterwards, pulling on her customary 'upscale' outfit of sweater vest and green jeans, Jeena looked up from tying her shoes to see Sylia leaning against the doorframe, elegant and slim in slacks and an ivory blouse, perfectly made up and accesorized. Lost looked down again, hair swinging forward to hide her face, and mustered her strength to face her notional employer. She straightened and gazed into Sylia's eyes. Sylia nodded once and turned. Jeena followed her to the small entry room to the base, and Sylia sat, elegantly poised on a green chaise lounge. Jeena sat as well, perched uncomfortably on the edge of the grey couch facing it, and the two sat in silence for a long moment.
"So, care to tell me what led you to Brickstown tonight?" Sylia asked. Jeena sighed, and bent her head forward to rub her face with her hands.
"I just got access to the Midnight Club." She stated, and trailed off. Straightening, she faced Sylia head on. "I just got access to the Midnight Club. I thought they seemed like a really interesting group, someone I could do a lot of good working with. What I didn't expect was that there would be a cure for the Lost...   or that it would be so limited."
"Limited?"
"Before they were caught by those crazy preachers, most of those people had lives, Sylia! They may not have been rich or even may not have had homes, but they were their own people, and the Lost took that from them, welded them into their own twisted group. It was only because of Nene's sensors and you Sabres that I made it out of that...  " Jeena trailed off again, staring into space, and Sylia leaned across the gap to put a gentle hand on hers.
"But you did make it out."
"Yes. I did..  but I'm not whole, Sylia. I still don't have any memories between childhood and my rescue, and I still have the occasional..  breakdown..  from the drugs, from the malnutrition, from the toxins in the sewers..  I don't know."
"I know, and while we don't have anything we can do about the memories, we are, at least, on top of the neurological damage."
"Cold comfort... "
"I know..  but again, why Brickstown tonight?"
"Well..  the Cure.. That nice Rikti researcher said it should help reverse the changes that the Lost were going through, and it worked wonderfully..  but I ran into someone that I had known while I was..  in. The Cure changed back his body...  but he didn't know who I was. He didn't remember me, or respond to his name, he barely seemed to know where he was." Sylia drew breath to interrupt, and Jeena raised a hand to stop her. "I know, something as massive as the Lost Cure would certainly cause some disorientation..  but I followed him for over an hour, Sylia. He just..   wasn't there anymore." Jeena's hand fell back to her lap, and she clasped her hands together, staring at them. "He wasn't the person I knew..   then..   and didn't seem to be even..  a person..  now. I called the Paragon EMS and got out of there."
Sylia hmmed.
"They knew what I was talking about as soon as I said 'Lost Cure'. It's been happening for awhile now, it seems that about half of the people who get the Cure just don't..  recover. The other half seem to be able to go on to 'normal' lives, but..  even they don't have a 100% return of their memory."
"So..  when I had one dose of the Cure left..  I dosed myself. Everything turned into color mush, and I passed out."
"I woke up on a rooftop in Brickstown, and made my way to where you found me. And.... I've given up. We've tried psionics, magic, technology, and now this, and none of it has brought me any closer to finding my memories. I don't think I'm ever going to get them back."
"So." Sylia asked, focussed on Jeena's face. "What were you doing in Bricks, then? Had you given up altogether?"
Jeena sat back, determination sharpening the planes of her face. "No. No way. Even if I don't have my old memories, I still have the memories of Paragon, of what you and the Sabres have done for me, and the good people I've worked with here. If I have to rebuild my life, here is a good place to do it. Here, I can be one of the people that make Paragon City a great place to live, and that's worthwhile, no matter what I was..   back home...   " Jeena paused, glancing down at her hands again. "Tonight, I guess..  I was mourning my memories. 'Cause now, giving up..  it means they're really gone." Jeena's gaze dropped back to her hands and held there, as tears fell onto them.The long, clean scrape of metal against leather pulled her attention back to the leader of the Sabres as she pulled out a dark jade blade from a scabbard, holding it point down before aiming the pommel at her. Jeena blinked tears away before picking it up and making a few test swings.
It was...perfect.
Balanced to her strength, firm in her grip. It was less a weapon and more some sort of lethal extension of herself. The vibrant green of the
steel in the blade brought forth images of leaves and spring, and the darker green of the hilt accented it wonderfully.
"It's...beautiful."
"It's yours," Sylia said softly, getting a surprised look from the other woman. "You've held the name we all have for some time. You've proven yourself valiant and brave, a defender of the weak and the oppressed. You've triumphed over a dozen hardships of your own....your memories may not have returned. You may not remember who you were. But I can tell you who you are. You're one of my Sabres, a hero to the people of this city, and one of the strongest women I've ever met. That sword is merely a physical symbol of what's become true over these last months...and when you're ready, there's an armor that goes with it, waiting for you as well."
Sylia caught her eyes, and the sympathy in them was far beyond what Jeena had expected. "I know. It's hard letting go...you want to hold onto
it because it used to exist for you, you're sure of it. It feels like you're surrendering to some enemy you can't fight. Like something precious was stolen from you and you're just letting them get away."
She stood up, resting a hand on Jeena's arm.
"But you don't have to mourn your old memories. Eventually, we all grow old and they start to go fuzzy and drift away. But people are more than their memories. The way the experiences those memories came from shaped them....the people they became...that more than anything is the precious part of life...and that wasn't taken from you."
Sylia smiled gently.
"I was...waiting, I admit...to see where this went before I told you. You know like I do what I and my girls really are....that we aren't the people that existed by these names back in our dimension of origin...but I still have the memories of that Sylia Stingray, and I know she remembered one Jeena Malso, at least partially."
She nodded at Jeena's shocked expression. "You were a police officer. A member of the ADP, in fact...you were part of an organization who routinely faced down the most dangerous threats in Megatokyo, without a thought to your own safety, because you were protecting the people. Fighting things as dangerous as any villian in this city. You vanished at some point after that, before Nene joined the ADP herself....but that's what I remember of you...and as far as I can tell, memories or not, you've still lived up to who you used to be, even if you don't remember the experiences that shaped you."
She smiled once more, gently. "And that, to me, seems to be all that matters." Sylia bowed to Jeena, then turned back to the teleporter. "Use your new sword in good health, Jeena. And when you're ready, we'll be waiting." And in a crackling burst of light, Sylia disappeared, leaving Jeena Malso, nee Lost Sabre, considering the gleaming blade laid across her legs.


Edit: Fixed formatting
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies

Methinks Gmail screwed up your formatting, but I still like this piece.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

a very interesting take on the whole 'cure' for the lost bit.

Is there going to be any more to this?
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy

Very nice, very moody. Well done.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

gonna have to at least do a follow-up when Lost makes 50 and gets her hardsuit (that works so nicely - costume slot missions at 20, 30, 40, and the halloween
salvage at 50), but as for the missing memories.. nope, not a chance.
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies

That's the Lost Zen's hoping to find.

The delicate chime of the door bell rang in the serene quiet of the Silky Doll as Jeena Malso, nee Lost Sabre, opened the door and stepped through. Nervously rubbing her hands together, she approached the attentive clerk behind the front counter.

"I have an appointment?"

"Yes, Ms. Malso, right this way!" The clerk replied cheerily, and led Jeena back to a door with a discreet 'employees only' sign. The door clicked open under the clerk's hand, and she smiled as she held it open for the lanky, sweater-clad Jeena.

Jeena closed the door gently behind her, and considered the room she was in. White walls and tile combined with the bright flourescent lighting to leave no shadows or dimness, and the high tech panelling undoubtedly bore scanners and perhaps even weaponry, pointed at the occupant. With an act of will, Jeena put aside her attempt at self distraction, and approached the door on the far side of the small room. Standing in front of it, she placed her palm on the subtle handprint etched on the surface to the right of the door, and that area of wall blinked green, as the door slid open.

Jeena walked through the inches-thick secure portal into another antechamber, this one panelled in a dark wood and festooned with potted plants, the greenery contrasting with the warm glow of the well cared-for wood. Doors along the wall were labelled with small signs denoting contents, and Jeena strode towards the one marked 'Admin'. Hesitating again as she reached the door, Jeena forced her hand up and down, in a firm knock. The lock clicked, and a voice called 'come in'.

Jeena closed the door behind her, exchanged a nod with Priss, and turned to face the seated occupant of the room, who signed the form before her, slid it into a tray, and looked up at her. Sylia had often been referred to as 'cold', mostly by people who didn't know her 'off the clock', and she looked it today. Jeena swallowed nervously, and sat in one of the chairs facing the desk as Sylia gestured to it.

"I trust you know why I asked you to come here today?" Sylia asked, her face neutral and still.

"Yes ma'am, I think I have an idea." Jeena replied, nervously rubbing her hands together.

"This isn't the first time we've recieved a complaint about one of our own, though this is the first time involving something so.. strange. Would you care to offer any input?"

"He.. I don't know, ma'am. I just find him so aggravating. And I can't avoid him, he's so -popular-" This with unmistakable acid in the tone. "I just can't get away from working with him."

"Almost sounds like you're in love with him" Priss interjected, chuckling. Lost turned to stare dumbfounded at the other Sabre, and Sylia arched an eyebrow. "OK, maybe not."

As the uncomfortable silence stretched out, Lost stared at her hands, folded in her lap, then drew a deep sigh, and raised her head to look Sylia in the eye again. "I'm just so fucking jealous, Sylia. He's got everything, and I.. well, I'm a lot better off than I was six months ago, but.. still.. " Lost trailed off again, staring back down at her hands, and it was Sylia's turn to sigh.

"Lost.. Jeena. Listen. You have, in the last six months, gotten new cybernetic arms, found a place to live, started working one of the weirdest jobs in the world, have trained and fought robots, demons, soldiers, businessmen, mages, zombies, aliens, and a giant jello blob." Priss snorted at this, and fell silent as Sylia continued. "You've had several surgeries, including some neurosurgery. You've been basically stapled back together from wreckage, Jeena."

Jeena blinked away tears and looked up at Sylia. "It doesn't make waiting any easier. I feel _good_, I feel _right_, in a way that I haven't since I showed up in Paragon." She looked down again, a blush sliding into her cheeks and the tips of her ears. "For the last month, I've been noticing boys again, and it's.. Sylia, I don't remember boys from before, I don't know what to do!" She wailed, covering her face in her hands. Sylia glanced at Priss, who had a hand covering her mouth, and was quaking with, thankfully, silent laughter.

"That's.. actually a very good sign. Especially in women, that drive is a tricky thing, and its return is a signal that you _are_ healthy again, or very close to it." Sylia fell silent, her hands steepled on the desk in front of her, her face abstracted as she concentrated. Jeena wiped her face clean with a kleenex from the desk, tossing the crumpled tissue into a wastebasket, and composed herself with an act of will, waiting patiently.

"So you've been 'noticing' boys.. just boys, then?" Sylia asked, refocussing her attention on Jeena, who nodded.

"I know that there are girls who.. are interested.. in girls, or both girls and boys, but I've never really.. been interested." Jeena shrugged. "Not my thing, I guess."

Sylia nodded, then pulled a creamy white business card out of her desk, swiftly scribbling on it. "OK, we'll handle this from the top. First, leave Terrence alone. His relationship is a good thing - and it's something him and those ladies have to work at every day. You need to apologize to him, and stop being willfully rude."

Jeena blushed again, and nodded. "Yes ma'am. I should be able to apologize today, we're both on the roster for an ITF later." She said, smiling ruefully. Sylia winked.

"Secondly, I want you to go for a full physical, and then go visit this doctor." Sylia handed the card across the desk, and Jeena took it, reading the elegant handwriting. Sylia pulled a second card out and began writing on it. "She's a gynecologist, and to be perfectly blunt, you really should make sure everything is working and safe before you become sexually active. She's also a counsellor, and I'll be calling her with the specifics of your situation. She should be able to provide you with an.. overview. Of what you can expect." Sylia handed the second card over, and Jeena's eyebrows shot up. "That's a competitor of mine, though they specialize more in.. accessories.. than fashion."

Jeena's blush intensified, the tips of her ears burning. Sylia continued without pause, as matter-of-fact as if she was discussing corn futures. "While it can't compare to an actual lover, a toy or two can be a wonderful stress relief, and I think you would benefit from some stress relief at this point." Sylia arched an eyebrow at Priss, who was again quaking with repressed laughter, biting her fist to keep from bursting into giggles.

"I... ah.. uhm. I... thank you?" Jeena stammered, her face bright red. Sylia smiled gently. "That's also a shop I have no ownership of, so your purchases and questions will be.. discreet."

Stammering and blushing, Jeena shook Sylia's hand, and nodded once at Priss as she escaped back through the door and into the City. Priss angled across the office and sprawled into the recently-vacated chair in front of Sylia's desk, legs draped languidly over the chair arm. "Sexual frusration, then?" She said, grinning.

"It's not exactly a laughing matter, even if it is funny, my dear." Sylia said, a small smile on her face. Leaning back and putting her feet up on the desk, she continued. "Sometimes I worry about her. She's got the body and hormonal balance of a mature human female, but some parts of her experience are just.. gone."

"I'd hate to see her ruin a relationship because of that." Priss said, frowning. Sylia watched one of the singer's long legs as it swung back and forth. "One of hers, or one of the Sabres"

Sylia blinked, focussing on her lover's face. "You think that her.. ignorance.. could be harmful to one of the other Sabres?"

"No, no, Sylia, I meant at the, hmmm, institutional level. One of the best things about this place is the abundance of groups like ours, and the relationships between them. It's easy to get dependant, and hard to stay completely independant." Priss said. Sylia sat back in her chair, staring at the ceiling herself as she thought on Priss' words. While noone discounted the brash singer, it was easy enough to forget that there was a fine thinking instrument behind that pretty, angry face.

"While I wouldn't call us in the least 'dependant' on The Legendary, it certainly is a.. convienient relationship. I'd hate to see it disrupted, especially for something as easily remedied as.. this."

"Mmm." Priss agreed, also staring at the ceiling contemplatively. "So, in the end, what that girl needs is a good deep d-"

"Priss!" Sylia interrupted, agahst, and the two erupted into laughter.

Edit: Moved this here from the Snippets thread
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies

Quote:Note: Ties in with http://drunkardswalkforums.yuku.com/topic/5311 , Read that first.

Lost Sabre, Nee Jeena Malso, rolled out of bed and plummeted the short distance to the floor, landing in the scraps of her light body armor with a smashing clatter, very similar to the time she'd dropped a dozen teapots full of ball bearings down a staircase, only not as harmonic. She lay in the pile of armor bits momentarily, reflecting on the strange paths her life had gone down recently. The trip to Paragon was her normal 'start' point for these sort of musings; the fragmentary memories of Megatokyo and police service from before then didn't have the intensity that her Paragon memories did. After a period of time as one of the Lost, her rescue by this world's Sabers was one of the sweetest moments of her life. In fact, she could remember thinking "This is the happiest I will ever be"

While it's more amusing if one considers that she was covered in blood spray seconds after that thought ran through her mind, it's even more amusing to her that she's been proven wrong so very often.

Shifting a shin guard more comfortably under her head, Lost stared at the play of light on the ceiling of her bedroom, going down 'The List' while she slowly woke up. Gir, Sylia, Secret Identities, The Legendary, A HOME!!! Lost bounced to her feet, scattering armor bits around her bedroom. A quick sweep through the apartment's bedroom took care of those, and into the shower she went, scrubbing, shampooing and conditioning quickly but thoroughly. Lost had been filthy and disheveled for a long time, and didn't want to go back to that.

Her morning routine accomplished in short order, Lost snarfed a bagle out of the fridge. Stopping to give the 7 foot tall stuffed pig filling the hall closet a quick pat, she was out the door. Fiddling idly with the cellphone she'd recently upgraded to, Lost brought up her

emails.

---------------------

FROM: ARENA COORDINATOR (Arena.Coord@Atlas.gov)

TO: Lost Sabre (Lost.Sabre@Riot.6.1.com)

Subject: Duel Challenge (Zen Hart)

Greetings, Hero! You have been challenged to a Duel by Zen Hart! The Duel is set to

occur at 12:00 (Noon), on Friday!

----------------------

It was 11:45. And Friday.

Lost grinned and slid the phone back into it's little armored pocket. Stopping to tug the straps of her armor tight, she kicked into overdrive, and streaked through the morning sun towards the Pocket D entrance. Scorning the D Pass, she dove into the manhole cover and speed-crawled through the tunnel into the D, handling the warp transisiton without noticing its effects.

As the elevator crawled up towards the floor of the D, Lost tapped her foot impatiently. The moment the door opened, she flew through it and streaked up the stairs to the Arena Lounge.

The event was listed, and the two appeared in the Arena. Lost forced herself to take deep breaths, instead of the sharp excited inhalations she wanted to make, and stretched a little as the timer counted down. Don't know who this 'Zen Hart' is I think I worked with her once over in

Peregrine I like Peregrine it's got lots of Carnies those ladies look silly (I wonder if Gir would like them oh god I don't think I could ask Gir what sort of woman she's interested in TOO WEIRD) I wonder how pissed this Zen person is, anyway. Stupid blue caves, they seperate out the bad guys and make it so hard to keep moving maybe I'll have some cheeseburgers for lunch, Hee, I could get some white castle and bring them

to Cast-

WHAAAAAANNNNN

The Klaxon sounded, and Lost streaked forward, mentally reciting her disciplines as she engaged them, and popped a dispenser of 'reds' out of a pocket. Swiftly crunching down on four of them, Lost closed to Melee range and brought her sword overhead in her favorite opener attack. The Headsplitter nearly blew Zen's horned figure into a wall, but the smaller woman caught herself. Gathering her scattered wits and courage, Zen plunged back into melee range, and blows rang out in the Arena.

Outside, unbeknownst to the combatants, Terrence Knight winced as the two females beat each other mercilessly. With his experience, he could tell that what appeared to be a subtlety-free slugging match was anything but. He whistled low and long at the delicate interplay between Slash, Follow Up, Parry, and Whirling Sword. It looked like a match that, at first glance, was all about damage, was turning into a debuffing contest.. and Lost was losing.

Lost winced as she popped the last of her greens, feeling the rush of health drain away almost immediately as Zen nailed her with a Slash, chased with a perfectly executed Follow Up. She shifted her sweaty grip on her sword, the elegant blade Sylia had given her, and reflexively Parried the next attack. A deep breath and a hitch of the hip put into motion the Headsplitter, and Lost knew she was doomed as her shield went just that extra tiny bit out of position. Zen was there to exploit the opening, and as the darkness of the medport closed about her, Lost had the minor satisfaction of seeing the shorter hero with her eyes closed, gasping for breath also.

Terrence raised an eyebrow as Zen ported back to the D, followed momentarily by Lost. They made the normal small talk, thank you for the fight, etc, etc. Zen asked Lost what she'd learned, and the normally bouncy young lady stilled for a second, her face intent and concentration knit on her brow.

"Stamina. Gotta work on my stamina if i'm gonna fight at that level" Lost concluded, with a firm nod. Zen returned a small nod of agreement, and turned and paced out without a word, giving Terrence an odd little almost-bow as she passed. Lost, oblivious, turned her focus from Zen to Terrence, and he found himself distracted and deluged about 'Half-dressed Carnie fools', and 'Wonder if Gir would like to take one of them home', followed by a wink and an elbow nudge..

Terrence blinked in shock as Lost nattered onwards about Malta and Arachnos and end-drain being 'unfair', then stopped at the end of a sentence, waved, and disappeared in a rush of speed.
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies

O_O

Ahgahd... when did Lost learn to think like Sammy?

--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs

Quote: Sofaspud wrote:

---

O_O

Ahgahd... when did Lost learn to think like Sammy?

oh gods, and aslo

Quote: [i](I wonder if Gir would like them oh god I don't think I could ask Gir what sort of woman she's interested in TOO WEIRD)[/i]

well, she did have a mojor crush on lost, so i guess thats her type

-Zen's mundane watches the point soar way over Lost's head, sighs lightly and goes back to the drawing board.- And by drawing board I mean
Wentworth's and a respec.