Chapter Three:
The Hunt is On

by Chris, Legend, and Rachel

The sun glinted off ebony curls as a small figure clambered rather clumsily out of a dark green Italian model car. The figure sighed heavily as she pulled out a heavy tote-bag and slung it over her shoulder, then headed into the building.

The mall was one of the last places Abriana Mazzoni had expected to find herself today. She had finished her classes early, due to the extended vacation of one of her teachers, but she had expected that a few of the guys would want to get together for a football game.

She had been horribly wrong. All -they- wanted to do was study, and studying was something Abby only did when she was forced to. So here she was, entering the mall instead of out running around in the sunshine. Stupid men.

She walked over towards her favorite store first, the comic book store. Maybe a new edition of Generation X had come out. She was really starting to like that comic. Unfortunately, she had no such luck, and after looking around and finally purchasing the new X-factor comic, she exited the store and continued on her way through the maze that was the mall.

"Hey, like, bird! D'you, like, think this color looks, like, gross on me or what?" a tall blonde asked, modeling a hot pink dress.

Percy, who was seated on the chair in the fitting room, snorted with disdain. While he was enjoying the free peepshow he was getting, the outfits Leta were trying on were less than savoury. "It's pink. You only wear pink. What difference will my opinion make?"

"Up yours, Tweety," Leta replied, violet eyes cold. "Fine! I'll, like, buy it, even if you, like, hate it."

"Oh, you can be sure - I hate it."

Rolling her eyes, Leta changed back into her normal clothing and gathered up all the outfits she had brought with her. She intended to buy them all. Scooping Percy up and dropping him into her purse - which, in turn, aroused a squawk of protest from the disgruntled bird - and walked out. Removing her credit card and paying for the clothes, she marched out of the shop and tossed a pigtail over her shoulder. "Too bad you're not, like, human. You could've helped me, like, carry all this stuff."

"Oh, such a pity," Percy replied, muffled by the contents of Leta's purse. "I think you can handle one bag." Percy was about to say more when he suddenly stiffened, and poked his head out of the small air hole Leta had left him. His beady eyes cast about, looking around for the source of his sudden activity. He found it soon enough - a young, attractive woman with dark hair. Snapping his head up towards Leta, he squawked to get her attention (and the attention of several passing shoppers).

Blushing at the unwanted looks she was getting on account of the bird, Leta brought the purse up to her face and glared daggers at Percy. "-What-?" she hissed.

"Girl with black hair that just came from the comic book shop. Follow her." Percy said quickly and dropped back into the bag.

Rolling her eyes, Leta made sure to knock her hip against the bag hard, changed directions, and followed a few feet behind the unsuspecting girl.

Abby sighed, tossing her dark curls over her shoulder and staring at the mass of people in the hall in front of her. You'd think it were the day before Christmas, what with all the bloody crowd, "Maledizione," She muttered, "I'll never get to the Sports shop."

With that, the girl, for despite being nineteen Abriana Mazzoni could only be considered a girl, flopped down on the nearest bench and stared. She'd just wait until the crowd died down a bit. That would have to happen sooner or later.

And then she could hit Electronics Boutique and grab something for Alex, maybe. He'd had his eyes on some weird computer junk for the past week, and she was tired of hearing about it.

Knowing a good opportunity when she saw it, Leta skipped over to the bench and seated herself next to the brunette, smiling as sweetly as possible. With a giggle, she turned face the girl and beamed. "Hi," she chirped.

From within the crowded purse, Percy groaned. "-Hi-? That's all you can say?" he protested, head popping out once more. Calmly, Leta zipped the bag up all the way and returned to smiling blankly at Abby.

Abby's first reaction was to glare openly at the girl. She was blonde, and had an unmistakable cheerleader ditz lilt to her voice that the Italian jock found distinctly obnoxious. Generally speaking Abby was a rather friendly person, but something about girly-girls just really grated her nerves.

Then there was the bird. The girl's emerald green eyes grew wide with surprise and disbelief as the thing popped his head out of the bag...had it been -talking-? Or maybe she'd just been in Physics too long that day. That was probably it, she was just delusional.

She grinned, her previous ideas of being rather rude having faded away with the knowledge that they were brought on by a particularly long and boring day of college classes, "Hey there!" she responded, then looked at the bag again, "Is it just me, or is there a talking bird in there?"

"Leta, by the gods, let me out of this bag, woman! I can't -breathe-!" a voice cried shrilly, obviously from the bag.

"Um," Leta paused, eyes resting on her purse. She looked like she wanted to throw it into the nearby fountain. "Like... kinda."

Abby blinked again. Okay, so it definitely -wasn't- delusions from Physics class that was causing her to think that bird was talking. Her brows furrowed. She was -sure- that birds couldn't talk..well, except parrots. Maybe that was it! "Is he a parrot?" she asked, deciding that was the only logical conclusion.

"I am not a parrot!" squawked the bird, finally managing to push the zipper back and poke his head through. The rest of the chubby bird soon followed, and he waddled over to Abby. "Look here. You take me and the idiot here someplace private, all right? Now."

It took a minute for the Italian jock's brain to register all of this, "But aren't parrots the only birds who...?" her voice trailed off as he continued to talk and shrugged, picking him up tentatively. She wasn't used to birds, she was used to big German Shepherds who could knock her over. Afraid she'd break him, she carried him very carefully over to the nearest rather secluded area..which happened to be right in front of the bathroom/payphone section.

"Bimbo," Percy began, referring to Leta.

"What?" she grated, snarling at the bird.

"Check to see if anyone is around, will you?"

She looked about quickly, and shook her head. "Not really. No one should, like, see anything."

"Good," Percy flapped onto Abby's shoulder and sighed. "Right. I'm about to say some very confusing things. Don't, A) faint, B) scream, C) run away, or D) laugh, because this all very serious. Understand?"

Abby raised an eyebrow as the bird flapped onto her shoulder, then gave Leta a disbelieving look when he started with his demands, "Look, mio amico, I -don't- faint. Or scream. I only run when I'm competing..the laughing...well, maybe. I can't make any guarantees."

Leta shrugged. "He's just, like, trying to sound important and stuff. He's totally, like, stupid like that." She sneered at Percy.

Ignoring the blonde to the best of his ability, Percy took a deep breath and continued, "I am Perseus, a guardian of the Graikos, one of which you are. The blonde girl is Aphrodite, one of your teammates. You should consider yourself a very lucky young lady to be among such great fellows - besides some people." Percy's black eyes moved to stare at Leta, who shrugged again. "Anyway, welcome to the team, Atalanta."

Abby scratched her head, mulling this over, "First of all, I'm a Christian, I don't believe in gods. Second of all, I can't be a god, look at me! And third of all...what the Hell are you talking about, mio amico?"

"Look," Leta said, annoyed. She wanted to get on with her shopping. "All that Percy is, like, saying is that you're gonna, like, look like some fruit wearing a tutu, prance around at stupid hours of the stupid night, and fight other people that are, like, on enemy teams. And for all I, like, know, half the Graikos may be -Jewish-, it doesn't, like, matter what religion you are. Percy, cut the, like, melodrama and just give the girl her -item-." she muttered, hands on her slim waist.

Percy snapped his beak at Leta. "Stop taking the spotlight, you whore,"

"I forgot one detail," Leta began, sneer on her face. "You get stuck with, like, annoying birds the whole -freakin' time- and they, like, aim to make your life a total living -hell-."

Percy hopped off Abby's shoulder and flapped onto the ground, back turned to them. He fiddled around under his wing for a second before extracting a small, golden apple, and holding it in his beak upwards to Abby.

Leta scoffed. "Your item is, like, -an apple-? Jeeze, that's, like, -totally- laaamee."

Abby was starting to settled down, beginning to buy all this stuff, even. I mean, who would make up a story this -weird-? Besides, it'd be kinda cool to have superpowers. Then, a flash of gold had caught her eyes, and the bird produced a miniature golden apple, about the size of a dime. An instant panic took hold of her that she couldn't control.

For the first time in her life, Abby Mazzoni screamed.

"AHHHHHHHH!" her voice was low pitched enough that it wasn't quite as girly sounding as it could have been, but still completely uncharacteristic of the over-confident Italian.

She flipped the object away from her as quickly as possible, taking a step backward, "GET IT AWAY FROM ME!"

Percy gave a squawk of protest and waddled after the dime-sized apple, managing to catch it in his beak before it rolled off into the crowd. Mentally cursing the incompetent people he was obliged to work with, he waddled back near Leta's foot, not moving to drop the apple or hand it back to Abby.

Leta swiveled around to face Abby, violet eyes huge. "Jeeze! What's, like, the matter!?"

The Italian no longer looked terrified so much as horrified as her eyes fell on the golden thing, "No." she shuddered, shaking her head, "Not again."

Her eyes flickered briefly, and a look of confusion spread across her face, "I don't know why, but that thing gives me the creeps, mio amico," she said, shuddering again, "What's it -for-?"

Leta stooped to snatch the apple from Percy's beak, and after a brief tug-a-war, held it triumphantly in her hands. "I dunno," she replied, inspecting it.

"You -imbeciles-," Percy grunted under his breath, flapping up and grabbing the apple before Leta could stop him. "It's your transformation item. It's what makes you Atalanta." Percy fluttered on to Abby's shoulder and dropped the apple into her open palm. "Look, just say this for me, okay? Atalanta Divinitas Power, Make-Up. Give it a go." he instructed and glided back over to Leta, who grudgingly let him land on her shoulder.

Abby stared at the thing in her palm, a horror-stricken, disgusted look on her face, but managed to fight away the alien emotions. They weren't hers. She didn't have a problem the thing..no...she convinced herself slowly, nothing wrong with it.

"Atalanta..." the word gave her a new strength. She could feel it. Something inside of her responded to the name, "Divinitas Power, Make-Up."

Why was she even bothering to go along with this? Some talking bird and a blonde ditz tell her she's a Greek goddess reincarnation or whatever and suddenly she's calling out words, sounding like an idiot. Suddenly...the apple was melting into her palm, spreading out like golden jello along her body, engulfing her, and there was nothing she could do.

And then..it was over. Just like that, and she was sitting there in a nearly transparent purple outfit.

"And I just did this -why-?" she asked, looking at the thing. Well, at least it was light enough to run in.

Percy - who was greedily leering at Atalanta's semi-visible body - said nothing for a few moments. Finally, he spoke, "So you can fight the enemy. The Astronomia, the Romanus, the Angelus - all of them. Starting right now!" the bird crowed happily, seeming almost to smile.

Leta fingers moved to shut Percy's beak. "I am, like, -not- patrolling the, like, mall. She can, like, -totally- go by herself."

Percy wrenched his beak from Leta's fingers. "Don't be selfish," he scolded. "You wouldn't be patrolling the mall, anyway, too many people right now. We'd go outside, of course."

Leta looked horrified. "No way! I'm not, like, done shopping! And Daddy gave me his, like, credit card and stuff!" she whined loudly.

Abby looked at Percy, feeling the excitement, the anticipation, build up, "We get to fight?" she asked eagerly, glancing around her happily, "Mio amico, you're my new best friend."

Then she glared at Leta, who was stammering out protests that had everything to do with shopping and nothing to do with anything remotely interesting, "Look, if she wants to stay here and shop, let her. I'm kicking some serious ass."

Leta's purple eyes narrowed, almost dangerously. "Like, -excuse me-," she muttered, and suddenly plucked Percy off her shoulder, much to the bird's surprise. "-I'm- the one that, like, owns the guardian -"

"You don't own me! No one owns me! Stop making claims that aren't - "

Leta's fingers snapped his beak shut again. "And I'm the, like, experienced senshi here. If there is anything you can do, like, as a senshi, tomboy, I can do it, like, ten times better. And stuff." She was nearly glowing at her speech.

Percy rolled his beady little eyes and bit the blonde's fingers. "Leta. You barely participate in any of the senshi happenings." he grunted.

Leta tugged her locket off her neck. "I'm gonna, like, kick serious ass -too-."

Abby almost laughed out loud. Girls like Leta were -so- very predictable. Exclude them from something and all they'd want to do is participate. She tossed her dark curls over her shoulder, "Well then, hurry up and change. We haven't got all -day-. Say Perseus, do I get weapons or something? Or is it all hand-to-hand butt-kicking action?"

Percy would've smirked if he could. He rather liked Atalanta's attitude towards fighting; the Graikos needed more senshi like her. "It all depends, really," he said, shrugging his wings. "All senshi have powers, be they useless or not." His eyes flicked over to Leta, who was studying her nails. "Anyway, it all depends on your style. Some senshi prefer to use their attacks - others don't. For you first time, however, it's better to have someone or something to test them on. More hands-on."

"Not it." Leta squeaked instantly.

"Of course you're not it." Percy squawked, exasperated. Under his breath, he added, "Pity."

Abby did laugh this time. She'd caught Percy's little remark, "So then...better go out and look for somebody for me to practice on, right Perseus?" She asked the bird. He seemed to know what was going on better than the blonde did.

She was really looking forward to this. Something inside of her told her that this fight was important, and Abby wasn't the sort to do things halfway. She was going to kick some serious butt.

"I think you should go patrolling now." Those were Clare's words, upon Ian's return from college. And, weasel or not, she was still a nun, and there's just something about the way a nun can tell you to do something that can make it so hard to do otherwise. So, half an hour, and one transformation later, there he was, Gabriel Knight, standing underneath a tree, waiting for something to happen. "I should really start patrolling with somebody," he mumbled to himself. "At least then I could talk to someone to pass the time." That's when he felt something coming close to him. He turned around, looked down the street, and saw a girl in lavender with dark hair, followed by a leggy blonde in pink and white. Only senshi would dress like that. "Why'd it have to be a couple of girls?" he asked himself. Stepping out from underneath the tree and into the light, he looked at them, nodded his head, and said, "Ladies."

Aphrodite blinked at the approaching Angelus, confused. He was -way- too oddly dressed to be hitting on her - maybe a bit too old, too. It suddenly hit her with a bang, and she started slightly; but Percy was way ahead of her.

"Angelus," he growled to Atalanta, whose shoulder he was currently perched upon. "Approach with caution and try not to make the first move - let's just see how agressive he is."

Abby blinked, caught by surprise as the man slipped out of the shadows. Judging by the costume, he was likely a Senshi as well, although she didn't really know enough to decide whether or not he was on her team or the enemy team.

"Angelus," he growled to Atalanta, whose shoulder he was currently perched upon. "Approach with caution and try not to make the first move - let's just see how agressive he is."

She grinned anyways. Something about this guy seemed vaguely familiar, although she couldn't place it, of course. Something tugged at the back of her mind. But, Abby being Abby, she ignored it. "Actually, Perseus is male," she corrected him, "So it'd be 'lady'. In reference to Aphrodite."

"If you say so," replied Gabriel. "Introductions, I suppose? Gabriel Knight, Archangelus Senshi of Water."

"Oh, gods, they always do this," Percy sighed, shaking his head.

"I'm Le- ah... Aphrodite!" the effervescent blonde chirped happily. "And that's, like, Percy." Aphrodite added, pointing at the disgruntled bird.

"Charmed." he mumbled wryly. Quietly, he leaned over and muttered in to Atalanta's ear, "Screw introductions and forget not making the first move. Try something to engage him in combat, otherwise this is going to be one -very- boring patrol. Aphrodite's not going to do anything besides sit there and cry, so you're basically on your own except for me." Percy clacked his beak proudly, feeling important.

Abby nodded, regarding the Angelus thoughtfully as she touched the horrid golden apple. She spun it around in her palm, and heard whispers in the back of her mind, "Huntress," they seemed to say, "Huntress Huntress Huntress."

"I," she declared, drawing herself up to her full height of five foot two, "Am Sailor Atalanta, Senshi of Speed."

With that, she turned the apple upon her palm once more, whispering the words a part of her so wished to say, "Huntress."

"Graikos," Gabriel said. "I have no real quarrel with you, and I don't really want to hurt a couple of girls, or their guardian," he added as an afterthought as he drew his sword from its silver sheath, and held it, tip into the ground, before him.

"Really?" Aphrodite squealed happily. "Good! 'Cause, like, I'm really sleepy and -"

"Aphrodite, by the gods, shut -up-."

Aphrodite glared death at the bird but shut her glossed lips, brooding to herself.

"Frankly," Percy began, ruffling his feathers, "I don't care whether you have a quarrel with us. And the likelihood of you being able to hurt either - well, one - of these girls is very, very slim."

Percy's hubris was taking control of his beak, obviously, and was making Aphrodite nervous. "Look, Percy, he doesn't, like, wanna fight. Can't we, like, just -go-?" she pleaded, eyeing the large sword nervously.

"Ignore her," Percy snapped, addressing both Gabriel and Atalanta. Then, quieter, he muttered to Atalanta, "Attack or something. Before he gets so bored that he just -leaves-."

Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion to the Italian. Everybody's words were so slow, and she was going to get really frustrated in a moment. "You got it, boss!" she cried as the bird ordered her to attack. She reached up, setting him gently on the ground, her own motions nowhere near as slow as everyone else's seemed to be, and searched her brain for anything she could use.

"Not the race," she muttered to herself, "Won't work. He's male. Going to have to use hand-to-hand."

She fell back into a defensive position.

"Looks like your guardian is as adamant as mine about this," he said. He lifted his sword up, and said, "So be it. Torrent of Lilies, Blade!" His sword glowed blue for a moment, and he swung it out towards the two senshi and their guardian, a wave of water sweeping out as he did so.

"Move!" Percy yelled instantly, taking to the air to avoid the wave.

Aphrodite, however, was not so lucky. She was splashed instantly, coughing and soaked and rather unhappy. "Ew, like, gross!" she wailed, wringing out a pigtail.

Despite everything moving in slow motion, Abby was taken by surprise. The words didn't register as an attack until the water was already splashing down on her. Soaked, her uniform now completely transparent she glared at the man, "You'll pay for that!" She cried, rushing forward, though careful to keep her distance from the blade. With him wielding that thing it was doubtful she'd be able to get in any sort of attack. She'd have to watch for an opportunity. "Aphrodite, -do- something!" she hissed.

Aphrodite looked desperate. She had -no- clue what to do. Thankfully, Percy had some idea. With a loud squawk, he literally dive-bombed Gabriel, pecking at the top of his head.

"What the?" gasped Gabriel, as the bird took a swipe at his hair. He swatted at it with his free hand, as the bird took another diving run. "You're worse than -my- guardian!"

Abby grinned. This was her chance! Quickly she rushed forward while Perseus distracted Gabriel, slamming in with a front snap kick to his solar plexus. "And -that- is what I learned in karate class!"

Gabriel stumbled back, almost losing hold of his sword; almost, but not quite. "Feisty one, aren't you?" he coughed, as he stepped backwards. He crouched down defensively, holding his sword in front of him, and prepared to attack if she came any closer.

"Aphrodite, you -useless- excuse for a senshi, will you -do- something?" Percy yelled angrily, flapping on to a low hanging branch.

"What the hell am -I-, like, supposed to, like, -do-?" she hissed in reply, eyeing Atalanta and Gabriel cautiously. The last thing she wanted to do was get involved.

Percy was getting frustrated. "Use your attack! Just don't stand there and complain!"

"Er," Aphrodite stammered, unsure. She didn't like using her attack. She always got sleepy as soon as she was done. But it didn't look like she would have much of a choice. "Like, -fine-," she snapped, and closed her eyes. Trying to clear her mind of everything -but- Atalanta, she whispered, "Like, Aphrodite Love Realization." Soon enough, a small, pink ball of light was heading over to Gabriel and penetrated, right where his heart was.

Gabriel felt a sudden change sweep over him, as the pink ball of light hit him. He stood up, stuck his sword into the ground, and leaned on it slightly, looking at Atalanta. He suddenly noticed that her outfit had gone from being semi-transparent, to fully transparent, clingy, and wet. The odd thing was, instead of being embarrassed, he found he -liked- it. "You know," he said, in an amazingly calm way for him, looking the girl right in the eyes. "You're gorgeous, you know? Like something out of a poem -- stunning. Say you'll be mine."

Abby, who was about to launch another kick at him, stopped dead in her tracks, "-What-?" she asked, stunned, "Aphrodite, what did you....?"

Then it registered. Aphrodite. Senshi of Love....DUH. Still, it was kind of unsettling having the guy staring at her like that. It was different from the usual ogling she got from her teammates and such.

"I'm sorry!" Aphrodite squealed, leaning against a nearby tree for support. "It'll go away in a few minutes... or something." she added meekly.

Percy sighed heavily. "Forget it. Just hit him or something - who knows? He may like it."

Atalanta nodded absently at Aphrodite, "Yah, s'all right," she said, watching Gabriel thoughtfully. She glanced at Percy, "I dunno...I feel kinda bad hitting somebody who -likes- me..."

She could feel herself slowing down, the rest of the world speeding up. Huntress must've worn off. She could feel the effects of it as well, a slight sleepiness in the back of her mind, her virtually inexhaustible energy depleting, "Look, mio amico, why don't we just leave 'im?"

"No, please, don't leave me," Gabriel said, reaching over, and taking her hand, looking for all the world like a sad puppy. "I don't know that I could stand that. Just stay here, and let me look at you - gaze into the emeralds you call eyes," he proclaimed, taking her hand and pressing it softly against his lips, but never taking his eyes away from hers.

Atalanta almost faded. Fortunately, she had just enough willpower still left to keep the fuku on, but she was quite visibly melting at his words.

He doesn't mean them, he's just saying that because of Leta's attack. She told herself, but she couldn't help it. She'd never heard anybody say anything like that to her, "I...maledizione, perchè ha dovuto andare dire quello?" ("Damn, Why did he have to go and say that?")

She couldn't take her eyes off of him, either. Why'd this have to happen when she was supposed to be kicking butt? This wasn't the way Abby Mazzoni handled things! This stuff didn't happen to her!

But she wasn't Abby. She was Atalanta, and Atalanta was falling hopelessly for an illusion.

Aphrodite almost giggled. The two looked almost cute together, even if the Angelus was being a bit too... mushy, for her standards.

"Stop that!" Percy yelled, alarmed. "Just hit him! Hit him!" he screeched, obviously very peeved at Atalanta's behavior. Taking to the skies again, Percy divebombed Gabriel once more, squawking loudly.

"Percy!" Aphrodite scolded, but was still too drained to do anything about it.

Gabriel, hardly missing a beat, held onto Atalanta's hand in his left, while he wiped a tear from the corner of his eye with his right hand, and cast it upwards, at the incoming bird. "There we go, he'll leave us alone now," he said to Atalanta.

Atalanta blinked, watching Percy divebomb at Gabriel again, but before she could try to convince the bird to stop he'd handled it. She watched Gabriel carefully, sighing, then glanced at Aphrodite, "Maybe...maybe it would be best...if...if we left now."

She felt as though the attack had been used on -her-. Great. First that Ian guy, now Gabriel. At least Ian hadn't been her enemy, though! At least she wasn't supposed to be destroying him! She couldn't move, though. Couldn't bring herself to tear away from the lovestruck gaze of Gabriel.

Gabriel, still holding her hand, swung her in close to himself, and slid his other arm around her waist. "Gorgeous," he whispered into her hair, and then bent slowly down, and kissed her softly on the lips. That's when Aphrodite's spell suddenly ended. He blinked a couple of times, and his brain registered several facts in about half a second -- What? Didn't I used to be over there? Girl. Wet girl. Wet girl who I'm -really- close to. She's kind of pretty. Wet girl who I'm -kissing-. Dang, she's close. How did I? OH MY GOD.

Atalanta didn't have the time nor the willpower to pull away from Gabriel as he pulled her closer to him, whispered against her hair, and kissed her. She couldn't help herself, she kissed him back...

Then she felt something change. He faltered, and she pulled away quite quickly. Something was wrong...wrong...God what was she -doing-? She was making out with the -enemy-! He was...he was...a really good kisser..

Aphrodite blinked rapidly. "Wow," she began, stunned. "that's, like... never happened before." She perked up rapidly and giggled. "I must, like, be getting stronger and stuff!"

"You -idiot-," hissed the bird, picking himself up off the ground. He had just experienced some -major- pain, and he was grumpy, sore, and pissed at Atalanta. "You... you kissed an Angelus! You traitor!" he squwaked.

At that moment, Aphrodite moved over to her bird and picked him up, snapping his beak shut with her fingers. "Shut up, you, like, stupid bird. They are, like, soooo cute together!" she muttered at him, and smiled sweetly at Atalanta. "I can... like... leave if you want to be alone and stuff."

Percy squirmed in her grip and managed to free his beak. "Hear me now, you filthy Angelus! DO NOT GO AROUND CORRUPTING MY SENSHI! Get your grubby little fingers off of her this instant before I go for your -eyes!-" he shrilled.

"Percy!" Aphrodite scolded again, horrified.

Gabriel backed away from Atalanta, and began stammering. "Oh, I'm sorry, I, I, I, I wasn't myself, and, and, and I wasn't, I didn't, I kissed, and then, I went and, I said, and I held, and you're wet, and the bird, he's saying that I corrupted you, and, and, and..." Whatever suaveness Aphrodite's attack had lent him had evaporated with the rest of her attack. He'd turned back into his normal, shy self.

Atalanta looked at Percy, horrified, "I'm not a traitor!" she squeaked out the protest. Still, she found her eyes trailing back towards Gabriel, "But...maledizione...couldn't we just...not fight him? Please?"

She bit her lip, "I mean, I know he didn't mean it and all, but he didn't want to fight even beforehand and...and I just can't bring myself to now."

"Oh my gods," Percy, gasped. The girl was acting like Eros had just shot her with one of his special arrows. The bird was -mortified-. "-you- did corrupt my senshi, you unbelievable bastard! You took her fighting spirit! I will -kill- you for this, soon as I can, I swear by the gorgon's head that you'll wish that -"

"Shut up!" squealed Aphrodite, eyes also on Gabriel, but more focused on his sword. Clamping her hands so tightly around Percy's beak that the bird looked like he was wincing, Aphrodite nodded. "It's, like, fine with me. So long as he, like, promises to let us, like, go in peace and all."

Gabriel Knight looked at Atalanta, then at Aphrodite and the squirming bird in her hands. "Yeah, um, yeah," he said, still a bit shaken up. "You can, um, go and I'll be, I won't attack, or anything..." He walked back to where his sword had been sticking into the ground, and put it back into its silver sheath. "I'll just, be here, I guess," he said, in a daze. "I didn't -mean- to take her fighting spirit..." he mumbled, more to himself than anything else, as his eye colors switched sides, and he ran his fingers through his hair.

Those eyes...something still felt familiar about him, but she let it go. It wasn't important. She touched his shoulder gently, something Atalanta would never have done, a kind of tenderness Abby hadn't even shown since Michel's death, "I'm sorry," she whispered, then jogged over to Percy, "Aw don't worry, mio amico, I still got fight left in me. Just don' wanna hurt Gabriel."

She pulled the bird away from Aphrodite long enough to give him a kiss on the forehead-- she was feeling strangely light-headed, and then set him down, "C'mon, let's get outta here."

"It was nice kiss... meeting..., oh God..." said Gabriel, burying his face into his hands, as they went away. It was -not- his day for senshi battling. And she just had to be cute, too.

Percy, although preening about the first kiss he had recieved in -years-, was still glaring at Atalanta from his perch on Aphrodite's shoulder. "You know, that was a -far- from impressive battle. Rather than make out with the enemy, you're supposed to -fight- them," he lectured, but there was rare gentleness to the way he was saying everything. "As for you, Leta," Percy turned his eyes upon the love senshi, who gulped and braced herself.

"Learn how to control your damned power. That was -not- your attack getting stronger, rather, you just weren't concentrating enough."

"Hey," Aphrodite countered, eyes narrowed. "It, like, is not -my- fault he had, like, the hots for her."

Rolling his beady eyes, Percy slapped over on to Atalanta's shoulder and tugged gently on her ear to get her attention. "Look," he whispered so that Aphrodite would not hear him, "I know it's sometimes hard to hit the enemy. However, I've seen a lot of battles go awry because of a moment of weakness. And I don't want that happening to any of my senshi, understand? Don't -ever- waver to attack someone, especially if its your life at risk. We were lucky, there, he didn't want to fight very much. But I'm just warning you. It's for your own good."

"He didn't really like me. It was just her powers that made him act that way!" Atalanta issued a rather muffled protest, then sighed as Percy lectured her, patting the bird gently. "I'm sorry," she whispered back, "I don't usually freeze up like that. Just caught me off guard. I promise I'll do better in the future. Now I at least know what to expect from Aphrodite's attacks so I can prepare for it properly, right Perseus?"

She grinned a rather lopsided smile at the bird, then rubbed her cheek against his feathers. She liked the bird, really, and if it weren't for the fact that Wolverine would probably flip out, she would have actually considered getting one.

Of course, hers probably wouldn't have talked, "And I'll train more too. Not that that's a problem. I'm already a sports addict. I'll just make sure to work out a bit more every day. Will that make up for it? And I'll patrol whenever you want me to."

Percy let out a soft noise, a cross between a sigh and a quiet squawk. Slowly, he bobbed his head. "That'll more than make up for it. Just be on your toes next time, all right?"

Aphrodite, meanwhile, had been looking at them -very- strangely. "Like... okay. If you two, like, lovebirds - no pun intended - are, like, finished here, we should, like, detransform. You, like, know how yet?" she asked, nodding her head at Atalanta.

Atalanta grinned at Percy, "Will do, commander," she said, snapping a quick salute and then turning back to Leta, who was starting to annoy her ever so slightly, "We're not lovebirds, I just happen to think Perseus is worthy of respect, considering he's our boss-figure. Besides, he's funny. And no, I don't know how to de-transform."

"Boss-figure," Percy echoed, rather liking the way that sounded.

Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "He is, like, -not- our boss-figure. He's just some stupid, like, parrot. And he's funny if you, like, enjoy watching some idiot, like, parrot give out birds. It is kinda funny at times."

Percy glared at Leta but shuffled on his perch to face Atalanta more directly. "To go back to your old self, simply concentrate on how you appeared before you transformed. Leta will show you."

With a sigh, Aphrodite closed her eyes and concentrated. Her figure blurred for a second, purely pink, before he street clothing returned. Shrugging, Leta motioned for Atalanta to try.

Atalanta nodded, ignoring Leta's irritation about Percy in general, and concentrating on what she had been wearing before. The dark blue sweatpants, light gray tank top...everything down to the tattered white jogging sneakers she'd been wearing and the white sweatshirt around her waist.

Suddenly, she opened her eyes and there she was, no longer in translucent purple, but her regular worn-in clothing. She grinned, "Fun. When do we get to do that again?"

Percy shrugged. "If you're dedicated enough, everyday. If you're like Leta, once every two months."

"I've got, like, better things to, like, do," Leta snapped, rolling her eyes.

Abby bit her lip thoughtfully, "Well, don't know if I can manage every day, mio amico. I mean, I've got a lot of sports...but I'll do it as often as I can."

"Good enough," Percy squwaked. "Feel free to pick me up from Leta's whenever, too. That way I get out once in a while."

Abby nodded, grinning, "Will do, commander."

Leta grumbled and scribbled down her address, handing it to Abby with a sigh. "Your loss."

Ignoring her, Percy continued to gab on, "And, of course, we'll introduce you to the others. I'm sure they'll like you."

The Italian blinked, "Others? There are more of us?" she asked, mulling this over in her mind. She wasn't entirely sure she wanted other people to see her in that purple outfit.

"There is, like, a -lot- of people." Leta affirmed, nodding her head so that her pigtails bobbed.

"I'm sure you'll meet them soon." Percy added, beaming.

Abby shrugged. Well, things were the way they were. She didn't like the idea of running around with a bunch of other people dressed in that freaky outfit she'd been wearing, but...ah well, life was like that sometimes.

The Italian grinned, winking at the others, "S'pose I'd best run off now," she said, trotting away, "Catch ya later, mio amicos!"

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