"Only the conversations?  I must be slipping." Mirage smiled teasingly as she slipped a gloved hand beneath Lucas' gi to touch the mans hard chest.  "I would like to go on a date with you, Lucas.  Perhaps after we've beaten down Builder?  That would be a nice way to end the day."

Lucas smiled as Mirage touched his chest. She had made it close to the spot where his scar was on his chest, but he did nothing to indicate how close she had gotten.

"That sounds like a good plan. Dispense some much needed retribution, and then a lovely dinner afterwards."

"Then we should hurry.  I want to make sure that we have a lot of time for...dinner." Mirage purred.  She wanted some time alone with Lucas but that felt wrong when Builder was on the loose.  There was a flash of concern that her lengthy activities this night had slowly drained her of the strength that she needed to be Mirage and she did not want to tire herself out.

"Are you going dressed like this?"

"Hold that thought, my dear..." Lucas replied with a grin as he briefly exited into a changing room.

A few minutes later, he came out dressed in a nice white dress shirt, navy slacks, a nice navy suit and tie, and black shoes.

"Well....you helped me pick this out. How do I look?"
This message was last edited by a game moderator at 02:43, Tue 12 Apr 2011.

Mirage scrutinized Lucas' attire.  "I think that I have good taste.  You look handsome." she said with a smile and laughed.  "I'm guessing that you want to have dinner first?  I thought that we were going to go after Builder first.  No, don't worry, I'm not going to make you change.  Not after all the hard work that you put into that suit."

Mirages image shimmered, her long slinky dress sliding up her long legs to become a short, sleeveless dress of a deep blue.  Her thigh high boots thinned and stretched up her legs to become sheer tights and a pair of high heels.  Her short jacket slipped off her shoulders to become a thin, silky wrap.

She pulled out a compact to check her makeup, which was unnecessary since she knew how her illusion would make her appear.  Mirage changed her earrings a few times, settling on a pair of drop down diamonds that matched the necklace that had settled around her neck.

"There.  Now how do I look?  Good enough for a dinner date with Lucas Martinez?"

Lucas appraised Mirage's new wardrobe. Smiling widly, he gave a thumbs up.

"More than good enough, amor. Maybe I should be the one wondering if I'm good enough to go out with you?" he said with a light laugh.

"We still have a few hours before we meet up with Hunter. I hope you're hungry," he added, extending his arm to her.

Mirage glided over the dojo floor and slipped her arm through Lucas'.

"I guess it depends on what I'm hungry for." she teased, sidling up close.  "I'm sure that we can find something to do in the few hours before we meet up with Hunter."

Lucas smiled at Mirage as the two made their way towards the door of the dojo.

"It sounds like we both have some ideas," he replied, the happiness very evident in his voice. He held the door open as they both stepped outside, then went back to the door and locked up the front doors.

Mirage waited patiently for Lucas to lock up the dojo.  She looked up and down the street, out of habit, and for the first time in months, hoped that nothing would ruin this moment.  She'd often gone trawling in the bad parts of town, putting herself out there for trouble to find her.  It's amazing how a tight miniskirt and displaying copious amounts of bare flesh could attract the wrong people.

Now it was different.  She wanted to enjoy this time with Lucas, enjoy a respite from her normal activities to indulge in something other than her desire to beat up people.

She pulled out her compact and adjusted the colour of her eye shadow a little.

OOC:  Shall we move on to the restaurant?

After locking up the front doors of the dojo, Lucas came back to Mirage's side.

"All right....looks like that piece of business is done. Shall we my dear?" he said, waving down a taxi, and opening the door for Mirage to get in first, then telling the cab driver to head for Versuezzi's.

>>>>>>>>>To Versuezzi's>>>>>>>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>>>>>From Versuezzi's>>>>>>>>>>

Dragon Fist arrived at the back alley, and retracted his armor. Sure that no one was watching, he used the backdoor access, and entered into the dojo.

Sighing for a moment, he made his way to the back office, and went into a meditative stance, kneeling down and beginning to regulate his breathing. Other than the impromptu attack by Katy, the evening had went relatively well.

But there was something he could not ignore. The presence of dark chi within his lover and colleague. Something must have happened to cause that amount of negative chi to inhabit Mirage. Whatever the deed was....Lucas could not say. But he wanted to help Mirage, because the woman had known so much pain in her life...even now.

He took out the letter that Oni had left him...the one that challenged him to either fight the Dark Champion...or to become him. For Oni at one time had been the Champion of Light known as The Golden Dragon, but fell to darkness after a lot of misfortune occurred in his life. But Lucas vowed to fight the darkness inside of him...and knew of a possible way to perhaps cleanse his soul of negative chi if it ever were to come upon him. It would be a journey of sorts but well worth it in the long run.

Inside, he hoped Mirage would be willing to make this journey. If not for Lucas, perhaps for Diantha. But most importantly...hopefully for herself.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:31, Sun 12 June 2011.

>>> From Versuezzis <<<

Mirage had to wrok quickly.  Luckily getting to and from a place was no problem.  By the time that Lucas had returned to the dojo, Mirage had the spread set up.  She had spread out a simple blanket like one would use on a picnic and their meal from Versuezzi's had been set out along with a few small candles.  The dojo was dark enough that the candle light would show and Mirage had used her illusion powers to provide further decorations.  The ceiling had been replaced with a setting sun and the walls of the dojo replaced by a long sandy beach with gentle waves lapping along the shore.

Mirage had changed back into her blue dress and was scrutinizing a bottle of wine.

"Welcome back, darling.  I hope that you don't mind that I redecorated a little."

Lucas heard something. He looked around and then he smiled as Mirage made her announcement.

"It....it looks amazing, Mir--Helena. Never did I think that I would be enjoying candelight here in the dojo. You are, as always, ever amazing, my dear. I am so very thankful to know you."

Mirage laughed.  "Starting early with the flattery, darling.  Well, don't let me stop you.  You wanted to eat dinner and talk out of the earshot of others and I thought that I would spruce things up a bit."

Taking Lucas' arm, Mirage lead him to the picnic setup.  "Now make yourself comfortable while I pour the wine.  Dinner should still be warm so it's best to start eating before we have to microwave everything."

"Who am I to argue with the Lady In Red?" Lucas replied with a smile as he made himself comfortable in the picnic scene that Mirage had "made" for them.

Mirage sat down beside Lucas and opened the wine.  She poured the drink into Lucas' glass and then hers.  She then took a plate and dished out some of the food and handed it to Lucas.

"Now, where were we before Psy-Witch rudely interrupted us?" She asked with a smile.

Lucas smiled as Mirage handed him the portion of food.

"I was about to tell you something. Something that I mean from the bottom of my heart."

He paused for a moment and looked into the femme fatale's eyes.

"Helena...I love you.."

Mirage paused and looked back at Lucas.  Hearing him admit his love for her was unexpected but euphoric.  There was something about Lucas that attracted Mirage to him.  He wasn't just a handsome man, it was something more.  He was a man of honour, one who wouldn't back down from a fight, dependable and, perhaps, injured like she was.  Lucas had his heart ripped out by an enemy while Mirage ended up in a wheelchair from hers.

"Lucas." Mirage said softly.  She could feel her heart beating faster, wondering if she were about to make a mistake.  Lucas was like some shining knight, while Mirage was..,she felt like something much darker and less noble.  Did she even deserve to do anything more than flirt with a man like Lucas?

"I...I love you too."

The words were hard to get out.  Saying them made Mirage feel like she was setting herself upon a path that she had never thought to tread upon again.

"It pleases me to hear you say that...I've learned ever since being here and being part of the Legacy that...well, it's not good to be alone."

Lucas smiled at Mirage's "revelation." Suddenly, this...affair..interaction...dating...whatever one wanted to call it...seemed so right. After all, they both, in their way, were broken by the world around them, and yet they had found each other. Two souls that had been wronged immensely by different forces and circumstances, now finding solace....with each other.

Lucas softly stroked Mirage's face once again. Inside, he wondered if he could be the man that Helena needed him to be. Perhaps he could help her overcome a lot of the negative things that happened in her life.

He sighed for a moment, then brought his lips to her and kissed her once again.

"This is like a lovely dream....I don't want it to end, Helena. But...there is something that is troubling me. Something that...if not dealt with...could rip asunder all that we have. And I love you so much, Helena..that I would do anything to keep you safe.."

He looked down for a moment, then back to her, his eyes full of sincerity and compassion.

"You have an immense amount of negative chi growing inside of you. If it takes you over, you will become an Agent of Evil. But...I know of a place in my own travels that can help cleanse you of this expanse of negative chi. And after what happened with Flamethrower and I in the nursing home before we fought Brain the first time, I believe that I may need that same cleansing as well."

Lucas gave a small smile. "Helena...please know that I would not do anything to hurt or harm you in the slightest. You know that you can also trust me. And I would like to take this journey with you also, seeing as I might need to be cleansed myself. It is something we can do...together..."

Mirage had been smiling after the kiss and was caught offguard by Lucas' mention of some darkness within her.  It felt like someone had thrown cold water onto the mood.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean, Lucas." she said defensively.  Of course there was a darkness inside of her.  It was what kept her going, feuled her need to race around the rooftops at night, punching and kicking people.

Lucas looked at his new lady love, wondering if he had made a mistake in pointing out the dark chi to her.

"Chi is the lifeforce of all things around..people..animals...things. Negative images weaken or even block the lifeforce. Negative acts can do the same thing, but only much worse. Negative chi corrupts the soul, and can corrupt the individual, so much so, that they will begin to rationalize acts of evil."

He shook his head.

"Forgive me...I saw what I saw....and I became concerned for you. I just...I don't want to lose you, Mir--Helena."

"There's nothing to forgive, Lucas.  You care about me as I care about you and your well being means a lot to me." Mirage said softly.  She had looked away, her thoughts drifting to what he had said about her.  He was right of course, and Mirage wasn't prepared for him to see that about her.

"You're right though, about the...."  Mirages voice was soft, hesitant, not at all like her normal confident and flirtacious way of speaking.  She didn't want to admit this, not to Lucas, not after finally admitting how she felt about him.  Would he still love her if he knew the truth about her?  It tore at her to think that she could be so close to being happy and then having that torn away, but she loved Lucas and he deserved to know what she was.

"That's why I'm here, Helena. I'm here for you...and with you," Lucas replied softly. "I am here to be your Light...and your Champion."

Lucas reached forth with his hand, and clasped hers gently. "I meant what I said about loving you. And to help.."

Mirage looked back up at Lucas, her hand squeezed his.  She hated appearing so vulnerable in front of anybody but Lucas was different.

"You are my champion.  And someday...maybe..." she said, drawing close to him.  She slipped her free hand around his neck and pulled him into a passionate embrace.

Lucas returned Helena's kiss with a passionate one of his own. He cared for this woman so much that he would give anything to ease her pain and to make her life better than what it had been. To be her Champion..her light. Perhaps even her savior.