Welcome to Gaia! ::

This was perhaps the most exhilarating time of Linarite's short life. She was a Captain now, and had everything that came with it. Teleportation. Youma. Running just a little faster, jumping just a bit higher, just a tad quicker on the draw. The detested, hated, loathed ******** squeaky toy was gone and replaced with the sleekest staff she'd ever seen in or out of game.

The one singular mar on the beautiful experience of captaincy was her new wardrobe. The shorter sleeves were lovely for less wind resistance, and she couldn't be grabbed as easily. The boots had vanished, replaced with sturdy heels and increasing her range of movement. Even her precious birthday charms hung, one above the other! However, Linarite's collar had also been opened wide open, exposing the tops of perky, globular breasts that had almost appeared from thin air. Certainly she didn't remember having them in there before! Nealite had simply laughed at her horror, and educated her on the Wonderbra.

Lina was convince that it was a Horrorbra.

It was that night, leaping over the rooftops in a more deserted part of the suburbs, that she spotted something strange. It was two girls walking together, chatting animatedly. With the outbreak of strange illnesses causing comas, the 'organ donor ring' at Barren Pines, and strange senshi it was considered foolish to walk around near midnight in anything less than a battalion of friends.

Grinning wickedly, she hopped across rooftops like a crazed, evil squirrel trying to get closer and closer without getting heard. A quick teleportation could have worked, but it was so draining! And it wasn't really worth it, not for two high school girls, and one looked like she was barely old enough for it. Finally, when she was about three houses away from the chattering pair, Lina dropped to the street and walked casually out onto the sidewalk in their path. Both girls stopped, stared, and almost started to walk again when the bluenette twisted her hands and materialized her pretty new toy out of thin air.

"Good evening ladies. I couldn't help but note what a good time you were having, and I thought I'd join in. We're going to have a really fun party now, just watch." And without warning, she lunged for both girls, managing only to grab the blond. The other, a bluenette as well (which earned Lina's approval), had vanished into the darkness without so much as a scream. It was almost disappointing.

It hadn't been the telltale energy signature of Linarite summoning her weapon that had drawn Ophelia to that spot, but the blue-haired teenager who had just narrowly escaped the Captain's grasp. She had been following her for blocks now, slinking through alleys and jumping over puddles left by the previous night's storm. She was a senshi, albeit and unawakened one, and Ophelia couldn't very well go run up and talk to her with the chattery blonde girl at her side. It was a nuisance, all of this secrecy business which the Negaverse seemed to ignore, but it was a nuisance that was important to the survival of the senshi.

They had to survive, as many of them as possible, until the princess could be found.

“Oh, rat tails,” Ophelia swore, watching the scene unfold. It was one thing to see a Negaverser – and a Captain at that! - appear out of nowhere. It was quite another to see a soon-to-be senshi turn tail and run as soon as danger came calling.

They just didn't make them like the did in the old days. The old days which Ophelia had not experience firsthand, but which she remembered with alarming clarity. It was one of the perks of simply blinking into existence at random; full of fancy knowledge and the ability to awaken super powered lunar beings. Unfortunately, most of those super powered lunar beings seemed to be turning out to be utter disappointments. Ophelia murmured a silent prayer that this one would be different before she altered her path, following Dan at a sprinting pace. She skidded to a stop as the girl froze, her prayer seemingly answered. Whether it was fear or the compulsion to help that stopped Dan, she neither knew nor cared. It gave her the chance she needed.

“You will not run away, Sailor Dorado,” Ophelia snapped, her voice soft but stern.

“Lassie was a dog,” Ophelia said, raising her head as though trying to give herself a more elite, respect-commanding appearance. Of course, as soon as the young girl sniffed, that attempt was for naught. Ophelia's stern gaze softened, and the small cat lifted herself up onto her back legs, pressing a paw to each side of the young woman's face. One of them batted gently at her eyes, as though trying to wipe away any tears that might fall.

“Now, now, crying never did anyone any good,” she said softly, “The only one who can help her here is you, Dana. I need you to be strong, alright?”

Ophelia returned to her feet, and with a swish of her tail and a very impressive backflip, a small blue and pink pen rolled over the pavement, stopping at Dana's feet.

“This is yours now, Dana, and it is going to change everything, but I promise it will change it for the better. I need you to trust me. Hold it up and say, “Dorado Power, Make-up!”

By the time Lina had finished toying with her little blond prey, it had fainted on the backyard, poorly tended grass of a house that had apparently been up for sale for some time. It was the perfect place to steal a seed and get the body shoved up against the wall until she found the friend. It wouldn't do to come back with only one seed, especially as a Captain!

But then, something happened. It was a bit like a flare going off in her head, a eureka! moment. Behind her, about a block away was a flare of power that was quite interesting. Intrigued, Lina simply clocked the girl in the head lightly with her staff. When she didn't wake up, it was decided in fairly short order that she probably was not going to wake up anytime soon. So again, Linarite launched herself up onto the rooftops, towards the source of the flare.

It dimmed after that initial flash, but it was still oh-so-faintly there and suddenly, there she was. The bows and skirt were unmistakable, if the tiara itself didn't give it away. It was a large as life goddamn senshi. For a moment, the bluenette simply rested on the nearby roof, digesting this information. So the flare was...their shifting into senshi form? And that little hum was the senshi itself. Interesting. Peering closer, she could almost make out the little body nearby...a guardian cat too?

Beaming, she shook out her curls and pulled her staff back out of air, before sliding down to stand over the gutter of the nearest house. "Well, well, what have we here? A senshi and her pet, ripe for the picking." Experimentally, hoping it looked at showy as she felt it was, Lina used both hands to twirl her staff while grinning.

"I think my night just got even better."

Senshi of Fish! The girl had clasped her hands eagerly, bouncing a little in place even as she fought very hard to listen to Miss Cat. She had so many questions, so many emotions bubbling inside her little brain and making her heart swell until she was worried it just might burst. This was real! This was really real! Her, a senshi, a champion of justice and defender of the people!

Then the kitty's entire posture change, and Dorado whipped around just to see that same, blue-haired girl from before leering down at them from the rooftop of a nearby house. A feeling of dread shivered up and down her spine, and she swallowed instinctively, wanting to take a step back. As though sensing her weakness, Miss Cat took a step in front of her, and the guilt smacked straight into her stomach.

Miss Cat was trying to protect her, like she should have protected Amanda. Her eyes uneasily followed the staff as the girl casually twirled it with her hands, and the expression on her face was only a little terrifying. The cat was speaking again, and she caught words of things like 'Negaverse, Captain, Charonite'. She didn't know what any of that mean, and Dana lowered her chin for a moment, staring at maroon of her boots.

She was a senshi now. It was her job to protect people, like Lyra had protected her. She couldn't let Miss Kitty get hurt, just for her, and with a deep breath, Dan took a big step so that she was in front of the small cat now, slamming her foot down defiantly.

"You scum that lurks in the shadows, preying on the helpless! I, Sailor Dorado, will fight with every thing I have to stop you!" She didn't feel as confident as the words sounded, shouting them up at the girl before, letting a quivering smirk crawl across her face, she planted her hands on her hips and cocked one to the side. "Unless you're too scared to come down here and fight!"

She was on the good side! She had Miss Kitty! Good always triumphed over evil!

...Always!

Ophelia looked like a proud mother as Dorado stepped in front of her. She had been hoping that more of them too up their calling so quickly, but rarely was such the case. They were usually terrified, understandably so, but rarely did they overcome that fear in the heat of the moment. That moment quickly faded as the Captain obliged. Linarite moved, and suddenly Ophelia was more worried than proud. She yelled, “Dorado! Say 'Dorado Aquarium Agility!' Now!”

How she knew the newest senshi's attack was another of those Guardian Cat mysteries, another small packet of information that seemed to come to her on instinct.

Metal hit dirt with a muffled thunk and Linarite swore under her breath as the senshi started to dart away. Before she'd even made it twenty feet, however, she had stumbled over something, probably her ridiculously overdone costume - and dove face-first onto the ground. Blinking slowly, she paused, wrenched her staff from the lawn, and burst into laughter.

"Wow, that's the best you can do? This is turning out to be a much more interesting night than I'd expected!" Positioning herself so that the staff could be whipped around like a bat with her momentum behind it, Lina started to run towards the senshi, a gleam in her eyes bespeaking horrible death and removal of existence to the smaller girl.

"Time to end things, fishface!"

Oh god. The captain looked crazy as she started to spring towards them, her staff held behind her body in a matter that was far too threatening for Dan's liking. The girl was about to shift into a fighting stance (curling her hands into fists and holding them weirdly in front of her face was a fighting stance, right??) when Miss Kitty spoke up. "But I--"

Then the cat sprang out of her arms, and turned into the most beautiful woman Dorado had ever seen.

The young senshi just gaped for a moment, frozen in place even as light jettisoned from the woman's forehead towards the captain, undoubtedly striking her. The Negaverse--that was what Miss Cat said. And Zodiacs, and Lunarians...

What was going on?

Remembering herself, Dan's shoulders stiffened with a sense of duty before she turned and darted away, feeling the effects of her earlier speed dwindling away into nothing. She had to trust in Miss Kitty! She had to trust that she'd find her again...

Dan didn't know where she was running to, darting down blocks and zipping this way and that until, exhausted, she stopped to grab her knees and pant. This had to be far enough..

"...Amanda!" The girl lay crumpled and unmoving on the grass, and Dan stumbled in her haste to reach her. "Amanda...?" She was still breathing, thank god, and her eyes were fluttering even as the bluenette reached out to touch her face."

"Who...?" Amanda was confused, and frightened.

Surprised that her friend didn't recognize her at first, Dan almost blurted out 'it's me!' But, quickly remembering herself, she helped pull the other to her feet. "I'm a friend. but listen, Amanda, it's dangerous out here! You aren't hurt, are you?" When the other shook her head with a trembling lip, Dan narrowed her eyes and nodded firmly. "Good! Then you have to get straight home, okay? Oh, and don't wander outside anymore at night! You've seen the news lately!"

With that, she sent the abashed girl home, and only when she was out of sight did her small shoulders slump. She should have known better, too. But Amanda, thankfully, Amanda was safe.

Now all she could do was wait for Miss Kitty, biting her lip and wrapping her arms around herself as though to ward off the chill of the night.