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Mirrors were windows to the world for Ares. She could hide through them, she could travel through them, she could escape. It was how she came to enter the communal bathroom on her floor of Crystal Academy, done up in fuku and lightly sweating from her night. And she wasn't alone. The warm buzz of another senshi filled the bathroom -- and then a darker buzz that read one thing to the senshi: youma.

Sailor Ares hopped up beside the unknown senshi. "Are you just going to stand there, or what?" she snapped. The youma cocked an ear toward her like a wolf pricking its ears to the wind.

Whoops.

No sooner had the words left her mouth, and the youma was after her, claws extended. Sailor Ares tried to hop backward, but it was too late. The youma caught her by the neck and slowly lifted her up the wall. Booted feet kicked hard at the creature's side, coating the gray surface in blood. The youma was oozing, dripping, draining goo all over.

It might have been gross if Ares wasn't busy choking.

There was no time for gratitude, though Ares certainly felt it in her chest. She slid back down the wall, grasping at her throat. Melting flesh splattered on her boots, and her nose wrinkled involuntarily. She told herself it would go away when the thing was dead, but it didn't make the sick feeling in stomach any better now.

Just as Ares got her bearings, the youma dove into a mirror. Mirrors? Two could play that game. The senshi of smoke made to dive through after it, but Gunn shattered the surface before she could, stopping her dead in her tracks. A flash of anger crossed her eyes, but was replaced by surprise as the youma dashed out again.

In this small space, her attack would do more damage to her ally than was safe. It was a calculated risk, but not one that she thought was worth it, not yet. Darting to the far wall, Ares pumped out several sheets of paper towels. She scooped up the largest shard of glass she could see in the towels, gripped it hard, and then slammed the makeshift weapon into the spine of the youma.

Her reward? A face full of geysering blood.

Sailor Ares staggered backward, sputtering. She couldn't see, goddamnit. Filthy hands wiped at her eyes, but it made nothing better. She grappled blindly for the sash at her waist, wiping her eyes clear as quickly as she could.

When she did, she saw the youma stand up and scream, its one good arm reaching high above its head. Blood spurted everywhere. The youma turned, aimed, and coated the fluorescent lights overhead with black-red blood so thick that the entire room was suddenly thrown into darkness.

In the darkness, Ares blinked to let her eyes adjust. She could only make out one shadowy form, and the aura coming off of her read as light energy -- the other senshi. "I'm not corrupted," Ares said sharply. How insulting, really. "I'm just not from the White Moon." She used her hands to feel across the wall, taking a cautious step into a bathroom stall. She was tired of leaving her back exposed. "I'm a Black Moon senshi." There was no time for more explanation.

The youma was back, and it was so dark that Ares could not make it out. So she closed her eyes. Part of her self-training involved sharpening her other senses. No better time to put it to the test than this. The commotion was coming from the opposite side of the bathroom, but one thing the other senshi said stuck out.

"Do you have any method of lighting a fire, anything at all?"

Not on her, she didn't, but Ares had a handy skill that would sure as hell make this easier. "Not on me. Hold on," she said, making a quick run for the counter while Gunn had the youma distracted. Her boots clicked against the surface. Ares felt blindly for one of the mirrors that Gunn had not shattered. "I'll be right back," she said, bracing her hands on the mirror. "Whatever you do, don't shatter another mirror."

With that, she was gone, disappearing into the mirror without an explanation and leaving Gunn to fend for herself.

Without warning, Sailor Ares burst back into the room. The counter was slick with flesh and blood, and she lost her balance, sliding on top of the youma and Gunn as they grappled in the darkness. Damn. If only she had thought to bring a flashlight too.

Somewhere in Destiny City, there was a really confused guy questioning his sanity. One minute, he was sitting on a bench enjoying a cigarette and reading the newspaper, and the next, some half-naked teenager had snatched his lighter and paper and then disappeared into a mirror. Maybe it was time he stopped drinking...

Meanwhile, back in the bathroom, Ares rolled off of the scrambling pair, narrowly avoiding the swiping claw of the youma. "I brought a lighter and newspaper," she said, not bothering to explain how it had happened. Kneeling in the muck, Ares held the lighter up to what she thought was Gunn's hand. It turned out to be the youma's face. She realized this when she flicked the lighter, illuminating the gory, pock-marked face of the youma that had been terrorizing them.

The beast lunged at Ares, tackling her to the far wall and leaving Gunn behind. The newspaper went flying into the air, gently papering the bloodied floor, and the lighter skittered across the tile, ricocheting off the bowl of one of the toilets.

Sailor Ares hated taking orders, but it seemed like this senshi had a plan in mind. A plan was something that the senshi of smoke could get behind. When Gunn yelled, Ares kicked the monster, as told, but there was no time for her to dive back to the mirror. Instead, she ran over the counter, catching the licks of exploding flames as she dove headfirst toward the voice.

Her chest connected with Gunn's shoulders, and both girls toppled to the ground. With the glow of the raging fire, Ares could suddenly get a better look at the girl who had created it, especially since they were nose to nose in the muck of the bathroom floor. Blood and gore covered both of them. Before Ares could try to wipe it away, it slowly turned ash-colored and lifted softly into the air all around the pair. Apparently, the youma was dead.

The fire, however, was not.

"Shouldn't the sprinklers be turning on?" she shouted, crawling closer to the wall as the fire grew. Gray eyes flashed up to the ceiling. There were three identical holes where silver sprinkler heads should be. "What?" Ares said, gasping. Her mind belatedly remembered a letter warning about repairs being done to the bathroom. Apparently, the sprinkler system was part of that.

Without a word, Ares scrambled to her feet. She crossed to the toilet and began slamming a heeled boot down on the pipe over and over again. It took a while, but it finally split from the wall, shooting out a fountain of water. "Smash the toilets! We're going to burn this building down." The senshi of smoke leaped over the divider into the next stall and repeated the motion.

Smoke was slowly filling the bathroom, but Ares was utterly unaffected by it. It was a very fortunate perk for her sphere. Suddenly, heavy pounding sounded on the bathroom door. A voice was calling out, demanding the door be unlocked. s**t. It would be very bad for both of them if that door came busting in. If they were still in fuku, they would be arrested. If they were civilians, they would have to reveal their identities AND be arrested.

Ares saw no other option. She hopped back into the bathroom, flattening herself against a wall to avoid the flames. "We have to get out of here," she said urgently. "I can get us out of here, but you're going to need to trust me." She hopped up onto the counter and flattened her back to the cool smoothness of the mirror.

"Come jump into my arms."

Lately, Ares had been making a habit out of bringing people with her through the mirror. It was not an easy feat, never had been, and each time, she felt as though she had been tackled by the biggest linebacker the NFL had to offer. The ground of the abandoned subway station was disgusting, and it made Ares shudder. She rolled onto her back just so she wouldn't have to look at it, legs and arms splayed out on either side.

She took a moment to catch her breath before she attempted to answer. "I'm fine." Ares coughed, and then continued, "I told you -- I'm a Black Moon senshi." Ares added a ringing duhhhh in the tone. Her staggering self-importance often made her forget that not everyone was familiar with her faction.

After another moment of heavy breathing, this occurred to Ares. She sat up, curling one leg under her. "I am a senshi that isn't of this existence, not like you are." She raked a hand through a long tangle of cinnamon-colored hair. "We have a different queen, a different court, a different everything. And we can travel through mirrors." Was that a good enough explanation? Ares wasn't sure. She did know that it hurt to mention her queen, her court, her everything that had been lost.

The sadness showed in her eyes.

The sadness in her gray eyes sharpened into defense. "We have plenty of numbers," she said, perhaps too quickly. Ares was an ace in battle, but in conversation, she often gave herself away. It was a reason that Aphrodite made the better captain. Not that it mattered now. A dead captain was a useless captain. Briefly, she let her mind wander back to a time when Aphrodite had been not an annoyance, but a friend -- a friend who risked herself to bring Ares back from the edge, a place she so often flung herself to in dire times.

These thoughts were shaken away, hair stirring from the wind.

Sailor Ares got to her feet. She could feel her sadness catching up with her, and it made her want to run. In any case, she didn't think she could bear to talk about her old world any longer, even to someone who had helped her. "I'm going." It was stated as if to convince herself. "I'm glad we didn't go to jail." And then, firmly: "You fight well."

With that, Sailor Ares darted off into the night, racing to beat the shadows that chased her before they could take hold in her chest.