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Taranis tried to hold in his skepticism at Tate's ability to track down information on the senshi. "I'm fairly certain that the only people who can figure out the mysteries of senshihood are the senshi themselves." Okay, so maybe he didn't try that hard to hold it in. "But sure, if you learn anything useful." By his tone, it was obvious the Senshi of Sand would not be holding his breath. The commentary was offhand, though snarky, and he breezed right past it on to other topics.

"No spiders, no gamma rays -- though my story isn't much more normal." Taranis sighed, looking out over the water. For a moment, he thought he saw a woman bending over the edge, but then she was gone. He looked back to Tate for a dose of reality. "A talking cat showed up one night when I was getting my a** kicked by a Nega. She did a little flip and shot out a strange-looking pen. And then she told me to say, 'Taranis Power, Make-Up!' I listened to her -- yes, to a talking cat -- and I became..." He gestured to his body. "That was months ago. I'm much stronger now, much more experienced. The cat told me how to summon my power, but she had no guidance on how to control it. That came with time, a trial of errors, until I taught myself to be better." One hand reached toward the water and dipped back in.

"It's get better or die," he said. "So I got better."

Taranis narrowed his eyes. "Good," he said, with an inflection of duh. 'Good' was a word that Parker had struggled with his entire life. He grew up believing it to be an unrealistic ideal. He thought Anne Frank had it wrong -- people were innately selfish survivalists tasked only with their own wants, needs, and cares. Becoming a senshi had done more than multiple the number of dark creases under his eyes, it had fundamentally changed how he saw the world. Now he believed that there were good and bad people in the world, but it was up to the population to find order within their lives. The Negaverse sought to disrupt that order and bring chaos to people who were just trying to live their lives, whether for good or bad,

Then he listened to Tate finish her point and stilled.

The broadcast. A Nega. The senshi channels had been buzzing ever since it happened. Taranis had heard of a time awhile back when a single Nega paraded around as a senshi, but he had never met her personally and had originally doubted the truth of the story. That night, though, he saw with his own eyes Negas impersonating senshi to terrorize the people of Destiny City. It was clear that the senshi needed to retaliate. Taranis just wasn't sure how.

But she recognized one? "Was it Wolframite?" he said suddenly and then paled. He shouldn't have said that. Tate had told Parker about her relationship with Wolframite, not Taranis. She had dropped his name before, and there were several nights when Parker awoke suddenly from bed feeling dark energy. He tried to engage Tate on the topic several times, but she always skirted the hard questions. A part of him hoped that she had gotten over this fascination and that she had stopped seeing him altogether. Now it seemed like that was not the case.

"Of course a Nega would tell you we are the enemy. They specialize in misinformation," he snarled, raking a hand through his hair. "Those people on the television were not senshi. They were Negas impersonating us. Badly impersonating, not that the average citizen would know the difference."

Part of him wanted to shake Tate until she agreed to never believe the words of a Nega again, but he knew that she wouldn't respond to intimidation. So he tried to use logic. "Tate, that girl in the hallway with the staff? She is a prime example of the Negaverse. She is the norm. The only thing they want from the people of Destiny City is their starseeds. They would kill you without thinking twice. If I hadn't intervened, Linarite would have killed you herself, tonight. And you would be dead now." The idea of Tate dying was scary for Taranis -- he had lost too many people in his life already -- but he wanted her to see the truth. A senshi wasn't going to kill her. A Nega would.

"I'm not saying that all senshi are wonderful, benevolent lifesavers -- far from it. But you will never run from a senshi in the middle of the night for fear of your life," he said. Taranis paused. "Unless the senshi was corrupted, but I think you'd notice the black fuku and the gaping hole in their chests." Wow, now that he thought about it... this was a lot of information to take in.

Taranis stopped and took the time to explain to Tate the concept of a corrupted senshi. Personally, he had no idea how it was done, how a senshi could become corrupt, but he knew that he had encountered two in his life. They were both female with impossibly long hair, pitch black fukus, dead eyes, and black chasms of holes in their chests and foreheads. "You can feel it on them. Their energy is black," he finished. "Well, we can feel it -- the senshi. It's the same energy that Negas give off. But honestly, corrupted senshi are still a bit of a mystery to me."

Above them, a piece of rotten fruit splattered to the ground a few feet away. "This must all be very confusing," he said, staring at Tate intently. "But you need to understand one thing above all else: you cannot trust Wolframite."

Eavesdropping? Yes... eavesdropping.

Taranis tensed for a moment, and then relaxed. He needed to play this right. He needed to convince her that he was not Parker and to remember to avoid falling into stupid potholes like the one that had just nearly undone him. "I protect your area so, yes, I have sometimes caught conversations between you and Parker -- between far more people than that. I heard 'Negaverse' and so I listened. It's my job, Tate. Just like it is my job to warn you that there is no such thing as a Nega and a civilian being friends. If he didn't kill you immediately, then it was probably because he was either new and stupid -- or just using you." But using her for what? Taranis shuddered to think of it. He had no desire to know just how close Tate had been with this Nega. It made his skin crawl.

As for the corrupted senshi? Taranis took the information in slowly. It was something he would absolutely need to follow-up with Tate on, but it seemed tangential at the moment. He wanted to focus on his more important message. "Starseeds are... hard to explain. Honestly, I don't entirely understand what they are, but I know what they represent. As far as I know, they are a life force, a bundle of our energy that is held in the chest of each person." He touched at his temple. "For lack of a better word, it's your soul, Tate." He paused. "Wow, I've... never said that out loud before. The 'soul' part, I mean. I have never really believed in souls."

A moment of epiphany sparked in his head. How long had he felt this way? How was it possible that his subconscious had accepted this idea, but his conscious mind had never stopped to ruminate on it? If Taranis was admitting to believing in souls, then what else was he admitting to? If this planet was his homeworld from a life before, did that mean he believed now in afterlife? And if he allowed himself to believe that there was more to existence than living and then dying, then what other doors had he opened? Most importantly... did Sailor Taranis believe in a higher power?

He fell silent, and the hand that he had been dangling in the water stopped moving. "Tate, tell me that you will stop seeing Wolframite. You cannot trust him. Maybe at one point you could--" his voice faltered, giving away his doubts "--but he is not that person anymore. The older Negas are always the most vicious." Taranis met eyes with her. "Promise me -- and mean it."

In the course of their friendship, Parker had heard Tate many strange and hilarious sounds in response to video games. It would have made him smile to know that she worried, if only for a moment, that his senshi persona might have heard it too. Sometimes, Tate was just endearing.

Unfortunately, there were more unpleasant topics afoot. "Tate," he snapped. But no words chased after it. It was a scold, a sharp flash of disapproval. He didn't want a promise for her to try; he wanted a guarantee. Ever since he first learned that she had "befriended" a Nega, he had been worried.

A second silence feel between them, and this time Taranis broke it. "Look, if you are ever in trouble, or if you ever need something, or if you just have a question... tie that green scarf to the security bars by your window. I patrol your neighborhood. I will see it." He would notice it for sure, and then all he would have to do was henshin and come to her window. Hopefully whatever Tate could not confide in Parker, she would be willing to share with Taranis. He would prefer if she just never ran into a Nega again, but that was impossible to assume.

They had been here for two hours, he thought -- at least. He had no idea if Lina knew about the space travel. He had no idea if she was still there, but at some point, they had to go back. Plus... he was hungry. And rotting fruit was not precisely appetizing. Reaching into his pocket, Taranis pulled out his senshiphone. "I can't guarantee that she is gone now. So you need to stay behind me when we get back and then just run -- run to the police, run to a club, run anywhere that there are many people. Don't worry about me."

Wiggling into a comfortable sitting position, Taranis opened his arms. Well, this part would be... awkward. "I, uh... I sort of need to... hold you again. I'm still new to this whole taking someone else with me... thing." Holding Tate? It was unnatural, saved only for times when they really, really, really needed each other.

Which was, apparently, now.

Sailor Taranis was just as, if not more, uncomfortable to have Tate sitting in his lap as she was to be there. He made sure to keep his hands spread wide to avoid any unnecessary touching, but once she was in place, he had no choice but to wrap his arms around her stomach. “Try to be calm. I have to concentrate... a lot,” he said, flipping open his senshiphone and resting his finger on the button.

Truth be told, Taranis had no idea how he was able to center himself in time to get he and Tate out of that closet back in their apartment building. The first time he traveled had taken much longer, nearly forty-five minutes. Perhaps he was just used to the feeling right before he jumped from that time? Maybe he was able to focus faster because of the dire situation? Whatever it was, he had no desire to attempt that same magic ever again. He preferred to travel when his heart wasn’t beating out of his chest.

Even with his heart rate slower and his hands considerably less sweaty, Taranis spent fifteen minutes in silent concentration before he felt the surge and tingle of the transportation. The pair materialized in the closet just where they had left it. The Senshi of Sand sprang to his feet immediately, toppling Tate out of the way. He assumed a defensive stance, but the doors of the closet were wide open – wrenched open by the looks it.

Taranis shot Tate a worried look. “You should get out of here before the super notices these doors. Go!” He stepped out of the closet ahead of her, just to be safe.