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So far, being a senshi was pretty ******** awesome. Not only did Sailor Taranis suddenly feel like a significantly more important blip on the world map, but the magic capabilities were stunning. He was still getting a hang of his sand blast, but the added strength, stamina, and ability were fantastic. The first time he jumped from one rooftop to another, Taranis stopped to cheer. Magellan yanked him backwards by his collar and warned him about not being too obvious. She was always giving him warnings, tips. She seemed more concerned about him than she was about killing youma.

Taranis' little training sessions with Magellan had been good, most of the time. It was great having her as a mentor, but Taranis would never learn to do it himself if he didn't actually do it himself. And Magellan seemed nervous every time he tried to take a single strike at a youma. The first one they took down, she threw him out of the way of a blow, as if he couldn't handle it. After several stern conversations and many I want to keep you safe toos, Magellan agreed to lay off.

Well, as much as Magellan was capable of laying off, at least.

That night, Taranis had managed to sneak out on his own. It had been a productive night. He took down two youma. One was chasing a prostitute through an alleyway. The other was creeping up on a sleeping homeless man. Taranis never stuck around for thank-yous. He was just doing his job, the job he was predestined to do. Predestined. God, he liked the sound of that.

Walking along the edge of the rooftop of a bakery, Sailor Taranis peered down at the street, waiting for any sign of unrest. It was nearly 4AM, but this new part of his life was too exciting to let a little thing like sleeplessness stop him.

The sound of a voice behind him, close behind him, made Sailor Taranis jump. This might not be so bad if he wasn't standing on the edge of a roof. Stray pieces of concrete skittered over the side, but Taranis hopped backwards. He landed inches from the strange girl.

"s**t," he said, straightening his red ascot. "You... startled me. Isn't it in the rulebook to not scare another senshi hanging on a roof's edge?"

Taranis took a few steps away from her. This girl looked like a senshi, but different. Dani and Derp told him that senshi could get stronger and transform. Maybe this was just what a transformed senshi looked like? Tension prickled in his neck. She sort of reminded him of the evil senshi from the battle with Tanzanite and Obsidian in the park, but there was no hole in her chest. He did his best not to let his eyes linger there. Somewhere, he was convinced Magellan would sense it and come running to remove his testicles from his body.

Still, there was a weird... feeling. Was this energy? When he first ran toward Magellan, he remembered feeling warmth. Then, toward the Negaverse agent, there was coldness, darkness. This girl had... both? Sort of? Taranis did not have enough experience to know what to make of these senses. It was too new to him. She didn't seem to be attacking him either, not like Moonstone had.

So Sailor Taranis decided not to jump to conclusions. "I'm Sailor Taranis," he said, awkwardly extending a hand. It was the same way he shook his boss' hand at GeekSquad: awkward, too formal. Being a senshi was his job too, and new as he was to it, Sailor Taranis believed it deserved a certain professionalism.

Parker was kidding about the rule book thing, but Black Lady Serenity didn't seem like she had much of a sense of humor. She seemed more entertained by the fact that she had gotten the drop on him, and equally confused that he was a man. A man, not a boy. "Of course I'm a guy," he said, screwing his mouth to one side of his face. "I'm a guy, and I exist. So, there's that."

To his memory, he had only ever seen female senshi, with the single exception of Sailor Thuban. Maybe it was more special to be a male senshi? The thought pleased Taranis. "Are there many other glowing guys in Destiny City who aren't senshi?" He raised an eyebrow and adjusted the grip on his gloves.

Black Lady Serenity. Weird title. Weird, and familiar. "Are you..." Oh god, he could feel a stupid question poised on his lips, but he couldn't stop it. "Are you our princess? Are you the Moon Princess Serenity?" The name had been given to him shortly after his own senshi self had been unveiled. It was his purpose, apparently, to find her. Sailor Taranis couldn't explain it, but he felt it to be true. So... what this her? Was that even possible?

If it was her, then did Sailor Taranis get a gold star for finding her? Hey, that was easy!

Sailor Taranis felt like he had just made a bad decision. Black Lady Serenity did not seem like the gracious savior that had been described to him, first in broken sentences by Derp and later elaborated on by Dani. If she was the Moon Princess he spoke of, she would have said so. There was too much ironic surprise in her words to be truthful.

For a moment, Taranis wished for the retarded cat to pop in out of the air and choke out some chortled words to tell him what to do. Goddamn, he wished there was a rule book. He had said too much? Could he trust this woman? No, he couldn't. He could feel it in the air, like her evil seeped thicker. s**t. s**t s**t s**t.

Mistake number one, Taranis: don't doubt your untrusting nature.

s**t. Shiiiiit. Sailor Taranis adjusted his gloves again, a nervous habit. "You aren't her," he said. It was a statement, but it was still uncertain. She said her name was Serenity, the other princess was also Serenity. Jesus, if there were multiple Serenitys running around, maybe Derp should have mentioned that.

"Who are you?" This wasn't an introduction. He wanted to know who she was. Who she really was.

Of two things, Sailor Taranis was certain:

1) He was afraid to trust her.
2) He was afraid to not trust her.

Goddamnit, that wasn't helpful.

s**t, a weapon. Sailor Taranis leaped back as the beam fired, narrowly avoiding it. It wasn't a kill shot. It wasn't meant to hurt him. It was her scaring him again, playing with him. As a civilian, Taranis had toyed with enough people who he thought were less intelligent than him to recognize when someone else was doing it. If he was farther away from her, he might have tried to throw a sand blast. The ranged attack was generally useful, kept him out of danger. Now, unfortunately, it just made him powerless.

Taranis retreated slowly. "Why wouldn't I be happy to have the Moon Princess here?" Yes, he needed to distract her, and it would be a good thing to know. Derp said over and over that he needed to find the Moon Princess. He needed to find Serenity. Taranis didn't think this girl was her, but she seemed to know something that he didn't. That alone made him curious.

He needed to keep her talking so that he could put enough distance between them to use his power. She seemed like she wanted to talk. Maybe he had a chance at this.

Sailor Taranis was in trouble. Sweat clung to his brow as he stumbled backward, narrowly dodging the blasts. He wanted to run, but he was afraid to turn his back. If he could not see where she was aiming, there would be no way for him to dodge. His heart picked up its pace, racing in his chest until his ears popped.

The senshi was too new. He wasn't thinking about his surroundings. He hardly realized how perilously close he had been led to the edge of the roof. He had no idea what to say to Black Lady, and there was little time to sit around and ponder why she toyed with him. The only creature she vaguely reminded him of was the evil senshi he'd met on a fearful night over three months ago.

Taranis didn't think Black Lady was actually expecting an answer, but the narrowed hook of her eyes made him speak. "What do you want me to say? I don't know anything about her! She could at least give me some answers to--" The sentence was cut short. The pink-haired assailant dropped to the roof and swept one leg out, knocking Taranis over like a felled tree.

A curse broke his lips as he tumbled over the edge of the roof, saved only by quick thinking and a strong grip. Sailor Taranis was suspended eight stories in the air, hanging onto the edge of the building with one hand. s**t s**t s**t s**t s**t. He looked up, anger in his eyes, searching for a place he could land to avoid the fall. In his brief time as a senshi, Sailor Taranis had not taken a fall this high. He didn't know what his added strength could do to soften a fall that would kill a civilian.

From his position, Black Lady Serenity appeared like a massive goddess towering above him -- a Destiny City Statue of Liberty. It was hard to appreciate the skimpy uniform, given the sudden draft up his own fuku. Right now, princesses were the last thing on his mind. He just wanted to not be hanging off a ******** building.

In his mind, Taranis could see Black Lady kicking at his hand and sending him cartwheeling onto the pavement below, the Scar to his Mufasa. He waited for the sharp spike of her heel to puncture his hand, but it never came. Instead, she... disappeared? Bright cerulean eyes scanned the part of the roof that was visible. He didn't move. Maybe this was a trick? After another minute, Taranis could feel his arm shaking. Black Lady or not, he could not keep hanging there.

It took a few tries, but Sailor Taranis was able to pull himself back onto the roof. His arms were sore, and his head hurt. The strange woman was gone. He took off into the night without another thought. The Senshi of Sand had had enough excitement for one night.