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The air was electric with the snap and sizzle of dark energy. Sailor Ares knew it well, but it had been a long time since she had felt it. The hazy mist of the mirror was behind her. Now she was embracing this new world with arms outstretched and eyes narrowed. There were youma to be dusted, Wiseman to be eviscerated, and a whole wide world of exploring to do.

But first (and always) -- it was time to work.

Sailor Ares considered school a waste of time, and hobbies even more worthless (unless they increased your physical or mental prowess). When she patrolled, she did not wander; she prowled in shadows, hid in blind corners. This body did not possess her full powers, but her mind ticked fast, whirling with many lifetimes of battle experience.

Hidden in a dark alleyway, Sailor Ares stilled at the sound of approaching footsteps, quick ones too. Someone was running. There was no familiar hum of energy, light or dark, and as the boy broke past the alleyway into the shopping center, Ares registered him as a human.

Behind the boy, a squat youma with stubby legs and arms, a square torso, and no head wobbled along. For such a bulky thing, it did not seem in a hurry to catch up. She had a clear shot to kill it then and there, but Ares waited, watched. Was this a trick?

The youma plopped itself on the ground, legs and arms disappearing into the square box. Then a musical chime sounded, and the top of the box ripped open, launching a coiled clown-like creature with red eyes and sharpened teeth straight for Azzo. The youma outstretched its hand, grabbed the boy by both legs, and then sprung right back toward its box, suspending him in the air.

It was a youma-in-the-box!

Sailor Ares waited, watching. It was a surprise-attack youma that relied on ensnaring its opponents. It appeared that it had no magical properties and was instead based on force. Lucky for her, it also breathed. An evaluative smile crossed her features. Ares loved the cavaliers, she really did, but she did not go rushing headlong into battle hefting a sword. She planned, she strategized, she ran scenarios.

The youma lifted Azzo higher, craning its head back and opening its mouth. Uh oh. Planning time was over. Surprise was on Ares's side, and she had no intention of giving that up by announcing her position. Leaping from the shadows, Ares landed on top of the youma, hands gripping at the flat lid that contained the springing clown. With a stiff twist, she snapped it off like bark from a tree and then used it to slam the clown portion in the back of the head.

It bobbed forward, dropping Azzo to the ground with a thud. "Civilian. Get lost," she ordered, pointing an authoritative finger. The youma roared and shuddered, throwing Ares off its back. She landed on the ground in a roll, popping back up to her feet with a frown.

Oh good, now it was getting interesting.

The stumbling youma shifted to face Ares, bobbing forward with claws extended. She sidestepped the first strike and caught the second in her side. Damn. Her reflexes should be faster. Everything about her needed to be faster. She could feel where the slicing claw had scraped her arm, warm blood leaking from the cut.

Now it was personal.

Her arms locked firmly around the name of the monster, one heel planted in its stomach. The youma seemed uncertain of what was happening. It continued to claw and scratch. Sailor Ares threw all of her weight backwards into a somersault, kicking the youma over her head. The two rolled and rolled, each scratching at the other before colliding with a lamp post. The youma took the impact and exploded in a cloud of dust.

Ares got back to her feet. Gray eyes strayed to her shoulder: youma dust. "Messy," she said, frowning. She brushed the dust off of her shoulder, and then walked toward the spot where the civilian was unsuccessfully hiding.

"You're fine, stop cowering." She postured in front of him, victorious. "That youma was hardly a challenge."

"Staying out of the way is a good strategy," she lowered her voice, "for a civilian." Sailor Ares was not a soldier of the people; she was a soldier of the war. She defended humans because they were the natural resource that the war involved. Also -- Selene asked it of her. There was no great desire to save the little people, just a desire to win.

The cut on her arm was slowly bleeding, but it would be healed by the time she woke up in the morning. "It's nothing. This cut is just a mistake." Ares ignored the handkerchief. The blood was a reminder of how much work she had left to do, no way would she wipe it away. She looked down the ridge of her nose at the dark-haired boy. A spark of familiarity struck her belatedly.

"Azzo," she said sternly, "what are you doing wandering in the shopping mall at night? It's dangerous for civilians. Invest in a bomb shelter."

Azzo's concern made Ares quirk an eyebrow. She might have laughed in his face, but it irked her too much to think that he might be trying to treat her like some weakling who couldn't handle the pain -- well, basically like a civilian. "I'm a senshi," she said, fixing him with a quizzical look. "I don't even feel this." A lie. Ares felt it. Ares just wasn't going to recognize that in front of the civilian.

"It is my duty to protect civilians. So I protect them." She raised one eyebrow. "Or would you prefer I let you attempt to fight it off on your own?"

Sailor Ares wasn't been sarcastic, just making a point. She liked when the civilians groveled in gratitude before her, but the suggestion that she was oh so injured rankled her pride. Azzo seemed uncertain, nervous. She expected a little more gratitude, but decided not to press the issue.

There was something dangerously noble about leading youma away from his family. Noble, and stupid. He was fortunate, however, in that he was speaking to one of the only senshi in Destiny City who knew that his youma senses were not insanity but truth. "I believe you," she said, though it was devoid of compassion. "I know that you can sense youma. It isn't crazy, but I wouldn't go around telling everyone that because it sounds crazy. You realize that, don't you?" An idea was forming in the back of Ares's head.

On one level, Sailor Ares could sympathize with Azzo. She knew what Barren Pines had done, what it still did to her shared mind. She knew that it only brought questions when people wanted answers. What she didn't like was how this civilian continued to fixate on everything he couldn't do, and then answered it by choosing to do the most stupid and dangerous options on the table.

Ares pursed her lips. "Broken ribs are the least of your worries. There are much worse things that can happen to you if you insist on parading around at night like some vigilante." She placed a hand on each hip, her mouth softening into a frown. "I get it. It's frustrating. But when you go out like this, you make more work for people like me. Not to mention, you know, the risk of a senshi not being there the next time you stumble in to trouble." She quirked an eyebrow at him. It was good that he was trying to improve himself, but this battle was not one that civilians could fight. Ares believed that wholly.

When he asked if she was a senshi, she raised one eyebrow slowly. "What else would I be?" Ares followed his eyes and then cleared her throat. "I am a senshi under Queen Nehelenia, the True Queen. She is the one who will deliver the Earth." That was mostly true. Selene was Queen of the Black Moon, but in Ares's book, she was the true queen of all the lands they touched. And why not? There was no ruler more supreme than Selene. The civilians might as well learn that now.

Ares shook her head. "Not just the Negaverse. There are plenty of things that could kill you in Destiny City. What's important is that you prepare yourself physically and mentally and--" Her train of thought was lost and jumped tracks to another. "Tell me, Azzo, have you read The Secret? It's a very powerful book." Damn, if only she had a copy. Her own was dutifully tagged with color-coded sticky tabs for quick reference.

It had been so casually picked up while strolling through the bookstore, and now Ares felt she had the manifesto to her life plan that she had always wanted. Why not share that information with others? "It says a lot, you should read it, but the key part is that you need to think about the thing that you want... and then it will happen." There was more to it than that, but Ares didn't want to give away the entire book.

It occurred to her belatedly that he had asked her something. "I'm Sailor Ares," she said, squaring her shoulders unconsciously, "Soldier of Smoke. I fight for Queen Nehelenia and the warriors of the Black Moon Kingdom." Strike a pose. "With us in Destiny City, things are going to start changing." Her eyes dipped to Azzo. "You'll see."