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He had heard senshi, on occasion, remarking on how they really did enjoy quiet patrols with few youma or Negaversers to interrupt. He enjoyed dropping in on top of those senshi to ruin those quiet patrols. Rarely, if ever, did he manage to get a starseed--actually he'd only come close once with a particularly dumb senshi that had gotten in a lucky hit--but it was just the principle of the thing. Sheer schadenfreude.

Quiet patrols for a Negaverse senshi, though, were not exactly a good thing. As a rankless member, he wasn't expected to bring in starseeds or energy orbs, though of course he seemed to be welcome to if he wanted to and he often did. Assist his handler--if he ever really saw Graphite anymore, he would do that. As much as he liked the redheaded Lieutenant, Spinel wished for... a little more guidance. He was no leader, after all. Still, he thought he might need something to prove he wasn't just wandering around in puffy shorts and tights because he enjoyed it. (He didn't like the outfit. He just liked the power.) Or because he liked the uncertainty that sometimes lurked in the back of his mind--should he be one of those laughing senshi, protecting the city?

Doubt made him worry, and worry made him angry. So when he finally encountered a senshi, his mood brightened considerably. He really couldn't think of a thing he'd rather do than harass--maybe even kill?--one of the Moon senshi...

"Well, hello," he said, keeping his tone purposefully pleasant. "It's a lovely evening, don't you think?"

That was odd, he thought. Most senshi could recognize his like by now--although sometimes, of course, there was a little bit of confusion. Apparently there was a small sub-set of 'good' senshi with black fuku. The aura, though... his aura was certainly different...

Still. He was not the type to complain about gifts falling into his lap. Especially not senshi gifts. "You don't sound very sure," he said, sounding amused. "The moon is out, there's a warm breeze..." Didn't these senshi worship the moon, or something? No... it was a princess, maybe? All he knew was the fact that senshi like this were deluded, and could be saved if--like Alkaid--they were brought into the Negaverse's fold. Perhaps this one was very new? With a meditative smile, he added, "And it seems my luck is very good."

Was that senshi trained in something? The way he held himself was tense and very ginger. Spinel tipped his head a bit, exposing the black star mark in the precise center of his forehead, and took a step to close off the purple-haired senshi's avenue of escape from the small alcove he'd just been checking. He was not going to be sloppy today--not when he wanted this so bad. "And who do I have the pleasure of meeting this evening?"

Not a senshi? Oh, don't be ridiculous, thought Spinel--bitterness, suffusing his thoughts. The smile on his face faded, became a silent snarl. The things Spinel would do to not be a senshi! To know that he hadn't been born to help aliens take over Earth and subjugate his family and friends would be a gift. He'd kill for it. The Queen had said that he, and the others like him, were allies... important to the Negaverse's cause. He took a deep, calming breath to quell the feeling raging up in his chest.

"You have no idea what I would do for that to be correct," he said, cheerfully. So apparently he didn't worship the moon princess. Good, that'd be a note to keep in mind next time. "Unfortunately, I am a senshi. Just... better." He wasn't deluded like they were.

The black-haired man shrugged, fanning elegant pianist's hands out at his sides, very much broadcasting you don't have to tell me. He was only doing this to be polite! After all, it was terrible when people died in torments. Removing a starseed only hurt for a moment, after all, when he could get to one. "Actually, it was under duress, but that's hardly the matter at hand, is it? It's very simple, Sailor Nothing. You and all your companions going to die, and Queen Beryl is going to rule."

Was this argument going to be so roundabout? It was beginning to grate on his nerves already. You're not a senshi: Okay, well, obviously he was. There were enough similarities between his outfit and the other's that he should be able to draw the obvious conclusion. He wasn't going to argue that he was a senshi when he didn't really want to be one, so he shrugged it off. Three deep breaths and he was calm and centered again. "And yet you try to destroy Earth's rightful ruler," he said, coolly.

It was Beryl who had brought him out of darkness into the light, full knowing what was wrong with the people he had come from. "If you had stayed ignorant, you wouldn't be invaders. You became aliens when you accepted your transformation pen and fought against Earth's army."

He affected a sneer, but his eyes showed a little bit of doubt. "I didn't let myself become 'corrupted'. I was given the gift of knowledge of good and evil, and told to make a choice." A seeking tone in his voice: he wasn't sure what he was saying was true. Words had power, though, and he had spoken aloud.

"If there were no twisted senshi like you, the Negaverse wouldn't need to fight," the dark-haired senshi snapped. Going on and on and on about choices, when really it hadn't been a choice. The purple-haired man had said: Life, fighting against these invaders. Death, knowing you sided against your own people. Yes. There'd been a decision. He chose life.

If protecting his planet from people who didn't belong there was evil, then he didn't want to be good.

The man couldn't deny, though, that until recently the senshi had just been destroying youma: He didn't agree with the practice of using youma in the first place. The damned things were monsters that preyed on civilians, and they were meant to combat the senshi, weren't they?

Sailor Nothing had touched a nerve, though, when he spoke of control. Whip-fast, he had yanked one bell free. He didn't even have to speak to trigger his attack, the forcefield slamming up. Arsinoe was outside his range, but the shimmering green barrier gave him a moment to collect himself. Three deep breaths. He wanted control. He wanted control so badly. "You have chosen, too. And you've chosen wrong." The raw emotion, sheer and seething hate, pervaded every note and syllable. The dark-haired senshi's expression was obscured by the impenetrable barrier. "I am no more corrupted than the Earth is corrupted. Perhaps you should consider what one of your own did to this planet generations ago." Oh, he remembered the mirror-images of Sailor Earth stealing the Crystal...

All of them were invaders, working against Earth's true children. And he was working towards redemption. This Sailor Nothing was not.

This idiot kept talking about choice. There wasn't choice--sometimes it was just fate that things turned out the way they did. Spinel was lucky that fate put him on the correct side, that's all.

"Or not," he said, waiting until the barrier fell to turn. Suddenly, attacking a senshi seemed pointless. More than pointless--a waste of time he could spend thinking on this. "Your kind is the reason our kind is here. Go back to where-ever you came from, Sailor Nothing. Your kind isn't wanted here."

Spinel didn't teleport. There was no way the injured senshi could catch up. Instead, he just left.