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It was during his rocking at Dionysus noticed it too. And with an sudden burst of speed and unknown agility that Dionysus actually leapt from his crate tower and made a dash for Persephone. This wasn't good. By any means. "I don't like this..." He mumbled quietly. "Is there a way we can get out of here?"


Azurite was there almost immediately. And she actually had to do something to keep from squealing. So what did she do? She turned around and punched Natron the arm. "This gonna be gooooooood!" She giggled quietly to herself

Prepare to fight?

The smile that had been gracing Aludra's face dropped away and was replaced by confusion. No, no, they shouldn't have to fight. This was a team meeting. A peaceful, happy time.

But she could feel them now too. The Negaverse. Was Amethyst out there somewhere too? Did he know? Unlike her fellow chibi, Aludra did not move, she remained where she was sitting, rigid and almost unresponsive. This was supposed to have been a new beginning.

Aludra slowly unclenched her hands and stood. She had to believe in her team. They could deal with this.

Another night with General Mica meant another night to impress, and Super Sailor Vespa wanted nothing more than to prove his worth to the Negaverse. When he patrolled alone, he felt as though he had little guidance, too much freedom, and the chance to allow the White Moon Court's lies and trickery to affect him. With General Mica, or any Negaverse officer, to watch him, it felt more natural, right, and it seemed that he lucked out once more, as no sooner did the two of them start their patrol did Mica's crystal flicker to life with Natron's message.

Vespa didn't even need to ask if they would be participating, because he didn't need to. He saw the murderous look in her turquoise eyes and the small smile that rose on her lips, and he followed after her when she made a sudden turn. The only thing he did ask, however, was a question that buzzed in his ear, refusing to be silenced.

"Eight Order signatures? That's a lot for one area, isn't it? I've... never seen them work in groups like this before, General. Why do you think that is?"

General Mica would not allow such a request to go unheeded, and the self-proclaimed field medic was quick to respond, giving the crystal a squeeze and moving towards the location that Natron provided. She could have easily teleported to this warehouse, but with the little wasp in tow, she simply resorted to walking. After all, they weren't too far away and Vespa needed the chance to stretch his legs.

"Not a clue, but it's certainly not good. They outnumber us in this city and any chance for them to unite must be crushed immediately, and we will be the ones to do so." Mica told him, as matter-of-factly as possible. She knew he was eager to prove himself and obey, but that did not mean she would coddle the Corrupted senshi. "You will act as vanguard, Vespa. You are to attack swiftly and efficiently, and show not a single ounce of mercy. Do you understand?"

She almost beamed at his determined nod, before calling back to Natron with her crystal. "General Mica and Vespa are en-route."

An all points bulletin, and who was captain Xenotime to ignore such a call?

Eight targets, none of them a substantial threat. The captain lingered on at a distance as she took in the individual auras, weighing them in her head as she bounced her heels of the side of the building she was currently perched on. From here, and at such close proximity to each other, it was hard to tell if any of them were familiar. There was a niggling sense, a feeling suggestion she'd run into at least one of them in the past, but it felt different now, stronger, and she didn't have a name or a face to place with the power signature rolling around in her head.

It didn't matter though. Whether or not she knew them. It had been some weeks now since she'd really dove head first into her work as a captain. An inaccurate, though worryingly large amount of days since she'd found the note. Small, neat handwriting giving the barest hint of explanation. Infuriatingly short, woefully lacking, unexpectedly crushing. Would it please him to learn he'd left a wound in his absence? That he'd burrowed beneath her skin, into her life, and in leaving had created a void?

Would he ever come back?

So many unanswered questions, but she'd respected his message. Resisted trying to call, stopped herself from sending messages. Fighting herself, her impulses, and her desires. She was no easy opponent. It was exhausting.

But now came an outlet. A well needed distraction and opportune means of relieving building stress. The captain grinned, invigorated and charged. She would make the senshi bleed, give them pain and fear and hopelessness, and she would delight in every brutal moment of it.

A push off from the ledge let her fall, but she vanished before she struck the ground. Following the lead of gathered order, she appeared within the warehouse. A beast to lurk in the rafters. Nightmares falling from the skies. The gathered agents were unknown to her, nameless soldiers for the cause. For now she ignored them, focused on the prey below, attention sliding almost at once towards a shock of white and pink and grey. She'd been right, she did know one of the gathered.

Maybe it was reckless to venture so close, alone, unprotected.

Maybe it was confident.
Maybe she didn't care.

"I dislike gathering energy as well, it's tedious and boring, but it's necessary." Came the blond voice as he stood on a roof top half way across the city. Arms folded over his chest he turned his eyes on his companion for the night. "We need more plans, like the one you had, where we can gather a lot and in an interesting and fun manner." Or the act of energy draining would remain tedious and boring; for the most part.

Turning fully to face Bischofite he took a few steps toward the darkly dressed lieutenant and tilted his head a bit. He'd have said something had it not been for his communication crystal coming to life with a familiar voice; what had he been going to say? Did it matter now? A smile was curling his lips as he looked over the other. "Care to go and see what's going on? Perhaps kill a senshi or two?" His voice had dropped, become much calmer and his tone inviting, as thoughts of blood and dead senshi danced about in his mind.

"Mmm...I think I'll be going no matter." Oh yes, the idea of breaking up some little senshi meeting was pleasing. Knowing where they needed to go he figured the best means of getting there, at least in a decent amount of time, was teleporting. "I'll teleport us both if your joining me?" He offered the other lightly. He still was surprised, shocked really, by the others demotion but had yet to really give voice to it. He didn't want to step into that and risk unsettling the relationship they had; whatever it was.

Leda nodded to Biela and tentatively edged toward the senshi, young as she was. No one present amounted to an eternal senshi, so she was one of the strongest available to fight. As much as she hated attacking others, she needed to do so if she wanted her teammates to walk away from this. And hadn't she seen Ida nearly lose her starseed to an agent once? She didn't want to witness that act to its completion.

Not tonight. Not with a potential team brewing around her.

Maybe she could call this a test, some great dilemma they had to overcome in order to qualify as a true team. Maybe this'll draw the lot of them together, and though they wouldn't be quite as lovely and playful as before, it meant something that they all survived this traumatizing event together. So Leda had to steel herself, to overcome the welling discomforts at facing down the enemy once again, if only for the survival of all her present peers.

"What should we do, Persephone?" She looked to the other super pleadingly, desperate for some sense of direction. It was too difficult for her to come up with a coherent plan in conditions like this - practically the entire Negaverse closed in around them, and what could they do but stand and fight in this suddenly claustrophobic warehouse? Soon it'd be a slaughterhouse if they couldn't come up with a viable plan...




Adonis lacked direction that night - with his quota satisfied with a few days to spare, he hadn't much motivation to seek out others while he remained in uniform and assail them for energy. The novelty of it wore off long ago, like old bloodstains on a well-used sidewalk. Now he sat restless and brimming with energy, scanning the horizons of Destiny City for some potential Negaverse agent with which he could tag along. He considered how far he came - from a rank-blind, idiotic greenhorn to a mildly seasoned (and he really did mean mildly) energy drainer - but he still had an expansive distance to cover before he could truly call himself an established Negaverse senshi.

Not that he'd admit it. Thus far he'd done well to meet the Negaverse's expectations in draining, but tactical combat? As Adrian he'd hardly seen a fight before in his life, let alone participate in one. And he wagered that, with all of the action movies and violent video games at kids' disposal today, he was probably at a disadvantage compared to his peers. Too bad - he could rise above them easily enough.

A crackling, tinny voice came over the communication crystal he had barely started learning about, and an unfamiliar officer's voice informed him of a group of senshi nearby. Adonis wouldn't have considered it such a threat were it not for Xenotime's instruction and Penthesilea's rather violent introduction, but now he realized it spelled dangerous with a capital D. Still, maybe they were the mild-mannered sort and he could escape with his life should bad come to worse.

The blonde sat up and furrowed his brow at the enigmatic crystal now resting in his palm, and studied it for some way he might use it to communicate his impending arrival. Finally he settled for talking at it. "Uh... Ten-four, captain Natron, I'm on my way." Getting into military movies of late helped a little with the lingo, but he still forgot to identify himself.

Oh well - help is help, right? Deciding that his sloppy measures were enough, Adonis started in the direction of the gathering.

"I don't care if it's necessary. What's ze point in necessary if you spend your life being bored and burdened?" The once-general crossed his arms against the cold and regarded his shorter, former peer with mild frustration. Tired and irritable, he wasn't very receptive to the blonde's points. Since his demotion, he found it increasingly troublesome to endure his doubled duties with only a fraction of the strength he once held and all the enemies he'd made. "I haf' some ideas; I'll work on somesing, but I'm not making any promises on it."

Truth be told, he formulated far more than a simple idea. There were details he needed to flesh out, minutia to retain those involved. Little pin-like holes etched into his plan they were, but he didn't mind them. An idea too cohesive was easily torn in the face of unexpected events. And he would've explained the entirety of his ideas thus far to his willing listener, had a crackled and slightly wavering transmission not caught his interest. He recognized the voice from an encounter long ago, from when he wore this very same uniform outside the realm of punishment. His first senshi murder, wasn't it? Yes - and he had quite a fitting subject for such a distant reunion.

Eight senshi instead of one, but he retained what practice and expertise he'd obtained in his previous ranks.

As a bonus, he could watch Benitoite in action (for once in his life, he'd wager, but not the kind the two had explored at an earlier date). Bischofite met the general's smile with his own mischievous grin, and he returned Benitoite's sentiments in spades. "Why settle for a senshi or two when we could go for eight? Benitoite, you aim low sometimes. What's ze fun in zat?" But the sentiment was clear enough - the presentation of a far more interesting way to spend the evening tore them away from the grueling task of energy draining, and Bischofite himself had orders to assist other officers twice a week. And if he could fill that quota in one night? Perfect.

"Of course I'm joining you," came a low reply. "But by ze time I get zere, you'll haf' murdered everyone, and where's ze fun in zat? Take me wis' you; you know I would'f done it myself if I were still capable." Afterward Bischofite anchored his folded arms atop Benitoite's shoulder, and expected the scenery to shift shortly.

Besides, it would be interesting to see the look on Natron's face when he hadn't 'ranked up' in months.

Cyllene's bright blue eyes quickly snapped up from the ground that she didn't realize that she was staring at to meet Azurite's, a doe-in-the-headlights horrified expression clear on her face. Her mouth opened slightly as she just sort of... Stared at Azurite awkwardly, her pale cheeks flushing a deep dark pink with embarassment. "Who....Me?" Her eyebrows furrowed and her fingers tightened in her hair. "Uh... I-I'm Cyllene."

If only Addison could have seen the new and improved future her- she would be rolling her eyes and telling her to smoke a giant joint to chill the ******** out. In fact, pre-corruption Cyllene would be rolling a fatty and passing it around to every single person here.

She thought about it for a moment, and realizing that she desperately needed friends and that being shy and awkward was totally not her (she thinks???), she took a deep breath and her eyes shifted from horrified to enamoured and sparkly as she reached out and grabbed at Azurite's hair. "Your hair is SO PRETTY I can't even stand it!"