Welcome to Gaia! ::

A year ago Sailor Vulcan rescued a woman who was attacked by something on 6th street. They escaped to safety with the help of an old friend [Zach], but Vulcan has not been able to forget about this thing that might have been a youma, but which looked at her with the cleverness of a person.

She is sending you and your partner back to 6th street to investigate. Your task is to return and tell her what you find there.

"Kiuchi," she says before you both leave headquarters, "you were concerned about being able to communicate with your partner without revealing your identity. Syrtis, come here."

She divides a pair of armoured walkie-talkies between you. They look and feel heavy-duty. "I tested these out over the weekend. You'll be able to reach each other from almost anywhere in the city, as long as you're on the same channel. And they shouldn't break if you drop them from a rooftop. Try not to risk it, though."

--

*Flashack quote taken from A knight in flanel and plaid

'You know why I'm pairing you with Kiuchi, don't you?'

'Because I'm the only one who has a fighting chance if he decides to pull a wraith on me?'

'Basically, yeah.'

Syrtis didn't mind. He might only have been a page, but he wore really big shoes and had just recently learned that he filled out dress shirts pretty damn nicely. Neither of these things had to do with fighting or the question of whether or not he'd be able to fend off an attack if Kiuchi decided to have a go at him. The point was that he looked strong; shoulders broad and gleaming tan in his Mars uniform, thighs lean underneath his gladiator-skirt-thing.

'You don't mind working with me...I hope. I just...I hope we can work well together.'

Syrtis cracked his knuckles. Glanced at Kiuchi out of the corner of his eye as they made their way down 6th street together.

The corner of his mouth started to twitch into a smile. "To be honest with you I'm not even sure what you are. What the hell does a dark mirror senshi do?"

"Man, that's a raw deal. Sounds like you guys are kind of trapped here."

Syrtis arched an eyebrow while Kiuchi talked; took in everything from the way the dark senshi carried himself, to the way that he spoke, to how he plucked at pieces of his uniform and concluded that he was in dire need of some self-confidence. If it was something that could be bottled up and shared John Jr would gladly have given Kiuchi some of his.

"So dark moon senshi are what - from another dimension?"

Wild.

It wasn't unreasonable to him that Kiuchi didn't know the whole story about how his people had come to be on earth, and so Syrtis did not press the issue. Wasn't that how it was for everyone? Some people liked to say that they knew, religious and scientific types alike, but that wasn't the same thing as actually knowing.

6th street was in one of the oldest parts of Destiny City. The buildings in this neighbourhood were all red-brick and only a couple of stories tall - old factories and warehouses re-purposed into hipster bars and tattoo parlours. More than half of those were closed today.

"Where do you think we should start?" Syrtis asked Kiuchi, at the same time that he opened up the 'maps' feature app on his phone. 7th street was to the east, 8th street was to the west. A label up ahead read 'Mario's Pizza Palace'. His stomach growled. "Wanna get some food on the way? There's a pizza place just up there."

He pointed.

Mario's Pizza Place had the best pepperoni in town. Proustite knew because he had made a point of trying every single pizza place in Destiny City, and he was quite certain that he had come to the objective conclusion that there was no better pepperoni anywhere. He hummed about it as he left, three x-large pizzas stacked in his arms, a small on his face, radiating a dark energy signature.

Syrtis had seen him once before, stealing cookies from a girl scout.

"Hey you!" he shouted, pointing. "Did you pay for those?"

Proustite stopped short. Stared, taking in Kiuchi, who had the stronger signature and therefore posed the biggest threat, and then Syrtis. He frowned and skittered down the street, turning sharply around the nearest corner. Into a back alley.

"Let's follow him!" Syrtis said to Kiuchi, slapping his partner on the back, all stories about where the Dark Moon Senshi had come from pushed right out of his head. He summoned his discus. Surged forwards with a joyous whoop, heart pounding with the promise of battle.

When the boys turned the corner into the alley the Captain with the pizza boxes was nowhere in sight; though the hint of his signature still lingered around them like a bad smell.

Except for a couple of trash cans and one large red trash bin, the alley appeared to be empty. Syrtis approached the bin. Started lifting the lid, tilted his head to peek inside, arm raised with the discus clutched in his hands, prepared to smash it down on Proustite's face -- but it was empty.

At the end of the alley, something stirred. It hulked out of the shadows; a giant spotted hyena, bigger than a lion, large enough to ride. She only had one eye and appeared to be smiling. Behind her, hidden somewhat by the dark of the alley, Proustite stood with his arms open wide. He was smiling too.

She charged, great paws kicking up dust behind her.

"You should probably use your magic now, Kiuchi," Syrtis said at the same time the youma launched herself off her hind legs, jaws wide open, aiming for Syrtis's face.

The Mars page lifted his arms to shield himself - her teeth sank into the leather of his bracers. His discus went flying.