Welcome to Gaia! ::

Arsenolite had been on the prowl, scoping out people he could get starseeds from, when the car alarm went off in a nearby parking garage after a giant flash of light.

Well, that was suspicious.

He jumped up from the outside, level by level to ensure he didn't fall, until he hit the level the alarm was going off on, the level the burst of light had come from. Sounds of the car getting smashed to pieces reached his ears once he was on the level and he crouched between a couple of the limited amount of cars in the space to look over, wondering just what the hell was happening. No way it was simply some kind of jilted ex, not with that light flash, but he didn't hear sounds of normal fighting between the White Moon and the Negaverse, either.

"What the ********," he muttered, watching this guy with... green skin and the strangest hair he'd ever seen just beat the everloving s**t out of the car.

s**t, what should he do? Inhaling slowly, he took a picture of the guy, blurry from his movements but still obviously Not Right, and tucked his tablet back away before standing up and approaching. Someone had to talk this guy down before he hurt himself too badly, and struggled with questioning.

"Hey, put down the brick, man!" he shouted, holding his bow and an arrow loosely in his hands, ready to be aimed but not yet.

Arsenolite blinked. Well. Alright then. He crept a bit closer, curiously putting his weapon down. The guy was definitely one of the aliens. Like Dagon. He wondered if they could get him corrupted. He clearly didn't care for human items, but still.

"It's not gonna stop crying at you just cause you're beating the s**t out of it," he called, putting his bow back on his back and holding his hands up in a very cautious surrendering motion.

"The more you wail on it the more it'll keep alarming."

It had been a really good night, Rob decided, basking in the afterglow of a successful gig at Piggy's near 31st and Triumph. The configuration of members he'd finally put together for his band Torgo was working out great; all wanted to play the wild Celtic-fey-punk stuff he'd written over the years, and all played it well. He, of course, was still the frontman and driving force behind Torgo – there was no way he'd give that up, not ever. But these guys were giving him some ideas that were setting his brain-juices all aswiri with possibilities. This was at least as good as working with his old mates back in London. In some ways, it was even better.

Humming happily to himself, Rob strolled toward the parking garage on the corner, guitar strapped across his back and lugging his amp in one hand. A car alarm blared through the night (well, morning) from one of the levels of the garage and he snorted; some poor sap must have bumped someone else's car. He himself usually didn't drive, but this area was on the other side of the city from his usual haunts; and as he had for some reason gotten a driver's license (even though he was a terrible driver), he'd rented a car for the night to help carry his gear. It would be a quick drive home, and with no-one on the streets, an easy one.

He paid for his parking and keyed the lift to the third floor. The car alarm grew louder, and as the lift opened a scene lay before him that left him slack-jawed: a Negaverse agent dressed for all the world like Green Arrow trying to calm down a small man-person who looked like he had bits of tree growing on him. The small man was apparently using a brick to beat the s**t out of a wailing car…

Rob's rental car.

"Wha-" he started, then remembered he wasn't powered up. Exiting the lift, he ducked around a corner, stashed his gear, then said the words that would transform him into Eternal Sailor Puck of the Woods. He emerged from his cover and approached the two men, stopping behind the Negaverse agent.

"Hallo hallo, what's all this then?" he announced loudly, trying to keep down the panic of wondering how he was going to explain the damage to the rental car company. "What the absolute <********> is going on?"

At the advent of a new presence, confusion began to leak in. It was another foreigner -- and even stranger -- this foreigner was a fellow senshi, like him. He had the wings Taiyi's masters had several tales of, in past eras where past Sailor Taiyis had become strong enough to earn them. They had hoped he would earn such wings someday, but...

His wood-nailed fingers stayed wrapped around the brick, but his arms lowered further. His breathing slowed a bit. And he asked,

"How did you get here?"

The question was barely audible above the car alarm. Even with its noise persisting, Sailor Taiyi started to notice a few things. There were symbols painted on the pillars, that looked like no writing he had ever seen on Taiyi. The vehicle he had been attacking bore similar markings. The placed reeked of oil, as strong as when he had first detected it, but it was not quite the same. This whole place was not quite the same.

So, his second question was, "What's going on?"

Was he still on Taiyi, even? It seemed silly to assume he wasn't. But now he was remembering... a call, a pull...

Arsenolite gave an affronted scoff at the order from the senshi, rolling his eyes. "Jackass," he muttered under his breath, letting his hands go down and slide into his pockets.

"Thanks for finally turning that off," he said louder, once the car had been silenced. If his ears hurt, he could only imagine how this... tree guy felt. "My name's Arsenolite. Resident of Earth. Welcome to the planet."

Keep playing nice. Maybe he could get some information. Man, he was not the best SpecOps guy at all, but he was going to give it his best shot. He needed to impress Ashanite, and coming back with as much information as possible on this person to add to the database should do that for him. He really wished he'd been able to get more on the crazy blue chick he'd fought a while back, but... He needed to learn to curb his bloodthirstiness more.

Puck would have to look up what xylem was when he got home, because he had no idea what the little Senshi meant. He didn't know much about the aliens either; maybe there was something on his Senshi phone about them. He sure hoped so – he had no idea who to ask about them.

The Eternal, ignoring Arsenolite's muttered epithet, watched as Taiyi introduced himself and bowed first to him then to the lieutenant. Polite little fellow, he thought. Then he smiled, watching the small man marvel at where he was. "Yeah, it's something of a miracle, that's for sure," he said, glancing at the Negaverse agent. "A miracle we all haven't killed each other yet. There's a war going on, see, between our faction," and he jerked a thumb at Arsenolite, "and theirs. They want to take over Earth, and us Senshi want to protect it and its people."

With a shrug, he grinned at Taiyi. "Sorry, I know that's a lot to dump on you. Best you know the lay of the land, though. So… why are you here? Do you remember?"

He realized then that he should have asked that question after he'd gotten Taiyi somewhere safe – this was free information for the Negaverse otherwise. Too late now, though – Arsenolite would likely already have a pile of info to relay at this point anyway.

Nothing could have deflated Taiyi's sudden enthusiasm as quickly and easily as the mention of war. The very second Puck uttered it, the smaller senshi's former look of shock and weariness began to haunt his eyes again. He avoided the gaze of both his unwitting welcomers as, upon being asked, do you remember? visions of violence and industrial decay crowded his mind, all competing to be the first to be mentioned.

He ultimately said nothing, but clearly remembered plenty. None of it helped him understand his situation, or which of these two people were right.

They were each telling a very different story. One spoke of an evil faction trying to rule the Earth. The other, from that same faction, spoke of needing to protect the Earth from evil aliens. Sailor Taiyi already was familiar with how deception could be used for conquest. He had seen the results of such a thing with his own eyes, since long before he had awakened as a senshi. At the same time, Puck's explanation filled him with questions: why wasn't he on Puck? Why did he say 'us senshi?' Did that mean there was more than the two of them here?

The only thing he was sure of was that he didn't want to be involved in more war.

All he could think to say were questions that felt rude to ask. So, instead of putting more of his own voice into the conversation, he waited to hear how Puck would respond to the man with the strange aura.