The clamor of battle drowned out everything, even thought. Idly, he noted four behemoths and a titanic avian clashing against gigantic shadowed forms in the distance, the force of their blows such that he felt the tremors of each strike through the very soles of his armored feet. To his left was a gout of flame and a flash of lightning-streaked steel amongst a mob of the foul creatures that the Armies faced. To his right, a booming like thunder preceded a billowing mushroom cloud of dust and enemy bodies, while a mobile shadow moved through the ranks of deformed creatures in a blur of motion. In a back to back position not far from him were two others, one extremely small, almost child-like, though the trident it wielded with devastating power showed the strength of the figure was anything but childish. The other was a tall, somewhat lanky figure in a cape, wielding a rapier with finesse and grace even in the midst of battle. A circlet of gold was visible perched on the man's head, though like everyone else behind the carnage their features were indistinct, shadowed forms, though they all appeared to be males. Hefting his own sword, he charged into the ranks of enemies, a howling battle-cry streaming from his lips even as he swung the massive piece of metal…

"GAH!" Daniel Kheen shot up from his bed gasping, sweat soaking his sheets through. He ran one hand through his black, hair, his icy blue eyes hidden behind closed lids. A whine from the side caught his attention as his dog, a large wolf-like beast he'd named Fenrir, nudged at his hand with his cold wet nose. Daniel sighed as he stroked the dogs head. "Yeah boy, same thing as two days ago. I'm starting to think someone's trying to tell me something, but I'll be damned if I can figure out what it is." With that he turned and slid out of bed, giving the picture next to it his now customary, "morning dad".

The picture showed a black man in an American military uniform tickling a younger Daniel unmercifully, ice blue eyes shining happily while his mother, a Japanese national, shook her head and smiled in exasperation at the antics of her boys. That had been some years ago, before his father had died. Now they were living in his mother's home district of Juuban, having finished moving less than two months ago. Fenrir had been his first real friend in the area, as all of the kids tended to be a bit wary of him. Since his dad had been an American, a gaijin or "outsider", he wasn't looked upon with much favor by the more traditional parents in the area. And, kids being kids, the local children tended to keep away from him as well. Then one day when he'd been scouting out the neighborhood…

As Daniel passed by an alleyway, a flurry of motion caught his eye, before the muffled sound of a bottle breaking across flesh hit his ears, followed by a spoiled little kid's voice shrieking, "Yeah, hit the stupid mutt again!" As he got closer he saw exactly what was going on. A group of little punks had cornered a stray dog and were throwing whatever they could lay their grimy little hands on. The poor thing seemed almost dead on its feet and was whimpering as it tried to avoid the projectiles. Daniel had to raise a brow at that, most dogs he'd met would have ripped into the little punks by now, but this one seemed to be looking for a way out without having to go through the kids. Suddenly the canine made eye contact, and a shiver of… something went down the teen's spine.

He didn't know why, but he had to help that dog.

"OY! WHAT THE FECK ARE YOU LITTLE BRATS DOING?!" Normally Daniel was a somewhat quiet person, but when he got pissed, he could shame a banshee with the volume he cranked out. The punks scattered like the little roaches they were, leaving the dog to look warily at the teen. Daniel approached cautiously, hands out and low, crooning something just beyond hearing for a human.

But whatever was in his voice, the dog liked it, and so slumped to the ground with a pained grunt, to begin licking at its wounds. As Daniel got closer, he noticed that the dog, a male, had a bloody gash going from the forehead down diagonally across his left eye. The wound was bleeding profusely, and Daniel knew that that without medical treatment the dog would soon bleed to death.

"Alright boy, just stay calm…" Gently, so as not to spook him, Daniel slid his arms under the dog, noting the healthy sheen to his coat as he did so. The dog was a little thin true, but seemed to be in fairly good health, without any parasites that Daniel could see. "Let's get you somewhere they can help you." He remembered seeing a clinic down the road, perhaps they'd be able to help the poor thing.

A half hour later he was sitting beside a medical table, softly stroking the dogs unusually thick fur. He was asleep, knocked out by the doctor, who luckily had been an animal lover. After anesthetizing the poor thing, Daniel had helped the Doc stitch the deep gash. Now he was waiting for his mother to show up, as he'd borrowed the doctor's phone to tell her what was going on. He looked up as the door chime sounded, to see his mother walking in. She gave a soft smile as she saw him, before taking in the rather large dog beside him. Her eyes widened a bit, but she kept smiling.

"Couldn't leave him behind, could you?" she asked gently, smoothing her son's hair. He shook his head. "So much like your father," she sighed, before a muffled "wuf" caught the pair's attention. The dog was awake now, and watching the two humans with wise seeming amber eyes. His tail beat a muffled tattoo on the metal of the exam table, and Yuki Kheen couldn't help but sigh to herself. She already knew that her son felt responsible for the dog by now, and to tell the truth she missed just having more than herself and Daniel in the house. Luckily it had been left to her by her father and was fairly decent sized.

"So," she clapped her hands together and smiled brightly, "What's his name?"

Daniel looked at his mom for a second, before sharing a look with the dog. "Fenrir, my mom is so cool!" Fenrir yipped in agreement, tail going a mile a minute.

Now it was a week later and Daniel was getting to the edges of the neighborhood. He had barely scratched the surface of the ward as a whole, but had gotten a fairly detailed mental map of the area surrounding his house. He was trying to get as much of the area memorized as possible before school started up again in a few weeks. As Daniel rounded a corner into a long alley, a prickle of something seemed to tug at the very edge of his consciousness. He stopped for a moment, before a series of loud screams rent the air. Instincts ingrained from years living among fighting men had Daniel running towards the other end of the alley, Fenrir hot on his heels. But as he turned the final bend and emerged into the bright sunlight again, he stopped in shock.

Daniel gaped at the scene in front of him. On one side were the girls headlines had proclaimed to be the "protectors of love and justice", the Sailor Scouts. On the other were… some things with really damn big teeth and claws that appeared to have been interrupted mid-way though terrorizing the local populace. The blond dual-pigtailed girl stepped up and took a pose that some would call cute, some would call stupid, and that Daniel could only call retarded as all get-out

"Halt fiends! I am Sailor Moon, and in the name of the moon I will put an end to your evil!"

Daniel could only think of one thing to say to that. "She really needs to hire a writer or something."

The other girls all began to introduce themselves as well, each one taking a somewhat ridiculous pose to match their leaders. It would have been funny if it hadn't been such a tactical blunder. As they finished their rather lengthy introduction, Daniel couldn't help but wonder why the hell the monsters had just stood there instead of ripping the girls to pastel colored shreds. Then the monsters began to roar and clash their claws together.

Apparently they'd just realized what an opportunity they'd missed themselves. But even as they advanced on the Scouts Daniel felt that same prickle on the edge of his consciousness as before, except ten, no, a hundred times stronger than before.

At that moment twin reports like thunderclaps sounded, and the two monsters collapsed with holes through their midriffs, before they crumbled to dust. Standing behind them were two creatures that seemed even more horrible than the two they'd just slain, for their close resemblance to humans.

They were both about six foot seven, with deep blue, almost purple skin. Their ears were pointed and feathered, looking something like bats wings. Two fangs peeked over the edge of their lower lips, giving them a vampire-ish cast, and both were clad in loose, tattered gray gi, with belts made of chain. But one had huge, rock-like fists with sharp-looking bone protrusions on the four knuckles, and the other had gigantic metallic feet, with long, ripping claws tipping each toe. And while the previous two monsters had been vaguely female, with lumps that seemed to have suggested breasts on their chests, these two were definetely male.

In his head, Daniel felt a surge of raw rage alongside a torrent of strange energy, while a silvery mark began to flicker to life on his palm, fading in and out. A phantom glint shone around his opposite wrist, pulsing in time to the mark on his palm.

"Looks like the Boss seriously overestimated these chicks Swingz," the steel-footed one rumbled in a gravelly voice. His partner laughed, the sound obnoxious and braying, before nodding his head. His voice was as grating as his laugh when he spoke.

"Guess you're right Kickz. The energy they're putting off collectively isn't even enough to frighten a class Charlie! Maybe we should have just let the youma take them out instead; this probably won't be worth the effort."

"Or be much fun," Kickz added. Sailor Mars found her tongue at that moment, shaking off the shock of seeing what looked like a youma turn on its own kind.

"What the heck ARE you?!" She screeched. Mercury, who had been tapping away at her Mercury computer, spoke up tremulously.

"T-they appear to be some sort of youma, but the energy levels they're giving off dwarf anything we've ever run into before!"

Swingz laughed again. "Youma?!" He sneered, before spitting on the pile of dust that had been the creature he'd killed. "Don't make me laugh girlie. We're a breed apart. We're youkai!"

That declaration seemed to snap the other Scouts out of their trances. Sailor Moon began to assume another stance, saying "Well whatever you are, you're obviously evil so in the name of the Mo-OOF!" She was interrupted as Swingz suddenly seemed to blur, crossing the intervening distance in half an instant, and burying his fist in Moon's gut, sending the girl flying even as a small spray of blood erupted from her mouth. "Shaddup you twit," he growled, before backhanding the tall girl, Jupiter, into a brick wall, reducing it to rubble.

Even as the girls were being attacked by Swingz, Kickz hooked his claws into the pavement and ripped up a section of concrete. With a deft flex of his leg he sent it up into the air, before pivoting on his heel and using the same foot to shatter the block, the shrapnel spraying outwards towards the three upright girls; hands placidly clasped behind his back the entire time. Mars and Venus covered their faces, preventing eye loss, but they were still cut by the jagged stone on their arms and any other exposed skin. Mercury was hit in the stomach by a large, slightly rounded chunk. Her magically tough leotard/armor held, but she had the wind knocked out of her and she swore she heard a rib crack.

Kickz lazily resumed the posture he'd had before. Swingz blurred once again, coming to rest beside his companion and crossing his formidable arms. He spat on the ground again in disgust. "Pah, these little creampuffs ain't shit! Where's the real opponents? I swear if Adamantite woke us up just for this I'm gonna have words with him, General or not!"

Daniel clutched at his head as the strange energy pounded through his veins. A deep voice from beside him spoke up, though he couldn't tell who spoke. "Stop fighting it and work with it or you may be next!"

At that moment a feral growl burst through Daniels lips, seeming to roll like thunder through the surrounding area as a series of images poured thorough his head, a feeling like a key turning in a lock deep inside his psyche shuddering through him. The mark on his palm leapt into full clarity, a silvery ring of broken chains entwining each other, surrounding a paw print. On his wrist a silver bracer leapt into existence. Acting on seeming instinct he slammed his palm onto the bracer, a spark of energy flaring. A distant memory stirred, and he cried out in a voice that was raw and rough with power "CRY HAVOC AND LET SLIP THE DOGS OF WAR!!"

The bracer seemed to shiver, before glowing white-hot like molten steel. It began to expand, first down his hand, turning into a polished gauntlet, then backtracking up his arm. Everywhere the glow touched was incased in the same silvery armor. It continued to spread, picking up speed as it reached his torso A silvery plate, molded to fit comfortably to his chest appeared, followed by a loose collection of armor around his legs that afforded both protection and mobility at once while hardly seeming to weigh anything at all. As the glow reached his toes, covering his feet in tough looking pointy-toed steel boots, the glow around his neck, which had stopped, as if waiting for something, flared. He heard a clanking sort of "click" as something covered the lower back half and the entire upper half of his head. A sheet of darkness fell over his eyes for a moment, before bright light flared and he could see once more. His range of vision seemed unimpaired, but he knew he was wearing a half helmet of some kind. Finally, he "felt" the energy concentrating itself on his back, before a hefty weight settled there. Reaching back, he felt the hilt of a large sword placed perfectly for a rapid overhand draw. As his hand closed about that hilt, a rush of information hit him. Instantly he seemed to know the forms and style to make this blade one of the most devastating things on the field of combat.

Stepping into the light, he growled at the two youki, that same rage from before making him feel wild and dangerous. The monsters froze, as did the Sailor Scouts, who were picking themselves up woozily. "Who the hell are you?" snapped Kickz. Beneath the edge of his helmet, a dangerous grin spread as he reached slowly for the sword on his back, the words coming to him from someplace in him he usually couldn't reach except in his dreams.

"The ladies can call me Wolf. You two won't be hanging around long enough to call me anything." With that he drew the sword from his back in one fluid motion. Even he was put off by the sheer size of the blade when he actually saw it; it was huge. It seemed to have been modeled after a Scottish Claymore, with a straight blade that was sharpened on both sides, a blood channel running down the center. The cross guard was worked into the shape of a pair of crouching wolves, with their tails twisting down to form the hilt and curl round the pommel. And the sword seemed to be steaming in the air, white wisps curling around the blade. It took only a moment for Daniel (or rather, Wolf) to realize that the blade was actually cold, rather than hot.

Kickz gave a devilish grin as Swingz cracked the knuckles in one hand, each one going off like a small cannon. "Kickz, you take out the trash, I'll start tenderizing the new punching bag." With that he flexed his hands, causing the bony protrusions to lengthen and sharpen, until he looked like he had bone cleavers sprouting from each knuckle. Behind the youkai, the girls were pulling themselves together. Mars, her eyes alight with fury, growled.

"That was a cheap shot. FIRE SOUL!!" Kickz did a graceful jete, the stream of fire blasting past his head harmlessly. Jupiter stood, arms crossed in front of her as a small antennae rose from her headband, crackling electricity swirling around her for a moment before she released it. "SUPREME THUNDER!!" Kickz merely leapt to the side, using the hooked claws on his feet to adhere to the side of a building for a moment before springing away in an erratic pattern that was almost eye-burning in its speed and randomness. Blurring just like Swingz had, he reappeared mid-motion kicking Mars in the small of the back. She was flung like a rag doll, landing insensate nearly ten yards away even as Kickz leapt again. He lit gently on the ground behind a shaking Sailor Venus, who knew, without a doubt, that she was going to die.

Wolf saw the situation from where he was desperately blocking and parrying the snake-strike quick punches that Swingz was throwing at him, grunting with each that found its mark. The youkai hit with the force of a rampaging tank, but his armor seemed to take the blows and redistribute the force throughout the entire suit, making a blow that would cleave an Abrams in half survivable. A detached, bemused portion of his mind noted that even the few courses in self-defense he'd taken from a few Marines at his father's last couple of bases were no explanation for how he was moving now, like a battle-hardened warrior, even if his body wasn't used to following these new muscle memories he seemed to have acquired. But the immediate concern of saving the blonde Sailor Scout's life was foremost in his mind. But no matter what he thought of, he couldn't reach her in time!

"Dark Soul Sandstorm!" A spinning cone of what looked like ink black sand slammed into the youkai's chest, knocking him off balance and allowing Venus a chance to escape as a humanoid shadow flowed into the space she had just occupied, taking up a stance against the monster. "About time you "woke up" Boss, I've had to take out two more of these creeps before they could get to the powder-puff patrol for the past month by myself!"

--At the Same Time--

"Sailor Moon!" A black cat streaked across the battlefield to where her princess was lying prone. The punch from Swingz had knocked her senseless, and she showed no signs of coming too anytime soon. The black cat nudged at the girl's head, vainly trying to get her to wake. A footfall in the darkness of the alley Moon had landed at the head of had Luna snapping to attention. "Who's there?" she quavered. A pair of basso chuckles was the only response. "I-I warn you, don't come near me, I'm very powerful!" Luna had started to back towards Moon when she ran up against a rather thin, hairy leg.

"Hello little moon-cat," A voice like black silk said in a peculiar combination of a purr and a growl. Luna yowled as she leapt into the air, coming muzzle-to-muzzle with a jet black cross between a jackal and a greyhound. "Been a long time, hasn't it furball?" Luna yowled and leapt straight up once again as another voice, this one deep as Artic snowdrifts, sounded behind her. Coming down she landed smack-dab on the muzzle of… Fenrir? Yes, the wolfish dog was there as well, the quartered circle scar on his brow glinting strangely in the half-light.

Luna dashed away as quickly as possible, nearly cowering in front of Moon's prone form even as she attempted to muster together enough courage to defend her princess should these creatures (they'd spoken after all, and as far as she could recall no animals except Moon Cats were blessed with that particular gift) attack, when they sniffed the air and turned away.

Fenrir glanced over at his old packmate Anubis, utilizing one of the oldest canine abilities in existence, the Pack Voice, a form of group telepathy. 'It's really a shame that her memory was sealed like that, you'd think their precious Moon Crystal would be a bit more… effective, putting in memory triggers and degrading blocks instead of sealing the whole lump sum and only letting it trickle through a little at a time. It may cause some problems until she can remember us.'

Anubis snorted 'The Lunarians placed far too much stock in "order" and "light" being the end-all-be-all of Good. To achieve the things you're talking about would require a fine ability to meld chaotic and ordered energies. As far as we know only the Gaia Heart can do something like that, even if it can't wield raw power on the same scale as the Moon Crystal.' The jackal tilted his head as a cry reached his ears. 'It appears that my own ward has joined the fray. Shall we see how well the two of them can cooperate?'

--Back at the Fight--

Venus gaped at the dark stranger who stood over her protectively. He wore a black trench-coat that flapped in the wind his attack had kicked up, under which she saw deep purple body armor of some sort. The small amounts of skin that showed were well bronzed, and the traces of hair that slipped from beneath he back of his helmet were glossy and black. He wore a half-helmet like Wolf, one crafted to resemble the Egyptian god of the Dead, Anubis, and like his lupine counter-part he carried weaponry, a pair of bladed tonfa that seemed to drink in the light around them. The tips of the weapons were slightly elongated, and the blade was thicker at the center than it should have been, Venus noted absently, still a bit bemused from the save. He turned and gave her a calculating look that she felt even through the dark lenses of his helmet, and for a moment Venus felt a sense of deja-vu.

"I suggest you get off your shapely ass and help me here," the dark young man growled. Venus actually blushed at the complement hidden in the order and began to rise, before the he fell on top of her, knocking her back down on her "shapely" ass. "Up or down, make up your mind!" she screeched, before realizing that he'd saved her from another kicking attack by the impossibly powerful youkai. With a spin of his legs and hips that had Venus wincing and rubbing at her spine just from watching, he was on his feet once more. He motioned to Kickz with one of his blades. "C'mon bigfoot, the Jackal's got a special place in hell all set up just for you."

Opposite this scene, Wolf was beginning to gain an upper hand against Swingz. Each time the youkai struck out the young man moved his blade to block with only a twitch of his wrist. And each time Swingz made contact with the blade his hands came back with ice peeling off of the jagged blades protruding from his knuckles. The cold was slowly starting to sap even his more than considerable strength as he tried to get around this seemingly expert swordsman's defenses.

Behind his helmet, Wolf winced as he barely managed to turn aside another earth shattering blow, the vibrations that rang through the sword, into his gauntlets and then into his very bones threatening to shatter his skeleton from the inside out. 'I need a way to attack from a distance!' he though frantically. Even as he thought this his body seemed to go into auto-pilot, making an astounding ten foot leap back as he brought his sword around to his side like a batter about to swing. Streams of phantom colors began to swirl around the blade, before weaving together, coming to a point some six inches off the tip of the sword. "AURORA BLADE!!" He swung, and as he did so the bright colors lengthened like a whip, slashing into Swingz's chest. The youkai wasn't even able to whimper as his entire body froze, before crumbling to a heap of icy particles. Wolf had to lean on his sword, panting heavily as his energy levels plummeted. 'That was… most definitely… a "finishing move",' he thought to himself as he struggled to stay upright. A slight groan from next to him caught his attention.

Mars was sprawled out in a heap, her fuku torn and her leg twisted beneath her at an angle that made Daniel wince. Hobbling over, he set the leg straight as quickly as possible, before checking her pulse and pupils like an old medic had taught him. Breathing seemed to be normal for a human, and her eyes didn't look dilated, so it appeared she wasn't in shock, but truly unconscious.

Wolf sat back on his heels, rubbing his face (what he could reach of it anyway), and sighed to himself. "Okay, I've got some scraps here that I can use for the main part of a splint, but I need some bandages or rags to tie the whole thing together until she can get medical attention or whatever it is that magical girls do when they get hurt." He shut up as he realized he was beginning to babble. Not very professional for a… he looked down at his armor and sword and raised a mental brow… whatever he was.

"Mew?"

Daniel looked up to find a white tom cat looking at him from a few feet away. There was a long scrap of cloth that seemed to be wound around his legs, making it difficult for him to move. Daniel slowly moved towards him, making sure not to make any threatening motions. The cat seemed nervous, but Daniel began to talk to him in what he hoped was a soothing voice.

"Hey there fella, looks like you got tangled pretty bad huh? Well it looks like we can help each other out. I need that cloth, and you need to get rid of it, so just stay calm and… there." He carefully unwound the strip of cloth from the cat, before hurrying back to Mars. Behind him the cat seemed to give a sigh of relief, before bounding off. A few short moments later, Mars' leg was in a crude looking, but effective splint. As he finished, he heard a shout from back at the battle. Checking over his work once more to make sure it was secure he grabbed his sword and ran out of the alley. The brief break he'd taken to tend to the fiery girl's wounds had slightly reenergized him. He was ready to finish this.

Jackal twisted and flowed through Kickz's powerful string of attacks like a dancer, seeming to contort his body in impossible ways in order to avoid those crushing blows. In reality he was using the length of his coat to mask his movements and make him into a large, insubstantial target, instead of a smaller, much more corporeal one. Twisting his bladed tonfa so that they began to spin along the sides of his arms, he concentrated his energies into them, mumbling something in a deep, guttural tongue. A deep black aura formed over the blades; leaving a diabolical looking vapor trail as they spun, which solidified into a solid disk of energy. He flung his arms forward at the same time, performing an odd twist with his wrists as he did so. The two disks seemed to writhe and flow through the air, spinning together into a black vortex that solidified as it went.

The entire process had taken all of a second and a half.

"Dark Soul Sandstorm!" The blast caught Kickz square in the chest, knocking him to the ground. The youkai snarled, and tried to get back to his feet, but found the ground he was on had frozen solid, sticking to him like a tongue to a frozen flag pole. The trapped youkai craned his head and saw Wolf squatting at the edge of the ice, one hand flat on the ground. "Tundra Trapper," the teen gasped under his now visible breath. However the previous use of the Aurora Blade had sapped most of his strength, enfeebling this new technique. With a sickening wrench, Kickz tore himself loose, leaving a fair amount of skin and muscle tissue behind in the process. He stood unsteadily, black ichor dripping from his wounds, and took a stance.

But before he could move Jackal was in front of him in a stance of his own, one tonfa extended low, the other held close at neck level and both legs planted firmly. He exploded into a storm of motion, arms becoming so many blurs as he stabbed the youkai innumerable times. After an eternity (ten seconds) of motion, he leapt away from the stock-still Kickz, and crossed his tonfa in front of his chest. "FADE TO BLACK…" he whispered in a voice that resonated through the street, before sliding his tonfa away from each other with a hiss of steel. A visible spark of black energy connected the two blades for a moment as he did so, before arcing out and touching Kickz's chest lightly. The results were spectacular.

Every cut and slice Jackal had inflicted in that impossibly long ten seconds began to pulse with dark light, cracks in his armor-like hide spreading out from the original openings. The light pulsed once more, and the youkai shattered like a glass statue.

Jackal dropped his arms to his sides and then; with a twist and a flourish, concealed his weapons in his sleeves. He smirked at Daniel. "Hmph, looks like you've got some skills Boss. Took me twice as long to put my first youkai down, and I had Anubis coaching me from the sidelines." Daniel stared at him, and the other masked figure's visible face puckered a little. "You just started didn't you?" Daniel cocked his head to the side, not trusting himself to speak.

"This whole thing, you didn't know about it until just this second, did you? The armor, the weapons, the powers, you're still sure it's just a dream, aren't you?" Daniel nodded slightly, before casting a look towards the Sailor Scouts, who were slowly turning towards them with hesitant looks.

"I believe this discussion would be best conducted in private," he said, pitching his voice lower than it actually was. Jackal nodded, before palming something. A flick of his wrists produced two dense clouds of gray smoke. For a moment Daniel was disoriented, before a figure dashed by him. "Take to the roofs, then move to the alleys. Meet me in the junkyard five blocks northwest." Then the figure was gone. Daniel leapt, found a foothold on a small ledge, then leapt again, rising out of the smoke cloud. He landed lightly on the rooftops, and began to leap away, each bound seeming to cover more and more distance even as his legs settled into a sort of intense half-run that he felt he could keep up for hours.

Two blocks away from the battlefield, he dropped into an alley, noiselessly bounding off the sides of the walls on his way down, never losing an ounce of speed. When he hit the pavement he reoriented himself, using the sun as his compass, and took off for the junkyard. He'd stumbled across it before, a small lot that was consigned to the holding of various pieces of large mechanical junk that the owner didn't feel like getting rid of. It was something of a rarity in space starved Japan, where every extra inch cost an arm and a leg to acquire.

With a minor flex of his legs he hopped the wooden fence surrounding the place, and landed quietly on the roof of an old car with its engine removed. Keeping one hand near the hilt of his sword, he moved through the shadows of the junkyard, senses on high alert for anything out of the ordinary. He froze as pebbles skittered off of something metal, then turned to face the opposite direction the sound had come from. Jackal was standing behind him, what showed of his face harder than granite.

"Good, you've got both instincts and the intellect to know when they're being fooled. You'll need them." Gone was the informal speech the dark teen had used before, each word now sounded deliberate and much thought upon. His voice had also dropped nearly an entire octave, the slightly hoarse inflection indicating that he'd been pitching it higher earlier. One of Daniel's eyebrows rose and, unknown to him, so did the matching eyebrow on his mask. Jackal gave a cool smirk at that, guessing the cause.

"I find it much easier to maintain my separate identities if I alter my speech patterns while in uniform, so to speak. However, as we are allies according to my guardian I see no need to do so while it is only us." The other brow lifted.

"Guardian?"

"That's right kid, guardian," A new voice interjected. Both Jackal and Daniel turned to the source, and Daniel very nearly fell flat on his ass in shock. "This has gotta be a hallucination, either that or I've cracked!"

Fenrir shook his grizzled muzzle as he stepped fully into the light. "Neither one pup. You're quite sane, and under no sort of drugged influence. The fact of the matter is; you're a VIP of the highest magnitude, a member of a club so exclusive that there are only ten members."

Daniel shook his head, a strained grin on his lips. "Ten members huh? Well that rules out Akatsuki at least." Fenrir snorted.

"This is serious business pup. You are the reincarnate of one of the ten members of the Council of Elemental Lords of Earth, the Lord of the Frozen Wastes and wielder of the Borealis."

"Waitta minute, I thought there were only four major elements. And what do you mean "of Earth"?"

Fenrir raised his lips in a wolf's approximation of a smile. "The Chinese circle of ten elements is more accurate than you'd think, and it allows for a greater balance of powers than the western earth, wind, water and fire. They are Fire, Water, Ice, Wind, Light, Darkness, Wood, Earth, Lightning and Steel. And as for being of Earth, those young women you just saved?"

"The Sailor Scouts, right?"

"Yes. They are reincarnates as well, but of five of the Princesses of the nine planets of this solar system."

"So wouldn't that mean that one of them would represent the Earth?"

"I can see that this Q&A session is going to take some time pup. You might want to remove your armor, and then we should probably move to a more… secure location."

"And how do I do that?"

"Simply will the armor to return whence it came."

Daniel shook his head, but closed his eyes. 'Return whence you came,' he thought at the armor as best he could. As soon as the thought was completed, he felt the armor begin to slide up from his feet, and down his neck, heading for his right wrist. He opened his eyes to see a steel bracer with a running wolf etched in silver on it.

"There. And whenever you need the armor again, merely place you hand upon it and speak the activation code."

"Cry havoc and all that, right?"

"Catchy, isn't it?" rasped Jackal, who'd removed his own armor without Daniel noticing. The teen beneath was darkly tanned, and obviously of Arabian descent, having an almost sheik-like profile, with more than a hint of desert bandit. His eyes were a dark grey, nearly to the point of being black. He was now dressed in gray pants, with a dark blue shirt, black jacket and black tennis shoes.

"Not a very colorful person, are you…"

"Ramses, Ramses Ikmarial."

"Daniel Kheen. Pleasure to meet you Ramses."

"The same to you Daniel."

"Now then, I think we should adjourn to one of the safe houses we've scouted out before we get to the real meat and potatoes of this story." Daniel checked his watch then blanched.

"Actually I've got six minutes to be home for dinner." Daniel paused for a minute. "Care to come with? Mom'll be thrilled that I've made a friend. Well," he threw a glance at Fenrir, "a human friend anyway."

Ramses shrugged. "I'm not expected home for some time. I'll simply call my father and tell him that I'm at a friend's."

Daniel nodded. "Right then. You won't regret it, my mom makes some of the greatest pot stickers this side of the Japanese Sea!"

--

Later on, Daniel and Ramses were sequestered in Daniel's room, with Anubis and Fenrir laying down on the floor, while the two boys lounged on chairs.

"So what's the deal with these Planetary Princesses?"

"Right. Well, eons ago the planet was actually quite technologically advanced, as were the other planets. Each planet was it's own kingdom, but the greatest of them was the Moon Kingdom. The earth was actually considered a bit of a backwater for a few reasons. One, we were the only ones who still practiced the arts of war as a means of self defense, mainly because there were several wild factions of creatures that have been relegated to myth by today's societies; such as vampires, werewolves, kappa, kitsune, all sorts. Another was that the planet was severely underdeveloped when compared to the other planets. The third was that we refused to be a part of the "Empire" the Moon Kingdom had constructed though alliances with the rest of the solar system. While we would gladly lend our aid as allies should the need arise, we were too independent to commit ourselves to some alliance of dainty courtiers. The people of Earth were a hardy, rough race; something akin to those Saiya-jins from that show you like so much, though far less brutal in most cases."

Anubis began to speak then. "There was only one king of Earth at any one time, but he always deferred to the Elemental Lords when matters concerning the entire planet were brought up. Each Lord ruled over a certain portion of the globe, though they were more in the way of being caretakers than rulers. You," the jackal-like creature nodded at Daniel, "were in charge of what's now the Northern Arctic Circle, encompassing most of upper North America, specifically upper Canada; and Northern Eurasia, while you," he gestured at Ramses with a paw, "were actually more of a traveling trouble-shooter, along with the Lords of Light, Wind, and Lightning. Although," he sounded thoughtful now, "The Lords of Darkness habitually made their permanent homes around the area now called Egypt." Daniel had to stifle a chuckle at the thought of any good guy being called "The Lord of Darkness".

"At the time, the next Heir Apparent, Prince Endymion was also a member of the council, the Lord of Wind. He was also courting one of the Princesses, though I can't remember which one. It meant he spent quite a bit of time up on the Moon Kingdom. Myself and Fenrir are more along the lines of military advisers than anything, and so neither one of us went with him unless needed for protocol." The jackal gave a canine smile "We usually ended up either chasing the protocol advisor up a tree, or lounging around with the head of palace security; who was a fairly laid back fella outside tactical situations." Daniel and Ramses both raised an eyebrow at that. "Don't give me that look, they were mooncats, we're Terran canines. It was expected." The canine grin faded though, as Anubis' voice grew somber.

"Unfortunately the good times didn't last. One of the ladies of the Terran Court got it into her head that she deserved to be in charge of everything, whether it was terrestrial or not. Lady by the name of Beryl. Got mixed up with a REAL nasty being called Metallia from a parallel negative dimension called the "Negaverse". She managed to corrupt six of the most powerful people on the planet at the time, the four captains of the Prince's Royal Guard, and two of the Lords themselves, the former Lords of Wood and Lightning, who each believed that they weren't as "respected" as the other Lords. They broke ranks and joined her, warped by their own greed and the mind-altering energies of the Negaverse." The jackal looked down, and Fenrir took over the story.

"Beryl split her forces, taking the four Captains, now the "Four Kings of Heaven"," he nodded as Daniel snorted and Ramses raised one brow, "Yes, pretentious as hell, but by that time they were so full of themselves that they really believed in those titles. Anyway, she laid siege to the Moon Empire, using creatures drawn from the Negaverse alongside the Four's considerable power. However the other two, being former Lords were exponentially more powerful, and able to command vast hordes of twisted abominations that far outstripped the beings the "Four Kings" commanded in terms of power. They were called Youkai, to differentiate between them and the less powerful but more plentiful Youma. They remained on Earth as a distraction for the Lords and their armies. Near the tail end of the war the Prince managed to make a break for the Moon to see if he could help out. You gentlemen stayed as a rearguard. Next thing I know, the Gaia Heart is going ballistic, there's a huge pulse of pure Order energy from the moon palace, and then BAM!" he smacked his paw on the floor, "Lights out." Now Anubis took over again.

"We've surmised that the Moon Kingdom's ultimate weapon, the Silver Imperium Crystal, was used in some fashion that angered the Gaia Heart, prompting it to force us, the Fallen Lords and the Youkai we were facing into some form of stasis, since it was incapable of destroying them outright, while reincarnating all of the Lords, including a new Wood and Lightning."

Daniel felt it was finally time to interject. "You've mentioned this "Gaia Heart" twice now, what is it?"

Anubis looked solemn. "The Gaia Heart is the focal point of all of Earth's energy and will. It is a living crystal that has an ability that is native only to the creatures of earth though on a much grander scale, the ability to flawlessly combine Chaotic and Ordered energy, meaning it was able to do things that the purely Order based Silver Imperium Crystal could never be capable of, no matter the fact that it was nearly ten times as powerful as the Heart. The Lords took turns guarding it, but I can't recall who had it before the forced stasis."

Ramses nodded. "So what's our game plan now?"

"Right now we need to concentrate on finding the other Lords and their advisers, military or otherwise; most especially the Prince."

"How are we supposed to do that, they could be scattered around the globe."

Fenrir nodded. "Most likely they were when they first reincarnated, but we can sense one another and the other Lords. And since we've awakened, it means that the Gaia Heart is active once more. Furthermore the Youkai that you both defeated today means that the Fallen and their minions have been woken as well. The two of you together are no match for that army, only the Lords as a united group were ever able to take them with any hope of winning."

"But there's only two of them!" Daniel protested. Fenrir nodded sagely.

"Yes, two of them with magnified Nega-Verse powers and an army at their backs, not to mention decades more field experience then either of you possess, former life memories notwithstanding. Trust me pup, we need at LEAST half the Lords together to stand a fighting chance."

Ramses cleared his throat. "That still doesn't explain how we're supposed to get to them." Anubis and Fenrir shared a look, before the jackal answered.

"You're not, they'll come to you. Like my colleague said, the advisers can sense the Lords. The more of you that are gathered in one place, the greater the power signature you send out. The different advisers will sense that concentration of power and lead their respective Lords to it, further magnifying the power signature. I suspect that the Heart will also work behind the scenes to bring you all together as well, changing small details to lead to the conclusions it wants."

Daniel nodded in understanding. "A conciously controlled Butterfly Effect."

"Exactly. Although when this hurricane hits, it's going to be more than just a little windstorm."

At the Hino shrine, things were less sanguine.

"Ooooh, my stomach," Usagi groaned. All of the Scouts had gathered to lick their wounds before going to their respective homes. Makoto had ended up carrying Rei all the way back, the girls broken leg mending slowly. She wouldn't be walking again for a little while, but thankfully they were still on summer break, for what it was worth. Ami was still cradling her ribcage, mindful of the tenderness even as her accelerated healing took care of the damage, while Minako was still dazed by the hits she'd taken before being saved. Suddenly Rei snapped at the ditzier of the two blonds.

"Stop whining meatball-head, we've got more important things to think about than the fact that you're still sore! We all got completely thrashed, and if those two guys hadn't shown up when they did we'd be dead. D-E-A-D, DEAD! Those things weren't after our energy, they were after our heads! If those two guys in armor hadn't shown up we'd have been killed; easily." Makoto spoke up then.

"Speaking of which, who WERE they?! They weren't Scouts, that much is for sure. They used weapons, kinda like Tuxedo Mask and his cane and rose. But they were a lot more... involved, in the actual fighting." Usagi looked indignant at this slight against her handsome hero, but Makoto waved her hands, trying to calm her friend. "Not that Mask isn't a great help, but these guys really tore into those things."

Minako put one finger under her chin in thought, looking up at the ceiling as the neurons fired. "Maybe we should try and contact them, get their help?"

"Absolutely NOT!" The girls all froze as Luna made herself heard for the first time during the "meeting". "We don't know that this entire debacle wasn't just a set-up by Beryl and her forces! Those men may be as monstrous as the creatures they destroyed!" Then Artemis spoke up, though the dry tone in his voice had most of the girls checking their ears.

"I sincerely doubt that "monsters" would take the time to set and splint a broken leg of an unconscious enemy, even one they were trying to fool; especially when they thought they were unobserved." Luna opened her mouth, but the normally easy-going Artemis cut her off with a glare. "I've remembered a bit of my past too Luna, and as it turns out I was head of the Security detail for the Palace. Dealing with these sorts of situations was my job."

"Be that as it may I am the Senior Advisor here, and I do not believe that those men can be trusted."

"Men? C'mon Luna they were barely older than any of the girls if their heights were anything to go by."

"What do you mean "if their height's were anything to go by", they were extremely tall, far too tall to be that young."

"Luna you seem to forget that not everyone on this island originated here. The skin tones for the two weren't matching anything I've seen in my time wandering the city, and they both spoke with foreign accents, although they tried fairly hard to hide them. I'd have to say that they're more than likely from the West, meaning that their heights are perfectly acceptable for someone around the girls' age." Artemis' eyes narrowed as his ears flattened against his head. "Something got you spooked and whatever it is you think it has to do with these two warriors. Now are we going to have to play 20 Questions, or are you gonna get over your ego and tell us what happened?"

The Scouts heads were flashing back and forth between the two cats, having never seen this kind of disagreement between them. Luna bristled a bit, before she slumped down, all energy leaving her.

"Very well then. I wanted to wait until we had more information but I see you won't let this lie." She proceded to detail her encounter with the two strange canines when she'd gone to check on Sailor Moon. As she finished Artemis looked thoughtful, but not exactly worried.

"So they basically snuck up on you, scared the living daylights out of you, confirmed that they knew what you were, and left without either trying to make some form of introduction or any sort of agressive behaviour?" Luna blinked, she hadn't thought of it like that.

"Well, I suppose so. Why?" Artemis combed one ear with a paw as he sat on his haunches, an intense look on his face.

"I'm not sure, but there's something niggling at the back of my mind, and there doesn't seem to be any sort of unpleasent connotations attached to it. Give me some time to meditate on this and I might be able to recall exactly why those descriptions sound familiar."

Luna sniffed. "Well I don't know about you, but the two of them certainly put me on edge! It wasn't natural hearing something other than a mooncat talk." Artemis actually laughed at that. "What's so funny?"

"You mean you really don't remember the other species? I mean sure we were unique on the moon but I certainly remember several sentient creatures that visited on diplomatic missions from earth at one point or another."

Rei leaned forward, her curiosity aroused. "Like what?"

"Well there was a company that was run by kappas that wanted to try their hand at harvesting some of the valuable aquatic lifeforms on Mars, as well as a little deep-sea excavation for one." Artemis scratched his head for a moment, eyes getting distant as he tried to recall more. "I'm not sure what happened, but the deal fell through a little bit before the war." He shook his head. "Sorry girls, but that's the most I've got on that subject right now. But we're off topic." He got up and began to pace along the lip of the shelf he was on, doing a remarkably good impression of a caged tiger for something so small. "The two most important questions right now are whether or not to trust these two warriors, and to figure out where these "youkai" came from. The two dogs Luna met are irrelevant right now, as they haven't made a move to help or hinder us as far as we can tell; but keep one eye peeled and if any of you see them hanging around, contact the others immediatly and stay in open areas, just to be safe." He looked at Ami. "Ami, could you access the Mercury supercomputer and see what you can dig up? I know most of the data from the Silver Millenium is either halfway incomprehensible or completely corrupted, but it may be the only source of information on the Youkai and this "Adamantite" they mentioned that we've got." His gaze shifted to Rei. "Rei, I'd like to ask for you to see what the Sacred Flame can tell us once you're up to getting back to the shrine. Any information could be vital, even the most innocuous seeming tidbit." Rei nodded.

"What about us?" Makoto asked, leaning forward. Minako and Usagi nodded as well, looking determined. Luna just looked flabbergasted at being ousted from her usual command position by the lazy Artemis.

"We may need to step up patrols, especially if Beryl's gained some new muscle. And we may also need to see about stepping up training as well. Right now Makoto's got an edge over the rest of you when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, but if more of those Youkai show up we'll be in trouble. The way we got man-handled out there today shows that even though we made some serious improvements too many of our victories were more likely luck and lack of skill on the enemy's part."

The girls looked crushed as Artemis seemingly dismissed all of their victories as flukes. He noticed and sat down with a thud. "Now don't look so down girls, I wasn't saying that you haven't done an exemplary job so far; I'm just saying that we've hit an entirely new league of opposition and unless we bring our game up to par we might as well lay down and die. We can't afford to get complacent this late in the game, do you all understand that?"

Surprisingly, the first one to look up was Usagi. Her blue gaze was focused and her normally sweet smile was thinned out in a serious expression. "You're right Artemis. We're too close to finishing this." Makoto nodded.

"We've come too far to fall on our faces now!" Minako punched the air.

"That's right! We've gotta step up to the plate and bring out the beast inside!" Everyone ignored her mangling of yet another saying. Ami gave a small nod as she began to jot down several ideas for areas to begin her search in.

"We've got to keep advancing ourselves!"

Rei nodded quietly, the usually firey Miko deep in thought on the warriors, one in particular. 'Why did he help me? And who is he?'

Luna sighed to herself as she shook here head. When had Artemis become so forceful, not to mention tactically inclined? She didn't like being removed from her position as the lead advisor, but he made far too much sense to ignore. She'd go with it, but at the first sign of him faltering she would take the mantle up again.

In a dark corner of the Negaverse, two shadowed figures sat at a small table, mugs in hand. One took a long draught, then sighed as he wiped his mouth with a mailed arm. "Well, the first wave was almost a complete failure, but it gave us some valuable intel." His voice was rough and deep, with a growling rasp to it.

The second nodded, fingers drumming a quick tattoo out on the tabletop. "Indeed. The question is, which is the more important target? The relatively defenseless but somewhat experienced Scouts? Or the still incomplete band of half-trained Lords?" This one's voice was light and quick, the words almost tumbling out over one another even through great thought appeared to be put into each sentence. His companion nodded, stroking a bearded chin.

"Her Majesty desires the Scouts' destruction above all else, but to ignore the Lords would be like handing them a dagger and showing them our backs. Even if only two have awakened and they only have access to basic abilities and weaponry they're still extremely formidable foes. And we've probably shaken the girls' faith in themselves as well." He sighed once more before draining his mug. "There's no help for it, the introduction and interaction of our two enemy factions invalidates most of the data the Four Kings have gathered on the Scout's behaviour patterns. We need to do more in depth recon if we hope to pinpoint their current vulnerable spots." His companion refilled his mug with a pitcher at hand and the two raised their mugs in a toast.

"To the destruction of the Scouts and Lords."

"To our futures as joint rulers of Earth under Beryl."

There was a quiet 'clink' of glass on glass.