Standard disclaimer - I don't own Sailor Moon. All OCs are mine.

Quick AN to start: I know I said chapter three would be up sometime next week but, what do you know, it all just sort of came together in an afternoon. I hope you enjoy it.

"You just left?!"

Corey cringed. Titus sounded about as mad as he'd expected. He had to admit, his first encounter with the Sailor Senshi hadn't exactly gone as planned. Actually, that was an understatement. It had been a train-wreck. He'd arrived late, just in time to witness Sailor Moon's attack. One of the shadow youma was smashed into dust by a giant pink heart. That had given him pause. Then the one in green – Sailor Jupiter, he thought – lobbed a stream of glowing leaves into the other shadow. Compared to even his 'sword slash' – the name he'd given his ranged attack - those were pretty colourful attacks. The orange Senshi, whose name escaped him, had been injured and he'd thought it best to delay their meeting under the circumstances. Unfortunately, as he was getting ready to leave, he was spotted, and Sailor Jupiter called him out. That brought him to his present situation.

"Yeah…that probably wasn't the best thing to do."

"Not the best thing to do?" Titus repeated. "This is a disaster!"

"That's a bit of an exaggeration, don't you think?"

The cat groaned loudly. "Corey...you made yourself look like the enemy."

"What? No, I didn't!"

"Think about it. Senshi fight shadow youma. Shadow youma hurt one of the Senshi. Senshi see you watching. You didn't help Senshi. Therefore, you are their enemy."

"The sarcasm's not helping, Titus, and I think that's a pretty simplistic way of looking at things." He absently raked a hand through his hair. "I mean, I wasn't even there until the end. I couldn't have helped if I tried!"

"They don't know that, and you didn't exactly stick around to help explain the situation."

"I…" Corey trailed off. "Damn it. You're right."

"I usually am," Titus muttered. After an awkward silence, he looked up at his charge. "You're one to talk about sarcasm."

"Yeah…I guess I am."

"You do have something of a talent for it, I'll admit."

Corey accepted the cat's olive branch. "I really screwed up bad, didn't I?"

Titus sighed. "Well…it was less than ideal, but what's done is done. I can understand your thought process. Dropping in unannounced while the Senshi deal with their wounded is hardly a good time for first introductions."

"Well…what do we do next?" Corey began pacing back and forth. "If we're going to find the princess, we need to team up with the Senshi. Unfortunately, after tonight's screw up, I'll be lucky if Sailor Moon doesn't lob a giant pink heart at me on sight!"

"A giant pink heart?"

"Trust me, it looked like it would hurt."

Titus nodded, growing silent for several second as his tail twitched idly. Corey knew from experience this meant the cat was deep in thought. Finally, he sighed. "Leave it with me. Perhaps I can make contact…reach out and explain the situation."

Corey raised an eyebrow. "Make contact? How exactly are you going to do that?"

"That's why I said leave it with me! I still need to work that part out."

"Yeah, well…work fast." Corey stopped in front of the window, looking out at the city. "I don't think we've seen the last of those shadow youma."

Ami stepped out of Rei's bedroom and slid the door shut quietly behind her. Usagi looked up with eager eyes.

"How's Minako doing?"

Ami smiled reassuringly. "She's sleeping. I've cleaned her wound and stitched her up. It'll hurt for a couple of days but she'll be fine."

"The perks of having a med student on the team," Makoto said with a laugh.

Usagi sighed happily, relieved. "I guess we got lucky."

"Indeed," Ami agreed. "It's not like Minako to be so reckless, not in a fight at least."

Makoto shrugged, glancing towards the bedroom. "It's been a long time since our last battle as Senshi, Ami. Minako said there was only one shadow at first, the other two came through while she was distracted." The brunette shook her head. "It does prove how dangerous these things are though. We really need to make sure we face them as a team."

Usagi nodded in return, still thinking over the events of the last hour. The Guardian Knight had been there, watching while Minako got hurt, and he'd done nothing to help. When confronted, he'd run. Mako was right. Those weren't the actions of a friend. She looked up at the window as Luna and Artemis made their appearance.

"Mina?" the white cat asked, worry clear in his voice.

"She'll be fine," Ami assured him. "She's sleeping in Rei's room." She slid the door partially open, and Artemis nodded wordlessly before disappearing inside.

Luna sat down beside Usagi. She looked around the room, noticing one more absence. "Where's Rei?"

"Performing a fire reading," Usagi replied. "She sensed something from the portal that really threw her off. As soon as we got back here she insisted on doing another reading right away."

Makoto nodded in agreement. "She looked ill standing next to it, like it was making her physically sick."

"Yes…she said it was like the portal was sending out pure anger and hatred," Usagi recalled. "I don't like the sound of that."

"Well," Luna mused, "hopefully she's able to learn something that can help us determine our next move."

A sudden scream interrupted them.

"That's Rei!" Usagi cried, leaping to her feet and running out of the room. She turned left down the hall and pushed the door to the fire chamber open. Makoto, Ami and Luna were right behind her, following her inside. Rei was lying on the floor, shivering uncontrollably. Usagi dropped to her knees beside her, rolling her over and cradling the shrine maiden's head in her lap.

"Rei!" she called, looking down into her friend's eyes. "Rei! It's alright! We're here."

The raven-haired girl blinked several times, slowly looking up and making eye contact. "U-Usagi?"

"Yes, it's me. Everything's okay. What happened?"

Rei slowly sat up, her shoulders still shaking. "I…touched something."

"What do you mean?" Luna asked.

"During my reading…I asked the fire to show me the face of our enemy." She shuddered. "I saw…a great blackness, like a cloud. It…it called me Mars." Rei slowly looked up. "It knew all our names. Our Senshi names. There was so much…so much hate."

"What was it?" Usagi whispered.

"I…don't know. I got the same feelings of rage and hatred that I felt from the portal, but magnified. Whatever it is…it hates us immensely."

Artemis appeared in the doorway. "Is everything alright? I thought I heard a scream."

"Rei saw something. Perhaps our true enemy," Luna said grimly.

"Great," Artemis muttered. "What's our plan?"

"We still don't know anything about it," Ami pointed out. "Where it is, what it's planning…"

"We know it hates us," Makoto argued. "I'd say that means it's coming here, at some point."

"Agreed." Luna looked up to Usagi. "What do you think we should do, Usagi?"

She considered for a moment, considering the situation. They knew next to nothing about the enemy they faced. Their one fight with the shadows had ended quickly. What should they do next? "We need to learn all we can about these shadow creatures. Their strengths, their weaknesses. If they're being controlled by this evil cloud thing that Rei saw, maybe the same weaknesses apply to it?"

"Those are good ideas. Our problem is we don't know when or where these creatures will strike," Ami added. "Their attacks so far appear to have been completely at random. I certainly can't see any pattern to them."

"Then all we can do is wait for the next attack," Luna sighed. "It's hardly the best plan but I don't see a better option."

"Rei?" Usagi asked. "Did you see anything else that might help us?"

Rei was silent for a long time, considering the question. Finally, she replied. "As the cloud reached out towards me…I thought I saw something. Just a flash…like a hint of memory." Her lips pressed into a thin line. "A man in armour."

Artemis stared at her through narrow eyes. "The Guardian Knight?" he asked suspiciously.

Rei shook her head. "I thought so at first too, but…it's hard to explain. It was the same armour, yet somehow different. I don't think it was the same man we saw today."

"Are you sure?" he pressed.

"I…no. I couldn't say for sure either way."

"Looks like we're back to square one," Makoto sighed. "Waiting for an attack to happen."

"Maybe we're looking in the wrong places?" Rei suggested.

"What do you mean?" Usagi asked.

"Think about it. The Guardian Knight has been present both times these creatures have appeared. The shadow in my vision may have sent me an image of him. What if he's the key we're missing?"

Artemis frowned. "You're suggesting the shadows are following him?"

"Perhaps. When I asked the great fire to show me the Guardian Knight, it was very vague. I sensed a feeling of loss…of helplessness. Not exactly what I'd expect from an enemy. I'll admit, my feelings were coloured a little today by his actions following the battle, but…maybe they're chasing him."

"I don't know if that adds up completely," Luna said. "They did attack normal people, after all. Energy seems to be their main focus. The knight may be chasing them, however."

"Which clashes with your theory that he's here to harm Usagi," Rei pointed out, looking over at Artemis.

"That's a theory only…based off good reasoning, mind you, but I have no definitive proof that he's our enemy."

Usagi groaned loudly. "I'm so confused…I don't know what to think anymore!"

"We go with what we've seen so far," Makoto shrugged. "These shadow creatures are definitely our enemies. The Guardian Knight…we've seen him help, with the first shadow, and we've seen him stand by and do nothing, like today. Whether or not he's really on our side…who can say?"

"He may not be on anyone's side," Rei reminded her. "Who says he isn't pursuing his own agenda, just like Tuxedo Mask was with the rainbow crystals?"

"That's true," Usagi agreed reluctantly. She smiled as her thoughts turned to Mamoru. That all seemed like a lifetime ago. She checked her watch. He'd be finishing his shift at the hospital soon. I think I'll call him, she decided. After today, I could use some cheering up.

"For now, let's just consider him neutral," Ami suggested. "He may not be out to kill us, but he's not necessarily going to help us either."

"Agreed," Usagi said, nodding slowly. She turned to look at into the flames of the great fire, wishing she could see into them the way Rei could. "I just hope our next encounter goes better than today's, no matter who it's with."

Corey thrust his hands into his pockets as he made his way down the street. Titus had been MIA for almost two days now, ever since he'd witnessed the Senshi battling the shadow youmas. He'd heard not so much as a meow out of the cat, despite his pledge to 'think about' a plan for contacting Sailor Moon and her friends. Corey wasn't worried; this happened from time to time. Titus often went off on his own searching for information or clues. His silence was still somewhat annoying after three years, however. It felt increasingly like - every now and then - Titus was holding things back, despite his claims to the contrary.

He passed by the Crown arcade, pausing to look through the window. Nobody he knew inside. Hardly surprising, considering the people he actually knew in Tokyo could be counted on one hand. It had been a quiet two days with Titus gone. He slept, woke up, went to class, exercised, went home, and slept again. Corey briefly wondered what Usagi was doing. The idle thought surprised him, and he laughed quietly to himself. Why now, after so long, was he suddenly beginning to feel lonely? Because somehow, being around Usagi makes you feel more alive than you have in years, he told himself bitterly. She's so energetic, so vibrant, that you can't help but realise how shallow your own life is by comparison.

Feeling sorry for himself, he fished his phone out of his pocket. He brought up Usagi's number and toyed with the idea of asking her if she wanted to hang out. She's probably busy. She's got countless friends. Yeah, I'm sure she'll be busy. His thumb hovered over the call button as he thought it over. Finally deciding that worst case, she said no, he called her.

Her phone rang four times before she answered. "Hey, Corey! What's up?"

"Uh, hey, Usagi," he said awkwardly. "I was wondering if, uh…well, if you're not busy…did you want to hang out?"

"Hold on!" Her voice faded away.

He heard muted conversation. She must be with somebody. Maybe her boyfriend. What was his name? Mamoru? That was it. Hope he doesn't think I'm trying to steal his girlfriend. That would be unfortunate.

"Sounds good," Usagi said, finally returning to the call. "I'm actually out with someone right now, though. Do you mind if she tags along?"

Another friend, he muttered internally. Making friends must be the blonde's special talent "Uh, sure, that's fine. Where should I meet you?"

"How about the Crown?" she suggested. "You already know where it is, so it's probably easiest."

"Sure," he agreed, glancing behind him at the arcade. "I'll meet you there."

"We'll be about ten minutes. See you soon!"

The call ended with a click. Corey sighed and looked at the arcade again. "Well, that's fortunate. I'm already here." He realised he'd spoken aloud, and glanced around to see if anyone had noticed. Now I'm talking to myself. I need to meet more people. Well…might as well go in and find a seat.

A little over fifteen minutes later, Usagi wandered in, friend in tow. Corey was immediately taken aback by the appearance of the second girl. She was a little taller than Usagi, but shared the same blonde hair and blue eyes. Her entire demeanour was different, though. She seemed to move with a certain grace and confidence that set her apart from most girls he'd seen.

"Corey!" Usagi called, smiling widely. "How are you?"

"Uh, fine!" He stood, unable to help himself in returning her smile.

"Great!" She turned to her friend. "I'd like you to meet one of my best friends, Minako."

"Minako…" he repeated, feeling his heart rate increase. What the hell is wrong with you, man, you're acting like an idiot! He quickly extended his hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Corey."

Minako took his hand, her lips curling up into a wide smile. "Nice to meet you too." Her gaze lingered on his face, and for a moment he was worried she'd noticed him freeze up.

The two girls slid into the booth opposite him. They were carrying several bags. "Out on a shopping trip?" he asked.

"Just a little update for our spring wardrobes," Minako giggled.

"It wasn't meant to turn out this way," Usagi admitted, gesturing to the bags, "but the problem with window shopping is you see stuff you want…and then you buy it."

"It's only money, Usagi!" Minako laughed. "You can't take it with you when you die, so you might as well spend it now and be happy!"

"I guess that's true."

Corey smiled a little. He couldn't help it. Minako's bubbly personality was infectious, much as Usagi's friendly enthusiasm was. "Would you girls like a drink? I'm buying."

"Ooh!" Usagi exclaimed. He'd learnt very early on in their friendship that an offer of free food or drink was never going to be declined. It was part of her charm. "I'll take a chocolate milkshake!"

Minako smiled up at him. "Strawberry, please."

"Two milkshakes, one chocolate, one strawberry. Coming right up." He slid out of the booth and headed for the counter. As he waited for the drinks, he looked back over to the booth. The two girls were chatting animatedly, he wasn't sure what about. Minako caught his gaze and winked, then shot Usagi a dirty look as her fellow blonde slapped her shoulder. He chuckled. It was nice to just be a normal person for a change, even if it would only last for a little while. The girl behind the counter placed the two glasses down, and he carried them back to the booth.

"I can't believe you!" Usagi was saying, as he sat back down.

"What's that?" he asked, sliding the drinks over to the girls.

"Nothing," Minako said slyly. "Thanks for the drink." She glanced down at the table in front of him. "Did you maybe forget someone?"

"Huh?" It took him a moment to catch her meaning. "Oh! Uh…apparently so." Annoyingly, he felt his cheeks heat up. Only because I was too busy staring at you like some kind of lovesick moron. Funnily enough, his stomach actually felt like it was churning.

"Wanna share?" she giggled.

He felt his eyes trying to burst out of his skull but, through sheer force of will, managed to keep a straight face. "Oh, thanks, but I'm fine. Strawberry's not really my flavour." Just calm down, man, seriously!

"That's a shame," the blonde replied, winking again.

"Minako!" Usagi laughed, her eyes wide. "You're such a flirt!"

"It's all in good fun, Usagi," Minako pouted. "You don't mind, do you, Corey?"

Even her pout was gorgeous. "Oh, uh…not at all." God, what is happening to me? He felt positively nauseous now.

"See?" Minako said cheerfully, turning to Usagi. "Everything's fine."

"I'm so sorry about her," Usagi sighed.

"Really, Usagi, I don't mind," he managed. The sick feeling in his stomach was getting stronger. Something was wrong. There was no way some silly little crush was provoking this response. Alarm bells began ringing in his mind. He'd felt like this before, back home. In the Dark Kingdom's base. Right before…

"I think we should go," he said, voice completely flat.

Usagi and Minako froze in mid conversation, looking at him from across the table in confusion.

"But we just got here," Usagi replied. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I just think…"

Before he could finish his sentence, the window exploded inward, showering them with glass. He was surprised to see Minako and Usagi react instantly, dropping beneath the table with almost superhuman speed. Before he could process that, a black mass crashed into him, knocking him out of the booth and down to the floor. His head crashed against the tiles, and his vision exploded in a white flash. He looked up to see a blurry shadow youma standing over him. It took him a moment to realise that it was his vision that was blurry, not the youma. The arcade's patrons were streaming out the doors, screams and shrieks filling the air. Corey saw the two blondes emerging from beneath the table, looking at him with concerned eyes. He tried to shout a warning as a second shadow landed on the table behind them, but his lips refused to move. It reached down and wrapped a hand around one of Usagi's ponytails, pulling her back and slamming her head against the table. Minako whirled about and dove to catch her friend before she hit the floor. Once again, Corey marvelled at her reflexes.

His attention was drawn to the shadow above him as it slashed down at his face with its claws. Corey barely managed to roll right and avoid it. He kicked off a nearby table leg, rolling backwards in a reverse somersault to land on his feet. His gaze flicked back to the girls again. Minako pulled a strange cylindrical object out of her pocket, but was knocked backwards through the broken window before she could use it. Whatever it was. Mace, perhaps? Her fellow blonde was lying face down on the floor, not moving.

The sick feeling in his stomach was gone now, replaced with a burning knot of rage. Usagi was his friend. Minako was…someone he wanted to get to know better, at least. He hadn't had real friends in a long time. How dare these things hurt them? Without thinking, he summoned Justiciar to his hand, and leapt forward, slashing wildly for the first shadow's head. It dodged backwards, but without his armour slowing him down, Corey was able to keep up.

He swung again, driving the shadow back. Finally he connected, taking the shadow's arm off just below its shoulder. It screeched in pain and fell back. He didn't have time to celebrate however, as the second youma – the one that had attacked Usagi – leapt at him. Corey's sideways dodge was late and he felt the tips of the creature's claws bite into his chest. He grunted through gritted teeth and glanced down at Usagi. I've gotta risk it…I won't survive long fighting them like this! She looked like she was still out. He couldn't see Minako at all. The rage in the pit of his stomach exploded outwards, filling his body as he held Justiciar high.

"I have had just about enough of your shit!"

Usagi heard Corey yell something angrily. She didn't catch it all. That was…English, she thought. The blonde slowly opened her eyes. Her new friend was facing off against two of the shadow creatures. With a sword in his hands? Was she dreaming? The pain in the back of her head seemed to confirm she was awake. Suddenly, there was a brilliant flash of golden light, obscuring Corey from her sight. Her eyes flew wide open. Corey was gone, and…the Guardian Knight was standing in his place.

"Corey is…" She couldn't finish the thought. "He can't be…"

The knight lunged forward and slashed quickly towards the nearest shadow – the one missing an arm. It dodged and swung around his sword, trying to move around behind him. He seemed to anticipate the movement and swung his gauntlet-clad fist into the side of its head. It flew over the main counter and into the wall behind it. The second shadow took the opportunity to attack while he was distracted, tackling the armour-clad man and slamming him backwards against the counter. It gripped his sword-arm by the wrist to prevent him from swinging at it and raked its claws over his helmet-clad face.

Usagi seized on the opportunity to move, looking around for Minako. She heard a familiar groan from outside, and pulled herself up onto the seat she'd recently occupied. Minako was lying on the pavement outside, rubbing the back of her head. She sat up instantly as she saw Usagi, her face scrunching up in a wince.

"Minako, you okay?"

"Yeah!" She held a hand protectively over her ribs. "That is the second time one of those things has knocked me down!"

"Are you okay? You're stitches!"

"They're okay. No blood, anyway," Minako answered, slowly getting to her feet. "Where's Corey?"

"He's…" Usagi couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

"Is he okay?" Minako tapped her pockets and looked panicked. "My transformation pen! It was in my hand a second ago!" Her eyes searched the ground around her, locating it a few seconds later. "Phew! Artemis would have never forgiven me if I'd lost this again!"

"Okay, let's- wait, what do you mean, again?" Usagi demanded.

"Not the time or the place, Usagi!" Her fellow blonde gestured to her left. Further down the street, another of the portals had appeared. "That must be where they came through!" She pulled out her communicator, calling in the attack to the other Senshi.

Before Usagi could respond, she heard the loud crash of breaking glass. The Guardian Knight flew through another of the arcade's windows, landing in a rather unceremonious heap in the middle of the street. He rolled onto his side, pushing himself to his knees just as the two shadows came flying through the window after him. He leapt to his feet and brought his knee up into one of them, dropping it to the street with a sickening crunch. He caught the other in mid-air, pushing it off into a parked car. It crashed through the windshield, remaining still for the moment. He whirled about to face her, and Usagi tried to peer through the slit over his eyes. She couldn't make out any trace of Corey beneath the helmet.

"You two! Get out of here!" he yelled, gesturing to her. "It isn't safe!" He bent to retrieve his sword, and headed towards the shadow youma on the ground.

Minako was standing beside her. "Bossy, isn't he?"

"Minako…" Usagi said. "The knight…he's…"

She was cut off yet again as a coiled black sphere shot out of the portal. Minako shoved her out of the way, the coil sailing over their heads as the two girls hit the street hard. The sphere hit the Guardian Knight square in the chest, knocking him to the ground. It landed on the asphalt, where it began to unfurl with a series of terrible cracking sounds. It gradually shaped itself into a familiar, yet different form; it was taller than the shadows they'd encountered previously, standing at least eight feet high. There was more mass to it as well. It had a thicker, more powerful frame. The most dramatic difference by far were its arms. Where its smaller companions had claws in place of fingers, this shadow had gleaming black blades instead of forearms. It howled loudly, a much deeper sound than the other shadows before it, and advanced on the prone Guardian Knight. The two smaller shadows were also on their feet again, and they joined it as they surrounded him.

Usagi scrambled to her feet, and Minako joined her. She took one look at the situation and knew what she had to do. Artemis had said the Guardian Knight was a potential enemy, but Corey was her friend. She couldn't just stand by and let him be hurt or killed. Could she? She shook her head. Even if he was Sailor Moon's enemy, she couldn't let this happen.

She turned to her friend. "Minako…"

"I know, Usagi," Minako replied, completely serious now. "We have to help him."

Usagi nodded, setting her face determinedly. Minako held her transformation pen high as Usagi summoned her chalice.

"Moon Eternal, Make-Up!"

"Venus Crystal Power, Make-Up!"

AN: Yes, yes, I know! What a cruel place to finish, but honestly this chapter just kind of flowed out of my mind and onto the screen, and I figured this leaves us in a good place to kick off chapter four. It'll be the first time I've started a chapter with an action scene. I'm looking forward to it! Reviews and feedback are, as always, very welcome.