Chapter Two: New to Some, Old to Others.                      




A few weeks later, another flash of light was seen in the city, but no one really worried about it, just as was the case the last time. The city merely explained it as another power surge and the populous took that as fact. The now normal Shadow senshi had adjusted to their lives as simple humans by this time, but had been spying on the Sailor senshi whenever they met at the Hikawa Jinja. The Sailor senshi were going about their daily lives, until a sever complication was brought into their existence.

Four hooded figures emerged into the night from the same alley the Shadow senshi found themselves in only weeks before, eager to see this new world they had traveled to. All four of them had heavy cloaks on, covering their bodies and dark hoods to shade their faces. The figures looked about for a moment and started to walk down the near empty street, seemingly satisfied with the place. Seeing a few passing people, the figures just stayed silent and kept moving through the streets. Finally, they all stopped and one of the figures looked at a fine department store across the street, "Very familiar, looks like it could use some mass destruction."

The figure lifted a hand up and pointed it at the store, and a dark energy formed along its palm. However, that power soon flickered a few times and fizzled out, much to the amusement of the other three, "What's the matter, loose your touch? Let me show you how it's done." The other figure raised both hands towards the same store but soon found the same results, nothing. The figure looked at his hands and muttered a few curses before turning to the others with an annoyed tone in his voice, "Do any of you have any power?"

"No, I don't. What's going on?"

The last of the figures threw one of his arms forward but, like the others, nothing comes out of the effort, "I wonder if we can drain energy still."

"Let's find out."

Just leaving his place of work, a tired businessman came walking around the corner, only to find himself surrounded by four hooded figures, glaring at him intently. His voice seized up with fear and he took a step back, "W-W-What do you want?"

"Just some energy." One of the figures suddenly lunged forward at him and two gloved hands clasped around the man's head, lifting him from the ground. His body started to glow oddly and the energy seeped into the figure's body, making the man scream out in a weak voice. The man soon fell to ground limply and the figure looked to the others, a refreshed look about him. His two hands started to glow with a great power and his feet soon left the ground. Hovering up above the ground, the figure looked at a certain one of the others and lowered his hands, "It seems to have worked."

"Let's go find some more energy."


"So did you hear about the people being drained of their energy last night." Minako asked the others with a look of concern in her eyes. At this latest meeting for all the senshi, the news from the city was being discussed with relevance to senshi involvement. All of the senshi were present, save for the senshi of time, but none of them were transformed, just a gathering of girls talking about things. All of them look pretty concerned now and Haruka scoffed a bit, "It sounds like foul play to me."

Rei didn't look convinced and shook her head, sending those raven strands of hair into a wave of motion, "The victims say they were in cloaks and hoods. The police called a gang attack and the suspects they will be caught soon but I think something evil is somehow involved."

"More enemies! Why can't they ever go on vacation and leave everyone alone."

Of course it was Usagi who would throw in her whine and they all looked at her with a bit of annoyance. Sighing a little bit and leaning against a pole, Makoto looked into the sky blankly and put her arms behind her head, "I wonder who they are, and why they're here."

"They are the Priests of Omega."

The voice startled them all and they all whipped around and stare at four figures standing in front of the thick trees. Rei narrowed her eyes at the intruders and held up a threatening fist, "Who's there? Show yourself!" Kurai, Yamito, Kage and Suteki stepped out of the shadows and in unison, bowed to them lightly, a mixed apology and sign of respect. Rei didn't seem to appreciate the intrusion repeated her demand, "Who are you guys? Don't you know this is private property?"

"We need to speak with all of you." Yamito said forcefully and took the stage, stepping forward to address them as his role demanded, "It's about the recent attack in the city."

Usagi blinked a moment and recognized them from before, especially Yamito. All of the girls eyed them suspiciously, but Usagi laughed sheepishly and waved her hand through the air, "Uhm, why should us girls care about that?"

"Now isn't the time for games, Sailor Moon." He replied bluntly and, once again, those dark eyes were locked on the klutzy girl with the odangos. Now all of the girls were giving them full attention and started to gather around these four guys. Rei stared at Yamito with an unusual look in her eye, like her spiritual side was sending off alarms like she had never experienced before.

Usagi winced at him but tried to play innocent, though was almost on the verge of freaking out, "Eh, what makes you think I'm Sailor Moon?"

"We know all of your true identities." Kurai spoke up from behind Yamito and pointed a hand towards Rei, Minako, Ami and Makoto, "Sailor Mars, Sailor Venus, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Jupiter." The girl were very unnerved by this and became very edgy, but Kurai didn't finish there. Moving his eyes towards Haruka and Michiru, he finished his part of the conversation, "And don't forget Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune."

The girls just stood there speechless, growing suspicions reflecting in their eyes, until Yamito took control once more, "We don't have time for us explain. Your world is in danger."

"Who are you guys?"

Yamito eyed them for a moment, then proceeded to introduce themselves for the first time, "We are the Shadow senshi. I am Jonetsu Yamito. These are my friends, Yomo Suteki, Kodachi Kage and Kawano Kurai."

Usagi blinked a few times at the names and shot a glance to Luna, who seemed to be as lost as she was. The others girls were no better off, but Ami did speak quietly to herself as she eyed her computer case, "Shadow senshi?"

"We come from a different dimension, but that isn't important right now. What is important is that you know of the danger your world is in."

Nothing was said for a moment as the girls tried to take in everything they have just been told. Rei eyed Yamito coldly for a moment and didn't at all like this feeling she was getting from him, "Who are the Priests of Omega?" Yamito's eyes never left Usagi and that cold demeanor was making Usagi nervous, but he did nod slowly to answer. Rei miffed a bit and glared at Yamito, especially not liking the look he was giving Usagi. Usagi scratched her head a bit and grinned impishly, asking the question that was buzzing in her head but never looking away from Yamito's dark eyes.

"Omega?"

"Omega is the last letter in the Greek alphabet. Its implied meaning here is the end, I take it?" Three of the guys looked at Ami in surprise, and especially Kurai took notice of her intelligence. She found her attentions on Kurai, who smiled lightly at her and adjusted his glasses on his nose.

Yamito dismissed the tender moment between the two and continued with his explanation, "Yes, exactly the meaning. They come from our dimension, we felt their arrival last night and we went to find them, but they've already gone into hiding."

"Not that we could have done much if we found them, boss." Suteki mumbled quietly and kicked the dirt a bit, giving Yamito a glance and waiting for a cold glare.

But he never received acknowledgment from Yamito, and Makoto tilted her head a bit, not knowing exactly what he meant by that, "What do you mean?"

"When we arrived here, we found we couldn't henshin into Shadow senshi. Maybe our rings don't work in your dimension."

This time, Suteki got a quick stare from Yamito and decided that was a little too much to tell them, but it had been said already. He just grinned sheepishly and held his hand up, like he was trying to block Yamito's glare. Kage just glanced down at his hand and studied a small ring on his hand, which got the attention of cats that had now ventured from the patio and over to the four strangers. Luna stood cautiously under Kage's towering figure and looked up at his ring also, "What rings?"

Kage started to answer but looked down at the small, dark cat. His face suddenly broke into a smile and he cheered happily, "Hey, Anul! How did you get here?"

"Anul?" Usagi asked and blinked, looking at the two cats, "This is Luna and Artimus, our guardian cats."

Kage looked a little confused, but Yamito broke into the conversation once more, "Nevermind that, Kage. To answer your question, we use these rings to transform into our senshi forms, but they don't seem to be working ever since we arrived here." He looked at Suteki for a moment and Suteki nodded, then held his fist out to show the girls the ring that was on the middle finger. It was a dull, gray color has the planetary symbol for Venus on it, with just a shimmer of color to the dull metal.

Artimus slowly approached Suteki and looked up at the ring, quirking a brow at the sight of it, "Similar to your girls' henshin sticks, I'd bet." The other girls leaned in to look at the ring as well, except for Rei, who never let her eyes move from the leader of these 'Shadow senshi'. Yamito, by now, had turned his gaze from Usagi and stared right back, giving an odd aura between the two.

"Do you know why they won't work?"

Ami's voice broke the silence as she looked over the ring with her computer, which by now she had retrieved from the patio. Suteki just shook his head and idly glanced over at one of the girls who was leaning in close. Feeling the eyes on her, Minako blinked and looked up at him, then grinned at the attention. Of course, Suteki smiled right back and rose a single brow to her as a trick. She just giggled a bit and couldn't help but notice how cute he was with that mop of blonde hair. While they were all having a relaxed moment, Rei and Yamito continued their silent stare, neither looking away or backing down. Rei finally did speak, though only loud enough for Yamito to hear, "You're hiding something from us. You aren't all you say you are, Yamito."

"It seems the same goes for you, Priestess. You aren't the only one who can read the spirits around them." She didn't know if she liked the conflict he presented, or resented the fact he was too calm for her tastes. Oddly, she smiled a bit bitterly him and actually took him by surprise, if only for a moment. Seeing how he reacted to it, Rei felt a number things about this person that stood before her, some she could explain and number that she couldn't. But Yamito soon regained his demeanor and looked at Suteki, continuing his warnings, "The Priests are the threat, Sailor senshi. At present, all we can do is counsel you about their abilities.

"And who, exactly, are these Priests?" Haruka's brash voice made Yamito look to her for a moment, but it was Kurai who spoke up and explained them to her.

"The Priests of Omega. Their names are Shibo, Byoki, Senso and Kiga."

"The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?"

Kurai blinked a moment and looked at Ami, obviously very impressed, "Very good, Mercury-san. They liked the legend of the Four Horsemen, all of the evilness and chaos, so they named themselves after them."

Kage finally joined in also and started to explain the situation, "With the help of the Organization, they destroyed our universe. Not even all of the Shadow senshi in our world could stop them and their damned Omega Monsters."

Makoto, who had been eying Kage for a while now, looked at him with curious, emerald eyes, "What Organization?"

"The Omega Organization. A collection of the worst villains ever; Queen Beryl, the Doom Phantom, the Dead Moon Circus, Shadow Galaxia, just to name a few. You've never heard of them?"

Makoto blinked and nodded, finding all of that a bit odd, "We know all of them, but we've stopped all of them. You mean you faced all of them at the same time?"

"Well, actually it started when we went to the South Pole to fight Queen Beryl. A group called the Doom and Gloom sisters attacked us, but we disposed of them easy. We were about ready to enter her fortress when a huge disturbance started to tear the ground from under us. Dismissing it as a parlor trick, Shadow Moon led us to where the Queen was and we attacked. We were on the verge of victory when this figure came out nowhere and stopped us. We thought it maybe the Metallia, but it way stronger. The figure really hit us hard, and only Shadow Moon slowed it up enough for us to escape. The next thing we know, the figure, calling himself the Omega Master, started to unite the most evil forces in the universe. We went to fight them again but all of us were badly beaten. Shadow Moon finally sealed the Omega Master in a dark prism using the Ginzuishou and stopped him, but just a little bit too late. Unfortunately, the Omega Master created the four creatures that called themselves the Priests of Omega. They created the Omega Organization and started to destroy the universe around us. The Priests' main priority is to destroy all Shadow senshi in the universe, aside from Shadow Galaxia and the Animates. They brought the Dark Prism with them in hopes of freeing the Omega Master, but there was a problem. Shadow Moon used the Ginzuishou to seal him in there, but the power needed to keep him in there is taken from the power inside every Shadow senshi. If they destroy all of the Shadow senshi, the Omega Master will be set free from the Prism. We were still weak from the fight with the Omega Master, so Shadow Moon faced the Priests by himself, but was fatally wounded in a fight with the Priests. Shadow Pluto arrived and saved him with the help of Shadow Uranus and Shadow Neptune. While trying to escape with Shadow Moon, Shadow Neptune and Shadow Uranus were captured and we've never seen them since." Expecting a look from Yamito, Kage didn't even see a change in his face and took that as a good sign. He continued on to explain the Shadow Shift and what they had been doing since they got there.

"You won't do that Shadow Shift again, right?"

Kage looked over to Haruka with a blink and looked her over once. Almost sizing her up, he smiled a bit and shook his head, leaving Kurai to finish about the Shadow Shift, "Don't worry, a Shadow shift can only be performed once by any group of persons. Which means the Priests cannot leave again either."

"They used a Shadow shift?"

This subject made Yamito look to Kurai and stop him from saying his next sentence. Kurai blinked a moment as Yamito shook his head slowly, then looked back to Haruka and clasped his hands in front of him, "Something similar."

Haruka instantly glared at Yamito but Luna seemed very interested by all of this, "You say you sensed them when they arrived? How?"

"We can sense any evil power if it's large enough. But we have," Kurai looked to Yamito and ventured something that he hoped wouldn't get him in trouble, "A unique connection with Priests."

"What connection?"

Yamito looked to Luna and severed the subject once more, leaving an air of mystery around their relationship to the Priests, "The bottom line is the Priests will destroy your universe, just as they destroyed ours."

"They create clones, negative representations of any one they drain of energy. They increase the clones power threefold to make any normal human almost as strong as one of us. They use these clones to collect energy." Kurai added, pulling his glasses down from his face and holding them to his side.

"Clones? Like exact copies?"

Kurai nodded to Michiru and explained more in his quiet voice, "Almost identical, aside from the grayer skin and larger size. They are also more aggressive than normal humans."

"Can the clones create other clones?"

Kurai shook his head a bit and replaced his glassed on his nose, looking back to Michiru slowly, "No, fortunately the clones don't have the ability to clone. Only the Omega master and the Priests can clone. Don't dismiss the clones though, they can still drain all of your energy and give it to the Priests."
"Why do the Priests want energy?"

Kurai's attentions were drawn to Usagi and he placed his hands in the pockets of his pants, "When they've gathered enough energy, they can create an Omega monster, a creature made of pure energy that is almost indestructible. The Omega master could create one by himself, but it takes all four Priests to make one, and the more energy they collect, the stronger it is."

"It sounds bad. How do you beat one?"

Yamito shook his head and cuts Kurai off from answering, "Worry about that if the time comes. Hopefully we can stop them before they create one. We can lead you to where they are." Yamito eyed Rei for a moment, then looked back to Usagi with a questioning look, "Will you help us stop them?"

Usagi looked to Rei for a moment and hoped for some help here but Rei just looked back and sighed, shrugging her shoulders lightly, "What choice do we have?"

Usagi looked back to Yamito and smiled a bit weakly, but Yamito just nodded and looked to Kurai, "Kurai has the best detection power, so he will try and locate them."

Kurai looked off into the city and everything around him seemed to fade away, becoming distant and blurry. Those icy blue eyes fixed on a certain point in the distance and he spoke in a low voice, "If this city is the exact same as our Tokyo, it feels like they're at their old headquarters."

Yamito nodded a bit and looked back to Usagi, eager to get this resolved so they could put their past to rest, "Is there an old, abandoned theater on Main Street?" Usagi nodded a bit and rubbed her head, trying to think if she remembered right. His eyes wandered back to Rei and he stepped back with all the others, "That's where they are."

"All right, let's go."

Usagi said and started to turn to leave when Yamito added once last bit of information, "Go as your lowest powered form. Too much power and we'll tip them off that we're coming." Usagi looked back to him and he was dead serious, as if he would joke much, she thought. Rei didn't like this one bit and looked to Yamito suspiciously, then to Luna for the way they should play this out. A choice was placed before them to either trust the Shadow senshi, or run the risk of being discovered by enemies who they had never seen or met.

  
                                         
Next Chapter: Who Are These Monsters?