Cologne’s eyes narrowed as she looked over the scroll in her hands. She read it twice to make sure she understood it correctly and then she looked up at the one who had brought it to her attention. Rei fidgeted under the old woman’s scrutiny, but she held herself with an air of confidence and strength.

"You know what this says?" asked Cologne. Rei nodded. "And you understand the consequences of unleashing such a potent attack?"

Rei nodded again. "I’ve studied the scroll several times. I know what will happen if I use it."

Cologne grunted and read the scroll one more time before rolling it back up. She didn’t hand it back to Rei though. Instead she continued to hold it as she considered the possibilities now laid out before her.

"Why did you bring this to me and not to Darien or Akane? They are your appointed leaders. They are the ones who you should be asking."

Rei shrugged. "I guess because I know they’d never let me use it. They’d try to find another way, but…I don’t think there is another way."

Cologne thought she was probably right about that, but she didn’t say so. "So knowing that they would say no, you snuck behind their back and came to me hoping I would say yes. Correct?"
Rei blushed in embarrassment. When it was put that way it made her seem like a child trying to trick her parents.

Cologne tapped the scroll against her palm for a moment and then handed it back to Rei. "Do what you will. You don’t need my permission to use this. The choice is entirely yours."

Rei stared at the old women for a moment and then bowed slightly and left the room. Cologne knew that the girl hadn’t actually come to get permission, she would do what she thought was needed with or without the consent of others. In fact, Rei had come to find reassurance that what she was preparing to do was the right thing. That was something Cologne could not give her.

Sighing softly, the old woman went back to preparing her shop for the lunch rush. She had no idea if Rei’s plan was the right thing to do, but she thought that it was most likely the only thing to do. Sighing again, Cologne hoped the girl used her secret weapon despite the consequences involved.

Akane absently scratched at the bandages still wrapped around her arm. They itched incessantly, but both Dr. Tofu and Cologne had told her that the bandages had to remain for at least another two or three days. It had been over a week since her accident and she felt fine, but her feelings on the matter seemed to be irrelevant and the others, especially Ryoga and Darien, all agreed that she should remain tied up in the obnoxious white cloth.

Akane sank back into the chair she was sitting in with a long, drawn out sigh of frustration.

In truth her frustration was only partly due to the constant itching that plagued most of her body. Her true annoyance lay in the fact that nothing had happened since the battle with Shadow and Saturn. Over a week and a half of nothing but staring at the walls.

This, many would assume, should be a good thing, but that was not the case. Just because nothing visible was happening, didn’t mean nothing at all was happening. Before it had been demon attack after demon attack and they all knew how to deal with the situation. Now, however, no one knew what the demon’s next move was or what he or she should be doing and it had everyone on edge. Even worse was the feeling that the demons were already moving and they just hadn’t noticed.

Akane glanced around the room at the others sitting much as she was. Bored out of their minds and worried that something big was happening without their knowledge.

Ryoga and Darien were on the floor with their backs resting against the wall. Both seemed lost in worrisome thoughts and every now and then one of them would throw a worried look in her direction giving her a good idea of what they were thinking about. After she had recovered some she had told them both in no uncertain terms that she was not a porcelain vase to be sheltered and protected, but apparently they hadn’t listened.

Ukyou was sitting on the steps leading into the backyard, staring out at the pond while tossing her small spatulas into the air and catching them again. Under the care of Cologne and Tofu her ankle had healed rapidly and she was back in fighting condition. She had been almost unreadable of late, but every once in a while Akane caught the okonomiyaki chef watching her closely. When Akane caught her staring, Ukyou would simply turn away mumbling something to herself. Once Akane thought she heard the word "stronger", but couldn’t be certain.

All of the Sailor Scouts except for Michiru and Haruka were present as well. Those two constantly remained distant from the others. More so now it seemed since the exact nature of their relationship had come to light. No one had any problems with it, but the reactions upon learning of it had been mixed astonishment and a sense of being slightly uncomfortable with the situation. For Akane it was no real mystery why the two kept to themselves most of the time.

The other four Scouts were currently sitting around the table munching halfheartedly on some snacks Kasumi had prepared. Usually talkative, the same thoughtful silence that had descended on the others had affected them as well. Rei seemed especially deep in thought and every once in a while she would shake her head as if arguing with herself.

Hotaru entered the room and Akane took a moment to study the small girl. She was still quiet and reclusive despite all they had done to try and bring her out of her shell. Tofu said it was natural for someone who was young to be like this after witnessing her parent’s death, but Akane wasn’t so sure if that was the case. It seemed to her that this girl had always been this way. And there was something else about her as well, something Akane couldn’t quite put her finger on.

With a start she realized that she was staring at Hotaru and that the girl was returning the gaze in full. For an instant Akane thought she saw something dark and alien in those violet orbs, but then it was gone. Akane looked away from Hotaru, thinking that she might have offended her by staring at her so, but when she turned back the small girl was still watching her.

At last Hotaru looked away and swept her gaze over the others gathered there. Then she turned back to Akane and walked over to where she was sitting. She smiled slightly and sat down at on the floor in front of the chair Akane was in.

"Are you feeling better today?"

Akane nodded. "Yes, much better thank you. I wish I could take these bandages off though, they itch badly."

"Well, I suppose you wouldn’t have to worry about such things if you didn’t fight with demons. Why were you fighting anyway?"

The directness of the question took Akane by surprise. She had wondered at the girl’s apparent lack of curiosity upon hearing that they battled demons, but she had assumed it was simply due to Hotaru’s shy nature. It seemed as if she had gotten over that little barrier.

Akane shrugged. She saw no harm in telling Hotaru some of the details of their war against the demons. The girl already knew enough to make the idea of keeping it a complete secret from her absurd.

Hotaru sat quietly through the entire explanation and when it was over she remained silent for several more minutes. Finally she asked, "As long as you have one of the stones the demons can’t get out right?"

Akane nodded. "Yes."

"Where is it now?"

"It’s hidden away where the demon’s can’t find it."
"May I see it?"

Akane shook her head. "I don’t know where it’s at. Only Cologne does. She’s the one that hid it."

"And that’s the way it’s going to stay."

Everyone in the room turned to watch as Cologne entered the room followed by Mousse and Shampoo. Boredom slipped away and an eager light appeared in everyone’s eyes as the old woman took a seat at the table. Usually Cologne didn’t come by the dojo until evening. The fact that she was here in the afternoon meant that something must have happened.

The old woman said nothing, though, as she munched on the same snacks the Scouts had been eating. She stopped when she realized everyone was watching her. "What?" she demanded.

"We were kind of hoping you had something for us to do," stated Akane and the others nodded.

"Besides train? No." Cologne went back to eating.

Shampoo sat down next to Lita and Mousse plopped down next to her, to the obvious disgust of the Chinese girl. "It slow today so great grandmother close early. She want come here so we all come."

Akane sat back with a sigh and the others did the same. It looked like it was going to be another long day of doing absolutely nothing. Hotaru looked as if she had talked as much as she was going to so that meant Akane was either going to have to spend the rest of the day staring at the wall or find something to do. She finally decided to watch a little TV.

It was Tuesday afternoon so there wasn’t much on. Akane flicked through channels until finally she came to a news story that caught her eye. Someone had apparently found a large structure from feudal era Japan buried under the ground. It appeared that an earthquake had opened up a fissure just below what was suspected to be the house of a wealthy samurai.

Many items had been left in relatively good condition considering they had been buried under a few tons of earth. The newscaster was currently talking to a man holding up a katana that had only suffered a bit of rusting. The camera then panned across a table cluttered with other items found in the excavation of the estate. Akane’s breath caught as it passed one item in particular.

"There!" she shouted jumping to her feet. Everyone turned to look at her.

"There what?" asked Darien.

Akane could hardly speak she was so excited. "The last stone! I found it!"
Suddenly everyone was crowded around her and the TV, which was now showing a commercial for dish soap. "Where girl?" demanded Cologne.

"They’ve found the remains of a samurai’s estate just outside of Tokyo. They showed several of the items on TV and one of them was the stone!"
"Did they say where outside of Tokyo?"

Akane thought for a moment. "No, just that it was about two miles past the city limits. In a field of some type."

Cologne nodded. "We’ll just have to split up and search the entire area around the city. That’s a lot of ground to cover, but at least we have a general idea of where to look."

Darien nodded. "We’ll split into groups of two. That will make things go faster."

"Sounds good," said Akane. "Shampoo with Lita, Ukyou with Mina, Ryoga with Rei, Mousse with Ami, and Darien with me. I’ll contact Michiru and Haruka and tell them to search as well."

The eyes of both Shampoo and Ukyou narrowed slightly at the commanding tone in Akane’s voice, but no one raised any objections to the orders of her and Darien. The Scouts transformed and a few seconds later the room was virtually empty. Cologne watched them leave and then glanced back to the TV to see if any more information was forthcoming. There was nothing more concerning the samurai’s house, so she left to return to her restaurant and wait.

In the excitement of Akane’s discovery, Hotaru had been forgotten. Now she stood alone in the living room, her purple gaze watching in the direction Earth’s defenders had departed. Her eyes swung to the TV for a moment and a half smile played across her lips. When Kasumi came into the room a few minutes later with more snacks, she found it completely empty.

Akane watched as about thirty people rushed around the excavation sight on various tasks. Several tents were set up around the area and on the far side of the sight was a large mound of dirt. A couple of pieces of heavy machinery could be seen as well, but they sat off to one side apparently not needed at that moment. A wire fence surrounded the entire area.

"The others will be here shortly," said Endymion as he turned off his communicator.

"That’s good. We should be able to get the stone with no problems though, as long as Shadow and Saturn don’t show up."

"They will if they saw the same news cast you did. Or if they’re monitoring our movements somehow."
Akane frowned. She didn’t like the thought of the demons having the ability to keep track of them. Still, she had to admit the possibility. They would have to get the stone somewhere safe as fast as possible.

"Any ideas on how to get it without hurting the work crew?" she asked Endymion.

"I figured we could start by asking. I’m not that well known, but the Scouts are. They should be willing to hand it over when several super heroes ask for it in order to keep the world from being destroyed."

Akane nodded, she had been thinking along the same lines. "Let’s go see if you’re famous enough to get us into the camp. I’d like to see the stone in order to make sure it’s what I think it is."

The two followed a road that had been made simply by people driving along the same path over and over again. It led them to a gate that was unlocked, but guarded by a very bored looking young man who peered at the couple curiously. He was unarmed, simply someone who was there to keep nosy people out.

"Can I help you?" he asked staring at Endymion’s strange garb.

"You dug up something that is of interest to us," said Endymion, smiling pleasantly. "We were wondering if we might come in and take a look at it."
The young man shook his head. "No one’s allowed in here unless they’re part of the team."

Akane said, "But it’s very important that we look at it. The world will be in danger if the wrong people get their hands on it."

Smiling the young man said, "Yeah, sure. Who do you think you guys are? The Sailor Scouts or something."

The slight stirring of the hair on the back of her head was the only sign Akane had that someone had suddenly appeared behind her. Glancing over her shoulder she saw Sailor’s Neptune and Uranus standing there with arms crossed.

"Yes," replied Uranus to the young man’s rhetorical question.

The young man’s eyes seemed as if they might fall out of his head as he stared at the two Scouts. "Uh…I ah…I guess you can uh…come in then." He opened the gate and the four of them entered.

"Thank you," said Akane, but she wasn’t sure if the guard even heard her so caught up was he in staring at the two Scouts trailing her.

"There will be others," said Endymion, grabbing the young man’s attention by placing a hand on his shoulder. "Let them in as well."

"Yeah, sure, okay. The excavated items are over there," he said pointing to a large tent in the center of the encampment.

"Thank you," said Akane again.

Several of the workers who caught sight of the foursome stopped what they were doing to stare with open-mouthed curiosity. Akane and Endymion entered the tent first and the two occupants, a man and a woman, turned to regard them. The woman arched an eyebrow quizzically while the man seemed very angry at the intrusion. Curiosity and anger became surprise when Uranus and Neptune pulled aside the tent flap and entered as well.

Ignoring the two archeologists for a moment, Akane looked over the table of artifacts. Almost immediately her eyes came to rest on the small blue stone engraved with various runes. Except for the color it looked exactly like the other one they had.

"There it is," she exclaimed moving to the table and picking up the stone.

"Here now! What’s going on?" demanded the man. "Those are delicate objects! You can’t just come in here and start taking them!" He made a grab for the stone, but Akane stepped back out of his reach.

Endymion said, "I’m sorry sir, but we have to take this stone. The fate of the world depends on us keeping it out of the wrong hands."

The man seemed about to protest, but the presence of the two Scouts lent weight to the story and he contented himself with looking angry over what he considered a theft no matter what the cause. The woman seemed intrigued by the whole situation.

"Can you tell us the specifics of the threat that this stone seems to be a part of?" she asked.

Akane opened her mouth to tell the woman it was a secret when a scream from outside cut her off. Everyone turned and stared at the entrance as if they could see through the canvas covering it. Several shouts came to their ears followed by another scream.

"Damn," muttered Akane. She knew all too well who was wreaking havoc outside.

"What’s going on?" demanded the man.

Ignoring the question, Akane turned to the others. "We have the stone so all we have to do is keep it safe. Fight to escape, not to win."

Neptune and Uranus nodded and rushed outside. Endymion turned to the man and woman. "You should leave here. They’re after us not you so you should be safe as long as you get as far away from here as possible." Before anything else could be said, he and Akane followed the two Scouts outside.

Upon exiting the tent Sailors Neptune and Uranus had found Shadow clutching a man’s throat while he held him several inches in the air. It was obvious the man couldn’t say anything, but he was pointing in the direction of the tent the two Scouts had just left. Shadow turned to look and seemed less than happy to see that his enemies had beaten him to the punch.

Tossing the man aside, he turned his full attention upon the Scouts. "Give it to me."

Uranus smiled. "No." Her hand began to glow and she placed it palm down on the ground. "Uranus World Collision!" A glowing circle about five feet in diameter appeared beneath Shadow who looked down in surprise. Before he could react, a column of brilliant yellow energy erupted beneath his feet.

Akane and Endymion emerged from the tent as the energy was dying back down. "Get the stone to safety," said Neptune. "We’ll hold him here."

Akane wanted to stay and help, but knew that the stone came first. "This way," said Endymion, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards the gate.

A flash of silver was all the warning they had. Akane ducked and Endymion jumped to the side. The blade of Sailor Saturn’s Silence Glaive sliced through the air, missing both targets. Before Akane could stand up though, the butt of the weapon came around and caught her full on the side of the head, sending her sprawling.

Seeing one opponent dealt with for the moment, Saturn turned her blade on Endymion who had drawn his sword. Neptune saw this transpire and wanted to help, but she and Uranus had their own battle to deal with. The column of energy had dissipated leaving a virtually unscathed Shadow in its wake.

"That was impressive girl," stated Shadow. "Not effective, but impressive." He placed his hand on the ground. "Shadow Retaliation Strike, Uranus World Collision!"

The ground beneath Uranus and Neptune began to glow black and both Scouts tried to escape the inevitable blast. They were to slow though, and a column of black energy erupted beneath them. When it had died back down they were both lying on the ground groaning in pain. Blood trickled from Neptune’s mouth.

Endymion was oblivious to all of this as he faced off against Saturn. With her Silence Glaive the renegade Scout had the advantage of reach over Endymion’s simple long sword. Still, he had a few tricks up his sleeves.

"Crescent Moon Slice!" Endymion swung his blade before him, well out of range of his target. His intention was not to hit Saturn with the blade, however, but rather with the silver, crescent shaped blast that shot forward. Saturn blocked the attack with her glaive as Endymion suspected she would, but it gave him the second he needed to close the gap between them.

Silver blade met black haft as glaive and sword collided in a shower of sparks. For a moment they were deadlocked, Endymion’s sword inches from Saturn’s head, but with the immovable haft of the Silence Glaive between him and his target. Despite her diminutive size, Saturn proved the stronger and she pushed Endymion away. He managed to stay in close though, where Saturn’s longer weapon was more of a hindrance.

The sound of Endymion’s blade striking the haft of the Silence Glaive echoed through the camp over and over again as he struggled to find an opening and Saturn strove to fend him off. Endymion fainted with a thrust to the renegade Scout’s midsection and then changed at the last second to drive for her head. She read his movements though, and parried the attack easily. This left Endymion wide open for a brief instant and Saturn took advantage of the moment to plant her foot in his midsection sending crashing to the ground with the breath knocked from his lungs.

The counter attack that had been launched by Shadow had rendered both Neptune and Uranus virtually senseless. Shadow prepared to take advantage of this as he approached the two prone Scouts with the intent of ending both of their lives with a single blast. He was forced to abandon this plan when a few dozen weapons imbedded themselves in the ground between him and his intended victims.

With a growl Shadow spun to face Mousse and a second volley of sharp objects hurtling towards him. With speed that rivaled description he blocked every weapon the martial artist threw. He was about to launch an attack of his own when he sensed the presence of a second attacker off to his left.

"Mercury Cone of Frost!" The cone shaped blast of ice hit Shadow square in the chest, freezing him in seconds. "Mercury Ice Spear!" A thick spear of ice shot towards the frozen demon, but he was stronger than both attacks.

With a roar Shadow broke through the ice coating him and caught the spear inches from his chest. "Insolent humans!" he shouted hurling the frozen weapon back at Sailor Mercury. She dodged deftly to the side and the spear hurtled into the sky behind her. But then Shadow was right in front of her and she knew pain as blow after blow rained down upon her head and body.

Akane knew that she should have escaped with the stone while Saturn was caught up in her fight with Endymion, but instead she had stayed. The renegade Scout had apparently forgotten about her as she charged the fallen Endymion with the intent of running him through with her weapon. The foot that connected with the side of her head was a painful reminder of Akane’s presence.

Akane followed up her kick with several powerful punches that had Saturn backing away in an attempt to avoid them. For a moment Akane thought that she might actually have a chance of winning this battle, but then Saturn blocked her latest blow and spoke for the first time since the beginning of the fight.

"Silence Wall."

The next batch of punches thrown by Akane bounced harmlessly off an invisible barrier between her and the renegade Scout. Saturn’s strikes, however, met with no such difficulty. Akane tasted blood in her mouth when she landed on the ground with a muffled thud.

Mercury was saved from Shadow’s crippling blows when a streak of yellow and black careened into the demon. Ryoga and Shadow hit the ground in a tangle of arms and limbs as they pounded away at one another. For a few moments Ryoga had the advantage of surprise and managed to land several powerful blows to his opponents body. That advantage was lost when he was forcefully sent hurtling through the air to crash into a nearby tent.

"Mars Fire Storm!" Balls of flame shot towards the prone demon, but he rolled out of the way and jumped to his feet several yards away leaving the fire balls to explode harmlessly against the ground.

"Enough!" roared Shadow. "Shadow Vortex!" Out of nowhere a huge tornado of darkness appeared, tearing through the camp with amazing speed and power. It pulled in everything and everyone in the camp except for Shadow and Saturn. The Scouts and martial artists could only brace themselves as they were sucked into the depths of the funnel.

The tornado lasted for several moments and when it was over the Earth’s defenders were dumped in a heap in what used to be the center of the camp. All of them had numerous cuts and bruises, but none of them seemed seriously injured. That, they knew, would not last for long. Picking themselves up off of the ground, they prepared to face two creatures of evil whose power was beyond compare.

Before anything could be said or any more action taken, Jupiter, Venus, Shampoo, and Ukyou arrived on the scene. They stood before their injured companions as if they alone could stop the power of Shadow and Saturn. For several moments the opposing warriors stood silently staring at one another across the short expanse of bare earth that separated them.

Shadow was the first to speak. "Give me the stone and I’ll let you live. For a little while anyway."

"We need to get out of here and get the stone to safety," said Akane in a voice that only carried to her friends. "Mercury, Ryoga, Mousse, give us a smoke screen." The three named nodded.

"Mercury Bubble Blast!"

"Bakusai Tenketsu!"

"Smoke Bomb Barrage!"

In seconds the entire area was cloaked in mist, dust, and smoke making it virtually impossible to see anything. "Scatter!" shouted Endymion.

When the layers of the smoke screen dissipated several minutes later, Shadow and Saturn were alone. Neither of them seemed overly perturbed that their enemies had escaped with the stone. This was only a minor setback.

"We know where they’re going," stated Shadow. "I will get the last stone, you continue to play your role as normal. You’ll know if I need you."

Saturn made a gate leading to a spot near the Tendou residence and stepped through. Shadow stayed for a few moments longer, gazing at the chaotic mess that was all that remained of the excavation camp. His gaze came to rest on something lying in the dirt several feet away and he walked over and picked it up. It was a rusted katana that still possessed an edge. It was still a fine weapon, well balanced and he could tell it would not break easily.

Keeping possession of the sword, Shadow made his own gate and stepped through. The gate did not lead back to where Shiko waited for his report though. Instead it led to the Nerima district of Tokyo. Shadow planned on finishing this today.

Cologne entered the dojo where those who had fought earlier that day were resting and nursing their wounds. Those who had been spared Saturn’s and Shadow’s attacks were helping Kasumi and Hotaru tend the wounds of the injured. Haruka and Michiru seemed the worse for wear, but they both insisted they could still fight. Cologne was inclined to believe them. Serious injury had been escaped this time around.

The old woman made her way over to where Akane and Darien leaned against the wall. "You said when you returned that you managed to retrieve the stone. Do you have it with you?"

Akane nodded and pulled the blue stone out of the pocket of her dress. "I managed to keep it away from them, but now that they know we have two they’ll come after us."

Cologne nodded as she took the stone from Akane. "Soon now I suspect. You will have to be prepared to fight despite your injuries."

Darien grinned. "They did not hurt us so bad and today we learned that they are not completely invincible."

What Darien said was true; the demons were not invincible. Cologne knew that they might as well have been though. They were that strong. Sighing to herself, the old woman let her gaze wander around the room, to those who would pit their meager strength against powers that would more than likely obliterate them.

Finally her eyes settled on Rei and she thought that they might stand a chance after all. The shrine maiden met her gaze for a moment and then turned away, back to the introspection that she had been conducting through the last week. Cologne knew that the question running through the young woman’s mind was not would she do it, but could she.

"Rest, but be prepared," reiterated Cologne, turning her attention back to the two she had chosen for leadership. "The final battle will happen tomorrow if not today. The demons will not allow us to possess the stones for long."

"Where are you going?" asked Akane as Cologne turned to leave.

"To hide the stone. Even if you lose the coming battle we must ensure that the stones remain out of the hands of evil."
As she left Cologne felt the eyes of Darien and Akane boring into her back, wondering where she was hiding the stones that held the fate of the world. She would not tell them. Not because she didn’t trust them, but because she was sure the demons had ways of getting any kind of information they needed regardless of a person’s willpower. She was not concerned for herself because she knew techniques that would allow her to commit suicide in an instant.

Cologne was crossing the path between dojo and house when a familiar voice pulled her up short. "Whatcha got there Cologne?"

Cologne turned a narrow eyed gaze on Happosai. She was about to tell him to mind his own business, but something in his manner warned her that something was amiss. He stood several feet away, casually tapping a rusty sword against his palm. In his eyes there was a dangerous gleam, one that gave him a decidedly inhuman appearance.

"Be gone from here pervert," said Cologne, never taking her eyes off of Happosai. "This is no concern of yours."

"Oh, but I think it is. You see, that stone you have there belongs to me."

Suddenly Happosai sprang forward, rusted katana striking out. Cologne shouted, the blade flashed, and blood flowed.