4

"So it's too late?" Nagira asked, his voice sounding strained over the phone.

"It looks that way," Sakaki said. He and the others had regrouped at Harry's twenty minutes after Amon had ordered them out of the office. They sat huddled together at a corner table, none of them feeling much like eating or drinking anything.

"Has anyone heard from Robin?" Nagira asked.

"Not yet," Sakaki said. "But I'm sure she's alright. This isn't the first time she's gone to silent running. She'll contact us soon. Hopefully, she'll have good news about Amon too. We haven't heard a word from him either."

"I think I can help you guys out," Nagira said after a long pause. "There's a guy who has a lot of info arriving in the country today. I need one of you guys to pick him up at the airport."

"Alright, what flight is he on?"

"Don't know yet. I'll call you back soon with the details. Don't get too depressed over there."

5

Robin used a chair to pull herself to her feet. The pain was making it difficult. She guessed that the force of the energy attack had cracked a few of her ribs. Her left leg didn't feel very good either. She was limping as she made her way over to the Chief's old desk. She knew that Amon had squirreled away a single jewel shard for use in emergencies. This certainly seemed like an emergency to Robin. The sword that possessed Amon was an artifact from the Feudal Era, and there was only one place she knew of to go for help. She reached under the desk and pressed up on the loose panel on the underside. The shard fell out into her hand. She stuffed it in her pocket with the key to her Vespa. She wasn't sure how well she could ride in this condition. But there was no time to lose.

6

Karasuma parked her car in the dark alley behind Nagira's office. The old man in the back seat had insisted on it. In fact, he had insisted on everything since he'd arrived in Japan only two hours before. Karasuma couldn't figure out why he was doing that, but she followed every instruction to the letter as Nagira had asked.

"Thank you," said the old man as he got out of the car.

"It's really no problem," she replied.

They were just going in the back door of the office when the old man stopped in his tracks.

"You are sure that he touched the exposed hilt with his bare hand?" he asked.

"Absolutely sure," she said.

"Call the others to meet us here. There are things you all must know if you want to help your friend."

Karasuma pulled out her cell phone without hesitation.

7

Kagome and the others looked up from their card game. Robin's face was stained with road dust from her long ride. Her limp had gotten worse and she had one arm wrapped around her chest. Kagome was the first one on her feet.

"What happened?" she asked, pulling Robin's free arm over her shoulders to support her weight.

"The sword..." Robin said, "It was evil. Nagira warned us. Amon... he wanted to take it away. But when he touched it..."

"Wait, what sword?" Miroku asked.

Robin gathered her strength and stood up straighter. "We found it in the cave with Tetsusaiga and Tenseiga. We brought them all back with us. But when we unwrapped it, we felt an evil aura."

"You found what in a cave!?" Inuyasha snapped.

"And it possessed Amon when he touched it?" Sango asked.

"Yes."

"And he came after you, didn't he?" Kagome said.

Robin looked down and said nothing.

Kagome and Inuyasha looked at each other for a moment.

"It has to be Toukijin," Inuyasha said.

"Then there's only one person who can help him," Kagome said.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Miroku asked. "We all know what could happen as a result."

"We don't have a choice," Kagome said. "The last person who got possessed by Toukijin had his body fall apart after a while."

"Someone will have to lead it through the well," Sango said.

"I'll do it," Robin said.

"You're in no condition to do that now," Miroku said.

"Heck, I'll do it," Inuyasha said.

8

Amon could feel his feet dragging on the concrete as the sword forced his body to walk. After two hours of wandering the back alleys he was starting to see double. Not a good sign. He could hear whispering far in the back of his mind. And gleeful sniggering.

"Who are you?" Amon asked out loud.

"Who am I?" the voice rasped soundlessly. "When I was a living demon my name was Goshinki. I was what you would call a telepath. But then I was killed by a brazen half-demon. My fangs were used to make this sword and so my soul was trapped inside. My master, your ancestor, Sesshomaru called me Toukijin. He kept my power sealed away for centuries. But now that I'm free and have this new body, I will do as I please."

"You are not free yet. You still haven't silenced me."

"Heh. You may be my master's spawn, but you are still a weak little mortal."

"Is that what you think?"

Amon gathered his energy once again. He lunged, sinking his teeth into the flesh of the hand that held the sword. The pain seemed to spread all over his body and he felt his legs stop moving.

"What are you doing, little human?"

"I told you, if you want this body, you must first deal with me."

Amon felt his jaw being pried open from the inside and he struggled to keep it closed. The blood was starting to drip from his hand onto the street. After long minutes, the spirit forced his mouth open and released the hand.

"You are already dealt with, little human. This body is mine."

Story Notes:

"Toukijin" - This was the sword Sesshomaru acquired in episode 45 of Inuyasha. He commissioned the evil swordsmith Kaijinbo to forge the weapon from the fangs of Goshinki, an incarnation of the villain Naraku. But Toukijin was no ordinary sword. It contained all the rage and malice that Goshinki had felt at the moment of his death. In episode 44, Toukijin possessed its creator Kaijinbo and after a few hours of controlling him, the strain became too great and his body collapsed and died. As powerful as the sword was, its evil aura was completely quashed when Sesshomaru touched it in episode 45.

"Goshinki" - Goshinki was one of Naraku's spawn who appeared in episode 43 of Inuyasha. His gimmick was reading the thoughts of his opponents in battle and reacting to their moves before they made them. He was even able to bite the Tetsusaiga in half. Unfortunately, that released Inuyasha's demon blood and sent him into his first full demon transformation. With the massive power boost, Inuyasha was able to kill Goshinki. The story Toukijin tells Amon is a brief version of the major events of episodes 43-45.