"Azrielle," Setsuna addressed Az.
Now, after the battle with Ceen Tear, the scouts had gathered in the outer senshi's apartment. The glass walls of the living room reflected the images of two cats, ten girls, and one tall, broad shouldered man. They sat in the over-stuffed couches and chairs in the center of the room. Artemis, whom had slipped across the floor because his paws couldn't grip the oak floors, had informed Minako, Makoto, and Hotaru of what had happened at the racetrack, as soon as he had heard it himself from Luna.
Soon after Ceen Tear had been destroyed, the building had begun to melt and dissolve away, the illusion ruined. So the girls had decided to go to the outer senshi's apartment, after Sailor Uranus offered the suggestion. There was a moment of confusion, as everyone demorphed, and Azrielle tried to absorb their secrete identities.
"Azrielle," Setsuna said again, still gathering her thoughts, "you've been given an incredible gift. You're a Sailor Scout. A soldier in a war between the forces of love and justice versus the powers of darkness. It's a power and honor incomparable to any other. But, Azrielle, this isn't the first time you've had this power." The woman's black green hair flowed around her shoulders like a wrinkle in time.
"You mean, like reincarnation?" Az questioned, curious, her body leaning forward. Ami, who was sitting next to her on the couch, noticed again how Az's red striped hair compared to her eyes.
Setsuna let a smile tug at the corners of her mouth. "Somewhat like. Az, I'm going to show you something very important. But first I'm going to tell you about the Silver Millennium. It was a beautiful and prosperous time in which the queen of the universe, Queen Serenity, ruled with a kind hand. A hand and heart which controlled the power of the silver Imperium Crystal, the life force of the universe.
But some parallel universes envied the light of love that shown from our own universe. Some envied it so much that they wished to abolish the light. One such power was the Negaforce. During a celebration honoring the Queens daughter, Princess Serenity, and her first transformation into the Sailor Scout of Purity, Sailor Moon." Az looked over to Bunny, who was nestled up against Mamoru, and caught her shy smile and blush, "the Negaforce attacked. Their queen, a Nobel of Earth, with visions of grandeur, was called Beryl. Along her twisted path to power, she managed to mind wash the four generals of Earth, Zoycite, Kunzite, Malicite, and Jadite. They called their dark minions 'yoma', and using these yoma, they stormed through the palace of the Moon Kingdom, killing many.
"But recently, we've learned that the Negaforce was controlled by a higher power, called the Shadow Plain. A universe that housed beings such as Copi and Leon. The Shadow Plain also attacked many Scouts, but Queen Serenity, wishing to give the Sailor Scouts another chance, used the awesome power of the Silver Crystal to save the Silver Millennium by transporting it to the future. This unfortunately cost the Queen her life." Setsuna paused to think of what to say next. "The most powerful agent of the Shadow Plain was one of our own. The Anti-Sailor Nothingness, a completely darkened alter-ego of a beautiful scout called Sailor Sygnus, Sailor Scout of Black Holes.
"And that brings us to our current mission: To find Sailor Sygnus before the Shadow Plain, or destroy them all. Now, Az, to show you something I promised earlier." Setsuna called to her hand her staff. "I will restore your memories of the Silver Millennium, but mostly importantly, of your final moments." Setsuna dropped the top of her fuchsia-glowing staff to the ground.
A bright light blinded Az's vision, and cleared to reveal a new world.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Princess Odetta stood in her black gown, its white gloves elegantly contrasting the central piece. She stood in a grand entryway with two other girls. One, with bright red hair wrapped in a tight bun atop her head, wore a green dress with yellow highlights. The other had short gray hair that shone silver, and wore an impatient look on her face. In her hand she held a long stemmed rose, with the flower not yet open.
The three girls looked about the entryway. Its crystal walls, door and trim shone with a joyous hue, as if to cry out in bliss. The red-bun girl spoke.
"Where is she?" she asked.
Odetta turned to 'Red-bun'. "It's not like her to be late." She commented, referring to a good friend of theirs, whom loved parties and dancing more than life it self.
"The ball wouldn't start without us. So we truly have nothing to worry about." The Rose girl said.
"Actually, you do have something to worry about." A low voice called from ten feet behind Odetta. " Your lives." The three whirled around to see Leon, cat 'o' nine-tails stretched between his hands. His intent was obvious, and the girls automatically recognized him as an enemy, just by his poise.
"No, I think not." The Rose girl spoke. She seemed to hold a dominant role between the girls. "Love and Justice will prevail." She held her rose straight out in front of her. "Season of Birth, Make UP!" she cried.
"Season of Heat, Make UP!" 'Red-bun' called.
Princess Odetta held her hand straight in front of herself, calling her snowflake henshin to her hand. "Season of Cold, Make UP!" she ordered.
Snowflakes began to fall and swirled about her, as she swung her arm in a circle, creating a circular wall of transparent ice. As she turned to the left, her head pointed up, and her arms at her sides, the ice began to break: first down the center, and then spreading out. It shattered into thousands of snowflakes. About half clung to Odetta's torso, creating the basic fuku piece. The others floated into several small groups, and grew into Bisetsu. The Bisetsu then created various parts of the fuku. The group on her left, with her left glove came to her as she outstretched the corresponding arm, and clad it. The others followed suit, dressing their mistress's right arm, and her legs. The beings then tied her bows, and burst back into snowflakes, Sailor Titan finishing by pointing her left arm out.
Each of the three Sailor Scouts called out their speeches, to which Leon laughed. "A wasted effort." He commented.
Sailor Titan and the Rose Sailor Scout looked to Sailor 'Red-bun', whose attack was in season.
Leon snorted, apparently not surprised by this. "We've studied you. I know your attacks, and what to expect. And I know your attack," he said, speaking now only to Sailor 'Red-bun', "will kill me automatically."
"Well then, you're not as stupid as you look." Sailor 'Red-bun' tossed her head. "If you give up, I'll take you to the Queen, for purification."
"Uninterested." Leon simply refused. Then he tossed out four small objects. All three girls dropped into ready positions, until they saw what the objects were.
"You think we're scared of wooden dolls?" Sailor 'Rose' asked, looking down her nose at the four figurines, pointing her rose delicately at them.
"No. But that's of no consequence." Then, with out warning, he lashed out his whip, which had remained, for the most part, stretched between his hands for the entire conversation, and struck one of the figurines. "Kagemusha Kerokero, ATTACK!"
Upon being struck by the whip, the Kagemusha sprung to life, growing many times larger, and into a slightly humanoid body.
"Kero-Kero!" She cried out, her long hind legs extending, as she leapt into the air. She was a frog-woman. Her long tongue flicked out for a moment, as she landed, in a squatting position, her shorter forearms touching the ground between her green-brown legs.
"Kerokero, her!" Leon pointed at Sailor 'Red-bun', who then wasted no time in beginning her attack.
"Season…." She cried, and twirled her arms around, "of…." Kerokero also wasted no time, lashing her tongue out. It circled Sailor 'Red-bun', pining her arms against her chest, and began to squeeze the breath out of her.
"Kagemusha Koumori, ATTACK!" Leon lashed another statuette, this one springing to life just as Kerokero had, only with a piercing scream, which caused the surrounding area to shake violently. She swooped to the ceiling, and hung by her clawed feet to it, as she was a bat-woman. She continued screeching, which effectively disabled Sailors Titan, and 'Rose', as they both clamped their hands over their ears.
The sound didn't seem to affect Leon, as he calmly called out another Kagemusha. "Kagemusha Nanori, ATTACK!" This one shot up from the ground in size, but he remained huddled close to the ground, his spiny back bristling with quills. He was an Echidna man. He lifted his head, and grinned evilly at the girls, before tucking it back again, and firing several quills directly into Sailor 'Red-bun'.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH-!" She screamed in pain, as the quills struck.
"NO!" Sailor 'Rose' yelled, trying to take her hands from her ears.
"Kagemusha Sangai, Attack!" A huge, brutish rhinoceros man sprouted up from the floor, his main horn gleaming wickedly. He snorted, and charged Sailor 'Red-bun'.
"Nooo!" She screamed in protest, a moment before she was hit, straight on.
"Proserpina!" Titan screamed, as her comrade fell forward in Kerokero's hold, dripping red. "No!"
Kerokero withdrew her long tongue, as Koumori stopped her screaming. The two remaining scouts straightened up, as the third fell to the ground, more than likely dead. Sailor 'Rose' glared at Leon, tears in the corners of her eyes. "No," she whispered. "Stop this, now."
Leon sneered. "Her!" He pointed at Sailor 'Rose'. Kerokero leapt up, lashing out her tongue as she had before.
"Ha!" Sailor Rose jammed the point of the rose steam into the frog-woman's tongue. As she did, a bright light flowed from the imbedded rose, into Kerokero's body. Her eyes went wide, and she quickly withdrew her tongue, but it was too late. Before she could udder a word, she exploded in to a large amount of sparkling dust, which was quickly born away on the wind, leaving behind the original wooden statuette, with a crack down the center.
"Kerokero, no!" Leon shouted, frustrated. He turned to the remaining three. "All of you, attack, now!" He ordered, lashing out his whip at them.
"Kyaaaaa!" Koumori shouted a war cry, as she dived from the ceiling, towards Sailor 'Rose', only to have the business end of the rose imbedded into her stomach. She looked at Sailor 'Rose', surprised. "Wha-?" she started to ask, before she exploded, in the same fashion as Kerokero.
"You can fend off face to face attacks, but how about this?" Nanori questioned, his voice high and shrill. He curled into a ball, and shot a barrage of quills at her.
Sailor Titan quickly called forth her keyboard. "Note… BOMBARDATION!" She began playing the song she had wrote for the princesses inauguration, the frozen notes slamming head onto the quills, literally freezing them in their trails. They fell to the floor, and shattered.
Meanwhile, Sailor 'Rose' had taken the opportunity to try and sneak up on Nanori, but, at the last possible moment, he spring away, surprisingly agile for his proportions.
"Thought you could get the jump on me, eh? I think not!" He laughed, the sound as pointed as his quills. Curling up into a ball, he rolled towards Sailor 'Rose' incredibly fast.
"You like to prick things? So do I!" The short haired scout shouted, as she leapt into the air, over his attack, slamming her rose into him, as the soft part of his body rolled towards the sky.
"Aggaaaaaaakk!" He screamed, and exploded.
She then turned to Sangai. "Just try it."
He smiled, revealing several pointed, brown teeth. "I will." He charged her, fast, for his large bulk. Sailor 'Rose' leapt out of his path at the last moment, like a matador dodging a bull.
He slammed the wall, causing the walls to shake, and crack. Small portions of the sealing fell. He backed out of the wall, and turned around, uninjured by his collision. "That was practice. This time for real." His voce was low and sounded like millions of feet on gravel.
Sailor 'Rose' just scowled, and was about to say something back, when Sangai lowered his head, and charged again, much faster than before.
Faster than seamed possible, he stuck his ivory horn into her right side, under her arm. Sailor 'Rose' gasped in pain, her eyes wide. A flow of blood ran from the wound, collecting on the floor.
It was then that Titan realized that the blood didn't come just from the scout. Instead, a great deal was coming from Sangai. Sailor 'Rose' had imbedded her rose up to the bud into the back of head. Both scout and kagemusha's eyes went blank, as they collapsed to the floor. Sangai disappeared in an explosion of dust.
Titan simply gaped, unable to speak. Finally, she found her voice. "Maia…" she whispered. She could now hear screams of panic and pain issuing from other parts of the palace. And she knew she was the next to die.
"An odd turn of events." Leon commented. "A single scout destroying four of my kagemusha in one battle. I expected all four of you to die, because of them. Oh, well. Three is better than none, I suppose. I'll simply do it myself."
"Why…?! Why do you do this?" Sailor Titan asked desperately through a stream of tears.
"You know!" He snapped back, vicious.
"No, I don't! Please, tell me!" Titan begged. "I can help you!"
"It's impossible to help, and even if you could, I wouldn't want your help." He said. "I've had enough of this. Ringleader's Lashing!" he called, as threw his cat 'o' nine-tails at Sailor Titan.
Snow began to fall, as, now that two of her three friends and partners were dead, she held the dominant position, and her emotions caused the area around her to react.
"Note…." She began her attack, crossing her arms across her chest. Then she heard an Earth shattering crack. Looking down she saw her keyboard, falling to the floor, shattered by Leon's attack.
She gasped, her eyes wide. Tears that were sliding down her cheeks froze, and broke away, shattering on the floor.
Leon laughed, a sound like a lion and a hyena. "Ringleader's Lashing!" he repeated, as he lashed her with his whip. She tried to defend herself, but without her keyboard, it was a losing battle.
She fell to the ground, woozy from blood loss. Even then, he didn't stop. She screamed in pain, the corners of her vision going blurry.
From this position, she saw somebody behind Leon. A man, probably a knight. His long sword was moving almost too fast to see. Leon noticed him too. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to notice either Titan or Leon. Grinning, his canine teeth very apparent, Leon took the opportunity to attack the Knight from behind.
Titan tried to shout a warning, but when she did, her mouth filled up with blood, and her lungs hurt. Then, a bright light filled her vision….
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The light faded to reveal the outer senshi's apartment. Az was obviously disturbed by what she had just seen, gaping. Then she turned to Setsuna. "How long ago was that?"
The guardian of time smiled one of her melancholy smiles that only she and Hotaru had perfected. "Longer than you can possibly imagine."
Az was quiet for a moment. "I didn't stand a chance." She finally reported to the rest of the group.
Setsuna sighed, sitting down in her favorite chair. "It unfortunately appears that none of us did. We were not prepared for an attack."
Az shook her head, frowning. "So… Let me see if I have this correct. Everyone in this room was alive about a zillion years ago, but then, we all died. And now we've all been reborn." She looked around the room. "You people are what you call the 'inner senshi'. Sailors Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter. You are what's called the 'outer senshi'. Sailors Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. You're Tuxedo Mask, and your cats are advisors." Az looked at the corresponding person, as she named them.
Setsuna nodded. "Correct."
"I have a stupid question." Az said, looking slightly embarrassed. "I think it's because my mind is slightly overloaded, so it's grasping on to the only reasonably logical thing it can."
"Shoot." Haruka said, with a nod.
"Ok, it's actually two questions. First of all, why is Sailor Jupiter part of the inner senshi? The planet Jupiter-"
"Is in the 'outer' part of our solar system." Makoto finished for her. "I know. I've pondered that question myself. And after a bit of memory searching, with Ami and Setsuna's help, I think I've finally figured out that, during the Silver Millennium, the asteroid belt wasn't present. It formed in its current position some time after or during the attack. During that era, Jupiter was considered part of the 'inner' solar system."
Az nodded. "Alright. But then, why isn't their a Sailor Earth then?"
Rei laughed. "There is! Only his name's Sailor Terra. He's my cousin."
Az's eyebrow raised. " 'His'? 'He'?"
Rei smiled. "It's a very long story. We'll tell it to you some time. As to your question, Sailor Terra is part of the inner senshi, but he doesn't like this entire 'sailor business' as he puts it."
Haruka snorted. "I think the mini skirt has a great deal to do with that…"
Rei nodded. "Right. So he stays out of our way, only offering his help when we ask it, or when the princess is in danger."
Az nodded, understanding, a thoughtful expression on the intelligent girls face. "So… Are there any other Scouts? Besides us?"
A large collective blank was drawn. Then everyone looked towards Setsuna, who suddenly looked a bit flustered.
She stood, smoothing her skirt out. "Well would you look at the time." She commented. "I think this meeting has drawn out long enough." With that, she disappeared, absorbing herself into the time-space continuum.
Haruka sighed, and stood, stretching her back. "That's her way of saying 'don't butt in'. I guess that's it then." She held an outstretched hand to the tall American girl. "Welcome to the group. I suppose I owe you an apology."
Azrielle accepted the hand, and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. "What for?"
Haruka blushed ever so slightly. "Before today, I thought you were the enemy. You have an unusually strong energy. Energy like yours usually belongs to an enemy. Or a scout. But I wasn't thinking there were any other scouts, so…" She put a hand behind her head.
Az smiled. "Apology accepted. I probably would have been the same way, had I been in your place."
Bunny then stood, joining the conversation. "So what were you memories of, Az?" she chirped.
Az frowned, trying to recall all the details. "I was waiting for a…. Friend… to show up, so we could go to the ball. But before she arrived, a shadow warrior showed up…. Leon… He killed my friends… They were scouts too…. But I can't remember their names… Their faces are fuzzy too." She shook her head. "Anyways, he killed the other two first, then me. Right before I died, a knight entered. I think Leon killed him too."
Ami placed a hand on Az's shoulder. "It has not been a good time for you as of late..."
Az's smile was angry. "Of course. Any one associated with me dies."
Hotaru stood. "You think you have it bad?" She raised an eyebrow. "Try being the Scout of Death!"
This helped break the tension, as a light laughter flitted through the room. "Still," continued Az, "I would like a chance to get back at him... Leon, I mean. I'm positive I'm stronger now than I was."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Michiru lay in bed, reading, when she heard the front door open and shut. It was late, when the meeting had finally broken up, and as everyone was leaving, Haruka had insisted on driving Az and Ami to their respective places of stay. After a moment, Haruka entered their bedroom, pulling off her shirt as she walked.
"How did Az seem?" Michiru questioned, putting her book aside, as Haruka continued to undress.
"Stunned, mostly. Which is understandable... The head Doctor at the institute wasn't happy about the fact that I was bringing her home so late, but I made up some story about getting a flat tire, and he seamed to accept it..." She stopped speaking as she pulled her nightshirt over her head.
Michiru nodded, picking up her book again. Soon, Haruka crawled under the covers with her, and kissed her gently on the side of her face. "Good night, Michiru."
"Sleep well, Haruka." Michiru responded. "I'm going to finish this chapter, then I'll turn the light out."
"Sure." Haruka rolled over so that she was facing away from the light, but she didn't fall asleep.
After about fifteen minutes, Michiru spoke again, without putting her book down. "Haruka, what are you thinking?"
Haruka smiled to herself. She should have known that Michiru would be able to tell when she was planning something. "Nothing... I just want to help Az destroy Leon."
"We all want to destroy Leon... And the rest of them, too." Michiru pointed out.
"Yeah..." she rolled back over again, so that she was facing Michiru, "But Az has a personal grudge... And I feel like I owe it to her."
"Because you though she was a yoma?"
"Yeah..."
"So how do you propose that we find him? I mean, if it was easy, don't you think we would have found him by now?" Michiru put her book aside again, looking into Haruka's eyes.
"I'll think of something... I'm positive..." Haruka yawned, and kissed Michiru again, this time on the lips. "G'night, Michiru."
Michiru smiled, and turned the light off. "Good night, Haruka."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Haruka was walking through Tokyo. It was a bright, beautiful afternoon, but it seamed the entire city was deserted.
"Hello? Michiru? Hotaru-chan? Setsuna?" She called out, her voice echoing off the large buildings. "Anybody?"
There was a sudden rumbling, and Haruka spun around, lowering into a defensive stance. She straightened up, her mouth slightly open when she saw what it was. Ice was springing up from the ground, and incasing a single building. It continued to rise and rise, a cold breeze blowing outwards from it, as Haruka watched silently. Once the entire building was covered, a single column of ice shot up, and formed a question mark.
Haruka frowned. "What the hell...?" she murmured to herself, looking away from the glistening punctuation, Haruka's gaze was caught by the words painted on the outside of the building. They were fogged and blurry due to the ice, but after a bit Haruka was able to make them out.
"That's it!" She exclaimed, excited, as an epiphany hit her full force. "Why didn't I think of it before?!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Haruka! Haruka wake up!" Michiru shook her lover, who awoke with a shout.
"Why didn't I think of it before?!" She shouted, her eyes wide.
"Haruka, you were dreaming!" Michiru declared, placing a hand on Haruka's shoulder. "You were making strange noises, and you kept thrashing about."
Haruka turned to face the marine haired woman. "No, you don't get it! I know how to lure Leon out of hiding!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Are you sure this will work, Uranus?" Sailor Saturn questioned, her staff resting on the ground, and the wind whipping through her hair.
"Of course it will. Rei is always talking about how dreams tell you what to do... I know this will work."
"I don't know... I don't like revealing ourselves like this, to the general public. We're supposed to be more of an urban legend, or some such." Sailor Neptune sided with Saturn.
"I don't think it will hurt to try at least." Sailor Pluto spoke up, causing the other three to jump slightly. She had just exited the time plain directly behind the three.
"Don't do that, Pluto!" Uranus snapped, placing a hand over her heart.
"If I could think of some way to warn people when I was exiting the time plain, I would." Pluto said with a smile, as she rested her staff in the same manner of Saturn.
"Regardless, we should hurry. I don't like Saturn missing school." Neptune said, with a disdainful look at Uranus.
The four of them were standing on the roof of a very tall building... A building that neighbored a building that looked exactly like the one in Haruka's dream.
"Right... You have the phone?"
Saturn nodded. "I bought it on my way to school today, just like you told me to." She handed over a small, red cell phone.
"And I bought the service under an assumed name, just like you wanted me to." Michiru said. "I activated the phone when I picked Saturn up this afternoon."
Uranus nodded. "I presume that you know what's going on?" she asked Pluto, who nodded with a knowing smile. "Right... Then let's do this."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Taru Shiwaki was sitting at his desk, inside is cubicle, typing busily at his computer, when the phone rang. He picked it up with one hand, and continued typing with the other. "Moshi moshi, Japan Times, Shiwaki Taru here."
"Yeah, I'd like to place an add." The low voice on the other end spoke.
Taru aloud a small frown to crease his brow. "Sorry, sir, but you reached the wrong department. I can redirect you if you want."
"No, I don't think so... Want to hear me out before you transfer me?" The voice sounded like it was smiling. "I guarantee that you'll be kicking yourself if you let this opportunity get past you."
Taru knew that he should know better by now, being the hardened journalist he was. But the something at the back of his head was tingling, something that always happened when he was about to trip over a big story.
He stopped typing, and pulled out a pad of paper and a pen. "Ok, then, I'm all ears."
"Great... Now let's see. I want to place an add, as I said. Here's what I want it to say:" The voice cleared its throat. "'Hey, Leon. We're all sick and tired of pussy-footing around. We want to settle this right here, and now. We know that you want to get rid of us, so let's get this over with. Sailor Titan really wants-"
"Woah, woah!" Taru stopped writing suddenly. "Did you just say 'Sailor Titan'?!"
"Hold your horses, Shiwaki-san, and let me finish. Where did I leave off?"
"'...Let's get this over with. Sailor Titan really wants'," Taru read back the last bit of what he had on his note pad.
"Right. Continuing: 'Sailor Titan really wants a rematch. So unless you're to chicken to come out and fight face to face, we will see you at a place of your choosing, the same day as the publication date of the issue of the Japan Times you respond in. Respond via this paper. Love, the Sailor Scouts'."
Taru slammed his pencil down. "What kind of a prank call is this?" he demanded into the phone, angrily. "You sound old enough to old better! Who the hell is this?"
The voice on the phone chortled. "I'll answer those questions in order. Number one, this isn't a prank call. Number two, I am old enough to know better, but because it's not a prank call, it doesn't matter. Number three, this is Sailor Uranus."
"Like hell it is!" he snapped angrily. "You really aught to be ashamed of yourself, you know. You your self said you're old enough to know better-" He was cut off.
"Don't believe me? Look out your window." He did, half reluctantly. And then he dropped the phone. Almost level to him, on the roof of the neighboring building, he could see Sailor Pluto, Sailor Saturn, Sailor Neptune, and Sailor Uranus, holding a small, red, cell phone. All four smiled, cocked their heads to one side, and waved.
Scrambling for his phone, he quickly brought it back to his ear. But as soon as he had the device back in his hands, he couldn't think of a single thing to say.
Luckily, Sailor Uranus could. "Would you mind not doing that again? It bangs in my ear." He could see her talking into the phone on the building only a stones throw away, as her voice sounded in his ear.
"Uh, no problem..." Taru gasped, as he went frantically through his desk, trying to find his camera. He probably would have had more luck if he had been looking for it too, but he refused to take his eyes from the four scouts, as they had a habit of disappearing when people looked away. Sailor Neptune raised an eyebrow at him, and turned to say something to Sailor Uranus, who nodded in response.
"Neptune wants to know what you're doing. From here it looks like your desk is attempting to eat you." He could see Sailor Saturn giggle when she said this.
"Uhh..." Taru hesitated, as he was sure that they wouldn't stay around if he told them what he was really doing. "I'm uh, looking for another pencil.... The tip of the one I was using broke."
"Really?" Sailor Uranus asked, doubtfully, but the smile remaining on her face and in her voice. He saw Sailor Neptune tap Sailor Uranus on the shoulder, and show her a mirror. "Ah... I see..." She said, apparently to Sailor Neptune. "Excuse me, Shiwaki-san. We have to discuss something. I'll call right back." There was a click in his ear, followed by a buzzing, as Sailor Uranus hung up on him. The four grouped together, apparently discussing something. Taru never took his eyes from them as they did, still searching for his camera... He could see prizes, and awards for excellence, raises and promotions... If only he could find his camera! The four broke apart suddenly, and Taru's phone began ringing again, as Sailor Uranus held the small cellular to her ear. Taru pounced on it, quickly. "Yes?"
"Here's the deal. We will allow you to take one picture of us-" His shock must have shown on his face as Sailor Uranus laughed. "Yes we know that's what you're looking for. As I was saying, you can take one picture of us, but it has to be slightly out of focus. And you can ask each of us almost any one question you want. Of course there are some questions we wont answer, but I trust you to be intelligent enough to tell what questions you can safely ask. And we will know if you focus the camera... The same way we knew that's what you were looking. You focus, and we're out of here. Oh, and no recording our voices, ether."
"Sure... Uh, can I trust you to stay put while I find my camera?" Taru nervously asked.
Sailor Uranus laughed. "Sure. We wont go anywhere."
Taru placed the phone gently down, heading Sailor Uranus's early complaint about banging in her ear, and quickly dove into his desk. After a few moments of frantic searching, he found it, and picked the phone back up. "I found it!"
"Great. Any particular pose you want us in?"
"Uh... How about one of those famous entry poses everyone's always talking about?"
"No problem... Uh, I have to put the phone down then..."
"Sure, sure... I don't mind! I'm going to un-focus the camera now..." He placed the phone down again, and then looked through his viewfinder, carefully un-focusing it. When he lifted his head again to look out the window. He saw that Sailor Uranus now held a very impressive sword above her head, that almost looked liked it was made of light. She and Sailor Neptune were standing back to back, and Sailor Neptune's hands were both wrapped around the handle of her mirror. To ether side of them were Sailor Pluto, and Sailor Saturn, the two contrasting each other in almost every way possible. Sailor Saturn held her Scythe slightly forward, in an aggressive pose, while Sailor Pluto held her staff gently in one hand, away from her body, the end resting on the ground. The end result was very eye pleasing.
He gave them a thumbs up signal, and held up his camera. Sailor Neptune nodded slightly, a motion he took as an 'ok to go.'
He held up the camera to his eye. The camera was off focused enough that you couldn't make out their faces. He was tempted to take two pictures instead of one, but decided not to push his luck, and pressed the button only once. Then he placed the camera aside, and snatched up a pencil, his note pad, and the phone receiver.
"Sailor Uranus?"
"Yeah?"
"Was that ok?" He noted that her sword had disappeared.
"Yeah."
"Ok... So I get four questions now? One each?"
"Yeah." Taru noted that, when she didn't have something to say, Sailor Uranus wasn't very talkative.
"Ok, so... Um, geeze..." he wracked his brain, trying to think of a question that he knew Sailor Uranus would answer. "Um... Who's this 'Sailor Titan' you mentioned in your add?"
"She's the newest member of the Sailor Scouts. To tell the truth, we weren't really expecting her to exist, so when she awoke, it was a bit of a shock for all of us."
Taru quickly wrote down what she said, abandoning his short hand to write her response word for word. "Alright... Could I talk to Sailor... Neptune next?" he watched through his window as the phone was handed over.
"This is Neptune." Her voice was light and almost airy, but definitely had an edge of incredible intelligence behind it.
"Hi Sailor Neptune. Ok.... My question for you is what is that mirror for?"
"This is my Submarine Mirror. I use it not only for attacks, but it also allows me to see... things... in it. It's almost like a crystal ball." She replied, holding the mirror up, so that Taru could see it better.
"Is that how you knew I was looking for a camera?"
"That's more than one question, but yes, it is. This mirror is very useful and very special to me."
"Ahh... Alright then... How about Sailor Saturn, next?"
The phone was passed to the purpled haired scout. "Hi."
"Hi. Ok, Sailor Saturn, how old are you?"
"I'm... Well, you can say I'm ten. But it's not a good idea to judge Sailor Scouts by age. Sailor Chibbi-Moon is over 900 years old, but she looks like she's still nine! And Pluto is way, way, super old, but she looks like she's about 26." Sailor Pluto blushed at being called 'way, way super old.' "What you really want to go by is mental ability, and looks."
"Ah... That's interesting... But I don't think you should be calling people 'way, way, super old' when they're in ear shot, Sailor Saturn." Taru mock-scolded. Saturn laughed.
"She doesn't mind. She knows she's old. Like I said, the numbers of years, centuries, millenniums, epochs, whatever, they don't matter. What matters is how you feel. I'm actually ether five, or twenty, depending on when you think I started my life. I have a weird growth rate in this life. But that's a long story." Taru noted that Sailor Saturn talked a lot more than the older two he had talked to. She sounded like a very educated, intelligent ten-year-old. He would have liked to ask her about her weird growth rate, but he knew that even if she wanted to answer, one of the older Scouts present would stop her.
"Thanks, Sailor Saturn. Could you put Sailor Pluto on, please?" The phone was given to the tall, olive skinned woman.
"This is Sailor Pluto." Her voice was low, but not as low as Sailor Uranus's.
"Hello, Sailor Pluto. Ah, perhaps you could tell me why no one else in the office appears to notice you?" He had suddenly noticed that not a single person in the office seamed even remotely interested in the views out their windows.
"Ah. Well, first of all, it's lunch break, so most people aren't in their offices. But I suspect that the answer you're looking for is more... magical. You see, Sailor Scouts have a... an aura, if you will, that protects people from seeing us for who we really are. That same aura makes human eyes slide over us with out noticing us, when we want it to. Of course, there are exceptions to this; a specific type of second sight will enable a human to see through our disguises, and who we really are, if they've met us before. "
"Who you really are?" Taru quoted.
"Yes. It's quite possible that you've seen us every single day for three years, but you still wouldn't recognize us, unless you had the before mentioned second sight. Or if you saw us transform. But of course, that would never happen." It was obvious that she wasn't going to say any more, so Taru dropped it. "I'm putting Uranus back on."
"Ok. Thank you for your time, Sailor Pluto." He was surprised to hear the scout laugh.
"My dear Shiwaki-san, I have nothing but time to give!"
"So, our add will be placed correct?" Sailor Uranus was back on the line.
"Of course. How large of an add do you want? And how long do you want it to run?"
"One quarter of a page, and only one day."
Taru made a note. Then a thought struck him. "Ah, not to be a bother, but how do plan on paying for this add?"
"Excuse me, Shiwaki-san?" The mail delivery girl pocked her head into his cubicle.
"Can you hold for a moment?" Taru asked the scout.
"I already told you we're not going anywhere."
"Your mail's here." She handed him a stack of letters, and on top was an important looking vanilla envelope, that had the thickness of a child's chapter book.
"Thanks." He shooed the girl away, as he flipped over the envelope to see the address. It was stamped with four symbols, and after a bit of memory searching, he recognized them as the symbols of the planets Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and Pluto. He opened it, and several bundles of (Y) 10,000 notes fell out into his hand, and, by the feel of it, there were more inside. He snatched up the receiver. "This is too much!"
"Some of that's to pay for our add. Some of it's to pay for Leon's response, since you can bet he won't be paying you. The rest is a personal thank you." Sailor Uranus said, apparently unaware that Taru was holding more money in his hand at that moment than he had ever even seen at a single instant. "We have good funds, and money doesn't mean much to us. Now... I can already guess that you're going to do a story on us, so my only request is that it better be on the front page!"
"Of course! I really must thank you again..." He bowed deeply to the four scouts through his window, while holding the phone to his ear. "You have no idea what this is going to do for me!"
"Hey Shiwaki-san?" Came Sailor Uranus's voice over the phone. "We're already gone." Then the familiar buzz of a connected line. He came out of his bow quickly, and indeed, the four scouts were gone, as if they had never been there.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Leon was trying to carve a new figurine of a vicious looking bird of pray when he heard a yelp come from Copi. Sighing angrily, but not looking up from his work, he called out. "What's happened?"
"Look at this!" She shrieked. She was in the living room of the Jingujis. Grumbling to himself, he stood, stretched, and slipped into his human form to see what his reluctant partner was screaming over.
"What do you want, woman? I'm a bit busy, you know." He growled, careful not to raise his voice to a level where the neighbors might hear.
"Look!" She simply commanded, and shoved the latest edition of the Japan Times. He snatched it away from her, and unfolded it to his liking, and began to read the front page.
Sailor Scouts Challenge Evil!
By Taru Shiwaki
There was a slightly fuzzy picture to the right of four scouts (Leon instantly recognized them as Pluto, Neptune, Uranus and Saturn) standing on a roof. He frowned, and began to skim the article until he saw something that caught his eye.
"Sailor Titan?" He muttered, as the article rambled about the appearance of the new scout no one had seen yet. "That pathetic princess of the seasons that I killed in the Silver Millennium?" He continued to skim, until another paragraph caught his attention.
"... the issued challenge can be found in section E, page 5." He quickly switched his section for the one mentioned, and flipped to page five, and quickly found the quarter page add.
"Hey, Leon. We're all sick an tired of pussy footing around." he read aloud, "We want to settle this right here, and now. We know that you want to get rid of us, so let's get this over with. Sailor Titan really wants a rematch. So unless you're to chicken to come out and fight face to face, we will see you at a place of your choosing, the same day as the publication date of the issue of the Japan Times you respond in. Respond via this paper. Love, the Sailor Scouts."
Copi, who was in disguise as Coco, smiled sweetly. "Well would you look at that... How cute: they want a fight."
Leon scowled at her, but a smile still slid on his face. "Well, if that's what they want.. Who am I to refuse, then?"
Coco raised an eyebrow. "You're going to do it? It's obviously a trap. And it sounds like they have a new ally... This Titan scout... She might be trouble."
Leon laughed. "Oh please. I've killed her before, I can do it again. And besides that, I get to chose the place..." He laughed again. "How stupid! They're literally handing me the best opportunity to get rid of them all!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Az was sitting in the common room at the hospital, picking at her breakfast, as she half listened to the TV, which was playing in the corner behind her.
"Sooo... You're a scout now, Az. How do you like that? And Ami's one too... Mercury!" She had not slept well... Strange dreams kept waking her up all night. "I suppose that's because of the memories.... I'm Sailor Titan.... I'm a princess!" Sighing, she pushed her breakfast away. She obviously wasn't going to hungry for a while. "I was so weak! He defeated me just like that..." She scowled. "I hate that! I'm sick and tired of being pushed around because I'm weak... I'm not! I'm just... nice... That's all..."
"....Sailor Titan..."
Az's head snapped up and around when she heard her name come from behind her. Seeing no one, she looked up at the TV, surprised to see a blurry photo of the outer senshi being shown on the Television.
"... asked to comment, Shiwaki-san declined comment, saying that everything anyone wanted to know about this new scout, Titan, and her opponent, Leon, who is suspected to be behind the recent yoma attacks, could be found by buying a copy of the Japan Times."
Az gaped at the TV. Where had they gotten that information? She sure as hell hadn't said anything! She rushed off to find a phone, to call Ami.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Bunny was staring at the paper in disbelief when the phone rang. It was Ami.
"Have you seen the paper?" she wanted to know.
"I'm looking at it right now." Bunny responded, her eyes skimming slowly through the article.
"It's all over the news too. Az just called, and she had nothing to do with this. It would appear that Uranus is the one who initiated contact." Ami hypothesized.
"Yeah... That sounds like her all right." Bunny commented, a soft smile on her lips. "But do you think it'll work?"
"Hmmm... That's the question, isn't it. I talked to Az earlier today, and she said that it might. From what she remembers about him, he's extremely proud, but has some slight semblance of manners... Or what passes for manners in their society. I'm mainly worried about if he does answer."
"Why? If he responds, then we've got him, right" Bunny asked, confused.
"Well, think about it, Bunny. If you were a Scout fanatic, and you read in the paper that the Scouts were going to be having a battle in a pre-determined place, wouldn't you try and see it? We may have to deal with literally hundreds of innocent bystanders. Somebody could get seriously hurt!" Ami explained.
Bunny frowned. "I hadn't thought of that." She sighed, as she looked out the window, at blooming flowers. "I suppose we'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it..."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Taru Shiwaki was on top of the world. He was getting great publicity for the paper, his boss was extremely impressed, as was his girlfriend, and he had more money than he currently knew what to do with. He was walking to the Train Station, heading home after a long hard days work, when it happened.
As he moved down the sidewalk with a bounce in his step, whistling, a pigeon started to dive bomb him. It was aiming for his head, and it's coo seemed fiercer than normal.
"Ahh! What the-?!" He batted at the bird, dropping his attaché case, as he covered his eyes with his arm. "Damn bird!" He swung wildly at it, and finally managed to knock it sprawling to the ground. The bird attempted to return to flight, but Taru pounced at it, keeping it grounded. When he did, he noticed something tied to its leg.
"Huh?" He carefully held the bird's wings pinned with one hand, as he detached a tiny piece of paper from its leg. Curious, he unfolded it, to find a strange hand written note, addressed to him.
Taru Shiwaki,
As requested, I am replying to those brats, via your paper. You may publish the following:
If you would like to end this chase...
Then it's just about time to pick up the pace.
In order to fight me,
You first must find me.
In this place you will find simply more
Of this small worlds inhabitors.
I shall be there at the midnight hour.
Then is when we'll test our power.
I will be waiting by the track,
If this riddle you manage to crack.
~Leon
The pigeon had started cooing again, but whatever had possessed it was gone, and it was acting like a normal bird again. Taru released it. Ignoring the stares of the people around him, he turned around to return to his office, in order to place the add at once.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Michiru set down a plate in front of Hotaru, and then sat down at her place at the table. Haruka was drinking tea, and was still in her pajamas, at the northern end of the table. Hotaru was also in her pajamas, as it was Sunday, and was happily munching away at her breakfast. The rising sun poured it's light in through the windows, casting everything in a warm, yellow glow. Setsuna was absent, again. As soon as they had finished their meeting with Taru Shiwaki yesterday, she had excused herself, and hadn't been home since. Not that this was all that uncommon for her, but usually when she disappeared like this, she stayed away for a while. She had been popping in and out faster than a hyperactive child's jack-in-the-box laity. It made Michiru nervous.
Just then, the front door opened, and Setsuna entered, carrying a rolled up newspaper in her hand. All three at the table looked up at her, expectantly. She unrolled the paper, and tossed it on the table.
"Hot off the press."
Haruka nodded. "Looks like we'll be having a meeting today."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Everyone was gathered in Mamoru's apartment, minus Setsuna, trying to understand the riddle Leon had posed.
"Well, the first two four lines are clear. If we want to fight him, we've got to get him out of hiding." Makoto said, as they each poured over a copy of the challenge. Even Az was there, having convinced her doctor that she would be sure to be back on time, if he would let her out for the day again.
"And the seventh and eighth lines make sense too. We have until midnight to break the riddle." Minako announced.
"Yeah.... Unfortunately, with the exception of the last line, that's all that's clear." Rei grumbled. "I'm not even sure if 'inhabitors' is a word, for crying out loud!"
"Getting frustrated won't get us anywhere." Michiru was sitting next to Ami, as they tried to get their two items to work together to pinpoint the spot. "Why don't we look at what we can deduct from the middle lines. We're looking for a place that's very crowded. It also has a track."
"Geeze. Two whole clues. He's sure generous, isn't he." Rei grumbled.
"There!" Ami cried out triumphantly.
"Did you find it?" Az questioned, eagerly.
Michiru peered into her mirror. "Not exactly... But we narrowed it down quite a bit."
"So what are our options?" Bunny asked, standing up from where she had been kneeling on the floor.
"Maybe the subway?" Mamoru suggested. "It has tracks, and it's very crowded.
"I doubt it." replied Az. "That seems like it would be too open to the public. And from what I remember, he doesn't want to take the chance of someone else showing up, and ruining his glory. Besides, how many miles of track are under this city? Way more than we could check up on in one night, that's for sure. He wants to be found, or else he wouldn't have bothered with a response."
"Ok, so forget the subway. What else?" Haruka pondered.
"The Horse Track, the Sports Dome, the Zoo, and The Edo-Tokyo Museum." Ami rattled off the four locations, reading from her mini computer. "All those places have tracks, in some form, and are crowded at any given time. They're also all closed at midnight."
Haruka frowned. "So how do we decide who goes where?"
"Perhaps we could split up?" Artemis suggested. "Then, who ever found him would call the others."
Luna nodded. "That's probably the best way to do it. We'll need to get to the Sports Dome and the museum before closing time, if we don't want to bother with the hassle of breaking in. The Horse Track and the Zoo are both open to the air though, so there shouldn't be much problem with them."
"What time does the Sports Dome and museum close?" Haruka asked.
"The museum closes at six on Sundays." Ami informed them. She had been there often enough to know the time schedule for each day by heart.
"The Sports Dome probably isn't even open today, as there aren't any events going on, currently." Makoto murmured.
Haruka checked her watch. It was three. "Well, if we want to have enough time to find a hiding spot in the museum before closing, then who ever's going there better go now. As for the sports dome, the sooner we get in there, the better, if it's locked. We don't want to be stuck outside trying to get in come midnight."
Mamoru nodded. "Right. So. Who goes where?"
"Why don't we pull names from a hat?" Hotaru suggested.
"Good idea. We can use my Helmet." Haruka produced her motorcycle helmet.
"I'll get some paper to write the names on." Mamoru stood, and disappeared into another room, as he fetched the paper.
After all the names had been put in the hat, and they had been sufficiently shaken up, Bunny drew out the slips of paper, one at a time.
"Two groups will have three people. The rest will have two. Draw the three's first." Luna instructed.
"... Minako.... Michiru...and...Mamoru!" Bunny's eyes became large and wet. "But... I want Mamo-chan on my team!" she whimpered.
"We can trade players later." Michiru told her. "Finish drawing the names.
Bunny sniffed, but did as she was told. ".... Haruka.... Rei and... Me. The next group is.... Makoto and.... Hotaru. The last group is.... Az and.... Ami obviously, as she's the last one left."
Artemis nodded. "I think those are fairly well balanced teams. Don't you, Luna?"
"Yes. So. Minako, Michiru, Mamoru, why don't you take the Edo-Tokyo Museum. Haruka, Rei, Bunny, you take the Horse Track. Makoto, Hotaru, you can take the Sports dome, and Az and Ami, why don't you take the zoo. Does that sound good to everyone?"
Everyone nodded, except Bunny and Haruka.
"Are you sure I can't have Mamo-chan on my team?" Bunny whimpered.
"Yes." Luna said firmly.
"Hotaru." Haruka said. "If you're going to be on your own-"
"Hey!" Makoto protested.
"I mean, with out another member of the outer senshi, you have to promise not to use 'Death Reborn Revolution.' I don't care whether or not Setsuna told you to try it out; you're going to be in a building filled with very expensive, heavy stuff. I don't want to hear that any of it's damaged, or that it fell in on you or Makoto."
"Don't worry, Haruka-papa." Hotaru looked at the floor, blushing. "I won't. I promise."