Chapter Three: They're Gone!


The day went on and ended without incident. However, the next wouldn't promise to be as calm. The threats of the Shadow senshi leaving were lingering in the air for the one person who was clued in on them but he found he couldn't decide on what to do about the knowledge. The others were oblivious to the planning and it exactly what the Shadow senshi wanted. Even as Usagi and Luna were strolling over to the Hikawa Jinja the subject was absent as a more pressing one took place. Although Usagi denied it, Luna knew the reason she was going over to the shrine.

"Usagi, just admit it. You're crush on Yamito has never gone away. You know what Rei will say when you show up to see him?"

Usagi laughed nervously and waved off the comments, though they obviously made her a little uneasy, "Oh Luna, I only want to see if he's healing okay. Besides, I haven't seen him like this in......a long time. I just want to see how he's doing."

"Uh huh, and you have the charm he gave around your wrist because......."

Reminding her about it made Usagi look down to her wrist. A dull, silver charm was tied on her bracelet and she ran her fingers over the smooth lines of the phoenix. She could still remember the day he gave it to her and what he said when he did. However, the daydream was broken by a car horn and she quickly looked up to see a sports sedan pull up. Haruka and Michiru climbed out of the sleek car and stood on the walkway near it. Usagi was glad for the quick interruption and walked over to them, "Hey, Haruka, Michiru. What's up?"

Michiru sat delicately against the fender of the car and shook her head a bit, "We came to see how the other guys are doing. Kage seems to be much the same as he was before. Are the others the same?"

"For the most part. Of course, Yamito has been a little distant but Suteki and Kurai are both feeling like themselves again. Have you been to see Kage very much?"

Michiru naturally glanced over to Haruka and got a light smile on her face. Haruka stabbed one of her hands in her pockets and tilted her head a bit, "A couple of times. The big guy needs someone to make sure he doesn't get out of line again."

"The only one that I worry about is Yamito. He's all Usagi can think about lately. In fact, she was going over there to check up on him, weren't you Usagi?"

Luna's wry smile made Usagi steam in anger but hold in her yelling so she wouldn't say anything she wasn't supposed to. Luna enjoyed the look on her face but it made both Michiru and Haruka a bit confused. It was Haruka who spoke about it though, "Are we missing something here? Don't tell me you still have a crush on him, odango."

"How is it everybody knows about that!? It was months ago and I'm over it! Why does everybody keep bringing it up?"

"There's nothing wrong with you thinking that he......" Michiru was suddenly cut off by Ami running up with a concerned look on her face. They all looked at her quickly and she stopped next to Usagi, grabbing her arm lightly.

"Usagi! Have you seen Kurai?"

Usagi's mood was quickly broken and she blinked a bit at her friend's panic. Then she shook her head lightly and felt a light burning feeling at the very bottom of her stomach, "He isn't with you?"

"No, I woke up this morning and he was gone. I can't find him anywhere."

Haruka waved off all the worry and blew it all off as paranoia, "I'm sure he's just out somewhere. There's no need to get worried."

Usagi wasn't show sure and looked to Haruka with a serious look on her face, "I don't think so, Haruka. This feels bad. We're pretty close to Minako's.....let's see if Suteki knows anything."


"Suteki? Where are you?" Minako quipped and looked around her home. The place sounded very quiet and she walked from room to room looking for him. So far, she hadn't much luck. The empty house made her sigh and plop down on the couch, resting her check against her palm, "Where could he be?"

"What's up, Sure-shot?"

Dark Shadow Venus abruptly appeared in front of her and looked down at her with a blink. His quick appearance startled her and she looked up to him with a racing heart, "Agh! Don't do that! Where were you?"

"Talking to Kurai. Did you want me?"

She didn't notice before but his senshi uniform was back on him and he looked at her with a guilty look in his face. All of this should have been enough to arouse her suspicions but she didn't think much about it, "Where is he?"

"Right out front. Take a look." His unusual tone made her blink a bit but she did walk over to the window as he said, "I don't see him." Just then she saw Haruka's car pull up and the others rushed towards the house, "I wonder what they're doing here. Hey Suteki....." Her voice trailed off and she looked back to find an empty room, "Suteki? Suteki?" Her doorbell rang and she walked to the door with a curious look in her eyes. Then she pulled the door open to Usagi, Ami and Luna, "Hi guys. What're you doing here?"

Usagi peeked past her and looked into her house for Shadow Venus, "We're looking for Kurai. Does Suteki know where he is?"

"I don't know." Her face knotted up a bit and she thought for a moment as things began to make more sense, "That's weird, Suteki said he was talking to Kurai and he was in his fighting clothes. I wonder what's....."

The thoughts caused her to trail off and the girls all looked at each other, a horrible thought coming to each of them at the same time. Ami broke the silence and looked back at Haruka and Michiru waiting by the car, "You don't suppose that they....."

"Come on, Yamito will know about all of this!"


"Rei? Are you here?"

Dark Shadow Mars looked around slowly as he walked around the Hikawa Jinja. He hadn't returned since the day before and he was expecting to yelled at by it. So far, however, he hadn't seen any sign of Rei. That is, until he heard her voice call out, "Over here." He looked towards the voice and followed it slowly, his eyes weighed heavily by something. As he stepped around the building, he looked up to find Rei sweeping dirt from the walkway with an angry look on her face. He treaded lightly as he approached her but she never looked up to him, which confirmed that she was still mad at him.

"Can we talk?"

"Are you going to disappear again?"

"I'm sorry. I hope I didn't make you worry." She finally looked up at him and her eyes were fierce, but tired and exhausted as well. By his guess, she had stayed up most of the night. He knew the reason why.

"Why would I worry? Just because your hurt and hunted but you decide to disappear and not come back until the day after? Why should I be worried?"

Despite her emotional tones, he just watched her with a dim look in his eyes. He could see her emotions running wild and, in a slight sense, it made him a little happy to see he was cared for so dearly. However, his intent right now would serve one purpose alone, "I had a lot of time to think, Rei. Because of the situation, I don't think that we......" For the first time that she had known him, she watched his cool demeanor slip away from him. His teeth clenched up and he stared at her with a look in his eyes that just screamed out with the hate he was feeling right now. The hate was for himself, "We can't......be with each......."

This time it was screeching tires that distracted her and she looked away from him a moment, "What was that?"

While she looked for the source of the sound, Shadow Mars was battling with himself over what he was trying to do. His eyes never moved from her and finally, he sighed loudly and relaxed a bit, "My feelings just outweighed my better judgment. Usagi has not been a good influence on me."

His words made Rei blink in confusion. Just as she was turning to look at him, the other girls came into view running towards them. What Rei found as she turned was his hand right in front of her face. Before she could open her mouth to say something else, a bright flash of red light knocked her unconscious and she fell limply into his arms. He held her a moment and looked down at her serene face, causing a stirring in the back of his dark eyes.

"How I've fallen for you, Rei. I wish I could tell you what I feel.....but I can't. I only hope that the power you've given me will be enough to save you."

His fingers ran across her face softly and he let himself have a moment with her, but then soon brought himself to say good-bye. He set her on the ground gently and stood up though still looking down. All of the others were coming up on them and Usagi yelled at him with fear dancing in her voice, "Yamito!" He never moved and flames washed over his figure, changing his clothes to his Shadow senshi uniform though his eyes were still locked on Rei. Usagi just watched all of this with that feeling in her stomach growing, "Yamito!" Just as they were about to arrive at him, he looked up slowly and brushed some of his long, white hair from his eyes. His eyes went straight to Usagi and he spoke in a quiet voice, "Good-bye, Usako." Though she couldn't hear him, she felt the words he spoke and watched him disappear in a swirl of flames. They all reached Rei at the same time and leaned down to see if she was all right. Michiru let out a few breaths and looked down at Rei with a blink in her eyes.

"This was just meant to stall us. It looks like he didn't want to hurt her."

In all the excitement Rei slowly came to and looked around in confusion, "Where.......where is Yamito?"

Luna was already running back towards the car and called after them to follow, "He's gone. That leaves only one left."

"Come on, we have to hurry!" Haruka nodded and followed her back towards her car. Minako helped Rei up and they followed Haruka and Michiru, leaving Usagi in the rear to try and catch up.

"Why do we have to do all of this running!?"


"That was a good day of cleaning."

The apartment of Makoto never looked so clean as it did today. The floors were spotless, the furniture sparkled and the windows were crystal clear. However the toll it took on the two was great. Makoto plopped down on her bed next to an already yawning Dark Shadow Jupiter, rubbing her forehead with her hand. He was already stretched out and relaxing but looked to her with a light smirk, "You actually enjoy doing that?"

"A clean house is a happy house."

"We must have all day hours cleaning this place." He looked around slowly and ran his hand through his spiky white hair. He wasn't complaining about the work, after all, but he wasn't used to doing that after his long stretch from a normal life. After stretching a bit he leaned back against the headboard of her bed and yawned again.

As if by reaction she yawned also and nodded, "Yep, but it looks great, huh?" As he looked around with pride and a nod, Makoto scooted closer to him and laid her head against his chest sleepily. She threw all caution to the wind and slid her arms around his chest lightly and smiled, "I'm tired."

Then a great thing happened. His attentions moved to her and he was silent a moment, but then smiled lightly and nodded. He didn't try and defend himself from her or call out a threat. He simply enjoyed being with her again, "Me too."

"Kage? Tell me about Kani."

Her question usually would have brought out anger in him, but since it was coming from her, he found himself answering in a flat tone, "She was so beautiful. She had eyes like yours......so green that an entire forest would have been envious. I don't think I ever remember her without a smile on her face. And she could always make me smile too." The subject made Makoto smile a bit and snuggle into him closer. He merely looked down at her with a distant smile himself and brushed some stray hair from her face, "I would've done anything for her. I loved my sister very much. And I'll never forget when she was taken from me." His hand ran across the shoulder of his shirt and he looked away for a moment in thought. Some rough mumbling made him look back to her with a light smile and chuckle a bit at her drowsy attempt to say something, It was then he noticed her wearing her rose earring in her left ear. He slowly held his hand out and the other one appeared in his palm, making him lose a lot of his smile. Then he placed it in her hand and closed her fingers around it gently, "The time has come for me to avenge her. Everyone who took her from me will pay." He lifted his now empty hand into the air and looked at it a moment, as if the answer lay within its skin. His sword then appeared in it and he looked over the blade thoughtfully as his reflection stared back, "I lost my sister to the Omega Master, but I refuse to lose you too." The idea of it made his gaze move from his sword back to her and his smile completely faded away, "No matter what happens, I'll make sure you're safe, Mako-chan. I'll do it because......I love you."

Almost like she heard him, a soft smile washed over her face and she cuddled a little bit more to him, "I love you, Kage."

Her sleepy words caused him to stare at her for a long time, then move his eyes to his sword again, "Time....." His hand ran up and down her arm softly and his peat green eyes narrowed a bit on the blade, "No time for love." In a flash he disappeared from her bed and she fell onto the pillow without waking up, but shuddered a bit and her face tightened just a little at his absence.


Loud banging on Makoto's door startled her up as Usagi's voice pierced the door loudly, "Makoto! Kage! Anybody? Hello?" Makoto let a belated yawn escaped her lips and noticed Shadow Jupiter was gone while the continued banging on her door. A wave of nervousness suddenly came over her and she felt something bad was about to happen. It caused her to hurry to the door and open it to the worried faces of Usagi and the others. Their looks mirrors the same look on Makoto's face.

"What's going on?"

"Mako-chan, is Kage here?"

"I don't know. I fell asleep with him and when I woke up, he was gone." Makoto quickly turned back around and headed into the apartment looking for him. The others joined in also and Haruka especially seemed a bit eager to find him. They all searched her apartment thoroughly, but find nothing left of him. It all made Makoto even more worried, "Where could they have gone?" Her phone suddenly started ringing and it made Usagi shriek and turn to it, yelling at it for startling her.

"Stupid phone!"

Makoto walked over to it and lifted it up to her ear, "Hello?......Oh, hi Mamoru.........Yeah, they're all here.....Okay."

Makoto slowly turned to Usagi and held the phone out and she came over and took it from her quickly, "Mamo-chan, we can't find them........He did?......They are?....A day early?" A look of both anger and worry came over Usagi's tired features and she spoke into the phone a bit loudly, "You mean you knew they were going to go and didn't tell us?"

"What's going on?"

Usagi turned to Rei and huffed, holding the phone down at her side a little, "Yamito told Mamoru that they were going to face the Omega Master! They didn't want us involved so they just took off!" It was obvious she was just worried more than anything else and she quickly put the phone back to her ear. However, all she heard from the other side was a dull thud and then nothing more, "Mamo-chan? Mamo-chan?" She got no answer and looked into the receiver with a blink, "He hung up?"

Michiru giggled a bit and leaned against the wall with a light smile on her face, "You were a little sharp with him." Usagi just sighed and set the phone down, wondering if she was right about that. Suddenly Minako stepped forward and reminded everybody what they had to do about the situation.

"Hey, we have to find the Shadow senshi! They're still hurt and can't fight the Omega Master by themselves."


"Kage, are you done yet?"

Dark Shadow Mars peered through the dark as the moonlight illuminated his face and he looked a little impatient. He and Dark Shadow Mercury were standing opposite of Dark Shadow Jupiter in the same area as the Priests' old mountain portal. Shadow Jupiter looked at him from the corner of his eye with a slight annoyance and then back to a small glow in the middle of his hand, "Almost. Don't rush me." Energy started to collect in his palm and he formed it into a white ball. There were already three balls of energy floating in the air around him and he finished the fourth, letting it float up next to the others. The ball reflected in his eyes and looked up at them with a light smile, "There. Finished." He looked at one of the balls and it floated over to him, "Okay, here we go." The ball suddenly absorbed right into his chest and he drew in a deep breath as his body tightened up from it.

Shadow Mercury raised a brow at the scene and clasped his hands behind him, "Well, how was it?"

"That was a rush." He replied and looked to the two of them with a glimmer in his eye. The other three energy balls floated down to him and he smiled deviously at them both, "Who wants it next?"

Shadow Mercury smiled a bit sheepishly and rubbed his head nervously, "It doesn't hurt, does it?"

"Not really." Shadow Jupiter smirked a bit and pulled one of the balls down in his hand, "Here....I'll show you." Before he could react, he threw the energy through the air at him and it absorbed into his chest. Shadow Mercury stepped back in shock and looked down at his chest, an odd look coming over his face. Shadow Mars watched silently as he looked back up to Shadow Jupiter and rubbed his chest.

"Interesting."

"You're up, Yamito."

Shadow Mars dropped his hands down to his side and nodded, a sadistic gleam appearing in his eyes. The look made Shadow Jupiter laugh bit and he let the next energy ball float over to him slowly. His dark eyes trained on the energy and he simply waited for it to take into him. It did just that and sent a fountain of sensation through his body. After the effect wore off, he looked at his hands and spoke in a quiet voice, "Don't forget Suteki."

"Where is he, anyway? Chasing some girls?"

Shadow Jupiter's musing was caught by Dark Shadow Venus farther away from them, who just smirked but didn't look at them. A large, orange energy ball was formed in front of him and he was too busy concentrating on it to respond to them. Shadow Mars gestured his hand to him and then looked back to Shadow Jupiter, "Give it to him."

"Suteki! Catch!" Shadow Venus turned to find an energy ball hurling towards him. His eyes widened and he took a step back, almost falling over a rock that was right behind him, "What the......!" He was cut off by the energy absorbing into him and then shook off the effect. It all made him a bit mad and he looked to Shadow Jupiter with anger in his eyes, though he was roaring with laughter along with Shadow Mercury. Even Shadow Mars was smiling a bit but Shadow Venus was not at all amused, "What was that!?"

As the other two roared in laughter at him, Shadow Mars brushed a stray hair from his face and smiled at his tone, "Our insurance plan."

"Well, next time tell me before you start throwing energy at me! You all think that's funny, don't ya?" He snarled and started to concentrate back on his own project. The ball grew even larger and he finally lowered his arms away from it slowly, "There, I hope our good buddies like this little surprise." The ball floated off of his hands and up into the air while the others watch it, still snickering a bit.

"Are you finished?"

"Yup." He replied with a nod and waved off the ball of energy like he was padding at a bug, though the energy flew high into the air and disappeared, "Okay, they won't know what hit them until it is too late."

As he walked back over to the others, Shadow Jupiter looked over at Shadow Mars and crossed his arms over his chest, "Now we have some tricks up our sleeve....."

"We wait."


"Agh! Where could they be!?"

Rei huffed angrily as they all walked around the warehouse district, a place where they fought the Shadow senshi many of times before. Haruka sighed a bit and leaned against a light pole, crossing her arms over her chest, "Well, it appears that they aren't here."

"I can't even think of where they might go."

Ami looked at her feet as her blue eyes filled with worry for Kurai, her voice quieted even more than usual. Haruka huffed a bit and looked towards her car in the distance, "It's amazing the things they put us through. I'll have to remember Kage for making me worry like this." Makoto was just a few feet away and staring down at her feet with a worried look on her face. She obviously was thinking the same thing about the same person.

Michiru and Minako were watching her with a blink until Minako looked away a bit, staring up into the night sky. The stars reflected deeply in her eyes and she let out a long sigh in her thoughts, "Where are you, Suteki?"

"Hey!" Usagi's shriek startled the others and she smiled widely with an idea, "Maybe they're back at the mountain portal. That's the only place that we know of that that leads to the Omega Master's castle."

They were all a bit impressed at the insight and Haruka shrugged lightly as she leaned off the light pole, "It's worth a shot."


"Do you think they will both come?" Shadow Mercury asked and looked over a rock in his hand. No one answered and he nodded, knowing the answer to that question even before he asked it.

All of the Dark Shadow senshi were sitting around and waiting for their enemies to show up. All except Shadow Mars, who stood at the edge of the cliff and stared off at the distant city. Shadow Venus flips his hair out of his eyes and looks towards him, "I'm just glad the girls aren't here. Fighting and keeping an eye on them at the same time is a pain."

"As I remember, Sailor Venus saved your butt."

"True, she did." Shadow Venus smiled sheepishly at Shadow Jupiter, laughing a bit, "A couple of times. That girl's amazing, ya know?"

"Much like Ami. As intelligent as I presume to be, I could learn much from her." They all nodded to Shadow Mercury's thought and then sat in silence for a while as the moonlight shined down on their sullen faces.

Breaking the silence was Shadow Venus's sigh and he looked towards Shadow Mars with a questioning glance, "We're doing the right thing, right?"

He didn't return the glance but the question aroused a blink from Shadow Jupiter, "How so?"

"Keeping the Sailor senshi out of this. This is their destiny too, ya know? This is their planet and all."

Shadow Mars still remained quiet, but Shadow Mercury answered the concern, "The Omega Master isn't of this world. He is of our world, so that makes it our responsibility."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. The only thing we can do is end this and let them live without worrying about him. It's just......" His blue eyes fell as he trailed away and decided not to impose the wrath of their leader.

"I hear ya." Shadow Jupiter added loudly and looked over to Shadow Mars with a fierce look in his eyes, "Dammit, I want a normal life too." It was enough to finally bring Shadow Mars's eyes away from the city to him and he just stared back with a grim smile on his face, "I want a life with Makoto."

There was a deafening silence and all but Yamito nodded though the rest looked to him for some reaction. Finally, Shadow Mercury rose up and broke the silence, "I agree. I want to be with Ami as well." Shadow Venus just tilted his head as he knew Shadow Mars was aware of his feelings towards Minako. The silent senshi just looked slowly between them all and gathered his thoughts. Then, he finally spoke as he looked back out over the city.

"Focus on the task at hand. I don't want to hear any more about this. The Omega Master comes first."

"It's sad that only one of you has been able to think clearly after being infected by those girls."

Most of the Dark Shadow senshi looked over and found Shadow Neptune and Uranus standing across the clearing from them. Shadow Mars closed his eyes and brushed some of his hair from his face, though he never looked over at them, "It's about time. Were you going to keep us waiting all night?"

"We were interested in what you were saying."

Shadow Neptune nodded in agreement and looked at all four of them with a disgusted smirk, "So, you three are in love with those Sailors senshi. Even you have been distracted, Kurai?"

"Distraction? I disagree. You two should know as well as we do that love......" A serene smile came over Shadow Mercury's face and he clasped his hands behind his back as he looked at the two, "Is a power that makes our abilities as senshi seem meager at best."

"Don't pretend to presume you could love as deeply as we do. You were the ones who left us to rot, remember? And still we survived."

Shadow Mars finally spoke up once more and faced them all from his place of seclusion, "I'm tired of hearing how hard you've had it when you were captured. You made your choice and paid the price. You aren't being forced to wear those collars. As for our ability to love.......we will prove our affections by killing you, those pathetic clones and the master of all this madness. Our love will be our sacrifices so they will live on in peace. Prepare yourselves."


Next Chapter: Sailor Senshi to the Rescue