Circa Unknown
A/N: Oh goody, boys and girls…You do not wanna ask about this. This basically comes from thinking too much for my own darn good, from lack of sleep, an OD on caffeine, and being way too obsessive about my anime and fanfiction. Now, onward! [Eevy: She scares me.] [Lance: Yep.]
Eevy stretched her arms back over her head, folding them back and using them as a pillow. She propped her feet up on the porch railing, swaying slightly front to back on the swing. Her hair waved slightly in the breeze and her Crystal Bell jingled slightly. She sighed, thanking whoever was out there for finally giving a few minutes of peace and quiet on this most beautiful day. There was a slight rumble in the distance and her right eye opened halfway. She glared out at the gradually darkening sky, a black swirl of clouds forming in the blue. She sat up slowly at the sight of that; it looked almost like Raikou's clouds, but it couldn't have been him. He was safe in her Bell. She leaned forward, her right eyebrow cocking.
"What's with that…?"
Her eyes narrowed slowly as Will poked his head out the window behind her. They both watched, each going totally blank in the face when something white burst from the center of the clouds. They looked at each other silently, then Will squinted back at the object flying through the air, towards the Moss Bogs. Turns out that wasn't an object at all; but a human. Or…Something resembling a human.
"What do you see?" Eevy asked him quietly.
"Uh…A white baboon with a blue face," he blinked a few times as Eevy's head tilted off to the side, "Hey, there's some more!" he pointed, pleased to pull her attention away from his completely dense look.
This time the figure was bright enough for Eevy to see on her own. Still, it wasn't anywhere near easy to discern what it was. It seemed to be another human. No, wait…Four humans. Again the two psychics looked to each other, then back to the sky. It seemed the first human was carrying the second, the third and fourth on a huge cream-colored cat of some sort, much resembling a Persian. Along side them floated some kind of balloon with eyes.
"Uh…Huh…" the Champion and Elite Third stared oddly, "Should we go see what that was?" they asked as one, "Guess so…"
Will tossed her cloak out the window to her, then emerging from the front door a few moments later. Had the other Elite been anywhere around, they would have brought them as well, but with what they just saw, they weren't about to take the time to find them. They hurried down the front walk, taking the most secluded routes on the edge of the city, near the Guard Wall. They followed along side the massive structure of stone and metal, slipping silently out the front gate, right past Vic and V, and down toward the newly-assembled dock. They then followed along the Gladiola River, to the east and toward the Acrid and Pompon Seas. There was a sudden large gust of wind that nearly sent Eevy sailing right off her feet, but Will managed to scramble up behind her to steady her. As they both stood straight, they were again nearly toppled over by a white figure with a light blue face. Will's "white baboon" shoved past them in a blur of movement. They quickly looked back the way it came from as bushes rustled.
Standing there, staring at them, was a white-haired, gold-eyed, cat-eared human clad in a red kimono. Eevy and Will stared right back, only to receive a growl in return. They backed slowly up, one beside the other and ready to attack, as this cat-human boasted a long, wide sword in his right hand. His eyes narrowed and his clawed fingers wrapped tighter around the hilt of the sword. Behind him stood a dark-haired girl in a school uniform, a dark-haired young man with a staff, another black-haired woman on a large Persian/Eevee looking animal, and a small creature resembling a human child, but with a fox's tail.
"What the heck are these goons?" Eevy asked in Will's mind.
"Got me. But that sword is really giving me the heebie-jeebies," he shuttered back, swallowing hard.
"I'll bet these two are a couple of Naraku's puppet people," the cat-person spat, then taking the hilt of his sword in both hands and raising it.
"Hold on," the school girl, pulled his elbow, "They dress too recent for that. Maybe we can trust them."
With the raising of that sword, it clicked a switch in the back of Will's paranoid psyche, which hit one in Eevy. Both brought a hand up, a long beam of white or black shooting from their clenched fists. Now armed with their own weapons, they took firm fighting poses and stood their ground.
"OK. Or perhaps not," the monk twitched.
The cat-human jumped, seemingly effortlessly, a good ten feet above them. Will jumped left and Eevy right as he came down between them with a heavy swing of that huge sword. Both the Elite Trainers landed safely on the ground, each with one hand on the ground and the other firmly clutching their swords. The cat-human stood and ran at Eevy, who shot off to the right again. The monk took a swing at her back with his staff, but she ducked, causing him to crack the cat-human in the face.
"What the hell did you do that for?!" the cat-human barked, his nose now red.
"It was an accident, I assure you," the monk raised his hands.
"Listen, you," Eevy stepped back, standing straight, "If you're here to try and mess with our League, you'd best back off, because the few of you will not stand a chance."
"We're not here for anything like that," the school girl ran around between them, "We don't even know where we are."
"You're not really falling for this, are you, Kagome?" the cat-human snorted, holding the sword over his shoulder, "They're obviously the product of Naraku and his Jewel shards, so let's kill 'em and get out of here."
"First off," Will shoved forward, his and Eevy's swords disappearing, "Who or what is Naraku?"
"See?" the girl the cat-human called Kagome pointed to Will, "They don't even know who Naraku is."
"But they could be lying," the other girl pointed out, the creature she'd been sitting on suddenly shrinking, "Or they could have been brainwashed by Naraku himself."
"Oh, I don't think they're lying," the monk smiled, "After all, look at that beautiful woman there. How could you accuse such a pretty thing of lying?"
Eevy's eyes narrowed slowly, "Don't even tempt me," she grunted to herself, "Honestly, we assure you, we're not lying. We have no clue who this Naraku you're talking about is. We saw you come falling from the sky somehow and came to see what it was all about."
"And what would it matter to you?" the cat-human questioned, sheathing his now thinner sword at his side, "Why do you even care? Is it any concern of yours?"
"As the Elite Trainers here, we're set to protect the city," Eevy snapped back, crossing her arms as the cat-human put each hand down the opposite sleeve, "If you're here to try something, we're to stop you."
"Trainers? Of what?" Kagome asked.
"Pokemon, of course," Will put in.
"Pokemon?" the little fox-creature inquired.
"A type of demon, no doubt," the other girl noted.
"Demon?" Eevy's eyes went slightly wide, "Not even close! Pokemon are very peaceful creatures, unless raised or influenced by harmful humans."
"Show us one of these Pokemon?" Kagome requested.
"Certainly," Eevy reached behind her back and released Vovo, "This is my Eevee. His name is Vovo."
"It's so cute!" Kagome scooped him up, "It looks like a one-tailed, shorter-eared Kilala."
"Kilala?" Will's right eyebrow kinked up.
"Yeah," the fox-creature stepped up, "This is Kilala (FYI: It's really spelled Kirara, but I'm going to write it the way it's pronounced just to make it easier, K?)," he pushed the little cream kitten forward, "And I'm Shippo. These are my friends Kagome, Sango, Miroku, and Inuyasha."
"Ah," Eevy brushed her cloak back and bowed politely, "I'm Evangelina, but please call me Eevy. And this is Will."
"Well, excuse me," the cat-human, who Shippo referred to as Inuyasha, pushed in, "But while we're sitting here with the formal introductions, Naraku is getting farther and farther away."
"Naraku…Is he the white baboon that just ran past?" Will questioned.
"Yes," Sango nodded quickly, "Tell us, which way did he go?"
"He went that way," Will pointed, "Moving faster than I even thought humanly possible."
"Well, there's a real good reason for that one," Inuyasha shook his head, "Since he's not human."
"If not a human, what else is there?" Eevy questioned.
"A very powerful demon," Miroku answered, the seriousness on his face leading both Will and Eevy to believe him.
"There's no point in trying to chase Naraku now," Kagome sighed, "Once it gets dark, he'll be even harder to find. And we have no idea where he could be."
"For some reason," Eevy murmured, "I feel I can believe you. And if this Naraku character is as powerful as your tones are leading me to believe, then it's my job to make sure he doesn't try to pull anything around here."
"Trust me, lady, Naraku is plenty powerful," Inuyasha boasted, "Though I'm stronger."
"Sit, boy!" Kagome snapped, dragging Inuyasha's face directly to the ground.
"Might you allow us to stay somewhere in your city tonight?" Sango asked quietly, hoisting a giant boomerang over her shoulder, "We need time to think and a place to sleep."
"Of course," Eevy nodded, "Besides, I'd like to hear more about Naraku and just why and how you're here."
"There's a lot to tell," Shippo warned.
"Bwee!" Kilala agreed.
"Then there's a lot to hear."
*^~^**^~^*
The white baboon, namely Naraku, stood in a shaded corner just inside the Rainbow Metro gates. This time was new; very different from the futile era they'd come from. He waited for Inuyasha and the rest of his crew, along with the two strange natives of this time, to disappear down the street, then slowly began following the sidewalk on the opposite side of the road. He looked slowly around; so many people, so many new buildings, so much activity. This place was more in-use than the most important of cities where they'd dropped from. He ignored the odd looks the locals gave him, as to him they were the ones dressed like crazies, and stopped when he saw a TV. On it was a picture of what looked to him like a strong and powerful demon. Bright red eyes and flame red hair shone through the glass of the window as he stood and listened. The woman in that box was speaking about someone named Rubeus. She listed only a page of the four of the things he was tried for before running out of breath, then beside this Rubeus' picture flashed one of someone the woman called the Champion Mistress. Naraku immediately smiled; that was the very same woman Inuyasha had been following. It appeared that Hikoboshi, she was named, and Rubeus were both mortals, but deadly enemies. He turned and headed back to the front gate, disappearing in a swirl of darkness.
*^~^**^~^*
"So, you got pulled here when you followed into Naraku's energy field," Eevy crossed her arms and pondered silently, "With the addition of the weight and matter you added to the transport power, it must have thrown him off."
"That'd be an awfully long throw," Shippo blinked, resting comfortably on her shoulder.
"Tell me," Will put in, "This Shikon Jewel…How did it break?"
"It was my fault," Kagome moaned at even the mention of it, "I accidentally shot it with an arrow and it shattered."
"And if someone or something has one of these shards, it becomes more powerful?"
"Very powerful," Sango nodded, "Powerful enough to destroy an entire village by themselves."
Kagome stopped suddenly, looking left to right, "What's the problem?" Eevy asked, turning back to her.
"I…Sense Jewel shards nearby," she murmured, then looking around and around in circles.
"Keh, I knew it. I'll bet it's her that's got 'em," Inuyasha, who had been pretty much silent the entire time, reached for his sword and turned on Eevy, "Hold still so I can cut it out of you."
"Wait, Inuyasha!" Kagome stared at Eevy, "I don't see any shards in her."
"I promise you, Inuyasha, I do not have any of your precious Jewel shards," Eevy hissed, turning and picking up her pace beside Will, "And even if I did, I would be unable to use it for evil."
"And just why should we believe that?" Inuyasha spat back, "How do we know you're not lying now?"
"Easy, Inuyasha," Miroku cautioned, "If Kagome doesn't see the shard, then she obviously doesn't have one."
"You'd say something to redeem her even if you knew she had a shard, ya' pervert," he snorted, crossing his arms.
"Hey, come on, guys!" Shippo called back, as Eevy and Will were a ways ahead, "You'll have to excuse Inuyasha, Eevy," he looked down at his carrier, "He's kind of up tight."
"So we've seen," Will rolled his eyes, running up the walk to grab the door for Eevy.
"Wow," Kagome ran up beside the Champion Mistress, "This place is huge! Is it like the emperor's house or something?"
"Close, but yet far from it," Eevy snickered, placing Shippo on the ground, "This is where we live."
Miroku froze, looking up toward Rainbow Mansion, "What lovely accommodations for such a lovely lady," he blinked a few times.
"I could get lost for ages in a place this big," Sango acknowledged, eyes wide.
"Impressive, I suppose," Inuyasha grunted.
Eevy glanced over her shoulder at the half-demon, "You're more than welcome to stay here. And you, Inuyasha, may find the roof to more comforting a luxury."
Inuyasha looked back at her, a slightly disbelieving look in his eyes, "How did she know I like to sleep on the roof?" he asked himself silently.
She merely grinned at him and entered the main hall, looking around her, "We're back, everyone! Did you even notice we were gone?!"
There were some miscellaneous noises from four different directions and four others appeared. One from the left, one from the right, one from the next floor, and one from the basement, the tallest of which scrambling directly up to Eevy.
"Can't you warn us before you disappear like that?" he questioned, "We've been going batty looking for y-" he glanced back at Inuyasha, "Who's the cat-boy? And where'd these guys come from?"
"I am not a cat-boy!" Inuyasha growled, then spotting Miroku gallivanting off toward Medira and Luri, catching the back of his collar and jerking him back.
"This," Eevy shoved between them, "Everyone, are my other Elite. Medira, Jason, Luri, and Lance. Guys, these are Kagome, Sango, Shippo, Miroku, Kilala and Inuyasha. They've just…Dropped in, and have pointed out a serious problem to me."
"A problem?" Jason questioned, ready to slap Miroku ten feet across the room, "What kind of problem?"
"There's a lot of explaining to do," Miroku stood beside Luri, causing her to lurch behind Will, "I suggest we eat a bit, then discuss the matter."
"Eat?!" Sango jumped, "How can you eat at a time like this?! Naraku could be out there destroying something in the city this very second!"
"Doubtful," Medira crossed her arms, "If anything happens in the city, we're the first to know. After the police though, of course. And just the same; what's a Naraku?"
"Here we go again," Shippo sighed.
"Bwee…" Kilala chirped.
*^~^**^~^*
"Hey," there was a loud click and a buzzer as a tall, wide, heavy white door was yanked open, "You've got a visitor."
"Oh, goody for me!" came the sarcastic reply from the inside of a bright white room, "Is it another Jenny, come to interrogate me some more?"
"Not today, Ruby-boy," spat the guard, glaring in at the crimson-hared Demised Champion, "You've got ten minutes."
Peter Rubeus, though his eyes had lost their neon yellow swirls, cocked an eyebrow in his usual manner at the silent man who entered his confinement area, "Oh, even better. A monkey man."
The visitor snickered lowly, a very deep and evil laugh, "You must be Peter Rubeus," he smiled slightly, cloaked in some kind of white fur with a hood and mask hanging back.
"Yeah, that'd be me," he replied, waving a hand, "Don't know ya', but I suppose I can't roast you when you've done nothing. Though it could be fun."
"Yes, I've heard of your flame-throwing palms," he replied slightly more seriously, "And I've come with a bit of a proposition for you."
"Oh really?" Rubeus asked haughtily, placing his hands on his hips, "Well, propose away!" he swept his arms out to his sides, bowing down slightly.
"I am Naraku," he acknowledged, "And in return for your cooperation, I'll be more than happy to release you from this…" Naraku looked slowly around, "…Prison."
"Oh? And how, might I ask, would you do that?"
"With this," Naraku raised a small pink-white crystal.
"What is that thing? And what use would I have for it? Is it good for picking electronic locks?" Rubeus shook his head, "You're wasting my time now, "Naraku", so why not be gone and save us both the misery?"
"Allow me to show you something," Naraku raised a hand and sent a light black mist toward the door, looking off at Rubeus as he turned to watch, "As that mist works its magic, allow me to explain. I come from what you call the futile era, and I am a most powerful demon. And with this shard, it enables me to do this."
There was a sudden loud crash as the door was ripped directly from its hinges, cramming to the floor on the hall outside. Rubeus' eyes nearly jumped right from his skull as sirens started blaring, announcing his escape. He looked back on Naraku, who was merely grinning sinisterly.
"Do you believe me now?" he asked, snickering quietly.
"Buddy," Rubeus blinked in disbelief, "After that, I believe everything you say."
"Good."
"So what's your proposition?" he asked, glancing at the door, "And make it snappy."
"I want you to kill the half-demon Inuyasha and his companions, Kagome, Sango, Shippo, Kilala and Miroku. They sent me here and followed themselves."
"And what do I get out of this?" he questioned nastily, cringing and leaning quickly away as Naraku put his right hand out.
"If that one shard could do that," Naraku smiled and flipped his hand over, opening it, "Imagine what five could do."
"Five?"
"I know of your rivalry with the Champion Mistress Hikoboshi," his eyes narrowed as Rubeus hissed, "And in return for your disposing of Inuyasha and his band, I will not only allow you use of these five Shikon Jewel shards, but I will also assist you in killing her. You see," he brought out the other hand, "I have quite a few more of my own."
"Oh do you now?" Rubeus asked, smiling evilly and swiping the shards from Naraku's hand, "You've got yourself a deal," his grin grew and the yellow swirled about his eyes as he thought silently to himself, "And when I'm through with this Inuyasha and Hikoboshi…I'll terminate this little relationship and take those shards off your hands," he looked down at the shards in his palm.
"Or so you'd believe," Naraku put out his right hand, shaking Rubeus', and turned them both to a swirl of black smoke, disappearing completely as the sirens continued blaring.
*^~^**^~^*
"Inuyasha? Are you up here?" the roof door creaked slowly open.
"Keh…No," Inuyasha shrugged, hands down the opposite sleeves and his sword in his arms.
Eevy climbed up the last two steps and out onto the roof, "I thought you'd be up here," she wandered over beside him and looked out over the city as he did.
"What do you want?" he grunted, crossing his arms tighter.
"My house, my roof. I can go where I want."
"Why did you ask if I was up here?"
Eevy smirked suddenly, "All right. You caught me. I was looking for you," she sat slowly down beside him.
"And why would you do that?"
"If your prime enemy is out there, in my city, plotting to destroy you and most likely all you associate with, I'll do everything in my power to protect you and my League."
"Protect me? I don't need protecting."
She shrugged and glanced over at him out of the very right side of her eye, "He has such strong pride. He refuses help, but I can tell he does sometimes feel he needs it," she cleared her throat, "Inuyasha…It means dog demon, doesn't it?"
"Shut up!" he suddenly spat, turning on her, "Don't call me a dog, got it?!"
"I wasn't," she answered calmly, "I was merely translating your name."
Inuyasha glared, then turned quickly off to the other side, "Hikoboshi was a Shinto astral god," he muttered, "How'd you get his name?"
"Fate threw it at me, I suppose you could say," she crossed her legs, "Kagome told me you're father was a demon, and your mother a human."
"Leave it to the stupid girl to go and blurt that to a total stranger," he puffed, "Yeah, I'm half demon."
"And your brother Sesshomaru is a full demon," she added.
"Don't even mention Sesshomaru," he gnarled, clenching the hilt of the Tetsaiga.
"Sorry, sorry," she leaned away quickly.
Inuyasha sniffed the air idly, "I sense you've got a lot of power in you."
She looked off at him, "I do."
"How can a human get so powerful?"
"Because…" she cupped her hands out in front of her, forming a ball of psychic energy, "I'm immortal."
He turned to her, "You can't die?"
"I can die, but I'm immediately reborn afterwards," she extinguished the power forming in her palm, "My second soul is over two thousand years old."
"You have two souls?"
"Yes. This life's spirit, and then all those past combined into one," she lifted up her necklace, "She lives on in here."
He looked at the Crystal Bell in amazed wonder, then quickly turned serious and looked away, "And the purpose of this is what exactly?"
"So I can protect my world, my dimension, every lifetime."
"Protect the world?"
"Just as Naraku is evil to you, there's evil to me and us as well," she looked up at the sliver of a moon above them, "I'm reborn every lifetime so I can protect the Earth from my dark counterpart."
"So you're a warrior for good then," he laughed twice, "Keh, how humanly."
"The Shikon Jewel," she narrowed her eyes, "You want to gather the shards and turn into a full demon, don't you?" Inuyasha grinned at her, "Yet fifty years ago, you wanted to become human."
"Shut up!" Inuyasha spat, "I can't believe Kagome has such a big mouth!"
"She doesn't. She didn't tell me that," Eevy smirked as Inuyasha stared at her oddly, "I'm a psychic, Inuyasha. That is how I knew you like to sleep on the roof, how I know the Tetsaiga was forged from your father's fang, and how I knew about your want to become fully demon."
He grunted, then sheathing Tetsaiga at his side, which to Eevy was a sign he was slightly less tense, "Well, aren't you special?" he cracked, "Mind-reading and all powerful."
"I'm not all powerful, Inuyasha. And neither are you. No one is."
"Yeah, right. I'll bet anything I could cut you down to size," he placed his right hand on the Tetsaiga's wrapped hilt.
"You couldn't use that on me if you tried," she snickered, still sitting down as he stood behind her, "The Tetsaiga can only be used to protect a human, which you learned by protecting Kagome; Kikyo's reincarnated soul."
"You have no right to talk about Kikyo," he hissed, drawing his sword and swinging it down, the tip to the back of the Champion Mistress's neck.
"You care about Kagome, don't you?" she asked quietly.
"Quiet," he leaned the blade closer.
"Go ahead, Inuyasha," Eevy's eyes narrowed and a slight grin crossed her lips, "Strike me down. Prove me wrong. But, then again, wouldn't that prove me right? You'd be doing it to protect Kikyo and Kagome's honor."
Inuyasha grunted, then slowly loosened, dropping Tetsaiga to his side and transforming it back, "You amaze me, human. You really do."
"And why is that?" she questioned as he stepped to her right and sat again.
"Anyone else would have run away screaming at the sound of Tetsaiga being pulled behind them," he narrowed one eye, "I could have cut your head off, and you didn't even flinch."
She laughed quietly, "I don't run."
Inuyasha smirked slightly, "And neither do I."
There was a quiet ringing from Eevy's left side, "Pardon me a minute, huh?" she grinned nervously, reaching to retrieve her cell phone, which Inuyasha started at oddly, "Hello?"
"Mistress Hikoboshi? This is Officer Jenny from the Gertan Rin Penitentiary."
"Yes, Jenny. What can I help you with?" Inuyasha leaned around her back, ogling the phone strangely.
"I think…You really ought to come have a look at this."
"Oh…Well, OK. I'll be right there," she clicked it shut, then placed it back on her belt, "I've got to go somewhere."
Inuyasha finally detached his vision from the phone, "No concern of mine," he puffed.
"I'm going out!" Eevy called down the stairs into the house, "Jenny wants to see me!" after receiving the OK from some of the residents, she turned back to Inuyasha.
"Where…Exactly…Are you going?" he questioned.
"Out there," she stepped up beside him and pointed out beyond the city limits, "See that big tower with the light on top? That's the Gertan Rin Penitentiary. That's where I have to go."
He blinked twice, watching the green light flashing in the distance, "…OK then," he shoved her back, then backed into her, pulling her knees around his sides and hopping off the roof, "That I can do."
"Hey!" she snapped as he leapt to the ground, then began running at a pace even Jason would have had a problem keeping up with, "What are you doing?!"
"Taking you there," he answered, then jumping up to the top of the first building he met.
"Why?!" she shrieked, then latching onto his shoulders, "You said you hate humans!"
"I do," he lunged from roof to roof, never once losing any momentum or speed, "But I don't hate immortals."
*^~^**^~^*
Officer Jenny stood fidgeting outside the gates to the GTRinP, looking nervously about. What if Rubeus had gotten to the Mistress while she was on her way? What if he was standing somewhere right that very minute, inside the yellow tape surrounding the building, waiting to strike? She shuttered, attempting to denounce those possibilities just as the League had denounced the very man she was now fearing. There was a loud thump, then a shout, and her heart nearly pounded out of her chest and up her throat. She watched a shadow slowly descend from above. As it came into vision, she saw it was clad in red with long white hair. Relieved it wasn't Rubeus, she stepped away, watching as it landed on one knee. She nearly had a heart attack as the very person she was waiting for hopped off this creature's back. She blinked a few times, staring blankly.
"Jenny," Eevy hurried over to her, looking around at the uniformed and armed officers and yellow tape with black writing that seemed to be everywhere, "What happened here?"
"Bu-But-Uh…" Jenny pointed at Inuyasha, who was now standing straight, hands down his sleeves, "Who…What…Is that?"
Noticing Inuyasha's scowl at being called a "what", Eevy broke in quickly, "He is Inuyasha," she acknowledged, "He's here to help me. And I expect him to be treated with the same amount of respect you give the Elite 4 and me."
"Yes, ma'am," Jenny nodded slowly, "If you'll both please come this way…"
Jenny marched down the hall, looking in each down they passed, as did Eevy. Inuyasha walked along behind them, hands in his sleeves and eyes wandering. This huge building amazed him; it felt so clean, yet he sensed such evil. Eevy looked in one door, smiling and waving at the three officers inside. One turned and grinned, one waved while dusting for prints, and the third offered her a stiff salute, then a stupid smirk. Inuyasha glared in there at them, causing them to look at each other, then continue their work. Jenny finally came to a heavy steel door and swiped a card through the slot on the side. There was a loud pressure release, then the door began to slide. As soon as the opening was wide enough to see in, Eevy gasped and nearly screamed. The door to one of the rooms was flat out on the floor, bent, mangled and burned in spots. The glass of the tiny window near the top was shattered and strewn about the floor, and it took some fancy footwork to get around it, except for Inuyasha, who leapt over the glass and landed on the desk on the other side of the room.
"What…Who…How?" Eevy looked slowly about the hallway, then the inside of the room.
"We don't know. One second, all was quiet, then next, this," Jenny swept her arms around the chaos, "We've called in forces from every city to help."
Eevy stepped inside the cell, ducking the sparking wires and light fixtures around her. As soon as she had been within yards of this room, she'd felt a cold and disturbing presence; a presence akin to, but not like Rubeus. Now that she was inside, it was nearly overwhelming and actually caused her to lose her breath.
"Inuyasha," Eevy called to him, causing him to look up from the petrified face of the guard whose desk he was now crouched on, "Come here a minute?" she requested, waving him toward her.
He slid off the desk and hopped past the glass and past Jenny, stepping in behind Eevy, "Keh…" he cringed suddenly, eyes narrowing as he brought his arm up around his nose, "I smell smoke and fire. And I sense two powerful forces, and one is definitely Naraku."
"I thought so," she turned to him, "This is the cell where my dark counterpart, Peter Rubeus, was being kept," she swallowed as he waved himself clear enough air to breath, "If you sense Naraku here-"
"He must have come to get this Rubeus character to help him," Inuyasha finished, "No doubt he needed someone to help him navigate this dimension, and I'll bet he saw us with you, and came after Rubeus."
"And also no doubt Rubeus wouldn't hesitate to help," she ran her right thumbnail between her front teeth, "You told me before that Naraku uses the Shikon Jewel shards he has as bribes?"
"Exactly."
"I'll bet anything he offered Rubeus some shards in exchange for him coming after you. With the power you say a single shard has, there's no way he's turn down the chance at them," Eevy turned and ran toward the door, "Jenny! Get me the security tapes for this hall and this room! And get me a list of any and all visitors he's had!"
*^~^**^~^*
"Here we go!" a young woman with red-orange hair in a bun and braid hopped in, "I've got your tapes here, Jenny!" she paused when she saw Eevy, smiled briefly, then went on about the videos, "So what do you want to see?"
"Everything. Play the tape through until you see the last visitor he had before the door fell," Eevy leaned over the back of her chair as she slid the tape into the player and fast-forwarded.
Inuyasha looked over the buttons and monitors in slight astonishment before looking back at the screen, "There!" he called, pointing a clawed finger at the screen, "That's him!"
"That's Naraku?" the red-head questioned, cocking her head, "That's funny…"
"What is, Mazana?" Jenny questioned.
"As soon as he gets within any decent range for the camera to pick up on him, the video goes to static, see? Then as soon as he's past and to the next camera…" she reached out to the right and turned on another monitor, playing the next tape of the series, "This one comes back on and the next one dies."
"Where each of these cameras are, is there a door?" Inuyasha questioned.
"I dunno," Mazana shrugged, "I work in the tech department. I don't know the building layout," she leaned back in her chair, "Hey, Ian?!"
"What?" Ian poked his head in, "Is that creepy guy in here?"
"Just get in here," Mazana shook her head, "Officer Bancroft here was the last guy on duty before the little massacre. He's on every other day. I'll bet he knows the front way."
"Bancroft, draw us a layout of the hall leading to Rubeus' room," Jenny ordered.
"Yes, ma'am," Ian pulled a sheet of paper and a pen from the table beside him, "The front door is right here. There's a camera on the outside and one on the inside. Right inside the door is the front office, the desk over here with another camera on the far end. The public restroom is here, and there's a little coffee bar here. From the very right of the front door, there's another door that leads to a hallway. There's another camera on each side of that one too. As soon as you get a few feet down that hall, there's a door on the left leading into the regular facilities with a camera on each side. That's the only door leading down there, but there are cameras about every five, six feet. The place where Rubeus was being held is farther down that first hall, and there are three more doors. You get a door just after the one to the regular facility, then one about fifteen feet from that, then another fifteen feet from that, then another from that. Each one has four cameras; one in each corner. Once you hit the last door there, you come to a left turn with another hall just like that one, only the last door is the thick metal one. To the left of that when you're facing it from the outside is the door to the back way in with two extra cameras on it. Right on the other side of the metal door is my desk and the door to his room with five cameras."
"But we didn't go through all those convulsions to get down there," Inuyasha puffed.
"That's because you came in the back way, through the offices and technical rooms," Ian huffed back, "You came through the front office and down and around, where all the offices and stuff are."
"So basically what you're telling us is there's a total of thirty eight cameras between the outside of the front door and the path you took to get to Rubeus," Eevy put in.
"Right. And seven inside the cell," Ian nodded, "And each time one of the doors opens, the others are all still closed. Then when you step through one, it closes behind you and the next opens up. Then the next, then the next, and so on."
"So that's why the cameras kept dying. Every time he got near one, he was stuck in a little square space with it," Inuyasha's eyes narrowed, "With walls surrounding him like that, the residual powers reflecting off him just kept bouncing around and around, and must have freaked these weird cameras of yours out."
"So what do you want me to do?" Mazana asked.
"You, Officer Dandylyon, can get as close a picture as you can of that creep who let Rubeus out and send out an APB on him," Jenny ordered, "Officer Bancroft can get back to work, and I think you, Mistress, had better get home."
"I should stay, is what I should do," Eevy contradicted, "And help get rid of him again."
"Please, Mistress, I'm begging you," Jenny clasped her hands together, "If anything happened to you, I'd never forgive myself. Besides, I don't want you hanging around while we're trying to pick things up. We've got to reinstall the doors and reinforce them and we can't take the chance. And if "Naraku" and Rubeus are looking for you, they'll be on their way to the Mansion."
"Then why should she go back there?" Inuyasha snapped, "If he's looking for her there, why would she want to waltz up to them and announce herself?"
"Inuyasha," Eevy stood up straighter, "Jenny's right. If they're looking for us, they'll go back to the Mansion," she paused as his eyebrow cocked, "Where we left everyone else."
*^~^**^~^*
"Ow, ow, ow! It's hot, it's hot!" Jason ran frantically around in circles, attempting to put the fire in his cloak out.
"Why did Medira ever fall for you?" Rubeus crossed his arms and shook his head, "Where is the angel-girl?!"
"We told you, she's not here! And neither is Inuyasha!" Kagome snapped, ducking back behind a chair to avoid the blasts of fire puffing from the Demised Master's palms, "So why don't you just go away?!"
"Sorry, but no," he raised an arm to throw more flames, but a loud whistle came from his side.
Sango stood and threw her boomerang with all her might, aiming it directly at Peter's head, but he merely turned and knocked it from the air, then stomped on it, snapping it in two. With no weapon, Sango was too vulnerable to go head-to-head against him, and ran to join Kagome. Rubeus turned back on those of his dimension.
"You're very quickly beginning to annoy me," he spat, raising his arm again, "Eat this!"
Luri let out a fast lash of water, knocking most of the fire away, "Why does he seem so much stronger?! And why isn't he running from my water?!"
Kagome peeked carefully over the chair, finally getting a good look at her opponent, "He has Jewel shards!" she shrieked, "One, two, three…Five of them!"
"He must be working with Naraku then!" Shippo cried, ducking down as a spit of fire lashed over his head, "AHH!"
"Medira," Rubeus reached for her, "Come with me now, and you'll be able to use these shards too."
"Medira!" Miroku blocked a wash of flames aimed at his face, "Get away from him now!"
All Rubeus did was grin and Medira began to reach for his hand, but she suddenly withdrew, "What? What's the matter?" he questioned worriedly.
There was a slight pat on his shoulder, and he turned to see, but all he got was a fist in the face. He spun partially to the right and tripped back a step, then steadying himself and rubbing his nose.
"You," he spat lowly after seeing who'd hit him.
"Me," Eevy grinned evilly, glaring directly into him.
"Did she actually just…Punch him…?" Sango blinked, covering her mouth with her hand.
"Wow…" Kagome breathed.
"Nice shot," Inuyasha admitted.
Rubeus touched his fingers to his mouth, finding a drizzle of blood dripping from his bottom lip, "You'll pay for that."
"I doubt it," she swung forward with her right, then her left, then her right again, but each time she swung, he was already too far away for her to reach, "How are you so freakin' fast?!"
"He has Jewel shards in him!" Kagome called, "Five of them!"
"Oh, great," Inuyasha grunted, "So this is Peter Rubeus, huh? He doesn't look so tough to me," he brought Tetsaiga out from his side and swung it at Rubeus' face.
"The Tetsaiga, just like Naraku said," Rubeus released more fire, but Inuyasha blocked with his sword, "Hmm…So it is powerful."
While he was gawking at Tetsaiga, Eevy finally managed to strike him again, this time on the side of his head, knocking him to the floor. He growled and looked up at her, a part of him recognizing those angry eyes from days his present self didn't seem to know. He rolled onto his back as Inuyasha aimed Tetsaiga directly at his throat.
"Now why don't you be a nice little human and fork over the Jewel shards now?" he asked, grinning wide, "Or would you rather I cut them out of you myself?"
Peter took a few deep breaths, then looked from Eevy to Medira to Inuyasha, "Naraku is going to have to give me a lot more than a few shards of the Shikon Jewel to keep me in this game," he shut his eyes and his form turned black.
"What the-?!" Inuyasha swung Tetsaiga away, "You never mentioned anything about shadow forms, human!"
"After him!" Will called, running after the shadow that was now slithering around the floor, attempting to find a clear path out, "We can't let him get away!"
"Kilala!" Sango looked down at her demon pet.
"Bwee!" Kilala nodded and was overtaken by light orange and yellow flames, causing her to grow in size into a fierce-looking saber-tooth panther, "Raaraa!"
"Let's go, Miroku," Sango grabbed the monk's arm as he attempted to "rush and comfort" Medira, "After him, Kilala!"
"Wait for me!" Shippo cried, jumping up and onto Kilala's head before she began to run off.
"Kagome, let's go!" Inuyasha ordered, crouching down.
"Right," Kagome hopped up on the dog demon's back.
"Sorry, human, but you'll have to find your own ride now," Inuyasha snickered and tore out the door.
"Oh, I will, will I?" Eevy grinned nastily and looked back on the others and ahead at Will, "Let's do it."
"Right," they all nodded.
Inuyasha flew out the door, lunging off the top porch step and into the air. He hit the street and continued running, his motions nothing but a blur. Kilala and the others had been ahead of him a few paces, but now he was passing them fast enough that they were falling behind. They eyed that shadow closely, watching it frantically flailing about the ground, looking for any route of escape. Kagome heard Sango and Miroku gasp and quickly looked back, spotting a blur moving up to their side.
"AH! Inuyasha!" she shrieked, "Look!" she turned and pointed.
Just as Inuyasha glanced back, that blur came along side him and slowly a bit, "Hello, Inuyasha," it grinned, "What was that about my needing a ride?"
"E-Evangelina?" Kagome's eyes nearly fell from her head, as she now could make out the image of the Champion Mistress in that blur of movement, her cloak flying out behind her.
"Correct! Give the girl her prize!" they all looked to Eevy's right, spotting a hulking dragon flying there with the Dragon Master on his shoulders, "Meet Lord Draco, the Pokemon Dragonite."
"It's huge," Miroku put in, stating the annoyingly obvious, "And you…Train these things?"
"Yep!" Jason waved, sitting atop a blue unicorn with a mane of flames, "And this is Sapphire, an alternately colored Rapidash."
"And this is Wind Dance," they looked left and spotted Medira hovering there on a huge bird, "A Pidgeot."
"Mustn't forget my Xatu," Will dropped down from above.
"Or my Dewgong!" Luri's Pokemon continued to freeze a road on the sidewalk and skim along it.
"That's crazy," Shippo stared, wide-eyed.
"Now, if you'll excuse us," Eevy waved, then thundered forward a good ten yards, "We have to catch up to the little fire bug."
"You heard her, Draco! Pump those wings!"
"Barru-ah!"
"Yah, Sapphire! Faster, faster!"
"Brr!"
"Go above the trees, Wind Dance, and speed up!"
"Pidgeo!"
"Xatu, take a more aerodynamic position and dive for more speed!"
"Ert-ert-errerr!"
"Floor it, Dewgong! Keep up with them!"
"Dewgong-gong-gong!"
"They're…Leaving us in the dust…" Kagome whined.
"Oh no they're not," Inuyasha hoisted her up better and attempted to catch up to them.
Then continued running, Eevy's eyes constantly locked on the speeding shadow that raced along in front of them. Inuyasha was still trailing, but he was beginning to slowly catch up, then fall back then catch up again. Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kilala were jumping from roof to roof above them, attempting to decipher where exactly Rubeus was headed. He finally arced off down a side street, causing Eevy, who was in front, to place her right hand on the ground and slide her feet around, taking a tough corner without losing any speed. Draco had a slight problem rounding it, but straightened out and picked up his pace. Inuyasha jumped and ricocheted off the building on the other side of the street, as did Kilala.
"The airfield," Eevy breathed as Rubeus stopped at the top of the hill and took his human form before running again, "Oh no. Kestrel's sisters!"
"They're off duty this weekend," Lance informed her, "The place was empty; a perfect place to hide."
They slowed at the top as well, resting and recalling their Pokemon as Inuyasha and Kilala caught up from behind. Inuyasha placed Kagome on the ground and Kilala slowly shrunk back to her original form. They slowly crept up behind a line of trees and ducked down, glancing over the tall grass.
"We made a deal," Naraku spat, eyes narrowing, "I do not change my qualifications and conditions in the middle of their enactment."
"Well, sorry to burst your bubble, pal," Rubeus snorted, hands on his hips, "But that Inuyasha character is a lot stronger than you made me believe. That Tetsaiga sword thing of his-"
"Is powerful, yes, but deferrable," Naraku growled, "Regardless now, isn't it? Because it appears to me that you're incompetent," he raised his right hand and held out long seemingly bladed fingernails, "So our bargain is hereby terminated."
He swung out across Peter's shoulder, then each palm, and then each knee, causing a rush of hot air to flow through the entire field. The five shards that he'd been given went flipping through the air and into Naraku's now red-stained palm. Naraku laughed acidly, clutching the shards and watching Rubeus fall to his knees, then topple back.
"You…You…You're a sad excuse for evil!" Peter heaved, holding himself up with every bit of strength he could muster into his arms.
"You are the sad one," Naraku shrugged and grinned, "You were going to betray me as soon as Inuyasha and Hikoboshi were out of the way," Rubeus flinched a bit, "But now I'm here to play your game," he pulled his right arm back and prepared to deliver a final blow.
"Peter!" Medira shrieked without thinking.
Jason and Eevy both reached up, his arms wrapping around Medira's waist and her hands clapping over her mouth. Rubeus looked off to that side and stared right at her; he couldn't see her, but could sense her aura.
"What was that?" Naraku scanned the trees carefully.
"What are you doing?!" Miroku demanded, crouched low and whispering, "Now they know we're here!"
Medira shook slightly, bound from helping by Eevy and Jason's tight hold on her. Naraku stepped slowly in their direction and Kagome rolled onto her stomach. Laying her bow on the ground, she slipped an arrow into it and pulled it back. She aimed as carefully as she could and let loose. Naraku looked down as the arrow imbedded into the ground just beside his foot.
"You missed," Will murmured.
"Well, now that he knows we're here," Inuyasha stood and cracked his knuckles, "Iron Reamer Soul Stealer!"
Naraku sprang back a few feet as Inuyasha's claws crashed into the ground in front of him, "Ah, Inuyasha. So good of you to come."
"Keh, cut the good-nature bull," Inuyasha spat, "Just hand over all the Jewel shards you've got and we'll leave you in a few pieces instead of just two."
"I think not," a black cloud started to billow around them, then shot off in the direction of those in the trees.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha was tempted to run at her, but that would leave Naraku a perfect back-shot at him.
"Not good!" Kagome stepped back and ducked down, only to notice a shadow overtake her, "Eh…?"
"Inuyasha!" Eevy held up both hands, grinning at the glare Naraku shot as his cloud hit the blue barrier in front of her and dissipated, "I'll watch out for Kagome and the others, you just focus on doing what you have to!"
Naraku looked up at her, then straight into the sky, watching a blue dome slowly forming over their heads. He looked back down, only to take a clawed fist to his face. He stumbled back and stood shakily, amazed by the fact that he'd actually been hit. Especially by Inuyasha. He looked up and glared at the sneer Inuyasha boasted. Medira shoved past Eevy and forced through the barrier, down onto the field and out to Peter's side. She propped him up and looked him over.
"What are you doing, you crazy woman?" he slapped her hand away, "Get out of here before you get yourself killed."
"Quiet," she ordered, then stood slowly.
Naraku slashed his claw through Inuyasha's right shoulder and elbowed him in the face to knock him cold, only to be hit from his left by a wash of red and yellow. He winced and turned, spotting a very angry looking blond with fire blazing in her palms, as well as in her eyes. He gnarled and patted his shoulder, now realizing he'd underestimated the people of this dimension. He hissed and raised a hand to release more black mist, but there was a larger, more powerful, thicker sphere of fire heading his direction. He backed away, expecting it to disappear on its out, but it instead collided with him directly. He stumbled back, having to stifle an actual scream, and stopped as the fire disintegrated. He lifted his hand from his chest and let out a deep, pained roar. His hand was covered from fingers to wrist in a deep, deep red blood. Black mist shot in every direction, hitting the ground, the trees, the plane hangers; nothing was left unscathed. The ground shook more each time the mist exploded, causing Eevy to lose her footing and drop the barrier. Naraku's black clouds began to swirl and he forced himself up into them. Eevy rolled down the hill, continuously being pulled into the blackness that would take her to the futile era. Inuyasha unsheathed Tetsaiga and plunged it into the ground through the back of her shirt, then reached out to Medira, who had to hold Rubeus, as Inuyasha refused to touch him. Those still on the hill held tight to trees, but Sango reached back and threw her boomerang forward. Miroku turned and pulled the beaded line from his wrist and threw his hand out, causing a reversed pull on Naraku's time tunnel, but all he did was pull back Sango's boomerang, which he released by again tying his hand up. Naraku was already too far gone.
"If you're going to go, you'd better go now!" Luri called, holding tight to Will's waist, "That tunnel won't stay for long!"
"Right! Come on, Kilala!" Sango hoisted up her boomerang and ran for the clouds, jumping up with her little fox right behind.
"Thank you for all your help and hospitality," Miroku began to kiss the back of Luri's hand, but backed away as Will glared into him.
"Let's go, Shippo," Kagome picked up the fox child and nodded to everyone, "Thanks so much for everything," she turned and ran after Miroku, who was already three-quarters of the way there, "Come on, Inuyasha!"
Inuyasha pulled Tetsaiga from Eevy's shirt and yanked her up, "Come on, human! Wake up!"
Eevy shook her head side to side, then looked up at him, "Inuyasha…I thought you hate humans."
"I do. But I don't hate immortals," he pushed her off toward Medira.
"And if you don't hate immortals, you can't hate Kagome. She's a reincarnated priestess," she cocked her eyebrow and smirked evilly.
"Keh…Exactly," he shrugged, then stood and stepped closer to the breach into their time, "This thing will shut up once I go through. Can you hold out?"
"We'll be fine, Inuyasha. We'll stand through it. I don't run."
"And neither do I," the dog demon nodded, then crouched and jumped up into the worm hole, "Sayonara, humans!"
"Good bye, dog demon."
With the final being that had dropped from that time returning to it, the wind died down and dropped everything that had been in flight when Inuyasha disappeared. Everyone ducked as boards and bricks and sticks and stones and who knows what else dropped from the air and plummeted into the ground.
"That…Was really weird," Jason coughed, spitting out some dirt.
"Weird…And just plain not right," Lance nodded slowly.
"What are we going to do about him?" Will spat, pointing to Rubeus.
"I say we just decapitate him and tell Jenny Naraku did it," Luri suggested, grinning evilly.
Medira scowled, "We've got to at least clean him up," she looked down at Peter as he smiled up at her, "And then we'll…Return him to the GTRinP."
Peter sighed and grunted, as he was in no condition to say otherwise or to fight back, "Great…Just what I wanted to hear."
Eevy laughed acidly at him as Will and Lance forced him to his feet, even through his cursing and growling about his pain. She then turned and looked up into the sky, seeing it was now a bright and clear morning as it had been the day before when she'd been attempting to sit quietly on the porch. She glanced off to her right and saw Kagome's arrow, still planted directly in the ground, right where it had landed.
*^~^*End*^~^*
A/N: Yeah, OK, so it was kinda crazy…But crazy is good, right? I've been really into Inuyasha lately, so I decided to try something with it. I dunno…It's just weirdness. But you can actually hold this to the regular TAA story. I'm not sure why you would, but ya' know…Until next time!
*^~^*Pro_V*^~^*
-=O~Her Pokemon~O=-
Next: Special Edition: Laborious Labyrinth:
TAA Pokemon Of The Month: February 2003: The Affectionate Mirokarosu
From now on, I'm just putting the disclaimer in my bio, so this is the last time you'll ever see me say "I do not own Pokemon" in a story. But…You will see me say something like "I do not own Inuyasha". Because…Well…I don't.