….
The Demon Within
…
"Inuyasha, keep trying! You can do it!" called Kagome.
She was the only one not fatigued from battle against their most formidable foe yet, The product of a thousand demons combined under Naraku's spell. The latter was also at his peak strength. Miroku tended to a wounded and unconscious Sango despite an ugly slash across his torso and his own desire to collapse. His wind tunnel had sucked in too many saimyosho and demon spawn that came from its body and reached its temporary limit, while Hiraikotsu lay broken in two on the rocky ground. Storm clouds rolled in on the horizon and drizzled rain. It felt good against the flaming wounds, but it only got in Inuyasha's eyes otherwise. As he continued to fight, he looked over in despair to his friends. Only Kagome still stood, arrow notched and cheering him on. She was such a good archer, but every shot missed or didn't hit any weak spots. It didn't help that the demon could teleport at will.
Where's Shippou? He should have been back by now, Inuyasha thought, wondering if the small demon got hurt on his way to finding help.
"Kagome, you have to take Sango and Miroku and get out of here!"
"No…Inuyasha, we can't…leave you…," Sango weakly resisted.
"She's right. Inuyasha, you don't look good!" Kagome cried.
So she'd noticed the blood coming out from his countless wounds, after all. He was hoping they'd ignore them, but no such luck. He raised his Tetsusaiga for the wind scar one more time, though knew it was useless because the demon-collective body could just teleport away using Naraku's powers. But the demon didn't even give him a chance as it knocked Tetsusaiga out of his hand. Inuyasha scrambled to get it, but the demon made it there first…and broke it in two!
What? How is that even possible? Though Inuyasha frantically. He sliced through it like paper! He felt his nerves growing jittery as he started panicking.
But then it stopped. His whole world slowed down while he sped up. He felt better than he had in the longest time. A growl erupted from him in his sudden bloodlust. How pleasurable it would be now if he could stamp the life out of that demon running towards him. Ignoring the humans' anguished cries from behind him, Inuyasha charged in for the kill, his speed beating its teleportation. He faintly remembered these exhilarating transformations. Now, he was stronger than he'd ever been, transformed or not.
"Inuyasha!" a girl cried and something within him, something weaker, threatened to free itself. Desperately he stifled it. He needed more power. He needed to be the strongest.
"Die!" he yelled and sliced the once terrifying demon into pieces. He relished the feeling of blood all over his claws.
Kagome witnessed the change fearfully. Just like all the other times, Inuyasha's eyes glowed red and purple marks appeared on his face. Worst of all, she could sense his new blood-thirsty, demonic nature before she saw it. What if he couldn't turn back this time?
Still, she had to try everything.
"Inuyasha, sit!"
He remained standing, but turned to face her in irritation.
"No, Kagome, he's too strong!" called Miroku weakly.
"Inuyasha, it's me, Kagome! You have to come back to us, alright?" she kept her voice gentle and non-threatening.
Unlike last time, no matter how much she cried out to him, he only looked at her as his next victim. He even laughed at his new kill.
Desperately, she embraced him, thinking this would do something. "Inuyasha, please," she choked at the end of her sentence. She felt a sudden excruciating pain as sharp claws dug into her back and tore through her heart. He used blades of blood to finish off the other humans.
A bubble of mirth rose in him. So many victories in just a minute. That was the only emotion he held and it felt good. But then that other thing within him was emerging. Some utter despair and self-hatred dominated him as he felt his demonic powers slipping away.
"What…what happened?" his first sight was the slain demon and then…to Sango and Miroku bathed in their own blood. He started to call their names, but they caught in his throat as shock muted him.
Then he felt Kagome lying in his arms, blood running down from his claws to his arms.
"Kagome…did I do this to you?"
Her eyes were open, but lifeless. No, she was only unconscious and so were the others!
They had to be…
No, said the demon in his mind, you killed them viciously and enjoyed every second of it.
Gently, he lay Kagome down and stared at her eyes that had once sparkled and held so much vibrance. Inuyasha couldn't even scream. All he could was collapse to the ground and sob until no more tears would come.
Why couldn't they have killed me before I did this to them? Why couldn't It have been me instead?
The need to cope overcame his mind as he transformed for the last time into a snarling beast. When Shippou returned with help, he found only victims, human and demons alike, slain by the terrible Inuyasha, who hunted on a rampage for the rest of his existence.