Sands, and pains of the past

Chapter 1

"What are you doing?" shouted Goku, seeing his father figure continuously hit the scorpion queen. "It's not like you to torture people this way," Gojyo added. Sanzo looked at them lividly. "Not like me?" said Sanzo coldly, "Then what is like me?" the statement brought a chill down Hakkai's spine. Goku looked down and walked towards Sanzo. "Goku?" asked Hakkai. The boy ignored him. He walked right up to Sanzo and kicked his leg, hard.

"You idiot, don't you know that hurts?"

"Hit me, then," Goku replied, "Hit me with that paper fan of yours and call me 'stupid chimp'. That's the Sanzo I know." Sanzo's eyes softened to his grumpy gaze, the disruptive aura that surrounded him disappeared.

"Hey," Sanzo questioned the youkai, "Where are the scriptures, mine and the other Sanzo's?"

"Scriptures?" replied the scorpion queen, "Yours is in the cabinet behind you, the other is somewhere in the castle." Sanzo stood and went for the cabinet. The scorpion queen grinned fiendishly and flexed her claws.

"Sanzo, look out!" shouted Goku. Sanzo felt himself pushed to the bed before he could do anything. He heard a sound he regretted. It was a sound of suppressed pain.

"Goku!" Hakkai shouted.

The youkai took the nails off his side, roughly and painfully. Goku fell to the ground and shivered. Sanzo jumped and pointed the gun at the youkai as if daring her to move. "Hakkai, take care of him," he barked. Hakkai knelt beside Goku and gasped. Purple liquid stained Goku's clothes.

"Goku," said Hakkai, clutching the boy's arm, "Hang on!"

"I'm trying to," Goku grunted, his face etched with pain. "Antidote," Sanzo requested in a deadly quiet voice, "Now." "Why should I need it?" sneered the youkai, "The poison doesn't effect me in any way..."

"Nyoibou!"

A long red rod went through her body. She gasped in pain, "Impossible! I'm immortal!" "Urasai!" Goku retorted as she disintegrated, surprising everyone in the room, "You've annoyed me enough..." He grunted in pain and fell limp on Hakkai's lap. "Goku!" Gojyo called. "Don't panic," said Hakkai, cradling the boy's head, "He just fainted. I guess that proves the Sanzo myth wrong."

Sanzo saw how desperate the situation was and opened drawer by drawer for his scripture until he found it.

There was a crash in the hall. "What was that?" asked Gojyo. Realisation hit Hakkai like a tidal wave. "No," he murmured, "We're underground right?"

"Yeah," replied Gojyo, "So?"

"You do know now what I tried to explain?" said Hakkai.

"Tell me you weren't that stupid?" said Sanzo.

The ceiling cracked before Gojyo could reply. Sanzo's first instinct was to shield Goku from the sand.

The sand did not hit them. But Hakkai was not using his energy shield, so why...?

Miraculously, the sand did not even bury them alive. Hakkai felt a sense of energy coming from somewhere. He knew it was neither Sanzo nor Gojyo, and it certainly was not him. He looked at Goku, but the boy was unconscious. Could he have been unconsciously protecting them? But then, Goku has been behaving differently nowadays, including the annoyed remark just then.

"Come closer to Goku!" Sanzo called. Hakkai and Gojyo did so without hesitation. The sand continued to pour around them then it slowly faded as they began to resurface into the scorching desert. Goku gasped as the sand faded around them. Presently, Hakuryu flew over to them, Hakkai was surprised that the little dragon could wait so long in that desert.

"Is Son Goku here?" the three men looked up to find Dokugakuji staring down at them. He looked worried and tired. "Yes, but he's, ah, at a weakened state as you can see," Hakkai replied.

"Perfect timing," replied the older man, whipping his head about as if he was trying to be wary of something. "What do you mean by that?" Gojyo asked, obviously annoyed with his brother.

"Kou just tried a..."

"Forbidden experiment?" finished Sanzo.

"Yes," said Dokugakuji hurriedly, "I suggest you take Goku to a safe place before he finds you," "Why were you looking for Goku in the first place?" asked Hakkai.

"He's the only person I know who can set Kougaiji stra... Darn!" he leapt before he could finish his sentence. A great force landed where he was. It was so great that it made the air thick with sand. As the dust cleared, what Sanzo, Hakkai and Gojyo saw made a chill go down their spine. It was so terrifying that not even words could descride it... Kougaiji had turned into something far worse than any of them could possibly imagine, it was as bad as Goku without his limiter. Sanzo nodded to Gojyo and Hakkai to go after the youkai prince and try to defeat whatever was causing the prince to be this horrible form.

Sanzo glanced at the boy in his arms as his other two companions went to help Dokugakuji. WHat he saw made him frown. Something was wrong. It was not only Goku's behaviour earlier, but also his sleeping face as to speak. It was pulled into a frown instead of his usual calm, cute look he had when he sleeps. His shallow breaths and his shivers made him look weaker. He lay the boy in the shade beside Hakuryu so to get him out of Kougaiji's view. A dead Goku was the last they needed, especially Kougaiji.

This fight better end quickly, he thought as he joined Hakkai and Gojyo to fight Kougaiji.

He noticed a red crystal hanging from the prince's neck. He knew what the crystal was and dreaded what was coming next.