Disclaimer: I do not own Rosario+Vampire
"Death is patiently making my mask as I sleep. Each morning I awake to discover in the corners of my eyes the small tears of his wax. "
Philip Dow
…The Butcher Is King
Smoke rose into the setting dusk from the grounds of Youkai Academy. Every square foot of bare earth was covered by the mass of students and faculty. The veritable sea of people opened for only three people; Morioka Ginei, Kuyou, and finally Aono Tsukune. Tsukune was tied up by razor wire on a wooden crucifix being protected Gin. Kuyou stood in front of the two, radiating a powerful demonic power, as flames burst forth from Kuyou's body, which caused many of the masses to retreat to a safer distance. A majority of the weaker staff and students returned to school itself. The flames that surrounded Kuyou's body gradually spread from his core and attempted to devour all those who were unfortunate enough to be caught. Gin did his best to stand against the demonic blaze, but the power from Kuyou was enough to push him away.
The flame made its way to Tsukune and he was consumed by their angry fury. The embers tongues savagely licked at his bare flesh and his screams echoed louder than ever before. This torment did not last long; soon the flames died down and dwindled away into nothing. Breath torn from his body he tried his best to recuperate, but the choking scent of smoking wood filled his lungs. Looking down Tsukune could see smoke rising from the oil soaked pyre at the base of his crucifix and in a desperate attempt he tried blowing it out. Like proverbial fuel to an actual flame, the smoke suddenly sprung into a tiny spark which soon turned to a full on blaze. The oily logs burned quickly and soon the crucifix caught fire as well. Adrenaline pumping along with what little blood he had left in his veins he twisted his head upwards to stare at a large, gnarled tree with three students hanging from the tallest branches. Moka. Kurumu, and Yukari, wrapped up with rope, swung from the branches like sick wind chimes. Their own long hair obscured Kurumu and Moka's faces, but Yukari's was exposed. Bruises and cuts were prominent all over her face and chances were that the same would be on the others.
Tsukune could feel the flames below him biting at his heels. He thought of trying to plea for the help of the evil creature that hid in his subconscious, but it had made it clear that it did not want to help, but rather watch him die and move onto the next unfortunate soul. He searched the ground below and found Gin picking himself up from the dirt with cane still in hand. Taking in as much air as his tired lungs could hold he shouted at his sempai as loud as he could.
"GIN-SEMPAI!"
"Yeah I know!"
Finally on his feet Gin immediately started to run towards the girls, but stopped as soon as a low-pitched whistling reached his sensitive ears. Instinctually he jumped back only to have a sudden fireball miss him by a few feet. The explosion was powerful enough to knock Gin back off his feet along with the few still left to witness this fight. The crackling of the fiery wall that separated him from his younger club members uncharacteristically angered him. Gin expertly rolled onto his back and kicked himself back on his feet. Twisting around he faced Kuyou who played with a fireball in the palm of his hand. Immediately his two faithful generals; Kinniku and Deshiko were at his side, ready to fight. Gin readied both himself and his cane in order to protect himself and his close underlings. Without giving a signal, the two charged after him with their fists and weapons raised. Deshiko quickly distanced herself from her slow, muscle-bound partner with a happy expression on her face and a large wooden bo-staff ready to strike. Gin met her with his own wooden weapon and the two struck each other. Making solid hits they were pushed back and were stunned temporarily but the first to recover was the female PSC member. Gripping her weapon with both hands, she swung with everything she had. Gin, still stunned by the hit, could do nothing as the staff came ever so closer to his head. A mad smile was on her face when her staff connected with his skull, but it did not last for long.
Though the staff hit his head it didn't stop. The weapon actually traveled through his being like he was some sort of specter and the added momentum threw off her center of gravity. Spinning around she quickly bent over backwards and managed to stop Gin's aerial strike just in time. Somehow, Gin had jumped over the skull-cracking attack and tried to bring his cane down. The moment Gin's feet touched down Deshiko tried to pull her weapon away, but the hook at the end of the cane prevented her. With an extraordinary feat of athleticism, Gin jumped over the girl with his cane still in his grip. Landing safely behind the orange-haired girl only to see the slower, but bigger member was nearly upon the both of them. With amazing strength, Gin actually managed to flip Deshiko over his shoulder and bodily threw her at her own teammate. In a surprising turn of events instead trying to catch his teammate Kinniku instead swatted her out of his way. Shocked by the unfeeling brutality that the two showed for each other Gin charged at him with cane at the ready.
The two quickly closed in on each other however, Kinniku threw the first punch. The large meaty fist whistled through the air faster than one would expect from the larger member. Gin's agile moves allowed him to dodge under the speeding fist with some flourish and delivered a quick , but powerful strike to his beefy side. A loud crack was heard and when the two stopped Kinniku was seen stooped over holding his ribs. Gin on the other hand was perfectly fine, but the head of his cane had splintered. Then both of them rose from their crouched positions and turned to face one another. Gin braced himself for another charged assault when suddenly he was attacked from behind. A bo-staff was lodged under his chin and across his windpipe preventing him from rushing at Kinniku, who briskly jogged at them, fists at his sides. Gin struggled against Deshiko's strangle hold, but she held on tighter and tighter. Kinniku rushed at the both of them with his fist pulled all the way back, but Gin was ready. As soon as he threw his first punch, Gin gripped onto the staff that was choking him and pulled himself up. Using the force exerted by the giant's punch he kicked off of his fist with as much power as he could, sending both him and his captors flying. They both skid across the ground, stopping after a mere fifteen feet, and using the momentum of the fall he rolled himself onto his feet managed to free his own head and quickly recovered his damaged cane.
Deshiko began to display her own acrobatic capabilities when she pushed her self onto her hands and swung her legs up into the air. She managed to capture Gin with a scissor-lock around his neck , but it did not matter. Using what upper-body strength he had Gin grabbed her by the waist and managed to toss her over his head. Flipping several times through the air Deshiko landed once more on her hands. She tried to kick him in the back of his head, but Gin had quickly ducked under her kick and sweep-kicked her hands. Deshiko fell to the ground with a heavy thud and Gin hastily returned to his feet. He could see Kinniku was already up from the ground and was once more charging after him. Gin held his cane tightly in one hand and gently placed his other hand at its head. Watching the slow giant lumber after him, he applied a small amount of pressure to the damaged head until a low crack could be heard only by him. Again the giant pulled back his fist and Gin retaliated by throwing his cane at him. The object traveled at its target at an incredible speed however, the giant's fist was faster. He hit the projectile with a mighty punch and the sound of cracking wood soon followed. He was about to laugh proudly when something hard and sharp jammed itself just underneath his eye. Falling down on his ass, he slapped his own hand on his open wound. Looking down on the ground, he could see a half of a head of the cane that was thrown at him.
"YO! Behind ya' big'un!"
Turning around Kinniku saw that Gin had somehow gotten behind him and was now twirling what could only be described as a makeshift wooden spear. The two fallen PCS members tried their best to get up , but they just fell back down to the ground. Even though it was two on one, it was obviously clear that Gin was stronger than the both of them combined. The few that people that were still outside of the academy were absolutely amazed by the skill that Gin displayed and the calm fury he held about him. He patiently watched as the two finally managed to get up and stupidly as they tried to ready themselves for another round. He stopped twirling the broken cane and assumed a fighting stance. Gin was steady and calm while the other two were on the verge of collapsing, but still they seemed more than ready to fight. The moment the two were stable they angrily made their final charge and Gin more than happily did the same. All three of them closed in quickly on each other at soon they clashed. It lasted for less than two seconds and nothing, but a flash of limbs was all that could be seen, but it was impressive none the less. They quickly dispersed and once more both the PSC members fell down to the ground. Their bodies were covered with shallow cuts and gashes and Gin's tipped cane was covered in blood. He could see them struggling to get back up so he speedily ran towards the girls again.
Gin made it about halfway when another wall of fire prevented him. An angry growl escaped him as he came face to face with Kuyou himself. The leader of the Public Safety Commission smiled with a malevolence that could only be matched by his excitement. His underlings did the best they could to crawl away from the scene in order to lick their wounds. Gin clenched his exposed fangs and tightened his grip on the broken shaft of his cane. Glancing up at his hanging club members and momentarily to Tsukune, whose rubber-soled shoes had begun to melt from the fire, and then back to Kuyou who allowed his fingers to become aglow with an intense heat. Anyone who was close enough to see Gin's face could see that he was thinking extremely hard, most likely about his current situation, and it was clear that he was getting frustrated. In less then thirty seconds, after he could smell the horrid combination of melting rubber and burning flesh, Gin came to the ultimate realization that the only way he could get out of this with everyone intact, then Kuyou would have to be defeated. The grin on Kuyou's face widened as he too came to the same realization and his excitement grew tenfold. He pulled his hand up in front of his face, which was shaped like a spear, and took a fighting stance. Instantly Gin took his stance, but unlike before he was neither calm nor steady, but rather tense and anxious as the two were getting ready to square off. Kuyou's muscles tensed tightly and with could only be described as wicked glee he softly spoke so that none but Gin could hear.
"I have been waiting for this moment for a long time Morioka-san. You and your meddlesome Newspaper club have been nothing, but a thorn in our side for too long, fitting that it should end with us. "
Gin gave one of his many trademark haughty chuckles, but its affect was somewhat diminished as he never let his guard down. The two started slowly circle each other while never removing their eyes from one another. Tightening himself up, Gin spoke with his usual raised-on-the-streets accent just loud enough so those who were close enough to them could hear.
"Damn you're so overly dramatic as usual! 'You and your meddlesome Newspaper club' an' 'It will end with us'! We all know that ta' reason behin' this is that you're afraid that we'll expose ya' for what ta' Public Safety Commission truly is. "
"The Public Safety Commission is a group dedicated to maintaining the peace and justice of our academy. "
"You're nothin' more than wannabe Yakuzas, a tyrannical group who extorts money from other club's through fear!"
Kuyou lunged after Gin and slashed at his head. Gin ducked under the attack and jumped back as far as he could. All but a few hairs had made it out of the attack, but the attack was more than enough to leave the top of his head slightly smoking. Before he could react, Kuyou went on a rampage, slashing and chopping at him with his glowing red hands, and Gin did his best to evade every attack. The onslaught continued with a fierce relentlessness that could described as raging. With each attack he delivered, he released an angry grunt and for each attack that Gin managed to barely dodge he let out an exhausted groan. Wounds made their ways onto Gin as the heat radiating from his hands not only cut him, but painfully cauterized them too. A rain of hand-spears fell on him and there seemed to be no end in sight. In a final attempt to end his opponent's life, Kuyou could be seen pulling back his right hand as far as he could then thrusting it straight through Gin. The leader of the Newspaper club had the expression of true shock when the hand of the Public Safety Commission was stuck inside Gin's abdomen. Kuyou roughly pulled his hand out from his enemy who vanished the moment this happened. Though Gin had vanished his school jacket remained until it burst into flames.
The real Gin was no more than ten feet away, but he had clearly not gotten away unscathed. His cotton white shirt that usually lay beneath his school jacket now had a large hole burned into it and beneath that was his self. His flesh was red, raw, and slightly burned. He gingerly poked at his wound and hissed in pain. The tendered flesh and his aggravated poking only brought him more pain, which allowed Kuyou to smile with some delight. Staring his opponent in the eye, Gin raised his makeshift spear and readied himself again. Shifting his weight, he pushed off, running to the side with Kuyou running right beside him. They locked eyes with each other so that both combatants' could see one another's emotions frustration and exhilaration. Seeing that Kuyou was keeping up with such ease he quickly changed directions, but again Kuyou anticipated and kept up. Clearly annoyed Gin let out a snarl of anger as he could not shake his pursuer and in a final act of desperation, he stopped short then pounced after the PSC leader. In a surprise attack, Gin thrust and lung his makeshift spear at Kuyou, who dodged every attack with ease.
With each miss, Gin tried harder and harder to hit him, but he never came close. Finally when he seemed tired of this repetitive act Kuyou actually managed to slice the weapon in twain with a single chop. Quickly disposing of his damaged weapon and started throwing punches instead. In actuality, Gin's fists were faster than his sloppy spear thrusts. While still able to evade a full on hit, knuckles grazed his face and body at an unrelenting pace. Punch after punch came his way, in an amazing one-eighty it was Gin on top, and Kuyou was the one on the defensive. Kuyou was trying to strike back, but Gin did not let up for even a moment. His concentration hardened to a singular point and no matter how hard Kuyou tried, he could not break it. All of a sudden, Kuyou was unexpectedly thrown back. No one knew what exactly had happened, but when they saw him holding his lip and Gin still having his fist raised out they could only guess.
Gin's fists were clearly burned and were already starting to blister while Kuyou's face was covered with little knuckle shaped bruises. It soon became evident that Kuyou's lip was busted open when a thin stream of blood oozed from between his fingers. Removing his hand from his wounded lip, which bled profusely, he stared down at his drenched hand then back to Gin. Hate burned deeply within his eyes, ash and smoke spewed from his open mouth as his breath became ragged and deep. In an instant, he ran straight for Gin with his hand cocked back and Gin did the same except with a fist. Blow by blow the two clashed with one another. The two older students attacked one another unremittingly, near to the point that neither bothered to defend the others attacks, only caring about delivering a final blow. Kuyou thrust and chopped at his opponent with an unadulterated hate, each attack trying to pierce Gin's heart or trying to decapitate him. Gin fought back with his fists, trying to break bones and doing his best to try to reach his female club members.
Kuyou's heat infused hand spears glanced over Gin's body, cutting and searing his body at the same time, but each time he missed what he was truly aiming for. Gin tried to deflect his attacker with his own fists, but not all were successful. With sudden speed, Kuyou disrupted the flow of the fight when he suddenly jumped back out of his enemy's reach. Gin fumbled when he missed Kuyou, leaving his defenses wide open, and Kuyou took full advantage. He threw a savagely powerful knee attack in which Gin reacted by jumping back himself, barely dodging the attack. Before he knew what to do next the knee attack that he had just barely been able to avoid turned into a kick that caught him right in the head. The force behind the kick coupled with his off-center of gravity, he all but flipped out of control. Gin's body flew out of control, but before Kuyou could perform any form of celebration Gin managed to throw a kick of his own, which connected with Kuyou's chin, just when he was still in reach. Kuyou was pushed back while Gin flew through the air and eventually fell to the ground with a bodily smack. The two were motionless, whether from their wounds or contemplating their next strategic counters, no one knew, but there they were.
Kuyou breathed deeply while the bruises began to develop all over his face and body. Gin on the other hand was still on the floor with his skin burned and blistering. After a few minutes, he started to stir and with what seemed to be the last of his strength Gin managed to push himself off the dirt floor. Shakily getting back on his feet Gin stared down at his enemy, but the intimidation was lost when his form started to wobble and stumble in place. Kuyou gave him the smug little chuckle that he was known for when Gin nearly fell down again. Catching himself in time Gin took his eyes off his opponent to look up into the tree that laid less than a hundred feet ahead of him. The girls swung sickeningly from the branches even as they began to awaken from their respective unconscious slumbers. Turning his gaze back to Kuyou, Gin did his best to steady himself. Once more, he brought his guard up, raising his fists up to his face and tightened his leg muscles for the anticipation of speed he was known for. Kuyou sneered angrily at Gin's continued defiance. Slowly he took off his blue coat and tossed it casually to the side while at the same time rolling up his sleeves. Hocking out a glob of bloody mucus he wiped away what little was left on his cut lip and with a hiss, he spoke to Gin with what could only be described as pure malice.
"You have seriously damaged me not just once, but twice. Gin it would seem that I will have to take this seriously now. "
Sparks and embers once more erupted from his body, but it was not the same as before. The fires were a burning phosphorescent white and instead of spewing outward, towards the cowering masses, they only traveled for a few feet until they were sucked back into his body. His being started to burn with the same phosphoresce glow, but that was not the end of his transformation. Pillars of fire pulled themselves out from his back only to twist and lash around like live serpents. His nose and mouth started to grow to insanely grotesque lengths. He snarled wildly and gnashed his forming fangs. Crouching over himself Kuyou's fingers lengthened to obscene proportions along with his ears, which came to a point. Falling down on all fours, his back arched and body morphed to a semi-canine form. Fire tightly enwrapped his new body and layered itself on top of him like armor until he burst with an explosion of power. Thrown back by the massive power surge Gin could only watch as Kuyou's new form tightened and shaped itself into a monstrous fox. Kuyou pawed at the ground with his newly formed paw and like a real fox, he advanced on Gin as if he were his wounded prey. His fur burned with such whiteness that it was nearly blinding to stare at him directly. The heat from that pulsed from his body was white-hot burning what little plant matter that grew near him and charred the ground that he walked on. Gin tried to crawl away on his blistered hands, but he didn't get far. Kuyou was almost upon him and with his new voice, he let out a guttural growl, which bordered on an actual bark. Gin did what he could do to get away until he backed into a tombstone that was only a mere twenty feet away from the tree that his fellow club members hung.
From the tallest branches of the tree that Gin was under hung the three rousing forms of Moka, Kurumu, and Yukari. They swung lightly in the breeze, high enough in the air that they were above the stench of burning flesh and rubber. The first to come back to the realm of consciousness was Moka who was greeted by the sight of the setting sun. Lifting her head in a sluggish manner, she tried to move a lock of her pink hair out from her face only to find her hands bound. Not able to comprehend what was going on just yet she looked hazily on the school grounds only to be shocked by what she saw. The grounds had a few clusters of students and staff that were brave enough to see the end, a enormous fiery fox advancing on an injured Gin, her other club members hanging by her side, and finally Tsukune.
To her horror, Moka could see Tsukune tied to a crucifix with razor wire wrapped around his waist, wrists, and ankles, all of them bleeding profusely. The base was consumed by flames, as were his feet, and they slowly creeping their way up. She attempted to scream, but found that her voice was lost and instead kicked her fellow members awake. Firstly it was Kurumu who awoke and by default Yukari, who was starting to awake when Kurumu's body swung into her due to the force of Moka's kick. The tiny witch's body swung out then back into Kurumu causing her to swing to Moka. She wrapped her legs around the oncoming girl's waist and did her best to stop the swinging. Kurumu moaned groggily as her head lulled side to side, revealing several large bruises and a swelling left eye. Blearily she too gazed out onto the school grounds only to be met with the same horrors that Moka saw. Moka un-wrapped her legs from Kurumu when she could see the succubus's undamaged eye land on the sight of a burning Tsukune. Her eye stopped still and the light of the fire danced clearly within her lavender eyes. The flames burned deeply within her eyes, as they seemed to hypnotize her with terror. Kurumu started to hyperventilate as the fires climbed higher and higher, engulfing the human that she had confessed her undying love to months before. Both of the girls' hearts beat faster as they watched Tsukune's form twitched and silently screamed in pain. Watching the boy they cared so deeply for suffer in such a horrible manner, something inside the both of them snapped. Finally, out of the daze she had found her voice and staring at Tsukune, she could do only one thing; she screamed.
Moka screamed, she screamed as loud as her voice would allow her and for as long as she could. She screamed Tsukune's name and screamed for Gin to help and for the help of anyone willing to help however, no one did. Moka persisted to scream at the top of her lungs for what seemed to be hours, but in reality was just a few seconds. Kurumu was still transfixed on the blaze, but she could hear Moka's voice ringing in her ears and without even knowing it she too started to scream. It started off slow and quite, but it soon became loud and ear splitting. Kurumu shrieked and kicked as hard as she could until she actually started to bounce. The ropes that bound her tightened around her small frame, making her wheeze, but still she screamed as hard as she could. The combined power of their voices seemed to have some sort of affect because they could see Tsukune turning his head towards them both and apparently said something, but they were either to far away or his voice was to weak to reach them. It was then that the two screamed and shrieked even harder than before, trying to get the attention of anyone who cared and was able to help. Soon an ear splitting roar eclipsed their combined voices immediately followed behind it was an explosion. The tree shook violently, jostling the three of them, and both Moka and Kurumu looked below them to see what had happened. The tombstone that Gin was pinned against was somehow reduced to a pile of flaming rubble and Gin himself was thrown nearly thirty yards away, no longer moving. Kuyou stood on all fours in his transformed state barking and yipping jubilantly as he walked after the unconscious boy.
At the base of the tree, a fire of their own started to burn that traveled quickly up to them. The tree began to quake and groan under the fire's fury which fed off the dead dry wood. The girls could feel hot air blowing up their skirts which they responded by struggling against their restraints. Moka tried to pull her restraints apart with her bare hands, but was continually interrupted by every gust of hot air that puffed up her skirt, which with her modesty; caused her to instinctively cross her legs. Kurumu wasn't as reserved when trying to free herself from her bindings. She tried to extend her razor-like fingernails, but only succeeded in stabbing herself in the arms. The fire continued to eat away at the tree, which soon produced a mighty crack. As the sound of the crack echoed throughout the school grounds Yukari had finally awakened. With absolute shock Yukari was not only treated to the sights that the other girls had seen; Gin unconscious on the dirt floor, Kuyou growling at said student, and Tsukune burning at his makeshift with half of him engulfed, but to the sight of a blazing inferno just several feet below. Twisting her head, she could see both of her friends struggling fruitlessly against their rope bindings. Staring at her friends her analytical brain assessed the facts and came to only one solution; she screamed.
The flames grew higher and higher, already burning through the oil that the logs were soaked in, they searched for more fuel. Tsukune had already lost the feeling in his feet as the toxic fumes of burning rubber and shoe leather accosted his nostrils and now felt the scorching heat and burning power traveling up his legs. He wanted to scream until his lungs were filled with the poisonous smoke and his lungs were too weak to expel it. He struggled lightly against his barbed restraints even though his life and strength drained from his body and as expected it did not help. He watched with weak eyes as Gin fought against the two PSC members on his own. With acrobatic awe Gin easily kept the two at bay and Tsukune could not help, but to think about what he was sacrificing for all of them. Knowing that he had to somehow help him he tried to contact the creature in his head in a last ditch effort.
Praying silently he waited to hear from the eldritch thing and after several anguished seconds was rewarded. The feeling of the mask awakening in his psyche was somewhat mixed; the usual sense of anxiety was present, but the newer sense of hope was there as well. The entity, feeling and enjoying his pain, happily chimed in with a whimsical singsong voice in what could be described as a cheesy Irish brogue.
'Top of the morin' to ya, me bucko! How can I be of assistance?'
The flames flared up and Tsukune shortly lost his concentration as they steadily traveled up his legs. The pain was excruciating, but he was still conscious enough to watch Gin defeat the two PSC members with his rudimentary weapon. Gulping in what smokeless air his lungs would allow and his body finally coughed up what was lodged in it. His thoughts were muddled for a little, but he got them together long enough to come up with a coherent thought.
'I need help! I gotta save them!'
'I would love to help with that, but…I just can't. Sorry. '
The fire chewed at his flesh with an unrelenting passion. He tried crying out for help when he was suddenly choked out by the smoke issuing from his clothes and actual body. Tears were gently squeezed from his weakened eyes while he squinted to where Gin stood, squaring off against a figure that he assumed to be Kuyou. The feeling in his lower legs was disappearing as the pain of being burned alive was traveling upward. Consciousness flickering in and out Tsukune did his best to keep his thoughts together while he begged to the sadistic entity. With desperate pleading and prayers, he did his best to make contact again with the evil spirit, especially when Gin and Kuyou started their fight, and again after several seconds it responded. Despite all the suffering he was going through, he did not take his eyes off of Gin who was doing his best to keep up with Kuyou. Tsukune could see Gin trying to hit Kuyou with his weapon to no avail, which fueled his desire to help. Immediately he screamed to the relic with his entire mental prowess.
'PLEASE! I'VE GOTTA HELP MY FRIENDS!'
'AND I GOTTA TELL YOU TO FUCK OFF!'
Again, the fires grew and he physically screamed in agony, as his knees were set ablaze. He saw that his skin was no longer a healthy flesh tone or even an inflamed red, but rather blackened and shriveled. Doing the best he could to forget about the pain Tsukune tried to communicate with the creature, but it was it that spoke to him first. The creature's voice was no longer whimsical or cheery in any way, but now held a dark and threatening manner. It was angry and when it spoke, he was so transfixed by its sinister tones that he completely forgot about the pain of being burned alive or the fight between his club president and the leader of the PSC. The thing spoke to him in such a manner that he could think of nothing else, but of what it was going to say.
'I already told you that I've had enough of you and your fuckin' insignificant piddley-ass problems and your boring wish to have a normal life.'
The mask's corrosive word burrowed deeply into his subconscious until it was all he could think about. He was so engrossed by the thing and it's dangerous influence that he did not even notice that Gin had turn the tides on Kuyou. The mask continued with its verbal onslaught with a low dark hiss and all Tsukune did was listen to everything it said.
'You'd be nothing more than a half-rotted corpse in some fuckin' cave if it weren't for me! I healed your wounds and gave you back your life and yet you treat me like dirt. I'm sorry, but I can't be in such an abusive relationship where I'm the bitch!'
For a moment, Tsukune managed to get away from the poisonous artifact and turned his attention not to Gin, but to the hanging girls. He could see Moka starting to awake from her unconscious state. His heart jumped in his throat, but his attention was grabbed by the mask as it continued its oral diatribe.
'I offer omniscience and omnipotence and you spit it back into my face you ungrateful little shit! I said it before and I'll say it again; I wash my hands of you.'
At this point, the fire had burned its way almost up to his crotch and Gin and Kuyou were attempting to finish each other off. He could see that Gin was covered in scarring cuts and Kuyou was covered in bruises and had a busted lip. A sense of pride swelled up in him, but the moment was unfortunately short lived. He witnessed Kuyou shifting and changing while white-hot sparks flew from his body then covered every square inch of his body. Tsukune was nearly blinded by the brightness of Kuyou's glow and was stunned to mental silence as he watched four flaming tails sprouted from his back. In shock, he stared at the blazing demon as he morphed and shifted into a giant fox. The sudden radical transformation was enough to make Tsukune's eyes pop out in terror while the creature in his head snort in dark delight.
'Ooohh your boy is fuuuuccked! I know what that is and damn sure, you know what that is too. He doesn't stand a chance.'
Staring at the now transmogrified Kuyou he could see the predator that was the leader of the PSC prowling towards the injured club president of the Newspaper club. Gin had managed to crawl as far away as he could until he backed into a lonesome tombstone. Above the Gin's tombstone was the tree that Moka, Kurumu, and Yukari hung from. He could see that Moka had already regained full consciousness and was trying to wake her other friends. Continuously alternating from Gin and Kuyou to Moka and the others, his overworked heart pumped faster than ever before. Chemicals and hormones pumped through the remainder of his functioning veins, increasing the sensitivity of his skin and pain, thoughts rushed in his head and his breath had somehow became more shallow than before. The screams of Moka and Kurumu provoked him even further as they seemingly screamed for either him or for anybody willing to help them. He wanted to struggle against his razor wire restraints, but his body had finally given up on him. The sounds of the creature laughing at his pain filled his head in such a cruel way that it fueled his anger, but fueled his feeling of uselessness even greater. The screams and shouts of the girls rung louder in his ears than the crackling of the fire or the roars of Kuyou as he closed in on Gin with a predatory grin. With a surge of strength, he lifted his head and actually met with the gaze of Moka.
Though the two were nearly a hundred yards away somehow the two met the others gaze and read every emotion that flashed through their eyes. Moka's eyes filled with fear and anguish. Tsukune could see the very essence of fear in those jade eyes and for a moment, he found the strength to speak.
"I…got to…save…them. "
'What would you do?'
He was caught off guard for the moment as the mask's question hung in the air. He was shocked to say the least, but another one of Kuyou's roars knocked him back to reality. More and more the conscious girls screamed for help of any kind while the voice of the mask overpowered all others as it asked it's question again.
'What would you do to save these girls?'
Tsukune could see that Kuyou was almost upon his sempai and the monstrous fox had a predatory grin on his now dog-like face. His anger rose when he stared at the fox demon with disgust, believing that if it wasn't for him and the rest of the PSC with their grudge against the Newspaper club than there would've been no need for this witch hunt and he he'd never of been caught. At that moment the mask spoke out in its' signature cold sadistic voice.
'He took your life…'
Those four words were enough to completely send his brain into shock. Tsukune was no longer on a burning crucifix with his friends about to be killed by a murderous fire demon, but rather he was back in the lost sea cave, listening to the beast's offering of power. As the creature continued, he was pulled deeper into his delusions of the past.
'He shattered your dreams…'
The crackling of the fire was comparable to the water washing into the cave while the roars and screams were almost like the waves crashing on the rocky shore. His hallucination had become so powerful that even his other senses were starting to kick in; the scent of salt water and low tide was pungent, feeling the freezing seawater on his skin, the taste of salty sand and seaweed present in his mouth. The final thing was what his sight. The relic lay in the same tide pool that he had first found it, where it first made contact with him. He listened to its poisonous words the first time and he listened to it now.
'And the rest I'm sure you remember.'
Like an actor he followed his lines from that day in perfect repetition with the only difference was that the creature did not interrupt him.
'What do you want?'
'I have listened to your pathetic prayers and realized that I may have been somewhat…harsh in my refusals. I am willing to help you and your beaus, but for a price; I want more.'
The pain from the flames was substituted for the pain he felt when he was dying on the rocky floor of the cave. Staring at the relic with confusion, he did not understand what it was that it meant by more. He focused himself and asked what it meant and with a pretentious laugh it answered.
'It's simple; you've been putting me on a tight leash and I'm fuckin' tired of it! This entire time I've been a spectator, but no more, I want you to give me more oh what's the word…leeway and I promise that you will live pass this day.'
The thing's words held an icy grip around Tsukune's beating heart. He could hear it's words echo in his head and the hidden meaning behind those words. The idea of giving the creature more 'leeway' disgusted and scared him because as much as he wanted to deny it any 'leeway' he needed it's help in order to save himself or any body else. The more he thought about this impossibility the more his brain burned as if it were set on fire like his body. Staring at the mask he could feel the spirit that resided within it smile evilly as it watched him struggle over the ultimatum it had presented to him. As he struggled over the problem, he suddenly heard what could only be described as a powerful and heavy explosion. He was thrown out of his delusion and thrust back into the real world. The fire was almost halfway done with his body and the pain was unimaginable. Chunks of masonry flew through the air along with Gin. Kuyou barked triumphantly and the tree that the others hung from had caught fire. He weakly watched, as he uselessly burned at the stake, as Moka and Kurumu struggled against their bonds and Yukari finally awakening from her unconscious sleep. He could see the flames climbing higher on the tree, creeping closer to them. Mind a blank; he didn't know what to do. Gin was clearly out of commission after he fell to earth and hadn't made any kind of movement what so ever, Moka and Kurumu still had not broken free of their bonds and Yukari was taking in everything with shock and awe.
With everything happening so fast he didn't know what to do, his mind was frozen on one question; either let everyone burn or give the creature a modicum of freedom. Time seemed to slow down to a near halt; every movement was visible and apparent to every spark that jumped from the flaming pit below him, the dead branches of the trees moving with the wind, Kuyou ever slowly creeping up on his unconscious prey, and every failed attempt the girls made to free themselves. He could see every tiny emotion the flashed in their eyes and micro-expression on their faces. Tsukune saw everything within milliseconds and could not believe that this was actually happening to him, to them. It was just a bad dream, a nightmare, he was going to wake up soon enough, and when he did, everything would be back to normal. They would find themselves back in the clubroom and everything would be back to normal, everything would be back to normal, everything would…be…
'She doesn't have to die.'
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The power of Yukari's scream had penetrated his mental orb of silence and everything sped back to normal. Kuyou was almost upon Gin as the flames were closer to the girls. They all struggled against their bindings now and only succeeded in twisting the ropes themselves. Tsukune knew at that point that he had to make a choice and it soon became clear as to what he had to do. Trying to ignore the pain from the fire, he again collected his thoughts to tell the creature his decision.
'Alright you can have more!'
The dark presence of the sentient relic boomed triumphantly in his skull. Already Tsukune could feel the flood of alien energies flowing in his veins and his frayed nerves becoming dull to the pain of the fires below. The feeling was starting to return to his damaged extremities while the dark laughter of the beast became louder and louder.
'I knew you see it my way sooner or later bo-'
'But you cannot hurt my friends!'
The powerful feeling he was experiencing was immediately withdrawn, if anything the pain from the fire worsened. The triumphant aura that filled his head was replaced by an endless rage. The anger that the thing was exuding was so powerful that it felt that his head was about to split open. His brain cooked in like a fried egg, burning hotter than the fire that bit at his body. As the relic's anger burned him, its voice froze him. It spoke in an icy hiss as it spat words of contempt and hatred.
'You dumb mother fucker are you trying to renege on our deal? To con ME! Nobody does that to me, EVER!'
The combination of internal freezing and external burning was almost too much for him to bear, only through sheer willpower did he managed to stay conscious. The fires licked at his remaining flesh while the fires that were nearing the girls were even closer. They screamed and tried to clamber away from the blaze, but only succeeded in swinging wildly in the wind. Tsukune did his best to stay cognizant and made contact with the mask.
'No con! I just don't want Moka-san and the others hurt that's all! Promise me that and I'll give you more freedom.'
'You try to screw with me well fuck you! I ask for more leeway and instead you put up more barriers, that ain't freedom you dumb bastard!'
The fire was nearly up to his stomach and already knew that he was on the verge of death. In an act of desperation he thought of the first argument he could think of, hoping that it would convince the evil spirit to return its power to him.
'You got to help or else you'll have nobody to inhabit!'
'We've already covered that there are plenty of stupid people out here that I can so easily manipulate sweetheart, next argument.'
'What people? They've all, but gone back into the Academy building.'
As Tsukune said almost all of the students and staff had rushed back into the building for safety while those who were brave enough were all in little clusters too far away to be any of any use to the artifact. An angry groan rung his head and soon followed the tired and irritated voice.
'Touché douche bag, but that doesn't change the fact. Unless you give me the freedom I so rightfully deserve than you all die.'
'Damn it I'm not denying you I just want you to promise me that you will leave them alone!'
'And I'm telling you that either you give me more range or they all burn!'
'I RATHER THEY BURN THAN BE EXPOSED TO YOU!'
The tension between the two was palpable and crushing. It was so thick and heavy that it could be cut with a knife. Tsukune could feel the creature's rage building and boiling over. The pressure behind its anger would have crack his head wide open if it wasn't for the fact that he was exposed to small amounts of it every time he opposed it. As powerful, as the tension between the two was the silence was even greater. They were waiting each other out, hoping that the other would break soon. Tsukune knew that the creature would gladly let him and the others burn, but there was something the creature didn't know; he meant every word he said. Tsukune would rather have his friends burn to death, but the psycho leader of the PSC than even let there even be a chance of the beast having it's way with them. He knew that burning to death to be more merciful. Soon the creature came to realize what he was up to and immediately backed off the pressure. It spoke again, but this time with such a sickly sweet voice that it could give anybody a cavity just from hearing it.
'Alright buddy I won't hurt any of your friends so how about my new freedoms?'
The fires burned him and his consciousness flickered in and out, but he still had not given his blessings. Still trying to keep conscious, he did his best to keep the conversation alive.
'Promise me. '
The feeling of the creature squirming beneath his skin made him nauseous. Again, he could hear the artifact's sickly sweet voice whispering in his ears.
'I said that I wouldn't hurt them.'
'Promise me. '
'I heard you. Friends. Off. Fucking. Limits!'
'Promise me.'
'FOR FUCK'S SAKE YOU STUBBORN WHINY LITTLE BITCH I SAID I'D LEAVE THEM ALONE!'
'Promise me.'
Tsukune couldn't hold on much longer, the fires not only ate at his body, but mind also. He found it more difficult to maintain or even form words. Just when he was about to fade the thing spoke again in angry and rushed tones.
'Even if I did what's to say that I won't just kill them?'
'Not…your…style.'
'HAHAHAHAHA! Not my style! Kid, hate to break it to you , but that's practically what my style's all about. After all torment, pain and death is kinda my bag.'
The smog rising from his burning body was choking and the screams from the girls in the background filled his head. His eye-line started to fade and fuzz along the sides and the darkness slowly crept in.
'No…if you kill them…they'll never…betray me…I'll…never…learn…tru…th.'
It became deathly silent after he made one last attempt to save himself and the others. The fire was halfway done chewing through his body and all outside sound was nullified. All of his muscles started to relax and become cold. As his body went limp, the creature spoke to him with an impressed, but still condescending tone.
'Y'know for such a dumb fucker you can be quite clever.'
Those were some of the last words he heard when his body slowly started to shut down. He could no longer form a single coherent thought as the smoke from the fire and the smell of his own burning flesh was choking off his brain. His ears picked up no sounds whatsoever, no crackling of the flames below, no roars from the monstrous Kuyou, no screams from the girls who hung from the burning tree. His eyes were growing dark and soon all light had been extinguished from his sight. His breath slowly escaped his body, fueling the blaze that consumed him, and he felt only the tiniest bit of life he had left in his body begin to snuff out. His consciousness was no longer flickering in and out, but rather just out. Just when total perception was about to leave him he heard two final words coming from the creature.
'I promise.'
Suddenly the flames that ate his lower half leapt up with a life of their own and consumed his entirety. The flames had gone from a brilliant orange to an evil onyx black. Somehow, consciousness was shoved back into Tsukune and the first thing his body did was shriek in pain. His scream carried far across the academy grounds causing all those to hear him to cover their ears in pain. His screams were powerful and inhuman and on several occasions, his voice cracked and split under the strain. Moka and the others stopped with their own struggle when the pain they felt from Tsukune's screams filled the grounds paralyzed them. Kuyou stopped lurking towards the knocked-out Gin as his own overly sensitive ears heard his other victim's piecing scream ricocheted around his fox ears. Turning his head away from his previous prey watched in confused amazement as his own flame had changed so radically and sporadically shot out flames of emerald green or violet in spurts. Tsukune was no longer visible from within the bonfire, but his screams were enough to give even the most grounded of people reeling with crippling and gruesome images of what was happening in the middle of this black fireball. Soon the screams were replaced with the sounds of cracking wood and the crucifix that held Tsukune crumbled to the ground.
The strange shadowy blazes were extinguished and all that was left of its existence was a foul smoke that reeked of sulfur and burnt flesh. Shockingly the crucifix was only partially burnt and somehow broken apart. Kuyou didn't understand what exactly had happened, but he didn't care, as far as he was concerned it was one last insect he had to worry about. Looking away from the rubble he turned to his latter prey only to find that Gin had disappeared. With a snarl he turned to his subordinates who were back up on their feet. Up in the tree the girls hung in silence after watching what they considered the death of Tsukune. All of them tried to mourn for his death, but the tree gave way to the fire again and the branch snapped at the base. Shrieking as they fell they were falling into the arms of the waiting fire until they were saved when their branch was caught by several low hanging branches. Watching them swing wildly in the wind while the inferno below them tried to devour them brought a wicked smile to his canine face. Ecstatic that he would see his remaining enemies burn alive Kuyou was about to bark in victory when the soft sounds of shuffling wood reached his ears. He spun around to face the wreckage that was the crucifix with his jaw agape. He could see the wooden planks being pushed aside and something arose from the ashes that sent a cold chill down his flaming spine.
A blackened corpse stood amongst the ruins of the crucifix, skin charred and shriveled, and the only thing that seemed to have survived was a portion of pants. Its arms were curled up to the remains of the corpses' chest and had its eyes shut tight. A hissing wheeze escaped through the scorched lips of this strange creature and every time it took a breath inward, an audible whistle could be heard. As spellbound as Kuyou was the girls that hung were even worse. They could not take their eyes off of the repellent creature that rose from the ashes of their friend. All three of them watched frightened as this walking briquette stared off into the sky and swayed aimlessly in one spot. All were so wary of this creature that they momentarily forgot about the fire, but it did not forget about them. The flames seemed to jump at the opportunity of their absent-mindedness about and rose to meet them. Moka felt the blistering tongues from the inferno below glancing off her bare legs and she pulled them back right away. Her yelp of pain made the others aware of the fire's ascension towards them and again they started to scream. The girl's screams enticed the burnt body to make its way towards the sound, kicking away and tripping over the broken pieces of the crucifix. The reanimated corpse twitched and jerked with every movement it made almost as if it was being played like a marionette. Kuyou sneered in disgust while watching this spindly creature trying to get to the girls. The thing shuffled weakly over the wooden beams, but eventually it fell to the ground with a pathetic thump. It tried to lift itself off the ground, but made it only onto its knees. Head staring up to the sky it hissed wildly as the girls cried out one name.
"TSUKUNEEEE!"
The girls yelled out for Tsukune and the creature that rose from his grave had a visceral response. The arm twitches became worse, like it was struggling, and let out a god awful howl, but when it open it's charred eyes was when things became truly horrifying. The moment it opened its eyes yellow sparks shot from the empty sockets, igniting the already burned facial flesh with a strange sulfurous yellow flame. It clawed at its face with curled fingers and actually managed to rip out strips of flesh. The things blacked skin started to crack and flake of in droves. Between the cracks of dead skin was what appeared to be pulsating pink muscle, which grew past the skin itself. The scrawny creature soon doubled in size with half of the flesh torn from its body. Chords of muscle were ripped by its blackened hands only to have them reform and grow bigger than before. The creature's voice had turned from a high-pitched howl to the lower tone of adolescent male. When Moka and the others heard the thing's change in voice, they immediately knew that Tsukune had somehow survived, but so did Kuyou. Growling angrily at what was now a giant ball of naked muscle Kuyou turned to his subsidiaries and barked out several orders. They quickly responded by rushing towards the mass of naked muscle and stood between it and their leader. Tsukune was now an engorged ball of exposed muscle with all of his burnt flesh now lay on the dirt. Growing at a geometric rate the only thing that covered the sounds of his screams were the snaps of breaking bones. Thrusting his naked arms to the sky, everyone could see them bend and snap in strange angles to the point that bare bone poked themselves out from his muscles only to submerge back into his body. Finally rising to his feet, everyone saw his head blazing and body stretching in a sickening manner. The fire that engulfed his head suddenly grew twice its original size and Tsukune quickly clapped down on his own head with his incredibly engorged hands. Body stretching towards the sky he was constantly growing and expanding until he reached apparent pinnacle of width and height.
Once his body stopped growing his muscles seemed to explode in size, tightening and stretching themselves until it seemed they could not possibly get any bigger. His abominable muscles sharpened and defined themselves, pectorals exploding outwards, leg and arm muscles stacked on top of each other and quickly became hard as rock. Smoke issued from between his fingers while little shots of yellow flames and muffled screams were seen and heard. He started to smack his own head, trying to pat out the flames, but to no avail. Instead, he clawed at his face and pulled out fistfuls of facial muscle, which he threw them to the ground. The pieces of muscle that fell to the ground momentarily writhed with life only to putrefy into a bloody sludge which crawled back to him. Blood spurted and dripped from his body, muddying the ground, causing Tsukune to fall back on his knees again. Hunched over he finally stopped the assault on his body when his body stopped growing, but that was not the end. As he kneeled motionless small patches of what appeared to be flesh started to grow in seemingly random places. Slowly they spread across his body growing bigger and covering his exposed muscles. Like ripples in a pond, this newly forming flesh spread out across his massive form. From his back to his extremities, the patches of skin appeared and spread to cover him in a new casing of flesh. After Tsukune was finished with this macabre transformation, he rose to his feet in an eerily dramatic fashion. His head hung low and smoking, no longer on fire, with his hair growing back at a rapid pace. Finally regenerated he plunged his head into the sky to expose the bone-white mask that latched itself on his face and at once roared with power.
"YEEAARRRGGUUHH!"
'BY THE POWER OF GREYSKULL MUTHA FUCKA!'
He flexed his powerful fingers and examined his newly formed body to find no flaw or evidence of damage by fire. Jerking upwards his heart raced when he noticed the girls hanging over a raging bonfire and the PSC members and leader standing in his way. Taking a giant step towards those who dared to oppose him his foot knocked up against some large and heavy. Turning his attention momentarily to the ground, he spied a large heavy-looking wooden club. The thing was half charred, had nails sticking out at odd ends and was wrapped in barbed razor wire, caked in his own blood.
'Get a load of this thing!'
Staring at the club then back to the PSC members that stood between him and the others he picked the club up and held it in his hand. The club's thickness and weight felt good in his hands and swung it about lightly.
'2x4…Handy. '
Kinniku and Deshiko walked towards him, each with their very own glint of madness in their eyes, and he gripped his weapon tighter. Deshiko spun her bo-staff around her body while Kinniku cracked his neck and shoulders. Tsukune flexed his muscles, tightened his grip on his own weapon, and readied himself. His heart thumped wildly in his chest while adrenaline coursed through his body along with the all too familiar surge of alien strength. Battle ready and rearing to go the mask laugh sadistically as Tsukune faced his opponents with club in hand.
'Let's do some fuckin' carpentry!'
With these words, Tsukune charged after the two and they did the same. While Deshiko and Kinniku were powered by the fear of failing their coldblooded leader, Tsukune was running on the rage of a man whose loved ones were in peril and the energy given by an ancient sentient relic. Deshiko was the first to reach her enemy so she pulled back her weapon in order to strike first, but Tsukune was faster. He swung his weapon like a bat with the full force that his arms could afford, but she was just able to defend against however, that did not discourage him. He hacked away at Deshiko's weapon with an unrelenting passion that it pushed her back. Unable to do a thing she tried to flee, but when she attempted to escape Tsukune swung with everything he had and swatted her away like a baseball. Ignoring the flying girl Tsukune dashed at the clunky malformed member with his club raised up high. Kinniku raised his arms defensively in order to protect himself from the club attack, but left himself open for Tsukune's gut-busting straight. Blood spewed from his mouth as Tsukune's fist dug deeper into his body and when he started to fall Tsukune delivered a final flying knee to the nose. After making quick work of the two Tsukune could feel the white-hot hateful gaze of Kuyou and heard him growl deeply. With a deep graveled voice, Kuyou addressed Tsukune who stood over Kinniku with club in hand.
"I don't know how you survived or what you are, but since you give off no discernable demonic energy of any kind you are clearly not worth my time, you pathetically weak creature."
Tsukune rushed at the flaming fox with his weapon held high. Kuyou stood his ground while the behemoth charged. The fox had a devilish grin and started to twirl his many tails around his body. Flames enwrapped themselves around his tails and without warning and he whipped them at Tsukune. The tails were nowhere near long enough to reach him, but the flames that had been wrapped around them jumped from his body and flew towards Tsukune. He stopped short as fireballs that were nearly his own size came at him with incredible speeds. Out of the pure instinct of self-preservation, he leapt to the side, barely dodging the flame. Before he had time to take a breather the sudden heat from several other fiery projectiles were felt on his back and were coming at him with incredible speed. Quickly he jumped back in time to evade an oncoming fireball only to sidestep another even faster. An additional fireball followed right behind the one he just dodged he rolled just in time to avoid the full brunt of the fires. Back slightly smoking Tsukune got back on his feet to see Kuyou twirling his tails in the air. Expecting another round of fireballs, Tsukune braced himself and took the opportunity to get him before Kuyou was ready. Giving a wicked smile when he saw Tsukune rushing haphazardly towards him Kuyou burned brighter than ever before, but the tips of his tails burned the brightest and started to trace fiery designs in the air. The designs converged to form into an actual ring of fire. Before Tsukune could react in time Kuyou launched this burning ring and the moment it hit him the flames enclosed around his massive frame. He thrashed about with pain and tried to grip these flaming chains with his only free hand, but the ring latched itself even tighter. He beat and smacked his chest in an attempt to either remove them or pat them out when the entity screeched.
'OI JAG-OFF, MOVE YOUR ASS!'
Taking his attention off the flaming restraints, he saw that Kuyou was already creating another ring. Ignoring the pain from the first Tsukune was ready to meet the second ring. Kuyou flung his attack at Tsukune who was already charging. Tsukune rushed forward and tried to dodge the attack , but it started to curve mid-air. Shocked by this sight he did not know what to do, but his body reacted by flinging itself right for it. Time seemed to slow down again as he came closer to the circle inferno which continued to curve. Reaching outward, as if he was trying to grasp some invisible object, he managed to slip his giant arm through the ring's clearing. More and more of Tsukune slipped through the ring and even as it burned his flesh but he was never ensnared by it. Managing to escape the attack in the most daring of acrobatic feats for someone his size he cleared the ring with finesse then broke his fall with his free hand and rolled to his feet. The moment he made it to his feet, he ran straight to the monster and said monster galloped after him. The two clashed and the scene was bloody. Kuyou snapped down across his arm and chest doing his best to rip him apart and Tsukune continuously bashed him over the head with his club. The monster's fangs dug deeper into his flesh and tore at the boy's giant body. Tsukune tried to shove his weapon into his mouth to use as a lever, but only succeeded in angering Kuyou. Abandoning the useless idea of opening Kuyou's mouth, he swung himself over and straddled the neck of the fox. Tsukune tightened his legs around the neck of the beast, whose fur burned his bare skin, raising the club up over his head.
The metal wire gleamed in the waning light of the sun in a dangerous manner. Kuyou chewed at his entrapped arm like a dog's chew toy, trying to rip off his arm. Tsukune bit back a yell of pain as his teeth dug deeper into his arm. He stretched his arm as far back as bodily possible and struck Kuyou over the eye. A terrible squishing noise was heard the moment the club struck his eye Kuyou automatically released the bite he had on Tsukune's arm and Tsukune released the grip he had on his weapon and Kuyou's neck. His arm shone brightly with the blood that oozed from his freshly acquired battle wound, but before he even considered tending to it, Tsukune jumped off the fox demon and ran until he was in front of the wild blaze that was the tree that the girls hung from. They yelled for him and all he could do was take a slight step back when the fires grew outwards. With Moka and the others struggling to survive in front of him and the sounds of Kuyou smashing against the ground in frustration coming from behind, he didn't know what to do. Over stimulated by everything going on around him and all the noises and screaming that surrounded him Tsukune just stood there dumbstruck. The sounds of suckling and breaking came to his attention. Turning around he could see Kuyou squirming on the ground with both paws clawing at the stuck club, slowly pulling it out, screeching as blood sprayed from this open wound. Panic started to set in and before he knew what he was doing, Tsukune took a sprinter's position and stared into flames. Muscles tensed, tendons tightened, fingers and toes dug themselves deep within the earth as he was getting ready to do the unthinkable.
'Whoa hold on you crazy bastard! I just got you this new body so don't go and do something stupid.'
It was then Tsukune did something stupid: he charged into the heart of the inferno. Pushing off the ground, he entered the fires without a moment's hesitation and was shocked at what he discovered. Though the fires engulfed his body again, but this time it was different, there were no normal sensations of pain, but rather the feeling that there should be pain. He felt the heat from the flames and them biting at his now abnormally thick skin, but no pain. The base of the tree soon came into sight Tsukune thrust his shoulder in front and rammed his body full-force straight at it. All heard the thunderous crack of his gigantic body against the tree and soon the tree was uprooted. Creaking and splintering, the tree eventually fell, exposing its bare roots to the world. It smashed to the ground with a mighty crash that shook the earth and launched the girls into the air. The fire greedily went for the newly exposed roots and blazed even higher than before. Completely surrounded Tsukune spun trying to find a way out, but found that the only way was the flaming tree itself. He grabbed the enflamed roots with his bare hands and climbed up its base until he made it to the trunk. Running along the flaming trunk he could see the girls had landed safely several feet away. Nearing the end, he jumped off the tree and into the waiting arms of the fire on the other side. They flared higher as if trying to snatch him away from Moka and the other and dragged his body into their hungry mouths, but their chance was stolen from them as Tsukune made it through with nothing more than a few shiny burns.
The burns themselves were not that bad as they had already started to heal and little did he care about the injuries he had sustained from this reckless act of stupid bravery. He rushed towards the girls, gently leaned over them and inspected them intensely. Each one had bruises on their faces, several swellings and seemed slightly disorientated, but other than that, they seemed rather unharmed. With his giant fingers, he brushed away Moka's hair in order to reveal her beautiful face, which caused his already racing heart to skip a beat. They soon started to come around when Tsukune felt a white-hot heat prickling at his back. Unaware of what was happening he turned to be met with an awesome sight. The fires that were feasting on the fallen tree had parted ways to reveal their master Kuyou standing on all fours with his jaws wide open. Crackling blue flames were forming in his mouth and growing at a fearful rate. His body dimmed considerably as the fire in his mouth grew and all of his tails all stood straight out, almost as if they no longer possessed minds of their own. The eye wound he received from Tsukune bled profusely and what was left of the club was a melted pile of metal and ash. Twisting all the way around to face this danger Tsukune spread out his arms out, bearing his chest out with every intention of taking the attack. He was too far away to attack or stop the attack and even if he tried, the risk of the girls being hit was a risk he was not willing to take. The force emanating from the blast that resided in the fox's mouth blew the fires that ate the tree away. The blast itself was terrible even before it was fully formed; blue flames dripped like liquid fire and melted the grounds and stone tombstones like they were made of sugar, the rancid stench of burning enamel was in the air as Kuyou's teeth started to liquefy under the heat. Tsukune could feel the heat from Kuyou attack his entire body except for his face, which was protected by the mask itself.
'Cock sucker MOVE! You get hit by that there's no going back! GAME OVER!'
Tsukune did not move, but rather stood his ground even harder. The blast was just about ready and Tsukune could see Kuyou doing his best to aim. Finally the attack was fully formed and ready to fire while Tsukune braced for what was about to come. The fireball exceeded his mouth, stood at the edge of his snout, and was nearly half his size, it blazed like a miniature blue sun and all that was near him and it burst into flames. Both combatants tensed as the moments ticked downed and the end was coming nearer. Kuyou shifted his entire center of gravity upwards and stood up on his back two legs. A roar rung from Kuyou's throat showing that he was done waiting to unleash this powerful attack when a sudden quick flash of movement distracted the two. From out of nowhere, a furry fist landed itself deeply into Kuyou's wounded eye. The beast yelped in pain and launched the blue fireball straight to the skies. Tsukune watched in amazement as the blue blaze flew to the clouds and detonated, transforming the once golden twilight skies into a hot ocean blue. Quickly deciding that he had had enough of the pretty light show, he looked down to watch Kuyou fall to the ground with a massive thud. Standing over him was a hairy black figure with a tail and a wolf's head pendant hanging from his neck.
Gin had appeared just in time to rescue his club members yet again. Even though Tsukune was extremely grateful that Gin had saved them all, again he turned his full attention to the girls. Leaning over them again he could already see them waking out of their daze. Moka's eyes fluttered open to show her beautiful jade eyes to the glowing yellow lights that acted as his own. Her velvety lips curled to reveal a smile that sent shivers up his spine and her pink hair breezed lightly across her face. Her breath passed through those parted lips and she spoke only one word.
"Tsukune…"
The others pulled out of the haze of their disorientation and they too shouted his name in joy. Kurumu was especially happy to see him that she tried to pull her legs to her chest and slip through her binds, but got caught on herself. Tsukune flipped them all on their stomachs and ripped their binds apart with relative ease. They all scrambled to their knees to watch Gin with fascination as he once again took on Kuyou in his own transformed state. Each fighter was haggard and injured beyond belief; Kuyou no longer shined with that phosphorescent hyper glow and bled from his wounded eye, Gin bled from his snout and jaws while panting heavily. Even in his transformative state Gin was too damaged to keep up this fight for long. Taking this as a queue for his help Tsukune stood up, cracked his neck, and loosened his shoulders, ready to take Kuyou on with his sempai. Kuyou noticed Tsukune getting ready to take him on so he let out a several loud and arduous yips. Tsukune could see the larger PSC rising from the ground and to his feet in a strange manner. He no longer moved with the fluidity that natural muscle gave, but rather an awkward slowness. It was not long after that did Tsukune notice that his body started to grow and expand until his clothes could no longer contain his bulk. Kinniku was no longer of flesh, but was now stone and clay. He continued growth stopped only when he was bigger than Tsukune himself and appeared to have a body of absolute rock. His body wasn't the only thing that changed about him; his usually crudely animated face now resembled a face that an artistically deficient preschooler would create. His eyes were hollow, dead even, and his mouth and jaw cracked with every slight movement he made. Tsukune felt his anxiety grow, but was soon distracted by the sound of snapping tree branches.
Turning to the side, he could see Deshiko land in a tree not to far away from where he and the others stood. She violently swung her weapon at the branches that entrapped her until she broke enough branches to be released from her prison. Deshiko fell to her feet and brandished her weapon with an aggressive elegance. No longer did she have a jovial face about her, but a grim and dark look about her with an equally dark aura. Her skin was pale and gray and had dark circles under now dead eyes. Not knowing what to do next, Tsukune put up his guard and kept turning his head from Kinniku to Deshiko. He took a step back but stopped when he heard the gasps from the girls behind him. Deciding quickly that the danger they would be in if those two made it to him would be unacceptable Tsukune rushed towards the burnt log that Gin, Kuyou, and Kinniku were behind. The moment he ran for the log he could hear the telltale pitter-patter of rushing feet behind him, signaling that Deshiko was right behind him. Leap-froging onto the log he ran along the still hot bark as fast as his over-muscled legs would take him and still heard the mad PSC member easily keeping up with him.
On the other side, Tsukune could clearly see both the fox and wolf chasing each other all over the battleground. Gin delivered wicked right hooks to Kuyou's injured eye and he tried to bite Gin in half only to miss by mere inches. This little dance continued all over the grounds; sometimes Kuyou would use one of his many tails as a whip and manage to hit Gin other times Gin would kick or attack Kuyou in other places other than the eye, but none were as effective. Kuyou become aware of Tsukune running straight towards his subordinates and decided that he was done with Gin. The fox managed to shake Gin off with a quick burst of speed and several maneuvers then made a beeline to Tsukune.
Tsukune could see Kuyou coming right for him and instinctively started slow down, but this was a mistake as he was rewarded with a sharp blow to the back. He felt his ribs crack from the attack the crazed PSC member behind him delivered, causing him to speed up again. Scared to find out what would happen if he slowed down again, but not wanting to run into the waiting jaws of Kuyou, Tsukune weighed his options and jumped.
Kuyou was already waiting for him at the end of the log and was prepared for him trying to jump for it. Kuyou leapt to the skies, jaws open wide, and Tsukune soared overhead knowing that the beast was just underneath. Feeling the heat blasting from Kuyou's open mouth on his skin Tsukune looked down to see that unless something stopped him Kuyou would get him. The sight of the slightly melted teeth was terrifying and the stench of his gas-burner breath washed over him with such a vengeance. If it wasn't for the mask's protective covering he was positive that his sinuses would've easily been destroyed. Knowing that he was not going to make it, he braced his dominant leg he was ready to kick him at least once before being ripped to shreds.
In a surprising turn of events, Tsukune did not need to kick him when Gin managed to catch up to Kuyou and launched himself after the massive fox demon. He grappled Kuyou's neck and tackled the demon to the ground, allowing the gigantic human to pass freely. Safely landing beyond the two wrestling demons Tsukune rushed for the stone giant with his fist raised and intentionally ignored the light thud that came from his pursuer landing herself. Kinniku brought back his own fist and threw a wickedly heavy straight, which was met with Tsukune's own, only to produce bone-shattering results. Kinniku was left with a slight crack between the first and second knuckles while Tsukune's entire arm became a disgusting purplish red; his fingers were bent in strange angles and crippling pain radiated from his fingers to his shoulder. Jumping back to a safe distance, he gripped his injured arm, felt something wet and slippery, and noticed that the injury he received from Kuyou earlier was still present. Confusion set in, but before he could do anything about it, Kinniku was already on top of him and swung his stone arm downward. In a fast act of desperation Tsukune caught him with his non-injured hand, falling to his knees and feeling the earth crack under his feet, he trembled from the weight of Kinniku trying to crush him while trying to stay focused long enough to create a thought.
'Why is this still here!'
'Bitch it takes a lot of energy to bring somebody back from the brink of death, even for me, and now you want me to mend every little thing that ails ya!'
Applying even more pressure than before Kinniku did the best he could to flatten him with his granite fist, but Tsukune managed to hold him back. His arm trembled under Kinniku's fist, slipping in the dirt, his strength started to give and the mask continued its rant.
'For fuck's sake I'm running on E as it is, so if you want everything healed get me blood, or at the very least, time to prioritize each wound!'
The healing pain from the mask radiated throughout his fractured bones and immediately felt them reset back into place. His arm was still that ugly purplish color, but the pain had lessened severely, Tsukune experimented with his arm and once finding it sufficient enough to use he grasped onto Kinniku and pushed with all the power his semi-healed arm had. Shakily managing to get back on his feet, he was getting ready to strike back, but was completely unprepared for the giant stone foot that stuck him square in the chest. Launched into the air like a football Tsukune spun out of control with little chance of evening out before hitting the ground. Crash landing to the earth face first Tsukune slid along the ground, kicking up clumps of dirt and rock, until his body began to slow down and fell to his back hard. Paralyzed by the stone giant's kick Tsukune's now muscular chest was now a sunken purple mass of broken bone and flesh.
Quickly the creature within his head re-inflated his chest to the best of its capabilities. While his chest was no longer caved-in, it was still covered in tears and cuts, from the compressive force of the kick he just received, revealing red muscle tissue and occasional fragment of bone. Just as he got the feeling back to his body, Deshiko stood over him with staff in hand. Instantly he rolled to the side to dodge Deshiko's slam attack. Getting back to his feet Tsukune could already see the grim-looking female was already on him. Tsukune pulled back, but she was faster when she shot her staff at him, punching a hole in his stomach. Body ignoring the pain that it was in, Tsukune gripped the staff with his wounded hand and threw a wicked backhand, but the grimly woman jumped over with ease. She delivered a powerful enough spin kick to the back of his head to make him stumble head on into Kinniku who got revenge with his own shovel hook to Tsukune's abdomen. The power behind the punch was enough to push the staff all the way through his body cleanly, returning it to its owner and causing Tsukune to double-over in pain. He clutched his wounded stomach and blood oozed out from the openings of the mask. Kinniku wrapped his arm under Tsukune's chin and yanked him to his feet. The pressure on his throat choked off any attempt to call for any kind of help. With his body fully exposed Deshiko wailed on him with her weapon as if he was some oversized piñata.
Strike after strike landed on him, each leaving their own mark on his oversized chest and body. Deshiko relished in every bruise she made and every broken rib she left him with, fueling her aggression and cruelty, she struck him even harder and harder. Tsukune convulsed after every hit and in-between he clawed at the giant's arm in a vain attempt to escape. Kinniku chuckled lifelessly when he felt Tsukune struggle against him and tightened the chokehold he had around him. Tunnel vision started to settle in again and once more, the mask started to shout in his head.
'You've spent half this fight either on the ground or getting your ass handed to you! You should've killed them before any of these cock suckers turned you pansy-ass shit-stain.'
Still reeling from the lack of oxygen and the harsh beating he was taking Tsukune couldn't even summon the ability to express or produce a logical idea of escape. The two that had him trapped brutalized him to an even greater extent, both trying to crush and beat him to death. The more he tried to struggle against them the bigger the problem became. Finally, the thing in his head spoke with a cold cruelty that it could only achieve.
'Do something fast or I will.'
The hidden meaning behind those words scared him more than anything did in his entire life. Before the deal, he would have taken that as an empty threat, but now he didn't know what would happen and the only insurance he had was its solemn word. This motivated him beyond belief and with a sudden rush of chemicals and fear-induced power, Tsukune gripped the stone pillar of the golem's arm and pulled himself up at incredible speeds. Deshiko was taken back by surprise and Tsukune took that surprise for his advantage and kicked-off her with tremendous force. Deshiko flew back like a rocket and Tsukune was propelled into Kinniku's granite groin. The golem released the chokehold he had around him for the slightest of moments, but it was more than enough for Tsukune to slip under Kinniku's grip. Still taking advantage of this opportunity Tsukune hooked his injured arm around Kinniku's and hoisted himself onto his shoulders. Hanging off his back Tsukune put the stone giant in his own chokehold with his purple arm wrapped around his neck and with his other fully functioning arm; he pummeled the rocky lump that acted as Kinniku's head.
Again and again he brought his fist down like a hammer over the golem's head and cracks formed after each hit. Kinniku lurched and staggered after each blow to the head causing Tsukune to tighten the hold he had around his neck. Kinniku tried to buck the giant human off his back , but said human only hit him harder and harder until he could no longer take it. The rhythm of the beating was almost intoxicating; raising his fist up and down, the spreading fractures on the opponent's rocky surface, splinters of stone flying back at him after each impact, all of it had a sick calming effect on Tsukune. He fell on all fours with cracks radiating all over his head and Tsukune stood on top of him with both arms raised high in the air, ready to take him down for good, when he was suddenly hit with a hairy projectile.
Shot down from his perch on the golem's back Tsukune fell to the ground with the object still on his chest. Grabbing the object, he found that it was Gin who somehow catapulted across the grounds and hit him full in the upper body. His blackened wolf fur was singed and smoking wildly, face caked in dried blood, the only visible parts of his eyes were the whites. Tsukune put his ear to his sempai's chest, trying to confirm that he still had a heartbeat. While he had his ear to Gin's chest he noticed a faint white glow on the horizon. Rising from the ground Tsukune could see a light that could only be described as ethereal. He raised his hands in an attempt to protect his eyes and through his fingers, he could see a figure standing within the light.
The being stood alone in this light, regal, and tall, covered in white flames. This person was, from what Tsukune could distinguish, had a toned and muscular upper body, but his legs were wrapped in a cloud of fire obscuring his vision. The person had long flowing silver hair and fox-like ears poking themselves out from the platinum strands. His eyes were cold and ruthless, showing no emotions whatsoever, and large canines popped from under his lips. Kuyou had once again transformed no longer was he a monstrous fox beast, but now stood as a genuine fox god. Kuyou had no visible bruises or any signs of damage on his body. He was completely rejuvenated and refreshed by this amazing and sudden transformation. With a slight shake of the head, as if an abrupt feeling washed over him, he leisurely walked away from Tsukune and headed for the girls. They clustered together each with their own look of fear present in their eyes; Moka wrapped her arms around both her friends tightly, as if to protect them as a mother does her children, Yukari hid behind her hands like a frightened child, and Kurumu tried to stare down the monster that was Kuyou , but her quivering and tearing eyes betrayed the brave front she put up for the others.
Tsukune rushed towards the flaming youko when an unexpected vice-like grip grasped his ankle and pulled him down to the ground. He twisted around to spy a stone fist clutching his leg. The stone golem had gotten back to his senses and was dragging Tsukune back into his waiting arms. Kinniku rose to his feet, hanging Tsukune upside down, and swung his victim back to the ground. Crashing to the earth Tsukune felt dazed and numbed by the impact and barely felt being lifted a second time, but he did feel his injured purpled arm in the same stony vice-like grip as his leg. Kinniku began to pull him apart with such a vicious vigor that Tsukune fell into shock. Tendons tore and muscle shredded from the force of being pulled apart like a cheap toy, but something kept him together. Tsukune cried out, kicked, and struggled all in vain. His shoulder popped so far out of place until the only thing that kept it together was his bare flesh, stretching to the limits. He bit back screams as his already damaged limb was broken even further and the sounds of Kinniku's cruel laughter drowned out all other noises except for the voice of the mask.
'You'll thank me later.'
"Wha-AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH"
That something that kept his body from being pulled apart left and his arm was ripped from his body, exposing a large shaft of bone jutting from the bloody and meaty stump that was his shoulder. Jets of crimson blood spurted from his open wound while swinging wildly inside Kinniku's grasp. Said golem was knocked off balance by Tsukune's unexpected amputation and fell backwards, breaking the fall by throwing a hand behind him, and flung Tsukune into the air. Spinning like a top mid-air Tsukune didn't understand what it was that just happened, but the mask took command of the situation. Somehow, he became stabile when he reached the apex of his flight and was faced with Kinniku. The golem was down on the ground with one hand on the ground, trying to keep him off it, the other hand in the air clutching his now dismembered arm. Tsukune could feel his descent starting and the moment this happened he could hear the mask's excited voice screaming in his ears.
'He's down, MAKE'EM HURT!'
The mask's voice was excited, heavy, thirsted for blood and for the first time Tsukune was more than happy to oblige it. With his remaining arm Tsukune cocked, his fist as far back as he could and allowed gravity to take care of the rest. His overly muscled body fell out of the sky at a frightening rate the wind dragging across his skin did little to slow his descent. He was falling towards Kinniku like a meteorite, closing his body in tighter in order to give him even more speed, Tsukune was just a measly few feet above him. Kinniku released the grip he had on the lifeless limb and tried to snatch Tsukune out of the air, but it was too late. Tsukune was too close and too fast for the golem and when the time was right, he released an almighty punch that connected directly with the golem's jaw, cracking it in twain. The golem's jaw was cracked and unhinged by Tsukune's mighty punch, spewing rock and gravel, but no bodily fluid, and Tsukune landed safely with his fist creating a small crater in the ground. Not taking the time to take pleasure in Kinniku's well-deserved suffering Tsukune spun around to see the new Kuyou already walking towards the burnt log. His mere presence started to reduce the log to ash and whenever he stepped on the ash itself, it was reduced to nothing. Scared of what might happen if the leader of Public Safety Commission made it to the others Tsukune stared down at the bloody meaty stump of a shoulder. The massive bleeding had stopped, but he knew that that wasn't enough for Tsukune to even consider stopping him. Rooting among the ground he picked up his severed arm and did something gruesome and unimaginable; he attempted to reattach it.
The appendage was now a purplish-black and already reeked of rot. Grasping his decomposing arm, he stuck the rotted thing at the end of the shaft of bone and pulled. The most wretched of sounds were made as the bone made its way within the rancid meat. It squelched and squished and expelled some sort of sour fluid that could no longer be considered blood or even humanly. This milky-white fluid dripped and streamed down his side, giving off a foul stench. The remaining nerves in the bone screamed in anguish, but he fought through the pain until he hit the left over bone. Somewhat reattached he ran towards Kuyou with the dead limb, flailing uselessly by his side, he spoke aloud.
"Heal me!"
'Uhh yea-no. That ain't gonna happen.'
That only thing that stopped him from breaking his stride was the fact that Kuyou was already halfway done with the log that separated him from the others. Already he could feel the dead meat sliding off his bones, slapping against his side, disgusting him to no ends. Though he was running, his mind was stuck on the fact that he performed such a revolting act for apparently no reason at all. Angrily he yelled into the air not caring if anyone heard, they did not, and demanded why not. The creature answered with a type of condescension that made it seem obvious why.
'I told you that I can regenerate limbs not reattach them plus I may have already mention this, but I'm running on fumes as it is you ass '
"THEN WHY DID I DO THIS!"
'I dunno…maybe you're a closeted sick fuck.'
Frustrated, Tsukune sped up in order to catch up with Kuyou. Jumping over a lone tombstone the necrotic lump of meat fell off his bones and landed on the ground with an audible thud. Not even looking back, he did not notice the flesh on the chunk of blackened meat bubble and corrode to nothing, leaving only a greasy black stain on the dirt. With as much grace and agility as he could muster from his bulky one-armed frame, Tsukune hurdled over the tombstones and darted out of the way of trees, several of which were aflame, and at one point jumped over the squirming body of Deshiko. Halfway to Kuyou Tsukune could see the girls getting ready for his arrival; Moka had took what could be described as an extremely hesitant martial stance, Yukari held a small, but thick branch in her hands in place of her wand, and finally Kurumu stood with wings and claws extended. They all had a brave front, but alas; they all knew it was for naught, they had no delusions of victory, because if Kuyou reached them they would be destroyed. Tsukne was nearly there as he already could feel the ash between his toes, feet sliding slightly across the cinders, hand outstretched. Coming closer he could feel the furnace-like heat coming off of Kuyou's body , but still he pushed forward.
At first Tsukune seemed that he would have the upper hand. He was almost upon Kuyou, who did not appear to notice Tsukune's presence yet, with his huge frame spread out as if to cause maximum shock and awe. Breaking all the way through the shield of white cloud-fire it looked like Kuyou was not going to be able to react in time and for the first time in this whole ordeal the girls started to relax. In one moment Tsukune was about to drop the hammer down on Kuyou's head and the next he had a hand sticking out of his chest. No one knew how this happened; first Tsukune was about to surprise attack Kuyou from behind and the next second Kuyou had his own hand inside Tsukune, it was a terrible sight. Kuyou still had on a look of indifference and boredom even as he twisted his fingers in the cooking chest wound. Easily he raised his hand skyward with Tsukune still attached and kept it up with ease. Gravity worked on his massive frame, pushing the fingers in his chest even deeper, he thrashed about in the air pathetically trying to release himself from this burning hell. The feeling of being cooked and burnt from the inside out was the strangest and most painful thing that he felt this day. He tried to swipe at Kuyou with his only functioning hand, but whenever he came close the robotic Youko twitched the fingers he had inside Tsukune allowing them to dig deeper into his core. The further the Youko's fingers went into his chest the greater the pain was and subsequently the weaker he became. In a moment of desperation, Tsukune grabbed Kuyou's arm and tried to push himself off him, but that was a mistake. White cloud-fire swallowed up his hand and burned it so badly that he lost his concentration, let go, and was impaled. The struggling had stopped when he fell back on Kuyou's hand and there he lay on that hand limp and lifeless.
The Youko stood their silently for a moment with Tsukune, who lay impaled on his hand, and then carelessly threw him towards the girls. Tsukune flew in the air, seemingly gliding, over the heads of Moka and the others and smashed into the ground. The girls quickly forgot about Kuyou and surrounded Tsukune's body. Every injury on his body could be seen; his missing arm with bone sticking out of a meaty stump of a shoulder, the small hole in the middle of his abdomen, the various burns, cuts, and bruises found all over, the entirety of his chest bruised internally and externally, and finally the hand-sized hole in the middle. The girls found that the meat inside the wound was cooked from the inside, giving off a strange stench that was similar to overcooked beef, with blood pooling at the bottom. All three of them placed their heads on is gigantic chest expecting to hear a heartbeat, but heard none. Tears welled in the eyes of all of them as they watched parts of his body started to twitch randomly and the lights within the eyes of the mask begin to dim. Kurumu and Yukari got back on their feet with tears streaming down their cheeks and weapons at the ready. Both of them turned to Kuyou's direction and waited while the fallen tree that separated the two groups was being reduced to carbon ash. The light that came from the demon's body grew brighter as he came closer to them. Kurumu raised her claws and wings while growling in an angry, but albeit cute manner and Yukari tightened the grip she had on the club.
Moka observed her friends getting ready to face the person would be their destroyer, but quickly turned her attentions back to Tsukune's dying form. His body's twitching increased violently and started to become cold to the touch. She didn't know what to do as Tsukune's sporadic convulsions started to lessen and the unholy lights dimmed drastically to the point that they started to flicker. With tear-stained eyes she placed her hands on both sides of his head she fought back her sobs of anguish while she watched what she could tell would be her friend's final moments. Burying her face in the remainder of his chest, she felt an inkling in the back of her head, a voice that she hadn't heard in a long time.
'Bite his neck.'
Her heart pounded when she heard this inner voice telling her to bite the neck of her dying friend, but instead of fighting against its wishes Moka did what she was told. Lowering her head, she stopped at the crook of his neck for a moment, contemplating on what the voice in her head asked her to do, and then bite down. A rush of blood sped through her head, nausea quickly setting in, and the feeling of being drained was quite unsettling. Moka's strength dwindled dramatically as her bodily fluids depleted and she couldn't help but wonder if this was how Tsukune felt when she fed off of him on an almost daily basis. The longer she held her bite the weaker she became and the stronger Tsukune's bodily spasms became. Bucking and kicking about Moka tried to keep her grip on him, but eventually lost it. Moka's head swam and Tsukune flopped around on the ground like a freshly caught fish; thrashing his only arm, cracking the ground beneath him with repeated head-banging, feet kicking in the air, but the light in his eyes still flickered in and out. Moka did not understand what was going on, but for a moment she was hopeful, especially when his back arched up so high that he actually started to rise from the ground, immediately she reached for his enormous hand and clutched it tightly with her own perfect ones. Not having any clue as to what was going on the voice answered her unasked questions.
'Just how his blood feeds us, our blood has the possibility of saving him, but it's dangerous for us and him.'
Already the side-affects from the unexpected blood transfusion were hitting her hard; dizzy spells, anemia, and sudden weakness in the joints were all present, but from what she could tell, all of this paled in comparison to what was going on with Tsukune. His body was reacting violently with her blood. Muscle spasms and ticks were present and his skin stretch beyond their physical limits, ripping apart at their weak points, exposing what little muscle he had left that was not completely destroyed. His skin started to turn an unhealthy ashen-grey color and, though she couldn't confirm it, his body looked like it was getting taller. Moka held onto Tsukune's hand tighter than before hoping that, despite of how his body was reacting to her blood, his body was healing.
Those hopes she had for him were gone when his body slumped to the ground with muscles flaccid, skin cold and oily, and the once bright lights that burned deep inside the mask were snuffed out completely. Moka held his hand not able to comprehend what had just happened, but Tsukune's still body and extinguished eyes made it clear that the transfusion of vampiric blood did not do what she wanted it to do. The hold she had on his cold lifeless hand tightened until she heard the bones in his fingers crack under the pressure. Kurumu and Yukari were too preoccupied with the arrival of Kuyou to notice that their best friend, the boy who claimed to be human, died not from the wounds he received from defending them, but rather from Moka's attempt to save his life. At last, Kuyou had utterly burned away the fallen tree trunk that separated him from the girls and stood face to face with Kurumu and Yukari. The hellish heat exerted from his body overwhelmed both of the girls. It ignited the wooden club that was in Yukari's hand and Kurumu raised her hands in order to protect her eyes from the combination of light and heat.
Kuyou stood in front of them in such a magnificent manner that he almost seemed god-like; glowing with an outwardly ethereal light that spewed from his body, surrounded by white flames, not a single blemish present on his body. The look on his was one of someone judging the unworthy from up on high and those who were in front of him where the lowest form of insects. Moka could feel the hot air from Kuyou whooshing past her with incredible speeds, whipping her hair around her face, but she ignored it all with the unrealistic wish that she could just sit their holding Tsukune's hand forever. Kurumu tried to take a step forward and dig her claws into this faux deity, but was immediately overwhelmed by the blend of heat and light and was thrown onto her back while Yukari curled up into a ball with one hand keeping her hat on and the other hand holding tightly to her cape. Moka continued to hold Tsukune's hand, but she turned her head towards Kuyou's direction with tears evaporating from her eyes before they even fell. The ground around Kuyou cracked with every step he took and the air around his body bent and waved. Stopping several feet away from the girl and the giant's corpse Kuyou raised his hand to the sky, glowing brighter than the rest of his body, and stared her down with that critical expression. Moka looked back at him with her own innocent heartrending expression written in her eyes and raised hers and Tsukune's hands to her chest.
"Gomen Tsukune…"
A violent purple radiance burst forth from her chest and engulfed everyone within it like an explosion. Yukari and Kurumu where wrapped up by Moka's powerful demonic aura in a way that both suppressed and protected them. That same demonic aura fought with Kuyou's own for dominance; the two forms of light smashed and crashed into one another, swirled and mixed, melded and separated until they cancelled themselves out. Kuyou stood there, no longer wrapped in his heavenly light, watching as the once shy and teary girl transform before his very eyes. Long silver locks of hair grew in place of her usual pink ones and her normally jade eyes burned scarlet. Her fingernails sharpened ever so slightly, forming perfectly manicured points, and skin with a wonderfully developed smooth milky-white complexion. Glistening fangs poked themselves out from her now pouty ruby lips and finally her own feminine toned muscles popped out from her arms and long slender legs. Still clutching Tsukune's hand she put it down on the ground, revealing a small rosary in his hand, and gently placed one of her own across the forehead of the mask. With a type of tenderness that this Moka had never shown before she lowered her head to meet his and stayed that way for several seconds. What she did was unknown to all, whether it was a farewell kiss, words, or even a moment of silence between the two nobody knew, but when she was done Moka stood up and faced Kuyou with hate burning in her eyes.
Yukari was amazed to see this form of Moka's for the first time and Kurumu lay silently on the ground staring up in amazement seeing Moka like this again. Kuyou on the other hand did not seem to be impressed nor even cared about her transformation, but instead cranked out even more heat than before. Moka neither flinched nor gave off any sign of being afraid, but instead prepared herself to meet him. The girls were awe-stricken and excited until finally noticing Tsukune's unmoving body. They both tried to reach Tsukune, but made absolutely no headway against the hot air that buffeted their bodies. Moka stood strong against these volcanic winds, silver hair whipping wildly and beads of sweat clinging to her body, and took a defiant stance. Kuyou was still unimpressed by this girl's courageous turn of personality, but at least had the decency to acknowledge her. Scanning her from top to bottom, he finished his mental analysis and said one word.
"Vampire. "
When the word was spoken Moka launched herself at the youko, screaming at the top of her lungs, with every intention of taking down the sanctimonious fox-god. Said fox-god stood still with seemingly no intention of moving a muscle, but instead another holy ray of fiery light emitted from his body like a self-defense mechanism. Fighting through this burning light Moka could feel the white-hot flames biting at the exposed parts of her body and turning her school coat to ash. The light was blinding, but she did not dare take her eyes off the little black smudge that her mind assumed to be Kuyou. With everything she had Moka pushed onward until throwing a powerful kick towards the little black smudge with whatever might she had left in her body. The burning light was dispelled like a bad curse and revealed Kuyou holding on to her foot with one hand.
"Pathetic. "
Keeping his hold on her foot, he swung Moka around. She glided temporarily over his shoulder, but landed gracefully on her feet. Neither one of them wasting any time, they ran out to meet one another with fists. Moka threw punch after punch and kick after kick, but none of them landed. Kuyou dodged and blocked every single one attack with relative ease and an extremely bored expression on his face. Moka did her best to make any kind of contact with the enemy, but it was harder than expected; every kick to the head was dodged, every potential punch to the groin blocked, every feint anticipated and every attack in-between countered with ruthless precision. Sweat began to accumulate on the brow of her forehead and panted heavily while her assault continued, but Kuyou did not even seem nervous about anything. The thumping in her chest and the inability to catch her breath made her realize that the failed transfusion had not only taken Tsukune's life, but also a huge toll on her as well. Her head swam in the waves of nausea that hit her while muscles screamed for more oxygen; the remainder of her shirt and what little exposed piece of bra were drenched with sweat, hair clumped together nastily, her eyes started to bag, all in all she looked extremely worn-down. Kuyou on the other hand still looked absolutely pristine, not a scratch, not a hair out of place and breathing in a calm and relaxed fashion. With his calm robotic tone of voice Kuyou softly spoke, just loud enough for Moka to hear.
"I thought that vampires were supposed to be of an S-class nature, but this truly pitiable. It seems that neither you nor that weakling are worth my or anyone else's time."
Taking in the elitist's words Moka glared at him with pure disgust and hate while he responded by staring back with no emotion what so ever. Even with all of the hate that she was giving off Moka tore her eyes away from Kuyou's and looked over his shoulder to see the others surrounding Tsukune's unresponsive corpse. Kurumu knelt beside him with tears streaming down the side of her face in torrents, unremittingly pounded against his chest and cried out when he did not respond while Yukari laid his head in her lap and stared off into space with an empty dead expression. This overpowering show of emotion was enough to give her the strength to reconnect eye contact with the arrogant youko and spoke with a confidence that her weakened body did not share.
"Tsukune is worth the time, scum like you is not. "
Kuyou didn't say anything about that remark, but instead gave one of his trademark finger snaps. Soon the thunderous sounds of stone footfalls hit the earth behind her and at once turned her head around to see Kinniku and Deshiko once again rose from the ground. From what Moka could see Kinniku was relatively unharmed despite the spider-cracked dome and broken jaw, but Deshiko was a different story. The grim-looking orangette held onto her once modest chest that was now almost completely flattened by Tsukune's final attack on her. Moka was completely surrounded by the remainder of the Public Safety Commission, two of which were injured, but still very capable, and she was barely able to stand on her own two feet. Kinniku and Deshiko closed in on her with hungry dead eyes while Kuyou took slow steady steps towards her with equally dead eyes. Though Moka's eyes were filled with defiant hate for Kuyou and the others, her stomach was filled with the feeling that a wounded and cornered animal gets just before being devoured by a pack of wild dogs. Closer and closer they came to her the greater that feeling in her stomach became.
Fight or flight instincts telling her body to kick everything that moved, but her mind told her that it would be no use in her condition; one was too much for her let alone three. Continuously Moka whipped around from Kinniku and Deshiko to Kuyou, all of whom were dangerously close to her. Knowing that she had no chance of winning against all three of these fighters Moka did the only thing she could think of; she steeled herself for the oncoming onslaught and silently prayed for any kind of help. Little did she know that help did arrive for Moka in the form of a screaming blur that zoomed pass Kuyou and Moka. The youko did not flinch at all, but rather raised a curious eyebrow and Moka felt the wind whipping under her skirt and hair. She spun around, trying to find out what exactly it was that shot pass the both of them, only to see both Kinniku and Deshiko preoccupied with the previously stated screaming bullet, swinging their arms and weapon in the air. Kinniku swung his arms in the sky with the grace of a drunken toddler so the flying blur easily evaded all of his attempts; the orange-haired Deshiko jumped from the ground and kicked-off her big stone partner trying to whack the thing out of the sky, but each time was met with failure as she either missed or was herself knocked from the sky. Apparently fascinated by this flying marvel the two lower members of the Public Safety Commission had completely forgotten about their original objective.
Moka herself was guilty of speculating as to what exactly it was that saved her from the PSC members that would have crushed her from behind. The thing flew at such high speeds and gave off such a high pitched screech that she couldn't even begin to speculate. The thing continued to fly in-between Kinniku's hands, swooping in front of his face, and still knocked Deshik straight out of the sky. Soon it became obvious that this unidentified flying object was enraging the both of them and their attempts became even more frenetic. Deshiko jumped off her partner even harder and swung her staff from side-to-side in the most dangerous of manners and Kinniku punched and arc his arms recklessly, not caring if he hit himself, his partner, or his target. A few quick seconds passed when Kinniku succeeded in clipping the screaming projectile, sending it outward several yards, but it boomeranged back and struck the golem right in the face. Finally the flying projectile stopped long enough to reveal itself to everyone; a hysterically screaming Kurumu. The girl had latched herself to Kinniku's face with her claws and started to shriek obscenities and accusations over who killed her beloved Tsukune. With more force than was necessary the golem ripped the girl of his face , but she didn't stop swinging her extremely sharp nails, leaving shallow cuts along his granite arm, leaving him the only option of letting her go in order to save his arm. Though freed from the giant's grip she remained on the offensive, developing a kind on tunnel vision only for Kinniku and wholly forgotten about the hopping zombie that was Deshiko.
The grimly orange-haired girl in question was right behind the two opponents and was more than ready to intervene. Moka could tell instantly what that girl was planning to do and immediately tried to stop her, but was beaten to the punch when the last female PSC member was suddenly struck in the back of the head with a small stone. Both of the girls turned to find the attacker was none other than Yukari herself, holding a new stick in her hand and a stone in the other. Deshiko glared at the tiny witch and marched towards her with her staff sweeping back and forth across the ground. The witch quickly gathered more stones up off the ground and started to throw them at Deshiko who swatted them away like flies. Even though the witch was clearly outmatched without her wand, but Moka knew that if she managed to stay out of reach from any of Deshiko's attacks she would be okay. A type of renewed vigor filled her along with the knowledge of knowing that even in death Tsukune had the power to bring people together and have them fight for a common goal and with that Moka faced the flaming youko with a cocky smirk and confidence to match.
Kuyou's head tilted curiously to the left when he watched the silver-haired vampire getting ready to fight him again and furrowed his eyebrows when she didn't show signs of backing down. Playfully twirling his fingers, he managed to produce five separate white-hot sparks at the end of each fingertip. The sparks started to churn themselves and revolve around the central point of his palm and slowly they came together to form what could only be described as a miniature electric-blue sun. From what Moka could observe from where she stood the ball of fire did not just look like a sun , but acted like one too; mini-loops of fire pushed out from its center much like solar flares and slowly it revolved in the palm of his hand. Instinctively Moka readied her body for what she believed was going to be a particularly nasty attack, which was a severe understatement. With sheer ferocity, he seized the ball and pulled back, like a baseball pitcher, and released with everything he had. The blue fireball rocketed towards her like a bullet, zigzagging and curving all over the place making its movements impossible to predict, but Moka was not scared. Fireball careening at her she stood still waiting for what anyone could guess was the last possible moment due dodge. The moment came and with the elegance and grace she was known for Moka performed a textbook back flip with the minimal difficulty.
Arching her back as far as she could go, sensing the heat from the blue blaze underneath her. Halfway through her acrobatic feat she came face to face with the blazing blue ball of fire. Up close Moka noticed every little detail about the attack; it was roughly the size of a runty grape and even though it was a fiery ball of electric-blue death it did not glow nearly as bright as its source. The air around it distorted slightly and without touching her, it still burned her skin just by being within the proximity of it. Moka simultaneously managed to barely dodge the attack, land on her feet, and rushed after Kuyou.
Despite having the attack miss and an angry vampiress angrily charging at him Kuyou was strangely calm, happy even, and Moka noticed. Kuyou's fingers twisted and twitched with such strange gestures that she was suddenly overcome with the feeling that something bad was going to happen when her intuition struck. Sweeping around with a half-turn she spied the blue fireball against the golden skyline and, to her amazement, watched as it rebounded back towards her faster than before. It was more than obvious that Kuyou had some kind of loose control over this little blue sphere and was roughly aiming it at Moka's back. There was little time for thinking, but Moka already had a plan forming in the back of her mind. Instead of stopping or running in a different direction, she continued her charge towards the youko. Kuyou let a small, but sadistic grin twitch across his face and continued twisting his fingers, but faster. She was closing the gap between the two and he was doing the same, it was a race between her and hot death and she was determined to win.
The repetition of her shoes hitting the ground was the only thing she heard and the prickling heat on her back and eyes only for Kuyou's smug face. Racing forward she was almost ready to attack when Kuyou stopped with his strange mannerisms and pulled back his own fist. Immediately Moka did not stop, but instead of attacking as she originally planned, she quickly improvised by diving onto the ground and slid in-between his legs. She made it safely to the other side and before she could get up and turn around an explosion boomed loudly behind her. Moka's silvery hair thrashed about her and the moment she turned around she could see the explosion engulfing the area where Kuyou stood. It was a literal fire storm that stood in front of her; raging and expanding outward in the chaotic fashion that one would expect from an explosion , but that did not quell her anxiety. The explosion itself was slowing down to unbelievable speeds that it scarcely reached her with its fiery anger. She was nose-to-nose with the explosion itself, staring down an inanimate action as though it were an actual living thing and like most living things that she stared down, it backed off.
It receded slowly back to its central point and compressed itself tighter and tighter. The explosion was now acting more like an implosion, acting in reverse and becoming smaller. Eventually the fires drew back far enough to reveal Kuyou, unharmed and un-rattled, looking intently at her with a form of condescending smugness that she had never seen before. Amazingly enough the explosion started to wrap itself tightly around his right arm causing his already lustrous arm to burn even brighter with a red-hot glow. Moka was wary about this, but didn't have time to worry or even think about what to do next she just ran at him, ready to attack him. The red marks on Kuyou's face rose upward in mild interest at the girl who refused to run or give up, but that did not give him any hesitation. He turned to face the girl with a smile on his face and waited with his arm glowing like hot coals. The two were ready to meet again, Moka with her foot already pulled back as was Kuyou's red-hot fist so it soon boiled down to a contest of speed and who could deliver the better deathblow. The two fighters released their attacks at the same time, Moka's school issued shoe traveled through the air and until it found its way onto Kuyou jaw, cracking it slightly, but what Kuyou did was far worst.
His fist simply touched her chest, but what happened was unbelievable, the explosion that he had absorbed into his right arm was released with all of its original blasting power and perhaps a little extra. She felt everything forced against her body, the heat, and power and perhaps the only thing that stopped it from tearing her to shreds at that very moment was the lack of any discernable shrapnel. Like any good explosion the force behind it blew her far away from the source of it, Kuyou, and she skipped along the dirty ground like a rock along the surface of a pond. Her body bounced over several tombstones until she crashed into the one that she didn't. The tombstone cracked from the back of her skull slamming against it, causing it to crumble apart and the pieces fell onto her unmoving body. Pieces of cheap marble landed heavily on her body leaving her slightly dazed for a few moments, but quickly regained consciousness. Groggily pushing off the large chunks off her body Moka pushed herself off the ground and shakily stood on her own two feet while glaring at the still-standing youko. The fox's jaw was pushed out at an odd angle, but with a firm grip and a powerful tug, he popped his jaw back into place, leaving only a bruise to prove that it was once out of place. Sneering in disgust at the level of nonchalantness that Kuyou exuded Moka tensed her body again while Kuyou stood in that one spot, staring and waiting. The explosion had nearly completely destroyed her shirt, leaving only the top intact, showing a large burn mark on her that was suspiciously shaped like a fist. It became painfully obvious that Moka wasn't going to win this fight as easily as the others and it was the same for the others.
Yukari was still being fiercely chased by the jumping orange-haired zombie girl, with nothing more than a stick and several stones stuffed in her uniform pockets. The pre-pubescent witch managing to stay ahead of her pursuer was nothing short of a miracle. Deshiko was faster than Yukari and predicted every sharp turn that she made, several times Deshiko actually caught up with the little girl and almost captured her, but Yukari's quick-witted mind and tiny squirmy body eluded the female PSC member every time. Kurumu was a different story; she stayed up close and personal with Kinniku, trying to turn his face and arms into nothing, but one giant scratch mark. The golem was so overwhelmed by the tiny women's attacks and shrieking combination that he did not have time to make a counterattack, but that didn't stop him from defending himself. He would reach out for her or try to ram his stony shoulder against her, but she would swoop under or back up far enough just to be out of reach, but not so much that she could not close in fast enough so that he wouldn't have enough time to gather his thoughts. This went on for several minutes, leaving several deep cuts across Kinniku's granite arms and Kurumu even angrier than before. This one-sided fight didn't last for long when Kinniku displayed a level of intelligence that none of them expected from this dull-witted walking statue. She continued her assault on the stone giant when she stopped when he looked like he was about to thrust his shoulder at her and jumped back, waiting for a shoulder ram that never came. Kinniku managed to pull a clever feint in the middle of the chaos that ensued and quickly took advantage of the unguarded succubus, grabbing her in mid-air.
Kurumu wriggled and writhed under the continuous pressure that Kinniku's hands put on her tiny lithe body as he attempted to crush her to death. Jaw broken he gave a crooked smile as he watched her struggled in pain and listened to the noises that her popping bones made, but the one thing that stopped him from enjoying the full entertainment value of her torment was that she never broke eye contact. The giant leered at the rebellious succubus and squeezed even tighter. Kurumu did not blink even as her joints popped she just kept her eyes locked with her captor's. Kinniku did not know why, but the tiny succubus scared him, her unwavering defiant attitude and her apparent inability to release her glare scared him greatly. Staring deeply into her eyes with his dead ones it came to a point that it felt that his was playing tricks on him. If he did not know any better he could have swore that her lavender eyes deepened in color and start to glow ever so slightly.
The sound of the earth cracking around his feet startled him greatly and looking down he could see the roots of the surrounding dead trees rising from the fissures. Heart beating hard against his stone chest as the zombie-roots clutched his feet and grew all over his body like literal weeds and strangled him like live snakes. As far as Kinniku knew, succubi had no power over the earth or plants, but somehow he knew that she was to blame so he tightened his grip while the plants tightened theirs.
It was a stalemate between everyone; Yukari and Deshiko's deadly game of cat and mouse, Kurumu's strangling contest with the golem and finally the seemingly invincible Kuyou versus the extremely angry Moka. Everyone was fighting the other for what they believed in whether it was to avenge their fallen friend or because of a perverse sense of justice convictions clashed violently and neither party was backing down. Moka stood in that one spot knowing that, with the combination of blood-loss and damage she endured from the last attack, that she was standing on her last leg. Sensing this Kuyou actually started to walk towards her with his fist glowing red. His stride was casual in an arrogant sort of way while bringing his fist up to his side. Moka braced herself for him, even though she had no idea of what to do, she tensed her powerful back leg out of instinct and prepared for what she believed would be her final attack. The closer the fox demon came the harder she tried to think of a plan that wouldn't result in her death and leave Kuyou to get the others; if she kicked his fist at the right time would that diffuse the explosion? And if that did, would she have enough time to attack him properly? All these questions swam in her head and the entire time the only thing that seemed certain was that, anything short of a miracle happening in the next few seconds, this was going to be the end. Kuyou stood just a few feet short, just far enough to be out of her reach, and pulled his fist back tight.
He stopped; Kuyou just stood there with his fist raised and did absolutely nothing. Moka was absolutely defenseless, but something wouldn't allow him to deliver the final blow. Gone was that robotic confidence of his, replaced with something that he never wanted to show, but his wavering fist displayed to anyone watching; he was paralyzed by the most powerful and ancient of emotions, fear. Fear had struck him motionless, frozen in that same stance in front of Moka, trembling heavily in that one spot, but he wasn't the only one. Moka for the first time in this fight showed signs of fear; pupils dilated to the size of saucers, her breath was rapid and shallow, the vein in her neck bulged and pulsed at a violent pace. This strange phenomenon was not contained to just these two, it seemed like everyone was suffering from a fear that could only be described as primeval.
Kurumu and Kinniku were also stricken by this bizarre phenomenon. The vines that had entwined themselves around his body and tried to crush him had disappeared as if they had never existed and he let her go out of this new overwhelming fear. Kurumu fell on her back and crawled away until she backed onto one of the many tombstones and curled her body tightly into a ball against its marbled surface. Kinniku shied away and kept looking over his shoulder as if some specter of death was sneaking behind him. Deshiko stopped chasing after the little witch and the both of them laid on the ground shivering in fright, but this did not end with them. Like a viral epidemic the disease known as fear spread out to infect all that it could reach. Those random clusters of students and staff that were still present on the school grounds all exhibit symptoms of this plague from standing still with eyes wide with terror to pacing back and forth speaking fast and nervously in low hushed tones. Even those that who thought they were safe within walls of the school were affected by the bizarre event.
Moka could feel her blood run could while goose bumps formed all over her body and she didn't know why. The wind that blew across her skin was warm and the sounds on the school grounds were the same as before, but still she was afraid. She had never felt a fear like this before, it was a base fear almost instinctual; it was almost as if a sixth sense was kicking in, like when animals sensed earthquakes or other natural disasters, it was telling her that something bad was about to happen. Gathering enough mental willpower Moka shakily gazed over at the Tsukune's corpse. The primal fear grew deeper in the minds of all those affected, tensions mounted to near critical mass and the seeds of paranoia sprouted. Madness settled in on everyone and soon the sounds of mad screams echoed through the halls of the academy and the school grounds. Kurumu, Kinniku, Deshiko, and Yukari were eventually sent into the same screaming fits of madness, whether they were curled up in the fetal position or standing straight with their head thrust upward to the sky they all shrieked in primal terror, all except Kuyou and Moka. The youko was at a standstill with his fist still raised by his side and shaking all over. His muscles twitched violently when he tried to punch the distracted vampire, but his fear paralyzed every inch of his body. Moka on the other hand did not fight her paralytic fear, but rather let it wash over her just as long as she was able to stare at Tsukune and waited for whatever catastrophe that was about to befall them all.
Moka did not have to wait long for this catastrophe to happen as the skies blackened in an unnatural fast fashion. Everyone their turned their attentions to the skies, those in the academy building peered out the windows and what they saw had justified their primordial fears. Jets of inky black smoke emerged from every corner of the horizon like columns from a many-tentacled beast. Snaking their way across the sky the jet-black limbs twisted themselves and ultimately branched out. Like greasy veins of oily vapor the clouds mindlessly traveled to one central point in the sky; the sun. In an eerily snake-like manner, they coiled around the circled inferno and injected themselves into the sun itself, filling it with their liquid-vaporous selves. It was a sight to behold for anybody; to watch what most would see as the symbol of normalcy and eternal being invaded by something so foreign and terrifying right in front of their eyes. The black tendrils continued to empty themselves into the sun, tainting its shining surface with their indelible murky-ink blackness. Gradually the oily veins started to thin out as they filled the sun's luminescent surface with their evil touches until they had drained completely into the sun completely. The skies were clear of the monstrously smoky tendrils, but the grounds were still darkened by the black sun. The oily vapors swirled fiercely within the confines of the sun, forming eldritch shapes among its surface and giving light to, but a few patches of dirt.
The insanity did not stop there for when the skies cleared and the sun blackened the ground started to rumble. It started off quiet and calm, much like a tiny aftershock, but it quickly grew to a mighty type of quake. Some of the weakened trees fell from the force the ground exerted all of the tombstones rattled and everyone ascended to a new level of fear. They all wanted to run, but had nowhere to go. The crowds, whether outside or in the school, ran around in circles like headless chickens, screaming bloody murder and stampeding over one another in order to get to a safe haven that existed only in their minds, in fact the only ones that hadn't moved from their spots were; Kuyou, Moka, and Kurumu. The first two were able to overcome this new insanity with their own powerful wills, but Kurumu was hit with a full dose. She babbled and screeched unintelligible jibber-jabber while clinging to the safety of her tombstone. She fought against the rattling marble and the encroaching madness that was attempting to occupy her mind, but only managed to keep herself from falling of the metaphorical edge. During the middle of this frenzied state of affairs, she noticed countless bumps of dirt rising from the earth and growing rapidly in size. Rocks and loose soil rolled off the tops of these rapidly growing hills as they popped up from the grounds in front of the, or where once stood, tombstones. One of these bumps formed in front of Kurumu and quickly grew in size. Her already overtaxed mind watched in terror as the loose gravel from the top of the bump growing in front of her fell away to reveal the top of some buried object.
More of theses strange objects burst from the tops of these strange dirty bumps and each one grew taller and taller. Kurumu's already panic-stricken eyes widened as a dim shadow stretched itself across her body and the object rose higher. Quaking of the grounds calmed as the objects wriggled out from the graves. Soon the tremors stopped and so did the objects; the entire grounds were now littered with several fallen trees, pushed tombstones, and the tall objects that could be properly identified. They were caskets, standing tall and erect from the school grounds, having been able to wiggle themselves out from their dirty graves and stood tall in the warm breeze and dimmed light from the sun. Everyone panicked even worse than before when the coffins rose out of the school grounds, but it had nearly traumatized Kurumu. The succubus was frozen from panic and confusion as a coffin had pushed its way to the surface not more than a few feet away from her and stared at its polished wooden surface gleam in the weak light given by the covered sun. She stared at the caskets with unblinking eyes for an entire minute when she finally noticed a dulled scratching noise coming from inside the casket itself!
Explosions rang out across the school grounds and wooden splinters were showered all over the place and within the mix of the chaos two things fell out of each casket. The first thing that fell out each casket was either a disgusting medley of decomposing body parts or dust, depending on how old the occupants were, but the second thing that came out was the same for every single casket. Shrieks filled the skies, but none were from the students or staff. It was a grisly sight as for what came out of each casket were spectral abominations of indescribable horror. Each one of them was nearly translucent and in place of legs, each one of these ghostly atrocities had a single thin, whip-like tail that thrashed violently through the air. These spirits were the corpses of those trapped within the caskets; they all had concaved skeletal chests that revealed their gruesome innards and broken ribs. Their arms were impossibly thin with skin flaps hanging from these twigs, fingers were long and rake-like, and finally their heads were nothing more than skulls with gigantic rodent teeth sticking out of their mouths at odd angles. There were thousands of these shrieking monstrosities and without wasting anytime, they all rose to the darkened heavens to congregate in the skies. Nobody knew how to react to this unholy spectacle; thousands of ghoulish specters of the dead circling in the sky like sharks. In the middle of this vortex of the damned was the black sun itself with the swirling inkiness starting to form a final shape among its blocked surface.
While everyone stared up at the sun and flying ghosts of those buried in the school grounds, none but Moka noticed that they were circling above the area that Tsukune's body laid. The ghosts continued to circle above him lazily and seemed lost in their own strange little world. Moka didn't understand why this was happening, but knew that, even after everything that had just happened, there was still more to come. In an instant the poltergeists came out of their world and dive-bombed straight towards Tsukune's dead body. Thousands of these spirits fell from the skies like hellish vultures ready to feast on the decomposing carcass and when they reached their destination, they attacked with extreme aggression. The things burrowed themselves into Tsukune's chest; tails whipping as they sunk in, and those that weren't lucky enough to get at his chest attacked the others that tried to get in their way by clawing or biting the offenders. Just like the black oily tendrils that emptied into the sun moments before, the stream of grisly spirits began to thin out as they tunneled deep into Tsukune's chest. The last of these spirits stopped just before it made its inevitable journey into the boy and looked Moka right in the eyes with its own hollow sockets, hissed angrily, and submerged itself.
When the last of these apparitions entered the corpse, the blackness that covered the sun had finally decided on a single shape; two circles and three vertical slashes. Moka stared intensely at Tsukune's body waiting for something. Nothing happened at first, which seemed odd, but soon Moka spied the corpse's fingers start to twitch ever so slightly. She was ecstatic at first, but found something to be very wrong. The twitching was off; the way the fingers moved seemed alien and experimental, like it was the first time being used, next were the feet, which jumped off the ground for a moment and fell heavily back to the ground. Legs and arm flopped around for a moment or two, but whatever the thing was it quickly got used to them and pushed itself up off the ground. The corpse was badly damaged; muscles sagging out from the torn flesh of its chest, its skin was an off-putting grey color, the mask's sockets were hollow, but the most disturbing quality was the black goo that dripped from the various holes in its body and the stump of a shoulder. It was strange watching this moving corpse attempt to duplicate the most simple of actions, like standing still. The corpse stumbled in a drunken manner, lurching forwards and backwards, at one point the thing jerked itself so forcefully that it literally bent over backwards, head dragging across the dirt.
Both Kuyou and Moka watched the thing trying to get upright again; every abdominal moved individually, popping out and tweaking in the most unnatural of manners. This grotesque display of muscular control continued, they watched as the corpse used its own stomach muscles to stand back up and gripped the face of the mask with its only remaining hand. The sounds that came from the corpse were anything but human; guttural like the quake that they had suffered through just moments before and at the same time high pitched and whiny like air escaping from a balloon, it was like two completely different voices overlaid on one another. The next thing that both fighters noticed was the corpse's forearm swelling at an alarming rate and the flesh wriggled like live snakes were swimming just beneath the skin. More and more the arm swelled to incredible size and eventually sagged, but it did not end there. The corpse doubled over to reveal his swelling back to them.
It happened so fast, Tsukune began to grow again, but this time it was different. His body and muscles expanded once more, but his skin did not. Stretching beyond its limitation his skin turned somewhat translucent, in some areas the skin actually tore itself apart, revealing pulsating muscle tissue. His fingers were no longer like thick sausages, but clawed as were every single toe on his oversized feet. Tsukune's forearm exploded, raining flesh and the strange black gunk all over his body, and in place of skin or muscle tissue there was nothing, but a gauntlet of solid bone. This gauntlet was knotted and gnarled like the bark from an ancient oak tree, thick and stained a faint yellow color. After the gauntlet was revealed hundreds of large, boney spikes erupted from his back. Each of these spikes were as thick as tree roots and just as misshaped; somewhere curved and twisted while some just stuck straight out at weird angles all along his shoulders and now exposed spine. He reached around with his claw to grab the shaft of bone that stuck out of his shoulder and yanked on it hard. The sound it made was disgusting to say the least; every tug produced gallons of black sludge, the noises of cracking bone and every inch he pulled out made a sort of sliding, meaty squelch. The yanking became more chaotic and even less bone slid out, but his sides were absolutely drenched with the black greasy goo. Tired of yanking on the bone this behemoth gripped the bone tightly and pulled on it with all he had and the results were horrifying. Instead of a shaft of bone what came out was a sickening pillar of engorge red muscle.
This sick mockery of an arm was bigger than the other, unhindered by skin, pulsing with a rhythm that matched a heartbeat, and dripped with a mixture of blood and the mysterious sludge. The hand on this monstrosity of an arm was also clawed, but seemed much scary with the lack of flesh and just above that was another gauntlet of bone with a shaft of bone sticking out from it like a tiny blade. At last, it seemed that this transformation was done and before Kuyou or Moka could do or say anything this new horrific form of Tsukune's stared directly at the both of them with the hollow sockets of the mask which suddenly burst back to life and spoke.
"My turn!"
(Authors note)
Thank you to all who review and thanks to Scott Pike who Beta-read this chapter. ^(;;;)^
"In Tobi We Trust"
