Inverted Maze Castle
Dane Soar
This is the second to last chapter, and things will be very different in the next one.
Chapter 14 Life Force
(Yusuke's POV)
Murugu swooped toward the ceiling. "I'm so exhausted of looking at this dirty human. Can't you finish him?"
"Of course," said the lead Suzaku. The remaining five gathered together. "I'm sure you recognize this by now." they aimed fingers at me ready to form bolts but the lightning arrows didn't come. "What? This can't be! I've used too much energy on him! I can't form the attack!"
I readied a Shotgun. "Well, isn't that a heartbreaker. I've got enough energy to serve seven. Shotgun!"
Spirit Energy bolts shot through five different chests and Suzakus bounced, fell to the floor, or hit the wall. The Makai Whistle clattered over the floor. None of the Suzakus got up.
"Like I said. Enough for seven…" I said as my sight blurred. I fell to the floor. "…and that's about it…hey, this stone feels comfortable…" 'Good thing too, looks like I might be there for a while.' My eyes drifted to the screen were the girls were still running… An iron pipe slammed into the side of Botan's head and then both of them were trapped.
"Destroying that Whistle is their only chance." I looked around for it. "Please by nearby…" catching sight of it my heart sank. "It's far away…typical." 'Story of my life.' Slowly I crawled across the floor, reaching out for the Whistle.
Murugu swooped down and hit the Whistle so it rolled out of reach. "I'll never let you reach it!" she landed nearby it.
"Really. I was just thinking about how a hot meal it just what I need right now. I bet you taste just like roast chicken." I aimed a finger at her, crawling a few lengths closer.
The bird was rattled, I could see that, even though she didn't try to let her voice show it. "You're just trying to scare me! I heard you say you didn't have anymore energy."
I grinned. "Yea not enough to take down another Saint Beast, but I've got enough to deep fry a smart-ass bird. But hey, if being lunch meat is something you've always been curious about, then go ahead, touch that Whistle again."
Her feathers fluffed out in panic, and she stepped back. Murugu's foot touched the Makai Whistle, making it roll another few inches away.
Blue light burst from my finger and she imploded in a poof! of feathers. I stared at my fingertip in awe. "I have no idea were that came from," I commented to the room in general.
(Hiei's POV)
My sword cut another Cultivated Human in half. I had to face it now, if I didn't free my foot, I wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. There were too many. Ankle throbbing, I wielded my sword with my last dregs of energy. My foot twisting painfully as I moved. It could be broken, but I doubted it. Most likely it was twisted.
A group of eight Cultivated Humans loomed above me, and I moved into a ready stance, made awkward by the fact I was crouching. But my sword had gotten stuck in the last Cultivated Human, and I had to abandon it. Instead I raised my arm over my head summoning fire. Nothing came.
The hand grabbed my arm, though I shook it off. Another fastened around my throat and squeezed. Magically it's head fell off.
"Hiei, how did you manage to get yourself into this situation?" Kurama cut down the rest of the nearby Cultivated Humans in a few lazy strokes.
I made a disgruntled noise and massaged my throat.
"Why aren't you with Kuwabara?" he asked, and I pointed at the rock on my foot. "Oh, I see."
"Get this off and we can catch up with the Clown soon enough."
Eyeing the stones for a moment, Kurama said. "I think I might be able to shift the lower stone down the stairs."
"Do it, then." I snapped.
He coiled his Whip around one stone and hauled on it. The stone was at an angle and it was on the stairs; both things combined made it shift quickly. That made it look too easy.
Wincing, I gripped the other stone and used it to haul myself upright. Hesitantly I put weight on my foot. It held, but ached persistently, drowning out the pain from my arm.
"Can you walk?" Kurama asked me.
"Of course," I snapped. Which was almost true.
(Yusuke's POV)
The Whistle was millimeters away from my fingers as I reached for it. "You're… safe, Kayko." I whispered.
A foot descended on my fingers, grinding them into the floor. I gritted my teeth.
The original Suzaku was attached to the foot, bruised and battered with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "Murugu, the last thing you did for me was stalling him long enough to let me recover. But you really are a fool." he told me. "If you could still use your Spirit Gun, why didn't you use it to destroy the Makai Whistle?" I didn't think of that, oh crap! "Your final attack," he continued. "it was very powerful, but I'm afraid it won't accomplish what you wish. It wasn't strong enough to kill me. And that will prove fatal to you. All your precious energy, wasted on me."
He kicked me in the side, and I rolled across the floor. I got to my feet shakily. "Hah, go look in a mirror. You're just as injured as I am." he laughed and I snapped at him. "What?!"
"You still don't understand the depths of my power do you?" He held a hand in the air, it glowed yellow. The other Suzakus disappeared into nothing and turned into ghosts that he effortlessly absorbed.
"Hey, that's their Spirit Energy." I said slowly, then I figured out what was happening. "He's using the spirits of the other six to heal himself." slowly the rips in Suzaku's clothes disappeared, along with the bruises and cuts.
"Let me ask you something of a philosophical question," Suzaku said. "If you take the lives of yourself to save yourself, is it murder?"
"Freak."
"Now, now. Don't get emotional, I'll bring them back if it means so much to you." he fell into the stance that I had seen before. I was speechless.
'What the…Oh hell.' seven Suzakus stood before me again.
"Black Secret Technique, the Prism of Seven Restoration!" they said gleefully.
I was horrified. 'After all that, he's back to normal!'
They pointed at me "The only way to defeat me is to kill all seven of us at the same time. But you're far to weak for that now." all seven of them pointed to the sky summoning lightning to them. "I know precisely what my problem is with you."
Another spoke. "I have been treating you like a normal human, when it is obvious you are not."
The next took up from were the last one left off. "I'm not sure what you are,"
"But this time I'll fire enough Spirit Energy to send King Yama to his grave!"
Together they all shouted. "Prism Storm of Torment!"
(Kuwabara's POV)
I was hacking down Cultivated Human after Cultivated Human, but it seemed like there was no end to them! Panting and really, really starting become exhausted I paused. But I had to get to Yusuke! He was in trouble, and it was up to the Great Kuwabara to save him!
The masses kept coming down the stairs, not caring that they were going to their deaths. I didn't even care if these were some kind of human, they weren't intelligent at all, just shells of things.
Of course, there were thousands of them, and that wasn't helping. By now my arms felt like lead, and every time I lifted them it was like I was swimming through water.
"Kuwabara!" I turned around to see one of the gladdest things I ever saw. Kurama and Hiei were running up the stairs toward me. "Behind you!" called Kurama.
I half turned just in time to see the Cultivated Human that was about to hit me slide in half.
"Look sharp, Fool." Hiei snapped, picking a bit of vegetation off his sword. "Being tired is no excuse."
Glaring, at him I plunged back into battle, secretly glad that I had two comrades at my side. After a long time we finally pushed through the lines and broke onto a different part of the stairs. There were no more Cultivated Humans to bar our path, but the stairs spiraled around freestanding.
We dashed up them as fast we could without tripping and falling over.
Again the tower rumbled and stones fell. We froze in place. I summoned a Sword and held it ready just in case. We only had a few more times around on the stairs to go, we couldn't let this stop us!
"The biggest lightning eruption yet," Kurama said. "the last Saint Beast is getting desperate."
"The attack will almost surely kill one of them." Hiei muttered.
"Don't say that!" I snapped at him. There was another rumble and the stairs in front of us fell.
Kurama frowned, looking back. "The stairs behind us are going, too." He was right. The only part of the stair that hadn't crumbled was the bit we were standing on. Yards away the stair continued but it was far out of grabbing range.
"Now what are we going to do?" I said.
There was another rumble from above, and we all glanced worriedly at the ceiling. Who knew what was happening to Yusuke up there…
A huge stone fell from above right toward were we were standing.
(Yusuke's POV)
My toes skidded over the floor as I was thrust back. I crossed my arms at head level to protect it. 'This is embarrassing. I'm being blown back by his stupid energy!' Suzaku was still powering up and any feelings that told me I might be able to beat him had long sense fled. 'My Spirit Energy is completely dry. I can't do anything!'
"The lives of you and your miserable friends are all coming to an end at the same time." overhead on the screen Kayko drew back from all the infected humans that surrounded her. She drew the unconscious form of Botan closer to her protectively. "I love good endings." The Suzakus leapt into the air to form the attack.
One thought was screaming around in my mind. 'I'm letting them down! I'm letting…'
"Now it's over!"
All seven fired.
I summoned a shield that held up for only a few seconds, then the bolts burst through and pierced my arms and chest but only on the sides. They didn't hit anything vital, but it still hurt. Again I screamed and fell to the ground.
"The lightning energy had missed its target?" Suzaku sounded surprised. I lay on the floor resting for a second or two. "I don't see how that can…" he trailed off and stared at one of the red bits of his hair that hung down. It was cracked, and buzzed with sparks. "Oh-no my antenna! His first attack," the last Saint Beast realized what had happened instantly. "He must have damaged it without my knowing. These antennas are my guiding lights for my attacks. They've been dipped in hard armor. And yet he still made one crumble. All this time I've halfway missed!"
Halfway was enough to really hurt though! 'I'm so tired of being electrocuted.' I drew myself up stiffly.
"You are not human, Yusuke, but I will kill you. Even if it takes me a thousand tries." All seven summoned lightning and spoke in unison. "My poor antenna won't allow me a direct hit, so I will just have to tear you apart piece by piece!"
'Damnit, Yusuke!' I told myself. 'Think of something! You can't take another hit!'
(Kuwabara's POV)
Hiei tossed his sword and it sunk into the stairs that we couldn't reach. Kurama got his Rose Whip wrapped around the hilt of the sword. He turned to us. "Needless to say, hold on tight."
'Wait, we're swinging across on that?!'
(Yusuke's POV)
'Spirit Energy is so stupid!' I was on the floor again. 'It doesn't give me enough energy to do anything except sit up and watch everything go wrong!' a deep well of anger was tapped inside of me. I had never been so helpless! How come I couldn't do anything!
There was no sound on the screen, but somehow I heard Kayko calling out to me. "Yusuke!"
"Kayko…" I gritted out. An infected human swung a pair of scissors down at her.
'She needed me! She was calling for me!' "Yusuke! Yusuke!"
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Back in the human world, an energy pulse sent the scissors out of the hand of the possessed human that held it. It was Yusuke's energy.
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"That's it," I growled, on my feet in an instant. New power fountained inside me. My eyes filled with white but my vision seemed even more clear than ever before, energy was buzzing around me like a blue halo.
Suzaku looked surprised. "What's this? Were… is his energy coming from?!" I didn't even know or care at this point. "His life! He's using life energy from his body! He's actually willing to sacrifice his life for her?" he glanced back at the screen that staticed wildly. "What will he profit from that? Such power? Prism Storm of Torment!" they fired and I threw up another shield that held longer. A few burst through and one hit me spinning me around but I kept going. Nothing would stop me anymore. I didn't care what it cost, Suzaku was going down!
"Shotgun!!" I flung everything I ever had into this.
…from far away I thought I heard someone call my name…and I saw things losing there edges and blurring… the Makai Whistle breaking into a thousand pieces…Suzaku's eyes going blank… 'For you Kayko'… 'I'm sorry I couldn't be there to…'
No more…
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In human world Kayko opened her eyes to see that everyone in the hall but her was passed out on the floor.
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(Kuwabara's POV)
There was a huge explosion of light as soon as we got up to the tower room. When it cleared, Maze Castle burned, bodies of Suzakus lay everywhere, and Urameshi was sprawled on the stones not far away. Most of the roof was gone.
One Suzaku brought himself up to his knees. "I was wrong about you again, Yusuke. It wasn't that I lost because you weren't human. I lost because you were…feelings are your power…touché human…at last… I understand…" he fell to the floor, his eyes glassy.
The last Saint Beast was dead. We had won. But was the price hard to reckon with.
"Wake up, Urameshi!" I shouted, willing him to open his eyes. "Let's go home!"
Kurama put his hand to Urameshi's throat, finding the pulse. "I'm sorry, he's expended all his life energy. His heart is stopping."
There was no way I could let that happen! "Then I'll give him some of my own! He needs human energy, not the demonic stuff you guys have!" I also kneeled down.
"That wouldn't be very wise," Kurama said. "your body is still badly injured from your fight with Seiryu. Any more strain on it could kill you." Hiei watched all this, poker faced.
I didn't care! "Me and Urameshi both jumped into this train together. And we're gonna come out alive or we're not comin' out at all!" I braced both hands on his chest. "Here goes Urameshi!" Channeling into him, I gave it what I had left. If it killed me, so what? We were coming out of this alive! I knew it!
(Hiei's POV)
Kurama sat down and leaned back against a piece of rubble. "Well, I suppose now we'll have to return to the living world carrying them both on our backs." He seemed amused at the turn of events.
"Like I said, babysitting." I snorted. "But here's what I don't get, why save her if he died in the process?"
A shadow of a memory passed in front of Kurama's eyes. "Trust me, Hiei. There are reasons."
I turned back to where the Fool was transferring the last of his energy to the Detective. I watched him collapse over him, both exhausted and senseless.
"Hn." I said. "Maybe there are reasons for a person who's lived there. But I'd never do it. The challenge is enough without taking up someone else's slack." I waited for him to reply, but he didn't. Turning to see why, I let out an exasperated sigh. Kurama had passed out against the piece of rubble. I gritted my teeth muttering to myself, "And how the hell am I supposed to get these three back on my own?"
No answer was forthcoming.
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TBC1:00 (in the morning).