Chapter 27: The Decisive Battle Begins
"Relax, Yusuke, getting tense won't help you." Amakaze reclined in the uncomfortable seat, as confidant and cool as he was uncertain and scrambled right after the battle, "If you let the tension gets to you, you start making mistakes."
"Well, it's not like I do this sort of thing everyday..." Yusuke grumbled, glancing around the confines of the APC. The hard metal seats were built directly into the walls, with ten along each wall. Caspar was behind the wheel, with Zandock in the passenger seat beside him. Which left only a little over half the rear seats filled, else the trip might have been severely more uncomfortable.
"Loosen up, Urameshi." Chu put in, pulling one of the many bottles from a bag, "Why don't you two have a little sip, just to take the edge off?"
"I don't drink when I'm fighting." Yusuke declined, distrustful of the exactly how much of an edge Chu's drink might take off.
"I don't mind if I d-." Amakaze was in the process of reaching forward for the bottle when a tanned hand reached across and grabbed his own. Amakaze winced; the white knuckled grip on his wrist a lot tighter then it seemed from outward appearance.
"You don't drink." Zandock said shortly, holding his brother's eye for a long moment before releasing his grip and pulling his arm back over the top of his seat. Amakaze sighed a bit, but nodded, pushing the proffered bottle away,
"I don't drink anymore." He said quietly, "By virtue of the wonders of democratic leadership."
"The what of what?" Chu blinked at him,
"We'll punch him in the face if he does." Caspar translated, not taking his eyes off the road as he turned the vehicle around the corner, "He's got enough problems with self control without being smashed too...in both senses of the word."
"Suit yourself." Chu was not overly perturbed by the refusal, and began to guzzle directly from the bottle. Rinku rolled his eyes in silent annoyance, but said nothing.
"Anyway, when things start to get rough with Matthews, I suggest you let my brothers and I handle it." Amakaze changed the subject abruptly, casting a dark glance back at Zandock and Caspar, "We've been doing this a long time, and we have a better chance of resolving this thing quickly then you do."
"And why is that?" Yusuke didn't really feel anything as obvious as professional pride, but that suggestion still rankled him, "I thought you'd use all the help you can get."
"We might at that." Amakaze nodded distractedly, "No one knows exactly who or what Matthews has turned himself into, But you don't have half our experience dealing with these things, Yusuke, and you'd need them for this. Besides, you're the highest priority of Spirit Detective, and we'd rather not risk it."
"If you guys have so many more skills then me, why am I the one you don't want to risk?"
"Oh, we've got the experience. We've got the skills and the will. We've even got the coordination to best yours." Amakaze admitted freely, his tone taking out any possible sting from the words, "You've got something we don't though. Specifically, you've got the power and the reliability we lack."
"Reliability? Yusuke?" The words slipped out before Kurama could stop them, and that earned him a black look from the younger spirit detective.
"It's the lineage that's a bit different in our cases." Amakaze said quietly, "Hakudou, you see, was a very evil demon. One of the worst on record, in fact. When we beat him, he left a bit of himself behind, a little piece of his mind in ours. Combined with the addiction of demon energy, and we can get-."
"You're not talking my language." Yusuke interjected, offering a slight smile as the APC rolled on, "Why don't you start from the beginning, you were a little rushed when we went over it." Amakaze sighed briefly, leaning back in his seat as if searching for exactly the right words for something that didn't have them.
"Hakudou, as I said, was a very unpleasant demon. He cut a swath through the Spirit Defense Force, and an identical slice through the masses of demons that wanted to take him down on general principles. He had power, to be sure, and perfected techniques of such elegance and frightening efficiency that they're still legendary."
"I heard rumors about him, once." Hiei offered, stoically remaining outwardly uninterested in the story, "Some say that he'd rule the human world and spirit world both if he hadn't disappeared."
"Disappeared?"
"Shortly after he...met...our mother." Amakaze's tone and the sudden uncomfortable shifting of Caspar and Zandock told Yusuke that 'Met' was not the word the other would have chosen to use, "He vanished off the face of the earth. He traveled to the spirit world, staked out a claim in the middle of nowhere, and annihilated anyone that drifted close."
"Why?" Yusuke blurted, and Amakaze flashed him a bit of smile. As sad as the story might be, there was a certain kick in having an audience with an interest.
"Simple. Pure unadulterated Ego. Hakudou reasoned that the only being in the universe with enough power to hurt him was, well, him. Spirit World didn't care as long as he didn't make trouble, and he was able to alter his techniques without so much as an errant operative peeking in on him."
"Altered them how?"
"He made himself immune to his own attacks. He somehow managed to alter them fundamentally to be absolutely harmless to himself. And, as an added bonus, anyone who WASN'T him found the techniques even more deadly. Once he was finished, he brushed past the Spirit World's border patrol, peeled back the barrier, and slipped into the human world to bring it to a heel..." Amakaze trailed off, his eyes going distant. When it became clear that the former spirit detective wasn't paying any further attention to the conversation, Yusuke had to ask,
"And? What happened?"
"Hhmm? Surely you're not so interested in an old story, are you?" Amakaze chuckled softly to himself, and flashed another smile, though it was a trifle strained, "Hakudou forgot one simple detail. The woman he'd raped, so long ago, was still alive. He rectified the situation...and we found him. We were, in a sense, part of him, and that spelled his own undoing. All his precious techniques were as useless against his spawn as it would have been against himself. We fought him, we killed him, and Koenma took us in...We're doing the right thing now, but Hakudou, our father, left some portion of his mind in us during that final bout. It...It screams to get out, to finish the destruction of the human world like he wished. That's why we wear the collars unless we need to take them off..."
"Demon energy isn't like human energy." Zandock put in, without turning around, "It feels...good...to use. Above and beyond the power you feel using energy, demon energy is an addiction."
Yusuke turned to look at the other passengers in the truck, all of which seemed to be nodding grimly with this little revelation. Kurama was the first to voice it aloud,
"Most demons are completely enslaved to it." He told the spirit detective grimly, "They spend their power as soon as it accumulates, just to get another 'hit' so to speak. It doesn't matter whether it's warranted or what they spend it on, the act of spending it is pleasure enough."
The APC slowed as Caspar applied the breaks smoothly. The heavy truck continued forward for a few seconds before screeching to a steady halt. Applying on of the levers in near the passenger seats, Zandock popped the rear doors, letting the recycled air give way to the cold smell of the night.
"Ready to save the world gentlemen?"
---
"Think they know we're up here?" Caspar asked, leaning upward to see over the hill and down onto the military base, whispering back to his brothers.
"No, not really." Amakaze whispered back, rolling his eyes, "Why would you think that? Just because the entire company is lined up on this side of the base in perfect military formation after sundown and facing this direction...It's just a coincidence."
"I was being rhetorical."
"You were being stupid."
"Do you even know what rhetorical means?"
"Do I know what rhetorical means?!"
"Can we get on with it?" Yusuke snapped at the two, sighing a bit with pent-up frustration, "If they know we're here, and we know they know, why are we still here?"
"An apt question." A voice sounded from directly behind them, and Yusuke and the group of demons or near demons jumped with surprise and spun to face the intrusion, with greater or lesser grace depending on the individual demon involved, "Please, I'm not going to hurt you."
Trained by experience or inclination to expect the worst, the group was surprised yet again by the appearance of their mysterious voice. A lone man stood there, his JSDF uniform dark with the night sky, and his face devoid of expression. He stood some distance back, his hands out at his sides, his hip holster empty.
"Sid, that you?" Amakaze asked the figure quietly, stepping forward to be at the lead of the group, "Look, this is going to get dangerous for everybody, why don't you go home before-."
"Don't waste your time, Ama..." Sid replied, his voice biting off every word, "Or should I say Amakaze Hakudou. One of Koenma's dogs...anyway, Sid isn't here right now. They were getting a little annoying to direct all the time, so I decided to step in."
"Step in..." Kurama's face clouded with confusion, and then cleared into horror, "Matthews?!"
"I ought to have known you would get it." Sid's face did not change as the voice merged from his lips, "Of all of them, your intellect comes the closest to sentience...thought not actually achieving it, of course."
"What the hell's the point of this, you freak?" Yusuke, as ever, cut through the customary trading of light insults and delved straight into the angrier versions.
"You disappoint me, my dear boy." Sid sighed to himself, "But I'll humor you. I'd like for Yusuke and his DIRECT band of misfits to come fight me personally, as they're no doubt here to do. By that, I mean Yusuke, Suzaku, Hiei, Kurama, Amakaze, Zandock, and Caspar, yes I do know your names, dear boys, to come inside. I must respectfully ask the others to remain out here."
"What, have you gone bloody crazy?" Chu's voice cracked through the night like a whip, "You want us to send Urameshi in there and the rest of us just stand here like nothings going on? Why-."
"No, Of course not." Matthews voice, through Sid, cut through the noise and demanded silence, "Now, I know it's hard, but try to think a bit while I explain. That group will go inside, and my own personal army will not interfere with them. Both my guard and your group shall remain outdoors and out of the way, though, of course..." A slight smile tugged at the edges of the expressionless face, "...If one of those groups wanted to help those inside, they would first have to deal with the other group outside... understand?"
"You're willing to take on nearly half of us at once, by yourself...?" Kurama's voice was thoughtful as he answered, "Is that right?"
"Of course."
Yusuke looked around, judging the faces of those gathered, before making it official, "Alright then...let's do this."
It took a few minutes for the small group to walk between the rows of soldiers at attention, mostly because they were worried about a betrayal. But no attack came, and they soon disappeared inside the building.
The night winds kicked up, swirling the garments on the remaining demons. Chu, Touya, Suzuka, Jin, Rinku, and Shishi Wakamaru faced off against the endlessly precise legions of human soldiers. Chu smiled, deftly pulled a large bottle from his belt bag, and waved it in the air,
"Let's get it on!"
---
"Remember, stay out of way and let us take him." Amakaze told Yusuke firmly, "We can manage, and if we can't, you'd stand a better chance if you watch the way he fights then just diving in with both fists going. Alright?"
"I don't like it..." Yusuke admitted, "But if that's the way you want to play it, that's how we'll do it."
"You think he's going to kill you...don't you, Ama?"
The entire processional ground to a halt. Kurama, having been the one to speak, was the first to stop. Amakaze did not turn to look at the red-haired questioner, but spoke over his shoulder,
"What makes you say that?"
"The way you act." Kurama said shortly, "The way Koenma looked at you, and promised you 'only one more time'. The way you and your brothers stick close together and watch us as if waiting for us to notice some secret. The way you have volunteered to go first against an unknown enemy, holding to that plan even after seeing what he did to the humans outside. You can claim 'experience' or 'reliability' all you want, but the truth is, you know Yusuke has the best chance...and you're going to goad Matthews into revealing his powers so that he has a chance, aren't you?"
The silent moment stretched on into a minute without anyone moving. Amakaze slowly sighed, his shoulders rising and falling with the length of the expression.
"Kurama..." Amakaze said slowly, his eyes closed, "You....are too clever by half." With a single motion, the blonde strode forward and kicked at the large metal double door at the end of the hall which obligingly opened. The room was large, much larger then any of the offices or other research centers along the way, and it quickly became clear as to the reason. The entire rear of the room was dominated by a huge machine, it's base blinking with dials and levers, and a large arm bent down toward the floor. The end of that arm tapered into a giant syringe, with at least half a dozen small needles formed in a circle around it. At the sight, both Hiei and Kurama gasped and went rigid.
"So that's The Machine..." Yusuke gazed up at the oddly intimidating piece of machinery, "Must have cost a little more then my X-Box...Can it play DVDs?"
No one laughed, and Yusuke nearly flinched as a soft sound echoed briefly in the room. The sounds repeated itself once, and then again, and Matthews stepped from under the shadow of the Machine, his hands clapping softly in the silent air, "Your humor does your spirit credit, Yusuke...But have a care...this is the single most important piece of equipment on the face of the earth, after all, it has created a God."
"A god?" Caspar glanced over to the left at his brothers, a slight smile tugging at the very edge of his mouth as he stepped carefully to the right, "A god did you say?"
"Didn't you know, Matthews?" Zandock asked, his gaze drifting to the right as he drifted to the left, "I would think you would have..."
"Did I hear what?" Matthews asked, his pristine suit shifting as he watched the two hackers move to the sides, "What are you babbling about?"
"I thought you knew..." Amakaze turned sideways, his mouth twitching into a slight smirk, "...God is dead!"
The wind gusted sideways as Amakaze's feet left the ground, the spirit detective spun in the air with bewildering speed, lashing out with a kick before Yusuke could even register the movement. Matthews, however, had already raised an arm to block before the kick connected, but the force of the blow still knocked the executive off balance. Caspar's staff whistled through the air as Matthews ducked under it and jerked his head to the left, barely managing to move it from the path of Zandock's fist.
"A little early to give it your all, isn't it Ama?" Matthews remarked calmly, but there was a hint of strain in his voice as he sidestepped another of Zandock's attack and used the spin to kick back at the floating Amakaze, "You're usually a little more reserved then this."
"No point wasting time." Amakaze spun through the wind with ease, Matthew's foot passing through the air where he wasn't anymore, "But we aren't quite giving it our all yet..."
"Oh?" Caspar, Zandock, and Matthews were getting hard to distinguish in the rush of motions and counterstrikes flying in the air, "You've more to show me?"
"Of course!" Amakaze's voice cut through the wind and Matthews suddenly overextended as Caspar and Zandock vanished. Amakaze's eyes blazed with white energy as he gathered the power of his brothers, much much quicker then they had done against Blaze, "This one's called, 'Star Point Barrage.', a little trick I picked up from my father!"
Amakaze's hands cupped the air in front of him, spiritual energy springing to life between his fingers as he tightened his fingers around the air. Abruptly, he flung the ball into the air where it rooted above Matthews even as he craned his neck to see it. The ball split into a hundred little lights that scattered around the room, floating brightly in place like miniature stars in sky. Amakaze leaned back, cracked his neck, and pointed.
The stars roared with fury, each point of light streaking like a laser toward Matthews, a hundred separate lines of energy burning through the air and impacting with a dazzling display of crackling electricity and blue-white light. As the impact died away, the smoke parted, and Matthews clapped his hands with delight,
"Oh, a light show." The blue-eyed man commented, "How thoughtful of you." The black suit blurred into a streak of black as the official rushed forward, swinging his fist out and connecting with nothing as Amakaze faded from view.
"We're not done yet." Matthews spun, and Zandock smiled with suppressed anticipation, his eyes unearthly glowing with golden light, "We all get a turn...and mine's called Gaia's Revenge!" The ground crack ominously as Zandock shifted position, his golden aura spreading until the entire room was bathed in a thick gold coat of light.
"I told you already, I've grown tired of light shows." Matthews sighed, bending down and rapidly moving forward to the tanned-hacker. As he reared up to strike, the metal ground at Zandock's feet split, and out roared a blinding spray of brown earth. Matthews took a step back from the display as the bits of rock and ground gathered on the ceiling. Zandock, grinning with delight, waved his hands once at the mound, and it abruptly changed. The edges became hard and the color uniform, and the suddenly created boulder let gravity catch up with it and came down onto Matthews, sending up a cloud of dust as the floor bent with the weight.
"Impressive, if not subtle." Matthews reclined atop the cracked boulder as if nothing was particular interesting or frightening to him. Even as Zandock looked up, Matthews had jumped down and was rushing toward him again. However, the first punch of the charge passed against through an insubstantial ghost.
"You're still trying to jump the gun." Caspar's glowing blue eyes watched the boulder as the energy ran out of it and it crumbled into nothing more then sand, "You still need to experience my attempt. Frozen Crypt."
Caspar didn't move, but a loud metallic wrenching caught the audience's attention as one of the energy chemical sinks against the right hand wall blew off in a stream of water, sending the porcelain sink flying to smash into a table across the room. The sink next to it popped off as well, and the next, moving down the line until all the sinks were removed, and water began lapping at the feet of The Machine.
"The element is gathered, all is in place." Caspar's eyelids closed, but they only dimmed the light from his eyes, not put it out entirely, "It is time for the dance." The smooth surface of the growing puddle pulsed once, as if a rock has skipped across the surface, and then again.
"It'll take more then a puddle, my friend. Why don't you get on with it?" Matthews voice hovered on the edge of insult before dipping into it entirely, "I'm afraid I've never cared much for being wet."
"How unfortunate for you." Caspar replied, spreading his arms, "But as you wish, so shall it be." In a blaze of blue light, Caspar's staff appeared in his hands, and he pointed it at Matthews. Even as a smirk appears on Matthews' face, the entire floor of water surged upward, converging on that one point with chaotic foams of water. Matthews disappeared into the waves of water, as the edges of the puddle contracted inward, until it was less then ten feet across. Caspar raised his hand slowly, and snapped his fingers.
The water froze abruptly, every wave in the process of crashing down, every scattered drop of water along the wall, and every swirl under the surface became a cold monument in the center of the room. Caspar raised the staff over his head calmly, and brought it down with utter certainty on the edge of the frozen ice.
The icy statue shattered into a million pieces, the shards scattering over the floor and crunching under foot as several of those present shifted to shield themselves from the falling debris. The smaller bits of ice melted quickly, while the larger chunks remained wet blocks lying scattered around here or there.
"You shouldn't have underestimated us, Matthews." Caspar said softly to the largest mound of ice, "It never helps."
"Then why are you doing it to me?" Matthews appeared less then a foot from Caspar's elbow, smirking and undamaged, "Sorry, friend, but this suit is dry clean only..." The JSDF official rotated back and swung his foot forward, only to pass through the ghostly image of Caspar as it faded, "Not this time!" Matthews continued to spin, his hands snapping out even as Amakaze appeared before him, his edges becoming solid even as Caspar faded out. Matthews punch caught the spirit detective dead center, and the sound of breaking bone echoed in the room as the air left Amakaze in a scream as he flew backward. The young hacker bounced on the ground, and as he did so, both of his brothers bounced with him, the merged lines separating as all three flew backward. Caspar and Zandock skidded to a halt near Hiei and Kurama, but Amakaze rolled once before coming to an abrupt stop against the wall.
"Amakaze!" Yusuke rushed forward, pulling the young spirit detective and helped him up, blood leaking for the edge of the blondes mouth as he held his ribs painfully,
"Yusuke?"
"Yeah...?"
"I think we'll need your help after all..."