Chapter 29: Demonic Clash
They piled on to Chu, hanging off his limbs and dragging his body down by sheer weight. Soldier after soldier joined the dog pile, forcing the Yokai down toward the ground. Suzuka and Shishi were busy on the other side of the melee, and Rinku simply could not carve through the soldiers fast enough to come to Chu's aid as the soldier bore him down.
"Get...off...me!" Chu fingers curved around, forming a circle between his palms that soon blazed with spirit energy. The light shown only dimly, escaping sporadically between the limbs of the soldiers who still fought desperately to bring him down. Those immediately next to Chu's forming attack flinched back from the heat, but just holding it made no impression on his situation. With resignation, Chu almost gently dropped the ball of energy, letting it fall to the dirt.
The energy ball exploded on contact, most of its force contained by the ground and sent directly upward into Chu and the Soldiers. Chu, an experienced fighter, could use the preparation time and create a shield that would mostly protect him from the assault. The soldiers, far less experienced with energy even if they possessed such powers, were forced to take the brunt of the attack.
As the smoke cleared, Chu found himself smoldering, but intact, which was a good deal better then the situation the soldiers found themselves in, largely mixed in with each other over a good spread of land.
"Damn soldier boys, made me get a piece of myself just to get em off." He grunted under his breath, brushing a smoldering ash off his bare upper arm.
"Chu!" Shishi called out, the last of his section of soldiers falling to his blade in quick succession. In fact, there seemed to be very few soldiers that continued to move as the four demons met up in the center, "I think we've pretty much got this group dealt with now."
"Hey...you guys feel that?" Rinku's young voice piped in as the child-like demon panted to catch his breath, "Something is going on inside.."
"Feels something like the energy of the old spirit detectives, except-." Suzuka's sense finally caught the last elusive piece, "Wait, isn't that...demon energy? I didn't know-."
"Hey, heads up!"
The green wave spread out from the base again, enveloping the battlefield with a gentle green glow for a few seconds. Even as it did so, the wounded soldiers begin to walk straight, and even the nearly-liquefied remains began to reform into the original living and breathing human soldiers. Within less then a minute, the entire army was back on its feet.
"Well, it looks like that's Urameshi's problem." Chu sighed, rolling his shoulders slowly, "Let's take care of ours, shall we?"
---
"Ama...Don't do it!" Zandock was back on his feet, if a little woozy from the short trip into the wall, his right hand extended toward his brother, "You can't control it at those levels, none of us can! Let it go before it's too late!" Matthews sighed as he glanced in Zandock's direction, but he said nothing. Either because he didn't want the fun to end that quickly, or because he knew it was already too late.
"Better to win committing a sin then losing as a Saint, brother." Amakaze's golden eyes squinted slightly, as if over come with sudden pain. His hair was now longer, extending down his shoulder blades as the fur continued to spread over his arms and bared chest revealed by the tear down the front of his shirt, leaving the surprisingly thick cloth to hang off his body in shreds. His teeth glistened sharp and unnatural in the fading light, "You'll know what...you'll need to do after..Zan.."
"Ama, don't!" Caspar's voice echoed off the wall, and for a long moment, nothing happened. Then Amakaze threw his head back and screamed, his pleasant baritone dropping into a horrible liquidly base rumble. The lithe body curled up slightly as the claws on his hands became more predominant, and the white light from his eyes faded, leaving glittering yellow cat-eyes in this place. The air crackled as the hunched form slowly straightened, a giggle wracking the body like a fit until it grew into full throated laughter that reverberated insanely from the walls.
"Are you done yet, Ama?" Matthews drawled, rolling his eyes, "I'm getting a little tired of all the suspense. This isn't a soap opera, and we don't need to spend an hour telling each other not to-." Matthews voice cut off abruptly, his mocking tone replaced by a heavy sounded thud. Amakaze had blurred forward and landed a hard right on Matthews face before Yusuke had even registered the movement, and the soldier bounced once off the hard metal floor before flipping back onto his feet.
The two stared at each other, the crouched form of Amakaze barely recognizable through his changed appearance, and the tall, straight form of Matthews wide-eyed with disbelief as he raised a hand to touch his bleeding lip. Abruptly, his face split with a grin of genuine delight.
"Oh, Good, at least some real fun. I was beginning to get bored with the whole affair." Matthews cracked his neck twice, once to the left and once to the right, and suddenly threw himself forward, rushing at the now-demon detective even as the other moved forward to meet the blow. There was a soundless explosion of sound and light from the moment of impact, and before the moment had faded, Matthews was flying backward, horizontally stretched only inches from the floor. Amakaze was atop the soldier, one hand grasping the edge of his coat and the other balled into a fist and hammering mercilessly at Matthews' face. Each strike from the Spirit Detective knocked Matthews' head back and onto the floor that blurred beneath them, slowing their rush slightly and bringing him closer to the ground. As momentum began to die, Matthews' shoulders touched the metal flooring, and the soldier bent his legs upward as his body came to abrupt stop. Amakaze was suddenly flying, propelled by the transferred speed, and spun in the air, his back hitting the far wall with bone cracking impact.
Matthews twisted on the ground, pushing off from the metal with his hands, and drove his foot deep into Amakaze's stomach with a kick. Amakaze doubled over with a groan as Matthews regained his footing, and lashed out with a punch toward the demon's head, twisting him around. Amakaze's knees flexed as he spun in the air, striking out with a kick that Matthews barely managed to avoid by pulling backwards and stumbling off balance. Amakaze's clawed hands slashed outward, first down at Matthew's head and then, when the soldier dodged aside, from the left at the midsection. Both misses left deep scoring down the wall that backstopped the blows, the edges of the metal red-hot and melted. Amakaze lashed out again with his claws, and Matthews twisted his hand around, his palm suddenly blazing with light as Amakaze's claws were stopped by a perfect recreation of the Spirit Sword. The soldier took advantage of the lull to reach forward and slap his outstretched palm against the half-demon's chest, sending him reeling. In only a moment, though, the detective was ready for more.
Both forms blazed with energy, their bodies leaving afterimages with the sheer speed of their movement. Overwhelmed with bloodlust, Amakaze pressed the attack against his opponent mercilessly, forcing the soldier back time and time again. The demonized detective did not seem to tire nor feel any of the injuries that his previous body had sustained, but that was not what sent a chill down Yusuke's spine. It was the smile Amakaze wore, and the way he chuckled when he was hit, and laughed when he landed a blow.
He was enjoying it.
"What exactly is this form, Zandock?" Yoko's gravelly voice cut through Yusuke's reverie, drawing his attention away from the battle, "What did he do to himself?"
"He's unleashed his demon form." Zandock's voice was calm, but his right hand trembled slightly as he continued to watch the fray, "Most half-demons manage a sort of balance, literally melding human and demon into a seamless whole. We're rather...different."
"Different how?"
"We, unlike most, actually have to choose which side we're tapping into. Normally, we tap into our spirit energy, look human, act human, and have control over ourselves...The demon side has a lot more power, but it's also a lot more dangerous. Keeping a handle on the demon side while using the demon powers is like walking a tight rope...and the longer it goes on, the less of his human side will be in control."
"And if he loses control?"
"He'll try to kill every living thing he can find."
The two combatants were still hammering each other without pause as the fight continued. Suddenly, Amakaze reached forward and managed to grab hold of Matthews' neck. Before either could react, the demon was surrounded by a swirling vortex of wind, lifting both himself and Matthews off the ground and into the ceiling like a bullet.
Yusuke blinked at the bent metal, and the hole in the ceiling where the pair had penetrated. Little bits of plaster and rooftop trickled down through the opening as the building settled to its new look.
"I guess they're taking it outside."
---
"What on earth?" Shishi snapped his head up and leapt to the left as a blur of motion passed through the air where he had just been and smashed heavily into the ground, pushing up asphalt and skidding to a halt after scouring a deep indent into the hard ground. The blue haired demon stumbled slightly, before regaining his center and turned to face this new found intrusion. It took a moment to resolve the image into something that registered correctly.
An impeccably dressed human was half buried in the debris, the upper half of his torso being raised as the second figure slammed his fist down onto the soldier's face, laughing all the while. Shishi blinked as his mind slowly placed the face of the second figure, was that...Amakaze?
Before Shishi could tell for certain Matthews, and as Shish stretched out with his senses he knew that it was indeed Matthews, recovered from the fall and, with a blur of motion, managed to wedge his leg between himself and the laughing demon, propelling Amakaze backward. Before the other had even hit the ground, Matthews stretched out his hand and launched a blast of energy that seared the ground as it screamed out to Amakaze with a dull roar and heavy explosion of impact.
Smoke rose in torrents from the point of impact as Matthews pushed himself back onto his feet, a few beads of sweat glistening on his forehead as he straightened his as-yet undamaged suit, brushing ineffectually at the dust that covered the fine material. His eyes, however, did not leave the smoke cloud, and his muscles were still waiting for an attack to come from it. But, because of that, his back was to Shishi.
Shishi Wakamaru tensed, nodding to himself. His sword was already unsheathed and he carefully stepped closer to his enemy, making no sound. Matthews did not turn to face him, so focused was he on watching the place where Amakaze had fallen so shortly ago. Not wishing to lose his moment, Shishi snapped his sword up to ready position and charged. Halfway to Matthews, the soldier seemed to realize what was going on and began to turn. Shishi's sword gleamed in coldly in the moonlight as he raised it over his head, preparing himself for the last few steps.
There was a flash of moment, a sort of blur through the air, and a wet crunch. Shishi found himself at a halt, his sword slipping from nerveless hands to clatter noisily to the ground, his eyes open wide, staring into yellow slitted cat-eyes. Amakaze stood between Shishi and Matthews, both the latter and the former surprised by this action. The half-demon was crouched down, his arm thrust forward toward Shishi up to the wrist, where it disappeared inside the blood hold that had abruptly opening the middle of the former Uratogi's chest.
"A-Ama...w-what?" Shishi fell to his knees as Amakaze pulled his bloody hand free with another audible crunch. Slowly, the former spirit detective raised the red-stained hand to his lips, and licked up the crimson liquid, fangs shining in the moonlight.
"My Kill. Not yours." He growled finally, lifting his foot and driving it down onto the bleeding chest wound, drawing a scream from the demon and sending him backwards into the dirt, where he lay motionless. A cackle began to build as Amakaze watched the fall, but Matthews rushed in from behind, and the fight was on again.
On the ground, staring up at the moon as his own blood warmed him, Shishi Wakamaru's face was lit with almost childlike intensity as he studied the brilliant paleness.
He wished he could have died with his sword.
---
"Look out, Yusuke!" Kurama's warning was almost too late as Yusuke unquestioningly flung himself aside. To catch his breath, the spirit detective had been leaning against one of the metal walls. That same metal wall was bent inward with a sound of screeching iron and impact. After a moment, the entire wall was ripped away, and a form hit the ground and rolled. When it came to a stop, Yusuke realized with a start that it was Matthews, covered in dust and groaning as he climbed back to his feet. In the newly created doorway, Amakaze stood framed by the moon, laughing his head off.
As Yusuke watched him laugh, it slowly began to dawn on him that, even if Amakaze defeated Matthews, they might have just traded one problem for another.
"Well..you certainly surprised me." Matthews brought himself up to his feet painfully, wiping a long string of blood of his chin, "I didn't realize you had this much power locked up in that little human frame of yours." Matthews stance became more firm as he brushed dirt off of himself, rolling his shoulders, "Alright then, you've had your fun. Time to put you down." The soldier crouched down; his hands in front of him like a prayer as he gathered his energy. Slowly, his form began to blur around the edges.
"No, I don't believe it!" Suzaku exclaimed, his eyes open wide with horror, "It can't be! You never had me in your machine!"
"You idiot, you think I need the Machine right now?" Matthews began to waver and divide, "With all the spirit energy I have, I learned your technique the first time you used it against me..."
"Black Secret Technique. The Prism of Seven!"
---
"Watch your back!" Suzuka rushed past Chu, driving a small metal device into the soldier before the other could bring the butt of his rifle down on Chu's unprotect back. The man sizzled a moment with electricity, and went limp as Suzuka pulled away.
"Thanks mate, I'll admit, I'm slowing down a bit." The drunken fighter rotated on his back leg, snapping out with a kick that caught two soldiers and deposited them, broken, on the ground, "These guys just won't quit."
"We'll all slowing down." Suzuka confirmed, standing back-to-back with Rinku as the carved a path through the remaining soldiers, "That's the whole point of this."
"They're hoping we're going to make a mistake, that's when they'll-." Chu cut himself off as a scream broke into his concentration. He looked over his shoulder, to find that a soldier had snaked past Rinku's defense, around the dodging youth, and driven a knife into the unprotected back of the inventor, Suzuka. Even as Rinku's Yo-Yo struck out and knocked the man to the side, another of the uniform JSDF members came in from the front, with another knife. Chu took that one out, and they took stock.
"Chu..." Suzuka began, on his knees, holding onto the bleeding wound in his front, slowing the flow as the one on his back continued to bleed, "Chu, I've...I've got to.."
"I know mate...You did your best. Get out of here."
Suzuka looked up, his teeth colored red with blood, and nodded gravely. His hands extended, his spirit energy carving through the space in front of him, forming the mislabeled Sphere of No Return. With one last look to Chu and Rinku, he stepped into his own attack.
Suzuka vanished.
---
Amakaze was barely conscious, his arms swinging out well wide of any of the Matthews and the images danced around him. Fists and feet struck out with dizzying speed, driving into his blooded face and knocking the wind out of him again and again. The beating had continued since Matthews had used Suzaku's technique, and it was immediately clear that Amakaze didn't have a chance. The fact that he had withstood the beating for as long as he had was testament to the toughness of his demon form.
It finally happened. Amakaze struck out with all his remaining strength, managing to catch one of the Matthews across the chin and send him skidding into the wall, but even as that happened one of the other Matthews stepped up with a reciprocating shot to the face. Amakaze spun slowly, blood and sweat glistening on his face in equal measure as his knees gave out, dropping the half demon to the floor. He did not rise, and the images of Matthews blurred together, once again becoming a single enemy.
"Well, that was actually a lot of fun." Matthews dusted his hand off, rubbing his jaw lightly with one hand, "And, as an added bonus, that splitting technique is a lot cheaper on the spirit energy then Blaze's, if less versatile. Thanks so much, Suzie."
"Don't mention it." Suzaku growled, but there was fear in his eyes, "And don't shorten my name like that."
"Whatever you say....Suzie." Matthews laughed as Suzaku's eyes took on a deadly glitter, "Don't you get it yet? I can do whatever I please, because there's not a single person who can stop me. Don't you see? That's what power and truth are in the world! Those with power create the truth! I can reshape the world as I see fit.."
"Not...Not done with you...yet..." A fierce low voice said, and Matthews rolled his eyes to the heavens and heaved a great sigh as he turned around. Amakaze was back on his feet, albeit shakily. The half-demon wiped blood from his mouth, and screamed as he crouched down. Energy blazed around his hands, rising up to the forearms, a searing pair of white lights that painted everything with a growing pale luminescence. The light continued to grow as tendrils of energy appeared in the air, feeding the fire with spirit energy.
"Aren't you done yet, Ama?" Matthews asked with another long suffering sigh. Negligently, he turned his back to the former spirit detective, speaking over his shoulder, "You can't beat me, none of you can, but you just keep trying. You just keep wasting your energy. What would I have to do to that thick skull of yours just to make you see that you can't beat me alone."
"He isn't alone." Matthews' eyes snapped to the left and a blue glow began to overtake the white, but that lights source came from a different place. Yusuke was back on his feet, his left arm bent and broken, but his right still gathering energy. Three dots appeared around Yusuke's wrist, each one a spirit 'bullet' so to speak, an energy that could be converted easily into his trademark attack. As Matthews watched, those three dots touched each other, wavered, and burned together like a miniature sun. The ball of energy dipped into Yusuke, and his energy painted the entire room blue. For a long moment, Matthews stared at the pair as the energy built around them, as though calculating something. Then he laughed, turning his back again,
"Go on ahead, my friends. You don't have the energy to get to me, even combined. If you want to throw it all around it one last shot, be my guest, but you simply don't have the means with which to-."
"Then we'll create the means." Once again, Matthews head jerked around to a combatant supposedly out of the fight. Yoko still lay entangled in the bloody vine, but his left arm was free. It strained out, spirit energy rising from it like a wave of pale water, flowing outward and twisting around a black form rising from the ground. As the energy left him, Yoko faded, leaving a tired Kurama it's place, but Matthews was watching the black shadow.
"H-Hiei?" Matthews took a step back, but pursed his lips in an outward appearance of uncaring, "Well now, finally decided to embrace your role as a weak human, fighting for the protection of the weak and downtrodden. Perhaps the Forlorn Hope has altered you too much to retain your-."
"It altered me enough." Hiei said shortly, his hands bunched at his sides, his sword wound forgotten, and his tattooed right arm glowing back as he took Kurama's energy in and altered it, binding it to his own purpose. Black energy enveloped him like smoke, faint screams through the air as miniature dragons formed and dissolved in the smoke, "I know what I am, regardless of what my body is. It's time I trusted in that."
For once, Matthews didn't say anything at all. Sweat formed at his brow as the energies gathered. The room burned as each combatant struggled to maximize their attacks before launched it. The soldier took a step backwards, probably without realizing it, and jumped slightly as an electric crackle sounded behind him. He spun around only to see three sets of violet eyes, and three arrows of burning electricity. He spun slowly like a caged animal to find that Suzaku had surrounded him, one on every side, and each was drawing energy for a final storm of torment.
"H-Hehe...an impressive e-effort, friends." Matthews scoffed, pulling himself up to his full height, "But futile. You might...might...be able to punch into me if you could all hit me at the same time...I may not be able to dodge ALL of you, but I can dodge most of it."
"We don't have to hit you. You'll move in front of us." Yusuke said quietly, and the grave faces of his friends shown brightly, somehow more visible then even the light would account for, as they inevitably moved to the final attack.
"And what makes you think I would do that?" Matthews asked, with none of the laughter or scorn his previous sentences had contained.
"Because your energy isn't yours, and it will fade eventually...your reign with crumble without that THING behind you!" Ten attacks shifted aim, ten attack lined up perfectly, and ten attack came to rest, pointed at the hulking shape that the prisoners had called 'The Machine."
"No!" Matthews threw himself to the side, and the energy of the place was released. The air burned, sizzled, and screamed with protest as the gathered energies roared toward their foe. Matthews scrambled before the Machine, his suit blazing with energy, his entire body so potently channeling that the entirety of his form disappeared with light. Seven arrows of lightning struck first, the room painted orange as it struck against a wall of spirit, a bubble that surrounded Matthews and his machine. A human sounding grunt came from the glowing sphere of light as Yusuke's spirit gun impact, indenting a section of the bubble as it tried to pierce it. The ball of blue energy was soon flanked by white as Amakaze's pair of laser shots hit to its left and right, all three moving inexhaustibly forward.
"See! You can't do it!" Matthews voice roared over the scream and burn of energy, "You're not strong enough to beat me, it cannot be done by you people! I am invincible!" The energy held off the shock of the arrows, and the spirit guns, and both began to fade slowly. Matthews energy began to deplete, and he could be seen again, his eyes wild and his mouth foaming slightly as he stood braced against the onslaught, "I am absolutely invincible!"
"Like Hell you are!" Hiei reared back, his hand engulfed with black fire as he strained to draw it forth. With a cry, he thrust forward, a twin pair of Dragon's spinning around each other for a moment, and abruptly arcing away. One went to the left, and one to the right and veered inward, slamming into the shield on either side. A bright crack of Yellow formed in the shield, spreading and multiplying rapidly as the bubble shrunk.
"This cannot be! This is imposs-!" With one final deafening explosion, the shield collapsed, and the entire room was engulfed in light.
---
"Here we go again.." Chu said, focusing himself for another round of kick-the-soldiers, "Hope we can make one or two more go-arounds."
"Wait, something's happening..." Rinku stopped him, putting a hand on the big fighter's shoulder, "Something's going on."
"We know what's going on, they're getting back up." Chu snapped over his shoulder, "They've always-what the bloody hell?" Involuntarily he spun to stare at the Barracks as energy, impossible energy, gathered there. He could almost make out the individual parts, it was...
"Get out! Get out! Get out!" Chu jumped as a man screamed behind him, and he spun around again, only to see Sid, who had led the assault against them without emotion even as he was getting cut up or destroyed, on the ground, banging his head into the concrete, "Ahh! Get out of my mind! Get him out of my head, please!!"
"What's going on?" Rinku demanded, turning squarely to face him as Chu began to laugh, "Do you know?"
"Ain't it obvious?" Chu chuckled, "Soldier boy is getting tied up by whatever going on in there that he's losing it out here. They're going to break free of his-."
The ground suddenly dropped out from under their feet as the earth gave a violent shudder. The sky lit up with energy as the entire roof of the complex was blown off. Energy washed over the battle field, and Chu instinctively stepped in front of the child-like Rinku, shielding his friend with his body. The light was blinding even with his eyes squeezed tight, and the impact was a horrible experience that seemed to slam into him from all sides forever, though he knew it couldn't have lasted longer then ten seconds.
Slowly, he came back to himself to find himself on the ground, his ears ringing from the noise. Painfully and carefully, he pulled himself to his feet, and was comforted to find Rinku doing the same, more or less unharmed. All around him, soldiers were rising up, talking in low voices, apparently confused by what had happened. Black smoke rose from the mostly standing complex, parts of it smoldering slightly with near-fires.
"Well I'll be. The son of a bitch did it!"
---
"Yusuke, Yusuke! Wake up Yusuke! Wake up!"
"Mmmmpph...Mom? Dun wanna go to school...let me sleep five more minutes..."
"Yusuke, you fool, get up before I stab you in the chest!"
Yusuke blinked sleepily. That voice didn't sound like his moment, and the threat was a little much when he hadn't actually done anything. In fact, both the threat and the voice sounded more like...
"Hiei?!" His eyes snapped open as the whole episode came back to him. He sat up and immediately regretted it as his head threatened to split open almost immediately, "Ow..Ow..I've got a headache."
"Be glad that's the least of your worries, detective." A tired voice spoke up. Yusuke looked over to see a fully human Amakaze hanging onto sitting position, pulling a much crumble cardboard box from his ripped shirt pocket, the label 'Lucky 7' stamped across the side. He fished inside it for a moment, remove a cigarette and smiling up at his brothers, both of whom had done more or less the same thing, "Anyone think to bring the light?"
"Here." One of the Suzaku's limped toward them, his hand producing a lighter from one of his pocket and setting the end of each cancer-strick ablaze. Amakaze smiled slightly as he viewed the lighter and the distinctive bullet lodged into the side of it, "So..Vince gets to join our celebration." He was about to puff on his cigarette when Zandock 'thumped' him across the back of the head, nearly making him swallow it.
"You moron!" The Hakudou snapped, "You know better then to unleash your demon form like that! You could have killed us all, you know, or worse!"
"Yeah yeah, coulda, but didn't." Amakaze flashed a roguish grin, "Using all that energy tired out my demon side and snapped him back to human, so it all works out, right?"
"Yeah, but still..-."
"Yusuke, how's that arm of yours?" Kurama was bleeding from several deep wounds, but none looked to be immediately life threatening, "Can you manage until we get back to the temple?"
"No problem." Yusuke chuckled, "Kuwabara did a lot worse then me before, and he never even beat me." The spirit detectives eye roamed to the center of the destruction, where a blackened pit marked the spot where Matthews had stood, the still frame of the machine burned and slightly twisted behind it, "I didn't expect a god to be so easy to defeat, did you?"
"You should have been onboard for the Maxwell crisis." Caspar confided, his eyes sparkling as he helped Yusuke to his feet, "That one was a real toughie. Comparatively, this guy was just a poser."
"Oh yeah, I'm sure you've faced so much worse." Yusuke rolled his eyes as they began to walk back toward the door.
"Damn straight, young man." Zandock grinned, his voice creaking like an old man as he hobbled as if with back pain. He mimed slapping Yusuke with a cane, "Why, when I was your age, we had REAL demons, none of this spirit stuff to help us neither...Had to walk to Makai uphill both ways...and we liked it!"
"I'll bet." Yusuke laughed, wiping his brow, "I'm just glad I get to go home now."
"And where do you think you're going?"
The entire entourage froze in its tracks, unwilling to have heard that voice, but certain that they did. Yusuke turned around, eyes as wide as dinner-plates. Yes, it was him. Matthews emerged from behind the Machine, his suit torn and burned off him in place. The left side of his face was cut up and bleeding, and a few embers still smoldered on his shoulder as he faced them. A familiar smirk tugged at his lips, but his eyes glittered angrily.
"Do you have any idea how much this suit cost?"
---
"Woo-hoo!" Chu whooped, raising his hand in the air in celebration, "I don't believe he did it! Yeah, Yusuke!"
"Uh...Chu..."
"I can't believe he managed that! I mean, with all that energy, I thought the whole lot of us was dead for sure!"
"Uh..Hey, Chu..."
"I mean, I'm no ashamed to admit I was thinking about cutting and running there for a while, I mean, who'd have thought of-."
"Chu!"
"What are you going on abo- Holy God..." Chu trailed off as he spun, craning his neck upward as a rising monstrosity blocked out the moon. The pale light shown on metal as the beast of a machine settled back onto its six legs like some gargantuan spider. The legs joined together as a flat top, almost like a square car set atop the mass. Strapped to the main body of the thing, four slot opened, and circular gatling guns emerged and began to spin.
"Are you ready, Monstruos?" Carlos Joaquin asked quietly, "Your friend broke my motorcycle, so I had to find a new machine, do you like it? No? Well, I'm sorry to hear it that..."
"You see, it'll be the last thing you DO see before you die."
---
The gunshot was abnormally loud in the silence, and the impact against his right shoulder spun Amakaze around. Without a moments pause, Matthews pulled the trigger again, and again, each time driving another bullet in the spirit detective's back. After twelve shots, the bullets ran out with an audible click, and Amakaze finally dropped to the ground, his breath rushing out of him with a strained hiss.
"You bastard!" Zandock straightened, his feet falling heavily as he began to charge the soldier. He had made it only one step before Matthews had, in a blur of motion, reloaded and reaimed again. The first two bullets to the chest slowed Zandock in his forward rush, the third stopped him entirely, and the last three sent home down onto his back with a half-uttered scream that choked off quickly. Without waiting for the last brother to move, the last six bullets found Caspar's chest before he had fully adjusted to the situation.
The pistol smoked as Matthews slowly lowered it. In less then a minute, all three of the former spirit detectives were on the ground, and their breathing came ragged and poorly, "Well, that takes care of the old flavor, shall I move onto the new?"
"Why..You son of a-." Yusuke began, but a soft hand touched his arm. It was only then that he registered Matthews' stunned look over his shoulder.
"That's enough, Yusuke." Koenma's disguised face was serious as he strode regally forward. His eyes falling upon the fallen detectives and twisting a moment with some form of regret, "Matthews..."
"I didn't expect to see you yet." Matthews admitted, popping his knuckles, "In fact, I didn't expect to see you until I overthrew spirit world and pulled you from your home, kicking and screaming. You surprise me, spirit ruler. Come to fight me yourself?"
"No...No I haven't." Koenma sighed, his eyes closing with pain for a moment before opening. His next words came with difficulty, "I've come...to discuss...terms.."
"Terms? What terms?" Yusuke was the one who said it, but the same question was on the mind of every human, demon, or half-breed that overheard it. Koenma sighed, his eyes open and shaking as he continued gravely.
"To discuss your terms...for our surrender."