Author's Notes: Argh! Why is it always starting or finishing a story I have trouble with? Also, as one pic as this fight with Natsuno and Tatsumi feels while writing it, I still have the Mortal Kombat Movie Theme booming in my head. then when Tohru got involved,it was the Hellsing Anime theme. . Maybe I'm just having trouble trying to make sure I don't repeat battle scenes. For anyone wondering where the cops are in all this, they're busy arresting the audience and taking the other combatants into custody. Hirato's busy throwing the book at Sunako. Also, 'Silver' Yogi and 'Shiki' Tohru do get a bit of allegorical representation.
Chapter 25: Final Round
"Let him go, Yoshii," Gareki growled.
"Oh no," Yoshii answered, tugging the chains of her cuffs tighter around Yogi's neck. Yogi started to sputter for air in spite of himself. "You heard me, drop the gun, or the Cat dies."
"Yoshii, be reasonable, " Seishin tried to coax her, "You heard them, the police are already here, they've already arrested Sunako. How do you plan to get out of here?"
Tsukitachi opened his eyes and shook his head. "Oh, what hit me?" he groaned. He blinked and quickly assessed the situation.
"Stay down, Fox," Yoshii growled dangerously, "It's been ages since I've sunk my teeth into a piece of meat as ripe as this. "
Gareki raised an annoyed eyebrow. "What the hell, Yoshii, are you gonna strangle him or eat him?" he asked, realizing she clearly hadn't thought things through. He smirked, realizing the Shewolf really hadn't thought this through. "You don't know, do you? You probably didn't even think you'd get this far, did you? Let the kitten go, he hasn't done anything to you," he said, his voice sounding so indifferent that Yogi had thought Gareki didn't care what happened here one way or another.
"G-Gareki...?" Yogi mewled quietly, half thinking the Wolf really didn't care and half choked for air.
"Hear that, Kitty Cat?" Yoshii chuckled, "Your little lap dog isn't concerned about you." Her eyes flited from Yogi to Gareki, "Or maybe, the club's just afraid to fight on his own?"
Gareki growled. He was far from afraid. He knew what fighting a girl meant, especially a Shewolf. That already complicated things, add to that he was here against doctor's orders on a freshly injured arm, still wrapped in bandages, and he knew his chances against her were slim. Yoshii had caught on to his attempt at psychological warfare and quickly turned it around on him. "The hell did you just say?" he demanded .
Yoshii giggled. "You are, aren't you? 'Big' bother's not here to watch your back, so you're afraid to drop that gun and take me by yourself. But, if you shoot at me, you might just miss and hit my hostage." Noticing Yogi's face was now nearly purple, she slacked a bit of tension in the chains to allow him some room to breathe. "Can't have the kid pass out on me yet," she thought.
"What are you hoping to accomplish, Tatsumi?" Natsuno asked, "This little farce of a tournament is over." Natsuno had a good idea of what was going on, this has been a mating match and Megumi was the prize to be won. Not that he cared who had won. "Sunako's already been arrested," he added, "Coming after me isn't going to convince the cops to let her go, " he turned his eyes to the blue Hyena and the red Tanuki, "And it looks like Uro's dipped out and left the two of you behind. Why don't you all roll over and play dead, maybe if you cooperate with the police they may let you bargain your freedom."
Kagiri and Kiharu exchanged looks. Was that actually a possibility for them? They been born down here. Uro had owned them both since they had taken their first breaths. Freedom was never a concept they had considered.
"They can turn themselves in if they want," Tatsumi said, closing the gap between himself and Natsuno, "Tournament or no, you and I have have a seven year old hatchet to bury and this may be our last chance, Pup, and I'd rather go out fighting. "
Natsuno felt Tohru's hands worriedly tug at his shirt. It may not have been Gareki, but he still had someone he needed to protect. "I'm sorry to disappoint you," Natsuno said, "But I don't have the time to waste on you."
"Pathetic," Tatsumi laughed as Natsuno wrapped an arm around Tohru. "You brats have spent so long at the hands of Uro you're more than willing to take orders from a bunch of cats, aren't you? " He smiled as this retort drew Natsuno's attention back to him. "Or has your last past month with a couple of weak yellow bellied crybabies made you soft? " Tatsumi chuckled.
Natsuno spun back to face Tatsumi with a dangerous growl. "He took a beating from those two idiots and he's still standing," Natsuno said, "Tells me he's stronger than you give him credit for."
Tatsumi chuckled, "Those two idiots?" He pushed his way between Natsuno and Tohru, and with one quick movement, threw Tohru into the reinforced wall behind them, "Come now, we both know we could eat both of them for breakfast." Tohru was winded and effectively knocked out cold as he slammed into the wall. Tatsumi smiled as that little act earned him the reaction he was looking for.
Tatsumi effortlessly caught Natsuno's fist as he threw a punch.
"She's baiting you, Gareki," Tsukitachi warned.
Yogi gasped as he felt the chains tighten against his throat again. His face began turning colors a gain and his eyes teared over. In truth, the blonde was more worried about the young Wolf than he was himself. "Ga..re..." he tried to call out to the Wolfboy, but Yoshii's hold cut him off.
Gareki flinched. "Damn it all," he growled , "Bitch!" No matter how he looked at it, Yoshii was right a bout one thing, if he missed, Yogi was too close. "Fine, you win!" He turned the safety on and flung the gun across the room. "Now, let him go!"
Yoshii paused like she was thinking about it. She let up on the chains, just enough Yogi could breath. She stopped and looked the group over. They still had to get Seishin out of his cell. If she made it out without running into any further cops, she wouldn't need her hostage. She sighed and released her hold, letting the blonde drop.
Yogi sank to his knees, hand around his throat as he cough ed and gasped for air. "Yogi!?" all three of the canines exclaimed.
Gareki knelt down next to the blonde. "You ok?" he asked .
Yogi's violet eyes flashed to Gareki as the color came back to his face. "You were gonna let her strangle me, weren't you!?" he accused .
"She would have had to let you go then," Tsukitachi said. "Can't run with an unconscious hostage."
Seishin reached through the bars and pushed Tsukitachi's shoulder. "Don't just stand there, go get her!" he said. "She's got enough of a lead. "
"Just be careful," Gareki warned. Tsukitachi nodded and chased off after the Shewolf. Gareki, making certain Yogi was alright, returned his attention Seishin's cell, finally unlocking it.
"I'm sorry, Gareki," Yogi said quietly, as he slid back next to the Wolf as they started to leave.
"Sorry for what?" Gareki asked.
"That you got hurt because of me," Yogi said, gently running a finger along the bandages on Gareki's injured shoulder.
Gareki snorted a half hearted chuckle. He absentmindedly wrapped his good arm around the blonde, welcoming Yogi's quiet purrs . "Don't worry too much over it, Pussy Cat," he said , scritching between the blonde's ears, "I forbid you to blame yourself for this. They pulled a cheap trick and sent us a couple of opponents they knew we wouldn't fight." Gareki quietly flicked his eyes over to Yogi. While he would be lying if he were to day the Neko wasn't gorgeous in the Rock Gordon shorts, he hated thinking the poor blonde might feel vulnerable in it. He wished he had a coat he could at least give him to cover up with. Down here, no one could see him, but once they made it back to the top, that was a whole different matter. Gareki sighed. "At least I'll still have my undershirt," he thought as he took off his t-shirt.
"Gareki, what are you...?" Yogi started to ask.
"Here, put this on," Gareki ordered, pushing the shirt into the blonde's hands.
Yogi blushed and nodded. His blush grew a little bigger as Gareki's shirt was just long enough to reach Yogi's knees. "This... I almost feel even more indecent in this," the blonde quietly muttered, a hand curled in front of his mouth, a broht re blush sweeping his face as he tugged at the bottom of the shirt, He snuggled back to Gareki's side. "But thank you."
Seishin quietly smiled. It has only been a month and a half since Natsuno and Gareki first moved in to the Mutou household, and yet he could already see a drastic change in all four of them. "Lea, Azuza, I'm sure if either of you were here, you'd both be so proud of your boys," he thought.
Natsuno ducked a punch from Tatsumi and landed a punch to the older Wolf's gut. Tatsumi growled and retaliated with c a right to Natsuno's jaw. Natsuno staggered backwards and shook his head, He lunged at Tatsumi, aiming for the older dog's left ribs.
Tatsumi moved to side step Natsuno's attack, only to get clipped in the side. Tatsumi staggered for a moment, his right hand grabbing at his side. He blinked in surprise and winced in pain. He blue and shook his head.
"What's the matter, Tatsumi? Old age finally catching up to you?" Natsuno asked.
"Don't boast, Pup," Tatsumi warned, "I may be thousands of years old, but I've still got a trick or two up my sleeve."
Tatsumi turned and came at Natsuno with a jump kick. Natsuno quickly dodged to the side, catching Tatsumi in a bear hug move and slamming him to the ground in a grappling move. Natsuno's ears flicked as he heard his opponent's ribs crack. "Idiot's already half dead and still fighting?" the younger Alpha Wolf thought. "You really do want to die fighting, don't you?" Natsuno growled.
Tohru regained consciousness, and groaned as his eyes fluttered open. He shook his head and watched in silent pain as Tatsumi and Natsuno fought. Natsuno knew that the only way out of this was to render Tatsumi completely unconscious, otherwise the older wolf would definitely attempt to kill him, and possibly Tohru, too. "I have to take him out before he takes his Wolf from," Natsuno thought, "Or he'll most likely kill indiscriminately."
Tatsumi came at Natsuno again, with a jump kick. Natsuno blocked the attack with his arms and pushed him back. Tatsumi did a flip and landed feet first, facing Natsuno. Tatsumi smiled. "Looks like your Kitten's awake," he snarled. "He looks like he's in pain. How about I put him out of his misery? "
"Keep your paws off of him, Tatsumi, I'm your opponent," Natsuno snarled.
Tatsumi chuckled. "He's more dangerous to be left alive than I am, right now, you know. How does it feel, little Kitty Cat? Parts of your body feeling numb, like you're on fire? Heart beating rapidly? Breathing in feels like you're going to vomit?" Tatsumi chuckled, "Natsuno and I know the feeling all too well."
" You don't mean? " Natsuno asked, worriedly.
"We've got a ticking time bomb on our hands," Tatsumi said, walking over to Tohru and grabbing a handful of blonde locks of hair, dragging the Neko to his feet.
Tohru hissed and spat, trying to pull free, letting a few choice word fly in the Feline language . "If you're trying to insult me, it's not working," Tatsumi s said sounding rather bored. "I never bothree learning inferior languages."
"Let go of him, Tatsumi," Natsuno growled, "This is between you and me."
Tohru dug his nails into Tatsumi's wrist and scratched the old Wolf, tearing through the skin. Reflex kicked in and Tatsumi let go of Tohru's hair, only for Tohru's own reflexes to kick in and he bit Tatsumi's hand. Tatsumi pushed Tohru away and Natsuno came at him with a frontal attack.
Tatsumi dodged Natsuno once more, sweeping the younger Wolf's injured leg. In the blink of an eye, Tatsumi had turned into a real grey wolf with green tinted highlights in his fur and, letting out a bark and snarl, bit down on Natsuno's leg. Natsuno let out a pained yelp and used his good leg to kick Tatsumi off. "Damn," Natsuno growled, both hands flying to his bleeding leg, "WHY does everyone go for the cheep shots? " He struggled to push himself back up, but before he could make it, Tatsumi had pounced and bit down on Natsuno's neck.
As Seishin and the boys caught back up to Tsukitachi who managed to recapture Yoshii. They were joined by a small group of Police Officers who were breaking the locks on the cells and herding the occupants together; several of whom were proving they needed to be hand cuffed for their own protection, as they all had grudges against one another due to the way Palnedo and his men and Sunako had raised and treated them.
"This is so sad," Yogi lamented, "Gareki, we're you and Natsuno ever kept down here?"
" No," Gareki answered, "Our father had been one of the better fighters before he escaped, apparently. We were automatically handed over to Uro and put in block A. They expected us to live up to his standards." Yogi frowned and gently wrapped his arms around Gareki as he noticed the Wolfboy shudder upon mentioning his father.
"Ok, Yogi, you don't need to see any more of this," Tsukitachi sighed, "I think this place has given you and Tohru enough nightmare fuel for the next hundred years. Gareki, take Yogi up and find Hirato and your brothers. Sei and I will stay and help out down here."
Gareki and Yogi nodded. Gareki caught Yogi by the wrist and lead him back toward the ring. "Who are the kids?" one officer asked, nudging his head in the direction the Wolf and Cat ran off in.
"Half of your star witnesses," Seishin answered.
"And you're just letting them run around without taking them into custody?" the officer asked, that cub had a gun.
"You got a problem with that, talk to Chief Ryuuoshi and Senator Tokitatsu," Tsukitachi replied, "That 'cub' is licensed to have that gun."
On their way toward the ring, Gareki and Yogi accessed the hall with the offices. Gareki stopped and his ears twitched. "Gareki? What's up?" Yogi asked.
Gareki shushed him. "There's somebody down here," the Wolf said.
Yogi stopped and listened. They could hear someone shuffling around in Uro's office. Gareki reached for his gun and signaled for Yogi to keep quiet and stay close. Yogi nodded and they both snuck up to the office door. There, rooting through the file cabinet, was the the Red Cougar himself.
"Is he trying to get ride of the evidence?"" Yogi whispered.
Uro stopped and flicked an eye back towards the door, his hair and for bristled on high alert. "Damn, he heard you," Gareki whispered, catching Yogi's wrist. Before either of them had time to move, Uro was at the door, snatching Gareki up with one hand and flinging him into the office and hitting the button that activated the shock collar around Yogi's arm.
Yogi screeched in pain, sinking to his knees. Gareki slammed against the wall, dropping his gun, which slid under Uro's desk. Uro laughed. "Come back home willingly, Cub? You missed me that much?"
"Don't flatter yourself ," Gareki replied.
"Of course not," Uro said, "You're just upset somebody stole your new plaything." Uro caught Yogi by the tail and drug the blonde Neko into the room. "He would have been ready for you, but his brother helped him work the nip out of his system."
"You trained us to be killers, Uro, not rapists," Gareki refuted, "Neither of us would have touched them if we found them that way. "
"Yes," Uro sighed, "My biggest mistake was not breeding either of you the moment you were ready, and allowing you both to think you were hiding it from everyone."
Yogi leapt to his feet, placing himself between Rio and Gareki. "How can you be so cruel?" the blonde hissed, "After everything you put them through, and THAT'S your biggest regret?"
Uro heaved a quiet sigh and smirked as he hit the button, shooting another 50,000 volts through the blonde. "Yogi!" Gareki fretted, jumping to the Neko's side.
"I'm alright, Gareki," Yogi said quietly, "It didn't hurt as bad this fourth time around."
"Fourth!?" Gareki exclaimed. "Uro, you bastard!"
"Don't be so over melodramatic, Gareki," Uro groaned, "Your friend just talks too much. Like I said, Blondie, these boys were my property, I could do anything I wanted with them. I could have done a lot more of Natsuno wasn't so overprotective of his little brother, here." Uro smirked and and reached over to stroke a hand through Gareki's hair. Gareki closed his eyes and fliched.
Yogi hissed and swatted Uro's hand away, bearing his claws. "Keep your hands off him, you've tortured these boys enough."
Yogi had an idea what Uro had been illuding to, but Gareki had no disillusions. Natsuno had allowed himself to be emotionally blackmailed for Gareki's sake several times; grudge matches, forced change, countless hits topside, all to either prevent them from being seperated, or to keep Uro and Ryuu from putting aside their differences and tag teaming Gareki. Both were already pretty certain Uro had done so with Kagiri and Kiharu. Sometimes, Gareki had quietly wished they had gone a head and split them, just so his poor brother couldn't be manipulated by them anymore. "Uro, if the cops weren't here, I'd give you what you want, in exchange that you let the cat go," Gareki said, "But, it's only a matter of time before they're knocking this office door down and going through all these files you're trying to discard, so it seems rather pointless to bargain with you."
" I wouldn't sit still long enough for him to touch you even if you did make that bargain, " Yogi insisted.
"Yeah, what happened to all that bravado you and your brother we're spitting in that cell?" Uro asked, "Not as brave as you thought you were?" He chuckled and pressed the button, activating the shock collar once more, "Or maybe this drained it out of you?"
Yogi curled in on himself, yeowling in pian, his fur standing on end. "Damn it, Uro! Stop!" Gareki barked. He growled and threw a punch at the Cougar, hoping if nothing else he could wrestle the controller away and maybe deactivate it.
Uro pocketed the control, blocked Gareki's punch and flipped the young Wolf onto his back, landing him on the desk. "You're slowing down, Gareki," Uro warned , "What's wrong, are these spoiled little house cats making you soft?" Uro chuckled and tugged at Gareki's undershirt. "You even gave him the shirt off your back, that's unusually generous of you."
Gareki rolled over onto his back and tried to push himself back to his knees. Uro grabbed Gareki by his injured arm. "Stay down," the Cougar ordered.
Natsuno struggled to pull Tatsumi off himself. With the older wolf's jaws locked on his neck, changing into a wolf himself was too much of a threat. He grabbed Tatsumi's jaws and tried to force them open.
Suddenly, there was a growling roar from beside them and the next thing Natsuno saw was a white and golden brown flash of teeth and turn and claws pounce on Tatsumi, ripping the older wolf off the Wolfboy. "What the!?" Natsuno pushed himself back into a sitting position, coughing and sputtering, his hand flying to his neck to make sure he wasn't bleeding.
His ears were being assaulted with the sound of a fight, Tatsumi yelping as if he were being mauled, and the angry roaring of... a lion? Natsuno's eyes widened as he looked up and found an adolescent lion; golden brown fur, the shaggy beginnings of a mane, and a gift of fur at the tip of his tail, towering over the old wolf. Natsuno quietly looked around, as the words Yogi had said back at the cell registered in his head, "After forcing us into this Rock Gordon outfit, they injected us with something..."
"No..." Natsuno gasped as it registered in his head, his eyes returning to the lion, "Tohru!? Bastards! "
Tatsumi tried to fight back, snarling and snapping at Tohru's new form and dodging out of the way from Tohru's paws as they swatted at him, claws bared. With a snarl, Tohru caught Tatsumi by the neck and pinned him to the ground. Natsuno cautiously approached Thoru's side. "I can't believe I'm about to help this guy," Natsuno thought. Crossing his hands together behind his back, Natsuno leaned in and whispered to Tatsumi, "You wanna get him off of you? Roll over and play dead."
Gareki sucked in a pained breath through his teeth. Weather if he did so because he didn't want to give Uro the satisfaction of hearing him help or because he didn't want Yogi to worry, even he wasn't certain. If the former, he succeeded. If the later, it was already way too late.
Yogi had watched in pain as Uro flipped Gareki onto the desk, he worriedly licked his lips as Uro tugged at Gareki's undershirt. The moment he saw Gareki flinch in pain as the abusive red Cougar grabbed hold of him, Yogi became enraged. Gareki and Uro both flinched and looked behind them as they heard a low guttural growl come from behind them. Looking back, they both watched as Yogi changed right in front of them. Gareki jerked away from Uro and quickly moved off the desk. "Y-Yogi!?" Gareki gasped. He looked back to Uro. "You bastards, what did you do to him?"
"I think that's a little obvious, isn't it?" Uro answered.
"Let me guess, Tohru, too?" Gareki asked. Uro nodded. "Damn, Uro, you Bastards really are heartless."
Yogi stood tall and proud, nearly a fully grown lion, his mane much fuller than Tohru's, yet still not fully complete, his golden coat slightly brighter with faint tints of silver. Yogi irritably swished his tail, narrowing in his vision on Uro. Before Gareki and Uro either had a chance to move, the lion had pinned the Cougar to the wall. Gareki stood back, watching the fear in Uro's face as the lion bit him. "You get what you ask for," he said indifferently. Gareki knelt down and found his gun where it has landed under Uro's desk. Grabbing it and stuffing it in the holster, Gareki flicked his eyes toward the two cats. His ears flicked and he could hear the police coming up from the containment cells. "Huh, not the ones I thought would get here first, but they'll do," Gareki shrugged. "It's ok, Yogi, let him go!" Officer Tsukitachi's just down the hall. "
Yogi looked up at him with a snort. Gareki smiled and put a gentle hand on the lion's forehead. "It's alright, leave this monster for the cops to handle from here. We're gonna make sure he rots in jail, huh?" Yogi calmed down and released Uro , who slumped to the ground. The lion have Gareki a gentle headbutt and purred. "How do you do that?" Uro scoffed, holding his shoulder. "Even Sunako has trouble controlling Tatsumi when he transforms. Yet, here you are, with not only your brother, but a fanned lion eating out of your hand!"
"No idea," Gareki smirked and reached down, snatching the control for the shock collar out of Uro's pocket, "I'll be taking that." He looked it over, "It's gonna be interesting figuring out how to take this thing apart and disable that little device." He gently strokes his hand through Yogi's mane, "Don't worry, Kissy Cat, we'll get that awful thing off of you , soon enough," he promised, tucking the control into his pants pocket. He stopped at the door and turned, pulling his gun and pointing it in Uro's direction.
Uro's eyes widened. "Wait, Gareki, I thought you were going to leave me for the cops?" the Cougar questioned.
"Oh, I am," Gareki answered, "But if I lead them back to you, they'll see Yogi like this, and that's a whole headache I don't have the patience for. So from this point on, Uro." Gareki cocked his gun and looked away, "As far as Natsuno and I are concerned, you're dead to us." Gareki pulled the trigger and there was the sound of shattered glass as a bottle of red wine on the shelf above Uro burst, spilling on the Cougar. "Alright, Yogi, c'mon, let's go!" Gareki took off toward the stairs leading to the ring, Yogi following right behind him.
Tatsumi, refusing to take Natsuno's advice, finally passed out. Tohru growled, but didn't let go. "It's ok, Tohru, he's out cold," Natsuno said, "Put him down, yeah?" The young lion reluctantly released his hold on the older wolf and approached Natsuno.
Natsuno braced himself, he didn't want to fight Tohru, but he was ready to defend himself if need be. Tohru's breathing was heavy and Natsuno recognized the same feeling of fear in the young lion's eyes that he had felt during his first rtransformation, only stronger. He could also sense that Tohru was in a lot of pain.
Natsuno sigh and smiled. "It's alright, Kitten, come here," Natsuno coaxed. Tohru approached Natsuno and nuzzled up to him with a soft purr. Natsuno smiled, "Poor thing, I know, it's scary. But you'll be alright."
" Well, nice to know it's hereditary, at least I'm not having to come in here and calm down three of you, " Gareki laughed.
"Oh no, Yogi, too?" Natsuno sighed, "What the hell happened?"
" Uro, " Gareki answered, holding up the control for the shock collar. Before Natsuno could say anything in response, Gareki held up his hand. "Relax. He barely touched me. Yogi didn't give him much chance. We left him for the cops, but..." Gareki pressed his lips to Natsuno's for a quick, fleeting, chaste kiss, "We're finally free of him." Natsuno smiled and scratched behind his brother's ears. Gareki smiled, until he looked back at Tohru, "So what happened here?"
"Tatsumi," Natsuno answered, "Kiharu and Kagiri messed up Tohru pretty bad before Hirato interrupted the match. Rather than running, Tatsumi decided he wanted to finish our grudge match." Natsuno thumbed to the unconscious wolf. "Tohru didn't take too kindly to seeing the old mutt bite me."
"Well, that's that," Gareki sighed, "Can we get these two back to normal and get the Hell out of here, now? I don't ever want to see this place again."
"Reasonable request," Hirato said, walking back into the ring. He fell silent as his eyes scanned the room. "What happened here?"
"Long story," Gareki and Natsuno replied.
"Right," Hirato sighed. He took out his transceiver, "Chief? You think you can give Tsukitachi and Seishin a lift back to Ozaki's clinic? My car's going to be rather full tonight."
Author's Note: No, Gareki WAS NOT consenting to anything with Uro! I don't think Uro was actually going to try anything with Gareki, but Yogi wasn't taking any chances. I had thought the scene with Uro out a bit differently at first, but this is how it ended. To be honest, I hadn't originally intended any of this chapter to play out like it did, but well, plans change.
One last chapter to write and this series will be the third (well, ok 4th of you count the extra) ever ShiKarneval fic to be completed. I wish "The Other Half" was finished, I feel like I have an unfair monopoly over this crossover.