Kagome was more than just a little mad this time.
She was downright furious.
"What is your problem?!" she snarled, taking a swipe at the demented feline. "What the hell is your problem?!"
"Hey, easy!" the cat yelped, quickly ducking the blow. "Easy!"
"Are you a complete and utter moron?! What would you have done if he'd jumped out the window after it?! This is Goku! That actually is a distinct possibility!" she screeched, chasing after him with violence on the mind.
"Calm down!" Korin shouted, running up the stairs and out onto the more open area of the tower. "Look, it was necessary! Everybody trains different, right?!"
She paused, glaring at him suspiciously. "Explain," she clipped.
The feline sighed a bit and slumped back against the railing. "Okay, so we pretty much all know that you're not goin' anywhere with physical strength," he spoke. "And don't go gettin' your panties in a twist, I'm just bein' realistic. Without your ki, you're just another one of those little girls down there who like to play pretend that they can handle themselves just 'cause they take karate - but with the ki, it's a whole new ballgame. Right?"
The priestess thought it over for a second. She had to admit, it was... logical. Slowly, she walked over and sat down in front of him. "And just what does this have to do with you tossing Goku off the tower?"
"Hey, I didn't toss the kid anywhere!" he defended.
"You chucked his grandpa's dragon ball," she scoffed. "That's as good as doing it to him. He'd follow that thing to Hell and back if he had to."
The cat winced. "Yeah, yeah, okay... He just needed the right incentive to get him goin', alright? I was thinkin' that having you sit there and watch would be enough to get him to step up his game, but apparently the only balls he's aware of are-"
"Finish that sentence," she cut him off with a growl, "and I'll make a fiddle out of you."
Korin audibly gulped. "... Gotcha. Anyway, he had to have something that would get him to push himself harder. He'll be back in a few hours, a day max, and he'll be stronger than ever. You'll see."
She studied him closely, eyes narrowed. "So then," she finally stated. "I suppose this means that it's my turn now."
"Er, I was actually kind of hoping for a bit of a break," the cat admitted.
She gave him an innocent smile. "Well then, it's a real shame you're leaving me with so much free time to meditate. I'm just bursting with energy."
"Oh, great," the feline groaned. "Here we go..."
"As an alternative," she offered after a moment of letting him moan. "You could tell me what it is about this world that's so different from my own. They're both supposedly Earth, and I know that the calendars definitely don't line up, but my best theory up until a few days ago was an alternate dimension where things'd just developed differently. Now I'm not so sure."
"Because of the change in your energy?" he guessed.
She nodded. "Because of the change in my energy. Oh, and I'm also going to have to tell you to stay out of my head from now on."
He sighed. "Alright, alright. I'll try to remember that."
Kagome rolled her eyes. "Anyway. The way I see it, you're eight hundred years old and you've peeked at my thoughts enough to have a general idea of where I came from. So."
The feline nodded thoughtfully. "Gotcha. You want a history lesson."
"No," she corrected. "I want to understand what's happening to me so that I can adapt to those changes and turn them to my advantage."
He smirked just a bit. "Smart. Alright, what do you wanna know?"
She sighed. "I guess... everything."
There was a beat of silence.
"Then it's probably a good thing we've got a few hours," the cat groaned tiredly. "Fasten your seatbelt, girly. You're in for a bumpy ride."
The priestess held his gaze, completely serious. "I never expected anything less."
"Alright. Best I can tell, you come from maybe a couple hundred years before the second Great Flood..."
Post-apocalyptic future where nuclear winter paired with a massive cosmic event had managed to soak the whole planet in a blanket of genetically-altering radiation hadn't been the first guess on her possibilities list, but - to be fair - neither had the test-tube dinosaurs.
She would have thought that they'd learned something from Jurassic Park.
xxxx
Goku darted back up the tower with his dragon ball once more tied to his belt, feeling more than just a little annoyed. How could Korin do that! First playing tricks on them with the sacred water, and now tossing his most prized possession right out the window!
"This isn't garbage, okay!" he shouted after taking a second to regain his breath. "It's the four-star ball, and it's very, very important to me!"
"So I've heard," the cat murmured, rolling over before giving a snore.
"Hey! Are you listening to me?!" the boy growled, stomping up to the small bed. There was no response. "It's not nice to throw away another person's things!" he tried again. "Korin!" No response. "WAKE UP!" he shouted, peeling one of the feline's eyes open.
The only thing in that eye was an endless ocean and schools of fish. Goku let out a yelp and fell over.
Korin sat up, laughing loudly at him.
Kagome, who had been sitting in the corner with her legs crossed and eyes closed again for some reason, threw one of her shoes at the cat. That made the boy feel a little better, even if it did miss.
"Yeah, yeah," the feline stood, giving a stretch and kicking the boot back onto the floor. "I can tell when I'm not wanted, you lousy brats. I'll just go sleep upstairs, then."
Goku stuck his tongue out at him as he left to do just that.
The priestess sighed and got up to retrieve her shoe, tugging off the other as well and plopping down on the bed. "And I thought that Buyo could get annoying sometimes. Did you see Upa while you were down there?"
He shook his head and walked over to sit beside her. "No, I think he went and hid like we told him to."
She nodded. "... Hey, Goku?"
"Yeah?"
The girl glanced over to fully meet his eyes. "You were back in three hours."
He took a moment to process that, and then his jaw dropped.
xxxx
Kagome woke up sometime in the middle of the night, realizing that Goku was no longer sleeping beside her on the hijacked bed. She spread her senses curiously, finding him right away up on the next floor with Korin - was he really trying a sneak-attack? That wasn't usually his style. He seemed to decide the same thing and backed off to crash on the other side of the pavilion, making her smile to herself.
Though she did have to wonder a bit as she rolled over to slip back into a doze, just when it was that she had become so aware of his aura that she could key in on it in an instant like that.
She woke again to the sound of fighting, and sat up to return once more to a seated position against the wall. She stubbornly ignored the prick of worry she felt when she sensed Goku going back down the tower and slipped into meditation.
'Ugh,' she heard the voice of the 'Shikon' groan as she turned inward once more. 'Back already, little girl? The arrangement's not going to change.'
'We'll see,' she stated as she took a look around at their empty surroundings.
'Everything has a price! Even those dragon balls that your little monkey is so enamored with require one to hunt them down in order to use them. Such things are beyond the control of mortals,' it growled.
'I know,' she huffed simply. 'But that's not what I'm after.'
There was a long pause, an almost exact copy of herself appearing before her out of the darkness... if she was part demon, at least. 'What is that supposed to mean?'
'You're me,' the priestess snorted. 'Can't you tell?'
It studied her with intrigued, luminescent silver eyes. 'You desire... a compromise?'
She nodded. 'I've just been thinking lately, what Korin said is right. My biggest resource is my ki, and I can't use that properly if I'm constantly at war with myself. So what is it going to take for you to stop fighting me?'
It tilted its head at her curiously. 'You will not attempt to command me as so many have before?'
Kagome shot the manifestation a look. 'Again: you're me. I don't do well with orders.'
Slowly, it grinned. 'Subdue me once and for all, allow me to meet this dragon of theirs when it is summoned, and I believe that we can discuss terms.'
Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. 'Why do you want to meet the dragon?'
It shrugged unrepentantly. 'He is like us; the concept intrigues me. Doesn't it you?'
'Well... yes,' she admitted. 'But I won't let you steal Goku's wish.'
It gave her a sharklike grin, its teeth jagged. 'As you continue to insist, I am you. Do you truly believe that I would take any wishes that I might foster to someone else when the power to grant them is within my own grasp? As I said, everything has a price. I have no interest in acquiring a debt.'
... That made a surprising amount of sense, actually - and it was easy enough to arrange. 'Alright, then that should be fine. Now what did you mean about subduing you?'
'I, too, wish to see just how this new world has effected my strength.'
And then it charged, claws biting into her shoulder, and Kagome realized that this might not be so simple after all.
xxxx
It had already been nearly two days since Kagome had moved, and Goku was really getting worried. Korin seemed to think that she was doing something important and had told him not to wake her up no matter what, but he was still worried about her.
Though, it did feel good to have figured out how to read Korin's breath all on his own. He knew that she probably would have explained it for him if he'd asked, but just the reassurance that he didn't need her to explain everything for him was a relief; she'd told him plenty of times that she didn't think he was dumb, but he wanted to keep it that way. He didn't want to have to depend on her all the time when he got confused.
He wasn't going to stop depending on her altogether, but still. It was nice, and he got the feeling that she would be proud of him for it.
"Okay," he announced determinedly once he and the cat had moved to the open space above to resume their fight over the water. "Today is the day, Korin! I'm going to get that bottle before Kagome even wakes up!"
"Do, don't speak," the feline snorted. "And with as deep as that kid's in, it wouldn't really surprise me if she was still out of it for another month before comin' up for some air."
"You're wrong," Goku argued, shifting into a fighting stance. "She'll be awake in no time!"
"You do know that she's not really asleep, right?" the cat sighed.
The boy charged, but Korin jumped out of the way.
"Focus, boy!" the feline shouted, diving back down straight at him.
He hurried to dodge, and the fight spread out all over the second floor in a flurry of kicks and punches. Finally, he was close enough...
The boy reached out and tickled the feline, causing him to burst into laughter and drop his cane - and the sacred water still hooked to the top of it - right over the guardrail that wrapped around the area.
"No!" the cat shouted as it fell. "The bottle!"
Goku jumped over the rail after it without a thought.
"Don't, you're gonna fall!" Korin yelled, running up to the rail after him. "Goku!"
He caught the cane, his tail hooking quickly around one of the supports. He laughed as he dangled there, thrilled with the knowledge that he had done what he'd set out to do. "Look, I got it!"
The cat grabbed him by the ankle, grumbling about stupid brats shaving a century off his life, and pulled him back up.
"Hooray!" he cheered, glad to have something solid beneath his feet again. "I have the water! What about Kagome, can I go wake her up now so that we can drink it?"
"You can drink," Korin snorted. "You earned it. But the little missy still hasn't-"
A clear silver bubble suddenly snapped into place around the cat, causing them both to let out a surprised yelp.
"Hasn't...?" the priestess repeated with an impish grin as she joined them on the second floor, one hand stretched out in front of her. Something seemed... different about her. Her eyes weren't a solid blue anymore, and she seemed more sure of herself. "What was it that I haven't done yet, Korin? Because it obviously can't be catching you."
"Kagome!" the boy greeted excitedly. "You're up!"
The feline shot her an embarrassed glare. "My guard was down, you brat!"
She stuck her tongue out at him. "Go ahead, Goku. I think it's probably safe to say that we passed."
The cat grumbled to himself and tapped his cane against the bubble, wincing a bit when it got bounced right back at him. Goku, having gotten the confirmation from his friend that they were both in the clear, pulled the lid from the bottle and drank deeply. He handed it up to the girl, a small frown tugging at his lips as she also took a much more delicate sip.
"I don't get it," the boy admitted frustratedly, staring down at his hands as he clenched and unclenched them into fists. "I don't feel any different from before! Kagome?"
She shook her head. "No change."
"That's natural," Korin huffed at the pair. "You feel exactly as you should after drinkin' tap water. Now would you mind lettin' me outta this thing? It's startin' to get claustrophobic."
"What!" Goku yelped. "Tap water?! But it's supposed to be special!"
The cat chuckled loudly as the priestess dropped her hand and the bubble disappeared. "Yeah, well, not really. See, you gained strength by workin' hard to get that bottle. Climbin' up and down the tower increased your endurance, learnin' how to anticipate my actions sharpened your mind, and taking that bottle away from me increased your speed - and as for the little missy, she just needed some motivation and a little time to meditate so she could work out whatever all those kinks keepin' her divided were. So see, you've tripled your strength since you arrived all by yourselves."
The boy gaped, finally understanding what he was hearing, and broke into a grin. "We're ready!" he announced, laughing happily as he flew at Kagome with an excited hug.
She laughed along, hugging him back tight. "We did it!"
"Awww, how cute," Korin snickered teasingly, interrupting the moment. "I can already see your kids... Poor little brats."
Kagome growled, went red, and stuck him in another bubble.
"WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP ASSUMING THAT I'M A PEDOPHILE!"
xxxx
Goku darted down the tower before her, going a good deal faster than she did despite the slight increase in the constant amount of reiki that she channelled into her body. Honestly, if he were actually human, she would've felt a whole lot worse about getting shown up by a twelve-year-old.
"Come on, Kagome!" the boy called up at her with a teasing laugh. "I'm gonna beat you to the boooottommm!"
"Is that a challenge, kiddo?!" she shouted back.
"Yep!" he announced easily. "And if I win, you have to stop calling me a kid!"
She chuckled, unable to help it. His enthusiasm was contagious. "Oh? We'll just have to see about that! First one to reach the ground wins?"
"Yeah-hah!" he laughed brightly.
His speed immediately picked up even further, and she channeled a whole new rush of ki to her muscles in response. Like she was just going to give up without a fight after it had gone and turned into a race! Goku, still a good ways further down than her, suddenly jumped right off the structure.
Well, she decided, two could play that game. She let go and leapt into a free-fall right as he called for Nimbus.
Oh, that was so getting him disqualified! He-
Finally a bit closer to the bottom, her eyes narrowed. She could sense Tao's aura nearby and Upa, apparently not having gone somewhere safe like they had assumed, was flying through the air with a scream and practically radiating fear and panic. Goku caught the other boy right before he collided with the tower, and she solidified the flat barrier that she'd been powering beneath her feet just a few inches from the ground to stop her descent.
"You are alive!" the mercenary growled.
"Thank you, Goku!" Upa wailed, clinging to him.
"Everything's going to be okay now," the tailed boy assured. "Don't worry."
Her feet touched grass as they gently sank towards the ground. "Sorry, Goku. Looks like you're still going to be 'kid' for a while yet," she announced seriously, eyes glued to the assassin. The darker portion of her mind, now no longer being strangled every second, hissed that the man would look better in red. She could practically see her silver-eyed self flex itching claws in anticipation of drenching him in it.
"What?!" her friend yelped, horrified. "No, no! That's not fair, we got interrupted! Do-over, do-over!"
The priestess fought down her rising bloodlust and shot him a tired smile. Looked like having the Shikon assimilated was going to be a whole new adventure in self-restraint. "Maybe later... kiddo."
"Come on, please!" he begged.
"Maybe later," she repeated.
"I've never fought someone twice," Tao spoke, drawing her attention back to him. "This will be interesting."
"How was your trip?" Upa questioned excitedly hanging off of the other boy's arm and seeming to ignore the man for the moment. "Did you get to the top of the tower? Did you drink the sacred water?"
"Yep!" Goku grinned at him, sufficiently distracted. "And we're a lot stronger now!"
"Wonderful!" the smaller boy cheered.
Her friend smiled at him for a second, only to turn his attention back down to the hitman with a determined frown. "Upa, I want you to stay on the Nimbus," he instructed seriously, giving the younger kid a glance. "Okay?"
"Okay," Upa agreed without argument.
Goku leapt down from the cloud, landing on his feet. "Kagome?" he requested. "Would you mind sitting this one out? I can handle this guy on my own."
The priestess hesitated a beat, but nodded. "I'm jumping in if you need me, though."
But, to be honest, she kind of got the feeling that he wouldn't.
He mirrored her nod and turned his full attention on Tao. His eyes went narrow, a small growl bubbling from his lips. "Don't you ever hurt my friends again," he snarled.
The assassin sneered irritably. "You have no idea how lucky you are to be alive, much less talking. No one has ever survived my Dodon Ray; kings and peasants alike have fallen to its power!"
"My grandpa protected me," the boy stated, bringing a hand up to the hole in his shirt. "It was his four-star ball that was under my clothes!"
"Ah, yes, the missing dragon ball - which I carelessly forgot to relieve you of during our last encounter. I won't make that mistake again," Tao assured simply. "I must say, I've been looking forward to this moment... though I don't know which will be more entertaining: taking the dragon ball from you or ramming it down your throat!"
Goku's eyes narrowed even further.
"There is a thin line between bravery and stupidity, child," the man stated patronizingly. "You don't really think you'll win, do you?"
"I'll give you one last chance," the boy countered. "Give us back our dragon balls or I'll take them back!"
The assassin burst into laughter. "What a vivid imagination you possess!" He held up three fingers, just a bit reminiscent of Korin when telling them of Roshi's stint on the tower. "Three seconds, that's how long you have to live."
The man darted forward with a fist reeled back, taking the initial offense this time, and swung at open air as Goku ducked it. The boy delivered a heavy blow to his stomach, sending him flying up into the air - and again, Kagome couldn't help but think that this too was familiar... to the way the man had tossed around Bora. But instead of throwing some weapon up at him while he was defenseless in the air, Goku leapt after him in a single bound to kick him against the tower.
The priestess picked up their weapons and made her way over near the Nimbus in no real hurry. It was like she had thought: her friend shouldn't be needing her help. Even the darker, older parts of her mind agreed that his progress was impressive.
"I don't believe it!" Upa gaped. "He's winning!"
Kagome chuckled as the two fighters both landed back on the ground. "Of course he is. Anything else would just be out of character."
"Your three seconds are up," Goku announced, "and I'm still here!"
Tao growled. "Yes, I see. It's only been three days, and yet your strength has increased immeasurably...!"
'Immeasurably?' her other side snickered. 'And I'd thought the cat said it was tripled.'
'Stop talking,' she shot back a bit impatiently.
'You're the one that wanted me here,' it reminded. 'It's too late to get rid of me now.'
She shook her head, willing her thoughts back into silence.
Goku grinned proudly, the expression somehow still completely serious. "I spent my time practicing for this fight! Those days at the top of Korin's Tower helped a lot."
"The sacred Tower of Korin?" the assassin demanded, glancing over at the structure with disbelieving eyes before turning back to the boy. "You climbed to the top?! Impossible! Oh, and I suppose while you were there you drank the sacred water, didn't you!"
"It took a while, but yeah," he admitted simply. "Me and Kagome both did it."
The hitman glowered at him for a moment. "I'm glad you found a way to amuse yourself with the time you had left... though it won't make any difference."
Goku shifted his stance and glared. "Fight," he demanded.
Tao smirked. "I don't fight, I annihilate! And when I'm done with you, you'll be nothing more than dust in the wind."
"Whatever you call it, you hurt people!" the boy accused. "And I'm going to stop you!"
"Big words for such a small mouth," the hitman challenged. "Whatever you learned atop that tower won't be near enough to save your hide."
Her friend huffed. "We'll see!"
"Be careful," Upa told him. "And good luck..."
"Give him hell, Goku," she murmured as her own encouragement, watching intently as the assassin charged. Tao unleashed a rain of hits, but the boy blocked every one of them - the last of which he stopped in a more... unconventional manner.
The man jumped back a few paces, staring at him incredulously. "You blocked my death-punch... with your knee!"
"Yep!" he grinned, patting the joint cheekily. "It's all I 'kneed'! Get it? Kneed!"
The assassin let out a snarl and charged once more, the blows increasing in speed but not in results.
"This is the complete opposite of the last fight!" Upa gaped.
The priestess nodded, even if the boy couldn't see it. "That's the idea."
The fight increased even further in speed, finally leading up into the air where Goku very nearly got thrown into the tower, but corrected himself at the last second. He kicked off of the structure, straight at the man - who dodged. The boy let out a panicked shout as he flew straight past the assassin, finally landing against a tree with enough force that it felled it. Of course, that still wasn't enough to keep him down and after a quick 'Ow, my head!' the struggle resumed once more on the ground.
It was more than safe to say that Goku was winning and Tao was soon bemoaning the loss of another outfit. The boy, of course, pointed out that maybe he should try focussing on his fighting and not his looks (which made the priestess snort out a laugh).
However, this also seemed to be what finally angered the hitman enough to use the same finishing move on Goku as he had in the last fight.
Which he then caught. Barehanded.
Really, this kid... Even rubber had a melting point! He should take better care of himself before his body just gave out on him someday!
"Ow, that burned!" he whined, blowing on his hands in an effort to cool them once the beam had dispersed.
"It's impossible," Tao stated weakly. "No one has ever withstood that attack!"
"It can't hurt me anymore," the boy announced, his chin jutting out proudly. "Just like my Kamehameha wave didn't work on you last time. I guess we're even!"
Upa cheered. "Yeah! You did it!"
The man growled and reached into the front of his pants. "Dream on!"
Kagome very nearly started shouting obscenities at him for indecency, specifically in front of a couple of kids, but relaxed temporarily when he pulled out a familiar little container and threw it into the air.
"A capsule?" Goku wondered aloud.
A longsword appeared in a cloud of purple smoke, and the boy dodged with a yelp as it was promptly swung at him. The exchange was suddenly reversed; now Goku was the one on the run again, and Tao was pursuing. He tried hiding behind a tree, but even that got sliced right through to slice off a lock of the boy's hair.
"Don't worry, boy," the man laughed. "I'm just going to be taking a little off the top!"
Kagome growled and took a step forward, but Goku stopped her.
"No, he's mine! I've still got this!"
She hesitated a moment, but knew deep down that this had become a matter of pride for him. If she stepped in now...
She gritted her teeth. "Then catch!" she shouted, throwing him his Power Pole.
He wouldn't accept her help, but maybe this would be enough to give him an edge again. And it was; he broke the blade right off at the hilt. But then he set it down again with a cocky grin spreading across his face.
"I don't need a weapon to defeat you," he declared.
The priestess decided that they were going to have a nice, long talk when this was over. This new topic, 'don't underestimate your enemies', would pair quite nicely with the previous next-up on their docket: 'being the best isn't everything'.
Tao growled. "No, you need a miracle! Now hand over the dragon ball while I still have some patience and I might let you live! Do as I say!"
"No," Goku denied, his jaw set with stubborn determination. "The dragon balls are ours, not yours! So either you give me back the ones you stole, or I'll take them by force!"
The man snarled frustratedly. "Don't be such a fool, you're just a child! Why do you want these stupid things so badly anyway?!"
"Because only the dragon balls can fix the damage you've done!" he barked, turning a glance up towards the Nimbus. "Upa!"
"Yeah?" the other kid answered.
"I made a promise to bring back your father. Do you trust me?"
"Yes!" the smaller boy replied immediately. "I believe in you, Goku!"
His eyes drifted down a bit, meeting her own, and he gave her a small smile. "Kagome?"
She held his gaze seriously for a long moment. "Do what you feel is necessary. Just... try not to get too hurt."
He beamed at her.
"Well your friends are in for a big disappointment," the assassin scoffed, drawing the boy's attention once more. They growled at one another, and the priestess really didn't like the thoughtful look that overcame the man's face or the sinister laughter that followed.
Goku blinked, dropping out of his defensive stance. "Are you just gonna stand there or what?" he asked.
"You should just be grateful for these last few moments of peace before I take what little life you lived!" Tao declared, glaring at him with a patronizing laugh.
The boy frowned and charged. "Let's get on with it!"
The man kicked a rock, sending it darting right past his face - and his eyes widened a bit when he glanced over his shoulder to follow the flightpath.
"Kagome!" he shouted, immediately turning around to help her.
"Don't take your eyes off him!" she yelled back, swatting the stone away with a flash of silver light.
But it was already too late. Tao was fifty feet up the tower, laughing away.
"No one escapes the ravages of battle, Tiny!" he called down to the boy, aura positively oozing with self-satisfaction. "Unfortunately, ours will have to wait for now while I take a trip up your precious tower! I'm feeling a bit thirsty."
They all glared up at him as he climbed.
"Why are we not going after him?" Kagome demanded. "We could catch up and stop him right now."
Goku shook his head, a deep frown etched across his features as he turned around and headed towards the fire pit. "He can drink all he wants, but he'll have to come down sometime - and we'll be waiting."
She bit her lip and thought it over as she and Upa joined him. "If Korin leaves anything to come back down, maybe," she finally sighed.
He blinked up at her, stunned. "Oh, no! I hadn't thought of that!"
xxxx
A/N: And so it continues! Seriously, I adore Korin. He's just so hilarious and awesome. Thanks for reading!
Edit: 8/27/16