"You've wasted my time, Choujin…" Kagura said to Kyo, after a vicious assault, "Today was the day my victory is assured… as I claim the red stone for my own. But you decided to intervene, and ruin my plans. You've ruined my plans, for the last time, Kyo Sohma! For that… a warrior's death is what you'll receive…"
Kyo was badly injured, struggling to get up. Kagura stepped back and said, as she was showing compassion, "No one has bested me in combat, before… to use all he had to even try to rip me apart… but… If it means that we cannot be together, anymore… I cannot bear to lose you… Ever again…"
She sobbed, "Kyo… I love you! Do you not understand? Tohru Honda turned evil… because of something else! Kyo… You're better off! You cannot date someone who's a slave to evil!"
He groaned, without saying a word. She continued, "Why fight it? You know that all will be doomed from the start, anyways. And look at you, all you wanted if Yuki… That I understand. Deep down, I was hoping you'd win over him. Sadly, that will never happen now… I'm sorry that all this occurred, and I'm sorry for hurting you… Forgive me, but what's done is done… Kyo…"
She walked off, as Kyo was getting up on one knee. Kyo growled, "Damn you… I won't… … … be… trifled… with…"
In constant pain, Kyo remained on one knee, as Kagura shivered, "No… He's… He's still alive?"
Kyo groaned, as Kagura stepped back. She called, "KYO! ENOUGH!"
Kyo struggled to stand, but he was moaning, "I… have to… end you…"
Kagura prepared, as Kyo rushed at her. But… his fatigued, followed by the very severe bloodshed that Kagura unleashed made him impossible to continue. Yet his blood was boiling, and the heart wasn't going out. The burning passion of the fight wasn't dying inside him, just yet. He was still going.
Episode XVIII – Chapter 3: The Noblest of Sacrifices!
Kyo Sohma's Ninth Life!
He punched at Kagura, but his punches were like soft pillows. Kagura, in complete disdain, pleaded, "That's enough, Kyo! You've proven your point."
What Kagura knew was, deep down, there was still good inside her, concerned over Kyo's safety, since the tragic events that she caused. She showed no remorse or guilt, but felt some sort of conflict, knowing what she had already done.
Kagura shouted, as she kicked him down, "I SAID, STOP! You're out of energy… Your Ty Ko Ky is fading. And you're losing your strength. So much power, in so little time. I'm happy that you're okay, but you made me do it… because you know a lot. I had no idea you wanted to get rid of me…"
He got back up, as she called out, "Give up, Kyo! You've bled out, you've wasted your strength, and you've got nothing left for which to fight! My powers have shredded what was left of you, Kyo…"
He landed a punch, but she caught his fist, "I'm sorry. Just don't! I'm not letting you fight me, any longer! I said that this is our final battle, and you made me put my hand down on this. What I did to Kazuma, forgive me… but it was out of impulse. I wanted the Red Stone's power, myself, only to realize that I may doom us all, from the start!"
He slowly started punching, but he slipped on some of his blood, and dropped down, again, to the floor. Kagura, in sadness and fear, said to him, as he was dying, "Stop, Kyo… That's enough…"
She walked away from him and said, "I shall spare you, Kyo Sohma… but fate promises that we shall not meet again. My business is elsewhere…"
He leaped up and growled, "NO… YOU… DON'T!"
Kagura was about to strike, but in his last ounce of power, Kyo reached for Kagura's face, and grabbed the lip ring in her mouth. He ripped it off and dropped down on one knee, badly hurt and clinging to life. She held her mouth and growled, "Elsa's lip ring with the antidote! How could you? Why did you take it?"
Kyo groaned, while injured, "I… I cannot be afraid to die here… but I am a proud member of the Sohma Family, and whether Akito likes it or not, it's in my blood… and yours, too. I chose to honor my family… while you turned your back on it… Something like this… might mean absolutely nothing to a demented inhuman monster like you… Kazuma warned me of the evil that would arise… and you killed him… much like how you killed… my father… Haruna Hiyashi saved Beth's father, giving him all her power to vanquish you, right before she died…"
He coughed out blood and said, "It's tradition… in the way of a warrior… and a Choujin… I have to do something… I just can't let my last flame… sputter out of darkness…"
The ring started to glow, as Kyo cried out, in an orange glow, "THIS IS THE SOHMA FAMILY SPIRIT, HANDED DOWN FOR GENERATIONS, TO ENSURE THE FAMILY'S FUTURE! IT'S THE HUMAN SPIRIT!"
He hollered out, "BETH NEVINS! TAKE ALL THE TY KO KY FROM ME! USE MY POWER, WISELY, MY FRIEND! FOR YOUR FATHER, AND MY GRANDFATHER… HELP THE CHOUJINS!"
His cry echoed, all the way to outside, as Beth heard his voice, "No… That's… That's Kyo's voice… and his Ty Ko Ky… it's…"
Mandy whispered, "Oh, no… He can't!"
He continued to glow, as suddenly, a huge chunk of rubble started to fall down towards Kyo. Kagura couldn't flinch, as she was shocked to witness this sort of fate.
Beth hollered out, "KYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
CRUSH!
The huge debris from the ceiling plummeted down onto Kyo, crushing him in an instant. Kagura was shocked, as she was completely frightened. She was helpless to save him, in time.
"K-Kyo… NO, you can't…" Kagura sobbed, as she started to feel compassion, "It's… not true… My darling Kyo-kun…"
She reached for the debris, as the ring and his beaded bracelet remains, near the side of where he was crushed. Kyo Sohma was dead.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Kagura shrieked out to the heavens, knowing she lost Kyo, forever.
She bawled, as she was crying on the debris. She wailed, "KYO! NOOOOOOOOOO! KYO! YOU CANNOT DIE ON ME! DON'T LEAVE ME, DAMN YOU! KYOOOOOOOOOOO! NO, KYOOOOOOOOOOOO! WHY? KYOOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOO! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! DON'T LEAVE ME… DON'T LEAVE ME!"
She continued to bawl and weep, losing to Kyo. But, after ten minutes of crying, Kagura sobs turned into giggles, and then laughter. She then laughed hysterically, as she was showing a contorted demonic look. She cackled and cried out, "HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA! THAT ARROGANT FOOL! HE'S DEAD, AND NOW I'M FREE! NO MORE DISTRACTIONS FROM THAT DAMNED CHOUJIN!"
She laughed evilly, as she expelled every last bit of compassion and love from her body, after Kyo's demise. She then said, as she looked down, "Such a waste to lose a life…"
She gasped, as she saw the lip ring and the bead bracelet. She said, "No… His bracelet… So, you'd rather take it off, than to take it with you… Kyo, I understand. But you do realize that it was all for naught."
She reached for the lip ring and said, "And I win…"
She then felt a sort of hurt feeling, as she thought, "No… I can't return this to Elsa… No… If Beth Nevins wants to end this… so be it… I have successfully vanquished all of the Choujin Brigade, all except one… Steven Nevins… My vendetta is with your father, Beth Nevins… nothing more…"
She placed the ring on the chunk of debris and said, "I'll leave it here, along with his beads… It'll be a noble sacrifice… since I want to fight you at full strength… Elsa and Anya are foolish. But they know that the Red Stone is almost in my grasp."
She walked off and left, with tears in her eyes, "Kyo Sohma, I shall leave you with this… Know that you were once the man I loved, and once a worthy adversary, but true to his word, a man that knows the term "Determination". Haru, Yuki, and I were all under that same discipline, alongside you… but that changed, when Akito had a change of heart, thanks to Tohru Honda… The Zodiac Curse may not be lifted, or by the fact that it hasn't happened to us, following Akito's new Live for the Moment style, he knew you were the outcast… but even outcasts like you, Kyo, can become even the greatest of fighters. I am so glad that to have met you, Kyo Sohma…"
As she left, Elsa overheard everything. She then said, "Master… She wouldn't mind if I take it from her… but… I just cannot… My lip ring she removed from me, only for Kyo to take it, out of a last chance."
She remained, as she saw Kagura disappear into another room, "Master says that she'll leave it, only for Beth to be caught in the trap, by me. That, I cannot do… This young one proved to me that he can hold himself, even against my sister, Anya. I shall give her the ring… not because I am sentimental…"
She walked off, joining Kagura, as she concluded, "Kyo Sohma, while your life is short, you have increased the knowledge of the warrior in myself. I admire your courage. That is why I will not disappoint my master, and memories that she hold dear of you."
Five minutes later, Beth and Mandy entered the building, after minutes of moving the debris, blocking the entryway, as Beth was running in. Beth looked around, as the building was completely in ruins.
"This place is a mess… A Divine Windstorm did this, I'll bet… and Kyo was caught right inside the heart of it!" Beth growled, thinking it was Elsa who did it.
She and Mandy spotted the view of Kyo's bead bracelet and lip ring. Beth ran to the bracelet and gasped, "Kyo's Juzu bracelet! And… is that the ring?"
She reached for it, and was shocked by the energy waves to her hands. She whispered, "Judging by Kyo's bracelet… and that is a ring… Elsa's lip ring!"
Mandy said, "No… Beth…"
Beth grabbed the bead bracelet, and was absorbing Kyo's energy into her body. She cried, "AAAH! This energy seems really strange!"
As she was absorbing the Ty Ko Ky into her, a symbol appeared from inside Beth. It showed the Chinese Symbol of the Rabbit (兔), Beth's favorite animal. The beads stopping shining, as Beth was amazed. She whispered, "I understand… Kyo… Forgive me, but… I'll honor it… for your sake… You know, I haven't been able to tell him how I felt, since we came to this place…"
She was crying, "Kyo… I'm afraid it'll be no answer… I understand his heart, for what Kaname told me… about what my father has done for everyone… and why Kyo had a troubled life… If I called his name, there'd be no answer, and would remain a lifeless silence… That is what scares me. I couldn't accept it, so I didn't call his name… But now… I know he's gone…"
Beth sniffled, wiping her tears, "The Ty Ko Ky inside his Juzu beads told me everything I needed to know… Right here, moments ago… Kyo died…"
She roared, "GAH! KYO, YOU BASTARD! YOU HAD TO LET KAGURA KILL YOU, JUST LIKE THAT! YOU HAD TO BE A DAMNED SHOW-OFF, RIGHT UNTIL THE VERY END, DID YOU? AND THEN YOU LEAVE A PRECIOUS GIFT FOR ME, RIGHT BEFORE YOU LEAVE! KYO, WHERE ARE YOU?"
She started digging through the debris and rocks, as she called, "Where the hell are you sleeping? I'LL FIND YOU, KYO! I'LL DIG YOU UP! KYO!"
Kaname called, "BETH! THAT'S ENOUGH!"
Mandy helped Kaname up, as Mandy said, "Save your strength… This isn't the time to surge your grief. We have work to do."
Beth gasped, "WHAT?"
Mandy sniffled, as she was worried. Kaname said, "Even I'm worried, too… We lost Haruna, Subaru, and now, Kyo… Why are we losing friends, at a time like this?"
Mandy said, "She's right. It's three of them and two of us. Once Kaname's arm is reattached and whole, it'll be 3-on-3, an even match. The trail of blood up there tells that Kyo insignificantly wounded Kagura. We're in the middle of enemy territory. Let's go finish the fight! Beth, I'll mend Kaname's arm, you take the antidote! And then, we'll go hunt those bastards down!"
Beth snarled, "That heartless-! She can't even shed a single tear for Kyo!"
She stopped and calmed down, "I'm sorry… Everything's a mess… Coach Mandy is stone cold and with a veil of ice on her face, but deep down, she wants to cry, more than I do… He treated her like a goddess, and knew her much longer, than I have ever known her."
She wore the Juzu beads and said, "I have to try and hold my feelings back… Kyo, I know you always thought I was pompous and self-centered… but I'm a Nevins, like my Auntie Michelle, and my bastard father… Sometimes I want to do things for the people around me, for the feelings that I'm surrounded by… and I'm finally been learning."
She boasted, "I swear, Kyo Sohma! Mark my words, I will avenge you, and I will fight, until those three are nothing left! KYO SOHMA, MUCH LIKE SUBARU, HARUNA, AND YOUR FATHER AND GRANDFATHER, YOUR SPIRIT IS WITH ME!"
A light shone onto the huge rock, as Beth gasped in horror. She's found Kyo, crushed under the rocks of the condemned hotel, caused by fate. Beth whimpered, "NO… This is where he was slain…"
Mandy sobbed, "No… Kyo…"
Mandy was crying, as Kaname held her tears. She whimpered, "Kyo, it is not true…"
Kaname started to cry, as Beth was upset. She held her bracelet and roared to the heavens…
"KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGUUUUUUUUURAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Her angry finally opened up, as her intentions were clear. Not only to learn of Ty Ko Ky, but to avenge and destroy the woman that killed Kyo Sohma, and fought the greatest Choujin, her father, Steven Nevins – Kagura Sohma. Mandy and Kaname continued to weep, as Beth was pounding the rock of where Kyo was killed, calling his name and finally let out her anger.
Kagura, Anya, and Elsa were nearby, smack dabbed in enemy territory, but all our heroes could do was weep for the fallen. Mandy and Kaname's tears flowed freely, as Beth's inner rage and tears burst out, calling to Kyo's name. But all they could hear was cold silence… Kyo was gone.
Episode XVIII – End
Now smack into enemy territory, it's all up to Beth Nevins, all alone… With Kaname out of commission and Kyo and Subaru dead, how will Beth create a miracle play to avenge her fallen Choujins? And what of this mysterious power that Beth had awaken? Could she be a Choujin, too, just like her father?
The answers lie in the next exciting episode, as the final battle closes in, NEXT TIME, on…
The Gang IN-ACTION!
To be continued…