(Enter opening theme)

Yane no ue de sora o aogu, hizashi wa uraraka
miageru sora, karadajuu genki ga minagitteku

THAT'S SO WONDERFUL! ikiterunda!
yamerarenai, akirameru da nante

Tohou ni kureta kinou ni sayonara
futsufutsu to wakiagaru kono kimochi
nando demo yomigaeru, hana o sakaseyou
omoi dewa itsumo amai nige basho
dakedo tachi kire, asu o ikiru tame
shukufuku no toki wa kuru, te o nobashite

Uruwashi no yawaraka na hada, imada te wa todokazu
me o tojireba fukuramu IMEEJI, miwaku no kajitsu

THAT'S SO WONDERFUL! ikiterunda!
yamerarenai, sono saki o mitai

Dotou no hibi wa tsuzuku, doko made mo
tengoku to jigoku, yukitsumodoritsu
nando demo yomigaeru, hana o sakaseyou
hashire hashire, ai o te nisuru made
sore de kurushimunara nozomu tokoro
shukufuku no toki ga kuru, te o nobashite

Tohou ni kureta kinou ni sayonara
futsufutsu to wakiagaru kono kimochi
nando demo yomigaeru, hana o sakaseyou
omoi dewa itsumo amai nige basho
dakedo tachi kire, asu o ikiru tame
shukufuku no toki wa kuru, te o nobashite

Te o nobashite, ryoute agete!

(End Theme Song)

Episode 11: Day of the Demon

Day 14

"Succession Technique: Zan gan ken!" A burst of wind slashed across the ground and Taisuke rolled across the ground his fingers picking up leaves during his roll. He came up and held his blade above his head and then slashed it down.

"Ryuu Ichijin!" A vortex of energy gushed forth from his blade at the female martial artist. Motoko raised her blade and blocked the vortex. She was pushed backwards a dozen feet before the attack faded. Then with a shout she rushed him. Taisuke raised his blade and parried. He flowed from form to form, dozens going by in mere seconds. His blade was a blur in his hands as he defended and attacked. Their blades crossed and they began to push with all their strength. Motoko had greater ki, but Taisuke's agility and speed were greater. They were dead even.

Sesaru spun his nunchucks around gathering his ki for his signature attack. When a glow lit up around his weapons he knew he was ready. "Shrieking Boomerang!" He slashed them downards sending the spiral of ki launching towards Kanako. Kanako just smiled that frightening smile of hers and waited for it. At the last second as it was bearing down upon her she snapped her hands together. Gritting her teeth she dug her feet into the ground and held the ki attack between her palms. Sweat started multiplying on her skin and her feet sank deeper into the ground as she started to yell louder and louder, gathering her ki. With one tremendous effort she swung her arms upwards flinging the ki attack into the sky. Calm once more she moved into her fighting stance and motioned for Sesaru to attack.

Haka Akki smirked at Seta as he gracefully dodged every single attack that the human could make. He didn't even make an effort at striking back, he just letting Seta do all the work and still achieve nothing. It seemed quite one sided. "Poor Seta, can't truly grasp the power that was taught to him. Never taught the true secrets of the fighting style he claims to use. Just uses his naturally superior ki to increase his speed and agility and hope that it brings him through the fight. And poor Seta for what he wants. You want so much, but you don't think you can have it." Seta screamed his rage and redoubled his efforts.

Keitaro snapped his head to the left to avoid Naru's punch. Infuriated his wife swung faster at him, trying desperately to hit him. Tears were at the edges of his eyes as he continued to avoid her attacks. "Naru...this isn't you. Please...I can't bear to see you like this. You have to be free of it!"

"I'll never be free of it! Not as long as you don't love me!" With a scream of frustration she pounced bowling him over. He landed on his back and lost his breath as her knees drove into his stomach. He caught her fist before it struck and gazed up at her with teary eyes. She was crying.

"Naru...I love only you. And I will never love another." He hugged her to his chest and kissed her passionately.

Haka growled in rage at the sigh of their embrace. Tentacles erupted from his back and shot towards the pair at incredible speeds. "HOW DARE YOU! SHE IS MINE BY RIGHT! I CLAIMED HER AND YOU CANNOT HAVE HER!"

Seta spun about and leaped after the tentacles. "NO!!!!!" At the last moment he managed to make it in the way. The tentacles touched his chest and everything seemed to freeze. Color faded out and everything was motionless. Then in the same manner that the color had faded it returned and Seta went tumbling head over heels across the ground coming to a halt face down in the dirt. Keitaro rushed over to him with Naru in his arms and placed his fingers on his neck.

"Still beating...but barely."

Motoko and Taisuke had been busy. Both had cut each other several times and their clothing was hanging in shreds. Taisuke panted barely able to hold the blade up, let alone battle Motoko. On the other hand the Kendo girl seemed to be in a similar condition. They had bothed used to many ki attacks to do much else but attack like normal swordsmen/swordswomen. Blades crossed they stared at each other, Motoko's gaze was a glare of hatred and Taisuke's one of concern and desperation. "Motoko...I don't want to do this. I'll do whatever I can to free you, and I won't stop for anything less then success. Failure is not an option!"

Tears gathered in the kendo girl's eyes. She seemed to be fighting with herself, her eyes were mirrors of inner torment. "You don't understand! There can never be success! I will never have happiness!"

Taisuke shook his head. It wasn't possible. "NO! Don't believe that Motoko! You can be happy! You will be happy! I promise it. I swear it."

The struggling stopped and Motoko simply watched him for a moment. "You promise?"

Taisuke smiled and pulled back the pressure of his blade. "I promise."

A small smile crossed Motoko's face revealing the true beauty that she possessed. "Then finish the fight."

"RYOUDENGEKI!"

The golden bolt of his ki struck dead on and illuminated the entire area. Light flooded the vision of everyone present and all was silent for a moment. Then the light faded.

Motoko thumped to the ground and layed there, motionless. She wasn't dead...but she was the closest thing to it. Taisuke's hands shook on the blade and he looked up at the demon who had taken his friends and made him do such things. A look of utter hatred was fixed upon his normally kindly face. The demon stared in shock as the boy's ki began to rise dramatically.

'He can't possibly be that powerful!'

Sesaru grunted as his back was driven agains the tree. He coughed and blood flew from his mouth. He scrubbed the corner of his mouth with the back of his right hand and grimaced. He couldn't keep fighting Kanako like this, she was at least as good as he was except she was willing to do more to end the fight. He was limited by his feelings...and the moment his feelings were confused.

'What am I supposed to do? I'm not even sure how I feel about her so how can I possibly say anything to snap her out of this? I don't know what to do!'

He tackled her without thinking and struggled with her to keep her down. She yowled like a cat as she fought back trying to pus him off of her. He struggled back to keep her pinned. "I have to do this Kanako! I can't let you hurt yourself, I can't let you do anything you'll regret because I..."

His heart was pounding. He should say it. He truly had to. He needed to. But at the same time as the knowledge flooded into him he couldn't help but wonder what it was he had to say. It was at once obvious and yet utterly confusing.

FWIIIT

He stared blankly at the patch of dirt beside Kanako's face. It didn't seem possible. How could she? How could it have happened? Blood dribbled from mouth and covered his chin, droplets ready to fall at any moment. Blood leaked over the small blade placed into his stomach and over Kanako's hand. "Ka...na...ko..."

He collapsed onto her his blood spreading out in a pool and drenching her body as well. Exhausted she past out beneath his limp form.

Taisuke stared in horror at what was happening. It shouldn't have been happening. Especially as he watched Keitaro and Naru be snapped aside by Haka's tentacles. They dropped to the ground unconcious. He shook his head in denial. It couldn't be possible. He wouldn't let it be.

The smug demon tilted his head first to the left, and then to the right. As if summoned Kaolla and Shinobu stepped out in front of him. He made a motion with his hand and chuckled. "If my best warrior Motoko can't beat you, then I think it's time I switch from using the curve of a blade...to a completely different type of curve."

Shinobu slipped up beside him and grabbed his arm smiling up at him. She looked so sweet like that...but the seductive smile on her face didn't seem to fit her. Kaolla appeared on his other side and gave him a sultry smile. It also didn't look right on her....but who was he to question them? He gulped and shook his head. "No! This isn't right! You aren't who you pretend you are! You're possessed!"

Hurt looks flashed across the two's faces. They were mirror images of emotion. He quivered and squeezed his eyes shut. "Stop it...don't do this to me." He felt his back hit a tree and opened his eyes. Kaolla's lips met his and her tongue parted them, sliding into his mouth to tease and taste his tongue. He moaned and tried to remember why this wasn't right. She pulled back and Shinobu replaced Kaolla's tongue with her own. Why couldn't this be right? It seemed so right...but something deep within him gave him a nagging feeling that this wasn't as it should be.

And as he started to return their display of affection he realized what it was. Their lucsious forms pressed against his body were just distractions placed in his way by his enemy. Haka Akki, the demon responsible for so much. But the other part of him argued that it didn't matter that this was his doing. It felt so right didn't it? It felt so good.

Then it truly hit him. Even as he enjoyed the feeling of being so near to them he was forgetting what remained around him. And it was the actions of the least likely person that woke him to the truth.

Sara Macdougal, the 11 year old blond american girl, pseudo-daughter of Noriyasu Seta.

In a fury over seeing her father injured and unconcious she charged Haka Akki. "HOW DARE YOU HURT MY PAPA!" She lept from the ground and went into a flying jump kick. Despite the girl's anger and surprising skill Haka Akki snatched her out of the air and held her out in front of him by the throat.

"Pathetic little girl. Did you really think you could harm me? Me, the demon who would have been Shogun and then conqueror of the world if not for the ancestors of that boy there? I was powerful beyond belief and yet still I was entrapped for centuries, until I was awoken by the presence of humans upon this island. I am invincible."

She gagged and struggled trying to speak.

"What's that? I can't hear you?"

He loosened his grip simply for the enjoyment he was getting. She coughed for a moment but managed to speak anyways. "You're not invincible...you're just a pathetic bastard."

He growled in indignation. His grip tightened again and she grabbed at his hands trying to free herself as he cut off the air to her brain. "You will pay for that little girl!" He hurled her aside and watched with satisfaction as she rebounded of the limb of a tree and dropped face first to the ground, she lay twitching unable to move.

Taisuke shook his head. It couldn't be. How could he have ignored it. He pushed himself free of the women who had him so confused and uncertain of his own actions, of his own thoughts. He knew what he had to do.

"Seta...Keitaro...Naru...Kanako...Motoko...Sesaru...HAKA AKKI! You have done this to them! It's your fault! All of it is your fault! I don't care what revenge you want, all I know is that you have sent my friends against me. You have sent the women I most care about to seduce me against their will!"

The demon smirked and motioned the women aside. "I was actually hoping it would come to this. A final battle between you and me. Come on now, let us finish this so I can enjoy those who you push aside so casually. You'll never get another chance like this again and yet you through it aside." He licked his lips.

A faint glow began to grow about Taisuke as he stared at the demon. "No. I won't let you touch them. LEAVE THEM ALONE!"

Haka Akki dug his feet into the ground as the glow burst up around the boy creating a vortex of swirling energies. Huge clouds of dust were kicked up by the very force of his ki. His eyes widened as he recognized the power that had been his defeat in ages long past. "It isn't possible...I looked into it! That technique is long forgotten! This can't be happening! The Tendou is a lost art...I REFUSE TO EXCEPT THIS!"

Taisuke thrust his arms forward and the chaotic energies surged into his outstretched palms. "My friends...my heart's desire...this is for all of you. THIS IS MY GIFT TO YOU!"

Haka Akki managed a scream as a torrent of ki washed over his body blanketing the entire island in a blaze of light. The raging ki engulfed him and spread. There was silence as the last ashes of the demon wafted about in the wind. The last of those possessed fell unconcious to the ground and a fog engulfed the entire island.

The fog lifted revealing Hinatasou in its proper place. Everything was back to normal. Or so it seemed.

With a satisfied smile on his face Taisuke collapsed from utter exhaustion.

(End theme)

I'M A DREAMER
yoake no hikari sosogu ka no chi wa doko?

I'M A DREAMER
Honojiroi sono hohoemi, douka sawarasete

Koko wa hi no ataranai basho
hitorikiri de naku toki no himitsu no basho
sakebu youni namae yobunda
kimi ga inakerya, kimi sae ireba

Kitto iku yo, hi no ataru basho
kono mama ja owarenai, yakusoku ga aru
tooi michi, hitosuji no michi
kimi ga inakerya, kimi sae ireba

Kitto iku yo, hi no ataru basho
kono mama ja owarenai, yakusoku ga aru
tooi michi, hitosuji no hikari
kimi ga iru kara, kimi sae ireba

Author's Note: Damn...I hope I managed to fulfill somebody's expectations because I certainly didn't fulfill mine. I wish that had turned out better but it took me forever to surpass the case of writer's block I had been getting for this episode. Also a few notes on Japanese meanings that aren't common.

Ryudengeki: Dragon Shock
Ryu Ichijin: Dragon Wind
Tendou: Divine Justice

Hope that helps some, man I just hope the next episode will be better then this. Sorry about the wait.