A/N: Sorry I took so long to update. I sort of had a mini case of writer's
block, but it's all better now.
Okay, I got a few of questions that probably deserve to be answered. One being, whether or not Kouga will make an appearance. The answer to that is yes, I was planning on slipping him in, but it's really more of a cameo role than anything. Another is how many more chapters there will be. Now that is a very good, and rather difficult question. Originally I was thinking there would be about twenty-five chapters in total, however, as I've said before, this story has sort of evolved and become longer than I intended. At this point, I would estimate between thirty-five and forty chapters. Wow, I hadn't realized until just now how long that is. . .
Yes, I realize Sango is being a bit bitchy, but please recall, the first thing she does when she meets Inuyasha in the anime is try to kill him.
I've been wracking my brain for a way to slip in Kirara, and I just haven't come up with one I like. Sorry.
Jaken will not be appearing.
Also, to bakaneko, though I'm flattered by your sentiment, don't you think my other readers would be angry with you for running off with the story like that?
Thanks for all the reviews, everyone. I'll get on with the chapter now.
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.
Synthetic Emotions
Inuyasha released the young activist's captive wrist, all thought of her swept away by the scene that filled his senses.
The protesters were scattering in every direction. Some of them were screaming, some crying, but all of them were running from the lumbering monstrosity that was lurching toward them. The hanyou's delicate ears could hear its joints grinding and its servos whirring unhealthily as it moved. In its wake was a trail of broken trees, shattered windows and smashed vehicles, like toys left behind after a child's tantrum.
It took Inuyasha a moment to recognize the thing as an industrial youkai. Or rather, for him to realize that once upon a time it had been an industrial youkai. Pieces of is outer casing were falling away to reveal the purely robotic frame under its plastic skin. Unlike Inuyasha himself, or even Shippo, no effort had ever gone into making this youkai approximate a living creature. It appeared that several makeshift attempts had been made at repairing the huge machine, but the half-hearted attempts at fixing the thing only seemed to add to its haggard appearance. Its eyes glowed a vicious red even in the sun light.
Inuyasha watched unblinking as the youkai flung an AYC activist aside with a careless swing of its thick neck.
"Kagome, we're leaving. Now." She had better not argue with him this time. If she so much as opened her mouth to disagree with him, he was going to throw her over his shoulder and carry her away, kicking and screaming if need be. There was no way he was letting her stay here.
The girl was about to answer him, when Sango interrupted with a sharp gasp. "Kohaku. . .?" she murmured in shock. Then the stupid bitch ran. Straight toward the mammoth youkai, her gaze fixed on a small, retreating figure. Too late, Inuyasha made a grab for her and missed.
Growling curses, he turned away from the young woman who wasn't his responsibility, to face the one who was. "Kagome," he said again, making his tone gruff. "Come on."
"What about Hiraikotsu Sango?" Kagome asked, almost too quietly to be heard in their small island of calm. The chaos was growing closer to them by the moment.
"Not my problem," Inuyasha said, reaching out and catching the girl's arm.
"Inuyasha!"
"What?" he demanded. Why the hell was she stalling? Why was he letting her?
"We have to help her. . ."
"Why?"
"Because that 'thing' might kill her if we don't," Kagome yelled back. "Lots of people could get hurt. Aren't you designed to protect?"
"I'm not abou--"
"Uh, guys," Shippo interrupted, his voice quaking as hard as his body. "I don't think now is the time to argue about this."
Kagome nodded once in agreement, and shook off Inuyasha's hand. Then she took off. In the same fucking direction as the other bitch. For an instant, the hanyou clenched his fists, anger and another, less familiar emotion making themselves known, but before she could get more than two meters he was beside her.
"Have you gone insane?" he hissed.
"Inuyasha, help her!" the girl half pleaded, half commanded him. "Stop that thing."
Immediately the hanyou's systems charged, dormant programs flaring to life as energy raced through previously closed channels. He felt an electric tingle in his fingers, just beneath his claws, and his lips peeled back to reveal his fangs.
'To hell with it,' he thought bleakly, helpless to disobey. Cursing the girl, circumstance, and whatever gods might control the fate of youkai, Inuyasha leapt toward the approaching monster.
*~*~*
Kagome missed a step when Inuyasha left her side. 'What happened?' she wondered briefly, before blinking away her confusion. The hanyou had put himself right in the industrial youkai's path, his long white hair and fighting stance making him conspicuous among the clambering humans.
"I told him to. . ." she said aloud, suddenly understanding. She had told Inuyasha to stop the youkai, and now he was going to, or he was going to get himself killed trying. Her chest constricted with guilt, but she saw Sango struggling against the tide of people, trying to get to someone or something through the press. Where did all these people come from anyway? Surely there hadn't been this many here before. . .
Shippo squirmed and clutched Kagome tighter as she fought to reach the other girl. His face was buried in her neck, and she could just barely hear him whimper under her ear. She had to get to Sango before she was trampled by the mob, or crushed by the mad youkai.
Stealing a glance at Inuyasha, Kagome saw that the youkai had stopped, cocking its misshapen head to study the small obstruction. Inuyasha looked tiny by comparison, and soft with his humanlike body and pale, silky hair. The sneer on the dog hanyou's face and the almost feral light in his eyes was far more intimidating than the monster's placid expression, however.
'He'll just have to take care of himself for the moment,' she told herself firmly, as she drew closer to her target.
"Sango," Kagome shouted over the din. She didn't respond, either because she hadn't heard or she didn't care. Kagome tried to find some sign of the figure she thought Sango had been trying to reach, but could no longer see it. Whoever it had been, whatever he was to the activist, he was long gone. "Sango, we have to get out of here!"
"What do you want?" Hiraikotsu gritted out when Kagome managed to push through the crowd beside her.
"We have to go," Kagome insisted, ignoring the older girl's question. It would have to wait for later. "I don't know if Inuyasha can actually fight that youkai."
A metallic roar froze the two women in their tracks. On the street, the youkai had reared back on its shorter hind legs, standing to a full height that rivaled the buildings on either side. Kagome's throat tightened painfully at the sight of Inuyasha standing in its shadow.
*~*~*
Inuyasha faced his opponent, taking in its relative size and weight compared to his own. It was all metal and twisted wire cable, with a thick body and heavy limbs, vaguely bearlike in shape. Its movements were slow, both awkward and deliberate, as though it was forced to consider each motion carefully. Its reflexes would be choppy as best. It would probably be his only advantage. He cracked his knuckles experimentally, feeling his claws twinge with something that was almost an itch.
The monster stood, its joints howling in protest, and stood to tower over the hanyou. It glowered down at him with empty red eyes, then fell forward, letting gravity bring it back to the ground faster than its own limbs could.
Inuyasha rolled to the side well before the youkai's forelegs hit with enough force to break the pavement, then was forced to dodge again as it swung its blunt nose his direction. Inuyasha had never actually fought like this before, but his programming kicked in and he brought his claws down to strike a glancing blow to the side of the youkai's muzzle. Energy flowed out of his fingertips, cutting through its plastic skin and opening three wide gashes in the metal casing underneath. The brute shuddered away with a strained clanking sound.
The hanyou landed lightly, and paused to stare at his own claws in disbelief. He hadn't known he could do that. It was supposed to be illegal. . . Before he could finish that thought, the youkai turned to face him again, opening its mouth to reveal sharp, stainless steel teeth. It bellowed a staticky challenge, then charged him.
Again, Inuyasha had no trouble dodging the larger youkai's attack, and again he slashed at it with his hands. The energy under his claws drew bright lines in the air as he opened four more cuts on the side of the youkai's neck. Inuyasha allowed himself to smirk as he considered his opponent's damage. Though not deep, he had hit it twice, while avoiding its clumsy attacks. Evidently, he was better made than even he had thought.
This time, Inuyasha chose to take the offensive, rushing his enemy and scouring new lines across the back of his adversary's head. He landed safely on the other side of the youkai as it shook off his attack.
The hanyou's satisfaction was short lived as he saw that once more, the damage was only superficial. He gritted his teeth against a new snarl, and launched himself at the youkai again, bringing both hands down like talons into the thing's eye, cracking its optics and tearing at the face around the socket.
The youkai made a high-pitched sound of protest, shaking itself violently to dislodge the irritant. Inuyasha was thrown off of it, only half able to save himself from crashing into the asphalt, landing on his shoulder instead of his head.
The industrial youkai swatted at him with one foreleg, and he rolled away to avoid being crushed, only to feel 'pain' lance from his left shoulder straight to the base of his skull as the joint ground stuck instead of moving smoothly. Inuyasha staggered back in shock as he came to his feet.
He had never felt this before. He knew what it was, but he had never 'felt' it. His body was sending him a message that he was damaged, and telling him not to do that again. He didn't like it. It wasn't incapacitating, nor should it affect what was left of his fighting capability, but he did not like the feeling.
Anger filled him, and the light coming from his fingertips grew brighter, leaving traces of power to sizzle in the air as he moved.
This wasn't working. He needed to find someplace to hit that would actually bring this thing down.
Unwanted, he caught Kagome's scent, high with fear. 'What the hell is she still doing here?'
'Shit. Isn't she even smart enough to run away now that she's caught that damned activist?' Obviously she wasn't, because there she was, watching.
The youkai struck again while Inuyasha was distracted. He nearly didn't jump back in time.
At this rate, the larger youkai would outlast him. The injuries he managed to inflict on it weren't much more than skin deep on it, its vital systems protected by sheer mass, while Inuyasha knew he wouldn't be able to take one more hit. He'd already lost the use of one arm.
Fixing all of his attention on the youkai, Inuyasha searched for any weakness he could exploit, and saw nothing but solid metal.
"Fuck me," he whispered aloud.
*~*~*
Okay, that's it for today. I actually expected to have the fight scene done in one chapter. Sorry. This is why this story is going to be longer than I meant it to be.
Until next time.
Okay, I got a few of questions that probably deserve to be answered. One being, whether or not Kouga will make an appearance. The answer to that is yes, I was planning on slipping him in, but it's really more of a cameo role than anything. Another is how many more chapters there will be. Now that is a very good, and rather difficult question. Originally I was thinking there would be about twenty-five chapters in total, however, as I've said before, this story has sort of evolved and become longer than I intended. At this point, I would estimate between thirty-five and forty chapters. Wow, I hadn't realized until just now how long that is. . .
Yes, I realize Sango is being a bit bitchy, but please recall, the first thing she does when she meets Inuyasha in the anime is try to kill him.
I've been wracking my brain for a way to slip in Kirara, and I just haven't come up with one I like. Sorry.
Jaken will not be appearing.
Also, to bakaneko, though I'm flattered by your sentiment, don't you think my other readers would be angry with you for running off with the story like that?
Thanks for all the reviews, everyone. I'll get on with the chapter now.
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.
Synthetic Emotions
Inuyasha released the young activist's captive wrist, all thought of her swept away by the scene that filled his senses.
The protesters were scattering in every direction. Some of them were screaming, some crying, but all of them were running from the lumbering monstrosity that was lurching toward them. The hanyou's delicate ears could hear its joints grinding and its servos whirring unhealthily as it moved. In its wake was a trail of broken trees, shattered windows and smashed vehicles, like toys left behind after a child's tantrum.
It took Inuyasha a moment to recognize the thing as an industrial youkai. Or rather, for him to realize that once upon a time it had been an industrial youkai. Pieces of is outer casing were falling away to reveal the purely robotic frame under its plastic skin. Unlike Inuyasha himself, or even Shippo, no effort had ever gone into making this youkai approximate a living creature. It appeared that several makeshift attempts had been made at repairing the huge machine, but the half-hearted attempts at fixing the thing only seemed to add to its haggard appearance. Its eyes glowed a vicious red even in the sun light.
Inuyasha watched unblinking as the youkai flung an AYC activist aside with a careless swing of its thick neck.
"Kagome, we're leaving. Now." She had better not argue with him this time. If she so much as opened her mouth to disagree with him, he was going to throw her over his shoulder and carry her away, kicking and screaming if need be. There was no way he was letting her stay here.
The girl was about to answer him, when Sango interrupted with a sharp gasp. "Kohaku. . .?" she murmured in shock. Then the stupid bitch ran. Straight toward the mammoth youkai, her gaze fixed on a small, retreating figure. Too late, Inuyasha made a grab for her and missed.
Growling curses, he turned away from the young woman who wasn't his responsibility, to face the one who was. "Kagome," he said again, making his tone gruff. "Come on."
"What about Hiraikotsu Sango?" Kagome asked, almost too quietly to be heard in their small island of calm. The chaos was growing closer to them by the moment.
"Not my problem," Inuyasha said, reaching out and catching the girl's arm.
"Inuyasha!"
"What?" he demanded. Why the hell was she stalling? Why was he letting her?
"We have to help her. . ."
"Why?"
"Because that 'thing' might kill her if we don't," Kagome yelled back. "Lots of people could get hurt. Aren't you designed to protect?"
"I'm not abou--"
"Uh, guys," Shippo interrupted, his voice quaking as hard as his body. "I don't think now is the time to argue about this."
Kagome nodded once in agreement, and shook off Inuyasha's hand. Then she took off. In the same fucking direction as the other bitch. For an instant, the hanyou clenched his fists, anger and another, less familiar emotion making themselves known, but before she could get more than two meters he was beside her.
"Have you gone insane?" he hissed.
"Inuyasha, help her!" the girl half pleaded, half commanded him. "Stop that thing."
Immediately the hanyou's systems charged, dormant programs flaring to life as energy raced through previously closed channels. He felt an electric tingle in his fingers, just beneath his claws, and his lips peeled back to reveal his fangs.
'To hell with it,' he thought bleakly, helpless to disobey. Cursing the girl, circumstance, and whatever gods might control the fate of youkai, Inuyasha leapt toward the approaching monster.
*~*~*
Kagome missed a step when Inuyasha left her side. 'What happened?' she wondered briefly, before blinking away her confusion. The hanyou had put himself right in the industrial youkai's path, his long white hair and fighting stance making him conspicuous among the clambering humans.
"I told him to. . ." she said aloud, suddenly understanding. She had told Inuyasha to stop the youkai, and now he was going to, or he was going to get himself killed trying. Her chest constricted with guilt, but she saw Sango struggling against the tide of people, trying to get to someone or something through the press. Where did all these people come from anyway? Surely there hadn't been this many here before. . .
Shippo squirmed and clutched Kagome tighter as she fought to reach the other girl. His face was buried in her neck, and she could just barely hear him whimper under her ear. She had to get to Sango before she was trampled by the mob, or crushed by the mad youkai.
Stealing a glance at Inuyasha, Kagome saw that the youkai had stopped, cocking its misshapen head to study the small obstruction. Inuyasha looked tiny by comparison, and soft with his humanlike body and pale, silky hair. The sneer on the dog hanyou's face and the almost feral light in his eyes was far more intimidating than the monster's placid expression, however.
'He'll just have to take care of himself for the moment,' she told herself firmly, as she drew closer to her target.
"Sango," Kagome shouted over the din. She didn't respond, either because she hadn't heard or she didn't care. Kagome tried to find some sign of the figure she thought Sango had been trying to reach, but could no longer see it. Whoever it had been, whatever he was to the activist, he was long gone. "Sango, we have to get out of here!"
"What do you want?" Hiraikotsu gritted out when Kagome managed to push through the crowd beside her.
"We have to go," Kagome insisted, ignoring the older girl's question. It would have to wait for later. "I don't know if Inuyasha can actually fight that youkai."
A metallic roar froze the two women in their tracks. On the street, the youkai had reared back on its shorter hind legs, standing to a full height that rivaled the buildings on either side. Kagome's throat tightened painfully at the sight of Inuyasha standing in its shadow.
*~*~*
Inuyasha faced his opponent, taking in its relative size and weight compared to his own. It was all metal and twisted wire cable, with a thick body and heavy limbs, vaguely bearlike in shape. Its movements were slow, both awkward and deliberate, as though it was forced to consider each motion carefully. Its reflexes would be choppy as best. It would probably be his only advantage. He cracked his knuckles experimentally, feeling his claws twinge with something that was almost an itch.
The monster stood, its joints howling in protest, and stood to tower over the hanyou. It glowered down at him with empty red eyes, then fell forward, letting gravity bring it back to the ground faster than its own limbs could.
Inuyasha rolled to the side well before the youkai's forelegs hit with enough force to break the pavement, then was forced to dodge again as it swung its blunt nose his direction. Inuyasha had never actually fought like this before, but his programming kicked in and he brought his claws down to strike a glancing blow to the side of the youkai's muzzle. Energy flowed out of his fingertips, cutting through its plastic skin and opening three wide gashes in the metal casing underneath. The brute shuddered away with a strained clanking sound.
The hanyou landed lightly, and paused to stare at his own claws in disbelief. He hadn't known he could do that. It was supposed to be illegal. . . Before he could finish that thought, the youkai turned to face him again, opening its mouth to reveal sharp, stainless steel teeth. It bellowed a staticky challenge, then charged him.
Again, Inuyasha had no trouble dodging the larger youkai's attack, and again he slashed at it with his hands. The energy under his claws drew bright lines in the air as he opened four more cuts on the side of the youkai's neck. Inuyasha allowed himself to smirk as he considered his opponent's damage. Though not deep, he had hit it twice, while avoiding its clumsy attacks. Evidently, he was better made than even he had thought.
This time, Inuyasha chose to take the offensive, rushing his enemy and scouring new lines across the back of his adversary's head. He landed safely on the other side of the youkai as it shook off his attack.
The hanyou's satisfaction was short lived as he saw that once more, the damage was only superficial. He gritted his teeth against a new snarl, and launched himself at the youkai again, bringing both hands down like talons into the thing's eye, cracking its optics and tearing at the face around the socket.
The youkai made a high-pitched sound of protest, shaking itself violently to dislodge the irritant. Inuyasha was thrown off of it, only half able to save himself from crashing into the asphalt, landing on his shoulder instead of his head.
The industrial youkai swatted at him with one foreleg, and he rolled away to avoid being crushed, only to feel 'pain' lance from his left shoulder straight to the base of his skull as the joint ground stuck instead of moving smoothly. Inuyasha staggered back in shock as he came to his feet.
He had never felt this before. He knew what it was, but he had never 'felt' it. His body was sending him a message that he was damaged, and telling him not to do that again. He didn't like it. It wasn't incapacitating, nor should it affect what was left of his fighting capability, but he did not like the feeling.
Anger filled him, and the light coming from his fingertips grew brighter, leaving traces of power to sizzle in the air as he moved.
This wasn't working. He needed to find someplace to hit that would actually bring this thing down.
Unwanted, he caught Kagome's scent, high with fear. 'What the hell is she still doing here?'
'Shit. Isn't she even smart enough to run away now that she's caught that damned activist?' Obviously she wasn't, because there she was, watching.
The youkai struck again while Inuyasha was distracted. He nearly didn't jump back in time.
At this rate, the larger youkai would outlast him. The injuries he managed to inflict on it weren't much more than skin deep on it, its vital systems protected by sheer mass, while Inuyasha knew he wouldn't be able to take one more hit. He'd already lost the use of one arm.
Fixing all of his attention on the youkai, Inuyasha searched for any weakness he could exploit, and saw nothing but solid metal.
"Fuck me," he whispered aloud.
*~*~*
Okay, that's it for today. I actually expected to have the fight scene done in one chapter. Sorry. This is why this story is going to be longer than I meant it to be.
Until next time.