Hao smiled malevolently at Lyserg, who was struggling to protect Jeanne. "Tell me, Lyserg Diethyl, how long can you hold off the flames? I can feel your furyoku is decreasing alarmingly."

"I will protect Jeanne to the end!" he yelled.

"Then allow me to say that the end is coming closer for you then." The onmyouji stepped closer. "Let me ease you from the wait by hastening the Seraphim's death." The hand of the Spirit of Fire suddenly grabbed the Iron Maiden, rendering Lyserg's barrier useless.

"Hao!!!" yelled Lyserg, immediately releasing his angel pistol, but this was pushed aside effortlessly by the fire mecha.

Hao grinned. "Now watch as I send into the blazing hell another one of your beloved persons again, Lyserg Diethyl."

"Do not touch her with your sinful hands, Hao Asakura!!!" yelled Marco. Behind him, his angel attacked.

This was disposed of by the onmyouji without difficulty.

"You are all just like pitiful ants trying to wage a fruitless war against a giant. You know you won't win against me but you still fight valiantly…or stupidly." Hao's eyes went to the Iron Maiden, then he realized why Jeanne was not speaking.

She was enclosing the Great Spirits within the Gates of Babylon, with the intention of sealing it in a vacuum! The X-Laws were but decoys so he wouldn't notice what she was doing!

"How dare you!!!" The Spirit of Fire reached its claw just in time into the slit opening of the closing Gates of Babylon.

Jeanne's eyes flapped open. "Somebody stop Hao Asakura! He mustn't get the Great Spirits!"

"Big Ben attack!" Lyserg's dowser assailed the arm holding Jeanne captive as the other X-Laws tried to hold Hao back. Lyserg succeeded, and he caught the sarcophagus.

"Jeanne! Jeanne, are you alright?" he asked panickedly.

"D-Don't worry about me…stop Hao, or the Gates of Babylon…shall be for vain."

Her words were barely finished when they heard screams of agony. Jeanne gasped.

Lyserg was quick enough to cover her eyes from the sight of the Spirit of Fire burning the remaining ashes of the X-Laws.

"You…you meddling insects…"Hao's face suddenly twisted into a frighteningly insane smile. "I've waited so long for this…the likes of you weaklings can never stop me." He turned to the remaining two living figures- Lyserg and Jeanne.

The dowser stood protectively in front of Jeanne.

"I will take great pleasure from killing you two slowly." The Spirit of Fire reached for the two.

"Get out of there, Jeanne," he ordered. She nodded and let herself out of the iron maiden, then joined the dowser.

"Now run for it!" he yelled, pushing her back, then blocking the arm of the Spirit of Fire with his dowser. "Morphine, oversoul!!!"

Jeanne watched as flames surrounded the dowser. "L-Lyserg!"

In her blurring vision, she caught sight of Lyserg's cheerful smile. "Live, Jeanne. Live and be happy."

Then the flames swallowed him.

Her heart stopped. "L-Lyserg…" She dropped on her knees, still unable to react.

Hao smiled, satisfied. "It's your turn now, Most Holy Girl Jeanne," he said mockingly.

Her eyes were uncomprehending; they were still on the flame continuously burning Lyserg.

"Heh! Told you Lyserg is one hot guy!" said a voice suddenly. Just then, water doused the fire surrounding the dowser.

Hao turned to the source of the voice. "What the-"

Yoh and his friends were standing by the clearing, his brother staring at him in mixed anger and disbelief.

Horo Horo took Lyserg's unconscious body, then smiled at Jeanne. "Hey, come here and look after your lover boy." When she didn't reply, he sighed. "Come on, he would appreciate a good-looking nurse."

"Damn…you…don't talk…to Jeanne that…way," said Lyserg, opening one of his eyes weakly.

There and then, the iron maiden realized that the dowser was still alive! She hurried to him, crying and laughing at the same time.

Hao's eyes followed them, then turned back to his brother. "You're going to stop me, am I right?"

Yoh nodded solemnly.

"Come with me then." He snapped his finger when Ren and the others were about to follow Yoh. Hao's remaining minions appeared, ready to face them.

Ren, Chocolove and Ryu stepped in front, ready to battle. Faust, Horo Horo and Jeanne, on the other hand, were around Lyserg.

Faust smiled comfortingly at Jeanne. "Your beloved will be fine, don't worry."

Horo looked at Jeanne. "You were the nun in the convent?"

She nodded slowly.

Ryu laughed. "No wonder Lyserg is always confessing. Heh, he's got taste."

"Lyserg's got waste?" asked Chocolove, prompting Horo to slam his shoe on the clown's head.

Ren rolled his eyes. "Shut up, everyone. The sooner we finish dealing with these clowns, the sooner we can join Yoh in his battle with Hao."

"And the sooner you can go home to my sister," said Horo sarcastically.

"Among other things," smirked Ren before he, Ryu, and Choco attacked.

Even with his eyes shut, Lyserg could already imagine the cheerful faces of his friends. He had no idea how he missed their craziness until now. He smiled. It felt great to feel their familiar warmth once more.

"You will be well, Lyserg," whispered Jeanne, stroking his hand.

He smiled some more. And it was great to still be alive and feel Jeanne so near.

"Manta!" Anna was stunned when she saw the midget hurrying towards the sacred ground.

"Anna!" The boy's eyes then went to the very tall –with his height right now, he could say that the bird-masked man was certainly a skyscraper- man behind her.

"This is Yoh's father," she introduced. The man nodded briskly at the boy, then noticed the scrolls.

"Tamao's, I presume?" he asked.

"Hai," nodded the dwarf. "It has instructions or something related to Hao's weakness."

Anna was about to get it, but Manta hid the scroll behind him.

"You'll have to bring me along too," he said determinedly.

Anna's eyebrow raised, but when she saw the fierce resolve on his face, she nodded. "Don't get in the way," she said.

Manta nodded, eyes lit up. "You got it!"

"Hao?"

The onmyouji glanced at Yoh. "Yes?"

"I do not understand you. You are the next king of this town. You have the privilege to do and to have anything you want. You have so much. Why will you still want to get the Great Spirits?" asked the younger Asakura.

Hao smiled sardonically. "The possession of the Great Spirit is my frustration ever since. It is the only vehicle I can afford that will give me the power to change the world."

"But changing the world by means of lost lives…it's not right," said Yoh quietly.

"To wash away the filth of yesterday, blood must flow today."

"And if it gets dirty tomorrow?" Yoh clenched his fists. "And human life is a sacred thing…one that can never be adjudged or manipulated by anyone of us. You don't decide who dies and who lives."

"That is why I sought the Great Spirits," said Hao. "It will give me the authority to be the Judge."

Tense silence.

"You do know that I won't allow it," said Yoh finally.

Hao turned around to face him. "I know." He summoned his Spirit of Fire once more. "And we'll settle that once and for all."

Yoh summoned Amidamaru. "I'm sorry we have to do this. I was…I was really excited at first when I learned that I have a brother. I really wished we haven't met in these circumstances, then we could be doing this battle for fun."

Hao paused, then sighed. "You must learn that life is not fun; it's a punishment. It will be my honor to teach you that."

Yoh shook his head. "No, I will not be swayed from my beliefs. I love life, and life loved me too, because I met so many wonderful people in my thirteen years of existence. I am very thankful for that."

"What a shame." Hao then morphed his Spirit of Fire into a sword. "Then this is it?"

Yoh nodded as Amidamaru became a sword too.

"There!" Faust said triumphantly. "Lyserg is safe!"

"Well it's about time," said Ren, who was struggling with two opponents. "Now maybe you can help us?"

"Coming!" said the doctor cheerfully. "My beautiful Eliza, let's go."

Lyserg sat up weakly, watching his friends battle Hao's minions. "I feel so useless," he said out of the blue.

"Gomen," said Jeanne. "If not for me, you would be fighting with them too."

"J-Jeanne!" He kicked himself mentally. How could have he said something that could hurt her?

To his surprise, the unlikeliest person came to his rescue.

Horo Horo grinned at them. "Being useless is not such a bad thing…because you did it for the one you love." He shouted at Ryu to watch out from the back before turning to them cheerfully. "I lost all my furyoku because I wanted Tamao to live longer, but I don't mind. And they don't mind too. My being with them, my encouragements…they're happy with those simple things already."

Lyserg and Jeanne looked at each other, then smiled.

Horo continued. "Save your strength, Lyserg. No matter what happens, you can never be as useless as I am right now," he said, smiling in proud self-degradation.

"Nice speech," smirked Ren in between his chuukazanmai attacks.

"Shut up," laughed Horo good-naturedly.

Shilva and Karimu arrived, fresh from their battles with Zinc and Nichrome.

"You guys look like you had been to one hell of a party," commented Horo Horo.

Shilva grinned. "They were really wild, but they were nothing we couldn't handle."

Karimu turned to Ren. "Need help?"

"Be my guest." Ren kicked one of his opponents toward Karimu's waiting fist.

Nichrome looked at Zinc, who was rendered unconscious by Shilva's attack awhile ago. He stood up shakily and decided to fetch a pail of water to help his fellow priest wake up. He trudged towards the river, holding on to his painfully constricted chest.

What was his reason for being involved with Hao Asakura's war anyway? He didn't care about gaining even more power. He didn't care about wealth. He didn't care about power and world domination. Hell, he didn't even care about Hao's anger on humans.

All he wanted to do was to do something to avenge what happened to Chrome, his brother. His brother had always been a faithful servant of the Asakura Court, but while he was disposing his duty, he simply disappeared. The Court didn't hear his pleas to locate his missing brother, and from that time on, he vowed to go against the Court. When Zinc told him that Hao was planning an uprising against the Asakura Court, he joined Hao's party without hesitation.

He reached the riverbed at last. He immersed his trembling hands into the water and scooped some to his face.

Now that he was defeated, he found no meaning anymore in continuing to live. If he was to die right now, he didn't care.

"Forgive me, brother," he told his reflection.

"Nichrome?"

He saw a girl's reflection beside his on the water. He turned to his side and found Nyorai looking at him worriedly.

"What are you doing here?" he found himself asking hoarsely. "Shouldn't you be in Funbari right now?"

"I came back. I'm worried about you and Chocolove." She untied her shawl and drenched it with water. "Lie down while I treat your wounds."

He was still stunned by what the girl said. It was the first time that someone was vocal about his condition!

She looked at his coat. "How do you take off this thing?"

He silently unfastened it for her, revealing the wounds and bruises he incurred in his just-finished battle.

To his surprise, she didn't even look scared by the injuries. She squeezed the water onto his body, and instantly, he felt overwhelming relief within him.

From time to time, her fingertips touch his muscles as she gave him a sponge bath, and he could feel electricity run up and down within him. Ah, how could this girl make him feel this peculiarly?

All of a sudden, he spoke up. "Are you leaving after you cure me?"

She looked at him. "Yes, I have to find Chocolove."

He nodded. "I'm coming with you."

"Eh?"

"Take me along wherever you go," he said firmly.

She smiled slowly. "Sure, no problem." She went back to treating his wounds, unaware of his eyes following her every move.

His eyes softened. Now he found another reason to continue living- he wanted to be with Nyorai.

It was so simple, yet he felt that this realization changed something within him.

All he understood right now was that he didn't ever want to let go of these feeling.

"That's the last one!" said Chocolove.

Ren looked at their work- twenty powerful shamans lay on a heap of dirt. Were he and his friends already that powerful? He decided that the thought of helping Yoh as soon as possible inspired them to go beyond the limits of their furyoku.

"I think we're ready to go." Ren turned to his exhausted but happy comrades. "Yoh is waiting."

"Not so fast!"

Ren brought out his spear quickly and turned to the source of the voice. A tall man with a bird mask on his face was standing above a tree branch, his hair billowing with the wind.

"Look, up in a tree!" cried Chocolove. "It's a bird!"

"No, it's a man," said Ren, face dark.

"No, it's Master Mikihisa," said Anna dryly, walking towards them. "Yoh's father." Behind her was Manta, grinning.

Mikihisa jumped down. "How's that for an entrance?"

Yoh's friends were all gaping at the man, jaws dropped.

"What?" Mikihisa asked, irritated.

Shilva and Karimu hurriedly bowed to him. "Master, your son is waiting."

"I know that." Mikihisa turned to the others. "Let's go, kids."

Ren muttered under his breath, something like "Like father, like son", but Ryu nudged him to be quiet.

tsuzuku

OMAKE

Takari-san promised to translate the omake, so just wait for her to translate this into English. I'm doing this as a preparation when I try to do professional authoring of romance novels for a Tagalog Romance Publishing house.

Horo/Tamao for this chap ^_^

**

"Nasa ulap ba ang iyong mga mata, mukhang malayo ang iyong…pagtanaw," bungad ni Horo Horo nang nakita niya ang kanyang kaibigan na nagmumukmok na naman sa tarangkahan ng bahay ng isa pa niyang matalik na kaibigan, si Yoh Asakura.

"Horo Horo, utang na loob, wag ka namang mangulit ngayon," pakiusap ni Tamamura Tamao. Tinitigan ang kanyang naturingang friend daw, her eyes trying to make paunawa to his own blue ones.

To her dismay, mukhang hindi pa bahagi ng bokubularyo niya ang salitang 'paunawa'. Hindi tinablan ang magiting na lahing Ainu. "Bakit, meron ka ngayon?" tanong ng binatilyo, ngingisi-ngisi. Hindi talaga nito magawang ipalimot sa dalagita na sa kanyang unang araw na pagtataas ng ever-notorious na red flag ay siya ang kasama nya. Si Horo Horo pa nga ang nautusan nyang bumili ng Modess para sa kanya. Hanggang ngayon, sa hindi malamang dahilan ni Tamao ay dala-dala pa rin ng binatilyo ang alaalang iyon na parang isang badge of honor sa boy scout investiture.

"Katatapos lang last week," sagot nya. "Tsaka hindi iyon ang problema ko."

"May kumanti ba sa iyo, irog?" tanong ni Horo. "Babae ba? Seksi ba? Gusto mo, gahasain ko nang madala?"

She rolled her eyes. Ang una yatang salitang natutuhan ng damuhong ito ay 'gahasa'. "Problema ko, feeling ko, hindi ako lovable."

Napakurap ang lalaki. "Ano kamo?"

Hinarap nya ang kaibigan. "Sabihin mo nga sa akin, maganda ba ako?"

Napatawa ito. "Oo naman. You're much prettier than your average lamang-lupa, in fairness. Hindi halatang hindi ka human."

"Hayup ka! Ang seryo-seryoso ng tanong ko eh-"

"Por dios, wala naman kasing kabuluhan yung tanong mo eh." Sinabayan ng binatilyo ito ng tayo. "Tara, kain na tayo. Nagrereklamo na ang mga baby ko sa aking intestines eh."

Hindi pinansin ito ng dalagita. "Horo, nakakainis kasi eh. Si Yoh na liwanag ng buhay ko, may Ma'am Anna. Si Lyserg, may Mistress Jeanne. Si Ryu, nandun ang Lily Five. Si Jun, may Pailong. Si Chocolove, may Mic. Si Ponchi, may Konchi. Si Ren, may Bason. Yung kutsara, may tinidor. Paano naman ako? Nakalimutan na ba ako ng tadhana?"

Napaupo muli ang lalaki sa tabi nya, napag-isip isip na nagdadalamhati talaga siya dahil pati ang walang kamuwang-muwang na kubyertos ay pinagtataniman nya ng sama ng loob. "You know the problem with you is, masyado kang mainipin. Makikita mo, makikilala mo rin ang lalaki para sa iyo, na hopefully, kasingguwapo ko, nang malahian naman kayo ng mukhang balikbayan from Mt. Olympus."

"Hindi ka ba naiinggit na may kasa-kasama sila sa buhay samantalang ikaw, wala?" she asked curiously.

"I have myself, and he gives me the most wonderful company," he replied coyly. "Tsaka," he added after a thoughtful pause. "Masaya naman ako na single eh. Malaya ako. Hindi ko na kailangan ng isa pang babae sa buhay ko. OK na akong kayo ni Pirika ang kasa-kasama ko. Maisip ko lang ang sitwasyon ni Yoh ngayon na may fiancée na mas mabagsik pa sa Baygon, parang nawawala na ang amor ko sa romansa."

"Pero manyak ka," she said dryly.

"And proud to be one," ngisi ng binatilyo.

"Ewan ko sa iyo!" Tumayo na si Tamao sa wakas. "Mabuti pa, ipagluto na lang kita ng makakain. Nakakatakot ka pag hindi pinakain sa schedule!" Nagpatiuna na siya sa kusina. "Nasaan ba ang kapatid mo at hindi mo kasama?"

"Nag-soul searching." Ngumiti ang lalaki. "Choco chip cookies ha, ale?"

"Sige."

"Wag mong masyadong damdamin na walang magkakamali sa iyo," payo nito sa kanya. "Malay mo, naghihintay lang siya ng pagkakataon…you know, the timing. Nag-iipon lang siguro ng lakas ng loob."

Napalingon siya dito. "Horo Horo?"

Ngumisi ito. "Tsaka, pinapakita lang na normal pa naman ang mga Tao dito sa bayan kasi hindi ka pa nila pinapatulan."

"Animal ka! Susunugin ko ang cookies mo, makikita mo!"

"Teka, walang ganyanan. Bakit naman sabit pati cookies ko sa galit mo?"

"Gago! Imapakto! Manyak! Supot!"

"I object! I may be a gago, an impakto and a very proud manyak, but por the lab op my dog, hindi ako supot, gaddamit! " ani Horo, mukhang wounded.

Mayamaya, sarap na sarap na nilalantakan ni Horo ang cookies na pinaghirapan ni Tamao kani-kanina lang.

"Pwede ka nang mag-asawa," ani Horo sabay kagat sa chocolate bits ng cookie.

"Kasi magaling akong magluto?" Tamao firmly believes that the best way to a man's heart is through his bottomless tiyan.

"Pwede ka nang gumawa ng mapupulutan," wika ni Horo Horo.

"Sino aasawahin ko?" she pouted.

"Itanong mo sa baranggay."

"Naman!" Napabuntung-hininga na lang ang dalagita. Kanina pa siya nagpapa-charming sa kaibigan, kaso daig pa ang Dead Sea sa pagiging dense. Kanina pa nya halos ipagsigawan sa irritatingly kawaii face nito na lonely single siya, kailangan ng kasintahan etc. etc.

Nangako siya sa sarili na pag ma-iinlove siya uli, wag sa isang lalaki na may lahing Ainu. Ang hirap silang espelingin, daig pa ang supergalifragilisticexpialidocius.

Yun eh kung maiin-love pa siya ulit. Gaano man nya kutusin ang sarili nya, hindi niya maibaling-baling sa iba ang kanyang pag-irog sa kanyang Horo Horo.

Minsan, naiisip nya, bakit pa kasi nya nagkagusto sa kaibigan nyang batugan at matakaw at manyak. Ang sutil naman nyang puso, lagging sambit, "Ganyan mo minahal si Horo Horo, ang magiting na Ainu. Minahal mo ang lahat-lahat sa kanya, kasama na ang katamaran, kasibaan at kamunduhan nya."

"Ang lalim naman ata ng naiisip mo, Irog," biglang paggambala ni Horo Horo sa kanyang pagmumuni.

"W-Wala."

"Iniisip mo ba si katotong Yoh?" tanong nito, his eyes suddenly sharp, as in parang Gilette na original.

Napatango siya nang alangan. Yoh was her defense mechanism, because it always manages to make her balasubas friend shut up.

"Sayang lang ang mental energy mo, Tamao," wika nito, kahit na hindi naman nya hinihingi ang payo nito. "I-enjoy mo na lang ang pagiging single mo."

She pursed her lips petulantly. "Gusto ko, may ka-loving loving ako. Gusto ko may kayakap ako."

"Bibilhan kita ng stuffed toy. Gusto mo ng Pikachu o Hello Kitty?"

"Gusto ko, kasing-laki ko, or mas mataas."

"Bibilhan kita ng life-sized na stuffed toy."

"Hindi nagsasalita iyon!"

"No prob! Bibili tayo ng talking life-size stuffed toy."

"Horo Horo, hindi mo kasi maintindihan eh." Napalabi na lang siya. Saludo na talaga siya sa kamanhiran nito.

"Ikaw ang di ko maintidihan. Simpleng bagay, pinalalaki mo."

"Horo Horo, I want somebody to love me," she said softly, her voice breaking.

Natigilan ito at napatungo. "I know. Pero…pero alam mong hindi naman pwede, di ba? May Anna na yung tao eh, tsaka…tsaka mahal na mahal ni Yoh yung si Anna." Tumayo ito at umupo sa tabi nya. "Ganito…pagtiyagaan mo na lang itong kaibigan mong ito." He gestured to himself. "Hindi man ako masyadong kasing-appeal ni Yoh, mas guwapo naman ako. And I won't make reklamo if you hug me, or you make kuwento to me one to sawa."

"B-Bakit mo gagawin yun?" she asked uncertainly. "Naaawa ka ba sa akin?"

"Ako nga ang naaawa sa sarili ko eh," sagot ng binatilyo. "Plano kong manligaw nang pormal sa iyo, pero naiisip ko, I can never be good enough for you. Kaya ok na sa akin ang proxy. Second best, panakip-butas…I don't mind. Basta ayoko lang kitang makitang malungkot." He cupped her face gently. "Call?"

Napangiti si Tamao, alanganing matatawa, alanganing iiyak. "Pag ikaw, sinabi mong ginugoodtime mo lang ako, papatayin kita."

"I take it you say yes?" he asked, hope written all over his face.

Inihilig nya ang ulo sa dibdib ng kaibigan, sabay halakhak. "You just can't stand seeing me sad, ne?"

"Oo naman. Love kita eh, e di tiis," he said flippantly, but his touch made it clear that he was telling nothing more than the truth.

She enjoyed his embrace. Saka na lang siguro nya sasabihin sa kaibigan ang kanyang feelings. I-enjoy muna nya ang feeling ng maligawan.

Tapos

First attempt ko yan s Popular Tagalog, so mejo awkward ne?