Chapter 92

Final Battle: Part III

Kage looked around as the battle raged on. The defenders were holding back the enemy army even though they were outnumbered. The Ghouls continued to swarm over the top while the giants either hurled boulders or punched the gate in an attempt to break through. A few Ghouls and Blades had made it to the area behind the wall but were quickly killed by Black Fang.

He felt Maya step up next to him. "Look's like we're winning Kage."

"It ain't over yet. I doubt we've taken out even half their number."

"You certainly know how to make a girl feel safe."

"Just saying the truth."

He aimed his Ingram over the edge of the wall and unloaded on the giants trying to open the gate. Maya was fighting back any who tried to attack him from behind,

Elsewhere, Crystal and Kuwabara were having some problems.

"Don't worry Crystal, it's just five Blades." Kuwabara said nervously. The two were backing away from the lizard-like beasts.

"No point in running Kazuma. We'll have to take care of them now."

Kuwabara gulped and nodded.

"FOX FIRE" green flames incinerated the Blades. The two were puzzled until Damien jumped into view. "Thought you two needed some backup."

Crystal smiled. "Thanks Damien."

"Anytime." Damien replied before running off to face more Ghouls. Kuwabara was giving him an envious glare the whole time.

"Come on Kazuma, we've got more work to do." Crystal said before following Damien.

"Hey wait up Crystal."

Zenmaru let out a frustrated growl when he came upon the gate. The giants he'd sent to smash the gate down lay covered with bullet holes. He raised his hand and beckoned more giants to attack the gate. They soon joined the previous giants. The general looked up and saw Kage giving him the finger.

He narrowed his eyes. "Play time's over." He raised his left hand toward the gate. With a smirk he fired a black energy blast at it.

Kage saw it coming and pulled Maya away.

"What are you doing Kage?"

"Just stay down" Kage replied as he lay on top of her.

The blast hit the gate and caused a huge explosion. The gate was blown away as well as most of the middle of the wall. Defenders and attackers alike were blown into the sky, pieces of them landing in various places. Zenmaru knew he'd created a huge gap in the wall. "All forces concentrate your attack on the weakened point."

The Ghouls around him cheered before charging toward the gap. They couldn't see what awaited them since the smoke had yet to clear but what came next surprised them.

"SWORD GET LONGER" A long spirit sword swung from side to side slicing its way through the Ghouls' ranks. Zenmaru looked at the source and saw Kuwabara standing in the middle of the gap.

"You'll have to get through me first."

Zenmaru let out a frustrated sigh. "A stupid human is bad enough, but why did this one have to be so ugly?"

"Quit your muttering and come here!!!"

Zenmaru smirked and beckoned his tiger to charge foreword.

Kage aimed his Ingram at the tiger but was stopped when Crystal placed her hand in from of the barrel.

"Move your hand Crystal."

"Listen, that poor tiger doesn't deserve to be killed. Zenmaru is just using it."

Kage sighed and secretly cursed Crystal's love of cats. He redirected his aim to the straps keeping the saddle on and fired. The bullets hit their mark and the saddle fell of the tiger's back taking Zenmaru with it. Crystal jumped toward the tiger and used a spirit blast to stun it.

Zenmaru groaned as he stood up. "You'll pay for that, bitch."

"Actually, I am half dog so that's not much of an insult."

Zenmaru growled and charged. Kuwabara rushed foreword and collided weapons with the general. But the force of Zenmaru's swing was enough the send Kuwabara flying back. Crystal attacked and managed to hit his armor but her weapon bounced off. Zenmaru smirked and blew her back with a power up. She landed on her feet and continued her assault.

Two giants were making its way toward the battle. "FIRE" red energy in the shape of a European dragon flew toward one and burned it to a crisp. "ICE" blue energy in the shape of an Asian dragon flew toward the second giant and froze it over. Kavik fired a bullet at it and the frozen giant shattered into millions of pieces. Draco stood at the edge of the gap with a mix of red and blue energy swirling around his body. "You guys weaken him some and I'll be able to take him out."

Kage nodded and jumped to where Zenmaru was beating back Crystal. He fired a few shots but the general flitted out of the way of the bullets. He reappeared behind Kage and blew him to the ground with an energy blast.

Crystal charged him and he prepared his weapon. Their sword clashed again and again. Zenmaru was clearly not taking the battle seriously and had a smirk on his face the entire time as he fended of Crystal's assault. Kuwabara was trying to fight his way through a dozen Blades in an attempt to reach her.

Zenmaru knocked Crystal to the ground and raised his weapon to finish her when a whip coiled around his waist and pulled him back. He looked behind him and saw Damien pulling on the other end. With a growl, Zenmaru sliced through the whip and charged Damien.

He was stopped in his tracks when Black Fang appeared beside him and clamped his jaws around Zenmaru's left arm. He promptly blew the wolf off and inspected the damage. The armor around his lower left arm was dented and had a few holes in it.  Luckily for the general, the fangs didn't reach his flesh.

He was brought out of his inspection when Kage kicked him across the face. Zenmaru grabbed Kage's ankle and pulled him to the ground. Kage soon found himself staring down Zenmaru's blade.

Zenmaru smirked. "Any last words?"

"Just one, Kavik!!!"

Kavik tossed his shotgun to Kage. Kage easily caught it and pressed the end of the barrel against the blade. Before Zenmaru could pull back Kage fired. The shotgun ammo shattered Zenmaru's weapon to pieces.

Kage kicked him back. "Now Kuwabara!!!" 

Kuwabara charged toward Zenmaru and leapt into the air. He came down on Zenmaru and impaled the general through the chest. The tip of his sword stuck into the ground effectively nailing Zenmaru in place.

Draco saw his moment. "Everyone move, this is going to be big." The others ran away from where Zenmaru was struggling to get the sword out of him. "ELEMENTAL FURY" the blue and red energy around him intensified and he pointed toward Zenmaru. The energies flew toward the general and merged halfway toward him. Zenmaru let out one final yell before being engulfed by the attack. The attack was so huge it continued toward the other attackers and engulfed hundreds more in the Black Legion ranks.

Draco smirked before collapsing to the ground. Lita was soon at his side. "Draco, you okay."

"I just need a little nap." Draco replied before passing out.

"Get him back to the camp." Ordered Kage. Lita, with the help of Jin, carried Draco to the camp behind the wall.

"Now what?" Kuwabara asked as they ran up to Kage.

Kage looked to where more enemies were charging toward the gap. Just because their general was dead didn't mean they were about to quit. The battle with Zenmaru had left a large semicircle in front of the gap clear of any enemy forces. But now that space was closing.

Kage smirked. "We take the fight to them." Before anyone could ask what he meant he took off toward the enemy ranks. Everyone watched in shock as he pointed his guns forward and fired.

His bullets tore a path through the enemy ranks and he ran through that path. When the enemy surrounded him on all sides, he started to spin around and send a circle of bullets in all directions.

Kavik readied his pistol in his left hand and his machete in the other and leapt over the wall's edge and into the flood of enemy troops.

Crystal, Kuwabara, Damien, and Black Fang looked at each other before shrugging and charging to join the two in the fight in front of the wall.

Aurora watched them charge out. I don't know is they're really brave or really stupid.

Maya looked up from her latest kill. Kage's white trench coat made him easy to see among the black armor of the enemy. That's my man.

The battle with Jagan

Yoko swung his whip at Jagan who countered with his katana. The two weapons clashed, sending sparks out in all direction. Yusuke was waiting for the right moment to strike and Nami was struggling just to remain standing. The general and bandit seemed to be even as the swung their weapons at each other.

"I will defeat you Yoko."

"What makes you so sure of yourself?"

"Your power is nothing compared to mine."

"I highly doubt that."

"You've no right to talk to me like that. The Devil Wolf used all his power to kill me. It only took one arrow from that hunter to end the career of the legendary bandit Yoko."

"I was careless and overconfident then. I won't overestimate myself in this battle."

"We'll see about that."

Jagan disappeared leaving Yoko to look around for the fire demon. He sensed something behind him and used his energy to maneuver his whip into the path of the katana. Jagan growled in frustration and jumped back.

Yoko wasted no time in spinning around and throwing his seeds at Jagan's feet. Jagan leapt into the air and hovered over the area the seeds had been planted. The seeds sprouted and the man-eating plants headed for him. He smirked as black flames surrounded his body. Before the plants could even reach him they burst into flames. This visibly surprised Yoko.

"Don't look so surprised fox. The heat given off by the flames around my body will incinerate your plants before they reach me. To bad for you."

Yoko narrowed his eyes as Jagan landed with a sadistic smile on his face. A split second after Jagan's feet hit the ground he took off toward the fox. Yoko was forced to jump away to keep his whip from being burned. Jagan swung at him with his katana as Yoko did his best to avoid being sliced by the sword.

The fox saw only one option and stopped trying to dodge. Jagan sliced Yoko's right shoulder but the fox saw his chance. He swung his whip at Jagan's sword and it coiled around the blade. Before the whip burned to ashes, Yoko yanked the weapon from Jagan's grasp and punched him in the face. Jagan was sent fling back but regained his composure and landed on his feet.

"Not bad Yoko."

Yoko tossed the katana to the side. "You destroy my weapon and I take away yours. A fair trade don't you think?"

Jagan only got into a fighting stance. Yoko followed suit. They stood staring each other down before Jagan charged. Yoko knew his only defense was his fox fire. White flames surrounded his body as Jagan approached.

Jagan started throwing punches at Yoko but the fox managed to dodge each one of them. Jagan fired a black fireball at him. Yoko responded by stopping the blast with a barrier. Jagan charged and threw a punch at the barrier. The mix of energies sent sparks of fire in all directions.

Yoko was forced to relent and pulled back to avoid Jagan's punch. Jagan growled and fired more blasts at Yoko. Yoko dodged each one and sent blasts toward Jagan. The two continued their duel dodging each other's blasts while sending out their own.

Nami watched on but noticed Yusuke standing watching the battle. "Yusuke, what are you waiting for?"

"I can't hit Jagan right now without hurting Hiei's body. We need to keep him in one place for a few seconds."

Nami growled and prepared to charge.

Jagan powered up and blew Yoko against the wall. "Now to finish you off!!!" Jagan's fist was surrounded by black flames and he charged. Yoko crossed both hands in front of him and braced for what was to come.

Jagan thrust his hand forward and hit Yoko's arms. The resulting explosion sent shockwaves that blew the windows of the throne room to pieces. When the dust settled Yoko was embedded in the wall. Jagan readied his fist for another attack. 

Just before he reached Yoko, Nami appeared in front of him. She threw her weapons down and threw her arms around Jagan's neck.

"I know Hiei's still in there." She said before kissing him full on the lips.

Jagan was beyond shocked. Half of it was because of Nami's actions and the other half was because he couldn't make Hiei's body break the kiss. Damit he's regained some control.

Nami knew the situation and broke the kiss. "Sorry bout this Hiei, but it's for your own good." She then raised her right fist and punched him across the face. The force was so great it spun him around. When his back was facing her she snaked her arms under his armpits and held him in place. "Now Yusuke."

Jagan would have blown her off but Yoko coiled his spare whip around the fire demon's waist. The fox used his energy to keep Jagan's own energy in.

Yusuke smirked and pointed his finger at Jagan. "Sayonara. SPIRIT GUN" the blast flew out of his finger and toward Jagan. Jagan watched in horror as the blast approached.

"NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" he was silenced when the shot hit the eye on his forehead. His body erupted in black energy, which blew Nami off him. Yoko caught her and landed with her in his arms.

Jagan clutched his forehead as his spirit flew out of Hiei's body through the hole in the eye. The energy suddenly disappeared as the last remnants of Jagan's spirit flew into the air. The energy gathered high in the air then exploded. The others were forced to close their eyes from the light given off by the explosion.

"Yoko, I suggest you get your hands off my woman."

Nami looked toward the source and saw Hiei on both knees looking back into her eyes. His forehead was devoid of a third eye. She let out a cry of delight and flitted out of Yoko's arms, catching him off guard.

Before Hiei knew it, he was knocked onto his back as Nami showered his face in butterfly kisses. He shrugged and allowed her to continue. It felt nice.

Yoko shook his head as he watched. 'Never thought I'd ever see Hiei act like this.'

'You'd be surprised by how much a woman can change a man Yoko.'

'Yes but it seems to make him soft.'

'Love is no weakness, in fact it can give you more power than you can ever imagine.'

'I suppose you want control of this body again?'

'That's what I was planning on doing.'

'I had to come and risk my neck out here and I get nothing in return?'

'*sigh* What do you want this time Yoko?'

Yoko thought about it for a minute until a smirk crossed his face. 'During your wedding night, let me take over for one hour.'

'WHAT?!'

'You heard me.'

'Absolutely not!!!'

'Fine, then you'll never take control of this body again.'

He heard Kurama growled. 'Fine, but Botan won't be happy when I tell her.'

'How about you not tell her and I can surprise her.'

'That'll make her really mad.'

'Believe me, after one hour she'll be begging me to stay. In fact she'll probably prefer me over you.'

'In your dreams Yoko' 

Yoko chuckled before letting Kurama take control.

Yusuke had been watching the exchange of affection between the two small demons. They were now totally concentrated on seeing who could reach the others tonsils first. "Ahem" The two looked up and glared at him. "Uh, never mind, continue." The two smiled and continued where they left off.

Yusuke heard Kurama walk up to him while mumbling stuff under his breath. "What's with you?"

"Don't ask."

Yusuke was starting to get freaked out. "So how do you think Riku's doing up there?"

"I'm not sure. Those clouds seem to be blocking their energy signals."

"I hope he's still alive."

On the platform

As Satanos approached, Ryu made one final lunge toward the Crescent Edge. He grabbed the handle and rolled over just when Satanos swung at him. Their swords collided and the unthinkable happened, both swords shattered.

The two warriors watched in shock as the pieces of their swords flew in all directions. Some of the shards left tiny gashes on their faces but they were to stunned to notice. Ryu looked down at what remained attached to his swords handle. He couldn't believe the sword that had protected his bloodline for 3,000 years was no more.

He was brought out of his thoughts when Satanos grabbed his neck with both hands and squeezed. "I'll just kill you with my own two hands."

Ryu was unable to respond as he struggled to get air into his lungs. He maneuvered his legs under Satanos and kicked him off. Satanos did a summersault and looked over to where Ryu was gasping for air.

He pointed a finger at him and sent a bolt of lighting out. It hit the wolf and took the shape of shackles around his wrists and ankles.  Satanos smirked and pointed his finger upward. Ryu was levitated into the air as he struggled to get free. Satanos smirked.

"This will be painful Ryu. No one defeats me and goes unpunished."

He pointed his right index and middle finger to the side and produced an energy whip. With a smirk he swung and hit Ryu across the back. As Ryu cried in pain Satanos continued his swings chuckling with each cry from his helpless opponent.

The whip left gashes all over Ryu's wings. Parts of them were in tatters. A few of the hits had managed to hit Ryu's back leaving deep gashes in the flesh.

Satanos smiled and started to spread his hand out. The shackles reacted by pulling in four directions stretching Ryu's body. Ryu did everything he could to keep his limbs from being ripped off. As he struggle he could hear his bones start to crack and what was left of the Crescent Edge fell from his hand.

Satanos added insult to injury by coiling his whip around Ryu's neck and pulling. Once again Ryu found himself unable to breath. He figured out Satanos was trying to execute him. I can't go down like this.

With a laugh Satanos relented and let Ryu fall limply to the ground. Ryu landed and lay panting. He'd been stretched and choked at the same time. The whip was still around his neck but had loosened for now.

Then something caught his eye. He looked to it and saw Yukina's red ribbon lay among the shards of his sword. He reached his right hand out and pulled it into his grasp. He could sense Riku doing everything he could to give Ryu strength. He looked at the ribbon in his hand.

Memories started to flood into the Devil Wolf's mind. He remembered his life before the war, when he lived peacefully with his pack. He had everything, a mate and five pups. Then the Black Legion destroyed it all just so they could get their hands on him. He remembered his training to control his power and his life as a lone wolf wandering the land in search of revenge. His life leading the rebel forces came to mind and the day he met Relena. His final thought was of Relena's smile during their wedding.

He was brought out of his thoughts when Satanos tugged on the whip and pulled Ryu toward him. When Ryu opened his eyes he found himself looking into Satanos' red ones. "I have a proposition for you. As you know, the Devil Wolf was meant to serve me. If you swear your allegiance to me, I'll spare your life and the lives of your mate and friends. How does that sound?"

Ryu rolled over and pushed himself to one knee. With great effort he stood up and looked Satanos straight in the eyes. "A life under your control is no life at all Satanos."

Satanos narrowed his eyes and punched Ryu in the stomach. Ryu doubled over and fell to his knees. He coughed up his own blood as Satanos smirked.

"I don't believe you Satanos." He looked up at the king. "First you wipe out my pack, then you invade my world, try to kill me in battle after battle, and now come back to destroy the human world just because of a grudge against me. You're crazy if you think I'd join you."

"That's to bad Ryu." Satanos lifted him up by the collar and blasted him clear to the other side of the platform. "Looks like you'll have to die." Satanos fisted his right hand as black flames surrounded his body.

'Ryu, you okay?'

'Riku we have to use the Fang of the Crimson Inferno.'

'Are you crazy? We don't have the power.'

'I've figured out a way to increase its power enough to stand up to Satanos.'

'How?'

'By putting my own spirit in the blast.'

'Not happening.'

'Riku, we have no choice.'

'But if you do that you'll cease to exist.'

'I know.'

'There has to be another way.'

'No, there is no other way. Here's what we'll do. I'll fire it off and transfer my spirit into it. The rest is up to you.'

'What'll happen when it's over?'

'If it works then Satanos will be defeated. However, you won't be able to transform.' 

'Then what good is it?'

'You may not be able to transform, but you'll never need to. When my spirit leaves you, your own power while increase. You'll be an ordinary wolf demon with extraordinary power.'

'I guess there is no other way.'

'Just do one thing for me.'

'Anything.'

'Make sure Yusuke makes it through this in one piece. He is descended from Raizen, the first truly influential demon to fall in love with a human. His bloodline will play a key part in bringing peace between demons and humans. Your bloodline must be there to back them up the whole way. Understood?'

'Yeah'

'Good, now let's do it.'

'Goodbye Ryu.'

'Yeah see ya.' Ryu stood up and first his own hand. 

"Good just stand there. It'll make your death quicker." Satanos laughed.

Ryu glared at him as red flamed surrounded his body.

"I won't let you take over the human world."

"Famous last words. Get ready for the most powerful darkness flame attack ever created. PHOENIX OF THE DARKNESS FLAME" Black flames in the shape of a giant bird flew out of his hands.

"We'll just see about that, FANG OF THE CRIMSON INFERNO" the mighty wolf of red flames flew out of his hand to meet the phoenix. Riku slowly found himself in control as Ryu transferred his spirit into the attack. The wolf let out a mighty howl before colliding with the phoenix. Ryu's upgrade worked but it appeared to be a stalemate. 

Riku was now in his normal form but continued to put what little energy he had left into the attack. It's not enough.

"Nice try wolf but in the end I always win." Satanos had just finished speaking when five crescent-shaped blades made of purple energy flew toward him and sliced his firing arm to pieces. He saw them fly back to someone standing on the edge of the platform. He couldn't make him out but could see two violet eyes looking back at him. The intruder turned around and jumped off the platform disappearing into the clouds.

Riku heard a voice in his head. 'If anyone is going to kill you Riku, it will be me.'

Riku couldn't help but smirk. Thanks Muraku.

With his arm gone Satanos could no longer transfer his energy into the blast. The phoenix lost momentum and the wolf plowed on toward the king. He was engulfed by the red flames as the wolf flew foreword and into the sky. With a final howl it exploded.

Satanos stood in place. His armor was cracked all over and his skin was badly burned. He saw Riku charged him. He made one final lunge toward the wolf but Riku ducked his punch and in the blink of an eye was on the other side of Satanos.

Satanos fell to his knees as blood seeped from his throat. Riku had proven how deadly a wolf's claws were. Satanos found just enough strength to say one final sentence. "You may have defeated me Riku, but the war is mine thanks to the Lucifer Dragon."

Before Riku could turn around and asked what he meant the king's body started to shake. The slash on his throat started to glow. Realizing what was about to happen, Riku ran to the edge of the platform and jumped. The king's body exploded creating shockwaves that reverberated across the Demon Realm. A pillar of black light shot up into the sky causing the clouds to part.

Riku could see the palace beneath him. His decent was quickened by the final shockwave sent out by the explosion. Before his body hit the ground he felt a pair of arms grab him and stop his decent. He smiled at his brother-in-law. Hiei smirked back.

"Good work wolf."

"Glad to see you're back Hiei."

Hiei flitted back to the ground and gently placed Riku one the ground. As the others ran to him Riku finally lost consciousness.

At the wall

Kage continued to shot his way through the enemy ranks. The defenders were starting to lose. Three of the cannons had been overrun and more enemy troops were pouring through the gap. He was starting to tire and so were the others that had charged out with him.

He grunted when one of the giants swatted him to the ground. He looked up and saw the said giant raise its fist to crush him. Sorry Maya.

Before the giant could finish him, the black phoenix in the sky let out a high screech. All eyes turned to it. The bird was disintegrating from the inside out. Kage immediately saw this as a sign the king had been defeated. With a finally cry the black phoenix blew up.

The Black Legion now knew their king was dead and in true Black Legion style, retreated. They dropped their weapons and armor as they ran at top speed back to the portal. The defenders cheered as the phoenix that had come to help them harassed the retreating enemy.

Kage heard footsteps approaching from behind and turned around just when Maya threw her arms around his neck. "We won!!!"

Kage smiled and returned the hug. "Yeah Maya. We did win." Maya smiled at him and pulled him into a kiss.

"You okay Kazuma?"

"Yeah Crystal."

Crystal felt something nudge her side. She looked over and saw Zenmaru's tiger standing there with a grateful look in its eyes. She smiled and stroked the tiger's head making it pure in response. "You're very welcome." 

"Be careful Crystal."

"Don't worry Kazuma he's harmless. In fact, I think I'll keep him as a pet. Black Fang could use a playmate."

Kuwabara fainted.

Back at the palace

"He's coming to." Nami said as Riku opened his eyes.

"Where am I?"

"At the Demon King's palace. Well former demon king now." Kurama replied.

Riku smirked. "So it wasn't a dream?"

The others shook their heads.

Then Riku remembered something. "Kurama, do the words Lucifer Dragon ring a bell?"

"I've heard it mentioned somewhere but I can't remember what it is."

"I can answer that."

They looked to the side and saw a transparent Koenma standing in front of them.

"You can?" Yusuke asked.

"Yes, the Lucifer Dragon was a beast created by my father. It was a last ditch weapon if the Demon King won the war. It's a dragon with the power to wipe out all existence. My father figured he wouldn't allow the Demon King to rule over the realms so he decided to just destroy them all. And if what Satanos said is true, then the dragon will awaken soon."

"Where is it?" Kurama asked.

"I'm willing to bet it's somewhere in the palace."

"But where?" Yusuke asked. The ground suddenly started to shake.

"I sense something. And it's big." Hiei said as Nami grabbed onto his arm for support.

"The dragon is awakening!!! Hurry, you have to destroy it before it leaves the palace!!!"

"Let's go!!!" Yusuke said before running in the direction of the power.

Riku managed to get to his feet and follow them out. They ran through the palace until them came across a staircase leading down. The energy was coming from the bottom so they ran down it.

Upon reaching the bottom they skidded to a halt. Before them was a massive 500-foot tall dragon. It was a European dragon with deep blue scales that changed purple if the light hit them right. Its eyes were red. Two horns stuck out of its head, three smaller ones on each top eyelid, one on the tip of its nose, a row of spikes going along its back, and two devil-like wings protruded from its back. It was struggling to get out of a barrier around it.

"And I thought Hiei's dragon looked nasty." Said Yusuke.

"Let's not waste time." Hiei said.

Yusuke nodded and got into position. "SHOTGUN" His attack hit the barrier and went no further.

Kurama narrowed his eyes. "That barrier is stronger than any other I've ever seen."

"Then how do we destroy the damn thing?!"

Riku looked around and saw something. The dragon had a necklace around its neck. The chain was made of iron. Hanging off it was a gold medallion in the shape of a sphere. Three drawings were caved on each side. A demon head was carved on one part, a human skull on another, and a crown on the third. Riku could sense the power coming from it. "Guys, I think that necklace is the source of its power." The others followed his gaze.

"I believe you're right Riku." Said Kurama.

"You can bet the barrier's strongest around it." Nami said as she looked at it.

"So how do we break through?" Yusuke asked.

Riku snapped his fingers. "The Spirit Bomb."

Yusuke brightened up. "He's right."

Hiei sighed. "That attack may be powerful but it can't break through the barrier. Besides I don't think we have enough time."

Kurama looked at them. "Hiei's right, I'd say we have two minutes left."

The others growled and tried to think of a way out of this.

This time Nami snapped her fingers. "I got it."

"Got what?" Hiei asked.

"Listen, we can use the Spirit Bomb if the barrier is weakened. So while Yusuke's making the thing, the rest of us will use our best attacks on that one point in front of the sphere and weaken that area. Then the Spirit Bomb could blow that thing to pieces."

"That's actually a great idea." Kurama said.

Nami smiled. "See, this team needs a girl to come up with these ideas on the spot. Boys are just to slow to figure plans out fast enough."

The guys glared at her.

"Yusuke, you have thirty seconds to make a bomb powerful enough to break through the barrier." Riku said looking at the detective.

"Thirty seconds?!"

"Yep"

"But Kage's best time is only forty-five. Mine is fifty-five."

"You've always done the impossible Yusuke. Just do it one more time."

Yusuke looked at the faces of his team. He could tell they believed in him. "Alright let's do it."

The others smirked at him and turned to prepare. Yusuke readied his hand and started concentrating. The others prepared from their own attacks. The seconds ticked away and the dragon came closer and closer to escaping its prison. Riku saw the moment. "It's now or never guys!!!" Kurama, Hiei, and Nami nodded.

"CRESCENT CLAWS"

"ROSE STORM"

"DRAGON OF THE DARKNESS FLAME"

"GRAND INFERNO"

The attacks mixed together making one powerful blast that slammed into the barrier with devastating power. They could see a small break in the barrier.

"NOW YUSUKE!!!" they all yelled.

"Here goes nothing. SPIRIT BOMB" Yusuke threw the ball of energy toward the barrier.

They watched on anxiously as it flew toward the dragon. The fate of the three worlds hung in the balance. Whether they'll be new peace or total destruction rested on a ball of blue energy.

The bomb slammed into the break and broke through. It hit the sphere and blew up. The sphere was instantly destroyed and the effects were immediate. The dragon roared in pain as beams of black light shot out in various places on it body.   

"Uh guys." They turned to Yusuke. "I think we should get out of here."

They saw a flash of light and looked over to the source. A portal opened and they could see Botan standing in it. "Come on you guys."

They didn't hesitate and ran at top speed into the portal. As it closed the dragon let out one final roar before exploding.

At the temple

The portal opened up in the living room and the group spilled out onto the floor.

"Botan, you need to work on the landings."

Keiko smiled. "Yusuke!!!" Yusuke looked up and saw Keiko lunge at him and throw her arms around his neck.

"I missed you to Kei…" he was cut off when Keiko pressed her lips against his.

"Well Botan, looks like we have a wedding to plan."

"Just shut up and kiss me." She replied before pulling him into one.

Hiei and Nami were making out on the floor. Kairi covered the twins' eyes to keep them from watching.

Riku was kneeling on the ground when he saw a familiar kimono in front of him. He looked up and saw Yukina smiling back at him. He then realized he was still holding the ribbon in his left hand. He stood up and held it out to her. "I believe this is yours."

She walked to him and took it from his grasp. He smiled at her and pulled her into a hug.

"I was so worried about you Riku."

"Don't worry Yukina, it's over."

"Riku, there's something I have to tell you."

"What is it?"

She smiled and gently grabbed his wrist. She then placed his hand on her belly. Riku's eyes widened. "Riku, I'm pregnant."

Riku blinked a few times to register what she just said Sure enough, he sensed a tiny energy signal coming from her. He smiled and pulled her into a passionate kiss.

He broke and looked into her eyes. "Now I'm finally complete."

The others watched on until they heard a thump. They looked to the source and saw something they'd never seen and probably would never see again. Hiei had fainted.

Nami smirked. "Remind me to have a camera handy when I get pregnant and tell him."

Riku took the news way better than Hiei. And now all the fighting's over. That was one of the longest chapters. There are only two chapters left. Muraku fans, he will make one more appearance. Next chapter will be up on Sunday.

Next chapter, Kurama and Botan's wedding. (*evil grin* expect some chaos) Review please.