A.N. Ok for some weird reason my asterisks weren't showing up in the last chapter, (Sorry if things got a bit confusing) so I decided to use To indicate a thought. And "((()))" means what's going on inside Hakkai's head. Woo! Anyway, I think the next chapter will be the last so I'll get to that and wrap this story up real nice for ya. Also, I realize the Kanan thing was a bit cliched but it is a horrible memory for Hakkai and I am torturing him soo....I couldn't NOT put it in there. (Double negatives! Woot!) Yeah so, with that said, Enjoy!
Mau-Shin flipped a lever and instantly, Hakkai's vision went blank. All he could see was the movie that began to play in his head. In his mind he stood in the forest, dwelling on the current situation with Chin-Yiisou. No...not this... In Hakkai's gut he knew where this movie was going.
((("Man, That's one short lifeline." It was Gojyo.
Hakkai jumped back in surprise, "Ahh! You scared me!" Then with a pause, he continued. "Ok, so which one is the lifeline?"
Gojyo pointed out the short crease in his palm when suddenly a little demonic doll came from the shadows and startled the two men.
"Cho Gonou, you're going to die!" The doll said in a high pitched voice and continued to taunt the frozen youkai.
Fed up with the puppet, Gojyo kicked the doll hard against the tree. "Fucking doll, you should've learned to stay in your box. C'mon, Hakkai." Gojyo placed his hand on Hakkai's shoulder, snapping him out of his trance as he led him back to the Jeep when he felt the doll was no longer a worry.
But Hakkai felt a pang of danger in his heart as he turned to see the doll's head shift and aim a shot of light at Gojyo's chest. "Gojyo! Look out!"
Too late, Gojyo turned around in time to be struck in the chest by the trail of light. His body jerked back on impact and instantly, his hand was clutching the wound. Blood began to pour from his mouth and between his fingers as in the back ground, Mau-Shin's voice began to narrate.
"I decided to switch it up here a bit, Cho Gonou. The real thing ended a bit differently than I had hoped. So, I hope you like my version."
There was no way for Hakkai to respond except for his shell on the outside of the movie to tense up. More tears began to form in his eyes as Gojyo fell back into his arms. There was so much blood. God, not even his healing powers could stop the gushing river of blood pouring from his chest. Hakkai lowered Gojyo down, still holding the kappa's upper half up with one arm as his other hand applied pressure to the bleeding puncture. His face was getting so pale. "Gojyo!"
"'Kai...I--ACK!"
Hakkai's eyes grew in horror as another burst of light the one that initially hit Gojyo's chest, pierced the redhead's neck. Silencing him instantly if not for a few guttural noises that arose in Gojyo's throat as his eyes moved to Hakkai's and quickly faded. "'Kaiii...."
"GOJYO!!" A new type of rage filled Hakkai's eyes as he turned slightly and hurled a energy blast at the doll, disintegrating it immediately. He turned back to Gojyo as his blood still drained from his body and trailed down Hakkai's arms. He stared down at the cooling body of his fellow traveler, his best friend, no more than--- "GOJYO!! NOOOOOO!" Hakkai screamed until his voice was hoarse. Then a horrible thought struck him. What about Sanzo and Goku? He couldn't leave Gojyo here like this, so after picking up the limp body, Hakkai took off in the direction of the Jeep. The dark clouds above blocked out the moonlight that had been shining not five minutes before, when Gojyo was still....
Tears fell freely from his eyes now, but were washed away when the clouds opened up as a crack of lightning split them in half. Almost there. Gojyo's head bumped against Hakkai's chest with every step. The grief in his mind made it so hard to focus on running and not collapsing right there. Why Gojyo? Why not me?!
Finally he made it to the pitch-black clearing the Jeep sat in. Hakkai gasped for air, his lungs burning. It was then that another bout of lightning flashed through the sky revealing a horrifying scene. Hakkai's breath was caught in his throat as there in the middle of the clearing lay two bodies in a sea of black blood. Lighting flashed again and he could see clearly the massacred bodies of Sanzo and Goku and now he noticed the small, winged figure torn apart beside them. Why is this happening?! WHY!?
"Hh....ah....AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" He screams were mixed with the sound of Mau-Shin's maniacal laughter in the background of his mind.
"Hey did you guys hear that?" Goku was in the lead as the other's pace had faltered a little. But with Goku's endless amounts of energy, he remained ahead.
Sanzo and Gojyo's silence was enough to answer that they had heard a distant screaming just ahead. Though they had barely caught it and began to wonder if they were just imagining things.
"Just another corner and..." The laboratories came into view as they rounded the corner, adrenaline filling back into their bloodstreams as they headed towards the small square buildings. "There it is," the old man growled.
Within a minute's time, the party had reached the front doors. They were surprisingly unlocked, but as Goku turned the handle and pushed the door open, two small lasers fired from little guns that protruded from the walls. They all jumped back and Sanzo immediately took care of the problem by firing a bullet into each gun. They quickly continued inside as the lasers exploded behind them in small clouds.
"Oh great, now they have to know we're here." Gojyo said as he put the elder down. "So where now, old man?"
"Testing chambers are on the third floor." He looked towards an elevator and motioned for the rest to head towards them.
They were on their way until two large spider-like robots appeared from around the corner with similar laser guns protruding from their bodies much like the ones at the door.
"Looks like the welcoming committee." Goku mused as he summoned his staff.
"Shit!" Sanzo barely dodged a red beam of light, but not fast enough for it not to leave a cauterized slice in the sleeve of his robe. It was then another battle for their lives just to get to an elevator. Hakkai was so close and yet they knew that they were wasting precious moments dealing with these tin cans.
Moments later the door of the control room flew open.
"Sir! There has been an alert of intruders in the building!" A nameless scientist exclaimed as he burst into the control room.
Mau-shin wasn't quick to reply to the urgent news as his attention was focused on the pitiful form of the healer behind the glass. Hakkai's eyes were glazed over and his cheeks gleamed with stale tears. His skin was paler than normal, nearly the color of ivory. Even Hakkai's lips around his slightly ajar mouth had lost their color. Mau-Shin grinned as he knew these signs were of an inflicted trauma that would be very hard to erase.
Finally the professor answered, "Then take care of them. It's part of your job to keep the subject in our hands is it not?"
"Y-Yes sir! But these intruders are not like---AH!" The scientist's sentence was cut short as a bullet exploded through his gut, whizzed past the professor's ear, and embedded in the thick glass of the window that looked into the chamber. The man fell and Kamyou stepped out of the way of the corpse with a look of disgust planted itself on his cold face. Both remaining staff of the CPD looked to the door to see a thin, blond-haired priest pointing a smoking gun at Mau-shin's forehead.
"Where's---" Sanzo started but was pushed out of the way when Gojyo caught sight of Hakkai behind the cracked glass.
"Hakkai!" Gojyo was grabbed by the collar by Sanzo and held back. "Let go! He's right there!"
"Not mentally." Kamyou's voice was quick to respond as he laughed. "He's pretty gone. You're too late. I hope you don't mind carrying a vegetable around if you---ACK!!" Before he was finished, Gojyo's shakujou blade sliced through the annoying scientist's neck and stuck into the wall behind him. He then turned to Mau-Shin who was trembling as he stared into the short barrel of the Smith &Wesson. "Let him go now, you bastard!"
"Heh...heh...haha HAHAHAH!" The professor burst out into a fit of insane laughter. "But he's given us so much useful data! Anyway, his trauma has been so great that he's practically dead on the inside! I---" Mau-Shin stopped and stared as the old man made his way into the small room. "D-Doctor Tabe!"
The announced name and fear the old man inflicted upon the professor caught Sanzo, Goku, and Gojyo's attention right away. Who is this guy? Sanzo thought to himself, still keeping his gun aimed at the space between Mau-Shin's eyes.
"You're a doctor? I thought you said they only tested on criminals!" Goku stared at the old man, trying to rationalize the new title.
"I never said I was a criminal. There was a time before that when anxious scientists couldn't wait to test out their toys. Kidnapping an old man-- a member of the staff no less-- to perform these tests on seemed like the right thing to do."
Gojyo couldn't help but glance at Hakkai's blank stare and the anguish painted on his face. But he forced himself to hold back, they needed to take care of the professor first. He didn't want to risk anymore harm being done to his best friend, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. Gojyo's thoughts were interrupted by Dr. Tabe's continuing low, vengeful voice.
"So Mau-Shin, you thought I'd just fade away like the rest, hm? Well you should make sure you thoroughly destroy the minds of those you use as guinea pigs before you dump their bodies in the sewers!" Tabe stepped towards the man and grinned as he stooped to grab the pen from the anonymous dead scientist's hand and quickly slammed it into Mau-Shin's thigh.
Mau-Shin howled in pain as Dr. Tabe smirked. "I'll leave your fate in the hands of these gentlemen as I think they deserve to send you to hell more than I. Had I not participated in such experiments beforehand, I would have a different feeling on this. But for a professor such as yourself to use such a cowardly method of revenge sickens me greatly." The doctor stepped back and bowed, "Please, he is yours to do what you will."
"At least I can die after having sought my revenge!" Mau-Shin shielded his face as he saw the three young men approach.
Tabe grinned as Sanzo, Goku, and Gojyo shot, crushed, and sliced the professors body to bare recognition. Mau-Shin's screams were satisfying to their ears for the time it lasted. But within seconds, the professor's body was reduced to a bloody pulp that slid off the chair it rested in.
After the body hit the floor, Gojyo leapt to the control panel and gawked at all the buttons. Hakkai's sudden screams from behind the glass pulled his attention into the chamber Hakkai was imprisoned in as the reel inside the youkai's head repeated. "What's happening to him?! How do we stop this thing?"
"Move aside." Dr. Tabe, pushed the kappa to the side and went to work, furiously pressing buttons from every side of the panel. "If I don't shut this down the right way, it could do more damage to his brain than the whole experiment has already done."
"That doesn't explain what they've done to him." Sanzo said from behind the doctor.
"It seems that they've attached a device to him that manipulates his thoughts into whatever they want. This....this is not good. They've had him for so long."
Hakkai's screams ceased and his body went limp when the doctor disconnected the signals from the disk.
"Hakkai!" Goku looked to the door that led into the chamber and burst through it. He appeared on the other side of the glass and ran to Hakkai's side. "Hakkai! Hakkai wake up!" Goku shook Hakkai's arm and noticed Hakkai was actually still awake. His green eyes were wide and dull, it was as if he were in a trance. The only other ways of telling he was really alive were the small tremors that ran through his body and the broken words that slid past his lips. "G-Gojyo...so much....blood... Blood everywhere....Kill me."
Goku looked to the others in the room. "There's something wrong with him! Snap out of it, Hakkai! HAKKAI!"
Gojyo's gut was sinking lower and lower as he watched the shell of his companion. " My God...Hakkai...."
"I'm not sure we'll be able to save your friend, I'm afraid. However....."
Gojyo's eyes snapped open as he looked to the doctor, "However what?!"
"It's just a hypothesis, but---" Tabe held up a small head set almost identical to the one around Hakkai's head and held it to Gojyo. "He still has brain activity. I can connect this device to transmit messages to the device he has so that you can manually filter images from your mind to him."
Gojyo stared at the metal head set and took it from the doctor who went to work connecting wires. The kappa placed the metal band around the back of his head so that the pads at each end of the band rested on his temples. What if I can't save him? The look of worry was plainly laid out on his face and Sanzo noticed it right away.
"You're the only one who can bring him back, Gojyo." The priest spoke, but didn't take his gaze off the scene happening in the chamber. "You've spent the most time with him after all."
The kappa nodded and a new wave of confidence swept through his mind. "Alright."
"OK, everything's set. Just imagine the good times ya two have shared. Meaningful moments, conversations, anythin' that can undo reminders of past tragedies."
With that, Gojyo nodded, closed his eyes and sighed. "I'll bring you back, Hakkai." I promise you.
Mau-Shin flipped a lever and instantly, Hakkai's vision went blank. All he could see was the movie that began to play in his head. In his mind he stood in the forest, dwelling on the current situation with Chin-Yiisou. No...not this... In Hakkai's gut he knew where this movie was going.
((("Man, That's one short lifeline." It was Gojyo.
Hakkai jumped back in surprise, "Ahh! You scared me!" Then with a pause, he continued. "Ok, so which one is the lifeline?"
Gojyo pointed out the short crease in his palm when suddenly a little demonic doll came from the shadows and startled the two men.
"Cho Gonou, you're going to die!" The doll said in a high pitched voice and continued to taunt the frozen youkai.
Fed up with the puppet, Gojyo kicked the doll hard against the tree. "Fucking doll, you should've learned to stay in your box. C'mon, Hakkai." Gojyo placed his hand on Hakkai's shoulder, snapping him out of his trance as he led him back to the Jeep when he felt the doll was no longer a worry.
But Hakkai felt a pang of danger in his heart as he turned to see the doll's head shift and aim a shot of light at Gojyo's chest. "Gojyo! Look out!"
Too late, Gojyo turned around in time to be struck in the chest by the trail of light. His body jerked back on impact and instantly, his hand was clutching the wound. Blood began to pour from his mouth and between his fingers as in the back ground, Mau-Shin's voice began to narrate.
"I decided to switch it up here a bit, Cho Gonou. The real thing ended a bit differently than I had hoped. So, I hope you like my version."
There was no way for Hakkai to respond except for his shell on the outside of the movie to tense up. More tears began to form in his eyes as Gojyo fell back into his arms. There was so much blood. God, not even his healing powers could stop the gushing river of blood pouring from his chest. Hakkai lowered Gojyo down, still holding the kappa's upper half up with one arm as his other hand applied pressure to the bleeding puncture. His face was getting so pale. "Gojyo!"
"'Kai...I--ACK!"
Hakkai's eyes grew in horror as another burst of light the one that initially hit Gojyo's chest, pierced the redhead's neck. Silencing him instantly if not for a few guttural noises that arose in Gojyo's throat as his eyes moved to Hakkai's and quickly faded. "'Kaiii...."
"GOJYO!!" A new type of rage filled Hakkai's eyes as he turned slightly and hurled a energy blast at the doll, disintegrating it immediately. He turned back to Gojyo as his blood still drained from his body and trailed down Hakkai's arms. He stared down at the cooling body of his fellow traveler, his best friend, no more than--- "GOJYO!! NOOOOOO!" Hakkai screamed until his voice was hoarse. Then a horrible thought struck him. What about Sanzo and Goku? He couldn't leave Gojyo here like this, so after picking up the limp body, Hakkai took off in the direction of the Jeep. The dark clouds above blocked out the moonlight that had been shining not five minutes before, when Gojyo was still....
Tears fell freely from his eyes now, but were washed away when the clouds opened up as a crack of lightning split them in half. Almost there. Gojyo's head bumped against Hakkai's chest with every step. The grief in his mind made it so hard to focus on running and not collapsing right there. Why Gojyo? Why not me?!
Finally he made it to the pitch-black clearing the Jeep sat in. Hakkai gasped for air, his lungs burning. It was then that another bout of lightning flashed through the sky revealing a horrifying scene. Hakkai's breath was caught in his throat as there in the middle of the clearing lay two bodies in a sea of black blood. Lighting flashed again and he could see clearly the massacred bodies of Sanzo and Goku and now he noticed the small, winged figure torn apart beside them. Why is this happening?! WHY!?
"Hh....ah....AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" He screams were mixed with the sound of Mau-Shin's maniacal laughter in the background of his mind.
"Hey did you guys hear that?" Goku was in the lead as the other's pace had faltered a little. But with Goku's endless amounts of energy, he remained ahead.
Sanzo and Gojyo's silence was enough to answer that they had heard a distant screaming just ahead. Though they had barely caught it and began to wonder if they were just imagining things.
"Just another corner and..." The laboratories came into view as they rounded the corner, adrenaline filling back into their bloodstreams as they headed towards the small square buildings. "There it is," the old man growled.
Within a minute's time, the party had reached the front doors. They were surprisingly unlocked, but as Goku turned the handle and pushed the door open, two small lasers fired from little guns that protruded from the walls. They all jumped back and Sanzo immediately took care of the problem by firing a bullet into each gun. They quickly continued inside as the lasers exploded behind them in small clouds.
"Oh great, now they have to know we're here." Gojyo said as he put the elder down. "So where now, old man?"
"Testing chambers are on the third floor." He looked towards an elevator and motioned for the rest to head towards them.
They were on their way until two large spider-like robots appeared from around the corner with similar laser guns protruding from their bodies much like the ones at the door.
"Looks like the welcoming committee." Goku mused as he summoned his staff.
"Shit!" Sanzo barely dodged a red beam of light, but not fast enough for it not to leave a cauterized slice in the sleeve of his robe. It was then another battle for their lives just to get to an elevator. Hakkai was so close and yet they knew that they were wasting precious moments dealing with these tin cans.
Moments later the door of the control room flew open.
"Sir! There has been an alert of intruders in the building!" A nameless scientist exclaimed as he burst into the control room.
Mau-shin wasn't quick to reply to the urgent news as his attention was focused on the pitiful form of the healer behind the glass. Hakkai's eyes were glazed over and his cheeks gleamed with stale tears. His skin was paler than normal, nearly the color of ivory. Even Hakkai's lips around his slightly ajar mouth had lost their color. Mau-Shin grinned as he knew these signs were of an inflicted trauma that would be very hard to erase.
Finally the professor answered, "Then take care of them. It's part of your job to keep the subject in our hands is it not?"
"Y-Yes sir! But these intruders are not like---AH!" The scientist's sentence was cut short as a bullet exploded through his gut, whizzed past the professor's ear, and embedded in the thick glass of the window that looked into the chamber. The man fell and Kamyou stepped out of the way of the corpse with a look of disgust planted itself on his cold face. Both remaining staff of the CPD looked to the door to see a thin, blond-haired priest pointing a smoking gun at Mau-shin's forehead.
"Where's---" Sanzo started but was pushed out of the way when Gojyo caught sight of Hakkai behind the cracked glass.
"Hakkai!" Gojyo was grabbed by the collar by Sanzo and held back. "Let go! He's right there!"
"Not mentally." Kamyou's voice was quick to respond as he laughed. "He's pretty gone. You're too late. I hope you don't mind carrying a vegetable around if you---ACK!!" Before he was finished, Gojyo's shakujou blade sliced through the annoying scientist's neck and stuck into the wall behind him. He then turned to Mau-Shin who was trembling as he stared into the short barrel of the Smith &Wesson. "Let him go now, you bastard!"
"Heh...heh...haha HAHAHAH!" The professor burst out into a fit of insane laughter. "But he's given us so much useful data! Anyway, his trauma has been so great that he's practically dead on the inside! I---" Mau-Shin stopped and stared as the old man made his way into the small room. "D-Doctor Tabe!"
The announced name and fear the old man inflicted upon the professor caught Sanzo, Goku, and Gojyo's attention right away. Who is this guy? Sanzo thought to himself, still keeping his gun aimed at the space between Mau-Shin's eyes.
"You're a doctor? I thought you said they only tested on criminals!" Goku stared at the old man, trying to rationalize the new title.
"I never said I was a criminal. There was a time before that when anxious scientists couldn't wait to test out their toys. Kidnapping an old man-- a member of the staff no less-- to perform these tests on seemed like the right thing to do."
Gojyo couldn't help but glance at Hakkai's blank stare and the anguish painted on his face. But he forced himself to hold back, they needed to take care of the professor first. He didn't want to risk anymore harm being done to his best friend, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. Gojyo's thoughts were interrupted by Dr. Tabe's continuing low, vengeful voice.
"So Mau-Shin, you thought I'd just fade away like the rest, hm? Well you should make sure you thoroughly destroy the minds of those you use as guinea pigs before you dump their bodies in the sewers!" Tabe stepped towards the man and grinned as he stooped to grab the pen from the anonymous dead scientist's hand and quickly slammed it into Mau-Shin's thigh.
Mau-Shin howled in pain as Dr. Tabe smirked. "I'll leave your fate in the hands of these gentlemen as I think they deserve to send you to hell more than I. Had I not participated in such experiments beforehand, I would have a different feeling on this. But for a professor such as yourself to use such a cowardly method of revenge sickens me greatly." The doctor stepped back and bowed, "Please, he is yours to do what you will."
"At least I can die after having sought my revenge!" Mau-Shin shielded his face as he saw the three young men approach.
Tabe grinned as Sanzo, Goku, and Gojyo shot, crushed, and sliced the professors body to bare recognition. Mau-Shin's screams were satisfying to their ears for the time it lasted. But within seconds, the professor's body was reduced to a bloody pulp that slid off the chair it rested in.
After the body hit the floor, Gojyo leapt to the control panel and gawked at all the buttons. Hakkai's sudden screams from behind the glass pulled his attention into the chamber Hakkai was imprisoned in as the reel inside the youkai's head repeated. "What's happening to him?! How do we stop this thing?"
"Move aside." Dr. Tabe, pushed the kappa to the side and went to work, furiously pressing buttons from every side of the panel. "If I don't shut this down the right way, it could do more damage to his brain than the whole experiment has already done."
"That doesn't explain what they've done to him." Sanzo said from behind the doctor.
"It seems that they've attached a device to him that manipulates his thoughts into whatever they want. This....this is not good. They've had him for so long."
Hakkai's screams ceased and his body went limp when the doctor disconnected the signals from the disk.
"Hakkai!" Goku looked to the door that led into the chamber and burst through it. He appeared on the other side of the glass and ran to Hakkai's side. "Hakkai! Hakkai wake up!" Goku shook Hakkai's arm and noticed Hakkai was actually still awake. His green eyes were wide and dull, it was as if he were in a trance. The only other ways of telling he was really alive were the small tremors that ran through his body and the broken words that slid past his lips. "G-Gojyo...so much....blood... Blood everywhere....Kill me."
Goku looked to the others in the room. "There's something wrong with him! Snap out of it, Hakkai! HAKKAI!"
Gojyo's gut was sinking lower and lower as he watched the shell of his companion. " My God...Hakkai...."
"I'm not sure we'll be able to save your friend, I'm afraid. However....."
Gojyo's eyes snapped open as he looked to the doctor, "However what?!"
"It's just a hypothesis, but---" Tabe held up a small head set almost identical to the one around Hakkai's head and held it to Gojyo. "He still has brain activity. I can connect this device to transmit messages to the device he has so that you can manually filter images from your mind to him."
Gojyo stared at the metal head set and took it from the doctor who went to work connecting wires. The kappa placed the metal band around the back of his head so that the pads at each end of the band rested on his temples. What if I can't save him? The look of worry was plainly laid out on his face and Sanzo noticed it right away.
"You're the only one who can bring him back, Gojyo." The priest spoke, but didn't take his gaze off the scene happening in the chamber. "You've spent the most time with him after all."
The kappa nodded and a new wave of confidence swept through his mind. "Alright."
"OK, everything's set. Just imagine the good times ya two have shared. Meaningful moments, conversations, anythin' that can undo reminders of past tragedies."
With that, Gojyo nodded, closed his eyes and sighed. "I'll bring you back, Hakkai." I promise you.