AN: Watch out! Bloody battles ahead! Not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach.
Chapter Two: Only Time
Songo grabbed Bakura, and leaped away from the lightening bolts. As Li Zhou geared up to strike again, Setto Kaiba drew out his Millennium Rod from under his jaket, and shot Black Lightening at the you-kai.
"Insolent human," Li Zhou said. "You think you harm me? My Shadow powers are greater than before," He extended his hand, and the Millennium Ring flew out from under Bakura's shirt, and into Li Zhou's hands. "At last, the power is mine again!" As he put Ring around his neck, the storm about them intensified. "Who among you can withstand my power?!"
"How about me!" Inu-yasha shouted as he leaped into the air.
"Not so fast," Li Zhou said, "I summon my Shadow Servants, Marie the Fallen One, Dark Necrofear, Lesser Fiend, and Man-Eater Bug !" With a flip of his hand, the creatures appeared before them. The crowd of people began to panic, and ran from the monsters, screaming and trampling each other under foot.
"Kagome, what's going on?" Ayumi cried, "Where'd your boyfriend get that sword? And why does he have dog ears?"
"Don't be scared, him," Kagome said, comfortingly. "He's here to help."
"I'm not scared of him!" Ayumi shouted. "I'm scared of everything else!"
"Don't worry," Tristan said to Ayumi, "I'll get you out of here." He put his arm around her waist, and grabbed the speechless Hojo's arm, and took them to safety.
Meanwhile, Inu-yasha fought with the Shadow Monsters, but was getting no where.
"Inu-yasha!" Kagome shouted, "He's too powerful!"
"There's only one way to end this," Kaiba said, drawing out his deck, and summoning his own Shadow Powers. "Blue-eyes White Dragon!" he summoned. The dragon appeared with a flash of white lightening, and a clap of thunder.
"Dark Magician!" Yugi/Yami called. He lifted the card, and it disappeared. Then, with a twist of a black tornado, the Dark Magician stood before them as well. "Now, I combine them with Polimerization, to summon the Paladin of White Dragon!" The Magician jumped into the air as Blue-eyes took flight. The Magician's robes disappeared, replaced by silver and gold armor. The Paladin and his dragon swooped in, and easily subdued Marie the Fallen One and Man-eater Bug, but the Lesser Fiend and Dark Necrofear were to powerful. With each attack, they both recovered, and attack the Dragon.
As the monsters fought, Inu-yasha realized that Naraku was just watching! He was sitting there, in mid air, acting like he was watching the TV box. Inu-yasha got an idea. He ran to Kirara, and got on her back.
"Come on, girl," he said. Kirara understood, and she took off into the air. They flew in behind him, and Inu-yasha lifted his sword and the winds merged, and created the Wind Scar.
"NARAKU!!!" he shouted into the hurling winds, "This is for all the lives you destroyed!" and with a single stroke of Tetsaiga, now red with Inu-yasha's rage and power, he split the Wind Scar. He never stood a chance.
When the upraor of the Wind Scar died down, Inu-yasha looked around. He knew, he was certain that he'd made contact. Naraku had to be dead! Then, he saw a piece of the baboon cloak caught on Tokyo Tower. Something fell from it…a piece of a wooden puppet.
Li Zhou stopped. He looked up, and smiled. "It seems Father wants me to come in from my fun and games." He recalled Dark Necrofear and Lesser Fiend. Then, he flew up next to the Siren, and they both disappeared.
"No!" Inu-yasha screamed with rage. "You cowards! Come back, NOW! COME BACK AND FACE ME!!!!"
"Inu-yasha, stop!" Kagome shouted, grabbing hold of his shoulders. "Stop it! They're gone."
"There will be another time, Inu-yasha," Yugi/Yami said as he and Kaiba recalled their monsters. "At least now we know Naraku lives in both times."
"So that was your bitter enemy?" Kaiba said with scorn. "An old man hooded and cloaked in baboon skin?"
"Believe me," Miroku said, glancing at his right hand. "In our time, he is a much more formidable foe."
"Mai," Kagome asked the blonde woman, "Did anyone-?"
"Let me you," Mai said, "If I hadn't seen, I wouldn't have believed it. I still don't believe it. I doubt anyone else will remember this. They'll all go home and write it off as a bit of mass hysteria or some bad dream.
Suddenly, they heard police sirens, and they knew it was time to leave.
"So what do we do with these two?" Tristan asked, still holding Ayumi, and Hojo passed out on the ground. Ayumi was so scared and traumatized that she didn't know what to believe or think or feel.
"Hojo can stay here," Kagome said. "We'll take Ayumi to my house. Are you ok?" she asked her friend She stepped forward to lat a hand on her shoulder, but the girl flinched, as if Kagome's touch would bring back the creatures she'd seen.
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Naraku lay on the bed, still in pain from the sacred arrow Kagome shot him with. He was sweating heavily, and his body shook with the pain and holy energy…but he was stronger than he'd been in a long, long time. If he had not reclaimed even a few of his incarnations, he'd be dead already. He thought himself fortunate to have replaced himself with his puppet so quickly.
He thought he would never see those accursed faces again… "How can they be alive?" he asked himself. "It's been so long…"
"I'll tell you how," Li Zhou voice said as he materialized in the room.
"Ah…Li Zhou…" Naraku sighed. "My 'black assistant'…. he he…You come to offer me help…or to ease my passing?"
"You named me appley," Li Zhou said as he produced modern medical supplies. "Am I am strong yet, for a quarter blood, as you as are strong for a han-you. But with the power of my Millennium Ring, my Shadow Powers increase. Do you remember, master, why you created me?"
"Yes," he said. "I created you as a part of myself, to capture the Millennium Items. I remember…those young fools brought to me long ago…but time shifted, and I never saw them again…but memory of their power was etched in my mind. I made you, and sent you, to the land of their origin. Egypt… But I never heard from you again. I thought for certain you had abandoned me…as all the others had."
"The Pharaoh's Guardians locked me inside the Millennium Ring, to punish me for attempting to rob the Pharaoh's tomb… ButI gave them quite a battle. The Greeks called Erebus… The Guards themselves dubbed me Amon, the Hidden One when they sealed me away for all those years. But I remained strong, and when Bakura was born, I inhabited his body. The Ring's power sustained me until I was strong enough to take control of his mind and body…But I did not count on the Pharaoh being reincarnated as well." Li Zhou said all these things as he stitched up the wound in his master's chest. "How did you lose the power of the jewel?" he asked.
"I will tell you," Naraku said, "When you tell me how Inu-yasha could still live."
"Always to the point," Li Zhou remarked. He grinned, and started to tell him.
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The group now sat in Kagome's living room. Ayumi was sitting n the couch, Kagome sitting on her right. They had given her some warm tea, and explained to her the entire story. From the time Kagome was taken down the well, to the hunt for Naraku and the Jewel Shards, to Yugi and his friends' involvement (In this time anyway, Kagome thought. She wouldn't even try to explain the original timeline. The would be confusing for everyone).
"So let me get this straight," Ayumi said to Kagome, "You're the reincarnation of a dead priestess, Yugi's the reincarnation of a Pharaoh, and Kaiba's the reincarnation of some wizard?"
"In a nutshell, yeah," Kagome said, trying to lighten things up with a weak smile.
"So…you're like some weird kinda club huh?" she asked, looking in the bottom of her cup.
"If we are, you're our new member," Inu-yasha said. Came forward, and knelt in front of the girl. "Because you're the reincarnation of a demon I killed," he said, giving her a big, fanged, and positively wicked grin.
Ayumi jumped, squeaked, dropped her cup, and covered her face with her arms. "Please don't hurt me," she begged. "I… I don't think I did anything wrong this time around!"
"Inu-yasha, cut it out!" Kagome scolded him. "You're scaring her."
"She's a mouse!" he said. "If I hadn't seen Kagura come out of her, I wouldn't believe it!"
"I still don't believe it," Kaiba said, leaning against the wall. "But I must admit the powers of the Millennium Items are strong."
Inu-yasha walked over to Kaiba, and soundly thrashed him on his head, repeatedly. As the millionaire kicked around, Inu-yasha said cross, "When are you gonna accept the fact that what ya see's what ya get!?! This stuff's real, buddy! These ears; REAL! These demons; REAL!"
"Unhand me this instant!" Kaiba odered, jerking himself from Inu-yasha's grasp. They got up in each other's faces, and started a growling match.
"He's right," Bakura said, dejectedly. "There was a demon living inside of me, and I have to admit, there was more than one occasion when I willing helped him to get what he wanted."
"WHAT!?!" the whole room exclaimed.
"Bakura, what are you talking about?" Kagome asked him.
"We made a deal that if I helped him get a Jewel Shard, and showed him where the well was… He'd leave my body and mind forever. I was a fool to believe him."
"Did you actually show him how to use the well?" little Yugi asked Bakura.
"Yes." Bakura explained. "I told him that you-kai and han-yous, if their strong enough, can and go through the well…but an ordinary person needs a Millennium Item, a Jewel Shard, or anything truly magical to use the well. He helped me steal the ring from you, Yugi. And I tried to steal Kagome's shards once. The only thing that stopped was Shippo's distraction…but… the damage was done."
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"So," Naraku said, after listening to Li Zhou's explanation, "That is the secret of the Bone Eater's well." He smiled his bone chilling smile. " And Kagome is truly Kikyo reborn. No wonder they ran to that village after every battle."
"Yes, master." Li Zhou said
"And… I still live in that time?" Naraku asked.
"Yes master," Li Zhou said. "You are strong, and possess most of the Jewel in the time beyond the well."
"If I can get to that time," Naraku said. "I might yet be able to regain all of my power…Ai Suzu," he called. The Siren from earlier that evening appeared with her drum and guitar slung across her back, and flute in hand.
"What is your bidding, master?" Ai Suzu asked.
"Use your music to carry me on the wind." Naraku said, "And summon two of your siblings back from the abyss."
Ai Suzu lifted the flute to her lips, and played a soft, summoning melody. From the void, two beings emerged. Vash and Viola, strengthened anew by their reconnection to Naraku, came forth.
"Now," Naraku said, as Ai Suzu played her flute, to carry her master on the wind, "Let the battle begin."
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"Don't worry, Ayumi," Tristan said, putting his arm around her shoulder, "If it helps… I still think you're a great person."
"Cut the crap, Tristan," she said. "Could you really love a demon?"
"Well… Kagome loves Inu-yasha," he pointed out.
"And I love Yugi," Tea said. "Just because you're a reincarnation doesn't mean you can't live a perfectly normal life."
"But you don't live normal lives!" Ayumi said, getting weepy again.
"Uh… She's got a point, there," Joey said.
"Are any more of you reincarnations?" Ayumi asked.
"Oh, no," Kagome said, "They're all brand new. 'Cept Joey."
"That's right!" Joey said, proudly. "I was the Pharaoh's faithful servant! Buds for all eternity."
"Well then," Mai said, with a laugh "How about 'serving;' me a soda."
"I ain't no butler!" Joey said. "I'm a fearless warrior, devoted to defend Yugi forever."
"I sure know how to pick 'em," Mai said. "My best choice in life is a little minion."
"Hey, who love's ya, baby?" Joey asked.
Suddenly, Inu-yasha' ears twitched. He sniffed the air, and his hair stood on end as he started to growl at something out the window. He unsheathed his swrd, and said, "We've got trouble."
"What is it?" Serenity asked, inching closer to Kaiba.
"He's here!" Inu-yasha declared. He got up, and took off running out the door. All but Tea, Tristan, Bakura, Serenity and Ayumi followed. The five of them stayed behind, and watched from the windows.
In the front yard, Li Zhou, and the Siren stood in front of the sacred tree. They stood silently as their enemies approached them.
"So, come back to have you a$$ handed to ya in a sling?" Inu-yasha asked them.
"Actually," Li Zhou, "We thought you would like to see some old friends again."
"Amazoness Tiger!" shouted a familiar female voice. With a roar and swipe at Inu-yasha's chest, the enormous tiger leaped from the shadows. Inu-yasha staggered back, clutching at his bleeding chest, as Vash and Viola stepped forward from their hiding places.
"You two again?" Kagoma exclaimed.
"You died on the island," said Yugi/Yami to Vash.
"And you were in a coma," Mai said to Viola.
"Father came and took us home," Vash said smugly. He stood before them, shirtless and muscle bound.
"And we want play," Viol said. "Inu-yasha, sweety, did you miss me?" she asked the han-you, blowing him a kiss.
"You make me retch," he said.
"It's just as well," Viola said. "Father doesn't like you, anyway. I doubt he'd let me keep you, though he might give me your scalp as a present."
"Bring it on," Inu-yasha said.
"Wait," Yugi/Yami said. "Your father… is Naraku?"
"Want proof?" Vash said, revealing the spider bun on his back; the mark on Naraku's offspring. "And I get my temper from Father. I summon the Grave Keeper's Chief, infused with the sword of Dark Destruction," he said, throwing the cards to the ground. With a burst of light and smoke, the Grave Keeper appeared, the twisted metal blade in his hand.
"Empress Judge," Viola said, "Pass judgment on these wretches." She tossed her card into the air, and with a flash of white light and red smoke, the Empress appeared, and took one of the chains of the Tiger in her hands.
"Now I call for the Reaper of Cards," Li Zhou summoned, a thundercloud carrying the creature in. "I'm sure Joey knows this monster very well. And he has a bone to pick with you, since you eluded him in Duelist Kingdom." The Reaper lifted his sickle, and flew at Joey. But the boy blocked it with his Millennium Key, which now became the Millennium Staff. The block caused sparks to fly as the Light clashed with the Darkness.
"Take this, you over grown weed whacker!" Joey shouted as he threw the Reaper back several feet.
"I've just about enough of this," Mai said, coming to stand with Joey.
"Then let's double team him," Joey said, holding up his Red Eyes Black Dragon.
Mai took her Harpy's Pet Dragon from her deck, then, she realized, "Hey, I don't have Shadow powers."
"No sweat," Joey said. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out the Millennium Eye. He tossed it to Mai. "Yugi gave me this for safe keeping. Can't think of any safer hands to put it in."
"Right," Mai said as she put the Eye in her forehead. She felt the power within her, as she used all her strength. "Harpy's Pet Dragon," she called, "I summon you!"
"Come and eat this chump for dinner, Red Eyes!" Joey shouted. The skies opened up, and both dragons swooped down in a blaze of fire and fury. The Reaper leaped into the air, and made battle with them, swingin his sickle at the humungous pairs of jaws, which threatened to devour him. And they did. With one sweep of hi mighty tail, Red Eyes sent the Reaper of Cards into the bowels of Harpy's pet dragon.
Meanwhile, Inu-yasha, Kagome, Songo, and Miroku dodge the attacks of the Empress Judge, whilst Kirara wrestled with the Amazoness Tiger.
"We won't stop her by facing her all at once," Miroku said as he dodged the daggers the Empress shot from her hands.
"Then distract her," Inu-yasha said. He ran around behind the Empress, to slice her down from behind, but the she saw him, and threw her daggers at him, pinning him to the ground. As Inu-yasha struggled to get free, the Empress Judge loomed over him, ready to drive her daggers into his heart, when one of Kagome's arrows cut through the air, and went through her chest. She cried out in pain as she evaporated into dust.
"What's you do that for?!" Inu-yasha demanded from Kagome. "I had her right where I wanted her!"
"Well, I had her in my sights!"
"Will you two quite fighting and help us save Kirara?" Songo cried as she threw her hiraikotsu at the Tiger, but missed once again.
"Wind Tunnel!" Miroku shouted as he unwrapped his hand. The vacuum sucked up rocks and tree branches, and much more debris, before his Wind tunnel sucked up the Tiger.
All the while, Kaiba and Yugi/Yami went head to head against the power of Li Zhou's Millennium Ring. As Li Zhou threw lightening bolts at the Pharaoh and wizard, Kaiba fired Black Lightening, and Yugi/Yami threw Li Zhou back with his Pulse Wave of Dark Revealing Light.
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Serenity, Tea, Tristan, Ayumi,. And Bakura watched all of this from inside Kagome's house. Serenity feared for them, and hoped they would win. But then, a thought came to her mind. Why would they attack this place? What good would it do? Then,suddenly, her Millennium Necklace reacted, and she saw into the enemies' mind. She saw Naraku, slithering into the well house… To the secret well!
"This is all a diversion!" Serenity said suddenly, and ran out of the house.
"Serenity!" Tea shouted, running after her, followed by Tristan, Ayumi, and Bakura. "Come back, you'll get hurt!"
"Inu-yasha! Yugi!" Serenity cried, "This is a trap! Naraku's trying to go down the well! He wants to go into the past!"
Inu-yasha looked at the well house, and indeed, the doors were open, and sitting on the side of the well was Naraku.
"You won't get in!" Inu-yasha shouted, running forward at lightening speed, ready to cut down Naraku.
"Ai Suzu!" Naraku commanded. The Siren rose up and blocked the doors. She brought forth her drum, and gutar. With her hands she strummed the guitar, and unseen hands drummed a beat. And, she began to chant. All human ears fell deaf, whilst Inu-yasha'a ears heard the secret words. He struggled to resist the power of the enchantment, but his arms were like lead. He knew he had to defeat this siren, but she was commanding him to stop! To turn on his comrades…
Naraku grinned, and slipped down the well.
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"Some one stop me," Inu-yasha grunted, "Somebody stop me before I…"
"Inu-yasha?" Kagome asked. "What's wrong?"
"Siren…Singing…STOP ME NOW!!!!" He swung his sword wildly about, shrieking and snarling, going into berserker mode.
"Someone stop him!" Miroku pleaded. "He will kill us all, and them himself!"
Then, the heard the chanting from Tokyo Tower again. Two voices chanted the words. Vash and Viola were chanting the old words. Suddenly, a third voice joined. Ayumi's. As the girl chanted, her modern cloths fell away, and a she was suddenly wrapped in a blue, pink, and white kimono. Her lips were painted, and in her hands she clutched the wind fan. Her gentle brown eyes went blank, and with a blink, they turned heart's blood red.
While Ai Suzu chanted the song that controlled Inu-yasha, Li Zhou said, "Long agao, a great battle was fought between Kagura and Inu-yasha. It caused a cataclysmic disruption, an created a crater in the earth itself, which is now a lake. With the music of Ai Suzu, and our brother and sister, we shall recreate that battle here. And in the end, both shall die."
"Dance… Of… The Dragon," Ayumi and Kagura's voices intermingled. With a sweep of her hand, she created a twister, that formed into a dragon, and it advanced on Inu-yasha. He leaped up, sliced through the dragon twister.
"We've got to stop to the chanting!" Yugi/Yami said. "That is what's causing this!"
"But how?" Mai asked.
"Kagome, will your arrows work?"
"If you can hold them still long enough, my arrows can do just about anything." she said, nocking one.
"I'm on it," Kaiba said, running towards Vash. Vash put up his arms, and blocked the Black Lightening attack, but he'd stopped chanting.
"Brother!" Viola shouted. With the distraction, she was struck by Kagome's arrow through her heart, blood spewing everywhere. When their voices stopped chanting, Ayumi's eye turned brown again.
"Huh…What am I doing dressed this way?!" she asked.
"You're dead, Kagura!" Inu-yasha, still entranced, shouted. Ayumi screamed, and as she brought up her hands to shield herself, she inadvertently used the fan in her right hand to fling Inu-yasha into the sacred tree.
"Sorrow, Inu-yasha," Kagome said, "This is for your own good," she fired another arrow, this time at Inu-yasha. The arrow pierced his arm, and kept him pinned to the tree.
"Ayumi," Yugi/.Yami commanded, "Destroy the Siren! You're the only one with the power!"
"How?" Ayumi asked. "Oh, the fan!" she exclaimed. She lifted her arm, "Please let this work." Ai Suzu brought up her flute, and her drum nbean to beat a different rhythm. As she played her flute, she hummed the summoning song from sunset that evening. Ayumi's arm stopped, and she stood still.
"Aymui, please!" Kagome pleaded, "Snap out of it! I'm out of arrows, and Inu-yasha won't be stuck much longer!" He was snarling and wincing as he tried desperately to pull the arrow from his bleeding arm.
Ayumi summoned all her energy, and brought the fan down, creating an earth shaking gust. The wind that blew forward, sliced through the Siren, who screamed like a banshee as she disintegrated.
Meanwhile, Vash and Viola dropped to the ground. With out the Siren Ai Suzu, or Naraku, they could not hold their forms. They also turned to dust, and blew away ion the breeze.
"I'm out of here," Li Zhou said, going to the mini shrine that held the well.
"Oh no you don't!" Bakura said, punching him in the face. Li Zhou fell to the ground. Bakrua bent down,m and took the Millennium Ring from around Li Zhou's neck. "This is mine. And when Inu-yasha is free, you won't hurt anyone anymore."
"I have more life yet, you accursed boy!" Li Zhou said. He grabbed Bakura by the shoulders, and ran the lightening through his body. Bakura cried and writhed in pain and agony.
"Bakura!" Songo shouted. She lifted her hiraikotsu up, and ordered, "Drop him, NOW!"
"As you wish," Li Zhou said. He turned towards the doors of the well house, and threw Bakura's body down the well, and followed after him. Songo let her weapon fly, but as it took the roof off the mini shrine, it was too late.
AN: Oh no! What shall befall poor Bakura?! What shall our heroes do!?! When are we gonna see some hot, sexy action? ( JOKE!) Review, and I shall post more. Stay silent, and this is pretty much all your gonna get - and I just might take it off the site :P'- TTFN!
Chapter Two: Only Time
Songo grabbed Bakura, and leaped away from the lightening bolts. As Li Zhou geared up to strike again, Setto Kaiba drew out his Millennium Rod from under his jaket, and shot Black Lightening at the you-kai.
"Insolent human," Li Zhou said. "You think you harm me? My Shadow powers are greater than before," He extended his hand, and the Millennium Ring flew out from under Bakura's shirt, and into Li Zhou's hands. "At last, the power is mine again!" As he put Ring around his neck, the storm about them intensified. "Who among you can withstand my power?!"
"How about me!" Inu-yasha shouted as he leaped into the air.
"Not so fast," Li Zhou said, "I summon my Shadow Servants, Marie the Fallen One, Dark Necrofear, Lesser Fiend, and Man-Eater Bug !" With a flip of his hand, the creatures appeared before them. The crowd of people began to panic, and ran from the monsters, screaming and trampling each other under foot.
"Kagome, what's going on?" Ayumi cried, "Where'd your boyfriend get that sword? And why does he have dog ears?"
"Don't be scared, him," Kagome said, comfortingly. "He's here to help."
"I'm not scared of him!" Ayumi shouted. "I'm scared of everything else!"
"Don't worry," Tristan said to Ayumi, "I'll get you out of here." He put his arm around her waist, and grabbed the speechless Hojo's arm, and took them to safety.
Meanwhile, Inu-yasha fought with the Shadow Monsters, but was getting no where.
"Inu-yasha!" Kagome shouted, "He's too powerful!"
"There's only one way to end this," Kaiba said, drawing out his deck, and summoning his own Shadow Powers. "Blue-eyes White Dragon!" he summoned. The dragon appeared with a flash of white lightening, and a clap of thunder.
"Dark Magician!" Yugi/Yami called. He lifted the card, and it disappeared. Then, with a twist of a black tornado, the Dark Magician stood before them as well. "Now, I combine them with Polimerization, to summon the Paladin of White Dragon!" The Magician jumped into the air as Blue-eyes took flight. The Magician's robes disappeared, replaced by silver and gold armor. The Paladin and his dragon swooped in, and easily subdued Marie the Fallen One and Man-eater Bug, but the Lesser Fiend and Dark Necrofear were to powerful. With each attack, they both recovered, and attack the Dragon.
As the monsters fought, Inu-yasha realized that Naraku was just watching! He was sitting there, in mid air, acting like he was watching the TV box. Inu-yasha got an idea. He ran to Kirara, and got on her back.
"Come on, girl," he said. Kirara understood, and she took off into the air. They flew in behind him, and Inu-yasha lifted his sword and the winds merged, and created the Wind Scar.
"NARAKU!!!" he shouted into the hurling winds, "This is for all the lives you destroyed!" and with a single stroke of Tetsaiga, now red with Inu-yasha's rage and power, he split the Wind Scar. He never stood a chance.
When the upraor of the Wind Scar died down, Inu-yasha looked around. He knew, he was certain that he'd made contact. Naraku had to be dead! Then, he saw a piece of the baboon cloak caught on Tokyo Tower. Something fell from it…a piece of a wooden puppet.
Li Zhou stopped. He looked up, and smiled. "It seems Father wants me to come in from my fun and games." He recalled Dark Necrofear and Lesser Fiend. Then, he flew up next to the Siren, and they both disappeared.
"No!" Inu-yasha screamed with rage. "You cowards! Come back, NOW! COME BACK AND FACE ME!!!!"
"Inu-yasha, stop!" Kagome shouted, grabbing hold of his shoulders. "Stop it! They're gone."
"There will be another time, Inu-yasha," Yugi/Yami said as he and Kaiba recalled their monsters. "At least now we know Naraku lives in both times."
"So that was your bitter enemy?" Kaiba said with scorn. "An old man hooded and cloaked in baboon skin?"
"Believe me," Miroku said, glancing at his right hand. "In our time, he is a much more formidable foe."
"Mai," Kagome asked the blonde woman, "Did anyone-?"
"Let me you," Mai said, "If I hadn't seen, I wouldn't have believed it. I still don't believe it. I doubt anyone else will remember this. They'll all go home and write it off as a bit of mass hysteria or some bad dream.
Suddenly, they heard police sirens, and they knew it was time to leave.
"So what do we do with these two?" Tristan asked, still holding Ayumi, and Hojo passed out on the ground. Ayumi was so scared and traumatized that she didn't know what to believe or think or feel.
"Hojo can stay here," Kagome said. "We'll take Ayumi to my house. Are you ok?" she asked her friend She stepped forward to lat a hand on her shoulder, but the girl flinched, as if Kagome's touch would bring back the creatures she'd seen.
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Naraku lay on the bed, still in pain from the sacred arrow Kagome shot him with. He was sweating heavily, and his body shook with the pain and holy energy…but he was stronger than he'd been in a long, long time. If he had not reclaimed even a few of his incarnations, he'd be dead already. He thought himself fortunate to have replaced himself with his puppet so quickly.
He thought he would never see those accursed faces again… "How can they be alive?" he asked himself. "It's been so long…"
"I'll tell you how," Li Zhou voice said as he materialized in the room.
"Ah…Li Zhou…" Naraku sighed. "My 'black assistant'…. he he…You come to offer me help…or to ease my passing?"
"You named me appley," Li Zhou said as he produced modern medical supplies. "Am I am strong yet, for a quarter blood, as you as are strong for a han-you. But with the power of my Millennium Ring, my Shadow Powers increase. Do you remember, master, why you created me?"
"Yes," he said. "I created you as a part of myself, to capture the Millennium Items. I remember…those young fools brought to me long ago…but time shifted, and I never saw them again…but memory of their power was etched in my mind. I made you, and sent you, to the land of their origin. Egypt… But I never heard from you again. I thought for certain you had abandoned me…as all the others had."
"The Pharaoh's Guardians locked me inside the Millennium Ring, to punish me for attempting to rob the Pharaoh's tomb… ButI gave them quite a battle. The Greeks called Erebus… The Guards themselves dubbed me Amon, the Hidden One when they sealed me away for all those years. But I remained strong, and when Bakura was born, I inhabited his body. The Ring's power sustained me until I was strong enough to take control of his mind and body…But I did not count on the Pharaoh being reincarnated as well." Li Zhou said all these things as he stitched up the wound in his master's chest. "How did you lose the power of the jewel?" he asked.
"I will tell you," Naraku said, "When you tell me how Inu-yasha could still live."
"Always to the point," Li Zhou remarked. He grinned, and started to tell him.
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The group now sat in Kagome's living room. Ayumi was sitting n the couch, Kagome sitting on her right. They had given her some warm tea, and explained to her the entire story. From the time Kagome was taken down the well, to the hunt for Naraku and the Jewel Shards, to Yugi and his friends' involvement (In this time anyway, Kagome thought. She wouldn't even try to explain the original timeline. The would be confusing for everyone).
"So let me get this straight," Ayumi said to Kagome, "You're the reincarnation of a dead priestess, Yugi's the reincarnation of a Pharaoh, and Kaiba's the reincarnation of some wizard?"
"In a nutshell, yeah," Kagome said, trying to lighten things up with a weak smile.
"So…you're like some weird kinda club huh?" she asked, looking in the bottom of her cup.
"If we are, you're our new member," Inu-yasha said. Came forward, and knelt in front of the girl. "Because you're the reincarnation of a demon I killed," he said, giving her a big, fanged, and positively wicked grin.
Ayumi jumped, squeaked, dropped her cup, and covered her face with her arms. "Please don't hurt me," she begged. "I… I don't think I did anything wrong this time around!"
"Inu-yasha, cut it out!" Kagome scolded him. "You're scaring her."
"She's a mouse!" he said. "If I hadn't seen Kagura come out of her, I wouldn't believe it!"
"I still don't believe it," Kaiba said, leaning against the wall. "But I must admit the powers of the Millennium Items are strong."
Inu-yasha walked over to Kaiba, and soundly thrashed him on his head, repeatedly. As the millionaire kicked around, Inu-yasha said cross, "When are you gonna accept the fact that what ya see's what ya get!?! This stuff's real, buddy! These ears; REAL! These demons; REAL!"
"Unhand me this instant!" Kaiba odered, jerking himself from Inu-yasha's grasp. They got up in each other's faces, and started a growling match.
"He's right," Bakura said, dejectedly. "There was a demon living inside of me, and I have to admit, there was more than one occasion when I willing helped him to get what he wanted."
"WHAT!?!" the whole room exclaimed.
"Bakura, what are you talking about?" Kagome asked him.
"We made a deal that if I helped him get a Jewel Shard, and showed him where the well was… He'd leave my body and mind forever. I was a fool to believe him."
"Did you actually show him how to use the well?" little Yugi asked Bakura.
"Yes." Bakura explained. "I told him that you-kai and han-yous, if their strong enough, can and go through the well…but an ordinary person needs a Millennium Item, a Jewel Shard, or anything truly magical to use the well. He helped me steal the ring from you, Yugi. And I tried to steal Kagome's shards once. The only thing that stopped was Shippo's distraction…but… the damage was done."
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"So," Naraku said, after listening to Li Zhou's explanation, "That is the secret of the Bone Eater's well." He smiled his bone chilling smile. " And Kagome is truly Kikyo reborn. No wonder they ran to that village after every battle."
"Yes, master." Li Zhou said
"And… I still live in that time?" Naraku asked.
"Yes master," Li Zhou said. "You are strong, and possess most of the Jewel in the time beyond the well."
"If I can get to that time," Naraku said. "I might yet be able to regain all of my power…Ai Suzu," he called. The Siren from earlier that evening appeared with her drum and guitar slung across her back, and flute in hand.
"What is your bidding, master?" Ai Suzu asked.
"Use your music to carry me on the wind." Naraku said, "And summon two of your siblings back from the abyss."
Ai Suzu lifted the flute to her lips, and played a soft, summoning melody. From the void, two beings emerged. Vash and Viola, strengthened anew by their reconnection to Naraku, came forth.
"Now," Naraku said, as Ai Suzu played her flute, to carry her master on the wind, "Let the battle begin."
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"Don't worry, Ayumi," Tristan said, putting his arm around her shoulder, "If it helps… I still think you're a great person."
"Cut the crap, Tristan," she said. "Could you really love a demon?"
"Well… Kagome loves Inu-yasha," he pointed out.
"And I love Yugi," Tea said. "Just because you're a reincarnation doesn't mean you can't live a perfectly normal life."
"But you don't live normal lives!" Ayumi said, getting weepy again.
"Uh… She's got a point, there," Joey said.
"Are any more of you reincarnations?" Ayumi asked.
"Oh, no," Kagome said, "They're all brand new. 'Cept Joey."
"That's right!" Joey said, proudly. "I was the Pharaoh's faithful servant! Buds for all eternity."
"Well then," Mai said, with a laugh "How about 'serving;' me a soda."
"I ain't no butler!" Joey said. "I'm a fearless warrior, devoted to defend Yugi forever."
"I sure know how to pick 'em," Mai said. "My best choice in life is a little minion."
"Hey, who love's ya, baby?" Joey asked.
Suddenly, Inu-yasha' ears twitched. He sniffed the air, and his hair stood on end as he started to growl at something out the window. He unsheathed his swrd, and said, "We've got trouble."
"What is it?" Serenity asked, inching closer to Kaiba.
"He's here!" Inu-yasha declared. He got up, and took off running out the door. All but Tea, Tristan, Bakura, Serenity and Ayumi followed. The five of them stayed behind, and watched from the windows.
In the front yard, Li Zhou, and the Siren stood in front of the sacred tree. They stood silently as their enemies approached them.
"So, come back to have you a$$ handed to ya in a sling?" Inu-yasha asked them.
"Actually," Li Zhou, "We thought you would like to see some old friends again."
"Amazoness Tiger!" shouted a familiar female voice. With a roar and swipe at Inu-yasha's chest, the enormous tiger leaped from the shadows. Inu-yasha staggered back, clutching at his bleeding chest, as Vash and Viola stepped forward from their hiding places.
"You two again?" Kagoma exclaimed.
"You died on the island," said Yugi/Yami to Vash.
"And you were in a coma," Mai said to Viola.
"Father came and took us home," Vash said smugly. He stood before them, shirtless and muscle bound.
"And we want play," Viol said. "Inu-yasha, sweety, did you miss me?" she asked the han-you, blowing him a kiss.
"You make me retch," he said.
"It's just as well," Viola said. "Father doesn't like you, anyway. I doubt he'd let me keep you, though he might give me your scalp as a present."
"Bring it on," Inu-yasha said.
"Wait," Yugi/Yami said. "Your father… is Naraku?"
"Want proof?" Vash said, revealing the spider bun on his back; the mark on Naraku's offspring. "And I get my temper from Father. I summon the Grave Keeper's Chief, infused with the sword of Dark Destruction," he said, throwing the cards to the ground. With a burst of light and smoke, the Grave Keeper appeared, the twisted metal blade in his hand.
"Empress Judge," Viola said, "Pass judgment on these wretches." She tossed her card into the air, and with a flash of white light and red smoke, the Empress appeared, and took one of the chains of the Tiger in her hands.
"Now I call for the Reaper of Cards," Li Zhou summoned, a thundercloud carrying the creature in. "I'm sure Joey knows this monster very well. And he has a bone to pick with you, since you eluded him in Duelist Kingdom." The Reaper lifted his sickle, and flew at Joey. But the boy blocked it with his Millennium Key, which now became the Millennium Staff. The block caused sparks to fly as the Light clashed with the Darkness.
"Take this, you over grown weed whacker!" Joey shouted as he threw the Reaper back several feet.
"I've just about enough of this," Mai said, coming to stand with Joey.
"Then let's double team him," Joey said, holding up his Red Eyes Black Dragon.
Mai took her Harpy's Pet Dragon from her deck, then, she realized, "Hey, I don't have Shadow powers."
"No sweat," Joey said. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out the Millennium Eye. He tossed it to Mai. "Yugi gave me this for safe keeping. Can't think of any safer hands to put it in."
"Right," Mai said as she put the Eye in her forehead. She felt the power within her, as she used all her strength. "Harpy's Pet Dragon," she called, "I summon you!"
"Come and eat this chump for dinner, Red Eyes!" Joey shouted. The skies opened up, and both dragons swooped down in a blaze of fire and fury. The Reaper leaped into the air, and made battle with them, swingin his sickle at the humungous pairs of jaws, which threatened to devour him. And they did. With one sweep of hi mighty tail, Red Eyes sent the Reaper of Cards into the bowels of Harpy's pet dragon.
Meanwhile, Inu-yasha, Kagome, Songo, and Miroku dodge the attacks of the Empress Judge, whilst Kirara wrestled with the Amazoness Tiger.
"We won't stop her by facing her all at once," Miroku said as he dodged the daggers the Empress shot from her hands.
"Then distract her," Inu-yasha said. He ran around behind the Empress, to slice her down from behind, but the she saw him, and threw her daggers at him, pinning him to the ground. As Inu-yasha struggled to get free, the Empress Judge loomed over him, ready to drive her daggers into his heart, when one of Kagome's arrows cut through the air, and went through her chest. She cried out in pain as she evaporated into dust.
"What's you do that for?!" Inu-yasha demanded from Kagome. "I had her right where I wanted her!"
"Well, I had her in my sights!"
"Will you two quite fighting and help us save Kirara?" Songo cried as she threw her hiraikotsu at the Tiger, but missed once again.
"Wind Tunnel!" Miroku shouted as he unwrapped his hand. The vacuum sucked up rocks and tree branches, and much more debris, before his Wind tunnel sucked up the Tiger.
All the while, Kaiba and Yugi/Yami went head to head against the power of Li Zhou's Millennium Ring. As Li Zhou threw lightening bolts at the Pharaoh and wizard, Kaiba fired Black Lightening, and Yugi/Yami threw Li Zhou back with his Pulse Wave of Dark Revealing Light.
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Serenity, Tea, Tristan, Ayumi,. And Bakura watched all of this from inside Kagome's house. Serenity feared for them, and hoped they would win. But then, a thought came to her mind. Why would they attack this place? What good would it do? Then,suddenly, her Millennium Necklace reacted, and she saw into the enemies' mind. She saw Naraku, slithering into the well house… To the secret well!
"This is all a diversion!" Serenity said suddenly, and ran out of the house.
"Serenity!" Tea shouted, running after her, followed by Tristan, Ayumi, and Bakura. "Come back, you'll get hurt!"
"Inu-yasha! Yugi!" Serenity cried, "This is a trap! Naraku's trying to go down the well! He wants to go into the past!"
Inu-yasha looked at the well house, and indeed, the doors were open, and sitting on the side of the well was Naraku.
"You won't get in!" Inu-yasha shouted, running forward at lightening speed, ready to cut down Naraku.
"Ai Suzu!" Naraku commanded. The Siren rose up and blocked the doors. She brought forth her drum, and gutar. With her hands she strummed the guitar, and unseen hands drummed a beat. And, she began to chant. All human ears fell deaf, whilst Inu-yasha'a ears heard the secret words. He struggled to resist the power of the enchantment, but his arms were like lead. He knew he had to defeat this siren, but she was commanding him to stop! To turn on his comrades…
Naraku grinned, and slipped down the well.
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"Some one stop me," Inu-yasha grunted, "Somebody stop me before I…"
"Inu-yasha?" Kagome asked. "What's wrong?"
"Siren…Singing…STOP ME NOW!!!!" He swung his sword wildly about, shrieking and snarling, going into berserker mode.
"Someone stop him!" Miroku pleaded. "He will kill us all, and them himself!"
Then, the heard the chanting from Tokyo Tower again. Two voices chanted the words. Vash and Viola were chanting the old words. Suddenly, a third voice joined. Ayumi's. As the girl chanted, her modern cloths fell away, and a she was suddenly wrapped in a blue, pink, and white kimono. Her lips were painted, and in her hands she clutched the wind fan. Her gentle brown eyes went blank, and with a blink, they turned heart's blood red.
While Ai Suzu chanted the song that controlled Inu-yasha, Li Zhou said, "Long agao, a great battle was fought between Kagura and Inu-yasha. It caused a cataclysmic disruption, an created a crater in the earth itself, which is now a lake. With the music of Ai Suzu, and our brother and sister, we shall recreate that battle here. And in the end, both shall die."
"Dance… Of… The Dragon," Ayumi and Kagura's voices intermingled. With a sweep of her hand, she created a twister, that formed into a dragon, and it advanced on Inu-yasha. He leaped up, sliced through the dragon twister.
"We've got to stop to the chanting!" Yugi/Yami said. "That is what's causing this!"
"But how?" Mai asked.
"Kagome, will your arrows work?"
"If you can hold them still long enough, my arrows can do just about anything." she said, nocking one.
"I'm on it," Kaiba said, running towards Vash. Vash put up his arms, and blocked the Black Lightening attack, but he'd stopped chanting.
"Brother!" Viola shouted. With the distraction, she was struck by Kagome's arrow through her heart, blood spewing everywhere. When their voices stopped chanting, Ayumi's eye turned brown again.
"Huh…What am I doing dressed this way?!" she asked.
"You're dead, Kagura!" Inu-yasha, still entranced, shouted. Ayumi screamed, and as she brought up her hands to shield herself, she inadvertently used the fan in her right hand to fling Inu-yasha into the sacred tree.
"Sorrow, Inu-yasha," Kagome said, "This is for your own good," she fired another arrow, this time at Inu-yasha. The arrow pierced his arm, and kept him pinned to the tree.
"Ayumi," Yugi/.Yami commanded, "Destroy the Siren! You're the only one with the power!"
"How?" Ayumi asked. "Oh, the fan!" she exclaimed. She lifted her arm, "Please let this work." Ai Suzu brought up her flute, and her drum nbean to beat a different rhythm. As she played her flute, she hummed the summoning song from sunset that evening. Ayumi's arm stopped, and she stood still.
"Aymui, please!" Kagome pleaded, "Snap out of it! I'm out of arrows, and Inu-yasha won't be stuck much longer!" He was snarling and wincing as he tried desperately to pull the arrow from his bleeding arm.
Ayumi summoned all her energy, and brought the fan down, creating an earth shaking gust. The wind that blew forward, sliced through the Siren, who screamed like a banshee as she disintegrated.
Meanwhile, Vash and Viola dropped to the ground. With out the Siren Ai Suzu, or Naraku, they could not hold their forms. They also turned to dust, and blew away ion the breeze.
"I'm out of here," Li Zhou said, going to the mini shrine that held the well.
"Oh no you don't!" Bakura said, punching him in the face. Li Zhou fell to the ground. Bakrua bent down,m and took the Millennium Ring from around Li Zhou's neck. "This is mine. And when Inu-yasha is free, you won't hurt anyone anymore."
"I have more life yet, you accursed boy!" Li Zhou said. He grabbed Bakura by the shoulders, and ran the lightening through his body. Bakura cried and writhed in pain and agony.
"Bakura!" Songo shouted. She lifted her hiraikotsu up, and ordered, "Drop him, NOW!"
"As you wish," Li Zhou said. He turned towards the doors of the well house, and threw Bakura's body down the well, and followed after him. Songo let her weapon fly, but as it took the roof off the mini shrine, it was too late.
AN: Oh no! What shall befall poor Bakura?! What shall our heroes do!?! When are we gonna see some hot, sexy action? ( JOKE!) Review, and I shall post more. Stay silent, and this is pretty much all your gonna get - and I just might take it off the site :P'- TTFN!