Inuyasha X
Chapter 2
"A familiar and unfamiliar foe"
By MEGAMANX411
Zero and the rest of the group proceeded through the forest trail, with some small conversation on the way.
"Well, Zero," Sango began happily, "I haven't really had the chance to speak to you yet. My name is Sango."
Zero looked slightly annoyed.
"Kagome had told me of you already," he replied.
Sango, curious of Zero, spoke up. "Can I ask you something?" she asked.
"Fine," heaved Zero.
"Your clothes..what are you wearing? Is it armor?" she asked.
Her curiosity was almost like that of a child.
"I'm not human, I'm a reploid," Zero replied. "So, I don't have flesh and blood like you do. I don't wear clothes either. I have a metallic skeleton, some synthetic skin over that, and this outer covering is armor."
"So..are you like an animated puppet?"Sango asked, her eyes widening slightly.
The very prospect of such a creature was very fascinating in her time, or even in Kagome's time. However, Zero was somewhat offended by this statement.
"A puppet must obey. I can do whatever I wish," he muttered.
Sango persisted in her questioning,still curious of Zero's origins. After all, ifone had met a creature from a different time period, chances are that person would be intrigued.
"How were you created?" she asked.
"Memories of my creation are scarce," Zero said in a low tone. "I can sometimes see images of my creator in my dreams. Other than that, I don't really know. It is pointless to dwell on the past, however."
"Are you a famous fighter where you are from?" Sango asked politely.
Zero shrugged.
"I suppose you could say that," he said with a smirk.
Inuyasha butted in, ready to take advantage of the situation at Zero's expense.
"People where you're from must be really weak!" he teased.
Zero gave an Inuyasha a hostile stare.
"I'd like to see you face a maverick, dog boy!" he challenged.
"What did you say?!?" the dog-demon responded.
Kagome intervened once more.
"Break it up you two! If we're going on this journey together, we should try to get along and work together. Wait....I sense a jewel shard around here!"
They were silent the rest of the walk, while Kagome lead the group to just outside a village.
"The jewel shard is in this village," she whispered.
"Tell me, Kagome," Zero asked curiously, "how can you sense the location of the jewel fragments?"
Miroku decided he may do better at explaining the situation.
"Kagome is the reincarnation of a priestess named Kikyo," he said in a matter-of-factly tone. "When Kagome was transported to this era--by falling down a well--the Sacred Shikon Jewel came out of her body."
Zero blinked heavily, and his eyes grew wide. He just stared at Kagome in disbelief.
"Man, you people get weirder and weirder..." he said as he rolled his eyes.
Inuyasha got a little angry by the statement, after all, Zero was the stranger.
"What about you?" he shouted back. "You're made of metal!!!"
Zero shrugged.
"Whatever," he replied. "Let's just find this jewel shard."
The group made their way around the village to find the jewel shard, and they came to a cloaked person. Kagome nudged Inuyasha.
"He's the one who has it," she whispered.
Inuyasha spoke to the cloaked man.
"Who are you?" he questioned with an arrogant tone.
Zero kept his hand on his Z-Saber, trying to be ready for anything. The cloaked person threw off his robe, and his appearance startled everyone. Especially Zero.
"A...a reploid?" Zero stammered. "Vile?!"
Vile had a big smile on his face.
"It's nice to see you again Zero!" he said with a grin.
Miroku looked to Zero.
"Is this an acquaintance of yours, Zero?" he asked with some slight sarcasm to his tone.
"I've seen him before, yeah. Killed him twice," Zero replied.
Vile just kept that big sadistic smile on his face (you couldn't technically see it, but you could almost feel his expression so to speak).
"But I just keep on coming!" he said with a sneer, laughing afterwards.
Zero narrowed his eyebrows, and his tone become increasingly serious.
"Tell me...how did you get here?" he inquired.
Vile was obviously wanting to keep Zero in the dark.
"That's for me to know, and for you to find out," he replied.
Zero deemed the statement unacceptable.
"Then how about I just cut the information from you!" he shouted.
Zero ran up, and tried to perform his Raijingeki (an attack where Zero charges his sword with electrical energy and thrusts it forward), but Vile managed to dash out of the way. He then prepared to fire some missiles. Zero eyed the act, and turned to face the rest of the group. "
"Watch out!!" he shouted.
Miroku, thinking quickly, unwrapped the beads around his hand.
"Wind tunnel!" he yelled.
Miroku sucked in the missiles so they wouldn't harm anyone, and luckily, he himself was unharmed. Inuyasha looked at Vile with a grin.
"Look pal," he jeered, "I don't know who you are, but if you're trying to hurt the people of this village, and get away with that jewel shard, then you're dead wrong!"
Inuyasha leaped through the air, and tried to bring down his weapon at Vile, but Vile managed to fire off a stun weapon to freeze Inuyasha in place.
Inuyasha stared at himself in disbelief.
"What the?!" he shouted. "I..I can't move!"
"Leave them alone, Vile!" Zero demanded. "Your fight is with me."
Vile shrugged.
"Sure thing," he replied. "What?!"
Vile's eyes widened as he saw an incoming attack that he couldn't prevent. Sango's weapon caught Vile completely by surprise, and knocked him over. He got back up a moment later, and was furious.
"You!" he screamed.
Vile made his way towards Sango, and dashed over to her. Zero got in his way, and stabbed Vile's leg. Vile grabbed his wounded leg, and bent over moaning in pain.
"Damn!" he shouted.
Vile turned around and fired a blast at Zero, knocking him back a little. Vile was now face to face with Sango. Sango stood her ground.
"Don't underestimate me!" she threatened. Vile, with a look of anger on his face, slowly drew closer. Vile was preparing to fire his shoulder cannon, but someone stepped in to stop him.
"Raijingeki!"
Sango could see Zero's saber thrust through Vile's chest, and it flung out the sacred jewel shard. Vile looked at his wound in sheer awe.
"Ugh...! No! I was careless....till we meet again, Zero!" Vile mocked as he teleported away.
Zero put his saber back and cursed.
"Damn...where did he go?"
Inuyasha finally broke free of Vile's stun weapon, filled with anger for missing the fight.
"Who was that guy?!" he asked. Zero turned to Inuyasha.
"His name is Vile," he replied. "And I don't know why or how he got here. It was just me and Sigma...wait a minute! Sigma! He must have discovered a way..."
Inuyasha was completely lost. "What are you rambling about?" he shouted.
Inuyasha tried to smack Zero's head, but it hurt Inuyasha's fist more than it hurt Zero. Zero looked at Inuyasha with a look of disbelief.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
Inuyasha was clenching his hand.
"Ow!" he shouted. "What the heck are you made of?"
Zero shrugged casually.
"You said it yourself. Metal," he replied.
Sango interjected, trying to make the conversation more meaningful.
"So, that person...is name was Vile? What else do you know of him?" she asked.
Zero turned toward Sango, and a serious look came on his face.
"He is Sigma's right hand man, and a bit of a bounty hunter," Zero explained. "He's incredibly ruthless. In our first encounter, I sacrificed my body to destroy his weapon, so my partner, X, could finish him."
Kagome looked at him strangely.
"You're...a ghost?" she stammered.
Zero shook his head.
"No. I was rebuilt. Continuing on. Later, Vile was rebuilt by a man named Dr. Doppler, once again to serve Sigma. Vile tried to kill me and X by trapping us in an abandoned factory, and fighting us until it exploded. His plan failed. We caught up to him later, and fought him again, finishing him. And Vile uttered these words to my partner and I: 'I shall haunt you to the day you die'."
Kagome got the shivers from what he said.
"Creepy...." she whispered.
"So, how did he come to this place?" Miroku asked. "You said it was only you, and the one you were fighting."
"Apparently, Sigma found a way back before I did," Zero reasoned. "I don't quite understand his plans now, but he IS plotting something."
Shippo spoke up. "Well, we got the jewel shard, why don't we just stay the night here?"
"Good idea Shippo," Kagome replied happily.
By Naraku's castle...
Vile looked at Sigma with a slightly ashamed look.
"Sigma..." he muttered.
Sigma cut him off.
"Don't say anymore. You've done well enough. You see Naraku, this is but the power of one reploid. If I could bring my entire army over here..." he whispered.
Naraku smiled.
"What is it you seek of me, Sigma? You seem to be averting your purpose."
Sigma's eyes gleamed.
"Well, well," he announced with a tone of fake surprise, "you must be quite a trickster yourself to point out my ploys."
"I am a bit of a strategist myself," Naraku admitted. "Explain yourself."
"It's simple...in return for the jewel and the destruction of Inuyasha, I have a favor to ask you..." he said maliciously.
