Inuyasha X
Chapter 5
"Zero's Kikyo"
By MEGAMANX411

Zero, Kagome, Inuyasha, and the rest made their way again in search of the reploids and the sacred jewel shards. Along the way, Inuyasha couldn't help but be puzzled with Zero still. It was obvious to assume that no one from the feudal era could comprehend what kind of complex machinery was embedded within Zero, but Inuyasha felt to ask about his saber anyway. How complicated could it be?

Inuyasha eyed Zero's weapon curiously.

"So what the heck is the deal with your weapon, why does it glow and stuff?" he asked.

Zero gave Inuyasha a stare, and just thought it better to answer and be done with it.

"The blade is made of pure, concentrated light and energy," he replied.

Inuyasha blinked heavily.

"How do you make it like that?" he asked.

Zero rolled his eyes.

"I don't believe you'd understand even if I told you," he muttered.

Inuyasha got a little annoyed.

"Oh come on!" he protested. "Just tell me how you made the stupid sword!"

Zero gave Inuyasha a confused look.

"Why do you want to know?" he asked.

Inuyasha was looking at the Z-Saber.

"Your sword can cut through anything right?" he asked.

Zero thought for a moment.

"Yeah. Unless they have high energy levels," he responded.

"Like what?" Inuyasha asked quickly, his eyes widening a bit.

Zero shrugged, looking for an example.

"Like your Tetsusaiga I guess," he murmured.

Inuyasha grinned, and had a superior smirk on his face.

"So, your saying my sword is better than yours?" he teased.

Zero became increasingly angered with Inuyasha's arrogance. He looked Inuyasha square in the eye, and his nostrils flared.

"What?!" he screamed.

Inuyasha continued his teasing.

"Ha, my Tetsusaiga is better than your wimpy sword!" he boasted.

"You'd best take that back, or I'll cut you in two!" Zero threatened.

Kagome decided to step in once more before anyone killed each other, and also take her turn in asking a question.

"Easy you two!" she said in her typical pleasant manner.

Kagome then turned to Zero.

"Hey, Zero, there's something I've been meaning to ask you," she began.

Zero was taken off guard by her sudden query. All he could muster was a shrug.

"Hm?"

Kagome looked at Zero with a smile.

"Do you have any reploid friends?" she asked.

Zero's expression went wild for a minute. He was shocked, confused, and almost had an anime-style fall. He didn't know how to respond really. Finally, he forced an answer.

"Well, yeah," he replied.

Kagome continued her questioning.

"Well...who are they? You can tell us!" she persuaded.

Zero shrugged.

"Well, Mega Man X is my best friend, and there are some other hunters that are ok," he said in a slightly embarrassed tone.

Kagome then asked Zero a more personal question.

"Do you have anyone..close?" she asked.

Zero then tightened his eyes, and his mouth seemed to shrink a bit. He looked as though he were insulted.

"I'd....rather not talk about it," he said meekly.

Kagome almost stopped dead in her tracks.

"Did something bad happen between you two?" she asked. "Did...you fight or something?"

Zero quickly shook his head.

"No," he said gruffly, shifting his gaze to the trail ahead.. "Let's just keep going."

The group drew to a halt as they heard someone approach. Miroku approached with his staff in front.

"Who goes there?" he questioned.

There was no answer. They could only here the footsteps of someone walking around the corner. The person would surprise Zero especially. The mysterious stranger threw off the robes, and revealed her identity.

Zero's expression went wild.

"Iris!" he said with extreme enthusiasm.

Inuyasha bent over and whispered to Kagome.

"Who's Iris?" he asked curiously.

Kagome chimed in, slightly happy at the outcome.

"That must be his girlfriend!" she said pleasantly.

Zero's voice was sounding pretty strained.

"Iris!" he said in disbelief. "You..came back! But how..?"

Iris didn't say anything. She merely stood there with a blank expression on her face. Zero got a little confused.

"Iris?" he asked. "Why aren't you speaking?"

Iris stood there, with a blank expression.

"Die..." she muttered.

Zero was stunned.

"What?" he yelled.

Iris gave a hard look at Zero.

"You killed me Zero. Now it is your turn to die," she said coldly.

Zero buried his face in his hands.

"Iris no!" he pleaded. Sango turned to Zero. "Zero, what happened between you two?!" she asked worriedly.

Zero shot a glance back.

"This is not the time to explain!" he yelled. "She's about to attack!"

Iris boarded her ride armor, a large mechanical battle suit with two massive fists, and some heavy plated armor. Iris got back into the cockpit of the ride armor, and uttered the same words she did the first time she and Zero fought.

"Forgive me, Zero.." she said sadly.

Zero's face had huge traces of sadness.

"Iris, wait!" he pleaded. "Don't do this!!"

Inuyasha decided to ask Kagome an important question before they got distracted in battle.

"Kagome," he whispered, "does this person have a sacred jewel shard?"

Kagome was taken slightly off guard.

"What?" she said.

Inuyasha repeated his command.

"Just find out of this person has a sacred jewel shard!" he said.

Kagome concentrated, and saw the jewel.

"OK!" she said. "It's in the crystal floating above her!"

The group noticed that floating a few inches above the helmet of the mechanical ride armor, was a purple crystal, that seemed to levitate on its own will. Iris fired a beam of energy at the group from the chest of her ride armor, which Inuyasha tried to stop with his wind scar. The resulting impact still sent Inuyasha backwards. Zero didn't want to fight.

"Iris, listen to me!" he said worriedly. "Iris! I don't want to fight you!"

Iris didn't say anything, she then just fired off another laser round, this time at Zero. He dashed out of the way, and kept trying to talk to Iris. Inuyasha tried to get Zero's attention.

"Zero!" he shouted. "Hit the crystal above her!"

Zero remained silent. He then leaped up, and slashed at the crystal with his Z-Saber. However, cutting it proved difficult, because Iris launched a counter attack with dozens of small projectiles. Miroku tried to act quickly and valiantly, so he removed the beads from his hand and prepared his patented attack, the wind tunnel.

Iris then fired her laser at Miroku, which Inuyasha tried to block again. However, he was too late, and the laser hit them both. Zero looked at her in disbelief.

"No!" he screamed.

Zero jumped back up, and used his Kuuenbu on the crystal, slicing out the jewel shard. Zero's somersaulting slash attack caused many deep cuts to the crystal, and inflicted some serious damage to it. The ride armor practically disappeared in that instant, and Iris fell out of the ride armor. Zero rushed to her side.

Zero grabbed Iris. His voice was quiverying.

"Iris!" he shouted. "Iris!!"

Sango approached Zero's side.

"Is there a way we can help her?" she asked.

Kagome looked down to the ground.

"I don't know..." she said in a sad tone.

Zero got up, and talked as he looked away from the group.

"We can't in this time period," he concluded. "We'll have to wait until we can get her back to my time."

Miroku and Inuyasha were injured as well, but limped their way over.

"Ugh..why..did she attack us?" Miroku questioned.

Inuyasha was looking really angry.

"I oughta kill her myself!" he yelled.

Zero gave Inuyasha a hard stare.

"You lay a finger on her and I'll kill you," he said in a hard tone.

Inuyasha was surprised by Zero's comeback.

"What?!" he cried in utter disbelief. "She tried to kill us, remember?!"

Zero looked down to the ground.

"I can't let her die...again..."

Shippo blinked.

"Again?"

Myoga once again decided to interrupt the conversation in a most untimely manner.

"Methinks Zero has had an enouncter similar to Inuyasha's with Kikyo. Let him explain," he said in a sage-like manner.

Myoga once again butted his head into matters, at the most unneeded moment. This time, Zero grabbed him, and bashed him over the head with his fist.

"I'd rather not talk about it," he said under his breath.

Kagome decided to butt in, and tried to get the story out of Zero.

"Come on!" she complained. "It won't get any better if you don't say anything!"

Zero breathed heavily, and then shook his head. "Fine. Iris and I...used to be in love.." he said with a heavy heart. "However, a military coup from Repliforce changed everything. Her brother, the colonel, lead the coup, and I had to stop him. For killing him, she wanted revenge against me. And I killed her...."

Sango lowered her head.

"That's...sad..." she said quietly.

The group continued on to the next village to get some rest. Miroku once again suggested that they get some sleep for the next day. However, on the way there, Zero spoke up as he was struck with a revelation.

"Have you noticed something?" he said in an almost cryptic manner.

"What?" replied Sango.

"We have never actually found these shards on our own will..."Zero replied.

Kagome blinked heavily.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Zero had a slightly concerned look on his face.

"Every time we have come across a shard, it was merely a coincidence from fighting a reploid. It all seems laid out," he concluded.

Miroku nodded.

"There is some truth to what Zero says..." he agreed. "Perhaps someone is trying to bring us to them."

Inuyasha decided to get in on the conversation.

"But there's no way out of it," he protested.

"We may as well keep going."

Zero shrugged.

"I suppose you're right."

And the sooner I get back, the sooner I can repair Iris Zero thought to himself.

By Naraku's castle, the two villains furthered their horrific plot.

Naraku nodded approvingly.

"I see...Zero has a weakness like Inuyasha..."hemuttered. happily.

"He has no doubt kept Iris with him. We can manipulate her further.," Sigma replied.

"Have you received enough demons yet?" Naraku asked, changing the subject.

Sigma nodded.

"Yes..they are now in the process of grafting the parts together."

Naraku smiled.

"And what do you intend to do once you go back?"

Sigma replied to Naraku's smile with one of his own.

"What else?" he said proudly. "Get revenge on the pitiful human race."