Inuyasha X
Chapter 15
"Better judgement"
By MEGAMANX411

Kagome quickly pulled out her bow and arrows as she ran towards Inuyasha and Vile. Inuyasha was trying to tell Kagome to leave, but she didn't really care. Inuyasha looked at her with worry.

"Kagome! Don't come near here!!" he warned.

Kagome merely shook her head in protest.

"I'm going to help you!" she shouted.

Kagome stringed her bow, and prepared and arrow. She aimed straight at Vile, who seemed unflinching in the face of this immediate danger. She let the arrow loose, and it flew straight and true. Vile dashed forward at an incredible rate, almost becoming invisible for a moment. He grabbed Kagome by the throat, and raised her up with his powerful grip.

"You shouldn't have interfered," Vile said dryly.

All of the sudden, a high-pitched noise was heard. It had a very high frequency. Zero looked over his shoulder to notice that X was glowing, his body twitching with power surging through his body. Zero examined closer to see X gritting his teeth, and clenching his fists. Zero slowly approached his friend with concern.

"X...you shouldn't..." he warned.

X shook his head.

"Enough is enough!" he shouted.

X, completely ignoring Zero's judgement, raced forward into battle. He appeared at Vile's side in an instant, and his X-Buster was pointed straight at the heartless villain.

"Let her go!" he shouted.

Vile just didn't seem to care that X practically had him in checkmate. Vile simply turned his head a bit, and looked at X with a cold, soulless stare. Nothing seemed to be there. X merely repeated his command.

"I said let her go!" he shouted, sounding even more agitated.

Vile didn't even shift his attention to X whatsoever.

"You lack the courage to kill me," he said dryly.

X knew he could threaten Vile, but destroying him was something he would prefer not to do. He lowered his weapon a little, thought better of it, and then kept it steady. He then resolved to make sure he unhanded Kagome.

"Put her down now!" he warned.

X, instead of using his buster, threw a punch, smacking Vile square in the cheek. The resulting impact chipped off some of Vile's faceplate, and caused him to unhand Kagome.

"Kagome, get out of here quick!" he warned.

Kagome tried to argue, but she thought better of it, and nodded. Inuyasha looked a little peeved that X was doing his job at the moment, but was deeply relieved at the same time. Kagome was safe.

Inuyasha shifted his attention back to Vile.

"Hey you!" he shouted. "I'm the one you want! X, you can have a seat, I can take this guy!"

X gave him a concerned frown.

"But..you can't move..." he said meekly.

"Yes...I can..!" Inuyasha protested.

Inuyasha gritted his teeth as he struggled to his feet. The stun effect was wearing off slighly, and Inuyasha was struggling as best he could to overcome it faster. Inuyasha came to his feet, and his resolve was strengthened. X complied with his request, and left the scene. When he got back, Zero nodded in approval of X's act, as did everyone else. They then proceeded to cheer on Inuyasha.

Inuyasha clenched his teeth in anger at Vile.

"You think you're gonna stop me with cheap tricks?" he challenged.

"It was hardly a trick," Vile responded.

Inuyasha cut him off, and was starting to get real tired of seeing this guy.

"Shut up!" he shouted. "It's time to meet your maker pal."

Inuyasha pulled his Tetsusaiga up, and placed it on his shoulder. He let out a smirk as he looked at his prey. He leaped in the air, and prepared to attack. Vile tried to use another stun attack, but Inuyasha turned himself in mid-air with surprising grace, and came down hard on Vile with his Tetsusaiga. The massive blade chopped the reploid literally in two. As Vile separated into two halves, Inuyasha casually put his sword away, and walked back toward the group with a huge smile on his face. Zero had a smirk on his face too, and looked pretty pleased. He nodded, and Inuyasha did so back. I suppose you could say it was the tough guys' way of bonding. X looked down at his feet. He was slighly ashamed he couldn't defeat Vile, or more appropriately, wouldn't defeat Vile. But he was satisfied that he did save Kagome.

Inuyasha smiled at X.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

X blinked heavily.

"What?" he asked.

"I said thanks for rescuing Kagome!" he repeated.

X looked down to the ground, seeming a little ashamed.

"But," he protested. "I couldn't defeat Vile."

Inuyasha didn't seem to care.

"So?" he said. "I did it."

X sighed deeply.

"Yeah..but..." he continued.

Inuyasha put his hand on X's shoulder.

"You're worrying over nothing!" he said reassuringly.

Kagome looked at Inuyasha lovingly.

"Inuyasha..." she whispered.

Inuyasha looked confused at Kagome's sentiment.

"What?" he asked. Kagome closed her eyes and giggled.

"Hehe...I usually don't hear you act so nice!" she replied happily.

Inuyasha was taken slightly aback, and X was a bit stunned. Zero gave Inuyasha a pat on the back.

"That was an excellent battle, Inuyasha," he complimented.

X interrupted Inuyasha's praises for another more pressing matter.

"Hey, look!" he shouted, pointing where Vile's body laid moments ago.

It was gone, and in its place was part of the Sacred Shikon Jewel, and a sheet of paper. Zero bent down, and picked up a sheet of paper.

"There's a letter...." he observed. Zero handed it to X, and he began to decipher it.

Inuyasha looked entirely baffled by the characters appearing on the letter.

"What language is that in?" he asked curiously.

X looked to his partner.

"It must be someone from our era, Zero," he said confidently. "Look at this."

X began to read the note aloud.

"If you're reading this, chances are you've defeated Vile for the moment. Congratualtions, you've managed to walk straight into another trap. Don't worry, nothing bad will come to you immediately. You see, Vile, as we speak, is out collecting the remaining parts of Narazero and Naraxu at this instant. He's probably done by the time you've finished this sentence. If you fail to see the importance of this, then perhaps the Maverick Hunters aren't as sharp as I once thought. Reploids have incredible memory. In fact, they can remember something that is extremely precious--battle data. Statistics and calculations regarding strength and abilities. If you haven't yet discovered our plot, think about it. It's just the beginning."

Zero thought deeply for a moment.

"Naraku...what would he use our battle data for?" he asked.

X slowly looked up from the letter, wide-eyed. He just had a revelation.

"It's not for him....." he said, sounding astonished.

Sango looked towards X.

"You know something X?" she asked.

"It'd be for reploids!" he replied.

Kagome gasped.

"So, he'd make a super powerful reploid?" she asked.

X gave her a frightened look.

"That, as he said, would be just the beginning," he said eerily.

X's words seemed to creep out the entire group. Zero decided to break the silence and make a suggestion.

"We should get some rest. Chances are they're coming for us, so we should be in top physical condition" he said.

Sango nodded.

"That's a good idea..." she confirmed.

Shippo looked side to side. It was easy to tell he was scared out of his head.

"C-c-c-coming??!" he stammered. "For us...?!"

X bent down and patted Shippo's head.

"Take it easy Shippo," he assured. "I won't let anyone hurt you."

Miroku smiled at the sentiment.

"You know Inuyasha, you could learn something from X," he said in a slightly condescending tone.

Inuyasha smirked.

"On what? How to act like a sissy?" he teased.

X looked down to the ground.

"Now that wasn't very nice..." he muttered.

Kagome looked at Inuyasha with a mean glare. Inuyasha had a terrified expression wash over his face.

"Kagome, what are you doing?" he stammered. "No, don't!!"

"SIT!" Kagome shouted.

Inuyasha hit the ground hard. Inuyasha sat back up and rubbed his backside.

"Ouch..I'm sorry..." he apologized.

Sango helped Inuyasha up.

"Come on, we should rest up. Who knows what's coming..." she warned.