Chapter 7: The Western Edifice
The pair of robots brandished their swords, as they gleamed for the last time of this day, as the sun was beginning to set behind them. Inuyasha and Miroku pulled out their weapons, whereas Sango and Kagome stayed in the back with the wounded Rellik. Shippo and Kirara took cover behind those three and the five watched the brave monk and Inuyasha get ready to fight the obstructing robots.
Inuyasha attacked first. Miroku charged the other robot and the two launched an all-out offensive, but Miroku's robot blocked his staff. Inuyasha's robot dodged the vertical swing from the Tetsusaiga and slashed at Inuyasha, but Inuyasha quickly backed away. The robot that attacked Inuyasha missed him a second time and went for Miroku on the third attempt at hitting one of the two. It was a success, and Miroku went sprawling into the dirt behind him, with a gash in his abdomen.
Out of anger, Inuyasha wildly attacked the robot that now had a bloody sword, and nailed it in the arm, cutting it and the sword off.
"Inuyasha!" the ear-splitting scream came from Kagome, as the second robot lifted its sword in front of her. Inuyasha was too far away though, and the robot brought its sword down, but before it could strike the defenseless Kagome, the Hiraikotsu knocked the robot away and into the ground behind it.
Sango rushed over to Kagome and helped her up, getting her and Rellik out of harms way. Meanwhile, Miroku was recovering, having used the cloth from his sleeve to wrap up his wound. The now one-armed robot was also recovering, and its second arm transformed into a large dagger, not as effective as its previous sword, yet still dangerous for the injured monk.
'Damn,' Miroku grimaced as he thought to himself, 'I can't use my wind tunnel or my hand will be cut off at the least. Plus, these guys are too strong to be sucked in.' He readied his staff and assaulted the robot, continuously ramming it in its steel head.
Miroku finally stopped, panting as he tired himself out, leaving numerous dents in the robot's head.
Inuyasha was sparring with the two-armed robot, clashing steel to steel, neither one faltering the other. Inuyasha backed off after missing a horizontal swing, and decided to call forth the wind scar. He sent the waves of energy towards the robot, engulfing it in razor-sharp winds and blades.
The smoke cleared, and to everyone's surprise, the robot emerged from the attack with a few scratches and dents, still fully functional. The robot turned its sights to Miroku for some reason, and with amazing speed, appeared next to its partner.
Miroku gasped as the ensuing threat in the two robots came nearer, both carrying dangerous weapons. The first charged from the left and began to throw some stabbing motions, Miroku skillfully dodging each. The second jumped high into the air, pointing its sword downwards, and readying a blow. Miroku did notice that, though, and jumped to his left avoiding the falling robot as the attacking robot was blocked by its ally.
Inuyasha ran to Miroku's side, grateful that the robots failed to lay a hit on the monk. "Damnit! These things don't tire!" Inuyasha yelled desperately, as he stood exhausted, barely holding up his sword.
"Inuyasha, I know this may sound hard to understand right now, but these robots are made out of wires and electricity. They don't possess stamina or endurance, they run on a circuit inside their body!" Kagome tried to explain the complexity of these robots to the primitive dog-demon, doing the best she could. As long as Inuyasha understood that he had to destroy something, Kagome knew it was enough explanation.
"The circuit inside...but, how can we break their shell?"
Kagome sighed, "That...I don't know."
"Damn," Miroku said, "it's up to our strength now, we have to break that shell!"
The robots charged, amazingly synchronized, and raised their swords at each warrior. Both Inuyasha and Miroku were weakened by fatigue, but were able to get there weapons up in a horizontal blocking position, barely able to contain the strong swings of the metal combatants.
It looked bad for the monk and the dog-demon, and it became worse when Miroku's staff splintered under the amazing pressure of the sword. All he could do was quickly let go of his staff and dive backwards, as the robot's sword crushed the staff in half and stuck to the ground.
The robot easily lifted its sword out of the ground, leaving a deep line in the dirt, Miroku's now broken staff next the hole. Inuyasha noticed Miroku's trouble and did the same as Miroku, but instead of diving out of the way, Inuyasha jumped into the air, and brought his Tetsusaiga down into the armored back of the robot, piercing the steel, and exposing the inside machinery to the bitter cold air.
Unfortunately, it did not feel pain, and it swung its broken arm around and putting it to as much use as possible, batting Inuyasha in the face and slamming him into the hard dirt. Now both Inuyasha and Miroku were on the ground, injured and defenseless, as the robots pursued their mission of killing them.
The five bystanders gasped in horror as the robots moved in for the kill, and surprisingly, Rellik was the one who forced himself to stand. He unsheathed his sword.
"No, Rellik! I know the situation looks grim, but you'll just get yourself killed too!" Sango warned him, but he ignored her, and without saying a word, raised his sword in the air.
"What are you doing? Do you want to die!" Kagome screamed, trying to restrain him, yet he kept his stance firm despite his injuries. The bitter-cold air became a freezing whip of wind, and the gust flew through the battle stage, making everyone shake in wintriness, except Rellik. He maintained his composure, and closed his eyes as he kept his sword raised in the air.
It was an amazing event, as the freezing air became virtually visible and began to circle Rellik. The energy from the cold air and the clouds seemed to be in his control, and the tip of his sword remarkably absorbed these various energy sources. It began to gain a blue aura, and was pulsating with power.
The wounded ninja used as much power as he could muster, and slammed his powerful sword into the ground, sending two icy energy waves across the ground towards the two robots.
The energy waves took solid form as they traveled across the ground, and turned into solid ice, ripping the dirt and speeding towards the robots. The first wave hit the robot with the missing arm, and the ice began to travel up its body starting at its legs.
The robot ignored the ice and raised its sword into the air, preparing to strike the motionless Miroku who was laying on the ground in front of it. The robot began its downward swing as Miroku was beginning to regain his poise, his vision coming into clarity, noticing the sword coming down at him.
All of a sudden, the blade stopped short in front of Miroku's chest, and Miroku noticed that the robot was a frozen block of ice. Sparks flew from its arm, at first melting the ice, then succumbing to it as the frozen water seeped into the robot, freezing its wires and insides. The robot was immobile, and was no longer a threat.
Meanwhile, the second robot had jumped over the icy wave, and moved away. Unfortunately for the robot, the ice column turned and followed the robot.
Rellik was in complete concentration, gripping the hilt of his sword, and controlling the column of ice with his mind. He had now picked the sword off of the ground and was holding it in front of him, the blue aura as strong as ever.
Kagome and Sango watched in awe as the ninja performed on of the greatest attacks they had ever seen. Kagome had an idea, and decided to help him.
She took out her bow and placed an arrow on the string, pulled back as hard as she could, aimed, and let go of the string. The magical arrow cut through the air and pierced the robot. It stuck to its side, and the robot was distracted for a moment, having to pull the arrow out of its metal case.
"Yes!" Kagome celebrated, "Rellik, you've got him now." The ice seemed to quicken, and the robot could no longer dodge it. But before the ice could make contact with the robot and shut it down, the ice stopped.
Confused, Kagome looked over at Rellik and saw him clutching his chest, the sword on the ground, and no longer glowing with power. 'The bullet!' she realized, and she and Sango ran over to help him.
"Inuyasha," Miroku said, getting up from the ground and brushing himself off. "Although he didn't finish them off, we should be eternally grateful to Rellik. He saved my life, and it's up to us now to finish this."
"No problem," Inuyasha smirked, being as stubborn as ever. "Let's do this, Miroku."
Inuyasha charged the robot, sword over his shoulder, but his swings would not hit and his efforts seemed fruitless. The robot seemed to be quicker and stronger now that its ally was gone, even though its back was pierced. "Damn it," Inuyasha said, drained as the weariless robot approached him, it's gleaming sword intimidating Inuyasha.
Miroku was helpless against the robot, even if he had his staff, which was now broken in half and the two pieces in Shippo's hands. He did have an idea though, and he yelled to Inuyasha.
"Inuyasha! If you can cut its arms off and get its blades out of the way, I can get it in my wind tunnel! It's our only chance!"
Inuyasha heard Miroku and didn't acknowledge it, but replied by cutting off the robot's arm. The one with the sword was the only one left.
"Nice, Inuyasha! Keep it up, one more!"
The robot, unfazed by its missing arm, continued to go on the attack, slashing horizontally and vertically at amazing speeds, Inuyasha almost unable to dodge each attack. He kept jumping backwards out of harms way, unaware of the bushes behind him. He eventually tripped over it and fell to the grassy ground of the forest on the sides of the dirt road.
Instead of taking this fall as a misfortune, Inuyasha used the cover of the bushes and the trees as probably the best chance he had of winning this fight. As expected the robot burst through the bush, cutting down a small tree next to it, searching for Inuyasha, its scanner looking for any movement in the dark forest.
Inuyasha lay as still as possible under a bush as he watched the robot go by, cutting trees and frantically looking around. It passed Inuyasha and he got up off the floor and got ready to pounce on the unsuspecting robot. It turned quickly, its scanners picking up Inuyasha's quick movement, but it was too late for the robot, Inuyasha had cut off its arm-blade, and jumped out of the forest, ready for the robot to emerge.
"Got it Miroku, once it comes out, get it with the wind tunnel." Inuyasha said, moving himself and the others behind Miroku.
Just after Inuyasha and the others were in safety, the metal warrior burst out through the trees that were on the edge of the forest and Miroku reacted quickly.
He pulled the rosary beads off of his hand and the wind tunnel took its course, sucking in all of the loose brush, leaves and dirt in the area. Alas, the robot held its ground, and was not budging. The cuffs that made up its foot were deeply dug into the ground, and its gears were completely stopped; it would not submit to the powerful winds no matter how long Miroku held it out.
After realizing his wind tunnel was of no use, Miroku wrapped his right hand up once more and stopped the wind from sucking in any more objects. The battle would continue.
"How are we going to win this!" Miroku yelled, seeing no more tactics that would be effective that had not already been tried.
"Rellik, do you think you could try that ice attack once more?" Inuyasha asked him, desperately trying to find ways to defeat this opponent.
"Inuyasha! How could you ask him to do this? Do you not see that he is-"
"Kagome, it's OK, I can pull it off." He slowly got up and repeated the incantation that he had previously done, and like before he slammed the sword into the ground, but this time creating only one ice streak that ran across the ground.
"Excellent, let's see if I can use the backlash wave with that."
Inuyasha hoisted his sword onto his shoulder and called forth the Bakuryuuha, sending rings of energy through the ice, empowering and speeding the ice, making it stronger by at least tenfold. It quickly raced towards the robot, who was lifting its cuffs out of the ground, trying to produce another blade out of its injured arm.
It was too slow, and the ice beam combined with the Bakuryuuha wiped it off the face of the earth. The once simple dirt path into the village was now a crater-packed barren area, with the vegetation around it dead.
However, Inuyasha and the rest of the group continued into the small village in search of a doctor, and now also for a weapons smith.
Upon entering the small, yet quaint village, Inuyasha, Miroku, Kagome, Sango, Rellik, Shippo, and Kirara were confronted by two guards, clad in full armor.
"What be your business here?" the first guard interrogated.
"We're here to get medical attention for our friend and we also need to see a weapons smith." Inuyasha replied, puzzled by the bewilderment on the guards' faces after his request.
"Don't you know? They closed the inn and the blacksmith's hut a few days ago," said the second.
"Closed? Why?" said Sango, who was supporting Rellik's weight on her shoulder along with Kagome. "And who's 'they'?"
The guards gasped at these questions and continued, "How do you not know? Where have you been?" said the second, starting to sweat.
The first guard looked over his shoulder cautiously and said, "Let me explain to you what has happened to this village.
"About two days ago, we were all engaged in our normal activities here at Malvagità."
"Malvagità?" Rellik cut in, "I think I've heard that from somewhere."
"Most likely because of our famed blacksmith, Asher Malvagità.
"I guess..." Rellik answered, still sure he heard the name somewhere else.
"Anyway," the first guard resumed, "that night, a heat wave came across the town, and it was the strangest thing that had ever occurred here in our simple village. Nobody knew what to do so we all went to sleep. The next morning, this large building was erected." He pointed to a large building that looked like the Central Edifice. It was basically a duplicate. "The Western Edifice, it was called, by two strange men who came in that morning and took over."
"The Western Edifice?!?" Rellik said, for a moment forgetting about his injury, then getting a painful reminder. "The Central Edifice is in my village," he continued calmly, trying not to hurt himself even more.
"Hmm, strange indeed, very strange indeed," said the second guard. "Just a few hours ago we received word from Condonnato that a similar building was constructed."
"Wait, your whole town was taken over my two strange men?" Inuyasha said, making a typical question for him.
"Yes, but these men were amazingly strong. They're probably up there right now watching us for any wrong moves."
"Bastards," Miroku said, "we NEED a doctor."
"Very well, but be aware that these rulers won't let us do anything. You're lucky we've taken a liking to you. Try to put on an act," the first guard said, glancing back and forth at the uppermost window of the Western Edifice, trying to make sure he was safe from the dictators' striking gazes.
He saw no shadows in the window, but said anyway, "Pretend we are taking you prisoner, it will make this much easier."
The act was set and the nine set off towards the doctor's house, swiftly making their way past the prison and into the front door of the doctor's house, being quick enough to avoid being caught.
"What is this?" the doctor yelled nervously, seeing how the two guards burst into his house. "I didn't do anything! I swear! I've been in my house all day!"
"Hey calm down buddy," said Inuyasha, "these guards are not persecuting you guys at their own will, they're being forced to."
"Thank you," the second said, "Doctor, we've just come for your help. We have a wounded man here who needs your attention."
The doctor, now composed, motioned for the patient. Rellik walked over and lie down on a bed under a bright light, laying himself out for the doctor.
"What is the injury?" the doctor inquired, searching Rellik's body. Rellik pointed at the bullet in his chest, wincing after accidentally pressing on the effected area.
"What's this?" the doctor said, studying the bullet in Rellik. "I've never seen anything like this in all of my years! I'm sorry to say I do not know what to do.'
"Doctor, this may be hard for you to grasp at the moment, but just listen."
"Go ahead."
"I am from the future and your patient has what is called a bullet in his body. It is shot out of a spring-coiled 'gun' that shoots this bullet at incredible speeds. It is a very dangerous weapon."
"Well," the doctor said, going along with Kagome although he understood nothing she said, "what am I to do with it?"
"I'm no doctor, but all I can say is to take it out and wrap up the wound."
"Easy enough, I suppose." And with that, the doctor set off to work on Rellik.
"In the meantime, why don't we find that weapons smith, Malvagità?"
The guards and the doctor both seemed to be transfixed for a second, stopping their activities, at the name, as if it were sacred. "Yes...yes, the guards stammered. "About that, um, Malvagità was taken away during our brief resistance against the two men. Nobody knows what happened to him, but most assume he's dead."
For some reason, this news seemed to hit Rellik the hardest. He did not know why he felt so bad about someone whose appearance he didn't even know. "Why didn't you say this before?" Rellik yelled almost making the doctor make an error as Rellik sat up abruptly.
"Calm down sonny, do you want me to make matters even worse for you?"
"I'm sorry, doctor, I didn't know what came over me."
"Well, we were still mourning his recent death before, and plus, his whereabouts never came up in our discussion about him," the first guard said, answering Rellik's question, a bit distraught. "We best get back outside before the dictator expects something is happening. Good luck with your patient, Doctor Malvagità." The guards left the house.
"Doctor Malvagità?" Miroku asked, pondering over the relationship of the doctor and the supposedly deceased weapons smith.
"Yes, he was my father."
"I'm so sorry," said the sympathizing Kagome, despite seeing no emotional change in the doctor's face.
"It's quite alright," said Doctor Malvagità, "I think I'm about over it now."
"Well, on another matter, what are we going to do with my staff?" Miroku said, taking the two pieces from Shippo, and showing them to the doctor.
"I can't do anything with it. I'm sure my father could, but why not try my uncle in Condonnato?"
"I guess it's a plan then. We'll stay the night here and depart for Condonnato tomorrow."
"Let's pray for the best," added Sango, and the seven adventurers got ready for bed, while Rellik was being worked on by the doctor.
Kinto and the private had just finished cleaning the throne room as the telephone rang. He walked over to the phone and picked up the receiver, asking the person's identity.
"Lieutenant Barggis, 3rd Unit, Western Edifice."
"State your business."
"Just recently we had some suspicious characters enter the town, but our guards locked them away according to what they reported to us."
"Interesting," Kinto said, becoming less informal, "What did they look like?"
"There was eight of them, a long silver-haired man dressed in red; a monk with a blue robe and rosary beads on his right hand; two women with long black hair; a ninja; a small fox-demon; and a cat-demon."
"It's them," Kinto said, clutching his fist.
"You know who they are?"
"Yes, Barggis. Exterminate them as soon as possible."
"Yes, sir."
"Thank you, Barggis, you are dismissed."
Kinto waited for the click of the phone on the other side of the line and then hung up himself. "Good," he then said to his private, who looked over to Kinto inquisitively. "We have them right where we want them. Hopefully, this time, they will be gone for good."
"I'm guessing they escaped the Ultima's?"
"Unfortunately, they have both been destroyed, but nonetheless, they will be no match for Barggis and his private."
"Of course." Kinto's private agreed, and the two continued their usual business, as Inuyasha and his friends unexpectedly slept at Doctor Malvagità's house.
