Author's Notes: Wow, a lot of people love this story, although personally "To Protect the One I Love" is my fav, but I still have a long way to go with this one, so who knows? Now…on with my evil Inuyasha saga
Those Left Behind"I won't leave you!" Kagome shouted.
"Looks like your time has run out…" Inuyasha said with an evil smirk. Swinging his legs back, he threw his weight forward and lifted his legs into the air. Wrapping them around the chain above, he eased the weight on his wrists, then released his legs and dropped the weight all at once.
The bonds snapped and the dog demon landed on all fours. For an instant, Kagome saw Inuyasha as Juuroumaru, bent and poised for battle. In a flash, it was gone and Inuyasha launched himself at Kagome, pinning her to the ground by the shoulders.
When she opened her eyes, she saw the black collar that until now had been hidden behind stained silver locks. As the defiled jewels pulsated, so did his blood-thirsty eyes. The moon shaped mark on his forehead had also darkened into an evil black. "I-Inuyasha?" He wasn't in his demon form, because his claws and fangs were still their normal length. But his aura…it was so disturbing – so similar to when he had been forced to transform by Princess Kaguya all those years ago…
Snapping his teeth once in warning, Inuyasha lowered his head to stare straight into Kagome's frightened orbs. "Do you have any idea what this collar does to me? The anger and untapped rage…building within my muscles – making me want to rip apart anything that comes near me. I can't control it and you won't be able to save me from it."
Raising her head to glare in defiance back, Kagome replied, "Can't…won't…these words have never stopped us before, so why should they start now?"
Pressing his nails against her skin, Inuyasha emphasized his point. "I'm telling you now, Kagome. Run away and never look back. I won't be responsible for you getting hurt again when I lose control. Not for a second time."
This caught Kagome by surprise. So, he still blames himself for what Kaguya did. He's never forgiven himself… "And I'm not going anywhere without you."
Roaring in rage, he picked her up and threw her in the direction of the broken doorway. "Leave now or else!"
Struggling
to get to her feet, she shouted with tears in her eyes, "Never!"
Running at her on all fours,
Inuyasha leapt into the air when suddenly his collar sent electricity all over
his body, making him fall to the floor just short of the miko. He convulsed there, writhing in pain and
agony from the black magic.
"Tut, tut, tut. Inuyasha, I thought I warned you about that temper of yours. Break the rules again and I will have no choice but to punish you." Yamatsu stood tall in the broken doorway.
Running to his side, Kagome cried out and clutched onto Inuyasha's shoulders. "Stop it! Can't you see you're killing him!?"
Growling even more savagely, Inuyasha pushed Kagome away and leapt back into the shadows of the dungeon like a rabid animal.
"Inuyasha?" Kagome questioned.
Stepping up behind the miko, Yamatsu spoke, "I'm sorry. I should've warned you about him. He's so unpredictable."
Jumping away from him, Kagome brought forth her bow and arrow and aimed it at Yamatsu's armored chest. "You're the one who made him that way, you monster! Now let us both go now!" She demanded.
Smiling, Yamatsu placed his hands out to the sides. "Come now my queen…"
"Shut up with that you twisted freak! You're even more sick than your father!"
"Do you really think you're purity arrows can harm me? Of have you forgotten about my shield?" A black hued shield surrounded his imposing figure.
Smirking she replied, "You know, Naraku was cocky too, and he's dead." The jewels on the side of her head began to glow and she drew power from them and Kagome's entire form lit up a bright pink. "Someone once told me: 'I was once the protector of the Shikon no Tama. Do you really think I could be controlled by a stupid piece of it?' Let alone a replica!?"
Yamatsu's eyes widened and he was shocked when Kagome released her arrow and it clashed with the dark one's shield, drilling into it, until the shield shattered and ruptured the image of Yamatsu.
A small wooden figurine fell to the ground in two pieces. "Damn, looks like he's more like Naraku than we first thought." Clenching her fist, her bow disappeared.
"Mommy!" Shiori ran down the hall towards Kagome.
Seeing her kids safe and sound besides Shippo gave her more relief than anything, but a feral growl behind her made her stop. "No! Stop! Don't come any closer!"
Halting in the hallway, the children looked at their mother confused.
"Shippo, get them out of here! I'll meet you guys up top as soon as I can!"
Without question, the fox youkai nodded. "Right!" He was glad to have Kagome back, or so it seemed, but whatever compulsed her to say that had to have meaning behind it and he wasn't going to second guess the miko. He turned around with Yuuki, but Shaoran and Shiori were frozen in their places.
"Mom?" The girl asked.
"Where's dad?" Shaoran asked, suspicious.
"Never mind that. Do now while you have the chance!" She locked eyes with her son. "You have to trust me."
The youth's eyes became shiny with tears warning to fall, but he nodded bravely, picked up his sister, and ran away.
"No! Mom! No!" Shiori cried out as Kagome turned her back on her.
Looking towards the glowing red eyes in the surrounding darkness, Kagome tightened her lips in determination. Inuyasha isn't totally lost to the power of the defiled jewels. I may still be able to save him… "Inuyasha…"
With a flash, the eyes came barreling at her until the half naked form of her love jumped into the light, ready to keep his word and tear her apart.
"Osuwari."
SMACK! He landed against the hard stone floor unconscious and thankfully unmoving.
With a sigh, Kagome threw one arm over her shoulders and began to carry him out of the cell. "It's all or nothing from here on out." She paused and looked at his seemingly sleeping face. "For both of us."
Opening his eyes in the darkness of his lair, Yamatsu growled as he was cut off from his puppet. "Damn that woman. She leaves me no choice."
Standing up, he retreated into the back of his chamber where a small shrine was placed. With black-lit candles and rare incense, Yamatsu knelt in homage and prayed to the only god who could win this for him.
A sneering oni statue, painted in black and red, was placed at the top of the shrine. Its red beedy eyes rivaled those of Yamatsu himself. "Oh Great One, it is I: you're faithful servant, who has come to plead for your help. The miko and her hanyou companion must not escape here. Please send me the answer to my prayers."
At first nothing happened, but then the red eyes began to glow and a dark voice spoke, "Yamatsu, son of Naraku, I will send you the item which you so desire and if used well, the miko and the half breed's souls will be yours."
In front of him, a black crystal formed. It looked like a gem the size of his palm, but when Yamatsu wrapped his hands around it, he could almost feel a sort of mystical pull from it. Bowing even lower so his forehead was touching the floor, Yamatsu replied, "I will not failed you."
"You had better not." Then the red eyes dimmed down and the presence disappeared.
Smirking, Yamatsu lifted his head and looked at the glowing crystal in his hand. "This is the end for you, priestess."
Sango kicked out with her leg at the oni before her and ducked behind hiraikotsu to block the counterattack. "Well, we took out as many as we could."
Throwing his last ward paper, Miroku swung his staff and knocked another screaming youkai off the ledge into the pile several floors below. "Yeah, but we've run out of time and energy and the enemies keep coming."
Kirara had her hands full just a level above them swatting the smaller youkai off the balcony with her huge paws.
A big youkai came running around the level, knocking off more youkai without a second thought, ready to pummel the annoying humans.
"Here it comes, Miroku!" Sango braced herself behind her boomerang as the oni kept coming.
Suddenly, a wild rock came and hit him in the side of the head. It stopped his momentum and he looked up curiously.
Both taijiya and monk looked up as well, wondering what could've stopped the tirade, and were happy to see their fox friends and the hanyou children waving back. Shiori loaded another rock and aimed it at the on looking oni. "Leave Auntie Sango alone!" She released the small projectile and it hit the monster in the eye, making him cry out and swing his club wildly. More demons were thrown off balance and fell into the bloodied pit below.
Sensing it was time to scram, Kirara flew down and let Sango and Miroku jump on. Then she went over and loaded up the children.
"What about Kagome and Inuyasha?" Sango asked.
Shippo shook his head sadly and was about to give them Kagome's last message, when a bright pink light blinded the group for a moment. When they looked down, they saw several youkai literally thrown out of one of the passageways into the surrounding walls Kagome herself came out of one of the bottom doorways, carrying a dazed Inuyasha.
"You…should go…Kagome…I'll be fine." Inuyasha muttered. He was too weak to fight, even though the collar filled him with such anger and hatred for everything. His muscles just wouldn't respond.
"No! It's both of us or nothing!" She continued to drag him out.
"Kagome-sama! Inuyasha!" Miroku exclaimed, then gasped when Yamatsu came walking towards the miko and hanyou from the opposite doorway.
"I give you credit for making it this far, Miko, but unlike my illusion: I will not be defeated by the likes of you." He smirked as his general came out from behind him towards Kagome.
Backing up, Kagome looked up and saw the frightened look on her children's faces and shouted to her friends, "What are you waiting for!? Get them out of here!"
Yamatsu looked up and saw the group all on the fire cat and raised a hand, powering up a black magic ki blast. He fired it at the group, but it bounced off a pink hued shield that erected itself just in time. He glanced over at Kagome and saw her concentrated look. "So, you've learned to project a shield around others too? So many secrets you keep from me, my queen."
His general rushed in towards the miko and rammed into her with his chest armor, throwing her back and making her drop Inuyasha's weakened form.
"Mom!" Shaoran exclaimed, ready to leap off of Kirara and save his mother.
Miroku grabbed a hold of his collar and shook his head. "We make it out alive today, we can come back and try to save them again. Right now we have no choice."
"NO! I won't leave her here!" Shaoran struggled, but Kirara flew up higher and higher until his parents were just a speck in the bottomless darkness. "Mother…"
Moaning, Kagome opened her eyes just as Yamatsu approached and loomed over her. Off to the side, she could see Inuyasha's now unconscious body over the shoulder of Yamatsu's general.
"You may have bought them time, but in exchange you have sealed your own fate." The evil lord brought her attention back to him.
Glaring at him, Kagome replied, "So be it."
Softly crying in his arms, Shiori whimpered into a fitful sleep, leaving Shaoran to finally let out the tears he had been holding in for so long. Without their parents, he had to be strong, for Shiori's sake. But even so, he couldn't believe he just left them there.
Even Sango and Miroku were quiet in sadness. "There should've been more we could've done. We failed them." Sango said.
"Only this time. We will not give up until Yamatsu is destroyed and we have our friends back." Miroku said with determination.
"I will be the one to destroy him."
Stopping in their tracks, everyone turned to Shaoran. "What are you talking about? There's no way you're going back there!" Shippo exclaimed.
"Yamatsu will capture you for sure!" Yuuki agreed.
"I don't care anymore! After what that bastard has done to my family, he deserves to die!" He shouted back, stirring Shiori from her sleep.
"Niichan?" She said sleepily. "Don't you leave me too."
Shaoran was about to say something, but he words wouldn't come out when he looked into her sad blue eyes. "Shiori…"
"So its true then."
Gasping, everyone looked up and saw a tall handsome man with long white hair and a creasing moon like Inuyasha's on his forehead.
"W-who are you!?" Shaoran demanded, tightening his hold on his twin.
"Sesshoumaru!?" Miroku exclaimed.
"What are you doing here!?" Sango followed up with.
Sesshoumaru, though, narrowed his eyes and said nothing. What had transpired today was the beginning of a dangerous path that now included him as well as his brother. And although he knew how it would end, he would still fight to change the future that had been so rudely bestowed upon him. Naraku may have fallen to Inuyasha's blade, but his son would fall to Sesshoumaru, the dog demon would make sure of it.
Author's Notes: I've finally had my vision for a good chunk of this series and it promises to rival its predecessor. So, sit back and watch this action/suspense/romance/comedy really take off! Oh, and Dust'in, sorry I don't watch Samurai Deeper Kyo, so I can't do a crossover, but thanks for the suggestion anyway!