NOCTURNE
Chapter X (10): Enter Inyu
The double doors literally bust down by Akira's fueled fists. There, floating in the air high above the ground is Bowser, totally beat up and bleeding badly from his mouth and nose. There are several large gashes on his arms and stomach. His shell remains unscratched. Underneath Bowser, standing on the ground, is a white haired man with fox ears and a fox tail. The man is wearing large baggy pants and a long, red shirt that cloaks his body. The man is not facing Akira, so Akira cannot see his face. Furious, Akira yells at the man.
"HEY, YOU! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"
The man turns around slowly, revealing beaming red eyes. His face is covered in pitch-black shadow and it's impossible to see his entire face clearly. The only visible features are his gleaming white teeth and devilish crimson eyes that stare at Akira in excitement.
"So, Akira, we meet at last."
"WHO ARE YOU?"
"I… am your DOOM."
"MY doom? How are you going to be MY DOOM?"
"Because I just am. My name is Inyu, and I take on the form of one of my favorite rivals."
"Oh? I wonder who that could be."
"You wouldn't know, wouldn't you?"
"Of course I do! I've traveled this world over, and met many different people, places, and things. The form you're in now is that of Inuyasha, is it not?"
"Correct. You really have trekked this Earth from head to foot."
"What the hell are you doing to my friend?"
"Oh, you mean him?"
Inyu points one of his fingers to Bowser above him, who moans in pain.
"Yes, HIM. Put him down immediately, or else I'll have to take matters into my own hands."
"Fine then. I don't want to pick a fight at the moment, so I'll do as you say."
Inyu thrusts his finger downward, sending Bowser through the concrete floor and sending up large amounts of dust and debris. When the smoke clears, Inyu is gone and Akira is raging mad. His emerald-green eyes seem to glow. The sword on his back also pulses in power, shining a dark scarlet color. Many of the turtles in the room go to the large hole in the ship, running to Bowser's aid.
"Damn him… DAMN HIM… I will get him when we meet again…"
Akira rushes towards the hole and jumps in. The airship, now being controlled by the turtle who asked Akira for help in the first place, is making an emergency landing in a place known as the Mushroom World to ask a certain someone for help…
About four hours pass since the incident on the airship, and Bowser is being kept in a small hospital several miles away from the capital of Mushroom World known as the Mushroom Kingdom, ruled by a young princess named Peach. Bowser is slowly recovering, but he has been in a state of unconsciousness since he was flung into the airship's layers of decks. Akira has been checking on him from time to time, making sure his buddy makes it. Dark stays at the Mushroom Kingdom when Akira goes off to see Bowser and plays around with the people of Mushroom Kingdom called Mushroom Retainers, or "Toads." The Toads wear mushroom-like hats (no one knows whether or not they're actually mushrooms on their heads) and they are very small in size, about half the size of a normal human being. The dots on their mushroom heads vary in color, as do their shirts that they well. Other than that, they all look the same (except for their ages).
Several hours after the airship took the emergency landing, Akira's small ship was found at sea by a local fisher legend nicknamed "Floatoad" because he's hardly ever seen on land and is always out at sea fishing for whatever he can find. Lately, Floatoad has been waiting for the ultimate prize: To capture a behemoth fish called a Gulper. Gulpers are a red color and haven't been seen long enough to tell their full description. They love to eat anything, and they're also highly intelligent, so hardly any have ever been caught by anyone in the kingdom.
Right now, Akira is residing in a large, beautifully decorated room in the Mushroom Kingdom's castle known as Princess Peach's Castle. As he awaits eagerly for news of Bowser's condition, there is a knock on his door. He gets up off the large feathery bed he was sitting on and opens the door. At the doorway is a small mushroom retainer with an envelope. Akira thanks the small retainer who gleefully runs off. Akira opens the envelope and pulls out a small, neatly written letter. It says:
To whomever it may concern,
Bowser's condition has improved drastically. There is no longer any need for alarm. We hope that we have not worried you in any way.
Sincerely,
The Medical's Manager
Akira cannot make out the name of the person (for it was written a bit too neatly under "The Medical's Manager"). He crumples up the paper and goes over to his bed. He drops on the bed, sighing to himself.
'I wonder who that man was… Inyu…'
As Akira's eyes start to close, he can hear the distinct sound of maniacal laughter in the distance. 'This battle isn't over just yet…' Akira says to himself. Slowly, but surely, Akira drifts into sleep and the night presses on as the storm overhead continues to rumble.
NOCTURNE
"Knowledge is power." –Francis Bacon
Every ten chapters, I take a break for a month (or less), so expect Chapter 11 to come sometime next month (in June). See you then...
