Well, a combination of exams, another story, and sheer laziness seems to have delayed me... oh well...
This fiction should have 2 chapters left, including this one, and perhaps an appendix.
K-chan9: No problem. And good luck at GHP!
Kodocha08: Thanks, and keep reading!
Vegima: Indeed, Miroku's grandfather was killed by Naraku in chapter 21.
Perhaps I should have emphasized it a bit more... #cringes#
Shakujou: Really now? I keep forgetting to drop by there from time to time lately...
Expo Pride Bches: Yes, I would agree- this website needs a few more original plotlines and settings... anymore "pirate" or "high school situation where Kagome is super-perfect" stories and I just might start ripping out my hair... :P
Inucrazy: Thanks!
Sangonesan: Updating!
Fred the Mutant Pickle: This is extremely belated, but...
Happy Birthday Fred! #Streamers fly all over the place#
Cookies-will-invade: Oh yes, that killer rabbit...
The Monty Python folk are geniuses.
SangoSlayer23: Thanks very much! And my fluff isn't that great.../
Now, on to the story!
"" Speech
'' Thoughts
-- Asterisks
After much prying and straining with various weapons and appendages, the great door was finally forced open with a staccato creak.
It was a good 3 feet thick, and like the rest of the hall it was obsidian black with intricate patterns weaved into the stone with either a chisel or a divine hand.
But beyond the great hall was another facility, slightly smaller than the first. Six different color lights shined on the walls and the door, illuminating it with an aura of old and great power.
The Core Chamber, the very heart of the current reality.
Each sphere was roughly thirty feet in diameter and suspended ten feet off of the floor by a beam of light. The light's color corresponded to that of the sphere that it contained. The spheres themselves were like large gems, with thousands upon thousands of facets gleaming like stars, perpetually twinkling and winking. They were arranged in a circular pattern around what appeared to be a pillar of black energy, roaring up into a sightless void somewhere up in the ceiling.
The group cautiously crept forward, staring in awe at the great spheres of energy that powered the very rock they were standing on, the very air they breathed.
"So this is the Core..." mused Miroku.
"Indeed it is, young monk," spoke a smooth voice from the black pillar.
Naraku was levitating with his arms stretched out, while beams of light from six spheres were leeching energy into the black pillar. Every second, the only sphere not being siphoned glowed a darker and darker purple.
The evil coagulation said, "So, you have managed to defeat the guardians and finally catch up me...I must say, Inuyasha, I am quite impressed how you and your worthless friends managed to wield their equally useless powers so...effectively."
Inuyasha merely growled and whipped out Tessaiga. The blade transformed as usual into its six-foot long form, the collage of lights shimmering off of its blade.
"But it is too late," continued Naraku. "I have already converted most of the energies of this world into that of darkness." He nodded pointedly towards the Shadow sphere, which was at least twice the size that of the other six globes.
The dark orb hummed with energy, a sinister aura about it.
"Within a few more hours, I will have drained enough power from the six other spheres to render your own powers helpless," Naraku mocked. "Not that they were that powerful in the first place..."
"What should we do?" whispered Kagome. She could not figure out what t do at this point.
Inuyasha's answer was brief and to the point: "Hi no Kizu!"
#FWOOOSH#
A flash of roaring flame splashed against Naraku and enveloped the hanyou in fire and smoke.
"He he he...not so tough are you now, eh punk?" gloated Inuyasha. He rested Tessaiga on his shoulder and let his guard down. "Nothing to it-"
He never got to finish the sentence as Naraku burst out of the smoke and summoned a large fist made of dark stone, which smashed into Inuyasha and sent him hurtling backwards.
"N-Nani?" coughed out Inuyasha. 'Too fast...'
"Always the first to attack...that could get you killed one day, Inuyasha." Naraku chuckled darkly. "Now be a good puppy and die." He raised an arm charged with flame, the sparks and embers dancing fitfully as if desiring to burn away the dog demon into cinders.
"Leave him alone! Ice Arrow!" shouted Kagome. #Twing#
Naraku casually looked behind and raised a hand. "Oh, it's you, the miko. I should kill you next." The Ice Arrow stopped in mid air, turned around, and then sped towards its shooter.
"Eek!" Kagome dived to the floor as her own arrow exploded above her. She winced when the ice shards, sharp as glass, made razor cuts and nicks on her ivory skin.
"Kagome!"
"Kagome-chan!"
"Nnngh! I'm okay, everyone!" she shouted. She watched as Sango and Miroku tried to attack Naraku from the front and rear while Shippo and Miroshin attempted to flank him.
"Fools," mutterd the half-demon. A clench of a fist sent out a shock wave of ice in a ring of cold destruction, sending Shippo and Sango flying backwards. Father and son, however, blocked and pressed their attack.
"Wind Spear!"
"Twisting Whirlwind!"
#Whooooosh# A small tornado fortified by a wind spear rushed towards Naraku, carving up the ground which it tread on.
"Not enough." The demon simply teleported through the coming destruction and enveloped both monks in a dark embrace where they slowly choked to death.
"Ahou. Do you not realize that I am Darkness? And that the worlds were created from the shadows, and as such will end in it?" The monks gave no reply as they squirmed and struggled in the dark grip.
"M-Miroku! Miroshin! Flame Bre-gaah!" Naraku threw his two captives into the charging dog-demon, sending them tumbling head over heels.
The entire party lay strewn about like a bunch of rag dolls, all of them worn out after only a few moments of fighting.
Inuyasha managed to get himself up using Tessaiga as a crutch and glared murderously at his opponent. 'Kuso, how is he that strong? He can do anything we do, but better!' He would not admit it, but he could feel the fingers of despair beginning to creep into his heart and mind. Inuyasha tried to think of a way out of this, but he try as he might, he could not.
'This...this is really bad...' He glanced to his right and saw Kagome nursing a gash on her right arm and panicked. If she could no longer draw her bow, she would be utterly defenseless.
"So..." spoke Naraku. "This is the pitiful group that challenged me back on Japan? And to think that I was almost destroyed by you!" He let out a vine tentacle and whipped Kagome in the face, sending her flying backwards. The same appendages lifted her up by the hands and held her aloft, almost like a crucifix.
"And this little miko was the one who caused all of my problems," continued Naraku, his voice hinting anger. A fist of stone flew into Kagome's stomach and forced air out through her lungs. She wheezed and tried to curl up, but more vines secured her legs so that she could not. Naraku raised his hand to unleash another stone punch-
"Yamero, Naraku!" screamed Inuyasha. The youkai conglomeration merely smirked and punched Kagome again, this time across the face so that some blood sprayed on the ground.
'I...I have to stop him...' thought dazedly. He shook his head and wondered why his mind was feeling so fuzzy.
Naraku literally blew away Shippo when he tried to attack him, and concussed Kirara and Sango with a trunk of wood that seemed to have come from nowhere.
'Am I transforming?' Inuyasha could not discern why he would transform at this time, especially when he had Tessaiga with him.
'I'm seeing red...'
#Whap# Miroku flew across the room with a broken jaw.
'All I can feel is anger...'
#Smash# Hiraikotsu flew in a million pieces all over the battlefield.
'But...this isn't transforming...' He suddenly noticed that he was inches away from the weakening sphere of Fire.
'Nani? What's going on-'
#Whoosh#
Inuyasha opened is eyes and saw a huge, flat, volcanic wasteland surrounding him as far as the eye could see. Here and there small eruptions took place, spewing a red substance into the air- after a quick sniff, Inuyasha determined that it was blood.
Suddenly, a deep, baritone voice boomed, "We welcome you, hanyou, to the Spirit Realm of Fire."
Inuyasha gasped and turned around- before him stood several ethereal beings made completely of fire. A blue one to the left continued, "We, along with the other Spirits, have watched you and your comrades fight this abomination who would drain us of our power and upset the delicate balance of the Spheres." They were looking slightly worn, noticed Inuyasha.
"However, we realize that at your current state, you will surely lose to this monstrosity, this Naraku." As one, all of the Spirits raised their arms, and a white fire bathed Inuyasha in light and power. "Therefore, we will assist you by granting you the power of the Inferno- may your inner fire burn eternally..." Inuyasha saw a flare of bright light, and felt something coursing through it; something warm, something flickering yet strong...
Fire.
Inuyasha clenched his fist and let himself feel the new elemental power flowing through him. After a moment, he looked up and around and asked, "So what exactly is this place?"
A blue flame answered, "This is one of the seven Spirit Realms, each connected to the world you were on by the seven spheres. The Spirit Realm is the origin of the elemental powers that fuel Amalgam and keep it whole throughout the ages."
"Amalgam?" asked Inuyasha, perplexed. After a moment of thinking, he answered his own question. "Oh, the world I was just in..."
"There are other Spirit Realms that await your friends," continued a red flame on the right. "Be sure to tell them to touch their corresponding sphere to gain this new power. We must warn you that you will taste death should your compatriots refuse to touch the spheres..."
And in a flash of blinding light Inuyasha felt himself go back to...
#Back in the Core#
Inuyasha gasped as his mind flew back into his body, which he felt much warmer than usual. He looked and saw pieces of Hiraikotsu still flying through the air (and a distressed and injured Sango as well). 'Huh...not a lot of time passed while I was gone, eh?' thought Inuyasha. He gripped Tessaiga once more, feeling the power coursing through him.
"Let's dance."
#Fwoosh# In a flash of fire Inuyasha sped towards Naraku, surprising both himself and his enemy with his blurring speed. Swords met and sparks flew as Naraku instantaneously summoned a stone blade of his own and parried.
"Kisama...where did you get this power?" demanded Naraku.
"Screw you!" taunted Inuyasha. His eyes flared up and blasted Naraku with beams of heat from his optics, causing the surprised monster to stumble backwards. Inuyasha summoned a flaming version of Tessaiga and pressed the attack.
He dodged a horizontal blow and spun while crouching, both blades singing for Naraku's midsection. When both blades were blocked, Inuyasha spun again, this time towards his left, using his left blade to keep Naraku's sword at bay and his right to take his opponent's head off. Naraku ducked under the blow and slashed upwards, which Inuyasha sidestepped and began twirling both blades in a flurry of destruction that Naraku struggled to parry against. Inuyasha stabbed once more and Naraku leaned sideways to avoid it, who then followed it up with a backwards leap to give himself some breathing room.
"Had enough already Naraku?" taunted Inuyasha again.
Naraku responded, "Not quite. Rather, this is where it begins to get interesting."
Naraku let out a shout and clenched his entire body, causing sparks of black lightning to dance over his skin. All present could feel the energy and dark power emanating from the coagulation of demons.
"You're right Naraku. This IS the part where it gets interesting." Inuyasha let out a fierce howl which drastically deepened and became more feral as fire sprung from every pore of his body and immolated him. His figure hunched over until his arms, now forepaws, touched the ground. His entire body began to grow, and stopped only when he reached the shoulder height of fifteen feet.
"Impressive, Inuyasha," hissed Naraku. Both combatants roared and flew into each other, slashing and biting and clawing until they were a blur of fire and shadow.
The rest looked upon the chaos and could only stare in wonder and awe.
"Oi! Everyone!" shouted Inuyasha from the two-way brawl. "Touch the sphere that goes with your elemental power! Hayaku!"
They all gave a quick nod and followed Inuyasha's orders.
"Do you, rgh, do really think, Inuyasha," grit out Naraku, " that your friends can turn the tide of this battle?"
"Stuff it!" Inuyasha opened his mouth and barbequed Naraku's face. His enemy retaliated with a cloud of poison. Hacking and coughing, Inuyasha struggled to breath and began to loose the battle.
"Now Inuyasha, prepare to DIE- huh?" A hand clapped Naraku on the shoulder roughly.
"Let him go."
"What!"
Sango hurled Naraku bodily into the pillar and then into the floor. She then morphed her boomerang, which she had swiftly fixed with her powers earlier, into a ten-foot long piece of granite, which she used to hammer Naraku further into the ground. After a few beatings, the demon teleported to safety, where he was met with a six-foot long spear of ice that impaled him through the arm.
"You're finished Naraku!" shouted Kagome as she nocked another arrow onto her bow.
"Not quite yet-oof!" A gale, no, two gales, of wind blew Naraku off of his feet. A boulder, courtesy of Sango, pinned him down for good.
A silence...
Inuyasha gazed in wonder at his friends' newfound powers (and their current butt-kicking of Naraku) and grinned. Reverting back into hanyou form, he picked up Tessaiga, picked up another one, and charged back into the fray.
"Show time-" #Trip# "Oof!"
Making sure that no one just saw what happened, he scurried off to fight Naraku once more.
Almost finished with the story :D