Deadly Games
Chapter 3
Smiles at Rumiko Takahashi I do not own any of the Inuyasha characters. They were created by the wondrous Rumiko Takahashi-sama. Cowers away from threatening lawyers I also do not own any aspects similar to any of the Mario Party games that may be used in this fanfic.
Miroku, Kagome, Sango, and even Inuyasha held their breath as Miroku dropped back to the ground with the die in his hand. He breathed a sigh of relief and turned to the others. "Five." As soon as the word left his lips, the die dissolved into the air. He looked ahead of him and saw two blue spaces, a red space, another blue space, and the space he would land on… a space with a bomb with a chibi looking face on it. Miroku gulped. 'Whatever that space does, it can't be anything good.'
He took a deep breath, and suddenly he was walking forward. He couldn't control his body pr make himself stop as he slowly approached the bomb space. He noticed the spaces flashed purple very briefly as he stepped on them, but they quickly faded back to their original color. He landed on the bomb space and inhaled deeply as the ground began to shake.
Miroku covered himself with his arms as the space exploded around him. "Houshi!" Sango cried out. She began to rush towards him, but an invisible barrier sprang up and didn't allow her to leave the starting platform. "Houshi!" She shouted his name again and again and banged on the barrier as the smoke cleared. She heaved a sigh of relief when she could begin to see the outlines of his figure. "What was that all about, Sango-chan?" Kagome inquired, her hands on her hips, one eyebrow quirked.
Sango laughed nervously. "Heh heh… nothing! Nothing at all!" The smoke finally cleared, and Miroku stood on the space unharmed, but floating before him was Shippo. Only… this Shippo was different. This Shippo's fang protruded from his mouth, his hair and tail were raven colored, his eyes were blood red, and his outfit was very different. The navy blue pants were now black; so was the shirt. The leaves on the shirt were now shaped like lightning bolts, and they were dark red. The furry vest was now also dark red.
This new Shippo thrust his fist in the air and shouted, "It's Battle Mini-game time! Let's see how many coins will be on the line for this mini-game!" The new Shippo's voice lowered gradually as he continued to talk and he noticed the blank looks he was receiving from the players. Especially Miroku who didn't appreciate the new Shippo making him think he was going to blow up. The new Shippo's red eyes glazed over for a moment, a white light flashed across them briefly, and then they returned to normal. The new Shippo narrowed his eyes. "You bums don't have any coins, do you?" The four all looked down slightly embarrassed.
The new Shippo groaned. "Well, I'm Battle Shippo. Here, you could use these!" As Battle Shippo said the last statement, he thrust his hand out, sending five coins each into Inuyasha, Miroku, Kagome, and Sango. Battle Shippo glared at all them as they stood baffled. "Come back when you have enough coins to play, DORKS!" With that, Battle Shippo stuck his tongue out at them and disappeared in a quick flare of black fire.
Once the last glow from Battle Shippo's fire dissipated, a spinning die appeared above Sango's head. Sango inhaled deeply, then jumped up to catch her die. She landed softly, and released her die as she spoke, "Seven." She began to walk forward before the die even began to disappear. Sango was eager to get the game over with. Unlike Miroku, as Sango passed over each space, they would flash pink. When Sango approached the space where Miroku stood frozen, her natural competitive nature began to surface. She cockily rested her arms behind her head and said sarcastically, "Looks like I'm get to go further than you, doesn't it Houshi?"
Miroku shrugged and rolled his eyes. "I guess so." Sango shivered as she passed Miroku and felt his hand brush against her backside. She turned around to slap him, but her body was suddenly forced forward. As she stopped on the sixth space, she shouted, "That's not fair!" Now it was Miroku's turn to act cocky. "Oh well, that's life. Sometimes you're ahead, and sometimes you're behind." Sango tilted her head to the left and replied coldly, her eyes narrowed dangerously, "Well currently, I'm ahead Houshi, and know what else? Once Inuyasha finishes his turn, we're going to play a mini-game. I'll get you then." Miroku let out a little 'eep' as Sango turned to face the small building she found herself standing in front of. Throughout this whole exchange, Kagome was laughing so much her sides ached, and Inuyasha simply put his famous 'keh' into use when it was all over.
A small, translucent, flat, and golden rectangle appeared before Sango. Bright red letters in beautiful calligraphy read, 'Enter Item Shop?' The second line read, 'Yes' and finally written on the last line was, 'No'. Sango pondered this for a moment. She only had five coins, but it didn't hurt to check. "We don't have all day, y'know!" Kagome yanked on Inuyasha's new dog ear and said, "Sango-chan was reaching for it, Inuyasha! Be patient! And you're wrong, we do have all day. We may have all eternity for all you're aware of!" Inuyasha keh'ed and looking the direction opposite of Kagome, he folded his arms into his big kimono sleeves.
Sango lightly tapped the second line. The whole front of the building swung open, and Sango found herself staring at yet another Shippo sitting at a desk. This Shippo was also different from the first two Shippos. The Shippo in the store wore a lavender shirt and pants of the same color, a pale blue furry vest, and pale blue closed flower buds replaced the leaves and the lightning bolts on the first two Shippos. The newest Shippo's eyes were blue grey, and its hair and tail were white with a pearly pink tint to them. Also, the shopkeeper Shippo looked almost female! When Sango looked closer, she found this Shippo was female!
The Shippo spoke hesitantly, and her voice was timid and soft. "Eh… good day Sango-sama. Would you like to buy anything?" Sango nodded, and a small smile appeared on the girl Shippo. "What would you like?" A golden rectangle like the one outside the shop appeared in front of Sango. Except this rectangle was much wider and much longer.
Sango's eyes scrolled down the list. She spotted an item that was second to last on the list that cost three coins. Sango pointed to it. "What does this item do?" The girl Shippo reached forward, and her hands phased through the rectangle. She pulled the item out, and the boomerang Sango had pointed to suddenly become much larger. It was so big; the Shippo had to quickly drop it onto the desk. She stood on her chair to be seen over the boomerang and said, "This is Hiraikotsou. As you can see, it is an extremely large boomerang. It can help defeat enemies and rival players in mini-games, and if you power it up with a Fool's Shikon Shard and throw it at a rival player outside of a mini-game, you can steal coins from that player."
Sango grinned. "I'll take it." The Shippo duplicate nodded and three coins dropped out of Sango and into a small box on the female Shippo's desk. The Shippo closed the box and Hiraikotsou levitated from the desk and thrust itself into Sango. The girl Shippo waved. "Thank you very much Sango-sama. Please come again. Oh… by the way, my name is… it's… well, I'm Shopkeeper Shippo. Goodbye!" Shopkeeper Shippo seemed very flustered as the shop front flew shut.
"Uh… thanks." Sango said quietly confused by Shopkeeper Shippo's sudden shyness towards her. Sango looked to Kagome, and the two girls shrugged to each other.
"Well, guess it's my turn." Kagome said perkily as the next die appeared above her. She jumped up to grab the die, but fell just short. Kagome pouted and Inuyasha stepped forward. Inuyasha pushed Kagome aside lightly and cracked his knuckles. "Let me do it weakling."
"Hey!" Kagome shouted. Inuyasha jumped for the die, but a barrier thrust him back to the ground with a bang. Inuyasha rubbed the sore spot on his back where he landed. "What the heck!" He shouted to no one in particular.
The original Shippo appeared floating before them. He shook his head. "Sorry, can't do that." Inuyasha growled. "What are you saying, punk! Do you mean to say we can't even help each other!" Shippo nodded. "But we're friends!" Kagome pleaded with a close to tears expression on her face. Shippo shrugged. "Sorry, that's not my place to pass judgment. It's all in the rules." As Shippo faded away, he added as an afterthought, a sad expression suddenly going over his face. "Trust me, if I could help you all make it out, I would."
"Shippo…" Kagome whispered to herself once Shippo was completely gone.
Kagome turned to Inuyasha and helped him up. He brushed himself off and said, jabbing his thumb at the still spinning die. "You heard the kid. You gotta do it yourself. Sorry Kagome." Kagome shook her head. "No, it's alright. I'll just try again." Kagome sprang up for the die, this time returning to the ground with it cradled in the crook of her arm. "Got it!" She exclaimed proudly.
Her happy expression faded into disappointment. "Ah great. Two." Kagome groaned and allowed the game's magic to drag her to thesecond space. The one space Kagome dragged her feet across flashed a rich green color. As Kagome's body froze on the second space, three coins shot up from it and flew into Kagome. A green light exploded from the space, and swirled around Kagome, then gathered above her. The light formed itself to read, '1st Place!' As swiftly as they came, the shining letters dissolved and fell on the space around Kagome's feet allowing the space to absorb them.
Kagome smiled brightly. "Hey, two spaces isn't all that bad!" Kagome then positioned her fingers into a peace sign.
Inuyasha growled under his breath and jumped for his die with a determined look on his face. Inuyasha released the die without speaking the number, and a dismayed expression settled into his features as he saw the space he would land on.
The game pulled him three spaces ahead of the starting platform, despite the fact he dug his heels into the ground. The spaces he passed over flashed a dark red. Kagome laughed maniacally as the red space he landed on glowed and three coins were sucked from Inuyasha. "Better luck next time, Inu-chan!" Kagome shouted victoriously. Inuyasha glared at her. "Shut up! I will beat you! I swear it!" Kagome laughed again.
Inuyasha and Kagome may be the best of friends, but once they start fighting, their friendship is very hard to fix.
Kagome's laugh was abruptly interrupted as the four were lifted into the air and Kagome screeched loudly. Sango looked around in annoyance. "Why are we up here? What's going on!" As if to answer her question a golden rectangle much like the one at the shop appeared in the center of the four. Sprawled out on the top of the rectangle was yet another Shippo.
Inuyasha moaned. "When will this constant appearance of the twerps end!" The new Shippo giggled and replied in an annoyingly scratchy and high pitched tone. "Never! Cause me and da oder Shippo dudes run dis joint! Now les jus pick the mini-game yall will play!" The newest addition of the Shippo clones had blonde hair with bright red streaks running all through it. His tail was the same. The Shippo's ensemble was yellow and orange.
The fourth Shippo rolled over onto his stomach and pointed down to the rectangle. A white lightning bolt shot from his hand, and suddenly a red bar began to run swiftly over many lines of question marks displayed on the rectangle. The Shippo zapped the box again and the red bar slowed, then finally stopped on a line somewhere in the middle. The line read 'The Big Bang'. The new Shippo shook his head. "Ooo. Dat's a toughie, dat one is. Basically, dere are five pumps and one real big bomb. Yall will take turns pushin da pumps, hopin your pump won't set off the bomb. Miroku crossed his arms. "Now that's not really fair. How do we know which ones won't set off the bomb?"
The Shippo clone shrugged. "Ah, luck. Also, da ones dat aren't connected ta da bomb will give off a weaker, uh… wull da feelin will be differnt when you get real close ta it. An if you do accidentally push da pump dat sets of da bomb, wull, you're pretty much outdo luck den. Da Big Man or that Naraku dude said it takes a lotta good spiritual powers ta win dis one. So good luck to yall! Oh yeah, my name is Mini-Game Shippo! See yall!"
With that, Mini-Game Shippo disappeared, and the four players were sucked into the sky. A bright light engulfed them, and the next thing they knew, they were in a damp and dimly lit stone room. In front of them was a large platform with six different colored pumps, and sitting behind them was, like Mini-Game Shippo said,one real big bomb.
Kagome realized there was no one standing in front of her, and she inhaled sharply. Kagome bit her lip and hesitantly began to walk up the short staircase onto the platform. Inuyasha called out to Kagome, "Kagome, don't!" Kagome shook her head. "I have to. There's no other way. But don't worry, I have strong spiritual powers and Mini-Game Shippo said they would come in handy for this mini-game."
Kagome took a deep breath, and then stepped up to the pumps. She carefully ran her hand over the pumps. Her hand stopped over the pink one. The others assumed Kagome sensed something in that pump that was different from the others. She placed both hands on top of the handle and slowly wrapped her fingers around it. She pushed it down in a rush, wanting to get it over with. She turned to the bomb, and to her relief only some steam blew out from under the bomb fuse.
Kagome ran down the stairs on the other side, and took her place at the end of the line, inhaling and exhaling deeply. She had been really scared. Next up was Miroku. He climbed up the stairs and stood determined in front of the pumps. He refused to die there. Like Kagome, it was easy for him to sense which ones were safe because of his spiritual powers he possessed. All of his ancestors were monks after all. Using one hand, he pushed down the handle of the blue pump. Like before, the bomb exhausted steam and nothing more. He descended the stairs and stood behind the others, his breathing coming out normally. He wouldn't let the others know, but is heart was beating so fast, he thought it was possible it would beat its way right out of his chest. In truth, he was scared beyond belief!
Inuyasha was next in line. He walked up the stairs, his back stiff.He approached the pumps, andhis posture faltered a bit as he remembered he had no spiritual powers whatsoever. But he grinned as he ran his hands across the cold metal handles, and he was actually able to tell a difference in them. Inuyasha stopped and pushed the white handle down with much force. As the white steam puffed out of the bomb, Inuyasha proudly sauntered down the steps on the other side, a cocky grin on his lips. He was grateful for the half demon blood he was gifted with for the game. It helped him out a bit.
Sango gulped as Inuyasha stood at the end of the line. It was her turn. She sloppily walked up the stairs and stood before the two remaining pumps. The green one and the orange one. Sango began to sweat profusely when she realized she couldn't tell the difference between the two! She had no spiritual powers whatsoever! In both the human world and the Feudal Fairy Tale world, she was just an average human. That was a disadvantage in the long run.
She closed her eyes and hoped she would pick the right pump. She rested her hand on the orange pump, and smiled down at her friends, afraid it might be her last time to. She coiled her fingers under it and pushed it down. She turned to the bomb, only to realize her fears were true. A white screen had appeared in the center of the bomb, and red numbers inside it were ticking down from ten to zero.
Sango covered her mouth with her hands and bulging tears slid swiftly down her cheeks. Her instinct was to run away, but her body was frozen to the spot. 'Oh god! I'm going to die!' "SANGO!" Miroku shouted. He ran towards the platform, but an electric barrier quickly blocked his way. "SANGO!" He shouted as he dug his fingers into the barrier.
His breath became shallow as he ripped away at the barrier and electric bolts ran through his arms, causing him much pain. He cried out as the electricity tore gashes in his arms. "No Miroku! Stop!" Sango screamed, the tears falling faster. As the clock ticked down to four, Miroku ripped the barrier down the middle, and scrambled onto the platform.
He ripped Sango from the spot she was frozen to and jumped off the platform, rolling onto the ground, shielding Sango with his own body. Inuyasha shoved Kagome to the ground and held her tightly as the bomb exploded.
Sango wiped away the last few tears as the smoke from the bomb cleared, and Miroku pushed himself up. "Hey." Was all he said. Sango gripped Miroku's arms. "Oh my god, Miroku, you idiot! Don't ever do that again! You could've died!" Miroku shrugged. "It was my life or yours." Sango gaped at him, and then threw herself back into his arms, sobbing into his chest. He ran his hands through her hair tenderly as she cried, "Miroku! I was so scared!"
Inuyasha and Kagome sat up from the ground as well and smiled at each other. Kagome blushed and dusted herself off. "Why… why did you protect me?" Inuyasha shrugged. "Because you can't take care of yourself." He stopped abruptly at the hurt in Kagome's eyes. "And because you're my best friend." He added, making Kagome smile.
The four were lifted from the ground and back into the sky. The drifted slowly back to their respective spaces on the playing board. Miroku gave Sango the thumbs up and she smiled, a blush tinting her cheeks as she wiped at her eyes.
Kagura's face once again appeared in the sky. She grinned and there was an evil glint in her piercing red eyes. "Very well done. You managed to survive your first turn in Feudal Fairy Tale. But don't go getting a big head over it. The game will keep getting harder. Good luck. You'll need it." Her face dissolved from the sky, and the players were stood gaping at the sky where Kagura's face had once been.
At once, the same thought ran through all four of the teenager's heads. 'HARDER?'