Chapter 6: Inaryu vs. Ikuyo
"Fight!" declared Midori as the crowd began to roar.
Ikuyo opened the back of the stuufed dragon she carried and inserted what appeared to be a sphere of her black-purple aura. She then set the dragon on the ground. The stuffed dragon began to grow immediately. It grew until it was a living, breathing, dragon that one would never have thought had once been stuffed.
"Hiding behind your toys, I see." Inaryu jeered.
"Ichiro isn't a toy! He's my best friend! Get him, Ichi!" Ikuyo stamped.
The dragon began to stamp rabidly at Inaryu. Inaryu jumped just out of the way of each of these assassination attempts. He drew his scimitar and sprang forward towards the dragon's enormous clawed foot. He landed gracefully right above the leftmost claw. In a motion that was hardly visible, let alone slow enough for the eye to capture, he sliced off the entire toe. This sent the dragon into an even more berserk state of rage. Inaryu had anticipated this, and he jumped off of the dragon's foot, landing several feet away.
On the sidelines, Kakome was sick at her stomach. She knew that the next few minutes would be the only deciding factor of Arne's future. She needed to keep her guard up in order to win her fight. That was Arne's biggest mistake, she thought (well… other than getting sucked into a preteen demon's mirror) he was entirely too cocky. As long as she fought her hardest, and didn't underestimate her opponent, she could win and save Arne.
"Is it just me, or has the temperature gone up by like a million?" Takaan asked, interrupting Kakome's train of thought. Inaryu had noticed this, as well.
"There has to be some connection between the temperature and this fight." Inaryu thought. Inaryu looked at his opponent, and noticed that she had a look of lividness on her face. Then he realized: "The dragon is her familiar! The angrier she becomes, the more anger the dragon becomes! And, being a fire-breathing dragon and all, this must make him heat up!"
"A little warm for ya?" Ikuyo mocked. "I'm sure you've figured out why it's so hot, right?"
"Your familiar magic." Inaryu managed to respond as he continued to dodge the dragon's stamping feet.
"Nope!" she giggled. "Close, but no gum drops. Ichiro is just a doll I made. The only thing that makes him come alive is the little orb I put inside him. That's a soul."
"A soul! You mean to tell me you extract people's souls to fuel your toys!" Inaryu demanded.
"Only the bullies and meanies." She replied, as if this justified her actions.
"But-" Inaryu began to ask, still avoiding being splattered "That doesn't explain why it's so hot."
"Well, this soul is a special one. I'm connected to it, and all my emotions are, too. This soul is my mommy's." Ikuyo explained.
"You stole your mother's soul!" Inaryu hissed, apparently enraged. "Even the vilest of creatures identify all that their mother has done for them. Even those species that do not receive any maternal care can recognize that some being has warmed their egg. I cannot forgive this; even a youkai would not be so cruel."
Ikuyo realized that her opponent's aura had just grown tenfold. She knew she needed some help. She pulled out a stuffed tiger with large fangs and behemoth claws. She also pulled out another soul and stuck it in the tiger's back in the same manner that she had with her dragon.
The tiger grew to about twice the size of a normal one. It roared, showing it's enormous jaws, and alarming Inaryu (though he would never admit it). He needed to act fast; it was difficult enough trying to survive a dragon. He had an idea.
"You're finished!" Ikuyo giggled. "My dollies are gonna destroy you!"
"You shall pay for your evils, demon girl!" Inaryu shouted as he felt the insanely powerful energy run through his body. As this energy coursed through him, it made him scream. He had never been so angry or ready to deliver justice. This adrenaline caused his power to be exponentially higher than normal.
"I summon shadows darker than those of a dead star! JUDGEMENT OF PERSEPHONE!" Inaryu shrieked.
With that, the whole platform became engulfed in darkness, and no one outside the ring was able to see any of what was going on. All that was heard were Ikuyo's terrified screams, begging for mercy and promising she'd never do anything bad again.
All of a sudden, The darkness disappeared, and when the ring was visible again, there was only Inaryu, breathing heavily. As for Ikuyo, there was no trace of her existence, not even a thread.
As Inaryu walked toward the sidelines and his teammates, the crowd was silent; terrified. What had Inaryu just done? How could he have mustered up that much power? What had happened inside that darkness?
"The deed has been done." Inaryu declared. " The deed has been done…"