CHAPTER 63: THE CLASH: PART B
Part IV: Katrina's Mom's POV: Mother's Surprise

"I told you, I am Shiori Minamino, and I am here to pick up my daughter, KATRINA KON! She has a different last name than me, okay? What room is she in so I can get her?"

"Kon, dind oo say? Little Kasumi Kon-kun?"

Kasumi? "N—!" Oh wait. Katrina wrote me a letter about the name situation. Something about they couldn't pronounce her real name well or something. "Yes, Mr. Yoshiyumi-san, was it? Okay. My daughter, Kasumi Kon." I say. This person is possibly the stupidest person I have ever met. It doesn't help that my Jap is very out of practice, since I moved to the states…what was it…16 years ago now? The principal is attempting to speak to me in English to help me out. And he is failing miserably, and it's only agitating us both.

He shuffles through his haphazard papers, and finds what he's looking for. "Ah, HEE-YER 'tis. The file of Kon-kun." He opens up the contents and takes out a half-sheet of pure white paper. He reads it, confusion registering on his face. "Hm?"

"What? What is it, damn it?" I ask, worried at his expression. I add hastily, "Mr. Yoshiyumi-san."

The really, really short secretary looks over, sees my anger, and takes over, mouthing that she can speak English. I sigh in relief, and so does the principal. She glances at the paper the principal is holding, and her eyes widen as well. "There seems to have been a mix-up?" She asks in a very off-the-topic voice. She hands me that paper. I read, in very good Japanese handwriting, (which I can read much better than I can speak it) something along the lines of: Left on February 19th with Mr. Tatewaki Kon.

I just stare at the name in stunned disbelief. They must have gotten it wrong.

I stare some more. It's really there. That same name. That evil, evil name.

How could he have found her?

"Is there a problem?" She asks in an eager voice.

I can barely manage to get the words out. "Thi-thi-this man is my ex-husband."

She turns up her nose just slightly at the thought of divorce. "And you didn't know he came to take her?"

"OF COURSE NOT!" I can hear myself. I'm hysterical. "We-we-split up 14 years ago—and he left me and took my son—and neither of them were ever found—OH GOD! N-n-now he took Katrina—"

Her eyes widen in disbelief. "We were not informed of this! Mrs. Minamino-san, I'll start an investigation immediately—"

I don't hear the rest, and I really don't care. I'm halfway out of the school.

But the assistant catches up with me, and captures my arm in a grip of iron. "Wait!"

"Why?" I snarl. "I need to find her. I need to." I can't believe it. He stole my daughter away. First my son and now my daughter. This can't be happening. If he disappears with her just like he did with Shuuichi…I will not lose Katrina like I lost Shuuichi. I refuse. I futilely try to tug her off.

"I have something important to tell you!"

"DO YOU THINK I CARE?" I scream. "THIS IS MY DAUGHTER WE'RE TALKING ABOUT!" Passerby in the hallways stare. I shoot them all a piercing glare.

"Maybe we can help." She says, ignoring my outburst, and is still being courteous.

"I'll ask if I need it, all right? Goodbye! I'm going to find Kasumi." I say meanly.

"Shall I show you the rules, Miss Minamino-san?"

"What rules?" I growl.

She whips out a pocketbook and thumbs through it. Finally she takes out a book emblazoned with the title THE BIBLE OF THE JUN LADIES BOARDING SCHOOL.

Oh, excellent. Sounds full of laughs and fun and pretty pink ponies.

She starts reading: "Rule 8, Clause 1, Section 1. Under the rare circumstance where a student should go missing, it is the secretary or principal's responsibility to help the distressed parent locate him/her."

"Ha! But it doesn't say you have to!"

"Yes it does. Here: Rule 8, Clause 1, Section 2. No matter what the parent says, the school shall always help no matter the circumstance, as we are responsible for the student."

I forgot. I don't have quite the same rights here as I would in an American school, but she can go fuck off anyway. "Well, under this circumstance I am feeling quite distressed, so I advise you to get your ass and your stupid rule book out of my face. Got it, honey? I'll sue you for every penny you have if you don't let me go this instant!"

"No, you aren't allowed to sue us if we're trying to help. See, it says here Rule 8, Clause 1, Section 3…wait, come with me, I'll read it to you in the office and we'll have a nice cup of tea. We can help better than you can. Japan has an advanced law enforcement system. We can see if she was meeting anyone strange."

I allow her to drag me away, too worn out to argue. Japanese people are sharp. I should remember that. I hope Katrina didn't pick up of anything about it.

Oh God, where is she? Tears come to my eyes.

"You could do nothing on your own, Miss Minamino-san. Trust that we can make more a difference than you."

I sigh. They're probably right. I would have no idea where to go. I had no idea where to find Shuuichi or the man that stole him away.

As she is taking me back to the chief office, I pass a classroom where I see someone with short red hair, who's tall, and has his back to me. I stare at him, and the secretary stops. "What is it?"

"Who-who-who…" I start stuttering. I remember that red hair. That tall form. That body shape. If he'd turn around, I'd know exactly who he was.

"Who is he?" She asks. "Well, that's Akito Spinacheli-sama. He's been here for about 14-15 years."

I start trembling. Fifteen years ago. "Is he now…a teacher?"

"Yes, of ninth grade English. Why?"

Oh no. Katrina might have had a class with him! WHY HIM?

I faint right on the spot. What is with these fucking coincidences? I thought I only had to be worried about my SECOND husband…

Part V: Katrina POV: Electric Shock

Sensu moves back in front of the evil cage again, as though I'll actually fall for it again.

"Forget it."

He only inspects his hands casually.

I stare angrily. He really is holding back. He refuses to attack. That means, now's my chance. I have to floor him with power before he has the chance to really hurt me. My knee has already been a casualty, and I don't plan on having any more.

I morph, and my transformation is a black blur. Somehow my robe stays on by a few measly tatters. Also, inexplicably, I am about 3 feet longer, taller, and wider.

Weird. Since when have I been able to control my size?

Whatever. Why am I literally trying to mess with the best thing that's ever happened to me? I should really stop analyzing everything and go with the flow.

A wave of intense cold over sweeps me. I realize his mental roulette has landed on an ice demon. He looks no different other than his temperature, I guess because he was white to begin with. But god, he's an excellent one. I can feel the winter chill all the way over here, and neither of us has moved an inch. Touya and Yukina weren't a third of that power combined.

I charge faster that I ever have before, being so much stronger. I get an instant brain freeze as I get progressively closer, but it doesn't stop me. Aww no. I will not die.

My mind randomly shoots into a tangent about my mom. All these funky little powers came from my mom…I'll have to thank her someday for her genetic material, which she has no control over anyway…and ask her just how many husbands she had. I mean, my mom is really pretty, but still! That doesn't justify it!

I spring into the air in the last second, and he does nothing to stop me. But I think I know why.

He uses Hiei speed to duck down, trying to send me into the control panel again so he can suck even more juice out of me, but anticipating it, I end my leap abruptly, and land right on his head. The intense cold makes my paws feel like they are on fire.

I relax and sprawl, trying to crush him while at the same time trying to bear the pain of all this icy power. I feel a slight struggle from him, then a second's relax, and then, just like that, Sensu stands up, me somehow balanced perfectly on my belly, draped all over his shoulders and head like some kind of scarf. He straightens easily. I'm 1000+ pounds and he's carrying me like a child's toy.

He starts chanting something, sending shivers down my spine. I can't move or I'll fall.

I admit, I almost wet myself over what those words will do, but I still can't move, so I actually control my fear and I just fold myself over his head. I almost go hypothermic right then and there from the cold, but it carries out its purpose and smothers the chant. I hear a curse from in the folds of my now-really-really-cold panther body, and, enraged, he grabs both of my left paws in his own two hands, leans back, and chucks me really, really hard over his head without hurting a hair on his head. This guy is incredibly strong.

That might have worked with anyone else, but not with me. What he forgot is that cats always land on their feet. I spiral in the air and easily deal out my weight as I hit the ground, and I whirl around, growling evilly. I stare at his bloody face, trying to see what he'll do next. I have to wait for him to act. A head-on charge won't work. (All right, all right, it's not like I'm trying to get close to that temperature again).

I have just enough time to watch him disappear. He simply melts away into thin air.

I blink. What just happened? I stare all around me. He isn't there. He isn't there either! Where is he? Where did he go? What just happened? Huh? Huh? What?

Can Sensu camouflage, too?

I hear Lahri…no, Beauty, cheering in the background. Hatred fills me with that laughter, temporarily blinding me to my surroundings.

At that precise moment, I feel a presence behind me, a cold blast of air, but I can do nothing as a panther. I have stronger skill as a panther, but much lower evasion than in my human form. I whip around as he interlocks his fingers and slams them down, aiming right for the middle of my body. I dodge at the last moment, and he only glances my right side. I fly to the left, farther than I had planned. His hands strike the ground where I was with a crash, cracking the ground and vibrating my entire body, throwing me off balance. I jump and manage to remain on my feet, somehow. I stare at his cold white face and the huge smoking crater he just made. Such incredible power…

"Keep fighting and die." He thunders. "You are only—"

Before he finishes his sentence, I charge again, foolishly not even considering the temperature of his body, and he knocks me to the side in an instant, but using my forearm as a sword, I prevent taking full damage. His hand slides up my arm and wrist, only just grazing my forehead instead of my face. I knew all those simple lessons…all right, that single simple lesson with Hiei would come in handy sometime.

He hits me again with a deadly side kick to my shoulder, using my vulnerability after that dodge, so fast that I have no time to block. This time I do a spin in the air and slam into the floor considerably harder than all the other times. Getting right back up, I charge again. My panther side isn't even making a DENT! I haven't hurt him one bit! DAMN IT! I fly into the air to jump down on him.

I shiver suddenly in the air. Is it just me, or is he getting…colder? My teeth start to chatter in spite of the situation.

But my intuition comes too late. I'm too far into my bound. I try to bitch-slap him with my paw, and he merely shoves me away with that ugly paper-white arm, hitting my elbow just slightly. As soon as I touch him, my entire arm freezes.

I gasp, and look at the icy blue crystals surrounding my arm. I try to move. Nothing. My arm is frozen in a bent fist. Rapidly, I lose all feeling to it.

I hit the ground and I don't even notice the pain. I start trembling and demorph out of the cold. The ice still perfectly imprisons my human arm. I can't concentrate on my demon form to keep it going. Now, it hits my just how vulnerable I am. And how much Sensu can take advantage of that.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT.

Sensu teleports in front of me again, hitting me with a blast from the arctic, and backhands me in the ribs backwards really, really hard. I yell and fall down right on the flat of my back, feeling my chest freeze over. No. No, I need to breathe! AND I NEED WARMTH! My trapped lungs can only muster a tiny breath. I need MORE AIR! I start to breathe really fast, but it just doesn't count. I need more. I'll die.

I need to get up. I need to fight back. I need to breathe. I need to fucking survive this.

Help me, someone! HELP! I can slowly feel my systems shutting down, molding my soul into the white death.

"No one will help you." He becomes a lightning demon complete with the ridiculous DragonBall Z Super Saiyen neon yellow hair, which looks odd in contrast with his old thin black hair, and strikes me with some lightning. I can't dodge, all of my vitals frozen over. Thankfully, it's because of that that I barely even feel it.

Then, something truly shocking happens. I shut my eyes and feel the slight charge in a far off corner of my mind, and then…it restores my body temperature. I can tell right away when I stop shivering and I can see clearly again. All of the ice slowly becomes a husky vapor around me. What the hell? I lay there, in shock, breathing somewhat normally, (although in a considerable amount of pain) being able to feel my arm and lungs, the hypothermia simply ebbing away peacefully. I keep my eyes shut, hardly daring to believe it.

Why did he do that? Why did he…heal me?

Then, it hits me. He couldn't let me die. He needs my powers. If I'm gone, they're gone with me. He—can't—kill—me. Oh my god. This is…

I gasp as the full pain of my broken bones rushes back to me. Did I actually think that the fact he couldn't kill me was good? He won't kill me, that's for certain. But he will beat me to a barely-living pile of flesh. He's waiting to see if I'm alive right now. If I show him I'm alive…it'll commence. And I can't do anything.

Now is the time to act. I can't let him keep getting the better of me like this! A thousand ideas start to form in my head at once.

No. Whatever I do must be impulsive. He can't read my mind that way.

I pray hard that my decision does what it needs to, and I instantly sit up and conjure up two more fireballs in my hands. Without warning, I shoot my hands together and open my eyes, combining the two fireball beams, and I fire the deadly new beam at Sensu.

His eyes widen and he does nothing. I finally got him off guard. It doesn't take them half a second to find their prey. They hit their mark dead-on and a huge cloud of ash forms around him quickly, smothering his huge form. Some of the tendrils of smoke find their way over to my mouth and I start coughing and I can't stop. When the fit finally passes, I look up into clear air and have to do a double take – Sensu made the same hand motion as I did. I see the remains of my beam fade from his hands. He smiles. He…wasn't…hurt…one…bit.

He caught my energy!

He nods, impressed. "That was an interesting move. If not for my mind reading ability, you would have gotten away with it."

The move wasn't impulsive enough. He had enough time to read and mirror me and inevitably defeat it. Why, God, why?

"You would make a great minion if I didn't have to use you. Nice brains up there." He walks towards me, and my hair stands on end from the electricity, even though I back away. "You've convinced me. If you want to make this as painless as possible, you can just hop in the other dome."

"Other—?"

At her cue, Beauty trips some kind of switch on her chair arm, and a second golden dome, identical to the first, rises up next to the machine. My father looks at it warily. A door opens in front of the dome by itself. Hard silver binds for wrists, waist, neck, and ankles attached to the inside clink together hungrily. But the funny thing is, there are no lasers in my dome, but there are in my dad's.

The realization hits me. He doesn't think I'm powerful enough.

"Just stride in, and it will all be over soon. And if you do it the easy way, you won't even die. I'll just take your powers and that'll be it."

"Why? Why not destroy us?"

"Do you want me to? Corruption is so much more fun. I could just do it right now, but no one's given me a good fight for a while now. I haven't been able to stretch out my true power for months. You'd better hold out for a very long time if you still aim to fight, Katrina, because after, you'll work for me unconditionally."

I grow cold again, both mentally and physically, just imagining the awful prospect. "I'd never do it." I turn back into a panther, starting to get my focus back.

He zaps me hard with some electricity, leaving me slightly smoking. But an idea hits me at the same time. I yell to cover up my idea that I just had.

"You wouldn't have a choice." He advances towards me, flipping rapidly from a thunder demon to a water demon, his legs becoming the sea, a dark blue sea slowly rising up around me. Beauty shrieks and crawls to the very top post of her chair and eyes the water like a cornered cat. Crows don't like water, do they?

THIS IS NOT FAIR! I scream inside my head, since I can't talk as a panther, I'll talk with my mind. I try desperately to think of everything except my plan to help me out of this. If he reads my plan, I am completely, completely dead.

He chuckles. "Of course it's unfair. Did you think I'd give you a chance to seize victory? I like winning too much. You lose."

Heh. I chuckle in my mind.

"There's nothing funny about your situation." He states with a sneer. Then, he gives me a funny look, and stares at me, hard. Oh no. I thought of my plan. God damn it…A-B-C-D-E-F-G-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8—Diffusion is the movement of particles down the concentration gradient…A noun is a person, place, or thing…5+510…oh god oh god this plan has to work—NO! DON'T THINK ABOUT IT!—DON'T—NEWTON'S THRID LAW OF MOTION IS THAT OBJECTS IN MOTION TEND—

It's too late. That thought just made my dumb brain run through my plan again. He's found it all too soon. I get the feeling of a bulldozer driving through my mind. His eyes widen in shock.

I shut my own, breaking my focus on my secret weapon, and cram myself into a really strong bubble, the strongest I have.

I hear a huge CRACK in front of me, the jolt of electricity. Did it…did it truly work?

I open my tightly closed eyes, to get jolted as my bubble drops about 5 feet. The spirit sea has disappeared, leaving behind thin smoky smog, and I don't see Sensu. I absorb my bubble hesitantly, keeping my mental and physical guard up.

I hear a roar from beneath, and I jump out of nerves. Is that…is that really…did my plan actually work? No…no, don't get your hopes up…I stare down at the roaring thing, completely scared.

I can't believe it. If this is a fucking trick…

As the smog evaporates quickly, I can see that it's definitely Sensu all right, but nowhere near as immaculate as he was. He's a mess, all brown and smoking like the air around us, and did I forget to mention that he is also two inches tall? The wires that connected him to that foul cage (which allowed him to suck out my power) disintegrate in moments. Beauty screams as she looks upon her husband, and Sensu holds up a hand to silence her.

"How did you do it?" He drops to his knees, and crawls away from me. I stamp on him like I would a tarantula, and hold my foot over him. He still struggles, but naturally gets nowhere. I can barely even feel him.

"Didn't you already see it, you damn psychic freak?" I sneer.

"No…I only saw part of it…before it happened…"

"Fine. Do you remember zapping me the second time?" I say cockily. Something tells me I shouldn't be this cocky…it shouldn't be this easy…oh, who the hell cares? I won. I deserve to be cocky.

He nods with effort.

"I charged a shrink crystal with the energy, and to prevent you from seeing it, or from it burning me with it's charge, I made it fly with spirit energy. It was so small, you never knew. You were stupid for not reading my mind to find it out."

"Bonehead." Mutters the bride. "What that would have accomplished I have no idea…" She sounds very nervous though. I turn up to glare at her.

"I'll ignore that, Beauty. When you became a water demon, I realized how right I was to do that. All that water was zapped and shrunk at the same time when the crystal hit the water." I smirk, and ready a fireball to destroy him. Beauty gasps. "Now you die, you piece of scum."

Ironically, he smiles. Beauty, meanwhile, cries. I'll take of her later.

"What? WHAT!" I tense up instantly, and start to fire my power. I need to get rid of him before he has the chance to show me what he's smiling about.

It's almost at firing point when he waves his tiny right arm, and then, I hear a piercing shriek in my very soul, like fingernails on chalkboard, and I freeze. Completely. Not even the fireball fires. I can't even blink. I'm not breathing. My heart isn't going. Sensu smirks. "You don't know all of my powers. Do you think that a simple size change would defeat me?"

I was so goddamn cocky…why didn't I see? He wasn't beaten. He was just smaller.

He runs over to Beauty. "Beauty?" He asks.

"YOU ARE A GENIUS! I THOUGHT YOU WERE GONE AND—"

"I asked you a question." He says in a deadly voice.

She gasps, and I can just see her, in my mind's eye, curtsying to him. (I can't look at them directly. I'm left staring at the place that Sensu was). "My deepest apologies, my lord. What do you require form you humble servant?"

He says something very quietly.

"What's that, Lord?" She chirps, sounding lighthearted. "I'm afraid I didn't hear you. What do you need?"

Then, a huge bright red glow commences, probably emanating from Sensu, even brighter than my bright blue beam still in my hand. All this color is making me dizzy. I wish I could shield my eyes.

But what does he need?

Part VI: Like Magic

"Your life energy." I hear his low voice hiss.

WHAT? I scream in my head to make him hear me.

She seems to be stunned for a moment like me, judging by her long pause, and then she screams, "AGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I hear rustling, as though of a skirt. She must be trying to run.

No…not like this…not even she deserves this…

"It is your time, my dear. Rest assured that you will be put to good use."

What use? What does he need her energy for? The spell he put on me breaks suddenly, and I almost fall, catching myself just in time. But when time unfreezes for me, it unfreezes for this huge energy beam too. I shoot it out of my hand against my will and it hits the ground with deafening power, and bright azure light consumes me. I scream and I can't even hear it above all of this incredible power.

I'm actually thrown backward by the force. I fly through the air, screaming my soul out.

I land about 10 yards away from the site right on my lower back very hard. I cringe, feeling at least one rib break. That brings my total of broken bones up to 3.

And I hear a terrible bloodcurdling scream, in a far off corner of my mind. Beauty's dying. I should help her. I should I should I should…

I manage to pick myself up, using all of my strength, but the smoke is much thicker than before, and unfortunately, until it clears it's going to be impossible to see. I stumble through it, trying to find anything to hide in. I can't call up a bubble for protection yet. I drained a lot of my power with that last blast.

I suddenly feel very vulnerable. I can't see. And thus, I can't defend.

I don't even have time to think when a huge white fist comes out of the fog around me, slamming me in the stomach. I gasp, and fall rather ungracefully right on my ass.

Stunned. That fist was big. But Sensu is tiny…

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" I yell. It can't be…he couldn't have…I think I just figured out what Beauty's life force did for him…

"I can sense where you are by your thoughts."

I receive another deadly slam in my stomach. I double over. Oh God, it hurts to breathe…even more so than when my chest was frozen…"Sh-She healed you?"

"Of course she healed me, fool. I married her only for a sacrifice in case something like this would happen. And now I see how right I was to do it." His voice echoes in the semi-solid fog. Another fist comes out and slams me, this time in my bad knee.

I feel something snap, and I cry out, unable to contain the pain. I crumple right down on the floor. I try to get up, I really do try…but I just can't. I can't. I can't…I can't defend or attack. I'm beaten. Oh, why was I so cocky?

"But she was…your wife…" The smoke finally starts to clear. I can see his silhouette, even bigger than before.

He shrugs. "Sometimes, you have to use others to get ahead."

"Damn it, you don't kill allies, bastard, no matter what side you are on! It's called honor! And you have none of it."

"Hahaha. You're such a strange creature." I feel a huge foot sitting on top of my back, forcing me down. The air is much clearer down here. I can see another huge white foot right next to me.

I don't even respond. This scumbag doesn't deserve my conversation. My eyes still crossing, I summon my demon power, and I go panther again. As I grow, I force his foot off of me. It slides off of my back, and the instant I feel free, I charge (on three legs) far away from him. This is really dangerous. Until the smoke clears entirely, I can't let him touch me. I can't sense his thoughts, but he can sense mine.

I finish recharging and cover myself in a bubble to bide my time. I shiver inside it. I think my right knee is broken. What can I do? I need to get rid of this fog if I have a chance! Sensu will follow me any minute and probably shatter this shield with a flick of his pinky! I need this fog out of here so I can defend!

Wait a minute. I shot away the fog in the spirit world before. Why not here?

If this works, I am definitely never going to ask for anything else again. I shut my eyes and dive into my power. I stretch it, mold it, and shoot it outward, along with the surrounding fog; slowly pushing the remnants to the very edges of the room, where it's free to diffuse on its own.

But I can't see Sensu. Where is he? I look behind, straight ahead, left, right.

I'm forced to let my bubble evaporate, because I can't hold the size of it for long, and I actually sense his demon energy from above. I screech (yes, a huge panther can screech) and I charge out of the way, just in time to prevent his blow. He slams his hands down on the ground, actually shaking the floor, and I almost lose my balance. I spin around. He starts to lift up his arms. There. He just dropped his guard because of that move. This is my chance.

Before he can regain his form, I spring into the air in his general direction, my belly facing him, claws and teeth bared, ready to slash him into tiny evil pieces.

At the last instant, when I'm sure I have him, he extends his arms and grabs my neck with both his arms in a blindingly fast motion.

He grabs and holds me in a vicious strangle. I stare at him for a quarter of a second. He lifts me up so that my feet don't even touch the ground. Beginning to panic, I start to struggle with incredible strength, and nothing happens. This is potentially the scariest moment of my life. All my strength means nothing at all. I try to slash at his arms, missing with each swipe, and in response, he slams me to the ground on my back, and picks me right up again, clenching my throat between his hands even harder. I summon demon fireballs, but he gives me such a sharp squeeze around my neck that I lose focus and delete them accidentally. I gasp for much needed air, but he doesn't let up. I start to twitch violently and begin to lose consciousness because of this horrible suffocation. No…no…no!

Dazed and distracted, I barely notice that he walks very carefully with me to the dome. I stare behind him, trying to escape; trying to figure out how to breathe through my ears. The small body of Lahri lies there, several feet behind him. Her long brown hair obscures her face. She's definitely dead. I feel a strange sense of loss for the girl that never was anyway.

Beauty didn't kill me, and I didn't kill her either. This guy killed both of us. Who would have thought? I beat Beauty without any training, but this guy is everything I am and better. The training did nothing. I'll be sure to beat Genkai to a bloody pulp for all that.

I try again to hurt him, but I'm too weak, and I end up waving my paws in desperation. I start, literally, dying of suffocation, and he loosens his grip just slightly to let me breathe. He can't kill me now. Not yet, anyway.

I need to kill him. The good guy always wins…right?

I stare at Beauty's human form, getting further and further away, and at my uniform behind her. It must have fallen off when I first transformed. I've worn that thing ever since I fought Beauty, pretty much. Gross. Maybe there're remnants of veggie crap in there too.

Radishes.

Wait. A. Damn. Minute.

Aren't they poisonous to all demons?

When I rescued myself from the window ledge, did I not discover I still had radishes?

Must—capture—radishes—

Deprived of air, and as close to death as I'll ever be, I suddenly get a huge burst of adrenaline, and start thrashing around, loosening Sensu's grip even more, and then, suddenly, I demorph.

My skinnier neck and head slide right through his fingers. Why didn't I think of that before?

I gasp hard and cough several times, and I drop to the ground and spring right back up, darting around him, killing my hurt knee, before he has the chance to react, and start to run faster than I ever have in my life towards the school clothes. I might just be able to get past. I camouflage, feeling my exterior slowly disappear.

"Radishes, huh?" Sensu says dryly. Damn, I forgot! Camouflage does nothing as long as I'm thinking! I always knew thinking was dangerous.

I will win this. I must. I'm the good guy. I will get those radishes before him.

Then—

Another grinding shriek sounds it's warning call in my mind. And I stop moving, frozen in the air in a huge bound. No. Please no. Not this again! NOT THE TIME FREEZE!

I stare at the uniform in horror as Sensu teleports directly over to it and conjures up red demon power in his hands. I can only watch as he shoots a pretty thin beam at it, which is more than enough to reduce it to a pile of smoldering ash.

I stare at the pile. It's gone. The one weapon I had is gone.

And I still can't move.

Sensu seizes his opportunity. He vanishes, and I hear a rustle behind me. A huge forearm slams into the middle of my thin human back, breaking the spell by touching me, but slamming me forward about 20 yards. I shoot my arms in front of me in time to prevent myself from going face-first into the ground but with a big consequence.

I try to stand up, and I can't. I actually can't get up.

I seriously cannot feel my legs at all. Did he…did he break my back?

I hear him behind me, and he sends a powerful judo kick to my side. I actually scream as I fly to the right at 100 mph, and I can only feel the upper part of my body hit the wall. I cringe and drop to the ground, ending in a huge broken heap. "Agghhhh…"

I feel my blood running down and soaking the back of my robe.

What the hell can I do now if I'm officially a paraplegic?

I can't do a bubble. I can't become a panther. I can't camouflage. I can't shrink or grow. And I can't astro-project. Wait…I can astro-project…don't mind me…

I slowly push my dying hand into my pocket. I know at least I have these in this robe, unlike the last huge radish mistake on my part. My best weapon is now totally burned. Literally.

I pull out a huge mound of crystal pills, and hold them tightly in my hand. Then, I astro-project.

Floating in the air and staring around, I see that Sensu can't seem to see me. Yes. I, my spirit only, look down at some of the purple shrink crystals and the orange growth crystals in my living hand. Genkai always wanted me to find out how to move objects in this form on my own, and I never did figure it out. Now, I have to, if I want to live. I move my spirit closer to them, and I get very close, fully aware that if I touch my body, I'll get sucked right back in.

I shut my eyes, and touch the purple pill that I want. I get an electric shock, and all of a sudden, I am the pill. I am the pill. I can't see nor hear, but I know I'm a pill. It sounds like a warped version of yoga. I smile. Of course. Genkai never said that you could only possess living bodies…now, I can fly over in this pill and make him eat me! God, that sounded wrong.

I try to fly again, like I did in my soul version, but now that I am a pill, I have all the limitations of a pill. I can't fly. I can't do anything when I'm a pill. I can't hear or fly. Damn. I can only see, for some odd reason. Do pills have eyes?

Sensu warily goes over to me. He looks shocked. I'm dead, at least from his point of view. I gasp at my own brilliance. Why didn't I think of astro-projection before? He can't kill me, and now that I seem to be dead…I've just thwarted his plans majorly.

He bends down and shakes me, his shock turning to rage. He yells things right in my ear that I can't hear very well, being a pill and all.

Then comes the jostling. He shakes me so hard in the hopes of waking me up that the pills in my body's hand start bouncing. Up and down, up and down. I start flying right off my palm. Up and down, again and again. I keep gaining in velocity each time.

Then, the turning point in the war happens.

I bounce up so high that, by a 1-in-a-million chance, I and a few other purple pills land right in his paper-white mouth.

Me, the pill, gasps in delight, as I fall right down the throat. I can hear Sensu hack. I fly through that paper-white mouth with my other pill friends, down the slimy esophagus that looks like it has never been used, and abruptly take a detour out as soon as my vessel hits his stomach hydrochloric acids. Or at least, it is probably those acids; I can't remember the name now…damn…

I reenter my unconscious body and once I am back safe, I just relax, wait, and take calming breaths to ward off puke. I see Sensu, still coughing strangely. Then, with a little poof of a cloud, like a mini of the earlier smoke cloud, there is a little tiny Sensu staring up at me 10 feet away.

Kneeling down and inching closer, on my hands only I say happily, "No more wives to sacrifice."

He growls angrily.

"It's over." I WON! But something doesn't feel right. It's as though I'm overlooking something.

I direct some of my remaining Spirit Energy at the dome to break out my father. Nothing happens. The blue charge simply dies when it hits.

"Only I can open it."

"Whatever you say." I bind him in a bit of my dwindling demon energy, making a sort of bubble cage around him. That'll keep him from growing big again until I can break out my dad. I have no more energy for fireballs. I damn can't kill him.

He slams himself against the inside, but can't get loose. Yes.

Whatever shock Sensu's feeling at this outcome, mine is ten times more so. I won. I can't believe it. I did it all by myself. I crawl over to the panel with all of the buttons on it. I don't know how else to describe it. I have no idea what any of it means. I pull myself up with my arms to see it and the cages properly.

I go over to my dad's cage, and I can sense him still staring at me. I haven't looked at him this whole battle, and I won't know. However, I admit, I sneak a sideways glance at him and I can see him mouthing something with a look of horror on his face. I turn around to make sure Sensu is still there. He's sitting calmly in his cage and just watching me. Weird. He isn't even trying to break loose. What's my dad thinking? Maybe those lasers hurt his head. Sensu has given up.

I just inspect the small door to the yellow dome, and try to break it with about ten different types of Tai Chi. After about fifteen minutes, I can see that I'm getting nowhere. They're too strong.

Maybe there's some way to break my dad's cage from the inside, but I can't see it from right here. I look at the dome that I'm supposed to go in. Maybe if I went inside it to see for myself if it had a soft spot somewhere, I could instruct my father to crack it internally without my help. Sensu's right, only he knows the code to open the door the easy way, so I'll just have to work around that.

Ignoring all instincts, I crawl over to the dome meant for me and open the door. I take a deep breath. It opens easily with a little screek. I go inside of the dome, pulling and folding myself carefully through the door, careful not to hurt my dead legs or snap myself in or anything weird like that. Something bad could happen.

I inspect the inside carefully, feeling for any cracks with my fingertips. I shut my eyes, because if you shut your eyes, all of your other senses get sharper, including the sense of touch.

I keep feeling, and then my sharper-sense ears pick something up.

Screek. A slight little whine, sounding loud in my ears. That sounded awfully familiar…

Was that the door shutting?

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A/N MWHAHAHA! I have chapter ending power at an evil cliffhanger, so this now ends Part B! Please review! And the last bit of this, Part VII, is in the next chapter, and then we have the true chapter 64, and the extras page. So, we are almost done, folks! Just three more to go!