Disclaimer: See previous chapters

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Chap. 30

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Shrine

"I won't have to."

That was the dark response from Xion as Nagi set her blade to stab into the dragon's heart. With Yugo and Mana's backs turned to her, they would never realize it. Not before it was too late.

"Stop!"

Alice suddenly jumped into the scene, surprising them all as she jumped at the Spurious. Nagi saw her approaching attack and jumped back and Alice landed in between her and the dragon. Alice faced down her soon to be opponent, only to recognize her a little later.

"Nagi? Is that you?"

Yugo's eyes widened as he now saw Nagi, in her Spurious form. His teeth clenched together and he turned back to Xion. "What have you done to Nagi!"

"It is beyond your understanding." Xion replied sharply.

Mana however, was staring at Nagi, shaken somewhat. "The Unborn... It has possessed her."

"Nagi, snap out of it!" Alice cried. But Nagi eyes remained the same. Dark…and bloodthirsty...

"Save your breath." Xion replied. He then waved his arm forward. "Now…stand aside or die! It's your choice."

Yugo's eyes narrowed. "That's not going to happen."

The silver-haired zoanthrope smiled. "I was hoping you would say that, wolf-boy." Xion began glowing and his scales began to come into form. "I owe you greatly for last time."

Likewise, Yugo's began glowing as well, with fur beginning to sprout and his fangs showing from his lips. "Let's do it."

In a burst of energies, Xion and Yugo transformed; Unborn and Wolf. Alice continued to face Nagi as she was still. But Nagi smiled and whirled her blade in readiness to fight. No…To kill.

"Nagi…" Alice whispered lightly. It was hard to see the woman that they had cared for now standing before her ready to kill her. But there it was and there was nothing she could do now except fight.

And hope she didn't get killed in the process by…whatever this new creature was.

Streets

"Groh!"

Stun stood over a bear zoanthrope that he had slammed down into a wall. That seemed to have been his pattern for the past couple of hours. For some reason, many zoanthropes were berserk following the earthquake. People in the public areas were thrown out into the streets as they tried to escape, only to face several zoanthropes going on a rampage. Stun had to intervene, saving people from the zoanthropes and helping those injured in the earthquake. He start by wearing a mask and cape to cover his feature in order to help people better, but when he fought the bear zoanthrope, the bear tore his mask off and Stun was forced to transform in order to beat it.

"A long day's work, eh?"

Stun turned behind to see Jenny leaning on the wall behind him. He narrowed his eyes as realized that something was wrong.

"I take it that I'm not the only one. Are you okay?"

"Sure." She brushed a bit of her hair. "This is a bit out of my usual line of work though."

"There is something else." Stun lifted his head up, as though he was sniffing the air. "Something in the air, in a manner of speaking. I can just feel it."

Jenny didn't respond immediately to that one. What he was saying was more than true in her case. She had felt it. The instinctual calling of her zoanthrope blood, whispering animalistic thoughts into her mind. She had been fighting it for a long while since this all began. It had been minor at first, but on this night, it practically screamed in her ears and tore at her body.

Until now…

The calling had been silenced, at least mostly. It was still there, but not as powerful as before. She already knew the source of it, but Gado had gone on ahead of her. That and the fact that she had been sidetracked saving a group of people being attacked by a berserk zoanthrope. She almost lost her will then, so instead of fighting, she saved the people, disappearing before her animal instincts took control.

"It's an interesting story. I'll tell you about it on the way."

Elsewhere

Rei and Uriko were dashing through the wrecked streets, unknowingly heading toward the battle-ravaged shrine. Rei was up ahead with Uriko following close behind. Rei seemed to be running with more urgency, keeping her eyes upward as she ran.

'Shin…'

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Back, a couple of minutes ago…

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"Can you believe that?"

Uriko and Rei left the alleyway where they had spoken with Saori, who turned out to be someone else. The three of them had spoken about something and whatever it was, it was something major.

"I mean…who would have thought."

"It is…gasp!"

Both Rei and Uriko suddenly felt a shock ripple through their bodies.The girls backed awayin one direction, holding their arms together as they did.

"What…is that?" Uriko asked

"I don't know." Rei shivered. "But it… feels…terrifying."

Neither of them were aware that that was the moment that the dragon awoken, and with it, its aura of dreadful power. They practically backed away against the wall. Neither girl had ever felt anything like this before. It was becoming overwhelming. Especially for Rei, who had little use of her beast powers and thus more prone to the shock. So much so that she began to change.

"Rawhr…"

Uriko looked over to see Rei beginning to change. Her teeth sharpened and her ears perked up. Claws were emerging from her hand and her eyes narrowed into thin slits.

"Uh, oh. Rei, you have to control it."

Unfortunately, Uriko had seen this before. She had gone through this before. In one of her fights against the Beast Liberation Front, her rage and emotions had caused a premature transformation, making her lose control for a time. Uriko quickly moved in front of her friend, shutting out the dread aura as and tried to shake her out of it.

"Rei, get it together."

"Rrwh…hin?" Her eyes began to return to normal and her beast features began to diminish. Uriko gave a sigh of relief before Rei yelped out.

"Shin!"

Uriko blinked and soon followed her gaze, which lead upward and to the rooftops. There see saw just was Rei saw. Shin and Kenji were both standing on the rooftop edge. Since they were too far away, Uriko couldn't see clearly what they were doing, but it looked as though they were talking to one another.

"It is him. And Kenji." A moment later, the two of them continued on, skipping over the rooftops. "Hey, where are there going?"

"Toward…the…" Rei didn't finish, as she didn't know exactly where they were heading. But they were going straight toward the dark aura they were sensing. Without another thought, Rei pushed herself off the wall and began running after the two ninja.

"Hey, wait up! Where are you going"

But it was an empty question, as she already figured out where Rei was going. After Shin…

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Present…

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The two girls continued to dash through the damaged streets. Rei stayed ahead of Uriko, stopping a couple of times before running off again before Uriko could think. Finally, Uriko caught up with her while running.

"Hey. I don't…see them…How do you…know which way…to go?"

"I can…still sense him…His feathers…"

Uriko blinked before she realized it. Rei was sensing Shin from his feathers. But how she was so accurate with it, she didn't understand. Her senses weren't that strong to track down a person from that distance. Cats, even zoanthropes, couldn't track down someone like this. Tigers and lions, yes, but notdomestic cats. Perhaps, she is a different type of cat. Or perhaps she was still augmented. Either way, her tracking skills were higher than Uriko's. But how? Rei has never transformed into her zoanthrope form until now. Uriko could tell that from Rei's reactions earlier on. What the heck was with Rei? But soon, another question came up.

'What happened to this place?'

Shrine

Mana watched on as the fights between the four zoanthropes. Yugo savagely attacked Xion and Xion returned in kind. Alice on the other hand was skipping around the deadly blade of Nagi, trying to determine how to fight her. She didn't know that Nagi was even a zoanthrope, much less what kind. The way she moved and by the looks of her scales, it was as though she was like Xion. An Unborn. Mana did say that she was possessed by it. But how? Just what was the Unborn?

The question can wait, provided she lived through it…

Nagi leaped in after Alice and swept her blade across. Alice somersaulted backward, but Nagi followed with a side flip, her blade now whirling around with her in a spiral. With a surprised yelp, Alice sidestepped, but the blade managed to catch her as she did, leaving a slashing mark on Alice.

'Ahh!'

Alice reeled back and held her arm, now with crimson markings that mixed with her white fur. Nagi then bent low and then dashed in toward Alice. Alice snapped to attention and bent her knees. When Nagi came in close, Alice backflipped, smacking Nagi from under her chin. Alice landed and flipped again, hitting her once again. Alice landed and went in for one final flip and Nagi was knocked into the air. Alice touched the floor softly and watched as Nagi hit the ground hard. Alice returned her attention to her arm. The wound was bad, but not fatal. Already her arm was beginning to heal, but she would have to treat it to make sure it didn't get infected.

"Hehehe…"

Alice looked up and her pink eyes widened as she saw Nagi rise to her feet. What made it worse was that she was chuckling. Darkly…

"More…"

In a flash, Nagi was on the run again, blade held forward. She stopped midway and spun around in the air again, blade flailing out. Alice jumped back and Nagi spun again. Alice jumped back this time and made herself ready for the next spin. Nagi bent her body, but instead of spinning in the air, Nagi dashed low to the ground. The move surprised Alice and on reflex, Alice sidestepped. But Nagi rolled around and swung her arm downward. Alice was caught complete as the dull end of the blade streaked down her body, stunning her. But if that wasn't enough, Nagi instantly snatched his arm upward, flashing it right across Alice's face and sending her body spiraling through the air with terrific force instantly knocking her into her human form. Alice crashed onto the ground, hurt and bloodied from the combined attacks as well as her previous wound. She struggled to rise, but was stopped when Nagi stepped down on her back. Alice felt cold shiver as she realized that the dread blade was being held on her as well. Nagi cocked her head and then looked up. She then removed herself from Alice's back and advanced toward the dragon. Alice could only raise her head and watch as Nagi advanced toward the dragon. As darkness began to overtake her vision, she heard the howl of the wolf.

The howl of Yugo…

'Alice!'

Yugo himself was not faring too well against the Unborn. His fighting against the dragon and the use of his beast drive had weakened him severely. It was a surprise that he was able to transform again at all. Also, his body held a couple of bloodied slashes of its own. Yet despite this, Yugo refused to go down.

That was until after he had seen Alice's defeat…

His distraction gave Xion to opportunity to charge in fiercely at the wolf zoanthrope. When Yugo turned back, he was greeted with a nasty kick to the face. A whimper escaped his lips as his nose was hit hard by a silver heel. Xion then brought his leg back for another snap kick, driving Yugo back further. Another snap kick and then Xion propelled himself into the air in a spin. Yugo was too stunned by the first three attacks to stop Xion from stamped down on his head. Yugo staggered back and Xion rebounded into the air and stretched his leg up and forward. It appeared as if he was still in the air and then he suddenly dropped down, delivering a powerful axe-kick to the wolf. Yugo hit the ground fast and was knocked out of his bestial form immediately. Xion gazed down at his defeated opponent and waved his arm. Lifting his palm to his forehead, he laughed aloud.

"Hahahahaha! That's right! That's where you belong! At my feet!" He looked up over at the dragon that Nagi was currently advancing on. With a smile, Xion joined her on approaching the fallen dragon. Now, there was only one thing left. To finally destroy Gaia's dragon and release the Unborn for all time. And the best part was now there was nothing to stand in their way.

Almost nothing…

"I will not let you."

Standing in between the two and the dragon was Mana. Her arms were outstretched in a protective manner before the dragon. Her eyes were determined, but Xion chuckled mockingly at her.

"You can not stop us. You never could."

Mana didn't move and Xion frowned a bit. Despite his claim, he knew the girl had power. To what extent, he didn't know. But he knew that she was no match for the both of them. Returning to his earlier composure, he lifted his arm and it transformed into the silvery claw of his alternate form, complete with retractable blade. Mana took a step back, fear evident on her face as Xion reared his arm back.

"Now die, oracle!"

With that cry, Xion struck down; the deadly blade curved down ready to render the girl in two. But before it reached, it suddenly stopped. Xion blinked with surprise and then with anger as he realized what had just happened. A pair of hands had caught his blade in mid-swing and was now holding it steady in between the palms.

"Boy…"

Mana was surprised as well, seeing the young man standing over her, dressed in a brown armored garb. But not by the boy's identity. She knew who he was.

"Kenji…"

Kenji glanced back for a moment, then quickly returned his attention to the matter at hand. He shoved his arms forward, pushing Xion back. Xion growled as his arm reverted back to its original state. At least for the moment. If there was someone Xion could hate as much as Yugo, it was Kenji. During his first appearance, he had faced Kenji first and he had found the ninja's skills more than annoying.

"You must protect Ryoho." Mana pleaded. "The fate of the world depends on it."

Kenji heard her clearly, even though he didn't turn to her this time. All he saw was Yugo and Alice down and the Unborn about the slice Mana. He would have checked on his brother and sister –in-law, but he saw they weren't dead, but merely unconscious. He also saw the dragon behind them all, unconscious as well, but still radiating with energy; the very energy he had been sensing on his way here. In a nutshell, he was in a strange, dangerous situation, one that he didn't fully understand at the moment. But if it was something to do with Xion, then he had to stop him.

"Nagi?"

Xion blinked and looked upward at the direction of the voice. Standing on one of the shrine's still standing podiums was Shin. He had been overlooking the scene in order to see who they were up against, but he had no idea he would be seeing Nagi, in her Spurious form no less. Nagi looked at him blankly and Shin simply stared back, surprise vanishing from his eyes.

"I see…" He then bent his knees and propelled through the air, landing across from Kenji and in front of Nagi. He stared a bit long and then slowly settled into his fighting stance. "Then I will do what I must."

Kenji saw this and he too did the same, readying himself against Xion. Xion looked at Kenji and then Shin and then back again.

"Who do you boys think you are to challenge us!"

Their reply was simultaneous, in perfect synch.

"I am Bakuryu, the scourge of the night…"