Disclaimer: Well, as usual, Inuyasha and the gang aren't my property.
Note: Well, many thanks to Cold kikyo, Yuya Mibu, Stupidisstupiddoes and an anonymous reviewer for their kind reviews... and also for their patience. I do know that it's been a while since I've graced you all with a chapter, but what can I say, I'm a busy person so time is short for me. What's more, I was struggling with an issue that slowed down my writing a bit, but thanks to sangoscourage's suggestion, it has been resolved :). In any case, before I get boring, I'll leave you to enjoy the story :).

Chapter 18: Repercussions

Kikyo's cries echoed through the stone walls of the torture chamber as Inuyasha's head finally fell still after hours of torture. He lacked both his legs and arms, his torso was ripped open and his innards had been spilled on the floor. And for every cry of pain from her victim, Kikyo had cried twice as much.

"How do you feel now Kikyo," spat Kuro, satisfaction painted deep on her twisted face.

The helpless woman did not answer, only her sobs reached the creature's ears which made her laugh even more in sick satisfaction. But she wasn't done yet. There was still one more that she had kept for the very last. That pathetic sensor named Susune.

"I'm not done yet Kikyo! I've saved the best for last," snarled Kuro while yanking the miko's head in the direction of the table where Susune was strapped on.

"No... please Nesumi... I beg you spare her," whimpered Kikyo, her voice small and broken. "Not her, please... she's just a child..."

Of course, all this pathetic begging only served to fuel Kuro's sadistic pleasure. God how she would enjoy this. How she would enjoy soiling this innocent body. Taking slow and predatory steps toward the helpless child, she couldn't help but smile darkly in anticipation.

"Hum, I wonder what I should do with you," she whispered in a soft tone, her tracing the child's cheek lazily.

"Maybe I should pull your teeth one by one first... Or I could tear your nose away from your face... Or break your fingers one at a time before chopping them off..."

Each threat was punctuated by a double whimper from both Susune and Kikyo behind her. However, before she had a chance to go through with any of the intended torture, a loud pounding on the door disturbed her.

"Go away, I'm busy!" she called irritably.

"Kuro-sama, please you have to wake up... it's urgent!" called the voice.

"Wake up?" she repeated dumbstruck.

And as she looked around her, the scenery of the torture chamber vanished, replaced by that of her room. It took her a second to realize that the whole thing had just been a dream and then she immediately felt anger replace her surprise at whoever had interrupted such a pleasant experience. Getting up, she grabbed one of her robes and hastily pulled it on, effectively hiding her features.

"WHAT IS IT?" she spat gruffly, already thinking of the punishment she could inflict upon the servant who had foolishly interrupted her wonderful dream.

"K... Kuro-sama... lord Ishido, lord Nakamura and lady Chinatsu... they are all here and they... want to see you," stuttered the poor servant fearfully.

At this, the creature's blood froze in her veins. Those three lords... they were the ones who had given her the means to build up her organization. They had given her fundings, manpower and installations. They had agreed to support her in her quest to wipe humans from the face of the world. Yet, if they were all here right now... then things definitively couldn't be good.

"Bring them to the meeting room... I will be there shortly," whispered Kuro, a terrible foreboding falling over her.

Not paying any attention to the quickly retreating servant, Kuro went back to her room and discarded her current robe. Going to her closet, she frantically started to rummage through it in search of her finest garments. If this had anything to do with what she thought, then she was in deep trouble and it would take a lot more than sweet words to get her out of it.

A few minutes later, she was ready and on her way to receive her three most important allies. Her walk was brisk, yet very composed. She could not afford to let the three lords see how nervous she really was. Reaching her destination in minutes, she pushed open the door and was immediately greeted by three cold stares.

"Lord Ishido, lord Nakamura, lady Chinatsu... It is both a surprise and a pleasure to welcome you here," she greeted formally while sitting down at her appointed place at the head of the table.

"Cut the formality Kuro! We had an agreement and you chose to ignore its terms, we demand to know why!" spat Ishido icily.

"Ignore the terms of our agreement? Why Ishido-sama whatever are you talking about," questioned Kuro confused by this unexpected turn of event.

"You know perfectly well what terms we are talking about so don't play dumb," snapped Nakamura.

"Really my lords, I have..." began Kuro, but she was cut short.

"You mobilized the men we lent you without our consent! As a result, they have all been killed! How do you plan to account for this blunder!" interrupted Chinatsu, her voice so sharp that it could have cut through solid rock.

Blunder was probably not strong enough a word for the pit Kuro was now finding herself into. Not only had she to account for the destruction of an army that was not hers... but now she had to account for having forgotten about the terms of their agreement. Things looked bleak for Kuro right now... very bleak indeed.

"I really do apologize for having overstepped my authority. But the decision had to be made quickly so I had no time to contact any of you," replied the creature in the sweetest voice she could muster.

"NONSENSE!" cried Nakamura while slamming his fist on the table in outrage. "I want to know the reason you decided to send our men to this particular village while you knew full well that the hanyou Inuyasha and his friends had taken residence there!"

Looking at the cold and expectant face of her allies, Kuro finally sighed in resignation. "It had been brought to my attention that the miko who interfered in the first phase of our plan and the sensor we had been pursuing had taken residence there. Considering how strong the hanyou was claimed to be, I thought that a quick and massive attack would take care of all our problem," explained the creature.

"And why were we not informed of this sooner?" demanded Ishiro darkly.

"I... did not think you would mind my decision," answered Kuro, her voice somewhat subdued.

"No," whispered Chinatsu, her voice dangerously low. "The truth is you completely forgot. You forgot our agreement, you forgot your place, you forgot that without us supporting you, you are nothing!"

Kuro shifted uneasily in her chair, searching desperately for something to appease their anger, but nothing came to her mind and she remained embarrassingly mute.

"Well? Do you have anything more to say for yourself?" questioned Nakamura.

The creature merely shook her head slowly, the full weight of her failure crashing on her shoulders like a ton of bricks. "Then we are done here... permanently," concluded Ishido, strangely calm after such an onslaught.

The three then stood up and regally walked out the door under the stare of a completely defeated Kuro. Only when the wooden frame had clicked shut once more that life came back to the creature. Clenching her hands into fists, her whole body started trembling in barely suppressed anger. Finally, with an inarticulate cry of rage, she punched the nearest thing she could find, which happened to be her chair. The wood promptly exploded into a shower of splinters that flew haphazardly through the room. Everything was falling apart around her. Her organization, her big plan, everything was crumbling all thanks to one single person who happened to be there at precisely the wrong time.

"KIKYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" screamed the creature.

The silence of Kikyo's cell was abruptly broken when the door leading outside suddenly exploded inward, leaving the miko to stare in surprise as the form of Kuro slowly advanced toward her.

"I wonder what could be the matter this time," she thought as the creature seized her by the collar and hoisted her at eye-level.

"You..." she hissed and Kikyo was able to see that her features were livid with rage.

"Me?" inquired Kikyo curiously.

Letting her fall unceremoniously to the ground, the creature turned her back on her and began pacing through the small space the cell provided. Finally, after about a minute of this, she stopped and pointed her finger at the miko's immobile form menacingly.

"I will break you Kikyo. I will shatter your soul and your heart into thousands of pieces. I will see you down on the ground weeping over your friends crippled forms... and I will take the utmost pleasure in dismembering you limb by limb, extremely slowly," she snarled viciously.

"I doubt you came here merely to renew the same threat you already made to me," replied Kikyo calmly, though she couldn't help but wonder what had warranted such an unexpected entrance.

"Don't kid with me!" snapped Kuro angrily. "Thanks to your little stunt I've lost all the support I had worked so hard to get!"

Understanding dawned on the miko's features and she couldn't suppress the small grin that spread on her features. "So your organization is basically crumbling... how utterly disappointing," she taunted.

"You won't be so smart when I capture your friends," answered the creature darkly.

"Then I wish you a great deal of luck... because I doubt you'll be able to do alone what an army was unable to do," answered Kikyo confidently.

"You know nothing of the extent of my powers Kikyo so you would do well to shut your big mouth," replied Kuro, her calm slowly returning.

"And you know nothing of the extent of mine," shot back the miko just as a servant appeared behind her captor.

"Kuro-sama," he spoke urgently. "It's the hanyou and his friends, they're practically at our doorstep!"

"Impossible how could they find us so quickly!" exclaimed Kuro in surprise.

However, after a few seconds, her body went rigid and she slowly turned to Kikyo who sported a very smug smile expression on her features. "YOU!" she pointed accusingly, making the miko's smile widen.

"You got captured on purpose!" she roared, her anger suddenly returning full force.

"It's a bit late for you to realize this don't you think?" mocked the miko.

"I don't know how you pulled that stunt but it doesn't matter, I'll cripple them before they have a chance to reach you!" snarled Kuro before taking off down the corridor.

"Are you positive we're at the right place?" asked Inuyasha a skeptic frown dancing on his features.

"The fuyouheki field surrounding this place is so strong that it's been disrupting all the auras I've seen for miles now," answered Susune.

"Yeah and Kikyo did mention a cave to me a little earlier," confirmed Kagome.

"Good, then let's get going!" he said before drawing his Tessaiga and entering the cave confidently.

The others filed in behind him, weapons at the ready. After a few minutes of wandering, Susune noticed that Miroku had drifted close to her.

"I am a bit curious Susune... how can you see fuyouheki? Your gift should allow you to see auras, not a barrier like this," he questioned curiously.

"I don't exactly see it," she answered. "What I see and feel is its effect on the surrounding auras. It's pretty much like ripples in a pond right after you throw a rock in it."

"You see the waves... but not the stone. I think I understand," replied the monk, satisfied for now.

"Would you two be quiet already!" hissed the hanyou, visibly annoyed by the conversation. "Now which way do we go?" he questioned, motioning for the intersection they had just arrived to.

Kagome eyes glazed over as she focused within herself to contact Kikyo. A few seconds of silence later and the schoolgirl shook her head negatively.

"She doesn't know exactly where she is in all of this, but she says to be careful, Kuro knows we're here," she said.

"Well he sure doesn't show it," commented the hanyou. "And how about you Susune, any luck?"

The child closed her eyes and opened her sense as wide as it would go. However, she quickly realized that such a thing was futile. The entire place was saturated with fuyouheki, effectively clouding her entire vision. Hell, the distortion was so strong that she could hardly sense the auras of her friends next to her.

"I can't sense anything... the fuyouheki is blocking my view," she said after a few seconds of useless probing.

"Keh! Talk about a useful gift," grumbled Inuyasha, visibly frustrated by the whole situation.

"Oh knock it off!" snapped Sango irritably. "Without this 'useless' gift, we wouldn't even be here in the first place!"

The hanyou opened his mouth, visibly about to shoot a witty retort to the demon slayer, but then he appeared to think better of it and resorted to his traditional 'Keh!' before heading off into the left tunnel. The others looked at his retreating form for a second before they simply shrugged and followed suit.

"Is it just me or does Inuyasha seems a little... edgy," whispered Susune to Shippo who was walking beside her.

"He's just concerned for Kikyo... but he's too proud to admit it out loud," answered the kitsune with a light chuckle.

A murderous glare coupled with a warning growl effectively silenced his mirth though. After that, silence reigned supreme on the group. The only sounds reaching their ears was the soft tapping of their footsteps echoing through the empty hallways and the occasional crackling sound of a torch as they passed it.

Tension increased with each passing minute as the group did not encounter a single living soul in the tunnels. The dim light shed by the torches served only to put their nerves even more on edge than they already were. So by the time they actually reached another intersection, everyone was so tense that the slightest sound made their heads whip around in surprise.

Wordlessly, the hanyou took once again the left tunnel as Sango carved a small mark in the stone to show where they had already been. As it turned out however, they didn't have to go very far before their advance was blocked by an enormous pit. Peering over the edge carefully, Inuyasha threw a pebble in the darkness and waited to hear how long it would take it to reach the bottom. However, after a minute of complete silence, the hanyou he was forced to admit that trying to reach the bottom would be a useless task. Masking his unease with his traditional 'Keh!', he whirled around... and froze in utter surprise.

"GET DOWN!" he barked suddenly.

Not understanding, but knowing better than to argue with such an order, everyone promptly threw themselves to the ground just as a swarm of tentacles passed an inch over their heads. With his friends in the way, the hanyou was unable to unleash the power of his kaze no kizu and as such, he was forced to resort to his claws to push the oncoming wave back.

"Sankontessou!" he screamed as he launched himself in the fray.

Not being particularly strong, the appendages rapidly gave way to the hanyou's merciless assault and before long, they were all lying on the ground in countless pieces. The immediate danger thus being gone, the group quickly got back to their feet and turned around, weapons at the ready.

Sure enough, after a few seconds of waiting, a shape began to emerge from the darkness of the tunnel around them. It wore an ample black tunic that was topped with a wide hood that made it impossible to see his features.

"Bastard! Who the hell are you?" snarled Inuyasha.

Instead of answering, the figure merely raised its arms and suddenly, all the pieces of tentacles previously destroyed by the hanyou began converging back toward the extended appendages. When it was over, there was a soft glow of light and the pieces fused back together, allowing the gang to see the two regenerated tentacles protruding from the sleeves of their opponent's robe.

"This is..." began Miroku before Inuyasha cut him off.

"A demon puppet," he spat in disgust. "We don't have time for this!"

And then, raising his sword high above his head, he prepared to unleash his favorite attack when suddenly the puppet talked.

"Are you certain you want to unleash such an attack here hanyou?" chuckled their opponent darkly. "If you fire the kaze no kizu in such cramped quarters there's a good chance that the tunnel itself will collapse, not to mention that the blast could easily backfire considering that it has nowhere to go... so what will you do hanyou?"

"You bastard! You planned all this right from the start!" growled Inuyasha in anger.

"Of course," answered the puppet in a victorious tone. "The narrowness of the corridor negates your number advantage. The pit in the back prevents you from retreating and finally, my puppet will not allow you to go back the way you came. So to make a long story short, you are all... in very deep trouble."

"Keh! I don't need help to defeat such a stupid thing! I can do it alone even without my kaze no kizu!" snapped the hanyou before launching himself forward.

Before he could reach his target however, the puppet let loose a cloud of toxic fumes that immediately started converging toward Inuyasha and of course, his friends behind him. This brought his charge to a screeching halt and for a time, he just stood there, contemplating what to do.

"So what will you do now hanyou? If you breathe in this shouki, you'll die in a matter of minutes. As for your friends behind you... they probably won't even last two seconds in this miasma," taunted the voice before it broke into a fit of sadistic laughter.

"Don't underestimate me. If you think the kaze no kizu was the only trick I had up my sleeves then you're wrong you bastard!" growled Inuyasha.

With that said, he focused on his weapon and the white blade almost instantly turned blue. What's more, scales appeared on the upper part of the weapon. As soon as the blade finished its transformation, the rapidly advancing shouki immediately began being sucked into the waiting blade, leaving only clean air behind.

"The dragon-scaled Tessaiga... Inuyasha is using it to... absorb the toxic fumes released by the demon puppet," whispered Sango in awe.

"But... this isn't how it's supposed to be used," countered Kagome, worry creasing her features.

"There is no other way," replied the monk calmly, though his intense gaze spoke volume of the tension inhabiting him. "If Inuyasha is to charge forward, he has to get rid of the shouki and the only thing capable of doing this... is the dragon-scaled Tessaiga."

At just about this moment, what remained of the toxic vapors disappeared into Inuyasha's sword and the hanyou didn't plan on giving his opponent time to recover. He immediately closed the distance between him and the puppet and he cleaved it neatly in half. The two pieces turned back to dust and the thing crumbled to the ground harmlessly.

"Keh! I told you not to underestimate me!" he spat before turning back to his friends and motioning with his arm. "Come on, let's get the fuck out of here, we've wasted enough time as it is."

Not needing anymore prompting, the gang promptly did as they were told and hurried forward to rejoin Inuyasha who was impatiently waiting for them a short distance ahead. As they passed the remains of the puppet, they couldn't help but feel a sense of unease wash over them and this caused their steps to hurry even more.

All this hurrying proved to be completely pointless however because just as Susune and Shippo, who were last in line, were about to pass, the puppet decided to come back to life. With surprising rapidity, the two severed pieces fused back together and two tentacles shot forward, wrapping around the two child's torsos, lifting them off the ground easily.

"Did you really think my puppet could be destroyed so easily? How foolish of you," snickered the creature evilly.

"Let them go you bastard!" barked Inuyasha angrily.

"You aren't exactly in any position to order me around hanyou," mocked the puppet cruelly. "Now then, drop your weapons or I'll crush these two without a second thought!"

Meanwhile, Susune who had been frantically squirming in a desperate attempt to break free froze when she heard the order. "NO! Don't do it! This thing's gonna kill you!" she cried in horror.

"Shut up you little pipsqueak!" ordered the puppet, while squeezing harder and making the girl scream in pain.

"Susune!" everyone cried in concern.

"My patience is wearing thin. This is your last chance to surrender. Drop your weapons now or these two die!" ordered the puppet in a hard tone.

"Damnit! I have to do something!" thought Susune in frustration. "I have to break free somehow!"

It was at that instant that something peculiar caught her attention. Right behind the puppet, a small, barely noticeable black cloud rose from the ground, right where the thing's shadow was projected on the ground. "An aura? There?" she mused in surprised. "But... wait a minute what's this," she continued, as yet another thing registered.

The only source of light in the corridor was the torches hooked to the walls. She was currently being held right beside one of them and another was fished about six feet further on the other wall. Considering the angle of the light, the shadow should have been projected sideway and yet, it stretched in a straight line, completely ignoring the laws of physics.

"This isn't a demon puppet... it's a shadow! That's why it was able to regenerate after Inuyasha's attack," realized the child.

"So if it's a shadow then..." she concluded while looking at the torch that was conveniently burning right beside her.

Bending her knee, she sent her right foot crashing into the nearby torch. The object flew out of its holder under the force of the impact and sailed a short distance through the air, bouncing off the wall a mere foot behind the demon. Silence reigned supreme in the tunnel as the torch finished its course and rolled lazily on the ground, straight onto the shadow Susune had been aiming for.

There was a hissing sound as the flame came in contact with the demon's true form and the thing let out a howl of pain. Instantly, the tentacle holding Susune in place released its hold and the girl found herself falling to the ground. A quick glance to the side revealed that Shippo was in a similar situation.

"The shadow! We have to strike this thing's shadow!" she cried as she landed in a crouching position.

Drawing her katana, she propelled herself forward and passed right beside the creature's reflection. Not leaving it anymore time to recover, she drove her weapon downward into the blackness on the floor. She was rewarded with a piercing shriek as the thing cowered away from her blade, leaving its reflection to crumble on the floor.

"You're not getting away!" she cried while grabbing the fallen torch and taking off after the creature.

"Wait Susune! It's too dangerous!" warned Kagome, but the girl didn't listen, she was too intent on her target.

Grunting in frustration, the others were quick to follow after the quickly retreating child. They didn't have to go very far before they caught up with her as the pit at the end of the corridor wasn't extremely far away. Still, the spectacle that greeted them when they did rejoin the girl was so strange that it froze them in place.

A cloud of liquid blackness was standing in front of Susune, about one foot in front of the pit. Tendrils coming from that strange creature had wrapped around the girl's two wrists, holding them upward over her head while a third had wrapped around the girl's throat, slowly but surely choking her.

"Susune!" the gang cried in alarm.

"Don't... come... any... closer," managed to wheeze the girl. "Please save... Kikyo-sama... for me," she finished before returning her attention to the enemy in front of her.

And before anyone could react, the girl launched herself forward and collided with the monster in front of her. Time itself seemed to go in slow motion as the tangled pair toppled over in the pit behind and disappeared from view. Everyone stood rooted to the spot, unable to believe what they had just witnessed. Susune, the girl who had survived the slaughter of her village, the girl who had rallied the villagers behind her and mounted a desperate attack against an army, the girl they had taken in and trained, the child with an unbreakable will and determination had just willingly... jumped down an endless pit.

"This can't be... Susune," whispered Kagome, tears welling up in her eyes. "SUSUNEEEEEEEEE!" she finished in an anguished cry that echoed hollowly through the cold walls of the corridors around them.

Comment: The dragon-scaled Tessaiga is not my own invention. It's been introduced in the latest part of the manga so that Inuyasha can fight both Naraku and a youkai named Moryoumarou's increasing powers. It has the ability to suck up an opponent's youki, though it's not exactly the correct way to use it. It should be used to slice apart pockets of youki called youketsu, but in my story, Inuyasha had no other choice but to resort to this little trick in order to save his friends and himself from the shouki sent toward them by the demon puppet.

Author's note: Well, another cliffhanger... Susune's fallen in an endless pit. Is she dead or alive? Only future will tell ;). In the meantime, read and review people and I'll try to post the next chapter faster I promise ;).