Well, I'm finally back for anyone who cares, and hopefully that's a few. Some things get explained in this chapter about the nature of the prayer beads; I think it gets pretty interesting, but I'm kind of biased. For now we left off with Deadpool, Inu and a weird new person after Inuyasha exploded the hotel room...

"A-buh?" grunted Wade, incredulously.

The dainty woman lifted the immobilized man as casually as if he were a rag doll and flung him to the pavement.

"Ouch," protested Deadpool, "I think I just landed on one of my sais!"

"An explosion like that would have obliterated any normal human being," the woman's glittery skin seemed to glow faintly in the lamp light like polished stone while she stood over Wade's broken body, "as I suspected, the stones are protecting your life." She studied his neck for the treasure she sought, but to no avail.

"Where are they?" She bent down and began tearing away the shreds of clothing that remained around his chest and neck.

"Uh, it's not that I don't go for the psychotic and freakishly strong dominatrix-type, but I'm kind of dead from the neck down at the moment," Wade commented, observing her progress, "call me in a couple days, though, and I promise the wildest ride of you life…"

"Enough of this; if you don't have them, who does," yelled the woman lifting the mercenary by his throat and shaking him coercively, "how about the other one with you?"

"Who exactly are you looking for," said a smirking voice from behind her. Inuyasha held up the transformed Tetsusaiga, "would it be me?"

"Demon," muttered she as though this were an obscenity. Dropping the larger man, she sped toward the sword wielding youth with (he noticed) at least as much velocity as that wimpy wolf, Kouga had. He swung the blade, however, not fast enough. The woman neatly evaded his attack, sending a powerful kick to the half breed's stomach. Inuyasha was thrown back into a cinderblock wall.

Growling oaths, the boy sat up heavily from the rubble and marked the female's advance as she came at him again. He was shocked to smell no demonic aura radiating from her – in fact he could detect no scent at all! No matter, he didn't need any dark energy save his own to trigger the Wind Scar.

With growing effort, Inuyasha mustered his overtaxed youki once again and took aim. The woman paused in mid stride, frowning thoughtfully at him. She watched calmly, but made no move as he collected power around his massive sword. The young man suddenly hesitated without entirely knowing why.

"Save your energy," she spoke abruptly, "I can see you don't have what I'm after – and at any rate – I can't be killed by such a weapon."

"Just who'n the hell are you," demanded the silver haired youth, still holding Tetsusaiga aloft.

The other looked back over her shoulder and continued as if she hadn't heard, "Furthermore, I'd rather you not level this entire inn with your weapon – especially after I took such pains to contain the first blast you fools caused."

Inuyasha glanced at the hotel for the first time; it was true that the Tetsusaiga's attack should have done much more structural damage than was actually caused. Instead the destruction seemed to be concentrated within Deadpool's room alone. Panicked people roused by the tumult, nevertheless, were rapidly issuing from the building like ants from a trodden bed.

A large crowd was forming around the combatants, with the majority keeping a safe distance from the monstrous sword and its wielder. A few people hovered around Deadpool, apparently assuming him to be a mangled victim; indeed, his unmasked face and exposed skin was severely scarred.

Moments later, shrill sirens pierced the early morning air and rang in the hanyou's acute ears. Inuyasha felt a slight urge to howl.

"The authorities," announced the pearly-complexioned woman to the half-demon, "I'm not finished with you yet." Immediately, she flew to Deadpool and with his large form draped like a sacrificial animal around her shoulders, sped from the scene and the astounded onlookers.

Hey wait, blast it," shouted Inuyasha, charging after her, "just where do you think you're goin' with the mercenary?"

Suzuki

The girl was still alive, a fact that probably would have turned out quite the opposite if she hadn't managed to land in a clump of hedges near the building's entrance. Suzuki examined her still form laid out on the table like some damaged household item awaiting repair. One of her legs jutted out at an unnatural angle, her clothing was torn and her exposed skin lacerated from twigs and branches.

Checking her pulse, which was somewhat faint and erratic, he could just make out her shallow breathing. As far as he could tell she might have severe head trauma – might even be dying, probably would die if she didn't receive medical attention soon.

He cursed himself once again for rashly striking the girl when he was aware of her reckless antics. The beads were not happy with him either; he could feel a dull sting like jolts of electricity coursing through his body.

At last he possesed what he'd searched so long for. According to the old story, his ancestor, a priest named Nibori, received an extraordinary gift – some said from God Himself or some lesser deity – the same object now around his neck. Nibori, as it was passed down in Suzuki's family, became enlightened through meditation on the prayer beads, they also protected him from peril and secured his youth. With his increased spiritual powers, the priest drove out countless demons and earned many followers.

However, it was believed that somewhere along the way his divine necklace became tainted. Gradually Nibori's benign nature transformed into something greedy and self-serving; his followers no longer devoted themselves eagerly, but with weary oppression. The once holy man seemingly slipped into madness, accusing the pearly beads of corrupting him, yet refusing to part with them until one day when, from a high cliff, he cast himself and them into the sea. His remains were never recovered.

Suzuki's grandmother, likewise, always claimed that the prayer beads had been lost forever because the deities had destroyed them for their corruption. How they'd been tainted was still a disputable matter: one version of the story claimed the priest himself defiled the artifact through his own carnal desires, or rather his new found power turned him into a monster. However, the account his grandmother always preferred alleged that it was, in fact a demonic power that possessed the beads and drove Nibori to his death.

Suzuki no longer believed such stories after he reached about nine – not until some time after his thirtieth birthday when the dreams first began haunting him. The voice which instructed him to take the broken girl lying nearby had spoken in his sleep many times over the years: leading him, dropping hints, pressing him to search. The beads had chosen him, they were his legacy, and with them he would alter civilization forever.

The sixty year old man now turned his thoughts back to the child he'd been gazing at blindly throughout his ruminations. After again checking her feeble pulse, he at last came to a decision.

A familiar voice in his head affirmed him: Finish it now, while she still has a soul left!

Taro Suzuki assented.

Tokyo

"When I first felt the surge of power leave those beads, I followed it's signature to where the two of you were just making your getaway. I knew a struggle had taken place, and (since the pair of you remained) you were probably the losers. Nevertheless, I assumed you would pursue the possessor, so I followed you."

The three occupied the roof of an office building, that overlooked people making their ways to work, school and otherwise beginning their respective morning.

"So you're saying that you're the guardian of these enchanted prayer beads and you've been tracking us since Suzuki first ran off with them," asked Inuyasha suspiciously.

"Correct," replied 'Gina' the Guardian.

"Then how come I felt a demonic power when the old fart used them against Deadpool, but you don't give off any dark energy –or even a scent?"

"The power you sensed," explained the unnatural woman, "is from the demon whose soul now inhabits the beads. The demon was cunning enough to bind his soul to the necklace's magic before the priest who wore them could successfully exercise him; once that happened, the balance of power was overthrown and the rosary's original holy state was corrupted by the creature's malice. I myself am the result of that power struggle."

"What do you mean," said the hanyou.

"I am an entity; when the demon usurped the beads' power, the purity within them was cast out – thus forming me. I was responsible for preventing the monster's initial plan for vengeance, however," the maiden's face took on a distant expression, "I failed to follow through with its destruction."

Inuyasha frowned, "an 'entity', huh?"

"Like an astral form; you're just a psychic projection," offered an image induced Wade who slumped against the parapet while paying homage to the Village People in his current biker attire and handlebar mustache.

"More or less," agreed the woman.

The half-demon considered for a moment, "I get it; like an illusion?" Immediately, he thought of Shippo's fox-magic: how it appeared real when it actually wasn't.

"I've got a question," the merc again spoke up, "if you didn't think we had the beads in the first place, then why'd you rough me up and practically peel me like a banana the way you did?"

She scrutinized him with a frown, "To be honest, I though I'd made a mistake after I saw you'd survived that sword's blast. Any ordinary man would have been blown to pieces, so I assumed you must be protected by their powers."

"Oh, is that the only reason," Wade was visibly disappointed.

"Great, another pervert," muttered Inuyasha.

"I don't want to hear anything from you, Benji; I haven't forgotten how you tried to waste me!"

"I was holding back," the boy sneered, "believe me, if I'd wanted to waste you I would have."

"The same goes for me," retorted Deadpool, struggling to stand for the first time since his close encounter with Tetsusaiga's trade mark attack, "Gee, it's a good thing we have such a mutual fondness for one another, isn't it?"

The woman with the glittering skin watched in wonder as Wilson tottered about, trying to regain his bearings. "I can understand how the dog demon would recover fairly quickly from any injuries, but you're merely human; how are you still alive?"

Wade turned to look at her, and for a moment lost his balance. Tumbling forward, the image inducer on his belt hit against the graveled rooftop and flickered off. The man's mask was gone as well as the majority of his shirt, revealing a head and torso composed entirely of hideous scar tissue that was clearly not caused by the explosion.

The terrible specter slowly drew himself back up to full height. "Who says I'm either human or alive," he rasped in a disturbing chortle, "Can't you see I'm just as much a monster as the one living in those rosary beads?" With a final grimace, he turned his terrible countenance away from them, to the indifferent city below.

An uneasy pause followed. Eventually, Inuyasha approached Gina, "Now I have a couple of questions: namely, why does he want Kagome and do you have any idea where he is right now?"

"Every time power goes out from the beads I feel it,"she answered, "from that I can judge their approximate distance if not their exact location. In fact, around the time I came upon the two of you battling it out, I felt it a second time rather strongly."

"So that means we're close," the young half-demon perked up.

The Guardian crossed her arms thoughtfully, "not necessarily; it may only have been strong because the beads are gaining power – which I'd expect at this point. As for your lover," (the half-demon's face went as red as his kimono at this) "I can only assume she possess a very potent spirit that the stones can readily feed from. However, I am certain they must still be somewhere on the islands, or I would have returned to a state of dormancy as I am connected to the mystical properties of the stones."

"Then we'd better get moving before that changes; we don't know how much time we have."

"You have until the creature's soul gains enough power to leave the prayer beads and inhabit the current wearer's body – after gaining a physical body he will become more dangerous than ever," she informed him.

Inuyasha turned toward Deadpool who remained with his back to them, still silently surveying the urban sprawl, "So Wade, are you coming or what? I could use a decoy to keep that Demon busy while I rescue Kagome, and you might prove fairly useful after all!"

At his remark, the man in question leisurely faced the flushed hanyou, and studied him blankly. Taken aback, Inuyasha could suddenly trace Wade Wilson's distorted psyche over the craggy terrain of the other's misshapen features. Horror shrouded the mercenary's ghastly visage – obviously death and madness had been his constant companions for quite some time.

For several moments he continued to vacuously ponder the white haired youth the way a cow does a new gate before he finally seemed to regain some cognizance. Amacabre smile split his face, "Why not, I doubt if there's anything that pansy demon could do to me that bigger and badder sons-of-bitches haven't already done." He guffawed long and bitterly, as though the butt of some cosmic joke, and after a minute of searching the compartments of his belt, found a new mask which he quickly donned.

The boy stared uncertainly at the lunatic for a couple moments before addressing the Guardian once again, "Right. If you have any idea where that guy with those beads are, then take us there now!"

The woman gave him a dark look, "I have no way of knowing that you won't attempt to take them once I do lead you to him."

"I don't give a damn about that worthless trinket," flared Inuyasha, "All I care about is finding Kagome – er – and she's not my lover, okay!"

"What are you so worried about anyway, you can hurt us a lot easier than we can hurt you," Deadpool pointed out.

"Bah! I already have one string of beads I'd like to get rid of," groused Inuyasha, pointing at his chest.

"Demonic entities, immortality: been there, done that," yawned Wade, "as long as I can still juggle Ginsu Knives relatively free of consequences I don't really care."

"And even if you don't lead us we'll still find the creep ourselves, lady," declared the hanyou with finality. "So what'll it be, huh?"

The Guardian looked placidly from one to the other. She opened her mouth to reply, but stopped as an expression of pain and shock shuddered over her features.

"What," said the men in unison.

"He's using them again," she answered with effort, "I can feel the energy very strongly; at this rate the soul in the beads will soon have enough strength to possess a host body."

"Then what'll happen," asked Wade, picking out a stray piece of shrapnel from his chest.

The woman gazed at both of them evenly, "He'll take all the power from the rosary with him, and I will fade away to nothing."

"And Kagome," inquired Inuyasha.

She looked at him pityingly, "the girl will be killed."