Chapter twelve: Titans' Tower

'Get everyone out of here,' Raven said in a strained voice. Sesshoumaru could see Jinx sending bolt after bolt at the thin, transparent barrier that contained her and the motionless Cyborg, and the empath's arms were trembling with the force they were absorbing. The inside of the barrier was pulsing with fire. 'It's going to blow. NOW, or she'll kill us all!'

And for the first time in centuries, Sesshoumaru obeyed a direct order and ran.

He found most of them scattered through the common area, and his roar of 'Attack. Get out of the Tower!' was enough to get them moving. He sniffed. Rin. Where was Rin? The roof, with the green boy. The Tower blurred past him as he raced to the roof, not bothering to open doors to go through them. The boy was on the roof, transformed into some strange goat with large horns, Rin giggling on his back. Sesshoumaru didn't even stop. 'Get her off the Tower. It's going to explode.' The boy nodded and transformed into an eagle, picking the child up in his talons and flying off over the water, but Sesshoumaru was already back in the Tower.

Raven's teeth were gritted and her entire body was convulsing. Jinx wasn't even visible inside the barrier anymore. Instead, there was only white fire, star-hot. Whatever she did, it wasn't going to keep for more than ten seconds. At most. Maintaining the secondary barrier that kept Cyborg safe from the searing heat Jinx was projecting was much more difficult. She was just about to let go when Sesshoumaru blinked back next to her, eyes darting as he took in the situation, drawing his sword. She wanted to scream at him to get out, but before she could unclench the muscles necessary to do so the barrier failed. She had just enough time to step in front of him and draw her cloak around them both………

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From his perch on the waterfront of Jump City, Sango stared as Titans' Tower glowed red-hot instantly. Starfire, who was still carrying Robin and Miroku, swerved crazily as she saw it too, falling to the ground from the shock. Inuyasha leapt to intercept her, catching all three in midair and landing safely. The crimson Tower in the middle of the harbour burned for another microsecond before it erupted.

A pillar of white fire as large as the island rose to the skies, vapourising every cloud in its vicinity, blasting upwards as if it wanted to reach outer space. It nearly did. The explosion was all the more frightening because it was completely soundless. Apart from the sound of the Tower shattering, there was no crackle of flame, no mushroom cloud, nothing remotely normal about the fire. Its base expanded in an eyeblink, blinding them and streaking out at the city. Raven must have shielded the city from the worst of the blast; its force expended before it reached, and the white fizzled and faded abruptly just a few hundred metres away from the place where they were standing. It was still extending outwards, and the pillar of flame blazed for another second before winking out abruptly. Blue afterimages danced across Sango's eyes. She could see the sea floor. The fire had simply erased the ocean.

A factory siren shrilled loudly. They all jumped.

'Raven…….' Beast Boy said numbly.

'Sesshoumaru-sama?' Rin added.

'Goddamn,' Robin said, pale. He swore so rarely that they all stared at him. 'Tidal wave.'

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The depth of the ocean in the natural harbour of Jump City ranged from a couple of hundred feet at its deepest to thirty or forty at its shallowest. The entire harbour was now dry, and the ocean rushed to fill the vacuum in blind obedience to natural law. The wall of water seething towards the unsuspecting city was now some fifty feet high. The Titans stood, shell-shocked, as the wave approached the place they had fought all these years to protect. It had already covered the island. The shriek of the water grew louder, and Inuyasha cursed as he hoisted Kagome onto his back and leapt up to a terrace high enough to be safe. He jumped back down to continue the rescue, dimly aware that the rest of the group was doing likewise, and by the second trip he knew they were out of time.

Seconds before the wave hit, a solid wall of transparent air smashed into the wave from above, gentling it and pushing some of the water back. The wave that finally hit the harbour was only six feet tall. The barrier released gently, ensuring that the ocean remained somewhat calm. Inuyasha whistled in appreciation. Making such a barrier wasn't something just anyone could do.

Beast Boy transformed and flew to the island that was just appearing over the waves, faster than anyone had ever seen him fly. Halfway across, he transformed into a dolphin and dived beneath the surface.

'Yo, dog breath!'

Kagome laid a reflexive hand on his arm as he growled, hands crooking into claws equally reflexively. Kouga leapt off Kagura's feather, which was hovering over their heads. He was still dressed in his old costume, but the fur and breastplate had been replaced by supple leather. He was barefoot, and his tail waved as bushily as ever from the back of his pants.

'Really, Kouga. Must you be so uncivilised?' Kagura said as she hopped off the feather they were on, shrinking it and tucking it into her hair. In contrast, she was dressed in an entirely modern fashion in a conservative skirt-and-blouse outfit. 'So. Nice work?'

'Brilliant, my love,' Kouga said, giving her a hug and an exuberant kiss on the top of her head, the only place he could reach since she was facing the others. Kagome watched him warily, hoping he wouldn't grab her hand and start flattering her again. It was deeply disturbing when he did that, but not quite as disturbing as seeing him with Kagura. There, she had to agree with Inuyasha, who was trying hard not to gag. That was just wrong.

'You didn't take that……thing…..from Denthrax Four, did you?' Robin said skeptically.

'Uh, no. The ship's in the woods, duh.'

'That was quite impressive, Kagura,' Miroku said, calm as ever in the face of the weird.

'I had five centuries to practice,' the Wind User said, shrugging. 'What actually caused the wave? I just got here.'

'Titans' Tower blew up,' said Robin in some disbelief. Nothing could possibly have survived that blast.

Kagome keeled over, unconscious.

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Pain. A lot of pain, spread out all along Sesshoumaru's back, and salt water stinging recent burns gained from being propelled at high speed through the ultra-thick red-hot walls of Titans' Tower by the explosion. A dead weight pressed to most of his front. Which was quite unburned, except for his lower legs, and that was strange, because hadn't he been facing the blast? He took a shuddering breath and immediately regretted it as a wash of cool water entered his nostrils. His arm tightened instinctively around the weight – Raven, he remembered her stepping in front of him – as he began to choke. Which way was the surface? His eyes were blinded. He'd lost his grip on Tenseiga. Even the fang hadn't put up a barrier strong enough to keep them safe. Raven must have thrown everything into that shield.

A huge mouth opened right behind him and swallowed them whole.

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He woke up again a minute or so later as Beast Boy (in whale form) blew him and Raven out of his mouth and onto a rocky beach. The impact sent another vicious stab of pain in his back, which had just begun healing. Sesshoumaru wrinkled his nose……and sneezed several times. He lifted his arm up experimentally, wincing in disgust as whale saliva dripped off it. That child had foul breath.

Raven wasn't breathing. He couldn't hear the sound of it, and her heart was already slowing.

The untransformed Beast Boy darted up the beach to them. 'Is she okay?' he demanded. Sesshoumaru let go of the dead girl, rolling himself upright as he coughed again and again, trying to get rid of the water in his nose and lungs. He grunted, annoyed that he'd fallen into deep water again. He lost all sense of direction in the water because it warped his hearing and smelling so badly; this made him extremely vulnerable to drowning, and he hated it. He looked at the Titan, who was pressing down on Raven's chest repeatedly and listening to her lungs. A waste of time. He reined his emotions in carefully and began to fly off, before a choking sound made him turn back. Raven was coughing up water, and her hand was scrabbling weakly at the sand under her. Sesshoumaru watched quietly, making no move towards her or away. The burns were really beginning to sting, now that the adrenaline was slowing. They were going to take hours to heal.

'Rae!' Beast Boy yelped delightedly, and grabbed her into a hug, burying his face in her hair and pulling her into a sitting position. 'Rae.'

'Get off me,' she mumbled, comically horrified, but one arm came up reluctantly to hold him back. The green Titan sighed happily for a second before he frowned, pulling away as her arm dropped apathetically.

'Raven. Where's Cy?'

'Cy.' The empath's eyes widened and she tried to stand before flopping back down to the ground. She growled, frustrated, and tried again with no success. 'I think the barrier held. He could be anywhere in the water…….maybe he's even awake.'

'Tenseiga's in there as well,' said Sesshoumaru. Asking a mortal for help. This really wasn't his week. Only two things could make it worse. He could die, or Inuyasha could hug him. Now there was a real nightmare.

'Relax. I'll go look.' The shapechanger dove into the water again.

'It's times like this I wish Aqualad hadn't joined Titans East instead,' Raven complained as she tried a third time to stand. When she couldn't, she groaned and flopped onto her back, glaring at the sky. 'I don't suppose you'd actually come over here and help?'

'Ah, but I like to watch you suffer,' he said.

She stared at him. 'Was that a joke? Well. The world really is ending.'

He huffed and pulled her upright, keeping her standing with the aid of a fistful of cloak. Raven wobbled madly, grabbing his arm to support herself.

'On second thought, maybe you were serious.'

His lip twitched. 'Completely. Are you feeling dizzy?'

'I don't have the time to feel dizzy. Can you take me to where the others are? I'm too tired to fly.'

Sesshoumaru hned in agreement and tightened his grip around her.

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'He's distracted now,' Naraku said conversationally to Kagome, who shivered slightly at the shock of seeing him. They were in a small featureless gray room, and he had just told her that they were in his mind. 'If he weren't recovering from causing that blast through the girl's body I'd still be stuffed in a corner of my own.'

Well, Kagome thought. I've always been too brave for my own good. Let's see where this goes. 'He's using your youkai. You're not in control at all?'

The hanyou laughed bitterly. 'Does it look like it? Listen carefully. I haven't much time. Don't give me any information; he might find out. Jinx's soul is not within her body anymore. He's ripped it out and placed it within a cage in mine. She will not return to her body. Don't hesitate to kill it if you see it.' Naraku's eyes darted continuously from side to side of the little gray room and she could sense his fear. It was palpable. 'His powers are a combination of his and mine.'

'So T-'

'Don't say his name!' the hanyou hissed, clapping a hand on her mouth. 'He's going to reconstruct here.' A flash of a dark underground chamber lit up the inside of Kagome's mind. 'Tonight, at moonrise. You have five, maybe six hours left. If I can strike, I will only strike as night falls. Remember that,' he stressed. 'I want him dead as much I've ever wanted………never mind. I won't know when night falls; you'll have to tell me. I am on your side today. He's going to attack you all. To keep you from the place where he's going to ascend or to get the Shikon shards; either will fulfill his purposes. Two shards are not in this world, I understand?'

Kagome paled. 'No. They're here.'

'Don't tell me that! Keep the shards safe. And stop the ascension.'

'You don't sound normal.'

'You're not here to analyse my speech patterns. Now get the hell out.'

Everything blurred and she felt him touch her cheek ever so lightly. His whisper of 'Kikyou,' was the last thing she knew

before she woke up to find Inuyasha staring at her, so close her eyes crossed trying to focus on him. 'Kagome?' he said inquiringly in that harsh half-whisper he used when he was worried about her; that whisper that warmed her heart. He could be so sweet, she mused dreamily for a second.

'Inuyasha,' she smiled and grabbed one of his ears on reflex. He flicked it out of her grasp and sat back. 'Well, you're back to normal. Why did you pass out, stupid?'

'I didn't faint,' she said indignantly. It was really amazing how easily he could annoy her! 'I was…..' and she trailed off. Not one of the three here who knew Naraku would pay the least attention to anything he said. He could play poker with the devil and win, and he had proved himself a traitor a hundred times over. Kagome was the only one who'd never lost anything to him. Miroku's life, Sango's family, Inuyasha's love. But he did seem sincere, and he'd been afraid. That, if nothing else, convinced her. Naraku had never displayed fear. Anger, smugness, shock, rage, bitter sorrow……….but he had never been afraid.

'Kagome? Are you spacing out on me?'

'Wha? Uh, no.' She scrambled to her feet, dusting off. 'I had a vision.'

Inuyasha arched one dark eyebrow. 'A vision? Are you sure you didn't just, hallucinate or something? Since when do you have visions?'

'Since now, you jerk!'

'Keh!' he said and crossed his arms across his chest. 'Wench.'

'Inuyashaaaa……' she said sweetly. He cringed.

Quickly, she told them what Naraku had told her, making it seem as if she had seen the images. When she told them about the underground room, Robin frowned.

'Think she's talking about the library, Ra–'

He cut himself off. Except for Starfire, who was crying silently at the edge of the roof, he was the only Titan there. Beast Boy was looking for Raven, and she and Cyborg –

No. He wasn't going to go there, because that wasn't something he could handle.

'This is serious,' Kagura remarked.

'Keh! Tell me something I don't know.'

'Inuyasha…..'

'Go ahead and sit me, idiot!' the hanyou yelled. 'See if I care.'

'Actually, I was going to tell you that Sesshoumaru's coming.'

The hanyou spun around faster than any of them to stare at the approaching white-clad dripping form of Sesshoumaru. Kagura, who had the keenest eyes, spotted the dark shape first. 'He's got Raven!' she called to the others. The tension grew until Raven lifted one arm and waved weakly at them. Robin felt his eyes burning behind his ever-present mask as they landed on the terrace. Starfire squealed and gave Raven one of her infamous bone-crushing hugs. Raven batted her away as she grew slowly purple for lack of breath. 'Two hugs in a day,' she complained under her breath, clutching her throat. Sesshoumaru felt a twinge of pity. He knew exactly how she felt. Rin's hugs could be….. disturbingly tight at times. She was giving him one now, with all four limbs wrapped tightly around his right leg; the only way she could hold on tighter would be to dig in with her teeth. She was talking faster than a chipmunk, and the demon knew better than to focus on her conversation. That was an express route to a raging migraine. Robin stepped up next, giving Raven a much softer hug and a hand-squeeze before smiling and moving back to let everyone else have their turn. As he turned away to stare at the ocean, Sesshoumaru felt oddly……….no. He was never lonely, was he? But watching Raven surrounded by her friends was troubling, because it simply highlighted the fact that except for Rin, he didn't really have any real–

Someone tapped him gently on the shoulder and he looked over, surprised he hadn't heard footsteps. Kagome stood there, smiling. 'I'm glad you're alive,' the miko said. In a whisper, she added, 'And so is that idiot brother of yours, even if he won't admit it in a million years.'

Sesshoumaru nodded in reply and looked away. Something clicked inside him then, a new link established in his aura. He recognised it. So Kagome had acknowledged him as pack. That made two agreed and two undecided. He felt Inuyasha's eyes on him from across the terrace, felt the wariness and regret and indecision in his last blood relative. The fates truly did hate him.

'Robin,' the communicator crackled. 'I've found Cyborg and the sword.'

'How is he?'

'Uhh…….remember the time we went to see who was trashing that communications station and that big ugly chased us all and the T-ship crashed on that planet with the big aliens and he went to pieces and I had to put him back together?'

'Ye-es,' Robin said carefully.

'Worse. Much much worse.'

'How much worse, Beast Boy?' he snapped, keeping precarious hold on his rapidly fraying sanity. A long meaningful silence from the communicator.

'It's going to take months, Robin,' the Titan said finally. 'If it can be done at all. His head's been injured this time, and he's the only one who can repair himself.'

Robin covered his eyes for a second, closing them under the mask, his face twisting slightly. 'Okay. Leave Cy on the island and get the sword here. Out.' Robin clicked it shut as a distant green shape took wing from the rocks. 'So. We're short a Titan. Raven, take Kagome and go check out the library. If it is the place, let us know immediately. The rest of us are going to stock up on weapons and then follow you.'

'Robin. We don't have a weapons store anymore. It kind of blew up?'

The Boy Wonder stared at her as if she was stupid. 'Do you really think the tower was the only place I stashed stuff?'

'Heh,' Raven said sheepishly. 'All right then.'

'I'm not sure I should be going anywhere near Jinx,' Kagome said thoughtfully. 'I mean, if Trigon's there, and he captures us, he'll have all the shards but two.'

'Which is why you'll give me the shards until you get back.' Robin extended a gloved hand to her. The miko looked doubtfully at it.

'What makes you think I'll let you have the shards?' Inuyasha said suspiciously.

'Don't be a fool,' Robin snapped. 'I've no interest in these shards of yours. What's the matter, you afraid of me?'

Inuyasha's teeth bared. The Titan stared him down, irritated.

The hanyou snarled wordlessly before turning away. Kagome lifted the chain with the Shikon shards off her neck and handed it to him. 'Don't touch them,' she cautioned. 'And don't let anyone else take them.' The Titan nodded seriously.

'I think we'll stay here,' Miroku said. 'They might have need of our knowledge.' Kouga opened his mouth to say that he knew more than the monk, but Kagura stepped on his foot hard and he shut up. 'If I may have a word with you before I go, Kagome?'

'Of course, Miroku,' Kagome said warily. The monk looked serious, and that wasn't a good thing. A serious Miroku saw too much and said too little to be comfortable.

He knelt down on the terrace, dragging her down with him; pulled out a piece of chalk from somewhere in his robes and began writing swiftly on the concrete. Kagome was puzzled for a second before she understood. Writing was an effective way to keep Inuyasha or Sesshoumaru from listening in.

What actually happened?

I don't know what you're talking about, Miroku.

Yeah, right. You're a lousy liar.

Does it matter? The information is accurate.

It matters. You wouldn't lie about what you learnt, but as to how you found out – who was it, Kagome? Was it Naraku?

Kagome's face went tomato-red and her jaw dropped. 'H-h-how did–' she squeaked. Miroku raised an eyebrow and shushed her silently.

If it had been anyone else, you would have told us. It's probably wiser that you didn't. I don't think the other two would accept it. That was your reason, right?

I hate you.

Thank you. I know. I love you, too.

Pervert, she wrote fondly. Are you going to tell the others?

No, not if you don't want to.

Naraku said that if he could, he would strike at sunset. Do you know what he meant by that?

No, though it rings a bell. I'll think about it.

Miroku stood up, erasing their conversation. 'Thank you, Kagome,' he said and smiled. Kagome threw him a grateful wink.

Behind her, Raven raised her hands. A stream of dark energy shrouded the others, settling into their bodies. 'Raven?' Beast Boy asked.

'It's what I did the last time. It should make you immune to the mass-spells Trigon casts. Remember what he did last time?' The Titan shivered. The entire world – and everyone in it – had been turned instantly to stone.

'Come on,' Raven said impatiently as she walked deliberately to the door leading inside the building. 'We're running out of time.'

'Aren't you going to fly?' Kagome asked, curious.

'In case you didn't notice, I'm tired. Public transportation sounds good right now.'

'Keh. Too slow.' Inuyasha was standing next to Kagome, hands tucked out of sight as always. 'Climb on, wench.'

'You'd spill her in a moment, you clumsy fool,' Sesshoumaru commented from across the terrace.

'I do not! I carry her all the time!'

'And how do you propose to carry Raven at the same time?'

'Eeh……' Inuyasha said, scratching his head.

'Oh, look, it's thinking. Stop before you get hurt,' the inuyoukai said as he stepped up next to them. 'Hn. I'll carry her.' He scooped Raven up in his arm, pinned her to his front and leaped off the roof. 'Race you there, brother!' he called. Inuyasha swore and leaped to the next roof as Kagome whooped and clutched his shoulders for dear life.

'We don't know the way!'

'I've got a map!' Kagome yelled.

Interlude the second: the hexer

I'm in your mind, aren't I? Trigon?...Father? Or am I in mine? It doesn't matter. I don't like it in here.

I haven't been in control since I collapsed after bringing Sesshoumaru to the future. I'm not sure I'm all that concerned about it. I've falsified the second prophecy. The Lord of the Western Lands, Sesshoumaru – that was how the prophecy identified him. By removing him from Japan, I've ensured that the prophecy is annulled. Even if Trigon's found another body to occupy, it won't fulfill the conditions of the prophecy. He's lost the support of the heavens, and he will not succeed. I've done what I can, given Trigon's control over me, and I am content.

Well, not really.

I've begun seeing events now. I'm inside my own body, but not. I mean, I'm looking at what happens to my body, but I'm not in there anymore. I killed Raven. I killed Sesshoumaru. I killed Vic. No. NO! It wasn't me! Yes it was, says His voice, taunting me. I scream defiance, but what good is defiance when your head's on the block? It is futile as a breeze in the face of a dead man. It was my hand that lifted to strike at him, my arm that blasted Titans' Tower to kingdom come, and my hand that shattered Vic into tiny pieces. Mine. My hand. That responsibility will haunt me for the rest of my days. Thank heavens they're few. I was weak and I couldn't resist. I fought for two weeks, but it wasn't enough. Raven, Vic, Sesshoumaru – I am sorry.

'Sesshoumaru?'

The voice isn't mine or Trigon's. Could it be possible for a soul to lift its head? If so, then I look up at the owner of the voice.

It's a man, tall and slender and so handsome, he's almost pretty. But his red-brown eyes are cold beyond compare. I shiver. I've seen Trigon's raw power, and I've seen Slade's sophisticated deadliness, but this man sends a chill through me. His hard gaze bores into me unforgiving.

'You know the inuyoukai?'

Who is this man, and why is he – oh. Of course. He's the owner of Trigon's current body. I smile bitterly at him. I'm the only one who can understand exactly what he's going through. 'I brought him to the future. Trigon was trying to acquire his body.'

'And now he has mine instead. Girl, I would kill you a hundred times over for that if you weren't dead already.'

'We're both dead.'

'So we might as well dance,' he says with a sharp nod. Yes, we understand each other perfectly.

'Can you see outside events, girl?' he snaps.

'My name is Jinx. And yes, yes I can.'

'Good. When it is nightfall, call out. I will strike.'

'What is that supposed to mean?'

He doesn't reply; turns to leave. Desperate, I call out. 'Wait! Please! Don't leave me alone in here!'

He lifts a hand in agreement before sitting down next to me.

A/N: Four chapters and an epilogue...and then done! Whale-form Beast Boy, I really love him. 'Two words, Beast Boy. Breath mints.'

Um, review, please. I am feeling unhugged by my readers. Failure to receive reviews before I update again will result in pathetically pleading four-line poems requesting them.

Review, Review / Oh where are you / I ask my readers / To give me my due...etc