Sins of Blairwood-25


~The Search Pt5/Conflict~

"Ugh, we've searched everywhere for her." Senshi groaned as they crossed over a bridge connecting two platforms in the trees. "Where could Rin be?"

"I don't know where she could be, but let us out." Mitsu said.

"Yeah, the whole reason we agreed to join you in sneaking out is so we could have some fun." Momo added.

"An' that's why you're in the Perfect Cube." Senshi stated. "If you're not gonna help, then that tells how little you actually care about family. I'm sending you back to the tower."

"No don't." Mitsu said. "You both need us to get around the village."

"You'll get lost the moment you step foot off this bridge. Do you wanna find Auntie Rin or not?" Momo added. "Don't be a couple of idiots."

"I think we'll take our chances." Senshi said, preparing to snap his fingers.

Senshi's spell was paused however, when they heard the sound of laughter coming from a bit of ways down the bridge.

"You guys are funny." A Yokai woman with long sharp fingernails, said as she scratched into the wood. "An' cute too. So cute in fact, someone might just come along, and eat you up."

*Who's this weirdo?* Mitsu whispered.

*Don't know.* Momo whispered back.

As Senshi and Erma turned to leave, the Yokai was right in front of them.

"Name's Mei." She said with a wicked smile.

Senshi turned around, to see she just stretched her body impossibly long, from where she'd been standing.

"I couldn't help but overhear, your little situation here. Trying to find your aunt, right?" Mei asked. "You know, wondering around out here can be pretty dangerous. You never know what kind of strangers can just, creep up on ya."

"Like you just did?" Senshi asked, getting on his guard.

"Aw, now don't be like that, I just wanna help out." Mei said, getting close to Erma, with one of her nails under the child's chin. "Do you happen to have a picture of your aunt by any chance?"

"Thanks, but no thanks. We don't need help, from someone with such an evil aura." Senshi said, pulling Erma back. "You don't wanna actually help us. You're just stalling for time, aren't you?"

"Figured me out huh?" Mei smiled, retracting her body back to her legs. "Guess this kid's smarter then he seems, for a half breed that is, right Toru?"

The sound of a metal bat tapping against the wood could be heard as someone stepped up from behind Erma and Senshi.

"Well, well, well." The Oni said with a smirk. "What do we have here? Looks like a couple of snakes you found here, Mei. Not that I'm complaining, snakes are my kind of animal. They put up more of a fight."

"I don't know honey, you might not get a descent fight out of the half breeds." Mei said.

"Let's see." Toru said, hitting Senshi and Erma on the head. "Huh, look at that. The freaks got a couple of sturdy noggins. I wonder how many hits I can get in, before they completely splat all over the ground. Only one way to find out, right?"

"Cute bat, but is that supposed to scare us?" Momo asked, before the four of them noticed their breath was visible in the air.

"Don't hog all the fun for yourself Toru." A new voice said, coming from the roof of the platform behind Mei. "We need to savor every moment we have for those two."

"Oh, you want first dibs on these four Kiko?" Mei asked.

"To be honest, I don't really care about the twins." Kiko said, creating a slide of ice, to Erma and Senshi. "You can slice one up, while Toru bashes the other to a mushy pulp. Make mincemeat out of them, and send it to their mom if you really feel like it. I'm more interested in what, these things, with the long and multi-colored hair, have to offer. After all, this is the one who spawned from Emiko Yuriemoto, and he's a descended of the Demon King who ruled from the Western regions. Which means, they should have quite the tricks, up their sleeves."

"Haha. He's a descendant of that pathetic loser?" Toru asked. "That's surprising, since we Yokai are far superior to those Demons from Britannia. So what would one be doing, with two Yokai, and a half-breed freak?"

Toru's question was answered, when a Chastiefol in it's spear form, was under his neck.

"You'll find I'm more then just a Demon." Senshi stated.

"Oh, surprising. A Sacred Treasure, from the Fairy King's Forest Sacred Tree." Mei smiled amused. "Only the Fairy King himself, or his successor has one of those."

"Erma, grab the Perfect Cube, now." Senshi said.

Erma just looked at Senshi in concern, before begrudgingly agreeing to do so. The moment she placed her hand on the cube Mitsu and Momo were in, Senshi snapped his fingers, and the three girls were gone.

"Aw, you sent your little friends away." Mei said.

"Didn't want them in on the fun, eh kid?" Toru asked, knocking Chastiefol away.

"Trying to play the hero, won't make this any less painless for you kid." Kiko said.

"I sent them somewhere safe." Senshi stated, removing his sunglasses. "Now, they won't get caught in the crossfire."

"Bold words kid." Toru smirked, preparing to swing his bat. "Let's see how well you hold up to them."

The moment the bat was swung, Senshi held up his arms to block it, and was sent into the railing of the bridge.

"Not so tough with your arms broken now, are ya?" Toru asked.

"I think we should play with him a bit, before killing him." Mei said.

"Couldn't agree more." Kiko stated, freezing him in ice, like it was a crucifixion. "Let's make it slow, and agonizingly painful."


~Bar~

"Oh man, then what did Senshi do to the poor clown?" Daiki asked.

"Then he…"

Before Ben or Sam could continue telling their story about Senshi, Erma, Mitsu, and Momo popped in out of nowhere, and landed on the ground with a heavy thud.

"What, kids?" Kentaro asked.

"Uncle Kentaro." Mitsu and Momo said, before the Perfect Cube vanished.

"Was that Senshi's Perfect Cube?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, and he kept us in there so we wouldn't cause chaos." Momo said as Erma was tugging on Ban's sleeve.

"But that's not important right now. Senshi's facing off against three Yokai thugs right now." Mitsu said.

"Eh, he'll be fine." Ben said. "Senshi's tough."

"What were their names?" Kentaro asked.

"Mei, Toru, and Kiko." Momo stated.

Ben had been taking a swig of his drink, before he did a spit take, narrowly missing Rui as he turned away from her, and looked to the girls.

"What did you just say?" Ben asked. "Was one of them an Oni with a metal bat, a Snow Woman with a demon face mask and a Ponytail, and a Taka-Onna who seems big on sadism?"

"Yeah, that's all three of them." Mitsu said.

"Damn it." Ben cursed, grabbing Ban and taking off running.

"Ben, where are you going?"

"To save my nephew. Those three are way out of his league." Ben cried out, leaving the bar.


~Senshi~

"This is fun." Toru smirked, hitting Senshi with another swing of his bat.

"No matter what we do to him, he just keeps on regenerating." Kiko said, looking to the pile of dismembered and frozen body parts, consisting of several heads, over a dozen arms, half a dozen legs, and about twenty pairs of hearts and lungs, while Senshi's Spirit Spear, was frozen in a block of ice, unable to come at his command. "It's like this brat can't die or something. But he's surely got a limit to that ability of his."

Kiko was right, and Senshi knew it. His immortality wasn't as strong as Ban's, and had its limits, and would render him just as vulnerable to fatal injuries as any mortal, human, Fairy, Giant, or demon. An' unfortunately for him, the severity of the damage they've caused him

'Not good. My immortality has its limits, and they've been maxed out.' Senshi thought. 'If they keep this up, I'll die for real this time. An' I can't reach my power dampener to remove it.'

"Who cares, so long as we're having fun." Mei smiled. "Maybe… we should use the powers our boss gave us, and have a bit of fun with him that way."

"Good idea." Kiko said as something black came seeping from her hands. "Dark-Dark: Endless Abyss!"

"String-String: Thread Double!" Mei smiled, creating a second Mei with thread.

"Flame-Flame: Destruction Bomber!" Toru stated, flames igniting in his hand, while his bat grew spikes along it's length, turning into a spiked club, as he backed away a bit.

The Yokai who could see what was going on, were all terrified, of both the power, the the Yokai gang wielding them.

"Devil Fruit powers? But… I thought only…" Senshi managed to say.

"Sorry to say, but this is the end of the line for you kid." Toru smirked, throwing the flames into the air, and using his club to hit it and send it at Senshi. Kiko sent her darkness at Senshi, while Mei sent her thread double at him, all looking to end the boys life. The colliding attacks resulted in the impact causing the bridge to shake and crack. From out of the smoke, Senshi fell over the bridge, and to the one bellow.

Landing with a hard thud, Senshi couldn't even cry out in pain. His stamina had been depleted, and he was no longer immortal.

'Uncle Ben told me… he used to run with a gang back in high school. Is this them?' Senshi asked, trying and failing to pick himself up.

"Still kicking brat?" Toru asked, landing on the bridge with a thundering clap of lightning. "Gotta hand it to the boss. I'm grateful for the two powers he gave me."

"Quit bragging, and you won't get anything tonight." Mei said, coming down with threads of string extending from her fingers.

"It's not Toru's fault he's the only one of us able to handle two Devil Fruit abilities." Kiko said. "It's just good genetics I guess."

"Genetics ain't got shit to do with this. I'm just an awesome Oni, that's all there is to it." Toru stated flexing his arm.

"That and Oni's are generally known for their elemental connection to lightning."

The group turned to who had spoken, and smiled when they saw Ben, but were confused when they saw Ban marching up behind him. When Ben's eyes landed on Senshi, he grew concerned with his condition.

'He's not healing. His immortality's been used up completely.' Ben thought.

"Been a while boss." Toru said. "Care to join in on the fun?"

"We've been having such fun dealing damage to this weakling." Mei smirked.

"He won't die for some reason though. Too stubborn. Who's that with you?" Kiko asked.

"Gramps." Ben said.

"Don't gotta tell me." Ban sneered, holding out his hand. "Snatch!"

In an instant, Senshi flew past them and into Ban's arms, being cradled gently to avoid being put through any more pain.

"Where's his sacred treasure?" Ben asked.

"On the bridge above us." Kiko said. "I froze it in ice so he couldn't call for it."

"I got it." Ban said, jumping up to the bridge above.

With Ben being the only one there, Toru, Mei, and Kiko couldn't help but feel like there was something they were missing.

"Hey what gives Boss? We were just about to finish him off." Toru said.

"An' just what the hell were you doing before that? Tearing him apart, piece by piece? Limb by limb?" Ben asked, throwing his arm to the side. "Second Gear." Ben' skin bulged in layers of flesh like rubber filled with blood, before it went back and his skin began to glow, with steam coming off of him. "Just who the hell do you think you are, to do that to MY NEPHEW?"

"W-wait… that little weakling is…" Mei began, before Senshi was in front of her, his eyes black with red irises.

"Don't you call him weak." Ben said. "Senshi just lost his mother, my sister, and has kept his smile the entire time. He is far stronger then you KNOW." He declared, hitting Mei with a Haki infused strike. "I'll be taking back the powers I bestowed upon all of you."

"Mei." Toru said, before Ben was in his face, and slammed his knee into the Oni's chest, knocking him back.

"Did you forget who I was? I am Bandit Hunter Ben, I ate the Akuma Tree, which means I can give and take your Devil Fruit powers away, any time I want. I've become the Akuma Tree itself." Ben stated, holding three orbs of power, one red, one blue, and one lavender. "Flame, Lightning, and String. I gave you these powers to help you survive after I left for America, not to abuse and use to take over the village."

"Does it really matter?" Kiko asked. "You were our leader, and you abandoned us. We were your family."

"My family?" Ben asked turning to look at her. "I guess you could say that. But what kind of family, would kill innocent children?"

Instantly gone from her sights, Kiko couldn't tell where he'd gone, until he appeared right behind her, and slammed her face into the bridge, Toru's club on his back in it's bat form.

"I thought I taught you three better then this." He said, pulling away from Kiko, and removing her Dark-Dark powers. "I will not stand for you misusing your powers like this."

Grabbing the three of them, Ben didn't even struggle as he threw the three Yokai away towards the opposite side of town.

Taking a deep breath to calm down, Ben jumped up to the bridge above, and found Ban with Senshi, and Erma.

"Erma, what are you doing here?" Senshi asked.

"She followed you after you dragged me out of the bar." Ban said. "Glad I sobered up before the fight, otherwise I would have killed those punks you used to run with."

"More like lead." Ben stated. "I was their leader, and I gave them Devil Fruit powers. Such a mistake."

"Might have been." Ban said, looking to the pile of Senshi's regenerated and dismembered organs. "Senshi's immortality's gone for good. An' given that pile of parts… it's clear to see why. The strain of multiple injuries that severe, forced him immortality to burn out. We're lucky we got here when we did, otherwise I don't think he would have made it."

"Come on, they're bound to be back, and Devil Fruit powers or no, we don't want a fight with them." Ben stated.

"But what about Senshi? My blood healed him, but he's not gonna be able to heal like he used to anymore." Ban said.

Ben looked to Senshi, a look of sorrow on his face, as he felt somewhat responsible for what's happened, and knelt down in front of the unconscious boy.

"Forgive me Senshi." Ben said, placing a hand on his head. "I never meant for you to get caught up in my past mistakes. I know this may not make up for it, but I am going to give you my favorite out of all my Devil Fruit abilities."

Ben's hand glowed a grape purple light, which transferred and enveloped Senshi's body, as his body integrated a new power.

"Come on, we seriously need to get out of here now." Ben stated, taking Senshi into his arms.