Chapter 31

The Fury Inside

Kurama hopped into the ring of smoke and hissing fissures. He stepped on partially submerged stones and made his way to the other side of the volcano's crater. Fluffy, black ash fell on him like snowflakes. A stream of sulfur hissed up beside him; shielding himself with his right arm, he hopped to another boulder, farther away from Yusuke's line of sight. "I can't see him any more, Urameshi." Kuwabara said, squinting into the smoky darkness.

"He'll be okay, Kuwabara. He's an expert at sticky situations." Said kitsune was searching for firmer footing when the rock slid a little in the soft ash. He lurched forward; with the Rod in his right hand, he stabbed it into the ground and supported himself over a gurgling vent. His stomach was inches from ground level, saved by the Rod, and his feet propping him up on the rock. Even with the flower over his nose, he could still smell the stink of sulfur. He was stuck in the middle of the crater, and he could hear the vent begin to hiss.

Daren swam back towards the volcanic vent and went in. The light was like a liquid-red aurora all around him. He felt the heat wearing on his spell, but his werewolf's fear of fire drove him on as fast as possible. The tunnel went inland an ever upwards, into the heart of the volcano. His plan was to switch the Rods, if the others had found the Gate yet.

Kurama's mind raced; he had to move, without touching the boiling sulfur all around him. The vent below him hissed violently and rumbled. Squeezing his eyes shut, he waited to be liquidized. A blunt force rammed into his stomach, throwing him up in the air. He couldn't see who grabbed him and flew him to the other side of the crater until his diaphragm went back to normal and he could breath. "Kurama? Lucky I caught you, huh? I slammed my head on your stomach coming out of there!" Daren said.

"What are you doing?" Kurama wheezed.

"We have the wrong Rods; they got switched." He explained, taking the correct key and placing it in the Gate. "Whoever the ass was who designed the Rods should have made the keys look different. Oh! We have to return to the coast! Hiei and Gabi are alone with Morpheus; and she is weakened as it is." Daren flew Kurama back to the other side of the crater; they passed back down the mountain and followed the coastline to find the others.

Morpheus watched in vicious pleasure as the life passed from Hiei's eyes. He felt a tingle in the center of his back, like a shiver passing through him, and a vice of some kind squeezed his fragile heart. "AAAAAAAAAAHH!" he screamed, dropping the water around Hiei and clutching his chest. Gabi ran out from behind him to kneel by Hiei. CPR would make his ribs hurt like hell, but so would this: she set down her staff and reached into his chest; her hands phased through him and scooped the water out of his lungs. His eyes snapped back into focus and he coughed violently. He bent over, hugging his ribs in pain. "Are you okay?" the blonde asked.

"I'll live, I think." He rasped.

Morpheus straightened himself, breathing hard because the tissue around his heart was bruised. "So, you still have some fight in you, and at least enough Reiki left to perform the simple shifting of your matter. If I can't drain your energy completely, I'll just wear your body out."

"I don't need reiki to kick the shit out of you!" she barked back.

"Good, because you're nearly out."

"So are you; you aren't used to working without your toys, are you? Or else you've had your little friends to do everything for you!" Morpheus kept his cool and formed loose figures from water that flew to surround her. Hiei, who was on his knees behind her, was kicked violently out of the way. "Hiei!" she cried, watching him cough up more blood in agony. One of the watery figures yanked on her hair. She splattered him, literally, with a punch. Another made a jab at her; she swatted his hand away, making his arm splash on the ground, and drove her fist into his chest. At that second, he turned to ice, and she drew back her hand in pain. "Damn it, that's not fair!" she shook her hand to dull the pain in her knuckles. The remaining shapes around her slapped and splashed her weakly, only fueling her anger. "GET. OFF!" she screamed and forced them back with a final burst of her reiki. "Who's next!" she snarled. She felt a tug in her head that made her jerk forward.

Morpheus was holding a small thread of energy, tugging with both hands. He jerked again, throwing her on her face. The thread was connected to a part of her on the inside. A mass of light jumped out of her head and landed on the ground. Forming more threads attached to the mass, Morpheus wove them together and shaped the energy. A figure took shape and stood up as the finer details formed. A head of blonde curls formed followed by a tunic, identical to Gabi's except in black, with blood red leggings, and matching eyes.

"What the hell is that!"

"Every thing inside you," the artificial woman said with a wry smile, "I am your hate, your anger, and your viciousness personified." She sprinted forward and struck Gabi in the stomach. Gabi fell back; her fury jumped on her, only to be kicked with both feet in her chest. Leaning on her staff, Gabi struggled to her feet. Fury picked herself up and charged. Gabi used her staff against her, but almost every blow was deflected or caught. Fury grabbed her staff with both hands; they pushed and pulled, leaning inches from each other.

"Are you tired yet? Has healing your daddy made little Gabi sleepy?" Fury purred.

"Shut up!"

Fury ignored her and pushed her back; Gabi's heels rooted little grooves in the ground. "Are you scared your precious papa won't make it back in time to rescue you? I know where he is, and I could tell Morpheus."

"Say one more word and I'll shove this staff up your ass!" Gabi stopped Fury's advance and pushed her back.

"You're weak, you know that? Just an insignificant little girl."

"She's a grown woman," a raspy voice said. Hiei supported himself on his hands, curled over to keep the strain off his ribs, "And even a ningen like her can beat your harpy ass!" Gabi rammed her knee into Fury's stomach, causing her to fall backwards. She glanced over to the wounded youkai, he wore his usual scowl; nodding, she braced herself for an attack from Fury.

Fury did an ax kick and slammed her heel down, snapping Gabriel's crook in half. She stared at the cedar flinders in shock. "You… little…shit! I got that from an old friend!"

"Oops," Fury giggled. Her arms twitched; the doppelganger's clothes seemed a little tighter than before. She pulled her arm back to punch and Gabi noticed; her muscles had grown bigger than before! Gabi dodged the blow and jumped to the side, aiming a roundhouse kick at her. Fury grabbed her leg and swung her around, throwing her on the ground. Gabi drew her reiguns and emptied a clip. Fury, being an almost perfect replica of Gabi, made the reitamas phased through like moths flying through fog.

Gabi stood up and took a protective stance; Fury rained down on her with her fists and feet. "You worthless little Wicca! What made you think you ever had a chance against me?" she taunted. Gabi growled back from behind her arms, "I'm no witch, I'm a shaman!"

"You're pathetic!" Fury broke through her defense and grabbed her by the throat. "And once I get rid of you, I'll have Kurama all to myself."

Inside Gabriel, a capillary burst; she drove her foot into Fury's stomach so hard, several ribs cracked. As the black-clad blonde landed yards away, an exhausted shaman stumbled to her feet. She couldn't keep it up. Fury stood up, her ribs realigning themselves and her strength growing again. "You can't kill me, I am Fury; I am Vicious!"

Gabriel breathed hard, staring hard at her mirror image. Her leaden limbs fell and she dropped to her knees, "You're right," she sighed, closing her eyes.

Fury raised her eyebrows in confusion. Gabriel undid her holster belt and threw it aside, neatly brushing her hair back into place with her headband. "You are the anger inside me, as long as I feel mad I give you strength. I've always had a bad temper, that's why I can't beat you," she said, returning Fury's glare with a soft gaze, "and if I'm not angry, you're not even there."

"Humph, too bad for you, I'm still standing." Fury said.

"No, you aren't."

"Shut up! You weak little wench, I'll kill you!" she charged and bore down on her with an eagle-strike. Before Fury even got close to Gabriel, she disappeared into nothing.