Chapter 20

Izayoi picked up her cell phone on the first ring,

"Hey sis ...", she heard on the line.

"Lily! I'm so relieved. Are you ok?"

"Yes, I'm alright. What the devil is happening?"

"Mama and Papa's old rival from centuries ago has been revived. It turns out he is Mashai's father! And his mother is in on it also. Apparantly, they are trying to kill papa, uncle, all of us and, obviously, Kouga."

"Yes, that's right. Kouga is with me now. Are all the pups accounted for?"

"Well, Yasha, Shaoran and Shirrow went out to look for papa. Bunza, Kentaro, Kieran and Kiyoshi are searching the Bridgemont for the kitchen workers. We have counted 90 here and you are there. That's 97. Tetsu called from New York - he's ok. Tomiji, Sango and Shiori are in London - I called them and warned them. Azarni and Akina are on safari in Africa and haven't answered their cells. I'll worry about them until they get in touch. I got a hold of Eri in Osaka and she's fine as well as 10 other pups in Osaka. And I got ahold of Yasuo in Tokyo. He rounded up the other 8 pups. Whew! Is that 122?", she asked with a laugh and a heavy sigh.

"I think so. Wait, where's Miroku?"

"In Tokyo with Yasuo."

"I thought papa sent him to the vineyard in Naples?"

"He did, but after all this occured, Miroku flew back to Tokyo. He was gonna head here but mama told him to stay there for safety."

"Ok, how's uncle?"

"The fool. He's fine. He checked himself out of the hospital. Said he was not one to lie on his back and be waited on. My guess is he's after Naraku too."

"Ok. Well, I'll let you go, sis. Stay in touch. Ciao."

"Will do. Bye, sis."

Lily hung up the phone and turned to face Kouga,

"Staying here is probably the safest thing for you Kouga.", she said.

"Yea, well, your mutt-face father better be watching over Kagome very closely or he'll have to answer to me!", Kouga huffed as Lily smiled at him.

"Oh, don't worry. My father is very good at taking care of my mother. I'm sure she's safe and sound right now."

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Mashai and Kagome entered the labyrinth and began walking the halls. Mashai said he knew the way out to the rock, but that was it, and he doubted they would be there. Since no electricity was down here, torches lit the way. Arriving at the room that led up to the rock, Kagome wondered,

"Where do we go from here?"

"Well, Mashai. How nice of you to bring her to me.", said a female voice. Kagome turned and stood face to face with the woman who had been in her bedroom that one night.

"Adimara.", Kagome spat out.

"Ha Ha Ha. I finally have the sorceress that defeated me in my grasp. Kanna, suck up her soul."

Kanna appeared and quietly said, "I am unable to suck in her soul."

"Why is that, dammit Kanna?"

"Her soul is too big for the mirror."

"Fine. Mashai, grab her."

"No, mother. I refuse to do your bidding.", Mashai said as he grabbed Kagome's hand and started to leave. Suddenly, he stopped and turned. His mother was holding a shiny pendant up. As the light shined on the pendant, Mashai's eyes changed. Grabbing a struggling Kagome, he started to return to his mother.

"Mashai! Stop! What are you doing to me?", Kagome asked, confused.

"Kagome,", Adimara called, "Soon you will be under my spell."

"No. Never.", Kagome said angrily.

Adimara grabbed Kagome by the chin. "Look at the pendant, my dear child.", Adimara said in a hypnotizing voice. She forced Kagome to look at the pendant until Kagome finally fell limp. Adimara laughed,

"Hahahaha. Now she is under my control. Mashai, follow me and bring her with you."

"Yes, mother.", said Mashai, as he followed his mother deeper into the labyrinth.

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In Tokyo, Yasuo answered the door of the mansion,

"Yes?", he asked the man standing at the door.

"My car broke down and my cell phone is dead. Could I possibly use your phone?"

Yasuo looked the man over. Drenched to the bone from the pouring rain, he felt sorry for him.

"Sure, come on in.", he invited the hapless man into the mansion.

"Nice home you have. Where is the phone?"

"Oh, let me get the cordless. Take off your hat and coat and hang them right there on the tree where they can dry.", directed Yasua.

"Thank you very much. You're very kind. I'm sorry, what's your name?"

"Oh, it's Yasuo.", he said, handing the man the phone, "Here, you can talk in this room if you want some privacy.", Yasuo led the man to the empty den.

"Thank you again, Yasuo."

"I didn't catch your name, sir."

"It's Suikotsu. Doctor Suikotsu."

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Yasha drove the car through the evening, heading to the secret compound. He knew they would be safe there. Turning off the main highway onto a dirt road, he proceeded to drive carefully. In the darkness, he saw something in the road. Was it human or animal? Stopping the car, he realized it was a person.

"Who the hell would be standing in the middle of the forest road?", asked Shaoran.

"I don't know, but he's not moving. Let's check it out.", said Yasha, as the three got out of the car.

"Hello, can I help you? Are you lost?", Yasha called out.

"Oh my, you are as cute as your father with those adorable doggie ears.", said the being.

"Huh?", Yasha said, wrinkling his nose.

"Are you all his sons? My you are all adorable. I just want to take those ears. I never got your father's ears but I'll take yours instead."

"What the fuck are you talking about?", asked Shaoran.

"And who the hell are you?", asked Shirrow.

"I am Jakotsu of the Shichinin-Tai."

"The what? Did you say the Shichinin-Tai?", asked Yasha.

"Yes, I did.", said Jakotsu, "And you will all be dead very soon!"

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Shinta, Fujita and Satoshi were talking amoung themselves. They were concerned because Bunza hadn't called to check in. Yukio acted like all was ok, but they knew he was worried, too. They decided to get a group of male pups and go back and investigate the hotel. 10 male pups volunteered. The 13 headed out the door and got into the Suburban and a pickup truck and headed back to the Bridgemont. Heading down a dirt road, Shinta noticed two large figures ahead of them.

"What the hell?", he said out loud.

"Uhhh, maybe we've found Bigfoot?", Kai exclaimed.

"What .. and his mate?", commented Rikiya.

Shinta stopped the truck and he heard the Suburban stop behind him. The brothers exited the trucks - and just in time as something blew the pickup out of the road, sending most of the brothers flying.

"What the fuck?", screamed Fujita.

"What's that guy got? A missle launcher?", exclaimed Satoshi.

Kisho quickly ran back to the Suburban and grabbed the night vision glasses and the uzi that Kanaya had thought to bring and ran back to his brothers just as another attack hit the Suburban, destroying it. Handing the uzi to Kanaya, Kisho peered through the glasses,

"H...O...L...Y SHIT!", he said, softly.

"What?", his brothers asked collectively.

"That dude has a whole fucking armament on him. And the other guy is HUGE!", Kisho said, passing off the glasses to Satoshi.

"Yea, well, Otou-san says, the bigger they are the harder they fall.", said Shinta.

Kanaya set up his uzi with the night vision scope and aimed it at the guy with all the weapons,

"Here goes nothing.", he said, as he let the automatic rifle rip and hundreds of rounds of ammo poured into the huge beast's body.

"GET OUTTA THE WAY!" screamed Kai, as a huge fireball headed towards the forest. The brothers managed to escape the fire.

"Who the hell are you and what do you want?", yelled out Shinta.

"I am Renkotsu and this is Kyokotsu and the one you tried to kill is Ginkotsu. And we are here to destroy the offspring of Inuyasha!"