NEVER LET GO
NEVER LET GO
A/N: Sorry for the wait, thanks to school holiday. Anyway I present to you chapter 12, meaning there's not much left here before we say good bye to this fic. I tried to intensify the story, and hoping it wouldn't rush too much. If it did, well, please let me know. Hope you'll enjoy!
As usual, special thanks to Peeps17 for the amazing beta!
Chapter Twelve
Blaze
"Introducing, Ukoku Sanzo-houshi."
Dark eyes smirked behind glasses; the owner was so enjoying the look on the astonished Sanzo-ikkou as he took a step closer.
"My, my, I can see that you're at loss of words. Is that because of the title 'Sanzo', I wonder?" he cuffed his chin as if thinking, then clapped his hands in feigned cheerfulness, "Ah, I've decided. All right then, you guys may call me just 'Nii'. No need to call me 'Ukoku Sanzo' if it scares you." Sinister eyes glowed.
This apparently, snapped the Sanzo-ikkou's mind back.
"Who's scared, you bloody sonovabitch!!" Gojyo roared, shaking his fist to the scientist, who just smirked wider.
"Oh dear, you have a terrible mouth there, Sha Gojyo. Perhaps you've never been taught to be gentle by your mother?" Nii's glasses glowed evilly as he mocked.
This had definitely reached the steaming red-head's limit. Letting out an angry scream, Gojyo summoned his shakujo and charged towards the smirking scientist. What happened was too fast for Sanzo and Hakkai to follow.
Gojyo's jaw flung open, scarlet eyes widened in disbelief as he stopped, unsure of what had hit him. The next second, the shakujo fell apart, scattered into pieces, followed by a bewildered look from the ikkou. Nii smirked at the display.
"What's wrong, Sha Gojyo? I thought you were going to attack me?"
Gojyo gave no answer. His scarlet eyes fixed on his shattered weapon, his mouth forming soundless "What the hell??"
"Did you see it?" Sanzo whispered to Hakkai, keeping his voice as low as possible.
"I'm afraid I didn't." Hakkai whispered back, an uncharacteristic intensity filled his voice. "From what I saw, he didn't even move a finger. All he did was just stare, and the shakujo fell apart. Either he possesses terrifying power or," Hakkai's expression went grim, "he's not an ordinary human."
"I doubt he's a human." Sanzo murmured, violet eyes narrowed as he tried to collect his memories.
Come to think if it… Who's this man? Those eyes are familiar…
"Sanzo, look out!!" Sanzo's mind snapped back as he felt himself being pulled by Hakkai. As the two stumbled onto the cold floor, Sanzo caught sight of something dark and vibrating piercing the spot he was standing just a second ago. Then without warning, the stone floor cracked as if being struck by lightning, leaving a huge smoking hole.
What in the…
"Sanzo!" Hakkai shouted warningly.
Sensing trouble, Sanzo quickly scrambled away, getting to his feet as fast as possible. When he finally got up wisely, he noticed more holes cracked upon the place he had previously been.
"Oh my," Nii chuckled, feigning innocence, "It seems that little Kouryuu doesn't like my surprise gift… Bad boy needs to be punished…" Dark eyes glowed.
This time, Hakkai chose not to defend anymore. Moving his arms to an offensive position, he charged all his inner strength and fired chi explosions to the evil man.
Making no move to escape, Nii just stood there, smirking as the explosions hit him, creating thunderous impacs and smoke. The three watched, tensed as the smoke cleared, revealing the unharmed Nii Jenyi. The scientist waved his hand lazily as if nothing had happened.
"That was quite a surprise, Cho Hakkai. Yet," his expression went unreadable as dark locks shadowing those sinister eyes, "I expected more…"
Suddenly the room erupted in a huge explosion. Floor cracked, pillars fell, and the hall was nothing more than ruins. In the middle of the destruction, Nii Jenyi stood silently, unharmed; the sinister smirk never left his face. The smirk only grew as the smoke cleared, revealing a glowing barrier protecting three men inside.
The barrier glowed for a brief second before vanishing. The caster's hand trembled before he sank to his knees, panting heavily from the loss of energy.
"Hakkai!!" Gojyo immediately ran to the fallen healer's side. "Baka, don't push yourself like this!!" He spoke with a mixture of anger and worry, gently helping the panting brunette. A smile curved itself on Hakkai's panting lips as his hand reached tremblingly for Gojyo's support. Yet, his feet shook violently and gave up under him, letting his body collapsed once again onto the crumpled floor.
"Hakkai!" Gojyo shouted again, unclouded worry was clearly shown within his voice.
"Daijoubu…" Hakkai forced himself to smile, trying to calm the half-breed down, which was not very effective.
"It's not okay! You've lost a lot of energy defending us!" Gojyo scolded the brunette sharply, who just shrugged.
"There's no big deal…"
"Yes, it's not a big deal losing one of your 'servants', isn't it, Genjo Sanzo?" Nii's sinister voice snapped their attention back to him. Hakkai stayed silent. Gojyo, on the other hand, clenched his fist, bellowing in fury.
"What do you mean by that, you fuck….!!"
"Calm down, Gojyo. If you lose your cool now, that's exactly what he aims…" Sanzo finally spoke, his expression radiating calm and seriousness within. Gojyo let out a 'tch', but remained silent.
Nii clapped his hands, amused smirk on his face. "Ooh, that's very sweet of you. Little Kouryuu is sure to have grown up, just like Koumyou said…"
Sanzo's eyes twitched as he grabbed his shoureijuu and pointed it at the smirking man.
"What the hell do you want?" he hissed, murderous intent filling his voice.
Nii smirked wider. His hand moved to his face, pushing his glasses to a better position. "My, my, that's not a very good attitude of yours, Genjo Sanzo. Never been taught manners by Koumyou-papa?"
BANG! BANG! BANG!!
The sinister smirk never wavered. The ikkou stared horror-struck as the banishing bullets vanished, leaving absolutely no marks on its trail.
Sanzo's eyes widened in disbelief.
There's no way…
"Nice weapon you got there, little Kouryuu. Though," Nii flipped his hand in clear exaggeration, "I must admit that you're a bit disappointing. Truth to be told, I never expected Koumyou's favorite pupil to be this… helpless."
The statement burnt whatever last strands of Sanzo's patience. Putting two of his fingers in front of his lips, the blond monk started to chant with his eyes closed. The familiar glow radiated from the scripture as Sanzo opened his eyes and finished the mantra.
"On mani hatsu mei un! MAKAI TEN…!!"
Silence engulfed the place. Sanzo stared in disbelief as the activated Maten Sutra suddenly burnt out just before his eyes. Gojyo and Hakkai also stared, horror clearly written within their eyes, at the scattered piece of burning cloth which was previously the Maten Sutra.
"…the fuck…?" Gojyo cursed silently, scarlet eyes fixed upon the burnt scripture.
"Impossible…" Hakkai muttered, emerald eyes widened as they stared at the astonished monk. "Sanzo…"
Sanzo was unable to do anything. His just stared blankly at the burning pieces of the scripture which was placed upon his responsibility, his master's inheritance and hope, and now it had become his failure.
"See that, Genjo Sanzo? That's the power of the Muten Sutra." Nii spoke, a clear winning tone within his voice as he continued mocking. "The power of a true Sanzo-houshi…"
"You're not a Sanzo-houshi, and never will be." A disembodied voice rang, stealing everybody's attention. Nii's head snapped around, eyes filled with fury for the first time.
"Who said that?? Show yourself!!"
As if answering his demand, the wall behind Sanzo and the others suddenly crumpled in, revealing the red-haired demon prince and his squad.
"Kou…Kougaiji…??" Nii whispered, fear and disbelief flashed within his eyes. Yes, fear.
Kougaiji just smirked as he stepped upon the ruins, followed closely by Yaone, Dokugakuji, and Lirin.
"It's so good to see you again, Nii-hakase." Kougaiji spoke calmly, yet his eyes blazed with familiar hatred. "We have so much to talk about…"
Nii took a step backward, his dark eyes widened at the sight of the advancing demon prince.
"Impossible…" he stuttered, "But… but you were all DEAD!!"
A/N: It's too short, I know. I promise I'll make it slightly longer next. And our dear youkai prince is going to have a bigger role than anybody expected. I know the ending of this chap is a bit confusing but that's what I meant! A shocking cliffie to hook the next chap perfectly! (hey I rhymed yay!)
Hoping to see you guys at the next chap: Mirage! (Yep I'm done writing it, now just waiting for the editing. It's my inner evil self who's keeping me from posting. evil laugh)
And as usual, any comments will be appreciated. Hope to see you soon!