Disclaimer: Don't they realise it's me, projecting my thoughts and powers? I commanded that infernal imp to capture that bandit?

Author's Note: October 2009 - "I should be able to get the next chapter out in the next week."

It is now a whole new year. I'm a fucking moron.

Chapter 7 – Liar, Odious, Rancorous, Murderer

Pillars of fog and wind rose and spiralled lazily upward to the grey sky. The chilled wind flowed through the air like a blade, thinner than death's scythe and just as cold. The dust danced above the ground a little while, calmly, serenely, unexcitedly. The lark sang trill and high, echoes of the song wailing through the arena. The whole atmosphere was tense, calm and restrained.

Morris's blonde hair danced in the wind, having grown since the start of the tournament. Now his hair was a lot more prominent than before, the thin moss-like tangles being replaced by a slightly thicker head of hair. His bones still showed through his now somewhat clean clothes, but they were more subtle. His life had been turned upside down since meeting Asuka. He had rediscovered comfortable living, and he had at first refrained, claustrophobic and gasping for air. Now he had grown used to it. Now he felt he had to win, if only to keep the now more preferable future than to what lied before him.

Only Xiaoyu's blood boiling kept her warm in the cold atmosphere. Her fists were clenched to the point of drawing blood from the palm; her eyes were like violent starlets glaring toward Morris. Her hair was tidy, shorter than before. Her bandanna was as red as her fiery blood that pumped through her heart, threatening to break away. Her anger was rampant. She didn't want to win. She didn't want to beat Morris. She wanted to beat him badly. She wanted to make him look weak. She wanted to destroy him. She wanted to humiliate him.

Morris wasn't nearly as stimulated.

"So, you're thick as well as flat as two short planks." He waited for a reaction from his opponent, but none came. He decided to try again. "I mean, come on, I'm a guy, and I still have bigger tits than you." He grabbed his chest desperately. "Check out these milk factories! You jealous yet?" No sign of anger came from Xiaoyu. He snarled. "No wonder you object to being called a call girl. Considering your looks, you wouldn't get any calls!"

"Morris, why does your world revolve around breasts?" Asuka turned to him, sighing slightly. He looked to her. "Morris, stop staring." He moved his hand towards her chest slowly. She smiled and batted it away jokingly.

"Boobies..." Morris murmured, drooling as he did. Then he suddenly, like a gust of wind, was behind Asuka. "Oi! Xiaoyu, you stupid cow, I've got a little re-enactment of your dreams." Before Asuka knew what was happening, she found Morris's hands pressed against her breasts. "I'll pretend Asuka is you, and I'm Jin!" Then, clearing his throat, he put on the girliest voice he could. "Oh, Jin, I so wanna bone you."

Xiaoyu began her march towards Morris. He had brought crushes up. He'd pay. Asuka was too stunned to react to her contribution to the insult, even as Morris's voice suddenly went as deep as it would go.

"I don't know why, Xiaoyu." He slurred. "Morris is so much handsome. You, him, Asuka and Christie should totally get a room together. You can watch while the other three have all the…"

Morris never finished. He was sent rocketing into the floor, for Xiaoyu had leapt up to an impressive height and landed her feet straight into his face. He flipped over before she could land on his sprawling form, and punched back. The two recovered to full height. Asuka rushed between them to stop the fight, birds and dogs and many an animal formed a line between the two fighters, but nothing would stop the two.

"Morris, you're dead." Xiaoyu said. Asuka looked between the two.

"Don't… do this…" She said. "Xiaoyu, he saved Panda's life, and Morris, you shouldn't call her a whore." She waited for a reaction. Morris stared through her, fixated on Xiaoyu.

"HEADS UP, MOTHERFUCKER!"

He would light the match from the other end of the room. He would throw it with expert precision. It saved time, it kept him trained, but, most of all, it relaxed him. He never knew why. Maybe the incense started burning quicker, maybe he had just grown accustomed to it, but it calmed him. Wang Jinrei had always lit the incense candle like this. He smiled as he sat down and turned thought after thought over in his head.

Spike's nephew… He closed his eyes. … is here. He breathed out slowly. He'll only get himself killed. He breathed in, and out again. What was Asuka thinking? For the best? She should have thought all of this through before sending innocent lives into the fray… His vision turned from black slowly to white. I wish I knew what to do. I wish I had advice.

"Actually, that's what I've come to you for, Master." Came a familiar voice.

Jinrei turned his head within his dreamscape, and was astounded. He had seen Jun often within here, her raven black hair glimmering within the wind, her eyes glittering like diamonds, her body short, her atmosphere pure, just as she had been in life. Her lips full, her nose small, her muscles smooth and yet powerful. It was the solidity of her that shocked Jinrei. She had sometimes been ethereal, most of the time visible but still not a presence. Now she looked as if she were there. She smiled.

"Master, why do you stare?" She asked.

"I've never seen you this solid. If I reached out, I'm sure I would touch you." He said. Then he looked down and frowned slightly. "And I wasn't expecting the nudity." Jun looked down at herself, and turned her back to him, giggling sheepishly. But in this flash of embarrassment, Jinrei noticed something about Jun. She didn't look as pure as before either. She looked somewhat darker, somewhat more tainted. Even when she was no longer a virgin, she held a purity of sorts, a heart that was pure as that of an angel, but now there was an air. A unnerving air. He decided not to voice this, but he kept on guard.

"I'm sorry, Master. I hadn't known." As she explained, a white sheet fell from the sky. She began to wrap it around herself. "But yes, I am more solid than before. Things have been set into motion recently. Great things. Disastrous and wondrous things." She turned to him. "And I'm afraid that, without great care, many will die."

"What things?" He asked. Then he thought. "The devil. He'll be either defeated or victorious." Jun nodded. Jinrei's brow knotted. "Will Xiaoyu be hurt?"

"Not by devil if we win, but by another." To this, Jinrei chuckled slightly.

"Morris?" Jinrei asked. "The man is an idiot."

"He is a Wellington." She said. "Wellingtons are never to be trusted. Even now, Xiaoyu is becoming something else. She is hurt and will be hurt again. She is changing, for better and worse."

"One of my greatest friends was a Wellington, Jun." He said. "He taught and raised a young girl. He did treat her as if she were his own. He loved her. He would've died for her, and I'm sure he would now."

"I knew that student." Jun answered. "Her love was destroyed by him. Tricked by the liar. The thief." She turned back. "The murderer…" Jinrei's eyes widened.

"No, not Spike." He said. "He acts without thinking, yes, but never murder. He is a good man."

"He has taken lives." She told him. "One was his own sister." Jinrei stood shocked. His silence was the reply Jun needed to continue. "One was of…" She sniffed, unable to say. "He killed somebody who I loved with all my heart. He took a revolver and simply pulled the trigger, unthinking and uncaring."

"Jun, he would never…" Jinrei began, finding he couldn't answer. The two just stood, staring at each other, the white void simply adding the ear-piercing silence.

Morris and Xiaoyu literally jumped into each other over Asuka, Xiaoyu using her acrobatics to attack Morris with kicks and punches, Morris simply hoping to slam into her. A well placed kick from Xiaoyu landed straight into Morris's stomach, but he used this to his advantage, plummeting and landing perfectly, with Xiaoyu slapping down onto the cold, unfeeling earth. She rolled instinctively, dodging the stomp. Her two rising punches found their mark, pushing Morris back.

"Idiot." She screamed, sending foot and fist at the crouched object of hatred, who retaliated with block, trap and grapple. Morris defended every blow, waiting for a tire from Xiaoyu, waiting for a chance to hammer home and end the fight. Asuka watched in panic.

"Guys, stop!" She barked, ignored by the two fighters. Then the animals came forth, as if on her whim, and began to try and bite at the two. Xiaoyu flung herself down. Morris looked to what she was dodging and met several pounds of falcon smacking into him. He roll away, to find a dog in front.

"Move it!" He shouted, shouldering past for a good strike at Xiaoyu, who was rolling, flipping and dancing lightly. It wasn't a demanding task, but Morris couldn't see her loose, dancing form. Finally, he decided to guess. Launching a boot to her moving form. It missed and broke the stone underneath, slate rising upward. One of the rising stones smacked Xiaoyu in the face, scarring her across her small, nose and drawing a tear.

"Fucker!" She said. Morris smiled.

"Cute. Baby's first naughty word. Now you can impress all your friends at school."

This insult, this reference to her age, even when was only a year her senior, tipped Xiaoyu over the edge, from boiling rage to a blind insanity. Morris was less than prepared for the incoming onslaught, a fire of fists, anger and screams. The birds flew around them, swooping in to stop the chaos, but to no avail. It was brutal and painful for Morris, who suffered blow after charged fiery blow. He prepared his fist for a counter strike.

"Stop it, 'fore one of you gets killed!" Finally, Asuka flung herself in-between the two. Morris' fist stopped in midair, pulling back, but Xiaoyu's kept going, smashing into his chin, the raw shock of the punch stunning him. He fell back onto his feet. Asuka held him upright. "You've got to stop. Both of you!" She turned to Xiaoyu. "Leave it, Morris was already hurt by that last…"

"You know what?" Morris stood to full height, which wasn't much but made him feel stronger anyway. "Let's blow this completely out of proportion." He then opened his trousers up from the waist. "Pel-vic…" He waited for dramatic affect, pulling his hips back as far as they could. " – thrust!" As he propelled his abdomen forward, four small pillars of steel arose from the trousers and flew high. At their highest point, they dropped simply, two in Xiaoyu's hands and two in Morris'. Xiaoyu looked to them. They were great cutting knives, the blades slightly rusted, the hilts rotted to a degree, but overall in good condition.

"Morris, that's insane." Asuka told him, but Morris felt he was on a roll. He moved her to the side.

"I don't want you running in halfway through. These are sharp, and I'm not too fond of doing a Mercutio." Asuka found herself smiling at the gallantry, but quickly thought better and tried to protest. However, Morris was concentrated on Xiaoyu, too much so to listen to sense. "So, Flatty McStupid. How about it? Want to be absolutely bonkers rather than just PMSing like you've been doing?" Xiaoyu didn't reply, but simply charged at him. His swords span and danced in his hands.

"Let's get funky." He said.

Morris and Xiaoyu rolled around Asuka, contacting each other and their blades. The slashes found their target, the chorus of metal ringing like church bells in the vastness of the place. The raw brutality of the attacks was enough to force even the well safe audience to move back. Asuka watched, waiting for a safe point to intervene. All the animals surrounded, seemingly thinking the same thing. What they were witness to was clear. This wasn't a fight. This was something else.

Morris's foot cracked the ground as his feet danced as fast as his arms, crossing Xiaoyu's in some twisted, horrid waltz, as the two duelled. His sword held for a moment against Xiaoyu's, his second holding her second. He suddenly felt a tugging at his trousers. He stepped back without looking to hear the yelp of a dog. Xiaoyu looked away for a second, and Morris forced the swords further to her.

"Give up, bitch!" He said through gritted teeth.

"Cute. Morris's 1000th naughty word. Your mom must be happy."

Morris's arms dropped in shock, the words hitting harder than any of the strikes and attacks, and Xiaoyu went for it, slashing at his shoulders swiftly and neatly. He screamed in agony and fell onto his knees. Xiaoyu laughed as she stood back to savour the taste.

"Idiot!" She shouted, kicking him harshly. Asuka came forward.

"Xiaoyu, stop!" She barked, but Xiaoyu didn't listen. She was getting into this, and enjoyed every minute. Suddenly, Morris's blades flung upwards, cracking against Xiaoyu's own with a horrific wail. The clanks and shatters were deafening, and the two looked like they were about to kill one another.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Asuka suddenly shouted, leaping forward and trying to push Morris out of the way. She pushed through the whirlwind of blades, and Morris's eyes immediately lit. His blades stopped an inch from her face, and his arms dropped in terror.

"Cutting it a bit fine, there!" He remarked. Then he realised that Xiaoyu's blades hadn't stopped. She was swinging around, and hadn't seen Asuka. Her blades rocketed towards Morris's stomach, and by extension Asuka. Asuka looked to Xiaoyu before suddenly falling forward, in a stinging pain. She looked back. Morris had kicked her, kicked her out of the line of blades and taking the full brunt of the attack. He staggered back painfully.

"Moron!" She smacked Morris to the floor with a well aimed boot. He rolled on his stomach. "How does that feel, Morris?"

"Stop…" He groaned. Xiaoyu danced around him. She was giggling and howling with laughter, knowing she had humiliated him, drawn surrender out of him. She leaned in.

"What was that, Wellington! I didn't hear it!" She howled. Morris got to his hands and looked to her straight in the eye, now his eyes charged with the same hatred as hers.

"Stop…" He said. "… fucking…" Then his swords clamped around her neck, pressed right against her. "… talking." Xiaoyu held his hands, and suddenly felt them shift inward.

"Murderer, Morris?" She asked. Morris closed his eyes, and span his swords too fast to see, slashing at Xiaoyu, and her piercing scream was heard by all.

Jinrei stood still. He said nothing. He did nothing. He neither moved nor asked another question. Jun looked sternly to him. Then her expression softened.

"Jinrei, I need to ask you something." She said. "About Spike." She sat down, her knees to her chest and her arm wrapped around them. "And Morris."

"I'm ready to give advice, in exchange for receiving." He said.

"You first then, master." She said. Jinrei bit his lip, thinking of the words to say.

"What is Morris's place in all of this?" He asked. "Asuka has brought an unrelated man into this mess, and I don't want an innocent to be hurt because of me." Jun looked away, as if it were difficult to answer.

"I won't lie to save you hurt, Jinrei." She said. "He's got a big part in all of this, and it isn't a good part, either. There's a good chance he'll be dead before the end." Jinrei bit his lip.

"Is there anything I can do?" He asked.

"I think so, but I don't know what."

"Thank you." Jinrei murmured, hiding his dissatisfaction. "Your turn, Jun." Jun sat there. Silent.

"Jinrei, is it wrong to want revenge on someone?" She asked. Jinrei's eyes widened. So this is that darkness I sensed.

"Jun, whether he is a murderer or not, Spike taught me one thing, and that it is human to have a little evil within you." He said. "An evil thought is a thought. Nothing more. As long as you resist the temptation to act upon it, there is no harm to want wrongly." He looked to her. "You don't intend on acting upon it, do you?" Jun smiled that sweet smile once more.

"How could I?" She said, sighing in relief. Jinrei smiled, and felt himself waking up from his trance.

"Goodbye, Kazama Jun." And he was gone. Jun was alone, only with the sound of stillness and a now too familiar, haunting echoing whisper.

'Liar.'

'Odious.'

'Rancorous.'

'MURDERER.'

"I cut your hair." Morris sighed. "Get over it!" Xiaoyu held her head to her arms, then stopped screaming. She snarled like a tethered beast. She hated herself for slipping up. She was acting childish again. She had to get over it.

It's no use, Xiaoyu. Give in. He's holding all the cards.

Pound his face in. Make him squeal. Prove them wrong.

He's unstoppable, though.

Remember when he called you a bitch?

Xiaoyu smiled nastily. She decided to show Morris what blowing one's top was really like. "So, you don't like to have your mother mentioned, do you?" Morris's expression tried to remain nonchalant, and from a distance he didn't look bothered, but Xiaoyu saw his eyes. He was ready to kill her.

"Yeah, what of it?" He said as-a-matter-of-factly. Xiaoyu stood at full height.

"I mentioned your parents. Get over it." She began to walk away. Morris kept his nerve. He knew what she was trying to do, and he wouldn't let it work. "I'll bet I have bigger tits than her." She looked at Morris, who was working himself into a state of calm to shroud the rage. "I'll take that as a yes." She pretended to think about it. "She must be a right skeleton."

She didn't even feel the blade smash into the side of her leg, though she screamed in agony and fell to her knees. She looked and saw that it hadn't just drawn blood. It had ripped some of her skin away. Gore dripped like red hail upon a cobblestone hill. Her head turned immediately to see a cloud of vehemence flying her way. She pushed herself upward with her good leg, her bad one supporting her for the needed time, slicing at Morris three times and falling back to her knee. He stopped a few steps after passing her.

"Stupid kid." He said, and then he collapsed.

Nothing happened. All was still. Morris's blood ran across the floor. Paramedics rushed silently. No words were uttered, no screams, no breathing. Complete silence, that was deafening. Xiaoyu turned to Asuka, smiling as she did.

"So, Asuka, I need to catch up with you. Wanna go grab lunch?" She asked, but Asuka just stared. Xiaoyu looked back and forth. "What? It was a fight. He'll be fine tomorrow, the cuts weren't deep at all, and he would've done the same to…"

"His mum's dead." She said, and Xiaoyu understood. She looked shocked for a second, but then slipped back into her new persona.

"How was I to know?" She asked. But Asuka didn't reply, just walking away and following the medics taking Morris to his port of call upon the carriage of white feathers, stuffing and silk.