Enchantment-The Face Behind the Mask

"You can't… have her," a voice growled and they all watched as Kusuma slowly began to push himself up off the ground with some assistance from his plants. "If I can't have her, then nobody can. I'M GOING TO KILL YOU ALL!"

"Something's different about this guy," Goku stated warily.

"You think?" Gojyo said sarcastically.

"He's definitely not in the right state of mind, and his power is no longer what it used to be," Sanzo observed.

"What the hell did she do to him?" Gojyo muttered.

"Does it matter?" Sanzo said as he loaded his gun.

"All we have to do is beat him right…well let's just do it all ready," Goku said pulling out his pole.

"Ran…take care of Karin. We'll take this down," Hakkai commanded with anger in his voice that she had never heard before.

Ran nodded and hurried over to her friend who was lying in her own blood. "D-don't worry Karin…everything will be fine. Hakkai and the others will get rid of Kusuma and then we can go home…we can all go home," Ran said trying desperately to hold back her tears and reassure Karin at the same time.

Kusuma fought viciously, no longer the beautiful and elegant man that he had once been. He sent plant after plant at them; vines to bind them, roots to trap them, and flowers petals to cut them up. But the party was prepared and they cut, severed and disintegrated everything he threw at them. At one point he tried to poison them with poisonous thorns only to find that they had taken an antidote before coming.

Kusuma was getting angrier every time he missed them and the angrier he got the uglier and weaker he got. His attacks became more sporadic and easier to dodge. Then Sanzo managed to get a shot in that stopped Kusuma in his tracks then followed up with three more shots.

After that Kusuma completely lost it and completely changed into his demon form. "You think you got me…I'll kill you all. Then I'll finish Karin off along with her little friend…though I might have a little more fun with them first."

"So these are your true colors," Hakkai asked darkly.

"In the end, he really was nothing but a self righteous bastard," Gojyo said.

Goku rushed him and was attacked by a swarm of vines, but Gojyo and Hakkai backed him up so that he could make it through. "I won't let you lay a hand on either of them!" Goku shouted and hit Kusuma hard across the face sending him flying.

Before he could even hit the ground, Gojyo's chain had wrapped around him. "This is what you get for hurting beautiful women!" Gojyo shouted hurling him across the room.

He landed hard on the ground and attempted to get up only to get a bullet hole in the shoulder. "That's what you get for causing me to have to drink that crappy medicine," Sanzo grimaced. "He's all yours Hakkai."

Kusuma could no longer will any plants to grow. He pushed himself up, not willing to give up now. "I loved her…" He wheezed. "I was prepared to give her everything…"

"You don't know what love is," Hakkai declared angrily. He glared down at Kusuma with a hatred that would chill the bone. Then he pulled out a ball of chi and blasted Kusuma to dust.

Ran watched as they ended Kusuma's life and sighed with relief until she noticed that Karin's breathing had gotten worse and her heart had slowed. "Hakkai, she's getting worse…what do we do?" Ran called out in a panic.

Hakkai quickly rushed to Karin's side while the others kept a little ways back to give her some air. Hakkai placed his hand over Karin's wound and began feeding his chi into her. "Hakkai… Ran…" Karin barely managed to gasp, before coughing.

"Don't speak, idiot," Ran ordered her in a trembling voice.

"She managed to retain consciousness for this long?" Gojyo asked in wonderment.

"This isn't good," Hakkai said looking beside himself. "He missed her heart, but her lung has been pierced."

"What…there's still something you can do right? Karin said you can use chi to heal people…can't you do something about this?" Ran asked desperately.

"Even my chi can't heal a damaged organ in such a short amount of time," Hakkai admitted sadly. "There is something I can do…though her body might reject it and she'll die anyway."

Ran's hands trembled and her entire body shook with fear, then without warning tears broke through her attempts to hold them back and streamed down her face.

"Oi, Hakkai," Gojyo said placing a hand on Hakkai's shoulder. "You're not seriously just gonna sit there and watch her die without trying, are you?"

"This isn't something that can be easily decided," Hakkai said angrily.

"Maybe not, but from the looks of it, she doesn't have much time left," Gojyo replied seriously.

"Hakkai!" Goku said in a pleading voice. "If she dies, then auntie Yuzuna will be all alone!"

Sanzo scoffed. "Hurry up and decide." Hakkai didn't know what to do. He could feel himself getting lost in the whirl of torment threatening to consume him. But something was able to pull him back.

"Hakkai…" Karin whispered. "…sorry."

"Quit talking Karin, you'll only make it worse," Ran spluttered through her tears.

"It's not your fault Karin," Hakkai whispered taking her hand. "If I had been stronger then I could have protected you."

"This is your chance to make sure you can protect her," Gojyo reminded him. Hakkai sat there for several moments trying to decide whether to do it or not. Then slowly he slit the palm of his hand and placed it over Karin's wound. "Forgive me Karin. This will be painful."

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CM: Really short chapter, I know. I just wanted to create some last minute suspense. _ I promise the next chapter will be longer, so stay tuned for the conclusion of Sun and Rain!