Dokugakuji

We were really in the thick of it now.

My breathing was heavy and there was blood streaming from my nose, over my chin and onto my clothes, my hands hurt from gripping my sword for so long and so tightly. I was back to back with Kougaiji; we were pressed so close together, we were all but standing on each other, and I felt every move he made, every strike he took, heard every shuddering breath and every battle cry and moan of pain. All around us, the DethBreed were pressing in closer, choking my movements and falling against me. I couldn't smell anything past the blood sloshing under my boots and the fire in the city.

This had been going on forever now—Sanzo and Goku had to have run out of here at least an hour ago, and we'd been fighting that whole time. The blade of my sword was drenched in red, along with my clothes and my face.

Whenever I got the chance, I took a look at Kou, to make sure he was doing okay. Last I knew, none of his injuries were very bad, but then again, it had been a while since I'd had that chance. He could be hurt, and I wouldn't know.

I tried to tell myself that if I wasn't hurt, there was no way Kougaiji was, but I couldn't help feeling worried, and my heart was slamming with anxiety. The DethBreed was stronger than I pictured them being. This was the first time we'd actually had to fight them, and I was dismayed by how well they were holding up, by how relentless they were, and how unaffected they were by pain.

"It's like holding off an army of robots." I grumbled, slicing through one, and then I stabbed his throat, just to make sure he was really dead, had to jerk upright again to counter an attack that came from above.

"These guys even mortal?" I sniffed, a little bit louder.

Kougaiji's normally calm voice sounded strained and anxious too, "As far as I know."

"But they're definitely not normal."

He didn't answer that. He didn't need to. Obviously, Ryptcore and his DethBreed weren't normal, because if they were, we wouldn't be having any of these problems in the first place.

I slashed through a line of soldiers, letting them collapse at my feet, and that gave me a moment to raise my head and look around. It was the first break I'd gotten in well over thirty minutes.

Up behind us, the town was a mess of chaos. The fire was spreading, but not very quickly, and there was an orange, hellish light glowing from the streets. I heard screaming from deep inside, and I figured Goku and Sanzo were fighting the general by now. Kougaiji had said we needed to go and meet them, but for an hour now, we hadn't gotten any opportunity to leave. It had been all we could do to hold the DethBreed off as Sanzo and Goku ran away.

In front of me, I saw more soldiers, lining up and moving forward to come and take the place of their fallen comrades, and I got the feeling they'd been lying in wait for their opportunity to join the fight—there were just as many now as there had been earlier, when the four of us were standing on the hill watching their approach.

"How many soldiers does that lunatic have following him?" I demanded, readying myself to continue with the fight.

Kou answered grimly. "I have a feeling this is only the beginning."

"Damn."

A handful of soldiers attacked me at once, so I guess my break was over, and I focused for the next few minutes on hacking through them, trying to take out as many as I possibly could, but when another fifteen or twenty minutes had gone by, I felt like I hadn't even made a dent in their ranks, and there were less than thirty dead around me. I trampled the corpses, tripping over them as I struggled to keep fighting. My arms were feeling tired and my lungs were burning. How much longer could we keep this up?

I took a quick look back at the town again, and I wondered how that stupid field trip was holding up. I wasn't jealous of them at all—they definitely had the messier part of the job, dealing with Ryptcore himself. That guy was caged insanity. I didn't even want to think of what was going to happen if the Sanzo Ikkou got destroyed fighting him.

That should be something we wanted—for them to break apart or be defeated by hands other than our own so that we didn't have to deal with them anymore—but if Ryptcore won, we were going to have to get rid of him by ourselves.

This isn't about Ryptcore. Don't even kid yourself.

I didn't want the Sanzo Ikkou to be defeated by Ryptcore, or by anyone else.

"Do you think they're still fighting Ryptcore?" I asked.

Kou took a second before answering. I heard him tearing into his own opponents and letting them slump around him. "I'm sure."

"Sanzo was pretty sure that the other half of the team wasn't going to show up. What do you think?"

"I think you're more likely to have the answer to that question than I am."

Maybe. I couldn't picture Gojyo abandoning his friends, and if there was anything I'd learned from my conversation with Hakkai earlier, it was that, if Gojyo went, he was going to go too.

The thoughts stopped me in my tracks, I froze, in the middle of the fight, and stared back at the town again.

That means…

Gojyo was in there now, fighting Ryptcore with his friends, and I had no way of knowing if he was winning or losing, enduring or dying.

A soldier took a swipe at my face, bringing me back to life, and I stepped forward to cut his hand off right at the wrist, jumped back into the fray, fighting all the fiercer, and now, with a little desperation too.

What an impossible situation. We had to get out of here to go help the Sanzo Ikkou deal with Ryptcore, but after an hour and a half, we weren't any closer to that than we'd been. We might never get out of here.

I wanted to go and fight alongside my brother, make sure he was okay. I wanted to be there to watch his back. It was pissing me off that all these bastards were standing in the way of that.

"Kou…" I grated out, between blows, "We have to wrap this up."

He was fighting hard. I heard him panting, "I wish it were that simple, Dokugaku."

No kidding there. We were still totally surrounded, and when I looked out, all I saw was a sea of blank, blood-thirsty faces.

I tried to tell myself that Gojyo would be okay without me, but I just wasn't sure. It was Ryptcore's goal in life to murder Sanzo, and he wasn't going to be able to do that without first killing everyone else in their party.

If I could get out of here somehow, go to join them…

It seems impossible.

And what about Kou? I couldn't leave Kou here. I'd never get out without the DethBreed focusing on someone other than me…

There's no way I can turn my back on Kou and expect him to cover me just so I can go to my brother.

My brother. My prince. How was I supposed to choose one over the other?

I couldn't cover them both at the same time.

Grimly, I kept fighting, teeth set, whole body feeling sore.

Nails clawed my side, barely ripping through my skin, and I spun around, lopping off a head with one fluid swing of my sword. I was getting really angry about all this.

"I can't believe that bitch released these freaks on purpose." Kougaiji said angrily.

"I know." I wiped some blood off my forehead, not knowing if it was mine or someone else's.

He was quiet for a minute or two, and I focused on the fight again, trying not to think about Gojyo facing Ryptcore.

That freak was so insanely powerful…when we'd fought him on the mountain, I'd been able to sense his strength, and it had scared me, because I knew there was more to it than I could even feel.

Dammit. My brother could get killed!

Behind me, Kougaiji started shouting, his furious voice breaking through the hustle of battle and piercing the night sky.

I chopped a guy in half, turned to look at Kou over my shoulder for a split second, afraid I was going to see him missing an arm, or bleeding really bad.

His fists were on fire with red flames, and he was tearing through soldiers one after another, with his bare hands and claws. He started chanting, barking out each word, choppily, and his voice echoed around us. There was a burst of red and heat. Kou screamed, and I watched his magic tear through the ranks around us. The soldiers burst into flames, crumbling like ashes in a matter of seconds, and died without screaming. Kougaiji's fire continued to blaze through them, dismembering some and decapitating others, blood splashing around us in a sudden storm.

When it was over, and the fire had vanished again, at least fifty men were dead, and the others had frozen where they were, to stare and try to figure out what had happened, obviously.

Kou and I stood close together, and I was panting.

"Wow. They really didn't like that."

Kou nodded, looking very serious. "I should have known."

"What do you mean?" I asked, taking the opportunity to stretch my tired arms, checked over both my shoulders to make sure I wasn't being attacked from behind, but they still seemed too stunned to act.

"These direct attacks haven't been working…unless you're able to kill them in one blow, they just keep coming back."

"It's like they don't feel pain." I agreed.

Now a couple were moving forward again, but slowly and uncertainly.

"I should have thought about it… Magic, if used correctly, can be strong enough to destroy even the strongest of opponents with just one blow. Usually, if direct attacks don't work, magic does."

That wasn't very comforting to me—I didn't know any magic techniques, not even one.

"So…" Kou went on, a little more carefully now, "My magic, my summon monsters, Sanzo's sutra, maybe even Hakkai's chi manipulation…those kinds of things should work best on the DethBreed."

"And if they work on the DethBreed, you think they'll work on Ryptcore too. Right?"

"I think so."

"Does Sanzo know that?"

"I have no idea…but, he really should. It would help him out a lot."

I thought about it. If Sanzo knew, wouldn't Ryptcore be dead by now? He probably didn't know, but Kou was right—he should know—and whatever helped Sanzo out would help my brother too. Besides…

I tried to think clearly.

Sanzo had his sutra, Kou had his magic and summons, Hakkai had his chi…

All together, the three of them should be more than enough to destroy Ryptcore, I thought, and even with his sutra, Sanzo needed all the help he could get.

That settled it.

The soldiers were coming to life again, starting to shift toward us, but they were still taking their time, and that meant we had a perfect opportunity to make a move now. We wouldn't for long. There were still so many, even with Kou's magic, it was going to take some time, and we didn't have time to waste.

"You should go." I told him.

Kou looked up at me, "Go where?"

"As if you're not already thinking about it, Kou. You should go and help Sanzo. Your combined powers are enough to kill Ryptcore, don't you think?"

That seemed to trouble him, and he took a second to answer, "I have no way of knowing…"

"Either way, it's the best shot we've got, don't you think?"

More hesitation, and then he nodded.

"Then I think you should go while you have a chance."

"I'm not sure we can get out of here that easily. By the time we reach Sanzo, it could be too late."

"Then you should go now."

Reluctantly, he looked up at me, "And you?"

"I'll hold them back."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not? It's the only thing that's going to work, Kou. If we try to get out of here together, it'll just be a mess—we'll just lead all these freaks back to where Sanzo and his team are fighting Ryptcore, and things will be even worse for everyone. If I hold them off and you make a break for it, I'll make sure nobody follows you, and then you guys can have a chance at killing Ryptcore."

I could see he wanted to argue, but I didn't think there was anything in the world that could possibly make more sense than what I'd just told him. "It's dangerous, Dokugaku." He said at last. "You could get killed. I am not walking out on you, not for anything."

"Look, Kou, we don't have a lot of time to figure it out, do we? You have to take the chance while you have it." Even now, the DethBreed was starting to attack again, moving in a little quicker. "I'll be fine. I'll kill off as many as I can…" I struggled to choke out the rest of the words, knowing that I might not be able to do anything. I might not be able to make it out of this fight alive, not if I was fighting all by myself. Was it all worth getting killed for?

Kou and Goj are worth getting killed for, yeah. No doubt about that. If it's gotta' be me or one of them, I want it to be me…

"Then I'll come meet you." I finished at last.

"Dokugakuji, I'm not sure that-"

"God dammit, Kou!" I shouted, watching the troops move in even more quickly now. "We don't have time for this! If we want Ryptcore to die tonight, you have to go help Sanzo! If you don't, then we're probably all going to die, so if I have to go down to make that happen, that's just the way it is!"

Kou frowned and shook his head, "I don't agree, Doku. I don't think it's worth it…"

"You know it is." I hacked through an enemy who'd gotten within my reach. "Now stop it and go."

He didn't move.

"It's the only way." I insisted, quietly. "If you stay here and fight it out with me, the others will probably die…and I don't know if we can take out Ryptcore by ourselves. This is our one chance to destroy that monster once and for all."

Kou was quiet and still a while longer, and then he clasped my shoulder, firmly, "You're not going down. You're going to come and meet me as soon as you're done here—is that clear?"

"Yes sir."

"If you're not there soon, I'm going to come and look for you—I don't care what happens to the Sanzo Ikkou in the meantime."

"Kou." I sighed.

"No." He snapped. "I get what this is all about—I understand why you feel that way, Dokugakuji, and I can't blame you, not when I've got Lirin to think about—but I don't give a damn about any of it. When I'm done settling up with Ryptcore, if you still haven't come, I'm coming back to find you. That's all there is to it."

I knew better than to argue with him about that, so I nodded, feeling suddenly very tired, "All right, I think I can live with that, just get going now, or none of this will matter."

Kou began to back away, turned around to prepare to run through a gap in their ranks.

I knew I shouldn't delay him, but I couldn't help it. I muttered, almost inaudibly, "Hey, Kou, will you…do me a favor?"

"What is it?"

How should I say it? I wasn't really sure… I knew I might not make it through this. I might be dead by sunrise, and if I was…how could I let everything I'd ever felt or thought fall aside like it was nothing?

"Just…tell my brother I said 'hey', would'ja'?"

He looked back at me, solemnly, and our eyes met, "Of course, my friend."

I tried to smile, "It's been an honor…fighting alongside you, Prince-"

"Don't." He interrupted. "Don't start talking like I'll never see you again; this isn't the end."

Weakly, I nodded, "You're right. My bad."

For a few more moments, we looked at each other, and then he said, "I'll see you soon."

With that, he spun away and cut out, rushing through the rapidly closing gap, had to knock a few men down as he went, but he broke through their ranks and shot straight up the hill, toward the town. A few soldiers tried to chase after him, but I lunged forward and cut them off, lopping a couple heads and an arm off, and Kou kept running without looking back. I watched him a second, saw him spring straight up onto a rooftop and disappear over it. Even when he was out of sight, I watched a bit longer before returning my attention to the fight.

And now I was fighting something else too. I felt alone and scared, I was facing an army of enemies, with not so much as a single ally to watch my back, and the DethBreed was coming at me from all sides.

I felt their attack hit me like a wave, washing over me, from the front, from behind, from both sides—it was all I could do to keep up. Fingernails raked down my back, and I swept around, slicing off an arm, horizontal cut and tore through another man. I had to whip back to the side again, just as someone else was trying to tear into my side. I killed him.

There was pain in my leg, and I growled in outrage, cut the youkai responsible down from shoulder to hip. Blood sprayed everywhere. A soldier sprang up on my back, and I threw him off, into a crowd of his comrades. They all surged forward together.

More were coming up out of the grass. Another fifty or so, it looked like—more than enough to cover what Kou had taken out with his magic. I steadied myself and tried to be ready for battle.

It seemed like it went on forever, with claws and weapons and teeth coming at me from every angle, sometimes shredding through my clothes and tearing into my skin, sometimes barely missing ripping into my organs. In a matter of minutes, I was bathed almost completely in red—I could taste blood on my tongue and feel it clinging to every inch of my body. The DethBreed jabbed at me and moved in closer, circling around me without words or laughter, but it just made me angry, and I fought that much harder. I couldn't let this battle overcome me, not when my Prince expected to see me again.

Maybe it was just a waiting game now. Maybe I had no choice but to ride this out and hope that Kou returned to help me before too long.

No. No, that was pathetic. I had to get out of this on my own.

Someone cut into my arm.

I turned to see a jeering, demonic face, stabbed straight through his eye, into his brains. More blood flowed up over my forearm.

Relentlessly, they came down on me, and I strained to keep my wits about me. There was no time to think about Kou now, or Gojyo, or anything. I was in a fight for my life, going back and forth, back and forth, spilling intestines here now, only to whip around and, seconds later, stab another soldier through the chest. They grabbed at me and jumped on me, tried to trip me. More bodies fell down at my feet, and it was hard to stand. When I breathed, I felt my throat aching. When I swung, I felt my arms stinging, and as time went by, I felt them threatening to give out completely.

To me, it felt like hours passed. The moon faded across the sky above me, drifting toward the Western horizon, and as time went by, I began to feel like the fight would never end. I was in a lot of pain, and I was starting to feel exhausted. Around me there were spurts of red and sudden flashes of white teeth. I heard snapping and snarling, but never voices. It was like the end of the world, and I was the last sane man alive, and everyone else was hell bent on destroying me.

I screamed as loudly as I could, at the very top of my lungs, and dove into the thickest part of the fray, swinging my sword wildly, around and around, back and forth, chopping, hacking, slashing, slicing and dicing them any way I could. I severed legs from bodies and they collapsed in heaps, not even moaning, kept trying to fight, even when they couldn't stand up anymore. They were insane.

Maybe I was insane too. I'd sent away Kougaiji to fight this horde by myself. What was I thinking? There was no way I could possibly get out of this alive.

Exhaustion fell over me. My body was heavy and my limbs felt like noodles, my eyes were burning, head aching, but I knew I had to keep going, so I forced myself to continue with the fight. How much longer could it last?

Soon, I started feeling like my legs might give out. I knew I had good endurance—I'd been fighting as a hobby for most of my life—and being in Kougaiji's service, I was always training to make sure I was in top condition. I was young, in my prime, but the DethBreed was just so relentless. I began to wonder if I could possibly survive this, and then, not long after that, I started to doubt it, if only because, every time I killed a soldier, there was another one to replace him. Their force seemed just as strong as ever, and nothing I did could diminish them. My direct attacks weren't enough, like Kougaiji said, and I didn't have any magic to fall back on. Could I do this at all?

With another angry shout, I threw myself into them, ignoring the painful scrapes of their nails and the vicious swipes of their blades, the gnashing of their teeth, and I just fought for all I was worth, never backing down, never relenting, pushing all pain, discomfort and exhaustion into the furthest corner of my mind. I found my instincts and I let them lead me. I clung to my determination and shut out my own thoughts and just acted. Someone over my shoulder—I slaughtered him. A whisper of teeth here, and then I'd cut through them. Any time an opponent rose up, I cut him down. I refused to lose this without even a decent fight. I would not go down in history as a coward or a quitter or as the man who'd given up. I would fight until my last breath, because that's what I had to do, in order to protect Kougaiji and Gojyo. It was the only way…

If anything ever happened to either of them, I could never forgive whoever was responsible, and I couldn't forgive myself either.

Time continued to wear on, and my exhaustion just increased. My sword was so heavy, there were moments when I thought I couldn't hold it up. Eventually, I let it go, and it vanished, and I attacked them with my own claws and even my teeth, tore through them with everything I had, not so much as flinching when I felt them clip or slice me.

How long will this go? I asked myself.

Forever. Was the answer. And so what if it was forever? I had better keep right on fighting and not bother thinking about time. This was my life, and it was at stake now, so I couldn't even think about hunger or fear, pain, loss, and eventually, I knew I couldn't think about Kou coming back or about Gojyo being okay. I couldn't worry about whether or not I saw either of them again. I had to fight. I'd been born to, and I couldn't let myself down—I was more important than anything else right now.

Later, when I'd defeated all these bastards, I'd think about them. But right now…

A soldier rammed me in the back, and I lost my footing. About four of them came for me at once, knocking me down, and I hit the ground hard, landing among the blood and the corpses. Thrashing, I fought to get up again, even with them all circling and looming over me. Sharp pain shot through my skull and I fell face-forward, losing my vision for a moment, but I could still feel hands pawing at me and enemies nudging at me. There was no sound, aside from a high-pitched ringing in my ears, and the shuffle of people swarming around me, shoving against each other, the crack of bones as they trampled their own fallen comrades and splashed through the thick, damp grass. Fear seized me. I knew that if I laid there too long, they'd kill me.

Fighting to shake off the blindness, I summoned my sword again and struggled to rise, only to be crushed down again. I felt more pain, this time in my arm. Shouting, I swung my sword, back and forth, over and over. I sawed through a pair of legs and chopped through a couple of waists, desperately trying to clear some of them away, to make room to get up again.

They kicked me down.

My heart was really racing now, the fear was taking over. I couldn't afford to lose. I couldn't die here, no matter what happened, I had to get up again.

Unfamiliar faces hovered over me. I swung at them, trying to rip their heads off with my bare hands.

They faded back like shadows, and I missed.

Somehow, my right arm was pinned. No matter how I strained, I couldn't wrench free.

Desperation was growing. I could hardly breathe—they were smothering me, drowning me with their numbers and expressionless faces.

With a scream, I lashed out with my free hand, but it was soon pinned down too. I felt the ground beneath me, wet with blood, as I struggled, fighting for all I was worth, but it wasn't enough. No matter what move I made, they were right there, holding me tightly against the ground.

This could be it, I realized, bleakly. This could be the end of me.

The thought only made me fight that much harder, and I actually managed to break loose and spring up again, staggering. Fell to my knees a second later. I screamed and hacked at the air, missed.

A man stood over me. He was bigger than the others, and his eyes were gleaming. In his hand, he held a long, curved sword. He cocked his arm back, and our gazes locked.

For a moment, I was still, just gaping at the man, trying to make myself believe that what I was witnessing was real.

The others crowded around me, so escape was impossible.

My executioner readied himself. In another five seconds, my head would be gone

Kou wasn't back yet—he couldn't save me. I sat and stared up at the man who was about to kill me, and realized that I had sealed my own fate by staying here to hold them back. Now all I could hope was that, somehow…

Somehow it was enough to get rid of Ryptcore. Somehow Kougaiji's okay, and Gojyo's alive, and Ryptcore is dead, so my sacrifice isn't for nothing…

I closed my eyes, preparing for the fall of the sword.

Don't let this be for nothing…

Then, right when I was ready for the end, I heard a sound in the distance. At first, it was like the low howl of wind on a winter's night, and it grew into the rumble of far-off thunder, growing closer and closer, until it sounded to me like there was lightning striking directly over my head. I opened my eyes and stared up at the sky, saw the clouds above me, illuminated by a strange, brilliant, white light that lit up everything around me so that the night was as bright as day, and the moon was drowned out. The white light lingered for what seemed like forever, and then it suddenly flashed orange, and another explosion shook the ground. A split second later, there was a flair of purple, and another loud boom. Somewhere in the distance, I thought I heard a peal of long, ragged screaming.

As quickly as it all happened, the lights and the sounds died away, back into distant thunder, and then into nothing. The night was dark, and everything was still. The DethBreed wasn't moving, they were all staring away, back toward the town.

Panting heavily, I looked that way too, thinking I'd see something—anything really—Ryptcore, or Kougaiji or the Sanzo Ikkou. Something.

The town was quieter than ever. Not a remnant of fire or of terrified voices.

A couple minutes dragged by like that. I thought the DethBreed would get over it and go back to killing me, but none of them moved, and then, slowly, after some time had gone by, they all began to back away from me. They didn't make a sound. They just let go of me, their fingers leaving prints and marks on me, and they dropped their weapons, and receded back into the shadows, disappearing, a couple at a time.

Before I knew it, they were all gone, and that's when I realized that the explosions I'd seen must have been something major. Was Ryptcore dead? Maybe he'd won the battle and the others were all dead. It could have gone either way—the DethBreed hadn't given any indication of either as they'd slipped away.

Whatever had happened, I hardly had time to think about it. The only thing I could get my mind around was that I was alive, and I was okay. I checked my body for any serious injuries, but everything looked intact, for the most part; no fatal wounds.

I couldn't believe I wasn't going to die, and I stared after the shadows a while, sort of expecting some of the soldiers to come back and finish me, but nothing stirred on the hillside, and slowly, I began to believe that the battle was really over. Had I won? Had I lost? Neither of those words seemed to mean anything just now. I was alive, and that was a triumph all its own.

With a heavy sigh, I fell facedown again, in the bloody grass, and I shut my eyes.

Gojyo

I had a terrible dream. Something about the guys, I think; everyone was fighting. Everyone was trying to kill each other. There was nothing I could do to fix it. When it was over, I hit the ground like a bag of sand, drenched in blood and unbearable pain, and Hakkai stood over me, holding my still beating heart in one hand.

It was so real.

I woke up with a start, body jerking from fear, throat aching to scream, cold sweat streaming down my forehead. The room was dark, and it took me a second to remember where I was. Lei was still beside me, one arm draped over my chest. I was surprised I hadn't woken her up.

Hakkai was still awake. I could barely make out his silhouette standing at the window across the room.

Careful not to bother Lei, I sat up, rubbing my forehead. "Ugh. How long was I asleep?"

He didn't answer.

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, "Hey, Hakkai?"

"Not long. But…it's just as well, I suppose. Was it a nightmare?"

A nightmare? I thought about the vague, violent dream I'd just had and couldn't resist the urge to shudder. Hell yeah it was a nightmare. I didn't think I'd ever dreamed anything more terrifying.

"Nah. Just a weird dream. Whadya' mean it's just as well?"

"Only that I wouldn't have let you sleep much longer anyway."

"Wha?"

For the first time, I noticed there was noise coming from outside. Lots of loud crashing and shouting and shattering glass.

I crossed the room to stand next to him. "What is it?"

"Unfortunately for us, it appears to be Ryptcore and his army."

I looked out the window, and I could see youkai—dozens of youkai—running crazy in the streets, with swords and other weapons, chasing people around with torches..

"Sonnova bitch. Right now?"

"I'm afraid sleeping in has become a distant dream." Hakkai turned to me, "You are up to this, are you not?"

"Yeah. Sure." I tried to sound pretty confident, but I wasn't sure I was actually up for it. I still felt really tired and hurt, and my dream was bothering me. The last thing I wanted was to go out there and fight them. I really wanted to say 'that's Sanzo's problem', and just go back to bed, but I knew I couldn't. I studied him a moment, and I could sense his youkai energy, raging wild, noticing that it seemed even more out of control than before. I knew his energy as well as I knew any other part of him, and what I felt now seemed like it was barely Hakkai. Like he was one bad shove away from falling off the reservation and never coming back. "Are you?"

"I don't know exactly, but, it hardly matters since there's really nothing we can do to avoid it. Sanzo and Goku will need our help."

That was not the answer I wanted to hear, but I knew he was right, so I sighed and went back over to the bed to shake Lei. "Wake up, babe."

While she was coming around, yawning and stretching, I sat down to put my boots on, and I couldn't help feeling peeved that this was happening. I mean, couldn't a guy catch a break? Ever?

Lei sat up, voice sounding drowsy, "What is it?"

I smiled at her. "No big deal, we just gotta' go and sort some stuff out…"

Hakkai and me ran through the streets. I had my shakujou in hand, and I felt like I was surrounded by enemies. DethBreed soldiers were everywhere, running like maniacs, breaking everything they came across, grabbing people, fighting people, fighting each other, busting windows and setting buildings on fire. Sometimes we had to stop and fight one, just every here and there, but for the most part, we stayed on the move. At this point, the only way we were going to find Sanzo and Goku would be by finding Ryptcore. I could sense his chi burning somewhere in the distance, over on the western side of town. It was like a massive thunderstorm, building miles and miles away, and the closer I got, the more I felt like I could feel the earth itself trembling. It seemed even stronger than it had before.

Just our luck.

"You know, I am not stoked about this."

"Nor I."

He was being sort of tight-lipped now. I could tell he was nervous, and with good reason. The last time he fought that freak, he had to take his limiter off. Hopefully this time it would be okay. It would be all four of us against that asshole, for the first time, and if everybody stayed sane, I thought we could get out of it okay.

Or maybe that was just my optimism kicking in. It seemed to do that when things were so bad I could barely take it anymore. A shrink would probably call it a defense mechanism.

So what if it is?

I wanted to believe that me and the guys could finally put an end to this if we fought him all at once. I wanted to believe I was going to wake up tomorrow morning and say 'holy shit, that sucked. Let's keep trucking'. I wanted to think I was going to get my chance to avenge Deshi, and then sleep for more than a handful of hours, in a real bed. I wanted to think I was going to get an opportunity to sleep with Lei, at some point. My ribs were going to heal, magically, maybe, and in a couple of days, this would all be a far away nightmare. Hell, maybe we'd all just laugh about it some day.

Idiotically optimistic—that is definitely a defense mechanism.

I didn't want to think about what was actually going to happen…

Suddenly, I slid to a halt, clenching my shakujou tighter.

Was I imagining it, or…?

Hakkai stopped too. We looked at each other.

"I felt it too." He said grimly. "There was just a massive spike in youkai energy."

"That's not…what I think it is though…right?"

"I'm afraid it probably is. After all, it stands to reason that if Goku and Sanzo are facing Ryptcore by themselves, that might be…necessary."

"Yeah, but what about Kougaiji and Dokugakuji? They're supposed to be helping them, right?"

"I don't know, Gojyo."

We started running again, that much faster. A group of youkai tried to block us off, so we had to take time to finish them off. They were all just a little bit tougher than the average assassin, but not so strong that we couldn't handle it. Maybe everything would be okay, if we weren't running on such a tight schedule.

I felt like it took us forever to get through the town, chasing the beacon of Ryptcore's power and plowing through rows of soldiers. There were dead humans everywhere. It seemed like I was always having to jump over a new, bleeding corpse, and I didn't see any live people anywhere. I guess they'd all either gotten out of town or were killed.

This town is just another notch on that assholes belt.

Finally, I felt like Ryptcore's power was hovering right in front of us, a huge dome of dark, electrifying energy, and then I could hear shouting and snarling and gun fire, and by that time, I could definitely feel Goku's chi too. There was no doubt in my mind that he'd lost his diadem somehow.

"What're we gonna' do?" I called out to Hakkai, weaving through a group of soldiers. One tried to grab me and I chopped his arm off at the shoulder.

"I'm not sure. We'll have to survey the situation before we do anything."

"Just as long as you don't take your limiter off." I told him, slowing to a jog. It sounded like they were right ahead of us now, just around the next corner.

Hakkai eased his pace too, but he didn't look at me as he answered, "I can't promise you that."

"Yeah, but dude—"

There was a wild scream, and then somebody smashed into the building next to me, crashing through the window and lying there limply. It looked like one of Ryptcore's crazy soldiers.

We both looked up to see that we were standing in a pretty narrow street, and a ways down, there was Ryptcore and Goku, fighting like wild animals. The kid definitely had his limiter off, and he didn't look hurt too bad. Ryptcore looked crazier than ever. His eyes were wild, there was blood smeared across his face and chest and dripping from his claws, but he didn't look like he was hurt either. They seemed to be matching each other blow for blow.

The DethBreed was gathered all around, blocking off the far end of the street and cramming into the alley ways, but like last time, they didn't cheer or boo or anything. They were totally quiet, just watching the fight without a word.

Sanzo was there too. He was darting around the street, firing at random, obviously aiming for Ryptcore's face. Every now and then, either Ryptcore or Goku would go after him, and it looked like it was all he could do to keep from getting ripped open; from the look on his face, I could tell he was super distressed, but at least he wasn't running away. Bright red was staining his robes. Now that probably was his blood.

In the same instant, Hakkai and I rushed forward, "Sanzo!" We stood on either side of him, me gripping my shakujou tight, Hakkai ready to fire off a chi blast.

Sanzo took one more shot at Ryptcore, which must have missed, because the two of them went on fighting, and then he spat some blood out.

"Hey, you okay, man?" I asked.

"What's it to you?"

Wow, he sounded angry. Angry, angry, angry. I guess he had every reason to be pissed, but I didn't like that he was taking it out on me straight out of the gate. I mean, I had plenty of reasons to be pissed off too.

Before I could fire anything back at him, he snorted, "What the hell are you two assholes doing here?"

"What? We came to help you, you dick!"

"I didn't ask for your help." He was reloading his gun.

"Oh, yeah, it looks like you're doing just fine, Sanzo."

"Shut it and get the hell outta' here, or this next bullet's for you."

"Hey, you fucking asshole-"

"Sanzo. Gojyo." Hakkai interrupted in a quiet, too-serious tone.

Ryptcore and Goku had paused in their fight, and all eyes were on us, curious and hungry. Goku's body was shuddering with laughter, and the grin on his face was psychotic.

Ryptcore laughed too, "There, you see, little Sanzo? I told you they'd come running—the demon slayer and the abomination. Now you're all here, and I shall kill all four of you."

"Suck my dick." I snorted, not really thinking about it. I was just pissed about what Sanzo had said.

Ryptcore grinned at me. For a second, he was standing there, a good hundred feet away, and then, the next thing I knew, he was right in front of me, leaning down so that we were face to face. I caught a whiff of his breath. It smelled like rancid meat.

"Is that really what you want me to do?" He gurgled, running one long claw down the length of my torso.

"You fucking psycho!" I took a swing at him, almost broke my knuckles across his jaw, I hit him so hard.

The maniac just laughed and sprang back, "Oh, ah-ah, Sha Gojyo. It's not your turn yet. The three of you will all get your chance to lose your life by my hands, but at the moment, I'm occupied with your friend, the Sage."

Just like that, he sprang at Goku, and they went back to fighting.

"What an absolute lunatic." I shuddered.

"Hmph. It's your own fault for always being so crass." Sanzo decided, calmly.

"I'm crass? What about you, huh, Mister Holy? You got quite a mouth on you."

"Please." Hakkai interrupted, "Sanzo, why don't you tell us a bit about what's going on here? For instance, I thought Kougaiji and Dokugakuji were supposed to be helping you."

"Those bastards…" Sanzo shook his head, "I'm not sure where they are."

"Aw, what? Did'ja chase them off with your winning attitude too."

"Gojyo." Hakkai scolded. "Well, Sanzo? You mean to say they left on purpose?"

"No. Not necessarily." Sanzo was glaring daggers at me. "The four of us were going to meet Ryptcore and we got separated. Goku and I bumped into Ryptcore and had to start fighting without them."

"What became of his diadem?"

"He took it off."

"I see. I suppose he thought that was his best chance at surviving this."

"Hn. He's an idiot. I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen."

"What do you mean he wouldn't listen?" I demanded. "You couldn't keep him from taking it off? What kinda' bullshit is that?"

Sanzo snarled at me—I must have struck a nerve—"Mind your own business, asshole! No I couldn't keep him from taking it off! Just like you couldn't keep Hakkai from taking his off!"

"What the fuck do you know about that?" I practically shouted.

"Looks like somebody tore into you. You mean it wasn't Hakkai?"

"Why don't you take your own advice and mind your own business, Sanzo? It's got nothing to do with you how I-"

"Then don't go slinging blame around, you half-wit. Your pal's going berserk and you're bitching at me for letting Goku remove his diadem when we're in the middle of a fucking fight?!"

"Hey, am I crazy, or is it just a little bit different? Goku's bat-shit-crazy-outta' control without his limiter, and Hakkai's-"

"And Hakkai could go berserk at any given second. That's the difference."

"You know what, dickhead, we came all the way out here to help you, so maybe you'd better stow all your high-and-mighty, self-important-"

"You two. Do you really think now is the best time to be bickering?" Hakkai somehow managed to be heard over my shouting. He waited until he was sure we were both going to stay quiet, and then he turned to Sanzo, "What do you think we should do?"

Sanzo glared at me a little while longer before he said, "I'd like to see what this bag of wind would think of the Makai Tenjyo…but I can't find any opportunity to use it."

"In other words, you're in need of a diversion."

"That was why the monkey took his diadem off in the first place. He thought maybe it would buy me the chance I needed, but so far, it hasn't."

"I see…" Hakkai looked thoughtful.

Sanzo waited a moment before saying, "The problem now is that Goku keeps getting in the way. If someone distracted him, while someone else distracted Ryptcore, I might be able to get it to work."

"Might?" I scoffed.

He growled at me, "It's the best chance we have."

Hakkai sounded troubled. "Yes, but to come between Ryptcore and Goku without being torn to pieces…"

"It would be very dangerous…"

"That person would have to be able to hold their own against the Seiten Taisei, at least."

Sanzo fixed his eyes on him, very seriously. "There's only one person here who can do that, Hakkai."

"Wait a minute!" I interrupted. "Do you understand what you're asking him to do?"

"Yes. Do you?"

"Well, did it even occur to you that maybe throwing half-berserk, limitless Hakkai into the mix will only make shit worse?"

"It's our only option."

"No way! Hell, I'll go in there and-"

"And get killed."

"Sanzo's right." Hakkai said suddenly, and I saw that he was toying with his limiter cuffs.

"Hakkai, wait."

"We can't wait, Gojyo. We can't wait for Kougaiji and Dokugakuji to show up. We can't wait for something better to come along. We have one shot at getting rid of Ryptcore, and this is it, otherwise, we're all going to die here tonight." He looked at Sanzo again, then back at me, "Can the two of you do it?"

"Do what?" I demanded.

"Finish off Ryptcore. Get Goku's diadem back on, and bring me around?"

"We did it before." Sanzo said.

"Not completely by yourselves though. Just the two of you."

"Hn. Just do your part and don't bother with us."

Hakkai wouldn't relent though. "Sanzo, I'm about to put my very sanity on the line, faithfully believing that it will be worth it, because the two of you won't let me down. All I want to know is, can the two of you stop fighting each other long enough to see this through?"

Sanzo and I stared at him a second. I guess neither of us had realized that was what he was driving at. Next, we glanced at each other, but I couldn't read Sanzo's face for shit.

"You're not renowned for being able to work well together."

Sanzo threw his cigarette down, pissed off as usual, "Like I said, worry about your part, Hakkai."

Hakkai sighed, tiredly, and then he looked at me.

"Hey, pal, don't think for a second that me not getting along with Sanzo is going to be the reason everybody dies and goes to hell."

"I already told you it could be, didn't I?"

"Not tonight." I insisted firmly.

He turned his back to me, watching Ryptcore and Goku go at it, removed his first cuff, slowly.

I took a short step closer to him, feeling a little bit desperate, "I don't want you to do this."

"I know you don't."

"We should try to find another way."

"There's no time for that. It isn't right for us to rely entirely on Goku to resolve this issue."

The second cuff was off. His chi was that much more intense, and I could feel the hair on my neck standing on end.

"Yeah, but this could be the last time, Hakkai…"

"It will be the last time."

"That's not what I mean." I said darkly.

He took the last one off. His youkai power swelled, in a flash of blinding strength, his appearance changed. Hakkai half turned to me, that one golden eye searching my soul. He held the cuffs out to me, "Please hold on to these. I don't want them to get lost."

Reluctantly, I took them. "What the fuck, man? You got your own pockets."

He just laughed.

"Shit. I give up." I stuffed them into the pocket of my pants. "Just get outta' here."

"Oh, but there is one more thing."

"Yeah. What?"

"If it's not too much trouble, don't allow Sanzo to shoot me."

"Hell no. You didn't even have to ask."

His smile deepened, but his eyes weren't feeling it. He looked sad, and sort of scared, and I wanted to punch Sanzo in the face for making him do this. "However…if I don't come back, that means you'll have to stop me yourself."

"What? Why the hell do I have to be the one, Hakkai?"

"Because, that's the way I want it."

"Man, you sure want some messed up stuff lately."

He chuckled, "Yes, it would seem that's true. Never-the-less… Do you think you can do it?"

Never mind that I really didn't want to.

"…Guess so."

"You need to be sure."

"Look, I'm not gonna' have to."

"I hope you're right."

"You're coming back, Hakkai."

He smiled over his shoulder at me, apologetically, and then he stepped away.

You better come back.

Hakkai darted forward and entered the fight smoothly, getting right between Goku and Ryptcore, even while they were in the process of trying to rip the shit out of each other. He drove at Ryptcore, ramming him in the sternum with his shoulder; the psycho wasn't expecting it, so he went flying back, and Hakkai turned on Goku immediately, just in time to block him from slicing him straight down the back.

Goku laughed and danced away, charged again and sprang straight up in the air to dive down on him.

Hakkai leapt out of the way, twisted to the side to let Goku's claws glide past him. They spent a few moments exchanging hits. Goku was all tooth and nails, but Hakkai must have been partly in control of himself, because he was throwing normal punches and kicks, not trying to tear into Goku at all.

Further down the street, Ryptcore was getting up and marching back toward the fight.

I twirled my shakujou. "Right. So he's gonna' keep Goku busy, I gotta' distract Ryptcore, and you're gonna' use the Makai Tenjyo to kill him before he shreds me from skull to dick?"

"You gotta' problem with that?"

"Actually, I have a lot of problems with that."

"Fill out a comment card later. Just get your ass in there and do your share."

"You know, Sanzo, I'm not sure you give me all the credit I deserve."

"I disagree. I think I give you more credit than you've ever earned."

I started to shout something back at him, but someone beat me out, screaming over me, wildly.

"You! How dare you show your face here?"

I glanced around for the source.

A youkai was coming out of the crowd of soldiers, shoving his way through his comrades and pushing his way to the front. It took me a second to recognize him, but when I saw his platinum blonde hair and all his facial piercings, I remembered he was Gang, the officer who'd gotten away the night Hakkai killed Chang.

Gang stood out in front of all the others and pointed at Hakkai, "Turn around and face me, Cho Hakkai!"
Hakkai dodged one of Goku's deadly attacks and backed down to glance at Gang, "I beg your pardon?"

"Don't pretend you don't remember me. You killed my brother!"

Brother? Well, shit. Brothers sure could be irritating lately.

Hakkai gave him only the slightest consideration before having to get out of the way for Goku's claws again. He almost clipped him that time. "I don't particularly have time for a family feud."

Ryptcore was coming up behind him, arms outstretched, blood dripping from his claws.

"Hakkai! Behind you!"

Hakkai dove to the side. Goku and Ryptcore crashed into each other.

Gang drew his two dao swords, "Fuck you!" He ran at Hakkai, slashing first with one, and then with the other. Hakkai managed to dodge both attacks, wound up with his back against the wall, and had to duck under a third.

"Shit, we weren't counting on that, were we?"

Sanzo snapped, "Just get in there and pull your own weight already!"

"Jeez! Alrigh, alright, I'm going." I still didn't move for a second. Ryptcore, Goku and Gang were all after Hakkai right now. Every now and then, Goku and Ryptcore would get distracted and take an arbitrary swing at each other, but they always wound up going after Hakkai again. So far, he was holding his own okay, but he was definitely having to stay on the defensive.

If I ran in head first and started trying to fist fight with Ryptcore, it might distract him long enough for Sanzo to use the sutra, but I'd probably get killed. I'd better try something a little more indirect.

"Well?" Sanzo demanded.

"Go fuck yourself, Sanzo." I grumbled, and then I ran into the fight too, going straight for Ryptcore.

He saw me coming and laughed, "You really are eager to die, aren't you?" He tried to grab me.

I ducked under him and went around, sprang up on the wall and flung my chain at him.

Ryptcore caught the sickle in one hand.

Not everyone could do that. I gaped at him, "No…way…"

He jerked it hard, yanking me toward him.

For a moment, I was in the air above his head. He opened his mouth like he was going to swallow me whole.

I landed on top of his head, slamming his freakish, shark mouth shut, sprang off.

He whirled around and caught me by the back of the jacket, threw me into Hakkai, and we crashed to the ground, dragging Goku down with us.

The kid snarled and thrashed back and forth. I felt his claws barely nick my jaw as he flailed around, angrily.

I jumped to my feet, Hakkai coming up right behind me. He punched Goku in the face, knocking him back and giving us a little space.

"I'll kill all three of you at once!" Ryptcore cried. "And then Sanzo will have to face me alone!"

Gang was moving in, spinning his swords like propellers.

"You're supposed to be distracting Ryptcore." Hakkai informed me.

"Is that what I'm supposed to do?"

Goku and Gang attacked us at the same time. I felt one of the dao swords whistle past my ear. Goku's claws scraped me down the arm from elbow to wrist.

"Dammit, kid!" I shoved him back with my shakujou, managed to cut around him, and went at Ryptcore again, who was laughing like a maniac.

He caught me by the head, held me out, an arm's length away, and I slashed at him with my shakujou. I think the blade even sawed into him, but he didn't seem to care, not even a little. He was too busy laughing.

"I should have killed you last time. That would have been disheartening to your team, don't you think?"

He tightened his grip, threatening to crush my skull in one hand, like a grape.

With a pained scream, I cut him again, this time along the arm, and blood poured off him.

Ryptcore slammed me down on his knee, knocking the wind out of me and making my broken ribs feel like they were on fire.

I slumped to the ground, clutching my stomach and gasping.

Ryptcore backhanded me across the face, sent me flying into the nearest wall. I felt stones break and crumble around me.

What in the hell was taking Sanzo so frickin' long? I'd been distracting Ryptcore long enough that he should have been able to use his damn Makai Tenjyo on him by now.

I struggled to my feet, turned toward Sanzo to scream at him to do his part.

He was surrounded by about six members of the DethBreed; they'd formed a circle around him, and it looked like they were just playing at him, taking turns slashing at him and shoving him around. His robes were torn. He looked pissed as hell, managed to stand his ground long enough to shoot one of them in the face, but the others weren't bothered by the loss at all, and another freak stepped up to take the fallen's place, immediately.

"Sanzo…"

I looked back at Hakkai. Ryptcore, Gang and Goku were all attacking him again, driving him into a corner.

Everyone was ignoring me, go figure, because I wasn't a threat.

If I helped Sanzo out, he might get his chance to use the Makai Tenjyo on Ryptcore, but I didn't know how long Hakkai could last against the other three all by himself.

"Shit." I turned to run toward Sanzo.

A wall of soldiers was in my path. I guess not everybody was ignoring me. I glared at them—there were about ten, obviously hell bent to keep me from helping Sanzo—they looked totally emotionless, with glowing eyes, like they didn't have souls. "Get outta' the way, assholes."

One jumped at me.

I turned to the side and knocked him forward with my elbow, spun around again, just in time to keep from being gored by a tanto knife. Someone grabbed my hair and dragged me down. I rolled and jumped up, seconds before another was able to stomp my head. Damn. Somebody scraped me across the lower back. Damn.

"Leave the Priest alive!" Ryptcore bellowed, "I want to kill him with my own two hands!"

There were more gunshots. More of Sanzo's opponents fell, and were replaced right away.

This was bad.

Someone punched me in the face. I stumbled back into the arms of an enemy, and he put me in an arm lock while his buddy pummeled me in the stomach and chest, over and over. The pain was excruciating, especially since every blow was another sharp jolt of pain to my busted ribs. Angry as hell, I kicked the guy who was punching me, wrenched out of the grip of the guy holding me. I chopped his leg off with a clean cut from the shakujou, and he hit the ground, blood squirting, but he didn't so much as moan.

More gunshots.

Down the road, I heard Hakkai screaming.

Shit, shit, shit.

Even more freakishly blank youkai crowded around me.

Everyone was going to die unless I did something.

With a shout, whipped my sickle around in a wide circle, and then I flung it forward; the fuckers surrounding me stepped out of the side to avoid being decapitated, and the sickle flew right at what I was aiming for, which happened to be Goku's head.

Hopefully he'd see it coming and I wouldn't wind up killing him.

I'm the last person who's going to be able to kill the Seiten Taisei.

Goku got out of the way at the last second, and the sickle lodged in the wall in front of him, but it got his attention, and that was all I wanted.

With a maniacal grin, he turned to me. Our eyes met for a moment.

Goku licked his lips.

"Bring it, monkey."

Then the DethBreed got in the way again, and I couldn't see him, but I knew he was coming.

Sure enough, a second later, he was plowing through all the soldiers around me, killing them easily, with one slice a piece. He killed about five before he got to me. I feinted to the side, and he ripped another three or four to pieces. Goku turned on me, eyes shining.

I cut out, running back toward Sanzo, hoping against hope this worked and didn't just land me dead. "Over here, monkey boy!"

I didn't get more than two steps before he jumped on me, tackling me to the ground, and we went rolling head over heels; I slammed down hard on the cold, damp stone, and Goku sat on top of me, laughing like a crazy, little kid, claws raised to the sky. Shit, it was going to hurt when he tore into me.

I thought about the freaky dream I'd had before we came here, wondered if maybe it meant something after all.

"Gojyo!" Hakkai came out of nowhere, kicked Goku square in the back, knocking him off me, and I took the opportunity to scramble up, barely looking at Hakkai before turning to stand back-to-back with him. His chest and arm was bleeding, shirt torn, but other than that, he seemed to be doing okay.

"You all right?" I asked.

Another twenty or so members of the DethBreed were closing in around us. Goku was picking himself up. Ryptcore and Gang were marching toward us. I heard Sanzo firing his gun over and over like a damn firework display, but they weren't letting him get to us, not for anything.

Hakkai pressed tightly against my back, breathing heavily, "In a manner of speaking."

"You seem like you're still you."

"Yes, strangely enough. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that Jade isn't around to antagonize me."

"Great. Hopefully she won't show up."

"Although…we could use her help right about now. This doesn't seem to be working as well as we had hoped."

"Whisper all you want!" Ryptcore boomed, "None of you are going to make it out of this alive!"

"Shut up!" I swung my chain again, took out a handful of soldiers.

"Gojyo, please watch out for Goku."

The kid was running at us again, cutting his way through more and more soldiers, laughing hysterically and spilling blood. I kept one eye on him, even though he seemed pretty distracted at the moment.

"I think we could get the plan back into motion if we didn't have so many enemies to deal with." Hakkai said, after he'd finished blowing a wave of chi through the wall of soldiers on his side of the circle.

I was too busy hacking through my own opponents to answer.

For just a moment, a gap in the ranks opened up.

Hakkai shoved me toward it. "Go and help Sanzo."

A little annoyed at being pushed, I growled, "What about you?"

"If Sanzo's too busy to use the Makai Tenjyo, it won't even matter what becomes of me. Now go."

"Man, do I get sick of being everybody's bitch." Either way, I slipped through the gap, just seconds before a new group moved in to fill it; one of them snagged at my sleeve.

I threw my coat off and ran for Sanzo. He was surrounded by about thirty people now. I couldn't even see him, but I still heard and saw the flash of gunfire. I threw myself into the crowd, fighting—swinging and slashing and hacking and tearing into everything around me. Men dropped right and left, heads either rolling or exploding. Someone clawed my leg, but I ignored it and kept right on digging for Sanzo.

The smell of blood and gunpowder was everywhere. My head was aching. Behind me I could hear maniacal laughter and horrific screaming, but I didn't dare look back to see how Hakkai was doing by himself.

"Sanzo!" I ripped through more men, like it was the damn harvest. Blood sprayed and showered all around me, spattering my bare chest and face. My forearms were drenched in red, and my injured arm was burning, just like my ribs, and my other injuries were twitching.

The man right in front of me fell. He just collapsed in a heap, and then I could see Sanzo, purple eyes burning, hair shining in the moonlight, robes tattered and soaked, his teeth gritted and stained red, the barrel of his gun aimed right at me.

I screamed.

The shot went off.

The bullet grazed my ear, as I jumped to the side, barely in time, staggered into the waiting hands of my enemies. I threw one guy off; the next did his best to take my head off with a battle axe, while another was coming at me with his claws. One more grabbed my wrist.

Three shots. All three assholes crumbled like empty suits of armor.

"You good-for-nothing kappa." Sanzo spat. "What do you think you're doing?"

I was panting and sweating, shaking a little from the close call, "That's some way to thank me when I came over here to help you."

"I just saved your life—you owe me the thank-you, not the other way around."

"Eat me."

"You're supposed to be distracting Ryptcore."

"As if it even matters if you can't use the Makai Tenjyo! Fuck, Sanzo, just be grateful for once!"

"I'll be grateful when you stop being lazy and start doing your part!"

That made me so mad, I was extra brutal with the next coupla' guys I killed. "Do you think maybe you should just put Goku's limiter back on instead? That might help us out more—it would be all four of us against-"

"Didn't I already tell you to fill out a comment card later? Just do as your told, kappa."

"Hey, I don't take orders from you, Sanzo!"

"Could have fooled me."

"You arrogant prick."

"Hn. I have to reload. Make yourself useful and cover me."

"Oh, anything you say, Lord Sanzo."

He stopped to put bullets in his gun, and I did my best to keep them off him while he was at it, mutilating anyone who stepped too close. It was sort of hard though, especially when someone would try to get him from behind. I stepped up closer to him, did my best to aim my sickle around him.

While I was doing that, someone hit me in the back of the head, and I fell into Sanzo.

He yelped.

We were on the ground, on top of each other, again for about five seconds. I lost my grip on my shakujou in the confusion, and I think Sanzo dropped a bunch of his bullets.

Sanzo pushed me off, "Dammit, can you do anything right, Gojyo?"

"Fuck you! It's hard to hold off like thirty people all by yourself!"

"I was doing just fine with it before you came charging in here like the cavalry!"

We had bigger problems though. For those five seconds we'd been flopping around on the ground like a couple of twinks, the DethBreed had closed in on us, and now they were pressed in all around us, reaching down to grab us.

For a minute or two, we both kicked and fought, and Sanzo manage to shoot a few more of them, but their numbers were overpowering. A rough, clawed hand grabbed me by the hair and dragged me to my feet, slamming me harshly against Sanzo.

I heard Ryptcore call from somewhere in the dark, "The priest is mine. Kill the mutt however you want."

Furiously, I took a swing at the guy closest to me, missed so bad I think they all laughed at me. Or would have, if they could laugh in the first place. The guy with a handful of my hair jerked my head back, exposing my neck.

They were looming all around me. I couldn't even see Sanzo anymore.

I tried to fight them off, but there were too many, crowding in around me, reaching for me with grimy, cruel nails; someone grabbed my arm, their claws digging into my skin. This looked like it could actually be it. I summoned my weapon again, managed to disembowel a few of them, but they wouldn't back off, and soon, I didn't even have the room I need to use my shakujou the right way.

Just when I was thinking the situation was hopeless and that this could actually be the end for me, there was a gust of hot wind and the street was illuminated by a fiery, red light. Like that, rows of soldiers all around me went up in flames, the disgusting scent of burning flesh filling the air. They didn't even scream as they died. Then, what had been almost thirty just a second ago, was suddenly reduced to less than five.

Sanzo knocked against me suddenly, shoulder ramming into my chest, eyes wide, like he was caught somewhere between being startled and worried. Out of reaction, I steadied him. "Woah, man."

When we both definitely had our bearings, I checked around the street. There were only about twenty or thirty DethBreed soldiers left, and they just looked blank and unworried. The group that had been surrounding Hakkai was gone too, and he was standing there, clutching his arm and breathing hard, Ryptcore and Gang both towering over him. Goku was standing off to the side, dripping with blood, glancing around, curious if anything. The five soldiers who were still standing around Sanzo and me didn't seem even slightly concerned.

"What the hell just…happened…?"

I noticed Sanzo was staring straight up.

"Star gazing?" I followed his gaze, skeptically.

Kougaiji was standing above us, on top of a building, his hair blowing back. He looked a bit worn out, with tattered clothes and some blood on him, but he seemed more annoyed than anything.

"Kougaiji…"

He sprang down from the roof, landing lightly, not far from us, and he faced Ryptcore.

"Was that you just now?" I demanded.

Sanzo snorted, "We didn't ask for your help."

"You didn't need to." Kougaiji answered, unfazed, "I learned tonight that these men are particularly susceptible to magic. Meaning, your sutra should be able to destroy Ryptcore, if you find the chance to use it."

"Thanks. But I already figured that out."

"In that case, I can handle what's left of the army. You and your team should probably focus on destroying Ryptcore."

Sanzo just snorted again, but he didn't tell him to get bent.

"Hey." I said suddenly, glancing around at the rooftops again, "Where's Dokugaku?"

Kougaiji took a long moment to answer. His voice was cold, "He couldn't make it, but he sends his regards."

"Regards? Shit…he's not…"

"He'll join us later, assuming the rest of the DethBreed allows it."

"Enough chit chat." Sanzo interrupted. "Kappa, go over there and do your job."

Mumbling, I started to head toward Ryptcore, but I was taking my time. Everyone seemed pretty stunned right now, including the crazy general, so I had a moment to make a strategy. Or at least, I thought I did.

As I was walking, I heard a whispering voice, and I thought I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned, just in time to see Jade emerge from the shadows, carrying her sword and smiling like the devil.

I gaped at her, "You…"
"Still in one piece, I see, hanyou."

"Bitch! What do you think you're doing here?"

"I'm here to give Ryptcore a proper send-off."

Just what I needed.

Angrily, I turned on her. I was so pissed, I was shaking. I was shaking so hard I thought I'd fall down. "You fucking whore. After what you did earlier, give me one good reason not to kill you right now."

"Because you'll need me to help you with Ryptcore."

"I think I'll take my chances with that."

Before I could attack her, Sanzo was screaming at me, "What are you doing, you idiot? Move!"

I glanced up.

Ryptcore was practically on top of me, poised to strike.

With that one blow, he sent me flying, head over heels, and I landed upside down against a group of trash barrels.

"Son of a bitch…"

Ryptcore marched toward me, gloating, "I've grown tired of this game. It's time to take your party a part, Sanzo, and I think I'll start with the weakest link in the chain."

I rolled to my feet, a little slowly, "Sanzo's the weakest link, jackass."

"I'll kill you for that later." Sanzo growled.

Ryptcore was practically on top of me again.

Suddenly, Hakkai was right next to me. I could smell the blood and the insanity dripping off him, and I could see from the wild look in his eyes that the fight was starting to affect him, but I didn't mention it. "Are you all right?"

"I'm cool." I couldn't help glaring past him, at Jade, who was still smiling.

"Ignore her."

"Yeah, right." I gave my shakujou a test swing, started to meet Ryptcore's advance.

Hakkai caught my arm, "There will be a time and place to avenge Deshi later. Right now, we need all the help we can get."

I wiped my mouth. "Right."

With that, he let me go, and I ran forward to meet Ryptcore, feeling super angry now. All of this shit had been going on for way, way too long.

He started to charge, gnashing his teeth, "I'm done playing with you, hanyou."

"Right back at you."

There were only a few feet left between us, but we closed that gap quickly, met in the middle and slammed hard against each other.

Ignoring the pain in my ribs, I delivered an uppercut to his chin. While his head was snapped back, I took a swing at him with my shakujou, and the steel scraped across his armor, leaving a small scratch, but not doing any other damage.

Ryptcore knocked me down with a quick strike to the back of my neck.

I was face down on the ground for a split second, and then I was up again, attacking all the more fiercely. I drove at him, punching and kicking and striking with my blade where and when I could. For the most part though, he didn't seem very bothered. He took a lot of my attacks head on, almost like he just wanted to show me how useless it was, and he never stopped smiling. Other than that, he dodged and blocked most of the things I threw at him.

I fought that much harder.

He didn't have any trouble hitting me though. He smacked me around and knocked me upside the head and took advantage of my broken ribs until I could barely take it. Still, I wondered….

This guy was strong enough to stand up to Hakkai and Goku at the same time, and judging by the magnitude of his aura, he was even stronger than we'd first thought, or he'd gotten stronger since the last time we'd seen him. If he was so super powerful, why the hell was he dragging this out? He thought I was the weak link in the chain, the easiest to kill, and he said he was done playing, so why hadn't he killed me yet?

Unless he wasn't done playing. Unless he didn't even know how to stop playing in the first place. Maybe what he really wanted was to drag it out and make his enemies suffer. Maybe he couldn't even control that desire.

One thing was for certain, if things kept going like this, with Ryptcore jumping around, never standing still, with me being in the way all the time, Sanzo was never going to get his chance to use the Makai Tenjyo, and this freak was never going to die.

I glanced around at my team, when I got the chance.

Hakkai and Jade were dealing with Goku and Gang. Kougaiji was finishing off what was left of the DethBreed. Sanzo had taken out a few more soldiers too, and now he was just standing back, watching me. He would have done it by now if he could, wouldn't he? He didn't hate me so much that he'd string me along all night, right?

No. He hadn't done it yet, so he must not have gotten a good opportunity yet, and that meant I had to change my strategy.

Ryptcore came at me. I pretended to block, and then I lowered my guard at the last moment.

His fist hit me right in the face.

I saw stars and heard a shrill, screaming sound. I flew back and hit the ground hard, but this time, I didn't scramble to get to my feet right away. I laid there and watched as Ryptcore came and stood over me, gloating.

"Are you already down for the count?"

I pretended to try to get up.

He kicked me back down, and then he kicked me in the ribs.

I screamed. My ribs were really, really never going to heal if everyone kept abusing them.

Ryptcore laughed. He was having a great time already. He kicked me a few more times, harder and harder, until I was writhing in pain.

"Pathetic, little animal." He reached down and grabbed my hair, pulling my head up off the ground, and then he punched me again.

"Why don't you fight back? Hm?"

He punched me again and again. My lips busted open. My nose started to bleed. I even lost my vision for a moment.

"Are you giving up? Is that what this is? Did you think if you just laid down and pretended to die I would spare your life?"

I spat in his face.

Blood and saliva dripped off his nose, and he looked sort of surprised for a second, and then he looked super angry.

He smashed me down into the ground again, hauled off and hit me as hard as he could, right in the chest.

I choked and coughed up some blood.

Hakkai shouted my name; hopefully he was too busy with Goku to interfere.

Ryptcore went on wailing on me. It felt like forever, even though it was probably just a few seconds. He punched me and slapped me and kicked me and swung me around. He smashed me back into a window and broken glass flew everywhere, and then he slammed me into the wall, hand tight on my neck.

Blood was dripping off my face, and I was breathing hard.

Why am I doing this? There was probably a better way.

Ryptcore stood still, perfectly still, for the first time since the fight started. He glared into my eyes, and I got the weirdest sense that he was a little bit confused. His grip on my neck tightened, blocking off my air passage. "Did you want to prove to me that you are the weakest member of the Sanzo Ikkou? Or are you just tired of your miserable life?"

I closed my eyes.

"Well?" He shook me a little.

I strained to take a breath, choked out, "I guess…I…just…really wanted…to see you…dead…"

He was quiet.

I opened my eyes to smile at him.

Ryptcore turned suddenly.

By that time, Sanzo was almost finished chanting.

Ryptcore let go of me and rushed to get out of the way.

With a flick of my wrist, the shakujou chain was wrapped around him, from shoulders to waist. He could probably bust out of it, if he wanted to, but he wasn't going to have the time. I jerked him around and slammed him as hard as I could into the wall.

"Hey, Sanzo! Don't mess up!"

Ryptcore struggled.

I whipped my chain away and dove back.

Sanzo's voice split through the air, "Makai Tenjyo!"

There was a blinding flash of light. The scroll rustled right past me, glowing.

The general screamed as it flew at him.

From the other side of the street, there came another orangey streak of fire, only this one was bigger, and it roared. I recognized Kougaiji's summon monster as it passed by, inches away from incinerating me.

The Makai Tenjyo hit first. There was a huge explosion that blew my hair back, and I heard Ryptcore screaming, this deranged, disbelieving cry. The building behind him blew apart in a thunderous blast, with stone and glass and wood flying everywhere, and I shielded my face.

A second later, Kougaiji's summon monster hit, engulfing Ryptcore in fire, and for a second, the sky was lit up by the mixed powers of holy and unholy.

Just when the smoke was starting to settle, and I thought it was all over, Jade raced past me, this huge, burning ball of purple chi in hands, and it was growing by the second. In an instant, it was the size of our car, and then she flung it at Ryptcore…or where he was supposed to be anyway.

There was another ridiculously big explosion, followed immediately by a sonic boom that made my ears start bleeding, and somewhere in the middle of it all, I could barely make out the sound of Ryptcore, still screaming.

One by one, the buildings around us started to crumble, collapsing, one after another, into huge piles of dust and debris, and then I could see out across the plains to dark, black horizon, and everything around me was illuminated by the death of General Ryptcore.