[A/N: Sorry this one is late. I have been sick as a dog for over a week and I'm finally recovered enough to sit up at my computer and do stuff. Additionally, I just got a "new" computer so I had to also back everything up before I posted. Anyway, sorry for the delay. Here is you your chapter. Don't forget to review.].

Chapter Twenty-Two: And Sugar We're Going Down Swinging

Janemba wasn't very strong, from what we'd been able to tell so far, but he was relentless. He'd suddenly turned fierce, like an angry child, once we'd gone on the offensive. We were all getting knocked around, and no matter how many times we hit him or cut with the sword, he didn't react.

"This is hopeless," Yusuke breathed.

"We need another plan," Renji said.

"We just need to overpower it right?" Uryu asked. He looked over to me. "How powerful can you make one of your energy attacks?"

"You think I can take it out like that?" I asked.

"That Kamehameha wave of yours can do anything really," Yusuke said.

"It's not like we've got any other options right now," Ichigo said.

"Don't worry. We'll distract him. We're good at that," Yusuke said. "When you can get the jump on him, go for it."

I wondered if this might really work. Could I really stop Janemba with a Kamehameha wave? It was always reliable. It certainly helped me in the Dark Tournament. If Yusuke hadn't knocked me into a mountain, it certainly would've been the end of Sensui. Most recently I'd used to stop Captain Ginyu momentarily. Maybe that would help us now as well.

My friends were quickly going at it with Janemba and I got myself ready. I charged the energy up in my hands while my friends dealt with the riled up Janemba. Renji and Uryu were the heroes of the hour this time. Between Zabimaru and Uryu's arrows, Janemba had a hard time keeping a handle on his surroundings. He started to topple over onto the ground in confusion, and that's when I unleashed the blast.

I made sure that it was powerful to engulf him completely, and being caught off guard, he took the full brunt of it, disappearing into a flash of light. When I finally stopped, Janemba was gone. The Orb of Baast was lying on the ground unguarded.

"Damn it, Kairi, stop being so impressive," Yusuke said.

"That's what I live for, to make you feel inadequate," I said.

Ichigo was slowly approaching the Orb of Baast. I felt myself relax a little, feeling that this ordeal was nearly over, but then I gazed around. The giant wall Janemba had erected was still standing tall behind us. I surveyed the surrounding area. If Jamenba was gone, then I thought that his influence would start to taper off, but the landscape hadn't changed. Even the icky feeling that we got from just being there was still all over. Something wasn't right.

I turned to warn Ichigo, but Hiei had already moved and grabbed Ichigo, narrowly saving him from a giant beam of red energy.

"A creo," Renji said, brandishing Zabimaru again.

"Where did it come from?" Yusuke asked.

Our question was answered as a tall, purple and red creature had appeared. He picked up the orb and smiled at us.

"Ichigo, Hiei, are you okay?" I asked, almost afraid to speak. He wasn't showing it, but this creature, was much, much more powerful, and he didn't look nearly as playful as Janemba had. He had a look in his eye that said he was prepared to kill us just for the sake of killing us. This creature was pure evil.

"We're fine," Ichigo said. "Is that thing-?"

"Janemba," I said with a nod.

Things were not going to be easy.

Janemba tossed the orb into the air as he produced another cero. He moved and he was fast. Every time he produced a cero it was all we could do to get out of the way. We were completely on the defensive and getting nowhere. We were going to have to stop him somehow.

Then suddenly he stopped. We didn't speak, we just watched him, and waited.

"We can't just let him keep us running like this," Yusuke said.

"We could end this," Uryu said. "If we could pin him down, get him to expend all of his energy."

Janemba produced a sword.

"If anyone has a plan. Now's the time," Ichigo said.

Janemba pointed the sword at us and began to produce a large cero.

"The Dragon," Hiei said.

Yusuke and I exchanged glances as the cero began to grow ever larger in front of us.

"It could work," Yusuke said.

"But he only gets one shot and then he's out," I pointed out.

"One shot is better than nothing," Hiei said.

I nodded. "Fine." I turned to the others. "Cover Hiei—and stay out of his way if you know what's good for you."

Janemba finally fired off the cero. Renji whipped out Zabimaru to block the blast. It didn't take long before Janemba was coming at us again. We were much better prepared this time. Hiei's energy had spiked so Janemba had zeroed in on him. Having to take a hit from Janemba every so often was worth it so Hiei could get a clear shot off with the dragon. He only had one shot at it after all.

"Get ready," Hiei said.

Renji attempted to lure him into Hiei's path, but Janemba was still fixated on attacked Janemba directly. Uryu, however, was ready with a distraction. He had an arrow ready. Just before he could fire it off, Janemba swung his sword down in front of it, but the front half of the blade disappeared. Before any of us could compute what was happening, the front of it reappeared, 20 feet away in front of Uryu.

It fired a off a cero. There was no time for Uryu to react as he took the full blast of it. We all stood, horrified as he went down, and didn't get up. Hiei didn't wait another moment to fire off his dragon while Janemba was looking pleased with taking Uryu out.

Janemba grabbed hold of the dragon, his feet digging into the ground trying to withstand its force. The great thing about Hiei was that he was able to pull out massive amounts of energy when the occasion truly called for it. That's how he'd managed to master the dragon in the first place. Janemba was finally on the defensive, finally starting to expend more of his energy, just to not succumb Hiei's attack.

Ichigo and Yusuke were ready and waiting to strike the killing blow to Janemba when the time came. Renji and I went to Uryu's side.

"He's completely out of it," Renji said. "Do you think he's going to be okay?"

I shrugged. "He seems fine, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

I looked over my shoulder to see Hiei's progress. Janemba was still pumping out a massive amount of energy fighting off Hiei.

"Your friend Hiei is pretty damn impressive," Renji said.

"Let's hope him being impressive is enough," I said.

I trusted Hiei with my life. Right now, I knew that I had to trust him more than I had in the past. We didn't have a backup plan if he failed. And we couldn't very well sit around and let the world end.

When Hiei finally relinquished control of the dragon my fist were clenched anxiously at my side, hoping that it was enough. Janemba wasn't powerful enough to push it away or fight back. Hiei had expended all of his energy doing this, and I hoped to goodness that Janemba had too. All it would take was the Spirit Wave or a Zanpakuto to cleanse Janemba. Then we'd be free to get the Orb of Baast and get the hell out of here.

I watched with bated breath as the Dragon came to the end of its life, leaving Janemba standing there, panting, looking irritated. The Dragon had definitely done a number on him. It was Yusuke who went in first. When Janemba raised his arm and immediately deflected him, we knew we were up shit creek.

"Now what?" Renji asked.

I had to think. The key to taking this guy out was going to be getting him to expend all of his energy. No one was more qualified to do this than Hiei. His dragon was the end all. I wasn't sure what to do now that it was over. And from the looks on my friends' faces none of them was sure either.

I looked back at the wall, hoping by some miracle that my dad would come bursting through and be the hero like he always was. But I knew hoping wasn't going to help us now. Someone else had to be the hero this time.

"I sure hope you've got another plan, Kairi, because I'm fresh out of ideas," Yusuke said.

I was out of ideas too. Hiei drowsily rejoined us.

"No chance you can pull another dragon out of your ass can you Hiei?" Yusuke asked.

"'Fraid not," he replied.

"Why isn't he doing anything?" Ichigo asked, commenting on Janemba. We looked over to him, and he was just staring at us, smiling menacingly.

"He thinks it's over," Hiei said.

"I hate to be a downer, but it basically is unless we find some way to get that wall down and get the rest of our team over here," Yusuke said.

"I wouldn't hold my breath," Renji said.

"So what are we supposed to do then?" Ichigo asked. "We can't just let him win."

We couldn't just let him win. We couldn't let the world end because some assholes were stupid and didn't know the ramifications of their actions. Besides, it's like Kuwabara said. We were the good guys. We were supposed to win. What was I supposed to do?

"You save everyone, kid," Bardock had said. "Remember that. Everyone gets out of this except you and only because of you."

In order to give Yusuke or Ichigo an opportunity to take Janemba out, all of this ki he was packing, needed to get unloaded. Hiei had done a great job with the dragon, but Janemba still had plenty of energy to give. To math him, we'd need someone else who could dump out energy like crazy to match him.

And I knew I could do it.

The attack I had used at Maze Castle would definitely level the playing field enough to take Janemba out.

"Don't do anything stupid," Hiei said, just as I was formulating the plan in my head. I looked over to him.

"No promises," I said.

We locked eyes for a moment before he lost consciousness.

"Is he okay?" Ichigo asked.

"He always does that," Yusuke said. We looked back over to Janemba.

"Guys. . . I have a plan," I finally forced myself to say.

"You're kind of hesitating. Are you not sure if it will work?" Yusuke asked.

I was hesitating because the plan involved me pushing my energy past where it was able to go. It was a plan that involved me dying. If I actually admitted it aloud, I'd get nothing but anger from everyone and immediately be told to find another plan. But I knew this is what I had to do. It wasn't what I had seen, exactly, but Bardock had seen it. He'd assured me this would work. And I may have found him to be an asshole, but I was his granddaughter. We were on the same team. It wasn't like he was going to tell me to throw my life away if nothing good was going to come out of it.

"Whether or not I think it's going to work is irrelevant. We're officially out of options," I said.

"So what is this idea of yours?" Renji asked.

"I'm going to get him to expend the rest of his energy, just like Hiei was," I said. "No matter what happens, you guys have to take Janemba out. The whole universe is going to end if you don't."

"But no pressure," Yusuke said.

"I trust both of you guys, and the whole of existence is counting on you to stop him and get that orb back," I said.

"And what are you gonna do?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm going to show him what a Super Saiyan is capable of," I said.

"All right, Strawberry Fields, let's do this," Yusuke said. "Kairi do what you've got to do."

I nodded. That was all the permission I needed. I wanted to say something else, but I knew that if I even let on about what I was planning to do, there was no way they were going to let me go through with it.

So I didn't say anything. Instead, I powered up. I hadn't even thought about going super since the incident with Sensui, but going back to it felt so natural this time. I didn't even have to try. It was second nature to me. I made a beeline for Janemba and kicked him right in his smug face. He could kill me, as long as my friends got out of here.

I steadily charged up for the attack and then unleashed it onto Janemba. He clearly hadn't been expecting me to come at him like I had, especially since I was so close to him. I didn't like being so close to him—I was more suited to long distance combat, after all.

It didn't take long for me to notice that I was having the desired effect on Janemba. He was dumping out more and more energy every second. And there was desperation behind it. He was worried that I might outlast him, which was a good sign, because it meant that I very well could. But it wasn't long before I could feel the toll that this was taking on me as well.

It was taking every last ounce of my resolve to not drop out of Super Saiyan. I knew the longer I held this form, the less panicked Yusuke would be. As soon as Yusuke sensed a problem, Ichigo would. And from there everything would go downhill. I knew they were going to have to accept the choice I was making sooner or later. The loner I held off, the more I made Janemba seem to struggle, the less likely it would be that they were going to stop me.

But it was getting harder, and Janemba ws trying harder, also reaching the end of his rope. I knew if I could just hang in a few moments longer—

I nearly lost my focus as my body returned to normal. Super Saiyan was gone. I didn't have the strength for it anymore. My energy was flowing out of me like crazy. I knew I was going to hit the point of no return soon if I didn't stop, but I wasn't stopping until I was sure that Janemba was going down.

"Kairi!" I heard Yusuke call for me, only a hint of worry in his voice this time. He could tell by now that I was going through energy way too fast, that I'd used up way too much. Soon the pieces were going to start falling into place for him.

Janemba suddenly pushed out a massive amount of energy and it took almost all that I had to hold him off. I pushed myself forward, using more energy than ever now. My vision was starting to blur. I shook it away, but even as I did it returned, and then I felt my knees start to get weak. I was shaking where I stood, barely hanging on. There was no going back now. I wasn't recovering from this attack.

Next it was Ichigo's voice I heard as I dropped down to one knee. Even as weak as I was now, I knew that the boys were going to do this. I just needed a little more from Janemba.

"Kairi! Stop!" I heard Yusuke call out, but I was going to. I wasn't going to be able to stop my energy from going if I stopped the attack now anyway. If I was going to die, I at least had to make this worth it.

I got myself back up onto both my feet and gave one final push with my energy. I finally released the blast from my hands and chucked it straight at Janemba. He took it head on. He went down, but even as he struggled back to his feet, I knew he was spent.

I didn't realize I was falling until my body actually hit the ground. I wasn't getting back up now. I could feel myself getting weaker and weaker. I was at least able to keep my eyes open long enough to see Ichigo swing Zangetsu and take Janemba out.

Bardock had been right. Everything was going to work out. All they had to do was release the sols from the Orb of Baast and locate the Shinenju and things would go back to normal, even if I wasn't there.

My eyes closed. I was so weak now. I could hear Yusuke and Ichigo, sounding far away, despite how close I knew they were. I knew what was next as the weakness grew and I felt heavier and heavier. I waited to lose consciousness and all touch with living, but before I could slip away, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I hadn't predicted this.