Chapter 26 Tutti (Or, all together, usually used in an orchestral or choral score when the orchestra or all of the voices come in at the same time)
"I will keep the barrier open as long as possible, but if I see any yokai coming through, I'm going to close it until the situation gets under control," Koenma warned.
"Yeah, yeah," Yusuke said. "Open her up, Koenma."
Koenma nodded to the soldier that stood next to him. There was a spark and a screech, and then a portal opened.
A yokai with a slack, unhinged jaw that swung as his body twisted, immediately came out of the portal to the Ningenkai. It screeched as it fell over and another yokai with a hole through its torso trampled it. Then more yokai appeared.
"Okay then," Yusuke grinned. "Guess we're gonna get busy!" he shot off a rei-gun and cleared their path.
"Obviously, we must keep as many yokai in the Makai as possible," Asuka said. "When time stabilizes, they might go back to themselves. And try not to kill anyone. Most who are fighting are not in their right minds."
Everyone jumped through the barrier opening and fell about four feet from the ground.
"Holy shit," Yusuke said as he looked around.
As far as the eye could see, yokai were fighting. Their screeches and cries rose above the battlefield and filled Kurama's ears.
It's chaos.
It was as Asuka said; most were not in their right minds, but some came simply to fight. Because they could. Because they needed to.
"Set up a defensive position," Asuka called. "Put Hiei in the back where no one can get to him and be on the lookout for time distortion bubbles. Call if you see one."
Mukuro laid Hiei in the grass right near where they came in and stood next to Yusuke, who changed into his yokai form. Right next to him, Kuwabara activated his sword. Kurama morphed into his Yoko form. Asuka increased her power output.
"We've got a lot of yokai to clear," Yusuke said. "Point is to help Asuka and Kurama get to where they're going, right? The moment you see an opening, make a break for it. We'll back you up."
"Thank you, Yusuke."
"Don't mention it. Let's get to work."
Mukuro dashed far ahead of them and let off a startling attack. She moved her hands back and forth across the plane and hot, yellow glowing lines streaked the sky and crashed into the brown dirt of the Makai.
"Excellent," Kurama said. "She's creating a barrier. That will prevent more yokai from charging into the fray."
A hoard of Flesh Eaters came lumbering from the northeast. Their wide mouths displayed teeth akin to a shark's. From the mouths, drool pooled in between the teeth and dripped down their gray lips. The largest, three meters tall, lifted its hand and moved its fingers to showcase its long claws.
"They're here to take advantage of the chaos," Kurama said.
"Don't leave Asuka's side," Yusuke said to Kurama. "I got claws of my own."
"You don't have claws in that form," Kuwabara said.
"Shut up Kuwabara! It's an expression." Yusuke lifted his hand. "Yo-gun!"
Yusuke fired off a blast at the largest yokai. It hit its bare, hanging stomach and its skin rippled like a stone thrown into the water. When the blast dissipated, it revealed some charred skin. The Flesh Eater looked down at its stomach and then grinned a drooly grin.
"Well, damn," Yusuke said, putting his finger down. "Seems like it won't be that easy." He approached the hoard of Flesh Eaters while rotating his shoulder and cracking his neck.
Up ahead, Mukuro's attack continued to flash across the sky and plunge into the ground at a frightening pace. Any yokai who got close were speared.
Kurama gripped Asuka's hand with his right. With his left, he fished for seeds in his hair. When he found the one he wanted, he threw them onto the ground and fed his ki into the plant. Large vines the size of tree trunks rippled out from where he planted the seed. The bark creaked and split as it snaked along the ground. From the main trunk, smaller vines grew, and from those, smaller vines. Out of those grew glowing white bell flowers.
Kuwabara stepped back and went around Asuka and Kurama to the other side. "You don't want us to kill them, right?"
"If you can help it."
Kuwabara looked at his sword. "This is made for cutting. Hmm…" Then, he grinned. Kuwabara placed his hand on his ki sword and pushed on the tip to make it shorter. The energy crackled and expanded.
Up ahead, a yokai with purple skin and devil horns looked at a glowing bellflower. He laughed, then swung his fist, which had spiked brass knuckles on it, at the flower.
A fatal mistake.
One vine wrapped around the yokai's fist and held it in place. He thrashed within the plant's grasp and screamed as the bellflower grew larger in size. With a swift movement, the bellflower covered the yokai's nose and mouth. He gripped the petals with his free hand, but he was not strong enough. Kurama heard the muffled scream before the yokai went limp. The flower let go of his face with a fierce pop and he slumped to the ground.
Asuka's iridescent eyes widened.
"The kiss of death. Except, this time, I commanded my plant not to kill. He is unconscious."
Asuka squeezed his hand.
For now, there was no path to move forward, but the yokai who encountered the kiss of death were quickly dropping to the floor of the battlefield.
Mukuro continued weaving her cage up ahead.
"Why won't you lot just die already?" Yusuke said, exasperated. He jumped to the side as the largest one swiped with his massive claw. He came up from the duck and used his ki to power a massive uppercut. The yokai didn't flinch. "Yo!" Yusuke shouted. "Any ideas Asuka?"
Kurama turned and looked at his wife. She must've been waiting for him to ask.
"That one's skin is incredibly tough," Asuka said.
"Yeah, I can see that!" Yusuke kicked a smaller Flesh Eater in the stomach.
"Kill it from the inside out."
Yusuke grabbed the largest Flesh Eater by the wrist and slammed it to the ground. The impact stunned the others. "Inside out, got it. Hey! Big guy! I got somethin' for ya!" Yusuke grabbed the Flesh Eater's gray lips and yanked its mouth open. He pointed his finger down its throat and fired off a yo-gun.
From the other side, a boisterous laugh echoed as Kuwabara swung his reconfigured ki sword at a group of charging yokai. The sword was short and flat, like a paddle. The wind from the swing hit the yokai with startling force. There was a pause as they fought against the gust before it threw them backward and tossed them into the dirt.
Yusuke let off another attack. Mukuro speared several yokai in front of her as she kept weaving her yoki barrier like a protective spider-web. Ahead, the yokai kept dropping from the still-growing plant Kurama had sent out.
After dealing with the Flesh Eaters, Yusuke took off and ran back toward Kurama and Asuka.
Asuka's eyes widened. She let go of Kurama's hand and dashed toward Yusuke; her dress billowing behind her. "Stop Yusuke!" she cried.
Yusuke skidded to a halt, but Asuka kept running. Kurama followed her.
She put one hand out behind her. "Stay back Kurama!"
Out of nowhere, a distortion bubble formed between Asuka and Yusuke. Its smooth, oily sheen expanded, pushing the sound out in an unnatural silence.
The faster the bubble expanded, the faster Asuka ran. When she reached the edge, she placed her hands on it. Kurama felt her ki spike. Asuka's glowing bronze hair flew behind her as she pushed on the bubble. It rippled under her touch. Asuka powered up her ki further and pushed on it harder. The bubble shrank under her hand. She walked forward, pushing on the bubble between her hands until it finally collapsed in on itself. After Asuka eliminated the distortion, she stumbled.
"Asuka!"
Kurama caught up to Asuka and wrapped his arm around her. She turned to him and leaned into his chest for a moment before straightening.
He wished she could remain tucked into him for longer.
"That was crazy, Asuka," Yusuke said when he caught up to them.
"You can heal time?" Kurama asked.
Asuka looked at her hands. "I guess so. It was one of those things where I just…knew I could."
"That looked like it took out a lot outta you," Yusuke said.
"I am alright. What matters is that distortion is taken care of."
Yusuke looked beyond Asuka and Kurama. "Looks like Kuwabara's keepin' a lot of enemies back. We should hurry up and…"
A loud, chittering chomping noise coming from behind him cut Yusuke's thought off. He slowly turned around. A swarm of small yokai, no bigger than an index finger, was "swimming" in the ground. Mud flew as their tails and fins flicked, coming closer to the trio. Their teeth, which looked like a shark's, were unnaturally large for the size of their small bodies.
"The Flesh Eater's bodies disintegrated, and that's what they broke into," Kurama said.
Kurama dug out a seed from his hair and flung it at the ground. The roots dug into the dirt, seeking the piranha-like yokai. They chomped through the roots with little effort and kept swimming.
"You have got to be kidding me," Yusuke said. "Run!"
The three took off, hurling across the battlefield.
"Kuwabara!" Yusuke shouted. "Get rid of these bastards!"
Kuwabara, who had been busy clearing swaths of yokai, turned and saw the hoard. He ran to meet his friends. As he got closer, he wound up his morphed ki sword and swung, creating a gust of air. The mini Flesh Eaters saw the gust coming and dove underneath the ground like agile fish. After the gust passed, they popped up through the dirt like they were jumping out of water and dove back in again.
"Shit," Kuwabara said.
Far ahead to the north, Mukuro saw their peril and directed an attack toward the swarm. Hot yellow streaks flashed down. It pierced some of the tiny yokai, but there were far too many for such a specific attack to effectively cull their numbers.
"Mukuro's exploding punch attack could do something," Kurama said, "but she's too far away."
"Uh…guys?" Yusuke said. "What do we do?!"
The chomping and chittering noise got louder, deafening nearly every other sound on the raging battlefield. The mini yokai jumped and hopped out of the mud, swarming on top of one another, like they were creating a gigantic wave.
Yusuke shot off ki blasts. Kurama used a thorny white rose whip, and Kuwabara swung his paddle sword to create gusts of wind. The mini monstrosities snapped furiously as they got picked off.
The tidal wave of yokai started to crest as their gray mouths chomped with drool, their bug-fish eyes popping out of their tiny bodies. Kurama grabbed some more seeds out of his hair to prepare for another attack.
Blam!
In the blink of a mortal eye, an attack wiped out the entire swarm of mini Flesh Eaters. Wisps of black smoke and energy dissipated in the form of a dragon's head.
Everyone turned around in disbelief.
"Hiei?!" Yusuke shouted.
It was Hiei. He stood with his arm in the air and a smirk on his face. "Useless without me. Typical."
Next to Kurama, Asuka smiled.
I wonder if she knew.
"But Asuka told us your mind would be restored when time went right," Kuwabara said.
"Hmph." Hiei scoffed. "As if I'd let a little thing like time stop me." He moved forward and, in a flash, appeared next to them.
"Took you long enough," Mukuro said, her voice even and deadpanned. But Kurama saw what she really felt.
Hiei didn't reply. Instead, he straightened and looked at Asuka. "So you transformed. What's that about?"
"Long story," Asuka said. "But Kurama and I need to get going. I have to find the dragons. Most of the yokai who are fighting are like you and not in their right minds. Don't hurt them if you can help it."
Kurama idly slashed a yokai that came too close and threw it backward.
"I'll kill whoever I want," Hiei said, indignant. "Not my problem that they're too weak to find their way out of that foggy maze."
"Is that what it was like?" Kurama asked.
Hiei's face said yes.
"Listen to Asuka, Hiei, " Yusuke said. "Don't kill unless you have to."
Hiei frowned.
"I will open the cage when you get close enough," Mukuro said, gesturing to the glowing hot yellow lines that domed over the battle.
Asuka's iridescent eyes looked up at the yellow cage as she marveled at Mukuro's power. To build something this large and sustain it with little effort showed just how powerful their new ally was.
Her small hand slipped into Kurama's. She closed her eyes. "Another distortion bubble will soon form. We need to leave this spot, anyway. Thank you, everyone."
The group started running again. Kurama threw more seeds. Yusuke blasted more of his yo-gun. Just ahead of them, Mukuro used her punching explosions while Kuwabara used his new attack.
A thick, muscly yokai with dull red skin and white hair saw Kuwabara and grinned. Out of her hand, she pulled a massive two-handed, flaming white ki sword. Kuwabara saw it and quickly reshaped his to repel the attack. He stopped her powerful downward slash by using the flat of his ki blade and holding the underside at the tip. His knees buckled underneath the weight.
"I got this," Kuwabara said confidently. He repelled the attack and the yokai backward. "You wanna go?!" Kuwabara shouted. "Let's go!"
She laughed a low-sounding laugh and put all of her weight into another slash. Her two large, tusk teeth pointed out of her mouth. Kuwabara met the attack by parring it. He planted one foot on the ground and pushed the attack back. She swung again and forced him to take a step back.
"I'm not gonna let you gain the footing," Kuwabara said as he slashed upward. "I might be a little rusty 'cause I got a baby at home, but that's exactly why I'm gonna win. I gotta help Asuka and get back to my family."
Kuwabara re-centered himself and parried another attack. Then another, and another. While the yokai he fought had strength in her blows, Kuwabara was faster. And unlike a yokai who fights for the fun of it, Kuwabara's mission was of utmost importance. His face changed as he grit his teeth. Sweat poured down the side of his face as he parried and slashed, parried and slashed.
The yokai grinned again as she swung her blade toward Kuwabara's neck. He ducked and slashed at her legs. She jumped out of the way. Kuwabara shot up, moving his ki sword toward her wrist. She moved her sword downward. Sparks flew as the blades caught on one another.
"Asuka…Kurama…what are you doing standing around? Get outta here! I'm gonna take care of this and clear your path. I love you guys."
"We love you too," Asuka said.
The group pushed on, leaving Kuwabara to battle it out with a stranger with a sword.
Yusuke launched more ki attacks while Kurama held on tight to Asuka's hand. He took a seed out of his hair, bloomed a white rose, and threw it at a yokai with murderous intent in front of them. The stem pierced their neck, and they fell to the ground.
Ahead of them, a yokai with long spindly appendages and an elongated head walked toward the group, their movements graceful and horrifying. Its oily black eyes fixated on Asuka.
She shivered.
"It's drawn to your power, Love," Kurama said. He bared his teeth.
"I got this one," Yusuke said. "It's been a while since I've had a good fight. Those shark Flesh Eater things don't count. Kurama…you better bring her back. Asuka, I'll see you later."
He ran off to face the yokai before anyone could respond and met the yokai's oily sludge attack head-on.
Asuka's face remained neutral as she watched him. "Be careful, Yusuke," she whispered. "You can do it."
Behind them, Hiei released another black dragon. Kurama heard its cracking, and the agonized yells associated with being devoured by it.
Asuka let go of Kurama's hand, pushed Mukuro out of the way, and fell on top of a quickly expanding time distortion bubble. She pushed and pushed on it until the bubble disappeared and her hands were pushing into the dirt.
Knowing Asuka was exhausted, Kurama scooped her up in his arms and leaped off the balls of his feet. Mukuro fired off a punch so powerful, it created a giant hole in the battlefield. Finally, the path was clear.
"Go," Mukuro said. "Thank you for…finding me and Hiei at the palace. We will hold the line here. Do not worry about us."
"Thank you," Asuka said. "In…" her eyes fluttered, "forty-five minutes, an enormous bubble will appear right there." She pointed. "I advise retreating south until we can set time right."
"We will heed your advice." Mukuro's hands lifted in the air and pushed them apart as if she were opening a curtain. An opening appeared in the ki cage at the same time.
Still holding Asuka, Kurama ducked through the opening and took off into the expanse of the Makai.
Author's Note:
Another chapter down. I'm doing my best to keep working and posting as I'm excited to get this story finished and move to the next thing (my original fiction begs for attention). Hopefully, you liked a little action thrown in here and some scenes of everyone fighting together.
The curtain will soon draw on Asuka and Kurama's story. It's been a wild ride.
-Arielle