Tanjiro and Genya got ready to fight Sekido again, but before they could do that, the two teens noticed the spear Demon, Aizetsu about to attack them."Weeping Spears" Aizetsu called, sending spear-like energy attacks straight at the two of them. Genya's eyes widened, before he used his super speed to run in front of the slightly younger teenager, taking the attack. He stood in place, even as holes were board through his body, hoping that his Demonic transformation would be hold out long enough to heal him. He refused to die! Images of Teiko, Hiroshi, Sumi, Shuya and Koto flashed in his mind again. They all needed him, and so did Tanjiro's younger Siblings.
He wouldn't allow them to die either. For as long as he could, he would protect his friend, and buy him time to go after the Demon's main body. Tanjiro looked up at the 16-year-old, "Genya!" he cried. "Go." The Shinazugawa rasped, breathing heavily, "I can't- behead it. You have to- do it!" Genya cried. Tanjiro ran after the Demons real body, ending up on the other side of some trees, 'you're not getting away!' he thought furiously, raising his still red sword, as it burst into hot pink flames again. Tanjiro slammed his flaming sword against the Upper Four's neck, as it let out a nails on glass scream.
Ư*Ğ.Ķ
Gyutaro and Nezuko fought the other four Demons, Nezuko having managed to grab hold of Aizetsu's spear after setting it on fire with her blood, and was now attacking the clones with the flaming spear. "Heh! Good idea Nezuko!" the green-haired Kamado called. Before he could attack any of the Demons, Sekido, the anger clone raised his hands. Suddenly Urogi, the flying Demon, and Karaku, the Joy Demon was drawn towards Sekido, who crushed them and absorbed both into his hands. "What the fuck?!" Gyutaro cried in horror, unable to do anything but watch as the Anger Demon fell to his hands and knees. Then his back tore open, and a different Demon emerged.
'Damn it, another one?! I have to-' he thought, before the new Demon suddenly vanished. "Where did it go?!" Gyutaro demanded. Then he realised just how sick he felt. His whole body was trembling and his legs felt weak. He collapsed to the ground, still trembling. Gyutaro clutched his mouth, before vomiting onto the ground. "HHMMM!" Nezuko cried worriedly through her gag, running over to her Oldest Brother as he shook and gagged on the ground. 'This is bad. No, this is a disaster! We were already struggling with those other four Demons. But now they've all merged into a new form. And a much stronger one than before if the convulsions and vomiting are anything to go by. What the hell?! It's like one thing after another! When the hell are we gonna get a break?!' he thought in terror.
Nezuko tried to get Gyutaro to his feet, but his whole body was too weak to even move. 'Get up! Get up! Tanjiro is in danger! You have to protect him!' he thought. The Demon disappeared, before a sudden tremor rocked the forest beside them. The one where their Brother still was. Gyutaro and Nezuko watched in horror as the whole section of forest was ripped up from the force of the wave. The two braced themselves as it engulfed both of them as well, throwing them off their feet as the Siblings clung desperately to each other.
Ư*Ğ.Ķ
Ume prepared to fight as well, but Muichiro spoke up, "no, leave this one to me. Just keep my Brother and Kotetsu safe" he said. Ume frowned, "are you sure?" she asked worriedly. The Mist Hashira nodded, "I am. Don't worry about me" he replied. The Demon woman glanced back at the 13-year-old, before nodding, "right. Be careful" she said, quickly going over to where Yuichiro and the Swordsmiths were. "Mui!" the other boy cried. Ume held him back, "he'll be alright. Don't worry." She assured him. "Here! Your new Sword!" Kanamori cried, tossing it over to the young Hashira. Muichiro caught it with one hand, casually turning away from the Upper Rank Demon in front of him.
Gyokko grit both sets of his teeth, "Hey! Don't underestimate me you brat!" Gyokko cried from his spot on a tree branch. Muichiro just stared at him calmly. "It's not like I'm underestimating you, I'm just stating a fact. You're only going to get beheaded by me and die anyway. Because, you threatened my Brother.
And I can't forgive you for that," he clenched his hands around the handle of his new Sword, as he slowly drew in from it's sheath, "ah, it fits perfectly" he sighed. "The fact that you're ignoring me right now is totally disrespectful you brat! Despite the fact that you've only lived for 13 years!" the Demon cried furiously, as he sank back into his pot.
A new one rose out of the ground behind him, with Gyokko emerging from inside it. "Even if that's true, there isn't one thing about you that I respect in the first place, so-" Muichiro turned to look back at him, "the way you look and the way you talk, are both totally creepy and disgusting" he said as he gave the Demon a disgusted look. Gyokko rose out of the pot, "you can't appreciate my beauty, grace or elegance, because you're uneducated and poor. Just like a dung beetle can't read, even if you show it a book!" he insulted them. "I don't know, you seem more likely to be living in dung. Besides, my Brother and I had a pretty good childhood, growing up as the children of a woodcutter." Muichiro replied, straight-faced.
"Shut up you dung-beetle! Look at you with your short limbs and you undersized blade! You can't even reach my neck!" Gyokko mocked. "I nearly cut off your head just now. And your arms are shorter. Oh, sorry, were you talking about yourself? Sorry, I didn't mean to misinterpret" Muichiro said. "Oh, that's a burn" Ume said with a smirk. "Shut up you traitor! I wasn't talking to you!" the Upper Five said. "And I wasn't talking to the walking trash heap in front of me, but you replied just then" Ume said. "That was a good one too" Muichiro said with a chuckle. "Heh, thanks, they just come to me" the Demon woman replied. Veins popped all over Gyokko's body, "you damn traitor bitch! Your eyeballs are rotten, and you're ugly! You're the ugliest one here!" he cried, tounge's sticking out of his mouths and waving around.
"Ew, and here I thought you couldn't get any more disgusting" Ume said with a grimace. The Demon summoned vases from all of his hands, and sent thousands of fish out at them. "Ten thousand gliding slime fish!" he cried, as they impacted the ground and sent up a cloud of dust, "these 10,000 assassins will pick you both to the bone! And I'll make you a part of one of my works of art!" Gyokko cried, cackling. After a few minutes, the streams of fish ended, and, the Upper Rank looked through the dirt that had been thrown up to see the results. A translucent shield covered all of them, originating from Ume's hands. And where the fish touched the shield, they vanished. "WHAT?!" Gyokko cried in shock and outrage.
"Keep those two safe for me" Muichiro ordered Ume, who nodded, "of course" she replied. Then the Mist Hashira leapt out of the shield. He landed on a tree trunk, sword ready and leapt towards Gyokko, slicing his head off. However, before his blade could actually connect with their Demon's neck, Gyokko shed his skin. "Damn cheating Bastard!" Ume growled from inside her shield. Her Blood Demon Art caused the fish to disappear the moment they touched it. "Hey! This thing actually works!" Kotetsu said in relief. "You can shed your skin too?" Muichiro asked, looking up at where he was now slithering up a tree, "man, what a pain, would you mind not dodging and racing up trees?" "Hyo! Hyo! Hyo! Hyo! Hyo! Allow me to show you my true form" Gyokko laughed in self-assurance.
"Sure, sure" Muichiro replied calmly. "You're only the third person to see me in this form" the Demon said proudly. "That many of us huh?" the Mist Hashira asked. "Shut up!" Gyokko cried furiously. "No one has ever lived to tell the tale after I've started taking seriously!" he said, as his arms grew out, now long and covered in blue scales. "That's amazing" Muichiro said, feigning awe. Ume snickered. "Shut your mouth you dim-witted brat!" the Upper Five Demon yelled. "These translucent scales are even harder and stronger than diamonds!" Gyokko said, showing off the scales that were glowing slightly under the moonlight, "I kneaded them myself inside my vase! Behold my perfect beauty and- bow down in awe!" he cried. Ume was trying to keep herself from being sick, as the other Demon was somehow even uglier than before.
Muichiro meanwhile, just blinked up at him. "Why don't you say something you useless puppet?! You really know how to rub someone the wrong way brat!" Gyokko yelled. "But you just told me to shut my mouth. Besides, it's not all that great-" Muichiro replied, before the Demon was right in front of him, a punch aimed at his face. "Mui!" Yuichiro cried, trying to leave Ume's shield, and it was only thanks to both Kanamori and Kotetsu that he didn't. Muichiro dodged each attack, the Upper Rank Demons punches leaving craters in the ground. "He's dodging, see! He's okay!" Surprisingly, it was Kotetsu that calmed the terrified teen down. As they watched, Muichiro ended up on a tree branch. A light patch grew on his Uniform, before it transformed into fish.
Ume and the Swordsmiths all had 'WTF' looks on their faces at seeing this. Looking over at the places Gyokko had punched, Ume saw huge piles of fish. She wrinkled her nose at the smell. She had never been a fan of that salty smell. It was too overpowering for her tastes. She didn't mind if they were cooked, but not so much raw. Gyokko looked up at Muichiro as he crouched in the tree, "Hyo! Hyo! Hyo! Didn't you just tell me not to race up trees? My, my, what a hassle!" he laughed. "No, that was just because it stunk. I thought my nose was going to fall off." Muichiro replied, tossing the fish from his clothes onto the ground. "What do you think of my godlike power? Everything I touch with my fist turns into lovely fresh fish! And this speed! The flexible, yet tough springs of my body!" Gyokko called, like an announcer.
"Not only that, but these rippling scales allow me to move without restraint!" he spread his arms out wide, "free as a bird!" Gyokko cried. Muichiro looked down, trying to control his laughter, "you're trembling huh? Are you terrified? I still wasn't serious when I launched that attack just now!" Gyokko cried. Muichiro looked up, "you can't even land one attack on me. And fish? You're such a joke, I don't know how you became an Upper Rank" he said with a mocking smile. (Flashback) Muichiro and Yuichiro were attacked by a Demon. Yui leapt in front of the attack, losing his arm, but keeping his Brother from getting killed. Muichiro caught his twin, who was screaming in pain.
"Your lives are worthless anyway, so just die quietly alright?" the Demon asked. Muichiro trembled as he cradled his sobbing Brother. Suddenly something snapped, and he let out a scream of pure fury and rage. Everything faded to red. When Muichiro regained awareness, the Demon had been ripped apart and crushed. As the sun came up, it began to burn. The boy used one of the tools he was still holding as a cane, to help drag himself home. "Yu-I" he muttered, as he made it inside. He pulled himself up onto the bed, feeling exhausted. But when he laid his eyes on his dying, but still alive twin, something flared to life inside of him. Different from the all-consuming rage he'd felt before.
"You're not going to die Brother! I won't let you!' he ground out, as he managed to grab a rope on the floor near his feet. It must have been knocked to the ground in his attack on the Demon. Muichiro used every bit of strength he had left and tied the rope around his Brother's stump, stopping the bleeding as much as he could. Then he collapsed on top of Yuichiro. "We- we'll live! No matter what!" he forced out, before passing out cold.
(End flashback)
'I will do whatever it takes, to protect my Brother. And annihilate the Demons! To wipe them out once and for all. So that no one has to go through what we did' he thought. "See me in all my serious glory!" Gyokko cried. "Blood Demon Art: Killer Fish Scales!' he said, as he began to move in impossible slithering motions. "Now what do you say to my illogical movements? My scales allow me to move at will! Impossible to predict! I love nothing more than going against the laws of nature!" he cried. Ume scowled, "I've had enough of this fish Bastard" she growled lowly. As the Upper Rank went to attack again, he found himself passing through a translucent circle. "What the-?" he asked, not even noticing that his speed had vanished.
"Mist-Breathing, Fourth Form: Shifting Flow Slash!" Muichiro said, slicing Gyokko's neck with his sword. "Huh?" the Demon asked as his head fell, not even realising that he'd been decapitated.
Ư*Ğ.Ķ
Gyutaro pushed himself up, gasping as he realized that Nezuko was on top of him, and that she was missing an arm. "Nezuko! I'm sorry! You protected me and you got hurt!" he cried, as his younger Sister winced. 'I know she's a Demon, but still! How could I let this happen to my own little Sister?' he thought, horrified at the sight of the missing limb. However, Nezuko didn't seem very worried at all. Suddenly a new arm sprung into being with a wet crunch, leaving Gyutaro utterly shocked. 'What?! How?! I thought her regeneration was a lot slower than other Demons?' he thought. Then he looked over the 12-year-old, seeing her much more mature and stronger-looking body, 'is it something to do with this form? What happened to her anyway?' Gyutaro wondered.
Then he and Nezuko were forced to doge as a wooden dragon lunged at them. 'There are Dragons now? What the fuck?! Is this that new Demons ability?' Gyutaro thought. The two of them were forced to leap all over the place to avoid the heads that were trying to crush them alive. "CAN YOU SEE THE OTHERS!?" Gyutaro called. Nezuko looked around, before suddenly letting out a cry, and leaping towards- a falling Tanjiro! The Older Kamado gaped in horror as Nezuko barely managed to save Tanjiro from being crushed by the dragon, but she lost both of her legs and an arm in the process. "Guys!" Gyutaro called, managing to get over to them somehow, as Tanjiro and Nezuko crashed on the ground.
Tanjiro was already checking their Sister over, as she slowly pushed herself up, panting. "Her limbs already regenerated. She couldn't do that before." Gyutaro said. The three Siblings looked over at where the new Demon was standing, "you brutal fiends who torment the weak. Atrocious. Offensive," he looked up, "to the extreme". As the Demon turned to look at them, the Kanji for 'Upper Four' in his eyes was shown, and a massive pressure bore down on the three Kamado's, "damn you, awful villains" he said. 'A sixth form?! This is bullshit! And I can tell that it's much stronger than any of the other forms we've already fought!' Gyutaro fumed as he couldn't help but tremble, 'urgh, I feel like I'm gonna throw up! This is utter bullshit!' he thought furiously.