Disclaimer: I own none of the Inuyasha characters. They
belong to their respected (and overly rich) creators and owners.
If I owned them then I'd make a movie instead of a fanfic.
Chapter 13: Calm Before the Storm
A purple-tatooed man stared at the running
Kyone, Miroku, and Shippo in a room full of screens. Well, these
people would do nicely for project Rachel's tests. Typing a code
into his laptop, the alarm stopped. It would serve no purpose
any longer... In fact he no longer needed anyone in this
facility -- not his employees, and certainly not Kyone, Miroku,
and Shippo. All expendable. Time to move on.
Kyone stopped abruptly, and stared in
annoyance. Great, they'd run to a dead end. Nothing but metal
wall...or at least she thought that, until a part of the wall
slid away. Great, another electronic door. What ever happened to
knobs and wood?
She walked inside and stopped in her tracks.
Holy shit.
In a large test tube was a girl with a brown
wolf tail. Naked, curled up in a fetal position, eyes open and
unblinking. Like the girl was unsconcious. Underneath read
'Project Rachel'.
Miroku looked at it and nodded with a smile,
"A beautiful woman. It's a shame she looks like a demon, she'd
probably kill me if I asked her my usual question."
Kyone was a little dazed. "Asked her what? How
she grew a tail, or how old she is?"
Shippo gulped. "What's that liquid around her?
It doesn't smell like water."
Kyone looked at him in shock. He could smell
past the glass? How was that...oh yeah, little demon. Turning
towards a computer, Kyone saw on the screen 'hit any key'.
Curious, she hit the spacebar.
The liquid drained out of the tube, and Kyone
stared in fear. Oh shit. Guess she was going to be the cat
tonight...
As the last bit of water drained out, Rachel's
eyes changed from vacant white to demonic red. Her arms started
to move, and slammed into the glass. By the third slam, the
glass shattered, and she fell to the ground in a heap. Staring
at Kyone directly, she started to growl like a wolf.
Gulping, Kyone asked herself WHY she had to
touch a key. WHY!!
The girl leaped over Kyone, staring out the
open door. Her red eyes slowly turned pure white, then an iris
appeared. Her regular green eyes looked at the group, and she
smiled.
The wolf girl turned around, and asked, "All
right, where are some clothes and weapons? Don't need 'em, but
would be nice."
The group stared at her in shock. In a flash,
something jumped on Rachel and rolled around. A snapping noise
filled the air, and Rachel stood up with a liger, one of the
most POWERFUL creatures alive, hanging in a wierd angle from
Rachel's hand. Twelve feet long, over threee-hundred pounds, and
she was holding it like a paperweight.
"Huh. They enhanced its strength, but not the
bone endurance. Too bad." She then threw it out the door and
shut the door like a kid putting a broken toy in the trash.
Kyone stared as the girl got dressed in a
tight purple jumpsuit, a Japanese katana and washiki at her
side. Apparently, someone had left some clothes for her in a
small metal box.
Swinging each blade to get a feel for them,
Rachel smiled. "Okay, what's the problem, people? One cutter get
loose, or a liger get a little too powerful?"
Miroku slowly asked, "Who...or what...are
you?"
She stopped moving around and stared at him.
"Wait, you mean you aren't one of the base personel? What's
happening?"
Shippo asked back, "What, you can't hear the
loud noises?"
Rachel listened, her ears seeming to twitch.
"Oh...sounds like all hell is breaking loose out there. Well, I
was told one main thing...if the base is comprimised, get the
fuck out."
Kyone looked scared. "Um, how? The exit is
past the battle."
"Damn, you're new. I have the perfect solution
right here." Rachel then walked to the computer and started to
type furiously. In less than a second, a pourple circle appeared
on the wall, swirling and growing. In two minutes, it was large
enough to let a panzer tank through.
Rachel then entered something else, and a
little I-pod seemed to appear in her free hand. Pushing a button
on said I-pod, a piano song started to fill the air.
The purple circle turned blue, and Rachel
said, "Let's go."
Kyone asked, "What song is that, anyway?"
"Numb, piano version."
"I like it."
"Thank you."
Kikyo looked up and saw Naraku's fortress.
Huh, no barrier? No guards? Nothing?
Cautious, she walked through the front gate.
It looked like a war had gone on in here. Just what had
happened? Dead demon bees everywhere, split in many pieces.
Blood scattered on the ground.
Walking further inside, she saw a slash mark
on a door to stairs leading down. Kikyo ran down, and saw Zack
hanging by chains. Oh god in hell. That was...sickening. His
body was covered in puke, blood was pouring from... his groin?!
Yesh, what kind of interogator goes DOWN THERE?!
Kikyo ran up and checked. He was alive, just
in shock. Taking an arrow, she used the tip to unlock the
chains. She tried to lift him up, but he groaned in pain at the
slightest movement. Well, understandable, but annoying. How were
they going to escape now?
She heard footsteps, and hid. Looking from her
hiding place, she saw a boy with a scythe, holding his head in
confusion.
He walked up to Zack and asked, "Why...why are
my memories coming back now? Why are yours mixed in with them?
Did that...venom do more than what you thought?"
Zack remained motionless. The boy yelled, "I
can't understand which are my own memories and which yours.
Please, tell me."
Kikyo stared in curiosity. What did he mean?
Memories mixing together...she had no knowledge of anything like
that happening before. Since when do memories of one person
enter another?
The boy then asked, "This control Naraku has
on me...what should I do? Do I really have a sister? Oh, wait.
You wouldn't know. Hell, after what Kanna did, I'd be surprised
if you even can hear what I'm saying. I guess I just...need
someone to confide in right now. Just wish it was someone who
could talk back. Should I have died and stayed dead? Or should I
continue to live?"
Kikyo stared at the boy. What...he had the
same problem as her? Brought back from the dead without him
wanting it, now curious about how to deal with a new life? She
was curious what kind of curse he had...oh, wait. Serving
Naraku.
"Tell me..or die. " He raised his scythe high
above his head.
Kikyo began to sweat. Damnit, if she helped
Zack now, Naraku would notice her presence and send everything
he had down here.
The boy then began slowly, torturously, to cut
at Zack. To Kikyo it seemed like each stroke -- agonizing to
watch, much less feel -- took hours. The one friend she'd ever
made in years...and she couldn't lift a finger. Otherwise, she'd
get all of them killed, and she wasn't in the mood to die AGAIN!
Not when her vengence was SO CLOSE to finally HAPPENING!!
Kanna held her head. The pain kept building.
Damnit, that 'werewolf' venom was starting to take effect.
Kohaku had gone off to take out his frustration on Naraku's
bees.
Now, wait a second, it slowly dawned on Kanna,
why was Kohaku frustrated? Where did this anger come from that
he was taking out on Naraku's bees? Why wasn't Naraku reacting
to what was going on here? And why did she feel like her head
was being ripped apart.
Stumbling into Kagura's room, still pressing
her head with her hands as if to hold it together, she was
surprised that the room was empty. Half of her was happy,
the other disappointed. Sitting down, she looked at her hands.
Was that...hair? Had it come out or her head? No.
The hair was growing out of her hands -- the backs of her hands,
and even her palms. No, yes, she had seen that
before. The venom. But was there more hair or less
than there had been before? Was the venom winning, or Naraku?
Coughing, she covered her mouth quickly.
Taking the hand off her mouth, she saw blood. Oh good, now
internal injuries with no explanation. Guess that guy was
right...demon blood takes offense at the venom.
Looking outside, it seemed like sundown wasn't
too far away. Not too long now, until she saw which demon blood
was stronger. Naraku's, or the werewolf's. She hoped it was
Naraku.
A series of flashes came to her mind, too fast
for her to recognize. Was this...what Kohaku felt? She fell on
her stomach, head burning in pain. The flashes started to take
shape. The shape of people, things, events...what were these?
That man's memories?
It then dawned on her, as the headache and the
visions suddenly stopped. Holy shit. Kohaku was going through
what she was -- dealing with two different memory lines
clashing, only, apparently, without the pain. It might drive him
insane, and it might drive her insane as well.
Another series of flashes, and she screamed,
tearing at the hair on her hands in agony. When the flashes
stopped, she puked blood again. Damnit, was it better to be
human and transform, or be part demon and sick as a dog?
Rin heard the one called Kane yell, "SHIT!!
GONNA BE LATE TO THE DROP OFF!! IF I DON'T HAUL ASS, THE SHOW'S
GONNA START WITHOUT US!! ALL BECAUSE YOU WANTED A BRAWL, SOKI!!"
Rin looked at the other girl, who smiled
despite a bleeding lip. Rin herself felt terrible all over.
Bruises under her kimono on just about every inch of her body.
The cloth just irritating the wounds. Well, at least
Sesshomaru-sama would never know how 'not quite innocent' she'd
been less than an hour ago. She had 'brawled' with Soki for
twenty minutes, both girls smiling at the end.
Something about the time during the fight had
felt...good to her. Rin had enjoyed the moments she was winning,
felt excitement when she thought she might lose the advantage,
and despite when on the losing end. Huh, why didn't the after
part of such a fun game feel as good? Oh, yeah. Wasn't a game.
Was meant to be painful...ah well, Rin guessed she'd learned to
ignore pain far too quickly for her age. But one could ignore
for only so long before it started to hurt like a BITCH!!
Okay...another lesson Sesshomaru-sama could live without
knowing.
Soki gasped, "Holy crow fuck! MOVE IT KANE!!
SESSHOMARU IS ON OUR TRAIL!! THAT STUPID TWO-HEADED DRAGON IS
BACKING HIM UP!!"
"WHAT?! I THOUGHT I KILLED THAT THING!!"
"ONE OF HIS SWORDS, REMEMBER?! IT BRINGS THE
NEAR DEAD BACK TO FULL HEALTH!!"
Rin knew that sword well. It had saved her
once, and she had followed Sesshomaru-sama devotedly since then.
"Oh...Sahjan won't like that. But I'm NOT
about to fight a TAI-YOUKAI!!"
Tai-youkai, demon lord. Sesshomaru was one of
the four great tai-youkai in Japan. The others, Rin had no idea.
What Soki said next scared Rin. "We need to
get Project Ghost over here. Make that sword the main target,
shatter it."
Kane started to smile. "Oh, yeah...simple
enough. Don't try fighting him, let one of Sajhan's tests deal
with him. If the rocket launcher and minigun don't kill him, at
least his little 'life saver' will be in pieces."
Rin stuttered, "Y...you can't do that!! That's
Sesshomaru-sama's only reminder of Sesshomaru-sama's father!!"
Soki looked annoyed. "Shut up, who cares...and
if you continue to speak in the third person, Kane here will
burn all your hair off."
Rin held her hair protectively. Then she
looked at the one named Kane, who smiled back at her in a way
she didn't like.
Kagome was panting, and pulled an arrow out of
another of the grey demons. For godsakes, when would these
things stop coming?
She heard Inuyasha sniffing the air and
saying, "Wha...I smell a...half kitsune girl? And the scent of
those 'bullets' as you call them."
Looking at him with a strange expression,
Sango asked, "Friend or foe?"
"No blood, so she wasn't wounded by the
bullets. I'd say foe."
Kagome muttered, "She could have cleaned
herself off."
"Nothing can smell that clean so soon after
bleeding," Inuyasha insisted
One of the grey men they were fighting yelled,
"Ghost is comin' to get ya'. She'll finish what she started with
the fire cat. Adam, keep them busy until the mistress arrives."
At the name 'Adam', the thing with the
mini-gun walked out of the trees. To Kagome, it looked like a
combination of metal, demon flesh, and human! The face had a
small bit of human flesh, then green lizard-like flesh
surrounded it. One arm was muscular all the way to the hand, tan
scales from the arm to its upper chest. The mid-chest and around
one eye was totally metal. The rest...Kagome couldn't tell what
was metal, or flesh!!
The mini-gun almost seemed to fold up into the
metal arm, and the creature said, "This will be interesting. Too
bad I can't finish them."
Gulping, Kagome moved backward. If it had a
gun up built into its body ..what other weapons were hiding
inside?
"When Ghost gives the order, you can," the
same grey man shouted back at the creature called 'Adam'. "We
have to thank her somehow for taking down that annoying little
feline from the sky."
Sango growled, "So this 'Ghost' was the one
that KILLED KIRARA?!" Her face livid, she took out her boomerang
and threw it at Adam.
Adam's arm turned back into a minigun, and it
fired an explosive at boomerang, hitting it in mid air. Shrapnel
rained down to the ground near the blast.
Wait, that thing had a grenade launcher?
thought Kagome. Oh...this could be a little too...interesting
for my tastes.
Adam looked at them, as if trying to decide
who to lunge at first.
Inuyasha acted before Adam could make up his
mind ...by grabbing Kagome and Sango and running.
Sango screamed, "LET ME GO!!"
Inuyasha snarled back, "Shut up, far too many
crazy things are going on. For once, I'd say we get the hell out
of here."
Kagome sighed. If only he'd had those sort of
thoughts in earlier crises.
