Bleach Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ New Life ❯ Guardian ( Chapter 17 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Bleach or any of the anime/manga characters.

Warnings: Strong Language and Violence, and Gore

Guardian

 

“So, this is what you've been reduced to,” Sesshomaru said, frowning at his brain-dead half-brother.

Inuyasha hissed, gripping his blade.

“I can't even enjoy defeating you in such a weak state,” Sesshomaru said, hoping to elicit some smart-ass comment.

Instead, Inuyasha just roared and lunged forward, the Tetsusaiga glowing in his hand. When his attack made contact with the Bakusaiga, both he and Sesshomaru barreled straight through the building's walls.

Inuyasha's eyes widened at the sight that met them, no longer caring about his very pissed-off brother…

 

Kikyo sneered at Miroku, taking him entirely too lightly.

“So, the little monk wants to fight me? And what could you possibly do to me!? I'm superior to your pathetic group, in every possible way!”

Miroku's retort died on his lips when suddenly, legions of Saimyousho suddenly appeared behind her. And now her confidence made more sense.

“I find it amusing you think so little of me,” Miroku said, glaring at the kuromiko.

Suddenly, he lunged, surprising the miko. She'd obviously never handled a sword before, as Miroku quickly managed to disable her movements.

“What!?” Kikyo snarled, her power flaring with her anger at the easy defeat.

“You're nowhere near as strong as Lady Kagome. And you lowered yourself as far as to join and screw the same demon that killed you.”

“You shouldn't talk, monk!” she snarled. “A monk who constantly lusts after women, and constantly commits crimes and sin. You're no better than I!”

“I am,” Miroku said, raising his staff. “Now return to death, and give Lady Kagome what belongs to her.”

Kikyo's eyes widened in horror as the sharp bottom of the monk's staff pierced all the way through her throat.

Miroku heard Inuyasha's snarls, and realized he'd appeared just as he killed Kikyo…

 

“Pitiful.”

Inuyasha brought his sword up, in a feeble attempt to block his brother's attack.

“Such a weak, pitiful being.”

The Bakusaiga clashed with the Tetsusaiga, and power exploded around them.

Inuyasha stared at where his hand had been, eyes uncomprehending. Sesshomaru flicked his blade, and Inuyasha's blood flew into the sand.

“Pitiful half-breed, is this all you're capable of? Truly, your human blood is what made you strong, then.”

Inuyasha snarled and launched, his remaining claw spread wide for maximum damage.

And then, the Bakusaiga was drenched in blood, and Inuyasha's body lay in two useless, equally dead halves.

“Lord Sesshomaru-”

“This bores me. Come, monk,” Sesshomaru said, turning on his heel and swinging downward with his blade once more.

And, because Inuyasha's humanity had been gone, the barrier abandoned the large blade. With one hit, the Tetsusaiga was dust in the wind.

And then, he and Miroku took off, moving toward where they felt Kagome's power pulsing rapidly.

A echoing series of sobs brought them short, and they turned to find a truly gruesome scene.

Sango was on her knees, a sword buried in the throat of her brother. Blood, both hers and his, drenched the corridor from floor to ceiling, and the Hiraikotsu lay broken nearby, a chain-scythe buried all the way through part of it.

All around them, the corridor was in pieces, bits of roof and wall lying crumbled as dust around the taijiya.

Her body shook with sobs, and she didn't seem to notice the two as she stared with glassy eyes at Kohaku's corpse.

Miroku rushed forward, dropping to her side. As soon as his presence was known, she turned to him and buried her head in his chest, sobbing even harder as his arms wrapped around her.

“I… I… I killed him! Oh, god, Miroku-”

Miroku simply let her cry, standing up with her in his arms in a bridal carry. He gave a nod to the inu taiyoukai, and they took off, Sango seemingly unaware that they were even moving.

And, just as they reached where Kagome's energy was, the Garganta suddenly opened and engulfed them all…

 

Kagome watched as the tentacles came, growing faster as they moved.

And then, they were suddenly immobile. And a wall of brilliant, white energy was wrapped around them, holding them there.

And then, Naraku found himself snarling as Kagome broke into laughter.

“What's so fucking funny!?”

Suddenly, Kagome stopped laughing, and an actual chill went through the hanyo at the look in her eyes.

“Your bitch is dead. And now, I'm complete. Guess what that means.”

The wall around the tentacles vanished, and Naraku pushed forward.

And his eyes turned completely red when, with nothing but her bare hands, Kagome caught the fatally poisonous tentacles.

“You lie!”

“That filthy clay shell's soul finally came back to where it belonged. Though, I'll give you credit. She at least pretended to still be a miko for a while.”

Kagome, in the blink of an eye, drew her dagger and, with one slash, the entire horde around her vanished in a spray of black, rancid blood and flesh.

Naraku snarled as her power slowly crept toward him, following along the stumps of the destroyed tentacles.

“This is the end, Naraku. I hope you're prepared to die.”

With a hiss, Naraku exploded with power. And suddenly, the Garganta formed, swallowing every one of her friends…

 

Just as the Shinigami got to Karakura, the Garganta appeared and Aizen stepped out. With an entire army of Arrancar, each of which seemed to have more power individually then the previous Primero Espada.

“Well, well, isn't this amusing? All of us, here, again. And in the real Karakura, no less.”

The Shinigami didn't respond at all to Aizen's words. They weren't about to waste time like last time.

They all took off, instantly beginning a precise and very effective annihilation campaign. Aizen was stunned as Byakuya and Yamamoto worked alongside Shinji and the other Vizard, with seemingly no animosity.

It was a crushing amount of destruction. With Byakuya's bankai, Yamamoto's flames, and the Vizard's Hollowfication-boosted ceros and Zanpakuto, the Arrancar didn't stand a chance, no matter how strong they are.

And then, Aizen felt Ichigo coming for him, and he was on the move. One blast of the Vizard's power came after another, with such speed and ferocity that the ex-Captain had to wonder if he was even the same Shinigami.

Unfortunately, because his plans had effectively been ruined by the Shinigamis' sudden and truly unexpected offensive, his calm and brilliant composure was cracking.

And then, power exploded in his path, and there stood Zaraki, his blade coming down and his eye patch gone.

Aizen brought his Zanpakuto up and brought an illusion of himself several feet away into existence. He was understandably surprised when Zaraki continued, and his sword was still coming straight for him.

“How is it that my illusions don't work on you, uncouth buffoon?” Aizen asked, moving out of the way.

In response, Zaraki just laughed maniacally and the chase began. Aizen knew that, even if he were to fight with his legitimate power, he'd probably lose in a straight-up melee battle.

“Ah, I see… You're too simple-minded for your brain to comprehend it,” Aizen said, finally beginning to regain his composure as, finally, his army began to fight back and wound the Shinigami.

As Zaraki approached, Aizen made several hand gestures.

“Bakudo 30, Shitotsu Sansen.”

A large, yellow triangle of energy appeared, and suddenly, Zaraki was pinned to the ground.

“And now, die. Hado 90, Kurohitsugi.”

Zaraki couldn't move as a massive, black box of power formed around him. And then, Aizen smiled cruelly as the Captain's body was pierced over and over again by spears of energy.

The box vanished, and Zaraki lay there, very thoroughly incapacitated. But, much to Aizen's surprise, he was also very obviously alive, despite the massive power he'd been hit with.

“Hmm… Perhaps he's too stupid to die?” he mused.

Ichigo was coming at him fast, his Hollow mask on and his Zanpakuto glowing with black energy.

“You want to play, as well, boy?” he asked, bringing his blade up.

Just as Ichigo got within striking range, power surged through the air and the Garganta once again appeared.

As the Shinigami became distracted by the appearance of Kagome's group, as well as the Captain, Lieutenant, and Quincy, the Arrancar took advantage. At once, dozens of Shinigami were struck down, the Arrancar making up for lost time.

Hitsuguya, Rangiku and Uryuu came down through the hole, their weapons blasting away at whatever was inside the hole. They were all very bloody and very obviously in pain as they made contact with the ground.

But then, the power surge increased. Several Arrancar simply died from the crushing force, and several of the Shinigami became suddenly ill.

A high-pitched, girlish laugh filled the air, and suddenly, a pink-haired girl was sitting next to Zaraki, poking his head.

“Kenny! Wake up! Kaggie's here!” she yelled, eyes wide with excitement.

And, sure enough, Kagome emerged seconds later. Power so strong that even Aizen took a step back flowed freely around the girl, wrapping around her like a second, deadly skin.

As soon as she was completely away from the Garganta, it erupted with billions of long, blade-like, black tentacles that dripped with very obviously deadly poison. Slowly, the tentacles came out further, until their source finally emerged, his power and evil aura actually darkening the sky.

“I like the air here. I feel I'm getting stronger… Of course, it could also be this,” he said, just as a black half-orb formed before him. And next to it was a pristine, hexagonal gem.

Just as the Hogyoku, Kagome assumed, appeared, Aizen took a place at the hanyo's side. Both had an identically feral, evil darkness to their features.

Kagome's body suddenly pulsed, and she arched her back as a silent scream left her. All present watched as the crescent moon hidden around her neck flashed a blinding shade of white. Suddenly, there was a smoldering burn through Kagome's shirt and skin, and the jewel hung of its own volition in the air in front of her.

Kagome's body pulsed again and again, and youki unlike anything the evil men together could ever bring. Kagome's aura suddenly became visible to all around them. And, before their eyes, the blue and red slowly vanished, becoming a massive shell of swirling darkness and light.

Kagome's hands came up into an X shape in front of her, and the power continued to grow.

“Naraku, you think some gem's going to save you? You have no idea what you're dealing with. Tsukikiba.”

Kagome brought both her hands down, her left hand snapping while her right suddenly became covered in the gauntlet of her bankai, the Chakram flowing through the air around her in razor-edged circles.

And then, her Hollow mask formed. And even though she was several miles in the air, several nearby buildings simply exploded as her power released.

Black and silver power rolled off of her, filling the air around them in waves.

Instead of the usual Vizard eyes, her sclera became a brilliant silver while her iris became a shade of coal-black. And then, she moved, without any warning.

Naraku's scream filled the air as the Chakram attacked. It zipped through the air, going from one jagged angle into another. And every turn had his body in the razor-edged weapon's path.

With each cut, blinding white light began to flow from the hanyo's body.

And then, the Chakram flew back to the miko, and the bow took its place. Kagome drew the ethereal bow string back as far as it could go, and the arrow gave off mini-lightning bolts of power surges.

“This is your end, Naraku!”

And then, she loosed the arrow. It moved so fast that the Shinigami didn't even know it had left the bow. Until Naraku's body exploded in a massive column of flowing white light. And, when the column was gone, there was nothing.

Not even a single left-over trace that has existence had ever happened. Even his taint no longer existed in his portion of the jewel, which flew over to Kagome's open hand.

“I am the Guardian of the Shikon no Tama, and all who would use it for evil must parish,” Kagome said, her voice metallic and hard-edged. “And this is the beginning of a stay in all of your evil your evil,” she added, turning to the ex-Captain, clutching the Hogyoku.

She began to draw her bow back a second time, but it was too late. The Garganta had already opened and closed. And Aizen was no longer with them.

This terrified the Arrancar, as Kagome turned to them instead.

“Uryuu, can you get a few of them?” she asked as she loosed her second arrow.

He nodded and, with his barrage of arrows, the Shinigami resumed their `clean up.'

Without their leader, they were considerably weaker. They never stood a chance.

Five minutes later found not a single Arrancar left. In their wake, the Shinigami and otherwise all stared at Kagome, who was now simply floating, weapon- and mask-less, her eyes on the brilliantly shining jewel.

“I guess that's it, then,” she suddenly sighed.

And then, they collectively gasped as blood exploded from her right arm and she fell to the ground like a meteor, concrete spraying high into the air around her. They all stared in wonder at the bloody, ragged scar that went down the entire length of her right arm and the cuts in her back. It was then they knew she hadn't truly escaped the poisonous legions of Naraku's tentacles.

And, with one more ragged breath, she fell unconscious, the stress of her vast power and such an incredibly large amount of energy it took to keep the poison from killing her again finally catching up to her…

 

A/N: (there are quite a few!)

Okay! Well, time to explain a few things so I don't get flames on making Kagome a goddess and the others pathetic.

I figured that Kikyo's strength lay in her purity and archery, so it only make sense that she be basically helpless, even if she were the strongest Arrancar alive, with her purity gone and her weapon being a sword. And, Miroku is Kagome's tutor, sort of, so it would make sense he would also have great strength, even if he doesn't use it very often. Also, I kind of always hated Kikyo's character. She seemed entirely too stoic for someone who was supposedly killed by her past love and brought back to find her reincarnation so close to the hanyo.

As for Inuyasha… I've always thought that he is much stronger as a hanyo than a full-blooded youkai, so Sesshomaru beating him this easily is actually pretty likely. After all, it's Inuyasha's humanity that keeps him going, and he lost that, because he was torn between the death and, he believes, possession of his previous friend, and his sinister love.

And, as for the Sango/Kohaku fight, I really can't handle scenes with a child fighting, so I just kind of skipped it, leaving the battle to your imaginations with a few clues as to what happened.

Also, for those of you who have only ever watched the anime, later in the manga, Sesshomaru loses the Tenseiga. And shortly after, his right arm (or left; I can't remember which one Inuyasha destroyed) re-grew, and he had his own weapon, the Bakusaiga, which signified his surpassing their father and having his own strength. I admit I didn't really utilize its level of epic, but I haven't read the manga in a while, so I can't remember exactly how its power worked.

 

Translations:

Primero- First

This was Stark's (The Espada with the `1' tattoo') title.

 

Kido:

Shitotsu Sansen- Beak-Piercing Triple Beam (this is what Soi Fon uses to seal the Fraccion's movements in Karakura)

Kurohitsugi- Black Coffin (This is what Aizen used on Komamura when he betrayed Soul Society)

Well, there it is! We're almost at the end, now. I hope you've thoroughly enjoyed up to this point, and will, as always, give me your opinions, be they good or bad!