Well, here it is. Part one of at least two winding down, good vs. evil showdown. I hope you all like it. I, for one am rather proud of this particular piece, now if only the next part will flow together as smoothly….*grumbles, and kicks herself*. Thanks to all that reviewed, here's you chapter flavored cookie, baked especially for you!

Warning!!! Graphic gory scenes to ensue, please avoid reading this fic if you are not of a suitable age, or do not have parent consent! You have been warned!

I do not owe either the InuYasha characters or those of YuYu Hakusho

Bitter Memories

Chapter twenty-three : Split personalities, part one

"Kagome." The single word was a threat, promise, and a demand rolled into one raspy drawl. Baring her fangs, Kagome slipped into a fighting stance, no longer aware of the people around her. The creature's laughter sent cold chills up and down her spine, settling in the pit of her stomach. She felt sick the longer it's eyes pierced her own. "Have you forgotten me already?" As she watched in horror, the face's skin peeled in long shreds; twisted, clawed hands helping it along. Wincing, but too utterly shocked to look away, Kagome stared as the bones all broke and snapped, the facial structure changing right before her eyes. A final, sickening plop hung heavily on the air as the last of the gooey flesh from it's face dropped to the ground.

"Recognize me?" The voice was taunting, sounding like the demon before her was choking on bile and blood. Kagome gaped openly. She did recognize that face. Yura of the Hair glared coldly back at her through a veil of blood and flesh chunks. "Good, I can see you do. Well, how about it Kagome? Want to finish what we started so long ago? If you beat me, you can have the pleasure of meeting another face long forgotten." If she strained, Kagome could hear the vaguely feminine voice behind all the gurgling. Squaring her shoulders, Kagome flipped her head defiantly.

"You were simple to beat before, Yura, what makes you think you're a match for me now?" Kagome smiled confidently, although she didn't feel any of it. Yura was too sure of herself, meaning there had to be a catch.

Yura rose an eyebrow in Kagome's direction. "So you find me to be no threat? But what would, the great Kagome, champion for good, fear? Perhaps you would care to make things a little more interesting?" Without waiting, Yura glowed a violet color, the power crackling in the air around her, electrifying it. Smiling evilly, she was consumed in a mass of black energy.

Now Kagome was worried. She knew what evil made up that awful mockery of nature. A blast of light, thunder, and wind, shook the ground and nearly forced the gang to their knees. The obsidian mass had expanded and transformed in shaped. Slowly the black cover began to go transparent, allowing them to glimpse what was inside before they came face to face with it. Kagome paled; even she hadn't thought that it was possible.

As the bubble popped, ten figures emerged from its depths. They were faces Kagome and InuYasha knew all too well. They both glanced at each other worriedly, taking toll of the other's look of utter disbelief. From the depths of hell, from which they had been sent, stood their enemies. Yura, Kikyou, Kanna, Kagura, Naraku, Jakotsu, Gatenmaru, Goshinki, Juuroumaru and his counter part Kageroumaru. They all were smirking, minus Kanna and Juuroumaru, since the two never showed emotion in life either.

Kagome drew in a shaky breath. This was not going to be easy. Sure she and the others had managed to defeat all of these monsters before, but together like this? She wasn't so sure.

Naraku stepped forward, he, like the rest, appeared completely normal. They looked like they were once again living, breathing homicidal maniacs.

"You know what to do." Naraku's barked order startled Kagome, making her visibly jump. This didn't go unnoticed by either side. The creatures from hell watched her with rage simmering in their eyes, Kagome's friends with worry. If she was this startled, they knew they were in for a long fight.

The creatures all stepped forward on paths unseen to the living, (or in Boton's case dead). They split up, rounding on a member of the Spirit Detectives and their friends.

Kagome watched in horror as her nemeses headed off towards her friends. Naraku hadn't moved from his spot, his glittering black eyes focused on her. She shivered under his gaze, but took up a fighting stance anyway. If he wanted to fight her, who was she to deny him the pleasure?

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InuYasha watched warily as Kikyou circled closer to him. He could see the malice in her features, the once doe-brown eyes he loved were cold and dead, something he should have seen a long time ago. He knew this wasn't the girl he had fallen in love with, but the idea of fighting her to the death unnerved him. It felt like he was betraying her memory, the memory of the Kikyou he had known, not the hell-spawn in front of him.

Glancing around the battlefield, he noticed that several pairs of people had already begun their fight. His eyes grew wide as he watched Gatenmaru, the woman-killing-Moth-Demon, lash out at Yukina. He felt his demon blood begin to boil, the flesh of his skin feeling like acid had been poured over him as Yukina's head snapped to the side, a trail of blood left in her jaw's wake.

A searing pain jolted his stomach, twisting his organs in knots and landing him on his back in the dirt. Kikyou's hands were glowing black, the residue of a powerful energy attack still clinging to them. She hissed at him, her stoic face twisted into a deadly serious snarl.

"Your life is in danger and you have the nerve to ignore me?!?" She howled in rage, her eyes lighting up in fury. She seared holes into his figure as he slowly picked himself off of the ground. Casting a worried glance back at Yukina, he steeled himself. Yukina would die if he didn't get this over with quickly.

"I made a promise I intend to kept, Inu." Her voice dripped sarcasm, and malevolence. Her thin frame began shaking in resentment, the red and white of her miko clothing flapping in the wind she was emitting as she gathered another blast of dark power into her palms. "You will go to hell, InuYasha, and you will suffer. I plan to see to it my self. This, Inu, dear, is for stripping me of my life before my business in this world was completed." As the words left her cherry lips, the energy leapt from her hands, twining together. The ground was ripped up in the wake of the massive amounts of power. InuYasha dodged, his arm being caught in the outermost of the blast. Red-hot pain bit through him. Looking down, his jaw went slack.

His arm was almost completely skinned, the flesh and muscle underneath coated in a thick, fresh layer of blood. The dark crimson liquid pooled up, running the length of the appendage in an alarming rate before a large puddle began to form on the ground. Gnashing his teeth against the excruciating injury, his eyes narrowed as they took in the woman before him. He suddenly wished desperately that he hadn't died and left Tetsusaiga in the battlefield over five hundred years ago.

Kikyou watched in amusement as InuYasha growled at her, his pupils dilating, and becoming an aqua speck in a sea of burgundy. His elongated fangs cut into his lips, his newly lengthened claws clenching into the flesh of his palms, the left one making him wince just to use it.

Snarling, InuYasha leapt into the air, no longer concerned that he had at one time loved this bitch. First, she had attacked him, second, and most importantly, she was keeping him from rescuing Yukina. A ferrous roar tore from his throat as he tensed his body in anticipation of plunging his claws deep into her smirking face.

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Hiei wasn't sure what to think. After the demons had emerged from the black mass, he could tell that they worried Kagome. And that alone worried him. He knew as well as anyone else did that the girl was a regular energy factory, and if she was worried, then these people couldn't spell out anything good for him and the others.

A tall, male demon with long lavender hair and emerald eyes, was at one moment standing next to a dark haired demon that seemed to be calling the shots, to directly in front of Hiei. Hiei stumbled backwards, surprised at the speed of this thing. It moved so fast that even he had trouble keeping up. A smaller version of the demon that had just appeared in front of him was seated on its shoulder, its body made up of arachnid legs and arms. The smaller demon grinned at Hiei, showing a mouthful of watering, razor sharp fangs.

"You will fall by our hands, boy." It snarled, its face twisting up in a deranged scowl. "Juuroumaru, let us dispose of this……" The little demon's face glowed in spite, "disgrace." Hiei growled low in his throat, already knowing this was going to be a lot harder than he had thought.

Using his thumb, Hiei clicked his sword free of the sheath, his hand wrapping around the handle with every intention of drawing the sword and taking the large demon, Juuroumaru's, head off. It seemed that the little one was the brain, so to speak, of the large guy.

In a flurry of silk, Juuroumaru had positioned himself behind Hiei; Kageroumaru (little guy) was nowhere to be seen. Using his demon abilities, Hiei began to draw his katana while twisting around to face Juuroumaru. Instead, Juuroumaru had reached out and latched his knife-like teeth into Hiei's shoulder before Hiei could even face him. Grinding his teeth against the pain, Hiei flipped his sword so the point was facing backwards and drove it as hard as he could behind him.

Kageroumaru, having hid himself underneath the hard packed earth, flew out of his hiding place as soon as Hiei was distracted by Juuroumaru's attack. Brandishing his claws, he dove toward Hiei's stomach. When Hiei's blade was in the process of thrusting backward, Kageroumaru lashed his claws against the surprised Koorime's chest.

Cursing mentally against the pain, Hiei finished his sword's track, only to find that Juuroumaru had already moved. Falling to the ground, Hiei snarled up at Juuroumaru, who was standing over him as though he had been there the entire time.

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Genkai watched cautiously as the massive demon approached her. It radiated power, but then again, they all did. This one seemed to be getting some sort of amusement from her, but she couldn't see what was so funny to it.

"Genkai, I find your minds openness amusing. You'll be begging for your pathetic, old life by the time I get through with you. Oh, yes, I can read your mind like an open book." The demon was tall, around fifteen feet in height; his body was built muscular and buff. His skin had a deep purple hue, his hair an inky black, but it was his eyes that caught her attention. They glowed such an intense blood red; their depth overtook her. Shaking her head, she realized instantly how to defeat him. The problem was trying to get him to fall for anything.

"So, you've spotted the flaw in me after all. But that plan to blast me with a wave of spirit energy will never work, because the minute you attempt it, I'll have already known and been out of harms way. You're going to have to think of something else, or face defeat at the hands of Goshinki." His laughter was deep and throaty; the bass behind it shook the ground, making it hard from Genkai to remain standing. Glaring at the beast before her, she realized she maybe in more trouble than she had thought.

If there was one thing Goshinki was reading from Genkai it was that she was a strategist. She always thought things completely through, and while normally this was her path to victory, in a battle with him, a mind reading demon, it would be her destruction.

Genkai thought furiously. But one look at Goshinki told her he knew what she was planning. It was difficult to fight when all her moves would be countered, or avoided.

Sensing the elder woman's frustration and distraction, Goshinki smirked to himself. Flexing his massive claws, he races forward with a surprising amount of agility. Drawing his claws in a large downward arc, Goshinki shifts his downward swing at the last second, catching Genkai a crossed the back. She tumbled to the ground, feeling the burning sensation of lots of blood loss. Her shoulders shook traitorously as she tried to force her way off of the unyielding ground. Her arms buckled, sending her back to the dirt, the deep gashes on her back making the torn muscles nearly useless. Grinding her teeth, Genkai felt the ground rumble as much as she heard Goshinki above her chuckling.

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The child heading his way was devoid of any sort of pigment. Her hair was snow white, her skin as sliver as the moon's light. Even the dress and flowers she wore were pure in their color. Only her dead, black eyes had any sort of color to them. Clutched in her hand was a large, intricate silver mirror. Despite his normally unfazable exterior in battle, Kurama shivered. The girl was unnaturally silent, and her lack of emotion was unnerving. The only sounds she emitted as she walked toward him were the soft, even breathing, and the swish of her silk dress.

Inside Youko was baring his teeth, his ears laid back on his head. They both agreed; this girl was on a whole level of evil on her own.

As she stopped in front of him, she cocked her head to the side, her black orbs running lazily over his body. Bringing her lifeless eyes back to his own, she held out her mirror, slowly beginning to twist it around to face him.

In an aloft, childlike voice, she called a crossed the distance to him. He suddenly realized he liked her better when he thought she didn't speak. Her voice reminded him of those creepy children of the corn, hell; she could probably scare them as well. "Your soul is mine."

Kurama felt an odd feeling of breathlessness pass over his body as his jade eyes locked on the image of himself in the mirror. A black void surrounded him, blocking out all but his own reflected image in the mirror.

He felt like he was being ripped in two before he found himself looking a Youko through the reflective, cold, glass of the demon's mirror. A terror he had never know gripped his heart as he called out repeatedly for the fox deity in his head and coming up empty every time.

Youko stared at the small demon before him, the mirror she clutched in her hands showing him clearly Suichi Minamino staring back at him with wide, frightened eyes. It only took him an instant to figure out what had taken place. The demon had stolen the soul of Suichi, leaving himself free from Suichi's grasp and in complete control of Suichi's body. Youko's golden eyes glimmered in mischief, his lips parting in a feral grin.

Inside the mirror, Suichi was sure he felt his heart stop. After living his whole life with the youkai in his head, he knew what he was thinking.

"Youko! You can't leave me in here!" Pounding his fists against the glass, Suichi screamed at the top of his lungs, praying by some miracle, Youko would rescue him. As a bitter coldness enveloped his body, choking off his air supple, he seen Youko laugh openly, tossing his head back in glee. This time, Suichi's heart did stop.

Heheh, I told you it was part ONE! Don't kill the author! So we know that Kurama had to face off with Kanna, Yukina with Gatenmaru, Hiei with Juuroumaru AND Kageroumaru, Genkai has to take on Goshinki, InuYasha gets to battle Kikyou, and Kagome has to duke it out with Naraku.

So, my question for this chapter is:

Who do you think the rest of them are going to have to face?

Yusuke, Kuwabara, Botan With

Yura, Kagura, and Jakotsu. Who will be paired up with whom? Will the homicidal authoress let some of your favorite characters fall victim to these monsters? Find out!

REVIEW!!!!!

~BlackHeart