Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Intergalactic Treaty ❯ Argonite Crystal ( Chapter 9 )

~Belle: So, it's been a while.

~Sesshoumaru: I thought you were about to make me king, what is this delay?

~Belle: You'd think world domination would be something you could wait for.

~Sesshoumaru: Human, I tire of your inability to finish what you begin.

~Inuyasha: Cut her a break! She's working on the ending now!

~Hiei: Why do you defend her? She always screws you over in her fics.

~Inuyasha: I know she loves me best deep down.

~Belle: I don't own Inuyasha or YYH, but Yasha is a cutie!

Enjoy!

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Hiei stared at the woman. Who would be so stupid as to give such a powerful item to the likes of Naraku? If what this Shippo character has told them is true then she is to blame for all those who have suffered during the tyrant's reign.

"And so you see if Inuyasha and Kagome can manage to knock out the Argonite Crystal then the collapse of Naraku's power should be fairly simplistic. He relies heavily upon the magical item and without it, he would be virtually powerless. He has made too many enemies and burned too many bridges during his rise to power," Shippo continued informing his attentive audience.

Miroku and Sango were greatly intrigued as they searched the control room that the Kitsune was conducting their meeting in. All the gadgets and gizmos seemed to be created out of a science fiction novel and not something that truly existed.

However, Miroku did find one familiar scientific object sitting upon the red head's desk and had begun to idly play with it. Newton's gravitational paper weight had made it's mark all they way in this sector of the universe.

The little silver balls were knocked back and forth, back and forth. Miroku's attention was no longer focused on the tactical mission plans for the up coming rebellion. Unfortunately for him, others soon became distracted by his new amusement.

"Moron," Sesshoumaru muttered before swiping his claws across the desk and knocking the paperweight into the far wall and giving the human a disdainful glare with unforgiving golden eyes.

An uncomfortable silence followed as everyone cast Miroku a sympathetic look. The clearing of Kurama's throat broke the silence.

"So, you already had this planned out for several months?" Kurama inquired, half of him interested in the bright young fox youkai, and the other more demonic side annoyed with him for leaving Youko Kurama in the dark.

A guilty smile crossed Shippo's features. "Well, I would have never been able to pull it off without the aid of Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, and yourself, or Youko I should say." He admitted while nervously avoiding the golden eyes that were narrowing dangerously in annoyance.

"This Sesshoumaru grows tired of this time wasting. No doubt my idiotic brother and the problematic human are in the process of destroying that crystal. I would like to wrap up our business. My poison seeks to be released." The great dog demon declared as he crossed his arms and walked towards the wall nearest to Kurama.

He turned to the admiral/fox. "So is there enough Youko in you to pull it off?" Sesshoumaru was confident in the Kitsune's ability of stealth, however he was now half human, sort-of and his abilities were obviously altered.

Emerald eyes turned reflective as golden flecks began to shimmer in them. Kurama had to wonder if he would still be as successful lurking in the shadows unnoticed and undetectable as he had been as a full youkai. But then, Shuuichi Minamino was not one to fail at a mission. He never was anything other than successful and wasn't about to start a backwards trend.

Those emerald eyes met the hard gold ones head on. "With certainty I will fulfill whatever duties are placed in my care." Kurama answered and looked around the room with confident eyes and met many relieved smiles from his companions.

"I never had a doubt," Shippo continued. "Now, if you can slip past Naraku's guards and use the code I gave you it would unlock the tunnels below ground. The troops could slip in through these tunnels and invade."

"The loyalty of Naraku's soldiers is non-existent. The battle will be short," a new voice rejoined from the doorway. The group turned to face a wolf-youkai with thick dark hair tied in a high pony-tail.

"Who are you?" Hiei decided to ask, highly annoyed that no one else had bothered to ask.

A cocky smirk greeted him. "Kouga, one of the best pilots around. But those two I just sent out should be done pretty soon. With their levels of talent I don't see the task lasting longer than fifteen minutes. That was ten minutes ago."

A proud smile graced the lips of Kurama. He hoped that Kagome was the one to actually destroy the crystal. His student would make him proud with that accomplishment.

"I better get moving then, looks like its time for me to open up some tunnels." The agile admiral left the room without looking back, using his vast knowledge of the layout of the emperor's palace to do his part for the rebellion.

Hiei watched his old friend and trusted ally leave with a wary eye. All this seemed like a lot of unnecessary trouble. The level headed Shuuichi Minamino was irrational and this was the result. Who would have thought that the simple retrieval of a student that he was somewhat enamored with would have concluded with being evolved into a revolution, the co-habitation of his body, and the abandoning of his ship and crew with the exception of his first mate?

Sango and Miroku exchanged knowing looks. "You had better assign us our tasks Shippo, looks like we'll be moving out in the next few minutes," Sango told him with a smile as she walked towards Kikyo, who kept trying to creep out of the room.

"I was just thirsty, and thought I'd see if I could get something to drink down the hall," Kikyo replied trying to regain her composure at being caught by the other human woman. She felt extremely guilty about the crystal. If the rebellion failed it would be all her fault.

"I don't know where you're trying to go. But don't even think about it," Kouga told the woman as he grabbed her roughly by the elbow and shoved her further into the room. The woman whimpered slightly at the abuse only to receive a quizzical eyebrow raised by the wolf.

"What's the matter with you woman? It's not like that hurt, I threw you onto a cushioned couch." Kouga rolled his eyes before turning his back on her to move back to standing beside Sesshoumaru. "I believe the people would like to promote Ambassador Sesshoumaru to the rank of world leader."

Shippo nodded his head eagerly. "Yep, that they are and I think we should go and meet them now. Youko, or Kurama rather, mostly likely is about done with his part. The troops will no doubt be gathered."

"Exactly who is gathering the troops?" Sesshoumaru had to ask in spite of himself, he was aggravated that he had to ask such a blasé question.

Laughter ran in the occupants of the room's ears. The humans all looked over at Kouga and Shippo in confusion. Sesshoumaru glared at them with a penetrating golden fire that soon caused the laughs to cease.

"What's so funny?" Hiei asked, before Sesshoumaru could demand the same information. Somehow he sensed that poison would soon flow.

Kouga and Shippo exchanged looks once more before meeting the steady gaze of the great dog-demon. "That would be Jaken sir."

A smirk appeared on Sesshoumaru's lips as he thought about the little stooge that worshipped him. If anyone would try to please the great dog-demon it would probably be that little toad. "If he thinks that my becoming the ruler with his aid will cause me to stop stepping on him, he is mistaken."

Sango walked back over towards Kikyo. It was easy to recognize the emotional turmoil the woman was enduring. The callous attitude of the men were not helping the situation. Kikyo looked like a strong fighter, if properly motivated and encouraged. "Kikyo?"

Saddened brown eyes looked up at her name.

Sango extended her hand to help the woman to her feet. Slowly Kikyo took the offered hand. Sango smiled at her, "I would be honored if you would fight along side me."

Kikyo smiled back weakly, "that means a lot to me." She then straightened herself out to stand at her full height, proud and dignified. "I would love to make up for my past weakness at this time. I am confident in the others. Let us rid the world of that tyrant now."

Everyone in the room held the same attitude. Naraku was facing certain doom now.

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Kagome looked to her left and flashed her wingman the thumbs up signal. He nodded his head and indicated the tunnel that she should lead through. He would cover her if any enemy fire were to find her.

The Planet Youkai didn't appear be too different from Earth at this level of observation. Kagome and Inuyasha had met Kouga on the planet's surface, using some sort of teloportation device and now they were locating the Argonite Crystal.

If the Argonite Crystal was able to induce all this misfortune, just what kind of damage would Naraku be capable of with the Shikon no Tama?

However, time did not permit such musings. The human woman refocused on her mission. The tunnels her wingman indicated were incredibly narrow and would take a great deal of concentration to successfully navigate through.

A crackle over the radio caught the woman's attention. They had decided to travel in silence unless some sort of emergency arose, then they would send out a nonverbal warning. She looked over at Inuyasha briefly and he was seen to be motioning towards something.

Before Kagome could react, two fighter jets in hot pursuit were already firing upon her. Apparently, Inuyasha had already put three out of commission. When had he done that? She didn't have time to deal with these fiends right now. She must destroy that crystal!

A quick evasion to the left and hanging upside down in the narrow tunnel helped her to avoid one blast and another of the jets were brought down by the skills of Inuyasha.

The crystal was now in her line of sight. It was imperative that she focus on taking aim. If the remaining jet shot her down, so be it, but she had to destroy the crystal.

She locked the target and released a missile towards the root of Naraku's power. Whether or not she was successful she couldn't tell because the remaining jet's next blast landed on her ship and decimated her left wing.

She tried to steer the wounded ship into the tunnels towards the left, since that was the only way she could turn. The side tunnels were much larger than the main one the crystal was located within.

Inuyasha took aim once more and destroyed that trouble-making jet, while cursing to himself for being too slow to prevent Kagome's hit. He watched as her ship crashed into the ground and created a large crater. The outer hull was beginning to be licked with flames.

If he didn't hurry, Kagome would be burned alive!

He set his ship on auto-pilot, thankful that he had such advanced technology in his hands. The ship was programmed to hover above the wreckage as he hopped down and landed upon the cockpit. He extended his claws and slashed through the glass cage. Next Inuyasha ripped up the safety belt and pulled out the unconscious human.

Then he leapt back into the air, landing on his ship. Finally, he got within the cockpit and sat the woman on his lap, much like the position he had her in the last time he saved her. Her head rested against his shoulder and she seemed to turn her face slightly to bury it within his chest. Ignoring all this, and with a fully alert mind, he snapped off the auto-pilot and high-tailed it out of the tunnel systems.

Fire and debris trailed close behind as the Argonite Crystal blew up as the missile detonated and then a giant fireball was created as the shock wave included the wreckage of Kagome's ship and the fallen fighter jets.

He looked down for a brief moment to release a sigh of relief. They did their part and the crystal was no more. Kagome seemed to be breathing normally. He programmed the ship to fly itself once more and wrapped his arms tightly around the torso of his cargo. His chin fell onto her shoulder and he closed his eyes, "looks like we did it."

"Mmmmm, Inuyasha, is that you?" Kagome's voice weakly inquired as bleary eyes tried to focus on his golden ones.

"The one and only," Inuyasha declared with a hint of his arrogance back.

"Silly me, I should have known it was you. It's pretty crowded in this cockpit between you, me, and your ego." Kagome teased half-heartedly.

Shrugging, Inuyasha replied, "you know me. Never leave home without your ego."

Snuggling back against his shoulder, "thank you Inuyasha, for saving me again."

"Keh, someone has to keep an eye on your wreckless humans." Inuyasha jeered back at her. The fortress was coming into sight as his ship flew them towards the destination he informed it to reach. The effects of the demolished crystal were obviously not the only events to have transpired.

It looked like someone had opened up the tunnels.

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"My emperor, it is imperative that we evacuate." Kanna, the white haired child-like youkai informed her lord and master. She held her enchanted mirror close to heart. The enchanted mirror that allowed her to see the happens of the outside world.

Naraku raised a perfectly sculpted ebon eyebrow. "Oh? And why do you say that?"

"The crystal is lost." Kanna replied in an emotionless tone.

The emperor relaxed upon his throne and shrugged a shoulder at the answer. "The Shikon no Tama is more powerful. My servants should have that Earthling here any moment now."

"Bankotsu and the others are dead my lord."

Sitting abruptly straighter in his throne, crimson eyes narrowed sharply. "Dead? And the crystal is lost? You know something else. Show me what is in your mirror." Naraku demanded with his hostility evident.

Slowly the childlike demon walked towards her master and turned the reflective side of her mirror towards him. The emperor peered closely at the image and frowned. "I do not recognize this human and yet he seems too familiar."

"Reveal the identity of this man," Kanna commanded the mirror. Soon the image of Admiral Minamino was overlaid with the image of Youko Kurama.

An angry hiss escaped Naraku, "We have been betrayed. No doubt and he will unlock the tunnels now that the crystal has been destroyed it will be easy to by-pass all security measures."

"There is more my lord," Kanna informed him with a tinge of sadness evident in her listless eyes. "Mirror, show those who seek entrance within."

Naraku's fingers clenched tightly upon the arm rest of his throne as he saw a large army led by that annoyed toad-like being. But, what worried him most was seeing a small group of elite individuals led by none other than Sesshoumaru. It would figure that Shippo and Kouga were behind this.

Never should he have trusted those two, or Youko Kurama. He knew that Inuyasha would betray him whenever the opportunity should arise. The next time he took over a planet he would have to be more selective in picking out his minions.

"I believe you are correct. It is time to leave this forsaken wasteland. But, let us leave Ambassador Sesshoumaru and his little entourage a parting gift, shall we?" Naraku's wicked grin was back in place. Although his empire was crumbling under his feet, he already had his next suitable move planned out.

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~Naraku: Why can't I ever get to keep the power!

~Belle: Because bad-guys aren't allowed to win?

~Naraku: That is too cliché, even for you Belle.

~Belle: Whatever you big baby.

~Inuyasha: The next chapter will be the conclusion, prepare for the unexpected, because Belle is NOT cliché monkey boy.

~Naraku: What did you call me?

~Inuyasha: Kiss my sword.