Chapter 12
 

A harsh scream echoed through the room, and the light flared brightly red for a moment…

And suddenly Tasuki was in full control of himself once more, the pain still there, but not affecting him. His symbol blazed as he felt himself being filled with the god's power, and he growled and raised his tessen.

"You BITCH," he snarled, as she took a startled step backwards. "We know what's going on here now, and we AIN'T gonna let ya get away with it anymore! What did Itami promise ya, huh? Power? Wealth? Pleasure? I bet ya got a real kick out of torturin' us, and knowin' ya'd never get caught, didn't ya, ya sicko." He stepped forward, and she retreated once again. "Well, yer pet demonling overstepped his bounds when he took Chichiri. Suzaku ain't happy… and more importantly, I'M FUCKIN' PISSED!"

His flame sparked to life, and she screamed once, burying her face in her hands. Then suddenly, she began to laugh, a horrible, terrible sound.

When she looked up, her eyes were full of darkness… no pupil, no iris, no white, just stark, empty black. Her voice, when she spoke, was impossibly deep and booming. "You seek to overcome me? Your god's power is NOTHING compared to mine! If you will not serve me, then you will DIE!"

A bolt of pure power shot towards them, the air crackling and burning around it. Tasuki flung his tessen up. "LEKKA SHINEN!" he screamed, and his flame raced to meet the bolt. There was a shower of blinding sparks as the two forces met and destroyed each other.

"Hakujin Raiho!" Soi cried, her arm upstretched. Electricity danced along her fingertips, then slashed forward to strike the secretary. She shrieked, her body convulsing, then collapsed to the floor. The smell of burnt flesh wafted through the room.

"Is the bitch dead?" Kouji asked.

"She was only a human, momentarily possessed by the demon," Tomo murmured, moving to check her pulse. He looked up and shook his head. "Her body could not handle the strain of the lightning."

"Good," Tasuki growled. "She was getting' off on the pain Itami was causin', ya could see it in her eyes. Fucker." He spat to one side, then turned to the door, burning determination in his eyes. "C'mon. Let's get Chichiri and blow this joint."

He skidded to an abrupt halt in the hallway, staring wide-eyed at the mass of students blocking the stairs. They stared silently back at him, every one of them with that echoing, empty blackness in their eyes. "Aw, SHIT!"

"We can't kill them!" Kouji cried. "They're just being controlled!"

"And we'll all go to jail fer mass murder, if we kill 'em all. Fuck!" He flattened his tessen and charged, swinging wildly. Kouji and the Seiryuu Seishi followed closely behind him, wading through the mass of students.

They were being controlled, and so they had no will of their own. They could do nothing unless they were specifically told to - which meant that even though many of them were normally better fighters than Tasuki or Kouji, they went down easily before the enraged teens. "Get out'a my fuckin' WAY!" Tasuki hollered, plowing through the last of them to reach the stairs.

There were more students there, crowding the steps to try to reach the four fighters. Tasuki panted, hearing his breath come in short, sharp gasps, and the others didn't sound any better. They were being worn down, slowly… but with nearly two hundred people to plow through, all of whom were out to kill them, and who they didn't want to hurt…

"LEKKA SHINEN!" he flamed the floor at their feet, the blast of hot air not enough to cause severe burns, but enough to sweep many of them off their feet.

Kouji took advantage of the momentary clearing to jump onto the railing, then over it to the level below, bypassing the majority the students. The others quickly followed his example, Tomo nearly breaking his own neck as he tripped on the trailing hem of his kimono, and fought their way through the last few to emerge triumphantly on the first floor. "Go, go, go!" Tasuki shouted, waving the others through the door ahead of him. As they all passed through, he turned and aimed his tessen carefully. "Lekka shinen!" His flame shot out, and welded the doors shut. The mass of students pressed against it, pounding uselessly, but they were trapped in the staircase.

"Good thinkin', buddy!" Kouji slapped him on the back. "C'mon, let's go!"

"Wait!" Tomo bolted for one of the doors in the hallway, fumbling at his sleeve. "Now I know why I've always had that obsession with clams," he muttered, unlocking the door with the key he produced from a hidden pocket. "And dammit, I can't FIGHT in this!"

He stripped his kimono hastily, tearing open a drawer and pulling out a pair of jeans and a pull-over sweater. Yanking them on, he grabbed a small, perfectly formed shell from a shelf on his room. "Okay, NOW I'm ready. Let's go!"

Tasuki shook his head, momentarily amused at the sight of the two most vain of the Seiryuu Seishi, dressed in jeans and baggy sweaters, no make-up, no fancy hairstyles, no nothing. Then the pain pulsed, as if to remind him of the urgency, and his levity vanished.

They tore around the corner, smashing through the door to the principal's office without even bothering to stop to see if it was locked or not. The hidden door was visible, but closed, the sigil etched into the wood burning with a dark flame. And standing before it were Min, Kenji, and Naisu, their eyes empty and black.

Tasuki growled and brandished his tessen, and Naisu pulled out a knife in return. Now that Itami was controlling only three people, instead of hundreds, he apparently had a finer control on their actions.

With a scream, Naisu rushed them, slashing viciously with her knife. Tasuki knew from stories she'd told him that she had been a feared and respected knife-fighter in one of the slummier parts of Tokyo, before being sent to this school. Her actions bore out her stories, as she moved with smooth and expert grace. Tasuki parried desperately with his tessen, the metal ringing as it connected with the long blade of the knife.

Kenji had pulled a long, heavy-looking pipe from somewhere, and Kouji and Tomo were dodging, with nothing to block with. Soi was trapped behind the three men, unable to reach any of their opponents, but that didn't stop her for long… Tasuki smelled burnt ozone beginning to gather.

"Don't hurt them!" He screamed at her, ducking a thrust from Naisu and countering. The older girl skipped adroitly out of the way. "Soi, don't blast them! Goddamit, they're our FRIENDS!"

"What would you have me do, ahou?" she cried back, frustrated, but made no further move to summon her lightning.

Suddenly Min, who had been standing passively by the door, threw back his head and began screaming. Every movable object in the room picked itself up and flung itself straight at the fighters, heedless of whether it struck friend or foe.

"What the FUCK?" Kouji ducked a flying vase, only to have it strike Tomo squarely in the back. The Seiryuu staggered forward, off-balance, then reeled backwards at a blow from Kenji. Kouji propped him up, then swung futiley at his opponent. Meanwhile, the desk was now inching forward, in preparation to smashing them all against the wall.

"He must be a telekinetic!" Soi shouted over the sound of breaking objects. "Probably repressed, and Itami unlocked it!" The heavy wooden desk suddenly flew forward. Tasuki dove into a tumbling roll, making it out of the way just in time. Naisu was pinned against the far wall with a sickening 'crack'.

"This is getting us nowhere!" Tomo cried, and backed off. "Kouji, cover me!" The blue-haired teen complied, with Tasuki sliding in from one side to help.

Tomo flicked the clam shell open with one long nail, letting it rest in his palm as he concentrated. Blue light flashed, and suddenly ropes and coils of strong wire filled the room, wrapping Min and Kenji in their strong grip. However hard the two boys struggled, they could not free themselves from the illusory bindings. Min screamed again, and the windows shattered, showering them all with sharp glass.

"Ah! Fuck!" Tasuki ducked into the shelter of the desk, but the others weren't so lucky. He heard Soi's sharp cry, and a strangled gurgle from Tomo.

He peeked around the corner, to see Tomo collapsed on the floor, bleeding heavily, a large shard of glass buried in his shoulder. Soi bent over him in concern, badly scratched but otherwise unhurt, and Kouji gritted his teeth as he pulled a smaller shard from his own leg. Kouji and Min were completely encased in the coils of wire, their blank eyes staring vacantly into the distance.

"Leave me here…" the golden-eyed teen gasped, his gaze focused on Tasuki. "I have enough strength to hold them, but not much more. I've trapped Min's mind, now, he thinks he's still pelting us, but in actuality, there's nothing left for him to throw."

Tasuki nodded, once, clasping Tomo's unwounded shoulder in a strong grip. "Ya've done yer part. Leave the rest up ta us. Kouji? You okay to keep goin'?"

Kouji grinned at him, obviously in pain, but just as obviously not willing to give in to it. "It'll take more than a scratch like this ta stop me, Gen-chan." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the door, which was now outlined in glowing black. "How do we get through THAT?"

Tasuki growled and shook his head. "I dunno. Chiri didn't' know how to break it either. I… AH!" He gasped and went to one knee as a new wave of pain overswept him. They ALL heard the scream, the terrible sound of a soul tortured beyond bearing, that came from behind the door. "CHICHIRI!"

"Allow me," Soi stepped forward, power arcing between her fingertips once more. Outside the shattered windows, the sky, already stormy, began to boil. Thunder rumbled ominously, and the clouds were repeatedly lit from within by lightning. "HAKUJIN RAIHO!"

Electricity crackled, and slammed into the wooden door. When their eyes cleared, Tasuki was stunned to see it still standing, without a scratch.

"What?" Soi gasped. "Impossible! It's just wood! How could it stand up to a blast like that?"

"Chichiri said it was 'warded'," Tasuki answered. "I guess that means it's protected. Well, if lightning doesn't work, let's see how well it burns." With a fanged grin, his wild gaze not entirely sane as the pain clawed at him from deep within, he aimed his tessen. "LEKKA SHINEN!"

With a roar, the fire sped forth at his calling, swirling around the door. The pentagram on the door flared once, then the fire was abruptly tossed back in their faces. With a muffled curse, Tasuki let the flame dissipate before it could burn his allies. "Well, shit! Now what?" He grimaced as another flash of pain washed over him. The waves were getting weaker now, but that only worried him… it meant that Chichiri's chi was getting weaker, as well.

"Maybe if ya both hit it at the same time?" Kouji suggested, eyeing the darkly pulsing symbol with faint disgust.

Tasuki shrugged. "It's worth a try. Soi?"

"Ready when you are." She lifted a hand, determination glowing on her features.

"Let's do it!" Tasuki swept his tessen forward. "LEKKA SHINEN!"

"HAKUJIN RAIHO!" Soi cried at the same moment, and fire and lightning smashed into the pentagram.

There was a shriek from the door, and for a moment, it looked like their combined efforts were too much for the ward. Then the energy was suddenly flung outwards once more, engulfing Soi, who was marginally closer.

The woman screamed as the flames and electricity ate at her flesh, trying to consume her whole. Cursing, Tasuki began to call off his flame.

"DON'T STOP!" Soi commanded, gritting the words out between clenched teeth. "WE MUST GET THROUGH!"

Startled, Tasuki obeyed, doubling the intensity of his attack. Soi screamed again in agony, but so did the ward. "I WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!" She shrieked, and he felt a foreign power - Sieryuu's power - blast through her.

"HAKUROEN!" he shouted, calling on the strongest attack he had learned. His flame burst forth with renewed vigour, and with a final tortured moan, the door gave way.

"SOI!" Tomo shouted as the woman collapsed to the floor. Badly burnt, her beautiful purple hair singed to an inch's length, she moaned weakly.

Her eyes fluttered open. "Tomo?" she croaked. "Seiryuu-sama, it HURTS."

Tasuki knelt beside her, careful not to touch her, but holding her eyes with his. "You did it, Soi. The door is open. Thank you."

She smiled faintly. "I'm glad. Go save your lover, Tasuki. I will live. I just… need to rest." So saying, her eyes slid shut once more.

"SOI!" Tomo cried again, but Tasuki shook his head.

"She's okay," he muttered, even as a softly glowing blue light surrounded her. "Seiryuu's gonna take care of her, I think. Watch her - we're going on ahead."

"Hai," Tomo managed to haul himself over to her side, where he placed a gentle hand on her already-healing shoulder. Tasuki turned away, leaving the two Seiryuu to take care of themselves, and found Kouji already waiting impatiently just before the blasted door.

"What're ya waitin' for, Genrou? Let's go kick this bastard's ass!" The two best friends bolted through the dark tunnel that the door had hidden.

The tunnel seemed to go on forever, endlessly twisting and turning, and yet Genrou was aware they hadn't taken more than a hundred running steps before they burst into a large, apparently-natural cave. That was impossible, of course… The school was surrounded by flat, open ground. This place must exist in some alternate dimension.

The entire, monstrous cavern was lit by sickly green phosphorescent plants which clung to the walls. A raised dias was at the far end, a massive throne carved from a single block of blackest obsidian rested on it. On the throne sat a man who reminded Tasuki disturbingly of Nakago - the same long, pale golden hair, piercing, cruel blue eyes, and impossibly broad, muscled build. Before the throne was an altar, also carved of obsidian, with bloodgrooves etched into it. Those grooves were filled, the sticky, viscous red substance draining into a bottle which sat at the place where the grooves all ended. On the alter, supplying that sluggish red flow, was Chichiri - stripped, tortured, and worst of all, still conscious, but obviously unable to move.

"Welcome," Itami spoke, and the two teens screamed to hear his voice. It was full of terrible pain and pleasure, ringing in their ears and thrilling along their nerves in a most disconcerting manner. "I never thought you would make it this far. But since you have, please, enjoy your final moments of life. You are watching history being made - with the death of a mage this powerful, a great deal of energy will be released. Enough to free me from my physical binding, and release me into this world as a true god." He began to laugh, and Tasuki fell to his knees, clutching at his head in a futile effort to block the horrible sound.

"I won't let you!" he screamed in return. "I won't let you hurt him! LEKKA SHINEN!" The flame spent itself uselessly on the demon's shield, the edges of it licking over Chichiri's body. Tasuki screamed again at the wave of pain that echoed over the bond between Seishi.

"Won't you? Your pitiful flame is useless against me. Your allies are no better. You cannot possibly reach me, before I can kill him." With a negligent wave, dark lightning crackled over Chichiri's body. Chichiri screamed this time, his back arching off the slab of mirror-finished rock, his voice hoarse from past screams. Tasuki fought back the pain, forcing himself to concentrate through it.

"I… will… not… give… up!" He staggered back to his feet, brandishing the tessen in both hands, the metal fan wavering back and forth with the shaking in his tortured limbs.

"Will you not, then?" Itami arched on eyebrow, seemingly amused. "You amuse me, mortal. And you create endless possibilities for my feeding. Very well, then - a choice. Your lover… or your best friend?"

"Huh?" Tasuki replied intelligently, then staggered forward at a blow from behind. "What the fuck?" He whirled around just in time to duck another kick from Kouji, rolling out of the way. "Kouji! What're you DOIN'?"

Kouji said nothing, only aiming another flurry of kicks and punches his way. Tasuki dodged wildly, blocking with the flat of his tessen only. "Kouji…" His stomach sank as he saw the blank darkness in his friend's eyes.

Itami laughed again, the sound roiling Tasuki's stomach. "All those who have been punished in this room, are mine to control," he chuckled, watching Tasuki try to keep from hurting his friend. "You will not be able to defeat him, without killing him. You have no illusionist to trap him, this time."

Tasuki snarled as he realized he'd been backed up against the cave's wall. "Son of a BITCH!" He fought back, kicking and punching in return. He'd always been a better fighter then Kouji - but only barely. And he was pulling his punches, trying not to hurt his friend too badly, while Kouji was obviously out for his blood.

He ducked a punch and managed to land a kick that sent Kouji flying backwards, giving him some space. Scrambling out of the corner he'd trapped himself in, he was nearly caught by a wild kick. Blocking with his tessen, he cursed as blood sprayed - he'd used the sharp edge without thinking.

Kouji limped backwards, regrouping… then charged in again, the demon-control freeing him from feeling any pain. Tasuki found himself pushed up against the wall once more, unable to retaliate without injuring him further. :I don't want to hurt him…:

The air whooshed out of his lungs as Kouji landed a gut punch, and his vision greyed. He heard Chichiri scream once more, and felt the vibration in his soul that meant a Suzaku Shichiseishi was nearing the end of his life. "GODDAMMIT!"

Kouji swung for his temple, his demon-born strength more than enough to crush his friend's skull, and Tasuki knew his decision was already made. :Kouji… buddy, forgive me… but I can't live without him.: "LEKKA SHINEN!"

Tears streaked his face as Kouji screamed, writhing within the flames. He took a step forward, then another, and another, as Kouji backed away. The smell of burnt flesh invaded his nostrils, and for a moment he feared he would lose control and be sick, but he held on.

Finally, finally, Kouji collapsed, and Tasuki dropped the tessen with a sob, falling to his knees beside his friend. "Kouji… Kouji… gods, forgive me, buddy! I had no choice!"

Kouji slitted his eyes open, and Tasuki cried harder to see the sense within them. Itami had released his friend, leaving him to die in pain, knowing it was at the hands of his best friend. For the first time, he began to truly understand the pain of Chichiri's past.

"Gen-chan… iie, Tasuki…" he croaked, reaching one charred hand out to cover Tasuki's own. "I forgive ya, buddy… for everything. Blast the bastard back ta hell, Tasuki. For me." His eyes slid closed once more.

Tasuki threw back his head and howled in anguish, as Itami laughed from his throne. "How very delicious! You feed me so very well, my flame-hearted one. Are you certain you will not join me? What a pair we would make!" He laughed again, reveling in the pain and suffering he had wrought. "Such a pity my lord Tenkou could not be here… he would find the pain of your heart a delightful ambrosia, I'm sure!"

"You goddamn son of a bitch!" Tasuki swore, grabbing for his tessen and scrambling to his feet once more. "You mother-fucking BASTARD! I'm gonna strangle you with your own goddamn fucking BALLS!"

Itami smirked at him, infuriating him further. On the altar, Chichiri panted, eyes closed in pain, his body wracked with constant shudders. Eyes ablaze, Tasuki stalked forward.

"You would join him in death? How very romantic. Chasing each other's souls through the universes, finding one another once more, only to die together in a burst of glorious agony. Come forward, then, and feed me!"

Tasuki snarled, and charged. And with every step he took, he felt new power rushing through him.

:Min. Kenji. Naisu.: They appeared before him as if in a vision, hands outstretched, lending him their strength. Itami's eyes widened, shocked.

:Kouji.: He could feel his best friend's spirit, flooding him with impossible power. Itami's hands moved frantically, summoning more sheilds to protect himself and his intended sacrifice.

:Tomo. Soi.: Impossibly, ignoring all the laws that govered the Seishi and their gods, he felt two new symbols spring to life on his body, pulsing with the power of the Blue Dragon. The demon lord screamed a denial, summoning his magic as Tasuki burst through the first of his shields.

:Suzaku.: With an echoing shriek, he felt as if huge wings wrapped around him, shrouding him from the mage-bolts a now-frantic Itami threw at him. The power of the Phoenix enveloped him.

"CHICHIRI!" Crashing through the last of the barriers with an audible snap, Tasuki thrust his tessen forward, and felt more than heard the shattering of the bottle at Chichiri's feet. "LEKKA SHINEN!"

Itami screamed in mortal agony as he staggered back, his body wreathed in flames. "IMPOSSIBLE!" he cried. "I cannot be beaten by the likes of you!"

"Burn, fucker," Tasuki answered, slumping wearily to the ground as he felt all that massive energy drain from him. "You're toast."

The demonling gave one last, shrieking cry, as his body literally vaporized into ash. Tasuki paused, waiting for the cave to start collapsing, but for once, luck seemed to be with him. The room showed no signs of deterioration with the demon's death, nor did the exit look like it was going to vanish on them. With a groan, he staggered to Chichiri's side.

His soul mate blinked at him, as if coming out from a daze. "Tasuki? What… what happened?"

Tasuki clasped the wounded Seishi to him in a loving embrace. "He's dead. He's dead, and we made it, Chiri. We're together again, and NOTHING is gonna come between us!"

A gentle touch on the back of his neck reassured him. "Hai. Together forever, koi. Itsumo. Zutto. Ai shiteru."
 
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