Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ The Anime Margin: 108 Stars of Destiny ❯ Invasion of the Abh Story, part 2: Feuding in Japan ( Chapter 15 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer:
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises.

Special Thanks to:
Charles Xavier, Fanfiction.net author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Suikosource website: for providing great information that made this fic possible.

The Anime Margin: 108 Stars of Destiny
By: RB3

Invasion of the Abh Story, part 2: Feuding in Japan

As Valiance moved to defend anime worlds from enemy attack, the enemy continued its conquest of other anime worlds. Above one of the many versions of Earth in the anime worlds, six ships hovered in the space around the planet. These ships were of Abh design, yet were not trying to attack the planet. That was because they had all but conquered the world below already. The ships wait at strategic points around the planet, preventing anyone from landing or escaping the planet. In particular, one of these vessels hovered in orbit above the city of Tokyo, Japan.

On the streets below, violence was the order of the day. The streets were covered in blood and the bodies of the dead, both human and not. A tank laid abandoned on the street, its engine burning with black smoke billowing into the sky and the corpse of a soldier lying on the front. The people of the city had long since abandoned their homes for fear of the monsters wandering the area. Throughout Tokyo, strange creatures from an unspeakable, hellish existence roamed the streets with impunity. They included the very same birds that stole the Destiny Stones from the Digital Nations. There were oni and even some humanoid demons armed with feudal Japanese weaponry.

Suddenly, the space in orbit above Demonic Japan warped and swirled! This link between worlds opened to allow the Crimson Egg, the Kusanagi, and an Abh ship known as the Basroil to breach Demonic Earth's airspace. The space forces of Valiance immediately began an attack on the hostile Abh cruisers. The Kusanagi opened its mobile suit hangar, which launched half a dozen humanoid robots into the fray. They were the Kusanagi's mobile suit complement, consisting of the Aegis, the Strike Rouge, and four M1 Astrays. The Crimson Egg launched dozens of robotic drones of its own as its counterpart to the mobile suits.

"All mobile suit squadrons; focus your fire on the Bonfire," ordered the Kusanagi's helmsman, Ledonir Kisaka.

"Yes sir!" replied Athrun.

"Drone squadron, you target is the Instigator, concentrate all fire on it," ordered Dr. Eggman.

Beams of energy zipped back and forth as ship fired at ship relentlessly. The Basroil drifted into firing range of its counterpart, the Occupier. Nuclear missiles swooshed out of its tubes, striking the Occupier with explosive force. The brief, fiery explosion revealed a barrier of blue energy momentarily as the blast ripped through and damaged the Occupier's port side. The power of the blast shook the ship to its very core, throwing commuting crewmen into the walls of its hallways. Suited work crews desperately scrambled to hose down fires caused by overloaded circuitry. The Basroil crew pressed its advantage, flying straight beside the Occupier and with guns blazing.

The Aegis shifted into its mobile armour mode, a pseudo-fighter form with claws that flowered open around the barrel of a great energy cannon. Athrun fired a massive beam of energy at the Bonfire, which revealed a previously invisible blue barrier. The beam traced a path along the ship's starboard side, blowing one of the ship's cannons tracing a path of destruction along its starboard side before Athrun pulled away. Even thought the Bonfire returned fire, it was unable to hit such a fast, manoeuvrable target like the Aegis. The Strike Rouge moved into position and fired a beam, scoring a first hit which shorted circuited and triggered a fire in the engine room. The second hit destroyed what was left of the engine and the ship by triggering a massive, annihilating explosion which ripped the Bonfire into pieces.

Valiance's attack was swift and merciless. The Basroil, locked in mortal combat with the Occupier, backed away to create space between them. As the coup de grace, the Basroil launched a second nuclear missile. The missile tore its way through the Occupier's bridge and exploded, incinerating the crew inside. The primary explosion rent the Occupier in half as smaller secondary explosions devastated what remained untouched. The Occupier's remains scattered into the farthest reaches of space. One by one, its allies fell until none remained. The ships of Valiance had won and secured the area for another portal to open.

From this portal came a horde of bullet-like drop ships ready to land on the planet. Like meteors, the ships descended through Demonic Earth's atmosphere, touching down on the surface of the planet near the Higurashi Shinto temple in Tokyo City. Dozens of soldiers stormed out of the drop ships with Piccolo, Lina, Naga, Gourry, and Zelgadiss leading the charge. Their arrival did not go unnoticed by the demons. An oni made a beeline for Piccolo, who dodged its club and felled it with a powerful flying kick to an unprotected left side. He fired a blast of ki at a horde of demons charging in, annihilating the entire in group a single, devastating explosion.

"Charge!" cried Gourry.

Dozens of screaming, enraged men rushed at the demons without fear in their hearts. Lina fired a Fireball spell into the rear ranks of the enemy, killing countless demons in a mighty display of magical power. Naga cast the Freeze Rain spell over the heads of the enemy, bringing a sphere of solid ice into existence. The sphere began to fire icicles randomly and endlessly into the enemy ranks. Upon contact, each icicle froze the victim to such an extent that they became dangerously brittle. Upon blowing on the icy statues, Naga shattered each of them into pieces. With a Flare Arrow, Naga destroyed her sphere, ensuring no one else would be harmed by it.

Gourry slashed at demon resembling a centipede with a dragon's head grafted onto it. His first strike severed multiple legs, sending a paroxysm of pain through the demon's body. The demon reared back and snapped at him, but Gourry was a step ahead. He slashed at the beast's head, taking out its left eye and causing to let a blood curdling scream. The beast spewed a torrent of flame but Gourry was quick enough to roll out of the way. He manoeuvred to the creature's rear and leapt onto its back. The creature desperately thrashed about to throw him off, but Gourry held fast and slashed into the monster's flesh until it dropped dead.

The demonic hordes of the shrine dwindled with the fall of each of their members. Explosions and thunder sounded until the very last creature was obliterated, a victim of the terrifying power of magical destruction. Valiance soldiers gained inch after inch until they were able to force their way into the shrine, where they discovered the source of the demons. This source seemed to be a mere wooden well, but every few seconds, a flash of pink light would be emitted from it. After the flash, a demon would emerge from it and attack Valiance's forces. Apparently, this well was a portal of some kind to the world from which the demons hailed. Valiance's mission was to enter this world and cut off the flow of demonic invaders permanently.

"Lina, we'll cover you. Just be careful where you point that thing," warned Zelgadiss.

"Okay, okay, sheesh... With that attitude, it's like you're expecting me to blow all of us up," said Lina.

Zelgadiss grimaced at Lina. "That's exactly what I'm afraid of."

Lina concentrated as summoned great amounts of magical power. "Darkness from twilight, crimson from blood that flows. Buried in the flow of time, in thy great name I pledge myself to darkness! Let the fools who stand before us be destroyed by the power we possess! DRAGON SLAVE!"

Upon utterance of her spell, Lina cupped her hands downward and unleashed a massive beam of crimson energy into the well. The energy, a projection of the unholy will of the demon Ruby Eye Shabranigdo, travelled into the rift through time and space. The energy shot out of the on the other side, shocking the demons amassed in a camp around the well. It exploded in blinding light visible for miles, consuming all in its wake with apocalyptic destruction. Though time and space echoed the horrified voices of hundreds of demons screaming in unison and an abrupt silence. All that remained of the well's other side was a smouldering, lifeless crater.

---

From a distant hill, a group of local residents noticed the bright flash of light. "What was that?" asked the young monk of the group.

"I don't know, it looked like it came from the well," said a teenaged girl in a school uniform.

The swordsman in red robes, a half dog, half human demon detected an unusual scent. "It smells like charred grass and burnt demon flesh."

On the other side of the well, the aftermath of the Dragon Slave could be seen and felt for miles around. No longer was the area around the Feudal Era well a nest of corruption and darkness. Now, the area around the Higurashi well was completely devoid of life. Only a barren, rocky wasteland remained. The ground had been charred black and still smouldered. A great mushroom-shaped cloud dissipated into the sky, signalling the site of the apocalyptic nightmare. When they got to the location, their nekomata member growled as an indication. The locals came across this desolate wasteland of blackened soil. Strewn around the area were piles of ash from dead demons burnt by whatever had devastating the land.

"What happened here?" asked the girl in a kimono, who was mounted on the nekomata.

"Hide! Something's coming through the well!" cried the cute little kitsune.

"Ow, okay I'm going, I'm going," complained Lina as she climbed out of the hole.

"Well, we don't have to worry about those demons anymore, not after a Dragon Slave like that," said Zelgadiss as he dusted himself off.

More and more men, women, and even children emerged from the hole. Four of them, Kakashi and his ninja squad, dashed away from the forming camp and jumped into the treetops with the agility of a cat. "Four of them just left the camp!" observed the kitsune, Shippo.

"We'd better get out of here before they see us," suggested the monk, Miroku. "We can't fight that many people all at once."

The group ran away from the camp, making sure they were not detected in any way, shape, or form. "They came from your world Kagome, do you know those people?" asked the swordsman, Inuyasha.

"No, I've never seen anyone like them before," replied Kagome, the school girl.

"There's been a lot of strange people coming and going through this region lately," said the girl in a kimono, Sango. "Could they be with them?"

"I don't think so. They don't look like the others," observed the monk, Miroku.

"Whoever they are, I don't like the looks of them," admitted Shippo, the young kitsune boy.

"I agree, Shippo. If they had the power to demolish the well and the surrounding land like that, we'd better be careful about how we approach them," warned Miroku.

"Maybe you're afraid of them but I'm not," declared Inuyasha. "I'm going to march right up there and..."

"Sit boy!" said Kagome, interrupting Inuyasha's speech. Inuyasha's necklace pulled his head down with such force that it slammed it into the ground.

"Smart move, now let's get out of here," said Miroku.

The team returned to the nearest village to rest and decide their next move. The village consisted of homes constructed from wood chopped from local trees. They were fairly crudely constructed and matched the architecture of a feudal time period. Fires burned within the neighbourhood busy smithy's forge and smoke billowed into the sky. In flooded fields just north of the town, farmers gathered their crop of rice and loaded it into nearby wagons pulled by beasts of burden. The people were relatively poor but seemed fairly content.

From one of the houses emerged an elderly woman in Shinto priestess garb to greet Inuyasha's group. She had lost an eye through some unknown incident and had it covered by an eye patch. "Welcome," greeted this priestess, Kaede. "What did ye see?"

"Hello Kaede," said Kagome. "The demons around the well are gone. A big explosion wiped out all of them out. A few minutes later, some people crawled through and took over the area. We didn't stay there long. We didn't want to risk confronting them."

"You're one to talk. If you didn't stop me I'd have gotten all the answers we're looking for!" growled Inuyasha.

"I see child," remarked Kaede. "Aye, they seem very powerful indeed. A confrontation with them is ill advised given that we know so little about them. I think you should forget these newcomers for now and return to investigating the demon attacks. I heard that there had recently been one on the village to the north. Lord Morikage's men repelled them, so thou may wish to speak with them for clues."

The gang travelled north to the village as Kaede suggested. They found another village similar to Kaede's, but this one farmed vegetables instead of rice. Several armed soldiers stood guard around a great bonfire burning in the edges of town. One by one, the village's men tossed the cut up demon corpses into the flames. Such a rite ensured that no resurrection or necromantic usage of the body would be possible. The other villagers were overjoyed to see hated demons burning and cheered on the spectacle with a boisterousness rarely seen amongst farmers.

All of a sudden, a terrifying growl resounded through the air. The soldiers overseeing the bonfire rushed from their posts and grabbed whatever weapon they could from a nearby rack. The men formed a line in front of a large oni, with pikes outstretched to halt its advance. The creature reared back as archers fired dozens of arrows into it which only bounce off its armour-like skin. The pike men lunged with their pikes which forced the oni to rear back in defence. In a fit of rage, the demon smashed his massive club into the men, shattering several pikes and fatally flattening three men in the process.

At that point, Inuyasha's team had decided to intervene. Sango make the first strike, throwing the Hiraikotsu, a gigantic boomerang made from demon bones. Caught off guard, the demon had been decapitated in a single slice. The group watched as other men rushed to halt the advance of other assorted demons approaching the village. These demons were like serpents, only with various heads such as those from a dragon, an ugly human man, and insects. These monsters swarmed a group of swordsmen, who fought valiantly to drive the monsters back.

Inuyasha charged into battle, with his sword Tessaiga drawn. The half-demon swordsman sliced four of the enemy with a single stroke that left pieces strewn on the ground. Drawing her bow, Kagome let an arrow loose which glowed pink with spiritual power. The arrow pierced through two of the demons like a laser beam. Shippo threw ghostly blue flames into the enemy while Miroku smashed them with his golden staff. It was not long before Inuyasha's group killed all of the attacking demons. When it was all over, the leader of the men came to thank them.

"You helped us drive the demons away. Thank you very much. I'm Captain Hiro and these are my men. We really appreciate the help."

"You're welcome," said Kagome.

"Captain, we're demon hunters," announced Miroku. "We're investigating the recent demon attacks on the local villages. Do you know anything that can help us?"

"Well, this demon attack was the second one this week. I've also heard that the villages north of here have also suffered demon attacks recently. If you want to know more, I think it would be best to talk to my lord," suggested the captain. "He is Lord Morikage. I'll write him a message about you." The captain took a piece of parchment and wrote the message. "My lord is camped in an abandoned castle near the forest to the north. Good luck in your investigation, monk."

Inuyasha's group travelled to the north, where they found the ruins of a Japanese castle just before a great forest. A sea of tents was pitched around the courtyard where the soldiers stayed between missions. They numbered in the hundreds, each armed with katanas and spears, with a few being full-fledged samurai. These men were not from the local area. In fact, Lord Morikage was a lord from the northern provinces. He had great success expanding his territory and began to invade the southern provinces recently.

At the moment, Japan was undergoing severe political turmoil and instability. Power in the time of the Warring States was decentralized and fell into the hands of regional lords. Hostile demons and bandits wandered the land with impunity, free from wrath of a central authority. It was during this tumultuous time that Inuyasha and his friends searched for the Shikon Jewel. Indeed, it was a very dangerous time and caution was necessary if one wanted to travel abroad. This time was made even more dangerous by bold demon attacks on local villages.

When Inuyasha's gang reached the doors of Morikage's headquarters, a pair of guards stopped them. Miroku showed them the message from Hiro, which prompted the guards to escort them into the presence of Lord Morikage himself. Morikage was a man in his late thirties, but his hair was already beginning to grey. Being his age was akin to old age in such ancient times as the Warring States period where people had a shortened lifespan due to lack of medical advances. The moustachioed man was dressed in a black robe with white garments underneath.

The team bowed before the lord. "Welcome my friends; I hear you've been sent to me by one of my men."

"Yes my lord. We are demon hunters," announced Miroku. "We are investigating the recent increase in demon attacks upon local villages. We encountered your men during our search and helped them fend off the attacks of such demons."

"Indeed, I've received word of your deeds from Captain Hiro. I'm very grateful for what you have done," replied the lord.

"My lord, can you give us any information on the demon attacks?" asked Sango.

"Certainly," replied the lord. "From the reports of my men, who've fought these demons, they seem to be coming from the north. I can't give you anything more specific than that, I'm afraid. If you are going to find the source of these attacks, I would greatly appreciate that. I'll even give a generous bounty if you can stop whoever or whatever is making these demons so aggressive."

"Thank you, my lord," said Miroku.

The gang travelled to the north, through sun lit plains and verdant forests. With the speed of Inuyasha and Kilala, travel was quick and painless. They spotted a village just a few kilometres ahead and travelled there to ask for clues. The village was much like any other Japanese village of the era. The villagers were relatively poor and lived off the land by growing vegetables and raising animals. Like the last village, this village had several squads of Morikage's men occupying it. Kagome entered the village and began to inquire about the demons. Miroku set off to "discover" the village's attractive young women.

"Hi ladies! The weather's nice, isn't it?" The girls chuckled as he proceeded to flirt with them. Miroku turned to another and grabbed her hand. "Would you like to bear my child?"

Sango noticed Kagome returning and revealing her discoveries to Inuyasha and Shippo. Irate at his lecherous behaviour, Sango decked Miroku in the back of the head. "If you don't mind, Kagome just found our next lead."

---

Meanwhile, a similar attack had taken place in another village elsewhere in Japan. Unlike the villages visited by Inuyasha and his companions, this one was populated by demons. They were creatures roughly humanoid in body shape, but had the traits of animals mixed into their genetic makeup. They ranged from almost any type of animal that could be found in a forest from rabbits and raccoons to foxes and bears. The bear men were in the process of removing the bodies of fallen demons and cleaning the area. Many of these demons had been hacked and blown to pieces during battle. Trunks and a crew of Valiance agents surveyed the area with the demonic authorities.

At the scene was the lord of the land, a mysterious young man in the black garb of a Feudal lord. "How's the progress on removing these bodies?"

"We've have cleared about 70% of the demon bodies, Lord Naraku. We are making steady progress," reported a horse-headed work demon.

"Good, give me regular progress reports," ordered Naraku. He turned to Faust. "So, you claim that demons like these ones have attacked your people?"

"Yes, they took part in an attack on a Toon city as well as the theft of a vital artefact from the Digital Nations. Our pursuit let us here."

"I see," replied Naraku. "Your Kakashi and my servants are searching for clues. Perhaps they can shed more light on this mystery. If you don't mind, I must take my leave. I am late for my meeting." Naraku and his retinue walked past Faust and flew into the air as a mass of violet toxic gas.

Out in a forest somewhere north of Naraku's lands, Kakashi and his squad of ninja approached an area where the forest met the plains. The air was sweet with the smell of bamboo and cherry blossoms in bloom. These were lands that were pure, untouched by the encroachment of man-made cities that inevitably came with the rise of science and technology. The ninja spotted a cave at the mountain ahead while scanning through a crude telescope. The entrance of the cave was flanked by a pair of rather large guard onis; bearded, horned, red-skinned creatures that carried large wooden clubs. There were signs of motion deeper into the cave, which was lit from within by wall-mounted torches.

A group of human horsemen arrived and dismounted near the entrance of the cave. "That's Lord Morikage!" announced one of the ninja, a gremlin-like creature.

"Lord Morikage? You mean the lord who is invading this area?" asked Sakura.

"Yeah, I'd recognize him anywhere. It's definitely him. What's he doing here?" asked the ninja almost rhetorically.

"He has entered the cave. We need to go in and see what's inside," said Sasuke.

"Indeed," replied Kakashi. "So Sakura, why don't you take this job?"

"Of course, sensei," replied Sakura.

The guards at the entrance panned their gaze around in search of anything that might be out of the ordinary. Outside of his field of vision, one of the demon ninjas snuck up to the guard on the left as quietly as a cat stalking its prey. The ninja raised a blowgun to his mouth and blew a small object into the guard's neck. The demon guard felt a small sting and grabbed his neck as though he had been bitten by an insect. Barely a split second later, the demon collapsed to ground. His buddy went to check on his fallen comrade, only feel the same insect bite him and collapse to the ground.

Sasuke, the second attacker, motioned to Sakura to enter the cave. The two moved into the cave, a natural creation lit only by torches. The cave was dark and cool to the skin, but the darkness was the perfect thing to conceal the ninja. The path forked into an intersection shaped like a "T," where Sakura took the right path. As she travelled deeper, Sakura emerged in a hallway lit by fluorescent lights. The lights were powered by electricity and the cave became much more metallic and symmetrical, a sign of human construction and habitation. Sakura passed through this area without incident until she overheard a pair of conversing guards approaching.

She immediately used a jutsu to make herself appear as though she was the wall. She sighed with relief once the guards passed by without noticing her. She snuck deeper into the caves until she came upon a great room that had been dug out of the earth and stone. It appeared to be a laboratory of some kind with great machines monitored by several workers. On each machine was a glass-covered holder for hatching an egg. The air reeked of fecal matter blowing in from nearby cages carved out of the wall. Several monstrous baby demons gorged themselves on meaty treats, growling and hissing as they devoured their meal.

Sakura snuck into a neighbouring hallway where she came upon what appeared to be the living quarters of the cave. This place was much more decorated than the rest of the enemy hideout. It had potted plants and paintings lined up on the side of the walls. There were rows of doors, each leading to either an enemy's quarters or the facilities they would use. A pair of individuals, one male, the other female, were conversing around the corner unaware of Sakura's presence. Sakura used a jutsu to take on the appearance of a rat and snuck onto a potted plant to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Some demon hunters are snooping around. It won't be long before they find this cave. If they discover my involvement, they'll be coming after me next!" said the male voice.

"Don't worry about it. We have everything under control," assured the woman. "They can find this cave if they want. In fact, I'm counting on it. I have a little surprise in store for them when they show up. Lead those chumps this way and we'll do the rest."

"Okay, I'll leave everything in your hands," replied the man.

The man turned around and walked deeper into the cave. Sakura caught a brief glimpse of the man, recognizing him as Lord Morikage, who had entered this place earlier. The woman turned the corner and walked down the hallway from which Sakura eavesdropped on them. From the descriptions and photos Kakashi had given to her, she recognized the woman as Leguma! Knowing of Leguma's links to Omnipotence, she now knew just who was responsible for the strange events occurring on Demonic Earth. With this information, Sakura now knew the secret behind Morikage's military success.

This cave was in fact a demon hatchery, a place for Omnipotence to raise demons. With Omnipotence's demons, Morikage now had troops which could launch attacks that would not be traced back to him. With this power, it would be easy to wear down rival warlords without sacrificing any of his men or fear of retaliation. Sakura remembered the word that spread around about Morikage's successful efforts to route demons and made the connection. It was Morikage who was sending the demons to attack the villages. By having his men kill them, he effectively garnered popular support to his rule.

Omnipotence also benefited greatly from this arrangement, as Morikage's lands and those he conquered represented new territory for Omnipotence to base operations. Since much of the conquered lands were rural and meant for farming, Demonic Japan would become a breadbasket for Omnipotence terrorists. Having overheard the conversation, Sakura decided to report it and the conclusions she had made. As she snuck out of the cave, she passed by the two guards at the front who were still unconscious. Unnoticed, a third spy bounded out the darkness, one who was virtually impossible to see in the darkness due to his small size. This spy, a mere flea demon, bounced through the cave's opening into the light of day.

---

Inuyasha's demon hunters found themselves in yet another village, this one just south of the border to Morikage's original territory. It was a small farming community much like the others. Barefoot men and women toiled in rice fields, the sweat from the hot afternoon sun beading on their brows. Morikage's men were not as omnipresent in this village, their only territory being limited to a small guard station. As a generous donation to the demon hunting party, the villagers fed them a meal of beef and rice flavoured with soy sauce. The demon hunters savoured the tasty food with flavouring from few additions from Kagome's home world.

That night, as Kagome sat near the fire, she reminisced about the past. Though normally, Kagome was glad to go to the Feudal Era to visit her friend Inuyasha and the rest of the gang, this visit was filled with uncertainty instead. This visit was actually forced upon her by events back in her home world. It all began when Kagome woke up one morning. The sun was bright that day and the birds were chirping. Like everyday in her life, Kagome performed her morning routine, from brushing her hair and her teeth, to eating breakfast with her family, and then heading off to school.

The classes at her school were nothing out of the ordinary, an hour of Japanese lessons in the morning followed by an hour of mathematics. When she finally hit the lunch room for her noon break, a group of friends sat down at the table beside her. "Hi Kagome, another boring day, huh?" asked one of her friends, Eri, as she sat at the table opposite Kagome with Ayumi.

"Oh hi, Eri, yeah, nothing but Kanji, Hiragana, and numbers. It's making my head spin," said Kagome as she slumped into her hand.

"Yeah, Miss Izumi is a motor mouth. I never thought I'd get out of there..." said Yuka as she sat down next to Kagome.

A handsome young boy entered the lunchroom while moving a portable TV set. "Hey, it's Hojo!" whispered Eri.

"He's looking your way Kagome! This is your big chance!" whispered Yuka.

"Don't blow this one. He's coming over!"

"Hey everybody!" Hojo announced to the cafeteria, showing a small, portable TV to everyone. "There's something big happening on the news!"

The lunchroom crowded around Hojo as he turned on the TV set. The event Hojo was referring to was the presence of six unidentified ships in orbit above the Earth. The news displayed the vehicles, which were metal objects with organic curves. These heavily armed warships looked to have come straight out of a sci-fi drama. When the authorities attempted to hail the ships, they received no response. After several minutes of silence, they received an ultimatum from the captain. "This is the Bonfire, flagship of the Abh Empire. We demand that you surrender the city of Tokyo and the surrounding area to us immediately or we will open fire."

That announcement made the people realize that they were about to be invaded by aliens. It sent a wave of panic throughout Tokyo the likes of which no one had ever seen before. Terrified corporate workers clogged the highways as they rushed back home to gather their belongings and family to flee the city. The inevitable accident happened when an overzealous, panicked man tried to weave through the road to pass the cars ahead. Another car from a distant lane passed into his resulting in them grinding their cars. The driver behind them was step to slow in braking, ramming his vehicle straight into the first two. Three more cars crashed into the third driver, creating a massive pile up on the highway.

The United Nations decided not to comply with these threats and ordered the launch of nuclear missiles at the invading ships. However, the Abh detected the launch of the weapons. No sooner than they made escape velocity that they were shot down by Abh energy weapons. In retaliation, the Abh launched missiles of their own targeting the missile silos on the planet. Like a streak of light, the missiles impacted the silos with devastating force that reduced the surrounding area to ash. The Abh commenced the invasion of the Earth. Like meteors, several smaller ships descended onto the planet.

Upon landing, hundreds of elven men and women in grey stormed out of the drop ships. Without regard for the people, they opened fire on whoever they saw, even if they were unarmed civilians. From the space above, the Abh ships supported their efforts, raining down destruction on whoever attempted to approach Tokyo city. The Abh took firing positions and fired at police behind cover. Bullets zinged by in one direction while energy came soaring from the other. An Abh activated a grenade and hurled it into police lines. The explosion hurled officers everywhere, landing into heaps on the ground. It was clear that regular police officers were no match for highly trained soldiers armed with futuristic weaponry.

Back in the lunch room, the students rushed to escape, terrified out of their minds. "Kagome! Kagome! Where are you?" called Hojo as he waded through the bodies of students.

Kagome was already far away from the school, having climbed out of a window to escape. She had nearly ran all the way back home to her shrine to search for her family. When she got there, her family was already leaving. "Kagome! Over here!" cried her mother.

Before she could respond, a drop ship landed on the street between them. The men rushed out and opened fire on her and her family, forcing Kagome to head for cover behind the corner of her shrine's base. Kagome ran down the alleyway, hearing the footsteps of the men chasing her. She burst through a side door in the wooden fence, just moments before a set of energy bolts zinged past her from behind. She ran into the only place she knew she could escape, the well that led to the Feudal Era. She bust through the door with soldiers still hot on her trail. Without looking back, she dove into the well and passed through time and space to the Feudal Era.

"Kagome, are you okay?" asked Inuyasha.

"I'm fine," she replied.

"It's your family isn't it? Listen, I'm sure your family will be fine," said Inuyasha. "I can tell they're smart people. I'm sure they would have went somewhere faraway where the aliens can't get them."

"Yeah, you're probably right," said Kagome.

"Ain't I always?" asked Inuyasha. Kagome's telling, silent stare was the only answer he received. "Hey, you don't have to give me the silent treatment you know! Well, goodnight. I'll see you in the morning."

The next morning, a sudden a series of earthquakes shook the room. Bits of straw tumbled from the roof of the hut onto Kagome's face. Her water-filled earthenware cups and pitchers tipped over, spilling their unfinished contents onto the ground. Kagome was rattled by the sudden movement of the ground and was unable to get off of her bed. Inuyasha rushed into the room to check up on Kagome's condition. He urged her to leave the hut and check outside. It was then that she saw what appeared to be a vortex of blue energy above a mountain.

"That's got to be where the demons are coming from!" stated Inuyasha. "Hurry up Kagome, or we'll leave you behind!"

"I'm coming!" cried Kagome as she hopped onto the fully grown Kilala's back.

The demon hunters raced to investigate the strange phenomenon at the mountain. As they drew closer, they could make out the inhuman shapes of demons patrolling the area. Down below, Sango could make out a series of explosions emanating from the side in the distance. An explosion would flare up on occasion, followed by the disjointed screeching of arrows in flight. The explosions lit the forest below in the light of orange flame. There was clearly a war being fought down there, with one side likely to be Morikage's men, due to this area being his home territory.

"There's a battle over there," remarked Sango.

"It's probably some lords fighting over territory. We can't worry about that now," dismissed Miroku. "That strange light we saw came from straight ahead. We have to investigate it as soon as possible."

The demon hunters spotted a cavern in the mountain and landed on plains near the base of the mountains. The group rushed the guards, taking initiative on the attack. Inuyasha slammed his sword, the Tessaiga, onto the ground, unleashing jets of piercing whirlwinds which forked outward. The immense power of this attack, the Wind Scar, tore those oni guards to pieces, alerting others to his presence. Kagome reared back her bow string and let an arrow rip. The arrow glowed with pink, holy light as flew forward and punched through the bodies of demons like a laser.

Sango slashed an attacking demon with her boomerang, Hiraikotsu, and motioned to her team mates. "Okay, we got the first of them. Let's clean out the rest of the cave!"

The demon hunters rushed into the cave and were greeted by a horde of demons. They were serpentine creatures with the heads of any and every creature imaginable from animals to humans and even onis. Inuyasha fired off a Wind Scar which blasted the whole lot of them into pieces. Still more demons came out to replace the fallen, prompting Sango to throw Hiraikotsu into them. The gigantic boomerang sliced through demons like a saw blade, leaving nothing behind but scraps of flesh. Kagome let a sacred arrow rip while Shippo threw ghostly blue flames at the horde.

Still more demons came to replace their losses. "We won't get anywhere like this," warned Miroku, who promptly unsealed the cloth which covered his right hand.

This act opened what he called the "Wind Tunnel," a massive void of darkness which pulled everything into it like a vacuum cleaner. This ability came from a curse placed upon him by Lord Naraku. It was punishment for lecherous behaviour towards his female servants, which greatly offended him. This powerful black hole sucked the entire horde of demons into it, wiping out the lot of them without him having to brandish a weapon. After three seconds of swallowing demons, Miroku spotted a massive group of demonic wasps approaching.

"Saimyosho!" he cried, resealing his Wind Tunnel.

Inuyasha smashed his sword against the ground, letting another Wind Scar lash out of his blade. The attack slashed the bugs into pieces, clearing out the tunnel in the process. "That was the last of them."

"Let's go deeper. There may be more," urged Sango.

The group entered the next room, which was not quite what they expected from a demon-infested cave. "A lab, in the Feudal Era?" remarked Kagome, taking in the sights around her. In this lab were holding cells, all of which were empty. It was likely that those demons were once the occupants of these cages. "Who could've built this?" Before she had time to think about that, she noticed an object land on the ground. It resembled a small green pineapple made out of metal. "Run!"

She pulled Inuyasha back to the others just moments before the object exploded. At that moment, dozens of men in ski masks stormed the room, fanning out and taking up strategic positions. They fired energy weapons at the demon hunters, who were still stunned at the identity of their new attackers. "Just who the hell are these guys?" wondered Inuyasha.

"I think they're humans!" remarked Sango. "...But I don't recall any human ever having weapons like those."

The men hurled a second grenade near them. "Fall back!" cried Miroku.

The demon hunters backed into the T-intersection, safely avoiding the explosion of the grenade. They made a run for the exit only to be beset by demons. Inuyasha slashed at the demons, which crumbled into pieces after the first slash. "We're boxed in!"

"It's a trap! They wanted us to find this place," said Sango as she slashed demons with Hiraikotsu.

More demons flooded into the cavern, which forced Kagome into firing a sacred arrow. "We can't keep this up forever."

The demons continued to storm the cavern, not caring if they were killed in the rush. They seemed totally intent on swarming the demon hunters, either overrunning them or forcing them to back into the line of fire of the soldiers. Miroku prepared to unseal his Wind Tunnel until he spotted Saimyosho among the demons. With them in the demonic horde, using the Wind Tunnel was out of the question. Sango threw the Hiraikotsu into the horde, slicing a massive swath through the stream of monsters. Despite the massacre of so many of their numbers in a single attack, the demons pressed their advance.

Inuyasha threw a Wind Scar into the crowd, killing dozens of demons only to have them be replaced by others. They swarmed over the half-demon, who slashed with the Tessaiga to drive them away. One came close to his head, but Inuyasha moved his blade in the nick of time to cut off the demon. Kagome fired a sacred arrow, destroying enough demons to give him a reprieve. "I don't know how long I can keep this up..." warned Shippo, whose breathing was laboured from exhaustion.

Miroku lunged at demons with his staff, disintegrating them each with a single hit. A serpentine dragon slipped through his guard, ramming him onto his back. "Miroku!" cried Sango, who threw the Hiraikotsu to clear the demons. She quickly slipped in and pulled Miroku back to the line formed by Inuyasha and the others.

"Ow, I'm fine," said Miroku as he struggled to get up, despite having suffered severely bruised ribs. "We have to keep fighting."

"You pitiful twisted creatures not of this world... " began a female chanting. "By the Light of Purity I possess, I bid thee, begone to the nexus of our two worlds! Megiddo Flare!"

A flash of white light, almost bright enough to blind, filled the cavern. The saintly radiance overtook the demons, consuming them in a tide of whiteness. The demon hunters who had covered their eyes from this light, moved their hands away to ascertain the situation. All of the demons that had swarmed the cavern had vanished. "Hey, over here!" cried the source of the radiance, Amelia.

With an intuitive understanding of the situation, the demon hunters fled the cavern through its only entrance. Outside, Meilin channelled great amounts power, enough to shake the very earth. The Earthy card brought several boulders tumbling down the side of the mountain, sealing the cavern's entrance completely. Before Inuyasha's group could even thank their saviours, hordes of demons surrounded both groups. However, the demons remained motionless, as though watching their prey. With weapons drawn, the two groups kept their backs to each other as they watched for any signs of aggressive action from the enemy.

The demons parted to create a path for their master, Lord Naraku, to approach. Accompanying him were his vassals, one woman and one young girl. The woman was dressed in a kimono and carried a fan in her hand. She had scarlet eyes that lacked pupils, ears pointed like that of an elf, and a feather ornament in her black hair, which was tied around a stick. The emotionless girl had a white, almost lifeless pallor with hair and robes to match. She carried a single circular mirror in her hands. They were known as Kagura and Kanna respectively.

"Naraku, what is the meaning of this?" asked Amelia.

"This is nothing personal," replied the demonic lord. "I'm just casting my lot in with the winning team. At this very moment, my army should be joining forces with Morikage's to slaughter yours."

"You traitor!" decried Morty. "After everything we did for you, this is how you repay us?"

"If I recall correctly, I never asked for your help. You volunteered it. Now that I've gotten what I wanted, I don't need you anymore."

"I knew it. I knew trusting an evil-doer like you was a mistake!" decried Amelia. "If only they had listened to me."

"Oh yes, that's one mistake you won't ever make again, because you won't be around to do so. Demons, devour their flesh!" ordered Naraku.

The demons rushed the two groups, intent on killing them for their master. However, they would not go down without a fight. Meilin immediately invoked the Shield card, encasing her allies within a protective bubble of eerie azure light. The demons rammed into the bubble, which halted their advance like a wall. Morty lunged with his flaming hammer, which let out a burst of flame upon contact with a demon's head. Sonic dashed out of the bubble and into the flanks of the demons' ranks. Some of them decided to turn around and pursue, but it was futile gesture since they were far too slow to catch him. Sonic zipped away from the snapping jaws of a demon and returned with a crushing leaping kick to the head.

Naraku summoned more demons to replace the ones killed by his enemies. "Kagura, Kanna, eliminate them!"

Kagura made a sweep with her fan which blew several blades of wind towards the groups. Amelia was prepared for this move, blocking this move with a barrier of lucid light. Once she dropped the barrier, Morty threw his hammer, but Kagura leapt out of the way. Upon striking the ground, the hammer unleashed a violent burst of flame which would have surely incinerated Kagura had she been a split second too slow. The hammer flew back to Morty's outstretched hand like a boomerang. During the exchange, Kanna saw an opening to use her unholy mirror on the boy.

Strands of ethereal white energy leaked out of the mirror and attached themselves to Morty. They proceeded to drain his energy, an effect which Morty resisted through his training as a shaman. Kanna stepped up her mirror's soul draining efforts, as she found it difficult to drain the young shaman's life energy. Morty responded in turn, keeping his defence's up. Suddenly, Meilin raised the Shield card's protective barrier over him. "Morty, you alright?" asked Meilin.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied.

In attempting to attack Morty, Kanna left herself open to attack. Unnoticed by her, Sonic had devised a plan to remove her mirror. He dodged a demon that came at his head. However, the demon positioned itself perfectly for Sonic to kick it. He hit the monster with such force that it flew straight into Kanna, knocking her onto the ground. Her mirror slipped out of her hands and landed on the ground some distance away. In the meantime, Kagura dodged a volley of Flare Arrow spells from Amelia. After landing from a jump, she created several devastating tornadoes which Amelia shielded with a barrier of lucid light.

Morty threw his hammer, which Kagura narrowly dodged at the last possible moment. However, it broke her attention on Amelia long enough for her to prepare another spell. Kagura leapt over the incoming fireball, but the sheer force of the explosion was enough to disrupt her mid-leap. She landed on the ground in time to spot Inuyasha's Wind Scar tearing up the ground as it raced towards her. She tried to leap out the way once again, but was a split second too slow. The fierce winds tore up vast portions of her kimono until she was literally wearing only scraps of clothing.

"You pitiful twisted creatures not of this world... " began Amelia's chanting. "By the Light of Purity I possess, I bid thee, begone to the nexus of our two worlds! Megiddo Flare!"

Once again, the flash of white consumed the area. Each demon touched by the luminescence disintegrated instantly. Kagura felt her body burn as it was swallowed whole by the light. Kanna made a desperate dive to retrieve her mirror and raised it just in time to defend herself. The light swallowed Naraku whole, disintegrating him into a pile of dust. However, though Amelia's tactic would be the smart thing to do under most circumstances, it was a tactical error in this one. The light also caught Inuyasha, burning his partially demonic flesh painfully. It also made contact with Shippo and Kilala, who cried in pain as it burned their bodies as well.

Meilin immediately raised the Shield card over her friends, protecting them from the harmful light. When the Megiddo Flare took its course, Meilin dropped her barrier. "Amelia! Watch where you use that thing!" cried Meilin.

"Yeah, we have demons in our party too! You could've killed them!" cried Kagome.

Amelia made a guilty laugh as she shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry!" The members of Inuyasha's party glared at her with irate expressions.

"Retreat, we've done what we've came to do!" cried Kagura. She plucked the feather ornament from her hair, which enlarged so as to be able to carry a human sized occupant. She and Kanna leapt onto the feather and fled through the air before their enemies could follow them.

In the meantime, Morty answered a call from his radio. "Uh huh, got it. We'll be there ASAP." He turned to the others. "That was Trunks. What Naraku told us was true. His demons blindsided our forces, but our armies managed repel the enemy and escape. We've retreated back to the well camp. We're supposed to go there once we're done here."

"Okay, but what do we do about those guys?" asked Sonic, referring to Inuyasha's demon hunting gang.

"Well, I guess they're free to go. They never said anything about them," replied Morty.

"Hold on," interrupted Inuyasha. "I want to know just who are you guys are and what are you doing here?"

Morty explained about Valiance and its opposition to the Omnipotence terrorist group. "Terrorists?" asked Kagome.

"They took over leadership of the Abh alien race, which has attacked several anime worlds," replied Sonic.

"That's right. Omnipotence was backing the Abh. They were backing Lord Morikage too. We came here to catch them," said Morty.

"So the people who have invaded Kagome's home were in that cave and we were fighting them the whole time?" asked Inuyasha in his mind.

"So you came all the way here just to catch these people?" asked Miroku.

"Yeah, we found out those villains were helping Lord Morikage trick his subjects into following him. We got Lord Naraku to help us too, but then he backstabbed us and joined with the evil doers!" said Amelia. "Well, we showed him that justice triumphs in the end!"

Sango picked up a toy left abandoned on the ground. It resembled a wooden needle's eye with strings coiled around it. "Not quite. Naraku's still very much alive. All you killed was his puppet." Sango walked over to Amelia and gave her the object, which dampened her spirits somewhat.

"We're going to leave soon. What are you going to do?" asked Morty.

The demon hunters huddled together to discuss their next course of action. "We'd like to learn more about the Abh and Omnipotence," replied Kagome. "Can you take us back to your camp so we can speak to someone there?"

"I guess it's okay," replied Morty.

END OF CHAPTER

New Stars of Heaven/Heavenly Leaders:
#16 Tensyo, The Swift Star: Kagome (Inuyasha)
#22 Tensatsu, The Murderous Star: Inuyasha (Inuyasha)


New Stars of Earth/Earthly Warriors:
#49 Chitou, The Folding Star: Miroku (Inuyasha)
#53 Chikai, The Star of Gathering: Shippo (Inuyasha)
#85 Chifuku, The Hiding Star: Sango (Inuyasha)


Spotlight: Inuyasha

The anime Inuyasha follows the adventures of high school girl Kagome Higurashi and a half human, half dog demon named Inuyasha. One day, Kagome went near the well in her family's shrine and is dragged into the Feudal Era by a centipede demon. The demon's relentless attack forces Kagome into removing the arrow that sealed Inuyasha and kept him pinned and sleeping against a tree. It turned out that this demon wanted the Shikon Jewel, an object of terrible power which was hidden in Kagome's body. Eventually, events lead to the jewel being shattered, so with Inuyasha by her side, she went off on a journey to reassemble the jewel, meeting several companions along the way.

Origin:
Demonic Earth is a modern world with a subservient world permanently stuck in the Feudal Era of Japan. Unlike the normal Feudal Era, the legends are true in this one. Real demons roam the wilderness and monks and priestesses try to protect humanity as best they can. While anyone can use science, most individuals must either be born a demon for demonic powers or become a monk or priestess to develop holy powers. Kagome is an exception, having inherited her spiritual powers from another priestess, Kikyo, without any formal training. Miroku is another, a monk who offended Lord Naraku and was cursed with the Wind Tunnel as a result.

Powers:
The powers of Demonic Earth are based on ki as it is a world derived from Japanese mysticism. Most humans in Feudal Japan gain holy powers from the Shinto religion and become monks and priestesses. Their holy spiritual powers purify and protect the land and people from corruption. They are particularly effective at combating the powers of the demons that roam the wilderness. Demonic powers, on the other hand, can be very corruptive depending on which demonic powers are used. Humans have been known to get demonic power through a pact or a curse from a demon.

Modern Japan, where Kagome hails from, has developed technology equivalent to modern Earth. It has computers, electronics, nuclear power, and the technology to enter space. It has yet to develop faster than light engines let alone create colonies of any significant size on another celestial body. Its counterpart, the Feudal Era has the same technology of the Feudal Era of the real Japan. They can create steel and crude gunpowder, which is pretty much the height of their technological advancement.