InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Ours ❯ Kagome ( Chapter 21 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
I heard Inuyasha shift in his chair behind me; I turned to see that he had turned his head so he wouldn't have to look at us. I know his reason for doing so; but there's nothing I can do or say. I don't even know how to feel.

Kikyo finally took her seat, and the chair slid out so we were side-by-side. I studied the enemy robot's face; all of our opponents so far had slits on their faces just like Zearth.

"Fourteen slots..." I counted. "Only two lights. So I guess they've won twelve battles."

"Kagome." Kikyo called me. "We need to move our location."

"Oh...it's listening to my will?"

"You got here first."

"Er...right." I gulped.

The opponent followed us as we headed out to the ocean. Once I was sure there couldn't possibly be people around me, I took a step forward and swung a punch to its face. To my surprise, I hit it.

My eyes widened. "It worked!"

Feeling much more confident, I swung Zearth's other arm and threw a punch at the enemy's chest. Then another one. And another one. Every single blow landed exactly where I wanted it; but they had yet to even attempt to hit me. It was like they were losing on purpose; they were hardly responding.

Suddenly, thousands of little wires came up from below us.

"What is that?" shouted Sango. "Tentacles?"

That's what it seemed like. We were bound and tied pretty tight; I shook Zearth in an attempt to get rid of them but to no avail. Suddenly something pointy pierced the top of our cockpit.

A couple of the wires had managed to pierce through Zearth's armor and get to us. They came for me, flying to me with the pointy, knife-like ends aimed at my head. I couldn't breathe. I'd lost. I was thinking Kikyo would have to take over for me.

Then all of a sudden, the moment it was close enough to kill me, it stopped. It completely paused a centimeter away from my forehead.

I shivered.

The wires slowly fell limp. It was as if someone had changed their mind and decided not to go through with it.

"What was that...?" Kikyo exhaled next to me, glaring at Dung Beetle. "We were losing and suddenly, it just...?"

Dung Beetle ignored her and intently stared at the moniter, as if he was waiting for something to happen. Then something that looked almost exactly like him appeared in front of us; another floating metal mouse with a tail and a face painted onto it. But this one had pointy, rabbit-like ears instead of round ones like Dung Beetle, and it was red.

"Hey punk." Dung shouted. "What the hell is going on?"

The other one hesitated. "...I'm sorry. We've had a bit of an unforseen accident on our end. I apologize."

"Are you even trying over there?!"

"Well, you were losing after all so you can't really talk." he gloated. It looked like their "Dung Beetle"-or whatever that one is called-was just as stuck up as ours.

Dung beetle sighed. "That has nothing to do with this; what I mean is, what's going on with you guys that you'd just stop like this?"

"...Our pilot has run away."

We all stared at him in silence, trying to understand the situation. Why would the pilot run away?

"Escaped...abandoned battle?" I spoke up.

"Yes."

"But they can't get out of the cockpit unless you teleport them!"

"Well, obviously I teleported them." He said with a hint of a shrug in his voice.

Kikyo's face took on a worried expression. "This is bad." She announced. "If that pilot ran away, that means that if we don't find him in 48 hours and finish him off, then we both lose."

After a moment of silence, Dung Beetle spoke up again. "You got two more fights?"

"Yes."

"Well then you must have one other person left! Make him kill the guy that's on the run."

The other mouse-like creature turned his back to us. "I can't do that. I respect the pilot's wishes. So now that you're all filled in, you've got 47 hours and 8 minutes left. I hope you enjoy your remaining time on Earth."

"Wait a second!" screamed Dung Beetle, flying after the other mouse. "Do your damn job you cocky punk!"

He was ignored. "Sorry. If my team just loses like that, I'm out of a job." He replied. "Plus we've won twelve battles already. And I'm not downplaying this battle's importance or anything, but if he wants to run I have no right to stop him."

With that, he teleported out of our cockpit. Nobody was talking, but we could feel one another's anger. I could've sworn I saw Dung Beetle's drawn-on face contort into a frown as he floated around restlessly.

"Are you okay?" I asked him. "You seem upset."

"My expression never changes!" He snapped. "God I hate that little bitch!"

Just then, I felt a sharp nudge from Kikyo on my side. "We have 47 hours and 3 minutes left."

"Which means we have that long to track down the other pilot and kill him." I stated. "I got it. He only just got out, so he couldn't have gone far."

For a moment, I think some sort of understanding passed between me and Kikyo. There was a brief flash in her eyes of something I couldn't understand; she wasn't looking down on me like I feel she usually does. Maybe that wasn't the reaction she expected from me.

But right now, he's abandoned his own world as if he no longer cares if anyone there dies. By refusing to fight, he's made sure that everyone on his Earth will die along with him after 48 hours. If we can catch him and kill him, we save our world from going with them. He might have lost hope for his own people, but maybe he's willing to give our dimension a chance to live.