Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / Shaman King Fan Fiction ❯ The Shaman Files ❯ The Sound of Pain ( Chapter 7 )

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Chapter 7 - The Sound of Pain
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Yuusuke and Yoh had managed to reach the top of the mountain. They stood before a tower. Yuusuke grinned and looked at Yoh. "Nice trick, having Amidamaru give us a bird's eye view of the path."
Yoh smiled. "Yeah, you should get a ghost of your own, their very usefull."
The ancient samurai floated behind the two boys. He smiled at the compliments and gave a V sign.
"Well." Yuusuke said. "Might as well get this show on the road. Sooner we find that guy sooner I can shove my foot up his ass. Allow me to knock." Yuusuke cracked his knuckles and punched the front gates, breaking them right off their hinges and sending them crashing to the ground noisilly.
Yoh rubbed the back of his head. "Oi oi, you made a real mess. I hope they don't mind the property damage too much."
"Meh, I'll put them on my christmas card list and we'll call it even." Yuusuke answered.
"Yeah, that works. Really thoughtfull of you."
"You cant say I'm not a nice guy."
Amidamaru sweatdropped watching the two boys talk. "....none of what either of you said makes sence."
The two teens crept through the open gates, looking around. This floor of the tower seemed to be bare, save for a stair case leading up. "Guess we go up." Yoh commented, looking at the stair case.
"Man, just ONCE can't one of these demons do something different? I'm sick of allways going to them. Climbing up endless stairs, surviving stupid traps and guards and crap. Can't they build their base on...I don't know, a McDonald's or something."
Yoh thought this over. "It does seem kind of tedious, maybe we can make them come out to us? You think they'd come out if we set the building on fire?"
Yuusuke rubbed his chin. "It's worth a shot. But this place is mostly stone. Does stone burn?"
Yoh looked at the stone walls. "I don't think so. Maybe if you got it really hot, I wish Manta was here. He'd probably know a way to set stone on fire."
Yuusuke walked over to one of the walls and pressed a hand against it. "It's pretty sturdy but maybe a few well placed Rei Guns would collapse it?"
Yoh walked over and inspected the wall. "Possibly, most structures have their weak points."
Amidamaru was covered in two dozen sweatdrops. "Shouldnt we be going up the tower? I mean...we have a job?"
The two boys were so caught up in their discussion on how to collapse the tower that they did not pay attention to the two people who descended the stairs. One was the siren from the video, Azuza. She wore a filmy, semi transparent dress that dragged on the floor behind her, her long hair falling past her hips. She was beautifull save for a missing eye. The other was a man, dressed in a suit. He carried a flute. On his collar he wore her eye. The man emanated furyuku. This was the shaman.
Amidamaru blinked at them and flailed. "M-master Yoh! Yuusuke! Their here! De gozaru yo!"
"Not now." Yuusuke snapped.
Amidamaru blinked and turned to watch the approaching pair.
"My dear lady Azuza. It seems we have company."
"Yes my lord Haku. Shall we play our song for them?"
Amidamaru stood between the two boys and their enemies, one hand resting on the hilt of his spectral sword. "I will not allow you to pass, de gozaru."
Haku laughed. "You're just a ghost, a spectre. Remove yourself from our presence at once. My lady and I wish to play for our guests."
Yuusuke looked back at the demon and musician. "Hey! Will you shutup back there? We cant hear ourselves talk!"
Yoh looked as well. "Sorry, but, you are being kind of loud and...hey, isn't she that demon from the tape?"
"Tape?" Yuusuke asked.
"Yeah, remember? The reason we're here?"
Yuusuke studied Azuza a long moment. ".....oh yeah. That."
Yoh sighed. "I guess we better take care of business first."
"Well shit. Let's do it fast. I want to watch this tower collapse!"
Haku blinked and looked at Azuza. "It seems they dont take us seriously. Let us play for them."
Azuza smiled. "Yes, play for them, my lord. Show them our song."
Haku raised the flute to his lips and played a note. Yuusuke's teeth rattled in his his head and Yoh fell to his knees, one hand clutching his ear.
Azuza laughed. "They like it." She put her arms around Haku's shoulders. "They like our song of pain. Play for them. Play more."
Haku began to play a tune on his whistle. A slow ballad. He was very good actually, but Yuusuke and Yoh had no time to appreciate it. The siren empowered each note he played with a wave of destruction and pain. the tower shook as Haku played some of the higher notes. Yuusuke and Yoh had fallen to the ground, holding their ears, faces twisted in agony. This over soul used sound. It was quite deadly. They had no deffences against it. Amidamaru could only watch helplessly.
Then he came. He walked through the front doors, a wind blowing around him. Wooden sword in hand and spirit floating next to him, Bokuto no Ryu had reached the tower. "Stop right there both of you. Those two have a job to do and that is to defeat Ulo. They can't waste any energy destroying you. I will be you're enemy. You will face, Bokuto no Ryu." A sparkle glinted in his eye. Tokageroh floating next to him grinned.
Azuza looked at Bokuto no Ryu and sneered. "He's so ugly, look at him."
Haku crickled his nose. "Yes, he's a ruffian. He's undeserving of our beautifull song of pain. We'll destroy him in one blast. Come my dear, let us be done with this parasite quickly." Haku blew one sharp note into his flute. The ground around Ryu cracked from the noise.
Ryu shook, he gritted his teeth. He turned his head to the side and spat blood. "You will both lose. You cannot defeat me." He reached into his inside pocket and drew forth his lighter and a cigarette. He lit up, taking a puff.
"Impressive. It's quite resiliant, my lady Azuza."
Azuza nodded. "Yes, I wonder how much it can take before it dies."
Yuusuke stood up. "I'm gonna rip out their hearts, bastards."
Yoh put a hand on Yuusuke's shoulder, also standing. "No, Ryu wants this fight, let him deal with them."
"Are you insane?" Yuusuke cried out. "Didn't you see what those two do? They'll kill him!"
Yoh shook his head and smiled, looking completely relaxed. "You shouldn't underestimate Bokuto no Ryu."
Haku played two more notes. Two explosions shook the area around Ryu. He was forced back a step, the second explosion snapping his cigarette in half.
"You okay, boss?" Tokageroh asked his master.
"I'll be fine. These two dont have what it takes to defeat me."
Haku laughed. "Did you hear that, Azuza, it thinks it's stronger then us!" Azuza laughed along with him.
Bokuto no Ryu removed the broken cigarette from his mouth and tossed it asside. "I have a name, I am Bokuto no Ryu. I am not a thing, I am a person, so stop referring to me as a thing. I dont think I've done anything to you to deserve this sort of treatment, but I dont think you care. You're type doesn't strike me as the type who would care about others. You're arrogant, you think too high of yourselves."
Azuza looked offended. "I do not like being spoken to in such a manner. You should address me with more respect. We two have written the song of pain. Normally we save it for worthy foes but since you so insistant on being treated with respect then so be it. Haku. Let us play for him."
Haku bowed his head to Azuza and began to play that song again. The ground shook. Bokuto no Ryu fell to one knee, he raised his head and looked at them, tears flowing down his cheeks. "This is the song you're so proud of? This? It's terrible. There's no beauty, no love, no emotion. Only noise. Dont you know that music should soothe the heart? Music should give a person a feeling of peace, comfort. Your music does no such thing. It's the worse song I've ever heard."
Haku stopped playing, his hands trembling. "...wh-what? How dare you?"
Azuza's mouth hung open in shock. "...how dare you say such a thing? Who are you to pass critisism on our song, you...uncultured oaf."
Ryu sighed. "Uncultured oaf. You get offended at my judging your song? I listened to your song, wich was no easy task. Your powers caused me alot of pain, but still I listened. And I did not like what I heard. But atleast I gave it a chance. You did not give me a chance though, you passed judgement before you even knew me." Ryu lit another cigarette and shed a tear. "Too many people are like you, judging others with no basis." He blew out a puff of smoke shaped like a broken heart. "Do you know what it's like to be alone, hated by others, because of how you look? How you talk? Where you live? Who your parents are?"
Yuusuke had a neutral expression as he listened to Ryu's words.
Ryu sighed. "You two also have been shunned by others, havent you? This song of pain is a song of your own pain. You judge others to avoid being judged yourselves. That's why you do this, isn't it? But not everyone is cold hearted. Not everyone is cruel. I have judged your song of pain, but not you. If you are afraid, if you are alone, if you have no where else to go....you will always have a friend in Bokuto no Ryu."
Haku stared at Ryu a long moment and then a smile split his face. "Us, assosiate ourselves with the likes of you?"
Azuza laughed. "Pretty words, but you are a fool. Save your pity for those who need it."
Ryu looked sad and lowered his head. "It was not pity, but an offer of friendship. Now I pity you, for now I have judged you. But pity is all you will get from me. Not mercy." Ryu raised his bokken and pointed it at them. "Your songs of evil will end here." Tokageroh became corporeal and surrounded Ryu's bokken, slipping into the Over Soul.
Azuza did not look impressed. "You think you can defeat us with such a pathetic ability?"
Bokuto no Ryu looked angry now. "Still you judge me on appearances. This bokken... When I was training to become a shaman I was left alone on a mountain with only Tokageroh, the 600 year old ghost of a brigand from feudal Japan. Together we climbed the mountian, fighting many evil spirits along the way. At the top was a tree. An evil tree. A sword was burried in it's trunk, sealing it away. The holy Kusanagi sword. And from this tree I cut a branch and carved this bokken." He raised the wooden blade over his head. There was a strong presence around him. The air seemed to grow heavy. "This bokken is the Soul of Murakumo! Now Tokageroh, become a spirit! Become, the Yamato no Orochi"
Tokageroh's aura grew, the serpant heads of hydra extended from a main body. The earth shook. Yuusuke watched amazed. "No way!"
Yoh grinned. "Yes way. Bokuto no Ryu is alot more powerfull then most people think."

Kurama and Tao Ren ran up the mountain, Bason right behind them. they stopped dead in their tracks. A giant hydra loomed ahead and let out a migty roar. It's heads crashed down to the ground causing the forrest to quake. Kurama stared. "The Yamato no Orochi?! Impossible? This is Ulo's power?"
Tao Ren looked up at it. "Hn, no. This is Bokuto no Ryu's power, let's hurry." The two continued to run.

Back at what was left of the tower, Yuusuke and Yoh we're leaning Bokuto no Ryu's half concious form against a tree, summoning the Yamato no Orochi took all of Ryu's power each time. Amidamaru and Tokageroh watched them. Yuusuke grinned at Ryu ear to ear. "That was incredible! You took the whole tower out! Can you teach me to do that?"
Ryu smiled, looking tired. "Maybe next time. Right now you two have someone to fight." His eyes focused on something behind them, then sleep claimed him.
Yuusuke and Yoh were kneeling on either side of Ryu, they raised their heads and looked at each either then turned to look at what Ryu had spotted. Ulo stood in the center of the ruins of the collapsed tower. He watched them with cold eyes. "You have come to my home uninvited, killed my allies and now destroyed my tower. Why have you come?"
"We've come to send you straight to hell!" Yuusuke said, getting up.
"You've killed alot of people and I know you intend to kill more. Normally I'd try asking you to stop, but I can see it in your eyes that you wont. So, I'm with Yuusuke." He drew the Harusame from it's sheethe.
Ulo looked towards the east. "This battle will be over before the sun rises."
Yuusuke grinned and clenched his fist. His battle aura caused his body to begin to glow with reiki as he gathered his strength. "Think we can end it that fast, Yoh?"
Yoh held his sword out next to him and Amidamru fused with him, turning into a glowing face of energy on Yoh's arm, shaped like a samurai's arm guard, the sword gripped in the face's teeth. "Might be a fun challenge."
Ulo's lips curved. "You two wretches are no match for me. I am no mere oni. I was trained by Hao. I am a demon Shaman. This is my ghost!" A ghost then appeared in the air over him. It was large, very large, well over 15 feet tall, it was humanoid with red skin and sported to large horn. It was also dressed like a king. "This is the ghost of my father! This is the Demon Lord Ulogoth!"
Ulogoth then began to glow as dissapear as Ulo drew him in, eminating a strange negative furyuku, created with youki instead of reiki. The two fused. Ulo looked at them now, emanating a great power. It seemed Yuusuke and Yoh were about to face the power of a demon lord.