Insertion
Part 73
Jusenkyo's Secret!
+++++++++++++
Usagi stared at her cousin and her mother in a
sort
of happy wonder. They were getting along so
well, it was almost scary.
Of course, the fact that Carrot, Dan, Yusaku,
Xellos,
and the man everyone now knew as Nephrite
were now in the room with their new
guest didn't
hurt either.
"What's up with this?" asked Dan irritably.
"Yeah, I'm sure of it! I hadn't even thought
about it
until now," agreed Carrot as they all
looked at Nephrite.
The man was simply looking at them in
confusion. He
appeared to be no more than twelve
years old as he was now. He also had a
sort of
innocent smile on his face.
"Well..." said Xellos cheerfully.
"You shut up, we aren't asking you,"
snorted
Carrot.
The man wisely kept his mouth shut and sat
back in
his chair after this.
"Why the hell are you Phibrizzo anyway? You
were Gaav
when we left," said Carrot irritably.
"What they is talking about?" asked Plum as
she
leaned in towards Usagi.
The older girl looked down at her and
shrugged. "Got
me, must be some more backwards
sorcerer stuff."
"Sorcerer?" muttered Plum dumbly.
"Yeah, something like that. Don't worry, he's
my
uncle, and they're both okay guys," whispered
the girl cheerfully.
Nephrite finally got around to answering.
"Well, It's
like this. We found out about this
'Slayers' thing. Naturally, Zocite and
Kunzite
didn't like the idea of one of them betraying the
other and
becoming rouge. I offered to switch
around with him, and you agreed. That's
all."
"Oh, well, you idiots do realize that that's
just a
manga right?" asked Dan with a small frown.
"We didn't want to take any chances with you
around,"
snorted Xellos calmly. He was looking
directly at Carrot as he said
this.
"Oh, right," said Carrot with a small shrug. "On
to other
business!"
"Why am I here? What's going on? What's all
this
stuff about Phibritso and stuff?" muttered
Yusaku in confusion. "Someone
please explain
what's going on!"
The smaller Mazoku chuckled. "Well, for
starters,
Phibrizzo is my name."
"Oh, Who are you?" asked Yusaku.
"I'm Yohiko's love child with Carrot!"
announced the
boy proudly.
Everyone fell face first onto the table.
"WHAT!?" screamed Yohiko. "You little..."
"I have a brother?" gasped Usagi.
"Does that make him my cousin?" asked
Ryoga
fearfully.
"Don't worry, not much danger of you sleeping
with
this one," replied Dan.
"I thought we were gonna keep this a secret!
You
weren't supposed to say anything!" snapped
Carrot as he grabbed Phibrizzo by
his collar and
shook him. His face was a mask of fake anger.
"It's not true!" screamed Yohiko.
"Say it isn't so!" wailed Yusaku.
Xellos chuckled as he felt the shift in
reality fade
again. He wondered just how long it
would be until L-sama stopped laughing
after he
told them that Phibrizzo really was their love
child now.
"I'll kill him!" screamed Yohiko as she
attempted to
dive across the table and grab the
boy's neck.
"Calm down," said Carrot as he held her back.
"WAAAAHHH! Rejected by my own mother! Oh the
shame!"
cried Nephrite cheerfully. He was really
trying not to smile, but it was more
than he could
handle.
"Everyone BE QUIET!" screamed Plum at the top
of her
lungs.
The whole room turned to look at her.
The girl slammed her palm down on the table
and an
old looking sheet of paper was slapped
across the surface. She sighed and
looked at them
all for a moment. "I brought this map with me. Dad
always
called it, "Jusenkyo's secret". If this map
falls into their hands, then the
Spring of Drowned
Man, The spring of Drowned Girl, all the springs
at
Jusenkyo will dry up!"
"WHAT?" cried Ryoga in horror.
"Tough luck kid," said Carrot as he pat the
boy on
his back and smiled at him.
"We've gotta do something!" cried Ryoga.
"What the heck is Jusenkyo?" asked
Usagi
lamely.
"The Training Ground of Cursed Springs," said
Yohiko
calmly.
"Yes, very tragic story!" agreed Plum.
"So, you're that old guide's runt?" snorted
Dan
indifferently. "Didn't figure him for the
marrying type."
"In any case, this is interesting. Problem is,
I
don't see any reason not to just give this map
to them," said Carrot with a
small shrug.
Plum blinked. "What you is saying? No more
cure for
Jusenkyo curses anymore!"
"Well, Ryoga is keeping his as punishment for
what he
did to Usagi," said Carrot calmly.
The boy froze up and made a choking sound.
"Other than that, I say we make a deal. A few
flasks
of Jusenkyo's drowned girl and man springs
in exchange for the map. After
that, no more
curses. You won't need a cure."
"No more job for family either!" snapped Plum.
"You'll just have to find other work. As it
is,
you're living off the suffering of others,"
said Yohiko with a small snort.
"Besides, what
about all those Jusenkyo Springs Mail
Order
Products?"
Plum frowned and clutched the map to her
chest.
"What's all this about curses?" muttered
Yusaku
dumbly.
"Don't worry about it, Ryoga is the only one
here
with a problem," replied Carrot with a small
shrug. "In any case, these
Phoenix people are
mostly harmless right? Other than being
extremely
territorial that is."
"No," replied Xellos calmly. "It's much worse
than
that."
Everyone looked at him in surprise. "There
hasn't
been a Phoenix King in a thousand years. If
Lord Saffron completes his
transformation, things
will go very badly for the people in that area.
It
will seriously cripple China, and possibly go as
far as engulfing the
entire world in a war. A war
against someone who is very nearly immortal,
and
immune to any weapon that uses heat to destroy."
Carrot narrowed his eyes at this. "What do
you
mean?"
"Nukes won't kill him," supplied Dan
calmly.
"Radiation might though, just not the blast
itself."
"There's more to a nuclear explosion than heat
ya
know," grumbled Carrot.
"Still, there is a high probability that he
will
survive unharmed, and possibly not be
effected by the radiation fall out that
would
occur either," said Xellos with a sort of dark
foreboding in his
tone.
"So what? Now we just go and cream the bastard
then
right? He's just a kid now," snorted Carrot.
"Allow me," said Xellos cheerfully. He waved
his hand
and an image appeared in front of them on
the table. It was little more than
old looking
drawings depicting his story, but Yusaku almost
fell out of
his chair when he saw it.
"The Bayankala Mountain Range, in the Quinghai
region
of China. To the south of Mount Kensei,
which holds Jusenkyo, stands Mount
Phoenix. At the
summit of Mount Phoenix, is a poll as cursed as
the pools
of Jusenkyo are cursed." Xellos smirked
at the bored expression on the three
adult's faces
and showed them images of these places. "According
to the
ancient lore, the pool at the summit of
Mount Phoenix was cursed, when one of
the many
birds surrounding the peak fell in and drowned."
"Hence, the bird people that live there," said
Carrot
with a small nod. "The three of us have
heard all this before."
"We have?" asked Yohiko.
"Well, Dan and I have at any rate," commented
Carrot
with a shrug. "No big thing."
"What is talking? You know why they're trying
to
destroy Jusenkyo?" asked Plum in confusion.
"Yeah, they want to raise some Phoenix God
named
Saffron. It has something to do with that,"
said Carrot calmly.
"How...do you know all this?" asked Usagi
in
confusion.
"Various adventures in the past, I've been
to
Jusenkyo myself actually," replied Yohiko. "It's
nothing to worry
about."
"Oh, okay," said Usagi in confusion.
Yusaku was simply staring at the scene. He had
no
clue about any of this. He jumped to his feet
and frowned. "You there! Come
on out!"
Carrot turned and chuckled at the trio that
now stood
in the window. "Well, what have we
here?"
Dan turned as well and blinked. "Whoa, what
a
babe!"
"Yeah, you said it," agreed Carrot as they
both
stared at the winged woman who had entered
with her two male lackeys at her
side.
"Um? What?" asked Usagi as she turned to stare
at
them. "I guess she is kinda pretty..."
"What? I'm not good enough?" snarled Yohiko as
she
put Carrot into a headlock.
"What? You don't like me anyway!" snapped the
man in
retort.
"You bastard! How dare you cheat on my auntie
right
in front of her!" cried Ryoga angrily.
"We have to actually be dating for me to cheat
on
her! We just fooled around a bit!" cried
Carrot.
"Enemy to all women!" screamed Yusaku angrily
as he
stood beside Ryoga and started to stalk
towards Carrot.
"I...um..." said the bird woman dumbly.
"Um,
hello..."
"What should we do?" asked Usagi as she pulled
on
Dan's sleeve.
"Do what you want, I'm gonna check out the
babe,"
said Dan as he pointed at the newcomers.
Kiima was starting go grow red with anger.
"What the
hell is this?"
"Please! Stop fighting! We must defeat evil
monsters!
Save Jusenkyo remember?"
"Sure," said Carrot as he jumped over Ryoga
and
Yusaku and kicked them both in the back of
their heads. The pair slammed into
the wall and
slumped down. Neither one of them was out though,
they simply
sat there rubbing their foreheads in
irritation. "Anything if I get to see
more of her.
Bet she can fight too, my kinda woman!"
"Shut up!" screamed Kiima.
"Won't work, she already did that," said
Carrot as he
pointed at Plum. Both he and Dan were
standing on either side of her, with
her two
lackeys easily kicked out of the way.
"What?" she muttered in confusion. "Why are
you?
Enough of this! Give me that..."
"Great move, now she's mad at us,"
grumbled
Dan.
"Hey, ain't like you had a better idea,"
snorted
Carrot irritably.
"Enough!" snapped Kiima as she slapped
them
both.
The men blinked at her and then looked at
each
other.
Finally, Dan sighed and turned around.
"Okay,
everyone turn around and pay attention while the
pretty bird lady
tells us who she is and threatens
us!"
Everyone immediately did so.
Kiima blinked at this. "Um...thank you."
"Sure thing," said Dan as he winked at her
and
stepped aside with Carrot so that she could pose
with her lackeys.
They were somewhat woozy, but
quickly recovered.
"I am Captain Kiima of Mount Phoenix!"
announced the
woman.
"I'm Koruma," said the dark skinned boy next
to
her.
"The name is Masara," finished the lighter
skinned
boy. His hair was a spiky mess as well. He
also had a bow and arrows strapped
onto his
shoulder.
Kiima and Koruma both had swords on their
belts as
well. Both boys were wearing expensive
looking silk clothes with mostly
ornamental
looking armor. Kiima had little more than an
armored leotard
on.
Kiima turned and looked at several owls
fluttering
around just outside and smirked.
"Thanks for guiding us, return home with
our
blessing."
Ryoga chuckled as he cracked his knuckles.
"Never
would have guessed that you'd come here.
Makes our lives easier."
"Pipe down! I'm tryin to make a good
impression!"
snapped Dan as he belted the boy
across his head.
"Don't bother, you know we're gonna have to
fight
her," snorted Carrot. "Real shame though,"
he added with a sigh.
"Pigs!" snapped Yohiko.
Usagi was standing there with her arms crossed
in
front of her chest and a scowl on her face. She
nodded in agreement with her
mother. Plum was
standing in the back of the room with Xellos
and
Phibrizzo.
"You are great sorcerers right? You should
do
something!" said the girl nervously.
"Oh dear me no!" exclaimed Xellos.
"Yeah, we could get hurt," agreed
Phibrizzo
cheerfully.
"What?" muttered the girl in confusion.
Yusaku wasn't taking this whole mess very
well, he
simply stood against the wall and stared
at the bird people dumbly. "Man,
what a night! No
more of that curry flavored Ramen before bed. Not
ever
again!"
"Kukuku. Your bravado is quite entertaining
to
behold. It would seem that you're not going to
just hand over the
Jusenkyo map peacefully."
"Well, I might be persuaded..." said Carrot
with a
somewhat lecherous looking grin forming on
his face.
"Damn! Wish I'd thought of that," grumbled
Dan.
Kiima narrowed her eyes at this and smirked.
"So, no
agreement can be reached then."
"Well that's disappointing, you didn't even
try to
negotiate," said Carrot with a small frown.
"I'd like to think a handsome guy
like me would
have some kinda chance. Right Dan?"
"Yeah," agreed Carrot's mirror image as he
looked
down at himself. The only difference
between them was the Dan's shades and
the leather
jacket that hung from his shoulders.
"Oh, you are soooo dead," growled
Yohiko
irritably.
"Seems you're already spoken for," said Kiima
as she
and her lackeys started to spread out a
bit. "Besides, I'd never soil myself
on a mere
landling, no matter how handsome his exterior.
Carrot chuckled at this opening and simply
crossed
his arms, ignoring her defensive posture.
"Who are you callin a
landling?"
"What?" muttered Kiima in shock. The trio of
adults
all had odd-looking grins on their faces.
The room was suddenly filled as
they all grew a
huge pair of bat-like wings from nothing.
"What is this?" gasped Kiima in shock. She
backed
away and almost fell over her companions.
"You've just walked into a trap Lady Kiima,"
said
Carrot calmly as he frowned at her. "Too bad,
you really are a babe
too."
Whap!
"OUCH! What the hell is wrong with you?" cried
Carrot
as he turned his head just in time to see
Yohiko pulling her wing back with a
satisfied
looking smirk on her face.
Usagi was drooling on the floor.
"Coooooooooollllll!"
Her eyes were wide and she
had an incredibly huge grin on her face.
Yusaku was clutching the wall fearfully.
Xellos, Ryoga, Plum, and Nephrite were all
simply
watching the scene from the back of the
room. They had decided that it would
be best to
stand away from the mess.
"Maybe we should leave?" asked Plum.
"Good idea," agreed Ryoga.
"I suppose we should, this could get messy,"
agreed
Xellos. He twirled his staff and they
vanished from the room.
"The map!" cried Kiima.
"I can't believe they left me here!" cried
Yusaku as
he stared at the empty spot where the
others had been. "Man."
A hand reached out of the plaster and pulled
him
inside the wall, leaving only a liquid like
ripple in his wake.
Usagi was still kneeling on the floor and
now
appeared somewhat thoughtful. "Hmmm..." She closed
her eyes and stood
up. Wings like those the others
had were now sprouting from her back, they
were a
little smaller, but proportionately around the
same size. "Wow!
This is so cool!"
Kiima's wings shot straight up, shattering
the
ceiling above her. She crossed her arms and
chuckled. "Fools! Thousand
Wings of the Seabird
Attack!"
Carrot simply folded his wings in front of
himself,
creating a sort of cocoon of darkness
around himself.
Dan and Yohiko quickly followed his example,
this
combined wall blocked Usagi.
Kiima smiled in satisfaction, but it quickly
fell
away when the wings opened up and revealed
that the group had not even been
slightly injured.
"What?"
"Surprised?" asked Carrot as he eyed her for
a
moment.
"Again then!" she snarled. "Thousand..."
"Dark Wind!" cried Carrot as he formed a ball
of chi
energy in his palms and pointed it at her.
Before she could complete her
attack, his wings
swooped down and released a huge burst of wind.
The ball
of power in his hand shot forward,
carried by the force of his winds, and
increased
them a hundred times.
Kiima screamed in pain as the superheated air
slammed
into her and shot her through the open
window.
"What magic is this?" cried Masara in shock.
"Captain Kiima has been defeated? What do we
do now?"
said Koruma.
"Running would seem to be the best option,"
said
Carrot with a small chuckle. "You won't find
that map at the moment, Plum has
it and he's run
off with my friend Xellos. Looking for her tonight
would
prove fruitless."
"Defeated? Have some faith in your Captain!"
snapped
Kiima as she appeared in the room and
conked the pair on their heads. She
turned her
head towards Carrot and frowned. "And you, that
hurt. You'll
pay. Mark my words, we'll meet
again!"
"God I hope so," muttered Carrot and Dan
in
unison.
"Koruma! Masara! To the skies!" snapped Kiima.
"Yes, Captain!" cried the pair as they
followed
her.
"Well, that's over for now. Dang, didn't get a
phone
number or anything," grumbled Carrot. "I
must be losing my touch."
"Yeah, how depressing," agreed Dan with a
small
sigh.
"You idiots!" screamed Yohiko. "Think outside
your
own pants for once!"
"Hey, it's never let me down before," replied
Carrot
with a shrug.
"If it don't make you drunk, have breasts,
or
explode, I ain't interested," replied Dan as he
mirrored Carrot's
reaction.
"Um, Mom...now what?" asked Usagi in
confusion.
"Well, you're going to put those wings away
and go to
sleep, I'm going to beat the hell out of
these two, and in the morning,
Xellos and Nephrite
will bring Yusaku, your cousin, and Plum back."
"But, I wanna try them out!" whined the girl
as she
flapped them experimentally.
"You'll get plenty of chances later. I don't
want you
running around with those bird people
flying about. Just go to sleep."
"Yes, Ma'am," grumbled the girl dejectedly.
"Right," said Yohiko as she sighed.
++++++++++++++
Meanwhile, in the Quinghai region of China, at
Mount
Phoenix...
"Hey old man! Isn't my bath ready yet?"
The old birdman knelt before the empty pool
and
sighed. "My lord, please be patient for just a
little bit longer. Soon Kiima
and her soldiers
will come back with the secrets of Jusenkyo."
"Damn it! They're too slow!" snapped Saffron
as he
tossed his bath pail into the empty tub.
The old man started to shake in fear as a huge
crack
appeared in the base. "Yes Lord Saffron! You
have every right to be angry! So
I have created
this, in order to ease your suffering." He pulled
what
looked like a chalk board eraser from behind
his back and began to tap at it,
sending a cloud
of aromatic powder into the air. "See? Smells just
like a
bath house!"
+++++++++++++
"Where are we again?" asked Ryoga as he
glanced
around at the glowing walls of brimstone
and flowing magma that surrounded
them.
"Huh? Just my lab," said Xellos. "It's sort of
a
wizards workshop, no big deal really. Don't
worry, you're all protected by my
magic here."
"Is warm," said Plum nervously.
"Ah, it's nice to be home for a while,"
commented
Phibrizzo.
"Isn't it though?" agreed Xellos.
"Sure is scary for a lab," said Yusaku.
"Yes, I suppose it is. Sometimes I just have
to have
a little room though to try something out.
I suppose it can't be
helped."
Ryoga sighed again and sat down. "I think I've
been
here before." He paused and pointed at the
wall. "Hey! It's still there! This
is where I
carved my name in the wall."
Xellos blinked and looked at the spot. "Hmm.
So it
is. How did you managed to get all the way
down to the thirteenth level
though?"
"Well, Hells not the same place it used to be
I
suppose," commented Phibrizzo.
"I guess you're right," agreed Xellos with a
small
sigh.
"What's that noise?" asked Yusaku as a sort
of
wailing floated across the wind.
"Huh? Oh that. Just the tortured souls,
nothing to
worry about. They're quite a ways away.
I sort of staked this place out for
myself. You
can only hear them if they get really loud some
nights. Don't
wander off anyone, just try to catch
a little sleep. We've got to go back
tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" muttered Yusaku in shock. "We've
got to
stay here tonight? Where the hell are we?"
"Funny you should mention that..." said
Phibrizzo
cheerfully.
"Neat!" cried Plum cheerfully as she ran her
hand
through the molten magma unharmed by the
flames. She played with it
cheerfully and started
to make cute little castles and statues with as
if
it was sand on the beach. She didn't even notice
the fact that her
clothes had little holes burning
in them now from the splattering. She looked
up at
Xellos and smiled. "Can I go swimming?"
"Well, okay, but take off your clothes or
they'll
burn off and you'll be naked anyway."
The girl nodded cheerfully and
started
stripping.
"This isn't happening to me!" muttered Yusaku
as he
clutched the side of his head and started
rocking back and fourth.
"Don't be such a weenie, it's only for a few
hours.
Teleporting us all took a lot out of me,"
snorted Xellos as he sat back and
closed his eyes
to rest.
+++++++++++++
Dan frowned as he walked down the street with
a
bottle in his hand. Naturally, Yohiko's attempt
to beat up Carrot and ended
as it always did. The
pair were going at it like sex starved rabbits in
a
wool sock. He sighed and took a swig of his beer
as he continued walking
through the cool night
air.
"Man, why do they gotta make so much damn
noise?" he
muttered irritably. He paused when a
mess of arrows landed all around him on
the
ground. He blinked and looked around himself
calmly, they had all
missed, but not by much.
"Shit." He turned his head and saw Koruma
jumping
towards him. The boy was in his human form, and
was lobbing some
sort of white things at him.
His eyes went wide as he realized what they
were. "Oh
man! Shit!" They slammed into his body,
several small eggs that cracked on
impact. Before
he could even react he found himself wrapped up in
the tiny
fibers that flowed from inside the eggs.
"Well isn't this just fuckin
great!"
Masara appeared beside his companion and
chuckled.
"Ha. Got him."
+++++++++++
Kiima sat on top of the chimney where they
had
created a base of operations. Tiny birds flocked
around her and she
spoke to one that was resting
on her hand.
"My messenger, report this to Mount Phoenix.
"By the
end of the night, the map will be ours!"
+++++++++++++++
A few hours later, near morning...
Kiima caressed the giant egg that had engulfed
Dan
and kept her wings wrapped around it to
protect it from the cold night
air.
Finally, it cracked and she smiled to herself.
She
chuckled softly as the arm burst from inside
the egg and smirked.
She gasped in shock as two jet black wings
shot out
from inside, they were feathered this
time. Like those of an eagle, the egg
exploded
outward and the man inside stood up with a smirk
on his face. His
eyes cast down to the ground.
"Heh."
The bird woman simply stared up at her new
hatchling
in shock, unable to speak or move. "What
the?" she managed after a
moment.
Dan looked at her. His intense gaze locking
with her
slightly frightened one. "Hello."
Kiima smirked as she stood up and regained
her
composure. "I am your mother now. You are my
child, and you will do as
I say."
Dan smile grew slightly as he watched her
carefully.
"Lady, you're much too young to be my
mother."
Kiima gasped in shock and stepped back. "It
failed?
Wha? How?"
The man grabbed her by her shoulders and
leaned her
down deeply. "Heh. Gimme some sugar
baby."
Kiima's eyes went wide as the man planted his
lips
onto hers. She wasn't quite sure what to make
of it. She relaxed slightly as
he pulled her back
up to her feet.
She staggered for a moment with a huge blush
on her
face as he turned away from her and looked
out over the city. "What?"
"So, I take it you wanted something from me?
You
wouldn't go to all that trouble for nuthin
pretty lady."
Kiima smirked at him. "Well, isn't
this
interesting."
"I want that map, do whatever it takes to get
it,"
said Kiima as she smirked at him.
The man turned his head to look at her again.
He
cocked his eyebrow and chuckled. "Groovy." He
stood upright and looked down
at the city. "Well,
tough luck Carrot. I get the babe this time. All
that,
and I finally get to do what I've always
wanted to. Get ready you bastard."
He opened his
wings wide and smirked back at Kiima again.
She backed away from him with a slightly
frightened
frown on her face. "Tell you what. I'll
call you Mom like you wanted, if you
tell me I'm
your Daddy."
The woman blinked in confusion, not quite sure
what
to make of this.
"Looks like I'm gonna have ta show ya," he
replied
with another chuckle.
++++++++++++
"Damn birds," the old man looked out the
window of
his apartment and shook his fist at the
sky. The industrial chimney could be
seen from his
window and he frowned. "They never used to be
this
loud!"
"Come to bed and forget about the stupid
birds!"
snapped the old woman from the large futon
in the middle of the floor.
"I can't! All that racket in the middle of
the
night?" snapped the man angrily. "I'm gonna make
some calls tomorrow
and see about putting in
another formal complaint!"
"You do that, for now come to bed! You're
keeping me
up with all this muttering!"
"Bah!" cried the man as he waved his hand and
turned
away from the window. He just missed seeing
the giant pair of wings appear
there, and then the
silhouette of a naked woman arching her back in a
cry
of passion before vanishing back down into the
large nest again.
+++++++++++++
TBC...
It gets better! Next Time: Dan Vs. Nerima.
Perfect Carrot- Consuming the universe, one Aspect at a time.
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| Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
| Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject |
`---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'