The Deadly Seven, Episode 1 : Love or Lust?

[Sha Gojyo]

The easy prey Lust had been expecting was not all that easy anymore. He slowed his sultry pace to a gradual stop when the monk started emitting that new musky smell. It made Lust's stomach flip as he tipped his head to one side then his face twitched in a grimace. It was making something stir that he was just fine keeping tucked away. More of the kappa was trying to seep through the cloud of control the Sin had. The attack on Goku had done well enough to wake him up a little, now the strange musk was serving to bring about his awareness.

Anymore provocation and it was going to go further south then Space Mexico then he liked.

He smirked. "Yes, keep that mouth covered, for whatever good it will...do...you?" Lust arched a brow, looking from the monkey to Sanzo who sounded much different then he normally did. Something was off...

The altered hanyou blinked when he thought he heard the sound of something metal snapping before the gun was dropped. Right there, he had a perfect opening to attack while Sanzo was unarmed and he even took a step forward but faltered. The stirred presence in the back of his mind was in the damned way now, as bewilderment and curiousity from both the kappa's concious mind and his corrupted senses held him in place as he watched the blond grab his head and curl in. He had no idea where those claws were coming from but he was worried when he started to smell the air burn.

'What the hell is happening to him...?!'

'YOU. Get back in your closet.'

God, it was like Good!Gojyo versus Bad!Gojyo in his head now. Both aspects kept snapping at one another before he blinked his blackened eyes and jerked back to avoid any of the stray flames that were tossed about as the monk changed from human to something altogether different. A demon? Since when? He had never sensed anything demonic about the monk besides his temper. Whatever had held it in check had to have been a pretty powerful trinket if it managed to muddle not only the energy but possible scent keys as well.

Lust came back into focus as he kept the concious will of his host under his thumb as he watched the new demon warily. Fire. Fire was bad. Why did they choose a water sprite of all creatures? They burned worse then paper. He didn't have much room to question the absurdity of Anesidora's nonsensical choices as Sanzo launched after Ukoku. If it weren't for the compulsions from the trigger device making him cooperate with the monk, the altered hanyou would let the winged demon tear him apart. But unfortunately he couldn't, so he lunged in for his own attack, jumping high in the air to land down on Sanzo's back with his feet to drive him into the ground before he could reach his target.

"Your fight's with me, sexy. So how about some feather-play?" The long violet locks shifted and started to wrap around the changed monk to bind him if he could.

[Son Goku {Saiyuki}]

The banter between the changed Gojyo and the stranger kind of flew over his head, though a lot kind of was as he couldn't turn his attention from the pain he was feeling. He hoped someone had gone to get Hakkai even if the odds of scared wuss monks having the sense to do so was probably slim. There was only one thing that could take the focus off his aching limbs and that was the sound of Sanzo's voice which was different then before.

With the cloth still wrapped over his face, he couldn't smell the musk that filled the air around the monk but it made him squint, foreign and irritating to his eyes.

"S-Sanzo?" He called as the monk dropped his gun. That wasn't right, at all. His gold eyes stared down at the gun, shifting towards Ukoku and Gojyo. Should he grab it? Fire it at one of them? His aim probably sucked balls though, he might fuck it up.

The monkey turned his head, watching as his friend seemed to fight something. "Sanzo?!" His round eyes widened as the fires lashed out and the wings broke free from his back. Goku just stared, incredibly dumbfounded. What. The. Fuck just happened? Instead of staring on, the brunette just thumped his head on the ground. Right. He must be hallucinating or something because of his injuries.

There was no way Sanzo was a demon.

[Dr. Ni Jianyi]

That was what he was looking for.

Ukoku smirked as the limiter broke deep down inside the other monk's gut and he underwent the transformation. Kouryuu hadn't been himself since he was such a little tike. When said little tike had swallowed his prized ring much to his utter fury. Koumyo had laughed it off and promised him that it would be recovered, yet said recovery never really came. Apparently, the small ring must have lodged itself somewhere in the vast maze that was the lower intestine, if Ukoku had to make a guess. While he had wanted it back in one piece, that would have meant carving Sanzo up like the turkey he truly was.

He couldn't go shorting themselves of such a fun and amusing target so quickly like that though.

So he opted to make it break, if at least then, he would have the satisfaction of knowing it was no longer being used by the blond. Not to mention, it made for one interesting shocker for the other members of his party. Right under their nose, the entire time, had lurked a demon. But not any normal variety of demon either.

Fenghuang, a type of phoenix in mythology, were also a variety of demons that were of the incredibly fiery nature as the flickering flames was any indicator. They were also quite tempermental. The raven haired man smiled as Lust jumped into the fray and knocked the winged priest down. He was only here to observe, so he would have the Sin do all the fighting unless the situation became too overwhelming for the changed mongrel.

"The son of Rin Tokou. I would say your colors match his rather well." Ukoku chuckled, hands hidden within the sleeves of his robe. The dark priest didn't move, even when the Fenghuang came charging at him. It was a good thing Lust intervened really.

Ukoku didn't mind the idea of breaking another bird's wings.

[Genjo Sanzo]

Just as he flew towards the black-clad priest, something hit him in his back, sending him crashing to the ground. A growl escaped him at both the pain and the interruption, as the crash left him stunned for only a minute. The flames around him, fed by the rage that had shattered the powerful limiter, only faltered slightly, no doubt causing the corrupted kappa some concernation. And as he began to push himself off the ground, something began to try to bind him. Growling again, this time sounding severely annoyed and very similar to the annoyed growl the priest had given before this rather startling break of normality, he reached for whatever it was.

It was only the Sin's voice that gave him pause, even as he shook his head. The fire was burning away the mist, but it was still creeping in, tantalizingly sweet and...

... Strangely not doing anything.

It was a really lucky thing that the Sin had spoken when he did, because the newly-emerged youkai had been a split second from burning the bindings. Instead, he grabbed a chunk of the violet hair, tugging hard enough to try to knock him off balance as he struggled to get to his feet. There was, however, no desire for him to try to fight the Sin, and it wasn't because of the damn mist. Even with his mind reverted to the state of a very confused demon who had been sleeping for almost two decades, he personally thought the mist was gaggingly horrible and tacky.

Of course he had heightened senses now, so...

Ukoku's words didn't cause his eyes to lift to him, as the demon had never taken his gaze off of him, violet eyes burning with rage. Some part of his mind heard the name, but he didn't even bother reacting, just growling at the priest and trying to get the Sin off of him.

Though honestly... The smell of the Sin was pissing him off even more. Something was corrupting the kappa, something that needed to just die. It wasn't the clean scent of Gojyo. It was wrong.

Unless the Sin managed to wrap him tight, the demon made another lunge at Ukoku, determined to rip him to shreds.

[Dr. Ni Jianyi]

Ukoku danced back, even if Lust had the newly revealed demon restrained to a degree. As he watched the two fight, he rubbed his chin, suddenly looking thoughtful. How was it that Sanzo was immune to the mist? He himself knew he would succumb to it, and he considered himself levels above the blond priest.

Curious.

His rage had ignited in full when Lust had divulged to him about their playtime. He seemed to pause at the Sin's words. 'I wonder...if I can compel him to do as he's told through the kappa? It will be worth a test.' Lust, of course, would not be pleased. But he would only push the Sin's threshold for pain so far in order to experiment with the fenghuang.

Pulling his hands from his sleeves, he held up the trigger device meant for controlling the corrupted half-breed. "Sanzo...I would stop if I were you...Or Gojyo may be subjected to some more of this." His thumb pressed into the yellow button on the small handheld device. The unit inside the changed hanyou sent out agonizing minus waves around the ribcage area, causing the Sin enough pain to bring him to his knees if possible. He held the button down, letting the tormenting waves course through the redhead before releasing his grip and putting a stop to it so the already infuriated demon wanting to tear him up put the pieces together.

"Be a good boy and set the temple ablaze. If you don't, I'll push the yellow button again..." Waving the device for the blond to see, his thumb hovered over said button and pointed in the direction of the main temple building.

Goku grunted, pushing himself up a few inches despite his injuries. "Don't do it...!" He grimaced at Gojyo's torture, but that wasn't Gojyo anymore, right? Shit, he couldn't fucking tell at this point. For all he knew, that wasn't Sanzo anymore either. Nothing was making a damn bit of sense to him. He didn't know what the fuck was going on. And where the fuck was Hakkai?!

[Sha Gojyo]

Sanzo wasn't the only one pissed with Ukoku. Lust grimaced, eyeing the flames around the bird-demon warily. He called on more of the mist to slither in, not in any hopes to subdue Sanzo as he didn't seem affected like the others, but to possibly dampen the flames that burned it away. He gave an angry hiss as he felt a handful of his hair pulled on, scowling as he felt the tug on his scalp. Damn that fool for picking a tender-headed, water sprite.

Strangely, despite his wanting to attack in full force and be done with this fiasco, something was keeping him from outright going for the kill.

"This is ridiculous..." The Sin growled, more locks grappling onto Sanzo as he held the transformed monk back from attacking Ukoku. It added to his ire that the black clad scientist wasn't doing anything but sitting there smiling. Digging his feet into the stone, he ignored the ache in his scalp as he worked to pull Sanzo back from Ukoku.

In an added effort to draw Sanzo's attention, his tail whipped around and the clawed hand on the end made a swipe at the blond's back. "Your opponent's over here, you overgrown wood pecker!" He snickered.

His dark eyes shifted for a moment towards Ukoku and his snickering smirk faltered slightly as he eyed the trigger in the man's hand. What was he planning to do with that? He better not...Lust glowered at Ukoku, even as he was starting to build up a sweat from holding onto Sanzo. "What are you planning on doing there? I swear...If you use that thing on me, I'll tear you apart myse-" He was cut off as he let out a shriek and collapsed forward, hugging himself around his chest. The breath felt knocked out of him and the feeling of constriction squeezed his lungs as the waves of pain dazed him. He panted laborously, gritting his teeth. His hair loosened it's grip and even fell limp.

After a few seconds, the pain stopped and he was left reeling from it. So that was the bastard's motive. The little shit. If he wanted the temple destroyed, he could have done it himself and avoided that. Why was he trying to get the bird to do it? Lust lurched to the side as he fell over, twitching as he worked to catch his breath. The look in his eyes gave a clear message.

'The minute I get a chance...I'm fucking killing him myself...'

[Cho Hakkai]

Though Gojyo had the day off, Hakkai was still at the restaruant doing his job. It wasn't incredibly busy but it was enough that it required both of the cooks to be at their stations. Hakkai moved easily through the kitchen as he flipped food and seasoned it before putting it up for a server to take out. Once the mini-rush was over however it was time for him to go home. Unbeknown to him his best friend was taken advantage of as he collected his check and belongings. Finally with his usual smile and good bye to his fellow cook, Hakkai set out on the walk home.

Hakuryuu settled on his shoulder with a soft coo and he stroked the dragon's head gently. Having been settled in the city for quite some time he had made some acquaintances whom he greeted by name and asked how their families were doing. Eventually the smiling youkai made it home. He shrugged out of his light jacket and hung it on the hook at the entrance as Hakuryuu flew the living room. Suddenly the dragon cried out an alarm and Hakkai rushed to the living room. Something was not right.

Gojyo was no where to be found and yet he could smell his best friend's scent and his pain laced throughout that scent. And then he felt it. A strong aura pulsing from the direction of the temple. Hakkai placed one hand in Hakuryuu's direction in the universal pet sign for 'stay'.

"Hakuryuu stay here. I'll be back with Gojyo as soon as I can. If I'm not home by tomorrow, fly to Seras or Vegeta." Hakkai waited until the intelligent dragon nodded his consent before rushing out the door in a sprint to the temple. He was surprisingly agile without even removing his limiters and was a quick shit when he wanted to be. A monk nearly passed by him on his run and he knew exactly what was going on before the man could even open his mouth. Hakkai didn't stop for him however and continued on.

In no time at all he had managed to make it up the temple steps and into the temple itself. He slowed his pace to stride through the building with all senses on high alert. There was so much blood every where. The man paused a moment to assess one of the bodies left on the ground but showed no outside reaction. Man eater. Haven't seen one of those in a while. Hakkai was grim and slightly morbid about the whole thing. The youkai his twin was to be fed to enjoyed eating beautiful women, this one obviously had no such limits.

He straightened up to move towards the strange mix of Gojyo's aura and scent as well as a stronger, more over powering one. As far as he could tell, Sanzo was also present as well as Goku but Sanzo was not quite himself. His eyes narrowed slightly beneath his monocle. That wasn't a human scent from Sanzo, that was a youkai one. He never stopped moving even as the surviving monks called his name. Hakkai pushed into the room they were all present in and automatically used his sash to cover his breathing as he saw Goku with his cape around his face.

What the hell? Was that Sanzo? He stared at the new youkai for a few minutes before his gaze changed to Gojyo's body. That wasn't Gojyo.

Hakkai shifted to the injured Goku and immediately went to field medic in seconds. One hand covering his face, the other outstretched to do a quick fix on the young man. "What's going on Goku?" If only he could get close to Gojyo, he could tell exactly what was going on. "Is that Sanzo?" He waited only a few moments for an answer before determining that he had to reach Sanzo somehow.

The moment Goku would be able to move freely - with some pain still involved - Hakkai moved towards the bird youkai before he noticed that the mist was much like heavy fog and stayed near the floor so far. He had a few moments then if it rose any further. The flames no doubt came from the newly emerged youkai in Sanzo. "Sanzo, Gojyo!" He called out, idly hoping that one of them would respond. It wasn't hard to tell that both were definitely not themselves at all.

"Sanzo, stop." Hakkai didn't plead or ask, he demanded. He was an alpha youkai himself and realized that if Sanzo had never known he was a youkai at all, it would be mainly instinct. Gojyo could wait a few seconds until he could aid the priest in gaining at least some control. "You have more discipline than that." He was firm and spoke as if he was the one always in command. There was still a smile, but it was scary Hakkai instead of polite Hakkai. Rather than give him anymore attention for the moment, the emerald-eyed youkai turned his gaze to 'Gojyo'.

"I take it Sins must take a host, and you are Lust." Hakkai connected things together quite well and this was no different. Random attacks, sickly sweet smelling mist, Gojyo's own intense lust. It definitely came together with these Sins rising.

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[Genjo Sanzo]

Maybe when he was more in control of himself, he'd remember that the hanyou he was so pissed off over was a freaking water sprite and would burn like the driest of papers.

... Maybe.

It never even crossed the enraged demon that the mist probably had more of a purpose then to cause retching at the horribly-sweet scent. Somewhere in his mind, he was aware of it, but that rational side of him was buried so deeply that he didn't even try to stop himself from breathing, or anything of the like. It stank, and didn't even smell like the hanyou. Therefore, he didn't care.

A stinging sensation erupted into a flare of pain as a loud growl tore from his throat. Jerking his gaze around to see who had struck him, his slitted violet eyes met the changed eyed of Gojyo. For a moment, he just stared before the Fenghuang just gave him an annoyed look, one eye twitching, almost as if asking, 'Are you fucking serious? Give it a break.' It was either that, or 'A fucking woodpecker? Are you blind, dumbass?' Or both.

... Apparently Sanzo was still somewhere in there.

Turning his gaze around, he started to focus on getting to his feet, struggling past the corrupted hanyou's bindings. But the voice of the priest caused him to growl, eyes narrowin-

A shriek caused the Fenghuang to jerk his attention back to the altered Gojyo. Just as he was about to burn the fucking bindings around him, they fell, the locks falling to the ground without so much as a twitch. A hairsbreath from kneeling by him, the demon was instead distracted by the priest's voice again. His violet eyes widened at what the priest was demanding, even as his eyes locked on the device.

That son of a bitch...! It was one of the first coherent thoughts to cross his mind since the limiter had broken. The first initial instinct to show of some pyromania was balked by a voice of inner reason.

There were innocent people in the temple. That thought pushed through the cloud of rage, causing him to growl softly. But the voice of the priest, saying so calmly what he had done to Gojyo, persisted in his mind, threatening to send him into another rage. Goku's voice, muffled for some reason, carried dimly, almost inaudible over the roar of rage and the thoughts running in circles in his mind. Clenching his hand around the blonde locks, he closed his eyes, trying to fight instincts and logic at the same time.

And another voice came to fuck with his head too. His violet eyes snapped open, turning to rest on the human-turned-youkai that was moving towards him from Goku. A warning growl began to emerge from his throat before his eyes flickered to Goku. The monkey was moving again, albeit with some pain still. His gaze turned back to Hakkai, staring him down, hard. His other hand clenched, the flames flaring for a moment as he growled again, warningly-

... Fucking Hakkai, and his always having to be right. Never removing his eyes from Hakkai's, he waited until the other demon had broken the eye contact himself, unable to even let another demon win a dominance fight, even if it was just for a moment. And eye contact involved more dominance then most thought.

His head turned, violet eyes turning inward as his stubborn will began to shine forth.

What.. the fuck is happening to me? This isn't me. I'm an angry shit, but I've never lost control like this... Another growl escaped him as he began to fight against himself.

The bastard... He's going to hurt Gojyo. Fuck, who am I kidding? He'll hurt him even if I do what he wants. Why was I even considering this? Giggles is right. I have more control then this... Damn it! Remember, Kouryuu! Don't be such an idiot! Remember what you were doing!

Thoughts began to rush through his mind, fighting against the berserker rage that had left him mindless. But control had always been instinctual for him. Sure, most of that had been while he had the-

Images flashed through his mind. Something small and shiny. A small, clawed hand reaching for it. An angry man. A smiling face reassuring the angered priest. That smiling face picking him up, and laughing.

Koumyo. I'm not going to fail him. Giggles- No. Hakkai. Hakkai is right. The Sins... That's right... We were... preparing for the journey. To stop the Sins. Gojyo's one of the Sins.. Ha. Lust. Slowly the demon's eyes opened, the haze of rage gone from eyes.

Steel yourself. You know what he's going to do. But if the pain leaves him incapacitated... Then we can use that to trap Lust, and figure out how to get Gojyo better.

Flicking his hand then launching his arm out, a barrage of flames shot at Ukoku and the device in clear defiance, all without saying a damn word.

[Dr. Ni Jianyi]

"Welcome to the party at last, Cho Hakkai." If he had a hat, he would tip it, so he settled instead for a brief wave. Unfortunately, with their healer's arrival came the introduction of rationale. It was worth a shot at least. The lovely irony of a Sanzo priest torching his own temple would have been downright hilarious. Well, there were other ways to skin a cat...Or pluck a bird for that matter.

Ukoku smiled calmly, ignoring the potential threat of the flames thrown his way. Instead, he reached out as if intending to grasp said flames...Which he did. They fizzled and died in his hand, turning into black dust. His hand flexed open, showing no signs of singing as he let the black debris fall. The flames that he didn't grab also fizzled in thin air, as if hitting an invisible barrier of water that wasn't really there, dissipating into more dust. The Muten scripture was such a wonderful tool, plus it was amusing to see the looks on his enemy's face when their attacks failed horribly.

"Fenghuang demons are rather bold if not volatile and unstable. They're relatively easy to break apart once you get past the fire and feathers. I can say from personal experience that they taste a lot like chicken." The dark man adjusted his glasses. In his seemingly eternal calm demeanor, he used his free hand to open his robe collar just slightly to put the device away to keep it from harm, even if the Muten did the job well enough on it's own. No sense in getting overly careless, these gentlemen would readily take advantage of it. "They come from mount K'unlun in the northwest, particularly fond of tree housing or other high sources of habitation. This temple is a good setting for one, perched so high on this particular mountain-hill. I find it odd one has a fascination with a kappa, considering how flammable they are let alone the fact that by nature, they don't get along so well. Fire and water and all that sweet magical science jazz."

The black clad priest's smile turned a little crooked. "Rin Tokou, your father, Kouryuu...He was never very good picking out his mates either. A prominent politician in North City, at age fifty-one, he became involved with a girl of seventeen. After he disappeared due to scandal and became nigh impossible to find, she crawled off to her family home in the mountains and died shortly after having you due to disease. Her parents were not entirely keen over the fact she had you let alone being stuck with raising you and that was how you wound up down the river for dear Koumyo to find. Rin later resurfaced further south, unaware he had a son and wound up with a new mate. Unfortunately, he died some years ago...But I know of a couple chicks of his out in the desert somewhere because their mother let they stray. Perhaps if you survive this night somehow, you might meet them." Perhaps, considering if Kouryuu didn't lose his head again and Lust found his. He looked back over at the Sin who was picking himself up after shooting him a positively seething look. Certainly, it was likely the Sin would try and make him pay for that move later on. He could try at least.

"When you were an itty bitty tike, you had the gall to swallow my lunarium ring, which is a rare and mystically powerful metal mind you...Koumyo assured me it would come out at some point, but it most likely got itself stuck somewhere on the way to the lower intestine. It was never designed to be a limiter per se, if anything, it worked ten times stronger then an average limiter, possibly on par with Seiten Taisei's diadem. Your little burst of rage must have cracked it, if not broken it..." Ukoku explained to the blond and everyone present what they must have been wondering. Why? Cause information was divine. But what he wasn't sharing was how much he wanted the fragments back. He was even willing to tear open a potentially fruitful test subject to get it.

"Lust. Hurry up and have your fun so that we can make our way for the laboratory. I have a few tests on you I would like to perform, as well as some samples to collect." Ukoku couldn't help the lewd implications that most likely gave out as he stared Kouryuu down. It was just too much fun rattling the bird's cage whenever possible, plus another reckless fit of rage aimed his way would work in his favor. The monkey went after the Sin, ready to knock him upside his head with his staff if he could since Sanzo seemed busy with the other monk.

[Sha Gojyo]

Lust was momentarily down, but far from out as he got back to his feet. At least there was a perk to the torture : More demonic energy to stifle that insidious inner voice and it's insufferable whining.

"Yes, that would be me. I don't suppose I can talk any of you boys into-Hurk!" Lust had started layering on the charm as the mist intensified around them and grew when something hard and made of metal bounced off the back of his head. His tail-hand reached up, rubbing the stinging part on the back of his head as he turned to see just who had the grapes for such a stunt. Several paces behind him was a handful of the younger acolytes who hadn't really learned to fear demons quite yet and in the face of their brothers being maimed, they had somehow come to the notion that throwing chalices at the demon responsible was a great idea.

Not so much.

At least they were smart enough to wear masks to ward against the evil lust-inducing mist. Too bad that was as far as their intelligence extented.

"Begone, inbred whore!"

"You bring bad luck as is, but now you bring death, mongrel!"

"Murdering slut!"

The Sin arched a delicate brow as they barked several more ignorant slanders against the hanyou nature and he could feel the overly emotional rage burn in his gut from the whiner. Ooh, a tender spot. One among many. Lust started to laugh a little, feeling the ire build little by little. Well, why not offer some release and dole out some much desired revenge?

The tail lowered from the back of his head as he partially turned back to the monk and the other two, smirking. There were plenty of monks around for the killing still, fools too busy gawking to run. If they wanted to occupy themselves with Ukoku, he would occupy himself with the humans even though it was likely they would try to rush in and save them from his dark appetite. He smirked. That would make for fortuitous striking opportunity. "Well, I have myself some playthings over here to attend to anyway..." The corrupted kappa turned around in time to avoid a couple more chalices before he lunged at the young acolytes, faster then anyone could really stop him. While he busied himself with the troublemakers hurling things at him, several monks still alive and unharmed under the sway of the mist tried to rush the trio with monk staves raised to strike.

It was amazing how readily human flesh parted when it was tested against the sharpness of his claws. The taste wasn't half-bad either and their brief screams of pain were like music to his ears when they lasted. But all too soon, the monkey was on him, invading his personal space as he swung the nyoi-bo at his head.

Here was a unique chance to see how the all-powerful Seiten Taisei stacked against his mist. He had pondered it, thinking to pull it off once he had been done with Sanzo while Goku had still been injured. Unfortunately, the change in the monk was an unprecidented alteration in his plans. So now he had to work on improvising. His long violet locks shifted and they grappled onto the monkey's arms once he came in for another swing. "Yoink!" The blood soaked Sin chirped all too eagerly as his gorey claws swiftly and neatly pulled the golden coronet off the brunette before he used his loving locks to throw him down to get back. He twirled the crown around his finger as he watched Goku change into his more menacing form.

If he couldn't control the monkey, well, he would let Sanzo and Hakkai worry about reigning the little beast in while he enjoyed the show.

[Son Goku {Saiyuki}]

Goku grit his teeth and grimaced once he was healed up. Shit still hurt, but he could move at least. "Yeah, I guess that's Sanzo. He seemed to have a freak out when the kappa said that guy did something to Gojyo or whatever." He wasn't entirely sure what he had said, he didn't really care at the moment. All he knew was Sanzo was different, Gojyo was different and the guy in black was creepy as fuck.

Lust? Goku looked over at the demonized kappa. Huh. That would be funny if this wasn't so fucking serious. Brandishing his nyoi-bo, he faltered in launching an attack as the other priest started to ramble on information about Sanzo.

Fenghuang demons. He looked at Sanzo. He never saw those before, hell, he wasn't aware demons had wings like that. His thick brows arched when the man said Sanzo's father had died but he had chicks somewhere out in the desert. 'Chicks? What's he mean by that?' The monkey thought of when Hakkai taught him about animals. The offspring for birds were called chicks. Sanzo and his dad were bird demons. So his dad had other kids? Yes, Goku had to sit there and dissect something so simple for it to properly register.

"Huh. So Sanzo has brothers or sisters?" He looked at Hakkai for a moment. "That's kind of scary..."

His brow furrowed as he saw the demon they had to worry about getting back up. At least the evil monk's plan to have Sanzo attack the temple failed. Psh. Dumbass idea to begin with, the blond wasn't ever that worried for the kappa anyway. He scowled at Ukoku before rushing at the demon kappa with his staff, trying to beat the bastard to the monks taunting him. Unfortunately, he didn't beat Gojyo to the punch, but that didn't stop him as he jumped in and made a swing for the Sin's head. "Ack!" Goku grunted as he missed, turning to swing again then found the kappa's hair grabbing him. What a weird fucking way to attack. "Hey, gross! Leggo!"

His face scrunched up when the claws raked through his hair and he felt his diadem come off. Uh oh...Before Goku could react in anyway, his control disappeared completely as he changed into Seiten Taisei, his hair growing out as did his claws and ears. The feral demon scowled behind his scarf and ripped off the offending cloth, tensing to lunge at Lust but he paused. He sniffed furiously at the air. What the hell was that? It was sweet, and breathing it started to make his skin tingle. The normally wild Seiten was stumped into a more docile demeanor as he started to sniff and evaluate the weird smell. Warmth clouded his face, making him squint over at the Sin the smell was coming from.

'Attack them.' A compulsion voiced in his head and he turned to look at Hakkai and Sanzo. 'That's right. Attack them, and you'll be rewarded.'

Rewarded? He looked back at Lust who was giving him that coy look. Then he looked back at the others. Then at Lust, then at them. Seiten Taisei had a muddled thought process just like Goku, except it was on a more basic level. Kill. Eat. Fuck. If he killed them, he could fuck. That was the message he was getting. And he wanted to fuck more then kill now for some reason. Okay. He'd kill them, fuck the Sin, then eat something...probably them. Maybe the Sin too unless he figured to keep it for a mate. That worked. He growled dangerously as he charged for Hakkai and Sanzo, "Raugh!!"

[Cho Hakkai]

Before the loss of his twin, Genou had never been one that was very good at compartmentalizing. Now he was Hakkai and Hakkai was much different than the gentle teacher. His gaze swept over the scene unfolding in front of him and his mind took on an almost military perspective. It was something that he could never understand, battle just came naturally came to him and it wasn't just because of his 'new' natural instincts. Rather than allow his eyes to linger on his best friend's body that was eating people, he tried to find the best solution to winning this.

He ignored the dark haired crazy as completely as possible when he was greeted by his name. So the stranger knew them, most people somehow managed to do that anyway. Then the Fenghuang demon hurled a stream of red hot flames at the man with the controller in his hands.

"Sanzo, what are you doing?" Hakkai questioned sharply as the priest attempted to control his new found powers. The story was interesting and caused the green-eyed man to pause and listen. It sounded legit and made sense as to how Sanzo was a demon, but he also never trusted anyone who was trying to kill them. The normal smile that was on his face was absent as his mind rushed to focus on other things, taking in the entirety of the situation with the attempt to fix this.

A brief smile was flashed to Goku as the young man cracked a joke due to the information. "That is a little scary, isn't it?" The smile fell as the monkey rushed the Lust demon. "Goku, stop!" Hakkai reached out to grab the back of his clothing and missed by millimeters. He stepped back the half a step he had taken as he channeled the destructive chi to his hands.

"Use that anger for something, and use your damn sutra!" Hakkai yelled at Sanzo as he attempted to grab Goku's attention. Worse came to worse, his own limiters were coming off. He hated taking them off. Hated the thought that he was a monster. He was the very thing he had killed and it was all his fault. Removing the limiters made him become more akin to Genou and less like his new persona. Hakkai didn't bother attempting to reason with the Seiten Taisei and merely did his best to avoid being struck. He was fast, but Goku was faster.

The limiters were going to have to come off if Sanzo didn't use the sutra and calm the snarling heretic. He could feel the vines that were hidden beneath his skin shifting, anxious to be released. His body was forcing itself against his limiter at the mere thought of being released, but he clamped down on all of it. However, that didn't stop the vines. They had a mind of their own at times, circling his body like a loving cat before settling down to wait for prey. If Sanzo couldn't do it, then he would and he wasn't going to be gentle. Once the limiters were off, his alpha nature kicked into overdrive and demanded others to obey even in battle.

[Genjo Sanzo]

The fact that Ukoku had so easily extinguished his flames wasn't really all that surprising, though it was a bit annoying. A twitch appeared in the demon's brow as he watched the black-clad priest steadily, slitted-violet eyes hard.

Nor was it surprising, somehow, that he felt like going on a monologue. Fenghuang's weren't exactly patient demons, not at all, but the priest's words gave him a moment's pause. It did feel like sometimes villains had to be overly wordy for some reason or another. First the bitch in the dreams, and now this. Apparently it was his fate to be fighting against people who loved the sound of their own voice.

Of course, his eye twitched at the whole 'chicken' bit, and he growled softly, one hand clenching. And as far as he cared, Ukoku could take his commentary on Gojyo and shove it so far up his ass that he tasted his own bullshit with his morning tea. He didn't give a fucking rat's ass whether or not the bastard found it amusing. The kappa was his, even if it was a weird water-fire mix.

But... Who the hell was Rin Tokou? His... father? How the hell did Ukoku know all this? Did he have a magical eightball somewhere that gave him the answers to everything in life? The fact that his mother was dead wasn't that much of a surprise, though there was still a pang inside of him. As far as he was concerned, Koumyo was his father. The image of the elder priest flashed through his mind briefly. There was a surge of rage that his biological grandparents had just decided to put him in a river, but he shoved it out of his head.

I really don't give a shit about them.

What Ukoku said next, however, he did give a shit about. The Fenghuang studied him, as if trying to see if he was lying. Was he... really insinuating that he had siblings? That Rin Tokou had spawned other terrors into the world? The Diablo Desert... With any luck, they wouldn't die from the extreme heat and would make it somewhere safe, like the Spice Colony. It was beginning to get easier to think clearly, though the instinctive rage was still threatening to throw his mind to pieces. Still, he felt like he was trying to recover a dream. That didn't stop the instinctual surge to protect the 'chicks' that Ukoku mentioned.

If he's not pulling my leg, then I have to find them. And fast. There was no way in hell he was leaving them alone for Ukoku to fuck with. It was no doubt what the bastard expected, but he really didn't care. He wasn't going to just leave them there.

And now onto yet another monologue... What the fuck was lunarium? His brow furrowed as he thought about it. It wasn't something that came up in normal conversations, but he had heard of it...

Now I know why Koumyo always seemed so amused... The demon thought to himself sourly. The rational, logical part of his brain tried to rear it's stubborn head, trying to point out that if he had broken through a lunarium ring that was that strong, a regular limiter wasn't going to work, and he needed to get something fast. He, however, wasn't exactly listening. There was no way he was putting on a limiter right now. Maybe not for awhile. Some part of his mind tried to tell him that the monks were not going to take well to the new state of things, but he ignored it.

And there it was, a surge of rage. His eyes narrowed, flecks of red flashing through his eyes, at the mention of the 'experiments'. At the same time, some of the idiot novices were making a racket, attacking the corrupted kappa. It was a tough call, but somehow, he forced himself not to attack the novices, just getting ready to attack the priest. It would be tricky, as he had already seen that his attacks could be nega-

Oh, fuck.

His head jerked around in time to see novice parts flying through the air and the monkey getting grabbed. The squirt was his pack, but so was the damn kappa. His brow twitched before his eyes widened. All right, shit just hit the fan. Directing a scowl towards the priest, his gaze said quite clearly that he was going to find the time to take care of him without his other plots and games getting in the way. Then, he was forced to dodge, leaping backwards as Seiten Taisei came to play.

There was a look in the Sage's eyes that wasn't quite right, and something in his scent that was really fucked up. It was like.. Something was messing with his head. Because of his own strange immunity to the scent, he didn't even notice it other then an annoying scent, and hadn't really considered that it could be doing something to other people. Hakkai could have just been hiding his face because he hated the smell, it was sickeningly sweet.

Wait, sutra?

He gave Hakkai a briefly dumbfounded look, pausing long enough that the crazed monkey nearly got him. Hissing, he mantled his wings, dodging and staring at Seiten Taisei.

Sutra.

Oh. The paper thing.

WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ME!? The 'paper' thing?! How the hell could I have forgotten about the goddamn fucking sutra?! Kouryuu, get your head out of your fucking ass! His thoughts raced as he hissed, more at himself then at anyone else. If he had managed to remember the damn thing earlier, none of this would have been a problem!

Well, yes, it would have. Ukoku has the damn Muten. He thought sourly as he dodged a strike. His violet eyes shifted to Ukoku and Lust for a moment, studying one then the other.

One of us is going to have to take care of Seiten, and the other Lust. Ukoku's going to get away, the shitface. But what the hell is the key to getting Gojyo back? I don't want that freak show. I want Gojyo.

His gaze flicked to Hakkai now, trying to get his attention. Jerking his head to Goku, he gave him a nod, as though telling him that he understood. Then, he reached up, tapping his ear, approximately where Hakkai kept his limitter, shaking his head. Don't take them off. Then, he nodded to the raging monkey. This time, the message was-

Trust me.

He jumped back to dodge an attack then suddenly lunged forward, tackling the monkey. Whatever he was normally, Sanzo was far more agressive in his demonic form. As soon as the two hit the ground, the demon finally spoke, but wasn't saying anything nice.

"On ma ni hatsu mei un..."

But did it work? Or did he get a lovely boot to the stomache and a very angry chimp?

[Son Goku {Saiyuki}]

Sanzo was right in figuring there was something messing with his head, and if he had taken the time to observe some of the monk affected, he would eventually come to the conclusion it was the mist which he seemed strangely immune to. After all, even Ukoku had his face shielded in the possibility that it afflicted him.

Seiten Taisei cackled in that deranged, mindless manner of his as he launched his attack, swiping lethal claws at both Sanzo and Hakkai. His attacked came off as berserk and aimless, but there were times when true tactical strikes came through and he sometimes dodged with amazing ease. He managed to keep the pair on the defensive and constantly backing off until he was caught off guard when the blond winged demon tackled him. The earth demon grunted, falling back from the blow and was ready to attack him until the mutterings of a chant began. The scripture fluttered out and around them, rendering him immobile and prime for Sanzo to place his hand on his brow to replace the diadem. Once that was taken care of and the Sage was put back to ready, Goku's body untensed and went slack with sleep.

Yeah, it was a noteworthy attempt, unfortunately Sanzo wound up remembering he could put the monkey back in his cage more or less.

[Sha Gojyo]

Lust was a lover, not really a fighter, so as such, he was no tactician. Neither was the kappa by any means. Hakkai and Sanzo were the thinkers, he and Goku were the berserkers. They rushed in while the others slapped their hands to their faces. Releasing the Seiten Taisei wasn't so much a tactical move but just one for shits and giggles. Still, it didn't stop him from watching and taking notes. So far, he was being generally ignored, but once the monkey was down, they would start focusing on him. For whatever reason, the monk was immune to his mist but he suspected Hakkai was less fortunate in that defense. He recoiled back though he was well out of range for Sanzo's sutra to immediately reach him.

'Hn, he hasn't used that sutra till now. I might have been in trouble if he realized he still had it sooner.' It was uncertain how it would affect a Sin. They were demons, yet on a higher level. But if it rendered Seiten Taisei immobile, then it would likely affect a Sin. 'Unless I get stronger...'

There were two ways to build up power for him. One being the device, which was a painful process he didn't want to deal with. The second was if the sin he represented was committed en mass. That made Lust smile ferally. Now that might be more entertaining. But in order to do that, he would need to spread his mist far and wide over the city, something that would take time and focus, neither of which he would have with the three do-gooders up his ass. As he heard the feathery demon utter his holy chant, it was apparent that Seiten Taisei would not be a long enough distraction and he wasn't. His dark eyes darted back and forth, settling on Hakkai as he debated. Perhaps that would be the back-up plan. If he got interrupted in his work then he would be weaker then he was now from all the lost energy. He would need a new dummy to do his work then.

He took a few steps away from the mangled monks, tail tip twitching. This was getting boring fast and he wanted to go back to having fun...

While Sanzo was busy with Seiten Taisei, Lust decided on a plan of action and lunged for the first of several pillars responsible for keeping the main structure of the large temple up. Then he proceeded to ricochet off the others, the loss of support causing the upper levels to cave in with a loud groan. It was likely his 'friends' would escape the collapsing temple as well as Ukoku, but the monks were unlikely to be so lucky as they weren't nearly as fast. "I always did hate this shithole!" Lust crowed, finishing his demolition job on the pillars before he smashed his way out through the wall over the doorway.

Once through, he dropped down onto the pavement with his hands and flipped himself over onto his feet. Lust jumped around the temple's courtyard, not bothering to watch the building crumble down as he hunted for a reasonable spot. It would be a little further away from them, to buy extra time, and he wanted it high up and out of reach to keep himself out of range. Sanzo had just found out he was a demon and it was highly unlikely that he knew how to fly with those wings already. After a few quick seconds of searching, the Sin settled on a spot atop the gates leading to the temple grounds from the outside. It gave him a view of the city from one side and the temple from the other. He raised his arms into the air and proceeded to concentrate and summon the mother of all mist clouds to cover the city below, expending a considerable amount of energy as he did so.