Hold On

Catti-dono: Uhm… well I kinda didn’t update on Wednesday… but at least I’m updating now! That should count for something… I think. Well, even if it doesn’t I think I can save myself for quite a bit longer with the promise of a sequel when this story is finished. In any case, I hope you enjoy the update as usual but I have a feeling you will XD

Dragon Speaker: Yeah, you were kinda right but I wasn’t about to tell you that before XD Oh well, hope you enjoy the new update.

Lokivsanubis: *smirks* And I love making it hard for you people to get by (A) And as always my update is on Saturday so yeah. Anyway, enjoy the new chap.

Dragonlady222: Ah, don’t worry about Yoru. He’s getting what’s coming to him XD Actually, if you read the story carefully you know how he dies really. People tend to read over that though… damn, sux for those people. Anyway, enjoy the new update.

Arghyarr: Will do, enjoy the new update.

Tavi: O.o;; not a cliffie? Dude, Yami gets powers and attacks… then the chap stops… I think this is one of the worst cliffies in the fic *sweatdrops* Well, enjoy the new chap.

Wintermoon: *fake teary eyes and overdramatic pose* You… You didn’t review the minute you read this?! *bursts into fake tears and glomps random person for comfort* WAAAHHH!!! YOU HATE ME! I KNOW YOU DO! *sniffs* I should just not update as punishment but yeh, my other readers would kill me after that cliffie so I think I won’t. Guess I’ll have to think of something new to punish you *let’s go of random person who stares at her as if she’s crazy as she walks away, muttering dark plans under her breath*
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I’m baaaack! And all better too! Yes, I know. A lot of you are going ‘Damn! She was being punished for the clifhangers!’ but sadly I have fully recovered. And to make it even better, no cliffie at the end of the chapter! You may all now bow down and love me for this XD Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
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--: 13 :--
Family fight

Aknunkanon was still too shocked to react to the sudden attack, but his Shadow Magic did protect him from most of the power behind Yami’s attack. Aknunkanon stumbled backwards as Yami fist connected to his stomach. Even though that blow had been decreased in power, it had definitely hurt. His son had definitely regained all his power, even though his appearance was still human.

Kumiko, who was still in his arms, quickly used the surprised state the other was in to wrench herself from Aknunkanon’s grasp, running over to her brother for protection even though she was slightly frightened by his new appearance. Yami followed her path closely to make sure she was safely behind him. No one would hurt Kumiko.

Aknunkanon quickly straightened and build up his defences again, not really caring that Kumiko had just escaped him. Yami was already attacking the shadows protecting him, trying to weaken them so his blows wouldn’t be stopped anymore, and Aknunkanon growled as he felt some of the magic slipping away from him.

“What are you doing! How dare you attack me!” Aknunkanon’s own anger began to build up and his magic grew, though it didn’t seem to impress Yami even the slightest bit.

“You hurt Yuugi, and you wanted to kill him and Kumiko.” Yami growled, his voice low and dangerous. “I’ll kill you for that.” He attacked again, his magic trying to cut through Aknunkanon’s. Both were too strong to win any territory though. Aknunkanon didn’t budge a step backwards, and Yami refused to be thrown back into the air – as he was hovering in it in an attempt to attack.

Eventually Yami flew backwards a bit, still glaring daggers at the demon below him but figuring he needed a new strategy. Head on attacks were too easily blocked by the shadows surrounding Aknunkanon. He needed to come up with a way to get through those defences… but how?

He tried to remember pieces of the fight between Aknunkanon and his angelic friends, as well as searching through what he figured was his previous memory to find a way to get through.

The angels had distracted the demonic overlord, thereby letting the man focus his energy on someone else and leaving blind spots to his magic shield. This was of course a great plan, but Yami was alone and had no one to distract Aknunkanon with. Okay, so throw that plan went out of the window that wasn’t even there.

He could clearly remember all the spars he’d had with Aknunkanon, and the way his magic had always had an overweight on Aknunkanon’s. He’d always toyed with the other, before simply crushing him, no contest at all.

Well Aknunkanon obviously hadn’t been sitting still while he was growing up again. Damn that demonic bastard.

Wait a second, he did remember something else. Aknunkanon loved to use that ‘fear cage’ on people, but it only worked on those who were weaker than him. If Yami could get Aknunkanon to believe that he… yeah, that could work.

Yami quickly lowered his energy outlet as Aknunkanon fired a Shadowball and he let himself get hit. The blast barely fazed him, but for the sake of his plan he’d pretend to be hurt more than he really was. Since his energy outlet was now less, it appeared like he was hurt. Now if only Aknunkanon would fall for it so Yami could get closer.

Aknunkanon smirked as he saw Yami flinch from the blast, and his energy decreasing. Well it seemed Yam might’ve gotten his powers back, but didn’t know how to fully use it all to his advantage. That blast could’ve been easily blocked by the shadows Aknunkanon too used as a shield, but the other obviously had no idea how to use this power yet.

Well, time for his favourite manner of torture. Since Yami somehow got his power back without losing his soul, Aknunkanon would just have to drive him crazy until the other did exactly what he wanted. And what better to drive someone to insanity than by using fear.

Fear, in Aknunkanon’s eyes, was the most powerful weapon of all. It could paralyze you, make you do things you never would’ve done normally, and could of course turn you insane. Aknunkanon loved to induce fear on others, which was why he loved to use ‘fear’s cage’ so much.

With every bit of speed he possessed, Aknunkanon flew up to grab Yami. Yami appeared to be too slow in his reflexes to react on time, and Aknunkanon managed to grab his head.

The shadows that sought through one’s soul to find the fears this curse worked on entered Yami’s body. Yami simply mentally snorted as his own Shadow Magic blocked them, before getting rid of them. On the outside though, Yami let his eyes widen, the fear he’d seen in Yuugi’s eyes when Aknunkanon hit him with this curse shining in his eyes as his body went ridged.

Aknunkanon smirked, “There, now I’ll just put you in a dungeon and keep working on you like this until you’re so insane you’ll do anything to stop this, anything to please me, anything.” Aknunkanon threw his head back, laughing insanely as he did. Because of this though, he didn’t notice Yami smirking as the teen relaxed. Aknunkanon was simply too caught up in his own victory to notice, and Yami couldn’t help but roll his eyes at that. He wasn’t that weak.

“Bastard, learn the weaknesses of your own attacks.” Yami growled out before turning in Aknunkanon’s grasp and kneeing the other quite painfully. Aknunkanon clutched his stomach in pain, again distracted from what Yami was doing. Yami took the offered opportunity to crush Aknunkanon’s face into his knee first, then doing a roundhouse kick to crash the demon into a wall. A quick Shadowball followed, making the ruler cry out in pain.

Yami smirked as he saw the other glare fiercely at him. “That ‘fear’s cage’ only works on those weaker than you. Even if I’m not stronger, I’m not weaker either so it won’t work on me. You yourself taught me that.”

Aknunkanon growled, “Maybe I taught you a bit too well.” His irritation only grew as he saw Yami’s smirk widening, the shadowy aura flaring out around him again. He spread his wings, flying out of the crater in the wall with one strong beat of his wings and attacking Yami head on this time. Yami purposefully let his Shadow Magic slow the other down, making sure Aknunkanon would put all his strength into going forward, before letting the pressure drop to zero in an instant and making Aknunkanon lose control of his speed for a moment. Yami simple flew to the side, making Aknunkanon crash into another wall.

Yami had to hold back his laughter at the furious face of Aknunkanon as the other came out of the wall. “I see you really like walls; want to get to know the other two as well?”

Aknunkanon glared for all he was worth, “You’re going down, I don’t care if you’re a useful asset to me and my plans to conquer Heaven.” He created a powerful Shadowball and threw it at Yami, the ball easily cutting through the magic defences.

Yami quickly flew to the side again to dodge the ball of Shadow Magic, before creating one of his own and throwing it at Aknunkanon. The other dodged as well, but couldn’t avoid the spell that hit him after that. Aknunkanon tried to move out of the way for the next attack, but discovered that he couldn’t move anymore. His eyes widened as he realized Yami had used a petrify spell.

Petrify spells wouldn’t last long on him as his Magic was already eating away at the magical binds, but it would give Yami more than enough time to pound in on him again.

And of course Yami knew this as well.

Yami quickly flew over to Aknunkanon, kneeing the other in the stomach, before doing another roundhouse kick. As Aknunkanon crashed into the floor this time, Yami sought the memory of his last live in search of some nice spells to hurt the other. Aknunkanon had been right partially in his assumption that he was still regaining his powers slowly, but it was definitely going faster than what the other thought. The second memory he now had, even though he hated it because it showed him all the murders he was guilty of really, also gave him access to all the spells and tactics he’d ever thought up.

Which were quite a lot, too much to process all at once actually.

So Yami simply searched through the other memory in an attempt to discover any spells he could use that hadn’t been processed into his brain yet. He found quite some painful and useful ones actually, though he was looking for something that would help him on a somewhat longer basis.

He smirked as he found something that would be quite useful to him, and prepared the energy that he would need for it. It was a very hard spell, and took a lot of energy, but if it worked it would slowly eat Aknunkanon up from the inside, and there was nothing the other could do about it.

Aknunkanon rose from the floor again, his anger growing with each attack Yami successfully pulled off. Sure, back when Yami had still been a full-blood demon he’d kicked his ass each and every time they’d sparred, but this was different. This was a human version of his son who was still learning to control all of his powers. How could this brat be beating him?!

Rage blinded Aknunkanon’s sense of good judgement and the demon rushed towards Yami with the fullest intension of killing the other now. He didn’t care anymore that he wanted to use the other for his battle against God; this had become personal to him.

Yami just smirked as he saw the enraged look on Aknunkanon’s face. Someone that fought with rage in his heart would be blinded and attack foolishly and without strategy. This gave Yami exactly the opportunity he needed for his plan.

Yami quickly grabbed one of Aknunkanon’s arms as he flew to the side to dodge the attack, twisting the arm behind his back and making the demon growl in pain. Before Aknunkanon could respond to Yami’s attack though, Yami’s nail pierced the skin on his neck, forcing shadows into Aknunkanon’s body, before pushing the other away with a hard blow to the back. Even though he had no claws and his nails were still that of a human, he could use the Shadow Magic to help him pierce Aknunkanon’s skin with ease, making even the blunt human nails a deadly weapon when used in the right way.

Aknunkanon growled as he flew back, before grabbing his neck and glaring at Yami. “What was that?!” he hissed, not happy to see the victorious smirk on the other’s face. What had the other just done? And why couldn’t he even feel the shadows that Yami had forced into him anymore? His magic had definitely not gotten rid of them yet, so where were they?

“I just used an all time favourite of the demon me, ‘poison claw’.” Yami grinned as he saw realisation dawn on the other’s face. ‘Poison claw’ was an attack that forced shadows into the bloodstream of someone, mingling the already deadly weapon with the essence that even demons needed to live. When these particular shadows were mixed with blood though, the body reacted to it quite… deadly. The blood would turn into a poison that coursed through the person’s veins, poisoning every inch of the victim’s body. It didn’t matter whether you were human, demon, or even angel for this. The mixing and poisoning went so fast that there was nothing you could do against it, and the poison would slowly eat away at the body from the inside, causing it immense pain and an energy loss.

Of course this was a very slow process, and therefore only made the suffering longer.

Yami could definitely see why he had loved this attack in his previous life.

Aknunkanon winced as the first stings of pain shot through his body. Damn, he’d have to hurry if he still wanted to beat Yami somehow, or else his body would simply be paralysed in pain and you couldn’t exactly fight like that. Well if he wanted to win this he’d have to start taking major risks.

Aknunkanon created a large ball of Shadow Magic, the magic defences in his body still trying to stop the poison weakening because of it and giving the poison easier access to him. He flew up to Yami, the surprised human-turned-half-demon too stunned at the sudden attack to do anything as the ball of magic was thrown into his face.

Yami cried out in pain as the dense ball hit him, throwing him into a wall for a change. Aknunkanon charged blindly at him again, punching Yami further into the wall since the teen hadn’t gotten a chance to recover from the impact yet. Yami cried out more, trying to regain control of the situation. Shadowy tendrils grabbed Aknunkanon’s wrists and ankles, stopping the older man from pounding into Yami. Yami shook his head for a moment to clear his slightly blurry vision, before glaring at the man in front of him.

“You’ll pay for that.” Yami punched Aknunkanon in the face harshly, releasing the man from the binds he had put on him. Aknunkanon backed away at the impact, but Yami simply tackled him into the last wall, using Aknunkanon’s body to make sure he wouldn’t get hurt too much.

Aknunkanon gasped as sharp pointed rocks pierced the skin on his back. Yami had crashed him into a piece of wall that had already been partially destroyed at one point, making the sharp edges dig into his skin and the now spike-like pieces of stone cut him open. Purple poisoned blood ran from the wounds, burning away at the skin it touched and Aknunkanon winced, mentally cursing Yami for remember such an attack so fast.

“You told Yuugi it was useless to keep fighting a battle you can’t win. Now I’m telling you. You can’t win if your body is slowly decaying from the inside, destroying itself. So why don’t you just be a good little bastard and keel over already ne?” Yami smirked at the frustrated and pained face of Aknunkanon, before giving the other a harsh punch in the gut. Aknunkanon spit up blood as he clutched his stomach.

Aknunkanon glared at Yami and launched himself at the other again, desperate to do some damage while he still could. Yami groaned as he was punched in the gut, but then pounded Aknunkanon into the ground below, followed by a dense ball of Shadow Magic. He could see Aknunkanon trying to get up, his body shaking and every muscle aching with the burn of the poison running through the body. Aknunkanon formed a new Shadowball, weakening himself further and blurring his vision. He threw it at Yami, but the teen didn’t even have to move to have the ball miss him. He saw Aknunkanon dropping to the ground again, his body too weak to keep him up now.

Yami landed on the ground, standing next to Aknunkanon as he checked the other. The poison had almost completely deleted the man’s energy resources, his body was burning on the inside and out, and he no longer had a focussed look on his face.

“You deserve to be left here, to die the slow and painful death that the poison is supposed to give you. But lucky for you, I’ve still got my human side so I won’t do that to you.” Yami created a last dense Shadowball, the power radiating off it alone telling this was meant to kill the dying ruler.

Yami simply dropped the ball as he turned around walking away without even so much as granting the other another look. As he lifted his downcast gaze from the ground, he could not only see Kumiko and the four forms of his friends finally relaxing as eyes opened, but also noticed for the first time that they weren’t the only ones in the room anymore. Demons were gathered at every entrance to the room, staring in shock and horror at the scene in front of them. Yami silently cursed at not having noticed them before, but then again he’d been too busy focusing on the fight really. Well he’d have to get rid of them, preferably without fighting as his own magic was quite low.

“Listen up!” Yami called out in a voice that demanded respect and radiated authority. Yuugi looked up as he heard the new tone in Yami’s voice, and his eyes widened at seeing Yami with demonic wings spread to full size behind him. Had Yami accepted the deal? Had he become a demon again just to save them?

Yuugi glanced passed Yami for a second to see the dead form of Aknunkanon laying there. If Yami’d become evil… then why had he killed Aknunkanon? Well there was only one way to find out really, and that was to listen to what his boyfriend had to say.

“Aknunkanon is dead, and I’m the one who killed him. Anyone foolish enough to attack me or my friends will be killed in a very slow and painful manner.” Yami walked forward to stand with the four angels and Kumiko, who was currently being held by Yuugi. He gave them all a quick reassuring smile to show that he wasn’t evil, and still very much sane.

All demons present backed away, fear showing clearly in their eyes. Yami smirked at the sight, and continued. “If I discover even one demon following me, spying on me or anything of the sort the same punishment will apply. I suggest that you tell all of your kind of my warning, or there will be a drastic decrease in population here in Hell. Now, if you’ll all excuse me and my friends, we’re leaving. Anyone want to stop us?”

Again all demons took a step back, clearing a path for Yami and the rest to take. Yami’s smirk only widened. Oh he liked this power, he liked it a lot.

“Good.” Was all Yami said before he crouched down next to Yuugi and taking Kumiko from him, “Are you okay, Tenshi?” Kumiko nodded hesitantly, still getting used to the fact that her brother now had wings, though deep down already making plans to force him into flying her around. Well at least they wouldn’t be needing a car.

“Yami… are you…?” Yuugi glanced from his friends to his lover questioningly. Yami just chuckled before standing up, Kumiko safely in his arms.

“I really am okay, Aibou. Let’s go home and I’ll explain everything to all of you okay?” He flapped his wings to hover in the air as he saw the others hesitantly get up and follow his example. As they flew out of Hell, the eyes of every demon that saw them turned away in fear. Yami smiled at knowing that he would probably not see another demon in a long time. ________________________________________
Okay. I have good and bad news. Do you want the good or the bad news first people? The good? Sux, you’re getting the bad first. There’s only 1 more chapter, AKA the epilogue left. Though some of you see this as good new since the cliffies will stop, it will also mean no more Hold On. *wipes away tear*
Well now for the good news I suppose. Although Hold On might be ending, I am actually already writing the sequel to it! Again, this might just be considered bad news cuz that also means the cliffies come back *smirks* But hey, at least it’s something. There’s just one problem with the sequel and that the fact that I have almost no inspiration for it. I’ve been in a writer’s block for quite a while now and it isn’t passing, which is stopping me from writing properly. *sighs* Anybody any ideas for me?
Well, I’m off to do… I have actually no idea cuz I’m kinda bored… oh well. I’ll see you all next week for the last update!

P.S.: For all those who care, I posted a oneshot too. No lemon sadly but a lot of humor XD