If Only in My in Dreams

If Only in My Dreams Part Eight By: boysluvcraft

I. One Last Cup of Coffee

“They’re on the move, all of them. And to the same destination, too,” Varvara, the Oneiromancer, spoke excitedly. “Oh, they have purpose!”

“I know,” Kuwabara agreed, “even shorty’s all fired up, no pun intended, ya know.”

“Yes, think I sense there is a climax in the offing.”

“That’s funny, I sensed several climaxes happening along the way,” Kuwabara chuckled.

“Oh grow up,” Varvara chided, however the old demoness was giggling as well.

“But seriously,” she warned him, “you’ll do well not to mention it to them once they wake. They may kill you.”

“I ain’t saying nothing-- but don’t think its ‘cause I’m scared of ‘em, ‘cause I’m not. I just wanna respect their privacy that’s all.”

“Uh-huh, so in other words as along they believe your ignorant of their sexual preferences, which you are uncomfortable with, yet excepting of, they will not use the afore mentioned as grounds to taunt and tease you.”

“Exactly.”

“More coffee?” A servant girl popped into the room with a fresh pot.

* * *

II. Over the Edge and into the Abyss

Yusuke was well into his long voyage into Leng. He’d expected there to more conflict once he‘d entered Leng proper, but there was none. It was as if the Lengites had completely forgotten about him. Or maybe they were too scared to attack. Survivors from their skirmish under the full moon could have warned others against engaging the Shroud II in battle.

Crew didn’t seem to need Yusuke’s direction to man the ship, not that he would know what to do if they did. So at present, he passed the time lazing on a couch seeping in pleasant thoughts, like Hiei in a maids costume, Hiei in cat ears, or Hiei in nothing at all! Yusuke experienced brief prang of guilt over dreaming of Hiei so soon after loosing Kurama.

What was he to me just a convenient fuck? His lover is dead not even a week and already he’s looking for the next one? That wasn’t true. Kurama meant so much to him. The passions the two felt for one and other were so fierce that Yusuke cursed himself the fool for not having noticed it sooner. However, His infatuation with Hiei did not diminish and once.

Kurama would have wanted Yusuke to move on, and Yusuke knew that. As a matter of fact, Kurama wouldn’t have minded him pursuing Hiei, even while he was still alive. They had talked about it once. It was during that week in Serannian, before they had set out on their doomed expedition to Leng. God, it seemed like so long ago….

Yusuke and Kurama had just finished a rather rousing love session.

“Hmm,” Yusuke purred. “This is great, Kurama.”

“I enjoyed it too,” Kurama replied. “You can be quite the wild man.”

“Uh, yeah,” Yusuke covered his blush by scratching his nose. “But I was talking about more than just the sex. It’s everything, ya know, since we got together, everything’s just been great.”

“It’s been wonderful, Yusuke,” Kurama agreed then, added with a bit of humor, “Just like a dream.”

“You think we can keep it up?” Yusuke suddenly added, “Ya know, after we wake up?”

This was followed by a long silence which was inevitably broken by Kurama’s soft alto, “It’s Hiei, isn‘t it?” He knew he hit the nail on the head when Yusuke stiffened under his touch. “You still love him.” It wasn’t a question.

“I love you, too,” Yusuke protested. “I just…Ah, Damn it.”

Kurama hushed him with a kiss. “Then don’t over complicate this. There’s no need, thing’s are supposed to be simpler in Dreams. I love you. You love me. We’re together in Dreams. I don’t want things to get complicated between us, because your friendship means too much to me. If you change your mind about being with me when we wake up…well. I’ll even keep my promise to help you get together with Hiei.”

“Bullshit!” Yusuke sat up and glared at his lover. “I ain’t just tossing you aside, damn it!”

“Well there is another way,” Kurama told him, “However, I can’t really promise success.”

“Another way?” Yusuke parroted with a raised eyebrow.

“I was actually thinking that maybe the three of us could come to an... arrangement.” Kurama mused.

“You mean like the two of you sharing me?” Yusuke looked skeptical. It sounded like a solution a yaoi fan-girl would come up with.

“In a way, yes. He would be sharing you with me and sharing me with you. That is, if you don’t mind sharing him with me.”

“I guess that’s cool,” It was more than cool, it was hot! The very thought of seeing the one’s he loved going at it was reawaking Yusuke’s lower half but, “You think Hiei will go for it?”

“I really can’t be sure, but I do think he likes you. He allows you flirt, borderline on molest him. Few have made such transgressions without suffering a slow and painful death.”

“Okay, so you think I got a shot, but do you think he’ll go for it if you’re part of the deal. I mean, you’re real attractive and stuff, but, I mean… Wouldn’t it be weird for Hiei to think of you like that?”

To that Kurama gave a smile so sly that it left little doubt to his foxhood and said, “I can be very persuasive.”

That was the last and only time they had talked about it. They had planned on talking more, coming up with a strategy to seduce the fire demon and such, but after the mission to Leng.

“Looks like I’m on my own,” Yusuke muttered to himself.

Just then a knock on the door started him back to the here and now. It was his dearly departed first mate come to summon him up on deck. Yusuke looked around to see where the dead had brought him. He wasn’t really sure what he had expected to see, but he didn’t expect to find his ship floating on a river in the middle of nowhere. This obviously wasn’t their final destination. This left Yusuke to wonder why the dead thought he should see this river. If Ianto were here he’d know this river, and some creepy ass story to go with it. The moment he thought of the blond, Yusuke had to fight off another wave of melancholy.

“When we gonna get to where ever the hell it is we’re going?” He asked to no one particular. He wasn’t going to get an answer anyway; none of his crew had breath to speak. So, Yusuke just continued to mutter to himself, “Man, I could really use an ass to kick.”

The ship rode on the river’s current, which was picking up speed. The dead crew was alive with strange actively-- well, as alive as a crew of dead and rotting men can be. They were hauling out nets that didn’t look like they were for fishing. Small stones that looked like small petrified star fish were woven into the netting. The dead men hung nets over the sides, affixing them on pegs that seemed to be there for just that purpose.

The speed was increasing to worrisome levels. Then, Yusuke heard it; the low roar in the distance, getting closer and louder as the currents pulled the boat ever faster. And then, as the roar came to a deafening extent, Yusuke saw the foam and spray over the bow.

“Waterfall!” Yusuke yelled to his first mate “What the hell do you think you’re doing. Order them to turn on the floatation engines or something. We’re all gonna die-- that’s right you guys are already dead. But, damn it, do something!”

His orders were too little too late, the fierce current flung the ship out into the open space. But, they didn’t fall; as a matter of fact they were rising. Which would not have surprised Yusuke, if the floatation engines were on, but they weren’t? The waters and skies in this place must be enchanted like at Celephais where the Cerenerian meets the sky and goes to Serannian.

But where do these waters lead? Yusuke thought, knowing he would not like the answer.

Unseen atmospheric tides pulled the ship ever faster toward the heavens, until Yusuke found he was in darkness so absolute that not even his demon sight could penetrate it. It was big, that was for sure, an endless void. But Yusuke had the most uncomfortable feeling about this dark place, like it was not at all empty. Somewhere in that darkness unknown unspeakable things pawed, scratched, and wished to devour his being.

They rushed through space at such speeds. The cold wind froze his face, stung his eyes. The pressure throbbed in his ears to the point that he thought they may burst. Yusuke couldn’t help but wonder how his partially decayed crew was holding up against this onslaught. Thankfully, the air pressure soon returned to normal. The air was still cold, but at least it was no longer slapping him in the face. They seemed to be coasting at a leisurely pace.

Yusuke peered over the side rail to survey the landscape below. For as far as his eyes could see there was noting but pitted grey rock. He was about to ask ‘where the hell are we?’ He got his answer when he looked back in the direction they’d just come from and saw a beautifully glowing green and blue orb hanging in the sky; Earth’s Dreamlands.

“No Friggen way,” he managed to mutter in spite of his jaw being on the ground. “We’re on the friggen Moon.”

Yusuke’s cadaverous crew coasted their vessel around the edge of a great crater. The floor of which was littered with the shattered remains of sky-ships; Relics left over from the Battle at the Moon. That was when Yusuke’s expired first mate pointed a leathery finger out over the depression. Yusuke followed his indication. At first he didn’t see it, because it blended in so closely with the surrounding rock. But he did see it; it was just a slight break in the surface, a flat spot on the irregular crater wall. It was a door.

* * *

III. Out of the Frying Pan

Not wanting to be spotted should someone be watching that door, Yusuke and his dead crew left the Shroud II on the far side of the crater. Upon approaching the entrance, they discovered that their caution was not unfounded; a short, squat Lengite with a broad curved sword was standing watch. It was obvious by the way he was leaning against the door jam, half asleep, that he was not expecting anyone to challenge his position. Two of Yusuke’s men went ahead as his advanced guard. They snuck up on the horned one, as silently as only the dead can manage, and just as quietly dispatched him.

Inside the door was maze of tunnels that had been cut directly into the bed rock. A man could wonder around down there for a lifetime and never find his way out. Yusuke didn’t have to worry about that, his dead companions knew exactly were they were going; to Koenma. The tunnels hosted a horrid low droning noise. Just hearing it made Yusuke feel unclean. It got louder the longer they walked and Yusuke thought he was getting a sense of where it was originating.

It was then that his dead comrades came to a stop, as if their dry rotted feet had become affixed to the ground. Yusuke looked questionability to his trusty first mate. Who in turn communicated his choice manner, by pointing his with bony finger. He pointed in the same direction the music was coming from. Yusuke had to go on alone down one final tunnel.

It opened on a catwalk high above a large cavernous room with a large pit cut at its center. On the floor several brazen fires glowed around the pit. Nude Lengites danced and leaped around the fires while others played on strange droning flutes. Dreamlanders call the Lengites half-men or almost-humans, but they didn’t look at all human when they were stripped of all their loose clothing, false toed shoes, and head wrappings. They looked more like demons; like the low class satyrs that inhabited Yusuke’s ancestral land.

All at once, the commotion ceased and the horned ones came to attention. At first, Yusuke thought he’d been spotted. But no, their attention was focused elsewhere, toward an archway from which a green light on the spilled on the ground. A long, shapeless, writhing shadow oozed over the greenish arch of light. Yusuke knew its owner before he slithered into view; it was the freak in the red hood n’ cloak. The one Yusuke had seen in his dreams within dreams. It was the one who had tortured Koenma. Yusuke glared his hatred at the cloaked thing, and then at the deep dark hole in the ground. If that creep was here that could only mean Koenma was down there.

Down below, one of the hideously naked Lengites scudded forward and kneeled on one knee, almost ceremoniously, presenting the hooded one with a dull red gem, which the hooded one took without further fanfare and approached the steps leading down into the pit.

“That’s far enough!” Yusuke shouted from his vantage point on the catwalk. Those below looked up just in time to see the fearsome energy shot bloom out from the dark haired boy’s finger tip. The words, “Spirit Gun!” were nearly lost in the roar and panic.

Yusuke’s shot was aimed straight for the one in the red hood, but unfortunately the creature was spryer than it appeared to be. It jumped back out of the way, leaving only the carved steps to suffer for Yusuke’s attack. The demon cursed the wasted shot. But, on the bright side, destroying the stairs would prevent anyone from reaching Koenma before him.

Yusuke swung his long legs over the railing and dropped from the catwalk, down into the pit. The fall was only about four or five stories up, not enough of a fall to worry a demon like him. He landed light as a feather on the floor of the pit. The place was just the same as it had been in his dream, except this time the sounds of the pandemonium rained down from above and Koenma was aware of his presence.

“Yusuke, is that you?” Koenma’s tone was weak, but hopeful.

“Sure is. You want to see my certificate of authenticity?” The dark haired boy quipped.

“Yeah, you’re Yusuke all right.”

Yusuke took hold of the chains that held the demigod and snapped them with his bear hands.

“Can you walk? He asked. “-- no never mind that,” Yusuke amended himself, lifting Koenma in his arms. It’ll he faster if be carried the other boy out.

Without hesitation he vaulted up the stairs, easily leaping over the gap he’d caused earlier. His ears were greeted by the ringing sound of clashing steal. The Lengites had called in armed reinforcement, but they were too busy now to even notice Yusuke emerge from the pit, because Yusuke’s cadaverous cavalry of undead pirates had joined the battle. A familiar bone and leather hand fell on Yusuke’s shoulder. His first mate stood next to him, a bloodstained cutlass in hand. He pointed it in his manner that means, ‘follow me,’ toward a green lit archway.

“What about the rest of them?” Yusuke asked. They couldn’t leave the rest of the rescue party behind, could they?

In response, the first mate shook his dry, shriveled head and pointed toward the archway this time with more force. Somehow Yusuke understood. They were already dead. Lengites can do them no harm. And being left behind will only bring them peace.

Being lead by his first mate, Yusuke carried Koenma through the labyrinth of tunnels to the surface of the moon. Yusuke thought he was home free, but then his heart sunk like stone in his chest when he saw what awaited him topside. Across the crater a blaze that was once the Shroud II raged. The crumpled, burning bodies of the defeated skeleton crew lay scattered all around it.

Tens of armed Lengites were waiting on the slopes of crater. Yusuke could hear the click-clacking footsteps coming from the tunnel they’d just emerged from. They were officially surrounded. For whatever it was wroth, Yusuke could take out a lot of them with his shot gun, but more would just pour out of that sub-lunar labyrinth like ants abandoning an ant hill. Also, Yusuke wasn’t sure how many shots he was capable of firing off. Like it really mattered anyway, with his sky-ship destroyed and his crew put to rest, Yusuke had no way of escaping the Moon. If only he could just will the two of them to wake up, as though this were any other nightmare. But this was not that kind of sleep and this was not those kinds of dreams.

“Yusuke….” Koenma stirred in his arms.

“Some rescue this turned out to be, huh?” Yusuke smiled bitterly.

“Yusuke, listen closely,” Koenma urged the boy, “I need you to destroy me.”

“What?” Yusuke was taken aback.

“If they take me back,” Koenma told him, “they’ll use my power to unleash unspeakable horrors. That creature only needs one more charge to release the first of them.”

“I-I…” Yusuke stammered.

“For the sake and the sanity of the world,” Koenma begged, “Please.”

“Okay,” Yusuke sighed. The Reikei prince was right; he couldn’t be allowed to fall back into the hands of the Lengites. And there was absolutely no other way out. Yusuke started to gather the energy in the pit of his stomach. But, he was going to be damned if he was going to sit back watch another person he cares for die. He held the death-god close and he whispered, “We’ll go together.”

The energy was warm in his stomach. Soon the both of them would dissolve into nothing. The blast might take out the charging horde of Lengites as a bonus. Ignoring the doom bearing down on them, Yusuke affectionately stroked the side of Koenma’s face before tenderly pressing their lips together for a farewell kiss.

Cries of anguish rose up from within the Lengites’ ranks, so unexpectedly that Yusuke forgot to finish his attack. With the entire ruckus, both the prince and the demon forgot the tender moment in favor of curiosity. The dieing cries of Lengites became more abundant, and they were soon accompanied by incomprehensible hissing and yowling. Yusuke and the Reikei prince could only watch in bewilderment as the Lengite army was devoured by wave after wave of hungry cats.

“Not that I’m complaining, mind you,” Yusuke spoke, “But what the hell was that?”

“Yusuke, Look!” Koenma, suddenly full of energy, pointed at the sky.

Sailing right toward them was a modestly sized sky-yacht. It looked like it had seen better days, several places were obviously parched or replaced with parts from a different ship, but there was no mistaking that ugly-ass figure head. It was the Old Greg!
The ship dipped down so low that bottom nearly dragged the ground then it slowed to a crawl, stopping just short of the three standing in the crater. Yusuke’s trusted first mate tensed and raised his cutlass. Yusuke placed his hand reassuringly on the guard, to let the dead man know that this posed no threat.

“It couldn’t be…” Yusuke muttered under his breath.

“Did you think you were the only person allowed to come back to the dead?” The red headed fox haled from the deck.

“Kurama!” Yusuke handed Koenma off to his trusted first mate and jumped up to deck railing with every intention of hugging the life out of him. However, he stopped short when he encountered another surprise.

“Hiei? Is this for real?”” Yusuke looked back and forth between the two, not sure which one to embrace.

“We’re real all right,” Ianto offered a rope of yellow hair up to Yusuke, “Go ahead give it a tug.”

Yusuke bypasses the braid and instead bear hugs the clearly uncomfortable blond. Kurama actually gives Ianto a grateful look. This love triangle between Yusuke, Hiei and himself would have to get sorted eventually, but now was not the best time.

“I’d have to say this all worked out pretty good,” Yusuke grinned to himself. “The day is saved, the bad guys been turned into kitty chow and Koenma is safe.” Suddenly reminded of Koenma, he call down to first mate, “Hey, bring that damsel in distress up here so we can get the hell off the Moon!” When didn’t hear the shuffling sounds of his first mate or Koenma protesting to being called a damsel, Yusuke rushed to the railing.

“Shit!” Yusuke hissed.

On the ground lay the crumpled, half incinerated remains of his faithful first mate. Who ever attacked them managed to take Koenma and combust a zombie without making a sound. Needless to say there was sorcery involved.

“Yusuke relax,” Kurama implored him.

“Relax!? They’ve got Koenma.”

“We can get him back,” Kurama told him.

“But we don’t have much time,” Yusuke burst, “Koenma said that the thing only needs to milk him one more time, then it’ll unleash terror or something like that. It didn’t sound good!”

“Hiei,” Kurama turned to small demon. He was way ahead of Kurama, having already removed his warded headband to search.

“I- I can’t,” Hiei was struggling, “There’s some sort of interference.

Kurama thought for a moment before he said, “In order to release-- whatever it is they’re releasing-- they will need that Moon Madness Machine, will they not?”

“Moon Madness Machine? Great, now there’s some machine involved?” Yusuke complained.

“Ianto, please, fill Mr. Urameshi in one the details.” Kurama factitiously addressed the blond as though he were a secretary.

Ianto dutifully pulled a square of vellum from his pocket and unfolding it on the table. There was a picture drawn in the center. Kurama had seen the image before, but last time it was rendered in tile on the floor of a library under the sea. The blond must have drawn it from memory. Ianto’s scribed handwriting filled the space all around the drawing. Ianto pointed at the third ring of icons on the drawing, the one with the stylized machinery.

“This is a depiction of a machine that is powered by the souls of the dead. It is meant to move the stars into a desired alignment which would permit the prisons of the Great Old Ones to be breached.

“The machine needs a lot of souls in its power chamber to operate. Placing the power of a death god in the chamber should work like a powerful magnet; viciously sucking the souls into the chamber were they are burned as fuel. I’m sure your wondering why they could didn’t put Koenma into the chamber. It’s because that would have drained him as well. And they wanted more than one use out of him. So, they charged the rubies with his power. If they put enough of those rubies in the power chamber, it should have an adequate effect.”

Then Kurama supplied, “We have them panicked and pressed for time, so I’m willing to bet that they will take Koenma to that machine to complete the deed.”

Hiei asked, “And you know were THAT is?” He was a little irritated at the situation.

“I have something of a theory,” Ianto supplied.

All three demons looked at the blond expectedly. Yusuke said, “Well let’s hear it.”

“I’ve only been working on this for the past few days, but I think I’ve found something worthwhile,” Ianto started. “For one, I don’t think the machine is literally a machine, or at least of the type that’s made of gears, and springs, and such. But rather the machine’s components are the stars and the Moon itself.” Ianto pulsed to see if anyone was following his logic. NO. Yusuke was obviously lost, Kurama looked skeptical, and Hiei looked like he didn’t care. He was going to have to be more specific.

He pointed to set of pictures near the bottom. It was a disk that had been green in the original mosaic, with a smaller disk that had been grey, above it. The two were joined by a line that started on the edge of the small one and ended on the center of the larger one.

“This is the Earth and the Moon.” Then he pointed to another set of pictures where he had drawn dots on the ends of levers, at the centers of cogs and on the places were the gears met. “This is the Three Gaunts. This is the Gnorri’s Fin,” he pointed to another.

“Constellations,” Kurama was starting to see it. As a sailor he knew all Dreams constellations by heart.

Ianto nodded, “This thing is a star chart.”

Kurama snatched up the vellum sheet and examined it, “With the right navigation skills, I should be able to use this to find the location of the power chamber. It’s twenty-three miles to the east!”

* * *

IV. Into the Fryer

Under Kurama’s guidance they sailed to the site of the power chamber. At any other time Kurama would have insisted on sailing low and slow, in order to avoid detection. However, in this circumstance the enemy was expecting them so playing it safe was pointless. Right now time was of the essence. Yusuke told the others of the maze of tunnels under the Moon’s surface. In all likelihood that was the path the moonbeast had taken. They could already be too late.

When they came to the coordinates indicated by the chart, there was no doubt that it was the right place. An immense dome stood out like a boil on the moon’s pock marked face. The boys hastily down anchor and disembarked. Thankfully, the entrance was easy to find, being a large open archway. Even if the entrance was not so accessible, Yusuke was fired up enough to create his own. The three demons rushed in baring their fangs, ready to cut down an entire army of Lengites if they had to. The fair haired forth followed close behind.

The charging demons stopped short just inside the dome. Nothing could have prepared them to behold the inside of the dome. Whoever built it had either dug out the floor or built it atop a natural crater, because inside was a near perfect sphere. The impressive part was that every inch of said sphere was covered in dully glowing red gems.

“Look,” it was Hiei the snapped the group out of their trance. He pointed to a little island, floating at the very center of the sphere.

There the red cloaked thing stood, hood thrown back to reveal himself in full moonbeast glory with a dull gleaming gem in his wormlike grasp and Koenma crumpled at its ‘feet’. The creature lifted its arms uncurling its fingers, allowing the gem to float free. As though it had a will of its own, the gem migrated to its destined spot on the ceiling of the dome. As it clicked into place all the rubies began to pulse as one. The chamber was powering up. The boys knew they needed to stop this, they needed takeout that moon-wizard, and now! Only a half dozen fat Lengites guarded the gangway between them and their enemy. No problem, with out delay they charged for the attack.

Kurama summoned his rose whip and cut down two of the Lengite guards, while Hiei eliminated two more with a flick of his sword. Yusuke sent a fifth one flying with a well placed punch to the face. The last Lengite, a stout piggish looking individual, could only stare open mouthed at his brethren who had been so easy dealt with by the demons.

Hiei had enough of dealing with the small fries; he was going for the big boss man. He tore off his warded headband and reached out with his mind, reached out to summon his flame, but before can complete it the moonbeast pointed and a ray of sentient light shot from his wormlike finger and stabbed into the Jagan. Then with out missing a beat, Hiei turned and attacked the fox at his side.

Between dodging and deflecting Hiei’s blows, Kurama tried to reason with his spiky haired lover. But, it was obvious what had happened. Those who reach out with there minds are left vulnerable to those who would reach in. It’s almost ironic really. Kurama knew for a fact that Hiei has done this to others, he couldn’t help but wonder how Hiei liked to be on the receiving end.

“I can handle Hiei for a while,” Kurama told Yusuke, “you just take out that moonbeast.”

Yusuke was about to pounce on the moonbeast, when all of the sudden gravity decided to ignore Yusuke’s existence. He floated off, and then gravity returned with vengeance, slamming him down hard enough to crack the gangway. Yusuke toppling to ground had distracted Kurama just long enough for Hiei to land a clean blow to his midsection. Kurama was down. Hiei turned on the prone Yusuke with the intent of cutting his throat.

At this point everyone in the room had forgotten about Ianto, the non-fighter of the group. That is, until he shredded a moldy old tome over the back of Hiei’s head. It barely phased the demon, but it did distract him from eviscerating Yusuke. Hiei promptly rewarded the blond with a swift blow to the temple with the hilt of his sword. Ianto fell like a wet sack of potatoes. A red stain was already spreading in his yellow hair.

Yusuke was up in time to avoid Hiei’s next attempt on his life. Kurama also managed to get to his feet was making a gambit for the moonbeast, but Hiei put himself between the rogue fox and the moonbeast.

“Fools!” The remaining, and nearly forgotten Lengite spat the guttural syllables, “It is too late for you to win, even if you kill the master, the machine carries on. You see, you’ve underestimated the moon masters!”

“Good to know,” Hiei spun on his heel, “But if all the same, I’ll have his life anyway!” He slashed the moonbeast into two. The Lengite went to draw his weapon, but Hiei saw to it that blade never touched the light of day.

“Hiei?” Yusuke probed, a little thrown by the other’s sudden turnaround, “You’re you now, right?”

“Hn, the fool underestimated.”

“Of course, and you were in control the whole time,” the fox goaded while holding his wound.

“Don’t wine,” Hiei returned with a cheeky smirk. “You’ve gotten worse between the sheets.”

Hiei didn’t know how his careless comment cut Yusuke to the core, but Kurama caught sight of the subtle pained tremor that ran through Yusuke’s frame. The fox opened his mouth ready to straighten things out between his two lovers, but before he could form the words a massive shock wave shook the ruby incrusted dome.

“Did we break it?” Yusuke asked lamely.

“No it’s powering up!” Kurama exclaimed.

Hairline crakes formed along the walls and grey moon-sand trickled down as wave after wave of quakes racked the dome. The boys needed to evacuate before the whole place crumbled down on top of them. Yusuke scooped Koenma up in his arms, and Kurama collected Ianto as they hastened for the exit. Yusuke glanced over his shoulder in time to see the bottom drop out of the dome.

The boys kept running, even after they were out of the dome. The structure was pulsating and throbbing like a zit on the verge of popping. And then it did, the dome exploded! The boys dove down into the dirt to avoid flying debris. Yusuke looked back, where the dome once stood was a swirling sphere of ruby madness. He herd Kurama gasp, but Kurama was looking the other way.

“What now?” Yusuke groused. A winding river of lights was rushing over the horizon.

“It ain’t the aurora borealis,” Hiei supplied.

“It’s the souls of Dreamland’s dead,” Kurama told them, “The sphere is drawing them.”

Before the demon boys could even think to act, the souls stuck the spinning rubies and shot down the shaft. There was a moment when an alien sensation passed thought the air; a dizzy feeling, as though gravity, space and time all became confused and insignificant in the face of this new force. Then it was gone. And, so was the ruby sphere. The spent gems had fallen uselessly to the ground. On the other hand, the big dark hole in the ground was still there, and what’s more it was now belching the most vile, black smoke.

* * *

V. Final Fight

The demons took their injured comrades and retreated to the Old Greg. Yusuke carried Koenma down below and put him in Kurama’s bed, while Kurama dumped his charge right on the deck.

“So what are we gonna do about that?” Hiei said from the frontward rail, he was staring at the deep black hole in the moons surface.

“We,” Kurama raised an eyebrow, “Is this Hiei, of all people, volunteering to save the day?”

“Don’t get cute with me fox,” Hiei warned.

“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it,” Kurama held up his hand as if he were taking an oath. Then with a wink, “Besides, being cute is your department.”

The squeak from the steps announced that Yusuke would soon be on deck, so Kurama pulled on his serious face.

“What now?” Yusuke skipped all pleasantries. “You think that friggen gizmo dug anything up?”

Kurama answered. “Nothing has come out yet. Maybe we got lucky and without the moonbeast’s guidance, the machine failed to hit its mark.”

Kurama should have known better. No soon had the words left his mouth and diffused into the lunar air, they were proven wrong. A great column of muscle and grey and molted, slime ridden flesh shot out of the shaft, it reached up about a quarter of a mile, and the thickest part visible had the circumference of a Volkswagen, but the tips of the thing was as thin as a pencil. The tentacle came down on the lunar surface causing a quake that tossed the tiny ship into the air.

Ever quick, Kurama engaged the floatation engines, before they could crash back down. Once the demons steadied their feet on the deck, they looked back to the pit. There were now two tentacles. Then one right after another, a third, a fourth, and fifth appeared.

There was moan to stage left; Ianto was awake just in time for the end of the world. Struggling to his feet he almost asked some inane question like, “What’s going on?” Or, “Did we win?” But then he saw the thing that had his demon companions’ undivided attention.

“It’s a Fly-the-Light,” Ianto’s brassy voice sounded calm, but that was really a byproduct of shock.

“Are you sure of that?” Kurama urged the other.

Ianto nodded, “It’s just like the one that haunted Dylath-Leen-- but bigger-- much much bigger.”

“How many do you think are down there?” Hiei asked to no one particular.

“It doesn’t matter, there’s barely enough time for one to escape,” Ianto said.

“What do you mean?” Kurama jumped at that.

“The cosmic forces will start to correct themselves soon, and the hole will close automatically,” Ianto told them. “Well, at least that’s what was indicated on that awful mosaic.”

“So, we keep that thing in the friggen hole until it closes,” Yusuke said it like it was a plan in itself. At a time like this, it was all the planning they could hope for.

In seconds they had the Old Greg sailing at a full charge. Kurama was behind the wheel, nervously watching his two friends and lovers. Yusuke and Hiei were at the very front of the ship, readying them selves for battle.

“Shot Gun!” Yusuke made the first move, delivering a spray of Spirit energy to a cluster of tentacles.

The titian appendages jerked, recoiled, but quickly recovered. One lashed out at the tiny vessel. The massive thing could have destroyed the ship, crew and all, but Kurama adjusted the thrust and skillfully veered out of the way. A second feeler slipped over the side and onto deck, only to be cut short by Hiei’s blade. The injured member slithered off the ship, retreating back into the dark hole.

The creature retaliated, swinging four tentacles upward, two on each side of the Old Greg. They closed in on the tiny vessel like a great bear trap. Kurama cut the floatation, so the ship took a dangerous, but necessary drop in altitude. Just as the tentacles intersected each other, Yusuke fired his spirit gun full tilt at the grouping. The blast was enough to throw the heavy limbs up and away. The sounds of pained hissing and mewing echoed from the pit as the injured extremities retreated back to the whole.

Still this battle was far from over. Soon, a whole nest of angry appendages shot up like springs, aimed to strike the bottom of the ship. But, Kurama anticipated this move; he had already reinstated the floatation and kicked up the throttle. The slimy limbs were left grasping at air alone.

The boys were doing well, but time was running out. As Kurama evaded that last attack, Hiei snatched up a long rope and dashed for the rear of the ship. He didn’t stop there; he leapt from the back of the ship straight for the writhing coiling mass.

“Sword of the Darkness Flame!” He howled as he slashed and burned every appendage that came with in reach.

The thing in the pit wiled and retreated completely into the pit. And not a moment too soon, because then the pit began to rumble. The lunar surface began to shake as the pit shrank and closed.

Hiei swung back to the ship on his own momentum, landing pretty as can be on the deck.

“Hiei, that friggen cool!” Yusuke rushed the short demon. He was so excited by the flying and fighting that he forgot himself and grabbed Hiei up in a deep passionate kiss. Yusuke suddenly he realized what he was doing and his gaze shifted to Kurama who was coming down from the helm. He’d expected the fox to be angry, but he wasn’t.

Kurama smiled at them, “Well, isn‘t that a lovely sight.” Perhaps smile was too kind of a word; he was leering at them like they were a pair of fat cornered hens and he was Youko!

“Kurama….” Yusuke looked between Hiei and Kurama, not sure what to do.

Kurama was about to say something smart and perfect, but because dreams just love to interrupt Kurama, an ear piercing shriek filled the dust and smoke ridden air. All three demons looked up wide eyed to see a flailing octopi shadow rocketing for the ship bow.

A lever was thrown and the arms of the Old Greg figure head moved, with a shrill squeak of metal on metal. The creaking and moaning of the mechanisms almost sounded as if the ship itself was calling out, “I’m Old Greg!!!!!”

It lifted its tutu, un-hooding the powerful spotlight that cut a bright clean path through the smoke and dust polluted air, and hit the creature like a solid brick wall. Caught in the light, the creature twitched and squealed until it shriveled up into a dry dead husk and dropped out of the sky, presumably to become dust on the lunar surface.

Ianto was behind the cockpit, one hand on the spotlight controls. When the demons looked on him, he shrugged almost modestly, “Heh, ya got to watch out for the little ones, too.”

“Was that last of them?” Kurama asked exasperated.

Yusuke add, “Yeah, can I un-pucker my asshole yet?”

Hiei merely grunted, no one would know what-- or if he meant anything by it.

The prince was saved, and the monster vanquished, but complications have a way of prevailing within simplicity of dreams. There were still a few issues that needed worked out, but they could wait. For now it was kisses and hugs all around, while the boys celebrated their victory. Even Ianto got a smooch, and from his coy blush it was evident that he was coming around to the idea of boys love. A thing there was no shortage of on this voyage.

* * *
TBC

A/N: The “I’m Old Greg!” thing is a reference to the Mighty Boosh. Any Boosh fan would wet themselves if they read that. How’d you like the action packed climax? I know I’m not very good at writing action; I just need practice, that’s all! Speaking of action, don’t go thinking ALL of the action is over. Stay tuned for the epilogue, and the much anticipated epi-lemon!

I haven’t started planning the epi-lemon yet, so here’s your last chance to have some input. A red hot demon three-way? Or shall there be more? :3