Ep 24. Fight to the Death ~ sunny day ~

After the flashback: the horrified Goku calls out to Sanzo, and the ikkou (apparently making the many-story drop to the ground with ease) charges toward its fallen leader; but Hazel commands "stop right there, demons", and puts a bullet into Sanzo's shoulder. The trio skids to a halt, and Hazel, those pretty blue eyes now Arctic slits, says, "Gato." The big guy, already taken aback by Hazel's appropriation of his gun, hesitates. Hazel's eyes get even scarier: Gato! he hisses, and Gat fires on the ikkou.

They dive for cover, and Hakkai observes that "unlike Sanzo", Gato is quite a good shot. [--Unfair of Hakkai, who knows full well that Sanzo is a dead-eye shot; but probably justified by the monk's numerous snipes at his absent crew.] Gojyo says they needn't be anxious, as Gato's gun only holds six rounds. They count shots and charge when they hear him eject his 6th round, only to be fired upon by Hazel, who's had time to reload the other pistol! HG&G hightail it back to the rocks, where Goku and Hakkai give Gojyo grief for not thinking of that. (Hakuryu, also hiding, listens to their quarreling and kyuu's ruefully.)

The guys do the math: if Hazel and Gat have both reloaded, that's a total of twelve rounds. Four for each of us, says Goku. Gojyo teases that saru-chan's math skills are top-notch and he retorts that sheesh, of course he can count; Hakkai chides that this is no time to bicker, and G&G settle, agree and arm up. Make sure you draw your share, calls Gojyo as they break cover. At once their plan is clear--force the HT to expend so much fire on them all at once that neither has time to reload--and with all three on full offensive and using their signature attacks that's just what happens. When Goku lands a huge nyoi-bo bash on Gato, Hakkai is able to slam him into the cliffside with a ki sphere. Hazel calls to him in alarm, but before blue-eyes can move he hears a pistol being cocked behind him; a deadly-eyed Sanzo has used the distraction to pull himself to his feet, gun drawn. [But no, they don't ever rescue him, of course. >=) ] --That hurt, growls the priest, and he shoots Hazel through the shoulder. The bishop chokes and falls to his knees, clutching the wound, as Gato peels himself out of the crater Hakkai pasted him into. Hazel draws his gloved hand away from the wound and stares at the blood, shaking, his eyeballs vibrating in that distinctive anime way that always signals incipient meltdown; he lets out an anguished howl--

and the ikkou steps in to rag on Sanzo's awful marksmanship, wondering where on Hazel he intended to hit! Sanzo snarls and is about to fire on them when another shot sounds--and he falls again. HG&G's amusement vanishes at the sight of Gato's furious glare. (MAN, do they look mad.) But face-down Sanzo gives a pissed-off grunt, his fist clenching in the sand, and Gojyo grins in real admiration: he just won't die, will he? he says. =) =) [--Aww.]

--Goku's had enough of these potshots at his sun, and barrels at the motionless Hazel full-tilt with nyoi-bo raised, but Gato intervenes, swatting away the staff and knocking Goku sprawling with a punch. Hakkai and Gojyo are startled, but Goku just spits blood and glares murderously, muttering "I got so close." --Hazel, breathing raggedly, gasps that he can never forgive this, and orders Gato to get goin'. Battle is rejoined, with H&G going all-out on Gato while Goku plants himself between Hazel and his bodyguard, grimly announcing "your ass is mine". Gato can't get a chance to reload; Hakkai, looking like green death incarnate, aims to plow him back into the cliff with another ki bolt, but he gets past the furious youkai, forces Gojyo to back down and reaches Hazel just as a howling Goku is descending from the sky to split his skull. Again he throws the nyoi-bo aside; Goku, mad as hell, comes at him barehanded, but he hurls the saru into the cliffside. "Good work," Hazel-rah smiles, and raises the pendant to heal his injuries.

Damn, they never quit, mutters Gojyo, and Hakkai agrees that's true. Then they all realize that Sanzo has raised himself to his knees behind them, and remember their original intent was to kick his butt; and Goku, in an unforgettable moment, lands a sock to the monk's jaw! Sanzo lashes back, hitting Gojyo instead of Goku; the kappa complains bitterly, Hakkai laughs that there's a huge weight off their shoulders, and Sanzo yells "who asked you bastards to come back anyway? such a nuisance--" "That's right," they chorus firmly as they turn their backs on him =)=) and face Hazel and Gato, grinning ferociously. Nuisance or not, we're still us, says Goku. We live how we want to, chimes in Gojyo. We don't care who thinks we're reckless or insolent, says Hakkai, and Goku levels his forefinger at Hazel: And now we're gonna kick your ass, he finishes.

The blue-eyed angel laughs. 'Prepare to die, Sanzo-han,' he says, adding that once he's dead they'll kill his demon friends and raise his body using their souls. After all, he smiles--once a demon lover always a demon lover. [...ye gods.]

Bastard, growls Sanzo, low and deadly. Gojyo chuckles: now it's getting interesting, huh, Hakkai? Hakkai is likewise amused: honto desu ne, it surely is, he agrees. And Goku grins so darkly you can almost see the Seiten Taisei in his eyes: bring it on if you can, he taunts. Hazel laughs. I'll kill all of you, he says.

Hazel-san, asks Hakkai (polite as always), why not fight us yourself instead of having Gato do it for you? Although I'm a 'mere youkai' (you can just hear the icicles dripping off his gracious voice), I'll be your opponent. Hazel smiles, and says that Gato knows his duty, and that unlike them, he's loyal. Oh, he gives new meaning to the world 'loyal', retorts Gojyo angrily, and asks the big native just why he goes so far to protect this guy. It's all I can do, replies Gato, cocking his pistols. Sanzo at once draws on him, and the guys tense for battle. He's just another corpse, mutters Gojyo, but Hakkai reminds him that unlike the others, he can be healed and revived countless times. How is he different from the others? --and Sanzo, remembering their chat, replies, "He's a spirit (seirei)." Goku hears sembei, rice crackers =); Gojyo asks the monk how he got hold of this bit of info, and Sanzo replies that Gato told him, though he can't be sure how much of what he said was true.

Hazel, displeased, asks Gato what he told Sanzo. The big guy tells him "there really is a spirit", and Hazel replies that Gato may have a spirit but he, Hazel, has God--a special, God-given power to eradicate demons. The ikkou grit their teeth, and Hazel shrugs and says it'd be a sin to waste that gift. He sics Gato on the ikkou, who go into battle mode.

Dr. Ni, still on his mesa, pours something out of a thermos (coffee? Jack Daniels?) and gulps it down, saying they're all so stubborn, and he can't tell which will live and which die--though for them all to die would be no problem.-- Hazel, watching the battle, uneasily notes that the SI are seasoned fighters, and have already sussed Gato's attack patterns. He looks over at the body of Zakuro, lying undisturbed where he died, and decides to use another technique. He raises his gold pendant and begins to pray-- --and Goku, toe-to-toe with Gato, feels a hand grip his ankle. You?--yup, it's Zakuro, now a yellow-eyed zomb. Kill, it rasps. The atrocity catches Gojyo and Goku so off-guard that Gato is able to drop them both; Hakkai at once throws up a ki shield to protect himself and Sanzo, but zomb-Zakuro claws at the edge of it. Kill the demons, it giggles. --Even Sanzo is sickened, and drops the wretched thing with one shot. He turns to Hazel as the wounded Gojyo and Goku get to their feet: I never thought you were able to resurrect youkai, he says. Well, it's only meant to be used on humans, qualifies Hazel. Gojyo is stone-cold furious. You damn fraud, he snarls; you said your God gave you this power so you could kill demons, but that was just your own decision, wasn't it?! Oh my, I've been found out, says Hazel; what a shame, after I went through such trouble to hide it. The pissed-off and disgusted ikkou launch into the HT yet again, and Sanzo puts two bullets directly into Gato without slowing him down. Try hitting him for a change! says Gojyo; I did hit him! retorts Sanzo, and they can plainly see the bullets stuck harmlessly in his chest. Well, this isn't good; Gat's too fast for a ki attack to work, and mere blade damage doesn't even register. But Goku is so mad that he just doesn't care if he's shot. He barrels straight into Gato and manages to hurl him into the cliffside yet again (The landscape damage in this ep! yi!). Gojyo catches up and asks Goku how many shots Gat has left; Gat ejects his empty shells, and Gojyo reckons this is their chance, rushing at him. But the huge native slams his arm into the mesa with tremendous force; Sanzo yells that it's a trap, but too late, as tons of stone cascade down on Gato, Goku and Gojyo...