Carnage Unleashed
Yusuke Urameshi, Earth's Spirit Detective, sat in his apartment in upper Tokyo with his friends, both old and new. He was leaning against the wall next to the bookcase, arms folded across his chest and his left foot on the wall. His mother always told him not to do that, but since when did he ever listen to her? He was currently wearing a plain white t-shirt, blue jeans, and black sneakers. He figured that he would be in a big fight soon, and he didn't want to ruin his Sunday best. He and his friends were awaiting the arrival of Koenma, the Spirit World's ruling prince, so they could get some insider information about their next big enemy: a former Spirit Detective by the name of Shinobu Sensui who had gone rogue. Bored, he quickly glanced around the room at the other occupants.
Botan, Yusuke's "assistant," was sitting in a chair in front of the window, peering outside. Her hands rested on either side of her face. Her trademark light blue hair was up in a ponytail, just as it always was. She wore blue jeans and long-sleeve pink shirt, with a brown vest over it. She had been Yusuke's "assistant" as Spirit Detective ever since he had come back from the dead. Back then, she had been the escort for the dead to Spirit World, but now she had a human form so she could remain on Earth to help him out. She was good for intelligence gathering, he gave her that, but she wasn't of much use in combat situations. He didn't really blame her, though. Right now, she was keeping watch for Sensui's henchmen who would be looking for them right now.
Sitting on the floor was Yusuke's martial arts teacher, Genkai. She too, was garbed in her usual attire: fluffy white martial arts pants and a multicolored vest. Her gray hair hung over her aged eyes as she sipped some herbal tea. That old hag had put him through hell and back during his multiple training sessions, but in the end, it had all paid off. She was by far the gruffest person he had ever known; a kind little old lady, she was definitely not. She was a tough fighter, a powerful psychic, something of potty mouth, and a chain smoker. Her famed technique, the Spirit Wave, was feared by just about every demon in the Demon World, and she had passed it along to him. Although he would never say it to her, she was the adult in Yusuke's life that he respected the most.
Sitting across from Genkai was Kurama. His bright red hair stood out amongst the rest of them even more so than Botan's, as did his brilliant green eyes. His modified school uniform, which was a pale purple with yellow seams, was no different. He was drinking tea with Genkai, and seemed to be just as worried as the rest of them, and with good reason too. The funny thing about Kurama was that although he looked like a normal human, he actually was not. He was really a demon, a spirit fox to be precise, inhabiting the human form of Shuichi Minamino. Before that, he was a fearsome bandit known throughout all of the Spirit and Demon Worlds. About fifteen years ago, he made a mistake during a botched burglary, and he was gravely injured. He was forced to travel to Human Realm, and take refuge as the child of a new mother. Just some time ago, Yusuke the Spirit Detective encountered Kurama on his very first case. He had helped him save Kurama's human mother, and he had been indebted to him ever since. They're bond was not one of simple repayment, but also one of friendship. Both Yusuke and Kurama valued that greatly.
In the other bedroom was Kazuma Kuwabara, but hardly anyone called him by his first name; only his elder sister and his "girlfriend" Yukina did that. He was bandaged up on his face and most of his upper torso and arms and his dull read hair was a mess; he had been in a rather nasty fight the other day and he had still not fully recovered yet. Kuwabara and Yusuke had been rivals for most of their childhood. Yusuke was once called the toughest punk at Sarayashiki Junior High School, and Kuwabara had to deal with being the second. After Yusuke's ordeal with coming back from the dead, it seemed like they were friends now. To his credit, Kuwabara had pulled his own weight in the case involving the demon Rando, and when they fought the Four Saint Beasts of Maze Castle, and in the Dark Tournament. His special power was what he called his "Spirit Sword"; he could focus his spirit energy into a physical weapon, i.e. a sword, and attack with it like it was a lightsaber or something. The thing that Yusuke respected the most about Kuwabara was his iron code of honor. He refused to go against it in any way at all costs; he firmly held to what he believed to be the duties of a man. Yesterday, Kuwabara was attacked by a kid calling himself Seaman. After pulling a victory from out of his butt (another trait he and Yusuke shared), he carried Seaman home, along with three of his friends who had been bystanders in the incident, simply because he felt it was the right thing to do. That was just the way Kuwabara was.
Next to Kuwabara was Kiyoshi Mitarai, better known by his codename "Seaman." He had been a member of Sensui's group of human psychics. He was called so because when he activated his psychic territory, he could control any water that was mixed with his own blood. Despite the fact that he was an enemy, Yusuke could not help but feel sympathy for him. Sensui had manipulated Mitarai and gotten him to join his ranks by lying to him. Moreover, because of his naiveté and past experience, it was rather easy for Mitarai to be misguided. Throughout his school career, he had been bullied and picked on, and quite horribly at that. As time went on, his hatred for his oppressors grew, due in part to both their increasing cruelty and his inability to fight back. After the portal to the Demon World began to open, and Mitarai developed his psychic powers, was when he was confronted by Sensui. Sensui convinced him to extend his hatred to all humanity and that they should all be punished with death. However, after seeing the kindness of his supposed enemies, Mitarai might be coming around to the side of the angels once again. At least, that's what Yusuke hoped.
Up against the wall in that room was Kazuma's older sister, Shizuru Kuwabara. She shared her younger brother's high level of spiritual awareness, but she could not control her spirit energy at all, and she wasn't much of a fighter. At least when calm, anyway. She was definitely a no-nonsense type of person and wouldn't hesitate to beat the living crap out of anyone who deserved it. She was smoking another one of her ever-present cigarettes and silently fuming about something or other. She had never approved of her brother's attitude at education and his passion for fighting. She had always hoped he would go to high school, and then college, and for him to turn out better than she did. Although she was known to bash her brother around, she really did care about him, just like an older sister should.
Next to her, was Yusuke's closest confidant and girlfriend, Keiko Yukimura. Oh, she was his girlfriend alright, no matter how many times he denied it; he was just too shy to admit it. She was holding Yusuke's spirit beast Puu, which, by all accounts, looked like a blue penguin with rabbit ears. Keiko had known Yusuke for their entire lives, and was arguably the only person in the whole world who knew him inside and out. She had always tried to get him to do the right thing because she cared about him so much. When she had learned about Yusuke's missions as a Spirit Detective, she knew that it was something he had to do. Still, she worried about him almost constantly, and this whole ordeal with Sensui was just another reason. She didn't know how much more of this she could take.
At that moment, Koenma walked into Yusuke's room. He was in his older form now, which he almost used exclusively these days. He had on his usual clothes: fluffy white pants and shirt, a blue vest, and a large red scarf-thing hanging around his neck. He also had that weird pacifier of his in his mouth, like he always did, probably just a habit carried over from his toddler form. He also had that tattoo on his forehead that said "Jr." At least, it looked like a tattoo; it could have been a birthmark or something. He asked Botan to retrieve Kuwabara from the other room and to look after Mitarai for a while, and she complied. Kuwabara came into the room a moment later; now the whole group was present. Well, everybody, except Hiei the fire demon, but they didn't expect his help in this case anytime soon. Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Genkai all listened intently to Koenma's account of Sensui's history.
Apparently, Shinobu Sensui had been a child prodigy, at least as far as spiritual potential was concerned. He could easily sense apparitions around him, but unlike most people who could do this, he could also destroy those apparitions. This came in quite handy very often, considering that demons constantly hunted him day and night. To Koenma, selecting Sensui as a Spirit Detective seemed the most natural thing in the world. His one weakness, however, was his stout belief in absolutes; all humans were good and needed to be protected, and all demons were evil and had to be destroyed. This single fatal flaw proved to be his downfall. Almost ten years ago, on a mission to stop demon trafficking by an organization calling themselves the Black Black Club, he saw something he never should have seen: humans torturing demons for no reason other than for their own amusement. In that instant, everything Sensui thought to be true was completely demolished. If humans were good, why were they doing evil things to demons that didn't seem to be evil? It was a total reversal of roles to Sensui. Fair was foul, and foul was fair. It was too much for him to handle. The sight drove Sensui insane and he proceeded to slaughter every human in sight. After it was over, he vanished entirely. He had resurfaced for the first time in a decade just a few days ago. Now he was bent on annihilating the entire human race, which he now deemed to be sinful in general. To do that, he plans to open a portal to the deepest parts of the Demon World, in order to flood the earth with the strongest class of demons, who would then proceed to destroy everything in sight. He started opening the tunnel about a month ago, and according to Spirit World intelligence, it would be complete in no more than two weeks. When this tunnel first started opening, it released a massive amount of demonic energy, causing humans in the surrounding area who were particularly sensitive to things of the supernatural to develop psychic powers. They could activate these powers with their own personal "territories," which were the areas around them wherein they could use their newfound abilities. Yusuke and the gang had already dealt with a few of them. Sensui then recruited seven other psychics to his horrific cause and used them as minions to carry out his twisted plans.
"So he couldn't take a little death of personal innocence, huh?" remarked Yusuke after Koenma was finished recounting the saga of Shinobu Sensui.
"It was far more complex than that," replied Koenma through his pacifier.
"Ignorant as always, Dimwit," said Genkai, addressing Yusuke. "You never think enough to get the big picture."
"Precisely why I chose him as Sensui's successor," said Koenma. "I didn't want a repeat of the same incident."
"Ohhhhhh! Now I see," said Kurama.
"Don't be too quick to defend me, pal," said Yusuke sarcastically.
"Sorry."
Kuwabara slammed his fist on the table. "Enough! That story was informing and all that, but right now we need to focus on finding and beating Sensui's team of seven psychics!"
"I concur with Kuwabara; that is the direst matter on hand," said Kurama.
"Let's see," said Yusuke as he counted them off on his fingers. "That psychic who could read minds that we met at the restaurant said there were seven of these guys. He said their codenames were Dark Angel, Game Master, Sniper, Gate Keeper, Doctor, Gourmet, and Seaman."
"We have already defeated the corrupt Doctor, Minoru Kamiya," said Genkai.
"And Kuwabara has apprehended Seaman, Kiyoshi Mitarai; he's in the next room," added Kurama. "We do know a little about the one called Sniper; he can throw objects at tremendous velocity, but that's about the extent of our information about him."
"So that means two down, five to go," said Yusuke. "And the only clue about who they are and what their powers could be is their codenames." He sighed.
Just then a voice behind them spoke up. "Actually, their may be one more."
The lot of them turned toward the doorway to see Mitarai limp into the room.
"Mitarai, you should be up. You're still injured," said Kuwabara.
"Don't worry about me, I'm fine," said Mitarai as he sat down next to Kurama.
"Alright then," said Yusuke. "What's this about another one?"
"I'm not entirely sure," replied Mitarai. "It's just that I overheard Mr. Sensui talking to Gate Keeper a little while ago, and he mentioned that 'the last of my warriors will be arriving soon.'"
"So?" said Yusuke. "That could have meant something else."
"No, it couldn't, because I knew for a fact that all seven of us were present at the time. So, he must have been talking about someone else."
"Okay," interjected Kuwabara, "so let's say that there is one more wacko we have to deal with. What can you tell us about him?"
"Well," said Mitarai thoughtfully as he tried to remember as much of the details of that particular conversation as he could. "All I can recall is that Mr. Sensui said that this new guy is from America and that he had just broken him out of prison. Someplace called the 'Raft,' I think. Mr. Sensui said he would be arriving here in Japan relatively shortly, after he had 'done away with some personal business.'"
"So what's his name then?" asked Yusuke.
"I don't know his real name," replied Mitarai. "But I do know the codename Mr. Sensui called him by."
"So what is it?" inquired Kuwabara.
"Carnage."
There was a long silence in the room.
"Well, that sounds nasty," commented Yusuke.
"Do you know what this psychic can do?" asked Kurama.
"No, unfortunately I don't," answered Mitarai.
"So that makes six more psychics we have to deal with," remarked Genkai. "Now we just have to find them."
"We don't have to," said Kurama while looking out the corner of his right eye. "They're already here."
The group turned to face the window and look outside. Standing on the rooftop of a building across the street were two men. The one on the left had short black hair and small, cold eyes. He was wearing a red biker jacket over a black shirt and blue jeans. Red-and-white fingerless gloves covered his pocketed hands. His sneakers rested on the ground in a relaxed, almost cocky, manner. They had had a very brief encounter with him before, when he attacked them from a distance a few days ago. He seemed to be Sensui's right-hand man or something, and definitely the stoic type. They figured he was the one named Sniper.
Next to Sniper, was Shinobu Sensui himself. He had on a loose-fitting blue shirt and brown pants, with shined black shoes. His hair was slicked back neatly on top of his head, with a single lock falling down the left side of his face. His most prominent feature was the chakra jewel in the middle of his forehead. As to why that was there, Koenma never elaborated upon. His glare was piercing, as if he was looking right through them. He too was in a relaxed and confident posture; his hands were in his pockets and he was slightly slouching. He had the creepiest grin on his face; it was snide, evil, and mocking. Yusuke hated it.
"Sensui!" growled Yusuke under his breath. "What the hell is he doing here?!"
Yusuke got his answer. Sensui slowly lifted his right hand out of his pocket into a horizontal position and brought it in front of him. He pointed at Yusuke with his index finger. At first, Yusuke thought he was going to attack him somehow, so he braced himself. Surprisingly, no such assault came. Instead, Sensui gradually lowered his hand from Yusuke to the ground. Yusuke followed his finger to the street below. Standing there was a very strange-looking third man.
He was looking straight up at Yusuke and the others. His skin was a pale peach color, unlike Yusuke's own. His fiery red hair was severely messy and disheveled, very similar to Kuwabara's, but far more violent-looking. He wore nothing more than a simple white t-shirt and blue jeans with white tennis shoes. His face was contorted into the most sadistic-looking grin Yusuke had ever seen, ever more so than the Doctor's. His eyes were cold and black, as if they were portals to some dark dimension, like the chaotic insanity that lay beneath them. He looked arguably even more sinister than Sensui himself.
Yusuke looked back up and Sensui and Sniper. Sensui merely smirked at Yusuke one last time. Then he waved at his successor as Spirit Detective and leapt off the building to other behind him. Sniper followed suit. The two of them continued in this fashion until they were out of sight beyond the horizon.
"Well, there goes the 'Demented Duo,'" commented Yusuke. "Which only leaves the question of 'who the hell is this guy?'" He indicated the figure below him.
"Do you know him, Mitarai?" asked Kurama.
"No, no I don't."
"Then he must be that Carnage guy you were just talking about," said Kuwabara.
"Well, whoever he is, he must be part of Sensui's group, which means he's goin' down!" shouted Yusuke. With that, he threw open the window and leapt down at this new enemy.
"Urameshi! That's four stories!" cried Kuwabara. "Oh, that idiot!"
He ran out of the room and down the stairs. As he passed, Botan noticed and called to him.
"Wait, Kuwabara!" she said. "Where are you going?"
"It's the bad guys! They've found us!" he called back. "And we think there's a new one!"
"What?" Botan cried. She threw down the magazine she was reading and went to the window to see whom Kuwabara was talking about. Keiko did the same, as did Shizuru, but she kept her cigarette in her mouth. They started to go after him, but then Kurama cut in front of them.
"It's probably best if you stay here," he said. "We have no idea what this guy can do."
Then he, Koenma, and Genkai ran outside to meet Yusuke. Mitarai returned to the bed in the other room; he was in no shape to fight. Yusuke was already staring down the bad guy de jour when the other three arrived.
"So, you must be one of Sensui's circus of freaks," he remarked snidely.
"Says the mutie kid who can shoot lasers from his finger," replied the mystery man. His voice was high-pitched, but that didn't make him any less intimidating.
"Point taken. How 'bout I use it on you then?"
The man laughed. It sounded like the cackle of an insane clown. "Just you try it, punk."
"That's strange," said Kurama from behind Yusuke.
"What is?" asked Yusuke.
"I don't sense any psychic territory," Kurama replied.
"Same here," added Genkai. "Moreover, this man's spirit energy is dismal at best."
"Then what makes him so dangerous?" Kuwabara thought aloud.
"You're about to find out, kid," said the man.
"Alright," said Yusuke. "Just who are you anyway?"
"The name's Kasady, Cletus Kasady. Your executioner."
"You're a confident one, aren't you?" remarked Yusuke. "Just what do you want with me?"
"Sensui was so kind, breaking me out of the Raft," Kasady said. "He offered me a chance to help bring about the end of humanity. How could I pass up my life's dream? The ultimate chaos, that's my idea of fun! Sensui was even nice enough to let me begin by killing you, the greatest threat to our plans! And after I'm done with you, I think I'll do in everyone you know, just for good measure!"
Then Kasady let out the most psychotic laugh Yusuke had ever heard. It was then that he realized that he was dealing with a true lunatic. Only the genuinely mad could produce that kind of crazy laughter. He was going to murder him and his friends, and he was going to enjoy it! Yusuke felt his anger rising within him, as well as his spirit energy. Just as he was about to materialize his spirit energy and blast Kasady into the next dimension with it, he was stopped by Genkai. She grabbed his arm and restrained him. He looked down at her, furious that she had stopped him from pounding this Yankee scum into the asphalt. She simply shook her head to the side. The Yusuke understood that it was not time to wail on this guy just yet; they had to find out a little more about him first.
Then Kurama spoke up. "Well, judging from your appearance and name, I think that it is safe to say that you are from America. Am I correct in assuming this?" he asked Kasady.
"Hn, I suppose so, but I don't really think of myself as an American," Kasady replied with that same insane smirk on his face. "I'm more of an anarchist."
"Duly noted. But I would like you to answer me this: how are you able to understand and speak our language so well?"
Kasady let out that mad cackle of his again. "Glad you asked, kid," he said.
He lifted his right hand and tapped his ear with his index finger. It was then that Yusuke and the others noticed that there was a small radio-like device in his ear. It looked like a walkie-talkie that a government agent would wear.
"Sensui figured I would need to talk with you Japs sooner or later, so at his suggestion, I lifted this little do-hickey from Stark Industries before I left for this place," explained Kasady. "The lab techs at the plant said it's a device that translates any language into any other language, both spoken and heard. I hear it even works with Klingon and Elfish!" He cackled again. He seemed to do that a lot.
"Hmm," said Kurama. "It seems as though Sensui has thought of everything, hasn't he?"
"That still gives us next to nothing about what he can do," remarked Koenma. "But I know how to fix that." He turned to face Yusuke apartment building and looked up at the room adjacent to one they were just in. "Botan!"
Botan, Keiko, and Shizuru had been watching from the Yusuke's apartment window. Botan was slightly startled by called so suddenly. She peered out the window a little further and looked down at her addresser. "Um, yes, sir?"
"I need you go back to Spirit World, quickly," Koenma explained. "I want you to search the human files and get me everything we have about a man named 'Cletus Kasady.' He resides in America and has a criminal record there. That should narrow it down for you. Now go!"
Understanding the seriousness of the situation, Botan quickly complied. "Yes, sir!" She materialized her oar in her hand, mounted it, and flew off into the sky like a witch on Halloween.
Kasady noticed Botan flying away. He chuckled to himself again. "Nobody leaves here alive, not on my watch."
At this, Yusuke's rage returned. He was going to attack one of his friends! He had to do something. He charged at Kasady before Kasady had a chance to react. "Your fight's with me, jerkwad!" he shouted.
Yusuke delivered a mighty right hook to Kasady's face, which caused him to slide back along the cement a few feet from the force of the impact. Kasady was apparently stunned by the sudden onslaught, but his blank face promptly returned to his sadistic grin. Then came another evil cackle. Kasady stood upright and wiped the small amount of blood on his lip away with his fist.
"Not bad, half-pint," he taunted. "First blood to you. I always figured I'd have that honor."
"You'll find that I'm full of surprises," retorted Yusuke.
Kasady chuckled for what seemed the hundredth time. "Well, this has been a fun warm-up for the both of us. I think it's time I show why I'm called Carnage!"
What Yusuke saw next was arguably the most horrific thing that he ever laid eyes on. Thick tendrils of some unknown material burst from Kasady's body like a wild plant exploding from the ground and began to surround him. The color was a mixture of violent bright red and the darkest black. Soon, Kasady's entire appearance had been overtaken by this substance. The evil-colored mass ebbed and flowed around him like a river, but its movement was more alive than that. Sinister white patches covered his eyes, fixed into a permanent cutting glare of pure evil. Kasady's mouth had become a black mass covered in razor-sharp black teeth, and his fingers were replaced by jagged claws. He resembled a ferocious demon more than a man now.
"Wha . . . what kind of demon are you?" stuttered Yusuke. He had never seen anything so menacing and evil looking in his life. Freddy Kruger seemed docile compared to him.
"Demon?" Kasady, now Carnage, cackled. "Whoever said I was a demon?"
"He's right," Genkai spoke up. "There is no demonic aura coming from him, and neither is it a psychic aura. Whatever that is, it's not from Demon World, nor is it a psychic manifestation."
"If you're not a demon, then what on earth are you?" asked a shaky Kuwabara.
Carnage turned to him. "Why, nothing on Earth, silly boy. This here's a bonified alien symbiote. I got it a few years ago when I broke out of Ravencroft with my cellmate Eddie Brock. The symbiote he had graciously left it behind for me. Isn't it great?!"
"Breaking out of prison seems to be a hobby of yours, Carnage," remarked a recently gathered-together Yusuke.
Surprisingly, Carnage briefly became serious and his voice momentarily lost its natural insanity. "Kid, you have no idea." But this change proved short lived, as he then resumed his usual manic disposition. "But that's a story you'll never hear, 'cause you'll be dead in a few minutes. Now, boy, there's something I'd like to ask you."
"What's that?" inquired Yusuke.
As he spoke, Carnage's clawed right hand transformed from its normal state into a lethal axe blade, razor-sharp and ready to Yusuke to pieces. "What color do you bleed?"
Yusuke swallowed. "What kind of question is that?"
Carnage snickered. "It's something I ask of all my prey before I kill them. I just like the way it sounds. Plus, I usually find out anyway."
With that, Carnage leapt forward with uncanny speed and agility, axe as hand, and took a swipe at an off-guard Yusuke. Thanks to his training as Spirit Detective, Yusuke was able to regain enough of his reflexes to at least partially dodge the attack. However, Carnage did succeed in slicing a rather large cut across Yusuke's chest. It wasn't bad, but it would definitely hinder his ability to fight, something he really couldn't afford right now. He clutched his wound in pain. This was not off to a good start.
Keiko, who had been watching the entire time, was beside herself seeing her boyfriend injured like that. "Yusuke!" she cried.
"Come on, Urameshi, you can do better than that," said Kuwabara.
Carnage halted his assault for the moment. He brought his axe-hand up to his face and licked some of the blood off the blade. "Not bad, kid. You're a quick one. This will be even more fun than I thought."
"Hnn. You just caught me off guard, that's all," remarked Yusuke. "It won't happen again."
"Says you," replied Carnage. He formed his other hand into a sword-like blade, completing his lethal set of living weapons. "Don't worry; I'll make this quick, but it'll still hurt like hell."
With that, Carnage resumed his attack, slashing like mad at the Spirit Detective. Yusuke charged up enough of his spirit energy to provide a semi-suitable defense against Carnage's assault. He did his best to block and deflect Carnage's lethal swipes, but it didn't seem to be doing much good; his body was quickly becoming covered in scratches, cuts, and lacerations. His body wouldn't be able to take much more of this.
Gathering a mass of spirit energy into his fists, he swatted Carnage's arms away from his body. Before the maniac could recover, Yusuke delivered a flurry of spirit-powered punches to Carnage's stomach.
"Yeah! Go Urameshi!" cheered Kuwabara. "Beat the tar outta him!"
Yusuke finished his counterattack with a massive uppercut to Carnage's jaw. Carnage stumbled back a bit, still stunned from his opponent's savage retaliation.
"Heh, how does your ribcage feel now, Carnage, now that it's in pieces?" Yusuke taunted.
To Yusuke and the gang's surprise and horror, Carnage merely laughed it off. "Impressive. Most impressive. But you're not strong enough to hurt me just yet, kid."
What the? Not even a scratch on him?! thought Yusuke. Okay, now I'm really in trouble. Time to bring out the big gun. Literally. Yusuke held out his right index finger at his side. Without warranting Carnage's attention, he began to gather as much of his spirit energy as he could and focused it into his finger. It began to glow a bright blue, but thankfully, Carnage didn't seem to notice.
"End game, Junior. Now, die!" Carnage ran at Yusuke, his weapon-arms out and ready to eviscerate Yusuke into oblivion.
"Oh yeah? Eat SPIRIT GUN, moron!" cried Yusuke.
Yusuke brought his right hand up and extended it full length, braced with his other hand. He formed an imaginary gun with his fingers, pointed right as Carnage's heart. In an impressive display of power, Yusuke released all of energy at once at Carnage. A massive beam of bright blue force erupted from Yusuke's finger like lava out of a volcano and headed straight for Carnage.
"What?!" was all Carnage had time to say before he was struck by the attack and sent hurling backward with the blast. His body was thrown back twenty feet into a car parked at the other end of the alley, where the blast detonated. Thick smoke quickly covered the area, obscuring Carnage's remains from view.
"Game, set, match, you freak," said Yusuke triumphantly.
"Yeah, Yusuke! Woooo!" Keiko cheered for him. He turned his head to her and winked while giving her a single thumbs-up.
Suddenly, Genkai spoke up again. "You're not out the woods yet, Dimwit."
"What?" Yusuke spat out.
He turned to face the now-clearing smoke. He was horrified to see that as it cleared, Carnage's form could be easily seen. He was standing upright and began to walk toward Yusuke. His hands were back to their normal form and his devilish grin was back on his face. The worst part was that he looked completely unharmed!
"No way! That was my strongest blast!"
Carnage chuckled. "That wasn't bad, kid. Nearly singed me, that one did."
Keiko covered her mouth in shock. Shizuru still had the same neutral expression she always had. Kuwabara stood with his jaw on the ground, stuttering like a moron. Genkai and Kurama stared at Carnage, their glare fixed in a mix of determination and utter disdain.
"Don't worry, though. No real harm done," Carnage said. "Can't say the same for you though." His clawed hands extended into fearsome blades, each one at least a foot long. "No more Mr. Nice Homicidal Maniac."
Carnage leapt in the air and came down at Yusuke, who had braced himself for another attack. He gritted his teeth as he prepared for his final attempt to destroy this abomination. He poured the last remnants of his spirit energy into his entire fist.
"Well, I got one last thing up my sleeve, douchebag!" he cried.
Yusuke held up his glowing blue fist and unleashed his ace in the hole. He shook his fist back and forth rapidly, releasing the power stored within.
"SHOTGUN!"
Dozens of small Spirit Gun bullets burst out of his fist. The spirit barrage halted carnage's attack and he hung there in the air for the slightest of moments. The bullets flew past Carnage, tearing chunks out of his alien costume. He struggled against the force of Yusuke's offensive, his claws inching forward ever so slightly, trying to get close enough to Yusuke to rip him limb from limb. Yusuke's attack was beginning to lose some of its oomph and Carnage didn't seem to be tiring. With a single upsurge of uncanny strength, Carnage overpowered the Spirit Shotgun technique by slashing forward with his claws, cutting deep gashes in Yusuke's torso. Yusuke fell to his knees in agony.
As Carnage stood there, the pieces of his costume that had been torn apart by Yusuke's attack reformed, leaving him completely undamaged. Several thin tendrils of his symbiote costume emerged from the larger mass and wrapped themselves around Yusuke's body. They lifted him from the ground by his four limbs and held him spread eagle in the air. He tried to struggle and escape, but he had expended too much of energy already; he was trapped and at the mercy of this lunatic.
Carnage cackled again. "That was pretty good, kid. Too bad it wasn't enough."
"Oh no, Yusuke!" Keiko cried from the window.
"Looks like he's about to become shish-kabob," remarked Shizuru neutrally.
"Shizuru!" Keiko turned to her. "How could you say something like that?!"
Shizuru remained silent for a second. "Sorry."
"C'mon, Urameshi! Snap out of it!" shouted Kuwabara.
"Don't you worry about him, kid," said Carnage. "He won't suffer . . . for very long, that is." He cackled again. He turned to Yusuke, who was still trying in vain to free himself from Carnage's slimy tentacles, grunting in pain from the injuries he had sustained. He extended his clawed hands again, this time even sharper. "Now, which one of your organs should I rip out first? Oh! I know! How 'bout your spleen? I hear you don't even need that one anyway!"
Laughing like a madman, Carnage raised his claws, preparing to eviscerate Yusuke. Just as he was about to bring his claw down on him, a quick flash of green cut the tendrils holding Yusuke captive, and he dropped to the floor, barely able to remain conscious. Carnage, startled, hesitated to bring down his claws. He turned around to see Kurama landing ten feet away from him, his weapon falling to the ground around him. Kurama was holding was looked to be a long plant vine, covered in thorns. Carnage turned his full attention to this interloper.
"Well, that was rude! I was in the middle of something, you know!" he said. "Now you're next, pretty boy." He started to move toward the red-haired young man.
"Forgive my interference, but I was not going to allow you to slay my friend in such a barbaric manner," Kurama replied.
"Spare me the big words, Plato. You're about to join the Dead Poet's Society!" Carnage said.
"I'm afraid I will have to disagree."
Genkai lowered her voice and spoke to Kuwabara, who was standing next to her. "Kuwabara, go get Yusuke and bring him over here. Quickly, before Carnage notices."
"Oh, okay," he replied and did as he was told. He went over to Yusuke, who was hanging onto consciousness by a thread. "C'mon, Urameshi. We need to get you outta here."
Yusuke spoke, although it was barely audible. "What about the nutcase? I still gotta finish him."
"Kurama is gonna take care of 'em, don't worry about that." Kuwabara said as he put Yusuke's arm over his shoulder for support.
"Thanks, pal," said Yusuke.
Kuwabara took Yusuke back over to where Genkai and Koenma were standing.
"Nice job with that one, Dimwit," muttered Genkai.
"Oh, shut up, Grandma."
Back in the fight, Carnage was fuming that his latest victim had escaped his grasp. However, his current anger was focused on Kurama, so Yusuke's fight was out of the fire for the moment.
"Why, you little crap! You took my prey from me!" growled Carnage.
"I shall be your opponent now. Is this satisfactory?" asked Kurama.
Carnage looked almost dumbfounded for the slightest of moments. "Yeah, whatever. I'll get you all eventually, so it doesn't matter what order you go in. But I do have one little question."
"Yes?"
"Just what do you call that thing you have there?" Carnage indicated Kurama's weapon.
"This is my Rose Whip."
Carnage's posture relaxed a bit and he put his hand up to his chin in thought. "Hmmm. Interesting. It's got a girly name, but it looks like it could be capable of some serious mutilation. I like it."
Kurama remained silent, staring at Carnage with expressionless eyes.
"What a sicko," said Kuwabara.
"Well, enough of this. Time to die!" Carnage cried.
Carnage reengaged his sharp claws and lunged at Kurama. Kurama responded by slashing at Carnage with his Rose Whip. With effortless hand movements, Kurama was able to hack several pieces out of Carnage's body, halting his enemy's assault. Carnage fell to the ground, apparently unconscious. It seemed as though Kurama had finally beaten this guy.
"Woah!" said Kuwabara. "Kurama actually did it!"
"I don't know about that, Kuwabara," Genkai responded.
"Are you kidding?" Kuwabara cried out. "No human can take a beating like that a get up from it."
"True," commented Koenma. "But we're not dealing with a human here."
Genkai and Koenma were right. Even though he seemed to be roughed up beyond recognition, Carnage still had a lot of life left in him. Slowly, he thrust his clawed hand into the ground beside him, and using it as leverage, forced himself back on his feet. All of the wounds inflicted by Kurama's Rose Whip Lash attack reformed and completely healed. Cricking his neck, Carnage's trademark insane grin reappeared on his face.
"Well, that was refreshing."
"I don't believe this guy!" shouted Kuwabara. "He's practically indestructible! Both Urameshi and Kurama's toughest moves haven't even scratched him! He's like the Elder of the Toguro brothers, only like ten times worse!"
Yusuke, who had been barely hanging on to consciousness since his own beating, coughed up a response. "You have a real knack for stating the painfully obvious, you idiot."
Kurama, on the other hand, retained his calm demeanor, as always. A small smile appeared on his face. "Fret not my friends. I still have yet to use my secret weapon. And I believe I will do that now."
"What's he talkin' about?" asked Kuwabara.
Just then, Carnage let another one of his mad cackles. "Secret weapon? For your sake I hope you weren't taking about this little thing."
Carnage held his right hand out to his side, palm facing upward. A mass of his costume rose from his palm, like a sprout coming from beneath the ground. Held within this small tentacle was a small seed. Upon seeing it, Kurama's eyes went wide.
"My Death Seed!"
"Oh yeah!" exclaimed Kuwabara. "He was talkin' about that Death Seed of his! That one where he puts it in his opponent's body and it kills 'em when it sprouts." He waited a moment, satisfied with himself that he had figured it out. And then it hit him. "Wait a minute! How did Carnage get it?!"
"Heh heh. Simple, kid," answered Carnage. "My symbiote is completely bonded to my entire body, including my bloodstream. The second this little thing got in there, my symbiote found it and got it out real quick-like."
"I see," said Koenma. "Kurama must have slipped it in during that last attack, hoping it would soon sprout and finish him off."
"Apparently," said Genkai. "But none of us could have predicted all the abilities that symbiote of his endows him with. I've got to admit, it truly is remarkable."
Shocked that his trump card had itself been trumped, Kurama had yet to move. He simply remained still, with the same stoicism he always had.
Carnage casually threw the Death Seed to the side, where it fell into a drainage ditch, no longer functioning as a threat. This, of course was followed by another cackle.
"Not that this hasn't been fun, but this is beginning to bore me. And I do have to wrap this up, 'cause Sensui and the rest of the boys and I got an entire human race to annihilate."
Then, quick as lightning, Carnage thrust forward his clawed hand at Kurama. His claws elongated this time closing the distance between himself and his opponent faster than the human eye could track. Caught off guard, Kurama was stabbed clean through by all five digits, and he fell backward in a bloody heap.
"Kurama!" cried Kuwabara.
Carnage retracted his claws and smiled to himself in accomplishment. "Ba bum bum bum. Another one bites the dust."
Kuwabara ran up to his fallen comrade. "Are you okay?"
Kurama coughed up a mouthful of blood. He spoke, but he kept his voice low so Carnage couldn't hear. "I'll be alright. My wounds are not very serious. Although he his physically strong, he does not boast a very extensive knowledge of his adversary's human physiology, and to this I owe my survival."
"Huh?"
"He missed all my vital organs."
"Oh."
Kurama coughed again. "Forgive me, friend, but it looks like I will no longer be able to continue this fight. It's up to you now."
"Don't worry about it," said Kuwabara unsteadily. "I-I'll be okay." He carried Kurama over to where Yusuke was and set him down. He walked back to Carnage with a look of determination on his face, but he couldn't seem to stop shaking.
Carnage turned to face him and slowly began walking toward Kuwabara himself. He formed his right hand into a single, sharp blade again as he moved forward. "And another one gone and another one gone. Another one bites the dust, eh. Hey, I'm gonna get you too. Another one bites the dust!"
"Spare us the bad concert, you freak," said Kuwabara.
That shut Carnage up. At least for a second. "Well well, looks like the coward finally found some guts. Too bad it ain't gonna do you any good."
"I'll show you!" he replied.
Kuwabara held out his right hand and braced it with his left. Glowing red energy began to form in his palm. Soon, a small sphere had taken shape. When Kuwabara grasped it, its shape expanded into a long shaft. As soon it was about three feet long, a blade and hilt appeared. It had become a sword, a sword of pure energy.
"Wow, impressive. But just who do you think you are, anyway? Luke Skywalker?" said Carnage. He formed his free hand into a large axe. He imitated heavy, labored, mechanical breathing. "Luke, I am your father. Ha ha! I've always wanted to say that."
Kuwabara stood his ground. He spread his legs apart and held his Spirit Sword steady in both hands. Well, as steady has he could considering how terrified he was. Carnage started to sprint, both of his arm-weapons held high in the air, ready to come down on Kuwabara and chop him to bits. Carnage was mere inches away from Kuwabara; this was it!
"Die!"
Just as Carnage's attack came down, flash of black light pushed Kuwabara out of the way, before evading the attack itself. The dark-colored blur came to rest above them, on top of the apartment building.
Carnage grunted violently at the newest intrusion. "Oh, for the love of Jack the Ripper! Now what?!"
Carnage looked up at the blur, which, in its fixed state, appeared to have a human form. It was kind of short though. Then it spoke. "Killing off opponents weaker than yourself simply for the sake of doing it isn't a sign of strength. It is the act of a foolish coward."
"What did you say, you little crap?! Come down here down here and fight me if you think you're so tough!" Carnage shouted.
"Gladly."
The figure effortless leapt down from its position atop the roof and landed just as easily a few front of Carnage. Judging from his posture, it would have looked like he hardly moved.
Kuwabara, who had stood up by now, looked over at the one who saved him. As he recognized who it was, his eyes went wide. He couldn't believe it! It was the last guy any of them expected to see here. "Hiei!"
It was true. Hiei had actually shown up, to the surprise of everyone present. He stared up at Carnage, a confident smirk on his face. He stood a good one-and-a-half heads beneath the psychotic madman. His eyes were somewhat wider than normal, with a cold, almost sinister look to them. His untamed and spiky hair was jet-black hair, except for a single streak of white. The pullover trench coat he wore perfectly matched the color of his hair, as did his pants and boots. He also wore was a white bandana on his forehead and a matching scarf around his neck. Even though his hands were casually in his pockets, his heavily bandaged right hand and forearm could be easily seen. Despite his size he possessed an aura of power and fighting spirit.
"And just who are you, little man?" asked Carnage mockingly. "A representative of the Lollipop Guild?"
"Your pitiful attempts at jeering me fall on deaf ears, weakling. Why don't you pass on these small fry and fight a true warrior like me?"
Carnage's own smirk quickly fell before he recovered it shortly. "Wise guy, eh? I can fix that for ya."
Carnage slashed at Hiei with his sword-hand. But it never made contact. Hiei seemed to vanish just as the attack was about to connect.
"What the? Where did he go?" said an utterly dumbfounded Carnage. He looked around and finally found Hiei standing behind him, in essentially the same position as he was before. "Huh? How did he do that?"
"Simple, you powerless fool," responded Hiei without moving. "I'm just way faster than you."
"Oh yeah?" retorted an angry Carnage. He tried his attack again, slashing at Hiei with his bladed arm. The result was the same: Hiei effortlessly avoided the strike, returning to his initial position on the ground. "Looks like it will take a little extra pepper to take you out, shorty."
"Indeed. Unfortunately for you, you're just not up to the task."
Hiei removed his trench coat, revealing his muscular physique. He had been concealing a katana sword beneath it. He gripped the handle and readied the blade to be drawn. "I, however, am more than capable of defeating the likes of you."
In a flash, Hiei unsheathed his sword, dashed forward, and cut Carnage up his torso, all in one, lightning-fast move. Carnage let out nothing more than an irritated grunt. Seeing as how his singular attack had done little damage to his opponent, Hiei followed up his assault with a flurry of countless repeated blows. Carnage, caught off guard by the attack, was unable to block or dodge them. After Hiei had finished his attack, he leapt backwards, away from his now battered and torn form. Carnage fell to the ground, his bladed-hand all that was keeping him upright.
"Hmph. What a pathetic weakling. I knew he was a pitiful fighter, but that was too easy," said Hiei as he sheathed his sword.
Kuwabara spoke up, having worked his way back over to Genkai and the others. "Don't count him out yet, Hiei!"
"What are you talking about, you idiot?" he responded.
"He's right, Hiei," added Koenma.
"What?"
"He seems to possess the ability to quickly recover from injury, no matter how serious," said Koenma. "I highly doubt that attack finished him."
"Heh heh heh."
Hiei glanced behind him to look at Carnage, but did not completely turn around.
"You should listen to that rave kid, half-pint. He knows what he's talking about," Carnage said without lifting his head.
This time, it was Carnage's turn to mount a swift attack. With a speed he had not yet demonstrated, he got to his feet and dashed over to Hiei and took a swipe at him. Despite this new speediness, Hiei still leapt behind Carnage, effectively evading the attack. He quickly drew his own sword and swiped at Carnage himself. This time, however, Carnage was able to parry the attack with his sword-hand. This took Hiei off guard; he had not expected that Carnage was capable of that kind of a speed increase.
Hiei attempted another attack, but this, too, was blocked. The two combatants exchanged multiple blows, each of their attacks blocked or dodged by the other. It looked like this battle could go on forever, the two fighters equally matched. Hiei soon miscalculated one of his parries by a few millimeters, and Carnage took advantage of it, slashing Hiei across the chest with his claws. Hiei let out a growl of pain. Satisfied with his successful attack, Carnage temporarily let his guard drop. With new anger and determination, Hiei was able to swat Carnage's blade-hand with his sword. Now open for attack, Hiei decided to bring out one of his special techniques. Holding Carnage's own hand-weapon at bay with his left hand, Hiei cocked his right fist back. Blue flames began to erupt from his fist.
"FIST OF THE MORTAL FLAME!"
Hiei delivered a mighty punch to Carnage's face that sent him back a few feet. This was the fist time that Carnage let out a true cry of pain. The others were shocked to see this. So far, none of there attacks had did any real damage to Carnage, but Hiei's Fist of the Mortal Flame technique seemed to really hurt him. They looked on as Carnage began to recover from the blow. He clutched the part of his face that had been struck; it was badly burned. His symbiotic costume was attempting to heal the damage, but it was having a much harder time than before.
Carnage rounded on Hiei, his devilish eyes fixed in mindless rage. "You're going to pay for that, runt!" His claws ready to eviscerate him, Carnage charged at Hiei.
Hiei saw the attack coming. In this infuriated state, Carnage was far less focused and much more prone to making mistakes, and this was one of them. Carnage had gone on the complete offensive, lashing out with all his might, making him utterly defenseless to precise attacks. As Carnage sideswiped at Hiei with his claws, Hiei merely ducked to evade the attack. Then he hit the villain with another Fist of the Mortal Flame to the gut. Carnage was thrown back into a building behind him, a scorch mark left from Hiei's attack. He fell to the ground in agony, clutching his newest wound.
Genkai had been watching all of this with great interest, as were everyone else. But she in particular was analyzing the battle. "Hmmm."
"Something wrong, Genkai?" asked Koenma.
"No, far from it. Something's very right."
"What's that?"
"Haven't you noticed that the only attacks that have worked on this guy are Hiei's?"
"Well, yeah. But what's that got to do with it? I figured he was just a better fighter."
Kuwabara spoke up. "Hey!"
"I stand by it."
Genkai stopped that argument before it went anywhere. "It's got everything to do with it. It wasn't Hiei's superior skills that is the cause of Carnage's pain. At least, not in terms of their power."
"Than what is it?" asked Kuwabara.
"Their elemental affinity."
"Huh?"
"You see, Hiei's sword strikes were very powerful and well-executed attacks, but they still amounted to squat against Carnage. It wasn't until he used his flame-based powers that Carnage took any real damage. It seems as though our enemy is weak against fire attacks."
"I see," said Koenma. "You get all that Hiei?"
"Yeah, I did," he replied.
Carnage had gathered up enough of himself to shout out in anger. "I will rip you apart and leave your carcass for the animals!"
"Hmph. Looks like it's time to use my strongest technique and this stupid fight," said Hiei.
He undid his bandana, revealing his third eye, the Jagan Eye. It was a deep purple, quite unlike his "normal" brown eyes. The Jagan eye was artificially implanted into Hiei sometime in the past at his request. This unnatural eye allowed Hiei to use powers that the rest of his kind did not have, most of them psychic in nature. But it could also summon other demons from Demon World. Next, he unraveled the bandage around his right arm, showing a black dragon tattoo wrapped around it. He held is arm upright in front of him, building up energy. Violent black flames began to come out of his arm, and his black dragon tattoo started to move, almost as if it was coming alive. And then it did.
Hiei's tattoo unwrapped itself from his arm and coiled above his body, now made of the same black fire that spawned it. With its menacing red eyes and sharp teeth, it truly did look like a demon from Hell.
Carnage, despite his condition, charged forward at Hiei, claws barred. "I'll kill you!"
Hiei just smirked at him. "I'll see you in Hell! DRAGON OF THE DARKNESS FLAME!"
Hiei extended his arm, pointing it at Carnage. The Dragon of the Darkness Flame uncoiled from above his body and flew out at Carnage following the direction of Hiei's arm.
Carnage stopped in his tracks. "What?!"
The attack blasted Carnage full force. The impact sent him flying against the building behind him spread-eagle, covered in black flame. His screams of pain echoed throughout the surrounding area. Hiei's attack subsided, but the flames still surrounded Carnage's body. Finally, he collapsed on the ground face-first, and the flames died down. His heavily damaged costume withered and retreated into his body, leaving an unconscious Kasady in his previous attire.
Hiei himself fell to his knees and took a deep breath.
"All right, Hiei!" Kuwabara congratulated him.
"Indeed, well done, Hiei," added Koenma.
"Hmph," was their hero's only reply.
Genkai cleared her throat and spoke. "We will have time for celebrations later. Right now, we need to get Kurama and the dimwit medical attention. And we have to figure out what to do with him," she indicated Kasady.
"Good point," agreed Koenma. "Kuwabara, can you get Yusuke and Kurama inside?"
"Yeah."
"Good, in that case, I'll . . ."
Just then, Botan came flying back on her oar. "Koenma!" she cried.
All those present, and conscious, turned toward her. She landed in front of Koenma.
"Koenma, sir! I brought back the information you requested! This Kasady person is an inmate of a high security prison in America called the Raft and . . ."
"Botan," Koenma interrupted her.
"Yes, sir?"
"It's already over," he answered, pointing at Kasady's unconscious body.
"What? I missed it? But I . . . oh, poop."
"Ah, well, never mind that," Koenma continued. "But since you're back, I have something else for you to do. Contact who is necessary and get Fury here immediately. Tell him about this little incident. He'll know what to do about it."
"Yes, sir!" Botan replied. She remounted her oar, and she was off again.
"Who or what is 'Fury?'" asked Kuwabara has he picked up Yusuke.
"An American acquaintance of mine. He specializes in stuff like this," Koenma answered.
"Oh."
Kuwabara finished carrying Yusuke and Kurama inside so they could be cared for, and everyone was back inside the apartment within a few minutes. Botan returned shortly and she helped Keiko and Shizuru look after the boys. All things considered, their injuries weren't all that serious; all they needed was to be bandaged up and get some rest. Hiei refused any help, like he always did. Instead, he opted to just sit in the corner and take a nap. While the injured were being treated, Kuwabara and Mitarai conversed about their favorite band, Megallica, and Genkai and Koenma talked about what they would do with Carnage and just who this Fury guy was. Kasady himself was in another corner of the room, still unconscious and pretty roughed up, restrained by a pair of Genkai's Spirit Cuffs.
After about three hours, there was a knock at the door. Keiko went to answer it. It was a man clad in a dark blue military uniform. After talking to him, she went into the room to tell Koenma.
"Um, Mr. Koenma?" she asked.
"Yes?"
"There's a man at the door for you. He says he's from something called S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Ah yes. Can you have Kuwabara bring Kasady outside?"
"Okay."
Koenma got up to follow the man outside, when Yusuke appeared from the other room.
"Wait. I wanna go too," he said.
"Yusuke!" Keiko reprimanded him. "You're still injured! You need to rest!"
"Relax, Keiko," he assured her. "I'll be fine. The worst is over anyway."
After a snort of annoyance, she consented. Koenma and the rest of the gang followed the man outside, with Kuwabara carrying Kasady. They saw a heavily armored truck with several other men dressed just like the one from the door surrounding it. They were all heavily armed with very advanced looking weaponry. One of the men walked up to Koenma. His uniform was more decorated than the others; he must have been the commanding officer. His temples were graying and he had an eye patch over his left eye. He took the cigar he had out of his mouth and spoke to Koenma.
"Not bad, takin' this guy out and all, toddler man," he said. Yusuke snickered a bit at the 'toddler' comment; evidently, he wasn't the only one who had given Koenma that nickname.
"Uh, yeah. No problem. But you should have been keeping a closer eye on this guy."
Yusuke spoke up. "Yeah, but it looks like you don't have an eye to spare."
The man turned to Yusuke. "And you are?"
"Yusuke Urameshi," he answered. "I'm a Spirit Detective."
The man looked back over at Koenma. "The newbie, eh?"
Koenma nodded.
He turned back to Yusuke. "Well, then, Mr. Spirit Detective. I am Colonel Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D."
"S.H.I.E.L.D? That some kind of secret government agency?"
Fury cocked an eyebrow. "Now who told you that?" he said sarcastically. "But, I gotta say, for a kid, you sure did a bang-up job on this guy." He pointed behind him with his thumb, indicating a subdued Kasady being loaded into the truck by his men. "We usually have to use a Hulkbuster unit to take the likes of him out."
"Uh, thanks . . . ?"
Fury turned around and looked at the truck. The men had finished loading Kasady into the truck. A man they had not noticed before was taking pictures of the scene.
"Parker! You done with that yet?" Fury called.
The man with the camera stopped what he was doing and walked over to Col. Fury and Yusuke's group. "Yeah, I'm just wrapping up."
He looked rather out of place compared to the rest of the soldiers. His hair was disheveled and messy. He wore a brown over jacket on top of a plain white T-shirt, with blue jeans and white sneakers. The camera that he had just been using was hung around his neck. He looked surprisingly calm, though, as if he was used to this kind of thing.
"I can't believe I let Jameson talk me into letting you come with us," said Fury. "And just how did he get wind of this anyway?"
Parker shrugged. "Oh, a little bug tipped him off."
"Whatever," Fury brushed it off. He shouted to his men. "Alright, boys! Let's wrap this off and get this wacko back to the Raft ASAP!" With that, he walked back over to the truck.
Parker chuckled to himself for a bit. He turned to Yusuke and offered his hand to shake. "Hey there. I'm Peter Parker."
Yusuke took Peter's hand and shook it. "Yusuke Urameshi."
"I'm a photographer for a newspaper in New York called the 'Daily Bugle.' I pulled a few strings and got the exclusive on this one."
"Nice."
"Well, I gotta go, though. Nice meetin' ya, kid."
"Likewise."
Peter started making his way back over to the truck. About midway, he stopped and turned back to Yusuke. "Nice job dealing with Carnage, by the way. I couldn't have done much better myself." With that, Peter got in the truck and they sped off.
Yusuke turned to the others, very confused. "What do you think he meant by that?"
Koenma answered him with a knowing smirk that Yusuke didn't like. "Oh, don't concern yourself with that right now. We got worse things to worry about."
"Huh?"
"Did you forget already, Dimwit?" Genkai told him. "We may have beaten Carnage, but we still have the rest of Sensui's gang to defeat before we can call this cased closed."
"Precisely," Koenma confirmed.
"Oh, yeah. That. I'll get right on that," Yusuke replied.
Everyone present stared at him, completely surprised by his response. They couldn't believe their ears. Yusuke had never been one to get to work right away.
"After I get some rest."