A TIME AND A PLACE TO DIE
Feels like I'm waking from the dead
And everyone's been waitin' on me
'Least now I'll never have to wonder
What it's like to sleep a year away
But were we indestructible
I thought that we could brave it all
I never thought that what would take me out
Was hiding down below
Lost the battle, win the war
Bringing my sinking ship back to the shore
We're starting over, or head back in
There's a time and a place to die but this ain't it
This is it. This is what it all came down to. Months of ruthless training, the torture, the blood shed, the endless mental turmoil. It was all in preparation for this moment. Right here. In this stadium. In this crumbling ring. One man, one boy. Staring possible death in the face. Except he wasn't a boy anymore and the other was certainly far from a man. Though when it all came down to it, none of that really mattered. What mattered was how it all would end. Was everything they'd both been through going to be enough? Suffice to say there could be only one winner. A winner, yes, I suppose you could call it that. However, when you're fighting for your life it's hard to remember that this was all supposed to be a competition. "May the best team win" kind of competition. But then again, both teams and both men entered the tournament knowing full well that it held a different meaning. To them, it was a death match. A "last man standing" kind of death match. You see, both teams fought valiantly. Courage, skill, tact and finesse, all rolled into one as each match went out with a bang, so to speak. But there's one thing I forgot to mention. That boy? The one who is standing in front of that man, wondering for his life? He's fighting a match that all those fighters should have fought. That boy, no, boy would not do him justice. For today he has grown into a young man. A man who now carries the weight of not only his friends lives on his shoulders but also the determination of those who could not live to tell of it. This young man is fighting for the freedom of those who were ruled by this demon in front of him, ruled by their fear of him, by their constant struggle to defeat his hold over them. That's right, demon. Of the ruthless and treacherous kind. The kind that one would not like to mess with. Someone had to. And that someone was Yusuke Urameshi. Just a teenage delinquent, risen from the dead, graced by a second chance at life. A second chance to do right by those he cared for and serve justice where it was needed. This was one of those times. Justice was to be served, not only for those this demon had killed or those he ruled, but for an old lady who granted the man a broken 50 year old story. A broken but somehow beautiful 50 year old story. One this demon didn't deserve to even grace his long life. The in depth details to it are hardly relevant. Apart from one, something that this young man had learned from the wise old hag,
"There's a time and a place for me to die, Toguro. And this ain't gonna be it."
To those he was fighting, witnessing his display of cocky power, they probably believed it. However, Yusuke hardly believed himself as his fear began to creep in. And the demon before him? Well, let's just say he was about revel in making Yusuke eat his words.