Yu Yu Hakusho:
THE NETHERWORLD VENDETTA

Fanfiction
By Shawn Mitchell

Chapter 1
"A Mission is Born" While the dark shadows weaved in and out of the bricks in the temple, a tall man dressed in black, with dangling straight silver hair and a scar on his left cheek, paced back and forth.

"Lord Ebiru, are you ready?" "Don't ask such insolent questions, fool! Of course I'm ready." he replied with dignity. "Get your army together." "Yes, m'lord, right away." "Be on the north side of the Netherworld. I suspect that's where he will end up first."

He would not be overcame by a boy. He intended on fixing upon the previous emperor's mistakes, by taking out the only obstacle that stood in front of him. With careful precision too. Not so straight forward as it had been many times before by previous emperors. He had carefully crafted a plan to show Yusuke Urameshi his death. And after the only obstacle was eliminated, he would conquer the spirit world, and the human world, so that the entire universe was strictly known as the Netherworld.

As Lord Ebiru looked back at his thoughts, he cackled for being so superior compared to his previous predecessors.

"Weak! They were all weak, to be overcame by a kid. But I... I can see his weakness... Yusuke Urameshi will aid me with the fate of the world."

* * *

Dressed in his green school uniform, Yusuke Urameshi sat weary-eyed against the concrete wall behind him, as the sun crossed over the shadows that covered him. And as his eyes began to finally fall into a deep slumber, the door he sat next to swung wide open with predictable fury. "Yusuke!" he heard. The voice resonated in his head, like it had so many times before. "Yusuke Urameshi, get up and go to class!" "Keiko..." Yusuke muttered. His eyes began to flicker open, while the sunlight beamed into his vision. In front of him, with the glowing radiance of the sun behind her, stood Keiko. "You're worse than my mother..." "That's right. I'm your girlfriend. Now, c'mon..." she nagged, while tugging at his shoulder. "You think because you catch demons from another world, you can skip out on your schoolwork... How do you expect to get around in the world, if you don't pass through school? Huh?!" "I don't know, Keiko. Maybe I could catch demons, like you said..." "Shut up! And get up!" With reluctance, Yusuke moved. "I really need to find a better spot to get some shut eye." "Try at home." Keiko replied. "Good idea. Tommorrow, I'm staying home." "YUSUKE!" "Kidding, kidding..." Yusuke said, moving his hair slightly, to get a better vision of Keiko. "You know, every time I see you get mad, you get hotter and hotter." "SHUT UP!" exclaimed Keiko, followed up by a swift slap to the face. "Now, let's go..."

And as Keiko turned around, she couldn't help but smile. Yusuke's charming and although cocky ways never ceased to catch her heart in mid-breath. She loved it. But she sincerely wished that Yusuke would consider taking his academics more seriously. Did he really think he could catch demons for the rest of his life, and in addition, get paid?

They were both seniors in high school now. Spending their last year together, and Yusuke had not applied to one college. It scared Keiko. She could officially handle the fact that he could fight off oversized demons, and three-eyed monsters, or princes with whistles that could control evil creatures breeding harm. But Keiko could not handle the fact that Yusuke was so unpredictable, and uncaring.

"Yusuke, I'm going to college." she finally said, as she walked down the stairway with him by her side. Until now, Yusuke had been unaware of her plans.

In truth, Yusuke was shocked, and taken aback. His only love, and true motivation to protect the human world was going to move away from him. Never had he felt such pain during the 5 years of his violent career, except perhaps the times he had seen Keiko experience near death. His stomach turned four different ways, and as shock began to sink in on him, he tried his best to hold what seemed like a tear. But after hanging around Hiei so long, he had learned to hide his emotions to save someone else's. I can't ruin this for her. She's endured all my days of being a spirit detective, and letting me risk my life. The least I can do is let her enjoy this...

"That's great, Keiko." Yusuke said, with as much fake sincerity as he could find in the depths of his body. He stopped in the middle of the stairway, to look into her eyes, but they were blocked off by her bangs, while she held her head down, close to her books. Although his answer was most considerate, it was not the answer Keiko wanted to hear. In this situation, she wanted Yusuke to be selfish and tell her to please stay by his side, so that they could be together...

"Yusuke, do you really mean that?" "Of course I do. I want you to go to college."

Unlike Yusuke, Keiko could not hold back her emotions. As tears began to fluently fall from her eyes, she stormed out the door, around the corner, and threw the hallway, until she hit the doors that led out of the school.

"Ah... I'll never understand the true psychology of girls..." Yusuke muttered to himself, under his breath. He walked out the door, with a strange feeling tagging along with him - one of which he did not remembering feeling in awhile, if at all.

Yusuke walked home that day alone, contrary the the usual days where he walked Keiko home first. the sunny day had diminished, and rain had given birth to Yusuke's matted hair. And then his thoughts of confusion were interrupted abruptly, by the feeling of a large amount of dark energy, that he couldn't quite pinpoint. But in two seconds, he didn't need to. A cloud overhead erupted with black flames, and two shadowed figures dropped down from the sky, followed by one other figure.

The two shadow figures stepped in unison, so he easily concluded that the one that had dropped down last was the leader. "You really picked a bad day to mess with me, you know?" Yusuke said rhetorically. The two figures stepped forward, and out from the shadows.

"I am, General Chiinsu, Master of the Chains Manipulation." said a tall slender figure, with a feminine voice. She stood tall with dignity, while the chains wrapped around her, helping to shape her model figure. Her lips were small and colored teal, synchronized with with her eyes, which held a keen glare on Yusuke.

"I am, General Sonu. Master of Poison." this time it was the short stocky figure, who stood rigid and held a deep masculine voice. Yusuke could easily see through his ignorance right away. And his energy was miniscule compared to his own. But, Yusuke considered the fact that he mastered poison. Of course, that didn't require as much energy as a shotgun did. He wondered what their purpose was.

"Yusuke Urameshi," said the last voice, with astounding superiority. "I have come to take your life, and give your fate. Mind you, you should be flattered, because I rarely leave my throne. This world... It's just so stuffy..." Lord Ebiru said calmly.

"Who are you, and where do you come from?" Yusuke demanded to know. "Lord Ebiru, emperor of the new Netherworld. You see, I do not intend on making the same mistakes as those who before me have." "Screw that. History repeats itself!" Yusuke charged with fury in his fists. "Shot --" His shotgun was cut off by a chain that wrapped around his arm. With such a graceful strength, Yusuke felt his body lunge backwards, and he was soon covered in chains from head to toe. "Weak. You underestimate the boy, m'lord," Chiinsu said, haughtily. "Nu uh." An simple power-up, and the chains were snapped into pieces and dropped to the ground. An elbow to the face, shut the female general up, and sent her flying into the sidewalk.

At that second, dozens of needles flew towards him. He assumed they were filled with poison, considering the fact that they were coming from what looked like to be dead fingers from Sonu. The first half were an easy dodge, but the second wave increased dramatically with speed. And as Yusuke was about to get hit by many of the needles, they all shot to the ground at the same time.

"What the - " Sonu screamed with ferocity. "Ah, come now..." came a familiar voice. "Kurama! You know this dwarf?" Yusuke exclaimed as he turned around to see his ally standing behind him. Then came another voice that brought some comfort to Yusuke. "Ah, yes. Sonu here, brings great pride to Kurama's legacy," Hiei said with sarcasm in the tone of his voice. "Mmm... Sonu is my brother."

Yusuke took a moment to look at Kurama with bedazzlement, and then look at Sonu with disgust. "You don't really bare much resemblance." "Half-brother, to be more specific," Kurama corrected. "Ha! Kurama was exiled from the our family long ago, when he gave up the luxurious life of a thief! Now, let's end this!" Sonu shouted in rage. His hands lunged out, stretching like vines. With ease, a sword from nowhere sliced through the vine that was ready to penetrate through Yusuke.

"Fool... You consciously act stupid right in front of the glare of my sword..." Hiei commented. "And I thought no one was more stupid than Yusuke's friend, Kuwabara..." "Hey!" came another voice, stumbling obnoxiously from behind a building. "I heard my name." "Oh, god..." "Aw, thanks Hiei, but really. You can call me Kuwabara." "Shut up." "Or prince, or charming, or how about Yukina's --" "SHUT UP!" Hiei exclaimed. "Ah, grouchy... "

"Enough of this," interrupted Lord Ebiru. "I will take care of this right here and now." The dark figure, finally let the pull of gravity take him down. He closed his eyes, as a black fire began to erupt around his body.

"Whaaa... What's going on, Urameshi?" Kuwabara asked puzzled. "Ebiru's energy is increasing drastically." Kurama replied.

With the classic stubbornness in his eyes, Yusuke began to charge towards the fury fire of the evil lord. "Can't let that happen..." Confronted by the two henchmen, he was forced to stutter step, and was whipped around by a chain for a second, before Kurama and Hiei took control. When Yusuke was free, he gave his nod of thanks and began once more to charge at the ultimate opposition. "Ebiru... Or whatever your name is! You're dead!"

Cackling once more, with power fuming from his breath, Ebiru opened his eyes to look into Yusuke. "I don't think so. "Robe Unmei!" came a loud voice that did not fit the evil man that it actually came from. It was deeper, with an echo that was surely to be heard throughout the entire city.

A purple blast passed directly through the center heart of Yusuke. As if the beam of dark energy was holding him up, he floated at least hundred feet above head. His body was forced to stay frozen in one position, although he noticed something strange. "What the hell is up with this?!" "Yusuke!" Kuwabara yelled, as he began to run towards him. But as if there was a forcefield in front of him, Kuwabara was not able to move dozen feet close to him. "I can't feel anything. The attack isn't doing anything but keeping me up in the air. PUT ME DOWN!" Yusuke exclaimed.

All that came from Ebiru though was a loud taunting laugh. And then a vague explanation - "Ah, your love is strong, if you cannot get down. That's what it means." "What are you talking about?" Yusuke replied. "Humans. Ignorant all around. You see, Yusuke Urameshi, Robe Unmei, sends a streak of dark energy through your heart, but rather than kill you, it goes straight to the person you love the most. The stronger your love is, the more powerful your energy is. Love is so pathetic when it's turned against you, now isn't it?" "Keiko..."

As if he had just triggered something with the sound of her name, her voice sounded throughout the atmosphere. "YUSUKE!"

He turned his head, to see that she was wrapped in a giant hand of energy. "KEIKO! No. Let her go!" "You're pathetic, Yusuke Urameshi. Love is your weakness. Love for human- life." Ebiru said, condescendingly. "But. But, your girlfriend here, will make a nice princess of the Netherworld. Just a bit of time for the energy to sink in on her, and she'll be mine." "NO!"

The other three warriors, Hiei, Kurama, and Kuwabara were forced to watch from a distance due to the dark forcefield in front of them. Chiinsu and Sonu, on the other hand were immune to the energy, and stood promptly at hand within the sphere.

"Urameshi, you weak human. You have one week to get to my palace." Ebiru nodded at his henchmen. "Now, it is time for me to go. I will enjoy seeing you suffer in our world. And just so you know - Keiko grows with a darker heart everyday she spends in the Netherworld. You better hope the last day of the week, she still holds pure enough to be saved at all, no?"

"Keiko!" "Yuske... What's happening..."

"Goodbye, Urameshi." Ebiru waved with a grin crossing his face. A portal of blackness opened behind him, and he vanished into it, followed by Chiinsu and Sonu. And the portal was quickly beginning to fade into nothingness. Yusuke followed it with all the speed he could muster, once the spear of energy had let him down.

"Keiko!" he yelled once more in vain. His hand reached through the hole in the world, and as if he had grabbed a tree branch or something, he pulled his way through, where light turned to dark, and the shadows was suddenly the only thing guiding him.

* * *

"Lord Ebiru, Yusuke Urameshi has arrived in the Netherworld." a stout goblin said, as he trembled in front of the tall man sitting before him. "Good. But why hasn't he been captured yet? The ambush of six armies should have been waiting at the only entrance available to him." "Sir - " "I don't care how powerful that human is! He cannot take out six armies, when he is off-guard. And his three little friends would do more harm than good, I'm sure. Mindless idiots." "Sir - " "WHAT IS IT?!" "I've been trying to tell you, that he trailed behind you when you opened the portal, but he fell unconscious when he hit the ground. Apparently he went unnoticed..." "Are you saying I overlooked something?!" Ebiru stood tall with a black energy orb, only an inch in diameter. "No, sir. I'm just -" "You're just dead, idiot." The brightest dark flash lit up the room, as it entered the body of the goblin. For a second nothing happened, and the idiotic little beast looked at his chest in shock. And then he exploded.

"Chiinsu, bring out the girl." Ebiru demanded. From the shadows of a dark tunnel, came Chiinsu dragging Keiko who was screaming and flailing with all her might. "She's quite enthusiastic," Chiinsu commented. "Thank you, Mr. Obvious." Ebiru replied. "Now, Yusuke is back towards the south. Get him, and kill him, if you must. But I want his body." "South? But the armies were at the -" "SHUT UP." "Yes, Lord Ebiru..."

* * *

"Oh, dear, Ogre. I'm afraid Yusuke is in lots of trouble this time. And I don't know if we can help him this time..." Koenma stated, as he stuffed his face with friend rice. "But sir, do we ever help Yusuke? Isn't it always Kurama, Kuwabara, and Hiei?"

Koenma ignored Ogre's reply. "At any rate, it will be awhile before his three allies will be able to get to his side. The only door to the Netherworld is the North Gates. And Yusuke traveled through a portal in the south." Koenma observed, as he watched the screen. He saw Yusuke laying unconcsious under a tree, with a few minor scratches on him. Crows seemed to be flying over head of him, but none flew down anywhere near him. And neither Koenma, nor Ogre could deny what seemed to be shadows traveling around his body. "Oh dear..." "Koenma, do you see that? Someone's walking towards him..."

And as Ogre pointed out, there was surely another figure walking towards him. "Ah..." Koenma said, in shock.