"So what exactly are we going up against?" Yusuke wanted to know.
"According to Koenma, a problematic demon. According to the reek on the wind, I'd say it's a Shull." Kurama said, covering his nose. "We'd better do this quick." His voice sounded slightly strained.
"Two questions. What is a Shull, and what's wrong with you?"
"A Shull is essentially a demon of the battlefield. They look like their favorite thing, which happens to be a rotting corpse. They smell terrible, which is what's bothering him." Hiei answered.
"Still don't get it." Kuwabara said. Hiei groaned.
"He's a fox demon. That means that he's got an excellent sense of smell, and that the Shull's scent is so bad that it's making him feel sick. Have I put it simply enough for you?" Kuwabara nodded.
"If it's that bad, you can sit this one out Kurama." Yusuke suggested. Kurama shook his head defiantly.
"I'll manage. If rumors are true, then the demon we're up against keeps a second power source that he draws on. Hiei or I will probably have the most luck finding it, and someone has to keep Kuwabara out of trouble. I don't think it'll get much worse than this, and I'm pretty sure I can handle it. I'm still coming with you." Kuwabara glared at Kurama.
"Okay then. Let's go." The four managed to get inside the compound with relative ease, though it was clear that the Shull's scent was bothering Kurama a lot more than he was going to admit. In fact, they met no one until they reached a large chamber in the section of the main building that was situated underground. Here, even the humans could smell the stench that alerted all to the presence of a Shull. When they first opened the door, Kurama gagged on the smell, but insisted that he was fine.
"So, you've managed to breach my defenses. This is hardly the way to come for a visit, Detective. You must have quite a powerful aura to have passed without injury." An oily voice came from the shadows near the center of the room, accompanied by a wave of appalling stench. It was, in fact, too much for Kurama, who staggered into the wall and threw up.
"Kurama! Are you okay?" Yusuke asked, more than a little worried.
"I'm okay. I think I'll need some help standing though."
"Oh, is your little pet fox not feeling his best? Poor foxy." The voice cooed sarcastically.
"Enough! Show yourself!" Yusuke yelled.
"Very well." There was a wet sounding clap, and torches lit all around the chamber, burning with an eerie, bluish-white flame. In the center of the room, sitting on a large pedestal about three feet off the floor was an egg. Standing beside the egg was a grinning, rotten, worm-eaten corpse. Kurama squeaked in dismay, shrugged Yusuke's arm off his shoulders, scrambled backwards, and was sick again.
"I think I'll stay right here. I'll just be in the way." He mumbled weakly. Yusuke nodded, and the miserable fox rolled up in a ball against the wall.
"So, might I have your excuse for breaking into my home? I can't say that I'm pleased to have visitors with manners like yours."
"Enough! We've received reports that you've been forcing those dwelling in the village to the north to come here. Several people have heard screams coming this direction, and smelled fresh blood on the wind." Hiei growled, drawing his katana.
"Oh, so scary! You break into my private sanctuary and accuse me of being a criminal? Silly boy. You can't match me." The Shull placed one rotten hand on the egg, and threw a sickly green ball of something at the three boys. They dodged, and when the thing hit the floor, it exploded, releasing a cloud of swirling green fog.
"That egg supplies his power!" Yusuke yelled. The Shull hissed in annoyance and threw another ball, followed by several more, so that the boys were unable to see anything. Now that he-it had an advantage over his opponents, the Shull crossed the floor, accompanied by the sickening, liquid sounds of his weird, unnatural, double joints. It landed a punch on Kuwabara, who leapt backward with a cry of disgust.
"See? I'm much stronger than you. I think I'll kill you three and eat you, and I'll keep foxy for a pet. I've been looking for a male fox demon for a while. Carlotta needs a mate, and I'd so love to have a litter of pups. After all, the meat of a baby is the sweetest by far, tender and warm."
"You MONSTER!" Kurama yelled. In a blaze of green light, thick, thorny vines sprang up over the egg, obscuring its smooth surface.
"No!" The Shull reached out hesitantly and touched the vines, then wailed as the thorns grew longer and pierced his hand. As Yusuke, Hiei, and Kuwabara watched in shocked silence, the thorns emerged through the back of the Shull's hand, then bent over in sharp hooks and drew the monstrosity towards the main body of the plant. As soon as his rotting flesh came into contact with the leaves, he began to dissolve. The smell produced by the process was horrendous, but, after a moment, there was nothing left of the Shull but a puddle of smelly gray-green liquid.
"There. Now, perhaps we should get this thing and leave." Kurama said quietly.
"Y-yeah. Are you oka-yaah!" Yusuke jumped backwards when Kurama retched.
"I'll manage. Let me get the vines off, then we'll see what it is." He said, stepping delicately around the liquefied Shull. He ran his hands over the vines, and they disappeared.
"Um…what exactly was that?"
"Just basic curse vines. He made me mad. After we deal with whatever this is, we have to find this Carlotta. There aren't many of my kind around to begin with, and even fewer are females. We should free her, along with any other 'pets' that he's keeping." Kurama shuddered. "That's just sick. Keeping his fellow demons as pets, even breeding them for food. Sick."
"Okay. Let's take a look." The egg was truly a thing a beauty. Nearly 6 feet from end to end, and about 4 feet thick at the center, it was crafted from a dark blue stone, veined with silver and gold tracks. There wasn't a seam visible anywhere on its smooth surface. Kurama placed a hand on it, and yelped, drawing his hand back quickly. "What!"
"It's his power source alright, no doubt about it. It's got a weird aura around it. I think it may be supplied by something inside." Yusuke took a moment to alert Koenma and was told to bring the egg back. "Okay." Kurama said when he was done. The redhead was eager to get a move on. "Let's go find Carlotta."
"Okay, okay! Calm down!" Kuwabara leashed Kurama with his aura to prevent him from running too far ahead. All in all, it looked like a very odd parody of the classic search party, with Kurama as the scent dog.
"I can smell another fox demon, but it's…tainted somehow…I think the Shull's scent may have rubbed off." He sneezed. "Behind that door. Let me know if-achoo- it's locked." He rubbed unhappily at his nose. "I don't know-achoo- what's wrong with me. Something-achoo- in the-achoo- air I guess." Yusuke picked the lock, and the entered. Immediately, the residents of the dim room beyond set up a chorus of cries.
"Free me!"
"Turn back. He'll return."
"Free me!"
"Free me!"
"Get me outta here!"
"Kurama. Which one is Carlotta?" Hiei asked.
"Um…near the-achoo- back. Should be-achoo- on the-achoo-left." They walked a few steps farther into the room. All along the walls were cages, hardly big enough for the occupants to lie down in. Demons of all types, breeds, and elements were there, rattling the bars and shouting.
Kurama had gotten about halfway down the aisle when the sneezes hit him, doubling him over with the force of them. Yusuke rushed over and grabbed him by the shoulders, thus preventing him from falling. It took the better part of ten minutes before he was able to speak coherently again. "I'm fine. Come on." In the back cage, on the left side of the room, was a delicate young fox demon, female, with large blue eyes brimming with tears. "It's okay. We're going to get you out of here." Kurama whispered.
"Kurama, get the last…hold on…one, two, three…eleven cages. I'll get the first eleven. Hiei, Kuwabara, get the others." They did as they were told, Kurama sneezing multiple times. When all the captives were free, milling around the room and getting in the way, dazed by the freedom that had been granted so suddenly. The pretty Carlotta was so frightened that she was free that she couldn't walk. She could, however, climb, as Kurama soon found her sitting on his shoulders, both hands buried deep in his hair. Ignoring the small scratches left by her claws, Kurama turned and led the way out. Everything seemed to be going fine, other than the fact that Kurama's sneezes hadn't subsided when they left the gloomy underground chambers. If anything, they got worse. Finally, after a short detour to collect the egg, they emerged into the bright sunlight beyond the outer wall.
"Yes. Sunlight and fresh air at last! Come on Kuwabara, let's get this thing out." Yusuke and Kuwabara had just rolled the egg into the shade of a tall oak tree when they heard a low moan from Kurama's direction. The fox was standing still, and the sound was coming from Carlotta. The other former captives also began to moan, and moved toward Kurama, running hands over his body and latching onto his clothes.
"Kurama? What's going on fox?" Hiei asked.
"I don't know. She just started moan-achoo-moaning." Kurama said.
"Well, make it stop! I'm sure they jus-Whoa!" Suddenly, all the liberated demons…well…melted. Because he was surrounded and covered by them, Kurama was completely coated with the thick, lumpy, grayish mess. The smell that emanated from the stuff was so bad that it made the Shull smell like roses. Kurama groaned softly, turning a pale shade of green, and stumbled into the bushes, where he could be heard being violently sick.
"I can't believe it." Hiei murmured, covering his nose and moving to examining what remained of the demons.
"Can't believe what?" Yusuke snapped. He looked a tad pale himself, and kept his distance.
"I've heard stories about a gas that can be made, and used in places like prisons. The way it works is that it's kept as a part of the air in the holding cells. Over time, it becomes a component in the prisoner's blood. If they are taken to another location without the gas, they dissolve. I thought it was just a myth."
"Gross. So, what's wrong with Kurama?"
"His human side reacted to the gas. Some sort of allergy I expect. It should wear off soon." Several minutes later, Kurama staggered back and collapsed beneath a tree.
"I swear, when I die, that I'll track down that demented Shull's soul and kill him again!" he growled. Yusuke noticed that Kurama was soaking wet, though clean. "Oh, and there's a stream back that way. The water's safe." The fox mumbled.
"Now that that's settled, how 'bout we get this thing to Koenma!" Kuwabara called. He'd stayed with the egg, and had been spared most of the smell generated by the effects of the gas.
"Good idea. Koenma wants in brought via the inter-world railway, since it might be fragile." Together, they lifted the egg (it was quite heavy) and left.
/Several days later- baggage car/ "Um…guys…this thing's makin' some really weird noises." Kuwabara said, gesturing at the egg. Kurama came over, and listened intently. Sure enough,soft clicks and chirps could be heard coming from inside the egg.
"Well, I'd say we're going to have a baby something on our hands. This thing's going to hatch pretty soon, if those sounds are any indication."