Summary: When Cell attacks Yusuke's family, all hell is let loose.

Disclaimer:

it walks alone: (types madly)

Kice Nittle Litty: (poings around the room in which it walks alone is typing)

Vyrexuviel: (chuckles as he grins at the poinging kitten a bit, then goes back to generating more plot)

Kice: MEWMEWMEW! Second chappie finawy finish! (giggles) Sowwie for long wait, but IWA no wite duwwing summers. (blushies)

Vyre: (grins and jots down a few more story ideas)

Kice: (goes back to poinging around)

IWA: (still typing madly)

M/N (Muse Note):

Vyre: Yo! Vyre here again. (grins roguishly) Anyway. On to reviews! One person asked what a baka is. (winks) Literally, it means idiot, but when Yusuke uses that word, you can count on him referring to Kuwabara. Anyway, NEXT!

IWA: And Hiei! Hiei calls Kuwabaka that too!

Kice: (giggles a bit as Kreek nuzzles her, licking an ear back)

Vyre: (chuckles at Kice) Anyway, the first person to get the pun in Kice's name is: Suuki-Aldrea! Congrats! Now, what do you want us to do for you? (grins and winks) Yes, Koenma did take that kinda tranquilly, but then again, he knows how powerful Yusuke is, and probably didn't wanna aggravate him. (chuckles a bit) Oh, don't worry about it. If Cell were that foolhardy, this'd be a short fic, don'tcha know. (winks and grins evilly)

Important stuff to remember:

Youki and reiki are about 100x as powerful as ki. Youki can be used by anyone with demon blood, and Reiki can be used by anyone with human blood. Youki and reiki can be used to increase one's ki, and a tiny bit of youki or reiki goes a LONG way. Even when damped down, youki emits a palpable aura of menace detectable only by humans (people with human blood). Ki and reiki/youki have no effect on each other.

"Speaking"

Thoughts

/actions and sound effects/

"Telephones or other such communication device"

(A/Ns, unless it's a number, then it's a footnote)

Last time:

Hiei blinked. "What happened to the Detective and the Baka?"

"Yusuke's gone on vacation and Kuwabara's off training with Genkai."

"Hn."

Kurama nodded. "Just wanted to tell you."

Chapter 2: Attack and Retaliation

Koenma looked at the screen worriedly, listening to the report George was giving him.

"...And now this monster is attacking another town, so we should be getting the paperwork for the deaths soon—" Koenma's head hit the desk "—but we can't seem to track it between attacks," the blue ogre concluded.

"Why not?" The junior god looked up.

"It seems to be able to hide its energy."

Koenma's head hit the desk again. "...Call Botan. Tell her to get Kurama and Hiei here."

"Yessir!" The blue ogre dropped his stack of papers on the desk and ran out, looking for the overly perky Grim Reaper.

000000000000000000000000000000

"Kurama! Hiei!" Botan called, zooming around the park, looking for the two demons.

"Hn." Hiei's voice came from practically right on top of her.

"Waah!" the bluenette screamed, and slammed into the tree Kurama was leaning on. She fell off her oar onto the fox demon, who caught her. Hiei dropped from a low branch, landing a bit awkwardly before finding his balance. Kurama put Botan down gently.

"Thanks, Kurama," she said as she stood up. "Koenma sir wants to see you two in his office."

Kurama nodded. "Come, Hiei. If he wants us to come to him, it must be important."

"Hn."

Kurama smiled. "True, his priorities are different from ours. But perhaps this time it really is important."

Hiei glared at him. "Hn."

The fox nodded. "Good, I'm glad you agree. Let's go." He turned to Botan and looked at her expectantly.

"Oh! Right!" She pulled her oar out of the tree where it was stuck and made a portal to Koenma's office.

000000000000000000000000000000

Yusuke had managed to teak himself away from his mom and the Yukimuras and had gone to train. Finally. However, he didn't get to train for very long, as he noticed a very strong individual in the town where he'd just been.

He paid it no mind.

Until, anyway, normal humans started dying in its general vicinity. Then he got worried and started heading back into town.

The unknown power was moving all over the town, gradually moving to the area where Atsuko and the Yukimuras were. Yusuke realized this, and sped up, using his demon power to go even faster and also to warn whoever or whatever was killing people that someone powerful was coming fast, and he was pissed.

However, whatever it was vanished the moment Yusuke set foot in the town.

He growled, then ran off to find Atsuko and Keiko. Since the unknown power had been near them when it vanished, he hoped they'd have some information on it.

He slowed down as he got closer and walked into the building where they were staying.

Atsuko, Keiko, and Mr. and Mrs. Yukimura were all sitting, huddled together in the middle of the room, eyes wide with shock and fear.

Yusuke blinked. "Uhh... Mom? Keiko?"

No response.

"Hello?" He waved a hand in Atsuko's face.

Still no response.

"Can anybody tell me what's going on here!"

Keiko jumped a bit, blinked up at Yusuke, then glomped him. "WaaahIwassoscared!Thisbiggreeninsectthingjustshowedupandkilledsomepeopletheymeltedanttheirclothesarestillthereandthenitturnedandwasgonnakillusbutitstoppedandleft!"

Yusuke blinked at her for a minute. "Uhh... Keiko, calm down, please. I can't understand a word you just said."

She took a breath, then repeated it, this time a bit slower.

Yusuke stared. "'Big, green insect thing'?"

She nodded, sniffling. "Yeah. It walked like a person but it had only two fingers and a thumb on its hands and a tail and its head looked really weird."

He stared some more. "Uhh... O... kay..."

Keiko looked up at him, eyes watering as the shock wore off. "Yusuke?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have any idea why it left?"

"Yeah. That would be me. I let it know I was coming."

She blinked. "How? You weren't here..."

He shrugged. "I assumed that since it was so strong, it could sense energy. I just unleashed a bit of mine on the way over."

She blinked again. "...Oh."

Yusuke sighed. "Okay, two more things. One, could you please not tell anyone about what happened? And when my mom and your parents manage to wake up, ask then not to as well? Thanks. And the other thing—you can let go of me now."

She blushed and let go of him immediately, stumbling back a few steps.

This is what Kurama, Hiei, and Botan saw when they came in.

Kurama blinked, looking around. "Yusuke? What—"

"I'm going to go train."

Kurama blinked again, his mouth still open. "Umm, what?"

"I'm going to go train," Yusuke repeated.

"With Genkai? You can't, she's training Kuwa—"

"Not with Genkai. On my own."

Yusuke turned abruptly and stalked out.

Botan stared after him, then turned to Keiko. "Any idea what that was about?"

Keiko shook her head mutely, as mystified as any of the others.

"Whoa!" Atsuko blinked, looking around. "Now that was surreal!"

000000000000000000000000000000

A few days later:

/click/

Keiko pulled her shaking hand back, having just turned off the TV.

"That— That monster!" Yusuke growled.

"How could it do such a thing?" Keiko whispered.

"Hey, that looked kind of like the thing that attacked us a few days ago!" Atsuko exclaimed.

"That's because it was," Keiko reminded her. "It said so."

"Ten days... That'll have to be enough. I'm going to kill that fucking bastard!" Yusuke declared.

"Yusuke..." his mom said softly, watching him.

"Yeah, Mom?"

"Don't get killed."

Yusuke grinned ferally, an expression that belonged more to his demon half than his human half. "Don't worry. It won't have a chance to kill me."

000000000000000000000000000000

Kurama, Hiei, Botan, and Koenma stared at the screen in Koenma's office.

Kurama was the first one to find his voice. (IWA: Well, actually, that would be Hiei. But he wouldn't say anything anyway.) "So that... was that thing that attacked all those towns and killed all those people..."

"Hn."

Kurama blinked, then glared at the diminutive fire demon. "Yes, I know you could have done worse. That's not the point, Hiei!"

Koenma cleared his throat. "Yes, well, it'll be hosting a tournament in ten days. I want you two to go."

Botan stopped gaping at the screen and turned to stare at her boss. "Go? Surely you don't mean for them to enter the tournament!"

Koenma snorted. "Of course not! I would never risk their lives like that!"

Hiei and Kurama glowered at him.

The young god quailed under the force of their combined glares, but continued. "What I want the two of you to do is go to the tournament and observe. Learn all you can about this 'Cell'." He held up a hand to forestall any questions or protests. "Botan and I will be going too."

Botan's jaw fell open.

Kurama blinked. "Really?"

The junior Lord of the Dead glowered at him, but the effect was lessened slightly by the fact that he was still in his toddler form. "Yes, really."

"Hn."

000000000000000000000000000000

IWA: Well? Questions, comments, concerns? Feedback? The little button at the bottom is your friend... Remember, reviews feed the authoress! Oh yeah, in case it wasn't obvious, they were all watching Cell's declaration on TV about the Cell Games. And yeah, Keiko was a bit out of character, but what can you expect, if some weird bipedal green cockroach attacked you? And about Yusuke's snappishness: I guess it was kind of finally settling in that his mom and Keiko were going to be killed by that thing. In other words, he's REALLY pissed. ; Y'know, I kinda pity Cell a bit.