The four unlikely hero's had made it deeper into Maze Castle, and Yusuke's brown eyes gazed around at the area cautiously; his hands jabbed deep into his green jumpsuit pockets, only to raise a brow when feeling a vibration against his hand while a shrill ringing echoed throughout the stone hall.
"GAAAH!" Kuwabara yelled out dramatically with a freaked out expression. "What the heck was that?!"
"Chill, ya big baby! Its just the communication mirror I got from Botan!" Yusuke scoffed with a roll of his eyes, flipping the purple case open where Botan's smiling face appeared.
"Hello, Yusuke~ Its Botan from the living world! You copy?" Botan chirped.
"Hey! Yeah I-" Yusuke started to say, only to twitch when Kuwabara snatched the mirror out of her hand.
"S'up, Botan? This is the brave Kuwabara reporting at your service! I'm taking very good care of Yusuke, just so you know," Kuwabara claimed with a cool look on his face.
"I-I'm so glad to hear that!" Botan replied back with an awkward laugh, wincing from the hard punches and pain filled yelps she was suddenly hearing. "A-anyways, I've got things under control here, more or less…The Makai Insects only like to nest in depressed people's minds, so that narrows down my search a bit."
Kurama and Hiei were just staring down at a now beaten and twitching Kuwabara with blank expressions while Yusuke deeply frowned; gasping seeing a trench coat wearing demon, about to attack the blue haired reaper from behind.
"Hey, look out!"
"Don't worry, the Saint Beast spies are weaklings," Botan assured with a unperturbed smile, having whacked the demon with a metal baseball bat without even turning around. "The real challenge is those Makai Insects. I've only caught fifteen of those buggers, and I've nearly been searching for an entire day!"
"Only fifteen? That doesn't really seem like much!"
"Yusuke, fighting people controlled by the insects takes time!" Botan shot back while whacking the spy yet again when he was shakily standing up. "That's why you need to get that whistle!"
Yusuke sighed and closed the mirror, sticking it back into his pocket before running a hand through his hair in frustration.
"Easy for her to say when we were almost killed by a stupid ceiling…! Say, Kurama? You wouldn't happen to know anything about these Saint Beasts, would you?" Yusuke asked, turning his focus on the red haired male. "Botan made us jump down here without telling us anything."
"I'm afraid she wouldn't have been able to tell you much," Kurama replied with a faint smile. "Ever since the barrier wall was raised around this city, Spirit World intelligence forgot this place even existed."
Kuwabara scowled after standing up, rubbing at his now swollen right cheek while having to run to catch up with the others who had already started to walk off without him. "I get the feeling you know somethin' that we don't, buddy!"
"I'll just say when you see their bodies, you might be surprised," Kurama said, his emerald green eyes gleaming mischievously.
"Terrified. Isn't that more like it?" a gravelly voice cackled out, causing the four to look around startled while standing back to back.
"W-who said that?" Kuwabara gulped out.
"There's a door behind you. Please, take it."
Yusuke frowned, slowly opening the massive iron door while Kuwabara kicked open the other side to reveal a large empty stone room that was barely lit by a small amount of torches.
Grabbing one of the torches, Yusuke tossed it into a part of the room that was pitch black, flinching when seeing a creature completely made out of stone, with a face that reminded her of an ogre's.
"I am Genbu, one of the Four Saint Beasts. Do you have a request before you die?" the monster asked in its rough voice.
"Um, sure…Just exactly how is a beast a saint since that makes no sense to me." Yusuke murmured while rubbing at the side of his neck.
"This stairwell is the only way to the castle tower," Genbu said, motioning with his head to the staircase at the very far corner of the room while his scorpion-like tail rose menacingly. "You can either defeat me and go up on your own, or be dragged up there once you cease breathing."
"I'm afraid you'll only be facing me, Genbu" Kurama said calmly, sending Yusuke a reassuring smile when seeing the expression on his face. "It would be ill advised for all of us to attack without knowing his power. Besides, I can't let Hiei get all the credit for this mission."
"I-I still don't know about this Kurama. Maybe we should lure it back to that drop down ceiling?" Yusuke mentioned while biting on his thumb nail from worry.
"Your obviously underestimating Kurama," Hiei spoke up. "There was a reason I chose his to be my partner. It pains me to say this, but it was to avoid fighting his myself. Just watch. Kurama is more cut throat when it comes to battle, and unbelievably precise."
Kurama placed her flowing red hair behind his back before smiling politely. "The first move is yours, sir,"
Yusuke furrowed his brows since he would have just attacked Genbu without a word, his eyes widening when seeing the beasts tail actually disappearing into the stone floor. "Be careful, Kurama! He's doing something with that tail of his!"
Kurama gasped, jumping up to avoid Genbu's deadly tail that came shooting out from behind, but had been sliced across his stomach as he winced and fell to his knees in clear pain.
"Thanks to my bodies structure, I can become one with any type of rock. With a little rearranging, I can make any stone my tail," Genbu laughed out, finding clear amusement from Kurama's state. "And since this whole chamber is made of stone, I have you surrounded. You can't escape me!"
"Maybe you should let Yusuke and me jump in? I really hate seeing a comrad gettin' hurt…." Kuwabara mumbled, looking scared, but angry too.
"Please, do not worry. I have been hurt, but he will not take me by surprise again," Kurama said, looking back at Yusuke and Kuwabara with a grateful smile.
"Feh! Just wait until you see the full extent of my power! Then you won't be so confident!" Genbu exclaimed while his body slowly started to sink into the floor.
Kurama glanced around in every direction, gracefully dodging when Genbu tried to punch him from behind and maneuvering his body in mid-air to avoid Genbu's sneaky tail that was also trying to hit him.
"Not bad, but you'll never defeat me by just running away!" Genbu mocked as his voice seemed to reverberate all around the room.
"I believe you're right, Genbu," Kurama agreed, running a hand through his hair where a beautiful red rose was now clutched in his hand.
"A rose? Why and how did he pull a rose out of his hair?" Yusuke wondered, feeling extremely confused.
"Yeah, I don't think trying to win that thing over is a good idea," Kuwabara mumbled, his words causing Hiei to roll his eyes before a smirk arose on his features, knowing they were all about to get a taste of Kurama's true strength now.
Kurama just laughed softly while the delicate petals started to peel off the rose and circle around his form; soon holding nothing but the thorn covered stem in his hand that had transformed into a whip. "Its no ordinary flower, you see. Rose whip!"
Yusuke's eyes were big and confused,"Suddenly this room smells girly."
Kuwabara was also confused why a teenage male summoned rose petals all over the dark, musky scented room, " Dare I say it? Flower power?"
"Coming from a guy who's obsessed with cats," Yusuke joked
Genbu meanwhile let out a cackle and swayed his tail back and forth in a taunting manner. "Even with that weapon, you still can't win since you have no clue where I am,"
Kurama only smiled and closed his eyes. "Your correct. Not knowing where you are is indeed a problem,"
"Still acting so confident, huh? I'll soon change that!"
"Its over. The thorns on Kurama's whip can slash through any substance. Including solid stone," Hiei brought up with a smirk just as Genbu came lunging at Kurama from the ceiling.
"Rose Whip Lash!" Kurama cried out, slashing at the startled Saint Beast with incredible speed and completely breaking him apart.
"H-how did you find me?" Genbu asked weakly despite his head being severed from his body.
"Your smell. After filling the room with the roses sweet aroma, your putrid odor was easy for me to find."
Yusuke and the others ran up to Kurama as a fake pout appeared on the brunette's lips. "Well, that's unfair! How come none of my fights ever end that quickly?"
"Yeah! You beat that guy, in one blow! Guess he wasn't as tough as he bragged!" Kuwabara said with a grin while rubbing the tip of his nose.
"You idiots! It only looked easy because Kurama was the one fighting. If you had fought, you would have died in under a minute!" Hiei ridiculed while shutting his eyes.
Yusuke didn't seem bothered by the insult, only scratching at his cheek while Kuwabara had gotten up in the shorter males face.
"Why does everything you say make me want to bash your face in?!" Kuwabara snarled out, only to grin smugly. "Listen, I happened to place third in Master Genkai's fighting tournament. The only ones who beat me where Yusuke and an evil monster!"
"And your point is?" Hiei asked, looking unimpressed.
Though before anything more could be said or done, Kurama's brows furrowed in suspicion. "It seems my fight isn't over after all…."
"N-no way!" Yusuke gasped out since Genbu's body parts were reattaching themselves while he picked up his own head and placed it back on the small stub that could barely be considered a neck.
Genbu just laughed seeing the shock on everyone's faces and gave a toothy grin.
"Dissemble me all you want. I'll keep putting myself back together each time. But you'll see that breaking apart my body also makes for a great attack!" Genbu yelled, detaching his body parts and sending them at Kurama.
But the green eyed male had already readied his Rose Whip, slashing through Genbu. Unfortunately, the rock monster only put himself back together even when he was chopped into small pieces by the deadly weapon.
"Its time we end this. I'll stone you to death!" Genbu yelled, sending a barrage of stones at Kurama who was having to dodge them; still ending up getting small cuts on his face in the end.
"Crap! There coming from behind!"
"Kurama!"
Kurama gritted his teeth, allowing the rocks to injure his body fully this time for the red head had seen something mixed in with the stones; nimbly managing to take hold of it before falling to one knee.
"Your not even going to fight back? Did those blows make you go insane?" Genbu goaded while his body melded back together. However, Genba blinked since he was looking at Kurama from a different angle. "H-how did you get on the ceiling?!"
"O-oh my God! I've heard of brass balls but come on!" Yusuke burst out in laughter, holding onto his side while tears were in the corner of his eyes.
"Yeah! Wonder how he plans to use the toilet?" Kuwabara snorted, laughing just as hard as Yusuke.
"Wh-what the hell did you do to me?!"
Kurama only smiled and held out a glowing red stone that pulsated in his hand. "I simply took this. I believe it is the equivalent of the hypothalamic portion of your brain. It regulates all the functions of your body, including the process of putting you back together. And it seems to relay an energy signal when you separate, making it very easy to find."
"D-don't do this! Give it back to me!" Genbu pleaded, looking actually rather helpless.
Kurama ignored him and tossed up the stone, easily slicing through it with his whip as Genbu let out one last pain filled cry before he exploded into small particles that fell over Kurama like a gentle mist of rain.
"Way to go, Kurama! Talk about flower power!" Yusuke cheered while pumping a fist in the air, but his grin dropped when he noticed Kurama had fallen to his knees and was panting heavily.
Yusuke ran up to him along with the others and knelt down, placing a hand on the former thief's shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"If Kurama is injured, we're going to have some problems…." Hiei muttered, surprisingly looking worried.
"I'm sorry, Yusuke…." Kurama said softly with an apologetic and slightly sad smile.
"Don't worry about it. You've definitely earned yourself a break," Yusuke reassured with a wink.
Kuwabara nodded in agreement and smirked. "Yeah. I'll handle the next one!"
Making their way up the winding staircase, Yusuke glanced at Kurama and frowned when noticing his hand resting on his stomach. "That wounds worse than your letting on, isn't it?"
"He'll live, but he's in no shape to fight," Hiei spoke up with narrowed eyes before Kurama could. "That means we only have three fighters left, and one of them is worthless."
"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, short stuff," Kuwabara chuckled out with a cocky grin while walking ahead of everyone.
"I'm pretty sure he meant you, genius!" Yusuke muttered out in annoyance at his friend's usual oblivious nature.
Before he snapped at Hiei, a dark hole appeared out of nowhere from the wall of the castle. The boys prepared to fight as a shadow stepped out of it.
It was a young woman with medium length purple hair with light lavender fading to the ends. Dressed in dark grey shirt, black distressed jeans, black motorcycle hooded jacket and black combat boots. She also wore a long necklace with a black onyx stone hanging between her breasts and occult symbol rings on her fingers. Yusuke and Hiei relaxed a bit but still alerted, Kurama sighed out of relief while Kuwabara just stared at the young woman in awe.
"I'm sorry to startle you gentlemen. I would've called ahead but the signal here is terrible." She said with a southern accent.
"Just who the hell are you? And how did you come out from a black hole?" Yusuke asked rudely
She sighed, "And here I thought Koenma hired an experienced well spoken gentleman. Only to find out it's a very rude child."
He growled, "What'd you say?!"
Kurama intervened before it got nasty, "Excuse me but did you say Koenma?"
She smiled, "Yes. Botan called and explained the situation to me and thought you might need an extra pair of hands. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Megara Hallowell. And the black hole you saw was my doing. I'm a sorceress or what some call a witch."
"Great, just what I need. Guess Binky Breathe thought I'm not even capable of doing this myself." Yusuke grumbled.
She laughed, "It's not that. It's just that the Makai insects are possessing more than just depressed or mentally impaired people. But children and those who are under the influence of drugs and or alcohol."
Finally out of dazed, Kuwabara snapped out of it and ran toward Megara grabbed her hands and said, "I'm Kuwabara and I will protect you, beautiful angel!"
A sweat drop formed on the young witch's head and she said, "As much as I'm flattered but I'm capable of looking after myself. I suggest you worry about yourself honey, cause you have three more beasts to go."
Hiei snorted, " And how will we believe you're capable of defeating the Saint Beasts?"
"Well you saw how I get to places. I have a few tricks up my sleeve that I'm willing to show you cutie pie." She said and winked at Hiei. He just scoffed and looked away, slightly blushing
Kurama laughed a bit but groaned in pain while clutching his wound. Megara noticed and walked toward him.
"How long did you have this wound?" She asked while inspecting his injury.
"A little over ten minutes but I'll heal." He assured.
Megara placed her hands on his injury and closed her eyes. Faint violet aura formed around her hands and the gash in Kurama's stomach started to fade. As soon as the injury vanished, Kurama felt more energetic than he was earlier.
"As you can see that was one of my many tricks. Like I said, I'm fully capable of taking care of myself." She said.
The boys were astonished at what she did. Yusuke smiles, "Well goddamn! Koenma sure knows how to make friends! We'll complete this mission in a jiffy! I'm Yusuke, this love struck idiot is Kuwabara, redhead is Kurama and the cranky midget is Hiei."
Megara looked at the two thieves, "Ah so you're the culprits responsible for the stolen artifacts. Koenma couldn't sit down for a week after that fiasco. You don't look much but Nana Odie always tell me to never judge a book by itself cover. No matter how handsome the books are." And winked at the two demons.
Kurama laughed and Hiei just scoffed and turned away.
"Alright! We got an awesome hot witch to help us cream these beasts! Next fight is mine!" Kuwabara said.
"Hn, I doubt you can kill one Saint Beast" Hiei snorted
"Is that so? Well, maybe I should just show you something!" Kuwabara exclaimed, flipping around with a grin. "What in the world do you think I was doing for the last six months while you were off training with Genkai?"
Kuwabara extended out his hand where a orange ball of energy appeared that soon formed into a sword.
"Ya see what I learned, Yusuke! I don't have to use the tip of that wooden sword to make it work anymore!" Kuwabara said happily. "Its just my pure energy, and no offense babe, but it could probably easily take down that spirit gun of yours."
"That depends on which finger I use," Yusuke said while flipping Kuwabara off
"Yes, it appears he's only partially worthless," Hiei added with a smirk.
Yusuke and Kurama had to move in front of a fuming Kuwabara who was about to lunge at a clearly amused Hiei, but Kuwabara ended up falling to the floor, looking a bit out of it. Seems like he still hadn't mastered using his new ability just yet.
"Sweetheart you need to be careful when using your spirit energy. If you use it all at once you'll tire out more quickly." Megara explained
"And you wonder why demons look down on us so much!" Yusuke huffed out, snatching the mirror out of his pocket when it went off, and glaring down at the image of Botan. "What?!"
"Don't you dare snap at me, Yusuke!" Botan complained, her features looking more worried than angry. "I hope your hurrying, because the Saint Beasts have launched another wave of insects! I found a whole batch by an elementary school."
Yusuke nearly dropped the communication mirror when hearing this. "Their…attacking kids?! But I thought you said they only went after depressed people?!"
"Well that's because depressed people are easily influenced, but the same can be said about children. But if the bugs get into them, I'm afraid-" Botan tried to say, only to freeze when seeing an infected person standing over her.
"Okay, your scared, so am I now. Just finish your sentence," Yusuke said while gripping a bit too tightly onto the mirror since he couldn't stand the idea of innocent kids being harmed in any way.
"S-sorry! But I'm being chased by another guy under the control of the Makai Insects! And this one looks especially unfriendly!"
"Just keep running, and don't look back! It'll only cause you to panic and slow down!"
"G-gotcha!" Botan wheezed out, taking shelter in a store room where she managed to take down her attacker thanks to the bug spray she had on her. "Please try to hurry before I have to take on the whole city….Is Megara so with you?! She should be there by now!"
Megara took the mirror from Yusuke, "I'm here Botan, just focus on what you're doing right now. We'll do whatever it takes to destroy the whistle." She gave the mirror back to Yusuke who put the mirror into his pocket and scowled when the entire room began to violently shake from a loud roar that no doubt came from another of the Saint Beasts.
"That is Byakko. And he doesn't sound very pleased…." Kura On my way! gasped out with wide eyes.
"I don't care who he is! We're taking him out!" Yusuke muttered, his right hand balled into a tight fist as he took the lead as the four raced to escape the hall that began to cave in around them.
Now standing outside of the castle on what appeared to be the roof, they were all greeted by the sight of a massive beast that resembled a white tiger, who was standing on a tower glaring down at the group.
"Intruders will pay for coming this far into my territory!" Byakko growled out.
Hiei, who didn't seem startled or worried like the others, stepped forward with a confident smirk. "He's mine."
"H-hold up! Didn't I say I'd take the next one!" Kuwabara said shakily, taking large steps to hide his fear. Yet when Byakko let out another fearsome roar, the orange haired teen froze in place.
"Do not think you're dominate because you took apart Genbu. He was weak! He could talk to the demons in the city by prowling through the castle wall. That was why we didn't kill him ourselves. But I am a real beast! I have been caged for too long without prey, without bones, without blood! Humans! I will rip you apart and eat you myself!"
Megara raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, "It seems that's all what these Beasts like to do."
"Yeah well, talk is cheap pal!" Yusuke said with a taunting smirk that caused Kuwabara to look at him in horror.
"D-don't piss him off even more, Yusuke! Or have you forgotten I'm the one fighting him?!"
"Says the man who's legs are shaking so hard, that its amazing he doesn't fall off the roof," Hiei said and Megara giggled behind her hand
"Shut up, shrimp!" Kuwabara yelled, managing to stop his body from quivering as he walked further ahead.
"You don't believe you can overpower me with one human, do you?" Byakko questioned, bursting out into overly loud laughter. "Oh! Its hard to remain angry when you're trying to make me laugh!"
"I'm serious! Now, get down here so I can knock your lights out!" Kuwabara shot back boldly while cracking a knuckle.
"Stop it! I can tear you to pieces with just the hairs on my mane!" Byakko claimed, smirking when Kuwabara let out an 'oh yeah?', and pulled some of his green hair from his head.
After blowing on it, the strands of hair transformed into four green creatures that resembled mutated cat creatures, that surrounded a freaked out looking Kuwabara.
"Oh dear. I don't think Kuwabara can take these monsters out by himself." Megara said worriedly
"These beasts are a small part of myself. Like me, they are hungry, and you are the perfect meat!" Byakko laughed as the monsters charged at Kuwabara
"Kuwabara!" Yusuke gasped out when one of the monsters lunged at Kuwabara and sliced him across the chest.
"That…that was just a freebie! Spirit Sword!" Kuwabara shouted, forming his weapon and running at the creatures himself this time.
Yet no matter how many times he swung at them, the creatures proved to be too quick, and easily injured Kuwabara with their claws.
"He has no strategy. He's just swinging his sword with the grace of a flyswatter. That's no way to survive!" Hiei said in disapproval.
"Still, we must be prepared to step in. I have a feeling Kuwabara might not be able to kill Byakko with his spirit sword." Megara said assuredly
Yusuke's eyes widened since at the rate Kuwabara was being cut up, he wouldn't be able to stand much longer. "Let me take them! I know you want to fight this one, but there's too many to swing a sword at! My Shotgun blast makes more sense! Please, Kuwabara!"
Byakko let out a cruel snicker and grinned. "If you're going to switch, you might as well take me on all at once! After all, nothing gives me more pleasure than a big group kill."
"That's it! Whether you like it or not, I'm coming to help!" Yusuke cried out frustrated, and started to run forward.
"Don't you dare! I'm not a wimp like you think, Yusuke!" Kuwabara said angrily, his expression causing Yusuke to stop since he had never seen him look so intense before. "And I'm not stopping unless Byakko comes and kills me himself!"
"Don't say that…."
"If that's your choice of death, than fine! Beasts! You may now tear off his arms and legs and divide them amongst yourselves. But leave the body for me so I can finish him!"
"Ugh! Don't just stand there slicing at them, Kuwabara! You won't win like that! Think about it!" Yusuke exclaimed since his classmate was continuing to be assaulted.
"Think of a quick strategy Kuwabara! You gotta think of a strategy while in combat!" Megara shouted
"She's right…She's right!" Kuwabara murmured, realizing something as he started to run in the direction where his friends stood.
Hiei snorted and crossed his arms over his chest seeing the panicked look on Kuwabara's mug. "You see? In the end, the fool runs away,"
"And I don't think he'll make it…." Kurama added on softly in concern.
"Don't worry. I'll step in the moment he asks for help," Yusuke reassured with a grin while holding up his finger to fire his Spirit Gun.
What they hadn't expected was for Kuwabara to flip around on the small path Byakko had created with his loud roar, and extend his Spirit Sword where it pierced through all four creatures at once.
Byakko let out a snarl, but was soon enough smirking. "Just because they're chained up, doesn't mean they can't still chase you down. They just need more energy!"
Kuwabara let out a shocked cry when the beasts' fur turned red, and fled from them around the tower; digging his sword into the stones and connecting it where the creatures were now trapped.
"That's a little move I'd like to call the Spirit Sword monster beast donut!" Kuwabara said proudly with his hands resting on his hips.
Hiei groaned and said, "Fool!"
"Oh, I don't know, Hiei. I think monster beast donut is a perfect name," Megara said
Yusuke just grinned and turned around to stick his tongue out at the fuming Saint Beast. "Now what was that about not being over powered by one human?"
Since at this rate, maybe Kuwabara really could win this fight.
