Wheeeeeeeeeeee! People like it!
LoneHowl: I know how long you waited. You reminded me about it everyday. -- Who needs a muse when you have a sister?
Rose of Death: I'm glad you like the DDR idea. I wasn't sure how many people would know what I was talking about.
As always, don't own YYH, don't own DDR (although I do have the game ), don't own anything else that might be talked about that obviously isn't mine.
I think we'll finally make this story get a little more serious now. Gotta get a plot together sooner or later.
Namesake
Chapter Four:
Iago
Another hour found Yusuke and Kuwabara up onto the Light level, playing songs on three speed. One speed up from what Luther was used to.
"I thought you guys said it wasn't easy." she beamed from her seat behind them. She'd been coaching them on moves and other things. This had turned into a lesson of patience and reflexes at some point, instead of a waist of time as Luther usually considered it to be (along with her grandparents).
"Don't talk to us now, its almost over!" Yusuke yelled. He and Kuwabara had been battling against each other since Luther had introduced two player mode. They'd tied up, which was rather impressive. This song would be the one to decide it all.
"Oh, sorry, but I just thought it was mighty impressive that you two came so far in such–"
"Shut up!" both yelled, both missing the final jump.
Luther laughed. "Seems you two still haven't learned everything. Now hop off, I've gotta teach Shuichi how to play." she said as she stood and walked over to her.
Neither Yusuke nor Kuwabra moved.
"What?"
"Do you realize what you've done?" Yusuke asked calmly.
Luther shook her head innocently.
"You made me tie up with that half ass Urameshi again! That's what!" Kuwabara yelled.
"Hey, what do you mean half ass?!"
She ignored their bickering and looked at the final scores.
"Actually guys," she began after a minute, interrupting their argument, "you didn't tie. Kuwabara is ahead by five points."
The room was silent for perhaps thirty seconds.
"WHEW! I told you you were a half ass Urameshi! No one can beat the mighty Kuzuma Kuwabara!" Kuwabara laughed, performing a rather interesting victory dance that had a few subliminal steps of DDR in it.
"Its because you got lucky and hit that step when you fell on your ass the fifth time!" Yusuke retorted.
Luther sighed and pulled them away to a corner of the room where they could fight in peace. When she turned back around she found a very unfamiliar black figure standing in the door way looking a little disgruntled.
"What the hell are those two idiots fighting about now, fox?" he asked coldly, looking at Kurama.
"Their fighting about who won their DDR match." Kurama explained.
"Their what?" Hiei asked, looking between Kurama, the fighting idiots, and the strange set up on Genkai's floor. When he looked back up he found a pair of blue eyes staring at him.
"What are you staring at?"
Luther's head tilted to the other side. "You're Hiei, right?"
Hiei growled, "What's it to you, girl?"
"Oh nothing really, was just making sure I remembered correctly. I thought you were taller when I saw you in Koenma's office though. My mistake."
Hiei twitched, his hand going to his katana. Within a second he had it drawn and pointed at her throat. "You'd do well to not make that mistake again."
Luther glared at him but didn't move. She began to say something when a soft blue light caught her attention. Her blue pendant had managed to come between her throat and the tip of Hiei's sword and was now emitting a soft blue glow.
All activity in the room had stopped, first by the sudden appearance of Hiei's sword, but now the attention was on the necklace, that had appeared normal up until this point. Noticing Luther stepped away from the tip of Hiei's sword and wrapped the pendant inside her hand.
"As I said, my mistake." she said quietly.
"Whoa, does it always do that?" Kuwabara asked, pointing to her necklace.
"Umm...yea. Well, not always. And don't ask me why because I have no idea. I've tried to get Princey Boy to tell me, but he refuses." she explained as she tucked it inside her shirt.
"Sounds like a simple guardian charm. It is activated when the wearer is in danger. A family heirloom?" Kurama asked.
"Yes actually. My grandmother gave it to me." she explained. "You make it sound like it isn't that uncommon."
"It is uncommon, not many are still actually being used. Its very easy to identify them once you've seen one in action though."
Luther just shrugged. "I just stopped asking questions when I found out I couldn't get answers."
"Lord Koenma just didn't–" Botan began quietly.
"Think I was ready. So he's told me. By the way Botan, what are you doing here?" Luther asked. Botan had been there when she arrived, but she wasn't used to seeing the bubbly grim reaper just hanging around.
"Oh just watching really. Yup, just relaxing on a nice day with some close friends. No jobs here." Botan said nervously. The five teenagers weren't amused.
"Spill it Botan." Yusuke said.
She sighed and pulled out a folder from the inside of her jacket. "Well I was going to wait, but since you are all so impatient. Koenma sent the details of the mission he has assigned you. There isn't much, but its all we have at the moment."
"It seems that a demon has escaped from Reikai's prison. We're lucky that he isn't one of the more dangerous demons, but there is still a reason he was locked up. He's a shifter, meaning he can take on the form of anyone he's seen before. We believe he's taken on the form of a human and has fled to Ningekai. He hasn't surfaced yet or caused any trouble, but its only a matter of time." Botan explained.
"So we have to keep an eye open for him and catch him as soon as possible right?" Yusuke guessed.
"For now that's all you can do. We don't know exactly when he escaped or how or why he fled to Ningenkai instead of Makai." Botan said.
"Because Makai would be the first place we looked for him. If he is smart enough to get himself into prison, he's smart enough to know where not to run to." Kurama said.
"Why was he locked up anyway?" Luther asked.
Botan shrugged. "I'm not to sure, the file isn't too specific."
Luther sighed. "Does this guy even have a name?"
"He goes by the name Iago."
"Iago? As in Iago from Othello?" Luther asked. She'd read the play back in her sophomore year.
"I suppose. I can't say I've ever read it."
"Well lets hope he's nothing like his namesake." Luther muttered. She was half way across the planet and she was still being haunted by English literature. Wonderful.
"So we're just supposed to sit around and wait for this demon to mess up so we can pounce on him? I don't think I have to mention how very unlikely that is if he broke out of Rekai Prison." Hiei growled from a corner of the room.
"I know its unlikely, but until we can get anymore information I'm afraid that all I can tell you is to stay on guard and keep your eyes open. Koenma is trying to find more information on his breakout and anything else about him."
"Are we sure he got out on his own?" Kurama asked.
"So far it looks like a one man job. He was the only one to escape an no other inmates know anything about him really."
"Well isn't this just wonderful. Just when I thought this year was going to be easy." Yusuke groaned.
"Hey, this might not be so bad. Maybe he turned a new leaf and just wants to live a simple, peaceful life." Kuwabara offered.
His only response was several pairs of blank stares.
"What? It could happen!"
"You know, I never thought I'd say this, but sometimes you can have a little too much optimism." Luther said, "So, do we even have a picture of this guy? I mean, Koenma has to at least know what his true form looks like."
"There is one picture that was taken upon his arrest." Botan said, handing the snapshot over to her.
He looked like any lower class demon, this Iago. He had the basic humanoid structure, but his body was shaped like that of a snake. A long, lanky body with a skinny head, a long tail trailing behind him. His skin (or scales) was a light tan color with green spots all over, including one over his eye. His hands and feet were clawed and no doubt he had a pair of fangs.
"So, Iago is a snake. Go figure." Luther muttered, rolling her eyes.
"You said he can only take the form of someone he's seen before?" Kurama asked, examining the picture.
"That's right."
"Then he probably took the form of the first human he saw when he came to Ningekai." Kurama mused.
"Oh that only narrows it down to about six billion. There is no telling where he came out from! He could be half way across the world for all we know!" Yusuke said.
"If so then why did I come here instead of you coming there?" Luther asked.
"Maybe Koenma didn't know." Kuwabara offered.
"No, he knew, because he mentioned a mission the first day I arrived, remember?"
"He has probably been waiting to see if they could find more information to give us, plus allowing Luther some time to adjust." Kurama said.
"Oh how thoughtful of him." she grumbled.
"I'm sorry I don't have any more information for you guys. I'll be sure to let you know as soon as we figure out something." Botan said.
"Alright. Thanks Botan." Yusuke said.
The grim reaper nodded and then pulled her oar out of somewhere and flew up and out of the temple, leaving some very confused and very annoyed teenagers in her wake.
"One day I'm going to demand that Princey boy starts paying me over time." Luther muttered.
"One day I'm going to demand that the toddler pay." Yusuke muttered in return.
"So, what are we going to do now?" Kuwabara asked after several moments of silence.
"I think all we can do is wait for Koenma to gather more information on this Iago. Until then we just have to keep a keen eye out for anything suspicious. Shifters aren't exactly the smartest demons, he's bound to slip up at sometime." Kurama said.
"Lets just hope we're the ones there to catch him and not a crowd of unsuspecting people." Luther said.
Yusuke was the one to respond next. "Hey, if all else fails, we can always follow the screams."
There, chapter four is finally completed. I don't know how long it has taken me. I've lost count.
I don't think there is anything to explain so with that note I am leaving. Happy Holidays everyone! And remember that reviews are always greatly appreciated.
