"Dragon of the Darkness Flame"
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"Will the next fighters please come forward?" Koto said into the microphone.
The crowd was still cheering like crazy after the sight of bloodshed and the body was removed from the stage, but the demons were also mad that Roto was taken out by a human loving demon.
"Next fighters forward." Koto said after no one moved.
"Hel-lo!" she called and then frowned in annoyance.
Suddenly, Zeru stepped up and walked into the ring to battle as the demons cheered while team Urameshi were all shocked.
"What? Their team leader is fighting now?" Kurama asked.
"He should go last. Maybe there's a mistake." Kuwabara said.
"No, Zeru is definitely the strongest of the four remaining. He's fighting angry. It's obvious he's not taking this seriously enough." Hiei said.
Yusuke turned over onto his side and scratched at his nose while Botan frowned at him for still sleeping.
"Yes and we're just the picture of professionalism." She said.
"Urameshi team, can we get on with it here?" Koto asked.
"I'll go. This one's been irritating me ever since last night." Hiei said as he threw off his scarf and then walked up onto the ring.
"Go Hiei!" Dai cheered.
XV-Mon lifted her up onto his shoulder as he sat down on the ground, both watching the fight that was soon to start.
"From Rokuyukai, Zeru. Team Urameshi, Hiei." Koto said.
"I know a great deal about your technique. You harness heat energy with such great precision that it resembled a knife cut, but one of the edges was sloppily melted. You have your flaws." Hiei said.
He was talking about the coffee cup that Zeru had made break last night.
"As do you. I don't think I need advice from someone who uses a fake eye." Zeru commented talking about the Jagan.
"Fight!" Koto cried.
Flames appeared around Zeru making Koto back up so she didn't get burned by them while Hiei just stood there unaffected by the heat.
"Intimidated yet?" Zeru asked.
The flames then picked up and grew making Kuwabara jump back while Dai created a mental barrier to keep the flames off of her and XV-Mon while Kurama stepped aside and Masked Fighter jumped up onto the wall so she didn't get hit.
All of the demons in one section of the audience got burned to death as well and Hiei just chuckled at Zeru.
"I wouldn't laugh just yet." Zeru said as a fireball appeared in his hand.
He then blasted the flames at Hiei who jumped away as Koto crawled over to try and get a better look at the battle.
"Unfortunately, Hiei was not charred by the fire, but there's more coming his way." Koto said.
It was true as Hiei was flipping in the air to avoid the flames that chased him and he rested on the top of the stadium, only to jump away when Zeru blasted flames at it making the demons near that section run away.
"These are some good seats." Shizuru commented dryly.
Hiei landed back in the ring as Zeru chuckled while flames licked at his skin.
"Zeru's blows are fantastic and Hiei ran for his life, along with the fan base." Koto said.
"You've become so quiet now. Too frightened to notice any more of my supposed flaws?" Zeru asked.
"Actually, I'm bored." Hiei said.
"Actually, you're dead." Zeru said.
He then roared as his flames blasted up to the roof making the demons all go silent as they watched what was going on.
"Wow, he's kinda crazy." Kuwabara said.
"Aren't they all?" XV-Mon asked.
Hiei kept quiet as he watched Zeru go into a meditative stance as the flames all hovered above him.
"Um, what's this?" Koto asked.
"Oh, wow. His skin is changing color." She said as she stepped away from the flames that nearly hit her.
Zeru smiled smugly as his skin transformed into a molten lava red color as he absorbed the power of the flames.
"He seems to be engulfed in heat. He's glowing like a poker." Koto observed.
Hiei smirked, looking more interested in the fight, but the look was quickly gone when Zeru landed a punch into his stomach making Dai gasp in horror as Zeru's hand went right through to Hiei's back.
His body was then sent flying as it was covered in fire.
"Ah, nice one." Koto said.
Kuama and Kuwabara gasped while Dai had her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming.
"I'm not finished yet." Zeru then said.
He then blasted the heat he gathered inside of him and blasted it at Hiei, hitting him directly making him yell.
"Wow, Zeru. You never told us you could be so savage. I love it!" Koto said impressed.
Hiei's charred body was still on fire as he slowly floated down to the ground.
"No. no, I can't believe it." Kuwabara said.
Everyone was completely silent as they watched Hiei's form, Dai hiding her face as tears fell from her eyes.
"You see it yourself people. Hiei is done." Koto said.
XV-Mon made a distressed sound in the back of his throat as he patted his partner's back as she started sobbing while Botan and Kurama gave her sympathetic looks.
Hiei's body finally hit the ring while Zeru scoffed at the sight of it.
"What a weak thing. You can rest in hell." He said as he turned his back on the dead demon.
"Well, yes, that fight wasn't a long one, but when you got scorching moves like Zeru's, a little goes a long way." Koto praised.
"Yes." Someone spoke.
Everyone then gasped while Zeru froze in fear and then Dai looked up in relief and hope.
"So talented, I'm reluctant to make the kill." Hiei said as he was standing back up as a pillar of flames was around his body.
His body wasn't as charred as it looked to be, but his cloak had been burned away while he only wore a light blue wife beater that had a hole burned in the stomach area where Zeru's hand had went through, Hiei smirking at everyone's surprise.
"Oh my! Hiei survived. He's on his feet. He's…smoldering." Koto said.
"He survived it all. How could you?" Zeru asked.
Hiei chuckled as his bandana was burned away by purple flames to reveal his Jagan Eye that was glowing blue.
"I believe we've covered that. So my Jagan Eye may not be natural, but it does give me exactly what I need!" Hiei said as blue light appeared around his body as the flame faded away.
"Dragon of the Darkness Flame!" he called.
"I can't believe it's true. He's going to attempt the Darkness Technique." Kurama said.
"The Darkness? What does that mean?" Botan asked.
The light faded away as Hiei held his hand out as a black flame tinted with blue appeared making Zeru frightened for his very life.
"It's so…I can't even describe it." Dai gasped as she sensed its power.
"But that…comes from the deepest part of the Spirit World. Oh, help me." Zeru whimpered.
Pillars of black light and sparks shone down from the sky that was blood red while the clouds were black as well.
"You know, it's impossible to control it completely. When I release it, I have no say." Hiei said as his hand holding the flame shook from the energy.
Sparks crackled more as explosions were outside of the building.
"I have the power to pull you into oblivion. I assume just my right arm will do." Hiei said as a tiny smoke in the shape of a dragon flickered up from his hand for a second.
Zeru paled as he whimpered from the power.
"You never should have insulted the Jagan Eye because you see, in a way; it has its own mind and loathes disrespect." Hiei said.
Black smoke was slithering around the ring making Zeru step back from it.
"Resisting is something I wouldn't do." Hiei said as Zeru cried out in fear.
"I know I'm supposed to stay, but considering the little situation around here…retreat!" Koto yelled as he ran out of the ring to save her own skin from the smoke, sparks and light.
"DRAGON…OF…THE DARKNESS FLAME!" Hiei yelled as his shirt was torn off and he blasted the ball of energy in his hand at Zeru.
It transformed into a large purple dragon made of fire that slithered over to the terrified blonde demon who didn't even get a chance to scream as the dragon hit him while everyone watched in fear and/or awe at the sight.
When the dragon and mayhem faded away, Koto poked her head back up to see what happened as scorch marks were all over the ring.
Yusuke was still sleeping peacefully as Masked Fighter stood next to him with her arms crossed.
"Hiei has succeeded." Kurama said.
Hiei had a look of surprise on his face as he slowly started to lower his burned arm down.
"Where's Zeru?" Koto asked as she kneeled on the stage and looked around, then gasped when she found him.
His scorch mark was imprinted on the side of the wall.
"Well, he's definitely out of the ring." Koto said.
"Believe me, he's not coming back. That cinder's all that's left." Hiei said making her gasp.
"Yes and I suppose counting to ten would be a little ridiculous." She said looking back at him.
"Let's give it up for Hiei!" she said.
No one cheered as the demons in the crowd were all to scared and shocked by what they had seen as Hiei looked over his burned arm.
After a few minutes, the demons started cheering as Kuwabara and XV-Mon did so as well.
"Yeah, we're punching our way to the top! Hiei could beat anyone with that move. Hiei could beat anyone with that move." Kuwabara said in sudden realization that he could never beat the fire demon in a fight now.
"Oh man, what if he decides to be a bad guy again? What if he decides to shoot us with that dragon?!" he freaked out.
"Don't worry, fool." Hiei said as he walked over with his hand shoved into his pockets.
"We've entered into an alliance and I'm not the type to break it. Of course, after we win the tournament, I can't guarantee a thing." He said, but then gasped lightly as he felt a jolt a pain.
He then walked down off of the ring while Kurama watched him with a stern gaze.
Hiei then stopped when he saw Dai standing in front of him and was worried she may be scared of him now after she had seen what he could do.
Instead of running off in fear, she ran right towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck making him gasp lightly at the sudden show of affection.
"I thought you were dead out there." She whispered sadly as tears fell onto him.
Giving a small smile, Hiei wrapped his good arm around her waist and held her while Botan watched with a smile.
"Oh, how sweet." She gushed.
Kurama was happy for them, but was now worried.
After all, Dai is still human and would live a shorter life than Hiei would, so she would age and die within 80 or possibly 90 years if she were lucky enough.
Still, the issue was her death would tear someone as unstable as Hiei apart and he would lose control of his powers and go on a rampage, so he would need to be killed.
This was something Kurama should have thought of before.
The last two remaining members of team Rokuyukai started running away so they wouldn't be killed next as Rinku watched them go fearfully, but then the sound of punching made everyone watch the tunnel to see what was going on.
A tall and muscular man with a blue Mohawk walked out dragging the two demons with him as he held a bottle of vodka in the other.
He threw the two dead demons down and gave a grin.
"Oh, crap, it's bright out here." He said in an Australian accent.
"You're here?" Rinku asked as the male started gulping down the vodka.
He then started mumbling about the demons running from a fight and how it wasn't his fault if he killed them, but it was slurred and hard to understand as he tried to lift himself up onto the stage, but fell back.
"Hey, no need to make the ring taller, it's just some fun." He said.
"Oh dear. A drunk madman's escaped to the ring." Botan said as the man pulled himself up onto the stage.
The man stumbled around, but then just sat down.
"Hey, you Nancy Sheila, you look pretty hot. Could you come 'ere a second?" he asked pointing at Koto who looked nervous as she looked around as if asking for help.
"I got a question for ya!" the man yelled punching the floor making her jump and run over before he got violent.
"Um, oh, what kind of question?" she asked.
"Two other fellas just died on accident." He said.
"Oh, really? She asked as he burped and he held her nose in disgust.
"How can our team continue?" he asked.
"It doesn't matter how many die, each team's allowed only one alternate fighter. Rokuyukai can fight with Rinku and one alternate if they have one." Koto said.
"You sure about that?" the man asked.
"I am a walking rule book. My entire life is this tournament. Of course I'm sure." She said.
"YEAH!" the man cheered shooting up making her jump back startled.
"That means I can fight these last three ones myself. I think that's really ripper." The man said as he fell back down on his bottom.
Koto then walked up to him curiously as his hand shot out and grabbed her shoulder making her shriek.
"Thanks for everythin' Sheila." He smiled as he hugged her and rubbed her head and then let her go as he stood up.
"Prick." Koto muttered as she held her nose in disgust from his scent.
He then stumbled to the center of the ring.
"His spirit power's a lot less than Zeru's but for some reason I've got a creepy feeling. Watch out you guys." Kuwabara warned.
"What could you be worried about? He's only an alternate fighter and besides, he's a lush." Botan pointed out.
"I think that makes him more dangerous." Dai said as she still clung to Hiei.
"Let's go you socks. I want to get a good brawl in before my buzz runs off. Hey, even better, let's all fight at once." The man laughed loudly and obnoxiously.
"So, who's gonna take him? It hasn't been very long since all three of us fought our matches and I don't think any of us want Dai to fight him." Kuwabara said.
"Can't I just blow his head off?" the witch asked making Hiei smirk.
"Hurry up!" the man yelled.
"It looks like he's extremely impatient." Koto said.
"What'd you say?" he turned to her making the fox whimper.
"I only say it as I see it." Koto said nervously.
"Don't go on confusing us with big words. Now get me a fighter." He said pointing at the Urameshi team.
Koto then ran off over to them to get away from the lush.
"Pretty tail she's got that one, I think I might fall in love with her." He grinned as he chewed on his toothpick.
"Urameshi team, present your combatant." Koto said as she stood in front of the team still on the stage.
"Oh, we still have that Masked Fighter guy. Come on man, it's your turn. We can't let someone as innocent as Dai fight that crazy drunk." Kuwabara said.
"I'm starting to feel a bit insulted." Dai pouted as the Masked Fighter kept silent and closed her eyes.
"If you can't give me someone, I'll have to disqualify you." Koto said.
"No, hold on a second. I guess I'll have to take control of this fight. Unless of course I can get Urameshi to wake up! That's weird, where'd he go?" Kuwabara asked.
The place where Yusuke had been sleeping was now empty as everyone looked around curiously.
"Try over there." Dai said as she pointed.
Yusuke was fully awake as he jumped up onto the stage smiling and looking ready to go.
"Well, that's unexpected." Kuwabara said.
"Indeed." Botan said.
"Waking up from the smell of alcohol. I can't help but feel a touch of home." Yusuke said as he scratched his ear as one eye closed.
"Hey all you stupid demons, I've been trying to sleep through your blood trash talk long enough, but now I'm ready to kick some asses!" Yusuke smiled as he raised his arms up.
"He reminds of you when you were younger." XV-Mon said to his partner who giggled.
"Are you sure you're ready to fight? You've been sleeping for almost a day now." Botan said as she watched Yusuke stretch.
"Give me a break. That's why I'm taking this jerk. I could use some light exercise in the morning." Yusuke waved her off as he walked forward.
At the sight of him awake, the demons all yelled loudly to see the Spirit Detective fight against this new demon.
Yusuke grinned and tilted his head at the man who hiccupped.
The demons then chanted 'Kill Yusuke!' over and over again.
"Gee, that's intimidating. I've never heard so many voices hate one person so much." Kuwabara said.
"Hn, but can you really be surprised? Yusuke's become something of a Boogey Man for the apparitions." Hiei said.
"Yeah, I guess he has beaten a bunch of bad guy role models. But I've been helping Urameshi. Why didn't they chant kill me?" Kuwabara asked.
"That's because you lost." Botan stated.
"Oh, they didn't know that before the fight." He smiled nervously.
Kurama was looking between Hiei, Yusuke and Chu as he thought over what had gone on, worried about the drunk being the true leader of the team instead of Zeru.
Hiei had also sacrificed his right arm to beat Zeru and may never be able to use it again, but knew that Chu may be stronger and give Yusuke trouble.
"Stay there for a bit. I forgot somethin'." Chu said.
He then disappeared and grabbed Koto's microphone.
"Sorry Sheila, I've gotta borrow." He said.
"Ew. Please don't call me that." She said.
"Oh, OK. I just wanna set the record straight. Before we get this thing going. Right basically, I'm a really nice person and the only thing I suck at is paper, rock scissors." Chu said.
Everyone was silent at that as they looked at him in disbelief before they started talking about what he was talking about or why he would even mention that.
"Uh, let me try to translate for the drunkard here. Earlier this morning, the Rokuyukai team decided on their roster through paper, rock, scissors. Chu lost pathetically and became the alternate, but he wants you to forget all that because he is number one." Koto said as she got her microphone back.
"Yeah!" Chu growled.
"No need to thank me. That's why I'm here." Koto hummed.
"Wow, she's a really perspective person isn't she?" Kuwabara asked.
"Oh no. Chu's gonna start acting dopey again. I can feel it." Rinku whined as he jumped away and turned his back on his teammate.
"I'm strong, OK? You get what I'm tryin' to yolk here?" Chu asked.
"Yeah, stupid, I understand." Yusuke chuckled as he threw off his jacket.
"I'm not too difficult, you know. You were too scared to fight me before, and now you're blaming in on some dumb game." Yusuke said as he started jumping around to get ready to fight.
"Nah that's not right! Didn't ya hear what the foxy was sayin'?!" Chu yelled.
"Oh, rocks and scissors." Yusuke taunted.
Someone then insulted Chu about being a pathetic drunk which made Chu run off of the stage.
"Who said that?" he demanded as he climbed into the crowd.
He then reached for the first demon he saw and grabbed him by the neck and then went explain why he lost the game, because his fingers were stuck on scissors before he then grabbed a vodka bottle from a demon and jumped back down.
"Come on, at least let me stretch my muscles." Yusuke whined.
"This is plenty of great. You don't think I can fight at all do you? Well, let me tell you something, mate. I'm like a master at drunken fighting." Chu said as he started gulping down the vodka.
Chu then mumbled incoherently about some stuff as he pulled himself up onto the stage.
"Listen to this jerk, he's insane." Botan said.
"I know from school seminars, drunk driving kills people. Maybe drunk fighting's the same thing." Kuwabara said.
"Didn't anyone understand that guy at all because all I heard was Chu, crap and blah blah blah." Dai said.
"This is embarrassing." Rinku groaned.
"Yeah, wobbly, give me a break. So the tipsy fighting thing might be weird, but I've still heard of it before. Perhaps you have something else to make this a real challenge. I didn't come all this way to babysit a drunk." Yusuke said.
"Wait a minute. You won't yabber over there once I hit my groove. Of course, I've got to stumble into it first." Chu chuckled as he started to stumble.
"We gonna enjoy this." He said as his body moved as if there were more than one person.
"His movements." Kurama said.
"I know. He's beginning." Hiei said.
Chu stopped moving as he glowed red, Yusuke grinning as he got ready.
To be continued…
