Tren: Okay, again I'm here to torture the Spirit Detectives with Lucas. I've become more and more fond of him as time goes by. I mean, at first he was just some kind of fun little guy, now he's got to be one of my more favorite characters. Though can I really take credit for him? Anyway, keeping this AN section as short as possible so I won't torture you as much as usual. Italics are also thought voices/ ghost speak. Got it?
-Better keep the Devil at the door than turn him out of the house.-
-James Kelley
As many vigilantes will cry out, evil doesn't sleep. This is a gross exaggeration, as, on average, evil is a rather large, and combined, when one evil being was awake, another was sleeping. Adding to the fact that most bad guys look the same, usually dressed in clichéd black outfits, greasy hair and are full of cheesy cackles; therefore, most people will assume that evil doesn't sleep. At this moment, what could easily be considered the most evil being that was on earth at this time (though this is subject to opinion) was currently bored; his lithe form sprawled out over a downy futon mattress.
Soft, pale blonde hair fanned across the pile of pillows and his piercing blue eyes stared off at the flat screen TV nailed to the wall to his left while some idiot droned on about the news. To be honest, he was asleep; his thought waves about as interesting as that of a rock's.
Outside a maid slowly meandered down the hallway, dressed in the pale, dusty blue kimono with vaguely darker obi that was the uniform of the Myakka hotels. She stopped at the door of one room and shivered. It was only an hour ago that she had checked in the young man staying there. Always hating the graveyard shift, she was leaning up against the smooth teak counter, rhythmically tapping her fingers one by one in smooth succession. A gust of chilly air made her shiver and look to the door as a breathtakingly striking man strolled in, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his awesome, rather gothic style trench coat, the hem billowing out behind him in ways that she had only seen in movies. With all the confidence of a king he walked quickly to the counter and planted his long, pale and well manicured hands against the counter's smooth grain.
"I need a room," his voice was velvety and reminded her of the midnight sky.
She thought about it, chewing on her gum a little longer. What the hell was he on? This late at night during tourism season and he wanted a room?
"Uh… sorry, no can do. We're booked. Totally," she replied in the same monotone voice she usually adopted for the midnight hours and stared at him with bored eyes.
"Really?" he cocked an eyebrow at her and tapped his forefinger against the counter and grinned cockily. "Check again, won't you?"
Rolling her eyes, she checked the screen and her eyes grew wide when sure enough, there was an open room, their best one, too! And she was totally certain that the place was booked. Grinning a bit wider the man pushed his credit card across to her.
"I'd like to stay for… oh… whenever," he waved his hand dismissively.
Taking the card timidly, she ran it through the machine and booked the room, for three weeks to be safe, and looked up at him, handing the card back while eyeing him suspiciously.
"Have a nice stay, here's your key."
He walked off and disappeared around the corner with a flick of his jacket.
Now she was standing outside his room, listening to the soft droning of a newscaster. Shivering, she tried to figure out why being near that man made her feel so cold and dead. Finally she worked her legs back into movement and hurried off, careful not wake the other people.
Back inside the room Lucas was just vaguely aware that someone was outside his door though in all honesty he didn't care. Slowly forcing himself out of his sleepy reverie he yawned, stretching his arms high above his head and feeling more than a few joints pop in protest. Mumbling dark curse words to himself, Lucas forced his body into motion and stood almost drunkenly on unsure legs before finally gaining his balance.
He had come to Japan to rest. Of course, those nimrods called Reikai Tentai had to appear. Now his only hope would be that they would be too terrified to come after him. Knowing how two of the four idiot's minds worked, he'd have an easier time getting rest in a war torn country than here. Come to think of it, a war torn country didn't seem that bad. Strolling over to one of the small, minimalist couches that were placed strategically in the room for the best flow of chi, Lucas picked up his jacket, pulling his arms through the sleeves and strapping just a few buckles around his chest he walked off, turning the small door knob hanger to read "Do Not Disturb."
In a matter of minutes he was outside. The moon was beginning to wane and it seemed that the birds had caught wind of what happened to what was most likely their brother or sister or cousin, and decided, wisely, to shut up the moment his body left the building. Groaning loudly, he contemplated on just how to dispose of the detectives. Finally it hit him. Grinning to himself, mainly, he briskly walked to the park, a plan already formulating in the darker little parts of his brains.
Sitting lazily around the small coffee table in Kurama's living room, three of the Reikai Tentai were contemplating the mysterious stranger they had met at the café. As it normally seems to be the case, Kurama's mother was gone that night, and would be for the rest of the week as her soon to be husband had whisked her away on a sweet, romantic getaway.
Leaning heavily on the table with his elbows Yusuke was glaring off, staring at the clock which was slowly ticking down the midnight hours. One finger was drumming a tattoo onto the oak surface with all the agitation of a man deprived of a well deserved fight.
"Dammit, what is Koenma thinkin'? Sendin' us after some guy, tellin' us not to fight and then we meet 'em in a café and he WARNS us? What is this!" he growled darkly off, clenching his free fist into a tight ball.
"I understand that this is frustrating, Yusuke, but we can't just charge into a fight before we know who we will facing," Kurama replied, using the same answer he had only an hour ago when Yusuke asked the question as he had for every hour on the hour since they had arrived at his house to talk things over.
"Huh… where's short stuff?" Kuwabara asked, looking around the room to make sure that he wasn't seeing things. Nope, the so called "short one" wasn't there at all. In fact, he had disappeared soon after the freak in black named Lucas left the café.
"How the hell would we know?" Yusuke asked, fingers uncurling from his fists as they now started to twitch, his body longing for the next nicotine fix. Because of Keiko he hadn't had a fresh drag for two days and his body was letting him know it.
"Most likely he's off brooding somewhere," Kurama replied calmly, looking off at the quiet house, ignoring the oddly unsettled feeling that was seemingly haunting his thoughts.
"Yeah, that sounds like 'em," Kuwabara nodded his head, content with the answer.
"Still, how're supposed to take a bad guy seriously if his name is Lucas?" Yusuke added, the twitch in his fingers spreading to his entire hand now.
"What is so bad about the name Lucas?" Kurama asked, still curious as to what the two humans of their group found so utterly amusing.
"Could it be the fact that it sounds like any other person's name? I have expect to hear someone call 'Lucas, darling, you need to clean the dishes and mow the lawn!'" Yusuke imitated, poorly, a woman's voice and making a face.
"I still don't get why-" Kurama didn't get to finish as all of them heard a scream.
Not out loud of course, as that would just be crazy, but it was a horror-struck shriek worthy of movie that involved either a crazy man with a chainsaw or a ghost with an unhealthy lust for vengeance. All three fell quiet and in a matter of seconds were all up and out of the house, racing to where the sound had come from, the park.
First to arrive was Kurama, then Kuwabara and finally Yusuke, who was now feeling the affects of the cigarettes on his lungs. It was a small clearing, vaguely circular where many a couple would visit for a picnic. Their eyes searched for the culprit or the screamer, they finally all settled upon a blackened stump that was once a tree, an old oak. Fading slightly was the tree spirit; an elegant female shape disappeared into darkness. With a swish of cloth, Lucas appeared.
Standing arrogantly as ever with his arms crossed over his chest, his body an elegant, slender shadow, his hair seemed to glow, still pulled back into a neat pony tail. Though it was dark outside he wore sunglasses that hid his eyes. Smiling calmly, he began to move, simply shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
"Ah, good to see you received my invitation. I was worrying that you might have not noticed," he said, nodding his head to them gracefully.
"How could we not! Why did you kill a tree?" Kurama asked, outraged, and for the first time, the first to lose his temper.
"Kill a tree? Oh… Well, I must regret, you didn't leave me with an address and this seemed to be the fastest way to get in touch. You see, I have a bit of problem," Lucas replied, unfolding on arm to pull out yet another cigarette. Not wanting to find his lighter, he placed it gently between his lips and blew; the stubby end glowed with a sudden flare of red. Casually blowing long tendrils of smoke out from between soft lips he waved his hands off casually, leaving lingering trails from the embers of smoldering tobacco.
"You see, my problem is simple. By business has been, well, Hell, as of late and it's begun to get on my nerves. So like any discerning business man I decided to grab my car on go on a vacation of sorts," Lucas explained, stopping to take a slow, long drag, making Yusuke long to grab it out from between the man's long fingers for his own benefit.
"But you're not supposed to be here! So Koenma sent us after you to make ya leave, and ya gotta leave," Kuwabara added, keeping a wary on Kurama, who was still upset about the death of a great old tree.
"Yes… and my vacation would have gone off without a hitch if it wasn't for you meddlesome kids and you stupid fox," Lucas sneered off the last part, flicking a few ashes off and they could see he was annoyed. "Knowing that toddler, he's most likely told you to run me out Japan, correct?"
Nobody responded though each for their own reasons. Kuwabara was far too uncomfortable as the dead feeling that had pervaded the café now filled the small park. Yusuke was far too busy trying to resist the urge to punch the guy and take his cigarette and what else he had and Kurama was trying to remain calm though he began to hate the man.
"He sends children such as you after me… I'm offended… well, not entirely. I've gotten used to this treatment. Of course, I have no plans to leave. You are more than welcome to make me though; I always have stress that I'd like to blow off."
In this moment Yusuke darted forward, fist glowing with spirit energy. It didn't matter to him that he was told specifically not to fight or that he was most likely driven to this by a nicotine fit (he kept telling Keiko it wasn't a good idea to stop), he kept going forward. Shifting to one side to avoid the blow his free hand caught the fist midair. Icy fingers closed around the knuckles with surprising force, making a few pop as the coldness began to spread up Yusuke's arm. With a sweeping movement Lucas pulled the teen closer to him and stared over his sunglasses with eyes that seemed to blaze with hatred.
"You'll have to better than that," he breathed softly, smoke escaping his lips as he pushed the teen away as though he was a rag doll. As his fingers left the achingly chilled fist as did the spirit energy, leaving slowly, forming a glowing blue ball in the man's hand.
Yusuke went sprawling, his back colliding with a trunk of tree while Kuwabara was the next to try an attack, his long legs closing the distance between Lucas and himself with ease as the man landed a casual kick right to his chest. Surprised and definitely winded, Kuwabara had to force himself off the grass, his legs starting to shake with what he could begin to identify as fear.
"Good LORD," Lucas groaned, placing his foot back down onto the blackened stump, "is that rea-"
His moaning got cut short as there was a sudden cracking noise in the air and he felt a sharp pain across the side of his face. Standing calmly in front of him was Kurama, rose whip curling back around him habitually. Cold green eyes stared back at the man, glinting dangerously gold in the moonlight.
"…" Lucas was speechless for a moment as he timidly reached up at the deep gash on his face while something black oozed out, though the Reikai Tentai guessed it to be blood and attributed the color to the moonlight. "That… was unexpected. My, did I anger the demon?" he cocked a slender eyebrow sardonically, a cruel smile playing across his otherwise pleasant face.
"Yeah! Kurama got a hit on him!" Yusuke said, punching his fist in the air triumphantly, looking over at Kuwabara with a sure grin on his face.
"Ah, your red haired friend did manage to get a hit on me… but as you can see," he wiped the smear of dark liquid off his face revealing perfectly unmarred skin, "it truly is no matter."
"Aw, crap," Kuwabara muttered off, feeling vaguely sick.
By the time the orange haired punk looked back at the stump, the man was gone; instead he was a black blur heading straight for Yusuke. As usual, Yusuke was ready for a fight, fists raised in anticipation as the man's right leg went straight for the throat. With ease, he caught the leg by the slender ankle. Before he could process what was happening, the man's other leg left the ground, colliding with his head with surprising force. Lucas' hands shot out as he did an elegant hand spring out of his fall, landing rather like a cat, one leg tucked under him, the other sprawled out to his side.
A now, almost crazed grin was spreading across his face as he darted forward, his attention focused solely on Yusuke. Before Yusuke could react, his mind vaguely numbed by the latest blow, Lucas' hand had collided firmly right above his heart.
"What the Hell-" he stopped mid sentence as he looked down to see that a ring of darkness was encircling the man's wrist and suddenly plunged into him. There was a shockwave that scattered small feather shaped pieces of shadow out like ripples in the air, wind blasting each of the spirit detectives and sending Yusuke's limp form flying backwards, though his spirit still remained where he stood, still unaffected by the attack. Of course, Yusuke didn't really notice, completely unaware of the fact that he was once again separated from his body, as it seemed to be a growing habit.
Lucas jumped backwards in a sweeping motion, his jacket snapping through the air like a whip in his wake. Again he let loose another soft, dark chuckle, suddenly landing back onto the darkened stump that was once a tree. With a wave of his hand Yusuke's soul became invisible to all but his own baby blues.
"Whoa… where'd Urameshi go?" Kuwabara's rough voice suddenly asked, chafing through the smooth night air like sandpaper.
"Your friend over there? I'm sorry; it seems he's… expired for the night? Or longer if you don't hurry," Lucas threatened softly.
Hey! I'm right here! What th' Hell are you guys talkin' about! Yusuke cried out, waving his arms crazily.
"What did you do you Yusuke?" Kurama cried out, his temper beginning flare it's almost nonexistent head.
Dammit, I could expect this from Kazu but you, Kurama? I'M… RIGHT… HERE! Yusuke meant to jump in the air at the last word but noticed that his body didn't push off against the ground but instead just rose slowly into the air like when he was…
Damn.
"I'm afraid your friend's spirit has left his body, so to speak," Lucas explained, waving a hand casually like this was really no big deal. "I have removed it and kept it hidden from your little psychic eyes. Of course, my job is usually to collect souls, not keep them hanging around as souvenirs, so if he suddenly… slips away… is it really my fault?" he shrugged his shoulders to show that this honestly didn't bother him at all.
WHAT? I WANT TO GET BACK TO MY BODY NOW! Yusuke screamed, guessing (correctly) that Lucas could hear him.
"Give our friend back his soul!" Kuwabara cried out, racing forward to attack the blonde haired villain once again. His spirit sword poised and ready for an attack, it effectively slashed across the man's chest, not as deep as it could have been considering Lucas had taken a hasty step back. Just like the last time his skin had been marred by Kurama, the man showed no pain on his face, as he remained looking creepily amused as he took two quick steps to his left to dodge another wild swing, all the while taking another deep drag from the cigarette still held between his two fingers in one hand. Seeing an opening he rushed forward, coming almost nose to nose with the orange haired teen, a cruel smile playing across his lips.
Inaudible to all but the Lucas and Kuwabara, the blond whispered something dark in a language that made Kazuma's heart want to stop out of despair. As Lucas released the words from behind his lips the smoke he'd been containing escaped slowly and then it happened. In a blast of energy, Kuwabara flew backwards; his entire body bound in the smoke which had turned to thick, gray chains of some kind of metal. He guessed steel. Tossing the sunglasses to one side, Lucas turned his gaze upon the last standing member, Kurama, with a darkly amused expression burning behind each eye.
"Looks as though it is just you and me… clichéd to say, but it is indeed true," Lucas mused as seconds later he took another deep breath through the cigarette, sighing the pale vapor into the chilled night air.
"Yes… it appears to be that way. Return Yusuke to his body, now, and release Kuwabara," Kurama replied curtly, his fingers tightening on the handle of his whip in anticipation as much as anxiety.
"Really? What would be the fun in that? After all, isn't one on one far fairer?" the man asked, smiling, still smoking calmly as though he wasn't entrapped in a fight.
Stop tryin' to be scary, you ain't! You're as threatenin' as a three year old school girl? GAWD, would you STOP smokin'? Yusuke's spiritual voice throbbed in the blonde's head, making Lucas shake his head to get the noise out.
HAH! I know you can hear me!
Lucas looked off away from Kurama for a moment, his eyes staring fiercely right where the "ghost" of Yusuke and then he spoke, though his lips didn't move. Instead, the rich voice filled the air, letting only the greasy haired school punk hear him.
Shut your infernal mouth, idiot before I decide to act on those threats.
Fury burned so brightly behind the glassy blue eyes that Yusuke found himself for once speechless, his entire spirit refusing to move. Turning his attention back to the only detective capable of attacking him, he realized in an instant that he was too late. Slicing through the air was the rose whip, deftly sent through the air with an expert flick of his wrist. In an instant Lucas was falling back to the ground, blood spraying through the air. Cut eight times across the torso and neck, there was no way a human or a demon could survive an attack like that.
Sighing in relief, Kurama took an few seconds to make sure that he was indeed not getting up like in some horror movie or suddenly pop into many, tiny, Lucas-s, like what happened to Mickey Mouse in The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Assured that nothing freaky had happened yet, and probably wouldn't Kurama made his way quickly to Kuwabara who was sitting up, the chains forged from smoke gone.
"Kazuma, are you alright?"
"Ugh… yeah… he's dead right?" Kuwabara eyed the pieces of the body warily, squinting even more than usual.
"Yes… though he can regenerate, I doubt he can bring his body back from death," Kurama replied, turning his back to the gruesome scene to feel around for any broken bones.
"Uh… if he's gone, and so are the chains… why isn't Urameshi back?"
It was true, Kurama noticed, as he looked around. No spirit could be found.
"Perhaps it will take a little longer, remember, Yusuke's soul split his body a ways before you got chained up," Kurama explained, brushing it off with another logical explanation.
"Good… he's dead." Kuwabara added, relief flooding his body in a dizzying rush.
"Who is exactly is dead?"
"Lucas." Both Kurama and Kuwabara responded in unison before realizing that the new voice sounded… familiar…
"Funny how life turns out, huh?" It asked.
Crap.
-Alright, let's end this chapter and have a little cliff hanger. How are all of you? Well, let's not dally and head off to responding to all of you reviewers (thank you to the few of you that there are!)
-hottytottie90- I'm glad you really like my story so far… It really means a lot. Sorry if a few of my descriptions are a bit confusing. Glad this was written "intelligently". Thank you and I hope that I'm keeping it up!
M0nk3ys- Well, what do you think?
Shadowcat- It keeps getting better? WOOT! And yay, there's action now, see? Michael will show up more…
Sabs- you're being answered now… better?
Niana Kuonji- Hello there again! Don't worry about spazzing out… we all have short attention spans…I realize that I have this problem and will be doing something about this shortly.
Uma- what do you think?