Cora stared down the long, massive tunnel that lead to the fighting ring. The deafening roar of the crowd nearly drowned out the sound of the fireworks as well as the announcers voice as she welcomed the patrons to the "Glorious Hanging Neck Island" as well as the Dark Tournament. Kuwabara stood to Cora's right, Yusuke slung over his shoulder and sleeping on as if they weren't about to enter a battle for their lives. Hiei and Kurama stood on her other side, both standing so ridge'd Cora wasn't convinced that they weren't turned to stone. The masked fighter stood as silently as ever, their head bowed as if in deep thought.
"Ladies and Gentlemen my names Koto, and I'll be your cute host for this years tournament, and it's gonna be a messy one!" Cora placed a reassuring hand on Kuwabara's arm which was noticeably shaking from the anxiety of their first match up; their unexpected guests the previous night weighed heavily on everyone's minds. "For those of you in the first few rows, rain coats are available!"
"W-what would they need rain coats for?" Kuwabara asked cautiously, his horrified eyes glancing down at Cora who shrugged her shoulders in response.
"Hn. What do you think? This is a tournament is forged from greed and sustained by blood." Hiei said blandly.
Kuwabara turned an unhealthy shade of green, his nose scrunching up in disgust. "Oh..."
Cora smiled a little. "Heh, cool."
"Now here's the introduction you have been waiting for! TEAM ROKUYOKI!" Kurama cast Cora a side long glance that she paid no mind to as she focused intently on the cheers of excitement that flowed through the tunnel. If the crowd had been loud before, it was nothing compared to the commotion they were making now; it was a shock that the very wall's hadn't started to shake.
"They seem to have a lot of fan base in the crowd." Cora said, her eyes glinting with excitement. "That's going to make it all the more gratifying to see their faces get slammed into the pavement." Hiei grunted in agreement, crossing his arm's over his chest.
"-This years Guest, Team Urameshi!" Kuwabara and the Masked fighter took the lead with Cora behind them and Hiei and Kurama behind her. They where met with resounding snarls and boos from the crowd, the displeasure rolling off the demons in nauseating waves.
"This is sure one heck of a greeting for special guests. I don't think these monsters took their grumpy pills today." Kuwabara said as he eyed the demons in the stand wearily.
Kurama frowned. "Agreed Kuwabara; it most certainly isn't pleasant being called a traitor by creatures you've never met." Cora nodded, folding her hands behind her back as they came to a stop some ten feet away from the ring. She took the small break in the announcements to look around the arena; it was truly massive in size and reminded her of the roman Colosseum she had learned about while attending school. There wasn't an open seat in the stands, and it looked as though a few demons had snuck in to stand on the steps.
"Both teams into the arena!" Koto, a woman with fox ears and a busy tail, called out. Cora quirked a brow at her but they all complied, bounding up the three foot tall rings side and making their way into the center of the ring, coming face to face with Team Rokuyoki. Rinku bounced excitedly on the balls of his feet while the four grown demons behind him smirked cockily at Kuwabara and the others. Zeru glanced icily between them all before his gaze settled on Cora, a minuscule smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth which Cora returned with a scowl.
"So you've decided to ignore my invitation. I didn't want to force you into this, but I suppose there's little choice left." Cora's face scrunched up in further distaste, her lip curling back with a feral growl that made Kuwabara yelp and take a tentative step away from her. "Careful; if you keep that up, your pretty face will stay that way."
"Snide son of a bitch-" Cora stepped forward to attack, but was stopped mid step by a strong hand grabbing hold of her shoulder and pulling her back. She glared over her shoulder at Kurama, who had a hold of her, and Hiei who was glancing between Zeru and herself with barely restrained disdain.
Kurama leaned down to whisper into her ear."Save it for the ring; you might have to take a fight if Yusuke doesn't wake up in time." He said before letting go of her shoulder. Cora huffed, pulling back to stand slightly behind Hiei and Kurama, though her aggravated glare towards Zeru was prof that she hadn't dropped the issue.
"Things are already starting to heat up in the ring and we haven't even decided on the terms for the fight!" Koto shouted into the mic making the crowds shouts grow impossibly louder. "As always the terms of the fight will be decided by the leaders of the two teams! Of course if the leaders cant agree, we'll default to one on one fights and determining the winning team bu the number of most individual wins, make sense?"
"Uh, not exactly miss," Kuwabara said as he too glared irritably at Yusuke. "Our team leader is still asleep."
"Well then Kuwabara, you will have to be the one to do it." Kurama said cheerfully making Cora snicker as Kuwabara's face split into an unsure smile.
"Really?!"
Yusuke suddenly started to mumble in his sleep, gaining everyone's attention."... I don't wanna go to school mom... Just let Kuwabara be the leader... stupid tournament... anyone seen my green jacket..." Cora quirked a curious brow at the sleeping teen; was it normal for humans to talk in their sleep?
"Heh, if that's not a chance for power I don't know what is!" Kuwabara said joyously. "Of course I really don't like the fact that I was second choice, but oh well-"
"Will you get on with it you dope?" Cora said in exasperation, though her humor still shinned bright. Kurama chuckled from beside her as Kuwabara laughed sheepishly.
"Right; lets do this tournament terms thing!" Kuwabara took a few steps forward, discerning himself as the 'leader' of their group despite still carrying Yusuke on his right side.
"Poor fool." Hiei said with sarcasm, Kurama and Cora nodding in agreement as Zeru stepped up to engage Kuwabara and determine the match terms. The tension between the two couldn't have been cut in half with a hot steak knife it was so thick, the two of them staring each other down for what felt like an eternity.
"I don't care how we play this fight." Zeru said, his eyes flickering over Kuwabara's shoulder to stare down Cora. "It's not going to make any difference in the end. Just as long as I have time to enjoy my victory, and claim my prize."
"Then lets do man to man," Kuwabara said, taking Zerus attention away from Cora who's brow was furrowed in confusion. She couldn't hear what they where saying, but from the way Kurama's shoulders stiffened she had surmised that he had. What ever was being said, Cora was sure it would have pushed her frayed patients ever further.
"What did he say Kurama? I couldn't hear him over the crowd."
Kurama gave a side long glance to Cora and Hiei, his mouth set into a grim line. "Nothing worth mentioning; lets just focus on our matches." Cora sighed.
"Sounds like an agreement! We're looking at one on one!" Koto announced to the crowd. Kuwabara turned hotly from Zeru, making his way back to the team.
Cora smiled at him and gave him a pat on the back. "Good job Kuwa-!" Cora stopped mid sentence as Zeru's energy suddenly skyrocketed and flames enveloped his body as he stared them down. The heat was almost debilitating, but Cora and the boys stood their ground against the energy that wiped around the arena.
"Oh! Check this out ladies and germs; Zeru is emitting flames form his body!" Koto shouted. "Don't you love it!?" The crowd was indeed going wild as it appeared things where starting to amp up in the ring.
"His spirit energy just shot through the roof." Kuwabara pointed out. "Gee, I hope he's not mad because of what I said." Cora shook her head; Zeru's eyes where focused intently on Hiei, almost as if issuing a challenge to the smaller demon. Hiei shifted again, his eyes spitting fire at Zeru. Challenge accepted.
Kurama placed a hand on Hiei's shoulder, holding him in place much as he had Cora. "Perhaps we should adjourn to the ring side so we can start the first match." Hiei scoffed, shrugging Kurama's hand off his shoulder just as Zerus energy spiked once again, sending a shot of energized fire towards them. Cora stepped forward, holding her now glowing white hand out in front of her team. As if by magic the fire split in two around them, charging with full force to either side of the ring and into the crowed, taking out a major portion of the spectators in a blaze of agonized screams.
Kuwabara stared to panic. "Come on Urameshi, wake up!" He shouted as the flames died down, shaking the unconscious Yusuke by the front of his shirt. Once the flames were completely gone, Cora lowered her hand. Ignoring Hiei and Kurama's shocked stares she turned to the panicking teen placing a restraining hand on Kuwabara's arm to stop his insistent shaking.
"Your going to hurt him Kuwabara..." she scolded him.
He gave her a sheepish look before sighing in defeat. "I guess it's no use, he's still sleeping..."
Cora shook her head in exasperation. "Come on; we should get somewhere we can lay him down before Zeru tried to BBQ us again." She said earning a nod from Kuwabara. All four of them (and the unconscious Yusuke) left the ring to regroup. As Kuwabara laied Yusuke against the side wall of the ring Hiei opened his mouth to speak to Cora but was interrupted by Koto's announcing, much to his annoyance.
"GAH! Well people the flames are out!" Koto shouted as she hopped back onto the ring, her foxy ears folded flat against her head as the surveyed the damage down by Zeru's fire."I notice everybody is pretty quite after that little out burst, but remember that's half the fun..." Koto sounded unsure near the end, though she quickly regained her confidence as she began to announce the first round. "Now, send out your fighters teams."
Rinku giggled, his hand interlocking behind his head as he made his way to the center of the ring. "I'll go first!" Kuwabara lay Yusuke on the ground before cracking his knuckles in preparation.
"Oh yeah, that little brat is definitely mine..." Kuwabara made his way to meet Rinku in the ring, leaving the others to speculate on the goofy teen's chances of success.
Cora folded her arms over her chest, gnawing on her lower lip thoughtfully. "Do you think Kuwabara has a chance?"
Hiei scoffed. "Don't be stupid." Cora glared at the side of his face. "I'm far more curious about that little light show you just put on. I didn't know you could throw up shield's like that girl."
It was Cora's turn to scoff. "What, did you think I spent the last two months sulking because you two told me "no"? You're not the only ones who trained to be here." She said earning an appraising look from her "warden".
Hiei's eyes narrowed in speculation, but what ever he was thinking he decided not to voice it and instead turned to watch the match. "Hn."
Cora rolled her eyes; couldn't he show a little appreciation for her hard work? Tight lipped ass hat. She decided to drop it though; what ever had transpired between Hiei and Zeru had put the former in a bad mood. Well, a worse mood then normal. Not that she could blame Hiei for his sour mood; she too wished to take a chunk out of Zeru's face. Cora turned her eyes to the ring and felt a bead of sweat falling down the back of her head in embarrassment. The match had only been going on for a little over five minutes and Kuwabara was already looking at a loss of what to do as Rinku moved around him with impressive speed, appearing seemingly out of thin air in random acrobatic twists and turns all in a very triumphant attempt to confuse his opponent. Sure, the kid's speed was impressive for his age, but Rinku wasn't nearly as fast as Hiei, let alone Ayuma.
"Oh man, come on he's just a kid!" Cora grumbled under her breath, her hands falling onto her hips. "He's making us look bad!" She sighed in defeat as Rinku landed a solid blow to Kuwabara's chin, sending the big man reeling back in surprise. "Please tell me we brought him along for comic relief?" She asked Hiei and Kurama, who both chuckled in response.
"Have faith, I'm sure Kuwabara is simply at war with his honor; in any other situation he would never dream of hitting a child." Kurama said as Kuwabara rubbed his chin tenderly, sending death glares at the gleeful Rinku.
"Your starting to make me mad!" They heard Kuwabara shout.
"STARTING TO MAKE YOU MAD?!" Cora shouted out, ignoring Kurama entirely as she fumed over Kuwabara's slack attitude thus far. "You needed to be mad ten minutes ago!" Hiei and Kurama gave each other side longs glances, with Kurama laughing and giving Hiei a shrug. Said fire demon rolled his eyes, though he too smirked in mild amusement.
Rinku started his tricks again, bounding around the ring while Kuwabara continued to stand there, trying his hardest to lock on to Rinku's after image. "Don't just stand there! Figh- huh?" Cora stopped her shouting as something in the crowd caught her eye. Or more accurately, someone. "Botan...?" She grabbed Kurama's sleeve and pointed towards the crowd and at the person in question.
"Oh, it seems Koenma must be here." He narrowed his eyes a little as he scrutinize the two people sitting beside the bluenet. "Is that Keiko as well?"
"What?!" Cora's out burst tore Hiei's gaze from the bully match and towards the stands. "What is she doing here?!"
"Hn. Getting into trouble; seems to be a theme the women associated with this group stick to." Hiei said sarcastically making Cora's mouth flap open in shock. Hiei grunted, turning away so she couldn't see his smirk. Kurama hid his chuckle behind his hand making Cora turn on him with a look of outrage.
"Your on his side?!" Kurama shrugged bemusedly, his green eyes sparkling.
"You do have a knack for attracting trouble." Cora huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and turning on her heel, heading for the tunnel. Fine! If they wanted to be meanies, she would just go hang out with the girls until one of them needed her to heal them. Maybe she should make them beg.
"Where are you going now stupid girl?" Hiei said with out even turning to see her grand exit.
"I'm going to sew the seeds of chaos." Cora bit back sarcastically making him roll his eyes as he turned to give her an irritated glare over his shoulder.
"Whatever; just don't get eaten. I don't have time to disembowel anyone today."
She glanced over her shoulder, batting her lashes in an exaggerated way. "Oh Love, I never knew you cared!" Cora said, snickering when she saw Hiei twitch a little, a distinct shade of green taking over his face. And was that a blush? Make that one point for Cora and like, two thousand for Hiei- slowly but surly she was making a come back! Cora turned then, running from the arena and making her way to the stands.
Hiei growled, turning back to watch the fight. Nothing much had changed; Rinku was still bouncing around like a kid at Christmas (who does crack), and Kuwabara was standing there looking like an idiot. It was find if she missed this one; he didn't want Kuwabaka's horrible fighting style to rub off on her anyways.
"Cora seem's to be in a better mood today." Kurama said as he came to stand beside Hiei and the Masked fighter.
Hiei rolled his eyes, his lips falling into a tight lipped frown. "Pain in the ass."
Kurama chuckled into his fists, ignoring the irritated glare his short companion sent his way. "I'm sure she'll be fine; she's most likely going to go find the girls."
Hiei grunted in response, his eyes flickering to the seats where Botan and the two human women sat. He spent the next few minutes glancing between the fight and the stands, growing antsy as the minutes ticked by and the little group continued to lack an annoying, white mop of hair. He growled, tearing his eyes from the stands just as Kuwabara landed a single hit to the top of Rinkus head, sending the kid skidding across the ring as he lost his balance.
"YEAH! THAT'S HOW YOU DO IT! GIVE HIM ANOTHER!" Hiei's eyes widened before they sprang to the stands to see that Cora had now joined the other females and was now shouting out over the heads of the demons in front of her.
"Idiot..." Hiei hissed out as Kuwabara landed a kick to Rinku's head.
"-THATS RIGHT! SHOW THAT SNEAKY BRAT WHO'S BOSS!" Cora shouted, ignoring the glares of the demons that sat around her. She had managed to find her way up to the girls, and was surprised to find not just Botan and Keiko up there, but also a tall woman with brown hair and golden brown eyes named Shizuru, who she learned was Kuwabara's older sister. What do you know, the bloodiest tournament in his troy was becoming a family event; bring the kids!
"Uh, Cora, maybe you should sit down..." Botan said nervously as she tried to tug on the smaller girls arm.
"Why the hell should I- LOOK OUT!" Cora shouted as Rinku seemingly disappeared from the ring. Kuwabara looked around stupidly before turning on a dime only to be hit in the side of his head by a very fast moving Rinku. The strike held enough force to throw Kuwabara to the ground like a rag doll, bending his neck into a weird angle. "... brutal." Keiko and Botan gasped, while Shizuru sat up a little straighter, obvious worry dancing through her eyes.
"Eww..." Koto said mistakenly into the mike.
Cora leaned forward, forcing her hands onto the shoulders of the demon in front of her and leaning over his head to get a closer look at the ring. "COME ON KUWABARA GET YOUR LUMPY ASS MOVING!" Cora shouted over the indignant shouts of the abused demon she was leaning on. The crowd was cheering, their blood lust suddenly exploding into existence as the notion of first blood started to permeate the air.
"1-2-3-4-" Cora yelped as she was dragged back into her seat by a panic stricken Botan who was apologizing feverishly to the peeved demon that Cora had been leaning on.
"Cora don't do that! Your going to get us killed!" Cora didn't hear her, as her eyes where set on the ring bellow.
"-5-6-7-8-"
"GET THE FUCK UP!" Cora shouted. Kuwabara suddenly twitched, his arms moving to pull himself up onto his knees.
"SHUT UP SHRIMP BAIT I'VE GOT THIS!" He shouted towards the stands making the girl in question snicker. He then turned his attention back to Rinku and exchanged some words with the boy that Cora was to far away to hear. Keiko sighed in relief.
"He's ok..."
"That boy is something..." Botan said incredulously.
Shizuru shrugged. "He's my brother is what he is."
"He's a grade 'A' pain in the ass!" Cora huffed out, crossing her arms over her chest. "He better not get to banged up."
Botan placed her finger to her chin in thought. "By the way Cora, where have you been all this time? Koenma thought he was going to have to send another spirit detective to arrest you."
Cora waved her off with an irritated scowl. "I was with Yusuke getting training from Genkei."
Botan's eyes widened. "She agreed to train you?! Just like that?!"
Cora shook her head. "No, she let me tag along to learn what I could on my own and did a few one on one sessions to teach me some energy techniques and healing tricks."
Botan still looked shocked, her mouth hanging open as her brain tried to digest the information. "Healing? I didn't know Meimu demons could heal..." Botan mumbled out.
"I don't care what Meimu demons can or can't do; all I know is that Genkei said I was a natural with healing, and unlike Ayuma, she was able to help me gain control of my energy." Cora said smugly, powering up her energy into the tips of her fingers and showing them to the girls. Her energy was strange in that it had no color, or light to it like normal demon energy. It simply shimmered like a prism, refracting the light that already existed in the room. Botan couldn't even sense it, despite being face to face with Cora's strange energy. "If I'm lucky, then Yusuke will stay out for the count and I'll get to show off a little in the ring." Cora said with a wink as Botan 'ooo' and 'awwd' at the energy she produced.
"Wow! Is that how you deflected the fire? All we could see from here was you holding out your hand!" Botan asked earning a nod from Cora.
"How can something so pretty be so dangerous?" Keiko asked as she eyed the energy with weary curiosity.
Cora powered down her energy, flexing her fingers a little. "It all depends on how you decide to use the energy; I use the same energy to fight as I do to heal and throw up small shields, I just change its intent- DAMN IT KUWABARA WHAT THE HELL?!"
Keiko and Botan looked back to the ring and gasped as the saw Kuwabara being lifted into the air by what looked to be kite strings. "W-what happened?" Botan asked worriedly as Kuwabara climbed higher and higher, flashes of lighting from an approaching storm lighting up the sky behind him.
"Well, at least baby brother is getting a good view of the stadium, right?" The Shizuru said as she lit up a cigarette. Cora quirked a brow at her; she didn't seem to worried, but the shaking of her hands told Cora other wise.
"How can you joke right now? Don't you know what will happen if he falls?" Keiko ask incredulously.
"That's easy. He'll die." The unmoved Shizuru said blandly making Cora snort in amusement. Botan gasped, but before she could start to rant Cora cut through in Shizuru's defense.
"She's right. Even if I was standing ring side I wouldn't be able to get to him in time to save him." She said as she rested her head on her fist in a bored manor.
"Shizuru! You should be ashamed of yourself! Keiko is worried because you brothers life happens to be hanging by a literal thread!" Botan shouted, making Cora and Shizuru regard her with mild irritation. "And Cora, he's your team mate and you should care a little more about if he dies!"
"Us getting upset will make a hell of a difference wont it." Shizuru said before taking a drag off her cigarette.
"The only hope we have to bet on at this point is that Yusuke will wake up-!" Cora stared with wide eyes as Keiko leaped to her feet, her face set in determination as she screamed Yusuke's name at the top of her lungs.
"YUSUKE! HOW CAN YOU KEEP SLEEPING WHEN YOUR FRIEND IS IN TROUBLE WITH THESE NASTY DEMONS!"
Cora pumped her fist into the air. "That a girl! You tell him!" Botan looked horrified; it was bad enough that Cora, a fellow demon, was drawing the spectators attention to them but now Keiko, a defenseless human, was shouting like a maniac drawing sneers and jeers from the crowd around them.
"GET OFF YOUR LAZY BUTT AT HELP HIM!"
Cora laughed out loud and patted Keikos back. "About damn time you got that fighters spirit going!" Keiko growled, dashing towards the steps. "Whoa there! Don't do anything to crazy now!"
"Keiko, we're not on safe grounds!" Botan shouted after her.
Keiko stopped and looked at them over her shoulder, her eyes still burning with irritation. "Maybe Shizuru's right; worrying wont make a difference, but I still have to try!" Keiko said. Cora groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose as a massive shadow fell over Keiko who turned with a yelp and came face to face with a huge demon with multiple sets of empty black eyes set all along the top half of his face.
"Whats the matter little girl?" The demon said snidely, a sinister smile pulling on his thin, chapped lips. "You lost?" Cora sighed as she got to her feet, dusting her shorts free of any imaginary dirt and cracking her knuckles. "Go on to your filthy home; this here tournaments for apparitions and demons only!"
Botan moved to aid the young human female, her eyes wide in horror. "Oh my, Keiko-"
Cora placed a reassuring hand on Botans shoulder. stopping the grim reaper from possibly making things worse. "Don't worry, I got'er-!"
"You can't scare me with that talk!" Cora's head whipped around and stared with wide eyes as Keiko stood her ground against the demon, her dainty hands placed defiantly on her small hips. "I know Yusuke's beaten creatures a lot bigger then you!" The demon's around them looked just as shocked at Cora felt, their eyes and mouths hanging wide open.
Cora let out a bark of laughter before making her way to the stairs. "I love this chick! She's pretty bad ass for a human." Cora said over her shoulder at Botan who was by now wracked with worry. Cora reached over and grabbed Shizuru's cigarette, earning a quirked brow from the brunet. "I'll get you a new one."
"Ha! Your boys asleep!" The demon leaned down and got right into Keiko's face, making her nose scrunch up in annoyance. "To bad you can't protect yourself!" The demon opened his mouth as if to swallow Keiko whole just as Cora touched the cigarette to her individual finger tips before placing them onto the demons exposed tongue, the sound and smell of sizzling flesh cutting through Keiko's startled scream.
Tall dark and ugly yelped, jumping back so fast he nearly lost his footing on the stairs. "Your a fool to think she would be here unprotected." Cora said with a deadly smirk as the demon scampered away, fanning at his severely burnt tongue as he went. Keiko let out a relieved breath before uttering a thanks and running past Cora and down the steps. Cora sighed, placing the now burnt out cigarette against her palm and allow it to reabsorb the heat energy she had stolen, relighting it and handing it back to Shizuru who eyed it wearily. "Hiei was right; the women in this group do go looking for trouble..." She grumbled out before following after Keiko. Shizuru shrugged and started puffing on her cigarette again before her and Botan followed after Cora and Keiko, the later of whom was leaning over the stone wall and shouting at Yusuke to wake him up.
"Hang tight Kuwabara!" Botan shouted up at the dangling man as she and Shizuru came to stand beside Cora. Kuwabara glanced over, his face lighting up with recognition. "I don't suppose you know how to fly do you?"
"Oh! Hey Botan!" Kuwabara said energetically, his voice completely devoid of any stress as he greeted the grim reaper. "Ah, sis!" And enter the panic. "I-I didn't know you where gonna be here! I'd give you a better greeting but I'm kind of busy right now!"
Cora rolled her eyes. "Hey, ass hat! Focus on not dying would you?!"
"DAMN IT SHRIMP BAIT I SAID I GOT THIS!" Kuwabara shouted at Cora, making her give him a tight lipped smile; she would need to have a talk with him about his new nickname for her. Her left fist should be enough to prove her point.
"Rinku seems to be hesitating!" Koto said before motioning around her in a wide circle. "Why don't we ask the fans what they want!" The crowd began to chant the words 'let him drop' over and over again.
Rinku smirked up at Kuwabara. "Guess that settles it," he said making Cora sigh before she jumped over the wall. She landed in a crouch much to the girls' surprise and hurried over to Kurama, Hiei and the Masked fighters sides.
"Think he's going to make it?" Kurama gave her a side long gaze that read 'not likely' making her wince; first round and already they where going to be down a fighter...
"Gotta give my fans what they want!" Rinku said snidely before flicking his fingers, sending a rush of his red yokai into the strings that held Kuwabara in the air. "And they want a drop!" The strings unraveled from Kuwabara's wrists and ankles, allowing the big man to plummet towards the ground much to everyone's horror.
"Kuwabara, do something!" Cora shouted as she watched her team mate drop like a rock.
"This is it people!" Koto said enthusiastically. "Get ready for a boom!"
Cora growled, holding her fist up at the announcer. "Shut up! You heard the man, he's got this!" Koto blanched, taking a couple steps away from the angry little she demon. No sooner had the words left Cora's mouth however then did Kuwabara let out a smug chuckle, pulling his arms in front of him and accumulating his orange energy into the palms of his hand.
"YOU SHOULD HAVE NEVER LET ME USE MY HANDS!" He shouted in defiance. Rinku's eyes widened as Kuwabara released his energy. "Spirit sword get long!" A pillar of orange spiritual energy flashed out of Kuwabara's palms, hitting the ring and slowing down his rate of fall. Kuwabara then used the same pillar as a pole vault, hurling himself at Rinku with alarming speed.
"Yeah! That a boy!" Cora cheered flipping Koto the bird much to the demoness' horror. Kurama covered a bark of laughter with a cough while Hiei smirked in amusement at Koto's dumb founded look.
Rinku shot out his final attack, sending all of his deadly Yo Yo's at Kuwabara at once. Kuwabara called on his spirit sword, and to everyone surprise it elongated, shifting and bending around the offending Yo Yo's as it made a B-line to Rinku.
"Get the hell out of the way Rinku!" Cora stared over the ring to see that it had been Zeru who had spoken, the first utterance of any kind to come from the other side of the ring. However, his warning was to late as both fighters where hit, sending them both flying in opposite directions of each other landing just outside the ring. The room was deftly silent, with nothing but the panting of both downed fighters.
"Holy tap-dancing christ..." Cora mumbled out, earning a nod of agreement from her two conscious companions.
"So; who's the winner?" Shizuru asked from her spot up in the stands.
"Beats me..." was Botans reply.
"Ummm... right, well- since both the fighters have been extraordinarily knocked outside the ring at the very same time..." Koto said with uncertainty as she glanced between the two fighters.
Hiei scoffed, sending a dead panned stare Kurama's way. "Was that the focus of your training?"
"Well, more or less," Kurama said as he inspected Kuwabara from afar. "The main focus of our training was to teach him precise control over his spirit sword."
Cora nodded, giving Kurama a thumbs up. "Well it seems to have paid off; while a little unorthodox it got the job done."
Hiei rolled his eyes. "We would have stood a better chance sending you in the ring; at least you know how to dodge." Hiei said making Cora give him a narrowed eye glare.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd think there was an insult in there somewhere." She grumbled earning a shrug from Hiei which made her roll her eyes. "One of these day's I'm going to blast that smirk off your face." Hiei merely snorted in amusement, not even bothering to offer her a retort; he'd already won this round.
Koto scratched the back of her neck nervously. "By the rules your only allowed to stay out of the ring for 10 seconds, so, umm- I'm just gonna start counting!" Koto called out, drawing their attention back to the fight. "1-2-3-"
"I'd be surprised if either of them got back on their feet in time." Hiei said. Cora huffed but nodded in agreement; while it was good that the other team wouldn't score, they weren't going to score either.
"It's true; both the Yo Yo's and the sword made solid hits." Kurama said in speculation. "I guess we'll know soon enough."
"-4-and 5- huh?" Everyone's eyes widened as they saw Rinku start to crawl his way back onto the ring. He looked pretty banged up and started almost instantly trying to heal the nasty burn that adorned his abdomen from where Kuwabara's spirit sword had struck him. "Rinku has reentered after 5 counts! But it's not over yet!"
"...Get up there Kuwabara... I'm serious..." Cora glanced down at the sleeping Yusuke, quirking a brow as the young teen started talking in his sleep again. Seriously, was this normal? Should she contact an old priest and a young priest? "I know your... used to losing... but not now..."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Cora jumped as Kuwabara shouted, turning just in time to see the tall boy jump to his feet as if nothing was wrong, a look of pure agitation on his face as he looked around as if searching for someone.
"6 Kuwabara, you have 4 counts to get in the ring-!" Koto said excitedly.
"Not you, Urameshi!" Cora, Hiei and Kurama gaped in shock as Kuwabara stormed around the side of the ring. "You little bum!" He shouted as he made it to Yusuke, grabbing the youth by the front of his shirt. "You wanna say that to my face?!" Yusuke snoozed on, un effected by his friends angry out burst. "Oh, your pretending to be asleep now, you scardie cat!"
"7!"
"Are you fucking kidding me Kuwabara! Now's not the time for that!" Cora scolded him.
Kuwabara glanced up at the ring in a panic. "Wait, I'm coming!" He shouted. Before he could move the Yo Yo's around his wrists suddenly came to life, binding his arms and legs together. "Hey! Let go of me you stupid Yo Yo stings! That's cheating!"
"9!"
"Damn it Kuwabara get your ass back in that ring!" Cora hissed out, barley holding herself back from running over and kicking the damn fool back into the fight.
Kuwabara started wiggling around, trying his hardest to break free from the dumb Yo Yo's"Damn it-"
"10!"
Cora face palmed herself, a low groan falling from her throat as the crowd started going wild. "Like I said, comic relief..."
No sooner had the ten count been called then did Rinku release the Yo Yo's from Kuwabara who bounded into the ring. "No, no, no, no, NO!" Kuwabara shouted. "Hold it jerks! That wasn't a fair move! Lets go!" Rinku took half a step back, his hand falling on his still wounded abdomen.
"You run on batteries or somethin'? I beat you- just please go away!" Rinku pleaded, his voice sounding so childish and scared that it was hard to believe that the cold blooded killer from before and this small child where one and the same.
"That was fairly innocent." Kurama said with amusement.
"That was fairly stupid!" Cora ground out, kicking the side of the ring out of pure boredom.
Kurama chuckled and nodded. "Its rare to see both fighters standing."
Hiei grunted in agreement, a small smirk tugging at his lips. "I assure you it wont happen with me."
Cora glanced at Hiei and then to Zeru, grimacing as the former of the two threw her a darkening look. "Good." Zeru turned away then as Rinku exited the ring. Cora and her two boys looked up at the score board just as Rinku was marked victorious, making Cora grimace. "Another loss like this one and we'll never be able to show our faces in public again." She said earning a nod from Hiei and Kurama.
