Me: Yes another skit, well not really a skit, but a blurb, but Persephone is back.

PR: Kurama?

Me: Not this time

PR: :glares:

Me: :inches away: anyway... the disclaimer will be given by the main character this week.

PR: Gnocx?

Me: No. The other one. :Snaps fingers:

The door opens and in walks Yusuke Urameshi

PR: Oh, that one.

Yusuke: :glares at PR: Love you too. :puts me in a loose head choke: Hey buddy.

Me: Hello my favorite delinquent, can you do the disclaimer for us.

Yusuke: As if this asshole would own me or anyone of Yu Yu Hakusho or Kingdom Hearts.

PR: Hahaha

Me: Smartass. well, atleast you were better than Hiei.

Yusuke: I was? Fuck yeah! Time to go rub it in that three eyed bastards face. :Leaves room:

Me: They're all quite something aren't they?

PR: Yep, although I am not looking forward to who is obviously next.

Me: :deadpans:

PR: While Shaded Truths is deadpanning at me, please enjoy this 10th chapter. If he is right we are half way through.

Chapter 10

The detective team had left the room of the blue dragon and were sprinting up a spiral staircase. They continued to sprint, but stopped when Kuwabara suddenly gasped and flinched.

"What is it now?" Yusuke irritably asked. "Cramps?"

"No," Kuwabara replied. "It's like I just got a chill in my brain. I think something's going down back home."

"We should hurry then," Gnocx said.

"Yeah," Yusuke agreed. "We only have one ass left to kick so let's go."

They started running once more, and when they reached the end of the stairs, they were led out onto what appeared to be the roof of the castle. At the other end stood a lone strangely shaped tower.

"What the hell kinda tower is that?" Yusuke wondered.

"It's the watchtower," Hiei said. "I'm sure that is where the last one is hiding."

"Well let's go drag him out then," Yusuke said with vigor before they started to run again.

This time they got halfway before Yusuke's communicator beeped in. As he kept running Yusuke pulled it out.

"What is it now?" he groaned before he stopped and gaped at the image on the screen.

"K-Keiko!" Yusuke shouted, and sure enough there Keiko was, standing beside Botan as they appeared to be hiding behind a bush.

"I had to pick her up from school, Yusuke," Botan explained. "It seems that all the afflicted individuals are after her and I don't think they want to talk."

"What?" he replied.

"I'm almost certain they mean to kill her!" the grim reaper said with urgency.

"Kill!" Yusuke shouted.

"So," Kuwabara said, "that's what my premonition was."

"The beasts must be using the Makai Whistle to order th-" Botan began but was interrupted as the two were found by one of the infected humans.

There was a scream and the screen turned to static.

"Botan!" Yusuke screamed. "Are you there?"

"This isn't good," Kurama said grimly.

"We have to go and smash that whistle as fast as we can," Yusuke ordered, which prompted them to resume sprinting toward the tower.

The leader must have been watching and looked into Yusuke's life back in the human world, Gnocx surmised in his head as they kept running.

He looked over to see that the cool, confident look on Yusuke's face was replaced with one of urgent desperation.

They continued running until they were coming up on the tower.

"I'm sure that the leader is hiding himself on the top floor," Kurama told them.

"Then let's go and say hello," Yusuke said.

Before they could get any further they noticed that on either side of the tower were entrances that led down under where they were standing. Out of these entrances came some sort of monsters. They were humanoid creatures that were completely green and looked to have leaves on their heads.

"What are they?" Gnocx asked Kurama.

"They are Cultivated Humans," the whip user replied. "Demons grow them in fields and take away their free will at birth. They feel no pain so they are the perfect soldiers."

The Cultivated Humans continued to file out until there were what seemed to be about 100 of them standing in between the Spirit Detective team and the tower.

"I don't know, but there are so many of them it'll take us a year to beat them all," Kuwabara said.

"Yes," Kurama agreed. "Considering our time constraints, this could prove to be problematic."

"I have had dealings with Cultivated Humans before," Hiei informed them. "They don't feel pain or fear which makes them harder to fight then normal humans."

"How twisted do you have to be to turn humans into monsters like this?" Kuwabara asked. "I think Keiko is in real trouble guys."

"Like hell she is," Yusuke snarled clenching his fist and drawing it back. "Stupid, monster humans trying to slow us down. I'll blow them all away with my shotgun blast."

Yusuke reared his fist back more and it started to glow a light blue. He could not make good on his promise, however, because Kurama placed a hand on his shoulder while Gnocx grabbed his wrist.

"Huh?" he said to them.

"Let's use our heads," Kurama suggested.

"What?" Yusuke yelled. "You want me to head butt them?"

"No, you idiot," Gnocx replied for Kurama. "He means that you can't waste your spirit energy when you need to fight the leader."

"He's spot on," Kurama confirmed. "The more impatient we are, the more mistakes we'll make."

"Well, how is head butting gonna help?" Yusuke asked. "My shotgun is the only thing we can use to get past them."

Before Kurama or Gnocx could reprimand him for his insistent idiocy Hiei decided to speak up.

"No," he said causing the four to look at him.

"So, you got an idea?" Kuwabara asked to which Hiei nodded in reply.

"Set your eyes on that first window," Hiei directed as he pointed to what was indeed a window a good distance above the door leading into the tower. "That is your entrance."

"I'm sorry Mr. Mysterious, but I've appeared to have left my pogo stick at home," Yusuke shouted in frustration.

"Yeah, how is he supposed to jump that high?" Kuwabara asked.

"You'll need to listen closely," Hiei advised.

After explaining his plan the five of them lined up behind each other. First was Kuwabara, then Gnocx, third was Kurama, then Hiei, and finally Yusuke brought up the rear.

"You better not screw this up Kuwabara!" Yusuke shouted

"Don't worry I'm like an ox," Kuwabara assured as he crouched down before running off toward the tower and the army of mindless humans.

The other four ran after him after he got a good distance away.

"Just do me one favor you guys, and try not to dig in with your shoes," Kuwabara requested.

"Shut up and keep running!" Yusuke shouted.

As Kuwabara approached the first group of Humans he called his Spirit Sword and swung it in a wide arc, slicing about a half dozen in half. After he took care of that he made his sword vanish before bracing himself, spreading his legs and giving himself a good balance.

"Alright, let er rip!" Kuwabara called.

With that ok, Gnocx jumped as he reached Kuwabara and managed to land with a foot on each of his shoulders. Kurama came next and jumped, placing a foot on Kuwabara's back then on Gnocx's back before he settled on Gnocx's shoulder. Hiei came third, his feet light enough to not disturb the precarious position they were in. Once Hiei settled on Kurama's shoulders, Yusuke jumped. When his foot landed on Kuwabara's back, he lurched forward but kept his balance as Yusuke climbed the rest of the way, nearly knocking Gnocx and Kurama off with his lack of grace. Once he touched on Hiei's back, he jumped toward the window with enough force to send the human ladder falling over. Hiei, Kurama, and Gnocx, managed to jump off, but Kuwabara was unable to maintain his balance and face planted.

"It'll be close," Kurama said as he landed.

They all watched as Yusuke flew toward the window. By a narrow margin, he was able to grab onto the bottom of the opening and lift himself into the tower.

"We did it!" Kuwabara cheered.

Yusuke turned and looked down at his teammates.

"Koenma will have to remind us to try out for the cheerleading squad," He said smugly. "You guys have fun with the veggie heads!"

"Don't die on us, Urameshi!" Kuwabara called in reply.

Yusuke gave them a thumbs up before charging into the tower, leaving the other four with the small army of mindless slaves.

"Poor guys!" Kuwabara shouted at them. "I'm gonna feel bad for kicking your butts."

Kuwabara then charged and punched the nearest one. Kurama took out a rose from his hair and transformed it into his signature Rose Whip before using it to cut down a half dozen soldiers. Hiei dashed through the crowd, slicing through any Cultivated Human that had the misfortune of coming in his path. Gnocx called both of his blades before plunging them both into the heads of any of the enemies around him.

While the battle continued outside, Yusuke made his way up through the tower. As he kept climbing he could see the opening into a room.

She had better be ok, Yusuke thought as he reached the end of the stairs.

He exited the staircase and entered a large room. Before he could even take in the room's appearance, his attention was drawn to a giant monitor that was suspended on the wall. On the monitor were Botan and Keiko running from the hordes of infected humans.

"Keiko, Botan!" Yusuke yelled and watched as they were cut off by an infected man.

Luckily they managed to escape him and continued to run. It was then that Yusuke heard some sort of melodic sound coming from below the monitor. He looked toward it and saw the silhouette of what was obviously the leader of the Saint Beasts and he was playing what had to be the Makai whistle. The leader started to walk forward, whistle still playing.

"Put that thing down," Yusuke ordered.

The leader walked and came close enough that he could be clearly seen before he stopped playing. The leader looked human. He was wearing a red sleeveless shirt that reached his knees and had a purple band tied around his waist. He also wore white pants and had a white scarf around his neck. His strangest feature was his hair. It was a golden color and he had two locks travel down each side of his face like antennae and they were red.

"It's so nice to see you in person after watching you attempt to ruin my plans for so long," the leader said. "I am Suzaku of the Four Saint Beasts. I am their leader."

As he introduced himself a small bird flew down and landed on his shoulder. It had green feathers and a spot of blue on its head.

"And I am his dear Murugu," the bird said.

"I have been watching your dear Keiko," Suzaku said as he gestured to the screen. "It's amazing how much humans resemble animals as they are being hunted."

Murugu cackled at that.

"Here's the deal," Yusuke said. "Pull your zombies off Keiko, and then I'll only pull off one of your lungs."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then hold your freaking breath," Yusuke replied as he stalked forward.

They then watched as Keiko and Botan were found again and being chased through the halls of Sarayashiki Jr. High.

"You should feel most fortunate, Yusuke," Suzaku chuckled. "Not everyone's girlfriend gets to star in a horror movie. Of course the films in my city are usually different. Demons don't care for happy endings."

"You think you can control me, don't you?" Yusuke growled and Suzaku just smirked.

"Control this, you bastard!" Yusuke yelled as he charged, fist ready.

He's fast, Suzaku thought wide eyed as he continuously blocked Yusuke's fist with one hand.

His other hand held the Makai Whistle. The Whistle sort of resembled a flute but looked like it was made from tree bark.

I don't believe this, Yusuke thought as he continued the barrage. He's blocking me with one stupid hand.

He's very fast, Suzaku mused as he narrowed his eyes.

Yusuke went in for a powerful hit, but Suzaku jumped into the air, avoiding it.

"Bad choice!" Yusuke yelled.

Yusuke held his pointer finger out and the tip started to glow a light blue as energy gathered there.

"Funny thing about hanging in the air," he started, looking at Suzaku who was currently suspended a good ten feet in the air. "It's really hard to dodge!"

Suzaku began to look worried.

His spirit energy?

Yusuke grabbed his wrist with his other hand and held it over his head before pointing the glowing finger at Suzaku.

"Spirit Gun!"

From his finger fired a giant ball of light blue energy. It soared toward the nervous Suzaku. With a grunt, Suzaku clenched his fist and backhanded the energy blast, sending it toward the roof. Muguru had to avoid the blast as it nearly enveloped her.

"What!" Yusuke yelled.

His blast hit the ceiling and blew a giant hole where it impacted.

"Your blast is very powerful," Suzaku praised as he touched back down.

He knocked my…that's bad, Yusuke thought.

"You actually made my hand numb with that attack," Suzaku said as he blew the smoke off his fist. "It's a very good thing that you can't hit me with it or I could be in some trouble.

Damn it! Six months with that fossil, Genkai, and my Spirit Gun still gets whacked.

"Let me hold the Makai Whistle for a moment while you drain his life," Muguru offered as she flew beside her master.

"Thank you, Muguru, but that won't be necessary," Suzaku replied. "I will destroy him with one hand."

"Tch," Yusuke scoffed. "Thanks a lot, asshole."

They had a stare down as the wind from the outside came in from the hole made by the Spirit Gun. Thunder was crashing and lightning was flashing in the dark sky above.

"I just love the renovation," Suzaku said, referring to the hole.

"I aim to please," Yusuke said sarcastically.

Suzaku sighed and then held his hand above his head.

"Oh, Suzaku, you're going to use that attack on a human?" Muguru asked. "You're going to die, you're going to die," She sang at Yusuke.

As if called, lightning struck and flowed down to hit Suzaku. Yusuke had to shield his eyes from the light.

"You ready?" Suzaku called as he held up his fist that was coated in a mixture of lightning and spirit energy before charging.

As he got closer, Yusuke jumped into the air. Suzaku followed him and then lashed out with his lightning covered fist.

"Storm of Torment!" he declared.

Yusuke managed to duck and maneuver out of the way as Suzaku's fist flew by. However, the lightning that came from his fist arced around and struck Yusuke. He gave out a bloodcurdling scream as he was electrocuted before dropping to the ground in a smoking heap.

"Hmm," Suzaku mused as he looked at the twitching Spirit Detective.

"Look at him writhe Suzaku, I like it when they do that," Muguru cheered from the air.

D-Damn it, I could've sworn he missed me.

Suzaku stepped next to Yusuke as he struggled to get back up.

"You'll find that the energy will seek you out like lightning to a rod," Suzaku explained. "Take heart, though, you are the first human to survive that attack."

"You must feel so proud," Muguru stated from Suzaku's shoulder.

I gotta find a way to block that. There's no way I can survive another one.

"You have more spirit energy than all the other pawns that King Yama has sent my way," Suzaku praised. "But I'm afraid it won't be enough to stop me. As soon as you rise I'll have to finish this. So, why don't you just stay down and enjoy the rest of Keiko's movie?"

"She's not so easy to shove in a corner you know," Yusuke said as he got on one knee. "She's no fighter, but she's plenty tough and she's not following your stupid script."

Suzaku just chuckled as he watched Yusuke take off his shoes and slip them on his hands before standing up.

"She's not, and neither am I!" Yusuke declared as he clicked his shoe covered fists together. "Let's finish this you bitch!"

Suzaku burst into laughter at the sight.

"I trust that you aren't being serious," Suzaku said while Muguru cackled as she flew off.

"Don't you see, Suzaku," the bird elaborated. "He thinks that he can block the lightning with his rubber shoes. He's truly an idiot. He might as well try to block a cannonball with paper."

"Why don't you go lay an egg?" Yusuke screamed at the annoyance.

"Yusuke Urameshi," Suzaku began. "You are my perfect justification. You are why demons should take the place of humans on earth. You are an idiot race that is deserving of extinction."

Suzaku held his hand up again and his fist was once again coated in lightning.

"Die at the hands of the leader of the Saint Beasts," Suzaku shouted as he charged Yusuke again.

Yusuke brought his shoes up to meet the lightning attack. The shoes were shredded apart immediately but underneath were Yusuke's hands covered in his spirit energy.

"What the?" Suzaku said bewildered.

"It's my turn!" Yusuke shouted as the lightning broke.

Suzaku was unable to do anything as Yusuke punched him in the face, sending him flying away.

Of course, Suzaku realized as he flew away landing on his feet.

"This boy is smarter than I thought," Suzaku thought out loud as he rubbed the area Yusuke hit. "He used the shoes as a ruse so he could create a shield with his spirit energy."

They then watched as Keiko literally smacked around a possessed teacher before taking off with Botan.

"Sorry, Beast Boy, but your movie is a flop," Yusuke said. "I'm assuming you won't mind too much if I make a few changes."

Well, there it is, the first of the final Saint Beast fight. Hope you enjoy. this fight spans three chapters. Another near miss on the deadline, well thats what you get when the internet is being an ass. I just finished chapter 17 and it is the third longest chapter in this volume, (after 2 and 6). I wonder if I will surpass the word count of Volume one... It was just shy of 50000. and with this chapter I think I will be at about 31000 for this volume... Anyway. Stay tuned for the next installment coming to you next Monday unless something crazy happens.