Inverted Maze Castle
Dane Soar
I'll attempt to change most of the cussing, but there will be some. Well if you've seen the unedited YYH, I guess you've already heard it, so does it really matter?
Yusuke's fight will be much along the same lines, however what the others are doing in the meantime will change quite a bit.
Chapter 11 Meet the Last Beast
(Yusuke's POV)
The last flight of stairs passed in a blur as I went ahead alone, bursting out of the top and into the chamber where the last Beast was waiting for me. I hoped Kayko was all right. 'She had better be okay! This blow stuck a little too personally.'
It was a big room with a domed ceiling and a huge screen on the wall. There was a chair in front of it, but I'd didn't see it at first, because the screen drew my eyes and held them.
Onscreen, two familiar people were busy running for their lives. "Kayko!" I said, shocked. "Botan!" A blue faced infected human reached for them, but Botan tripped him and the girls ran past.
An eerie tune met my ears, one that was like nothing I had ever heard before, an unearthly tune that grated on my ears. The player sat right in front of the screen, some sort of misshaped flute at his mouth.
"Put that thing down," I snapped.
The last Saint beast rose, the shadows all over the room cast over his face, then he walked into the light. He was a tall, human-looking guy with yellow hair barring two red bits in front. He wore some sort of Chinese like clothes, but one ribbon floated above his head to wrap around his arms. I remembered something I had heard Kurama say when I was talking to him before:
"The more human looking the demon you face is, the more powerful they are. Some of the most dangerous ones out there you could pass on the street and not notice."
If I passed this guy on the street, I would spot him right away, but he was a looked a lot more like a human than the other three Saint Beasts.
Slowly, he blew a few last notes on the whistle, then lowered it. "So nice to see you in person, after watching you attempt to ruin my plans for so long." his voice was lighter than I would have thought. "I am Suzaku, leader of the Saint Beasts."
A bird with bright green feathers landed on his shoulder. "And I am his dear Murugu." she chipped in.
Jeeze, just what I need, a talking bird.
My teeth gritted, I watched over his head at the screen were Kayko was still running.
"I've been watching your dear Kayko," Suzaku said, pointing over the screen with a thumb. "It's amazing how much humans resemble animals when they're being hunted." his stupid bird laughed and flapped her wings to keep her balance.
I so didn't have time for this. "Here's the deal. Pull your zombies off Kayko. And then, I'll only pull out one of your lungs."
"And if I refuse?" asked Suzaku evenly.
"Then hold your frikin' breath!" I shouted impatiently.
There was no sound from the screen, but I could see Kayko screaming as an infected human loomed over her.
Smiling, Suzaku said lightly. "You are very fortunate, Yusuke. Not everyone's girlfriend gets to star in a horror movie." I made a frustrated sound. "Of course, the films in my city are somewhat different. Demons usually don't care about happy endings."
I was clenching my fist so hard my nails were digging into my skin. "You think you can control me?!" I snapped, then lunged. "Control this!"
Looking briefly surprised, Suzaku quickly jumped backwards as I came forward. As we both moved I sent punch after punch at him, but he blocked every single one. 'I don't believe this!' I thought in astonishment. 'he's blocking me with one stupid hand!' There was grudging respect on Suzaku's face, but I couldn't break past his guard.
Drawing back, I punched once more as hard as I could. Leaping up and to the side in that 'I weigh about as much as a feather' way demons do sometimes, Suzaku dodged my hit so that all I caught was the floating ribbon.
Craning my head back I shouted at him, "Bad choice." my finger glowed. "Funny thing about hanging in the air, it's really hard to dodge! Spirit Gun!" 'Perfect shot!' I thought with relief.
Suzaku used his fist to bat my Spirit Gun away like it was nothing. 'What?' My mind was screaming at me that this was not good. His bird thing shrieked and swooped to the side to avoid the deflected bolt, it blew half of the roof away. Outside, it was still storming. Rubble fell and made the floor shake, but I held my ground.
Landing lightly, Suzaku said. "Your blast is very powerful." He sounded interested.
'He knocked my…that's bad.' I gulped.
After blowing away the smoke that steamed off his hand, Suzaku continued. "You actually made my hand numb with that last attack. It's a good thing you can't hit me with it."
Suddenly I felt very out of my depth. 'Six months of misery with that fossil Genkai and my Spirit Gun still gets whacked!' I thought angrily. 'What was all that time worth if I'm still getting my butt kicked!'
"Let me hold the Makai Whistle for a while, while you drain away his life." Murugu suggested.
Suzaku shook his head, "Thank you Murugu, but that won't be necessary. I'll destroy him with one hand."
"Hey, thanks a lot!" I snapped.
The wind inside picked up, coming through the hole in the roof. "I just love the renovation," commented Suzaku.
"You're welcome," I replied, feeling like there were two conversations going on here.
In response Suzaku held his hand up to the sky.
"Ooh Suzaku," squealed the stupid bird, "You're going to use that technique on a human? You're going to die!" she sang at me, "You're going to die!" We both ignored her.
Lightning stuck down through the hole and directly onto the last Saint Beast in a pillar of yellow light, I shielded my eyes against the light. Suzaku's hair stood on end, but he seemed to be… holding the lightning…?
"Give me a break!" I screamed at him in pure exasperation. "Who does this guy think he is?! You can't hold lightning!" apparently he could.
A ball of the yellow stuff formed in his hand, which he brought down to his level. "Are you ready?" Suzaku shouted over the sound of the lightning, and he probably didn't want an answer because he took across the floor toward me.
Gathering my muscles under me, I sprang up into the air and Suzaku did the same.
"Strom of Torment!" Suzaku shouted, as I came down toward him and he leaped up.
But at the last second, I threw myself to the side; however in midair I felt pain stab through me. I screamed as it became too much, my extremities twitching, and I fell to the floor hard, not in enough control to be able land right. On the ground I tried to stop twitching, but couldn't move otherwise.
I could hear Suzaku make an approving noise and the damn bird saying with glee. "Look at him writhe, I just love it when they do that!"
My mind meanwhile was running around in little electrocuted circles. 'I thought I dodged him!'
Bit by bit I tried to get on my feet; about as far as I got was my knees. A shadow fell as Suzaku stood over me. "You'll find the lightning will seek you out like lightning to a rod." I kind of figured that out. "But take heart, you are the first human to ever survive my technique." 'Doesn't that make me feel great?'
"You must feel so proud," Murugu said smugly.
I was half way up and my mind was still racing. 'I've got find a way to block that. I can't take another one!'
"You have much more Spirit Energy then the other pawns King Yama sent after me in the past," Suzaku was still talking; guess he likes the sound of his own voice. "But it will never be enough to defeat me. As soon as you rise I'll have to finish this. Why don't you stay down and watch the end of Kayko's movie?" The idea put a bad feeling in my stomach.
Rising to one knee I gritted out, "She's not easy to shove in a corner you know. She's no fighter, but she's plenty tough. And she's not following your stupid script." Suzaku chuckled and his bird used a wing to cover her own sneer. An idea tickled at my mind. I slipped my shoes off putting my hands in them. "She's not" I stood up straight, "and neither am I!" clapping my shoes together, I challenged. "Let's do this, lightning-man!"
Suzaku laughed out right at that. "I trust you're not serious."
Murugu shrilly laughed too and took off from his shoulder. "Don't you see what he's doing, Suzaku? He thinks he can block the lightning with his rubber shoes. You're truly an idiot," she told me. My idea seemed stupider by the second. "You might as well block a cannonball with paper!"
"Why don't you go lay an egg or something?" I snapped at her, not even sparing a glance in the bird's direction.
"Yusuke Urameshi." Suzaku smiled. "You are my perfect justification of why demons should take the place of humans on earth! You're an idiot race that deserves extinction!" lightning crackled down again to gather in his hand. "Prepare yourself!"
He leaped into the air again, bringing the lightning ball to me. "Die at the hands of Suzaku, leader of the Saint Beasts!" I thrust my shoe-covered hands at him, but when they met my shoes were burned away in an instant.
Blue light flickered in my hands. "What the…" Suzaku began in surprise.
"It's my turn!" I dropped the energy and socked him across the face. He wasn't expecting that, and took it full force.
But he landed and settled into a crouch, quickly figuring out what had happened, "This boy is smarter than I thought. He used Spirit Energy in his fists to make a shield against my attack. The shoes were just a ruse to hide behind." I love smart villains, you don't have to explain much to them.
"Beast Boy, your movie's a flop." I held up a glowing fist. "I'm assuming you won't mind if I make a few changes."
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TBC2:00 (at night).
