Yu Yu Hakusho: The Next Stage

Chapter 11: The Final Battle

Mayumi could feel her body shaking as she stepped out into the cold rain, falling in sheets upon the heads of the five protectors. It was cold outside, but Mayumi had a strange feeling that wasn't why she was shaking, with goose bumps forming on her exposed arms.

Each member of Team Urameshi was anxious to discover who the mysterious fourth fighter was for the opposing team. This was the final round of the Tournament of the Three Worlds, and no doubt Team Kyono had saved their best warrior for this moment. Each team was tied at the moment, but Spirit World had no chance of winning at this point. The winners of this tournament would be Living World or Demon World. The crowd waited anxiously as the cement doors opened at the other end of the stadium. Each person in the arena awaited the moment of Team Kyono's unmasking.

The seconds ticked by, and each one felt like forever to Mayumi. This wait was becoming unbearable; she had to know who her enemy was. Just before she thought she would cry out from the agony of her impatience, the audience gasped.

A black hole appeared in the center of the ring. It hovered in the air as two men stepped from the depths of its abyss. They straightened up after climbing from within the darkness, and Mayumi studied them carefully.

The first man seemed like a calm and tranquil man, with his long, flowing sea blue hair. His amber eyes seemed cold and lifeless, which frightened Mayumi, and his skin was pale. It seemed as if this man might have been through a lot in his past. His clothing appeared very regal. He wore a white overcoat, made of a thin, silky material and the sleeves cut at the shoulders. Underneath his coat was a red shirt and loose, white pants of the same material. His coat was tied with a yellow sash.

The second man seemed more down-to-earth. He wore black pants with a loose black shirt covering his arms. Sleek, black hair and deep, narrow blue eyes decorated his tan face. Along with this, his lips curled into a hideous smirk as he stared straight into Mayumi's eyes, as if he were reading her soul. Mayumi stumbled back from the mere intensity of his gaze.

"Mayumi, are you alright?" asked Marth, concerned.

"I'm fine," she replied breathlessly.

"Mayumi!" she heard behind her. She whipped around to see who was calling her name and was disgusted to find Yusuke jumping over the railing into the grass where the team stood.

He rushed up to her and pulled her aside. After Mayumi recovered from the shock of her father's behavior, she pushed him away from her.

"Don't you dare touch me, you..."

"Mayumi, listen to me," whispered Yusuke urgently. "I've fought these men before. I think I know what they're after, and I can help you with information you'll need to defeat them!"

"I don't care," she replied flatly.

"Don't be this way," he moaned.

"I'll fight them on my own terms, and I don't need any help from you, or from anybody else!" she screamed at him.

The four other protectors stared at the fighting father-daughter pair, the awkward tension increasing dramatically.

"Mayumi, if you want any chance of defeating him..." he began.

"Shut up! Shut UP!" she yelled, clapping her hands over her ears. "All my life you made me believe I couldn't do anything on my own! Well, now it's my chance to prove that I can do this! I don't want you to help! I don't want you to talk to me ever, ever again!"

She ran away from him, leaving Yusuke in shock behind her. His eyes were wide with mixed emotions of sadness, frustration, and a memory that had haunted him for fifteen years.

Mayumi jumped into the ring, the heated rage glowing in her cheeks. The two men looked at her with compassionate expressions upon their faces, which baffled Mayumi. She had been terrified by their gazes only moments before, and now they were the comfort she needed at the moment.

The man with black hair extended his hand toward Mayumi.

"My name is Shinobu Sensui. I'm sure you've heard awful horror stories about me," he said warmly, laughing as he spoke those last words. Mayumi took his hand and shook it gently.

"Mayumi Urameshi," she replied uncertainly, remembering his name from a few nights before.

"May I introduce my partner, Mr. Itsuki," he said, gesturing toward the blue-haired man, who bowed politely.

"Hello, Miss Urameshi," Itsuki said, as he bowed respectfully. "If you'll excuse me, I shouldn't be in the ring. It's against the rules."

Itsuki leaped gracefully from the ring, landing softly in the wet grass below. The giant rip in the universe disappeared then, fading slowly from existence.

"A shadow demon," Tohiro explained gravely.

"And what's that, exactly?" asked Marth, afraid to know the answer.

"One that can control dimensions," said Yuki bitterly. "He has the ability to transport objects between dimensions at his will, including humans."

"I wonder if the blue-haired fellow is the ringleader," Marth stated, staring at Itsuki, who stood with his arms folded across his chest.

"I'm sure he is," Tohiro added. "But I'd like the black hole explained."

"Me too," Marth replied.

Yuki stepped forward.

"Explain your tactics, Mr. Itsuki and Mr. Sensui!" he shouted to them.

"Explain our tactics?" Itsuki repeated, obviously enjoying himself. "Well, I'm suppose it won't do any harm, don't you agree, Shinobu?"

He nodded his head slowly.

"Well," Itsuki began, "after your father and his allies killed their opponents - Shishi Wakamaru, Suzaku of the Saint Beasts, and Karasu - my partner Shinobu and I collected the bodies. We let their souls recuperate in the belly of my monster, Ura-Otoko. He is another dimension where life and death make no difference. Their souls healed, and they began training to take their revenge. You see, none of us wanted to be subjected to Spirit World's bias judgment."

Yuki turned to his teammates.

"This explains Karasu's cryptic message," he exclaimed. "Remember when he told us that he had spent many years within the stomach of a monster? It must have been the stomach of Ura-Otoko."

"Well, folks," interrupted Koto, "it seems as if both of our fighters are here, so let's get this party started!"

The audience went crazy with wild cheering, jumping from their seats and waving fists in the air, the demons screaming for blood. This was the revenge their race waited for, against Spirit and Living Worlds for shunning them and trapping each one within a world of darkness, only to be judged in death to eternal Hell.

"From Living World, Team Urameshi's captain Mayumi Urameshi takes the stand. And for Demon World, Team Kyono's captain Shinobu Sensui prepares for the battle. Let the final match begin!"

Shinobu and Mayumi dashed at one another with superb speed. As they collided, a flash of blue light emitted from the duel. They threw punches and kicks in the center of the ring, creating a rainbow of light energy. Mayumi held back, however, because she wanted to learn more about this mysterious man, Shinobu Sensui.

"So," she shouted at him above the noise of their battle, "why exactly do the demons want to take revenge? Is it because we're the children of their killers?"

"Exactly," he called back.

"Is that why you're here?" she asked. "Is the reason why you're here is revenge on me for my father killing you?"

"Revenge is not at all what I want," he answered. "I don't want revenge, I want to rest in peace."

Mayumi was puzzled.

"I see that you and your father don't get along very well," Sensui said. Mayumi found it so strange that he was striking a pleasant conversation in the middle of an all-out war.

"No, not really," she agreed. "He's never treated me like a human being. He ignored me as a child, before my accident."

"I see," he said sorrowfully.

This was a man that showed sympathy for her, and Mayumi was only more angry with Yusuke. Her enemy cared more about her than her own father did! How could he even try to harm someone as kind and compassionate as Mr. Sensui?

"So, why did my father kill you?"

He fell silent for a moment, gazing intently at her. Finally, he decided to speak.

"Back at the time, Yusuke was sent by Spirit World to stop me and my plans. We had quite the battle. Both of us had reached incredible energy levels, and we appeared to be evenly matched. But suddenly Yusuke began to change. His hair grew to his ankles in a matter of seconds, and markings appeared all over his body. His eyes were not the same, pure eyes that I had grown to know. They were not his eyes at all, but the eyes of his ancestor, the Ma-zoku. It was the Ma-zoku that defeated me, not your father. I tried to accept that Yusuke was really the one who killed me, but my mind was filled with doubt. Yusuke had tried to convince me that it was not him that had defeated me, but a being who had taken control of his body and mind. I needed closure, so I ignored him. But deep within I knew that he had not beaten me. I had wanted to be defeated by my successor, your father, as an act of atonement for my sins, but it had not worked out that way."

"You were a Spirit Detective before my father?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes, I was," he said, throwing another punch her way. She dodged it.

"And your sins being the creation of the tunnel between Living and Demon World?" she continued.

"Yes."

"That doesn't seem so terrible to me," she commented.

"What?" Sensui asked, shocked. He immediately stopped his attacks and stepped back.

"A union of humans and demons is what the world needs. No more bloodshed because of the rivalry. It's not right that they are kept within their awful world where food is scarce and living is a struggle. Not when humans have the luxury of comfort."

Sensui stared in awe at her. He wasn't the only one, either. The members of the audience, the four protectors, and Yusuke all gazed in wonder at the young girl in the center of the arena. How was it that a human was defending the side of the demons and insulting her own race for the sake of equality?

"You," Sensui exclaimed breathlessly, "are a very wise young woman."

"Not-not really," she stammered, turning pink in the cheeks. "It's only logical."

"No, it's very wise for you to say such a thing," Sensui said quietly. "For thousands of years the Spirit and Living Worlds have degraded the demons for no reason. They've given them the reputation of evil, stupid, bloodthirsty creatures that deserve to die, but that's not always the case."

"Exactly," Mayumi agreed. "I've lived with them for six years, and in that time I've seen their true nature."

"But you never thought to question Spirit World?" asked Sensui.

Mayumi stared at him, pondering this.

"Well, I guess I never thought they were wrong, it was just an observation," she answered. Was it possible that Koenma and all of the rulers in Spirit World were wrong to do what they did to demons? She had just accepted things the way they were.

Sensui nodded understandingly. After a few moments, he finally spoke.

"I've come back to find out if your father can defeat me. I have wondered that for so many years, but instead I've chosen you to defeat me. You are your father's daughter after all, no matter how much you hate it."

"True..." she said absently, still lost within her new perspective of the almighty, pure Spirit World.

"So," he asked, "shall we continue?"

"Sure," she said racing toward him. He took a defensive stance, and when Mayumi reached Sensui they began their fight once more.

"So," she asked, "all you want is to rest peacefully, something my father deprived you of."

"You sound bitter."

"I am, so I will do my best to help you," she said. "You want a fair battle?"

"Yes."

With that said, she pulled out her amethyst necklace, which shone despite the gray, cloudy sky. She began to chant.

How could her father do such a thing? He should have done something to stop the Ma-zoku from depriving Sensui of his attempt to atone for his cause. And on top of that, his cause was an excellent idea! Her father had judged Sensui with a closed, ignorant mind. Anything that went against Spirit World's corrupted ideals needed to be annihilated, in the eyes of Yusuke Urameshi. She was ashamed to be the child of such a man.

Mayumi felt a constriction in her throat. She grasped at her neck, falling to the ground. She heard shouts, her name being called, a crowd of people surrounding her, hands on her body. All she wanted to do was kill them and see them drown in their own blood.

"No!" she thought to herself. "You must fight this, you must fight this, you must..."

But she couldn't feel anymore.

Mayumi's eyes fluttered open. She was lying in her bed in her hotel room, the sun streaming in through the window to her right. Her head ached terribly, and the sun wasn't helping any. The room was empty. She gripped her sheets and ripped them off her body, tossing them to the side, and after putting on a pair of jeans and a blue shirt, she raced outside.

She ran down into the lobby, where she received uneasy glances from its inhabitants. Mayumi didn't care because all she wanted was to find the man she needed to talk to, to get answers from.

As she sprinted outside, she saw Koenma sitting on a bench, shuffling papers under an enormous, leafy, green tree. She slowed down and walked calmly over to the bench and sat down at the end opposite Koenma. Staring straight ahead of her, she spoke the question that had been burning in her mind ever since she awoke.

"What happened?"

"You lost control of your anger, and you let the Time Stone take over your mind," he said, setting down his papers beside him and resting his chin on his palms.

"And Sensui?"

"Is dead. I mean, as dead as a dead person can get. Whatever the case, you defeated him."

"But that wasn't me."

"Even so, you mutilated his body when you became a demon."

"Mutilated?"

"Yes, so much so that Itsuki will probably not bring him back again."

Mayumi pulled her knees up to her chest.

"So I transformed?"

"Well," Koenma started slowly, "you did, in a way. But you fought it. That's why the damage is minimal. Only Sensui was defeated."

"But I didn't give his soul peace."

"I'm sorry to say, but I'm afraid he'll never get another chance to rest."

Mayumi hugged her knees even tighter, the tears welling in her eyes.

"He didn't deserve it."

"Mayumi," Koenma said, turning to face her. "I think you need to sort out your own beliefs before you do anything else. Deciding who you believe is wrong and who you believe is right is your top priority. You owe it to yourself."

Mayumi didn't look at him. She buried her face into her knees.

"Do you know why the barrier let you back into Demon World?"

"Why?" asked Mayumi sharply, jerking her head up to look at him.

"Because it sensed your innocence when you came in close proximity with the barrier. It sensed you were pure of heart when you came near it. It let you back through to give you another chance."

"Well, didn't I kind of blow it today?"

"I thought you had too, to be honest," he said, rubbing his neck.

"Well, thanks for your vote of confidence."

"Actually, I don't know why it hasn't brought you back to its other side. Remember when I told you it was forming its own mind back when you were first brought to Demon World?"

"Yes, I do," she said, remembering her first encounter with Koenma.

"Maybe it's evolving again. Like I said, it's making all of us in Spirit World very worried."

"That was the worst mistake I've ever made in my entire life," Mayumi whispered, overcome with grief over Sensui's unjustified death.

"I'm just glad that you didn't let the demon side completely take over, because then..."

Koenma's eyes grew wide, and he stopped abruptly mid-sentence. His face grew pale.

"What?" asked Mayumi, sensing he almost said something he shouldn't have.

"Nothing," he said, rubbing his forehead.

Mayumi stared, bewilderment showing on her face.

"You'd better get ready. There's a masquerade that you are required to attend tonight. It's held in honor of the winners of the Tournament of the Three Worlds. Your outfit is waiting in your closet."