Let's start off by saying that we have a winner for the fic challenge. Sailor Fortune got the correct answer. Silvertrunksbrat, you were close but the light is concealed while darkness roams part wasn't talking about Hiei. That part was already told in the story. The rest of it, however, was right. I tried to find a way to contact you but I couldn't find your e-mail address. You were close but maybe you'll get the next fic challenge. I'll put up more fic challenges later on in the story, but for now on to the next chapter.



Chapter 5 Teamwork

The guys and Miko went down the tunnel. "Great! Now we're walking into a preheated oven," Yuusuke said. They reached the end of the tunnel and they were shocked to see that the entire room was filled with magma. "Is that.?" Yuusuke started. "Lava!" Kuwabara finished for him. Kuwabara tore a piece of his jacket and threw it into the lava. It didn't even touch it before it shriveled up and burned. "Wow! We'd better not fall in you guys," Kuwabara said. "Welcome to my chamber. As you probably already noticed, the room is filled with hot molten lava," Byoko said as he stood upon one of the pillars that were spread out throughout the room. "It will melt anything it touches." "He's back to normal," Yuusuke said.

They then heard some noises and looked behind Byoko. There hung Kylie and Mayline. They had their hands tied behind their backs and were hanging from the ceiling by their feet. They were trying to untangle the iron like vines that held them. "It's no use. Those vines can hold even the strongest of the many warriors that have come into the castle," Byoko laughed. "Let them go! They have no business with you. It's just you and me Byoko," Kuwabara yelled. "On the contrary, swordsman. Machete has been dying to see Mayline again. Kylie was just a bonus. So, do any of you have the courage to fight me?" Byoko asked with a grin. "You bet I do! I'm going to tear you apart," Yuusuke yelled. Kuwabara placed a hand on his shoulder. "No, I'm going to fight." "There's no need to push yourself." Kuwabara turned around to face Hiei. "You've fought well enough. Now let Yuusuke take over so you don't wear yourself out in case we might need you later." "Sorry, Hiei, but I can't do that. You see I've got this thing called a code, and it says that no matter how bad it is or how hard it is I always finish a fight at any cost, even if it means my life," Kuwabara said. "A human with an honor code," Hiei said. "Let the swordsman come. He and I have a little score to settle," Byoko said. "Let's fight," Kuwabara said.

He jumped onto the closest pillar, but the minute he landed on it, he slipped and nearly landed in the lava. "Kuwabara! Are you ok," Yuusuke yelled. "Yeah, I'm on top of it," Kuwabara said as he pulled himself up. "It's just so freakin' hot in here." Kuwabara unbuttoned his jacket and threw it aside. He then brought out his spirit sword. "Let's go. I'll defeat you the same way again," Kuwabara said. Byoko laughed: "Actually, I think I'll use a new technique this time." Kuwabara and the others watched as Byoko gathered up his energy. Green lighting began to gather around his body. He brought both hands up to his throat as a ball of energy formed. "What is that?" Yuusuke asked. "Something big," Kurama said. "Very," Hiei added. Kuwabara and the others watched as the ball of energy shot out from his throat and headed towards Kuwabara. "So, it does exist," Hiei said.

Kuwabara held his spirit sword like a baseball bat. "I'll knock that blast right out of the ball field and into your face." "No! Don't touch it!" Kurama yelled. Kuwabara looked at him for a second before jumping to the next pillar. He turned and watched as the pillar glowed green before it was destroyed completely, jacket and all. "Hey, my jacket." "Do you like it? I call it my tiger scream." Byoko laughed. "I have heard a lot about a demon who could crumble stone with the vibrations of his voice. I never thought I'd meet him," Hiei said. "Couldn't he just hit it with the spirit sword?" Yuusuke asked. "No, it will cause a chain reaction causing his spirit to be destroyed," Hiei explained.

"Hiei, do you think you could reach Mayline and Kylie?" Miko asked. "Yes," Hiei said. *Don't you dare!* Hiei's eyes went slightly wide when he heard Mayline's voice inside his head. *You stay right where you are!* *Is that you Mayline?* *Yes you dolt. If you come over here, you'll put yourself in unnecessary danger.* *You have a plan, don't you?* *Yes, now stay there!* Hiei then felt her break the connection and looked over at her. She didn't look like she was doing anything, but he could tell that her arms were slightly moving.

He then turned his attention back to the fight. Kuwabara was jumping from pillar to pillar just in time to miss the tiger scream attacks. "Is that all you got?" Kuwabara asked. Byoko did another tiger scream before using his tiger claw attack when Kuwabara jumped. "You'll have to do better than that," Kuwabara said. "I see that, just like all my other foes, my tiger scream attack has proved fatal once more," Byoko laughed. "What are you talking about? You didn't even hit me once," Kuwabara yelled. "Yes but look around you: you're trapped. Every pillar in your jumping reach has been destroyed. You have nowhere to go now," Byoko said. It was true. Every pillar around him was destroyed, all but one. One small pillar still stood below him. He forgot one. Kuwabara took one step towards it before Byoko destroyed it. "Sorry, the little ones are so easy to overlook."

Kuwabara glared at him. "Oh, I see you're mad. Well, let's see how mad you'll be when I use my tiger scream on your two friends," Byoko said as he turned to Mayline and Kylie. "No! Mayline! Kylie!" Yuusuke yelled. They all watched in horror as Byoko gathered his energy for the attack. Mayline and Kylie's eyes went slightly wide as the attack was shot at them. Time seemed to stand still for Hiei as the blast got closer and closer to them. Then, something happened that none of them had expected. Kylie and Mayline brought their now untangled arms from behind them, slammed their hands on the others, and pushed away from each other causing them to move to the sides, missing the attack. Byoko then used his tiger claw attack, cutting the vine that held Kylie. Mayline quickly grabbed the end of the vine and held onto it tightly. When the rope pulled back on her arm, a sickening crack could be heard. Hiei looked at Mayline and saw that her shoulder had been dislocated.

Byoko was about to attack when, out of nowhere, Kuwabara punched him, knocking him into the lava. "Let's go to hell together." It looked as though Kuwabara had gone into the lava with Byoko. "Kuwabara!" Yuusuke yelled. He fell to his hands and knees: "You're so stupid. Why did you do something like that Kuwabara?" "Hey, can I get some help over here?" They all looked up to see that Kuwabara was hanging on the pillar by one of the bandages that were wrapped around his waist. "Hurry up guys: I think I feel something slipping." "He's alive," Kurama said. "How fortunate," Hiei stated.

After they had helped Kuwabara up, they went over to help the girls. Kuwabara grabbed the vine that held Kylie while Hiei cut the vine that held Mayline and pulled her up. Kurama went over to her and took a look at her shoulder. "Looks like you dislocated it pretty badly. If you had held the vine any longer, you would've broken it." "No kidding," Mayline said as she stood up. She then jerked her arm forward, causing it to make a sickening crack. "What did you just do?" Kuwabara asked. "I relocated my shoulder," Mayline answered calmly. "She's dislocated body parts so many times that she figured out how to relocate them," Miko said. "Can we go now? It's too hot in here," Kylie asked as she got the last of the vines off of her feet. "Yeah, let's go," Yuusuke said. They all agreed and filled out of the room of hell. Hiei then handed Mayline her katana back: "Here. You dropped this." "Oh, thanks," Mayline said with a smile as she took it and reattached it to her belt. "What kind of gem is that on your sword?" Hiei asked. "It's a teargem," Mayline answered as she walked up beside Kylie. Hiei just looked at her as the headed towards the next Saint Beast.





There's chapter five. The next chapter will explain why Mayline keeps getting cold. What will happen and why is Hiei so upset about it? You'll have to read the next chapter to find out.