{Disclaimer}
All Yu Yu Hakusho characters are owned by Togashi Yoshihiro/Sheisha, Fuji TV,
Pierrot, and FUNimation.
Real Bout High School © 2000 Reiji Saiga/Sora Inou. First published in 2000 by Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co., LTD., Tokyo. English translation rights arranged with Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co., LTD., Tokyo through Tuttle-Mori Agency, INC., Tokyo.
Author's Notes: There are a few (well, more than a few) changes here: A) The whole Suzaku gig is 1, uno, singular, ONE episode. 'tay? B) Ryoko comes with Yusuke, and helps in the fight, leaving the rest of the crew to fight the vegi-people. C) There are air vents in the towers. D) There seems to be a large amount of vegi-people… E) The green bird has an actual use! @_@ F)I skipped a scene, earlier, when Kuwabara was showing off. I'll make up for that here. G) Hitomi, back at school, starts getting attacked, and gets saved by… Bwa ha ha! You'll see! H)Seiryu makes an unusual comeback! I) (Is this enough yet?) Keiko and Botan end up hiding in Diamon High. J)Suzaku has an interesting side note…and another…and another…kind of like these extras…they just keep going…and going…and going… and- K)Asuka…um…does something a little out of character…L)There is a removable pannel in the walls of the castle.
AAN: (Another author's note) I'm just skipping the part where Botan runs into Keiko. We'll just say she's already done that, and they decided to run away from the school, instead of into it. (*sweatdrop*)
"I thought there were only Four beasts!" Megumi cried as she ran next to the rest of our group. Ryoko nodded.
"Four Saint Beasts! They left out the ninety million others!" Ryoko cried, aggrivated. Our troupe ran through the tunnels, up stairs, down towers, in front of more than a truck load of demons. Much more.
"Where did they all come from?!" Yusuke asked, ticked. They were going up stairs, again, and since most of the demon thingies could fly, it didn't matter to them. Just to the troupe.
"Kuso! Kuso, kuso, Kuso!" Shizuma snapped with each step he took. Kuwabara was out of breath, and Kunugi and Hiei were running up ahead, having to pause and wait for them. Of course, every time they paused, Asuka would shoot past them, stop, double over, and start up again as they got ahead of her. Megumi and Ryoko were at the back. Hiei shot a look at Shizuma suddenly.
"I thought you said you wanted to fight the next one? I told you it would be your's."
"I didn't agree to a thousand!"
"Xiaoxing kick demon number thirty-five! For every five monster Xiaoxing kick, one in tye-up quota!"
"Why's that?" Megumi asked, who happened to be holding Xiaoxing over one shoulder still while she kicked.
"Good practice for bumpy roads, air combat, and camel riding!" Xiaoxing cried happily. Megumi fumed silently. For a moment.
"If you ever compare me to a camel again, you're never getting another free ride from me! You'll pay like everyone else!"
"Light!" Asuka cried from behind Kunugi, surprised she could say anything after all that running. Kunugi, of course, was the most surprised of all, as he tripped and held his now popped ears.
"You're supposed to announce, not destroy my eardrums! Baka ya-" He stopped dead as Taiho dragged him the rest of the way by his collar. As soon as he could stand, Kunugi hit Taiho upside the head. "Don't-"
"Where are we?" Azumi, who was almost happily slicing through any demon that came to the door, asked with her usual air. Everyone looked around. They were at the doorway at the top of some tower, they were standing in a small enclosure, which then stopped, with a large open area, then another tower, with two sets of stairs. At the top appeared to be the last tower, and a room that was strangely reminisce of a flying saucer.
"Right. Let's go," Hiei stated calmly, walking ahead as Shizuma and Taiho pushed the door close. They turned and followed Hiei with the others. Hiei stopped, suddenly, halfway down the small tunnel, and sliced through a nearby stone. He let his sword rest near the top as the stone fell away, exposing a small, tan-haired boy, a little taller than Hiei, standing in the spot behind the fake rock.
"Diasku?!" Ryoko, Azumi, and Shizuma yelped. "What are you doing here?" Diasku, on the other hand, was looking most pointedly at the end of Hiei's extremely sharp blade. He gulped aloud.
"Hiei, it's alright, he' just human," Ryoko said coachingly. Hiei lowered his sword slowly, then sheathed it and turned away. Diasaku, now assured he could breath without being impaled, sighed with relief. Ryoko looked down at him slightly. "How'd you get here?"
"I came in one of the portals Kurama mentioned," Diasaku said patiently. "I then did what I always do."
"You never cease to amaze me…" Ryoko admitted as Kurama looked down at the kid for a moment.
"How do you know who I am?"
"I hid behind the tree and heard the introductions."
"And how'd you get here ahead of us?"
"Air vents!" he cried happily, pointing up. "They even led me past the maze!" Everyone (except for the usual people) paused and did a face-fault. Diasaku looked around at them all curiosly. "What?"
"Never mind. Now, why didn't you show yourself?" Kurama asked after he had regained his composure. Diasaku paused and Shizuma filled in.
"'Cause he's an ametuer stalker." No one said anything, before everyone then glared at him. He pulled up his camera.
"That's just how I work!"
"Never did like the press," Yusuke muttered, before walking on ahead. Everyone followed and Diasaku stayed at the back, going over his pictures.
"Don't you… hear something?" Asuka asked softly as they neared the middle of the platform. Aoi next to her stopped and paused, listening, then nodded.
"Just a moment, there is a presence in the stairs…" Asuka told the others who looked at the darkened hallways. With only the slightest moment of silence, a group of humans, with moss and leaves for hair and skin, walked into the filtered light. The others looked on for a moment.
"Cultivated humans…Disgusting," Hiei noted with his usual cold tone. The others looked on, a mix of emotions crossing their faces. "I've delt with them before. They do not feel pain or fear."
"With our time restraints this could be a problem," Kurama aknowledged.
"How twisted can you get?" Kuwabara furthered, angered by the cruelty dealt to the field-grown humans.
"Now I fear for home," Ryoko murmured softly. "I hope Hitomi's alright."
"You got someone in Tokyo, too?" Yusuke asked over one shoulder.
"Yeah, and I think she'll be in trouble."
"Like Hell she is! Keiko too! I'll blow them all away with my Shot Gun!"
"No! We must use our heads," Kurama alleged, gripping Yusuke's shoulder.
"So you want me to head butt them?!"
"You can't waste your energy, and we don't need to hurt them anyways. We need a way around them."
"What does that have to do with head butting them?!"
"We can get a few people in," everyone turned to the small, goth, speaker. He strode forward, looking up the tower. "Set your eyes on the second story window. We have our door."
"How do you propose we get there?" Asuka asked, walking forward a bit.
"I have a plan."
"What does it have to do with head-butting them?!?"
"Are you sure you three want to do this?" Hiei asked as he looked over the group. Ryoko, Yusuke, and Shizuma nodded. "Right. The idiot goes first. Then Megumi. Then Taiho. Got it?" As everyone nodded, Hiei turned to Kuwabara. "Go."
"Alright," Kuwabara called over one shoulder as he rushed forward, "but don't dig your heels in, alright?" He stopped talking as he barrelled through a few vegies and came to a knee-skidding stop, clenching his fists and setting his muscles. Kurama followed, jumping and landing hard on his back, one foot on each shoulder. Hiei followed, standing as squarely on Kurama's shoulders, then Yusuke, who took a step off of each person. Reaching Hiei, he jumped as far as he could as the small tower started to fall forward. Barely gripping a handhold on the ledge, he dragged himself up, looking over the side. Hiei, then Kurama, jumped off, leaving Kuwabara to fall flat on his face. Next, Megumi ran forward, setting herself simaler to Kuwabara. Aoi, Asuka, and Azumi stood on top of each other's shoulders, waiting for the last person. After a slight pause, Ryoko rushed forward, landing a square foot in Azumi's back, before propelling towards the window, which she landed in expertly. Taiho, then Kunugi, ran forward, doing as what had already been done a few times. Shizuma, getting a firm start from Kunugi, flew forward, into… a wall.
"I geuss we weren't tall enough…" Taiho said simply as Kunugi jumped off him. Everyone watched Shizuma slide down the wall before Ryoko and Yusuke waved.
"Alright! We're going now! Don't bother to send anyone else, okay?" Ryoko called as she followed the impatient detective. Everyone looked at each other, then at the numerous veggie people.
"Well, this will be fun," Kunugi grumbled, before walking forward. "Just don't hold back."
"That's not hard to do, you now," the Kiribayashi master admitted, slicing through a few veggies. They all continued to fight.
"So, any idea how tough this guy is?" Ryoko asked as she and Yusuke ran up a spiral staircase. "Or when these staircases end?"
"No to both."
"Darn."
"But do not worry, friends. You will not be in suspense much longer!" A voice cried from above slightly as they came to the top of the staircase. They stood before the ever-annoying Suzaku. He smiled just a little, his blond hair flowing slightly in the breeze from the window, his front-most bangs dipped in red paint. Ryoko pulled her katana forward.
"Let's not waste time on pleasantries, eh?" She asked as she moved forward just a little. Yusuke rushed ahead of her, punching for him instantly. Suzaku dodged with ease, coming to rest behind his chair, whistle in hand. This was not your everyday whistle, like the one the annoying P.E. coaches use. No, of course not. This was more like a green flute, with a large, spiked bulge at one end. He held it up.
"This is what you want, I suppose?"
"Duh. We would think it obvious that we didn't come for a cup of tea," Ryoko countered. He nodded.
"As I would expect."
"Where the heck are all these coming from?" Megumi snapped as she knocked them out one by one next to Kuwabara. He punched and elbowed a few as she spoke.
"They must have millions underground. Maybe they were keeping them for a moment just like this," Hiei surmised as he fought next to Kunugi. Everyone seemed to have made a little pack in the middle of the mob of cultivated humans. Suddenly, a large creek was heard behind them. Everyone stopped for just a moment.
"Don't tell me that's what I think that is…" Asuka asked, holding her head. Next to her, Kurama nodded. "Damn…"
"We will not be held by a mere door!" cried the hundred someodd demons from before. "Ha!"
"Oh, stuff it! JUST STUFF IT!" Azumi snapped, her patience wearing thin. She could deal for any amount of time with a human, but these demons were wearing her last nerve to the bitter end. "Eat my kiribayashi!" And with that, she, Hiei, and Kunugi started on the new squad of demons.
"Argh!" Yusuke cried as a particully large blast of ki burst from Suzaku. Stepping backwards, he left room for Ryoko to plunge in. Her sword whipped through the air, catching Suzaku's right arm. Swinging past her, Suzaku continued to fight Yusuke. After only a moment's hesitation, Ryoko jumped in again, driving the quicker Suzaku away from Yusuke. With his breath caught, Yusuke took aim as Ryoko dived at the ever-persistent punk and the obviously versital blond jumped high into the air.
"You know what the bad thing about being in the air is? You can't dodge nearly as well!" Yusuke shouted, aiming a large Rei Gun at his opponent. Suzaku deftly punched the attack away, coming down to rest on one knee. The deflected ball hit the ceilling, making a skylight. Standing with one hand up, a large lightning bolt stuck the blond's hand, illuminating it.
"He can't hold lightning! No one can!" Ryoko called, angry. Her enemy snorted. Pulling back the hand with the electricity in it, he aimed it forward at them.
"Storm of Torment!" A bolt of ki and pure voltage raged between them, seeming to miss. A large beam of energy raced to either side, knocking into the two fighters. With a scream of anguish, the two fell to their knees. Gasping for breath, they fell still.
"This is good, really good," Megumi noted to her gothic friend. He looked up suspiciously at where the flash had come from before. The watch tower seemed in one piece, except for a large hole in one side.
"So they die at last," Suzaku stated coldly, looking down at the prone figures. "Of course, no human could ever survive that attack."
"Oh, why couldn't you have waited and used it on them later? I wanted to see them suffer!" cried his green bird, who flew to his shoulder.
"Oh, and they didn't even see the main attraction!" He cried suddenly, turning to the screen behind them. It lit up, showing Keiko, dragged by Botan, running through a school courtyard.
"Botan! Please, wait!" Keiko gasped, falling to a knee. She had been running for far too long. She was tired from the unethical chase. Since when did teachers suddenly decide to kill their students?
"No! Come on, there's a school up ahead! We can hide in there!" Botan cried, help ing to pick Keiko up and move her forward. After a moment, Keiko nodded and started again, dodging through a door, below a sign for Daimon High.
She moved only barely, her head pounding. Where…? She sat up, looking at the man in front of her, standing before a screen. Her mind froze. He meant something, but…
"Suzaku! She's awake!" A green feather fell past her face and the tall man turned to look down at her.
"Shes… alive! Impossible! No human could-" He stopped dead sentence as she stood up, looking him in the eye.
"You… will not get away with this!" She cried, all emotion poured into a single sencence. Pulling her katana from beside her, she dodged in, striking him firmly across the temple. Falling backwards, he tripped over his chair and bone met stone.
"I think… that hurt." Ryoko turned and looked at the owner of the voice, who could barely stand.
"Hurt?"
"The English language isn't good enough to describe the pain."
"Ah…"
"And you?"
"Fine, of course. A samurai is always fine."
"Of course."
"Energy?"
"Not much." Suzaku moved behind them as they spoke, sitting up to glare at them.
"I don't know what you are, but normal is not the word."
"OF COURSE!" They cried exasperatedly.
"I believe you are starting to be a bother," his voice echoed around the room, and he stood up straight, then crossed his arms and started to chant.
"That's bad, right? I mean, they're not supposed to do that, right?" Megumi asked as a group of demons were sitting around a small fire, and from the smoke, dragon seemed to be forming.
"You're right. That's not normal…" Hiei admitted as the dragon turned on them.
"Bad is an understatement…" Azumi informed them as they turned to it.
"Seven!? Seven Suzakus!?" Ryoko cried, backing up until she was level with Yusuke, who nodded.
"I believe you counted right."
"Prism of Seven Black Magic Technique!" The middle Suzaku announced as the others took fighting stances.
"And don't bother trying to find the original, it won't help you at all!" Another cried, as they all jumped into the air simontaniously.
"I'm sure you'll remember this. STORM OF TORMENT!" Ryoko and Yusuke dodged the oncoming rain of power, except, of course, one hit each. They stood slowly.
"How can you be alive?! I do not know what you are, but you are not human!"
"Doesn't matter, I've still got enough energy for seven! SHOT GUN!" Yusuke cried, forcing all of his strength into a blast which knocked down all the Suzaku's. "And I was right. Enough energy for seven, and that's about it." Yusuke just barely closed his eyes as a foot caught him in the side. He rolled over, a grunt of pain escaping him, as Suzaku stood above him.
"Hm. Fool. You failed in killing all of me at one time. This will prove your downfall."
"But, he-" Ryoko stated, still standing, as Yusuke managed to get to his feet.
"You're just as wasted as we are!"
"Not necesarrily." Closing his eyes and tilting his hands towards each other, he called the souls of the other Suzakus to him, healing his wounds.
"The others…" Ryoko managed softly, pity escaping her throat.
"I hope you didn't like them. But if you're really insistent on seeing them again…" Suzaku settled in for another Prism of Seven. Yusuke fell to his knees as the energy blew him and Ryoko back against the wall. They fell to the ground again as the screen in front of them changed as Keiko and Botan walked in on the still studying Hitomi, just as the teachers there became infected.
"Hitomi!"
"Keiko!"
"So, you see? I told you resistance was futile. You are wounded, your friends are about to follow." Suzaku smirked with glee. The other six of him dragged the two almost immobile forms, still on their knees, before the brain of the group.
"You are no ordinary humans. If you agree, you could work for me, become a fighter for the demons. All you would have to do is eat the hearts of the people you see on the screen," Suzaku disclosed. Ryoko and Yusuke glared at him from under their bangs with utter hatred.
"Like Hell!" Ryoko mused coldly.
"Bastard!" Yusuke snapped.
"Then you may watch your friends die at the hands of their teachers!" As he spoke the Mr. Takanaka and Mr. Iwemodo, brandishing brooms and scissors, cornered Botan, Hitomi, and Keiko in a room.
"Isn't this just such a great movie? I love horror genre!" He cried, cackling, before attempting to do the theme music for his "movie." After a few moments, the door burst in and, upon seeing a little bit of Keiko's scarf sticking out of the cabnit, banged it into shreds. Ryoko's eyes watered and she stared at the ground, while Yusuke's fogged over.
"Alright, who's taking on the dragon?" Asuka asked as she and most of the others backed up. The veggie-humans were gone, but a few demons and their smoke-dragon still lived.
"I'll do it," Shizuma admitted coldly, walking forward, pulling back a wrist. "INFERNAL TIGER!" His voice rang through the stone, air, teeth, bones. A large tiger, seeming to be made completely out of flame, rushed the dragon, bowling through him and the last of the demons.
"Why didn't you use that before?!" Megumi cried, outraged on her holding-out comrade. Shizuma turned around, wobbling a little, his eyes swirrling slightly.
"Ssslide efffectets…Sido tofects…Cid defects…"
"Ea~t this!" Keiko cried as she, Botan, and Hitomi stepped out from behind the curtains, brandishing brooms, and a mop. Banging their teachers over the head, they left the room, rushing down the hall.
"What? That's impossible!" Suzaku cried, watching the scene. Ryoko's head snapped up in time to see Hitomi and Keiko running just ahead of Botan down the halls of her school. Yusuke started to laugh.
"I think your movie's a flo~p!"
"It's rude for the forfeit to laugh!" Suzaku answered, drawing a finger to Yusuke's head, brandishing imense power through it. Yusuke screamed in agony. Suzuka pulled his other hand to Ryoko, who reacted simialerly.
"The door's free!" Diasaku cried, pointing towards the now unguarded tower door. Racing through, he and the others found another staircase, with even more veggie-people.
"We'll never cut through in time!" Kuwabara called angrilly, looking up at the growing number of visible veggies.
"Late hands are better than none," the phylisophical youko replied. Hiei paused, then looked back at those behind him.
"Let's… not waste more time!" With that, he and the others began again.
"No, Botan!" Keiko and Hitomi were heard to have said. Ryoko and Yusuke could barely look up as another teacher obviously got the better of Botan. Whacking her across the head, she fell into a heap in Keiko's lap. Hitomi stood above them, bradishing the broom. Two teachers behind them raised scissors to strike in their backs.
I… Yusuke thought, pulling on his last reserves of strenght.
…will not… Ryoko's eye's glinted with an energy from her very soul.
…give… Yusuke and Ryoko began to glow.
…UP! With a single blast of power, the two of them blew back the two Suzaku's holding them down. They stood up, Ryoko to Yusuke's right, their unnaturally glowing eyes narrowed.
"They're.. using the life energy from their souls! But it will kill them!" Suzaku shot a look at the screen. "For a girl?! They'll risk their lives for a girl?!" Suzaku turned his attention back to his adversary as Ryoko raised her left arm in time with Yusuke's right. They stood almost back to back, glaring down the length of their arms. Focusing their new-found soul energy in one spot at the end of their arms, they pushed it towards the Suzakus in every direction while Suzaku aimed with Storm of Torment. A large blast shook the tower. "I don't care what you are! Whatever you may be, I will destroy you!" He jumped, and they followed, their battle cry flowing from mid-flight.
"DIE!"
"Look!" Xiaoxing cried, as she and the others reached the tower. Ryoko and Yusuke fell from the ceilling, the seven Suzakus falling as well.
"I can't sense their life energies!" Kuwabara cried, running forward. Stooping down next to Urameshi, he placed his hands on his back. "I told you that we'd leave this thing together, Urameshi!"
"But, Kuwabara, you could…!" Kurama cried, running forward, just as Kuwabara fell over. He sighed. "Looks like we'll be carrying them out on our backs like you said."
"Babysitting…" Hiei answered his friend softly. A rustle from a stack of rocks nearby proved to be the final Suzaku.
"I admit defeat, Yusuke, Ryoko. I did not loose to you because you weren't human… but, because you were…" And with that, Suzaku, the final saint beast died. Ryoko grumbeld from a rock pile nearby.
"Help, here, please."
"Yes, of course!" Asuka cried, as she, Azumi, Aoi, Megumi, and Xiaoxing helped pull their comrade from the rubble.
"That…hurt." Ryoko noted dryily, barely able to stand. The green bird flew down again, pausing in flight before Suzaku, before suddenly erupting in a burst of light. A lady stood where the bird had been moments ago, clad in a green feather dress. Tears rolling down her cheeks, she knelt beside Suzaku, placing a ball of light above his head, watched it soak into him, then vanished. My love… Suzaku's eyes opened.
"DAMN!" Ryoko cried, stepping backwards as he sat up, looking dangerously at her, then at the person nearest him, Xiaoxing. Pulling back his arm, his mouth opened and an all-too familiar cantation started again.
"Storm of-" He stopped mid-sentence as a small, blue serpentine-dragon stepped in front of her, glaring daggers at him. It hissed then crawled onto the shoulder of Xiaoxing.
"And that is…?" Megumi trailed curiously as Hiei's eyes widened.
"The reincarnation of Seryu, I believe."
"Fine. If Seryu will take up with your lot, then so will I. Seryu always had better insincts than me." Everyone looked around at each other, and firmly face faulted.
(*DONE!!!!!*)
A/N: he, he, so, hn, not done…