~High Voltage~
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Chapter 6: The Deal
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A child wandered down the dark hallways of what looked to be some sort of old fortress, limping. Trying to hide the pain, for she had other things to worry about. The hallways were never-ending; it was like a maze. She wondered if she would ever get out. They would find her before she escaped.

'No.' She shook that thought out of her head. 'Mustn't give up.' There had to be a way out. She continued on down the hall, walking at a faster pace. She turned right, then left, then right, not knowing the correct way out. The place was just so huge...she had never been this far before...

She turned around the next corner and then something caused her to stop dead in her tracks. Her eyes slowly traveled upwards, gazing upon the obstacle in her path. A large demon, probably a lower-class one by the looks of him, was glaring down at her.

"How'd you get out, kid?" He grabbed her arm, squeezing it hard.

She bit her lip to keep from crying out. With her other hand, she collected a purple and blue colored energy and hurled it at him. She watched as the demon received a large shock, causing him to loose his grip on her. But it was useless.

"Damn! You brat!" He raised a hand and brought it down hard across her face, sending her flying backwards. "It's back to the cell for you!" He strode back over to her and grabbed her by the neck, forcing her to her feet.

A few minutes later, the young girl was thrown back into a small, cube-like prison, bouncing across the floor until she hit the wall on the opposite side and came to an abrupt stop. She watched him leave her, securing the barriers that kept her inside. Her eyes burned with hatred.

Someday.

Someday she was going to get strong enough to escape. She would take revenge on all of them; she would kill them for what they had done to her.


. . .



She woke up with a start, eyes flying open and sitting up fast. The first thing she felt was a cold cement floor beneath her, and then a head rush from sitting up too fast. That, however, was the least of her problems. She stood up slowly and cautiously, not sure where she was. The solid steel walls on three sides of her suggested that she was in some sort of prison. The fourth wall was a transparent barrier. It was dark and she couldn't see much.

...There had been a fight...hadn't there?

Yes. She remembered it quite clearly now. The Spirit Detective and his comrades had come to find her and she had fought Hiei, the short one, although technically he was just the slightest bit taller than she was. They must have brought her here. Why hadn't they killed her?

She stepped up to examine the barrier. It had been created using some sort of energy; she would be able to break through it as soon as she recovered all of her spirit energy. That would take a lot more time. She didn't know how long she had been unconscious, but she was still very weak. If she were to fight again, she wouldn't stand a chance. She regretted her decision to transform in battle. She had known at the time that it was a stupid thing to do, but her ego had gotten the best of her, and it had been so long since she had shown her true power to anyone; however, she hadn't counted on Hiei realizing that she was using up all of her spirit energy. He was smarter than she'd given him credit for; nothing like those other half-witted demons that usually came after her. She didn't like him at all.

The Shadow went to sit in the darkest corner of the cell, making herself appear as small as possible. She knew now that she wasn't going to be killed. If any of them had wanted her dead, they would have done the job by now. No, they wanted her alive. But for what? She had been a criminal for years; maybe they wanted to keep her locked up here. If that was the case, then they were clearly underestimating her.

Hearing somebody's footsteps coming toward her, the Shadow stiffened in the corner, listening. It wasn't a heavy person coming her way, she could tell. A lightweight, but very powerful nonetheless. If she had to fight this person, she would certainly lose. She watched as the person came into the dim light.

"Shadow? ...I know you're in there. I would like to speak with you for a moment, if I may."

She stood up. No use ignoring him.

"You're the one called Kurama," she said, remembering that he had been with the Spirit Detective and the others.

"Yes," he nodded.

"What do you want?"

"To talk," he answered simply.

This took her by surprise. "Talk? What for?" She fixed her cold eyes onto him.

He shrugged. "I thought you might want some company."

"I don't need anybody." She crossed her arms, still partly hidden in the shadows.

"Have you always called yourself the Shadow, or do you have a name?" Kurama chose to ignore her comment.

"Why should I tell you?"

"It was just a question. You don't need to answer it."

There was a long pause. Finally, she said, "Teilen. My name is Teilen." Saying her own name felt strange, as she hadn't spoken it in years. "I never called myself the 'Shadow'."

"I see."

She left her place in the corner to take a few steps toward him, into the light where he could see her. "Tell me why you didn't kill me when you had the chance."

"That isn't the reason we went to find you," he answered. "We only wish to have your assistance."

"My 'assistance'? With what?"

"I'm not sure, exactly. Yusuke, the Spirit Detective, received orders from Koenma to bring you to him. He needs you for something, although I don't know what that is."

"Koenma." She said the name with hate. "He's been sending his detectives after me for years, and I very highly doubt it was because he wanted my help for anything."

"He must need you for something, because he has arranged for you to be escorted to his office this afternoon so he could speak with you about it."

"Now which oaf of his is going to 'escort' me there?"

"Actually, that 'oaf' is going to be me," Kurama replied. He didn't seem very bothered about being called an oaf. "Nobody else wanted to volunteer for the job."

She placed her hands on her hips, a looking pleased with herself. "Huh."

"If you're ready, I will take you there now."

"Oh, I'm ready. I can't wait to find out what that wexa wants from me."

. . .

Koenma was trying to sort out all the paperwork on his desk when he heard three brisk knocks on the door.

"This had better be good, I'm busy!" He yelled to the visitor. The door opened, revealing the caller. "Oh, it's you, Kurama. I wasn't expecting you for another hour."

Kurama walked into the room. "Yes, well it appears that our Shadow has woken up sooner than expected." He turned to look out the doors. "Come on inside, Teilen."

She reluctantly stepped into the room, crossing her arms and looking around the room as if she were bored.

Koenma was surprised to finally meet the Shadow. "Well, this is quite unexpected."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Teilen shot back at him, uncrossing her arms.

"Er—nothing. I just didn't think..." He trailed off. "Anyway, you're probably wondering why you're here."

"That would be a start." She glared at him.

Koenma straightened up in his chair. "Well, you see that fact of the matter is, I need you to help me out with something."

Teilen scowled. "Yes, I already know that. What I want to know is, what do you need me for?"

"We'll get to that as soon as my Spirit Detective and the others arrive."

"Then tell me why I should help you."

"Because I'm willing to make a deal with you. Now, it's my understanding that you've earned yourself a nice little piece of paper that says 'Wanted: Dead or Alive'. To earn this fabulous award, you have spent years stealing precious items from all three worlds—Human, Demon, and Spirit—and you also killed every one of your pursuers, human and demon alike."

Teilen crossed her arms again. "So what's your point?"

Koenma cleared his throat. "My point is, I can make that little piece of paper go away. I can let you off with good behavior if you agree to help me out," he explained.

"...Huh." There was a long silence.

Koenma leaned forward. "So do we have a deal, Shadow?"

She looked up at him. "How do I know this isn't a trick?"

"You can trust him," Kurama spoke up. "Hiei and I were let off the hook in a similar way."

"That's right," Koenma agreed. "So what do you say?"

"Fine," she snapped. "But after this, don't expect me to stick around and become another one of your lackeys. As soon as this is over, I'm gone."

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AN: Okay, that's it for chapter 6. If anyone's reading this, please review it, I'll feel a whole lot better...

Next Chapter: Koenma's Story