Chapter 52

The Final Test

Yusuke and Riku had spent the past four weeks training under Gurumin. The tasks got more and more difficult but they managed to get through anything the old man threw at them. The greatest challenge they faced was when Gurumin made them eat the Hate Fish Yusuke blew up, cooked of coarse. Let's just say the animals stayed clear of a few bushes.

They were now hiking up a mountain wearing weighted capes around their necks. They each weighed 3 tons. "Where are we headin?" Yusuke asked. "I can not tell you" Gurumin replied. "Aw come on" Yusuke whined. Gurumin ignored him. "Stupid old man" Yusuke grumbled.

Riku had been silent the entire trip. He had a feeling that something big was up ahead so he was anxious to get there. The only tying he couldn't stand at the moment was the headache Yusuke's complaining caused.

Gurumin stopped in front of two 50 foot steel doors at the side of a cliff. "You two, open them" he ordered. "Are you kidding me?!" Yusuke said. "Do I ever joke? Riku will take the right and Yusuke will take the left" he said. Riku obediently started to push on the right door. Yusuke groaned and started pushing the left one. After five minutes of pushing the doors slowly opened to reveal a huge cavern with a ten-foot high mirror on the other end.

"Ah it is still here" Gurumin said as he walked to the mirror. "So what are we doing here?" Yusuke asked impatiently. "You will find out soon" Gurumin said. Yusuke growled and sat down against the wall. Riku leaned against it instead. Gurumin was inspecting the mirror as if looking for something. Riku thought back to the worst trouble he and Yusuke got in during their training.

Flashback

It was Riku and Yusuke's fifth day of training. They were now standing on two wooden poles to test their balance.  They both were having problems digesting the Hate Fish they had for breakfast. Gurumin was happily smoking a pipe as he waited for the task time to expire.

"I feel like one of those wimpy ballerinas" Yusuke said. "Having problems?" Riku asked. "And your not?" Yusuke said astonished. "Wolf demons are pretty well balanced so this isn't to hard" Riku replied.

"I heard that" Gurumin said. Their eyes widened and they looked over to the Indian. "So, my training isn't tough enough for you?" he asked. "No, no it's very hard. I feel like I'll fall off any second" Riku said nervously. "Well then how bout I add some sting to this task" he said. Yusuke and Riku looked at each other nervously. "Sting!?" they both said at the same time. Gurumin picked up a rock and threw it at the tree the two were under. It hit a beehive and caused a swarm of angry bees to fly out. Since Riku and Yusuke were the closest the bees attacked them.

They both swatted at the bees while trying to stay on the poles. They stayed on but took a lot of stings. "Fuck this, I'm out of here" Yusuke said as he jumped off his pole and bolted into the forest. Riku shrugged and followed. He caught up but the bees were still after them. "Those little bastards are persistent" Yusuke said. "Less talk more running" Riku said as they picked up the pace.

The bees chased them to a muddy pond. "That stuff looks like crap" Yusuke said. "Better to get dirty than stung" Riku said as he jumped into the water. Yusuke stayed a few more seconds but the sound of buzzing heading for him was enough incentive for him to jump in as well. The bees circled over the pond for thirty seconds before returning to their hive.

After they left Riku and Yusuke popped out of the water gasping for air. "Finally" Yusuke said as he wiped the mud from his eyes. "What's in this water?" Riku said as he hopped out. Yusuke followed. "Keiko would kill me if she saw me like this" Yusuke said. "Yukina would probably start a bubble bath for me" Riku said while grinning. Yusuke glared at him and continued to wipe the mud off, or at least try.

"This is getting us nowhere. Ya think you can sniff out a lake or something?" he asked. "I'll try" Riku replied. He spent the next five minutes sniffing the air. "That way" he said pointing to the right. They both went n that direction and found a crystal clear lake. "Nice work" Yusuke said as they both stripped to their boxers and jumped in. "This water ain't to bad" Yusuke said as he swam around. "I agree" Riku said as he rubbed days of muck off him. After fifteen minutes in the water they got out and wash their cloths. Once they were clean they used their spirit energy to dry them.

"Just what the doctor ordered" Yusuke said as he put his shirt back on. "I hear ya" Riku said as he slipped on a boot. They finished dressing and got ready to head back to Gurumin. "How do we find him?" Yusuke asked. "I'll just follow our scent left behind by the chase" Riku said as he got on all fours and started to search for their scents. He found them and they were on their way.

"Should be a few more minutes" Riku said from the ground. "Ah ha, there you are!!!" A certain toddler said from behind. They turned around and saw a pissed teenaged Koenma, minus the pacifier, floating on a cloud. "Can't you see we're busy?" Yusuke said trying to hide his nervousness. "Well you obviously had enough time to commit a capital offence in Spirit World. Now give me back my pacifier!!!" he yelled. "And what if we don't have it?" Yusuke asked coolly. "Then I'll use this" Koenma said reaching behind him. He pulled out a huge bazooka. "This is the Koenmanator 1000" he said causing Yusuke and Riku to anime fall. "The Koenmanater 1000?!" Yusuke said as he laughed. Koenma fired it at a boulder and vaporized it. Yusuke and Riku froze. Koenma proceeded to blast the surrounding environment. "Pretty impressive huh?" he said after he stopped. He looked to where Riku and Yusuke were standing but only saw the two running in the opposite direction. 

"Hey get back here!!!" Koenma said as he gave chase. "The toddler's officially lost it" Yusuke said as he and Riku dodged Koenma's shots. "I can' believe I take orders from him" Riku said. "Hold still!!!" Koenma said as he continued to fire at the two. "Screw you!!!" Yusuke said as he turned and made a face at the prince. Koenma fumed and threw the bazooka away. He then pulled out a machine gun. "Holy shit!!!" Yusuke said das Koenma started to fire. "All this over a stupid pacifier!!!" Riku said.

They stayed ahead of Koenma's shots but soon found themselves face a huge rock wall. "Any last words" Koenma said. "This is bullshit. Your gonna kill us over a dumb pacifier. Why do you keep that thing anyway?" Yusuke said. Koenma lowered his gun with a look of deep thought on his face. Why do I keep that thing anyway? If it wasn't for that thing I'd probably be dating Botan now instead of Kurama he thought. Riku and Yusuke took this moment to sneak away.

Ten minutes later, he came out of his thoughts. "Hey where'd those two go?" he said.

By then Riku and Yusuke had finally found Gurumin again. "It took you long enough" he said. "Shut up ya old geezer. First we were chased by killer bees and then by a trigger happy Koenma!!!" Yusuke yelled. "Since you fell off your poles before ten hours was up, you two must get back up and start over" Gurumin said as he reset his clock. Riku dragged Yusuke to the poles as the short-tempered detective yelled profanities at Gurumin.

End Flashback

Riku looked over to Yusuke. He'd been told how immature Yusuke could act at times but he'd never thought it would be that bad.

"Alright you two. Come here" Gurumin said as he motioned them to approach. They stood up and headed for the mirror the old man was standing in front of. He lifted his hands and started to chant something. "What's he doing?" Yusuke whispered. "Ya think I know" Riku said. After a minute of chanting the mirror start to glow blue. Gurumin brought his hands down and turned to them. "You two have endured all the hardships of my training. It is time for your final test" he said. "Finally!!!" Yusuke yelled in excitement. Riku merely smirked. "For your final test you must jump into this mirror. It will take you to an alternate dimension. Survive the challenges and you pass. Good luck" he said as he stepped to the side. Yusuke and Riku walked to the mirror, looked at each other, nodded, and jumped in.

In a flash they found themselves standing on a pathway floating in an empty void. "Anyone around here heard of light bulbs" Yusuke said as he looked around. "I got a bad feeling" Riku said. The sound of rumbling reached their ears. They looked behind them and saw the pathway collapsing. "Run for it!!!" Yusuke said. The two started running as fast as they could, well Riku had to slow down since he didn't want to leave his friend behind. As they ran the path continued to collapse behind them. "Pick up the pace" Riku said.

After running for a few minutes Riku saw something. "There's a door up ahead" he said. Yusuke also saw it. "Feet don't fail me now" he said as he picked up speed. The pathway started to catch up to them. It crumbled under them and forced the two to make one final leap for the edge of the opened door. Riku managed to land on his feet but Yusuke missed and would have fallen into the abyss if Riku hadn't caught his hand. "Hold on" he said as he pulled Yusuke back up. "Thanks" Yusuke said as he stood up and dusted himself off. "Let's keep moving" Riku said.

After a few minutes of walking they came into a large room with a doom shaped floor (Like the dishes on Beyblade). At the other end was another door. "Shall we?" Riku said. Yusuke nodded and they both walked into the dish. When they reached the center a rumbling sound could be heard. They stopped and looked around. The walls opened and six large metal spheres rolled toward them. They jumped to the side to avoid being squashed.

"The only way out is through that door" Riku said. Yusuke nodded and after dodging another made a break for the door. The spheres continued to roll wildly in the dish. "SHOTGUN" Yusuke's attack bounced off the sphere he shot. "Damit" he said. "We're almost there" Riku said. After dodging two more times Riku grabbed the door and opened it. Yusuke ran in first and Riku got through a split second before one of the spheres almost crushed him. They stood panting against the door.

"That…wasn't…so hard" Yusuke said between pants. "Who knows what's next" Riku said. They stayed there for a minute before continuing.

The next room they entered had thousands of holes in the walls. Darts fired from each one. "So now what?" Yusuke asked. "I wonder…" Riku said. "CRESCENT CLAWS" he fired his attack at the walls and sealed some of the holes. They both continued to fir at the holes and sealed them. "Be careful, we could have missed a few" Riku said. Yusuke nodded and they walked toward the door on the other side. Yusuke ducked as a dart whizzed over his head. Fifty more darts followed before they reached the other end.

The next room had tiles with numbers on them. "Someone really liked numbers" Yusuke said as he stepped on one of the tiles. Riku pulled him back as a five-foot spike shot out from it and then went back in. "That thing would have impaled me. Thanks man" Yusuke said. "It seems theirs a pattern to these tiles" Riku said. He tried stepping on only odd numbers but a spike shot out of nine when he stepped on it. He jumped back to Yusuke. "There has to be a way through" he said. "What's this" Yusuke said. Riku looked to where Yusuke was pointing. Attached to the wall was a plaque that read 'ONLY THOSE AT THEIR PRIME MAY PASS SAFELY' written in gold letters. "What's that mean?" Yusuke said. "It's a clue" Riku mumbled as he stroked his chin. He read the plaque then looked at the floor. He kept doing this for the next few minutes.

"That's it!!!" he said startling Yusuke. "What's it" he asked. "Prime. The plaque is saying we can only step on prime numbers" Riku said. "What are those again?" Yusuke asked. Riku sweatdropped. "Prime numbers are numbers divisible by only themselves and one, like two, three, five, seven, and eleven" Riku said. He started to walk on the tiles with prime numbers on them. Yusuke followed his led. They safely reached the other door.

"So much for that challenge" Riku said as they continued on. "Hey Riku" Yusuke said. "Yea?" Riku asked. "Why haven't you wind morphed since training began?" Yusuke asked. "Gurumin told me not to" Riku replied as they reached the next door.

They opened it and walked in. The room was black with red cracks going through it. "Man it's hot" Yusuke said as he threw off his cape. Riku followed suit. "Looks like there's lava under the floor" Riku said. "Let's get this over with" Yusuke said as he took a step forward.

When he did, the ground started to shake. "What's going on" Riku said. The ground in front of them was blown off by an explosion of lava. The lava gathered together and started to change shape. Soon, a huge hand made of lava towered over them. "A lava fist" Riku said. "So is there a lava body" Yusuke asked. "No just fist" Riku replied.

The hand spread it's fingers out and fell toward them. They moved out of the way as the fist crashed through the floor and caused lava to splash out. As the two got to there feet the fist was nowhere to be found. Riku jumped to the right as it came up from underneath him. It attempted to grab him again but he managed to flit off before it could.

"SPIRIT GUN" Yusuke's attack only succeeded in causing the lava to splatter. On of the drops managed to singe his shirt. "How do we beat this thing" he said. The fist turned to him and slid toward him. He kept sending blasts at it but they still had no effect. Just when it was about to reach him Riku appeared in front. "SPIRIT WOLF CLAW" The energy that covered his hand plowed through the lava fist and sent it flying to pieces. Small puddles of lava now singed the ground.

"Nice work" Yusuke said. Riku was about to reply when another explosion sent a piece of the floor flying toward him. It hit his head and knocked him out. Yusuke watched as another lava fist formed from a new hole. It charged them. "Damit, I can't believe I have to use my trump card now" he said. His body was surrounded by blue energy. "SPIRIT WAVE" the attack stopped the fist in its tracks and sent it flying back. "Alright wolf boy let's get out of here" Yusuke said as he lifted Riku over his shoulder and made a break for the door. Along the way more fists popped out from the floor. They gave chance but Yusuke was somehow a lot faster than usual (I wonder why). He made it to the door and slammed it shut.

"Whew" he said as he laid Riku against the wall. He started to gently slap the wolf's face. "Hey Riku, get up" he said. After a minute of gentle slapping Riku came to. "Ugh, what happened" Riku said as he rubbed his head. "I got us out of there" Yusuke replied. Riku got to his feet. They then looked over to the next door. "Shall we?" Riku said. "Let's do it" Yusuke replied. They headed for the door and opened it.       

The next room had a sand covered floor and a mirror at the other end. "I guess this is the last challenge" Yusuke said. They both kept their guard up as they walked toward the mirror. Suddenly Riku stopped dead in his tracks. "What is it?" Yusuke said. "SSHH" Riku replied. Yusuke took a defensive stance and looked around. The room was completely quiet.

They both noticed the sand shifting at their right. They looked toward it. A hand shot out of the sand. It was soon followed by the rest of the arm, head, and body. Others soon followed. "The old zombies from the ground trick" Riku said. Each zombie had a sword, spear, or ax for a weapon and rusty armor.

"After you" Riku said. "My pleaser" Yusuke replied. He gathered energy in his hand. "SOTGUN" his attack vaporized 23 of them. The zombies then charged. "CRESCENT CLAWS" Riku vaporized ten with his attack. He kicked a sword out of a zombie's hand and sliced it with it. "I've missed the feeling of a sword in my hand" Riku aid before slicing through another. The zombies turned to dust as they were sliced or shot. But every time they vaporized one it seemed five more took its place.

"They just keep coming" Yusuke said as he punch one. "They're closing in" Riku said. The zombies started to overwhelm them with their sheer numbers. Riku managed to slice most away but they managed to bore down on Yusuke. With a yelled he blew them away and left a large crater on the ground. "Bring it, I got more where that came from" he said. More zombies popped out of the ground. "Damit" Yusuke said as he fought them off. One managed to slice his back and cause him to stumble forward. The others took advantage.

Riku watched in horror as Yusuke disappeared behind the zombies. "Hang in there" he said as he tried to slice his way to Yusuke. A zombie sliced his leg and caused him to fall to one knee. He attempted to dodge their swings but they were getting to many hits for him to handle. He caught a glimpse of a bleeding Yusuke struggling to get up as the zombies beat him with the blunt ends of their weapons. Yusuke finally went limp from the beating.

"YUSUKE!!!" Riku yelled. His body erupted in a red explosion. He let out a howl as he sprouted devil wings and spiky hair. His eyes went red and the familiar black stripes appeared on his face. The light died down to reveal a fully transformed Riku. "Out of my way!!!" Riku yelled as he plowed his way to Yusuke's limp body. He checked for a pulse and was thankful to feel one. "I'm getting us out of here" he said as he lifted Yusuke over his shoulder. He narrowed his eyes and sent a shockwave out that destroyed all the zombies. As more struggled to get out of the ground Riku flitted to the mirror. "Go to hell" he said before jumping in.

He soon found himself back in the forests. He lay Yusuke down and collapsed against a tree returning to his normal form. "Well done Riku" Gurumin said. "We almost died" Riku said. "Yes but you have learned of one way to transform. The Devil Wolf lives to protect others. If your friends are in fatal danger you will transform as a reflex to protect them. My work is done here, Yukina should be able to help Yusuke" Gurumin said as he turned around. "Wait" Riku said. "Yes?" Gurumin asked. "You said you'd teach me how to transform at will. I want to be able to train in that form without nearly killing my friends" Riku said. "To transform at will, you must first become what you once were" and with that the old man disappeared. Riku stood in silence for a moment. What did he mean become what I once was? He asked himself. He sighed and picked up Yusuke.

At the Temple

The others stopped what they were doing when there was a knock at the door. Botan handed Sakura to her mother and went to open it. "Oh my god, what happened?" she asked as Riku walked by with an unconscious Yusuke on his shoulder. "Make room" he said. Kurama, Lila, and Rogato got off the couch to allow Riku to set Yusuke down on it. Keiko walked into the room and gasped when she saw her boyfriend. "Oh no!!!" she cried as she ran to Yusuke's side. "What happened to him?" she asked. "The training was tougher than we thought" Riku said as he stepped to the side. His wounds had healed when he transformed. "Yukina get in here" Keiko said.

Yukina hurried into the room and examined Yusuke's wounds. "Don't worry, they're not to deep. He'll be alright" she said as she placed her hand on his chest. It glowed and healed his wounds. "He might not wake up till tomorrow" she said as she stood up and headed for Riku.

She threw her arms around his waist. "I was so worried about you" she said. Riku smiled and returned the hug. "Don't worry Yukina. I'll always come back to you" he said as he kissed her forehead.

Nami and Hiei watched from their corner. Nami still hadn't forgiven Hiei. "Good thing your back. It was getting scary here with just the shrimp around most of the time" Kuwabara said. "WHAT!!!" Hiei said as he grabbed his katana. Nami held him back. "You can't kill him" she said. "Watch me" Hiei replied. "What's a matter, can't handle shrimp girl?" Kuwabara said. Nami stopped struggling with Hiei and grabbed her scimitar. "Okay let's kill him" she growled. They both headed to where Kuwabara was now cowering.

They stopped when they heard a low growl. They looked to the kitchen and saw Crystal with teeth bared, eyes narrowed, and ears flattened on her head. She was clearing staying 'don't even think about it.' Hiei and Nami both turned and headed back to their corner. Any demon knew you don't pick a fight with someone whose part dog demon. Especially when her adopted brothers are around.

"I'm gonna take a bath" Riku said as he got up. "I'll get dinner ready" Yukina said as she headed back to the kitchen. Rogato and Lila headed for their room for some "alone time" as they called it.

After dinner Riku and Yukina made out for a few hours and headed for bed. Keiko slept with Yusuke on the couch to keep him warm. Riku now lay in his bed in deep thought. It's good to be back. Those Hate Fish tasted terrible. What did Gurumin mean when he said become what I once was? Oh yea, I've got bigger things to worry about. As soon as Yusuke recovers there's gonna be a quadruple date.    

I'm sorry I'm not updating faster but you won't believe how hard some of my subjects are. I'll try and update by Sunday.  

Next chapter, Riku and Yukina, Yusuke and Keiko, Kurama and Botan, and Hiei and Nami go on their quadruple date. Review please.