Chapter 77
Quarterfinals: Part I
'Riku, wake up' Hiei said through his Jagan. 'Leave me alone' Riku replied sleepily. 'NOW!!!' Hiei yelled. Riku's eyes slowly opened. 'All right Hiei I'm up. How long till the tournament?' Riku asked. 'Five hours' Hiei replied. 'See you in the lobby' Riku said before Hiei closed the link.
Riku looked down at the sleeping koorime on his chest. He just couldn't find it in him to wake her just yet. I guess Hiei can wait another hour Riku thought as he ran his hand through Yukina's hair. 'NOW!!!' Hiei yelled telepathically. "Ahhh" Riku yelled causing Yukina to wake up. "What's wrong Riku?" she asked. "Hiei calls. Why don't you get a little more sleep" Riku said. Yukina nodded and rolled off him. In a few seconds she was asleep again. Riku smiled and got out of bed to get ready.
After he was done getting ready he went to the lobby and found Yusuke, Hiei, and Muraku waiting for him. "Hey you guys" Riku said as he walked up to them. "Sleep well?" Yusuke asked. Riku nodded though there was a slight blush on his face. "We're going to get some last minute training" Muraku said. "Sounds good to me. We've got some tough opponents ahead of us" Riku said. "Well I beat Jin once before and we've seen Touya in action. That Kavik guy seems tough but we know what Muraku can do to his opponent" Yusuke said. "Yeah what was with you yesterday?" Riku asked Muraku. "I'm not sure, I just felt a sudden bloodlust" Muraku replied.
"The only thing that really worries me is that X guy" Yusuke said. "You're right, we know nothing about him. Not even his name" Riku said. "He just seems skilled with firearms but I sense he's holding back" Hiei said. "Wait is that him?" Yusuke said pointing outside the hotel. Sure enough X was standing there. A big oni was in front of him obviously trying to pick a fight. "Let's go" Yusuke said.
"What's the matter? Can't talk?" the oni said. X just remained standing in place. "Hey I asked you something" the oni said angrily. X continued to remain silent. "That's it!!!" the oni said raising a fist. He tried to punch X but the mysterious fighter disappeared. The oni heard two clicks behind him and turned around. X opened fire at his chest at pointblank range. The spray of bullets he fired caused the oni to stay in the air for a few seconds before slamming into the ground dead. X placed his guns back in their holsters, turned, and walked away. "He's fast" Riku said. "Look's like you'll have your hands full Hiei" Yusuke said. "Hn" Hiei said.
"Should we follow him?" Riku asked. "Let's just ignore him for now and train" Muraku said as he started walking the opposite direction of X. "Hey wait up" Yusuke said as the other three ran to catch up.
Five hours later
"I HOPE YOU ALL HAD A GOOD NIGHTS SLEEP CAUSE WE WOULDN'T WANT YOU TO FALL ASLEEP FOR THE QUATERFINALS OF THE DEMON KING'S TOURNAMENT!!!" the announcer said. The crowd cheered.
The king and his party were already seated. Yukina, Keiko, Puu, Kurama, Botan, Crystal, Kuwabara, Rogato, Maya, Damien, Kairi, Yugi, Mimiru, and Black Fang were also in their seats. Kurama had bandages around the bullet wounds on his leg. Yukina's healing powers were not powerful enough to fully heal gunshot wounds.
"I'm excited" Yugi said. "I know papa will win, right mama?" Mimiru asked Kairi. "Of coarse he will" Kairi said smiling. "I'm more worried about Hiei. That X guy seems pretty dangerous" Maya said. "Your right but I get a funny feeling whenever I see him" Rogato said. "Me to" Damien said. "Whoever he is, he's highly skilled. He outsmarted me in our battle" Kurama said. "I miss Eikachi" Kuwabara said. Crystal and Shizuru sweatdropped.
Across the stadium Nami was watching with the Night Shadow clan. "You know the action gets better with each round" Shade said. "This is gonna be sweet" Draco said. "Yep and the best part is Riku took out that ugly spider the first round" Naien said. "I still have nightmares about that thing" Serena said shuddering. "Calm down sis" Azeri said.
"NOW LETS GET THE QUARTERFINALS STARTED. FIRST UP IS YUSUKE URAMESHI VS. JIN THE WIND MASTER" the announcer said. Yusuke and Jin walked onto the arena. "I've been waiting for this day Urameshi" Jin said really fast. "I still don't understand a word you're saying but that doesn't really matter in a fight" Yusuke said. "That's what I like about ya Urameshi" Jin replied. "Just don't hold anything back, I want a challenge" Yusuke said. Jin smirked.
"BEGIN!!!" Yusuke charged at full speed and let loss a series of punches. Jin blocked them with his hands. "I think I remember us doing this from last time" Yusuke said as he continued to throw punches. "I brings back memories" said Jin. Yusuke smirked and jumped back.
"Hope ya remember this one" Jin said as he extended his right arm to the side. The wind started to pick up. "How could I forget?" Yusuke said. Jin smirked as a small tornado formed around his arm. "TORNADO FIST" he charged Yusuke and threw a punch with the wind-covered arm. Yusuke used his spirit energy to shield his body since he knew dodging would be pointless.
An explosion of wind and blue spirit energy rocked the stadium. The dust settled to reveal Yusuke with his arms crossed in front of him stopping Jin's fist. "That attack's a little old don't you think" Yusuke said. "Yea but it's my favorite" Jin said. Yusuke smirked as Jin jumped back.
"My turn" Yusuke said as energy gathered in his hand. He charged as the energy intensified. "SPIRIT GUN" he fired a single shot at Jin. Jin smirked and took to the air to avoid the blast. "Missed me" Jin said. He immediately had to float to the side to avoid another blast. Four more followed. Jin had no choice but start circling the arena to avoid Yusuke's blast. Yusuke continued to fire as Jin flew around him.
"Anti-air demon fire" Riku said. "Those two are just fooling around" Hiei said as he watched a smile cross Yusuke's face.
Jin waved his hand and sent a small tornado at Yusuke. Yusuke jumped to the side to avoid it. "This is a new one, hope ya like it" Jin said. He started waving both hands sending more tornados at Yusuke. "Oh great" Yusuke said as the tornados neared. He jumped left to avoid the first then jumped right to avoid the second. There were eight more he had to dodge. After a tornado would moss it would turn around and come in for a second run. Yusuke was forced to jump from side to side and back and forth to avoid them.
He looked up at Jin and noticed the wind master had his hands clasped together and his eyes closed. So he needs to concentrate to use this attack Yusuke thought. He gathered more energy and pointed his finger at Jin. "SPIRIT GUN" his attack headed straight for Jin. Jin managed to open his eyes and move his body out of the way of the blast. But Yusuke obviously hit something and caused Jin to go crashing into the ground.
When the dust settled a surprising site greeted everyone. Jin was sitting on the ground crying. As his wailing intensified everyone in the stadium sweatdropped. Touya was thoroughly embarrassed. "Jin what's wrong?" Touya asked. "He chipped my horn" Jin said pointing to the small horn on his head. Sure enough a very, very small piece of the tip was chipped. But it was so small no one really noticed. Everyone in the stadium did an anime fall while Touya hid his face in his hands in embarrassment.
"It's not that bad" Touya said. "*sniff* Really?" Jin asked with teary eyes. "Aww, cute" Crystal, Maya, Keiko, Botan, and Kairi said. "Stupid ninja" Kuwabara mumbled. Kurama sweatdropped. "It'll grow back" Touya said. "Yeah but it takes to long" Jin said. "Listen just finish the fight then we'll worry about your horn" Touya said. "But this thing was my chick magnet" Jin said causing the boys to anime fall. "How many girls would be willing to go out with this guy?" Touya shouted. Many of the girls in the stadium raised their hands. "See you don't need a perfect horn to get a date. Now start fighting" Touya said.
"Who invited the cry baby?" Satanos asked. Demonus was hiding his face from his father. "Demonus" Satanos said. "Hehe, sorry pop" Demonus said. Satanos shook his head and turned back to the fight.
"Urameshi, I'll be having revenge for my horn" Jin said as he stood up. "You know, you scare me sometimes" Yusuke said. Jin fisted both hands as the wind in the stadium picked up again. The wind started to gather around Jin's fists. "Not this again" Yusuke said. "This is my newest attack" Jin said. "WIND EXTENSIONS" his arms and legs were surrounded by small tornados.
Jin charged and threw a punch at Yusuke with his right fist. Yusuke took a step back to avoid it but when Jin's fist stopped the winds continued and slammed into Yusuke. Yusuke went flying into the wall as the winds pulled back to Jin's fists.
Jin charged Yusuke and jumped into the air. He kicked at Yusuke and once again the winds continued forward and hit Yusuke. Jin threw a series of punches. With each one the winds slammed into Yusuke.
"I've figured out his attack" Kurama said. "What is it?" Maya asked. "It's simply using the wind around his limbs to extend his punches and kicks. If he misses then the winds continue and hit his opponent. Quite simply, he's extended his attack reach" Kurama said.
Jin continued to throw punches and kicks at Yusuke. He never actually hit Yusuke with his fists but with the wind that surrounded them. "And the wind also makes my attacks more powerful" Jin said while attacking. "I've noticed" Yusuke said while trying to dodge the wind.
He saw a small gap between the winds created by Jin's attack. "SPIRIT GUN" his attack was blown away by a strong gust of wind Jin summoned. Jin jumped back and a huge tornado surrounded his body. "This is it Urameshi, TORNADO SLAM" the tornado charged Yusuke. Yusuke jumped to the side and was forced to run from Jin's tornado. He knew Jin was right in the center but and blast would be deflected by the wind.
An idea popped in his head. He stopped running and turned around. "Yusuke what are you doing?!" Keiko shouted. "Relax Keiko I know what I'm doing" Yusuke replied. "This is it Urameshi" Jin said. "My thoughts exactly" Yusuke said as his body was surrounded by blue energy.
As Jin neared Yusuke ran straight toward the tornado. "Yusuke!!!" Keiko yelled. Yusuke didn't hear because he jumped into the tornado.
The winds surrounding him caused him to levitate in the air but he soon found out he could control which way he floated. He was Jin above him and smirked. "SHOTGUN" his attack mixed with the wind and caused a huge explosion to rock the stadium. The explosion was a mix of wind and blue energy that eliminated the stadium. Everyone had to cover his or her eyes from the intense light it gave off.
When it died down a huge dust plum was left. Sparks off blue energy appeared in various places on the stadium. As the dust settled everyone looked into the dust to try and find the missing fighters. Grunts and bangs could be heard from the dust. When it settled it revealed Yusuke and Jin throwing punches at each other. They landed a punch on each other's face and fell back.
"Hey Jin, I got somthin for ya" Yusuke said. "What?" Jin asked. "Catch" Yusuke said as he threw something at the wind master. Jin caught it and looked at his hand. His face brightened up. "My horn" he said happily. "Found it lying on the ground" Yusuke said. "Thanks Urameshi" Jin said as he took to the air. "Where are you going?" Touya asked. "To find so supper glue" Jin replied before flying through the hole in the roof Hiei's dragon made the previous day.
Touya threw his hands in the air and slumped on a chair. "I give up, he's hopeless" he said. "WELL, JIN NEVER SAID HE GAVE UP BUT I DOUBT WE'LL SEE HIM SOON. I GUESS IT'LL HAVE TO BE THE KING'S DECSION" the announcer said. Everyone looked at Satanos. "He's out so the detective wins" Satanos said. "YOU HEARD HIM, YUSUKE URAMESHI ADVANCES!!!" Yusuke smiled and went back to the room where Riku and Hiei were.
"Nice one" Riku said. "You did well" Hiei said. "Thanks" Yusuke said as he sat down. "WILL HIEI AND X PLEASE COME TO THE ARENA!!!" "You're up" Riku said to Hiei. Hiei nodded and started toward the arena. "Watch yourself out there. Remember he beat Kurama" Riku said. "I will" Hiei replied before flitting to the arena. X was standing in the arena when Hiei appeared.
"The fox wasn't expecting much from you. I won't be as careless" Hiei said. X merely stood in place staring Hiei down. Hiei got into position to draw his katana. He'd decided to start with an unsheathing attack. X readied his hands to draw his pistols. He now had two black 44 Magnums instead off the Ingrams he used yesterday. "BEGIN!!!"
Hiei charged and gripped the handle of his katana as he neared. X drew his pistols and fired. Hiei dodged the bullet and unsheathed his katana. He swung at X and gasped when X dodged the swing. X pointed the left pistol at Hiei and fired.
Hiei managed to dodge and swung horizontally to the left. X stopped it using his right pistol and fired. The bullet grazed Hiei's face but he saw his chance and swung. X jumped back but couldn't avoid Hiei's slash creating a small gash in his left arm. The two jumped back and charged.
It was close ranged combat with X firing and dodging Hiei's swings while Hiei dodged shot after shot. Hiei used his katana to push X's left pistol to the side and went in for the kill. X stopped the swing with his right pistol and kicked Hiei back. Hiei landed on his feet and disappeared. X fired to the side and Hiei skidded to a halt to avoid the bullet. X fired five more shots that Hiei managed to dodge by swaying side to side.
He crouched and charged. X fired a few shots as Hiei ran. Hiei disappeared and reappeared a few feet to each side to dodge the bullets. He got in range of his katana and swung. X disappeared and reappeared behind Hiei. Hiei saw him and ducked the shot X fired. He spun around and swung but only managed to leave a few gashes in X's coat.
X jumped back doing a flip and landed on his feet. Hiei fisted his left hand and black flames surrounded it. He charged again and swung his katana horizontally to the right. X raised his left pistol to fire but Hiei's katana deflected his hand to the side. "FIST OF THE MORTAL FLAME" Hiei threw his fire-covered fist at X and hit him directly on the chest. The force caused X to drop the pistol in his right hand. Hiei smirked as he watched X fall back. But before X hit the ground he pointed his right index finger and fired a yellow blast from it. Hiei wasn't expecting such an attack and it his him squarely between the eyes. Both fighters fell on their backs and lay there.
"Was that a Spirit Gun?!" Yusuke said. "Yeah it was" Riku said. "Who is that guy?" Yusuke said. "It could be anyone, lots of fighters use the Spirit Gun for a basic technique" Riku replied.
"Hiei!!!" Nami shouted as she watched Hiei go down. "That X guy is good" Shade said. "And mysterious" Javik said.
Hiei sat up only to find X already up and heading for his other gun. As X picked up the weapon Hiei flitted out of the way of the shot he fired.
He appeared above X's head and swung downward. X pointed his left pistol at Hiei and prepared to fire. Just when he fired Hiei's sword had come down right in front of the barrel of the gun. The sword hit the bullet before it could exit the barrel causing the gun to explode. But the force of the bullet caused Hiei's katana to break in half.
The two fighters jumped back. "My sword" Hiei mumbled. X looked at the broken pistol in his left hand and threw it to the side. Hiei looked up at X. X cracked his neck and prepared for another attack from Hiei. I have no choice Hiei thought. He readied his broken sword and charged.
X raised his pistol and fired. The bullet went through Hiei's left shoulder. Hiei winced but was soon in range. He swung as black flames sprouted from his sword. "SWORD OF THE DARKNESS FLAME" X jumped back to avoid it but wasn't fast enough. The sword slashed his stomach leaving a gash.
Hiei dropped his sword and clutched his shoulder. X used his left arm to clutch the gash across his stomach. "Well at least I know you're not invincible" Hiei said. X remained silent. Hiei knew now was the time. He closed his eyes as his Jagan started to glow. X took a step back after realizing what Hiei was preparing to do.
The devil-like wings of black fire sprouted from Hiei's back. "BLACK WINGED DRAGON FLAME" the winged dragon roared out of Hiei's hands and charged X.
X waited until the dragon was nearly on him to flit out of the way. Hiei's eyes widened as the dragon crashed into the ground causing a huge explosion. It sent up a huge cloud of dust that filled the stadium.
Hiei looked around for X but couldn't see his own hand because of the dust. He sensed something behind him and turned around. He saw a yellow flash before everything went black.
The gang coughed because of all the dust in the air. "Where's Hiei?" Yukina asked. "Somewhere in the cloud" Rogato said as he covered his mouth. "When will this stuff settle down?" Shizuru said as she tried to fan away the dust from her face.
After a few minutes the dust finally settled. The gang gasped. Hiei was against the wall. His body had made a crater in the wall and he was in the middle of it. He slowly opened his eyes and winced from the pain his body was experiencing. X was walking toward him.
Hiei found he didn't have the strength to flit away. X reached behind him under his coat and pulled out a rocket launcher with four rockets ready to fire simultaneously. X took aim and fired. The four rockets separated to reveal a net made of steel cables. The four rockets hit the wall and effectively trapped Hiei in the net. Hiei started to struggle to get free.
He stopped when X pressed the barrel of his pistol against his head. X looked ready to pull the trigger and blow Hiei's brains out. "You don't scare me" Hiei said as he continued to struggle. X positioned his index finger over the trigger. Hiei continued to struggle.
"Hiei!!!" Nami said as she flitted to the area right above Hiei. "Nami" Hiei said. "Please just give up. You can't win" she said. "Never" Hiei said as he continued to struggle. X started to press the trigger very slowly. "Hiei, please I don't want to lose you" Nami said as tears ran down her cheeks. Hiei looked at her and saw the sadness in her eyes. He looked over to the gang and saw Yukina giving him a pleading look. The gun was almost at the point of firing. "Alright, I give up" Hiei said. X took his finger off the trigger and pulled the gun back.
Nami jumped in front of Hiei and pulled the net off him. She threw her arms around his neck. "I thought I would lose you" she said. Hiei stroked her back. "It's okay now Nami" he said. He looked up at X who was walking away.
"HIEI HAS GIVEN UP SO X ADVANCES TO THE SEMIFINALS!!!" "First Kurama now Hiei?" Yusuke said. "I feel sorry for you. You have to face him next round" Riku said. "That's just great" Yusuke said sarcastically. "He'll be tough" Riku said. "Well I'll just have to be tougher" Yusuke said as X disappeared into the door.
Another chapter done. This fic is over 200,000 words long. I never thought it would be this long. Oh well. X is really cleaning house. Next chapter should be up Wednesday.
Next chapter, Riku vs. Touya and Kavik vs. Muraku. Review please.
