Chapter 5: Masaya Vs. Kuwabara

The group continued walking, in search of Sephina. So far they had checked her room, and the surrounding rooms on that level. Each time they came up empty handed.

"Lets just go. If we can't find her now, she'll stop us from getting out. Then we can defeat her." Yusuke said. "Plus, I don't want to take the chance of getting poisoned again too soon." the group continued to the room that had a staircase in it. That was there ticket to the next demon. They walked up the stairs slowly. On the way, Hiei began speaking.

"I wonder what the next trap will be."

"The next demon is Masaya. It will have something to do with lightening. I think Kuwabara should fight this one." Kurama said.

"How do you know that?" Hiei asked.

"Remember the terraces outside? The goddess on each one left her mark. They went like this: Kyotaro, Sephina, Masaya, Kiyoko, and Yorouki. The strange thing is, they aren't in order of power. The strongest is at the top - Yorouki. But the next strongest was Sephina, then Masaya, then Kiyoko, then Kyotaro. That should be the order that they organized themselves in, but there not doing that." Kurama said.

"So, your telling me that I fought the second strongest, when it should have been Yukina fighting?"

"That's what I'm saying. So Yukina will have to fight the one that you should have fought. She will fight Kiyoko. It shouldn't be too hard though. Yukina is much, much stronger than her. I don't know who is going to fight Yorouki though. They always attack Yusuke, so he will be too distracted to fight."

"We always have Boton…" Hiei tried.

"No, she's too strong for Boton." Kurama said. He was in deep thought, when suddenly…

"Hiei, you will have to fight her. You are the strongest next to Yukina. But her attacks are no good. She is an ice demon, and Yorouki is a fire demon. Fire always beats ice. You must go."

"Not me… no, no." Hiei said. "Boton is pretty strong, she could fight."

"I told you, she isn't strong enough. She will get beaten. She will lo…" Kurama started, but Boton had been listening in on the conversation. She stopped him.

"Kurama, I can beat her. I know it. Koenma gave me a special power so that I could, if necessary. It will only work for this. After this case is over, the power will be gone." Boton finished.

"I really don't want to take the chance… but I guess you could. Just promise that you will be very careful."

"I promise." just then, they got to the new door. They opened it and walked in. the room they were in looked secure, and there was another staircase on the other side.

"Keep your guard up." Kurama said. They walked further into the room. All seemed clear. They got halfway across the room, when a lightning bolt struck the floor in front of them, sending Hiei flying backwards. He hit the wall next to the door with a loud crack. Then he slid to the floor, unmoving. Kurama, Yusuke, Boton, and Yukina all ran over to him. Kuwabara just stayed as far away as possible. He'd done that the whole time.

"Are you ok?" Kurama asked Hiei.

"Fine." he said, sitting up. "My back is a little sore." Kurama helped Hiei up. Yusuke looked at the wall, then back to the spot where the lightening bolt hit, then back to the wall in deep thought.

* * * * *

Sephina had been running through the secret passages of the tower to get to the other goddesses. She reached the next floor, and stopped to talk to Masaya.

"Oh, Masaya, I really need you to be careful with these fighters coming up here."

"And why is that?" Masaya asked.

"The one with red hair, that is our old master Youko."

"Yeah right. We killed him. He can't be alive."

"I saw him with my own eyes. He changed right before me. The others call him 'Kurama', but he is Youko." Sephina finished.

"Alright. I believe you. Go warn the others." Masaya said.

* * * * *

Yusuke picked up a few rocks and examined them.

"What are you doing?" Kurama asked. He had moved behind Hiei and placed his hands on Hiei's shoulders.

"I have an idea." Yusuke said. "Hang on a second." he added. He walked forward a little, and tossed a rock. The lightning bolt hit again. "I was right. The beam is motion censored." He walked up again and threw another rock. Immediately after the lightning bolt disappeared, he threw a second rock. Nothing happened.

"It takes a minute to gain enough power to hit again." Hiei said.

"That leaves us a window to get past it." Kurama added. Kuwabara hadn't been listening to anything. He was just staring at Kurama and Hiei. When they walked past him he just muttered "weirdo's" and went back to talk to Yusuke, who was finding another rock.

"How can it not bother you, Urameshi?" he asked.

"I don't know, it just doesn't. It doesn't make either of them different people. Its just how they are." Yusuke explained. They walked back to their starting point.

"Now, Kuwabara, I know you haven't been listening, so when I say run, just run to the stairs." Yusuke said. They all waited. Yusuke threw the rock. The lightning bolt hit, and disappeared. Now was there chance.

"RUN!!!" Yusuke yelled. They all dashed across and reached the staircase before the lightening bolt could hit. They walked up the stairs and reached another door. The group opened the door and walked through. They saw that they had made it onto the third terrace. Suddenly, a girls voice came from a door just of the terrace.

"Welcome to my lair. Now you will finally die here… Master." a high cold laugh filled the air.

* * * * *

Sephina had made it to Kiyoko. She rushed into the room and saw Kiyoko sitting ay her dressing table, looking in the mirror. When she saw Sephina and her gashed face, she just about shrieked.

"Oh my god, Sephina! What the hell happened to you?" she asked.

"Only one word. Attack. Those people that are trying to make it into the top of the tower… are very powerful. On of them did this to me. The one they call 'Hiei'." Kiyoko turned on the television screen in her room that showed all of the security cameras.

"That one! That one there with the tall hair! He did this to me!" Sephina said. "And there's more. The one with the long red hair is master Youko." Kiyoko looked back at the screen, listening.

"If he is Youko, then why are they calling him 'Kurama'?" Kiyoko said.

"His friends call him by that name, but he is Youko. He changed right before my eyes." Sephina said.

"I will watch. You go warn Lady Yorouki. Then stay there so as not to get hurt. They wont get past Masaya." Kiyoko said.

"Right." Sephina said, and she ran off.

At least I hope they don't get past her, she thought. If they do, then I will have to fight them. I'm not very strong.

* * * * *

Masaya stepped out from behind her door. She too was beautiful, with long blonde hair, a flowing yellow dress, yellow high heels, and a tiara with yellow gems. Kuwabara was staring.

"Who is to fight me?" she asked. No one answered. "I said, who is to fight me?" still no one answered. "I don't like to be left hanging! Now answer, or I will have to get violent!" this time Kurama answered.

"Young one, he is to fight you." he said and pointed to Kuwabara.

"So, you must be who Sephina was talking about." she said to Kurama. "The great master Youko, who abandoned us before our training was complete."

"I don't go by that name anymore. After I was nearly killed by a hunter, I jumped into an unborn fetus. I was born human, with the name Shuichi. I chose the name Kurama as my demon name." Kurama said.

"Well, I know you best as the coward who was too afraid to teach us our full power. But no matter. After I kill the others, I will drain you of all of your power, and keep them for us. Then you will slowly die, like you should have in that fire!" she finished.

"Just shut up and fight." Kurama said. Kuwabara staggered forward, still staring at the now beautiful Masaya.

"Hi. You're beautiful. Will you be my wife? I am a strong and fearless man and I will take good care of you." Kuwabara finished. Yusuke walked forward. He raised his hand and…

SMACK!

"Kuwabara! Snap out of it! She's the bag guy… well, girl… but still, she's the enemy!" Kuwabara was in a daze. He was still staring at Masaya, not even hearing Yusuke. Yusuke seemed to notice this too, so…

SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!

Yusuke hit Kuwabara four more times. This time Kuwabara seemed to be feeling the slaps, because he yelled at Yusuke.

"Hey! What was that for!?" Kuwabara asked, rubbing his sore cheek.

"You have to stay focused! No matter how beautiful she is, she's the enemy! don't lose your focus!" Yusuke exclaimed.

"Right." Kuwabara stood up and tried hard to focus, but she was just so beautiful. He pulled out his spirit sword, and tried to stand in an attack pose. Masaya came running at him, and used her long fingernails to gash his face. He fell backward, and sat up.

"You are so beautiful, it would be a shame to hit you." Kuwabara said. Then he stood up.

"And it wont be a shame to hit you." she said.

"You can hit me all you want." Kuwabara said.

"What is he doing?" Boton asked Yusuke.

"I don't know, but it doesn't look good." Yusuke replied. Masaya took a run at Kuwabara, and gashed his chest. He fell backward again, then stood up. Suddenly, Yusuke had an idea. He took the rock from downstairs out of his pocket.

"What are you doing?" Kurama asked.

"They don't like their faces hit, right? This should get Kuwabara back on track." he waited. Masaya took a run at Kuwabara. She was close enough to hit. Yusuke took the rock, and threw it, grazing her cheek.

"I hope that was enough to make her change." Yusuke said. Masaya fell backward, yelling about her face, then she started glowing yellow. Her face changed into a hideous beast.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Kuwabara screamed. Masaya completed her transformation. Then she looked at Yusuke.

"You did this! You will pay!" she pointed a finger at Yusuke. A lightning bolt flew out of her finger and tied itself around Yusuke, pinning his arms to his side. The pain was unbearable.

"Oh - yeah. It - was - enough." he said in between fits of pain.

"Hey! He isn't part of this fight! Leave him alone!" Kuwabara yelled. He wasn't staring at Masaya, because she wasn't beautiful anymore. Kuwabara took a run, and slashed Masaya across the stomach.

* * * * *

"Yorouki! Yorouki! Its an emergency!" Sephina was standing outside of Yorouki room, in another part of the tower. She was pounding on the door.

"Calm down! You're acting as if you want to break the door down!" Yorouki opened the door and let Sephina in. "Now, what is it?" Yorouki asked.

"You probably haven't heard yet, but we need to be very careful. Guess who's here?"

"I give up. Who?" Yorouki asked.

"You won't believe this, but master Youko is here." And she explained the same thing that she had explained to the others.

"So, he didn't die back in that cottage?" Yorouki asked.

"Guess not. But it really was him." Sephina said.

"Alright. Stay here. If they got past you, then they can get past Masaya and Kiyoko. That means that I will have to fight."

"But they didn't get past me. I ran because I was scared. I mean, master Youko is still stronger than us. He has a secret power that he wouldn't teach us." Sephina said.

"Yeah, but he is no longer evil. He won't use those powers, for fear of killing his friends. He is vulnerable because of his feelings." Yorouki explained."

"Oh, ok. I guess I never figured that in." Sephina admitted.

* * * * *

Masaya fell backwards, as Kuwabara kept slashing her. It was easier to attack her, now that she was in her full demon form. He hit her with his spirit sword, one gash at a time. She got up, and ran at him, using her long fingernails as a weapon. She gashed him across the chest, on his back, on his face, and on his arms. Kuwabara was soon on the ground with bloody gashes all over his body. He was kneeling, barely able to move. Masaya wasn't much better.

"I suggest you give up. You're too wounded to attack." she said.

"Oh, shut up. You're no better than me. Look, you cant even stand up." he said, looking at Masaya, who was on hands and knees.

"Neither can you." she said. Then she let out a gasp, as Kuwabara struggled, and stood up. He stumbled, and almost fell over, then regained his balance. Masaya struggled, and got one foot flat on the ground. She tried to get the other foot on the ground, managed it, and stood up. Then…

THUD! She hit the ground with tremendous force. Then she tried moving, but the last attempt at standing drained her of energy. She couldn't move.

"Well, seeing as how you cant move, it would be a shame to finish you off without a fighting chance, but if I don't, you'll just gain power, and kill me when your strong enough to." Kuwabara said. Masaya made one last attempt at saving her life. She changed back into the beautiful girl, except with slashes across her face.

"You wouldn't want to kill me would you?" her plan seemed to be working. Kuwabara was staring wide eyed at her. "If you do, we can never get married." she continued. Kuwabara was in a daze. Suddenly, he heard Yusuke's words from the beginning of the fight. 'she's the enemy! I don't care how beautiful she is! She's the enemy!'. Kuwabara shook his head.

"No. I wont fall for this. It's just another trap. To get me to back off and let you heal yourself." then he pointed his spirit sword at her, and concentrated. The spirit sword extended, digging its way through her side. He whipped it across her torso, severing her in two.

"Now that's what I call a fight." Kuwabara said. Then he nearly collapsed. The fight took a lot of energy out of him.

"Whoa, Kuwabara, I think you should sit back down." Yusuke said.

"No, I'm fine." he said. He leaned against the wall for support.

"Look at him. I took on a demon twice as powerful as me, and I can still walk. He can't even fight one equally powerful without nearly getting killed." Hiei taunted.

"Just shut up Hiei." Kurama said. "We don't need any unnecessary fights. Its too time consuming, and we need to get to Kayko as fast as we can."

"Boton, you're up. See if you can use your healing powers to heal him to the point where he can actually walk." Yusuke said Boton walked over to Kuwabara.

"Kuwabara, you're going to have to lie down." she said to him. Kuwabara sat down, and lied flat on his back. Boton placed her hands about five inches above his chest and torso. She then directed her spirit energy into his body, helping his body to heal itself faster. The most severe of the gashes disappeared.

"Well, that's all I can do right now." she said. Kuwabara stood up, and tried walking around. He was good to go. "The rest of the cuts will heal over time." she added. The group continued walking. They passed through Masaya's room, which was clad all in yellow. On the other side of the room was a door. The walked through. Then a staircase stood before them in the next room.

"Let me guess… another doorway lies at the top of that staircase. When we walk through, there will be a trap, then another staircase, then a door, then a demon. Am I right?" Yukina said.

"Just about." Kurama answered.

"You know, this is starting to get extremely boring." she added.

"Yukina, please. We don't need your bad attitude on top of everything else." Hiei said. Bad move. Yukina punched him on the side of the face. Hiei was about to counter attack, when Kurama jumped in between them.

"Didn't I just tell you that we didn't need any unnecessary fighting? Lets go. Yukina, you walk in the back with Boton. Hiei, you walk up front with me. Kuwabara, Yusuke, stay in the middle and make sure they stay separated."

"Sure." Yukina said.

"Whatever." Hiei said.

"Ok." Yusuke and Kuwabara responded in unison.

They did as they were told, and continued walking. Yusuke was barely talking to the others.

"You know, I think Yusuke is still rather mad at us for making him swallow Sephina's blood." Boton said.

"Yeah, well, if we hadn't, he would be rather dead right now. He has to at least be grateful for that." Yukina said. Boton responded immediately.

"Deep down inside, I think he is."

_____________________________________________________________

Well, here's chapter 5. Hope you all like it. Yes my characters are out-of-character, but that's not how I intended to make them. Oh well. Yusuke is a wimp towards the end of the story… but I guess I should just let you read and find out for yourselves. Send me any reviews you can. They are really helping me develop my fic. ^_^!!!!