^_^. I'm glad you guys like it! This has been kinda hard to work out…And don't worry if this seams to be taking a while. The Team Sougen/Team Urameshi battle will have only 3 more fights, in other words, 3 more chapters, including this one. So this fight should be over soon…^_^ Hope you like it! (And please don't leave after you character's team is beat…That's not very nice!)
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original YYH characters, nor do I own Ki-Rokey, Sayona, Kaz or Nabooru. However, I do own Anbu, Kin, Misato and Luna. Of course. On with the fight!!
The Tomuraigassen Tournament
Chapter 8: Psychic Explosion
Ki-Rokey bounced up next to Sayona. "Anbu's doin' pretty good, ain't she?"
The team leader glanced down at her youngest member. "At least she beat him." she nodded. "Shouldn't you be resting, Ki-Rokey?"
The smaller fighter stuck her tongue out. "Nope! Thanks to Kin's healing-wave, I'm better than ever! I'm even ready to fight again, if they'd let me!"
The team's remaining male member climbed to his feet, brushing himself off. His eyes were trained on the screen above the ring, which was currently divided in half. The left half showed Anbu's profile, eyes calmly looking towards the middle of the ring, while the other showed this human…Yusuke Urameshi…confident and ready for a fight on the other side.
Kin shifted his weight nervously as he looked up. Anbu was strong, there was no doubt about that, but still…
"Worried about your little friend, Kin?" Sayona asked coyly, eyes narrowing at him. "Ki-Rokey is right, she is strong…But is she strong enough for Urameshi?"
Kin glared at her, then back at the screen. It was true, and he knew it, Anbu was very strong. Between her psychic abilities and her skills with that oaken nyjimbo, she was more than capable of handling herself. But he was still nervous beyond reason. Anbu was his best and oldest friend, not to mention partner, and she'd only been dragged into their tournament because Sayona, a much more recent acquaintance, had remembered his healing skills and come to him looking for teammates.
"Don't give me that look, Kin." Sayona warned. "I gave her the choice, and she said she'd come along. Don't worry so much…she's fine on her own."
Above them, standing above the stands, Kaz was watching the girl with interest as well. "Well well well…" he muttered. "Half-demon, huh?"
"Just like you, ain't she?" Nabooru laughed, leaning over the edge. Leigh had left to go…meditate, or whatever it was she did, and Akki was leaning against the wall, giving his famous cold glare down at the field.
Kaz glared at her. "Hardly." he sneared. "She's mostly human."
"And you're not?" Akki laughed.
The larger boy pulled his left hand back, re-adjusting the two rings he wore there. He was just a slight bit annoyed, not just with Akki making fun of him, but with him doing it even as he kept glancing down in Itoshigo's direction.
"Only with these on…"
"Guys! Guys!"
The group turned a moment. Botan, the one who had shouted, was running up to them with Yukina on her left, and Keiko and Shizuru right behind them. Kurama was sitting against the wall, nursing his own wounds with slow-working herbal remedies. Misato sat cross-legged next to him, watching with interest. Luna was next to her, looking like she might fall asleep, and Hiei was leaning against the wall several feet away, trying to act like he didn't care but secretly glancing in the fox's direction.
"Good heavens, are you all in one piece?" Botan exclaimed, sliding to a stop on the grass.
"Barely." Misato sighed, indicating the redhead she was sitting beside. "Kuwabara came out okay, but Kurama got it pretty rough…"
"I'm fine…" he muttered, but his face didn't match. The ointment he was using stunk and must've burned like heck.
Yukina, who'd been checking Kuwabara's wounds as he gushed over her, moved to kneel by the redhead's side. "Please, Kurama-chan, let me help you." she whispered.
The fox was rather unwilling…it always had bothered him to for anyone but himself to touch his wounds…but Yukina quietly pressed on until he submitted and pulled the tunic and jacket away from his injured shoulder.
Keiko pulled her eyes away from the ice apparition's healing to glance around at the rest of the group. "Um…where's Yusuke?"
"Up there." Luna muttered, ears twitching slightly as she pointed at the ring.
Keiko snapped her head up, looking at Yusuke standing several feet up and many away, facing the center of the ring. "He's…He's going to fight now?"
"The girl insisted on it." Hiei sneared, tapping against the katana's sheaf. His eyes made it obvious just what he thought of that.
"Well, fighters are now in their places!" Sad announced, tapping the side of her earphone-mic. "The fifth match of the first round is Yusuke Urameshi versus Anbu Jintai! Begin!"
Both fighters bounded into the trees. Their footing was about equal, and they moved at a quick pace, each eager for the fight to begin. Yusuke's hands were curled into fists, and Anbu's were clutched around her staff, ready for any attack.
"Well, this looks promising!" Sad announced. "Both Anbu and Yusuke look ready for war! This is Anbu's challenge, so it's only to be expected, but what on Earth is going through Urameshi's head?"
Yusuke knew what he was thinking, off course. He was ready for a fight, and this one looked promising. Now if he could just figure out what she was thinking…
He felt a sudden burst of energy and leapt to the side, just as the thin oaken staff the girl had been carrying connected with the tree behind him hard enough to shatter the bark.
Yusuke rolled and was on his feet in an instant, as Anbu twirled her staff, snapping it behind her. She eyed him a moment, then grinned. "Not bad. Your reflexes are half-decent."
"Let's see about yours." Yusuke smirked.
Before Anbu could quite register what he'd said, Yusuke had lunged forward and landed a hard punch to her right cheek. The female half-demon went flying back, hitting a tree and landing, groggily trying to sit back up.
"And Anbu is down!" Sad shouted. "From the looks of it that blow really hurt, but she's already back on her feet!"
The half-demon wiped her lip, glancing at the blood that streaked across the back of her hand. She looked up at him unemotionally. "Keep that up and this could be fun."
Then she vanished.
Yusuke snapped his head around, searching wildly for her energy. But he couldn't feel a thing, she'd hidden herself so well. Sad's eyes were gleaming once again, as she shouted the details out over the crowd.
There was the rustle of leaves, and next thing he knew he'd been decked. He hit the ground, winded, but before he could get his breath back the staff struck again, knocking the air violently from his lungs. Yusuke gasped, groaned and rolled out of the way as fast as he could, right before the staff struck the ground again.
"Yusuke!" Keiko shouted. The girl's rapid-fire strikes were pushing him back against the trees.
Yusuke rolled to his feet and grabbed the bo. Anbu was surprised, barely dodging as the boy attempted to kick her legs out from under her, then yanked the staff from her hands and knocked her off-balance.
She stumbled back, steadying herself against a tree. Yusuke threw the staff into the trees. "There. No more of that." he smirked.
"Dammit…" Anbu muttered, loosing her cool a bit. She stumbled to her feet, glancing around for her staff but finding it nowhere near-by.
"Just you an' me now, kid." Yusuke jumped forward to land another blow, but Anbu was ready. She flipped back on her arms and kicked him in the chest with both legs. The Spirit Detective stumbled back, regaining his composure in seconds.
Anbu was staring at him, hands straight at her sides, eyes locked on his. He stared at her a moment, then started to get dizzy as the purple and blue began to swirl together, faster and faster…
"Damn it, what the hell are you doing?!" he shouted, breaking eye contact and stumbling back. Anbu's hair seamed to be blown back by a gale of wind, and Yusuke felt it rushing past him. "Not this again…"
But it wasn't wind that was pulling at him, it was Anbu's own energy. For a second he felt a bit light-headed, then he was hoisted off the ground and lifted into the air. "H-Hey!! Put me down!"
"Nope." Anbu sounded cheerful enough, though she still seamed to be in a trance. "Sorry."
She lifted her hands, as though giving a command. Yusuke very suddenly rose higher, much high, over the trees of the ring. "Yusuke!" Botan exclaimed, echoed by Keiko once again.
Anbu's hands stopped going up, and very suddenly, so did Yusuke. Then she brought them down, and Yusuke started falling, falling very quickly back towards the ring. And for the love of him, the Spirit Detective couldn't hold back a cry of both pain and fear.
Two feet before hitting the floor of the ring, he stopped dead and started zooming back up. It went like that for quite a while, up and down, up and down, making everybody around them sick to their stomachs just watching it.
"Erg…" Sad grimaced, holding her stomach. "I don't feel so good…Anbu sends Urameshi hurling up and down and.…oh, maybe I shouldn't have said 'hurling'…"
Ki-Rokey stumbled back, dizzy, and hit the ground. Kin stopped watching and held his head, letting out a soft groan. Sayona just kept her eyes trained on the boy, now shooting back into the air.
"That's enough, Anbu." she called. "Finish this."
Anbu watch the boy hover a moment, then shrugged. "Fine." she muttered, and clapped her hands together.
Yusuke felt the mental energy release him with a snap. For a moment he floundered in mid-air, then he dropped like a rock. He scrambled a moment, trying to grad a handhold, but soon realized that air wasn't very solid. "Crap…"
"Urameshi!" Kuwabara shouted.
"No, Yusuke!" Keiko shouted.
"I can't watch!" Misato squeaked, hiding her face behind her hands.
"Released from Anbu's psychic grasp, Urameshi is sent plunging to the ground!" Sad's eyes sparkled more than ever, and her lips nearly stretched into a smile…nearly. "Just imagine the wonderful mess he'll make when he finally hits the floor of the ring! Glorious!"
Anbu brushed her hands together, stepping back a bit to avoid the splatter from her victim. It wasn't high enough to kill him…not right away, but he'd probably be in a full-body cast for quite a while.
"Dammit…" Yusuke muttered, looking down. The tree tops were mere meters away. He raised his right thumb and fore-finger, bracing it with his left hand. "There's no way I'm dying like this!"
He aimed at the ground as he passed through the tree-tops. Not a second to loose now…"SPIRIT GUN!"
The bright beam of spirit energy shot out, fighting for dominance with the ground. Anbu was thrown back by the force and heat of it. "What in all the…?!"
"What the hell?!" Sad exclaimed, calm masking falling off for once with her sunglasses against the force of the energy blast. "What is Urameshi doing?! It's something with a lot of power that's…slowing him down…"
The blast ended and Yusuke dropped, on his feet, to the ground. Well, actually to in to the bottom of the crater his Spirit Gun had created. He brushed himself off. "Whoo. Don't want to do that again." he sighed.
Anbu stared at him as he jumped out of the hole. He was covered with scrapes from the trees, and there was one freely-bleeding gash above his right eye, but otherwise he was unharmed. But she shook off her surprise after a moment, smiling.
"Oh, so you are more than you look." she muttered, stretching her shoulders. "Well then…"
She held her hands in front of her, eyes starting to swirl together again. Suddenly, Yusuke was on her. "Don't think I'm letting you pull that again!" he shouted, throwing another hard punch.
Anbu was thrown back, a large red mark appearing on her cheek. She checked for blood, then glared at him. "I'm getting tired of this." she sneared.
"You know what? Me too." Yusuke stretched. "So why don't we end this now?"
"And what do you have in mind?" Anbu brushed her bangs back.
"Gee, I was hoping you'd have an interesting idea." Yusuke rubbed the back of his neck. "All my other opponents have…"
Anbu made a face, thinking. "Nah. Our fighting styles are too different to do the same thing and have it be interesting."
"WHAT IS WITH YOU PEOPLE AND TALKING?!" Sad shouted. "Come on already, FIGHT!!!!"
Anbu tapped her foot against the ground, then her eyes lit up…and not in the dangerous way. "I've got it." she grinned. "I know just how to work this."
"Uh…how?" Yusuke was extremely confused.
"That energy blast you used." Anbu pointed to the crater. "Can you do it again?"
"Well…yeah…" Yusuke glanced at his finger. "But I've only got four shots left."
"You'll only need one." Anbu turned on her heel and started walking back through the clear line Ki-Rokey's flame had made.
"Hey! Where the heck are you going?!" Yusuke shouted. "Aren't you gonna tell me your idea?!"
Anbu turned back a bit, a mischievous look in her eyes. "It's very simple, Urameshi." she smiled. "We start just two trees from the end of the field, and face each other. You use you little…'Spirit Gun'…and I'll fire a blast of my own, at the same time. Whoever's can make it through the other's wins the match. Deal?"
Yusuke blinked at her a moment, then smiled. "Deal." he nodded, then started to the other end of the field.
Even Sad looked confused, the gleam gone from her eyes. "…What…the…hell?" she gasped. "What are those two doing?! It looks like…like some kinda old-west shoot-out!"
Misato looked utterly confused and glanced at Botan. "Do his fights always end like this?"
"Somewhere along the same lines, yes." the spirit-guide nodded.
Luna mirrored Misato's looked of amazement, and both girls turned their eyes back towards the ring. "Very strange…" the wolf-demon muttered.
"Very strange, indeed." her partner mirrored.
On the Team Sougen side, Sayona nodded. "This'll be the last blow." she muttered.
Ki-Rokey held her breath in anticipation, but Kin looked down and clenched his hands into fists. "Anbu…" he whispered, knowing the mental link the girl kept up with him let her hear this. "Don't…Don't die…"
Yusuke turned to face the center of the ring. On the other side, he could see Anbu doing the same. He raised his finger, steadying it with the other hand. Anbu lifted both of hers, first putting them together in a praying sign, one that reminded Yusuke of Genkai's meditation. She closed her eyes a moment, focusing her energy, then opened them both, one behind the other, palms facing him.
The wind blew past them in a gentle breeze, seemingly a set up for what was to come. For once the stadium was silent, no one dared to opened their mouths. Everything held still for a moment, and then…
"SPIRIT GUN!" Yusuke shouted, firing his.
"Physical…EXPLOION!" a beam of purple light shot from between the psychic's hands, straight and true.
The two blasts connected almost exactly in the middle of the ring, and let out an exploding noise something along the lines of SNAAAAAPACRACKCRACKBANG! Where they connected became a thin beam of white light from the heat and pressure, sparking out with explosive energy.
Then there was a resounding KA-RACK!! as one beam broke through the other, a flash of light, a cry of pain, and…
Anbu dropped to her knees, hands gripping the grass next to her. She gasped for breath, clothes and hair singed, body shaking with every mouthful of air. She looked up at Yusuke, the purple ring missing from those crystal blue eyes.
"Not…bad…Urameshi…" she gasped. "I…should've known…you'd…win…"
She collapsed, face-down, completely unconscious. A ripple of surprised rage ran through the crowd as Sad stood in her box. "Anbu is down! She's not moving, so…One! Two…Three…"
"Anbu!" Ki-Rokey shouted, bouncing. "Come on, get up! Get up!"
"…Anbu…" Kin whispered, staring at the screen.
"Four…Five…"
"It's over." Kaz muttered.
"Wow, that Urameshi punk is strong!" Nabooru gasped. "I can't believe a mere human has so much power!"
Akki raised an eyebrow. "Not bad." he commented. "Not bad at all."
"Six…Seven…Eight…"
Yusuke stared at the unconscious psychic, then nodded. He turned and started back to the end of the field.
"Nine…" Sad paused, then shouted. "TEN! The winner by knock-out is Yusuke Urameshi!"
The crowd of demons started to boo and jeer. A few of them started throwing things into the ring, hoping to hit either of the teams, or even the announcer. "Calm down already!" Sad snapped. "This is no time for a riot!"
"Anbu!" Kin gasped, scrambling into the ring to hoist his friend out.
He picked her up, supporting both her back and her legs. Remarkably, he found as he carried her from the ring, the wounds would heal extremely fast for even a half-demon. Physically, it was just a few scratches and burns, but nothing too serious.
"Just hang on, Anbu…" he muttered, jumping out of the ring.
"……Hey, Kin?"
The larger fighter looked down. The girl's eyes had opened slightly, and she seamed to be smiling. "What?"
"…Be careful against him, okay?" she muttered as he set her down, then fell asleep.
Ki-Rokey ran over, eyes wide. "Oh…is she gonna be okay?"
"Just fine." Kin muttered, standing. Ki-Rokey stared at him as he headed for the ring. "Take care of her, okay, kid?"
"Kin…" the small fighter whispered, then nodded.
Kin pulled off his red jacket, dropping it to the ground next to him. Sayona stopped him before he climbed into the ring. Neither said anything, just locked eyes a moment. Then Sayona nodded, and let Kin climb into the ring.
Phew. That's done…Now there's just a couple of chapters left to this battle! Next time, Kin Suisei takes on Yusuke, ready to avenge his partner…girlfriend? Either way, it'll be a good match! ^_^ Come back next time, should be updated within a week or two!
Laterz,
~GS