Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho and Yukimi belongs to Ryuu no Furui
Yami. I do own the rights to Chuu's humiliation.
KKC: Well, to those who read last chapter's "Wheel of Torture section, I'm going to give you the low-down on Chuu's "community service" for the Salem Police. ROLL TAPE!
Grimoire: Right. *Presses play on DVD player*
*On the tape...*
Nov.7th , 10:36 pm
Chuu: *Standing on a street corner, pretending to be a woman* *Sees car pulling up* Crud. Well, here goes nothing...
Driver: *Is obviously drunk. He slowly pulls up to Chuu* Hey, baby! Wanna go fer a ride?
Chuu: *in a high-pitched, falsetto voice* Oh, I don't know...
Driver: Come on! *opens passenger side door* It'll be fun!
Chuu: *still using fake, high-pitched voice* Well, okay. *gets in and buckles seat belt as the drunk driver barely makes it down the street in one piece.*
Driver: *pulls in alley* C'mon babe. Show me the goods. *Staggers out of car and starts stripping*
Chuu: *Locks car doors and revs up engine* *Takes cell phone from out of purse* Hello? Red Squirrel, this is Drunken Eagle. Do you repeat? Red Squirrel, this is Drunken Eagle.
KKC: *from cell phone* I am NOT a Red Squirrel!
Chuu: Hello? Do you repeat? *taps cell phone*
KKC: *growls* Yes, I repeat. Whaddaya want?
Chuu: The beaver has returned to its dam. I repeat; the beaver has returned to its dam.
KKC: Right. Donut Addict will be there in a minute. Let me just trace the location of your call... See ya later, Drunken Eagle!
Driver: *Banging on passenger-side window of the car* Hey, honey! Whatchoo doing?! *hears sirens* Oh crap! *starts running out of alley, only to be tackled by a three-hundred pound cop*
300-pound cop (aka: Donut Addict): *handcuffs driver* Put your hands behind your head and be silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you.
Driver: I-it wasn't me! I swear! I didn't do anythiiiiiiiiinnnngggg! *shoved in back of police car, and is banging on the glass.*
Donut Addict: Hey, you in the poorly made bunny outfit, out of the car. *takes night stick from belt*
Chuu: *gets out of car and puts hands in air* Hey, it's me! Drunken Eagle! Don't hit me! And if you don't mind, I'm gonna go home and get out of this rodent suit. *starts walking out of alley, picking at his behind* 'Tupid prostitute getup... Got a goddamn wedgie!
*Fin*
Grimoire: *still staring at screen* 0___0 well... that was strange and... disturbing...
KKC: And thanks to Jumbo who offered us his services for the prostitute sting!
Jumbo: *V/O* Hey! No using actual names!
KKC: Dude, Jumbo isn't even your real name! It's just a nick-name.
Jumbo: *V/O* It's a childhood nickname that's stayed with me since I was five! No using it!
Grimoire: You better listen to him, he's a cop.
KKC: Fine... Well, let's get started with chapter 23!
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10:16 pm
Lark ran through the halls, searching desperately for Rogerik. The thief had gone missing ever since Yukimi and him had made their escape from Cecelia's office. The young girl groaned aloud when all the lights in the hallway shut off. Looking out of one of the many floor-to-ceiling windows that took advantage of the usually beautiful ocean view, Lark saw the lower floors in the hotel simultaneously shut off. "Beautiful," she muttered. "Stupid dragon must've broken a power line or something."
Speaking of the devil, that same dragon barreled down the twisting hallways of her domain, seeking out her treasure, her child. She could smell the wretched human who had stolen the precious egg, and traced the scent down one hallway and into the hotel's main foyer. The carpeted path ended abruptly into the balcony walkway, which went around the foyer's forty- three story walls. The giant tinted window revealed the ocean, which was starting to produce ten-foot waves, and the dark, cloudy sky. Even as Cecilia grew more and more angered at the disappearance of her prey, the winds rose and the dark water became more and more turbulent.
"Come out, boy... Give me back my child." Cecilia took a sharp turn down another corridor, chanting the same thing over and over. It was all that mattered, retrieving the egg before the thief could bring it to that cursed Youko. A certain energy signal invaded her head, and the dragon did a quick 180 and rushed back to the foyer. She could sense the thief down amidst the panicked crowd and rushed over the balcony, her long, serpentine body flowing like water. Two stories down, she unfurled her giant, leathery wings and glided down to land gently in front of the surprised boy. Fear radiated from the blond psychic, and his gray-green eyes were wide in terror. She could hear his heartbeat quicken, "see" his legs stiffen with her spirit energy sonar and couldn't help but grin, showing off her long, sharp fangs. She was having so much fun watching the boy tremble in terror as she charged up her energy-ray attack, that she didn't notice the young girl tackle her prey out of the line of fire, just before the precision beam ripped a neat gorge in the granite floor.
Rogerik didn't what happened. One minute, had been looking up at certain death, the next, he was sprawled out on the floor, staring at the thin crack that ran from one side of the room to the other. The granite shifted under the dragon's weight, and the rogue grabbed the hand of his savior and the both of them ran for cover, ducking underneath a massive statue from the fountain centerpiece that had fallen the stone floor. Both sighed in relief as the seemingly blind dragon continued the search for its prey by its senses alone, and not through its strange "echolocation" trick with spirit energy. "You okay?" a familiar voice asked, and Rogerik groaned at the realization of who had rescued him from certain death. "Yeah, Lark, I'm fine. What about you?"
"I'm okay... but this really, really sucks."
"Yes, indeed. But then again, I suck as a thief."
"Yeah. but I suck at finding people... hah! We suck! WE SUCK!" Despite the imminent danger, both students burst out laughing, and continued to roll around on the floor with laughter, not caring about their overall suckiness. Suddenly, Rogerik sat back up and stared into space. "Actually," he said, "We DO suck." His statement dissipated the happy little aura of Lark, and the black-haired girl sighed.
"Yeah..."
"Let's not talk about it anymore."
"...Okay."
From Rogerik's bag, the mermaid's purse continued its luminescent pulsing, which increased in speed as the dragon once again came towards the hiding teens. Lark and Rogerik silently tried to sneak out from behind the large statue, hoping the dragon wouldn't notice that they were gone. No such luck.
With a terrible screech, Cecilia charged right at them, powering up her ray attack at the same time. Both teens scrambled to get out of the way, but their agility failed them, as their feet seemed to be paralyzed and stuck to the floor. Without thinking, Rogerik went to shield them both from the with a pathetically weak energy barrier he somehow managed to fling up and closed his eyes, expecting to be sliced in half by the dragon's lethal attack. There was a loud ringing noise, not unlike someone was circling their wet finger over the rim of a crystal glass, and both Rogerik and Lark were surprised to still be alive. Through the opaque surface of the conjured shield, one neither of the younger teenagers could have made, was a petite figure and Lark gave a shriek of joy. Standing in the rubble of what used to be a magnificent archway was Lyra, her eyes glowing an eerie blue and chanting something under her breath.
The shield melted and Rogerik and Lark ran from the locale, using the thick dust as a cover while Cecilia nosed through the debris, apparently looking for their mutilated bodies. "Damn! Hey, Lyra! Where the hell are you?!" Lark stumbled over a damaged replica of Atlas, and shouted out for her sister. Before she could call out again; however, a white-tipped, furry tail stuffed itself in her face, making Lark gag. Glaring, she searched through the choking dust and triumphantly pulled out Kurama, who was embarrassingly being held by the scruff of the neck. The fox struggled and broke free of her grasp, tumbling to the floor and amazingly landing on his paws. With a sniff, Kurama trotted off into the thinning cloud of dust and dirt, his brightly colored tail held high like a banner to guide them.
The progress was relatively quick, and before long, Holly and Lark were nervously chattering. Jin levitated nearby, keeping a sharp eye on the furiously searching dragon, the usual happy grin on his face missing. "This had better be good, punk." Shishi drawled, leaning against a partially collapsed column. Rogerik gave the samurai hardly a glance and took the glowing mermaid's purse from his bag. Amazingly, it had not been damaged during the entire of ordeal, but pulsed ever steadily, almost like a heartbeat. "I think this is what she's after." The blond stated, but was interrupted as Cecilia's screams punctured the air. Jin, obviously in a hurry to keep his companions safe from the behemoth of a carnivore, whipped up a slightly-less-than-hurricane-force wind and lifted them into the air.
Holly was precariously perched on her broom, Kyuro braving the ordeal at her side, and zoomed over to Rogerik. "Let me see your bag," she hissed, and snatched it from his grasp before the thief could complain. Flying high and out of Jin's sight, Holly zoomed past Cecilia's head, hoping that the dragon would notice where the egg was now located. Exactly to the witch's expectations, the scaly head turned and two milky-white eyes followed the path of the broom, non-seeing but accurate all the same. Once again, she charged up her ray beam, but before Cecilia could fire it, Holly threw the bag over to a surprised Shishiwakamaru. The samurai fumbled with the bag and the pulsating mermaid's purse fell out and into the jaws of a sorely airsick Kurama. Jin, getting the drift of this strange and dangerous game of catch, scooped up Kurama and brought his arm far back. "Sorry 'bout this, fox." The youkai sheepishly said, right before he sent Kurama on a perfect spiral throw right into the arms of Yusuke (Oh, NOW he shows up).
Once again, Cecilia whipped her head around and advanced on the egg's bearer. Yusuke, unsure of what to do, tossed the egg, Kurama included, over to Chuu. The drunkard dazedly stared at the dizzy fox kit and shrugged, then tossed Kurama over to Hiei. Once in the fire demon's arms, Kurama looked up at Hiei with pleading, emerald, eyes. The Jaganshi looked down at Kurama and smirked, before tossing the poor fox into another spiral toss back into Holly's hands. Such a sickening trip through the air was seriously affecting Kurama's stomach, and he was delirious with gratitude when Lyra refused to throw the fox over to Yusuke when the little kit landed in her arms.
Now that the target wasn't moving around quite as much, Cecilia fired her ray, which was mostly blocked by Lyra's close-to-impenetrable energy shield. The beam sliced through the granite floor once again, and cut a neat hole in the whitewashed, titanium walls. Jin, seeing their chance to escape, led the enraged dragon through a series of complicated loops and spirals before shooting through the hole in the wall, closely followed by Cecilia. At first, only her long snout could get through, but as her confusion and fury intensified, she soon forced herself through the wall and out into the stormy sea.
As the wind master and dragon chased each other throughout the sky, their figures barely specks in the distance, Touya ran up to Yusuke, Yukimi not to far behind. "What the hell did you guys do THIS time?!" The ice magician coldly asked, then noticed the glowing mermaid's purse Lyra held in her hand. His pupil-less eyes widened in shock and Touya managed to choke out, "Oh no... you didn't..."
"'They didn't' what?" Yukimi asked, her bag slung over her shoulder and carrying a cat carrier in her right hand. She followed Touya's gaze to the egg and shrugged. "Yeah? And? The dragon wants a manta ray egg back?"
"That is not a ray's egg." Touya muttered, and carefully took it from Lyra's grasp. "This, this her child... Cecilia's own flesh and blood. She's been taking care of this thing for years." Yukimi looked out towards Jin and Cecilia's aerial battle and back towards the seemingly harmless egg in Touya's hands. "She's been protecting her clutch for this long? But then what happened to the other eggs?" Lark asked
"Probably stolen or destroyed in the past, despite her efforts. That's why this one is so precious to her, and it's so close to hatching too." Yukimi said, starting to pity the hotel manager. The ice master gravely nodded and placed the mermaid's purse/ dragon's egg back into Lyra's hand. "I heard about your entire little trip from Jin," he stated, giving an understanding look to the disgruntled Kurama. "I thought you would've tried harder to stay out of trouble, Kurama. It's hard to steal something that isn't there."
"What do you mean 'isn't there'?" Yusuke growled, still staring up at the sky where Jin was skillfully dodging Cecilia's dangerous claws. "You mean we came all this way for nothing?"
"Cecilia treasures nothing, its not like she would wither and die if this egg was destroyed. In fact, she'd be able to get over it with amazing grace." Touya replied. Hiei solemnly stated, "Such a trait comes with an eternity of living." Without so much as a warning, the fire demon grabbed Holly by the collar of her jacket and pointed up to the overcast night sky. "I need you to get me up there, pronto." The witch innocently smiled and pulled out her broom, the utensil readily levitating in mid-air. Swinging one leg over, she hopped on and patted the broomstick behind her. "Don't worry, I don't crash... often."
Lyra watched as her roommates flew off to try their best to help the tiring Jin, then turned back to Touya. "Touya," she asked, "What is the one thing Cecilia hasn't given anyone in years?"
"Her trust, probably." Rinku interjected, finally deciding to break the heavy silence that had befallen his icy companion. "Trust, huh? That's gonna be a hell of a task if we've gotta gain her trust." Kuwabara muttered, his jacket wrapped tightly around himself to keep out the cold air.
"Not earn it, Kuwabara. We have to trust her and hope she'll be touched enough to spare our lives and heal Kurama." The elder Admarant sister seriously doubted her own theory, but then again, they didn't really have any other choice. 'Hiei' Lyra tried to focus her thoughts and spirit energy on the petite demon, hoping his Jagan would take most of the burden of trying to telepathically talking with a non-psychic. 'Hn...' Hiei transmitted his seemingly favorite word into her mind, followed by, 'What do you want, Lyra?'
'Try to lure Cecilia down to the ground. And tell Jin not to try and be heroic or anything like that.'
There was a loud cry of "Tornado Fist!" and Lyra sighed. 'Never mind... just get Cecilia down here.' Up above, she could see Holly give her the peace sign and crossed her fingers. Now all she needed was a bit of luck and the egg she held in her hand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With a malicious grin, the shinobi ducked underneath another one of Cecilia's tired, but furious, claw swipes and rose higher into the air. The dragon was tiring, as it wasn't used to such battles. "Jin! Get out of there!" Hiei shouted above the rushing wind that almost drowned out everything else. The wind master turned towards the other demon, and his blue eyes widened in surprise as the Jaganshi started to burn the bandages on his right arm with black flames. "N-no. You wouldn't! Hiei, don't be stupid!" Jin was distracted enough by the black fire racing up and down Hiei's arm, he didn't even notice the monstrous dragon suddenly appear out of a particularly low-flying rain cloud and snatch the wind master right out of the air in her sharp teeth. Cecilia shrieked a high-pitched cry of victory as she plummeted towards the once crowded hotel, and Hiei smothered the flames licking his arm (sorry kids. No Black Dragon Wave for you today. ^ ^). Putting a hand on the stressed witch's shoulder, he whispered, "It's all up to Lyra now. She better not screw up this time." In a split second; however, he found himself clutching onto the weatherworn broom handle as the wind witch went into a perfect nose-dive after the dragon. Not know what else to do, the fire demon yanked back on Holly and tried to forcibly straighten the broom out.
In all actuality, Lyra's hope that Jin wouldn't be the absolute victor against the dragon mother was quickly becoming a hope that fervently prayed to whatever God might possibly be listening to spare the young demon's life. Cecilia dragged her prize over the granite floor, grinning triumphantly as she tossed the unconscious wind master down to her clawed feet and hissed at Lyra. The water manipulator calmly tried to approach the ecstatic creature, but couldn't get past Cecilia's flailing tail. "What's wrong, little girl? Can't reach your friend?" Cecilia hissed once again and reared up to her full height, flaring her wings at the same time.
Kurama rushed over to Lyra, who was blocking herself from the dragon's furious whippings from behind a chunk of sculpted stone. The fox kit wedged himself between the statue and floor and nervously nudged Lyra's hand. The raven-haired girl smiled at Kurama for a second before placing the mermaid's purse on the marred floor before the kit, who picked it up gently in his teeth and tried to return it to her. "Go on, Kurama," she calmly said, despite the strange and dangerous predicament. "Go finish your test." Before Kurama could voice a complaint, Lyra grabbed the fox and tossed him over the statue and towards the dragon.
Meanwhile, Holly was still diving down at Cecilia at breakneck speed, focusing only on the unconscious demon at the dragon's talons. Both Hiei and Kyuro were trying to stop her mad charge, as well as save their own skins. Still the witch fought against them, using the wind to drive her broom even faster down towards the turbulent ocean. The waves and storm clouds were starting to disperse now that the enraged dragon had overcome the wind master, and the creature in question was now roaring in victory. It was a primitive cry, one that sent chills up the spines of familiar, demon, and witch. For but a split-second, Holly stopped her mad descent, and Hiei took the chance to grab her by the wrists and take control of the broom. Despite Holly's angry struggling, the Jaganshi kept firm control of the situation and positioned himself over Cecilia, hanging a good thirty or so feet above her head. He would wait; wait until the perfect chance to take down the behemoth below him presented itself.
A bit unsure of what to do, Kurama nervously approached Cecilia; the dragon was still gloating over her victory and didn't even try to guard against the seemingly helpless fox cub. Almost before he knew it, Kurama was before the dragon, and tried to scuttle away before said dragon would notice him. "You. Fox cub. What do you want..." Cecilia's mirthful chuckle died away in her throat as she realized what Kurama had clenched in his tiny jaws. With a sudden lunge she reached for the softly glowing egg, but Kurama glared at her and tightened his grip around the egg, almost breaking the leathery skin with his sharp little teeth. Cecilia recoiled away from the kit and his dangerous possession of her precious egg, and hissed, "What do you have to gain, fox, by doing this?"
In a way that all animals can understand each other, Kurama replied, "Give me back my friend, or I'll chew through this egg of yours." Cecilia hissed in frustration, desperately trying to come up with a plan to rescue her child without giving in to the clever fox. "And why should I just give up this corpse before I retrieve my child?"
"You don't have much of a choice. Now, return Jin to me." Kurama amazingly held his ground, all thoughts towards tricking the dragon into giving her most treasured and guarded possession. She growled her regrets, but tossed the unconscious rag doll that was Jin to Kurama's side of the wreckage and patiently waited for the fox to return her egg.
In truth, Kurama didn't know what he was doing until he was already before the impatient dragon, teeth clutched around the pulsating egg. Underneath her reproachful glare, he placed the egg by her claws, which she was tapping against the granite in a constant rhythm. As soon as he skittered back out of the way, Cecilia scooped up her egg and turned her back to the fox. "You know, I really didn't think you would keep up to your part of the deal. Tell me, what were you searching for?"
"Treasure. Nothing more." Kurama tucked his thickly furred tail around himself and calmly glanced at Cecilia. "And what is this treasure?"
"Treasure varies from individual to individual. You just have to try not to lump anything in with the rest."
"I see... a strange view on life, I must admit. However, you owe me quite a bit of treasure to pay me back for these damages." She waved a wing over the charred and burnt ground that was once her magnificent hotel. The patrons had run off long since, and the smoking, ruined harbor was empty of ships. Yusuke was about to complain about the unfairness of the predicament, but Kuwabara quieted him. "At least we still have our stuff, so no blowing up at her. I'm still surprised she hasn't killed us yet."
"Kuwabara, if she killed us who would be left to pay for all the damage? We're being kept alive to pay her."
Ignoring the two boys' argument, Cecilia seemed to muse on the situation a bit before turning to Kurama, her blind eyes reflecting a faint glimmer of mirth "The child is bound to be born soon, and I can't take care of it once repairs have started. Care for my hatchling until I complete rebuilding my home and I will consider your debt repaid."
Kurama, realizing what the dragon's commitment meant to his test, nodded and in doing so, unleashed a chain of lightning that struck him on the spot. Again, he felt himself drowning in a flood of energy and be ripped apart as his body reconfigured itself. When the blinding light and blazing heat stopped, he dropped back down to the wet, cold floor in a shivering heap. The girls' eyes widened at the sight and Yukimi quickly spun Lark away from the sight of the naked boy. "Er, better if you look away, Lark."
"Not much to see anyways." The younger girl dryly commented.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KKC: Yay! I'm done! That took a whole lot longer than I thought!
Kurama: *blushing* I can't believe you did that to me...
KKC: Hey, it makes sense that you wouldn't be wearing anything since you were an animal beforehand.
Kurama: Yes, but...
KKC: Give it a rest. Anyways, will the crew get back to their school-time home in time for Christmas?
Kurama: Yes, and review please.
KKC: Oh, and if you're wondering about how Kurama's test requirement was fulfilled, then e-mail me. My address is right there on my bio page. Speaking of which, I almost forgot my quote of the week! Oops... ^ ^;;
Quote of the week: "Sorry, I stopped listening days ago." -Kaitlyn Geary (from "Kaitlyn's Teachings")
KKC: Well, to those who read last chapter's "Wheel of Torture section, I'm going to give you the low-down on Chuu's "community service" for the Salem Police. ROLL TAPE!
Grimoire: Right. *Presses play on DVD player*
*On the tape...*
Nov.7th , 10:36 pm
Chuu: *Standing on a street corner, pretending to be a woman* *Sees car pulling up* Crud. Well, here goes nothing...
Driver: *Is obviously drunk. He slowly pulls up to Chuu* Hey, baby! Wanna go fer a ride?
Chuu: *in a high-pitched, falsetto voice* Oh, I don't know...
Driver: Come on! *opens passenger side door* It'll be fun!
Chuu: *still using fake, high-pitched voice* Well, okay. *gets in and buckles seat belt as the drunk driver barely makes it down the street in one piece.*
Driver: *pulls in alley* C'mon babe. Show me the goods. *Staggers out of car and starts stripping*
Chuu: *Locks car doors and revs up engine* *Takes cell phone from out of purse* Hello? Red Squirrel, this is Drunken Eagle. Do you repeat? Red Squirrel, this is Drunken Eagle.
KKC: *from cell phone* I am NOT a Red Squirrel!
Chuu: Hello? Do you repeat? *taps cell phone*
KKC: *growls* Yes, I repeat. Whaddaya want?
Chuu: The beaver has returned to its dam. I repeat; the beaver has returned to its dam.
KKC: Right. Donut Addict will be there in a minute. Let me just trace the location of your call... See ya later, Drunken Eagle!
Driver: *Banging on passenger-side window of the car* Hey, honey! Whatchoo doing?! *hears sirens* Oh crap! *starts running out of alley, only to be tackled by a three-hundred pound cop*
300-pound cop (aka: Donut Addict): *handcuffs driver* Put your hands behind your head and be silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you.
Driver: I-it wasn't me! I swear! I didn't do anythiiiiiiiiinnnngggg! *shoved in back of police car, and is banging on the glass.*
Donut Addict: Hey, you in the poorly made bunny outfit, out of the car. *takes night stick from belt*
Chuu: *gets out of car and puts hands in air* Hey, it's me! Drunken Eagle! Don't hit me! And if you don't mind, I'm gonna go home and get out of this rodent suit. *starts walking out of alley, picking at his behind* 'Tupid prostitute getup... Got a goddamn wedgie!
*Fin*
Grimoire: *still staring at screen* 0___0 well... that was strange and... disturbing...
KKC: And thanks to Jumbo who offered us his services for the prostitute sting!
Jumbo: *V/O* Hey! No using actual names!
KKC: Dude, Jumbo isn't even your real name! It's just a nick-name.
Jumbo: *V/O* It's a childhood nickname that's stayed with me since I was five! No using it!
Grimoire: You better listen to him, he's a cop.
KKC: Fine... Well, let's get started with chapter 23!
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10:16 pm
Lark ran through the halls, searching desperately for Rogerik. The thief had gone missing ever since Yukimi and him had made their escape from Cecelia's office. The young girl groaned aloud when all the lights in the hallway shut off. Looking out of one of the many floor-to-ceiling windows that took advantage of the usually beautiful ocean view, Lark saw the lower floors in the hotel simultaneously shut off. "Beautiful," she muttered. "Stupid dragon must've broken a power line or something."
Speaking of the devil, that same dragon barreled down the twisting hallways of her domain, seeking out her treasure, her child. She could smell the wretched human who had stolen the precious egg, and traced the scent down one hallway and into the hotel's main foyer. The carpeted path ended abruptly into the balcony walkway, which went around the foyer's forty- three story walls. The giant tinted window revealed the ocean, which was starting to produce ten-foot waves, and the dark, cloudy sky. Even as Cecilia grew more and more angered at the disappearance of her prey, the winds rose and the dark water became more and more turbulent.
"Come out, boy... Give me back my child." Cecilia took a sharp turn down another corridor, chanting the same thing over and over. It was all that mattered, retrieving the egg before the thief could bring it to that cursed Youko. A certain energy signal invaded her head, and the dragon did a quick 180 and rushed back to the foyer. She could sense the thief down amidst the panicked crowd and rushed over the balcony, her long, serpentine body flowing like water. Two stories down, she unfurled her giant, leathery wings and glided down to land gently in front of the surprised boy. Fear radiated from the blond psychic, and his gray-green eyes were wide in terror. She could hear his heartbeat quicken, "see" his legs stiffen with her spirit energy sonar and couldn't help but grin, showing off her long, sharp fangs. She was having so much fun watching the boy tremble in terror as she charged up her energy-ray attack, that she didn't notice the young girl tackle her prey out of the line of fire, just before the precision beam ripped a neat gorge in the granite floor.
Rogerik didn't what happened. One minute, had been looking up at certain death, the next, he was sprawled out on the floor, staring at the thin crack that ran from one side of the room to the other. The granite shifted under the dragon's weight, and the rogue grabbed the hand of his savior and the both of them ran for cover, ducking underneath a massive statue from the fountain centerpiece that had fallen the stone floor. Both sighed in relief as the seemingly blind dragon continued the search for its prey by its senses alone, and not through its strange "echolocation" trick with spirit energy. "You okay?" a familiar voice asked, and Rogerik groaned at the realization of who had rescued him from certain death. "Yeah, Lark, I'm fine. What about you?"
"I'm okay... but this really, really sucks."
"Yes, indeed. But then again, I suck as a thief."
"Yeah. but I suck at finding people... hah! We suck! WE SUCK!" Despite the imminent danger, both students burst out laughing, and continued to roll around on the floor with laughter, not caring about their overall suckiness. Suddenly, Rogerik sat back up and stared into space. "Actually," he said, "We DO suck." His statement dissipated the happy little aura of Lark, and the black-haired girl sighed.
"Yeah..."
"Let's not talk about it anymore."
"...Okay."
From Rogerik's bag, the mermaid's purse continued its luminescent pulsing, which increased in speed as the dragon once again came towards the hiding teens. Lark and Rogerik silently tried to sneak out from behind the large statue, hoping the dragon wouldn't notice that they were gone. No such luck.
With a terrible screech, Cecilia charged right at them, powering up her ray attack at the same time. Both teens scrambled to get out of the way, but their agility failed them, as their feet seemed to be paralyzed and stuck to the floor. Without thinking, Rogerik went to shield them both from the with a pathetically weak energy barrier he somehow managed to fling up and closed his eyes, expecting to be sliced in half by the dragon's lethal attack. There was a loud ringing noise, not unlike someone was circling their wet finger over the rim of a crystal glass, and both Rogerik and Lark were surprised to still be alive. Through the opaque surface of the conjured shield, one neither of the younger teenagers could have made, was a petite figure and Lark gave a shriek of joy. Standing in the rubble of what used to be a magnificent archway was Lyra, her eyes glowing an eerie blue and chanting something under her breath.
The shield melted and Rogerik and Lark ran from the locale, using the thick dust as a cover while Cecilia nosed through the debris, apparently looking for their mutilated bodies. "Damn! Hey, Lyra! Where the hell are you?!" Lark stumbled over a damaged replica of Atlas, and shouted out for her sister. Before she could call out again; however, a white-tipped, furry tail stuffed itself in her face, making Lark gag. Glaring, she searched through the choking dust and triumphantly pulled out Kurama, who was embarrassingly being held by the scruff of the neck. The fox struggled and broke free of her grasp, tumbling to the floor and amazingly landing on his paws. With a sniff, Kurama trotted off into the thinning cloud of dust and dirt, his brightly colored tail held high like a banner to guide them.
The progress was relatively quick, and before long, Holly and Lark were nervously chattering. Jin levitated nearby, keeping a sharp eye on the furiously searching dragon, the usual happy grin on his face missing. "This had better be good, punk." Shishi drawled, leaning against a partially collapsed column. Rogerik gave the samurai hardly a glance and took the glowing mermaid's purse from his bag. Amazingly, it had not been damaged during the entire of ordeal, but pulsed ever steadily, almost like a heartbeat. "I think this is what she's after." The blond stated, but was interrupted as Cecilia's screams punctured the air. Jin, obviously in a hurry to keep his companions safe from the behemoth of a carnivore, whipped up a slightly-less-than-hurricane-force wind and lifted them into the air.
Holly was precariously perched on her broom, Kyuro braving the ordeal at her side, and zoomed over to Rogerik. "Let me see your bag," she hissed, and snatched it from his grasp before the thief could complain. Flying high and out of Jin's sight, Holly zoomed past Cecilia's head, hoping that the dragon would notice where the egg was now located. Exactly to the witch's expectations, the scaly head turned and two milky-white eyes followed the path of the broom, non-seeing but accurate all the same. Once again, she charged up her ray beam, but before Cecilia could fire it, Holly threw the bag over to a surprised Shishiwakamaru. The samurai fumbled with the bag and the pulsating mermaid's purse fell out and into the jaws of a sorely airsick Kurama. Jin, getting the drift of this strange and dangerous game of catch, scooped up Kurama and brought his arm far back. "Sorry 'bout this, fox." The youkai sheepishly said, right before he sent Kurama on a perfect spiral throw right into the arms of Yusuke (Oh, NOW he shows up).
Once again, Cecilia whipped her head around and advanced on the egg's bearer. Yusuke, unsure of what to do, tossed the egg, Kurama included, over to Chuu. The drunkard dazedly stared at the dizzy fox kit and shrugged, then tossed Kurama over to Hiei. Once in the fire demon's arms, Kurama looked up at Hiei with pleading, emerald, eyes. The Jaganshi looked down at Kurama and smirked, before tossing the poor fox into another spiral toss back into Holly's hands. Such a sickening trip through the air was seriously affecting Kurama's stomach, and he was delirious with gratitude when Lyra refused to throw the fox over to Yusuke when the little kit landed in her arms.
Now that the target wasn't moving around quite as much, Cecilia fired her ray, which was mostly blocked by Lyra's close-to-impenetrable energy shield. The beam sliced through the granite floor once again, and cut a neat hole in the whitewashed, titanium walls. Jin, seeing their chance to escape, led the enraged dragon through a series of complicated loops and spirals before shooting through the hole in the wall, closely followed by Cecilia. At first, only her long snout could get through, but as her confusion and fury intensified, she soon forced herself through the wall and out into the stormy sea.
As the wind master and dragon chased each other throughout the sky, their figures barely specks in the distance, Touya ran up to Yusuke, Yukimi not to far behind. "What the hell did you guys do THIS time?!" The ice magician coldly asked, then noticed the glowing mermaid's purse Lyra held in her hand. His pupil-less eyes widened in shock and Touya managed to choke out, "Oh no... you didn't..."
"'They didn't' what?" Yukimi asked, her bag slung over her shoulder and carrying a cat carrier in her right hand. She followed Touya's gaze to the egg and shrugged. "Yeah? And? The dragon wants a manta ray egg back?"
"That is not a ray's egg." Touya muttered, and carefully took it from Lyra's grasp. "This, this her child... Cecilia's own flesh and blood. She's been taking care of this thing for years." Yukimi looked out towards Jin and Cecilia's aerial battle and back towards the seemingly harmless egg in Touya's hands. "She's been protecting her clutch for this long? But then what happened to the other eggs?" Lark asked
"Probably stolen or destroyed in the past, despite her efforts. That's why this one is so precious to her, and it's so close to hatching too." Yukimi said, starting to pity the hotel manager. The ice master gravely nodded and placed the mermaid's purse/ dragon's egg back into Lyra's hand. "I heard about your entire little trip from Jin," he stated, giving an understanding look to the disgruntled Kurama. "I thought you would've tried harder to stay out of trouble, Kurama. It's hard to steal something that isn't there."
"What do you mean 'isn't there'?" Yusuke growled, still staring up at the sky where Jin was skillfully dodging Cecilia's dangerous claws. "You mean we came all this way for nothing?"
"Cecilia treasures nothing, its not like she would wither and die if this egg was destroyed. In fact, she'd be able to get over it with amazing grace." Touya replied. Hiei solemnly stated, "Such a trait comes with an eternity of living." Without so much as a warning, the fire demon grabbed Holly by the collar of her jacket and pointed up to the overcast night sky. "I need you to get me up there, pronto." The witch innocently smiled and pulled out her broom, the utensil readily levitating in mid-air. Swinging one leg over, she hopped on and patted the broomstick behind her. "Don't worry, I don't crash... often."
Lyra watched as her roommates flew off to try their best to help the tiring Jin, then turned back to Touya. "Touya," she asked, "What is the one thing Cecilia hasn't given anyone in years?"
"Her trust, probably." Rinku interjected, finally deciding to break the heavy silence that had befallen his icy companion. "Trust, huh? That's gonna be a hell of a task if we've gotta gain her trust." Kuwabara muttered, his jacket wrapped tightly around himself to keep out the cold air.
"Not earn it, Kuwabara. We have to trust her and hope she'll be touched enough to spare our lives and heal Kurama." The elder Admarant sister seriously doubted her own theory, but then again, they didn't really have any other choice. 'Hiei' Lyra tried to focus her thoughts and spirit energy on the petite demon, hoping his Jagan would take most of the burden of trying to telepathically talking with a non-psychic. 'Hn...' Hiei transmitted his seemingly favorite word into her mind, followed by, 'What do you want, Lyra?'
'Try to lure Cecilia down to the ground. And tell Jin not to try and be heroic or anything like that.'
There was a loud cry of "Tornado Fist!" and Lyra sighed. 'Never mind... just get Cecilia down here.' Up above, she could see Holly give her the peace sign and crossed her fingers. Now all she needed was a bit of luck and the egg she held in her hand.
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With a malicious grin, the shinobi ducked underneath another one of Cecilia's tired, but furious, claw swipes and rose higher into the air. The dragon was tiring, as it wasn't used to such battles. "Jin! Get out of there!" Hiei shouted above the rushing wind that almost drowned out everything else. The wind master turned towards the other demon, and his blue eyes widened in surprise as the Jaganshi started to burn the bandages on his right arm with black flames. "N-no. You wouldn't! Hiei, don't be stupid!" Jin was distracted enough by the black fire racing up and down Hiei's arm, he didn't even notice the monstrous dragon suddenly appear out of a particularly low-flying rain cloud and snatch the wind master right out of the air in her sharp teeth. Cecilia shrieked a high-pitched cry of victory as she plummeted towards the once crowded hotel, and Hiei smothered the flames licking his arm (sorry kids. No Black Dragon Wave for you today. ^ ^). Putting a hand on the stressed witch's shoulder, he whispered, "It's all up to Lyra now. She better not screw up this time." In a split second; however, he found himself clutching onto the weatherworn broom handle as the wind witch went into a perfect nose-dive after the dragon. Not know what else to do, the fire demon yanked back on Holly and tried to forcibly straighten the broom out.
In all actuality, Lyra's hope that Jin wouldn't be the absolute victor against the dragon mother was quickly becoming a hope that fervently prayed to whatever God might possibly be listening to spare the young demon's life. Cecilia dragged her prize over the granite floor, grinning triumphantly as she tossed the unconscious wind master down to her clawed feet and hissed at Lyra. The water manipulator calmly tried to approach the ecstatic creature, but couldn't get past Cecilia's flailing tail. "What's wrong, little girl? Can't reach your friend?" Cecilia hissed once again and reared up to her full height, flaring her wings at the same time.
Kurama rushed over to Lyra, who was blocking herself from the dragon's furious whippings from behind a chunk of sculpted stone. The fox kit wedged himself between the statue and floor and nervously nudged Lyra's hand. The raven-haired girl smiled at Kurama for a second before placing the mermaid's purse on the marred floor before the kit, who picked it up gently in his teeth and tried to return it to her. "Go on, Kurama," she calmly said, despite the strange and dangerous predicament. "Go finish your test." Before Kurama could voice a complaint, Lyra grabbed the fox and tossed him over the statue and towards the dragon.
Meanwhile, Holly was still diving down at Cecilia at breakneck speed, focusing only on the unconscious demon at the dragon's talons. Both Hiei and Kyuro were trying to stop her mad charge, as well as save their own skins. Still the witch fought against them, using the wind to drive her broom even faster down towards the turbulent ocean. The waves and storm clouds were starting to disperse now that the enraged dragon had overcome the wind master, and the creature in question was now roaring in victory. It was a primitive cry, one that sent chills up the spines of familiar, demon, and witch. For but a split-second, Holly stopped her mad descent, and Hiei took the chance to grab her by the wrists and take control of the broom. Despite Holly's angry struggling, the Jaganshi kept firm control of the situation and positioned himself over Cecilia, hanging a good thirty or so feet above her head. He would wait; wait until the perfect chance to take down the behemoth below him presented itself.
A bit unsure of what to do, Kurama nervously approached Cecilia; the dragon was still gloating over her victory and didn't even try to guard against the seemingly helpless fox cub. Almost before he knew it, Kurama was before the dragon, and tried to scuttle away before said dragon would notice him. "You. Fox cub. What do you want..." Cecilia's mirthful chuckle died away in her throat as she realized what Kurama had clenched in his tiny jaws. With a sudden lunge she reached for the softly glowing egg, but Kurama glared at her and tightened his grip around the egg, almost breaking the leathery skin with his sharp little teeth. Cecilia recoiled away from the kit and his dangerous possession of her precious egg, and hissed, "What do you have to gain, fox, by doing this?"
In a way that all animals can understand each other, Kurama replied, "Give me back my friend, or I'll chew through this egg of yours." Cecilia hissed in frustration, desperately trying to come up with a plan to rescue her child without giving in to the clever fox. "And why should I just give up this corpse before I retrieve my child?"
"You don't have much of a choice. Now, return Jin to me." Kurama amazingly held his ground, all thoughts towards tricking the dragon into giving her most treasured and guarded possession. She growled her regrets, but tossed the unconscious rag doll that was Jin to Kurama's side of the wreckage and patiently waited for the fox to return her egg.
In truth, Kurama didn't know what he was doing until he was already before the impatient dragon, teeth clutched around the pulsating egg. Underneath her reproachful glare, he placed the egg by her claws, which she was tapping against the granite in a constant rhythm. As soon as he skittered back out of the way, Cecilia scooped up her egg and turned her back to the fox. "You know, I really didn't think you would keep up to your part of the deal. Tell me, what were you searching for?"
"Treasure. Nothing more." Kurama tucked his thickly furred tail around himself and calmly glanced at Cecilia. "And what is this treasure?"
"Treasure varies from individual to individual. You just have to try not to lump anything in with the rest."
"I see... a strange view on life, I must admit. However, you owe me quite a bit of treasure to pay me back for these damages." She waved a wing over the charred and burnt ground that was once her magnificent hotel. The patrons had run off long since, and the smoking, ruined harbor was empty of ships. Yusuke was about to complain about the unfairness of the predicament, but Kuwabara quieted him. "At least we still have our stuff, so no blowing up at her. I'm still surprised she hasn't killed us yet."
"Kuwabara, if she killed us who would be left to pay for all the damage? We're being kept alive to pay her."
Ignoring the two boys' argument, Cecilia seemed to muse on the situation a bit before turning to Kurama, her blind eyes reflecting a faint glimmer of mirth "The child is bound to be born soon, and I can't take care of it once repairs have started. Care for my hatchling until I complete rebuilding my home and I will consider your debt repaid."
Kurama, realizing what the dragon's commitment meant to his test, nodded and in doing so, unleashed a chain of lightning that struck him on the spot. Again, he felt himself drowning in a flood of energy and be ripped apart as his body reconfigured itself. When the blinding light and blazing heat stopped, he dropped back down to the wet, cold floor in a shivering heap. The girls' eyes widened at the sight and Yukimi quickly spun Lark away from the sight of the naked boy. "Er, better if you look away, Lark."
"Not much to see anyways." The younger girl dryly commented.
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KKC: Yay! I'm done! That took a whole lot longer than I thought!
Kurama: *blushing* I can't believe you did that to me...
KKC: Hey, it makes sense that you wouldn't be wearing anything since you were an animal beforehand.
Kurama: Yes, but...
KKC: Give it a rest. Anyways, will the crew get back to their school-time home in time for Christmas?
Kurama: Yes, and review please.
KKC: Oh, and if you're wondering about how Kurama's test requirement was fulfilled, then e-mail me. My address is right there on my bio page. Speaking of which, I almost forgot my quote of the week! Oops... ^ ^;;
Quote of the week: "Sorry, I stopped listening days ago." -Kaitlyn Geary (from "Kaitlyn's Teachings")