Yo.
Chapter two, complete. Don't know why I'm still writing this. No one seems to like it.
sniffles at the zero reviews
Rating and genres have changed, because this story has a mind of its own.
Nighttime on Gunsmoke
Heero rubbed his arm gingerly, wondering if the limb would be able to survive another day of Satanira hanging onto it.
Speaking of certain blonde fiends from Hades, Satanira herself was curled up in the chair next to the bed, fast asleep with a thick book in her lap. Her waist-length hair was loose, falling over her shoulders like a cape, and her knee length skirt was bunched up at her hips.
She's either going to catch a cold or throw out her back, sleeping like that. Heero thought, exasperated. The girl just did not know how to take care of herself. She could invent a machine to save the world in less than a week, but she didn't have the sensibility to sleep in a bed.
He carefully took the book, marked her page, and set it on the nightstand, picked her up, and tucked her into bed before climbing under the covers himself.
Near midnight, Heero woke up to find Satanira's face buried between his shoulder blades and her arms around his chest, clinging almost desperately. She was muttering in her sleep and crying, something he'd never have expected of her.
He squirmed around until he was facing her and carefully wrapped his arms around her shoulders, deciding that waking her up would not be a good thing.
Almost immediately, Satanira's sobs lessened and stopped, and her face settled into a much more peaceful expression. Her arms relaxed, and she fell into a deeper sleep. But the moment he started to pull away, she began to shiver violently, so he stayed where he was.
Eventually, he, too, fell asleep.
The Next Morning
Satanira stretched and yawned, fighting the incredible urge to fall back onto the soft bed behind her. It felt as if she hadn't slept at all last night. Those damned dreams just wouldn't give her any rest.
"Hey, Heero," She said quietly as she shoved the last of her books into her bag and turning to her roommate. "Did I talk in my sleep at all last night?"
"Yeah." Heero replied from the chair next to the bed, having finished packing long ago.
"What did I...say?"
"I couldn't understand." Heero stood up, closing his book and tossing it on the bed. He crossed the small hotel room and slammed his hands against the wall on either side of the blond. "But I do know that you were crying. Why?"
"I...I was...crying?" She sounded bewildered, frightened, and a little worried.
"Yes. Care to tell me why?"
"N-no. I don't." Satanira averted her eyes, staring at the floor to her left. "You wouldn't understand."
"The hell I won't." Heero crossed his arms across his chest, glaring at her. "You know I'm going to find out sooner or later."
"Maybe." Satanira said, grabbing her bag, opening the door, and stepping out into the hallway. "But I'm not telling you until I'm ready, dammit!" With that, she slammed the door behind her.
The sound of running feet in the hall gave Duo about a half-second warning before a blond lightning bolt nearly tore the door to his room off the hinges.
"Heero no baka!!!" Satanira screamed, throwing herself at the Deathscythe pilot.
"What's wrong, Nira-chan?" Duo asked, giving in to gravity and plopping down on the bed, bringing Satanira with him. "What'd he do this time?"
"You remember what we talked about last Christmas?" Satanira asked, pausing until he nodded. "Well, I had a nightmare about it last night. I was crying in my sleep, and he asked me why. He wouldn't leave me alone! And when I say I don't want to talk about it, I don't want to talk about it, dammit!"
"What's going on, you two?" Sally Po asked, standing in the doorway with two large mugs. "Which one of you was screaming just now?"
"That would be me." Satanira said, wiping her cheeks. "Heero was being an ass again, and Duo's my crying shoulder. We're leaving today, with or without what we came to get. Tell the others for me, okay?"
"Sure thing." Duo said, grinning. "Take Quatre and Relena with you when you go talk to them. She may be a ditzy airhead, but she's good at getting people to do what she wants."
"I'll do that." Satanira agreed, snagging on of the mugs from Sally Po and downing it in one breath. "All of you meet me out by the ship around noon." She added, waving as she ran out of the room.
Later That Morning
"Let me get this straight." Wolfwood said, leaning across the table and staring at Quatre. "You and your whole group are from a different dimension. You came here to find someone to help save said dimension, and you want us to drop everything and go with you, no questions asked? Don't you think that's a bit too big a leap of faith, there?"
"No." Quatre said. "First of all, we're willing to answer any question you put before us, if we can. You can come and see our transport vehicle for yourself. And do you really think someone like Dorothy could have existed on this planet for fifteen years without you knowing?"
"He's got a point there." Vash said, pausing in his inhalation of donuts. "I think she'd be more famous than me."
"Shut up, Needle Noggin." Wolfwood muttered crossly.
Time for our trump card. Satanira thought, squeezing Relena's hand under the table. The blond had agreed to let Quatre and Relena do all the talking, since either one had twice her persuasive powers.
"The people we're following have been here already." Relena said, assuming her 'I'm talking now, and you damn well better listen to me' face and voice. "They managed to convince a certain person by the name of Knives Millions to join them. As close as you two are to this man, you may be the only ones who can prevent his destroying numerous dimensions."
At the mention of Knives, both men reacted exactly as Satanira had predicted. Wolfwood, with fear and apprehension. Vash, with anger, and maybe a little fear.
"Would you please just consider our proposition?" Quatre pressed, leaning forward slightly.
"Think of the havoc Knives could wreak with the full support of one of our world's greatest powers." Relena added earnestly. "And we have nothing that could stop him. Please. I'm asking you to save my world. Billions of people will die if you don't help us!"
"Should we?" Wolfwood asked, glancing at Vash.
"I don't see that we have any choice." Vash responded, sighing. "I don't know about you, but if billions of innocent lives are riding on this, there's only one decision I can make. I'm going."
"Guess I am, too." The priest sighed heavily, resting his forehead in one hand. "And damn you Knives, for this whole mess."
"Thank you both so much!" Relena exclaimed, smiling charmingly at the two men. "You have no idea how much this means to all of us!"
"Yo-kay, Princess, they get the picture." Satanira said, standing up and adjusting the tanktop she'd stolen from Heero. "You two get packed and meet us back at our hotel, pronto. We've got a schedule to keep."
"I think I like the chick with the eyebrows better." Wolfwood muttered, earning him a kick in the shin as he passed Satanira.
"I heard that, Priest. And not even god can stop me from killing you if I want to."
"Yikes! Okay! Just let me leave with my life!"
Aboard the Battleship Arcadia
"Hey, Heero, have you seen Satanira?" Sally Po asked, peering around the doorframe to Heero's cabin. "No one can find her."
"She's outside." Heero responded without glancing up from his book. "You should leave her alone."
"O... kay..." She said bewilderedly. "What about Duo?"
"He's with Satanira."
"And just what would they be doing?" Sally Po wondered, moving to lean against the doorframe. "We happen to be traveling at about three light-years per hour towards the jump point. This is not the time for a pleasurable space walk."
"Satanira's not as strong as you think she is." Heero said suddenly, snapping his book shut. "Treat her like a human instead of a goddess; we'll all be better off in the long run." With that, he brushed past the brunette woman, headed for the main control room.
Outside the Battleship Arcadia
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Duo asked, turning so that he could actually see Satanira. "I mean, it's pretty big stuff for you."
"I didn't want you to worry." Satanira replied, her helmet facing her feet. "You had enough on your plate when I found out, and it wouldn't have been fair to burden you further."
"It's no burden." Duo countered, draping one arm across her shoulders. "We're friends, Nira-chan. If you can't 'burden' anyone else with this stuff, at least you can get it off your chest with me, right?"
"I suppose so." She sighed, standing carefully. "We should be arriving at the jump point soon. Let's get back inside, okay?"
Central Command Room
"So what exactly do the people we're looking for look like?" Duo asked, plopping down on one of the central command room's several soft couches. "Wouldn't want to pass them by or anything."
"That's going to be difficult." Satanira said, smiling as she opened the appropriate files. "First off, there's Botan. She's got light blue hair down to her ass, and could very well be flying around on an oar. She's this world's grim reaper."
The oar-riding, kimono-wearing, blue-haired servant of Koenma smiled sweetly at the gathering, caught waving for the camera from her perch on the roof of a building. There was another girl with her, a brunette who was barely in the shot.
"The brunette with her is Kaeko; she is not one of our objectives. Her boyfriend Yusuke, however, is."
Another picture took the place of the first. This one was of a tough- looking teenage boy with slicked black hair dressed in a green jumpsuit. One hand was in his pocket, the other pointed at the camera like a gun of some kind. He had that annoying smirk most small-time punks had, but his made him look playful and even innocent.
"Yusuke is your run-of-the-mill teenager, except for the fact that he died." Satanira paused for a moment before elaborating. "He was not supposed to die when he did, so the king of the Spirit World set him one of those challenge things in order to get his body back. If OZ snags who I think they're after, Yusuke will be integral to success on our part."
With a click, Yusuke was replaced by a split screen of two men. One was normal enough, save for his long red hair. The other was anything but.
His hair was much longer and white, and was complimented by equally white fox ears and a bushy tail.
"You might be surprised to discover that these two men are one and the same. Kurama, a fox demon thief, who specializes in solving ancient locks and puzzles. Much like Lady Une, he has a very spilt personality; his physical characteristics change drastically as well as his mind. As a redhead, he's very even-tempered, calm, and friendly. But when he goes Yoko on you, it's best to back slowly out of the room, lock the door behind you, and run as fast and as far in the opposite direction as walls permit, screaming like a little girl . Yoko Kurama is a very cruel demon on his bad days."
Ignoring raised eyebrows around her circle of friends, Satanira brought up the last picture, schooling her face into the same featureless mask she'd worn for all the other images. Even so, tears stung her eyes at the sight of the man now filling the screen before her.
"Hiei." She said, her voice surprisingly even, considering her inner turmoil at the moment. "Another demon, considered ruthless enough to give Yoko Kurama a run for his money."
His picture certainly didn't support that particular claim. For the moment, the short man with gravity-defying black hair was completely relaxed, leaning against the back of someone whose face was not visible. He was smiling, and although the smile was self-assured and slightly arrogant, it was not cruel like Yoko Kurama's had been.
"Hiei does his own thing, and doesn't really give a damn about anyone but himself, Kurama, and his sister Yukina. Convincing him to help us will mean convincing him it's worth his while."
The screen flashed black for a moment before Botan, Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei appeared again, this time sitting under a tree on a picnic blanket.
"Finding and recruiting these four people is our mission. Any questions?"
"Yeah." Dorothy said, raising her hand and waving it back and forth. "Why do all of these pictures look like they belong in a scrap book? And is that Kurama dude single?"
Satanira chose not to answer either question. Instead, she raised one eyebrow at Dorothy, giving the younger blond her 'either you're an idiot, or you think I am, and we all know the latter ain't true' look.
"Never mind." Dorothy sighed, leaning back in her seat.
A Random Street in Tokyo
Satanira inhaled deeply, closing her eyes. She could faintly smell her target, a small bakeshop that was unmatched in the taste department. If nothing else, they had to stop for some cookies.
"Satanira, what the hell are you doing?" Heero asked, glaring at the blond clamped on to his arm.
"Sniffing out the best cookies in town." She replied absently, veering to the left. "My nose says this way."
"My eyes and mind say you're insane." Heero muttered, following to avoid having to do everything left-handed for the rest of his life.
"I heard that, Spandex Boy." Satanira warned, despite the fact that Heero was wearing jeans.
"Look, woman-" Heero started, only to be interrupted as he and his blond companion collided with two other someones.
Satanira gave a small yelp of pain as she landed on the wet pavement, bringing Heero down on top of her.
"Get off, Spandex Boy!" She exclaimed, pushing the brunette teen off her legs. "You're heavy as hell!"
"She hasn't changed a bit." One of the people they'd collided with said, chuckling, as he helped Heero to his feet.
"Yusuke!" Satanira exclaimed, scrambling to her own feet and throwing her arms around the raven-haired punk. "It's been ages since I last saw you! Died recently?"
"Very funny." Yusuke said sarcastically, patting Satanira on the head. "And no, not since that last time. You?"
"Nope!" Satanira replied happily, switching her hug to the brunette girl's shoulders. "And you, Keiko? And near-death experiences for you?"
"Not really." Keiko laughed, returning the hug. "Who's he?" She added, pointing at Heero, who had been watching the hug fest curiously.
"Oh, he's Heero." Satanira said. "He and a bunch of his friends are with me, cause we're on a mission. Which reminds me, do you know where Botan is? I kinda need to talk to Koenma before I can do anything, him being a major authority-dude around here."
"Botan's... at Genkai's temple, I think." Yusuke said after a moment.
"You can think?" Satanira and Keiko demanded in unison, with matching theatrical gasps and exaggerated expressions of disbelief.
"Yeah, yeah, real funny." Yusuke muttered crossly, glaring at both women. "So, we going or what?"
"In a sec." Satanira managed around a sudden fit of giggles. "Hee- chan, call the others."
"How many times do I have to tell you, woman?" Heero demanded in a low growl, pulling out the handheld radio Satanira had provided for each pair. "Don't call me Hee-chan!"
"Tell 'em we found Yusuke, and we're headed for the rest, so they can go back to the ship for now, kay?" Satanira requested sweetly, nearly immune to the patented Heero Yuy Glare of Death[TM].
The Spirit World
"Yo, Toddler!" Satanira exclaimed, bouncing happily into Lord Koenma's office with Botan, Yusuke, and a very disgruntled Heero trailing in behind her.
"That's 'Lord Toddler' to you." The tiny boy behind the giant desk said calmly without even glancing up from his paperwork. "What brings you here?"
"I need to borrow a few heroes." Satanira said, sitting daintily on the edge of Koenma's desk. "And seeing as to how you're the head honcho around here, I figured I'd best check with you before I kidnapped everyone's favorite pink-clad grim reaper."
"What's wrong with pink?" Botan asked, puzzled.
"Absolutely nothing." Satanira said distractedly, already hammering out a contract of some kind. "Now remember, Lord Toddler, this is for Botan, Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei. I need all four of 'em. Don't go shortchanging me."
"Would I do something like that?" Koenma asked, feigning hurt.
"Yes." Satanira said.
"You're evil. You know that, right?"
"Of course I do. If I weren't evil, I'd never have any fun. Where should I sign?"
Battleship Arcadia, That Afternoon
"Wow!" Botan exclaimed, staring up at the giant bulk of the battleship Arcadia. "This one's way bigger than the one you had last time! You could fit a million people in here!"
"Not quite." Satanira said. "At least not comfortably. Come on. You need to meet the other people who people this hulk of a spaceship."
"Nira-chan!!!" A tiny figure yelled from the top hatch, waving wildly.
"Fuck." Satanira cursed, her eyebrow twitching violently. "It's the Pacifist Bitch Queen. I was hoping to avoid her today."
"Pacifist Bitch Queen?" Yusuke repeated, raising one eyebrow. "It sounds like you don't like her much. She annoying?"
"Annoying, vain, brain-dead, ugly, obsessed with my best friend, thinks she's all that, and has a country in her idiotic clutches. She also thinks everyone loves her."
"Yikes." Botan said. "Can I have the room as far away from her as physically possible, please?"
"Sorry, but that's my room." Satanira said, grinning. "Let's go get you settled, then we can go look for a couple certain superhero hotties, kay?"
"O... kay..." Botan said, blinking as she followed her old friend up the ramp to the main hatch.
"YO, PEOPLE!!!" Satanira yelled, not bothering with the P.A. system. "NEW CREW MEMBERS!!! GET YOUR SKINNY ASSES TO THE CONFERENCE ROOM FOR AN INTRO SESSION!!!"
"Ow." Botan said quietly, rubbing her ears.
Ten minutes later saw the ship's population sitting around the large conference room, being introduced to Botan and Yusuke.
"Okay, people, let's make this quick!" Satanira ordered, her hands on her hips. "We've got two new peoples, and two more we gotta find! The dude in green is Yusuke. If he seems slow, that's because he is, so don't give him any grief about it!"
"Hey!" Yusuke exclaimed. "I am not slow!"
"Yes, you are. Now shut up. The chick in pink is Botan. Say hi, you two."
"Yo." Yusuke said, holding a hand up in greeting.
"Good afternoon." Botan said politely, bowing to the group.
"Now for the rest of the idiots." Satanira muttered. "Spandex boy is Heero. Priest dude is Wolfwood. Chopsticks is Wufei. Blonde's Quatre, Unibang's Trowa, Eyebrows is Dorothy, Psycho Brunette Bitch from Hell is Relena, Braid boy is Duo, this brunette's Catherine, that brunette's Sally Po, and the blond stuffing donuts in his pie hole is Vash. Got it? Good. Now we've gotta find Kurama. He's a hell of a lot easier to find than the other one."
"You mean Hiei?" Yusuke asked, earning a hard pinch on his arm from Botan.
"Yes, Hiei." Satanira said. "Let's go look for them."
End Chapter One
Yay! Done with two! Maybe I'll get some reviews! Hey, that rhymed! Kinda.... depressed
Chapter two, complete. Don't know why I'm still writing this. No one seems to like it.
sniffles at the zero reviews
Rating and genres have changed, because this story has a mind of its own.
Nighttime on Gunsmoke
Heero rubbed his arm gingerly, wondering if the limb would be able to survive another day of Satanira hanging onto it.
Speaking of certain blonde fiends from Hades, Satanira herself was curled up in the chair next to the bed, fast asleep with a thick book in her lap. Her waist-length hair was loose, falling over her shoulders like a cape, and her knee length skirt was bunched up at her hips.
She's either going to catch a cold or throw out her back, sleeping like that. Heero thought, exasperated. The girl just did not know how to take care of herself. She could invent a machine to save the world in less than a week, but she didn't have the sensibility to sleep in a bed.
He carefully took the book, marked her page, and set it on the nightstand, picked her up, and tucked her into bed before climbing under the covers himself.
Near midnight, Heero woke up to find Satanira's face buried between his shoulder blades and her arms around his chest, clinging almost desperately. She was muttering in her sleep and crying, something he'd never have expected of her.
He squirmed around until he was facing her and carefully wrapped his arms around her shoulders, deciding that waking her up would not be a good thing.
Almost immediately, Satanira's sobs lessened and stopped, and her face settled into a much more peaceful expression. Her arms relaxed, and she fell into a deeper sleep. But the moment he started to pull away, she began to shiver violently, so he stayed where he was.
Eventually, he, too, fell asleep.
The Next Morning
Satanira stretched and yawned, fighting the incredible urge to fall back onto the soft bed behind her. It felt as if she hadn't slept at all last night. Those damned dreams just wouldn't give her any rest.
"Hey, Heero," She said quietly as she shoved the last of her books into her bag and turning to her roommate. "Did I talk in my sleep at all last night?"
"Yeah." Heero replied from the chair next to the bed, having finished packing long ago.
"What did I...say?"
"I couldn't understand." Heero stood up, closing his book and tossing it on the bed. He crossed the small hotel room and slammed his hands against the wall on either side of the blond. "But I do know that you were crying. Why?"
"I...I was...crying?" She sounded bewildered, frightened, and a little worried.
"Yes. Care to tell me why?"
"N-no. I don't." Satanira averted her eyes, staring at the floor to her left. "You wouldn't understand."
"The hell I won't." Heero crossed his arms across his chest, glaring at her. "You know I'm going to find out sooner or later."
"Maybe." Satanira said, grabbing her bag, opening the door, and stepping out into the hallway. "But I'm not telling you until I'm ready, dammit!" With that, she slammed the door behind her.
The sound of running feet in the hall gave Duo about a half-second warning before a blond lightning bolt nearly tore the door to his room off the hinges.
"Heero no baka!!!" Satanira screamed, throwing herself at the Deathscythe pilot.
"What's wrong, Nira-chan?" Duo asked, giving in to gravity and plopping down on the bed, bringing Satanira with him. "What'd he do this time?"
"You remember what we talked about last Christmas?" Satanira asked, pausing until he nodded. "Well, I had a nightmare about it last night. I was crying in my sleep, and he asked me why. He wouldn't leave me alone! And when I say I don't want to talk about it, I don't want to talk about it, dammit!"
"What's going on, you two?" Sally Po asked, standing in the doorway with two large mugs. "Which one of you was screaming just now?"
"That would be me." Satanira said, wiping her cheeks. "Heero was being an ass again, and Duo's my crying shoulder. We're leaving today, with or without what we came to get. Tell the others for me, okay?"
"Sure thing." Duo said, grinning. "Take Quatre and Relena with you when you go talk to them. She may be a ditzy airhead, but she's good at getting people to do what she wants."
"I'll do that." Satanira agreed, snagging on of the mugs from Sally Po and downing it in one breath. "All of you meet me out by the ship around noon." She added, waving as she ran out of the room.
Later That Morning
"Let me get this straight." Wolfwood said, leaning across the table and staring at Quatre. "You and your whole group are from a different dimension. You came here to find someone to help save said dimension, and you want us to drop everything and go with you, no questions asked? Don't you think that's a bit too big a leap of faith, there?"
"No." Quatre said. "First of all, we're willing to answer any question you put before us, if we can. You can come and see our transport vehicle for yourself. And do you really think someone like Dorothy could have existed on this planet for fifteen years without you knowing?"
"He's got a point there." Vash said, pausing in his inhalation of donuts. "I think she'd be more famous than me."
"Shut up, Needle Noggin." Wolfwood muttered crossly.
Time for our trump card. Satanira thought, squeezing Relena's hand under the table. The blond had agreed to let Quatre and Relena do all the talking, since either one had twice her persuasive powers.
"The people we're following have been here already." Relena said, assuming her 'I'm talking now, and you damn well better listen to me' face and voice. "They managed to convince a certain person by the name of Knives Millions to join them. As close as you two are to this man, you may be the only ones who can prevent his destroying numerous dimensions."
At the mention of Knives, both men reacted exactly as Satanira had predicted. Wolfwood, with fear and apprehension. Vash, with anger, and maybe a little fear.
"Would you please just consider our proposition?" Quatre pressed, leaning forward slightly.
"Think of the havoc Knives could wreak with the full support of one of our world's greatest powers." Relena added earnestly. "And we have nothing that could stop him. Please. I'm asking you to save my world. Billions of people will die if you don't help us!"
"Should we?" Wolfwood asked, glancing at Vash.
"I don't see that we have any choice." Vash responded, sighing. "I don't know about you, but if billions of innocent lives are riding on this, there's only one decision I can make. I'm going."
"Guess I am, too." The priest sighed heavily, resting his forehead in one hand. "And damn you Knives, for this whole mess."
"Thank you both so much!" Relena exclaimed, smiling charmingly at the two men. "You have no idea how much this means to all of us!"
"Yo-kay, Princess, they get the picture." Satanira said, standing up and adjusting the tanktop she'd stolen from Heero. "You two get packed and meet us back at our hotel, pronto. We've got a schedule to keep."
"I think I like the chick with the eyebrows better." Wolfwood muttered, earning him a kick in the shin as he passed Satanira.
"I heard that, Priest. And not even god can stop me from killing you if I want to."
"Yikes! Okay! Just let me leave with my life!"
Aboard the Battleship Arcadia
"Hey, Heero, have you seen Satanira?" Sally Po asked, peering around the doorframe to Heero's cabin. "No one can find her."
"She's outside." Heero responded without glancing up from his book. "You should leave her alone."
"O... kay..." She said bewilderedly. "What about Duo?"
"He's with Satanira."
"And just what would they be doing?" Sally Po wondered, moving to lean against the doorframe. "We happen to be traveling at about three light-years per hour towards the jump point. This is not the time for a pleasurable space walk."
"Satanira's not as strong as you think she is." Heero said suddenly, snapping his book shut. "Treat her like a human instead of a goddess; we'll all be better off in the long run." With that, he brushed past the brunette woman, headed for the main control room.
Outside the Battleship Arcadia
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Duo asked, turning so that he could actually see Satanira. "I mean, it's pretty big stuff for you."
"I didn't want you to worry." Satanira replied, her helmet facing her feet. "You had enough on your plate when I found out, and it wouldn't have been fair to burden you further."
"It's no burden." Duo countered, draping one arm across her shoulders. "We're friends, Nira-chan. If you can't 'burden' anyone else with this stuff, at least you can get it off your chest with me, right?"
"I suppose so." She sighed, standing carefully. "We should be arriving at the jump point soon. Let's get back inside, okay?"
Central Command Room
"So what exactly do the people we're looking for look like?" Duo asked, plopping down on one of the central command room's several soft couches. "Wouldn't want to pass them by or anything."
"That's going to be difficult." Satanira said, smiling as she opened the appropriate files. "First off, there's Botan. She's got light blue hair down to her ass, and could very well be flying around on an oar. She's this world's grim reaper."
The oar-riding, kimono-wearing, blue-haired servant of Koenma smiled sweetly at the gathering, caught waving for the camera from her perch on the roof of a building. There was another girl with her, a brunette who was barely in the shot.
"The brunette with her is Kaeko; she is not one of our objectives. Her boyfriend Yusuke, however, is."
Another picture took the place of the first. This one was of a tough- looking teenage boy with slicked black hair dressed in a green jumpsuit. One hand was in his pocket, the other pointed at the camera like a gun of some kind. He had that annoying smirk most small-time punks had, but his made him look playful and even innocent.
"Yusuke is your run-of-the-mill teenager, except for the fact that he died." Satanira paused for a moment before elaborating. "He was not supposed to die when he did, so the king of the Spirit World set him one of those challenge things in order to get his body back. If OZ snags who I think they're after, Yusuke will be integral to success on our part."
With a click, Yusuke was replaced by a split screen of two men. One was normal enough, save for his long red hair. The other was anything but.
His hair was much longer and white, and was complimented by equally white fox ears and a bushy tail.
"You might be surprised to discover that these two men are one and the same. Kurama, a fox demon thief, who specializes in solving ancient locks and puzzles. Much like Lady Une, he has a very spilt personality; his physical characteristics change drastically as well as his mind. As a redhead, he's very even-tempered, calm, and friendly. But when he goes Yoko on you, it's best to back slowly out of the room, lock the door behind you, and run as fast and as far in the opposite direction as walls permit, screaming like a little girl . Yoko Kurama is a very cruel demon on his bad days."
Ignoring raised eyebrows around her circle of friends, Satanira brought up the last picture, schooling her face into the same featureless mask she'd worn for all the other images. Even so, tears stung her eyes at the sight of the man now filling the screen before her.
"Hiei." She said, her voice surprisingly even, considering her inner turmoil at the moment. "Another demon, considered ruthless enough to give Yoko Kurama a run for his money."
His picture certainly didn't support that particular claim. For the moment, the short man with gravity-defying black hair was completely relaxed, leaning against the back of someone whose face was not visible. He was smiling, and although the smile was self-assured and slightly arrogant, it was not cruel like Yoko Kurama's had been.
"Hiei does his own thing, and doesn't really give a damn about anyone but himself, Kurama, and his sister Yukina. Convincing him to help us will mean convincing him it's worth his while."
The screen flashed black for a moment before Botan, Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei appeared again, this time sitting under a tree on a picnic blanket.
"Finding and recruiting these four people is our mission. Any questions?"
"Yeah." Dorothy said, raising her hand and waving it back and forth. "Why do all of these pictures look like they belong in a scrap book? And is that Kurama dude single?"
Satanira chose not to answer either question. Instead, she raised one eyebrow at Dorothy, giving the younger blond her 'either you're an idiot, or you think I am, and we all know the latter ain't true' look.
"Never mind." Dorothy sighed, leaning back in her seat.
A Random Street in Tokyo
Satanira inhaled deeply, closing her eyes. She could faintly smell her target, a small bakeshop that was unmatched in the taste department. If nothing else, they had to stop for some cookies.
"Satanira, what the hell are you doing?" Heero asked, glaring at the blond clamped on to his arm.
"Sniffing out the best cookies in town." She replied absently, veering to the left. "My nose says this way."
"My eyes and mind say you're insane." Heero muttered, following to avoid having to do everything left-handed for the rest of his life.
"I heard that, Spandex Boy." Satanira warned, despite the fact that Heero was wearing jeans.
"Look, woman-" Heero started, only to be interrupted as he and his blond companion collided with two other someones.
Satanira gave a small yelp of pain as she landed on the wet pavement, bringing Heero down on top of her.
"Get off, Spandex Boy!" She exclaimed, pushing the brunette teen off her legs. "You're heavy as hell!"
"She hasn't changed a bit." One of the people they'd collided with said, chuckling, as he helped Heero to his feet.
"Yusuke!" Satanira exclaimed, scrambling to her own feet and throwing her arms around the raven-haired punk. "It's been ages since I last saw you! Died recently?"
"Very funny." Yusuke said sarcastically, patting Satanira on the head. "And no, not since that last time. You?"
"Nope!" Satanira replied happily, switching her hug to the brunette girl's shoulders. "And you, Keiko? And near-death experiences for you?"
"Not really." Keiko laughed, returning the hug. "Who's he?" She added, pointing at Heero, who had been watching the hug fest curiously.
"Oh, he's Heero." Satanira said. "He and a bunch of his friends are with me, cause we're on a mission. Which reminds me, do you know where Botan is? I kinda need to talk to Koenma before I can do anything, him being a major authority-dude around here."
"Botan's... at Genkai's temple, I think." Yusuke said after a moment.
"You can think?" Satanira and Keiko demanded in unison, with matching theatrical gasps and exaggerated expressions of disbelief.
"Yeah, yeah, real funny." Yusuke muttered crossly, glaring at both women. "So, we going or what?"
"In a sec." Satanira managed around a sudden fit of giggles. "Hee- chan, call the others."
"How many times do I have to tell you, woman?" Heero demanded in a low growl, pulling out the handheld radio Satanira had provided for each pair. "Don't call me Hee-chan!"
"Tell 'em we found Yusuke, and we're headed for the rest, so they can go back to the ship for now, kay?" Satanira requested sweetly, nearly immune to the patented Heero Yuy Glare of Death[TM].
The Spirit World
"Yo, Toddler!" Satanira exclaimed, bouncing happily into Lord Koenma's office with Botan, Yusuke, and a very disgruntled Heero trailing in behind her.
"That's 'Lord Toddler' to you." The tiny boy behind the giant desk said calmly without even glancing up from his paperwork. "What brings you here?"
"I need to borrow a few heroes." Satanira said, sitting daintily on the edge of Koenma's desk. "And seeing as to how you're the head honcho around here, I figured I'd best check with you before I kidnapped everyone's favorite pink-clad grim reaper."
"What's wrong with pink?" Botan asked, puzzled.
"Absolutely nothing." Satanira said distractedly, already hammering out a contract of some kind. "Now remember, Lord Toddler, this is for Botan, Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei. I need all four of 'em. Don't go shortchanging me."
"Would I do something like that?" Koenma asked, feigning hurt.
"Yes." Satanira said.
"You're evil. You know that, right?"
"Of course I do. If I weren't evil, I'd never have any fun. Where should I sign?"
Battleship Arcadia, That Afternoon
"Wow!" Botan exclaimed, staring up at the giant bulk of the battleship Arcadia. "This one's way bigger than the one you had last time! You could fit a million people in here!"
"Not quite." Satanira said. "At least not comfortably. Come on. You need to meet the other people who people this hulk of a spaceship."
"Nira-chan!!!" A tiny figure yelled from the top hatch, waving wildly.
"Fuck." Satanira cursed, her eyebrow twitching violently. "It's the Pacifist Bitch Queen. I was hoping to avoid her today."
"Pacifist Bitch Queen?" Yusuke repeated, raising one eyebrow. "It sounds like you don't like her much. She annoying?"
"Annoying, vain, brain-dead, ugly, obsessed with my best friend, thinks she's all that, and has a country in her idiotic clutches. She also thinks everyone loves her."
"Yikes." Botan said. "Can I have the room as far away from her as physically possible, please?"
"Sorry, but that's my room." Satanira said, grinning. "Let's go get you settled, then we can go look for a couple certain superhero hotties, kay?"
"O... kay..." Botan said, blinking as she followed her old friend up the ramp to the main hatch.
"YO, PEOPLE!!!" Satanira yelled, not bothering with the P.A. system. "NEW CREW MEMBERS!!! GET YOUR SKINNY ASSES TO THE CONFERENCE ROOM FOR AN INTRO SESSION!!!"
"Ow." Botan said quietly, rubbing her ears.
Ten minutes later saw the ship's population sitting around the large conference room, being introduced to Botan and Yusuke.
"Okay, people, let's make this quick!" Satanira ordered, her hands on her hips. "We've got two new peoples, and two more we gotta find! The dude in green is Yusuke. If he seems slow, that's because he is, so don't give him any grief about it!"
"Hey!" Yusuke exclaimed. "I am not slow!"
"Yes, you are. Now shut up. The chick in pink is Botan. Say hi, you two."
"Yo." Yusuke said, holding a hand up in greeting.
"Good afternoon." Botan said politely, bowing to the group.
"Now for the rest of the idiots." Satanira muttered. "Spandex boy is Heero. Priest dude is Wolfwood. Chopsticks is Wufei. Blonde's Quatre, Unibang's Trowa, Eyebrows is Dorothy, Psycho Brunette Bitch from Hell is Relena, Braid boy is Duo, this brunette's Catherine, that brunette's Sally Po, and the blond stuffing donuts in his pie hole is Vash. Got it? Good. Now we've gotta find Kurama. He's a hell of a lot easier to find than the other one."
"You mean Hiei?" Yusuke asked, earning a hard pinch on his arm from Botan.
"Yes, Hiei." Satanira said. "Let's go look for them."
End Chapter One
Yay! Done with two! Maybe I'll get some reviews! Hey, that rhymed! Kinda.... depressed
