Responses (Am I stalling, just to keep you in suspense- YES! And I luvit.):

slave2anime—Ah, yes, the store that both Tsurin and I go to for evil demonic minions was sold out- apparently That Other Villain cleaned out the entire store and we were left with either Mud Children or Diaper Babies. The Diaper Babies seemed more functional at the time, but now my Secret Lair smells horrible. But read on and see what Tsurin managed to scrape up the money for.

Minakara—Was I fast enough?! And even if I wasn't at least it's here, no?

fleetgoddess14—Ding-ding-ding! You are correct! This is the last battle! Hmm, maybe that should be capitalized... This is The Last Battle! Much more intimidating.

Karuto-chan—I'm sorry if I didn't make this chapter long enough!

Cattibrie393, Shadow Fox777, Erein—Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Falcon-sama—COOKIES! HEDWIG!!! Harry: Hey, give her back! NO!!! ::enters into a Hedwig tug-of-war with Harry:: FLUFFY!!! ::lets go of Hedwig to cuddle the drooling, vicious Fluffy:: Thia and Bobby: BROWNIES!!!!!!Let go of them, Thia! Make me, you stupid punk tomboy! I'm a choco-holic! DON'T TOUCH THE BROWNIES! MINE! ::r.i.p. and Thia sweat-drop::

Meghann—Botan finally paid her debt for the oar! Thank you so much!

Rose—Whoa! Long review!! YAY! BTW, how'd ya like the EverFreez Burping Berry Ice Cream?? lol. ::evil laughter:: Where was Genkai, you say? ::more evil laughter:: That will be revealed within time... Yusuke is crazy, isn't he?... Blackguard's EvilVillainAcademy? Hmm, I think I'm going to send in an application. Thank you!!!

DISCLAIMER: We don't own YYH or HP. We also don't own the song She's the Blade, from whence the lyrics come. Respective owners: Rowling, Togashi, and Sugarcult.

Last Time: (And yes, I'm stalling again.)

"This one." The thing put a hand into the muddy water behind him and poured a minimal amount of energy into it. Slowly hundreds of bubbles rose to the surface and formed shapes. They stood up. And they gathered behind the thing so that their brethren had more room to breed.

"Children of the Mud! Now bow to the All-Powerful Lord Tsurin, you foolish humans!"

Cue the evil laugh.

Chapter 24: Pearls, Peridots, and Undead Souls

"Dammit, Urameshi, why do you always have to ask those stupid questions?!"

Everyone ignored Kuwabara. Especially Hiei.

"There's a problem with your plan. Some of us aren't quite human."

The evil lord's eyes followed the sound of the voice and saw the small fire demon and the rest of the team for the first time. Astonishment was hidden in the very depths of his eyes, and Hiei knew it.

"So it's you. Hiei and Kurama. Traitors to your own race," he snarled, a very ugly look crossing his face. "I'll have great fun destroying you."

"Wrong thing to say, fool!" Hiei rushed right in, katana already drawn. Naturally, the Mud Children shielded their master, and the demon slid his sword right through them, sending the shattered remains flying in every direction.

(a.n.: After all, dried mud cracks, no?)

The battle had begun.

"Potter, Granger, and Weasley, castle. Tell Dumbledore. And don't you dare come out here again, got it?" Genkai demanded, but was too busy engaging herself in the fight to see their responses.

Responses that didn't guarantee they would stay away.

Still, the three of them scampered up to Hogwarts, skidding through doors, up stairs, through corridors, and right up to the gargoyle who guarded Dumbledore's office.

The problem: What was the password?

Meanwhile, down on the battlefield, things didn't seem to be going in Lord Tsurin's favor. Yusuke was able to punch his way almost to Tsurin, but the Mud Children just seemed to keep coming. Genkai was like a wild woman, just blowing the brown beings away like it was nothing. And Hiei was like an invisible warrior, leaving shattered pieces in his wake. Kuwabara was actually counting his kills: "Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen..." Kurama's whip slashed through many of the ones that were forming in the moat as he tried to prevent them from outnumbering them too badly. Thia was humming as her spheres swept through the Mud Children, almost as though all she was doing was reheating take-out food.

'Don't you make a move tonight/ You can only stagger/ Once she's got you in her sights/ You're the one she's after...'

Ron, Harry, and Hermione skidded through the castle, not leaving any room unchecked as they searched for Professor Minerva McGonagall. Or Snape. He'd work, too, they figured, (as Harry remembered his painful mistake last year) but maybe 6:30 in the morning wasn't a good time to disturb him...

"Professor McGonagall!" Finally they'd found her, walking the halls.

"Outside- Tsurin! Genkai and the others are down there but we need to tell Professor Dumbledore!" Hermione burst out.

"The headmaster is in London, at a conference with the Minister of Magic," the Gryffindor Head of House replied, her lips thinning.

"Then-"

"No, Miss Granger. Professor Genkai and her team are well-equipped to handle these situations, so you will stay put, do you hear me? All of you!"

The battlefield was littered with pieces of broken mud. Tsurin was losing, and yet he was- was- was-

Smiling!!!

Was he insane, was he completely insusceptible to the feeling of failure, or did he have a plan? Kurama had the sinking suspicion that it was the third option, and that plan wasn't going to be good. The suspicion grew stronger when the demon lord's smile grew larger at the sight of Harry, Hermione, and Ron rushing toward them.

"DIMWITS!" Genkai yelled when she saw them.

Yusuke was startled. "WHAT?!"

"WRONG DIMWIT, YOU MORON!" Kurama could've sworn she'd ended her statement with, "For once."

Finally, though, the Mud Children had seemed to run out, and the fighting slowed to a trickle, leaving very little for Hermione, Harry, and Ron to do. If Tsurin didn't stop smiling, however, he'd crack his own face (and a couple thousand mirrors). Now the huge lord pulled out a chain from one of his pockets. It was a chain that Kurama remembered, delicate and made of fine gold. There it was, the Pearl of the Three, creamy white and easily hidden. But... There was an addition to the chain, one that Kurama, as either Yoko or as Suichi, had never seen before.

It was rather large stone the size of a Ping-Pong ball, and was the color of leaves just as they turned color for the fall. The light green mixed with yellow and a hint of brown, creating a rather dazzling effect as it hit the sun. And as the sun was rising steadily, the effect was nearly blinding.

"What the-"

"This is my other jewel. Radiant, isn't it? They call it the Peridot of Peril."

Thia's eyes shot wide open. That name. That name. That name- I know it. I've read it! When- when we were doing research! So- what was it I read?!

"I read it, I read it, I read it," she muttered aloud, mentally beating herself up for not paying any attention at all.

"What? What did you read?" Kurama asked.

"Oh! Something about scratches and silk gloves... Why didn't I pay attention?!"

"Unimpressive, human. Watch as my prize summons undead souls to fight for me- seeing as you've wiped out all of my Children, I do think I need a few." The same wicked smile stretched across his face as he held the Peridot up to the sun's rays.

"Stupid, you're unprotected," Yusuke muttered right before letting loose a Spirit Gun.

"Don't speak of what you don't know, human," Tsurin snarled. They soon saw what he meant when a shield, the exact color of the jewel itself, rose around Tsurin and seemingly swallowed the attack whole.

"Grr... Dammit."

Before they knew what was happening, spectrums of light flared all over, half- blinding and yet so beautiful it was impossible not to look.

But what is beautiful is not always safe, or even "good". Fire, for instance, is dangerous in so many ways, and yet entrances one if they look into the depths of a flame. (a.n.: Or maybe that's just me.)

Now, for instance, the light shifted, and revealed some of the most haunting images that they had ever seen. They were undead warriors, lost spirits whose lives were taken during battle. And these beings were heading straight to them, blackened weapons raised.

"Now fetch me the boy," Tsurin commanded them, and his army raced towards the smaller group.

Voldemort waited for his update to come.

FFFFWEEEEET!

And there it was. Wormtail handed him the plate, and the Dark Lord peered into it to see his spy.

"My lord, the demon has engaged the undead and has called for the boy."

"Excellent," he purred, and tossed the metal object back to Wormtail. "All is going according to plan."

"Same plan, dumber lookin'-" Yusuke threw his fist at one of the new warriors, felt an ice cold sensation sweep through his body, and saw that he'd gone right through the specter. "What the-" At that moment, the shield that this particular fiend wore come crashing down on the Detective's head.

We can see them, they can hit us, we go right through them. Dammit, I want an army like this once we defeat this jerk.

But how could they defeat an army they couldn't touch?

Author's Notes: ::Bobby comes back from lunch break, sees r.i.p. at keyboard:: r.i.p!! What the hell did you do?! ::reads chapter:: You erased my original chapter!! Are you trying to kill them off!? You're fired!!! You can't fire me! YOU SCREWED THEM! Okay, that didn't sound right. THEY'RE SCREWED BECAUSE OF YOU! So?! Thia, tell her! I'm going to die because of you, r.i.p.! ::sniff:: And I wanted to kiss Kurama again… ::sniff:: See, you made Thia cry! No, actually, I just have a cold from standing out in the rain. Don't worry, Thia, you're not going to die! Huh, that's what you said about the Beautiful One in Crimson. And lookit how that turned out! Almost the entire thing was about his friggin murder! If you make Thia die, I'm firing you! And then I'm killing you! And be convicted of ego-slaughter? Your point, r.i.p.? I will try not to kill anyone off. It's very hard, you know. Kill Tsurin off, bozo! Nah, I think I'll just send him back to Volders. He can kill Tsurin off. Urg. Just give me the laptop. Idiot.

Just so you know, I started school yesterday and yet I was more freaked out today than yesterday. You thought Shinobu Sensui was psychotic? Hah! You haven't seen Tatiana Michelena (a.k.a. Bobby, r.i.p., etc..) on the NY subway. I go completely nuts, start talking to myself, and freaking out in general. And yet, when I finally got to school, I was completely calm, even if I was in a totally new place. I will warn you, though: Stuyvesant students aren't known for having an unbelievable amount of free time. In fact, I'm not even supposed to be posting this up, because I still have a little bit of Global and Bio homework left. Okay, so I have a lot left.

Alright, this chapter was short because I stepped in before the brat could do any more damage than she's already done. But anyway, the fic's coming to a close very soon and I know you're all terribly sad, but I'm almost finished with the Deleted Scenes. I'll just tag 'em on at the end. So: Is there anything in particular that you wanna see, that I disappointed you with terribly for not putting it in when you were expecting me to? Send it in with your review. (Cause I know that's what you're doing right now. Reviewing.)