:words like this: are thoughts, k? Okay! All right, let's continue.
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Disclaimer: We don't own the characters of Sapphire, Aries, Han or Hin.
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Chapter Four: Seeing Double
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Death Isle Hotel
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"That was utterly pointless," Hiei said, as he and the other males of Team Urameshi ascended the stairs towards their hotel room, "Half of that stuff we knew already."
"Yes, they did drag on a bit," Kurama admitted.
"A bit?" Yusuke asked, "You call an hour a bit?" Kurama shrugged.
"All I can say is that tomorrow can't come soon enough," Kuwabara exclaimed. Hiei smirked.
"Why, so you can embarass yourself on a public scale again?"
"Shut up shrimpy."
"Hn. I know I'm in it for the practice." In a swift motion, he had pulled his katana out and whipped it through the air, nicking the corner of Kuwabara's sleeve in the process, before sliding it back into its sheath as he finished his sentence, "It's been a while since my katana has tasted blood." Kuwabara's eyes grew wide.
"You could take somebody's eye out with that thing if you're not careful," said a voice. They looked up to see a girl leaning against the wall of the hallway, near a door with the label "10A".
Her hair was long and black with furious red highlights, her eyes dark and violet. She was a bit pale, and seemed about Kurama's height, wearing tight black rip pants with a black long sleeve shirt that had rips at the shoulders, allowing them to see a tattoo of a rose on her right shoulder. The shirt didn't go past her belly button, so her flat stomach was clearly visible, as well as the black halter top underneath the original. Her feet were clad in black combat boots.
"I am Aries Taylor," she announced, in a voice remarkably like Hiei's: slightly cold, emotionless, perfectly pronounced, "Captain of Team Rose. You would be...?"
"Yusuke Urameshi," Yusuke said proudly, "Captain of Team Urameshi." Her lips curved into a smirk.
"Team Urameshi," she commented, "I believe you're our first opponent."
"Really," Kurama stated. She turned her eyes to him and looked him up and down.
"Yes. You are Kurama, I presume?" He nodded, never taking his eyes off her face.
"Fascinating." She turned back to Yusuke, "You came from the meeting?" At his nod, she continued, "We only sent one of our team. She's still down there, I believe. One of our other members was so enthusiastic about meeting our opponents that she went to visit. Since she hasn't come back, I'm guessing she's in your room."
"WAS in their room," another person commented. The new arrival was also female, and everything about her seemed blue. With the exception of three dolphin earrings in each ear (and one dolphin ring on her left hand), she was blue: blue nails, blue lips, ice blue eyes, and blue hair. Her shirt was the color of dark sky, and her pants were raven blue. She smiled at Team Urameshi.
"Sapphire's the name," she said, cheerfully, "You're Team Urameshi?" She continued without waiting for an answer, "I was just down visiting with the rest of your team. Those girls sure are excited and polite! They were in the middle of something, but they welcomed me and made me feel right at home. I've learned a lot," she said, with a small glint in her eye.
"How much did they tell you?" Kuwabara asked, shocked.
"Oh, nonononono," she said, quickly, "I wasn't scooping for information. I just wanted to make some new friends!" Aries snorted.
"Sapphire, you know this tournament is not about making friends. We're here to win. Relationships will only slow us down."
"Oh, come on," Sapphire said, tossing her hair back with a laugh, "What's the fun in just fighting? It's interesting to meet new people!" Aries sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Whatever. Come on, now, Hin should be getting back any minute with our information. Of course, Han will have gotten it from her already."
"Of course," Sapphire said. Aries turned back to Team Urameshi.
"We'll be seeing you at the stadium," she said, and went into room 10A. Sapphire waited until the door closed before whispering to them, "Don't mind her. She's just...private. She's like that to everybody."
"SAPPHIRE!"
"Coming...see you guys tomorrow!" Sapphire turned and went into the room herself.
"So that's Team Rose?" Kuwabara asked, "They don't seem very powerful to me."
"Appearances can be misleading," Kurama told him, as they continued down the hall, "You wouldn't believe Hiei can use the Dragon of the Darkness Flame just by looking at him, would you?"
"Don't comment on my stature."
"Well, no..." Kuwabara said, wary of Hiei.
"Exactly." They reached their room. Yusuke pulled his key card out of his pocket and slipped it into the slot. The light turned green and he pushed the door open.
Instantly, sound reached their ears; sounds of three excited little girls screaming at the top of their lungs.
"IT'S BLUE! IT'S BLUE! IT'SBLUEIT'SBLUEIT'SBLUE!!!!"
"What's blue?" Yusuke asked, grabbing Kozu as she zoomed by, "What are you yelling about?"
"IT'S BLUE!!! BLUEBLUEBLUEBLUEBLUUUUUUUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEE!" Kuwabara was the first one to see what she was talking about.
"OH MY GAWD NIYALI WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR HAIR????!!!!!!!!?????"
***
Much later...as in the next morning later...
Death Isle Stadium
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"Look at all the demons!" Niyali said, turning around in a slow circle, "I've never seen so many!"
"You've never fought in a tournament before, have you?" Kurama asked her. She shook her head.
"First time." She continued staring at all the demons, half-humans, and humans that filled the stands, clearly fascinated.
The stadium was open-aired, rather like the stadium that the first three rounds of the Dark Tournament had been fought on. In fact, it seemed to be an exact replica.
Kurama and Niyali were waiting on the left side of the ring; the seven members of Team Rose were on the other side.
"The others had better get here soon," Niyali commented, "Or else we're going to die." She and Kurama were the only members of Team Urameshi at the stadium; the rest were probably back at the hotel sleeping.
"We're not going to die," Kurama told her, "We can stall until they get here, and if all else fails, I'll act as Captain and work something out with the other team. We won't die."
"Ok! Can I go talk to the other team?"
"Sure."
"YAAAAAY!" Kurama watched as Niyali raced around the ring, heading towards Team Rose. Her hair flew out behind her, her vibrant blue streaks perfectly spaced. They wouldn't be coming out for a long time.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the first round of the Ohsukah Tournament! My name is Faye, and I'll be your announcer for this round!" Now that it was light, they were able to see what Faye looked like. Her blood red ponytail was bouncing with excitement, and her pink-amber eyes were glistening with anticipation. She was pale, with small clear fairy wings protruding from her back, her bangs floating up like antenea. She wore an emerald green tube top, a see-through whiteish jacket, a silver sash around her waist, black hot pants, and black calf-high heeled boots.
Niyali came running back almost as fast as she had gone.
"Now what?" she moaned, "The Tournament's starting!"
"Relax," Kurama told her, "They'll be here soon." :I hope...:
***
Death Isle Hotel
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Kuwabara ambled slowly into the main room, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. He hadn't slept that well in a while...it felt good...but for some reason, he hadn't been able to go back to sleep. There was just this nagging feeling that he was supposed to be somewhere, doing something. But what? Oh well, he'd figure it out eventually.
The rooms were dark; the curtains were over the windows. He pulled them back, yawning, and blinked as the room was flooded with sunlight. Pretty bright for so early...oh, that was why, it was almost 10:30. Hm. Time for breakfast.
As he was fiddling with pots and pans and trying to make something decent, the door to the boys room opened and Yusuke came out, stumbling sleepily.
"G'mornin'," he mumbled, taking a seat at the table.
"Good morning."
"Wha' time is it?"
"Ten thirty."
"Tha's nice...wait TEN THIRTY?"
"Mm-hmm. What do you want for break--"
"No TIME for breakfast! We're supposed to be at the stadium right now!"
Kuwabara dropped the pot he was carrying, spilling water all over the floor.
"What?"
"We were supposed to be there half an hour ago!" Yusuke yelled.
"We were?"
"YES! Go wake up the girls while I get Hiei up!" Kuwabara hurried to comply. He headed into the girls room and shook Arashi.
"Hey, Arashi, get up." Arashi moaned.
"NOW." She rolled over, ignoring him.
"NOW!! THE TOURNAMENT'S ALREADY STARTED AND WE'RE LATE! GET UP!" This woke Kozu up, but not Arashi.
"What's going on?" she asked, sitting up in bed.
"The match's already started and we're late!" Kuwabara told her. Her eyes widened and she slipped out of bed and into the girls bathroom. Kuwabara went back to attempting to get Arashi up. He ripped the blankets off of her and took her pillow away. Still she slept on. Kozu came out of the bathroom, now fully dressed and awake, and watched with amusement.
"Baka," Hiei said, coming into the room, "Like this. GET UP NOW."
"Yes Hiei!" Arashi leapt out of bed and into the girls bathroom herself. Kuwabara turned to Hiei.
"How--"
"Hn. Where's the Spirit?" Kuwabara only blinked.
"Who?"
"It's ok, Kurama and Niyali are at the stadium," Yusuke said, coming into the room, "Apparently, they've been stalling for the past half hour. The announcer's starting to get annoyed."
***
Death Isle Stadium
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"No more questions," Faye told Niyali sternly, "Get back to your team, we have to start."
"But--"
"NOW." Niyali stuck her tongue out at her before heading back to Kurama, shaking her head slightly. His frown deepened. This was not good.
"Would both teams please come to the middle of the ring," Faye announced. They did so.
The picture this painted seemed extremely off. Seven standing before two, however defiant the two looked, there was no excuse. How much damage could a Fox Spirit and---whatever Niyali was---a child, it seemed, do against a complete line-up of seven powerful-looking adults?
They were about to find out.
"Captains, please discuss your terms!" Aries stepped forward, as did Kurama. She raised an eyebrow.
"You're not the Captain."
"In case of the Captain's abscene, a replacement may be chosen," Kurama reminded her, "As Yusuke is not here right now I would be happy to take his place in determining the rules of this match." She smiled her cold smile again, and there was a hint of irony.
"So the Captain doesn't even bother showing up to a match that he knows he will lose. Pitiful."
"He will be here," Niyali spoke up, "Him and the rest. They're coming, and you'll be sorry when they get here." Aries looked down at her.
"Right," she said, "I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Back to business." She turned back to Kurama. "I propose simple one-on-one matches. First team to win four, or for us, two, wins."
"Two on two," Kurama said, "Niyali and me against any two members of your choosing. Winner take all. In the event of a draw, both teams may choose any members to fight the remainder of the battles one-on-one, first team to three victories wins."
"So, if our two beat you two, then we win?" He nodded.
"That is correct."
"But if we don't beat you--which is highly unlikely--and you don't beat us--which is likely--then we resort to one-on-ones, first team to win three wins."
"Exactly." She smirked.
"Agreed."
"And the order is decided!" Faye exclaimed, "A two-on-two, winner takes all match! It's obvious who's going to be fighting for Team Urameshi, but what about Team Rose?" Aries' grin grew wider.
"Unfortunately for you, we happen to have the best people for fighting two-on-two. May the Gods have mercy on your souls." She turned and walked out of the ring, followed by Sapphire and two other members of their team. There were now only five people in the ring: Kurama, Niyali, Faye, and their identical opponents.
They were dressed identically; white pants, white shirt, black boots, black gloves. One had a hoop earring in their left ear, the other wore theirs in their right. Their pale blond hair hung to their shoulders, and their eyes were blue, flashing red as Kurama and Niyali watched.
"Well," Faye said, "Looks like we've got the fighting twins, Han and Hin, for Team Rose! I can't exactly tell which is which, but--"
"I am Hin," said the one with the left hoop earring, her voice unmistakably female, "He is Han. We are half and half."
"We fight to win," Han said, drawing a sword from a sheath by his side, as Hin strung a bow that had been slung across her back, "I suggest you do the same. Be warned; we will not go easy on you."
"Same here," Niyali told him, "How 'bout less talk and more fight so we can see what you can do?" He looked down at her and smiled.
"Gladly, little one. Gladly."
***
Death Isle: Somewhere Between the Hotel and the Stadium
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"Remind me WHY we slept so late again?" Kuwabara asked Yusuke as they ran towards the stadium. Kozu and Hiei, the fastest of the group, were far ahead of them, probably already there.
"Who knows, just keep running!"
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Death Isle Stadium
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"All fighters take your beginning stances---and BEGIN!"
"We'll give you one minute--" Hin started.
"--to come up with a plan." Han finished. "Because without one--"
"--there is no way you can win. Your minute--"
"--starts now." Kurama squatted down so he was about Niyali's height and whispered to her.
"You take one, and I'll take the other. If we keep them away from each other, it should be easier."
"I guess---" Niyali cast a worried glance at the twins, who were watching them cooly, "But they're twins. And something about them doesn't seem quite-- human."
"They're probably demons. I wouldn't be surprised if they had some special ability that involves each other--which is why we must keep them distracted."
"Distracted?"
"Away from each other."
"Ah. I--which one do you want?"
"You should take Hin. With her arrows and your smaller size, you should be able to dodge them easily."
"Thanks a lot."
"I mean it."
"I know."
"Your minute--" Hin announced.
"--is over," Han finished. "It is time--"
"--to lose."
***
Just a quick note: ~O.O~ is a change of battle. For example, if we were focusing on Han and Kurama, ~O.O~ would mean we switched to Hin and Niyali. Not that hard, right? Continue.
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"We'll see about that!" In the blink of an eye, Niyali had rushed Hin, her fist catching the twin at the jaw. Hin went down; Han's eyes widened in shock and he charged Niyali. But Kurama was in his way, keeping Han from reaching the girls.
"Get out of the way!" Han growled, and brought his sword up and down. Kurama leapt to the side; the sword connected with the ring, slicing through some of the stone.
~O.O~
"ARROWS OF AGONY!" Hin had leapt into the air and fired several arrows towards Niyali, each one burning with a white energy. Niyali skipped energetically to the side.
"Ha! You missed--me?!" The arrows had halted in mid-air, swirled around, and headed for her again. Her eyes widened and she gave a little squeak before diving out of the way again. Once more, the arrows zoomed past, halted, turned sharply, and headed for her again.
"Fun little things, aren't they?" Hin said, smiling, "Those things can follow you forever until they either connect or you dispose of them. I wouldn't recommend either but--" Here she shrugged. "--it's your choice."
~O.O~
"SWORDS OF SPIRIT!" Instead of arrows, Han had created several mini swords, blazing with the same white fire as the arrows, to follow Kurama around.
"ROSE WHIP!" The familiar thorny whip was in his hand once more. Leaping into the air, Kurama waited for the swords to near him before swinging his whip in an arc. It connected with many of the blades, cutting them in half (they promptly exploded) and deflecting two into each other. With all the swords disposed of, he dropped back onto the ring. Han was smiling.
"Wonderful," he said, "Now wait for the aftereffects."
"What--" Kurama was cut off as a strong shock traveled up the whip to his arm. He dropped it with a strangled cry; his arm burning and tingling from the shock. Han was laughing.
"So you see," he said, "You'll have to come up with another way to destroy them...the next shock may be stronger." Kurama's eyes narrowed.
"NIYALI!" he called, not turning away from Han, "Don't touch the arrows!"
"How else am I--"
"Trust me! If they're twins, then something about their attacks MUST be similar! DO NOT TOUCH THE ARROWS!"
"But--"
"DON'T!"
~O.O~
Hin was laughing now.
"It appears he's figured out the secret to our attack," she said, "If you touch them, or they touch anything you're touching, you'll receive quite a nasty shock. That's why I don't recommend it."
"Well, this isn't good!" Faye exclaimed, "With Niyali being stalked by killer arrows and Kurama suffering from the side effects, it looks like Han and Hin have the upper hand! But things could turn around, folks, keep watching!"
:Ok,: Niyali thought, :Can't touch the arrows, can't deflect the arrows...that rules out my stick...what can I do?:
"You'd better think of something fast," Hin called, "I imagine you're getting tired of running."
"SHUT YOUR FACE!" Niyali yelled at her, and ran straight for the edge of the ring, leaping off and landing face first on the ground.
"That's got to hurt!" Faye exclaimed, "I think she was aiming for the wall-- but she's out of the ring, I'll take a ten count! One--" The arrows, however, continued on their straight path, running straight into the wall and exploding. Several demons sitting right there were caught in the explosion and grew wings...but since demons would NOT go to Heaven that's technically not accurate.
Niyali sat up, coughing grass and dirt out of her mouth.
"Five! Six!" Upon hearing Faye's count, Niyali backflipped, landing gracefully in the ring--
Only to be charged by Han.
~O.O~
Kurama blinked. He'd thought Han was right in front of him, but suddenly he disappeared! Looking around, Kurama saw Han heading straight for Niyali.
He also saw where Hin was and what she was doing.
"Niyali, look out! It's a--" Niyali leapt to the side, only to run right into one of Hin's arrows. Her tortured scream filled the stadium as white fire coursed from the arrow into her body, shocking her and filling her body with pain.
"--trap," Kurama finished. Picking up his rose and turning it back into a whip, he rushed to Niyali's aid.
***
Outside the Stadium
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"What do you MEAN, we can't go in?" Yusuke demanded of the guard, "We're part of the team!"
"Sorry," the large demon said, "The match has already started. You can't go in this way."
"I don't think you understand," Arashi told him, "We. Are. Part. Of. Team. Urameshi."
"I. Know. And. You. Are. Not. Getting. In."
"Perhaps you don't get our point," Hiei told him, "Let us in NOW and no one will suffer. Mainly, you." The guard sweated just a little bit.
"Sorry, but nobody gets in without permission after the match has started."
"Come on," Yusuke said, steering the angry fire demon away from the guard, "Let's go sit somewhere and see if we can come up with an idea."
***
Inside the Stadium
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Hin saw Kurama coming to help. They couldn't have interference now; they were so close to eliminating Niyali. Frowning, she went over to him.
"You are not going to interfere," she told him, sternly, and locked eyes. He slowed down, finally coming to a stop, unable to break the connection between them. Hin mentally smiled; soon he would be under her control, and then--
"NO!" Something rammed into her, knocking her to the ground. A small wetness dripped onto Hin's arm, and she looked up to see Niyali over her; Hin's arrow still lodged in her shoulder, but she was holding Hin down with a firmness no one would believe such a little thing had. Hin locked eyes with her instead, boring her will into the little girl, and in Niyali's head, she heard someone say quietly, :Duty of The Sisterhood:. Before she had time to register what had happened, somebody lifted her off Hin by the scruff of her neck. She twisted around in the air to see--Kurama?!?
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All right...spoilerness!