***
Disclaimer: We don't own Frogari.
***
Warning: Mild Spoilers.
Chapter Seven: If You Can't Handle the Heat, Then Get Out of the Fire
***
"GO HIEI!" Arashi yelled, "YOU CAN BEAT HER!"
"Shut up," Hiei said, without turning around.
"OK!" Arashi's face was lit up with happiness as she sat on the ground next to Niyali.
"I know he's going to win," she said, happily, "He always does."
"There's a first time for everything," Niyali reminded her, "Maybe he'll lose." Arashi gasped.
"How could Hiei lose? He's HIEI!"
"I know," Niyali said, as if that made all the difference in the world. Arashi stared at her.
"What do you have against fire demons, anyway?" Niyali chose to ignore her; instead, she was singing the Lemmings Song under her breath.
"Doo dih dih dih dih doo-dih-dih-dih doo dih dih dih dih doo-dih-dih-dih doo dih DIH dih di! Doo dih DIH dih di!" Arashi joined in on the second line.
"Doo dih dih dih dih doo-dih-dih-dih doo dih dih dih dih doo-dih-dih-dih doo dih DIH di di! Doo dih DIH di di!" Kozu, ears pricking up as she recognized the song, helped them sing the third line.
"Dih dih dih dih dih dih DIH! Dih dih dih dih dih dih DIH! Dih dih..." As that was all there was to the song, the three of them proceeeded to sing it again. And again. And again.
"Why aren't they fighting?" Kuwabara asked Yusuke, looking at Aries and Hiei just standing in the ring, "Are we just going to stand here all day?"
"You idiot, the referee's out cold," Yusuke told him, "We can't continue until they get another one!"
"Oh yeah."
"Sorry for the delay, ladies and gentlemen!" Came a new, male voice, "As soon as I can get into the ring, the match will begin!" They all turned to see what looked like a humanoid frog running into the stadium. His long dark-green hair billowed out behind him as he raced towards the ring, tripped over a rock, and landed flat on his face.
The crowd roared with laughter as he got back up, his dark blue polo shirt and blue dress pants covered in dirt. He brushed them off and dropped the microphone he was carrying as he did so. The crowd laughed again.
"Sorry about that!" He apologized, as soon as he had gotten his microphone back, "That's what happens when you're born with webbed feet and sign up for an announcing job!" He took a running leap and landed in the ring, miraculously not falling. He lifted his microphone to his mouth once more.
"Ladies and gentlemen, demons, half-demons, and humans of all-kinds, my name is Frogari and I'll be your replacement announcer! I'd like to thank the clean-up crew, they did a WONDERFUL job cleaning up the ring from the last tournament. In fact, I think they got it a little too clean--it's time to get some blood on it! Fighters, on your mark, get set, and BEGIN!" The two fighters stared at each other for a moment before Aries smirked.
"You do know this is a fight you can't win," she stated. He smirked as well.
"Hn. We'll see." In a smooth motion, he had drawn his katana and spun it once before shifting to a fighting stance. Aries's smirk grew colder as she drew two swords, twirling them herself before crossing them at arm's length in front of her. The two of them stared at each other, neither blinking nor moving.
"Hello, fighters?" came Frogari's impatient voice, "Are we fighting sometime today?" Silence reigned again as everyong waited for the first move.
No one really knew what happened next. One minute the fighters were as still as statues, the next they were moving around the ring so fast that all that could be seen were two black blurs, moving rapidly from here to there. Only Kuwabara was able to track their movements, and just barely at that. His eyeballs were flickering back and forth, back and forth in all directions as he tried to keep an eye on the competitors.
"So?" Yusuke asked, "What's happening?"
"Uh...they're both....they....uh....they're both fighting."
"How observant," Kozu muttered. Arashi had produced a banner with a picture of Chibi Hiei's head, and was waving it around excitedly, screaming, "GO HIEI!" at the top of her lungs.
Hiei did his best to ignore her, but while he was pivoting to attack Aries, he caught sight of the banner. His katana faltered, and Aries moved in, slashing the fire demon across the chest. Hiei instantly threw one arm protectively over his stomach and came to a halt, katana still in hand, one eye on Aries and the other on Arashi's banner.
"Here we go!" Frogari said, "It seems that Aries has managed to get in the first hit of the day!"
"Put that thing away," Hiei called to Arashi.
"NO! It's YOU, Hiei!"
"That doesn't even look like me!"
"Oh...well, I can draw a better one!" She took out a pencil, laid the banner on the ground, and crouched over it, "Hold still, Hiei!" Sometime during her last sentence, Aries had rushed Hiei again, and the two of them were now locked in battle.
"I CAN'T!" Hiei roared to Arashi, "I'M FIGHTING!"
"Oh, well, I guess I'll just have to go by memory then!"
"NO!" If there was one thing bad about Arashi, it was her memory. It STUNK.
"Oh...GO HIEI!" Arashi lifted the banner back up and continued waving and screaming at the top of her lungs.
"And they're at it again!" Frogari exclaimed, "Going from here to there to here to---they're moving so fast I can't keep track of the-EM!" The last part of his word was said in a yell as he took a step backwards and fell over. Hiei, coming around at the exact moment, leapt in time to avoid tripping. Aries was not so lucky. She tripped over Frogari's outstretched legs and landed on top of him. Hiei seized his oppurtunity and slashed at her with his katana. Aries saw this coming and rolled over, but the katana slit her right arm, and she dropped that sword with a clatter.
Frogari pushed Aries off of him and picked up his microphone.
"Sorry about that!" he exclaimed, "Didn't see you coming!" Aries ignored him, glaring coldly at Hiei, who stared levelly back.
"You can't win this," she told him, once again.
"You shouldn't draw conclusions," he replied. Dang, this girl was as skilled as him. She didn't seem like a human, although she looked it, there was something strange about her, something not-quite demonic. He couldn't win at sword-play, and most of his other options seemed too weak. Besides, she was getting on his nerves. That left him only one choice.
Dragon of the Darkness Flame.
"You cannot win," she repeated.
"You've said that already," Hiei said, casually removing his bandana. His Jagan opened on his forehead; already he was feeling much more powerful and at ease. Calling upon his ki, he began to set the bait for the Dragon.
Aries's eyes flashed as she stared at her shorter opponent; he was staring back. Invisible to the un-spiritually aware, black flames were dancing around him, a sure sign he was planning something. But he had been right, Aries was not an ordinary demon. Rather, she was an alien. Physic abilities made her a class A assassin on her home planet, but there was a reason she was here. Her own sister had committed suicide, and Aries had not been able to stop her. There was only one way to get her back.
Aries would have willingly lost to Hiei if it meant bringing her sister back, but losing was not an option. Winning the Tournament was the only solution.
She could not lose.
***
"BOTAN! George, get me Botan right now!"
"I'm sorry sir, but I can't do that, Koenma sir."
"WHY NOT?"
"Botan left. She said something about going to see Yusuke and the others fight at the Tournament..."
"WHAT? AND YOU LET HER?"
"No, Koenma sir! I had nothing to do with it!"
"Hmph. Very well, I shall except your word for the time being. NOW HURRY UP AND PACK YOUR STUFF! We're leaving in ten minutes!"
"Leaving?! What for, Koenma sir?"
"We're going to go see the Tournament, DUH! Now HURRY UP!"
"Yes, Koenma sir! Right away sir!"
***
Even so, Aries didn't feel like killing Hiei. He was a worthy opponent. Perhaps they could fight again when the stakes weren't so high.
She twirled her fingers absently, and a rose appeared out of nowhere, held between the index and middle fingers of her left hand. She brought it up to the right side of her face, and held it there, watching Hiei with deliberate calmness.
Hiei didn't pay her a second glance. Drawing the Dragon out was taking more time; more time then it should have. Just a little bit longer, he could feel it coming already...
"ETERNAL ROSE FLARE!" Seizing her sword in the same hand as the rose, Aries rushed Hiei, catching him by surprise. He stepped to the side, and her sword only nicked his arm as she passed by, drawing only a trickle of blood.
But it would be enough.
"Is that the best you can do?" Hiei asked. She smiled.
"Wait a moment, Hiei. Just wait." He stared at her for a moment until he began to feel the oddest sensation. It was as if roses were growing inside of him, thorns and all, sapping away his energy and transferring it to--
Her rose?
Aries smiled as Hiei's eyes widened slightly.
"Wonderful, isn't it?" she said, watching her rose as the petals turned slowly to black, "I'm taking your energy. Soon you'll barely be able to stand on your own, and then I shall take this fight. There's nothing you can do."
"HIEI!" Arashi cried, from the sidelines, "COME ON, HIEI! THINK OF SOMETHING! YOU'RE NOT MY BOYFRIEND FOR NOTHING!"
"I'M...NOT YOUR BOYFRIEND...AT ALL!" Hiei yelled. His energy, physical and non, was being sucked into Aries's rose. Even the ki he had used as bait for the Dragon was being taken. Everything was going.
Over in Aries's hand, the rose turned fully black, and she laughed. A cold, hard laugh. With a small push of her mind, the energy stored in the rose began to leak into her, refreshing her, filling her with new feeling and energy, and power. A lot of power. Her laugh grew colder, and more evil, as Hiei staggered and thrust his katana into the ring, leaning against it for better balance.
"Woah, this is bad," Kuwabara commented, "That girl's taken all of Shrimpy's energy!"
"Yes," Kurama agreed, staring into the ring, his thoughts racing, "All of it." :If Aries did take all of it, then she surely took the bait Hiei meant for the Dragon. And if the Dragon's still coming, then that means--hang in there, Hiei. Once it gets here...:
"Come on, Hiei!" Kozu whispered, "Do something!"
Aries was laughing, Arashi was shouting, Frogari was saying something, all the noise combined into one as the world spun around. He clutched his katana for support. A little more energy lost and he'd be unconscious. As for now, if Aries attacked---it would all be over. Hiei slowly raised his head to look at his opponent; she was still laughing, her rose clutched to her chest, petals pulsing black, red, black, red, black flames around her leaping higher and higher, entertwining with each other as--
Black flames? But that would mean...the Dragon was still coming. And with the bait now in Aries's hands, the Dragon would seek to--channel through her.
All at once, there was a gigantic lurch of power. Columns of black rose from the water around the island, arching and pouring into the middle of the stadium, all gathering around Aries, who was looking around her with slightly wide eyes. Her lips moved, but no-one could hear what she was saying. The power increased, and suddenly the sound came back on; Aries's heart-rending shriek as the Dragon sought to escape through her. And although she had Hiei's power, she did not have Hiei's control over it.
And it wanted out.
Aries's scream grew in pitch and volume as the flames gathered closer around her, her whole body turning black and trembling with the effort. With a last, tortured note, her song of agony ended as her very particles ripped apart from each other, the Dragon emerging from her non-existent remains. What would be its head swiveled around once, twice, seeming to look around it before surging forwards, slamming into Hiei (the only thing in its path; Frogari had fled the scene), and at once absorbing into his body.
Hiei felt the Dragon inside him, coursing through his veins, flooding him with new energy, replacing all that Aries had stolen. He stood up straight and wrenched his katana out of the ground, sliding it into its sheath before looking calmly around him, searching for any remains of Aries. After finding none, he uttered but one word:
"Hn." And he smirked.
***
Aaaaand...that ending stunk. But who cares.
((Arashi in the background is fainting over Hiei's greatness))
I kind of modified Aries's character to better fit the story. Anyway, happy Thanksgiving everybody!