Chapter Fourteen: Angelic Devils
"Uh, hey guys?"
"GO KOZU!"
"Guys?"
"GO KOZU!"
"GUYS!" The two girls finally stopped cheering Kozu and turned to Kuwabara, who had been trying to get their attention for the past few minutes.
"How good is Kozu?"
"What kind of question is that?" They asked, at the same time.
"Reasonable," Kuwabara snapped, "So? Can she win?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"Stop it."
"What kind of question is that?"
"That was a statement."
"...what kind of statement is that?"
"Forget it," Kuwabara sighed. The girls exchanged a grin.
"She's good enough to get the job done," Arashi said, proudly.
"Yeah," Niyali added.
"And she can most certainly do a better battle then you," Arashi added.
"Yeah!"
"WHAT?" The two of them squeaked and ran off, Niyali hiding behind Kurama and Arashi behind Hiei, both of them peeking out at Kuwabara, who was glaring at them. Arashi, of course, immediately began huggling Hiei, who wasn't very enthused about that. Niyali was careful to keep Kurama between her and Kuwabara.
"Is that who she's fighting?" Yusuke gasped, staring into the middle of the field.
"No way!" Kuwabara exclaimed, squabble with the girls forgotten, "She's---she's---undescribable!"
While Kuwabara may not have been able to describe her, somebody else certainly would be. Kozu's opponent was beautiful. She was tall, with quite an amazing figure. Her black shirt with its picture of a cat looked too small on her, as it clung to her chest and ended at least two inches above her waist, showing her belly button. She wore tight-fitting black pants, and narrow, high-heeled boots that looked impossible to walk in. Her hair tumbled down to her waist in a jet-black waterfall, and her brown eyes sparkled with spirit and humor. In fact, perhaps a better word to describe her would be seductive.
"WOW!" Frogari exclaimed, "HELLO MISS JAPAN!!" In an instant, he'd sidled his way over to her and laid a hand on her arm. "So, Gorgeous, what're you doing tonight?" She stared at him before bringing up her hand to smack his away.
"I don't go out with the hired people," she stated, "Besides, tonight I have plans for celebrating my team's victory. I might add--" and her eyes sparkled mischievously, "--with my boyfriend." Frogari face-falled, tears of disappointment running down his face.
"Midnight, this is no time to get sassy," one of her team members called, "Just win the battle and let's get on with it!" Midnight rolled her eyes.
"Please. I know what I'm doing. Oh?" She seemed to notice Kozu for the first time, and bent down, placing her hands on her knees, "And who would you be?"
"My name is Kozu," Kozu stated, "And your team's right--you've got a fight to lose."
"Spunky," Midnight said, straighting up, "I like spunky girls--they remind me of me!" She laughed.
"I don't like her," Niyali stated. Arashi nodded her agreement sharply.
"She's too..." Arashi struggled to think of the right words, "Flashy."
"Sexy," Niyali added, at the same time.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Kuwabara mumbled, staring dreamily at Midnight. The girls rolled their eyes.
"Can we get on with this, please?" Kozu asked, as polite as she could get. Midnight smiled.
"Right away." At once, there was a great rumble as the earth shook beneath their feet. At the same time, a great gust of wind blew through the field, and the skies opened up, pouring down rain that quenched the little fires peeking up out of the grass. The grass itself grew, becoming more flexible and longer, twining around Kozu, pinning her to the spot.
"Show off," Arashi muttered. Niyali was staring wide-eyed at Midnight.
"She can control the elements?" she squeaked, "This isn't good!"
Kozu jerked at the blades, trying to free herself. This was embarassing--not even a minute into the fight and she was already stuck.
:Ok. Stay calm. Think. There's got to be a way out of this...:
:But what if there isn't?: asked a little voice in her head. She'd never heard that before---where had it come from?
:It will be!: she declared, jerking her arms upwards in a failed attempt, :Just let me think of---ah ha!: As she had jerked her arms up, one of her hidden daggers fell out, slicing through the blade of grass holding that arm. Unable to bend her legs, she concentrated hard; the blade leapt into her outstretched hand and she quickly sliced through the rest of her bonds before summoning a gust of wind to take her to the air.
"YAY KOZU!!!" Arashi and Niyali screamed.
Kozu, like Arashi, seemed to prefer floating in the air. She crossed her legs, staring down at her opponent until she remembered something.
Midnight could control the air.
"DARN IT!" Invisible bonds flowed out of nowhere, wrapping themselves around her, binding her arms and legs tightly to her body. Her daggers wouldn't help her here; they couldn't slice air in half.
"Whoa, whoa, hold on a second!" Kuwabara exclaimed, pausing, "She can control plants and air?"
"And water, and fire," Arashi added, fearfully, "All the elements."
"So no matter what Kozu does, she'll have a comeback?" Arashi nodded, eyes fixed on Kozu. Niyali was screaming Kozu's name at the top of her lungs, yelling for her to do something.
"I'M...TRYING!" Kozu called on her abilities with wind, however minimal they were, and pulled on her restraints. They loosened, ever so gradually, and she was finally able to pull herself free.
Quickly, before Midnight could call upon any more of her abilities, Kozu pulled out her other dagger and, holding one in each hand, zoomed down to attack.
"GYRPHON--STRIKE!" was her battle cry, as she pulled out of the dive to slash at Midnight. The daggers crackled with electricity and Midnight only barely made it out of the way. Kozu swerved around and charged again. But Midnight had recovered, and Kozu's daggers clattered to the ground as the bonds of air wrapped themselves around her again. Kozu shot upwards and hovered in one place, arms and legs once again tightly bound to her side.
"Stupid...things..." she growled, struggling fiercely.
"KOZU WATCH OUT!" A fist connected with Kozu's cheek, and her head recoiled on her neck. When she recovered and turned to look, her eyes widened in brief surprise before a foot connected with her midsection.
Midnight could fly.
"Amazing!" Frogari exclaimed, tilting his head backwards as Faye zoomed up to catch the action herself, "In addition to controlling the elements and having the body of a God, it seems Midnight can also fly! She's using Kozu like a punching bag, and the poor thing can't even retaliate with her arms and legs bound helplessly to her side! The only question is how much can she take?"
Voices rang out, screaming Kozu's name as Team Urameshi watched helplessly from below. Tears were streaming freely down the girls' faces as they watched, unable to do anything.
:Stupid...how can this happen?: Kozu thought, in horror, :I thought I was better then this! I can't lose now...I WON'T LET THIS HAPPEN!!: "ROSE STORM!" With a sudden flare of her energy, rose petals burst seemingly out of nowhere, rushing in a whirlwind towards Midnight. Many of them struck, leaving small cuts where they touched. Midnight shrieked and flew to the left; the rose petals followed her.
"NOT SO COCKY NOW, ARE YOU?" Kozu roared, laughing. While Midnight was occupied, she summoned her powers of air and pulled her binds apart before wrapping a shield around herself. Now no bonds could restrain her; they couldn't even reach her through her shield of air. Kozu floated gently down to the ground as Midnight landed there herself, her clothes cut in many places, blood streaming from many little cuts.
"Nice," Yusuke commented.
"She's just like Kurama!" Kuwabara exclaimed, "With her Rose whirlwind thingie, next thing you know she'll be pulling out---"
"ROSE WHIP!" Kuwabara didn't need to finish his sentence; Kozu had produced a rose and transformed it into the same thorny whip Kurama used.
"She's like a clone!" Yusuke said. Kurama didn't say anything.
Midnight leapt backwards as Kozu swung at her with the whip. She smiled slyly.
"This has been fun," she called, to Kozu, "But I think it's time we ended this!"
"I agree!" Kozu agreed, swinging her whip and giving chase. Midnight stretched out a hand and Kozu's whip stopped in mid-air.
"What the--?" The whip turned and whipped back towards Kozu, piercing through her barrier since she was holding it and wrapping tightly around her, the thorns puncturing her arms, back, and chest and drawing blood.
"You forgot," Midnight said, "I can control plants, too." Kozu quickly pulled her energy out of the whip, and it reduced to a white rose; which she quickly stored in her hair. Midnight quickly advanced and struck Kozu on the head; the girl fell to the ground, out like a light.
"ON THE GROUND!" Frogari exclaimed, "Ten count!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Arashi and Niyali wailed, "GET UP!!"
"Six! Seven!"
"KOZUUUUUUUUUUU!"
"Nine! Ten! And Midnight is the winner!" Arashi and Niyali raced out onto the field, picking up their unconscious friend and gently carrying her back to Team Urameshi. But they didn't stop there.
"We're taking her back to the hotel room," Arashi called over her shoulder, "She needs to rest!"
"One of them should go with them," Yusuke said, "Make sure they don't get lost."
"I'll go," Kuwabara said, starting forwards, "You guys make sure you win, okay?" At Yusuke's nod, he raced after the little girls, "Hey guys, wait up!"
"So," Yusuke sighed, turning to Kurama and Hiei, "Who's fighting next?"
***
Blah Blah Blah...spoiler, anybody?
Anyway, it's Kurama's turn to fight, and he's up against a demon with some really nasty powers. And we mean nasty...he's in for a tough time, because this guy can produce gases that paralyze, poison, put to sleep, or even turn back time. And we all know what that means...yes, it's disgusting, it's familiar, and the chapter's up, so hit the button and let's move on!