"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Kurama laughed loudly. His face was crimson and the dirt around him had turned into mud because of the tears that flowed steadily down his cheeks.

Sano and Joey looked at each other.

"I'm seriously getting sick of this." Sano said. "How about you?"

"Uh-huh." Joey replied. "Let's beat him up."

Joey and Sano leapt for Kurama.

The scene faded to black and the word "CENSORED" appeared in large white letters.

(Sorry, everybody, but there's some pretty gory stuff going on back there. It's impossible to describe the agony those two are inflicting on Kurama. Besides, I really don't want to poison anyone's mind any further cough-stalker-cough)

By the time the picture was restored, Joey and Sano were sitting on the bench, looking content, Kurama was gone, and Yahiko was sitting in his spot. Wong was in right field, Weevil was behind the plate, and Marie Louise had taken Kenshin's place on first. In addition, Argo had vanished and Genkai had taken his seat.

"How did you get here?" Hiei asked coldly.

"That man who was here before, Argo Gulski, he just disappeared into a wave of light while you were all watching Kurama get thrashed. I decided I would take his place and save time." Genkai replied, sipping a cup of tea.

"Well, I guess we're ready to begin." Tea said. "But, before that, I have a few words I would like to share with you." She unfurled a list that covered the entire floor of the announcer's box and cleared her throat. "My Theory on Friendship and How it Affects Humans: by Tea Gardner. Friendship is a many faceted thing. On one side, there is love, On another is trust. Still another is hope. Then some more love, some caring, a teaspoon of sugar and three cups of flour. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and- JOEY! Why do you always have to mess with my preplanned speeches?"

"Keep reading, Tea!" Joey yelled. "It gets better!"

"Okay!" Tea said. "And put them in the oven at three hundred and fifty degrees for thirty-nine hours, making sure to baste thoroughly every ten seconds with a mixture of cherry soda, dirt, scrap metal, ripped up cards from Bandit Keith's deck, and whiteout. Ew, Joey, that's disgusting!"

"Keep reading!" Joey urged. "It gets better!"

"Okay..." Tea said uncertainly. "Remove it from the oven and set it in a bomb shelter for twenty-two days, making sure the temperature stays at a constant negative one thousand degrees Fahrenheit. Then, on the evening of the harvest moon, sacrifice it to the gnomes, along with one virgin maiden. If a virgin maiden can't be found, substitute one evil friendship demon - I wonder where you would find one of those - but remember to bind and gag the sacrifice so her screaming doesn't wake the neighbors. Also, you should wear the traditional sacrificial outfit of a cape made from a curtain, one tall orange sock with black smiley faces on it (worn on the left foot, of course), an electric eel, and a patch of camel hair placed strategically upon your forehead, all topped by a pair of... very revealing... frilly pink underwear... Joey, that is so wrong. Where did you get all of this stuff?"

Joey shrugged. "I know some people."

(Thank you, thank you.)

"That's it." Tea said, throwing the paper away. "From now on, I'm winging it. Just for the prank, Joey, I'm going to review everything I know about the joys of friendship and love. The next few days should be very enlightening."

All of the players gave Joey the Death Glare.

The scene fades to black and the word "CENSORED" reappears, now in huge bloody letters.

(Once again, I'm afraid the following scene must be omitted. It's worse than with Kurama. ((peeks behind screen)) Ow, that had to hurt. It'll be a few minutes, so I'll keep you all entertained with a song. If you can guess what it's supposed to be, you get a prize!)

I looked around the screen that bugged me so

And the fight goes on and I heave a huge laugh at him

It's heavy the anvil that they hit him with

Then it cracked like it was just a little stick

Now the huge fight down in the dugout

Has let up a bit

But they really are hurting him now

Those wooden baseball bats I

Guess they break too easy after all

If I could only end this game

I'm gonna have to or they'll strike. Yeah

Everything's real messed up

Inside my head

Every second

I sing

Is torturous to their ears

But that won't stop these notes from deep inside my brain

And soon I know

I'll be

Residing in a padded room

And now I must

End this song

It must seem really messed up to you

I don't understand it anymore

Caution: Contents May Be Hot

Whyyyyyyyyy Meeeeeeee?

(THANK YOU! I know you love me! No, please, you're embarrassing! ((peeks behind screen again)) Okay, they're done now. Back to the game.)

Saisaichi sat in Joey's place, surrounded by bits of baseball bat and large red spots that look suspiciously like blood, but I'll just write them off as ketchup.

Up in the announcer's box, Tea babbled her head off about all the good things that can come out of friendship.

On the field, all of the players walk around the field in a zombie-like trance, ignoring Tea. They pick up all the baseballs they can find and are gathering them in a pile on the pitcher's mound. All of them have ketchup stains on their hands and clothing.

Only Sano was not in a trance. He stared at everyone else.

"What are you guys doing?" Sano asked.

The other players/zombies faced him. They circled him slowly, then leapt for his throat.

Static suddenly covers the screen.

(I think it's time I end this particular section of the story. The censors are glaring at me. I guess they're getting tired of hitting the little button. Why is everyone attacking people? What's with the sudden zombie-like players? What are they planning to do with all those baseballs? Find out in the next ((and last)) part of the Great Cartoon Baseball Game.)