I'm very sorry for the long wait. I would have updated sooner, but there have been too many major events happening to me all at once. I still may be a little slow on updating, but hopefully it won't be as long as this delay… Thanks for all of your reviews.

Chapter Five: The Devil in Us All

-Makai, first level-

"Please, I beg for my life. I won't fail him again."

"You had your chance, Sureiyaa"

"Please, Ijin. They have Yoko Kurama on their side. I couldn't win against Yoko."

"Then you should have done your best to delay them; even if it meant dying." Ijin had Sureiyaa by the throat and lifted off the ground.

"Please, let me try again. I'll do better this time."

"Too late. They've already gone down to the next level. You should be glad that Lord Suzaku allowed you to live this long, but now he doesn't desire you to live anymore." With that Ijin crushed Sureiyaa's neck and dropped him to the ground, dead.

-Makai, second level-

The area where they were looked like a barren cave. Yusuke looked around, "Oh great, tunnels. Which one?"

"If Kuwabara was here, he could use his Spirit Awareness."

A long silence. "Well, we can't just hang around trying to decide. We might as well just pick one." Yusuke randomly picked a tunnel and headed in that direction. The other two decided to follow.

A few hours later

They reached the end of the tunnel, but it led into a room that leads nowhere. "Great, a dead-end."

"Guess we'll just have to go back and pick another one."

"We're lucky you didn't lead us into a trap." Hiei was less than pleased about going someplace for no reason.

"I don't see you doing anything to help, Hiei."

"Arguing isn't going to get us anywhere, you two. Yusuke's right, though. We don't really have any other option."

"…"

A few more hours later, down another randomly picked tunnel

"Another dead-end."

"That leaves us five more tunnels."

"Or maybe these rooms are hiding something and you're just not seeing it."

Kurama and Yusuke turn to Hiei. Kurama spoke, "that's a good point, Hiei. Perhaps there is more to these rooms than what meets the eyes."

They spend a few minutes searching the area for any hidden details, but find nothing. "We're wasting time."

Kurama finally found something, "wait a minute. This section of the wall seems a little out of place." He examined it further. He then backed away from it, "Yusuke, try shooting your Spirit Gun here."

"What's that going to accomplish?"

"Trust me."

"Whatever." Yusuke fired his Spirit Gun at the section of wall. After the dust settled a little they discovered that it opened up to another room.

"…" They all went inside that room and found several demons all prepared. "Great, I knew it. We walked into a trap."

A few uninteresting minutes later

"These demons are still weak."

"True, but do seem a little craftier than the ones in the first level."

A look around revealed that this room has about five more tunnels. "I guess we pick another one?"

"No. You go no further."

They all turned around to find a devil-looking demon standing behind them.

Hiei drew his sword, "I grow tired of weak demons claiming to be strong while trying to delay us."

"Really? How can you hope to defeat me, when you can't even defeat yourself?"

They all looked confused. Yusuke spoke, "what are you talking about? I think you have a few screws loose."

Before even Hiei could react (that's fast), the demon fired an energy beam into each of the boys.

"What the hell was that supposed to do?!"

"Patience."

A few seconds later a shadow copy of each of them faded into existence right in front of them.

"I had to ask…"

"Alright, boys, kill them!"

All of the shadow copies spoke at once, "yes, Master Ijin." Each copy went after its original.

I apologize for making these chapters short, but I have my reasons. I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Please review. If you flame, though, I will laugh at you.