Ch. 5 Power Struggle

Genki: Hey moron, get off your lazy ass and get to work.

Neo Zaku: -sweatdrop- Ummmmm.... right anyway here's the next chapter. Enjoy.

"Well that was stupid!" Yusuke shouts as slams the door shut of the hotel room. A slight splintering of wood is heard as the door is nearly ripped off it's hinges by the force. Yusuke sighs as he flops onto the bed before sitting up and glaring at Kurama. "What's the deal Kurama? I mean I could have taken that guy easy."

Kurama shakes his head as he turns his attention towards the door using his plant skills to repair some of the visually noticeable damage. "You underestimate our opponent Yusuke. Something about him was not right."

"You mean besides the glowing eye or fact I punched him through a wall and he got up. Or maybe the fact he survived your rose whip without even a scratch to show for it." Yusuke retorts sarcastically.

"Yes, the way he moved seems to indicate military training of some sort." Kurama replies ignoring Yusuke's sarcasm. "His haircut would support that theory as well. Hmmmm..."

"Hmmmm what Kurama? Whenever you do that it means you know something." Yusuke says fiddling with the TV remote.

"Nothing really I just was remembering something Koenma told me before I left to pick you up for this case. It could be related but on the other hand it could just be a coincidence." Kurama admits.

"Come on Kurama, you should know by now whenever it comes down to it being related or just coincidence with us it's always related." Yusuke says stressing the always.

"There is some truth to that."

"So spill it already. What did pacifier breath says?" Yusuke inquires, getting interested.

"To sum it up simply years ago the US government forces working with Japanese authorities were going arrest several crime lords. Crime lords they believed were dealing in biological weapons."

"I take it those 'weapons' were demons then."

"Correct Yusuke. The results were disastrous for those involved and nearly spirit world."

"Huh, how could that be? I mean sure those poor guys were all killed but how could that have nearly been disastrous for spirit world?"

"Remember to run properly Spirit World cannot allow knowledge of the supernatural to become widespread. And since the entire event had been recorded by the cameras mounted on the helmets of the US forces involved the risk of such a thing happening became great. Fortunately enough Koenma was able to render all the footage useless."

"I have a feeling I'm missing something. How could this be related to our case?"

"I didn't say everyone was killed. There was apparently a single survivor of the incident. But it is unlikely that he could be the person who confronted use. The survivor was human and grievously injured to the point of incapacitation." Kurama explains trying to assure himself.

Yusuke sighs and flips on the TV watching several stations for a few minute before screaming quietly in frustration. Turning the TV off and tossing the remote onto the other bed Yusuke grabs a coat and begins heading for the door.

"Here, go ahead and watch some TV. I can't understand on anyway so I'm going out for a walk."

"That isn't wise. Whatever we encountered earlier may still be out there."

"I'll be real extra careful. I promise." Yusuke says nonchalantly as he closes the door.

"Oh Yusuke." Kurama sighs.

Yusuke steps onto the streets and despite it being later in the evening the city seems, if anything, even brighter then before. A few people were still out at this hour, mostly tourists or those bar hopping or clubbing. A silver painted man is performing farther down the street, a homeless person pushing a cart filled with clothes and bottles and other items round out the scene. Out of the corner of his eye Yusuke spots someone moving in his direction. Not too unusual in a city, but the fact it kept turning on the same streets he did was. Seems I have an admirer. Kurama would be upset if I did something this close to the center of the city. Just means I'll have to move our little party somewhere less crowded.

Hopping onto a trolley Yusuke rides it to the outskirts of the city. Moving towards the shoreline he smiles as he hears the sounds of footsteps following close behind him. Turning around slowly he chuckles.

"I must say normally someone doesn't follow me for so long unless they have something to tell me or they want to fight me. So which is it demon?"

"Ahhhhh, Yusuke Yurameshi, age 16, formerly of the Sarayaski Jr. High school. A rather checkered past including a death certificate."

"Ok who are you and how do you know so much about me?" Yusuke shouts angrily.

The figure simply pulls back the hood on his coat revealing his cybernetics and red glowing eye. "You may call me Deimos. I have another name but you have no need of it. As for the information it is all quite public information through the proper channels."

"Well if it isn't my new favorite punching bag. I hope you aren't feeling cocky after that first fight just because Kurama had us leave early. He didn't want us endangering any bystanders."

"Well then it is rather convenient that we are now is such an isolated location." Deimos responds calmly.

"Hey, you're smarter then you look. Out here I can cut loose a little more."

"Me too." Deimos responds drawing a large pistol from his coat quickly and firing directly at Yusuke.

Yusuke just laughs as the bullet comes whizzing towards him. "Oh come, do you really expect that to do anything?" Moments before it hits however Yusuke's limited awareness warns him to move out of the way. With as close as the round is now Yusuke could see it is covered in a thin but super compact layer of spirit energy. Unable to move completely out of the way Yusuke is struck in the shoulder by the projectile. The large .50 caliber bullet only digs past the first few layers of his skin before halting. The sheer momentum of the impact sends Yusuke spinning for a second before he stops holding his shoulder. It would heal in a few minutes but something told Yusuke he wouldn't have those few minutes for just healing.

"What the hell kind of gun is that?"

"A very unique one, one especially designed for killing demons. It is surprising that you survived being hit even in a non critical location. Normally the size and power of the round make nearly any torso hit fatal."

"Well if that isn't a kick in the teeth. Don't plan on hitting me with another one of those bullets of yours. I didn't dodge the first one because I really didn't expect it to be able to do anything. Now I know better." Yusuke responds snidely.

As Deimos fires twice more Yusuke rushes forward, easily dodging the rounds flying past him and closing into extremely close range. Gathering energy into his fist he smiles at the surprised look on Deimos's face as it is released.

"Shotgun!" Yusuke shouts as hundreds of powerful bolts of spirit energy exploded into the Deimos's body with only a few escaping to the sides. Hurtling upward Deimos is tossed several feet backward and crashes into a sand dune. Smoke tendrils curling up from his body his remains motionless for several moments before slowly rising. Hundreds on tiny impact craters are slowly melting and reforming back normal, some still smoking slightly.

"Oh come on. What does it take to make you stay down? You're worse then trying to knock Kuwabara out." Yusuke whines looking annoyed.

Meanwhile back at the hotel Kurama hears a tapping on the window. Walking over he is only mildly surprised to see Botan floating outside. Opening it up Kurama lets Botan fly in before closing it again.

"Kurama is Yusuke here? There's something I need to tell both of you right away."

"No he isn't. He went for a walk about an hour or so ago. Why? What has happened?"

"Well apparently Kuwabara and Hiei have been missing for almost two weeks now. All Koenma knows is that they are somewhere in demon world."

"What reason could they have for going there?"

"We don't know. Koenma wants you and Yusuke to come back immediately to help look for them."

"What about our mission here? Yusuke and I ran into a person we think may have been the demon we were supposed to find."

"So did you beat him?"

"Unfortunately not. He was sufficiently powerful enough that the amount of force required to defeat him more then likely would have been quite damaging to the local surroundings."

"And Yusuke just decided to go out for a walk? ALONE?" Botan asks somewhere between panic and rage.

"Yes, well, Yusuke can take care of himself. Besides I doubt that whoever it was will be making further trouble tonight. He didn't seem to have much spirit energy left in him so hopefully after his fight with us he needed rest." Kurama explains trying to be reassuring.

"I hope your right Kurama." Botan sighs looking out the window at the nighttime skyline.