"Obligation and Duty"

Chapter 33

.oO{Mwahaha, Rei, Kokai, Sachi and a few others are mine. Kanu, Kireau, Ces, Saori are other peeps, and Ishida is half mine. Don't sue.}

#Ranma-san pops up# Tell them about what you're thinking. #...#

#Author throws cold water on him# No, they'll find out soon enough. #Ranma-san is now Ranma-chan#

#Ranma-chan:# WHAT'D YOU DO THAT FOR?! #Ranma-chan tries to dry her hair#

#Author:# Sorry, it was a muscle spasm. #^_^#

*****

Lightning could be seen as the match started, but soon cleared up and the crowd started to calm down. Koto couldn't say anything for a little while because the crowd was so noisy, but Chu and Yusuke just stood there and sized each other up.

"You know," Chu finally said, "I've heard lots about you. But I think you're just a scared little kid that gets lucky."

Yusuke balled his hands into fists and clenched his teeth. Chuu said something and then uncovered his spirit power.

"Watch carefully. I want to know what you think of my stumbling little feet," Chu said and started moving around the ring like last time. Yusuke just stood there watching Chu stumble a circle around him.

Koto rubbed her eyes, "Wow, people. I guess the loon has talent after all. His moves are so fast and bizarre, I can't even tell where he is."

Rei could barely see Chu, so she watched Yusuke's eyes. He looked back and forth until finally he stopped. In what was about six seconds, Chu had karate chopped Yusuke-- who blocked it with his arms-- but then Chu punched him in the stomach. As Yusuke flew across the ring, Chu jumped into the air and punched him back to the ground. Yusuke just laid there, holding his stomach.

"Well, even with this killer view, I have a feeling we've missed some things. Let's check it out with our instant replay feature!" Koto said and turned to the big screen over the crowd. It showed Chu actually hitting Yusuke five times and throwing him to the ground with a smack to the back of the neck. Koto and the crowd of demons were loving the beating Yusuke was taking. Yusuke was still laying on the ground, though.

Chu walked over to where Yusuke was laying and asked him, "Had enough have ya?"

Yusuke opened his eyes and jumped up as he said, "Of course not," making Chu stumble backwards.

"This game has just begun!" Yusuke said and started throwing punches at Chu. Chu moved from side to side, dodging the blows with his eyes closed the whole time. "Would you stop jiggling!?" Yusuke growled, annoyed that he couldn't hit the tall man. Chu stopped and threw a punch, but Yusuke swiped it away. Chu appeared behind him and gave another karate-chop like punch, and Yusuke blocked again with his forearms. But Chu was still too quick; he threw a punch and landed it squarely on Yusuke's jaw.

Chu kept throwing the punches as Yusuke stumbled back. Yusuke finally caught his balance when Chu stopped, and he spit out some blood and wiped his chin. Charging forward, he punched at Chu's midsection more than five times, but each time the man just moved to the side. Kuwabara tried to yell some advice, but Yusuke didn't want it.

"Kuwabara! Do me a favor and shut the hell UP!" Yusuke yelled back right when he finally landed a blow on Chu's face. Chu flew backwards and Yusuke tried catch his breath. Chu disappeared and reappeared behind Yusuke. He lifted his leg and threw Yusuke across the ring and into the wall with a great roundhouse kick.

"Wow! What a blow! I wish we could watch all that in the instant replay, but we don't have enough time. Suffice to say, Yusuke has been buried under a pile of rubble!" Koto announced. Chu belched and stumbled backwards again, falling on his butt yet another time.

"'ey, Foxy, could you lend me a hand?" he asked Koto. She handed him the mic and he yelled, "YEAH! I still need another one!"

Koto pulled out her other mic and translated, "Yes, as with all Suiken(?) fighting masters, Chu gets more effective the more he drinks. I believe he's asking us to be patient as he aquires the rest of his--"

She was interrupted by Chu pulling her down and rubbing her head. Chu said "Exactly," but it was somewhat drowned out by Koto's laughing. Chu and Koto sat there and he asked, "What are the chances of you and I gettin' together?"

"Slim to none," was her answer. Some demon yelled for them to stop and count because Yusuke was out of the ring.

"Oh, wake up jerk! I was just checking on Chu to make sure he was fit to fight! 1, 2," Koto started counting. By 5, Chu started mocking Yusuke. And at 9, Yusuke jumped from the rubble, surprising Chu and just about everyone else.

"That was close. I coulda been killed if I didn't guard myself," Yusuke said, rolling his arm and holding his shoulder. Kuwabara seemed to understand what had happened. "I get it! The old 'see-it-coming-and-block-with-the-shoulder' trick! What a champ!"

Yusuke finished stretching his shoulder and asked, "So one dumb mistake and I'm pushing up daisies, right?"

"Yeah, pretty much so, kid," Chu answered.

"You know, this whole life or death thing; I'm startin' to like it," Yusuke licked his lip. "Lemme guess, you too?"

"There ain't any pleasure in playing if it ain't for keeps," Chu answered.

"Looks like we finally found something in common," Yusuke said and started moving his shoulder again. Koto looked back and forth between the fighters and said, "You can continue any time now."

Yusuke lifted his arm and got ready to shoot off a Spirit Gun at Chu. He moved his arm, though, and shot the ceiling above some of the demon crowd. He smirked at Chu, "My Spirit Gun. You better get to know it. I still have three left and one could probably kill you."

Koto started saying, "The Dark Tournament isn't the happy games. Where are the cheats? the blackmail? the dirty backstabs?" and Kuwabara started yelling at Yusuke for being such a copy-cat: Kuwabara was the one with the honor code. Chu laughed at Yusuke, "Everyone's shoutin' at you now. You wanted a fair fight!"

Chu kept laughing until he almost threw up. "I think my drink wants to come back and say hello," he held his mouth. Yusuke just stood there with a bumfuzzled look on his face. Chu was over it, and wiped off his chin, "Right, it's about time. You've got your secret technique and now I've got mine."

Chu reached behind his back and everyone waited for some terrible weapon, but what he pulled out was really a small canteen. "This is the strongest alchey(?) ever made. It's called 'Ogre Killer'."

"Oh yeah, people, that's some strong stuff. Take a sip of it and you'll wake up the next day in jail," Koto elaborated. They looked at Chu, who was gulping it down. Chu threw the empty metal canteen on the ground and started to tense up. His power came out again and eclipsed the whole stadium. The crowd hushed and watched as Chu ground his teeth and flexed his muscles. His arms got bigger and he looked like he was in pain. In a second, though, Chu stopped his aura and ran to the edge of the ring, holding his mouth.

He crouched down and threw up, making Koto and a lot of other spectators trip. Koto recovered and went over to help him as Rinku started talking almost to himself.

"Chu might look funny, but actually he's becoming invincible. You might think the drink is Chu's secret technique, but it's actually the form that the drink brings out."

Yusuke listened to a little of his tale and turned back to Koto and Chu. It seemed Chu was flirting with the fox announcer again, but he was sober.

"I think you should act more excited, kid. After all, this is what you've been waitin' for," Chu said and held his hands in front of his chest, making a little circle with one palm up and one down. Electric sparks formed in the middle of it and Chu's energy and alcohol fed it, making a bigger ball. Chu finished powering it and held it in his right hand, "Time for us to test our powers."

He smacked the round energy with his left hand and started running sideways. "I was waiting for the end fight," Yusuke said and ran after him. Chu stopped suddenly and wound up like a pitcher would.

"See you on the other side!" he yelled and threw the ball. Yusuke jumped in the air and shot off a Spirit Gun. The two energy balls clashed, but neither won. Yusuke and Chu charged at each other and started throwing super-fast punches.

"It's impossible to count how many punches have been landed. Or who's even winning. I don't even know why I'm talking," Koto said into the mic. Chu drew back his arm and hit Yusuke in the jaw, sending him back, but Yusuke recovered quickly. He kneeled down with his right hand on the ground to recover his balance, but Chu powered up a spirit ball again. Only this time it was more than four times the size of the first one! He threw it at Yusuke, who mentally cursed himself for landing in such a position that he couldn't defend.

Yusuke raised his right arm quickly and said, "Spirit Gun: DOUBLE!"

It broke through Chuu's blast, but the huge, orange ball kept going. Yusuke's Spirit Gun Double hit Chu right when Chu's energy ball hit Yusuke. When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left. Koto wondered aloud if it was truly a draw until Rinku looked up, "Up there!"

Yusuke and Chu dropped back to the ring; landing on their feet. Both fighters were breathing hard and had somehow mysteriously lost their shirts. Chu asked Yusuke if he had anymore energy left. He didn't. They started laughing at their own helplessness, leaving everyone outside the ring to think that last blast was a little too much for their brains. They settled down and Chu said, "Hey, I know a way we can settle like a couple of manly-boys."

Yusuke smirked, "I've got the balls."

Chu drew two nice-sized daggers out of his leggings. He flipped them over, "Let's do this with a knife-edged death match."

"A.. knife-edged... death match?" Yusuke asked, somewhat confused. A few people watching muttered amongst themselves about what a 'Knife-edged Death Match' was as Koto reminded them all that no weapon was off limits. Including small rodents.

Yusuke heard a small 'phwee' from the sidelines and looked over to see Chiba throroughly annoyed with Koto's last statement. Chu started walking towards him with the knives, so he quickly turned his attention back. Chu didn't stuff the knives into Yusuke's chest, though. He shoved them into the ground; one, at the most, 7 feet from the other.

"Take off your shoes and put your foot in front of the knife," Chu instructed. They both stood inside the limits of the knives, but Chu was still atleast a foot and a half taller than Yusuke-- giving him something of a handicap. Chu proceeded to tell Yusuke the rules.

"The edge of that knife, is the edge of your world. If you step outside that line, it's sudden death. And I mean sudden death. We only use our bodies: no weapons. Can you do that?"

Yusuke smirked, "No sweat."

Koto seemed perturbed that they had made the rules; that was the job of their well-paid committee. And that's who they were waiting on at the moment; the committee needed to give the 'OK' for Chu and Yusuke to start their match. They gave their answer: no. The crowd wasn't happy with that decision. The committee changed their minds and repealed their first decision, but didn't say yes. Just as the match began, storm clouds gathered over the ring. Lightning and thunder dominated the once clear sky and Koto made note of the new weather developments.

The wind was blowing litter and other small particles about, and two huge lightning bolts shot straight from the sky and into the knives. Yusuke and Chu just stood there, waiting for the committee to give the OK. The crowd was starting to get rowdy and Koto was becoming nervous. The sky darkened and the committee finally gave the go ahead. Koto yelled into the mic, "Alright, people! Get ready for supreme brutality!"

The lights in the stadium spotlighted the fighters as they began. They landed just about every punch on the other, but neither took a step forward, nor back. They kept punching and punching, but neither one seemed to be getting tired. Chu finally punched Yusuke hard enough in the chest to push his heel against the knife's edge, making the blood spill out of the fresh wound. Yusuke smirked and used that opportunity to barrage Chuu with punches, making him also cut his heel. Chu gave Yusuke a big punch in the stomach and the crowd started chanting "Chu! Chu!"

Keiko ran through the doorway and latched onto Kuwabara.

"Make him stop," she said.

Kuwabara looked down at her, "I can't, even if I wanted to. I can't make Yusuke stop, because he has a promise to keep." Kuwabara went on to explain a lot more, but Rei only half listened to their conversation.

Yusuke laughed when he punched Chu, adding to Kuwabara's little speech. They kept punching each other more, each time getting harder than the last. Finally, Chuu punched Yusuke hard enough so he wouldn't recover as quickly as the last times and moved his head in for a headbutt. Yusuke saw it coming and pushed against the knife so he could get his head up there to counter. Lightning struck Chu's knife when they hit, and for a few seconds, neither man moved. But then Chuu's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell to the cement. Koto counted to 10, but Chu couldn't get up.

Koto announced the winner of the round as Yusuke and his team. The demon crowd wasn't happy with the turn-out and Yusuke looked very tired. Kuwabara hopped into the ring and he gave Yusuke a thumbs-up. Yusuke gave it back as Rinku ran up to Chu.

"Oh boy, look what Yusuke did to you," he said. Then he noticed the ground, "Your skull cracked the cement. Yusuke won, but he's so small... he should teach the big blue oaf how to fight."

Chu sat up and turned to Yusuke, "Urameshi... we agreed to fight a death match, mate. Finish me off."

Yusuke stood there and stared at Chu, was was very serious. Yusuke only smiled and gave him a wink and thumbs-up, "Nah, we'll fight again when you're better."

Chu smiled back, "You're ripper."

Yusuke nodded and Kuwabara helped him hobble from the ring. The demon fans were booing at Chu and Rinku. Keiko had gone back to her seat, but Shizuru was still off somewhere.

"Hey, if you want a piece of us, why don't you come down here and take it?" the short kid yelled. The crowd kept yelling, though. 'Finish him off, Urameshi. We want some blood!' or 'Yeah, c'mon. Kill that drunken loser!'

Yusuke got mad at them. "SHUT UP!!!!" he screamed. "If you idiots got somethin' to say, say it. But say it to my face, or else say it to my fist."

The crowd was silent. Yusuke's gang just stared at the demons, and none dared to say anything. Yusuke caught Toguro's eye and gave him the Finger. Toguro remained where he was in front of one of the doorways to the stairs and didn't even give Yusuke a glare. But that could've been because of his sunglasses.

Their first fight was over, but how many more remained?

(?)= okay, I'm actually watching this as I write it, soooo..... I'm writing what it sounds like. Forgive me, peeps, this is harder than I thought! So also, this is another one of my really good episode summaries. *rolls eyes*