"Obligation and Duty"
Chapter 44
.oO{Oh wow. Look at all these chapters! And mainly, these last few chapters are just ep.summaries. I haven't seen these eps, and I don't know if you guys have either. sigh Sorry.}
The last match of the finals has finally started. Toguro took off his overcoat, and everyone watched in anticipation. Juri called the beginning of the fight and Toguro says he'll test Yusuke first. He summons only 80% of his power but that was enough to disintegrate the weaker demons in the stadium. In a second, Hiei had hopped onto the wall, grabbed Rei and set her down on the field next to them as Koenma made a shield to protect them from Toguro's flaming energy.
Yusuke attacked Toguro and they exchange a few punches. Yusuke dodged an attack, but the energy from Toguro's punch obliterated people in the crowd. Yusuke looked behind him quickly as he saw Toguro's next attack coming and assumed a defensive stance. A second before Toguro's fist should have hit Yusuke, he stopped himself. "I'm sorry. It'd be unfair if I hit you from this angle."
"I didn't know you were considerate towards women," Yusuke snapped. Keiko, Shizuru, Botan and Yukina were in the crowd directly behind Yusuke. Hiei commented, "They're not using all their powers yet. They're just testing each other."
Toguro asked Yusuke to show him Genkai's power, and Yusuke started to do a Spirit Gun. Toguro put his arms up to defend himself, but Yusuke stopped. Running at Toguro, he started to punch him. "Your punches are too weak," Toguro told him. Toguro tried to punch him, but missed and destroyed the battlefield. Yusuke was sent flying into the air and he chose that moment to shoot his Spirit Gun. It hit Toguro, broke through the stadium wall and cleared a long path into the forest.
A piece of the wall had hit Juri and knocked her unconscious. "Where's that judge? Why isn't she counting? Toguro is outside the stadium!" Kuwabara said.
"Calling a judge would be pointless. Yusuke is outside the ring, too, since there IS no ring anymore," Hiei said. Yusuke stood there, staring out the hole. "The Tournament rules have no meaning in this fight," Kurama added. He waited a few seconds before saying, "Toguro didn't have enough time to defend himself."
"Yeah, but what if he comes back unharmed?" Hiei asked. Kuwabara twitched, "Not even Toguro could resist that."
Toguro came waltzing back to the stadium; missing his sunglasses, but completely unharmed. "I don't believe it," he told Yusuke, "You're too weak."
Toguro powered up, making a windblast powerful enough to gash Yusuke's cheek and said, "I was a fool, thinking that you might be stronger. You're not worthy of my 100%. Just 80% is more than enough to destroy you."
The crowd mumbled to each other how awesome Toguro was; to be able to withstand Urameshi's Spirit Gun was something. Koto even said Yusuke wasn't going to survive this fight, which brought on a short conversation with George. Yusuke smirked at Toguro and pulled off the green bands he had around his wrists, showing everyone the golden light chain that was attatched to his wrists and ankles. Yusuke shouted, "ANTE!!" and the chains broke, setting a giant blue Spirit bird free to fly around the stadium and merge with his body again.
The crowd turned their comments around in favor of Urameshi and Toguro seemed put-out. "So you thought you could beat me that easily?" he asked. To answer him, Yusuke ran at him faster than Kurama and even Hiei expected. He started punching the tall man, knocking him to the ground. Toguro spit blood, but Yusuke kept punching, even strong enough to break the ground beneath them. Yusuke looked at Toguro and jumped out of the crater they had fallen in.
"Don't stop!" Hiei yelled, but Yusuke seemed paralyzed by what he had seen in Toguro's eyes. Toguro stood up slowly, but his muscles had shrunk; making him look a lot younger and weaker. "It's like the wind before the storm," Kurama said, feeling a little nervous. Hiei agreed as Toguro looked at Yusuke.
"For the first time, a real adversary," Toguro started transforming again, "We will fight with dignity. I'll use my 100%."
Dozens of people in the crowd turned to ashes because of Toguro's purple energy. Toguro's skin turned grey and his muscles distorted wickedly. The air blacked out and all that could be seen was Toguro's terrifying form. Light came back and Hiei gaped, "Could that THING ever have been human?"
Kuwabara yelled to Yusuke to hit Toguro before he reached 100%, but Yusuke was dead-still. Toguro finished transforming and snapped his fingers. The shockwave from the snap hit Yusuke in the forehead and sent him flying back a few yards. Toguro snapped his fingers a few times more with even more speed. Yusuke managed to block the air waves with his fists but the wind knocked up a dust cloud around him. Toguro stopped snapping until Yusuke emerged from the cloud. He jumped on Toguro, trying to get a punch, but Toguro blocked it with his thumb. He hit Yusuke on the arm, almost breaking his bones, and making a hematoma appear.
Yusuke prepared to shoot the Spirit Gun, and Toguro told him to put all his energy into the attack. Yusuke shot, but the Bullet stopped at Toguro's chest. The tall man picked Yusuke up by the collar and said, "I'm going to tell you something very important. There's something missing in you, the notion of danger. Haven't you accepted death yet?"
Toguro punched him, sending him flying all the way above the crowd and smashing into the back wall. Yusuke fell to his feet and tried to get up. "I could kill you in a minute if I wanted," Toguro said to Yusuke. "I know there's more to the powers Genkai passed onto you. I spent my whole life training to become stronger to face your total strength now. It's a duty you must fulfill."
Two thing protruded from Toguro's shoulder and sucked in the souls of the dead demons in the stadium. Everyone was disgusted at this and Toguro said, "I could take twenty minutes and eat the souls of everyone in this stadium. Isn't there anything you'd like to do to save your friends?"
The audience started panicking. Many ran to the doors, but Sakyo used a remote to close thick metal doors; locking everyone in. Quite a few turned on Toguro, maybe in the hopes of killing him, but he snapped his fingers and sucked in their souls. "Don't interfere. This combat is between Urameshi and me alone."
"Don't involve me in your dirty business!" Yusuke yelled and jumped back into the arena. He punched Toguro in the forehead but Toguro didn't move. The ground beneath him cracked, though.
"Now I understand. You need to be furious to summon your real strength," Toguro said. Yusuke kept punching Toguro, but the man didn't move. The crowd cheered for Yusuke and Hiei snorted, "That was a quick change of heart."
Toguro punched Yusuke once and sent him flying backwards. Yusuke charged back at him, but Toguro grabbed his fist. He squeezed it and Yusuke cried out in pain. Toguro started punching Yusuke and after a few hits, Yusuke spit blood. Toguro stepped on Yusuke's lower section and asked, "So you won't do anything? Will you stay here and see me eat your friends?"
"Now that I'm with 100% of my powers, I'll do anything to make you stronger," Toguro said and threw an airwave disk at the Girls. The disk hit the wall next to where Puu was protecting the Girls with a shield like Koenma's. "I'm not going to miss next time," Toguro warned Yusuke. Yusuke attacked him, but he was still too weak. Toguro had no trouble pushing him away and making him collide with the wall. "I'm disappointed, Urameshi. I thought I had found someone of my level."
Puu came flying over to Toguro and told him to kill Yusuke's friends in order to make him stronger. Yusuke gaped at the blue creature with Genkai's voice and Puu went on, "He won't wake up until he sees the people he loves being killed."
"If the fight goes on like this, everybody will die," Puu/Genkai told Yusuke. "If we have to get your real strength out, sacrificing one life is better than sacrificing all."
Yusuke stood up and yelled at him/her for even suggesting that. He/She slapped him with his/her blue ear, "Yusuke, this is the world you chose to live in. The weaker ones have to submit to whatever falls upon them."
Toguro was annoyed with the two of them and snapped his fingers, hitting them both. He said he agreed with Genkai and turned to the Urameshi team.
"Which one should I kill?" he asked. His obvious choice had been Rei, but he mumbled to himself, "If I kill that one, I'd have ALL of them fighting me."
Kurama and Hiei had put their shoulders together with Rei behind them, making a human shield, but Toguro chose Kuwabara. Yusuke tried to stop him, but he was too weak to even stop Toguro from making his way--albeit slowly-- toward Kuwabara.
"We have to fight," Kurama said. Hiei snorted, "How? Kurama, you don't have any energy left."
"Neither do you," Kurama replied. "Are you thinking about running away?"
Hiei twitched, "I'm not a coward. I'll fight him on my own if I need to."
Yusuke raised his arm to shoot a Spirit Gun, but he couldn't focus before Toguro appeared next to him and pushed his head to and through the ground. Kurama and Hiei stood up, ready to fight, but Kuwabara told them, "I'm going alone. Koenma betted his life on Urameshi, now it's my turn." He challenged Toguro, "The flowers must be cherry blossoms, and the man must be Kazuma Kuwabara! I won't die in vain; therefore I am going to cut you down with the power of my sword!"
Kuwabara charged at him, but Toguro was faster. With his bare hand he ripped through Kuwabara's chest, making more pour out. Kazuma staggered a little and told Yusuke, "Urameshi... you're not weak... Please don't disappoint me..."
Hiei tried to attack Toguro as Koenma, Rei and Kurama ran to Kuwabara. Kurama caught Kuwabara right as he fell to the ground-- dead. Yusuke stared at Kuwabara, laying in a pool of his own blood. "I... couldn't save him. Toguro," he snapped. "You're going down."
"At last," was the only thing Toguro said. Yusuke's energy flared and filled the stadium with blue, ghost-shaped things. Toguro shivered as Yusuke walked towards him, "Uncertainty and hope are consuming my body. For the first time, I'm not sure of my victory. I'm tense and eager... This is the fight I've been waiting for. I hope you feel the same way I do. Thank me for what I'm doing, Urameshi."
He ran at Yusuke and added, "Now we're alike."
"That's not true," Yusuke replied absently.
"Why not?!" Toguro asked and punched Yusuke, who didn't move as he was thrown against the wall.
Chapter 44
.oO{Oh wow. Look at all these chapters! And mainly, these last few chapters are just ep.summaries. I haven't seen these eps, and I don't know if you guys have either. sigh Sorry.}
The last match of the finals has finally started. Toguro took off his overcoat, and everyone watched in anticipation. Juri called the beginning of the fight and Toguro says he'll test Yusuke first. He summons only 80% of his power but that was enough to disintegrate the weaker demons in the stadium. In a second, Hiei had hopped onto the wall, grabbed Rei and set her down on the field next to them as Koenma made a shield to protect them from Toguro's flaming energy.
Yusuke attacked Toguro and they exchange a few punches. Yusuke dodged an attack, but the energy from Toguro's punch obliterated people in the crowd. Yusuke looked behind him quickly as he saw Toguro's next attack coming and assumed a defensive stance. A second before Toguro's fist should have hit Yusuke, he stopped himself. "I'm sorry. It'd be unfair if I hit you from this angle."
"I didn't know you were considerate towards women," Yusuke snapped. Keiko, Shizuru, Botan and Yukina were in the crowd directly behind Yusuke. Hiei commented, "They're not using all their powers yet. They're just testing each other."
Toguro asked Yusuke to show him Genkai's power, and Yusuke started to do a Spirit Gun. Toguro put his arms up to defend himself, but Yusuke stopped. Running at Toguro, he started to punch him. "Your punches are too weak," Toguro told him. Toguro tried to punch him, but missed and destroyed the battlefield. Yusuke was sent flying into the air and he chose that moment to shoot his Spirit Gun. It hit Toguro, broke through the stadium wall and cleared a long path into the forest.
A piece of the wall had hit Juri and knocked her unconscious. "Where's that judge? Why isn't she counting? Toguro is outside the stadium!" Kuwabara said.
"Calling a judge would be pointless. Yusuke is outside the ring, too, since there IS no ring anymore," Hiei said. Yusuke stood there, staring out the hole. "The Tournament rules have no meaning in this fight," Kurama added. He waited a few seconds before saying, "Toguro didn't have enough time to defend himself."
"Yeah, but what if he comes back unharmed?" Hiei asked. Kuwabara twitched, "Not even Toguro could resist that."
Toguro came waltzing back to the stadium; missing his sunglasses, but completely unharmed. "I don't believe it," he told Yusuke, "You're too weak."
Toguro powered up, making a windblast powerful enough to gash Yusuke's cheek and said, "I was a fool, thinking that you might be stronger. You're not worthy of my 100%. Just 80% is more than enough to destroy you."
The crowd mumbled to each other how awesome Toguro was; to be able to withstand Urameshi's Spirit Gun was something. Koto even said Yusuke wasn't going to survive this fight, which brought on a short conversation with George. Yusuke smirked at Toguro and pulled off the green bands he had around his wrists, showing everyone the golden light chain that was attatched to his wrists and ankles. Yusuke shouted, "ANTE!!" and the chains broke, setting a giant blue Spirit bird free to fly around the stadium and merge with his body again.
The crowd turned their comments around in favor of Urameshi and Toguro seemed put-out. "So you thought you could beat me that easily?" he asked. To answer him, Yusuke ran at him faster than Kurama and even Hiei expected. He started punching the tall man, knocking him to the ground. Toguro spit blood, but Yusuke kept punching, even strong enough to break the ground beneath them. Yusuke looked at Toguro and jumped out of the crater they had fallen in.
"Don't stop!" Hiei yelled, but Yusuke seemed paralyzed by what he had seen in Toguro's eyes. Toguro stood up slowly, but his muscles had shrunk; making him look a lot younger and weaker. "It's like the wind before the storm," Kurama said, feeling a little nervous. Hiei agreed as Toguro looked at Yusuke.
"For the first time, a real adversary," Toguro started transforming again, "We will fight with dignity. I'll use my 100%."
Dozens of people in the crowd turned to ashes because of Toguro's purple energy. Toguro's skin turned grey and his muscles distorted wickedly. The air blacked out and all that could be seen was Toguro's terrifying form. Light came back and Hiei gaped, "Could that THING ever have been human?"
Kuwabara yelled to Yusuke to hit Toguro before he reached 100%, but Yusuke was dead-still. Toguro finished transforming and snapped his fingers. The shockwave from the snap hit Yusuke in the forehead and sent him flying back a few yards. Toguro snapped his fingers a few times more with even more speed. Yusuke managed to block the air waves with his fists but the wind knocked up a dust cloud around him. Toguro stopped snapping until Yusuke emerged from the cloud. He jumped on Toguro, trying to get a punch, but Toguro blocked it with his thumb. He hit Yusuke on the arm, almost breaking his bones, and making a hematoma appear.
Yusuke prepared to shoot the Spirit Gun, and Toguro told him to put all his energy into the attack. Yusuke shot, but the Bullet stopped at Toguro's chest. The tall man picked Yusuke up by the collar and said, "I'm going to tell you something very important. There's something missing in you, the notion of danger. Haven't you accepted death yet?"
Toguro punched him, sending him flying all the way above the crowd and smashing into the back wall. Yusuke fell to his feet and tried to get up. "I could kill you in a minute if I wanted," Toguro said to Yusuke. "I know there's more to the powers Genkai passed onto you. I spent my whole life training to become stronger to face your total strength now. It's a duty you must fulfill."
Two thing protruded from Toguro's shoulder and sucked in the souls of the dead demons in the stadium. Everyone was disgusted at this and Toguro said, "I could take twenty minutes and eat the souls of everyone in this stadium. Isn't there anything you'd like to do to save your friends?"
The audience started panicking. Many ran to the doors, but Sakyo used a remote to close thick metal doors; locking everyone in. Quite a few turned on Toguro, maybe in the hopes of killing him, but he snapped his fingers and sucked in their souls. "Don't interfere. This combat is between Urameshi and me alone."
"Don't involve me in your dirty business!" Yusuke yelled and jumped back into the arena. He punched Toguro in the forehead but Toguro didn't move. The ground beneath him cracked, though.
"Now I understand. You need to be furious to summon your real strength," Toguro said. Yusuke kept punching Toguro, but the man didn't move. The crowd cheered for Yusuke and Hiei snorted, "That was a quick change of heart."
Toguro punched Yusuke once and sent him flying backwards. Yusuke charged back at him, but Toguro grabbed his fist. He squeezed it and Yusuke cried out in pain. Toguro started punching Yusuke and after a few hits, Yusuke spit blood. Toguro stepped on Yusuke's lower section and asked, "So you won't do anything? Will you stay here and see me eat your friends?"
"Now that I'm with 100% of my powers, I'll do anything to make you stronger," Toguro said and threw an airwave disk at the Girls. The disk hit the wall next to where Puu was protecting the Girls with a shield like Koenma's. "I'm not going to miss next time," Toguro warned Yusuke. Yusuke attacked him, but he was still too weak. Toguro had no trouble pushing him away and making him collide with the wall. "I'm disappointed, Urameshi. I thought I had found someone of my level."
Puu came flying over to Toguro and told him to kill Yusuke's friends in order to make him stronger. Yusuke gaped at the blue creature with Genkai's voice and Puu went on, "He won't wake up until he sees the people he loves being killed."
"If the fight goes on like this, everybody will die," Puu/Genkai told Yusuke. "If we have to get your real strength out, sacrificing one life is better than sacrificing all."
Yusuke stood up and yelled at him/her for even suggesting that. He/She slapped him with his/her blue ear, "Yusuke, this is the world you chose to live in. The weaker ones have to submit to whatever falls upon them."
Toguro was annoyed with the two of them and snapped his fingers, hitting them both. He said he agreed with Genkai and turned to the Urameshi team.
"Which one should I kill?" he asked. His obvious choice had been Rei, but he mumbled to himself, "If I kill that one, I'd have ALL of them fighting me."
Kurama and Hiei had put their shoulders together with Rei behind them, making a human shield, but Toguro chose Kuwabara. Yusuke tried to stop him, but he was too weak to even stop Toguro from making his way--albeit slowly-- toward Kuwabara.
"We have to fight," Kurama said. Hiei snorted, "How? Kurama, you don't have any energy left."
"Neither do you," Kurama replied. "Are you thinking about running away?"
Hiei twitched, "I'm not a coward. I'll fight him on my own if I need to."
Yusuke raised his arm to shoot a Spirit Gun, but he couldn't focus before Toguro appeared next to him and pushed his head to and through the ground. Kurama and Hiei stood up, ready to fight, but Kuwabara told them, "I'm going alone. Koenma betted his life on Urameshi, now it's my turn." He challenged Toguro, "The flowers must be cherry blossoms, and the man must be Kazuma Kuwabara! I won't die in vain; therefore I am going to cut you down with the power of my sword!"
Kuwabara charged at him, but Toguro was faster. With his bare hand he ripped through Kuwabara's chest, making more pour out. Kazuma staggered a little and told Yusuke, "Urameshi... you're not weak... Please don't disappoint me..."
Hiei tried to attack Toguro as Koenma, Rei and Kurama ran to Kuwabara. Kurama caught Kuwabara right as he fell to the ground-- dead. Yusuke stared at Kuwabara, laying in a pool of his own blood. "I... couldn't save him. Toguro," he snapped. "You're going down."
"At last," was the only thing Toguro said. Yusuke's energy flared and filled the stadium with blue, ghost-shaped things. Toguro shivered as Yusuke walked towards him, "Uncertainty and hope are consuming my body. For the first time, I'm not sure of my victory. I'm tense and eager... This is the fight I've been waiting for. I hope you feel the same way I do. Thank me for what I'm doing, Urameshi."
He ran at Yusuke and added, "Now we're alike."
"That's not true," Yusuke replied absently.
"Why not?!" Toguro asked and punched Yusuke, who didn't move as he was thrown against the wall.
