Nightmare: Rock on! Chapter 3 and going strong!

Kuwabara: Why are you so freaking excited?

Nightmare: Oh, you'll see... MWHAHAHA...

Kuwabara: What's that supposed to mean?

Nightmare: Read and review, please!

Kuwabara: Wait, Nightmare!

Nightmare: La la la la la...

Kuwabara: Awww... crap...

It was getting late. The city had been engulfed in darkness, and only one light in the entire neighborhood was on. Yusuke and Kuwabara sat, discussing their problem of the missing Kurama. Hiei was still nowhere to be found, and Yusuke's mother, Atsuko had gone out on one of her drinking rampages, most likely not to return until later the next day.

Yusuke laid a badly drawn map of the city on the floor between them. He traced his finger along one of the roads that ended and went into a thick forest and tapped it. Kuwabara didn't seem to understand.

"Okay… Woods. What's so important about the woods?" Kuwabara ventured.

"That," Yusuke said, drawing an imaginary circle around the wooded area with his index finger, "is where I first met up with Kurama, Hiei, and Gouki. If I found three demons there at once, including Kurama, we just might find Kurama there again."

"What makes you so sure?"

"I'm not… But it's worth a shot."

"You still got that Demon Compass doohickey?"

Yusuke reached into his pocket and pulled out an object that resembled a wristwatch, "Right here. If Kurama's anywhere near us, we'll know." He tossed the compass into the air, and then caught it and slipped it back into his pocket, "We'll start our search there."

"All right, Urameshi," Kuwabara yawned, "It's all you on this one…" With that, he curled up in his sleeping bag on the floor and began to drift off into a peaceful slumber.

Morning. Yusuke had been awake for an hour or so before a snoring, messy-haired Kuwabara awoke as well. Kuwabara sat up and stretched, "G'morning, Urameshi…" he said through a yawn, "Time to go fox hunting yet?"

Yusuke nodded, and then hopped up onto his feet. He grabbed a white T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans and walked into the bathroom to change and get ready to go. Kuwabara rubbed his eyes and yawned again before standing up and changing into his blue school uniform, which seemed to be his favorite fashion statement. Yusuke came back and stood in the doorway. He jerked his head, motioning for the still-groggy Kuwabara to follow him.

The two of them walked toward their destination, both looking for any signs of Kurama, and any trace of Hiei. Neither came into sight, until they finally came to the woods and Yusuke's Demon Compass began to go off. They glanced at the compass, then at each other.

"Nice call, Urameshi," Kuwabara said as they both dashed into the woods, "But do you think it's him?"

"We'll figure that part out when we get there. Come on, move!" Yusuke ran ahead, which compelled Kuwabara to run even faster to catch up. They came to a clearing, and in the center of it was a gigantic black beast.

Kuwabara inadvertently took a few steps back, "W-what the Hell is that thing?" he stuttered.

"I don't know, but I doubt it's real friendly…" Yusuke responded. At that moment, as if on cue, the beast let out a hair-raising roar, huge strings of green drool dripping from its massive jaws as it slowly stepped toward the two boys. It started to get dark.

"Hey, w-why's it getting' dark all of the sudden?" Kuwabara said shakily.

"It must be some freaky technique of his… Just run!" Yusuke said through his teeth as he darted to the side.

"How do you know it's a he?"

"Kuwabara, it really doesn't matter, just MOVE!" Yusuke ran behind the beast and posed for his attack, "Spirit Gun!" Yusuke shouted as he fired a huge blue blast from his finger at the beast. The creature let out a horrible shriek and whirled around to face Yusuke. It picked Yusuke up in its huge claws and flung him into Kuwabara, who was in mid-dash. The two boys made contact and bounced across the ground.

Kuwabara rolled Yusuke off of him and helped him up. The creature's massive fist nearly drove them into the ground, but it narrowly missed. The blow did, however, throw them off their guard. The beast's next strike would not be able to be avoided. The creature raised its mighty fist and prepared for another attack, but in mid-strike, its arm was severed in a quick flash.

A small, dark figure stood before them as the enormous demon howled in pain. The figure shook the black-red blood from the sword he held and he turned to face the two boys.

Yusuke blinked, "H-Hiei?"

"Hn," was the only response he got.

Yusuke smirked, and he and Kuwabara collected themselves, brushing themselves off and trying to adjust to the abnormal darkness. The three boys stood close, ready to brace for an attack, and ready to try their own attacks. The demon was still crying in pain over its lost limb.

"Geez, what a crybaby," Kuwabara mocked. At this, the demon growled and lashed out again. Kuwabara was taken by surprise and was hit, the blow sending him into a tree and knocking him unconscious.

"Awww, great work, genius!" Yusuke shouted, "You idiot, you shouldn't have insulted it!" he scolded.

"Watch it, Detective!" Hiei said, pushing Yusuke out of the way of the demon's mammoth foot. He jumped up and slashed at the demon's face as many times as he could before it got so angry that it actually headbutted the koorime to the ground. Hiei scrambled to his feet and slashed at the beast's ankles. He seemed to be putting up a good fight, but the strange darkness was impeding both Hiei and Yusuke's attempts at attack or defense. The demon kicked the tiny koorime and he slid across the ground. Yusuke posed to fire his Spirit Gun again, but the demon hit him with a tail that no one had even realized existed before.

The demon moved in for a finishing move, but stopped short. Its large, black eyes widened, and it fell apart in many different pieces. Someone, or something leaped over it. In their last seconds of consciousness, Yusuke and Hiei could make out the image of a light-clad figure, and then… all light was gone…

Thank you soooo much for hanging with me for this long. Like I said before, this is my first real fanfic and I was a little nervous, but thanks to all of you, I'm still going! That's right, if I didn't get your nice reviews, I probably would have stopped by now. KURAMA PLUSHIES FOR EVERYONE WHO REVIEWS! Anyway, all of our leftover heroes have passed out. So then who's the one who made the big evil demon thingy into chop suey, huh? Wait and find out in Chapter 4!