Part 08
"So the score is now one to one, let's see what team can change the tides in their favor!" Shanie shouted into her microphone.
"Our team will," a girl dressed in all blue said jumping up on the stage.
"Not if I can help it," Tyler said joining her.
"Alright, fighting in round three for Team Kerionae is Valarie while fighting on the team of Kouken Gurentai, a new fighter to the Tournament, Tyler!" Shanie announced, "And now let the fight begin!"
"Lastina may have beaten Jin, but I won't lose so easily!" Tyler exclaimed, "Futago Tamashii Yaiba!" The Twin Spirit Blade appeared in his hand and he was ready to fight.
"I dare to disagree!" Valarie retorted as she ran towards Tyler, "Sleet Storm!"
Tyler's swords began to glow a bright red, "Makai Gouka!" Fire erupted from the spirit swords and surrounded Tyler, protecting him from the storm and destroying it in the process.
Kurama looked at Hiei, "Where did he learn to use the Makai Hell Fire?"
"It was a repayment I gave him," Hiei answered simply, "In favor for helping Stephanie and me when we were in Iroaku's Castle."
"You're not one to grant repayment."
Hiei looked over at me, still asleep, "If the person is able to gain my respect then, and only then, will I repay that person."
"So you're saying Stephanie, Tyler, and Tiffany have gained that respect?" Kurama asked returning his eyes to the fight.
"Something like that," Hiei replied returning his gaze to the fight as well.
Back on the battlefield, nothing had happened, the two fighters were staring at one another. Finally, Valarie broke the eerie silence, "You're a human, how can you use elemental powers!"
"I'm not all that I appear to be, Valarie."
"What do you mean by that, human!"
"I'm not a human," Tyler laughed, "Besides, it's not an elemental power, my dear Ice Master, it's an offensive and defensive based technique that is brought forth by conjuring up the powers of Makai's Hell Fire. It's a simple skill to learn, if you have the right teacher..."
"Quit gloating you stupid, Ningen!"
"For the last time, I'm not a human!" Tyler yelled as his whole body began to glow; before everyone's eyes Tyler began to transform. His transformation went faster than it usually did since he had gained so much power from training. Within a minute he was ready to fight, "I told you, I am not a human! For if I was I wouldn't have been allowed to fight in this tournament, Valarie!"
Valarie didn't budge from her place as Tyler rushed at her. "Wrong move, Splinters of Ice!"
"Didn't you learn the first time, you can't defeat me! Tamashii Sakuretsu!" Tyler screamed as he used his Spirit Explosion attack to block another one of Valarie's Ice moves, "My turn! Zenshinfuzui Kiba!"
"What is this!" Valarie exclaimed as she froze in place.
"The Total Paralysis Fang, it paralyses my enemy in their tracks so my finishing move can finish the job!" Tyler grinned, "Dokuga!" Poison swept from Tyler's body and enveloped Valarie within itself. When the poison mist disappeared Valarie was still frozen in place, but one could tell the poison was already taking a large affect on her. Soon after his attack, Tyler transformed back into his human form and fell to one knee, his poison seeping through his veins as well. Seconds later, Valarie fell to the arena floor, lifeless, and Tyler was proclaimed the winner of the round.
With what energy Tyler had left he walked off the stage and plopped down in his spot next to Jin. "Good job, Tyler, a lot better than I did, that's for sure!"
Tyler snorted, "Anything would of been better than what you did."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean!" Jin snapped. Tyler just shook his head as he began self-healing. Tiffany sighed and stretched her muscles while she waited for Shanie to announce the next round.
"Be careful," Rinku whispered.
Tiffany smiled, "Of course."
"Wha...? You heard me!"
"If you haven't noticed already, my ears are pointy. I've already began to transform, just in case it is needed," Tiffany said as she jumped into the air and landed gracefully upon the stage.
"Show off," the next fighter on the opposing team said from the other side of the ring.
"Heh, you've seen nothing yet, Raselli," Tiffany retorted.
"Well, at least you're not stupid, Neko."
Tiffany formed her Spirit Bow, "Shut your mouth, Earth Master! Mizuya!"
"You should have figured it out by now, we're not weak against our opposing elements!" Raselli shot back, "Before our very eyes rests a deep dark secret that no one has ever seen born before. Dust Serpent, come forth!"
There was absolutely no wind inside the stadium but one could see the particles of dust and dirt that had gathered within it begin to swirl and collect together. No one understood how it was happening, except for the master of wind. "It's a earth and wind attack, although one cannot feel the wind gathering the dust it is blowing pretty strongly throughout this stadium. By how fast the dust is gathering, she must be putting out a bunch of energy...and she must have a lot of it to boot."
Rinku overheard Jin's explanation to Tyler and joined them. "Do you think she'll win?" Rinku asked, worried that Tiffany might suffer the same fate as Jin, "I mean, if Tiffany loses, she doesn't have a spirit beast to keep her spirit inside her body."
"I don't know," Jin said shaking his head.
"If Tiffany knew how to change her ultimate attack to the exact opposite elements and strengths, she might just stand a chance. Other than that, her victory is highly doubtful," Keishou voiced from where he stood, "It also doesn't help that Stephanie's unconscious. Tiffany has always had Stephanie there to coach her when things got extremely tough in real battles." Rinku returned his gaze to the stage, afraid of what would come of the battle.
The dust gathered into a giant cloud and then spiraled down towards Tiffany and entrapped her as if it were a giant snake. Then the meaning of Dust Serpent came into play as the last haze of dust changed into a giant serpent head. It hissed as it began to tighten its hold on Tiffany. Her Spirit Bow disappeared as her energy began to plummet downwards.
"I'm not...strong enough... I'm gonna die, I know it..." Tiffany choked out.
My breathing increased into a more rapid panting. I couldn't breathe, I felt as if I was choking on the dust that was surrounding Tiffany. I didn't know how I knew what was happening, but I did. I could feel everything, her emotions, her pain, and her thoughts. My eyes shot open and I sat up straight. As my eyes adjusted I began to see what it was I had felt going through my mind. I stood and jumped down from the arena bleachers. "What are you doing!" a guard yelled.
"Jin supposedly died during this bout so another team member is allowed to take his place!" I yelled back. Jin heard what I had said and took off towards our fellow reserves in the bleachers with Kamikaze following right behind him. I ran up next to the stage, "Dammit, Tiffany, stop saying you're going to die! You should know better than that! I did not raise you to be a weakling and give up so easily during a fight! If I would have known that you were going to turn out like this, I would have left you to die on the streets!"
Tiffany couldn't see me, but her ears tweaked upon hearing my voice. Within seconds the Dust Serpent's hold upon Tiffany loosened up and the jaws of everyone who saw what had happened dropped. A cylinder of water engulfed Tiffany within itself and protected her from the sharp, flowing scales of dust that covered the serpent. The water began to pulsate and it flew outwards, causing the Dust Serpent to disappear.
Tiffany stood, standing before us with only a few wounds, "Well, if I'd have known you'd be such a bitch I'd never of went with you."
"Feh, I'm only this way towards you because you're such a twirp," I snorted turning my head away from her, "Besides, you know as well as I do that you can't win now, you lost way to much energy during her onslaught and your counter attack."
"No shit, Sherlock," Tiffany retorted, "But even so, I can't give up because of that stupid rule. What do I do?"
"I...I don't know, Tiffany. I wish I could help you this time, but I can't."
"I have enough energy to use my ultimate attack, but I don't know if it will do any good because she's at full power. Should I use it?"
"It's worth a try," I nodded, "I'll channel as much power as I can to you to try and equal Raselli's powers. Semai Wan, good luck."
"Alright, Raselli, I'm not out yet! Ayatori Youso Tsume!" Tiffany exclaimed as strings wrapped around her hands and formed into paws. Instantly I began to channel what energy I could to her body, filling in the void and morphing her elemental paws into mostly water, ground, and ice based powers.
"Go for it!" I yelled and Tiffany attacked Raselli head on. Raselli was definitely hit with the attack, but it didn't do as much damage as it should have.
"Poor little half-breed, you can't transform into your true form and your elemental attack isn't enough to kill me, even with the extra power from your friend..." Raselli laughed, "Time to die! Comet of Earth!" For a few seconds nothing happened but then all the demons with good hearing realized otherwise. Just like with the Dust Serpent, this attack didn't happen before our very eyes, but it came from above.
Tiffany looked up and realized what was going on, "Dammit! Stephanie, use another barrier with Keishou's help to protect everyone from the impact damage!" I nodded as Keishou and I created a huge barrier to protect all the people in the stands. "Get inside that barrier now!" Keishou went and Tyler followed, knowing arguing was pointless.
"Come on, Rinku, Tiffany will be okay," I said walking towards the barrier, "I hope..." Rinku sighed and followed me to the barrier. Tiffany jumped from the arena itself and onto the ground so there would still be a place to fight. Right afterwards the comet crashed into the ground and Tiffany disappeared from sight. After the dust had settled Keishou and I dropped the barrier.
"Tiffany!" Rinku exclaimed running over to the comet.
"And Team Kouken Gurentai's teammate is no where to be seen," Shanie said as she began the count to ten.
"Don't bother, she's dead anyway," Raselli said leaving the stage.
Shanie nodded, "Raselli is the winner!"
"You are not as good as you think you are," Marianu said to her teammate.
"What do you mean?"
"Even though you have won this match, you have not followed the rule I set down," she said, "Chikyuu Kyuusei!" The same dust that had become the Dust Serpent surrounded Raselli, and just as it had happened to Lastina, when the element she controlled disappeared, her body fell to the ground lifeless. "If she wouldn't have been so arrogant she would have noticed that measly demon's spirit energy still exists."
"What!" Rinku exclaimed, hearing what she had said, "How could Tiffany still be alive, we would have been able to sense it!"
"None of you can sense her power because of the comet, it is intertwined with the energy of Raselli and myself," Marianu snickered as she jumped onto the stage, already prepared to battle, "Since she didn't kill her fast and easily, I guess the girl will die slowly below that chunk of earth."
"Stephanie, we have to get her out of there!" Rinku yelled at me.
"I wouldn't do that, demon boy, if one even so touches that boulder it will suck the life from the person even faster, for you see it also drains one's energy slowly. Oh, and sending your own energy won't help either because the comet will absorb that as well."
I shook my head; "Sorry to burst your bubble, Marianu, but the one thing that you didn't think of was her family!" I formed a basic spirit sword and shot my energy into it as Tyler formed two single spirit blades with some of the spirit energy he had gathered. He then forced them into the ground and I struck mine into the ground between his.
"Tamashii Sakuretsu!" we exclaimed as our swords disappeared.
"That didn't do anything," Marianu grinned again.
"Wrong," Tyler smiled, "With Stephanie's power of elements and my Spirit Explosion we were able to send our energy straight to Tiffany through the ground itself!"
"You're a lier," she fired back as the comet practically shattered and dust flew everywhere, "What's going on!"
"What's the matter, afraid that we are stronger than yourself?" Tiffany laughed, as she appeared from the dust cloud that remained of the comet, "There is nothing that can beat the three of us. Trust me, many have tried, but all have failed."
"Whatever, the next fight is mine," Marianu sneered.
"Don't worry, Stephanie, I won't let her get away with what she's done to any of us, or any of her teammates, I promise," Keishou said jumping up onto the arena floor beside Shanie.
"Okay, and now onto the final match of the first round! The last remaining member of Team Kerionae, Marianu, against Keishou from Team Kouken Gurentai!"
Tiffany walked over to where Rinku was standing and plopped down on the ground instantly, "Too much energy exiting and reentering my body for one match."
"Tiffany...you're okay," Rinku said sitting next to her, "I really thought you'd--"
"Died? Nah, I have too much to live for. My spirit energy that remained after Raselli's attack was enough to keep me alive, and the comet couldn't drain it fast enough to kill me since my spirit energy rejuvenates at a high speed when I'm in my transformed state."
"That and the fact that you're just too stubborn to croak over and die," Tyler laughed from behind her. We all laughed and turned our attention to the starting fight.
"So, Keishou, would you prefer to die fast and painless, or slow and horribly?" Marianu asked.
"Honestly, I'd prefer to die fast, just how you're going to!" he exclaimed drawing out a light based sword.
"Your measly elemental swords are no match for me! Element Combination Explosion!"
"Bad choice," Keishou said as the light from his sword engulfed him and drained the power from the Marianu's attack, "Want to try again?"
She growled, "This can't be right, how can your trivial powers compare to mine!"
"My secret," he smiled drawing out a dark based sword to go along with his light sword, "Come..."
Marianu growled as she created two twin bladed swords of the dark and light elements to match Keishou's. She rushed at him and they engaged in a battle, swords to swords. Keishou was good, really good, but there was something about Marianu's techniques that bothered me. Even though she took hit after hit from Keishou, she never seemed to weaken; her spirit energy remained the same while she obtained no physical injuries. Even with her elemental mastery she should still take damage from them, even if it was only minimal.
They jumped apart and landed on opposite ends of the ring. "You're good, Marianu, I'll give you that much...but there's one major flaw in your battle strategy."
"Who are you to be saying that I have a flaw! You haven't even harmed me," Marianu laughed loudly.
"Hm, there's something that you should know about me, I can mimic any attack a demon performs before me. It's trick I picked up when I was younger and raising myself to be a fighter."
"You may be able to mimic attacks that other demons know, but that's all they are is mimicked attacks. Your measly mimicked attacks can't match the actual attack in offense."
"You'd be surprised, Marianu..." Keishou grinned as he began to glow with spirit energy. Everyone's eyes grew wide except my own, because I knew exactly what he was capable of. "How about a Dust Serpent Inferno Chain!" Out of Keishou's body flew a chain of fire that began to swirl along the ground, creating a burning Dust Serpent. The Dust Serpent then releashed its hellish attack upon Marianu.
Being as fast as she was, Marianu easily dodged the first few strikes of the Dust Serpent, but then it came up behind her with its tail and slammed her into the arena floor. Throughout the entire stadium, one could hear the echoing thud from when she landed. Marianu slowly stood up off the ground and I noticed she had lost a decent amount of spirit energy, and that she was also bleeding. Keishou jumped into the air and landed in front of me on the stage.
"Hey, Keishou, did you realize something about her? Regular elemental attacks don't work against her..."
"Yes, I did, Stephanie. Only the masters' attacks work against her--" Keishou smiled and gave me a thumbs up, "--but thanks anyway."
I smiled back, "No problem."
Without warning, Marianu began to laugh uncontrollably, as if she'd gone crazy, "Y-you're strong, alright, but I have one more trick up my sleeve..." She began to gather her spirit energy into one place, "Illusion of Elements!"
Her spirit energy exploded from her body and began to swirl around the ring in order to confuse Keishou. I saw him close his eyes as he concentrated through the swirling spirit energy and spotted Marianu. "Splinters of Ice!" What fell from the sky weren't splinters, but more like giant needles. Giant icicles crashed down into the ring and made a cage around Marianu. He walked over to her and grinned. "I have my own form of Sudden Death," he whispered leaning in towards her, "Demonic Destroyer..."
The swirling energy that Marianu had released disappeared in seconds and she fell to the ground, lifeless. The icicles disappeared and Shanie walked over to examine Marianu. She than began to count to ten. "Don't bother," Keishou said turning around, "Her soul has been destroyed, she's not getting up."
Shanie looked and him and nodded, "Keishou is the winner of the battle! That means Team Kouken Gurentai wins this round with a score of three to two! They will advance on to another match later today!" A bunch of booing came from the stands, but none of us expected any less. I turned from the stadium ring as Keishou jumped down beside me. The five of us fighters walked out of the arena field and into the dark hallway we'd first walked down. Once there we were met by our other four teammates. We then headed out of the stadium and to our hotel rooms.
I fell onto one of the couches in the room that connected our bedrooms, "For not being in a single battle, I'm wiped out."
"You did give me a lot of your energy during my bout and you put up more than one shield to protect everyone," Tiffany said sitting down across from me.
"Yeah, but I am still proud of you...I'm proud of all of you. Even though two of you lost, and Jin, you even lost your life, you all fought well. Next round I, myself, will be fighting."
"So will I," Touya said from where he leaned against a wall, "By what I saw that round, things this year are going to get very interesting...especially since Jin lost."
"I want to fight again," Jin said sternly, "This time I'm not going to lose."
Rinku sighed as he sat down next to Tiffany, "This round I'm out, I've got to heal all my wounds before I take on anyone else."
"I'll sit out too," Tiffany agreed, "I need to save up my energy." Tyler nodded in agreement.
Kurama sat down on one side of me; "I'll fight since only one more of us can rest this round."
I looked at Hiei and Keishou, both of whom wouldn't even glance in the other's direction. "Well?"
"I don't care," Hiei and Keishou stated in unison.
I moaned and slouched down in my seat, "Fine, Keishou, you will fight, Hiei, you can wait until later." They both nodded and sat down. There was a knock at the door and Yukina, along with Botan, walked in.
"Great first round, everyone!" Botan smiled.
Yukina went instantly over to Rinku, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, my Viper Curative is working great."
"Alright, what about you, Tiffany? Do you need my help?" Tiffany shook her head.
I turned to Botan, "Hey, Botan, what did Koenma have to say about our first round?"
"Well, he said you all faired decently, but his father on the other hand...let's just say King Yama is a little discouraged about Jin and Tiffany losing, but he is glad that you were there for your team. So, you're okay, for now."
I grinned, "Well, let's just see what happens the next round we fight, then. If I have anything to say about it, I'm not going anywhere for a long time."
"You'd better not..." Hiei said to me, "Without you, this whole team falls apart, Stephanie. You are the one who holds this team together, just like Yusuke held Team Urameshi together the last time there was a Dark Tournament. Without him, I would have probably killed Kuwabara and fled to the depths of Makai."
I laughed and everyone looked at me weirdly, "Oops, sorry..." I looked over at Hiei and smiled, "Thank you, Hiei, that means a lot coming from you. Hiei, what is your wish, I mean, if we win the tournament?"
"I have an idea, but I don't know for sure," he said as he got up from where he was sitting and left to one of the bedrooms, followed by Goukaryuu. I looked up when I heard something hit the window. I got up and walked over. I moved the curtain to see Puu staring back at me. I opened the window and he shrunk into his small form. I took him into my arms and closed the window.
"Puu!"
"I wonder what he's doing here?" Botan said as she got up and walked over next to me.
"I don't know, maybe since Yusuke couldn't be here himself, he sent Puu."
"Could be, in any case, rest up everyone. Your next battle later today will be even harder than this last one. Things are only going to get tougher from now on," Botan said as she walked into our bedroom. I followed her, and Tiffany, along with Yukina and Kamikaze, towed along behind. Tiffany closed the door and locked it as I laid down in the bed of my choice, which was by the window. Kamikaze laid down on my bed next to Puu and I covered them with my covers.
"See everyone later today..." I said drifting off to sleep.
In the middle room, Keishou was the last to get up and head into the bedroom. He locked the door behind him and sat down on the last bed open in the guys' room. "So, Keishou, how long have you known Stephanie?" Rinku asked him.
"Almost her whole life," Keishou replied plainly, "I was nearby when her family was killed when she was only two. I was three, but wise beyond my years. I heard her crying and found her. It was then that I took her and brought her to the bad side of town, the only place I could think of where she could live without being taken to an orphanage."
"So, she didn't only work on the bad side of town, she grew up there?" Kurama asked him. Keishou nodded.
Tyler spoke up, "She told me about it. When she turned four a group of older kids jumped her, and she took them all on. Stephanie was extremely hurt, but another kid found her and took her to a hospital. That kid was Keishou."
"That's true, I was always watching over her. It was only after the Toguro Brothers killed her that I disappeared. I never knew she had been resurrected until I received this--" Keishou said as he pulled out the tear gem I had sent to him, "She sent this to me as a token, saying she had finally done in my father. After I received it I returned to Ningenkai and to the bad side of the city. When I got there I went to the only bar where demons are safe to gather. Soon enough the bar was attacked and I met up with her again. The rest is, well, history."
"Returned to Ningenkai...?" Hiei thought to himself, "Stephanie said he never went back to Makai except when they met up to train together... What in the hell was he doing in Makai? Wait...could he have been at the castle when we were there? I knew I felt another presence other than the four of us and Iroaku inside the castle. Dammit, what was he doing there!"
Hiei glared over at Keishou who was just sitting quietly, leaning against the wall on his bed. Keishou looked over at Hiei and then went back to staring into nothingness. Hiei growled lightly and laid down to get some rest, as did the others.
Keishou waited until everyone was asleep until he got up and went back into the middle room and sat down, "Hiei is starting to suspect me more and more. I know he caught it when I said I came back to Ningenkai. He now knows I was in Makai at the time he and the others destroyed my father... This Dark Tournament is going to get very interesting..."