Author's Note: Hello again! Well, I originally thought about dividing this chapter into two, but then decided to go against it. It's a fairly long chapter, but I hope it won't bore you. Among other things, please continue to read and review.
You won't break me.
You won't make me.
You won't take me,
under blood red skies.
You won't break me.
You won't take me.
I'll fight you,
under blood red skies-
"Blood Red Skies"-Judas Priest
An End to Bliss
Chapter XIV
Each of the party members glared at the elder Toguro, while the elder Toguro responded with a smirk.
"Well then, how shall we do this? Will you fight me one-on-one, or will you try to fight me all at once?"
"What do you think, you arrogant fool!" responded Hiei. "We're not in the Dark Tournament."
"No," said Kurama, "but I did watch him defeat an entire team during the Dark Tournament."
"Oh? You were watching? Yes, it was a great match. The three of them against me at once, the promise that I'd spare one of their lives only to kill them both…you see, unfortunately for them, I'm often at my best against many foes. But in this case, it truly doesn't matter. No matter what you do, it'll not change the outcome."
"Well then," began Yusuke, "I guess it won't matter if I start kicking your ass right now!"
Yusuke leapt at the elder Toguro with fists-full of spirit energy. "This is for you, Genkai!" Yusuke declared, as he pounded Elder Toguro's face.
Elder Toguro groaned, while Yusuke's fists were imprinted into his face. But once Yusuke backed off, Elder Toguro began to smile.
"Oh, come now, Yusuke," Elder Toguro began, while his face returned to normal. "Did you actually believe that a few blows to the face'd be enough to finish me?"
Yusuke did not answer, but Chu did.
"Hey, mate. If a few blows to the face by one man ain't working, how 'bout all of us just pound everything at once?"
"No," responded Hiei, "I've a better idea."
"What's that, mate?"
Hiei stepped forward. "Let me take him."
"Oh!" Elder Toguro gleefully replied. "The three-eyed-warrior's going to fight me. I suppose you're going to use your Dragon of the Darkness Flame?"
Hiei smirked, and held up his right arm. "Who am I to turn down a fan's request?" With his left hand, Hiei began to remove the bandages and expose the black dragon on his arm. A black flame emerged from his arm, and Hiei grinned wickedly at Elder Toguro.
Most fighters that were aware of the power of the darkness flame would have broken into a cold sweat, but not Elder Toguro. At the sight of the black flame, he merely returned the grin. "However…I don't plan on giving you enough time to use it!"
Elder Toguro fired a drill shaped hand at Hiei, but the three-eyed warrior was quick to dodge. With his first attack a failure, Elder Toguro tried to counterattack by using his other arm as a weapon, but Hiei's cat-like reflexes dodged that attack as well. And with those same reflexes, Hiei unsheathed his katana and took a swipe at the elder Toguro—knocking him back.
With Elder Toguro caught off guard, Hiei returned to his primary attack. "DRAGON OF THE DARKNESS FLAME!"
The black dragon emerged from Hiei's arm, with the roar of a primitive beast.
Perspiration descended from Elder Toguro's cheeks as the black dragon approached him. "Oh damn!"
Elder Toguro created an energy barrier in an attempt to block the black dragon, but all the barrier did was to slow down the process of the black dragon devouring Elder Toguro.
The elder Toguro screeched, while the black dragon began to push him back towards the pond, and then—his image completely vanished, as the black dragon would as well after it took out a few trees in Genkai's forest.
Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Chu gasped.
"Is it over?" asked Yusuke.
"I hope my kid won't inherit a lot of the powers of its uncle."
"That was certainly quick," responded Kurama.
"Damn, now I'm really glad that wasn't me fighting Hiei in the opening round of the Dark Tournament."
But Hiei's response was to merely smirk. "Despite having the ability to survive having your heart or brained pierced, you couldn't survive my black dragon."
Hiei turned to walk back to his party. But the moment he turned away, a sharp object pierced into his shoulder blade.
Hiei screamed and fell to his knees, while the voice of the elder Toguro chuckled behind him.
"What—the hell just happened!" exclaimed Yusuke.
The elder Toguro continued to chuckle, as his body emerged from the earth.
"What happened!" began Elder Toguro, while he removed his blood soaked hand from Hiei's shoulder. "It's very simple. My shield was powerful long enough to push me back towards the pond and the mud that's near by it. Once I noticed that I was close enough to the mud, I liquefied my body and seeped into it…And because of my wise strategy, Hiei has been drained of enough of his demon energy of the one attack that you possessed that could've possibly killed me. Now there's nothing that can beat me—I truly am a god!"
"Then you won't mind if I try to knock you off your throne!" declared Yusuke, as he focused his energy into his index finger.
"Hold on there, mate," replied Chu, while he removed a small bottle of whiskey from his belt and quickly devoured it. "The rest of us've got a few shots for Genkai as well!"
Chu roared, as his hands encompassed the demon energy that had been brought out from the alcohol. Beside Chu stood Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei—who while drained of most of his demon energy—could still wield his sword.
Chu's attacks were similar to Yusuke's, except that Chu struck the elder Toguro with body punches. Chu hoped that the elder Toguro had one weakness that he was not aware of that could lead to a finishing blow.
For Kuwabara, his weapon of choice was obvious—his Dimensional Spirit Sword. Kuwabara was cautious of Elder Toguro's counterattacks, so he sought to take away his most important weapons—his hands.
Kurama followed Kuwabara, and wrapped his Rose Whip around Elder Toguro's neck—attempting a decapitation.
Finally, Hiei attack last, with a quick stab into Elder Toguro's rib cage.
The four attacks came so quickly that Elder Toguro did not even have time to scream. Not that Yusuke Urameshi cared. He was more interested to see the elder Toguro would look like as a pile of ashes.
"SPIRIT GUN!" shouted Yusuke, while his spirit energy exited his right index finger.
Elder Toguro never made a sound as the blast engulfed him. But once the blast was over, Yusuke and his companions heard the elder Toguro scream.
"What the hell's this!" declared Yusuke. "Is that his ghost screaming?"
But Elder Toguro was very much alive, as his body emerged from the mud with a severely burnt finger.
"I can't believe it!" exclaimed Kuwabara. "He used the same trick that he did on me in the Dark Tournament."
"Yes," began Elder Toguro, while he held his severely burnt finger; "the only difference is that, that damned Spirit Gun hurts a lot more than your Spirit Sword."
Kuwabara gritted his teeth. "I'll show how weak my Spirit Sword is, asshole!"
Elder Toguro chuckled, while his hand slowly recovered. "Sorry, Kuwabara, but I'm afraid you'll have to show me another time. You see, I've a date; and two of my girls're expecting. So…take care!"
And before Yusuke or anyone else from his party could catch the elder Toguro, he escaped. Each member of the party knew who the 'dates' were that Elder Toguro referred to; but of the party members Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei were the most terrified, as sweat descended from their faces.
"We have to hurry to Shizuru's immediately!" declared Yusuke.
"I hear ya, mate, but what do we do when we arrive? We still haven't got a freakin' clue as to how to take down Elder Toguro."
"I have a plan," replied Yusuke.
"You do, Urameshi!"
"Yeah, and I think it'll work."
"What makes you so sure, Detective?" asked Hiei.
"Because I don't think it's something Elder Toguro thought about."
"So what is it?" asked Kurama.
"I'll tell you on the way. We've to hurry!"
Charging as fast as their legs would carry them, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, and Chu left the temple summit for the train station. Once they arrived at the train station they normally would have been out of breath, but Elder Toguro's warning had their adrenaline pumped.
On the train, the party did their best to keep their cool; although it was not always easy.
"Can't this damned thing go any faster?" complained Hiei.
"It's going as fast as it can," replied a calmer Kurama.
"But is it going fast enough to beat Elder Toguro?" asked Yusuke. "Be calm Kayko and Kosuke. I'm coming!"
"Hang on, Yukina. Kuzuma's on the way!"
"Be strong, sister."
"I hope Yusuke's plan can defeat Elder Toguro," stated Kurama.
"Damn, I wish I had another bottle of booze for the upcoming fight," added Chu.
When Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, and Chu reached Shizuru's residence, Yusuke immediately opened the front door with each of the party members behind him ready to fight.
But on the other side there was no sign of violence. Shizuru was in the kitchen preparing hot chocolate; while Kayko—with Kosuke on her lap, Yukina, and Botan sat on the floor watching a cartoon.
"You know, you could've knocked," responded Shizuru.
"Hey, you're back already?" replied Kayko.
Yusuke did not respond to their statements. "…He's not here?"
"Who?" asked Shizuru.
And it was at that moment that the alarm went off, and the elder Toguro stood in the master room.
"Get to the back!" Yusuke shouted.
Kayko quickly scooped Kosuke in her arms, and with Yukina, Botan, and Shizuru behind her headed to a back room.
"Oh, damn!" declared Elder Toguro. "You beat me here? Well, I suppose that I should really try…"
But Elder Toguro was not allowed to finish his sentence. Hiei used his cat-like reflexes to pierce Elder Toguro's chest. The blow struck a vital point, and Hiei's reflexes were so quick that Elder Toguro did not have a chance to move his vitals.
"What…what's this! I…I can't…"
"You can't breathe?" interjected Yusuke, as he stepped forward.
Elder Toguro did not respond. He was trying to catch his breath.
"Yeah, I thought as much. I figured that while maybe a blow to the heart or brain'd keep you alive, you might have problems if you can't do the one simple feature needed for everyday life—breathe."
"Damn…damn you!"
Before Shizuru had fled to the back room, she placed a butcher knife on a table that was within Yusuke's reach. Yusuke grabbed the knife and plunged it into the other side of Elder Toguro's chest. Without the ability to breathe, Elder Toguro was unable to defend himself.
The fallen beast did his best to counterattack, but every time he tried to stand he would double over. Eventually, death claimed him.
Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, and Chu were relieved that the elder Toguro was no more, but Kurama was quick to remind them, "The police'll be here soon."
"That's right," responded Kuwabara. "What're we going to do with Elder Toguro's body?"
"Take it out, and set it on fire," replied Hiei.
"That 'ought to be a way to keep him from coming back," said Chu.
"Could you guys get his body out of here?" began Yusuke. "I need to check on Kosuke and Kayko, and then we'll tell some story to the cops."
"Sounds good, Urameshi, but I need to check on Yukina."
"You're not alone," replied Hiei.
Kurama nodded. "Very well, Chu and me'll take care of this, and then we'll catch up with you later."
Yusuke smiled. "Thanks."