I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho

Hey everyone. Sorry for the REALLY late update. I've been so busy so I haven't had time to sit and type this chapter up. But I finally did it!!!

Thanks RAW19 for reviewing!! I know, cliff hangers are mean, but fun to write :D

Sorry again for the late update!!


Chapter 15

The columns of fire slammed into Era relentlessly. People in the stadium gasped at the heat and force that came from the attack. There was no way someone could have survived that.

Kilik laughed at his fallen victim. The announcer cleared his throat, "It seems that Kilik's attack has engulfed Era. The fire is still burning, but I think we all can make an assumption to what has happened.

"Era," Touya gasped, worry evident on his face. All her friends were worried.

A mixture of steam and smoke rose from the center of the flame, but nothing else occurred. The audience waited on baited breath for the victor to be announced.

"Um…" the announcer started, unsure of what to say or do. "Due to past experiences in this tournament, I'd have to say that Kil-"

He was stopped abruptly as the flame that had once been in the form of a circle flew out in all directions. In the middle stood no one however, which left people to wonder what had caused the flames to act so oddly.

The announcer cleared his throat, "Well now that the flames have gone out, by its odd means, we can now see that Era is clearly no longer there. It seems that she was cremated by Kilik's mighty attack since no trace of her is left. So the victor, by death, is-"

Once again he was stopped short by something appeared suddenly in front of him and that something was standing on the wall. As he looked up he saw a blackened face and clothing. The figure rubbed its sleeve over their face, removing some off the blackness from it.

"I-it would s-seem that Era is a-alive," the announcer stuttered in surprise.

Era turned around and jumped off the wall, landing back in the ring. She put her arms out to her side, slightly bent, and just above her waist. A moment later her smoky hair shot into the air and thin spirals of water came out of the ground, wrapping loosely around her legs before traveling up the rest of her body.

The water was wrapped around her like a ribbon and started turning from a light blue to a dark gray then black. In turn her cloths became whiter as its original color returned.

"Amazing!" cried the announcer, "Era has somehow summoned water out of the ground and it's returning her to her normal clean state!"

Touya sighed in relied; he was glad that she was alright.

When she was finished she brought the water out in front of her and warped it into a ball of blackish water. With a simple flick of her fingers the ball was sent flying towards Kilik.

Thinking it was a weak attack Kilik summoned a sphere of fire and sent it at Era's attack, figuring it would cancel each other out. Unfortunately for him he was wrong. The water based attack seemingly absorbed the fire and was now both fire and water.

Kilik gasped in surprise, leaving him no time to evade the oncoming attack. The sphere did not crash into him however, instead it completely enveloped him. With the blackness of the water and the flame flowing freely on it no one could see what was happening to the fire demon within it.

"In yet another turn of events Era has proven more ready for battle that Kilik," the announcer cried.

The water and fire encompassing Kilik fell to the ground and sank into the dirt. Kilik stood there, darkened by the water, for a moment before falling to the moist ground unconscious. A ref ran up to him, checked him out and then rose his hand into the air.

"Winner, by knock out, is Era!" the announcer cried.

Era walked out of the arena and met Yusuke in the waiting area. He clapped his hand on her shoulder, "Great job."

She smiled, "Thank you." She sat down on the ground and laid her back against the wall.

"Tired still?" Yusuke asked.

Era nodded with a small yawn, "I sleep soon."

Yusuke laughed, "You can sleep now if you want. It's just my match is soon…"

"I know," Era said, "I can be careful when I sleep."

"Keep your senses up you mean?"

Era nodded, "Yep."

Yusuke nodded as he understood before looking out into the arena, "The next match is about to begin."

"Oh tey," Era murmured before pulling her legs up to her chest, resting her head on them and falling asleep.

Yusuke looked at her and chuckled as he took off his jacket and placed it over the sleeping maiden's shoulders.

vvvv

Time passed relatively quickly and now Yusuke stood in the arena with his opponent opposite him; Shadow. He looked to be eighteen with shoulder length raven colored hair, steel colored eyes and a fair completion. He wore black pants, shirt and boots.

"Round four is about to begin," the announcer said into his microphone, "So far the battles have been interesting, but there hasn't been much blood shed. Perhaps this battle will quench our thirst for it."

Neither contestant seemed interested in what the announcer was saying. Yusuke was watching his opponent with mixed emotions, he was not sure what they were trying to tell him, but for now he pushed them to the side.

"I think the contestants are ready," said the announcer as he looked between Yusuke and Shadow. "Begin!"

Yusuke ran towards Shadow, who was not moving at all. He brought his fist down upon his face, only to find that it was just an image. Finding his balance quickly the Spirit Detective looked about the arena for his, out of sight, opponent.

"Shadow has disappeared, but we know from Era that it doesn't mean he's not somewhere in the arena," the announcer said as he too looked about.

From the stands Yusuke's friends looked about as well. "Where'd he go?" Chu questioned.

"Good question," Kuwabara said with slight awe since he could not sense the demon anywhere.

"You guys!" came a female voice.

The group turned and saw a female teen with long light blue hair tied into a ponytail and pink eyes running to wards them. She wore a pink kimono, white socks and wooden sandals.

"Botan," Kuwabara said in surprise.

The blue haired female stopped net to the row they were in, "We've got a problem!"

"'at do ya mean?" Jin asked.

"Problems!" Botan cried, "Really big problems," she stressed 'big' to make sure he point got across even though she was yelling.

"Well what is it?" Hiei asked sternly.

"Botan looked all around, "Where's Yusuke? -And Era?"

Rinku pointed down to the ring, "Yusuke's down there and Era's off to the left in the room over there."

Zeek let out a nervous squeak from atop of Touya's shoulder. Botan looked over and saw the tiny creature, "A dragon!"

"You're behind on the news aren't you," Suzuka pointed out.

"No!" Botan cried as she waved her arm about, "There's a really, really, really big problem!"

At that moment there was a small quake as Yusuke was sent flying through magical barrier between the audience and the arena.

Botan yelped, "Who is Yusuke fighting?!"

"Shadow," Touya answered calmly.

"Sh-Shadow?!" Botan screamed.

Touya nodded, slightly surprised due to Botan yelling for a reason he could not see. His attention was called back to the arena, however, when he saw a flash of white light. He quickly realized that the light had come from Era, who was standing in the doorway to the waiting area, "Era?"

"She just wants to watch the fight," Shishiwakamaru told him.

"No!" Botan screamed once more, "Don't you get it! Shadow is Van-Gareth! He's here!"

Everyone stared at her dumbstruck and frightened.

Now they were in serious trouble.


Can you can 'uh oh.' Well doesn't this suck for the gang. How are they going to get out of this mess alive. Is Yusuke OK after being sent through the barrier that's supposed to be impenetrable? Can Era survive another fight with the ancient shadow beast?

Find out next time (which I'm planning to have up before Christmas).

PLEASE REVIEW