Chapter 8: Tag Team Turnaround

Kakome knew this match was unfair, and so did the entire stadium. She also knew that no one cared; she was human, and the audience would love to see her dead. So, as she drew her fan, preparing for the worst, she decided to suck it up and fight. With Reishi at her side, there was no way she could lose.

"Since this fight will take two knockouts to win, it will be worth two victories! That means it's winner take all, folks! Are the combatants all here? Great. Ready? Fight!" Midori announced.

The four combatants stared each other down. All were in a ready stance, but afraid to be the one to make the first move. This was wise, as the one to make the first move would most likely face both of their opponents' reactions.

Daylin, the Shishiotogi girl with green hair, reached up to pluck a single hair from her head. This caused Kakome and Reishi to become even more tense. As Daylin put a tiny flash of her aura (a blue so light it was almost white) into this hair, it solidified into a straight, hair-thin needle. She held it in her flattened palm, aimed, and flicked. Many were surprised at this, it must have taken years of practice for her to be this accurate in her flick of such a small needle. Kakome did a back handspring to avoid this needle; a bit overdramatic, but, she was, after all, a drama queen.

Reishi decided to use this as a distraction. Unfortunately, so did Zshan. Zshan began to stretch. This stretch was supernatural, though; it wasn't just the same stretch athletes do before a game. No, this was more of a freakish rubber man stretch. Zshan began to lunge for Reishi, but his feet stayed planted firmly. Reishi noted that he wasn't moving, his torso was stretching. Just in time, Reishi dodged this assault.

"I have dealt with your kind before. I know the science behind your power." Reishi explained. "I can take you out in one move."

"I'd love to see you try!" Zshan mocked.

Reishi tied his chain around his waist, as he always did when he wasn't using it. He then began to pray a ninja prayer. As he did so, his aura began to glow a brilliant blue.

The stadium grew cold as Reishi smirked at his opponent. Kakome and Daylin were oblivious to this, as they were still going hand-to-hand. But as Reishi's aura grew larger and a deeper shade of blue, the stadium became even colder. Zshan began to shiver.

"Y-y-y-you d-d-don't f-frighten me… youkai…" he managed to stutter.

"Don't I? Well, you shall soon change your mind. CRYSTAL FREEZE!"

Reishi's aura immediately stopped, and all of the space that had been occupied by pure energy was now a blizzard. This blizzard was… different somehow. It wasn't really ice or snow, but what seemed to be glass. This "ice" danced in swirls around Reishi, until he thrust his arms foreword, hands joint in the shape of a triangle. After this, the shards began to zoom towards Zshan in a freezing blitz of death.

When the onslaught hit the demonic contortionist, he immediately began to shrink back to his normal size. He didn't stop there, however. He continued to shrink.

"You will never stop shrinking. Your own powers have done you in. You see, your aura supercharges your molecules, making it possible for you to stretch. However, the friction once you begin causes your molecules to heat up. By reversin this, and making your molecules cold, I have done the exact opposite: I have caused you to shrink. And, since my shards are aura-based, they will grow colder and colder, until you shrink into nothing, and, hopefully get eaten by bacteria." Reishi explained in triumph.

Zshan was now the size Ikuyo had once been. As he continued to shrink, Reishi bent over to whisper the final words Zshan would ever hear: "Remember the name of the youkai who did you in: Daisuke Karokita."

Once Zshan had disappeared, the fight had become a two-on-one. Daylin did not seem at all worried, however. She simply plucked more hairs out of her head, and turned them into more needles. She began to flick them at incredible speeds, and Kakome was barely able to dodge them.

Then Kakome had a brilliant idea: she could put Daylin to sleep! Her plant magic made it simple. She began to run around the ring in straight lines, leaving a trail of dark purple flowers behind her. This trail made an-eight-pointed star around Daylin.

"Toxic Blooms!" Kakome shouted.

Daylin started to laugh when the flowers began to glow with Kakome's jungle-green aura. "Sweetie, have you noticed anything about my hair?" she laughed.

"No…" Kakome said, confused.

"Exactly. Even though I pluck out countless hairs, they grow back in an instant. That's because my blood is saturated with protein, and nothing else will fit into my bloodstream. Not anything that would be absorbed, anyway." Daylin answered her. "That includes your poison. It's useless."

"'Useless' isn't quite the word I would use." Kakome told her as the flowers continued to glow. Just then, black vines shot out of the flowers, straight toward Daylin. She became entangled in these vines, unable to break free.

"Now! Get her, Reishi!" Kakome cried in triumph.

Reishi shot a stream of water out of his palm with what might have been somewhat excessive force. Daylin was hurled out of the ring.

"I'll start the count," Midori said as Reishi continued to bar his opponent from reentering the ring.

"1! 2! 3! 4! 5! 6! 7!" Midori counted. At this second, Kakome looked at Kogoro.

"8!" Midori continued.

"Kogoro! We won." Kakome informed him.

"9!"

"Time to pay up. Give Arne back. Now."

"10! And the winner of this round is Team Mirushito! They will advance to the first round, which commences tomorrow! We wish them luck… they'll need it."

During this announcement, Kogoro saw his chance to run.

"Oh, no you don't!" Kakome shouted, taking off after him. Inaryu had beaten her to it, however. He had already blocked Kogoro's path.

"I knew you wouldn't pay up. Now you'll just have to pay." He mocked, drawing power from his aura. "Nightmare Fist!" he screamed.

His fists were covered in his blackish-purple aura. He punched Kogoro in the stomach, but just enough so that Kogoro arched his back a bit.

Immediately Kogoro was on the groung, shivering and crying for help. The entire team was at the scene at this point.

"Inaryu… what did you do?" Naomi whimpered, terrified.

"He decided not to keep his word. So I used my Nightmare Fist. It harnesses the target's worst fears and beyond, sending them into a state of panic so deep that they begin to hallucinate. He should be fine. Maybe." He explained. "I got his mirror. But, how do we get Arne out?"

"That might have been a reason NOT TO SEND KOGORO INTO A NIGHTMARE-RIDDEN HALLUCINATION!" Kakome fulminated.

"I believe I might be able to help." Said a voice behind them. They all turned around, and saw Anzai, captain of Team Shishiotogi. "Give me the mirror." Inaryu reluctantly did what he was told.

Anzai conjured his aura around his fist, and reached into the mirror. His fist went right through, and he began to tug at the edges of the glass. As he did so the mirror began to grow. Eventually, he had to use his feet, too. Within about thirty seconds, he had stretched the mirror to a large enough size so that Arne could walk through. He gave the glass on final tap with his index finger, and it began to disappear.

Within seconds, Arne came out. "Thanks. It was getting a bit… well, I about ran out of air."

Anzai began to walk away, clutching the oversized mirror. He threw it into the now empty stands, causing it to shatter into pieces.

"What a cutie. And he's not a sore loser, either." Naomi giggled. "Come on, sugars. It's time for bed."