DISCLAIMER: ::sigh:: it's the same as the past fifteen chapters (not to mention the thirteen from Fire Dancer :-)
a/n: okay, well the good news is, I have the majority of my science project done (the next part I have to do outside and it's too cold right now) so I'm just going to get started on this chapter HURRAY!! (even though I'm surprised I'm this hyper since I stayed up until 1:00 am last night reading The Purple Emperor ( (SQL to Faerie Wars) good books!! Trust me!!) LoL, but please forgive me for using "glanced" a whole lot in the last chapter ::nervous laugh:: I kinda noticed I did that after I wrote it…
haha, well thanks to all my reviewers!!
Sarah1281: Yay!! Congratulations; I'm glad you were able to read all of the Fruits Basket manga! (wasn't the first half of the sixth volume sad?? I swear I nearly cried!) But I'm sorry you're science project got moldy (what were you doing for yours anyway?) haha, but yeah; the doctor is in for a major surprise (mwahahahaha!!)
Sk8tergirl69: omgosh! Oh, man, I'm sooooo sorry I haven't been able to read the chapters in your story! I've just been really busy with xmas and all and my friend from D.C. has just come over for a visit and I haven't seen her for like a year…but I promise I will as soon as I can!!
Naoko Asakura 009: okay, okay!! Here's your update!
NOTE: I know this seems random to all of you, but if you guys are ever bored or anything like that, I suggest heading over to ; membership is free and the music videos are awesome (their fanmade and stuff…)
YET ANOTHER NOTE: okay, well just for reference, M1 I believe is the redhead, M2 is the guy with black hair, and M3 is the one with brown hair (but I'm not sure) but even if they are wrong, that's how I'm going by…just to let you all know.
Thoughts
Fire Angel
::A Glimpse Beneath the Mask::
That stupid conniving wench…the doctor growled darkly to himself mentally. His beady eyes narrowed towards the crimson haired girl standingbeside Urameshi. Dammit, it was her fault he had been dragged into this fight…if she had just kept her mouth shut, he would be standing safely along the edges of the ring.
He snarled quietly; well…she would come to learn that she made the biggest mistake by even suggesting a four-on-four battle. Ichigaki smirked; he couldn't wait to see her writhing in agony when M1, 2, and 3 got through with her and the rest of that damn team. The doctor's eyes narrowed again…then again, part of the reason he was dragged into this was because of that masked fighter…dammit he didn't like how they were so quiet and calm…
Ichigaki fiddled his fingers nervously…but then paused and felt his pocket. Another smirk curled along his crooked jaw; hell, if worst came to worst there would always be the option of the syringe…He shuddered, but then again, the effects still hadn't been successfully tested all the way…
Mai noticed the doctor watching her venomously from across the ring, but truthfully, she didn't care. She had seen what Kazuma had in his dream; Ichigaki was a worthless fool; using others as a shield like his own little puppets…it made her sick. He deserved to fight with these humans he had manipulated, and if Kuwabara didn't finish the doctor off, she sure as hell would.
Ichigaki underestimates you…
The guardian jerked and looked down at the masked fighter standing next to her. She hated it when Genkai tried to talk to her mentally…it gave her a major migraine…not to mention it felt like a bunch of ants crawling around beneath her skull.
He does? She returned and turned her gaze back towards the dwarfed demon.
Beneath her mask, Genkai smiled slightly, He thinks you have the spirit energy of a normal human; he can't sense your power…her golden brown eyes flashed up towards the guardian, good job…
She was about to ask 'For what?' but then realized that she meant her masking her energy. Mai shifted restlessly. Honestly, she wished she didn't have to cover up her energy; in comparison, it felt sort of like when your pants would get bunched up in the wrong places…in other words; it was uncomfortable.
But before the guardian could respond to her, Koto stepped back towards the center of the ring and held up the microphone, "Then it's settled! This match will be a four-on-four battle royale between Team Urameshi and Team Ichigaki!" she gestured grandly towards the two sets of teams, "Fighter, please step up to the ring!"
They all did as they were told and just as they came to a halt, Yusuke casually nudged Mai in the arm, "You okay?" he asked without taking his eyes off of his opponents.
The girl shrugged and nodded, "Actually, I'm excited that I'll actually be fighting this match…" her midnight blue eyes flickered up towards him and then back towards the opposite team where she noticed that Ichigaki was cowering behind his fighters, "What about you?"
He shrugged as well, "Fine…just so long as I don't have to save your ass again."
Mai glanced up at him again to find a small grin forming at the corners of his mouth. She watched him for a moment before answering seriously, "Really, Yusuke…" she said a little quietly, "You don't have to worry about me…I'll be fine…"
"Fighters ready?!" Koto called and then raised her hand above her head, "Then let the second match of the Dark Tournament begin!!"
What happened next went by almost too quickly for Mai to comprehend what was going on, but not a moment after Koto finished speaking than, the fighters of Team Ichigaki launched themselves at them. The fighter to the left—a taller, well-built man with brown hair—raised his hand as if it were a claw and prepared to slash out towards the Urameshi team.
Just before he could make contact with any of them, however, each teammate leapt out of the way of the attack. As all four of them were in the air, M3's attack smashed into the arena creating a giant crater beneath his fist.
Rubble was flung into the air around them and a billow of dust formed within the crater. Mai and the masked fighter landed along one side of the blast while Yusuke and Kuwabara were beginning to land opposite of them. The guardian felt her pulse racing from that little scare and drew in a sharp breath from the air around her. Genkai had touched-down nimbly even with her hands folded calmly behind her.
Quickly, she returned her attention back to the two boys beginning to fall back towards the earth. But suddenly, Mai felt her heart catching in her throat when she noticed the second of the taller males leaping into the air after them. His hands were positioned as if he held a staff or something of the sort (she recognized the stance from her own experiences) and yet there was nothing in them.
In her alarm, her fingers suddenly tightened around her own staff and—without really thinking—she drew back her arm as if readying herself to throw a javelin. Then, using her blind fear to guide her hand, she found herself throwing Kira's staff across the arena towards M2 before he could reach Yusuke and Kazuma.
But as the rod was flying through the air, the guardian noticed the attacker's eyes flash towards the oncoming threat. And just as he was ready to thrust his invisible weapon at the two boys, he pivoted and switched his attention to the staff flying at him. He swung outwards towards it and suddenly sent the rod plummeting back towards its owner.
Deftly, the guardian jumped upwards slightly and caught the staff in her hand once more. A moment later, both Urameshi and Kuwabara landed opposite of them looking only a little bit shaken. And yet even before their team could regroup, the redhead of their three opponents stepped forward for his own attack.
Four rings wrapped themselves around either of his arms as he raised them above his head. And as he held them there, the Urameshi team realized with a horror that they were growing larger with each passing moment.
From deep within his throat—as if forcing himself to say it—M1 muttered as he threw his arms downwards, "Angel Blades…"
Mai stood frozen with a mix of shock and awe coursing through her as a pair of the rings launched themselves at each of her teammates, including herself. Both Yusuke and Kuwabara looked just as awe-stricken as herself before they suddenly jerked out of their stupor and attempted to dodge the blades. But it appeared as though the attack acted like a homing device and nearly trailed after the two boys.
But what she found that had caught her attention was not the attack itself, but the way M1 had said it. Even though she had no idea what the boy normally sounded like, or anything about him as a matter of fact, she could tell by the strain in his voice. It was as if he was almost trying to resist even calling out the words—
"Mai!!"
The guardian jumped as she heard Genkai's voice bark at her and realized with a start that the Angel blades M1 had called upon were still charging directly towards her. She even heard Yusuke call out her name as well after he had been able to avoid his part of the attack while Kazuma had not been so lucky and was recovering from his blow.
She suddenly felt someone clasp onto her wrist and jerk her out of the way of the oncoming threat. As she felt herself being pulled through the air, she heard the collision of M1's attack and the arena floor make contact and the angry roars of the demons in the stands. Not a moment later, she was tumbling over herself and rolling out of the way of the falling debris. The guardian remained stunned for but a moment before she blinked and raised her head towards her protector.
"Master G—"
"Like I said before, Mai…" the woman said quietly from beneath the folds of her mask. For the first time, the girl noticed that something was different with Genkai's voice… "You can't be careless in a match like this; your enemy could be at your throat at any given moment…"
Mai stared back at her three opponents silently before turned towards the masked fighter, "They're just human, though… I…they're under the control of Ichigaki; they're not really trying to hurt us…I don't think I can fight them in return; it wouldn't seem right…"
Genkai shook her head, "No…Mitamura's pupils were taught the importance of good character over fighting…" she glanced down at the guardian and noticed her surprise, "I knew these boys…and I knew their master too; they would never kill another human being—"
"Are you guys alright?!" Yusuke called to the two of them. He and Kuwabara had been separated by a great deal after the firing of the Angel Blades and now stood on either end of the ring. Where Kazuma was, he was already trying to summon his spirit sword…
But to his horror and his teammates', it would not appear.
A flash of fear crossed over Kuwabara's features as he tried again and again to draw the energy-based weapon.
"Aw crap!" he shouted in his frustration and shook his fist like he was trying to shake out the spirit energy inside.
But as he was struggling over his malfunctioning weapon, the rest of the team noticed with a terror that M3 was already beginning to charge towards the helpless redhead. Kazuma noticed a little too late that the fighter was racing after him and with a jolt began running around the ring as if he could get away.
"Kuwabara!!!" Yusuke roared and in his own attempt to rescue his friend, raised his hands in the position of his Spirit Gun towards the attacking foe. The guardian saw his face freeze in a look of horror before it turned to a look of frustration.
Just then, M3 crouched low to the earth and suddenly propelled himself into the air above Kazuma. The redhead could only watch in terror as his attacker started to plummet towards him.
"Dammit!" the detective bellowed, "Screw this!!" and he began to charge after the human trying to take down Kuwabara. Mai could tell even from where she watched that he would not make it to him in time. And in her own concern from Kazuma's safety, she leapt quickly to her feet and began running towards him as well.
But before she had even taken two steps, she saw a glimpse of someone zip past her. The guardian froze and glanced upwards to find the masked fighter already jumping into the air. And as M3 was starting to come down upon Kuwabara, Genkai smashed her foot into the man's jaw; sending him off-course from the redhead and flying towards the opposite side of the ring.
Mai swiftly came to a halt and blinked in surprise; in retrospect, she would have thought the old woman would have left Kazuma to try and learn how to fight out an attack like that. But nonetheless, Genkai had jumped in (almost literally) to save the redhead.
The elderly woman turned to both the boys, her golden brown eyes flashing between the two and said gravely, "Neither of you are able to sense your spirit energy…because you cannot comprehend it…I suggest you learn how to in the very near future."
-:-
Either pair of demons glared at one another vituperatively from their respective edges of the clearing. They appeared locked in a staring contest almost, had it not been for the seriousness of the situation they might have been. Kurama's emerald eyes narrowed suspiciously as he observed the two intruders carefully; for some odd reason, they seemed familiar to him…
Then it clicked within his mind. He had seen them the other day along the sidelines during one of the matches. They were from that Doctor Ichigaki; one of his filthy experiments like he had seen in the other three fighters—humans it had appeared by the looks of it.
The redhead furrowed his brow; but if these two were from Ichigaki's team why weren't they already at the stadium?
But before he could decipher this riddle, one of the demons had already begun to charge towards himself and Hiei. There was a smirk in the opponent's eyes as he swiftly began to approach. Hiei reached around his shoulder to the hilt of his katana and eyed the demon distastefully as Kurama reached beneath his hair and withdrew the vine of his Rose Whip.
Any normal human wouldn't have seen either the redhead or the apparition moving, but suddenly the pair had found away to the opposite side of their enemy; both landing with a fighter's grace. Behind them, the demon stood froze for a moment, in pure immobilization before his body unexpectedly broke apart and crumpled to the earth.
Casually, Kurama and Hiei stood and glanced back to admire their handiwork, before the returned their gaze to the remaining foe.
Ichigaki's experiment took a step back out of fear and his eyes flickered between the two fighters and then to his fallen companion. Neither the redhead nor the apparition said anything to his silence but stared him down with their cold glares.
It only took a moment for the demon to recover however, and a cunning smirk curled along his jaw and his golden eyes narrowed maliciously. He took his hand and fished for something in his pocket prior to withdrawing a single remote and holding it up to show the pair. Both Kurama and Hiei eyed it warily just as the demon casually punched the center button with his thumb.
Suddenly, there was a deep rumbling from the trees beyond the stranger and despite the surprised and almost fearful glances of the redhead and the apparition, the demon remained utterly calm.
Then, they could see movement in the foliage just as they noticed a new foe arising from beyond the shadows. It looked almost mechanical, and yet there appeared to be flesh between the plates of armor it wore. Razor-like claws protruded from its fists and looked as though they might be able to slice directly through titanium. This new monster stood over twice the height of the original demon and watched the pair with what appeared to be a large, red eye.
Smugly, the demon folded his arms and glanced up towards his supposed friend and then back at Hiei and Kurama, "The Gatasubul…" he stated coolly, "…Is part human and part mechanic; made up of the strongest metal found on earth, yet combined with living cells. It also does not feel pain; making it indestructible…" his cold yellow eyes glinted with something resembling malice as he pressed yet another button on the controller.
Without warning, the Gatasubul's arm lashed out at Hiei and Kurama like a whip and the duo immediately dodged out of its path as its fist smashed into the tree behind them. Hiei landed on the grass nimbly and instantly gripped his sword in his hand and charged towards the machine with his swift agility. And with his katana raised above his head, he quickly brought it down along its body, just as quickly, however, the blade bounced back without even making a scratch.
Kurama followed the apparition's lead and dashed around the other side of the monstrosity to where he let his whip slash out at one of the flesh-like areas open to his attack. But to the same outcome as Hiei, there was no harm done to the Gatasubul and his weapon merely returned to his hand.
"Dammit," Hiei growled darkly and his eyes shifted quickly towards the demon holding the remote, "If we can't break it…we'll merely break the thing controlling it…" and before the redhead could yell sense into his stubborn skull, the apparition disappeared from sight and reappeared directly above the demon with his katana raised high over his head.
But even before he could bring down his sword over his foe, the Gatasubul's arm suddenly whipped out from no where and caught the demon by surprise. In no more than a fraction of a second, the claw had pinned him to the tree waiting behind him. He grunted painfully as the machine kept him just hanging there.
The apparition glared venomously at the robot just as his eyes flickered down to his left hand where he raised it slowly so it was level with his shoulder. Hell, if his weapon couldn't break through the damn thing, maybe the Dragon would.
In his hand, a sparking, purple orb appeared and began to grow with each passing moment. Kurama suddenly realized what the apparition was doing and cried out in alarm.
"Hiei, don't!!" he cried out to his teammate and glanced around hurriedly for another means of releasing the apparition from the Gatasubul's claws. And partially angry from his friend's stupid decision, he suddenly jumped in front of the giant machine and glared at it darkly; as if daring it to try and kill him.
The free arm of the Gatasubul whipped at the redhead furiously, but Kurama dodged the blow with ease and as the claw dug into the earth, he landed casually on top of it. He could tell there was something resembling anger in the robot's giant eye as—to the redhead's satisfaction—it took the claw pinning Hiei to the tree and struck at him in a second attempt. This time however, when he jumped out of the way, the arm followed with a spiteful fury as if determined to bring him down.
Hiei, on the other hand, touched down adroitly once the armored hand had released him, but could only watch as both of the Gatasubul's claws went flying after Kurama. The redhead skillfully ducked and dodged each of the blows and leapt about and around the machine almost as though he was taunting it. And as he did so, the apparition noticed with a clever smirk that whenever the monster's arm would miss Kurama, it would—as a result—accidentally cause itself little damage.
In but a moment, the redhead had landed back on the earth, but froze suddenly when he realized the two claws had caught up to his agility and were now charging dead-on towards him. There was a brief flash of light just before the two arms collided and a cloud of dust was sent billowing into the air followed by a deathly still silence.
A moment passed before the residue slowly began to settle and disappear back into the air. And in that moment, it was apparent that Kurama had not perished beneath the attack, nor had he been injured in the very least. Hiei folded his arms over his chest and let a smirk form along his face as he turned to glance at the horror-stricken demon still clutching onto the remote control.
In the redhead's hand, he still clutched onto the vine whip and as he stood, he calmly rolled it back into a small loop he held with his fist.
His dark expression that he gave to his opponent was almost enough to strike fear into the earth itself, "The Gatasubul cracked itself open…" he stated as he briefly glanced back towards the machine that now stood stationary in the clearing. The fire-apparition nearby then noticed that Kurama's whip had extracted itself from within the robot where it had no doubt done away with the beast itself, "…And pain itself is no weakness…" he continued without letting his eyes leave the demon, "It allows you to know which weaknesses you must protect…"
-:-
Mai felt her neck jerk to the side as M3's fist collided with the side of her face. And in less than a fraction of a second, she found herself tumbling over the tile flooring towards the edge of the ring. There was blood beginning to fill her mouth and she irritably coughed it up on the ground in front of her.
With a start she suddenly detected a shadow swiftly moving over her, and on instinct, her hand gripped tightly onto Kira's staff. She whirled onto her back just in time to prevent the next blow from M3 as his hand began to glow a dull red color. Both her staff and his fist collided causing a dull ringing to resound from the golden rod.
The guardian stared back up into the fighter's face which remained completely emotionless—all save for the constant fury burning in his eyes as well as his other teammates. It was at this time that she sighted (for what seemed like the first time) the blood-red veins protruding from either of his shoulders and connecting to the giant mass along his back. Her brow furrowed, what the hell was that?!
A raspy voice directed her away from the organism and back to M3, "…Kill…" he growled in his hoarse voice as she suddenly felt him pushing harder onto her staff.
It was at times like these where she dearly wished she could use her spirit energy—not to mention it was so damn uncomfortable to hide it! But it was also in times like these where she was grateful that Genkai had spent an equal amount of time building on her physical strength as well…
"Sorry…" she grunted, "…But I'm not dying today."
With a sudden kick, Mai kneed him in the groan. Experiment or not, she knew that on all men, that had to hurt like hell. And even though it didn't appear as though M3 was as fazed as she though he would be, the guardian took his pause and roughly struck him along the side of his skull with the butt of her staff. He slid a few feet away from her and she quickly leapt over him in an attempt to reunite with her companions.
She paused briefly when she noticed that neither of them was in too much better shape then she was. On one end of the ring, Master Genkai was doing some major back-flipping to avoid M1's Angel Blades as they continued to dive constantly at her. Yusuke and Kuwabara on the other hand were trying their luck with M2, but like the rest of them, weren't doing so good—
Both of the boys suddenly cried out as the fighter's invisible weapon smashed into them, causing the duo to be flung back by the unseen force and roll along the arena floor. And before M3 could try and attack her again, she dashed over to the side of her teammates.
"Are you guys alright?!" she cried out as she skidded to a halt just before she reached them.
"Do we look alright to you?" the detective grumbled as he shakily got to his feet. There were dark bruises beginning to form along his arms, and already his shirt was beginning to deteriorate with each blow he took. As she glanced down at Kazuma, she realized that he wasn't doing too well either…maybe worse than Urameshi. The corner of his lip had started to bleed and already a bruise was starting to appear beneath his eye; he even looked as though he was having a whole lot of trouble just trying to stand.
Mai frowned worriedly and glanced between the two, "You guys haven't been able to avoid any of the attacks by M2 or 3…are you sure you're alright?"
The detective sent her a frustrated glare, "What the hell are you talking about?! Don't tell me you can see them!?"
She blinked in surprise, "You…You can't?" suddenly she felt the blood drain from her. If they couldn't even see their attacks, then how were they supposed to defend themselves against this team? She glanced back between the two of them; they hadn't been able to contact their spirit energy the entire match…it was just as Genkai had said; they couldn't sense it because they couldn't comprehend it.
…That was going to suck—
Kuwabara's eyes suddenly flickered towards the sky and grew wide with a mix of surprise and fear, "Watch out!!" he roared and swiftly started to dive out of the way.
Mai, with her back facing the oncoming attack, had no time to turn around before she felt Yusuke wrap his arms tightly around her waist and throw her backwards along with himself as M2 came back once more and attempted another attack on them. The guardian covered her head to try and endure the impact of the ground as Urameshi kept his arms protectively around her until they were tumbling along the tiled ring. On collision, Yusuke had released her slightly and let her roll a little ways away from him.
There was a pause afterwards as they absorbed the shock and—panting rather heavily, Mai lifted herself slowly to her knees and stared down at the detective. After a moment, he too raised himself off of the ground and returned her gaze while a dim smile started to form.
"Dammit, didn't I tell you that I can't be saving you during this match…?" he asked as he drew in a deep breath from the air around him. Despite herself, the guardian also had to release a small grin out of her own carelessness—
Suddenly, a sharp pain raced from her neck down her spine as she unexpectedly found herself staring back up at the sky above the stadium. She lay there stunned for only a fraction of a moment before she felt a rough hand grip tightly onto the back of her head. The guardian blinked and swiftly found herself staring up into the cold gaze of M3. The weight of his body kept her pinned to the earth as he raised his bared hand dangerously close to her face.
"…Kill…"
Abruptly, the weight atop of her was lifted and she suddenly found herself free. As she quickly leapt back onto her feet she noticed that Yusuke had slammed himself into M3, sending both of the fighters onto the ground where they locked themselves in a fierce fist-brawl.
The detective caught his opponent's fists in his hands and strained to keep the human from trying to pummel him into the earth. Urameshi's eyes burned now with a fierce passion as he suddenly head-butted his forehead into M3's skull. The human toppled backwards for only a moment, and swiftly recovered by completing a somersault and ending back on his feet. Yusuke stood just as quickly and clenched his fists dangerously as his eyes flickered towards Mai.
"Dammit, don't just stand there!" he hissed, "Go after Ichigaki!!"
With a start, the guardian realized that she had almost completely forgotten about the doctor and her gaze shifted back towards where he calmly sat watching all four of them trying to fight against his creations. She swiftly turned back to Urameshi and with a quick nod of her head, dashed off towards where the doctor sat unguarded.
These fools don't stand a chance…Ichigaki mused to himself with a mirthful chuckle, In only a few moments there will be nothing left of Team Urameshi—
Quickly, the doctor's eyes flashed towards his right where a swift movement had caught his eye. A smirk twisted itself along his face when he recognized that little red-haired girl running at him. He laughed mentally; with her spirit energy so low, even he could take her out…but why waste a good thing? He decided as he calmly flicked a button on the controller substituting for his calculator.
Damn him…Mai muttered mentally, damn him and his cowardly schemes done to these humans…She couldn't even stand to look at him and that smug look that was always plastered on his face. He cared nothing for the life of his teammates…it would have surprised her if he cared for anything at all….
Something in the back of her mind suddenly snapped when she noticed that Ichigaki was just watching her approaching him without looking the least bit worried. Gods, she knew her spirit energy was acting low, but was it so low that she seemed that easily beaten—?
Mai suddenly let out a cry of pain as she collided once more with the tiled floor beneath hear. Her head stuck hard and as she came to rest, she felt a warm trickle of blood dripping between her hairline and onto the ring below. There was something pressing firmly at her throat and as she looked up, she now met the cold eyes of M2 as he forced the energy-based pole in his hands up to her neck.
Wriggling her arms free, she tried to push back against the man's staff, but he would not let up and forced it deeper and deeper towards her flesh.
Beside her, she could hear the soft tapping of Ichigaki's shoes as he calmly stepped next to her and her opponent. Soon she could see his face leering down at her as he watched her try and relieve the pressure around her throat.
"Pitiful…" he said icily, "I thought that maybe…just maybe since your spirit energy is hardly more than a child's…that you would at least have some physical stamina…"
The guardian gritted her teeth vengefully; gods it was becoming a bit too hard to hold back on her spirit powers right about now…
"…But for some reason I can't seem to comprehend…" he continued, "That Urameshi character seems to be a little bit protective about you, doesn't he?"
Her fists clenched dangerously around M2's pole, but she refused to look the doctor in the eye…no he didn't deserve it…all he deserved was to…
"Pity too that they won't be able to fight the next match when we win…" he stated as a cunning sneer forced its way onto his face, "Since Urameshi has decided to give up his body to me when you all lose, I'll be unstoppable with the powers his body possesses; I won't be in need of either M1, 2, or 3—"
That was it.
Mai's midnight blue orbs suddenly flashed with a furious blaze as her head whipped towards Ichigaki and she raised her palm towards his ugly face. She didn't care now if she was supposed to hide her energy; Yusuke and Kuwabara couldn't find their own, so it wasn't as if they could support the team by themselves. Besides, she couldn't stand that distorted smirk of his…all he deserved in this life was to
"Burn in hell!!!" the guardian screamed suddenly as the corners of her palm began to glow a pale pink color. Ichigaki's eyes grew wide with horror as he took a fearful step backwards from her attack, but even he knew he would not be able to avoid the blast once it let loose.
It was as if time had frozen while Mai's attack began to grow dangerously. But across the ring, the masked fighter's senses pricked suddenly and she whirled after trying to avoid the Angel Blades sent after her. There was—what appeared to be—fear that crossed Genkai's eyes as she detected the girl beneath M2 raising her palm towards Ichigaki, preparing to blow his face inwards.
Dammit! The woman swore as she made a mad dash across the arena; avoiding the rest of the attacks M1 hurled at her. She should have known better, though, to ask her to keep her energy bottled up for this long; or at least that her emotions would have gotten the better of her…
Genkai cursed again; her short size definitely didn't improve her swiftness, and was probably the only thing holding her back right now. She was suddenly tempted to fire off an attack from where she was; but that might have been too risky; it was bad enough that Mai had already revealed her spirit powers…she couldn't do the same.
All she could do was trust to hope that she could make it in time—damn those powers of hers; that attack would let loose any second!
"Mai!!" the woman roared as if trying to prevent her from releasing her attack before she could get there, but the guardian didn't appear to hear her. With a swift glance around her, she determined that Yusuke or Kuwabara wouldn't be much help to her either; they were both on the opposite side of the ring and definitely too far away to do much good.
Her senses pricked warily as she became aware of movement behind her. With the swift incline of her head, she noticed M1 rapidly beginning to approach her and already calling up his next wave of Angel Blades. And as they were set upon her, she jumped into the air to avoid the attack, and also to aim herself at M2 who was pinning the guardian to the arena floor.
She felt her foot collide with his ribcage harshly and saw him ripped into the air away from Mai. M2 quickly smashed into the doctor standing not too far away from either of them. Ichigaki and the human rammed into the ground below as a result of Genkai's attack.
The guardian still lay on the arena in a bit of a stunned silence. Her palm was still raised upwards where she would have released the attack on the doctor, but now the pale, pink glow had resided back into her hand. Genkai noticed then that her eyes were still blazing furiously without removing them from the doctor who was now pinned to the earth by M2.
There was a moment where she merely sat there, before she slowly lifted herself off the ground and let her eyes wander carelessly to the woman beside her. An angry fire still burned in her blue orbs, but it had softened drastically when she noticed it was Genkai.
Mai watched her for a moment before bowing her head towards the earth, "…I-I'm sorry…I shouldn't have let my anger blind me like that…" she said quietly and glanced quickly back towards M2 and Ichigaki where the doctor's experiment was already beginning to stir, "I should have just held back a little longer—"
"There's nothing you can do about it now, Mai," the woman said quickly, "But try and be a bit more careful next time…" she sighed heavily, "I'm not asking you to mask your energy just for the sake of hiding it, but Yusuke and Kuwabara need to contact their own; and if you take out the entire team, they may not be able to find their energy."
The girl stared up at her for another moment longer before she nodded and stepped up to her feet slowly. Genkai eyed her carefully before she swiftly took her foot and struck the guardian in the leg.
She bit her lips to keep from crying out and glanced back towards her in wonder, "What the hell was that for?!"
Genkai shrugged, "Just wanted to make sure you weren't going all numb on us…" and from beneath her mask, the guardian detective a small grin beginning to form. Mai forced a weak smile herself and stared glumly down at her hands; she had almost blown her entire cover by letting that Ichigaki bastard get the better of her—
A flash of light quickly averted her gaze from her palm and up to the other two boys opposite of her. M1 had released yet another wave of his Angel Blades and directed them towards both Yusuke and Kuwabara. They both leapt out of the way and the detective turned just in time to see the energy blades rip up a part of the ring.
The guardian frowned suddenly as she detected M3 coming in for another attack on them; the pair seemed oblivious to his hand glowing a dim crimson color and growing immensely in size.
"They can only see the Angel Blades," Genkai explained suddenly to her, "They cannot sense nor see M2 or 3's attacks…"
Mai furrowed her brow, "But then they'll never be able to defend against them…" she reasoned quietly.
A cruel chuckle suddenly came from behind them, "Exactly…" came a hostile voice, "That's why your team will never defeat my own…"
The girl whirled as she recognized that voice and mustered all that she could to keep from ripping Ichigaki's face off (that would be Yusuke's job anyway). But even so, she also wished that she could have blown his filthy head off of his shoulders with just one spirit gun. Mai felt Genkai sending her mental warnings to hold her ground.
"Despicable… that's what you are," the guardian growled darkly and threateningly stepped forward, "Using your…your experiments to hide behind; you're a coward, Ichigaki!!"
"So I'm a coward then?" he mused and then smirked cruelly, "What does that make you? Are you afraid to attack me with your spirit powers?" he challenged, "Attack me; I dare you…"
She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, "My pleasure," she muttered and made a move to advance on the doctor, but Genkai swiftly caught hold of her wrist.
"Mai…" she warned and her own golden brown eyes flashed dangerously towards Ichigaki. The guardian appeared to be mustering all that she could to avoid blasting Ichigaki off the face of the earth and clenched her fists so tightly that a tickle of blood formed beneath her fingers.
Leave him for now, the masked fighter told her; he can do no real damage alone; we need to assist Yusuke and Kuwabara…
The girl replied with a quick nod of her head, and started to turn back towards her companions, when she heard the doctor snort in his dry amusement.
"Pitiful…" he chuckled, "…just like that detective—"
Her staff was raised for an attack in a matter of blinking. With her fury mounting, she whirled back to face the doctor and pummel his face into the ground itself. But before she could bring it down on his twisted little head, the golden rod made contact with something else; emitting a dull clang. An angry passion blazed fiercely in her eyes as Kira's staff and M2's weapon collided.
"Like I said before," she muttered through gritted teeth, "You're a filthy coward!!" and in a swift whirl of the rod, she struck M2 in the stomach causing him to falter backwards slightly. But before he could recover, the guardian jumped into the air and shoved both her feet into his chest; and pushing against him, she maneuvered into a back-flip. Then with the grace of a master, landed agilely back on the ring and—without glancing back—raced after her two other companions.
Mai could hear the masked fighter hurrying after her as well as M2 beginning to follow. M1 and 3 continued to attack one after the other as the two boys tried their best to avoid them. Once again, the guardian wished that she could use her spirit powers to simply wipe out Ichigaki and the rest of his team…until she remembered that these humans weren't trying to hurt them; they were all under the control of those sickly organisms growing out of their backs. And that if she did use her powers, there was a chance that they would die even though technically they were innocent.
She cursed her luck; why, of all the fights, did she have to conceal her spirit energy in this one?!
The guardian froze suddenly when she caught a flash of movement above her. She stopped swiftly and glanced upwards to find M2 hurdling over her, only to land a moment later precisely in line with his other two teammates. The human didn't even glance back at the girl, but kept his eyes—as well as M1 and 3's—on Yusuke and Kuwabara.
And even through the deafening roars of the crowd around them, Mai could still make out the dry, hoarse chant of the three fighters standing between her and her companions:
"…Kill…" they growled, "…kill….kill…kill…"
It was as if that was all they had on their mind; that nothing else mattered to them except to kill the entire Urameshi team. But if what Genkai said was true, then these people would never purposely want to kill another human being. Their minds were at the mercy of Ichigaki however, and he could make them think whatever he wanted them to.
Kazuma suddenly stepped forward in a stance that made it appear as though he was ready to attack the three fighters, but instead he paused…and started to talk to them…
"What are you doing?!" he demanded and Mai suddenly noticed something resembling compassion flickering in his eyes, "You can fight back against Ichigaki!! You don't have to be like this!!"
But it seemed as though they wouldn't even listen to him…either that, or it was because they couldn't hear him for some reason…But whatever it was, the three fighters suddenly launched themselves at the redhead. And seeing his friend in near danger, Urameshi took it upon himself to go after them as well.
But M1 found a way to get past the detective and swiftly released another round of his Angel Blades on Kuwabara. The redhead stood there for a fraction of a moment in shock before he quickly jumped into the air to try and avoid the attack. But being weak as he was, he wasn't quick enough to avoid the attack completely and instead, the majority of the blades came and struck him entirely over his body.
"Kuwabara!!" Mai cried as the redhead crashed into the ring. And avoiding the rest of the Ichigaki team, quickly made her way over to his side where she knelt to make sure he was alright, "Kuwabara, are you okay?!"
He slowly lifted his head from the ground, but his eyes would not leave the three fighters. The guardian saw something in his eyes that almost made it feel as though her heart was breaking; there was such sadness and pain when he looked at Doctor Ichigaki's team it was almost unbearable.
"K-Kazuma…?" she asked softly now and eyed his grievous wounds carefully. He must be in so much pain…she thought sadly to herself when she noticed blood beginning to stain the back of his shirt.
"Why aren't they fighting it…?" he answered despondently, almost as if he wasn't talking to anyone at all, "Why don't they fight against it?"
She stared at him for a moment before she glanced back towards the three humans. After a moment she shook her head slowly and turned back to him, "They are fighting it, Kuwabara; we just can't see it…but…but whatever's controlling them is keeping them from fully breaking free…"
Up in the stands, Keiko bit her lip as the fight continued on. Her large brown eyes turned up towards the older girl next to her, "Wh…What are they doing, Shizuru?" she asked worriedly, "Why won't they fight back against them…?"
She didn't answer right away; her eyes remained on her "baby" brother and the little red-haired girl beside him. She was talking with Kazuma; her eyes kept on glancing back between the three other humans and the boy next to her. So far Kuwabara hadn't even thrown a punch at the opposing team, and yet he allowed himself to get beat up continuously.
"They feel sorry for them…" Shizuru answered with a sigh, "For some reason they won't fight because of that…"
The younger teen seemed to pale horribly, "Then…Then if they don't fight back, they might die…" she said in hardly more than a whisper and glanced back up at her.
Shizuru shrugged and then noticed movement on the sidelines below, "In any case, you can bet that Botan will give them a piece of her mind…" she said and gestured towards where the ferry girl running across the field to the ring.
"What the hell are you guys doing?!" the blue-haired girl demanded as she charged to the edge of the arena.
Before she could release her wrath on either of them, Mai quickly cut in, "They're not of their own will, Botan…they're being controlled by Ichigaki somehow!"
She frowned presently as the doctor began to chuckle darkly from the opposite side of the ring. Just as Yusuke had defended off M2 and 3, he paused and glared at the short demon dangerously, "What's so funny, jackass?" he inquired threateningly.
Ichigaki narrowed his eyes as his dreadful little smirk twisted along his jaw and he held up the controller in his hands, "The Verrucae continuously pumps a chemical into the bloodstream…" he stated gesturing towards the deep red organism attached to either fighter's back, "It allows me to control their every movement…"
With that, his claw-like fingers pressed several buttons on the remote and twirled another two or three knobs. Then, without warning, M3 suddenly launched himself at Yusuke while M2 when after Kuwabara and Mai. The brown-haired human raised his bared hand at the detective and—seeing where this would lead—Urameshi quickly tried to flip out of the way. But once more, it was inevitable that he would not make it out of the way in time.
Mai opened her mouth to cry out and warn him, but before she could even emit a sound, she noticed a swift movement charging towards the detective from the right. Her eyes shifted quickly and noticed with a start Genkai already beginning to leap into the air. The woman suddenly kicked him out of the way just as M3's hand began to glow a bright crimson color.
In an instant, the masked fighter was enveloped in the bright red attack. It was as if time stood still as she was flung backwards; charging off the ring. Her body dug into the arena causing bits and pieces of the tile flooring to fly upwards around her as she suddenly rammed into the concrete wall just below the stands.
The guardian stood dumbfounded staring open-mouthed at the pile of rubble that now covered the old woman. And as she stared, she did not move again…It took all she could to not call out Genkai's name, but it was becoming harder and harder not to.
Something in her senses pricked when she remembered that M2 had still been sent after both herself and Kuwabara. Swiftly she turned just in time to see the human raising his invisible (at least to Kazuma) weapon over his head and with her hands already gripping her staff, she raised it before her as his hands came down.
She gritted her teeth as she felt M2 force his weapon harder on top of her.
"Please fight it!" Mai now pleaded with the human; trying desperately to communicate with him, but all she could see was the anger blazing in his eyes, "Please, I know you're not really like this!!"
There was nothing in his cold-hard gaze and she soon felt all hope slipping away. Quickly, she glanced back towards Kuwabara for any assistance, but even so, she knew no matter what he said he wouldn't be able to make much of a difference either.
Behind M2, Ichigaki smirked malevolently and once more fiddled with the controller in his hands. After a moment he looked up and his eyes suddenly flashed with a dark malice, "Kill them all…" he ordered darkly.
Suddenly Mai felt her arms beginning to collapse beneath the weight of the human above her as his eyes went blank with a furious rage. The guardian braced herself when she quickly shifted her feet beneath her.
"Hey, Kuwabara, I could really use some help here…" she moaned as she slowly grew closer to the ground.
"I don't want to hurt them, though…" he argued, "They're really not bad people—!"
"I know they're not, Kazuma!!" Mai snapped a little irritably, "I don't want to hurt them anymore than you do, but you need to help me get him the hell off of me!!"
The redhead faltered for a second before he quickly came to kneel beside the guardian. He used his own strength to assist her as they both threw their body weight against Kira's staff. Slowly and steadily, they were able to sense M2 beginning to fall backwards and they continued to push harder. With a final thrust, the human staggered backward and Mai took her staff back in her hands.
"Sorry about this," she muttered quickly as she drove her staff into his gut. She spun around agilely and came around with her leg outstretched causing M2 to fly backwards through the air. The guardian nearly looked ashamed of what she had done and bowed her head slightly, "Like I said; I'm sorry about this—"
"Heads up, Mai!!" Kuwabara roared suddenly. The guardian turned quickly to find that M3 had extracted himself away from Yusuke and was now charging at the two of them. Quickly, she readied herself with Kira's staff and her eyes flamed with a mix of regret and anger as the human quickly approached.
She felt Kazuma move to stand next to her, "They have to be good people deep down," he reasoned as M3 quickly charged towards them, "They can't be attacking us of their own will!!"
"They're not!" Mai told him, "Ichigaki is controlling them; unless we find some way to get rid of those Verrucae, they'll remain his pawns—but even that may be dangerous; we don't know how deep those things are embedded into them!"
"All we can do is defend against them…" the redhead said quietly.
The guardian sighed, "Yeah."
M3 was approaching quickly and began to raise his hand; preparing to attack them. But even before Mai could lift her staff, the human was suddenly launched backwards. The pair blinked in confusion before they realized that the masked fighter had jumped back into the ring. And without saying a word to either of them, she quickly leapt across the arena towards where Yusuke was trying to avoid M1's Angel Blades.
In a complicated maneuver of jumps and kicks, she had tackled the human to the ground of the arena floor. But not before one of his stray blades had sliced at their face.
As they landed back on the floor the addressed the rest of team Urameshi, "Your sympathy is admirable…but it will get you nowhere…"
And slowly they inclined their head back towards them while Mai let out a gasp of surprise: Not only had the mask around their face almost entirely removed itself…
But the woman beneath it was not Master Genkai…
-:-
a/n: ANNNNNNNNND CUT!!
Haha, well that's a wrap people for this week; I hope you all enjoyed!! (Don't worry; major ass-whooping for Ichigaki in the next chapter(s)!!)
Um…well there's not much else to say…but…
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
LoL, be safe everyone! And try and keep with your resolutions! (mine's to try and burn 150 cals a day on my DDR :-)
Ciao!!!!!!