If you really need to read the disclaimer again, then refer back to the first ten chapters.
Ch.12
It was a rough two day ride, stopping well after it got dark to make camp, eat, and sleep, then heading out when the sun rose. However they somehow managed to make it through. Unfortunately they now were faced with a new problem. Their transportation was stuck.
"We can't take you any further than this," Cougar announced once they had stopped.
"What, why?" Yusuke implored.
"There is a barrier around this area, and our powers won't work any further than this, so you just going to have to walk from here, my group and I will wait here until you get back," he explained to the exuberant boy.
"Oh," was the only response he got. There was a momentary pause as people dismounted and adjusted to solid, unmoving land. Yusuke looked around a moment before imposing the question "How far do we have to walk?"
"About I day's journey I'd say," Kurama answered him, and with out any hesitation the five members of the Reiki Tantei started their trek with the reassurance that the speed demons would be waiting to transport them once they got back. They were also right about the barrier. All five of them could feel the solid wall of energy pass across them as they entered into the protected area, walking strait towards the hardest part of their mission yet.
Damn him, damn that Korran to hell and back, Aryn's mind cursed. She was positive that similar thoughts were going through her friend's minds from the seething looks in their eyes, though no one had the energy to voice it. They had only been allowed to rest, as much rest as someone can get hooked to a wall in a mad scientist/demon's laboratory, far couple of hours before they were dragged back into that arena like "testing" room.
They had each been put back with their own device, Sam's, Mike's, Jamie's, Erika's, and Stephanie's machines remained the same as last time while the rest were different, and Cristian and Seth were once again led into another room by Erik and Shaylan.
Travis was faced with a glowing barrier and inside that barrier was a large glowing orb. A tendril stretched out from the orb and attached to the center of Travis's chest before disappearing. After this he found that he could only move about five feet away from the barrier before something heavy dragged at him, his soul, and kept him from going any further. As with everything this "experiment" it was a painful experience. If that were not enough about every three minuets the orb gave off a pulse that vibrated up the now invisible tendril and ricocheted throughout Travis's entire body like an electro shock.
Jordan had something similar to Travis for she was also faced with an orb inside a barrier but she was not attached to a tendril that shocked her. Instead a ball of energy was shot at her and it always hit its target no matter where she moved, but would evade anything else in its path. She had free range of the room, but that did nothing to help her.
Jessica was placed in front of what looked like a robot in the shape of a human. She was instructed to stop it though it had no off switch and apparently had the equivalence of a human mind. The robot started up and began to bombard her with boxing moves and although she had martial arts experience she couldn't even block for the metal of the robot would break her arm. The two of them were enclosed with a larger version of the barriers already in use in order contain their fight; if you could even call it such.
Aryn was forced to question the sanity of their captor when he informed her of her task. She was placed on a pedestal about ten feet up with no way to get back to the ground. About fifty feet in front of her perch was an identical dais which she was informed she was to jump to. At first she refused but found that if she did not comply she was shocked by the collar around her neck. So she jumped and, as expected, she crashed to the ground. Once she stood up she was placed back on the pedestal to try again. After repeating the process of jumping and crashing she tried a different tactic. Instead of aiming for the other platform when she jumped she aimed at landing safely on the ground. This worked and she was spared the painful collision with the floor but was rewarded by another zap. She was given no choice but to strive for the other platform even at its insane distance and there was no way around it.
Yami was placed inside another barrier with another one of the laser shooting poles. She was unable to run away from it and after a few attempts found that no matter where or how hard she hit it with either a fist or a foot it would not break. She was informed that no amount of physical force cold break the pillar, it had been designed that way, and she would have to find another way to hit it. If Yami had just been able to sit and think about it she could have probably figured out another way, but as it was her mind was preoccupied with the rain of laser beams and how to dodge them.
The last person was Elizabeth and her task was a bit weird. She was shoved inside, yet another, barrier along with something that somewhat resembled the robot Jessica was currently dealing with. It appeared to be made of metal and was human shaped but it was deformed. All the usual proportions of a person were there except for one thing. This metal man had no face. Where the facial features should have been there was only a grayish blob that seemed to be trying to ooze past the confines of the head, and as she stared at it the grey mass did just that. It spilled out of the face to cover the head and then trickle down the body until the entire thing was coated. Then it started to disappear, or rather it started sinking back into the body it came from. Once the goop had completely disappeared, there was no longer a featureless robotic body in front of her but a ninja, clad in black with a mask covering its face. Elizabeth stood there in shocked silence and was not disturbed until the robot/ninja came at her, wielding a katana in one gloved hand. So now she was faced with fighting for her life against a ninja, in a confined space, and almost no personal fighting experience. Needless to say she was not winning and within mere minutes was the proud owner of numerous gashes and cuts that had been dealt to her by that sharpened piece of metal.
All the rest of the subjects were put to the same test they had faced earlier, and with just as much success. The only question was, if this kept up what would bake first, there minds or their bodies? And sense all of them were fairly strong minded, the only answer was that they would surly be killed if they didn't find a way out of this, or least find a way to give Korran the answers he was looking for.
This was probably the strangest land that any of the Reiki Tantei had ever seen. It couldn't seem to make up its mind as to what it wanted to be, switching drastically about every five-hundred feet. When they had started their trek they had been walking over flat grass land but it had switched to rolling hills of sand, to rocky land with threatening pits of lava, and so on. At one point they entered into a bog, but they didn't realize it until Kuwabara suddenly found himself stuck waist deep in swampy water. They managed to stay mostly dry, thanks to Kurama's power to make the water plants grow into a floating bridge, but some of the terrain was not so easy. At the moment the group was attempting to cross a seemingly endless field filled with nothing but thick knee-high underbrush, making movement extremely difficult. Kurama could force the plants aside if it got to bad, but the plants were stubborn and did not want to move. Forcing them aside drained Kurama of his power, and sense they were going to need their energy latter, he refrained from doing so too often.
"I don't know about anyone else, but I've just about had it with this place!" Yusuke shouted when the sky turned dark and he realized that sense they had entered this certain piece of land they had moved scarcely a hundred feet in three hours.
"I suggest we make camp for the night," Kurama spoke up as he stared at the deep violet night sky.
"Would you also like to suggest where we sleep, foxboy?" Yusuke retorted in a friendly, yet impatient voice.
"I'm sure Hiei could clear us a spot," the fox answered. So Hiei ended up doing just that; sending out two bursts of flames to circle around the group. Once the fire died away there was left a cleared circle, about twenty feet in diameter, with not so much as a twig left in its wake. By covering the blank ground with thick moss, Kurama was able to make the area a bit more comfortable, and large leaves that radiated a soft heat could be used as blankets. So the Reiki Tantei settled down to get some rest, Hiei creating a fire in the middle of their circle and Kurama growing a few vines bearing fruits and vegetables for a meal.
"Hey, Kurama," Yusuke called as he studied the apple in his hand. "Where do you keep all your seeds? I know they're in you hair somewhere but you always seem to have exactly the plant you need. Do you just keep handfuls of innumerable seeds braided into your hair or what?" This was indeed a prying question so Yusuke expected the fox to be insulted, or maybe even angry at him. However he did not expect the reaction the fox gave. He actually started laughing.
"You know-" Kurama managed to choke out in between dominating giggles, "No one can ever really figure-figure that answer out. I am not so stupid as to have large amounts of sprigs gr-growing on my head. I use dimensional pockets." This last statement got him a bunch of confused stares from everyone except Hiei, who was not listening.
"Who the what now?" Kuwabara exasperated.
"Dimensional pockets are, as the name describes, pockets in space time. They can store innumerable amounts of mass while retaining no actual weight it's self. I have three attached to random locks of my hair in which I can store an infinite amount of seeds, and they are designed so that only I can locate and access them. Youko also has one sewn into the inside of his tunic, but I refrain from this for the simple fact that it is fairly probable to lose or destroy clothing in a fight." The silence that followed after Kurama's speech was almost immediately by Botan.
"But how can that be!" the fairy girl exclaimed. "Spirit World stopped the production of such things centuries ago!"
"Come now," he said as he flashed Botan a million dollar smile. "Every fox knows how to spin a little magic." The only response this got him was a small 'oh' from the girl before she fell silent. The rest of the night passed by without much more conversation as the members of the Reiki Tantei snuggled under their leaves and vainly tried to get some sleep.
64