Wow, three reviews in less than 24 hours! w00t! That's what I like to see! Thank you very very much! And to answer one of the questions I have seen more than once, yes it will either be a Catalyn pairing with Hiei or Kurama, not sure which yet. Each kind has their ups and downs. Anyways, three reviews till the next chappie!
Disclaimer: I don't own YYH.
CHAPTER NINE –SHOWDOWN IN THE ROOM OF MIRRORS
Catalyn took three running steps and, ignoring Hiei's warning, leaped over the shattered fragments of the chandelier. She didn't even stop to balance herself when she landed; she stumbled right over to Kurama, whose arm was bleeding badly. "Kurama, are you –?"
"I'm okay," he replied with a smile, then winced in pain.
"No, you're not!" Yusuke said angrily.
"Anyone have a Band-Aid?" asked Kuwabara stupidly.
Catalyn gave an annoyed sigh, but she knew that he did have the right intentions. Kurama's wound needed to be covered. She untied her elastic-like bandage out of her ponytail and helped Kurama tie his wound with it. Without it, her amber hair fell a bit above her waist. She hated it loose because it always got in her face, but she'd survive. Besides, Kurama's wound was more important than her need of a ponytail.
Yusuke helped Kurama up, and they were ready to go. Catalyn leaped back over the chandelier. Kurama followed, using his rose whip to pull himself over. He extended it to Yusuke, and then after to Kuwabara.
"I don't need your help!" Kuwabara declared. He summoned his aura sword. It was the first time she had seen it, and she had to admit it was pretty impressive for a guy like him. He extended it and did like those pole-vaulters do, leaping over the chandelier. Upon landing, he missed a step and fell backwards. Catalyn grabbed onto his collar with her tail and pulled him upright. "Thanks," he said, his eyes shining. "So, do you wanna go on –"
She let her tail whip the back of his head.
After climbing halfway up the magnificent staircase, the stairs branch off into two different directions. At the end of each is another door.
"Which one?" Kuwabara asked.
"Let's just pick one and find out," Yusuke said. "After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained."
"Or we could split up," Kurama suggested.
Without a word, Catalyn took out the communication device Botan had given her. She pressed the green ON button, and Botan's face appeared in the screen.
"How's it going, Catalyn?" she asked cheerfully. Upon hearing her voice, the boys turned.
"We've got a bit of a problem," she replied. "Kurama beat Nami, the first of the Ten. She had water and ice powers. Now we've reached a fork in the road. Did Koenma give you any info?"
Botan thought about it for a moment, then replied, "Both ways end up leading back together again. The left leads to Fai, who is a halfdemon with reiki powers from his human side and lightning from his demon side. On the right is his full-demon brother, Kai, who uses earthly powers and mind control. I'd say he's probably more dangerous. Still, you should probably split up since they will both need to be defeated either way."
"Okay, thanks, Botan," Catalyn said. "We'll let you know how it goes."
A high pitched voice yelled, "Be careful, sis!" Another yelled, "We miss you!"
She smiled. "Thanks," she said to Jet and Mari's voices. "Wait for me, and I'll come back soon. Bye, Botan." She pressed the red OFF button and faced the others, all who had been listening intently to Botan's information. So, who will go with who?
Everyone was silent, looking at one another, all thinking the same question. Finally Hiei said, "I'll take Kai," and began walking up the steps on the right.
Yusuke jumped right after him, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "Okay, Hiei, m'man, I'm going with you! We'll kick butt for sure!"
"Get your fat paw off me," Hiei snapped, but made no other objections. They went through their door.
"Well," Catalyn said, "that's decided." She was happy to be with Kurama, but as for Kuwabara…well, at least he couldn't try anything drastic with Kurama around.
"Catalyn, we're together!" Kuwabara exclaimed, grabbing her hand. "The powers of love brought us together!"
With her free hand, she smacked him in the face and glared at him. He got the message.
So, the three of them walked up the stairs on the left and opened their door. They find themselves in a brightly lit room, where the floor, walls, and ceiling all seem to be made out of a mirror-like glass.
"Interesting," Catalyn mused, squinting as she got used to the light. "All light reflects here."
"Exactly," answered a strangely high, male voice. Kurama pointed to the left. Standing there is Fai, with extremely pale skin and brown hair. He wore Roman-style clothing (you know, long time ago stuff). He wasn't very tall. "Welcome to my lair," he said. "My name is Fai, and next door is my brother Kai, who I believe is facing two of your members now. But I'm confident in my abilities. I'll take all three of you on."
"Are you sure you wanna risk fighting us all at once?" Kuwabara asked.
"Are you sure you wanna risk your neck fighting me?" Fai retorted.
"Let it go," Catalyn said to the fuming Kuwabara. "If that's what he wants, so be it. But Kurama, I think you should sit out and give your wound some more time to heal. Take a break."
Kurama nodded and retreated to a corner in the room, where he sat down to watch. "Good luck," he said.
Louder, she called out to Fai, "You'll face two of us. Ready when you are."
Fai grinned. "Since there is a girl among you, I'll let you two make the first move," he said to her and Kuwabara.
Catalyn pushed her hair aside and out of her face, praying it wouldn't give her too much trouble. Still she waited. But Kuwabara did not. He summoned his aura sword and charged forward with a kind of war cry. "You're going down!"
As he charged across the room, Catalyn noticed the expanding grin Fai wore. That was when she sensed a massive wall of reiki that would not only shield him from Kuwabara's attack, but counter as well. "Get back!" she yelled urgently.
Kuwabara faltered, but that was it – his sword collided with the barrier. There was an explosion upon the contact and Kuwabara was thrown backwards into a wall, groaning.
"Too easy," Fai snickered. "I sincerely hope you're stronger, cat girl."
"I am," she answered smoothly, summoning balls of flame to her fists. Then she charged.
"Big mistake," said Fai.
"Catalyn, don't!" yelled Kurama.
As she sprinted, Catalyn remembered what her sensei had taught her about countering reiki techniques with her own reiki powers. When she was close to the barrier, she made a quick analysis of its strength and summoned even more power for herself. She charged through the barrier with ease. Fai's eyes widened, but before he could say anything, she was on top of him, punching him with her flaming fists. He flew through the air. She leaped up to join him, and as he came down, she kicked him sideways into the wall, where he falls to the floor.
"No challenge at all," Catalyn said dismissively. She ripped the edge of her sleeve off and used it to tie her hair back (it was way too annoying) the way Sango from Inuyasha does when she's not fighting. She turned back to Kurama and Kuwabara, who was standing again.
"I found the door," Kurama said.
"Door?" Catalyn asked, looking around the room, and she realized she couldn't see the exit.
Kurama pointed across the room. Catalyn followed his gaze. "It was camouflaged pretty well," he said. "It's understandable you didn't notice it."
Together, the three walked over to the door. Catalyn reached for the glass doorknob, and… suddenly, bolts of electricity surged from the door to her hand. She leaped back, yelping in pain, and rubbed her hand.
"What's wrong?" the boys asked together.
"Your way is blocked," Fai said, and they turned to see him standing, alive and well, save for a few scratches. "And it will remain blocked until you defeat me. So, you've matched me in reiki, but can you even come close against my skills with lightning?"
Kurama retreated again, and Kuwabara stepped forward, summoning a new aura sword. "Let's find out!" he yelled, and charged again with no thought of strategy whatsoever. Catalyn groaned, but charged behind him in case of backup.
Fai summoned a sword to his hand, much like Kuwabara's, but this one crackled with electricity. "See my thunder sword!" he proclaimed. He parries Kuwabara's strike, and suddenly, waves of electricity flow from the sword into Kuwabara and he cries out in pain. Catalyn sped behind Fai and aimed a flaming punch for his back. Kuwabara fell back, and Fai tried to dodge her attack. She managed to get him in the arm, knocking the thunder sword out of his hands. Then Kuwabara struck him in the leg with his recharged aura sword.
"Catalyn, behind you!" Kurama yelled urgently.
She turned around just in time to see Fai's thunder sword zooming towards her. She tried to dive aside, but it grazed her leg, sending electrifying pain throughout her whole body. She fell to her knees, yelling. The sword continued its way and exploded when it hit Kuwabara's aura sword. Kuwabara cried out, and he, too, fell to his knees.
Fai laughed as the two struggled to their feet. "How…?" Catalyn asked weakly. "He didn't throw the thunder sword, so how…?"
It was Kurama who found the solution. "It bounced back from the wall," he said suddenly, almost in awe.
Fai laughed even harder. "Correct!" he exclaimed. "All light reflects here, and so do my electrical attacks!"
As he continued to laugh, Catalyn inched towards Kuwabara. "Listen," she muttered. "We have to use his advantage to our advantage."
Kuwabara stared at her, confused. "How do we do that?"
She sighed. "Never mind, just distract him for me."
Kuwabara nodded and lengthened his aura sword. He charged. Fai summoned five thunderbolts out of nowhere, and they all headed for Kuwabara. In a small panic, Kuwabara swung his sword in an attempt to counter, but every time a thunderbolt hit, he'd get affected as well. Still, he kept going. Using his sword like a baseball bat, he knocked three attacks aside, ignoring the pain, but he couldn't do the last two.
Catalyn leaped into action and kicked the thunderbolts, her feet flaming. She still felt the shock seep through her, but she tried to be strong and ignored it. Now there were five thunderbolts bouncing back and forth across the room.
"Thanks," Kuwabara gasped, ducking as a thunderbolt flew over his head.
"No problem," Catalyn panted back. "Now listen, we're going to charge Fai. When I give the signal, we both separate from him. Now charge!"
The two of them charged for Fai, Kuwabara with his aura sword and Catalyn with her flaming fists. Fai counters Kuwabara with a new thunder sword in one hand, and Catalyn with an electrifying punch. Out of the corner of her eye, Catalyn measured the angles. The thunderbolts were almost onto them…
"NOW!" she bellowed.
Kuwabara leaped backwards, tripping over his feet and falling to the floor. Catalyn dove aside, very low to the ground, and somersaulted till she had landed on both hands and feet.
And then the five thunderbolts collided with Fai.
There was a huge explosion, throwing Catalyn and Kuwabara backwards. Kuwabara hit the wall, but Catalyn used her tail to push herself away from it to land smoothly. She covered her face with her arms to protect herself from the smoke. When it cleared, she stifled a gasp. Where Fai once stood was now a pile of ashes. I love winning my fights, she thought, but not killing. I guess sometimes I have to, whether or not it's on purpose.
Kuwabara rushed up to the mound and poked it, then laughed. "His goose is cooked!"
"More like toasted," she muttered.
Kurama congratulated the two on their fight. "Excellent strategy, Catalyn," he added with a grin.
Catalyn felt her cheeks go a little pink, but she wasn't sure why. "Thanks. How's your arm doing?"
He looked at it and stretched it a little. "It's healing well," he said. "I'm using a medicinal herb I brought with me to help speed the process. It's not hurting anymore."
She smiled with relief. "That's good."
Kuwabara rushed for the door. "Now we can get out of this dump! Just imagine if Urameshi and Hiei are there waiting for us… What took you so long? We've been waiting forever! Ugh, if either one of them says that I swear I'll pound their faces in!" He turned the knob and it opened easily. The three fighters exited the mirror room and closed the door shut behind them.
Now, they were faced with a long wooden stairway with no rails. Below it was a dark, seemingly bottomless pit. And next to the door they had just exited was another one, which they all knew to be the one Yusuke and Hiei would come from. However, Yusuke and Hiei, contrary to Kuwabara's prediction, were nowhere to be seen.
"Did they go on without us?" Catalyn asked incredulously. "Well, I guess they could have. Hiei's definitely the type to ditch us. After all, he was planning on going by himself in the first place."
"No, Yusuke would make Hiei wait for us," Kurama said confidently. His voice adopted a more serious tone. "I think it's safe to say that they are still in there fighting."
Catalyn pressed one of her ears against the bottom crack of the door. Vaguely, she could hear the racket of a fight. There was a dim yell of, "Spirit Gun!" and the swishing movement of a sword. Then came two grunts and laughter that did not belong to either of them. She sighed as she pulled away.
"Well, boys," she said. "I think it's safe to say that they're losing."