Kaito lifted the late Amanuma into his arms. His body heat was gone and Sayomi felt a sense of regret for the child's involvement. She picked up the game console and handed it to Yanagisawa. "I know he won't miss it or anything, but I don't think we should just leave it here either."

Yanagisawa smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. "Don't worry. We'll take it from here."

Genkai turned to leave the cave with the two boys. Without turning back, she said, "Watch yourself, Sayomi. You let yourself become trapped already. Don't let them lure you into a false sense of security."

"Yes, Master Genkai." Sayomi bowed and turned to see Hiei waiting for her while the rest of the group had already moved on. She arched an eyebrow in curiosity, even though he couldn't see it, and left with him to follow them. I didn't expect you to wait for me.

Try not to get used to it.

Sayomi smiled and shook her head. Yeah, sure. So which way did they go?

There was a moment of silence before Hiei responded. They're about 600 meters ahead of us.

Already? I didn't think we took that long. Should we catch up with them?

You think you can keep up?

Well, since we're in complete darkness, I don't have to use too much of my own aura. I should be okay. And I'm not actually fighting anything, so...

As soon as Hiei took off down the tunnel, Sayomi merged with the darkness and manifested with the group. Hiei appeared just seconds after. She smirked over at him. Hey, what took you so long?

Hiei stuffed his hands in his pockets and followed behind the group in silence.

Sayomi turned her attention to Yusuke and the others. Yusuke was stealing worried glances at Kurama. She looked at the red-head and saw that he looked tense. Mitarai was at the lead, guiding them to the center. Kurama... He must feel terrible for what he had to do. But Sensui didn't give him any other choice. How cruel must you be to manipulate a poor child?

If that surprises you, then you must have lived a sheltered life.

Hiei's voice no longer irritated her. While she was trapped in his shadow, it was the only thing that she could hear. She felt safer knowing that she wasn't completely alone in the Void. If this doesn't faze you, then you must have gone through Hell.

Trust me. I've done worse for less.

Maybe so, but would you do those same things now?

If I must.

I couldn't do it. I may like fighting, but I probably couldn't kill so easily. The guilt would eat at me too much.

Even if it was you they were trying to kill? You would let them live?

Well... If that were the case, then I guess I wouldn't have a choice, but I would rather not. The one who I owe this debt to strongly believed in not killing humans. I'm not really sure if he felt the same about demons, but I never saw him kill anything.

So who do you owe this debt to?

Sayomi bit her lip as she debated whether to tell him or not. Honestly, it's probably best I don't say. You can say it's his dying wish and I'd rather keep his identity secret.

You expect me to kill him?

No, nothing like that. I'm just... I feel like I owe him my life. So the least I can do is respect his. He has enough enemies who want him dead and I don't want to do anything I may regret.

Is he strong?

Yeah, but I heard he used to be stronger.

Is he the reason you wanted to get strong?

No, but he was the one who gave me permission. There were others who only tolerated me, but only under his orders. Just a few were actually somewhat nice to me.

I see.

Sayomi looked at Hiei curiously. Is something wrong?

No.

"Next, we make a right," Mitarai said.

"I can tell," Kurama confirmed. "The miasma's getting thicker."

Sayomi could feel a breeze through the tunnel. If felt thick and a strong smell assaulted her nose. She glanced at Yusuke and saw him wiping away some sweat. I guess he can feel it, too. I just hope he can handle being so close to it like this.

Mitarai suddenly stopped walking and the rest of the group stopped with him. He stared ahead nervously and said, "The cave veers left in 50 meters. That's the center!"

Sayomi clenched and unclenched her fists. She took in slow breaths to keep herself calm. This is it. Once we stop Sensui, the portal won't open and they won't be able to come through.

They followed the tunnel and the darkness started to recede with a warm light. Sayomi shifted her vision back to the light spectrum. When they made it out of the tunnel, her mouth hung open and her eyes widened.

Sensui sat on a couch, facing a TV that was playing out sounds of screaming and gun fire. Standing next to him was a slender man dressed in white. He had long mint green hair that reached passed his shoulders.

"Urmuffi!"

"Kuwabara!" Yusuke yelled.

Sayomi quickly followed the sound to find Kuwabara. He was bound by leather shackles that she recognized as slave bondage. They had him gagged with another strip of leather.

He and the tall human, Gourmet, sat in a boat in the middle of a lake. Just behind them was the tunnel to the Demon Plane. A horde of hungry, low-level demons pressed against the invisible wall that kept them out of reach of their friend.

"You humans are facing the Demon Plane for the first time..." Hiei commented. "And it's as deadly as it looks! The very air is toxic to you."

"He's right," Sayomi said. "If it opens, this world won't last very long."

"The movie's just getting to the good part..." Sensui spoke up from the couch. "With a half hour left. The story's not terribly original. The theme seems to be genocide in the cause of a greater good." He stood up from his seat and turned to look at them. "Beautiful music at the end, though. When it plays, the tunnel will be complete."

So we only have 30 minutes?! Sayomi felt her shadow shift around her nervously.

"That's odd... Itsuki's standing!" Mitarai said in surprise.

"Is there a reason he shouldn't be?" Sayomi asked, glancing at the boy without turning away from the threat.

"Till now he's been in that boat, the one they've got Kuwabara in," Mitarai explained.

Itsuki stood with his arms crossed. He turned to them with passive eyes. "I've done all I am able to do. The hole will open on its own, and nothing can stop it."

A loud crack alerted the group to the portal. Demons' arms were breaching through the barrier, trying to grab Kuwabara.

"Human flesh!"

"It's been centuries since we've tasted it!"

"Gaah!" Kuwabara yelled through his gag.

Sensui crossed his arms and smiled up at the tunnel. "Class-C demons, I'd say. Like pigs at a trough, all they want to do is gorge themselves. Class-B demons actually have more than their bellies on their minds. As for Class-A, some have a real quality of myth about them, and have even been deified. They will stay back, biding their time, waiting for the first flush of chaos to subside. In less than half an hour you will witness something truly historic. You might see legendary creatures no one has laid eyes on in millennia. They were worshipped once, and will be again!"

"Hmph!" Yusuke spat on the floor. "What a load."

Sensui smiled. "Too high-brow for you, eh? Makihara!"

"You rang?" The tall human jumped from the boat and landed next to Sensui.

Sensui said, "Defeat Makihara, and I'll return Kuwabara."

"What?" Yusuke blinked at Sensui in disbelief.

"Just what I said," Sensui confirmed. "In case you hadn't noticed, this is all about challenges."

"Don't trust them," Kurama whispered. "We'll play along and gauge the situation."

Sayomi smiled at Kurama with relief. Good. He seems to be back to his usual self.

"Mitarai, I guess you're just here to save Kuwabara, huh?" Makihara asked. "Sensui's okay with that, but don't do anything that might upset the balance. He's made a deal, and he'll stick to it."

Mitarai stared at Makihara in shock.

"As for you, Kurama... Heh." The human psychic smirked. "You're not pleased you had to kill Amanuma, are you? You're sick and angry about it, in fact."

Kurama twitched, drawing Sayomi's attention. So it is bothering him, then. Wait! How does he know that?! Can he read – Sayomi felt the blood drain from her face as she remembered another human mind reader. Oh no...

"Ah!" Yusuke gasped. "Don't tell me you've –"

Makihara smirked. "'At's right, bro... I ate Murota's ability."

"You sick monster..." Sayomi couldn't think of a more fitting description.

"Kurama..." Yusuke watched his friend step forward.

"Leave it to me." Kurama glared at Makihara with cold eyes and drew his Rose Whip from his hair. "It's me he's after anyway."

Makihara raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

Just a couple seconds later, Makihara's head was cut in half at the jaw. As the body slumped to the floor, the top half of the human's head rolled away, leaving a bloody trail. Kurama stood calmly before the corpse and cracked the blood from his whip.

"What the...?!" Yusuke stared in morbid shock at the quick blow.

Makihara's body twitched and Mitarai couldn't look away. "What'd he do?! I didn't see anything..."

Kurama glared down at the body with unforgiving eyes. Sayomi swallowed a lump in her throat as she replayed the attack in her mind. He didn't give him a chance to predict his moves. He just went for the quickest death with the least amount of effort.

"You're a lousy actor, y'know that?" Kurama asked, staring down at Makihara's body. "Show yourself, Toguro."

Toguro?! Sayomi stared down at the body and she felt a shiver run through her body. The creepy one that Kuwabara fought? I thought his brother killed him already!

"Heh..." Sensui smirked.

"Your emoting aside, I can smell you," Kurama warned.

For a moment, Makihara's body laid still on the ground. Then it began to move. "Heh heh..." The body sat up, despite not having a head.

"Yee!" Yusuke cringed.

Sayomi could only watch in horror as something squirmed up the corpse's throat. Before long, the Elder Toguro's head emerged from the decapitated Makihara. Okay, that was just disgusting.

He smirked and said, "Didn't fool you for a second, eh? Your sense of smell has become quite acute."

"The Elder Toguro!" Yusuke recognized the short crazy demon. "Makihara... He was already dead...?"

Mitarai stared at the demon with obvious fear.

"Yes, mostly." Toguro licked his lips and smirked. "His ability, Gourmet, lives on... in me. After my treacherous brother blew me to bits, I slowly regenerated in the ocean. Half my head was restored by the time I washed ashore, and all I could think about was getting revenge on you all. I emitted a signal at a specific wavelength that only someone with power and evil in his soul could pick up. I figured it might be years before someone showed, but it turned out to be hardly any time at all..."

So this whole time... Sayomi glanced down at the severed top half of Makihara's head. Is this freak really immortal? But everything has to die, right? What the hell is he? And Sensui helped him?!

"Yes, it was Sensui," Toguro purred.

Sayomi shivered as she realized he was listening to her thoughts.

Sensui smiled and said, "He told me all about you, Urameshi. It stirred an odd sense of destiny in me. At that moment I knew it was time to put my plan into action. My plan to obliterate humanity."

"Dun lizzin to im! Hehz chrssy!" Kuwabara screamed from the boat.

Ignoring him, Sensui continued. "I gathered suitable comrades... those with the potential to awaken their abilities."

"Makihara was a prime find." Toguro pointed at the body he took over. "His ability is singularly nasty and useful. You saw it when he ate me, Mitarai. But I proved a bit too much for a mere human with that ability to digest. The result, of course, was that I started to take him over. He tried to fight me, but it was no contest. I rather enjoyed the pain and terror he felt..."

"That's enough," Kurama said sternly. "You've had your fun... scum."

"Ha ha ha!" Toguro laughed out loud. "How typically arrogant! But I'm not the demon you once faced! I can regenerate, I can absorb abilities, and I can read minds! I am your worst nightmare! I will devour you and gain the power of the Demon Fox!"

Without a word, Kurama raised his arms and white smoke blew out from his sleeves. He glared at Toguro as they became surrounded by the fog.

"He threw up a smoke screen!" Yusuke yelled. "I can't see what's going on!"

Sayomi shifted to infrared vision and tried to make out the shapes in the smoke. Damn, not this again. Is he planning to become the Fox Demon again?

Meanwhile, in the fog, Toguro stood still. He smirked as he listened for Kurama's thoughts. When he got a lock on the fox, he dashed forward. "Hah!"

Toguro closed in on a startled Kurama and shoved his hand through the red-head's stomach. He grinned as he watched the thief bleed out.

Kurama looked at Toguro, blood spilling from his mouth. "Well? Is that it?"

"Huh?" Toguro blinked and glared angrily. "Trying to act tough?! Then how's this?!"

Toguro stabbed and cut through Kurama furiously. Despite his efforts, Kurama only smirked at him, mocking him with his eyes.

"Grr!" Toguro glared at Kurama with annoyed hatred. "Grraugh!"

"Sounds like a slaughter in there!" Yusuke exclaimed. "But I only hear Toguro! If Kurama's dead..."

"Take that! And that!" Toguro yelled through the smoke.

Yusuke gritted his teeth as he tried to peer through the thick obstruction. "Then why does Toguro keep fighting? What's going on...?"

Sayomi smirked and shifted out of the infrared spectrum. She let out a sigh of relief.

"Ah!" Hiei noticed and pointed to the side. "Look."

Yusuke followed the swordsman's finger and gasped when he saw a figure walking out of the smoke. "Kurama!"

Kurama glanced to the side and said, "Toguro's finished."

"Finished?!" Yusuke turned back to the fog and said, "He's still fighting! But if you're here, Kurama, then who...?"

"Raagh!"

After a couple minutes, the breeze from the portal blew the area clear of smoke.

"Yeow!" Yusuke's eyes widened at the sight.

Sayomi took a step back when she realized what Kurama had done. I knew he was okay, but this is not what I was expecting...

A large tree without leaves was rooted into the ground. Its branches wrapped securely around Toguro, holding him above the ground as he yelled in a blind rage. Toguro looked withered as his eyes stared blindly at nothing. "He won't die! Why won't he die?!"

"That tree is a parasite that casts illusions to lure in its prey," Kurama explained. "I planted the seed when I decapitated him."

"So you threw up that smoke screen not to blind him, but to keep the illusions contained," Hiei realized.

"That's right," Kurama confirmed.

"That's kinda creepy..." Sayomi muttered under her breath.

"Whyyyyyy..." Toguro begged in agony. "Whyyy won't he diiiie...?"

"That tree will hold him until it's sucked every trace of life from him," Kurama said. "But Toguro can't die. He'll fight my ghost... for all eternity." He turned to Sensui and raised his fingers. "Two more."

Sensui and Itsuki just watched them without any sense of worry. Sayomi narrowed her eyes at them. They don't seem rattled at all. Why are they so confident?

"You said you'd release Kuwabara if we beat him," Yusuke said. He kept a trained glare on his predecessor. "Not that your refusal would stop us."

"Heh..." Sensui smiled. "I'll keep my promise. In fact..." He turned to the empty boat in the lake. "I already have."

"Kuwabara..." Yusuke stared at the boat in confusion. "He's not in the boat!"

"Where did he go?" Sayomi asked.

"Mrrf!"

Everyone turned to see Kuwabara sitting behind them. He was still bound and gagged and his teeth grinded through the leather wrap.

"Oh..." Sayomi blinked. "There he is."

"H-How'd you get here?!" Yusuke yelled. "What's goin' on, man?!"

Kurama kneeled down next to him and began to unfasten Kuwabara's gag. As soon as the leather was removed, Kuwabara gasped and spat on the floor. "Fwah! I was grabbed by these weird hands and thrown into the darkness, then somehow I was here..."

The darkness? Sayomi's eyes widened in fear. Was it a shadow demon? She was snapped out of her thoughts when she saw the ground get darker. When she turned around, she saw large eyes staring up at her from the large shadow. "Uh... Guys...?"

Before she could say more, the floor vanished from beneath them and they fell into a strange abyss that was the creature's mouth.

"Yeow!" Yusuke yelled in surprise.

The beast shut its mouth and chewed until it spit up Yusuke. The delinquent flew in the air and landed hard on his head. "Gurnf!" He sat up and rubbed the growing bump. He glared at Sensui as he got to his feet. "Arr..."

Itsuki smiled and melted into the floor. "I'll see to the others."

Yusuke ignored the third party and kept his glare on Sensui. "You take, give back, then take again. What kinda yo-yo game is this?"

Sensui smirked down at the boy. "Don't worry, your friends are safe. There's a matter you and I need to... discuss."

Meanwhile, Sayomi and the others floated in a dark abyss. Trash and debris floated around them. She shuddered when she saw a skeleton.

"Wh-Where are we?" Mitarai asked.

"Hey!" Kuwabara yelled. "Somebody untie me!"

As Sayomi made her way to help Kuwabara, Kurama answered Mitarai's question. "We're in hyper-space. Devoured by the Inverse Man."

"Y'mean the 2-D demon who lives between dimensions?" Hiei asked.

"Yes." Kurama looked around at the surrounding junk. "Looks like someone's controlling it."

"That's true." Everyone turned to see Itsuki manifesting before them. "It's sort of my pet."

"You're a demon, too?" Kurama asked.

"I'm Itsuki, the Dark Night Stroker." Itsuki smiled as two hands appeared behind him. They had small eyes scattered over them that moved around individually.

Sayomi took in deep breaths to calm her nerves. "Um, can someone explain what that is? I've never heard of these demons before."

"It's a demon who possesses shadow hands, which allows free passage between dimensions. He's one of few with the ability to command lesser demons living in different dimension," Hiei answered.

"I see," Mitarai muttered.

"So he is a shadow demon?" Sayomi asked in wonder.

"A variety of the sort, but, unlike you, I don't have to worry about fading into the Void. I merely exist between dimensions and command it's weaker denizens." He smirked at her and said, "You could probably defeat me, if you have enough self-control."

"He's the one been yankin' me! Lemme at 'im!" Kuwabara snarled.

Itsuki raised a hand and said, "Please, I didn't bring you here to fight. We're simply an audience."

"Audience to what?" Sayomi asked. She glared at the demon before her, refusing to give into her impulses around him.

Itsuki crossed his arms and said, "Each of us serves a charismatic leader... isn't that so?"

"Yeah?" Kuwabara asked. "Then I'd like to know what it is that draws you to Sensui!"

Itsuki smiled. "Everything." He looked down at his hands as he said, "His strength and weakness, his innocence and worldliness... in short, the richness of every human quality he possesses. We were enemies when we first met. He was already so powerful that it was said, 'no demon that sees Sensui lives to tell of it.' And he did, in fact, kill every demon he fought. But he didn't kill me. He asked if I had any last words, and I asked to live one more day to see Jun Togawa on Hit Studio. Funny, eh? A glimpse of my human side was, at the time, a shock of such intensity it turned Sensui's world upside down. We chatted for nearly an hour. He seemed younger than his age. He killed in the matter of an elite assassin, yet his soul was pure as new-fallen snow." Itsuki raised a hand to stroke his lip. "For me it was like falling in love with a time bomb."

Kuwabara cringed and said, "Now you're getting weird."

"You might've stopped him before things got this far," Kurama said.

Itsuki closed his eyes and smiled. "Why would I do that?"

"You know, to keep his purity from becoming corrupted," Sayomi suggested.

Itsuki stared at her and said, "I yearned to watch him grow scarred and defiled, a fallen angel."

"What...?" Kuwabara asked, keeping a safe distance from the demon.

Itsuki smiled and raised a hand. "Imagine the sordid pleasure of showing terrible things to innocent people, who are barely able to comprehend them. These kinds of dark desires are not far from any demon's heart. Sensui's reactions to the ugly side of humanity were, for me, a dream come true. Unable to assimilate or rationalize it, he sank deeper into despair. And as he sank, he grew stronger."

"You psycho!" Kuwabara yelled in disgust. "So you're the root of all this evil!"

"Perhaps," Itsuki answered easily. "But Sensui acted at all times of his own volition. I was merely his shadow. He made the decisions, and I served his ends. And I will do so for as long as he wishes." He looked at Sayomi and said, "It's not much different for you, is it?"

"Don't you dare lump me in the same category as you," Sayomi said sternly. "Yusuke isn't as crazy as Sensui."

"It would please me to kill you now..." Kurama threatened.

"But you know better than to try." Itsuki pointed a thumb behind him. "Kill me, and you'll never escape from here." Just behind him, two large windows opened in the darkness. "And now, my friends, let us watch..."

Sayomi looked through the windows, the Inverse Man's eyes, and saw Yusuke and Sensui in a stand-off. Yusuke... You got this. I know you can beat this guy!

Down beside the lake, Sensui tapped his head and said, "During my time as an Underworld Detective, I sensed the rot setting in inside me." Yusuke stared at him in confusion as Sensui raised his hands. "But I didn't want it to stop. Would you like to know why? Because I realized it arose from my very existence. You yourself will find out that..." He clenched his fist. "However much you fight for what seem the right reasons, you will soon start to seek reasons to fight. Eventually reasons won't matter." He pointed at Yusuke and said, "The demon tunnel only mattered as a means of bringing us to this moment of confrontation."

Yusuke picked at his ear with his pinky, tuning out Sensui's rant. Then he disappeared from Sensui's view and closed in on his left flank. Yusuke quickly followed through with a right cross that penetrated Sensui's defense and hit him in the jaw. Sensui was sent skidding back across the floor while he kneeled down to keep his balance.

Yusuke glared down at him and asked, "So you wanted to fight me? Why didn't you just ask?" He jerked his thumb at his chest and said, "To me, fighting has always been an end in itself. That I get to take on threats to the Human World is just icing on the cake. You complicate things... I don't!"

"Heh heh... Such simplicity must be nice." Sensui stood up and raised his hand to summon a ball of aura. "Fine, then."