Cora grunted as she took a hit to her abdomen, the momentum from the strike sending her skidding backwards on the balls of her feet. She managed to stop her movement before going over the edge of the ring, but was unable to recover fast enough to dodge a second blow to her back which sent to flying back into the center of the ring. "You have to start recovering faster!" Ayuma shouted at her as he appeared above her, his fist aimed at her head. Cora rolled, allowing his fists to slam into the ring's floor, leaving behind an impact crater many times the size of his actual hand. "I hope you don't expect to win a fight by dodging!"

With a growl Cora rolled onto her feet, shooting herself forward with her fist raised to strike Ayuma. Her fist landed, sending him stumbling a few feet away from her, leaving him open to a kick to his ribs. He grunted, his arm wrapping around her calf which he used to throw her to the other side of the ring. "Damn it!" Cora hissed as she flipped herself over mid air so she could land on her feet. Ayuma smirked, falling into a defensive stance and motioning for her to come at him. Taking him up on his offer, Cora ran towards him with a new sense of determination.

She jumped into the air, extending her leg in a heel kick which Ayuma easily blocked. "Come on, is that all you got-?!" Cora suddenly vanished, using her newly heightened speed to appear bellow his upraised arms, landing a solid kick to his lower jaw that sent him flying. At least she thought she had; her moment of triumph was cut short when Ayuma's after image faded out and the familiar sensation of a blade being pressed against her throat made her groan in aggravation.

"You just died." Ayuma said making Cora roll her eyes. "Nice trick though; if I hadn't been training you I wouldn't have seen it coming." He removed the blade from her throat and stepped around her, ruffling her hair affectionately.

Cora grumbled and rubbed at the spot were the blade had been sitting against her skin. "I'm still not fast enough though. Compared to my partner I move like a road runner and compared to you I'm a snail..."

Ayuma shrugged. "Yeah, you're right." Cora glared at him icily. "But you've improved; when we started you couldn't even follow my energy, and now you're seeing my after images. That's better then most other people I've trained."

"Stop sugar coating shit! I'm not a little kid, I can handle the truth!" Ayuma chuckled at her defiant words which made Cora huff, push his hand away from her head and stomp towards the changing room. "Laugh while you can, I'm going to beat you next time!" Cora shouted over her shoulder before slamming the changing room door closed.

Ayuma sighed and shook his head at his students contradicting behavior before he too made to exit the ring...she still has a long way to go... Ayuma thought as he rubbed his cheek where Cora had landed her last punch. "She's defiantly improved though; pretty sure I have a cracked tooth." Ayuma poked at his teeth, grimacing when he found the fractured canine. "Little she devil- I'll get her back for it tommorrow!"


Cora sighed as the water from the locker room shower cascaded over her, washing away the days sweat, blood and over all grim. If only she could land a solid, earth shattering blow to Ayuma's smug face; that would surely take care of her sour mood. Three months of training and she felt as though she had hardly made any progress. Sure, she could take a moderate hit now, and her own attacks were nothing to sneeze at; she had even improved with her gun, being able to hit a moving target from almost 150ft now. But that was nothing compared to Yusuke's abilities, let alone Hiei and Kurama. At this rate she would only slow them down more, and she refused to be a burden to them any more then she already has been.

At the thought of her two boy's Cora groaned, leaning her head against the cool shower wall; she hadn't seen Kurama or Hiei sense the day she signed the contract,and it was making her edgy. The whole point of the contract was so Hiei could stick close to her so he didn't go all ape shit crazy thanks to their contract, so why was Koenma keeping them separated? Wouldn't it be beneficial to the entire project if the person in charge of her transformations was present for her training? It was all starting to weigh heavily on her patients; the fact that she couldn't punch that smug smirk of Ayuma's face only added wood to the flame-

"Cora?" Cora sighed in aggravation as her train of thought was cut short by the frantic calls of Botan. Wait, Botan? Wasn't she supposed to be on a mission with Yusuke right now? "Cora! Please answer me! I can see you in the shower!" Cora jumped, turning off the water and grabbing her towel to hide herself from view as she ripped open the curtain.

"Wha-?" She glanced around; Botan was nowhere to be seen in the small locker room. "What the hell... Botan?" She stepped out of the small shower stall, looking around herself cautiously; where was she?

"Up here!" Cora glanced up, noticing for the first time that one of the blue ceiling tiles was lit up with the face of a very sweaty, very tired looking Botan. She was panting gently as she stared pleadingly from the screen. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but this is urgent!"

"... has this ceiling always had a web cam in it?" Cora asked with wide eyes, her hands tightening on her towel.

Botan quirked a brow at her and nodded. "Its so Koenma can contact his agents at any time-" Cora growled marching over to her locker and tossing it open. "Cora, I need you to come to the human world!"

Cora quirked a brow at her. "Am I allowed to? I haven't made much head way on my training..." She said uncertainly as she tossed on a bra and a pair of panties. Was she ready to go on a mission? Surely Ayuma hadn't just been toying with her; she must have improved a bit if she could see his after images right? And she did land a couple hits on him today...

Botan nodded her head vigorously. "Of course you can! I need your help taking care of some Mikai insects that have crossed over to the human world while the boys take care of business in maze castle."

Cora sighed, making up her mind with a smirk and a nod; even if she wasn't completely ready, time out of spirit world might do her some good. Maybe she would run into Hiei and Kurama while she was in the human world. "Count me in."

Botan cheered. "Great! I'll send you a portal!" Cora nodded, pulling on a pair of jeans just as the portal swirled into existence. The surface of the portal glowed a brilliant blue, shimmering as if touched by sun in the small confines of the locker room. Cora smiled as she pulled a black tank top on over her bra before strapping her gun to her hip, giving it an affectionate pat. With the human world going crazy right now she didn't need to worry about hiding it from view. She glanced up at the ceiling, noting that Botan was gone though the one tile still seemed to be active. Flipping it off for good measure before, Cora dashed through the portal landing in a deserted ally way somewhere in the middle of Tokyo.

She took a deep breath in, reveling in the smells that came with the human world. She didn't care what Hiei thought, the human world wasn't all that bad; the smell of fresh brewed tea and baked coffee cake tickled Cora's nose making her mouth water. Demon's just didn't know what they were missing-

"CORA-CHAN!" Cora ducked down as Botan came soaring through the ally and over her head before landing haphazardly on the ground, her oar dissolving into nothing as she smiled thankfully at the young demon.

"Botan, you really shouldn't fly in such small areas! Something is bound to get broken, and seeing as the walls are made of stone, it will most likely be you." Cora said as she stood and tried to straighten out her disheveled hair, using the ponytail holder on her wrist to pull it into a messy bun at the nap of her neck.

"But Cora! This time I have a real reason for being a hurry! As I said, Koenma has given us two a mission-"

"What? But Botan, I can't go on a mission unless its to help Yusuke; Koenma said-"

"But we are helping Yusuke; Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei are in the demon world fighting off the four saint beasts." Cora gave her a blank stare making Botan sigh."Which means, that seeing as how Hiei and yourself have been assigned to serve as assistants of sorts to Yusuke, you and Hiei will have to help on various cases! You are to help Yusuke on special missions, and in doing so, Koenma will gradually erase all wrong doings from Hiei's file! Honestly, Koenma wasn't going to set up such a deal, but then seeing as you are Hiei's mate and he your keeper-"

Cora dead panned. "His what?" Botan paused, taking in Cora's confused look. "Why does everyone call me that?"

"Wha-? You really don't know- Cora-chan, how old are you?" Cora put a finger to her chin, her eyes rolling up to stare at the blue sky as she crunched a few numbers...come to think of it I don't really know... I don't know how old Hiei is either... but I know that he is older then I am... at least it seems that he is...hmmm... I remember someone telling me once through the wall that I was only in my thirties... that was what... twenty nine years ago?...

"Ummm... maybe late fifties, early sixties-"

"WHAT? Your still a pup!" Botan waved her hands around in exasperation, her eyes wide in shock.

Cora's cheeks turned a bit red while her eyes narrowed a little at being called a pup. "I guess... I haven't, you know, gone through um- that- change yet..." Cora blushed three different shades of red as Botan shook her head in disbelief. "So... what's a mate exactly?" It was now Botan's turn to blush as she stuttered and waved her hands in front of her face.

"I-it's noth-NOThing you have to worry about right now Cora! Let's wait a few years and then m-maybe I'll tell you!" Cora gave her a quizzical look but brushed off her weird behavior; it wasn't unusual for Botan to become a stuttering mess.

"Riiiiight- not to sound rude, but I'm going to change the subject now! What is this mission that Koenma has sent Yusuke on? Will it most likely end with Yusuke in a body cast? You know, if I have to plan a celebration I like to know ahead of time."

Botan sweat dropped, her hand coming up to rub the back of her neck gently. "Well, it hasn't officially started, but it's not really dangerous... at least not with Hiei and Kurama's help any ways- Cora, watch out!" Cora's tensed up, her hand moving on instinct as she pulled her gun from its holster, swinging the but around until it hit solid flesh, knocking into the skull of a scaly green demon dressed in a long tan trench coat. The blow knocked the demon unconscious, though Cora wasn't about to take any chances. Seconds later Botan pulled what looked to be a blue make up compact out of her pocket, staring at the screen as the sound of a ringing phone echoed from its mirror.

"Botan, now isn't the time to check your make up!" Cora jogged up to her side, finding her staring down at what was really some kind of communicator. The other end picked up, but it wasn't Yusuke's irritating mug starring up at them like Cora had suspected it would be, but some strange, orange haired monkey that made Cora grimace. "I had no idea such creatures existed in this world..." Cora grumbled to herself as Botan greeted the ape man.

"Hey, who's the pretty lady Botan?" The monkey said in what Cora suspected was supposed to be a seductive way. Cora cringed, the taste of biol rising in the back of her throat; his voice matched his annoying face... kill it with fire before it breeds...

"Oh that's right, you two haven't met yet- this is Cora! Cora, this is-"

"This is the brave Kuwabara reporting at your service I'm taking very good care of Urameshi!" Kuwabara said making Cora snicker and Botan chuckle.

"I'm so very glad to hear that." Botan said with a laugh.

"Yes Kuwabara; it is good to see that Yusuke is in such good hands." Cora said, fighting off the urge to roll her eyes.

"Cora and I have things under control here as well, more or less; the mikai insects only like to nest in depressed peoples minds so that narrows down my search a bit. We just ran into another spy for the saint beasts, but we just cant figure out how they are getting past the barrier."

"We think they may be demons from outside the city taking orders along the wall- gah!" Just as Yusuke and Kuwabara shouted at them to watch out behind them, Cora cocked her gun and aimed it over her shoulder, shooting the demon in his left shoulder, blowing a good chunk of tissue off and forcing the demon back to the ground. Yusuke and Kuwabara grimaced, the later of the two pulling back to try and settle his stomach.

Botan gave Cora a scolding stare. "Don't get all trigger happy on me now; that one was fine cause it was a demon, but we cant kill any humans, even if they are possessed." Cora scoffed.

"You guys ok?" Yusuke asked, looking a little sick as Cora left Botan's side, her eyes focusing on the entrance to the ally where a couple blue skinned humans had sauntered into. She smirked as they charged, screaming in rage; so she couldn't kill them. That made them the perfect practice for her hand to hand. She waited until they where close enough before slamming her foot into the closest's face, chuckling as she pushed his unconscious body away from her. The second one took a couple more hits as it was a larger man then the first, but he is soon taken care of. Botan cheered her on from the side, swinging her bat like a baton.

"Don't worry so much, those guys are easy to dispatch-"

"Speak for you self!" Cora shouted as she cracked her knuckles." These bugs must do more then just take over their minds. Ayuma's head doesn't hurt my fist nearly as much as the skulls of these infected humans."

"That's why I'm useing a bat!" Botan said, swinging said bat in emphasis. "But the really hard part is finding those mikai insects." Cora came back up so she could look into the screen. "I've only caught fifteen of those things and we have been searching almost an entire day!" Botan exclaimed.

Cora looked at her with wide eyes; only 15!? "You have to be kidding me Botan-" Cora started but was interrupted by the ape- um, Kuwabara.

"Don't worry Cora baby, you'll- GAH!" Before Kuwabara could finish his statement he was punched repeatedly until he fell out of frame leaving only Yusuke on the screen, with the sound of a small scuffle in the background. Cora could have sworn that she had heard Kurama's voice in there some were and it made her chest ache. With a sigh, Cora pushed her feeling of disappointment to the back of her mind; even if they weren't here to watch her kick ass, she was sure Koenma would let them know...

"FIFTEEN, that's not much help!"

"Yusuke, while I understand that you guys are fighting big bad ugly demons, I'm sure this takes time and diligence, which is probably why Koenma left it to Botan and myself instead of you!" Yusuke made a sound of indignation over the communicator, his face scrunching up at the insult. "So unless you want us to kill all the infect humans, you'll have to deal with the results of playing nice in a game put together by demons." Cora exclaimed just as a resonating thwack sounded behind her. Botan had once again subdued the spy that seemed intent on not staying down. Cora growled, aiming her gun at the demons head, letting a single bullet fly ending the demons life before it had time to take it's next breath. Yusuke's face was scrunched up in distaste when she turned back to him. "Don't worry so much about what's going on up here; we can't make any head way until you finish up your part of the mission. I'd tell you to be careful, but I'm horrible at pretending to care." With that Cora snapped the communicator shut before Yusuke could blow his top at her. She turned just in time to see one of the insects exit through the smaller unconscious human's mouth.

"Oh!" Botan watched as the mikai insect flew in front of her. In a flash she pulled a bottle of insecticide from her inner breast pocket, blasting the ugly thing with its toxic contents. "Got you! Man, bug spray from spirit world is the best!" Cora cocked a brow as Botan took off down the ally with a skip in her step; what was this, some kind of picnic?


Not only was Hiei being forced to play 'hero' to the human race, but if the panicked look on the two detectives face was anything to go by as he screamed at the screen of the communicator, Cora, that stupid girl, was in trouble. This made his Jagan angry, which intensified his headache, leading to a less then happy fire demon.

Ok, so his Jagan had been irritating the living hell out of him sense that Pig demon had forced her away. He had been able to reason with himself since then, rationalizing anything that would cause the Jagan to start it's useless search again. He had found strands of her hair at the entrance of the portal to this revolting place, but that was easy to brush aside; Cora worked with Botan. It was possible that a few of her hairs had gotten stuck on the annoying woman's clothing. But now he had heard her voice, and that made it hard to convince his Jagan to relax. As Cora's voice filtered through the small speakers, despite not sounding the least bit concerned with her situation, Hiei's Jagan stretched it's probing energy to its limits as it tried to sense her through the communicator, an act that only fueled his headache. He growled low in his throat, a sound so guttural that he was sure only Kurama had heard him; he needed to punch something. Lucky for Hiei, Kuwabara offered up the perfect moment to relieve some stress with out causing to much of a commotion.

"I've only caught fifteen of those things and I've have been searching almost and entire day!" Botan said through the communicator.

"You have to be kidding me Botan-" Hiei suppressed a wince as his Jagan throbbed once again in desperation.

"Don't worry Cora baby, you'll-" Yusuke slammed his fist into the top of the idiots head. Hiei was soon to follow up, placing a few of his own well placed hits on the stupid teenager.

"Hiei! What are you do-"Hiei growled as his eyes narrowed dangerously towards Kurama who put his hands up in a defensive way. Hiei glanced down at the idiot before giving him one more kick. Kurama sighed as Hiei stepped away.

"Feel better?"

"Hn."

"FIFTEEN?! That's not much help!" Yusuke shouted irritably.

"Yusuke, while I understand that you guys are fighting big bad ugly demons, I'm sure this takes time and diligence, which is probably why Koenma left it to Botan and myself instead of you!" Cora said through the communicator making Yusuke gape at her like some dumbfounded fish. Kurama sighed in exasperation while Hiei smirked, enjoying the Detectives suffering. "So unless you want us to kill all the infect humans, you'll have to deal with the results of playing nice in a game put together by demons." Yusuke opened his mouth, prepared to shout all kind's of obscenities at the small white haired she devil on the other end of the line, but she beet him to the punch. "Don't worry so much about what's going on up here; we can't make any head way until you finish up your part of the mission. I'd tell you to be careful, but I'm horrible at pretending to care." With that the connection was broken, leaving Yusuke and Kuwabara gaping in shock.

"T-that-that- BRAT!" Yusuke shouted, turning to give Hiei and Kurama an infuriated glare. "Is she always so fucking pleasant?! Or am I a special case?!"

Hiei glared at him, turning to continue down the hall with an indifferent grunt. Kurama chuckled behind his hand while shaking his head. "Give her time Yusuke; she'll warm up to you eventually." Yusuke grumbled, stuffing the communicator into his pocket as he stalked past Kurama with a pout.

Kuwabara scratched the back of his neck, falling into step with Kurama. "So uh... is she single?" Kurama let out a bark of laughter, making Kuwabara give him a confused look. Hiei growled, his hand twitching over the hilt of his katana from the front of the pack.

Yusuke threw and arm over Kuwabara's shoulders, giving him a serious look. "Only in your nightmares Kuwabara."


Cora flickered in and out of sight, taking down multiple infected humans with as she went. Botan ran some ten feet behind her, spraying the insects as the tried to escape into new hosts. "89! Woo-hoo, I should have recruited you a long time ago! We're killing it!" Botan exclaimed as Cora came to a stop in the middle of a cross walk, looking over her shoulder at her handy work. Botan was right; they were killing it. Yusuke could choke on a dick for all Cora cared.

"Come on," Cora said, motioning for Botan to follow her to the other side of the street. "We should come up with a way to lure them to us. That way we can conserve energy, and still kick ass."

Botan nodded her head in agreement. "Good idea! Follow me, I know where there's an old arcade that has an outdoor speaker system we can use!" The bluenet took off at a run with Cora hot on her heels. It didn't take them long to reach the arcade, and Cora was happy to find that the place had already been deserted; now they just had to break into the sound room and hijack the speaker system. They reached the back of the arcade and found a door that read "employees only; main office" on it's front. "Bingo!" Botan exclaimed, reaching for the handle only to find that it was locked. "Oh poo! It's locked from the inside!"

Cora sighed, holding her hand out to Botan. "Bobby pin me." Botan blinked down at her in confusion before fishing a bobby pin out of her blue hair, laying it in Cora's our stretched hand. Cora knelt down, peeking into the key hole on the handle of the door. Pushing the bobby pin into the opening, Cora moved gave it a few twitches before twisting it, releasing the lock on the door. She pushed the door open a bit before standing and handing Botan back her bobby pin, much to Botan's shock and amazement.

"Goodness, I had no idea you knew how to pick a lock!" Botan said as she replaced the bobby pin in her hair.

Cora shrugged indifferently, pulling her gun from her holster in preparation for entering the room. "I spent the first five years of my freedom living with Hiei and Kurama. Knowing how to break into a place was part is survival 101." Cora said, ignoring Botan's sheepish laughing as she pushed open the office door, entering it with her gun raised and poised to shoot.

Botan peeked over Cora's shoulder, her eyes darting every which way. "Is anyone there?" She whispered to Cora who shook her head.

"I don't think so-!"

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Botan screamed shrilly as some unknown creature scuttled between them, moving so fast it was merely a blur to them. On instinct Cora turned and took a shot at the creature before it could escape. She missed, but the sound of the gun going off was enough to making the creature pause and hiss at her before darting off again. "AAAAAHHHHH! WHAT IS IIIITTTT!"

Cora growled, clamping a hand over Botan's mouth to silence her screaming. "Shhhhhh! It was just a freaking cat! Holy mother of god, don't scream like that!" She hissed under her breath making Botan let out a relieved sigh when Cora removed her hand from the blunets mouth.

"Oh, thank heaven, I thought it was a big rat!"

Cora rolled her eyes and pulled Botan into the room, locking it behind them and flipping on the lights. The office was pretty bland with beige walls and a white tiled floor and ceiling. It's furniture consisted of a dark wood desk, an ancient looking computer set up and a microphone with a wire that went down the side of the desk, across the floor and up the wall into the ceiling.

"Bingo!" Botan said as she grabbed the mic, pushing the large red button on it's stand. "IS THIS THING ON?!" She shouted into it, making Cora wince as she head Botan's voice echo off the buildings around them. A car alarm sounded making both of them sweat drop in exasperation. "Haha, I guess it works..."

Cora rolled her eyes, taking the mic from Botan. "Give me that! We wan't to attract them, not make them go def!" Cora said in exasperation before pushing the receiver down again. "Hey, big blue and ugly! Yeah, you! Come find me you rotten bastards!"

Botan waved her hands in a panic. "AH! Cora, don't do that you might make them even angrier then they already seem to be!"

"HEY! I'm talking to you; get you're asses over here!" Cora said, ignoring Botan's worried glances at the door. "Hellloooo-!" The sound of something huge crashing through the front of the arcade made Cora and Botan jump in surprise. "What the hell was that?!" Cora shouted just before the interior wall of the office exploded, sending drywall and other debris flying into the room. Not knowing what to expect, Cora grabbed Botan by the arm and dragged her to the far left side of the room just before a minivan went sailing by, taking out the back wall. Two blue skinned humans shouted with rage from the front seat as it went by, and their shouts could still be heard up until the van slammed into the adjacent brick wall.

Botan and Cora gaped in shock at the destruction before them, their eyes as wide as dinner plates. "Well," Cora said as a piece of the exterior wall fell down. "I think we got their attention..." Botan nodded, letting out a breath she didn't even know she was holding.


This mission was going from bad to worse; Kurama was injured and unable to fight, leaving them with only three fighters, but as far as Hiei was concerned the stupid carrot top was useless, leaving them with only two capable fighters. At that moment tall, orange and ugly was flashing around a horribly shaped sword that he was able to make with his own energy. Hiei was not impressed.

"You see what I've learned Urameshi? I don't gotta use the tip of the wooden sword to make it work any more! Hehehe, it's just my pure energy!" Kuwabara smiled arrogantly as he showed off his bright new ability. "And I'll bet it can kick the crap out of your spirit gun."

Yusuke scowled at him, flipping him the bird. "That depends on what finger I use."

Hiei smirked. "Well, it turns out he's only partially worthless."

Kuwabara glared at the two of them as he brandished his sword in front of him. "Ok, wanna die?!" Hiei scoffed, his smirk turning into a more prominent grin.

"I dare you."

"HEY! We're supposed to play nice children!" Yusuke shouted as Kuwabara took a step towards the irritating fire demon.

"Yeah, yeah let him live; I'm pretty sure he'll be sayin' sorry after he sees what else I can do." Kuwabara said. The other three gave him blank looks, but he paid them no mind for the time being. "Sword get long!"

Hiei had to scoff; what an original name. But he was mildly surprised when the puny spirit sword suddenly lengthened, blowing a hole in the already unstable ceiling.

"Wow, it even comes with a spear attachment." Yusuke's words were of amazement, but his tone was pure sarcasm. Kuwabara was oblivious and basked in the 'praise'.

"I can make it any size I want it to be!" He called his energy back to him, making the sword shrink back into nothing and leaving the hallway dark again. "I know when Genbu showed up, I got a little, whats the word; FREAKED! But that's not gonna happen from now on my friends! Because Kuwabara's got the good stuff-gauh!" With that he crumpled to the ground, his eyes swirling as they went in and out of focus. Yusuke rushed over thinking that the idiot had actually hurt himself. " D-don't worry guys, it's just sometimes the sword makes me a little me a little dizzy."

Yusuke growled and leaned down so that his face was right next to Kuwabara's. "Your not making us look good!" He hissed out. He would have continued with his insults had the communicator not gone off in his pocket; Botan was calling.

Hiei snapped back to attention, forgetting about the idiot on the floor as Yusuke flipped the communicator open. He glanced around the detectives left arm while Kurama took Yusuke's right side just as the clear image of a familiar mop of white hair and tired blue eyes came into view.

"Yusuke, we have a problem." Cora was a mess, covered from head to toe in sweat and dust, and panting like she had just ran a marathon. It had been a long time since either Kurama or Hiei had seen her in such a poor state, that it did very little to settle their nerves.

"What's the matter Cora? What happened?" Yusuke asked worriedly, is frustration towards the white haired girl momentarily forgotten.

"What isn't the matter Yusuke; listen, we think that the saint beats have launched a second wave of insects. And I'm pretty sure they've started to get smarter-"

"No, I meant with you stupid-" Hiei narrowed his eyes at the back of the detectives head; only he was allowed to call that stupid girl 'stupid'. "You look like you've seen a ghost!" Cora audibly sighed, her free hand coming up to rub her temples.

"It's nothing important; we dodged the van-" Kurama's eyes widened in shock and worry. He glanced over to Hiei who was still glaring up at Yusuke. "Will you listen to me? The insects are starting to take over kid's now-"

"WHAT?! But Botan said that the insects only like to take over depressed people-OW!" Hiei, fed up with the detectives slow mind, drew his sword and dug the tip into Yusuke's bicep. "DAMN IT HIEI, WHAT THE HE-OW!"

"Hand over the communicator." Hiei demanded.

"FINE! HERE!" Yusuke shoved the communicator towards him and Hiei promptly snatched it from his fingers, removing the tip of his blade from Yusuke's arm. "You didn't have to stab me you know!" Hiei ignored him as he looked down into the screen. He felt Kurama come up beside him but he paid him no mind; he was concentrating on Cora's face, hoping that it would make the Jagan calm down.

"Man am I glad to see you two!" Cora smiled up at them and in seconds Hiei felt the pressure start to lesson in his head; he would have to speak to Kurama about ways to keep his Jagan from going haywire when ever this stupid girl decided to be, well... stupid.

"Cora, are you alright? You look as though you have been attacked." Hiei had to keep himself from rolling his eyes; of course she looked like she had been attacked, she had been. His Jagan twitched under his head band in agitation... I can understand the foxes concern though; she always has been a magnet for trouble...that ferry girl better have a good excuse for delivering her straight to troubles door step...

"No, I haven't been attacked at all; it's been one big picnic up here!" Hiei scoffed, all worry vanishing in an instant. If she was feeling well enough to be sarcastic, she couldn't have been in to bad of shape. Kurama chuckled, his own anxiety levels dropping despite the circumstances.

"Hn, why are you there at all girl?" Cora shrugged her shoulders, an irritated frown pulling at her lips.

"Oh you know, sight seeing- you read that contract, right? This is my job-"

"Cora!" The voice of Botan came from the small speakers just before Cora was haphazardly pushed over as the ferry girl tried to lift her up. "Come on we have to move!" Hiei hissed under his breath; he couldn't see anything but Cora's bare feet and the large male human that towered over her and the ferry woman.

"Cora come on, we have to go!"

"Cora!" Kurama shouted into the communicator. Hiei growled, his hand tightening around the compact.

"Run you idiot!" He bit out. He heard her gasp before the whole screen became a blur of movement. "Cora-"

"I'm sorry Hiei, but I can't talk right now!"

"In here!" The sound of a door being thrown open came through the speakers just as the communicator clattered to the floor, the image of a pallet of boxes being the only thing visible on the small screen. "I don't know how to handle this one Cora-"


"-I knocked out the others by sneaking up on them-AHH!" A large blue fist slammed through the door sending splinters of wood flying. Botan, who was leaning against the door in an attempt to hold it shut, began to slip. Cora rushed over to help hold the door shut, but just as her hand brushed the handle the crazed man on the other side shouldered the door open with enough force to send both her and Botan flying. Botan landed a couple feet away, but Cora wasn't so lucky. She slammed into a pallet of empty boxes, the force of her landing smashing the pallet into pieces.

Botan made a run for it but before she could make it two steps the man snatched her arms up in a bruising hold. With little hesitation she turned and sprayed his eyes with her bug spray making him release her with a shout of pain and furry. Just as the man came at her again, Botan regained possession of her bat and struck him down, knocking him unconscious with one well placed hit to the torso and face. She collapsed to her knees, the only sound in the small storage unit being the panicked and angry shouts coming from the communicator as the boys shouted Cora and her's name over and over again.

"Oh! Cora!" Botan spun around to were she was kneeling on her knees her eyes scanning the room for Cora's landing spot. She caught the movement of a small foot poking out from the bottom of a large pile of boxes. "AH! Cora! Hold on, I'm coming!" Botan rushed over, pushing aside the empty boxes until a small hand came out grasping desperately at the air. Botan clasped her hand around Cora's wrist and gave a mighty tug, freeing Cora from her cardboard prison.

Cora coughed as she tried to clear the dust from the boxes from her lungs, her hand coming up to cover a dull throb that was pulsing from her brow. When she pulled her hand back she saw red as her hand was covered in blood... I must have hit my head when the door flew open...

"Cora, are you ok?" Cora nodded, pressing her hand against her forehead to stem the bleeding. Botan looked into her inner coat pocket and pulled out a roll of gauze. "Here, wrap your head with this, I have to find the communicator." She said as she handed the roll over. Cora nodded and set about wrapping her head as best she could. She wasn't used to dressing her own wounds.

Botan scurried around, following the sounds of the the boys ever increasing voices before she scooped up the communicator and set it right so that she was staring into the screen.

"-she's fine damn it; now calm down we have a mission to do!" Botan stared into the irritated face of Yusuke, but she could hear Kurama's hushed voice and Hiei's irritated growls.

"I'm here Yusuke!" Botan said gaining the detectives attention. "You had better hurry it up! I can't possibly make a career out of this and I think that Cora has just about had as much abuse as she can take!"

"Hey! I'm doing perfectly- whats that sound?" A soft humming came through the communicator, steadily growing louder until Cora could identify it as a roar of furry.


"Hiei? Kurama, what's going on over there?" The four boys eyed the shaking walls and ceiling wearily; this had to be there next opponent. Hiei was relieved; his nerves were on fire, the image of Cora being tossed around like a rag doll played over and over again in his mind. This time it wasn't just his Jagan that was infuriated. Hitting something wouldn't relieve his current state; he needed blood.

The detective was a nervous wreck too; it was obvious that he cared for the ferry girl, even if it was just in mutual friendship.

"Yusuke?!" Botan's voice rang out of the speakers just as the roar died down; but Yusuke still didn't spare her a glance.

"I'll have to call you back." He said before snapping the compact shut and jamming it into his pocket. As he did so, another earth shattering roar echoed through the hall. Things where about to get bumpy.


"Wait! YUSUKE-" The screen went black. Cora let out a soft growl as she tapped the side of the communicator hoping that it would reopen the connection once again. It didn't. The screen stayed black, it's smooth surface glaring up at them mockingly.

Botan groaned. "Oh this is no good!"

Cora sighed, grasping at her head as a wave of dizziness forced her into a squat. Botan began to panic a little as she saw her young companion slither down to the floor. "Cora, are you sure your alright? Your head-"

"I'm fine Botan. I just need to relax for a little bit." She sighed again while staring down at her feet; they had a few small scrapes from the boxes too. "Why did you tell them that I was hurt? Kurama's going to go all mother hen on me the moment I see him again, and god only knows what bi-polar thing Hiei's got up his sleeve."

"Hiei sure does get angry with you a lot." Botan said as she poked the unconscious human with her toe. The insect had yet to leave the body meaning that he could wake up at any moment. But her thoughts were somewhere else entirely ...Hiei is going to kill me...

"It's because he thinks I'm stupid, and that I cant do anything right." Botan gave her a wide eyed stare. "What? He's kind of right; I'm smart as hell about book stuff, but when it comes to fighting and protecting myself, you might as well send in a barrage of human babes. I mean, I cant even manipulate my own energy, and I need his help if I use my one ability which is also practically useless-"

"Cora you can't possibly think that way about yourself!" Cora shrugged, wincing a little at the volume of her voice...why does she have to yell? We're in a small room... "Oh Cora... come on." Botan stood offering her hand to the smaller woman. "We can't stay here; this guy could wake at any minute and we have no idea who might have followed him."

Cora stared up at her hand with a small frown...I don't want to move on just yet... but Botan's right; the bug never came out. God only knows when he'll come back for more beatings... she hesitantly grabbed onto Botan's hand and allowed herself to be helped up.


"...There's something big behind that door," Kuwabara slammed open the door of his choice with one heavy push from his massive hand. "Something scary." The other three boys looked on from the center of the room they currently occupied. It was circular and large with fifteen doors along the back half. "GAH! Kuwabara suddenly jumped back landing hard on his ass. "I HATE MICE!" The others watched in shock as a small grey mouse ran down the exposed hall.

"Jeeze Kuwabara, and that speech of yours was getting so dramatic!" Yusuke said sarcastically.

"Idiot." Hiei scoffed while Kurama smiled behind his hand.


Cora examined the ally that she occupied. She had been resting there for almost an hour, but she had yet to feel any change in her heads condition; she could hardly keep her head up with out getting dizzy, which made her think she hit that door much harder then she originally thought... I wish Kurama where here... he'd have something hidden in that hair of his that could help... she froze as a man stumbled into the open mouth of the ally... I thought Botan was watching to make sure the coast was clear!

The man stared at her with slitted red eyes and a sinister grin stretched over his face. As he stumbled forward Cora bolted to her feet. "Come on tough guy! I don't have the energy to deal with you right now! Can't you go find someone else to chew on?" She mumbled out as she took tentative steps back in an attempt to keep the distance between her and the crazed human. Her head swam as she moved, making it hard to determine the distance between herself and the infected human before her...let's see... can't shoot him... don't have offensive energy, so I can't blast him... and I can't even tell up from down so chances are I couldn't hit him if I tried-

"CORAAAAAAAAA!" A loud thwack, followed the shout and with a single swipe of a metal bat the man was down. Botan stood over his fallen form, her chest heaving with every breath.

Cora slumped down onto her knees, grabbing hold of her head as the sound of the metal bat bounced around in side her skull like a rubber ball. "Holy shit...nice timing..."

Botan came to her side, grabbing hold of Cora's shoulders to help stabilize her spinning sight. "Cora, are you ok?" Cora nodded, though quickly stopped as it caused her head to swim even more. "That's good but we have to move again. I know I promised you could rest for a while, but it's not-" Botan was interrupted as her communicator started going off. Cora watched with hopeful eyes as Botan fished the communicator from her back pocket and flipped it open.

"Koenma sir!" Cora's shoulders fell ever so slightly- it has been nearly five hours sense they had heard from the boys and Cora was starting to worry; that roar they had heard from the other end of the communicator during their last contact did not sound friendly.

"Botan, how are things going? Are you two making any head way?" Botan sighed and shook her head a little.

"I'm afraid that the news isn't good. The Mikai insects are moving to fast for us to battle everyone that's been taken over!" Botan said. "All we can do now is contain them into one part of the city."

Cora glanced over Botan's shoulder. Koenma's face took up the screen making the worry lines on his face more prominent, even though he was a toddler.

"Very well," Koenma said dishearteningly. "We just have to hope Yusuke destroys the whistle before the city bursts into flames! But that's no guarantee, so keep exterminating as many as you can!"

Botan nodded. "We understand. Over and out." She clamped the communicator shut and slipped it back into her pocket with a sigh. She turned to Cora who by then had regained most control over her spinning head. "We can use my oar to move; do you think you can hold onto me? It probably won't help with the spinning, but we can cover a greater distance that way." Cora furrowed her brow and gave a hesitant nod. At that Botan summoned her Oar, and helped Cora climb up behind her, wrapping the young demons arm's securely around her waist. "Ok, hold on tight!"

When Botan kicked off Cora instantly felt as though she was about to lose her lunch, and gripped Botan so tight it was a surprise that the grim reaper didn't break in half...on god... she'll be lucky if I don't hurl all over her jacket...


The four boys stood before a large double door flanked by two ferocious stone dragons. Lightning flashed through the room casting ire shadows along the walls and floors.

"Are we supposed to be scared?" Hiei scoffed.

Kurama gave the doors a soft glare, a sign that he too was agitated by the sad attempt to intimidate. "Perhaps. That is the mark of the Blue Dragon. And judging by the odder, I would say that the beast is inside."

Kuwabara also gave a small glare of his own. "Yeah and he doesn't feel very nice." As if prompted by their voices the doors swung open catching them all by surprise. A cool fog came wafting out of the room making Kuwabara shiver slightly. The boys glanced at each other before moving as a group towards the opened doors.

Kurama glanced down at the small out line of the communicator in Yusuke's back pocket... I hope Cora and Botan are alright...


"Botan! Behind you!" Cora, having partially recovered from the failed attempt at flying, slammed her foot into the side of what felt like the hundredth blue man she had seen in the last twenty minutes. Some how instead of finding a safe place to regain some energy, Botan and herself had stumbled upon a hot spot and had been fighting and running for their lives for what felt like hours. The constant spinning of her head coupled with the suddenly overwhelming number of infected humans was not playing out well for the two females. Botan had even contacted Koenma, opting to bail out on their end of the mission much to Cora's discouragement.

"Koenma you have to listen to me! We have to abort this mission!" Botan shouted into the communicator clutched tightly in her hand. "The humans are starting to work together and their numbers are continuing to grow!" Botan and Cora took a sharp corner in hopes of shaking off their pursuers. Cora nearly stumbled over her own feet as another dizzy spell hit her full force. If not for Botan's grasp on her arm, Cora was sure she would have met the pavement.

"Understood!"Koenam shouted from the small screen. "Get yourselves to higher ground! I can't afford to lose either of you now!"

"My thoughts exactly si- Cora!" Cora hit the ground hard as her foot caught on an uneven area of the pavement. She groaned as the landing jarred her already throbbing head, making her vision black out momentarily. Botan knelt to help her back up, but paused in her efforts when they were suddenly surrounded.

"Botan, don't stop! I'll catch up to you-" Cora didn't get to finish as Koenma's voice shouted in panic from the communicator.

"Botan I said run!"

"I'm not going to leave Cora behind!"

Cora sat up and pushed Botan worrying hands away, despite the complaints her severely injured head was throwing at her. "Botan, please! Your life is worth so much more then mine-" The swarm of possessed humans drew closer, their matching eyes gleaming with malice.

"NO! We may not have started out on the best foot together, but I won't just leave you to be torn to pieces!" Cora gave her a confused stare but before she could utter a single word, the advancing humans halted, their incessant shouts of rage coming an abrupt silence. The two girls looked up in shock as the swarm suddenly dispersed leaving them in a sea of confusion. "And were do they think their going?" Botan asked as she helped Cora to her feet.

Cora's eyes caught sight of something that she didn't notice until then. Yusuke's middle school loomed in the distance, its smooth white walls caste in the golden glow of the afternoon sun. "What the hell?" She whispered, her brow furrowing in confusion.

"Yusukes middle school...?" Botan gripped the handle of her bat a little tighter before she grabbed Cora by the hand and dashed towards the school... what could be drawing them there?...


"Any moment now..." Botan said under her breath. Cora watched her curiously as she crouched at the edge of the flower bed they had taken refuge in. She could hear some kind of skirmish going on in the distance, but she wasn't sure just what Botan was talking about; what were they waiting for?

"Here we go- get ready Cora!"

"For wha- is that Keiko?" Cora sat up and glanced through the branches. There at the end of the side walk stood Keiko, Yusuke's girl friend. She had a look of panic on her face as she glanced around hurriedly before darting down in the direction of Botan and Cora's hiding place. "Botan, as odd as I'm sure this sounds coming from me, we have to help her! I couldn't bear to listen to Yusuke's belly aching."

Botan nodded and just as Keiko ran past them, Botan reached out through the bushes and pulled the frightened teen into their hiding place. Keiko screamed in her fear, but Botan's hand over her mouth muffled it just as the reason for her panic came around the corner. Three of the possessed humans shuffled past them, their beady eyes darting around for their missing prey.

"H-hey, your that girl..." Kieko said as Botan released her hold on her. Cora reached over and took Keiko's face in her hands, turning her head this way and that.

"Keiko, did they hurt you?"

"Who are...!"

"A friend of Yusuke's. We're both helping him out with this case." Cora said smoothly, more then a little relieved that Keiko didn't know who she was. Cora knew that Keiko wouldn't have let Cora anywhere near her if Keiko knew who she really was.

"Oh!" Kieko said in surprise. "N-no, I think I'm fine. What are you two doing here?" Before Cora had a chance to answer Botan pulled out her communicator. "Can you guys tell me whats going on?" Botan flipped the communicator open.

"Yusuke, this is Botan, you copy?" It took only a few seconds before Yusuke's familiar face came up on the screen, and he did not look happy.

"What now?"

"Small problem." Cora said as Botan turned the communicator to give Yusuke a look at the new development. Cora held her hand's out as if showing off a prize on a TV game show making Keiko chuckle nervously. Yusuke's face became sickly pale as he took in the unmistakable face of his child hood friend.

"Ah! Keiko!?"

"We had to pick her up from school; it seems that every infected person in the area is looking for her!" Botan said as she turned the communicator back to face her. Keiko gave Cora a worried glance. Cora tried to smile reassuringly and placed a hand on the frightened girl's shoulders.

"What?"

"And I don't think they want to talk." Cora said as she glanced out of the bushes. "Shh!" She held up her hand to halt any further words as one of Keiko's hunters walked past their hiding place. Once they had passed she sighed in relief. "Pretty sure they are out for blood now. Way to piss off the ring leader Yusuke; now they wan't to kill your girl friend." Keiko shot Botan a worried look, who in return shot Cora a warning look. Cora shrugged in a nonchalant way; she was just telling them the truth.

"Did she say kill?!" Yusuke shouted from the other end of the link.

Botan sighed, deciding to gloss the conversation over for the time being."The beasts must be using the Mikai whistle to order the-" the sound of the bushes being roughly thrown apart startled them all. The three women looked behind them only to gasp in surprise as one of the blue men from before glared down at them.

Before any of the girls knew what was happening, the man drew back his fist and with deadly force threw it towards Keiko. Botan acted with out hesitation and threw her self towards Cora and Keiko, knocking them all out of the way of the ferocious blow that left a crater in the side of the building. They flew from the bushes, landing in a painful heap on the sidewalk.

"Ooooooh..." Cora groaned from the bottom of the pile. All three girls disentangled themselves, with Cora rubbing her head as it spun a few times. She was really getting tired of all this...

"Bo-? C- Wh- go-g o-?" Cora looked down at the communicator that was now laying on the ground in near pieces. The screen was nothing but static; it must have been damaged in the fall.

"Botan, we are on our own from now on..." Cora said as Botan was making sure Keiko wasn't injured. "Yusuke, if you can hear me you better listen good; don't you worry about whats going on here, you just worry about destroying that whistle, got it?" She looked up as three more assailants approached them. "I have to go now Yusuke; don't worry-


"-I won't let anything happen to either of them. Consider us even for the whole saving Kurama's ass from the stupid mirror..." Yusuke growled as the connection was cut leaving them all to wonder what was happening on the other end of the line.

"Damn it!" Yusuke hissed as she slammed the communicator shut...Keiko...

"I don't have a good feeling about this Urameshi; the girls looked pretty beat up." Kuwabara said as Yusuke slid the compact back into his pocket.

"As much as I hate having to put my trust into that she devil, she's right; we have to smash that whistle as fast as we can!" Yusuke shouted just before he started sprinting for the far off observation tower that loomed in the distance. Never before had something seemed to far off to the detective and his team. But even as they started to gain some ground they were stopped short as two tunnels at either side of the tower started to show signs of inhabitants.

"Hey, who are those people?" Kuwabara asked as a large crowed of what looked to be green humans started pouring out of the tunnel door ways. They were identical and looked to be covered in moss, their body's shinning with some form of moisture. Their hair fell like sea weed against their foreheads. They all held a male physique but lacked the assets that truly made them male. "What ever these guys are, there sure are a lot of them! It's gonna take us about a year to beat them all!"

"Yes, considering our time restraint this could be a real problem." Kurama said speculatively. His eyes darted around, his mind working in over time as he tried to assess the situation.

"I've had dealings with cultivated humans before. They do not feel pain or fear." Hiei said with narrowed eyes.

"How twisted do you have to be to turn humans into monsters like that? If its the same guy who's after Keiko that did this to these guys, then I think the girls are in some serious trouble!" Yusuke clenched his fists.

"Like hell they are! Stupid monster humans trying to slow us down! I'll blow them all away with my shot gun!" Yusuke took a stance and readied his fist to deliver the blow, but Kurama's hand on his shoulder halted him.

"Lets use our heads." Kurama said calmly.

"What? You want me to head butt them?" Hiei scowled... what an idiot...

"It's not wise to waste your spirit power; the more impatient we are the more mistakes we will make and the more danger the girls will be in." Yusuke glared up at him in confusion.

"Well how is head butting them going to be any help? My shot gun is the only way to we're gonna get past them!"

"No." Yusuke and Kurama turned to acknowledge Hiei who had a gleam of determination to his eye.

"So, you've got an idea?" Kuwabara asked curiously. Hiei nodded and glanced back at the tower.

"Take a look at the first tower window." The other three did as told. Yusuke and Kuwabara looked confused while Kurama was contemplative; just what was Hiei getting at? "That is your door." Yusuke growled in frustration.

"Well I'm sorry Mr. Mysterious but as it turns out I forgot to bring my po-go stick!" Yusuke shouted. Hiei fought back the urge to roll his eyes; what in god's name was a po-go stick? Scratch that, he didn't even dare to ask.

"Yeah, uh, how do you expect him to jump that high?"

"I'll need you to listen closely." Hiei gave Yusuke a look that clearly said 'you-better-listen-or-die' making him gulp.


"Come on Keiko! We have to keep moving!" Cora shouted as she dodged yet another attack from one of the many infected humans. Their numbers had grown considerably and now it seemed that nowhere was safe. Every turn only lead to more and more of these human's gone monster and the girls were starting to ware quickly. Cora grunted as her body protested her every move; she had taken more then a fare share of hits meant for Keiko, and her body was starting to lose its ability to function as her head continued to weep blood from her injured forehead. Every few minutes she would wipe the offending bodily fluid from her eyes, ignoring the worried glances from her two companions.

"Cora, are you ok? You don't look so good." Keiko said as they rounded another corner. Botan glanced over her shoulder in worry.

"I'm fine." She tried to sound convincing; but she knew that she couldn't run for ever. Her legs were only mere moments away from giving out on her, and her head, though not as bad as it was just an hour ago, was still far from being fully recovered from it's meeting with that door. Even as she tried to deny her injuries and tough it out, her head swam and threatened to make her eat her words. "Listen to me; if anything happens, Botan, you have to take Keiko and keep moving. I'll-"

"No Cora! I can't-" Keiko tried to argue. Cora jerked to a stop catching the other two off guard.

"Keiko! You have to do what I say, ok? I promised Yusuke that I wouldn't let anything happen to the two of you, and while I may not particularly care for the dim wit, I don't go back on my word!" Cora said making Keiko's forehead crease in worry. "They are after you; as Yusuke's assistant on this case, it is our job to keep you safe. No matter what."

"B-but-"

"No buts Keiko! Listen, if anything goes wrong I'm sure Koenma will do all he can to help, but we have to keep you safe." Botan said as she placed a reassuring hand on the teen girls shoulders, shooting Cora an uneasy look. Keiko looked as if she was about to protest again but a sudden roar of anger broke up their huddle. Cora turned to look for the source of the sound but instead she was met with a fist to the cheek that sent her flying to the adjacent wall. She hit head first and then crumpled to the ground in a heap.

"Cora!" Keiko went to run to her rescuers side but was stopped by Botan's hand.

"Come on Keiko!" She shouted as she rushed down the ally pulling a reluctant Keiko behind her.

"But Cora-"

"I know. I don't want to leave her, but she's right!" Botan said as she glanced over her shoulder, her own worry glistening in her eyes. Cora was up again and trying her hardest to heed off the crowed of infected humans though her attacks were sluggish and badly aimed due to her spinning vision. The infected humans were quickly over whelming her and before to long she was swallowed into the sea of angry humans.

"Oh no!" Keiko pulled at her wrist in an attempt to get out of Botan's iron grip. "Botan stop! We have to go back!"

"We can't-!" Botan ducked and pulled Keiko with her as a large plank of wood slammed into the stone wall right above their heads. She quickly fled the new arrivals and dashed down a side ally. "Look, it's you they want to kill Keiko, and it's our job to keep you safe. If we go back then they wont leave her alone! But if we keep moving eventually they will leave to find you again!" Keiko glanced over her shoulder at their pursuers. "The only way to help her is to get as far away as we can."


Hiei growled deep in his chest. His Jagan was on fire again; something was wrong... of course something is wrong... we're facing an army of cultivated humans... his Jagan throbbed to show its displeasure with his sarcasm...the sooner we finish this up, the sooner we can go back to spirit world... I'll strangle that damn toddler...

"You better not blow this Kuwabara!" Yusuke shouted pulling Hiei from his thoughts...I have to concentrate; that stupid girl will be fine...

"Don't worry, I'm like an ox!" Kuwabara shouted as he prepared himself to follow his part in this little plan. As if given some unseen signal he shot forward, surprisingly agile for a teen of his size. Kurama followed soon after, his hand supporting his injured stomach. Hiei was next, slowing himself down as to perfect the timing of his plan.

Yusuke watched them all for a few seconds before he too took off, silently praying that this plan worked. Keiko's life depended on it.

"Just do me one favor guys!" Kuwabara shouted form the front of the line. He was growing ever closer to the stationary army of moss men and his apprehension was showing on his face. " Try not to dig in with your shoes, ok?"

"Just shut up and keep running!" Yusuke shouted back. Kuwabara gulped as he came with in two feet of the army. They stared at him, their blank yellow eyes watching them with disinterest. Kuwabara slammed into them, knocking a good twenty of them out with the sheer size of his shoulders. He then stopped, his legs shoulder width apart and his arms tucked in against his sides. He bent his knees into a crouch.

"Alright! Let 'er rip!" He shouted. Not a moment later Kurama jumped and landed atop his shoulders causing him to buckle slightly under the added weight. He held strong, the muscles in his chest, back and legs bulging as he awaited his last two team mates. Hiei was next, using his back as a step off to launch himself onto Kurama's shoulders.

Kuwabara waited until he felt Yusuke's shoe dig into his back and then her stood from his crouch, giving Yusuke's final push between Hiei's shoulder blades extra momentum. Seconds later Hiei and Kurama jumped form their perches relieving Kuwabara of the weight on his shoulders. How ever, their kick offs put him off balance and sent him face first into the stone floor with a cry of surprise. Hiei and Kurama, still crouched from their landings watched as Yusuke soared through the air.

"It'll be close." Kurama said as he clutched at his abdomen.


Keiko screamed as a rather sharp pair of scissors came down upon her. She only barely dodged, allowing them to become embedded in the wall behind her. Botan and Keiko had gone in a circle, and when they had no were else to go had escaped into the middle school. "Take my hand!" Keiko reached out and grabbed Botans out stretched hand only to be dragged down the hall. "Now run!" The ever present infected human, a teacher by the looks of him, chased after them with a crazed look on his face as he wielded his scissors like a blade.

Botan wasted no time as she rushed into a door to their left, locking it behind them. Keiko stood at the back of the class room, her back pressed against a large metal double door cupboard. The class room door started shaking violently and the glass window at the top of it shattered as one of the infected humans slammed their fist through it in an attempt to break down the door.

"We have to think quickly Keiko." Botan said as she looked around the room for some way to escape. Keiko placed the tip of her thumb against her lips, biting at it gently as she tried to come up with a plan. But nothing was coming to mind. They were trapped. "Oh there has to be something that we can do!"

"Botan what-" The door was slammed into roughly and the sound of splitting wood made Keiko's face pale; they were breaking down the door! She looked around frantically; surely there had to be something that they could use! She reached up and clutched at her scarf as her back shook against the cabinet... wait..."Botan, I have an idea!"

Moments later, the door burst from its frame, wood splintering in every direction. The infected men swarmed into the room, only to find it empty. The teacher seemed to let out a guttural laugh as he scanned the room with narrowed eyes. They came to land on a yellow scarf sticking our from the cabinet to his right. He laughed again, his face nearly splitting in two as he grinned in victory.

"Yukimura! I always knew you weren't as smart as you made us think !" He growled out. He reached over and picked up one the many brooms and mops that were propped up beside the now destroyed door. "You hid yourself well didn't you? Except for one thing..." the other men picked up a weapon as well before creeping up to the tall metal cabinet. "Your scarf!"

The men attacked all at once, driving the blunt ends of their handles into the metal cabinets with enough force that they left gaping holes. Keiko's yellow scarf fell to the floor having been knocked lose by the mens violent thrusts. As the onslaught came to an end, the teacher grabbed the sides of the cabinets and shook it violently until the doors fell open revealing the cabinet to be empty. The men stood there in shock, unsure of what to make of this turn of events. But before they could react they were ambushed from behind.

Botan and Keiko jumped out from behind the curtains were they were hiding, mops in hand. They stuck down the men with powerful swings leaving them withering on the floor. With no hesitation, Botan grabbed Keiko's hand and fled the room.

"We've got to get to an exit!" Botan shouted as they turned down another corridor. Their break didn't last long as the men appeared behind them, mops still in hand and absolute furry smeared across their faces.

"You can't run for ever Yukimura!" The leader shouted as he brandished his ever faithful scissors like a knife once again. Keiko glanced over her shoulder. What were they going to do?

Botan turned another corner, Keiko on her heels. She saw the glow of an exit sign and felt a wave of relief wash through her. But it was short lived. A lead pipe, about an inch in diameter, slammed into her temple, knocking her to the ground with a shout of pain.

"BOTAN!" Keiko knelt down beside the ferry girl, her hands searching frantically for a pulse. Botan's assailant came from the shadows flanked on either side by two other infected men.

"Run... away... Keiko..." Botan mumbled as she tried to regain her wits.

"No, I can't-" The leader stepped up beside her, a sinister grin stretching out over his thin lips.

"It's time for your punishment Yukimura!" He sneered as he raised the scissors high above his head. With a wicked laugh he descended upon them, his falling hand headed straight for Keiko's heart. Keiko let out an glass shattering scream as she held Botan close to her chest in a feeble attempt to shield the woman who had done so much to save her.

"YUUUSUKEEE!" As she cried out his name, in a hope that he would some how hear her cry and save her as he had many times, a strange blue energy crackled in the air, deflecting the scissors and catching the infected man off guard. It threw them from his hand, and as they sailed through the air he cried out in surprise and rage.

Keiko looked up in surprise as the men around her started to collapse, their skin turning back to its healthy flesh tone and their eyes from yellow to various shades of their natural brown. "W-what just happened...?"

"Keiko!" She glanced up, her mind still baffled from what had just happened as her eyes locked on a lone figure making their way down the hall.

"Cora! You're alright!"


After tireless hours of fighting off those cultivated humans, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei finally made it to the top of the watch tower, only to find it practically destroyed. Suzaku, the leader of the four saint beasts, was dead and the whistle destroyed. But it was not the time to celebrate any victory. Yusuke lay only feet away from the fallen saint beast, and despite Kuwabara's attempts to rouse him, the teen did not stir.

"Wake up Urameshi!" Kuwabara shouted as Kurama checked the boys vitals. "Lets go home!" Kurama shook his head making Kuwabara go pale.

"I'm sorry; he's used up all his bodies energy." Kurama said as he gazed down at the brave fool that lay dying beside him. "His heart is stopping."

"Then I'll give him some of my own!" Kuwabara shouted as he knelt down beside his comrade. Kurama gave him a shocked look.

"That wouldn't be very wise; your body is still badly injured from Byako. Any more strain on it could kill you." Kurama warned, hoping to forgo Kuwabara's brash actions. Hiei watched on with a blank face but inside his was reeling.

"Me and Urameshi jumped into this deal together and we'r both gonna come out alive or we're not comin' out at all, ok?" Kuwabara didn't wait for Kurama's witty retort as he placed both his palms against the still chest of Yusuke. "Here it goes Urameshi," he hoped that were ever Yusuke was, weather it be in his body or floating in the putrid air around them, that he could hear is plea and would accept his energy. A light blue glow surrounded them both as Kuwabara transferred his energy into Yusuke. "Come on!"

Kurama stood aside just as Kuwabara collapsed atop his friend. "Well I suppose now we'll have to return to the living world carrying both of them on our back's." He said to the stock still Hiei.

"Like I said, baby sitting." Hiei said snidely making Kurama chuckle. "Here's what I don't understand; why would he bother saving her if he died in the process." Hiei demanded. Kurama gave Hiei a side long glance before a soft smile made it's way to his lips.

"Trust me Hiei; there are reasons." Kurama said. Hiei scoffed.

"Hn, maybe for a person who's lived there [human world]," he looked off into the distance. "But I'd never do it. The challenge is enough with out taking someone else' slack." Kurama gave him an amused glance but didn't say anything more on the subject.

"Were you able to locate Cora's energy? I noticed you were searching rather adamantly during this whole thing." Kurama asked casually. Hiei scowled at him making Kurama chuckle. "Well, I am sure she is fine."


Bidding Botan and Keiko good bye (and having to suffer a hug from Yusuke's woman), Cora had never been so happy to see a portal open up in all her life. On the other side of it was a shower, food, medical attention and her two boys. She didn't even care if Hiei was in a prissy mood or if Kurama would bug her with his mothering. Anything sounded like heaven after the day she just suffered through. Taking one last deep breath, Cora stepped into the portal; she closed her eyes as her head began to spin uncomfortably due to the motion that came with being in a portal. When she felt her feet hit solid earth again, she took a deep breath...since when did spirit world smell like wet grass and woodlands... Cora opened her eyes, wincing when she was met with nearly blinding sun light. The sound of birds chirping and a strange, unnatural beeping met her ears. Once her eyes adjusted, Cora found herself starring into the depths of an unknown forest. "What in the actual fuck." She said, her shoulders slumping in defeat.