Ok sooooo... I know it's been a really long time, please don't kill me! *cowers* I promise I didn't abandon you guy's, life just got crazy! I was working 3 job's, and moved another two times, so my stories just fell to the wayside! *cries* I'M SO SORRY!
*clears throat* now, on to business. I know I promised more Hiei/Cora action, but to be perfectly honest, I read through the previous chapters and not only did I find some MAJOR issues with Cora's physical appearance, I also found that Hiei's actions seemed... OOC for the time span of the Dark Tournament. I won't change the actions in the previous chapters (by much), but there will be less consistent affection and just a couple large show's of it until the end of the tournament. Cora is going to get a face lift (aka, I'm going to choose ONE hair/eye color combo), and there will be some clean up around the Sakyo issue.
Now, on to the story!
The day after their first match found Cora sitting alone in the hotel room. Yusuke and Kuwabara where out exploring the island, Kurama was scouting the competition and Hiei had disappeared the moment they left the stadium the previous afternoon. And the masked fighter... he wasn't much of a conversationalist, and seemed happy to follow Yusuke around. This left Cora with very little to do, but count the tiles on the ceiling. Even Botan, Keiko and Shizuru where missing, probably talking with Koenma about something or another. Cora let out a bored sigh just as a knock came to the hotel door. With a grunt of annoyance, she pushed herself up from the couch and to the door, opening it jerkily.
"Yes? Can I help you?" She asked the bell hop on the other side of the door. Said bell hop, a middle aged human with black hair and narrow brown eyes, handed her a medium sized gift box with a letter taped to it's lid.
"A delivery for you Miss Cora; from a Mr. Sakyo-" Cora gaped between him and the box, shocked that Sakyo would dare to contact her in her own hotel room. "Is everything alright Miss Cora?" Cora snapped out of her surprise and nodded her head.
"Y-YES! Sorry, I just wasn't expecting to hear from Mr. Sakyo," she turned and set the box on the stationary desk just inside the door and grabbed a couple bill's from the top drawer, handing them over to the bell hop. "Here you are; thank you for bringing this to me." The bell hop nodded and took the bill's, placing them into his breast coat pocket and giving Cora a courteous bow before leaving the door way. Cora shut the door immediately and turned on her heel, eyes the box and letter suspiciously. What could Sakyo possibly want with her now?
With hesitant hand's Cora took the letter from the top of the box and opened it, scanning over the page with a grim face. He wanted her to meet him in the observatory box? As in the box were all the big wigs, and gamblers sat to watch their teams tear each other apart? Joy. At the end of the short note was a request that Cora do two things before coming to see him. The first, was not to come as herself. So she was expected to transform? The second was that she wear what it in the box, so that the security will allow her to pass...
Once again Cora eyed the medium sized package wearily. Should she follow his instructions? Probably- Sakyo was one of the men running this whole tournament. Who knew what he might do during the boy's next match if she blatantly ignored him. With hesitant fingers she removed the lid from the box, finding a ridiculous amount of tissue paper. Near the bottom of the tissue paper, Cora found a long thin jewelry box that made her quirk a questioning brow. Sakyo was giving her jewelry now? "Stalker..."
She opened the jewelry box and was surprised to find that she rather liked what was with in it. It was a smooth black velvet choker, about an inch wide, with a simple sapphire cut into a traditional teardrop shape and set in silver hanging from the center. The clasp was adjustable and black in in color. Cora had to admit that Sakyo had good taste. Replacing the lid to the jewelry box Cora dug through the package again, removing more tissue paper. It had been to heavy to have only held this choker. Near the bottom of the package Cora found a dark red dress with a square neckline and a handkerchief skirt. Beneath that was a wide cinched corset like belt to go over the waist of the dress, and simple black flats that where exactly her size. "Seriously, how does he know my sizes?!" Cora questioned herself incredulously.
Looking at the clothing Sakyo had provided, Cora was reminded of the night that the boys made it to the island. She had been provided by Sakyo with her gown, shoes, makeup- even the curling iron and bobby pins she used to do her hair- all for the cocktail party being held in the entry way. Sakyo hadn't even been there, but he insisted that she make an appearance; probably just to prove that he could make her do so. She was instructed to stay there until her team arrived... the thought of her team made Cora check the clock that hung on the wall.
Kurama would be gone for some yet, with the first match of the day being announced just an hour ago. It probably hadn't even started yet. Hiei had disappeared off the face of the earth, and he wouldn't be able to track her down anyways. Who knew about Yusuke and Kuwabara; Kuwabara was probably being picked out of some demons teeth, and Yusuke was giving said demon the tooth pick. Cora looked at the letter again; it didn't have a specific time or day. The boy's would be back in the ring tomorrow; it would be strange if she disappeared at that time. It was now or never.
With hurried movements, Cora changed into the dress, belt and flats. She tucked a pair of random black chop sticks into her purse, slinging it onto her shoulder. Her fingers hesitated over the choker; for some reason it made her nervous. Not to mention, despite it's simplicity, it seemed to be a little to fancy for the clothing Sakyo provided. But he had been adamant... what if it was the choker that security was told to watch out for? With a resigned sigh, Cora fitted the choker to her throat, clasping it just tight enough that the sapphire fell into the hollow of her throat. She could swear she felt the skin that it sat upon tingling. Grabbing the evidence of the package and it's contents, Cora peeked her head outside of the hotel room door. Seeing that the coast was clear, she hurried out of the room and down the hall, depositing the empty package and the now torn up letter onto a nearby room service cart as she made her way towards the elevator.
As she selected the Lobby as her destination, Cora began to think of who she should choose as a host. She knew she couldn't pick someone much larger then herself, and clearly female given the clothing choice. She started thinking back to her time spent in the human world, to the students in her very own class. There where a couple girls who were similar to Cora in build. Cora closed her eyes as she passed the floor beneath her, focusing her thoughts on a particular teenage girl. A girl that lived in Cora's neighborhood.
Misaka... She was pretty and slim, with long black hair and, surprisingly, dark blue eyes. She was similar in build to Cora, with just a couple inches difference in height between them. She was even tempered and bubbly... her voice was warm, and soft... Cora could feel her energy start to tingle through her body, changing her down to the molecular level. She smiled a little as she remembered the one conversation she had ever had with Misaka; they had been paired together for a small project about UV rays and the auto immune response of the human body to the sun. Cora remembered how tan Misaka was from her day's spent running track over the summer; she would look pretty in this dress...
Cora felt the tingling come to a close, finishing along the surface of her eyes. When she opened them, she was not surprised to see Misaka starring back at her from the reflection on the elevator doors. Cora frowned; she hoped Misaka wasn't doing anything dangerous at that moment. She would have to find out that the young girl had been injured...
Cora ran her fingers through Misaka's hair, using the chopsticks she had packed in her purse to pull it partially up. She smiled as her reflection; she had been right, Misaka really was pretty when she wore red. And the Sapphire brought out her dark blue eyes... at that moment the elevator dinged, signaling that she had made it to her floor. When the door opened, Cora felt her heart nearly stop as she met face to chest with Kurama. He greeted her in a hurried fashion as she walked stiffly off the elevator, but otherwise paid her little mind as he got onto the elevator and impatiently pushed the button for their floor. Cora's brow furrowed; Kurama's face was full of worry as the elevator door closed, leaving her staring once again at the reflection of her host. She wondered what had Kurama in such a hurry... before the elevator doors could close completely, Kurama's hand came out and stopped them, his green eyes settling on Cora in a frantic way.
"Forgive me Miss, but did you see another young girl get on or off this elevator?" Kurama asked making Cora's heart flutter with anxiety. Was he looking for her? Why? "She would be just a little bit shorter then you with long white hair and blue eyes; please, I must know if you have seen her." Cora found herself shaking her head, and hating herself for it.
"No sir, I'm sorry," Cora said, the warm tone of Misaka's voice almost catching her off guard. "I was alone on the elevator the whole time." The disappointment on Kurama's face was devastating, but he was quick to recover and thank her none the less.
"Thank you Miss; I'm sorry to have troubled you." He said with obvious dejection.
"It's alright..." Cora said, a sincere frown falling onto her lips. "I hope you find her. This island is no place for a young girl to run off on, uh..." Cora fiddled with her hands before bowing respectfully, as a well practiced child should. "I must be going sir; my mother will worry where I am..." She stood up straight, giving him a sad smile. "I will keep my eyes open; if I see such a girl, I will tell her that you are looking for her..."
Kurama eyed her a little, the wheel's turning in his head. Cora suddenly felt a little foolish; what if Kurama recognized Misaka?! "I greatly appreciate it..." he said before falling back into the elevator and allowing the door to close completely. Cora let out a breath she didn't know she was holding; that had been a close one.
With hurried foot steps, Cora made her way in the direction of the stadium. If she was lucky, she would make it there without seeing anyone else from the team. Luck was on her side, as she didn't see a familiar face until she made it to the bottom of the back stairs that lead to the observation boxes. How ever, she wasn't thrilled about who greeted her. Toguro stood watch, his freaky brother nowhere to be seen. He stared (or was he glaring? She couldn't tell through his dark sunglasses) her down as she came to a stop in front of him. She felt a small shiver of fear shoot down her spine as she took his just how large he was.
It had been a long time since she had seen him in person; not since her time with Tarukane. But Toguro was just as intimidating as she remembered him being, if not more so. Cora wondered if he knew who she was... as if hearing her thoughts, Toguro reached up and fingered the sapphire the rested in the hollow of the throat, making every muscle in Cora's body tense up.
"Mimic demon..." He grunted out making Cora's eyes widen; so the sapphire was the hint to let her pass! Thank god she had worn it, or else who knows what Toguro would have done to her. "Mr. Sakyo is waiting for you. He wan'ts you to watch the next fight." Cora furrowed her brow's in confusion.
"Why? Couldn't I have watched them from the stands with the rest of my team?" She asked curiously. Toguro smirked and removed his hand from the stone, allowing Cora to relax a little. He didn't answer her, but instead walked past her and down the hall she had just traveled through herself. Cora frowned; what was so special about the next fight?"Well, I guess I'll just go see what Sakyo want's..."
It didn't take Cora long to find the room; it was the only door in the long hallway at the top of the stairs. Cora knocked, not wanting to barge in and possibly startle any demon body guards that might be present. The door opened, and to Cora's relief, it was a human body guard that stood before her. That's not to say he was small and weak; he was still huge, and his biceps looked like they where as big as her head...
"Cora," Sakyo showed up behind the guard, smiling down at her warmly. He placed a hand on the shoulder of the body guard, a signal for the large man to step back and allow her into the room. "It's a pleasure to see you again." Sakyo bowed to her as a gentleman would, a bow that she reluctantly reciprocated. "I'm sorry that you had to come as another; I would much rather speak to you when you are you're natural self, but we must be careful not to draw any unwanted attention. After your delightful cheering at yesterday's fight, you are well known and we don't need anyone suspecting favoritism." Sakyo said all of this with a small laugh in his voice, making Cora frown and blush in embarrassment at the same time. He motioned for her to follow him to a row of chairs, where in the row, two sat empty side by side. He offered her one of the plush chairs, pulling it out for her to sit before taking his own seat. "I trust you had no problems in getting here?"
Cora sighed, taking the cup of tea offered to her by the large body guard who had answered the door. "I ran into one of my team mates on the way, but I had already taken a host and so he was unaware of who I was." Cora said, a trace of sadness in the voice. Clearly Kurama was worried over her for some reason... was he still looking for her? And what about the other boys? Had Kurama informed them of his worry? "Toguro say's you wished to have me watch the next match with you." Sakyo chuckled and nodded.
"Yes, I wanted to see your reaction." Cora gave him a suspicious side long glance.
"My reaction to a fight?"
"Not just any fight, Miss Cora; this next match should prove quite interesting."
Cora frowned; she hated the mind games these people were playing with her. What was so special about this next fight? The announcer came over the PA system, calling for the next team's to enter the stadium. Curious of who would be fighting, Cora sat up and looked down at the stadium. Her eyes widened considerably; A group of five men stood on the platform, staring down their single opponent. Toguro. "What kind of idiocy is this? He can't possibly think he can take on so many opponent's at once." Cora scoffed out, earning snickers from the other gamblers in the room. "Is this the fight you wanted me to see?" Sakyo smirked and lit a cigarette.
"Yes. Watch carefully please, I'd hate for you to miss it." Sakyo said calmly.
Cora watched as the terms for the match came to a close, and Koto signaled for the fight to begin. The five fighters, all incredibly large in size and energy, spread out to surround Toguro. They attacked him one at a time. Cora gasped in shock and horror as the first to attack, a large humanoid demon dressed as a traditional sumo wrestler and nearly twice Toguro's size, was stopped with a single blow to his abdomen. The power behind the punch rushed through him and blew out through his back, spraying the stadium with a mixture of blood and entrails. He was dead before he hit the ground, and a lake of dark blood began to cover the floor of the ring.
Fallen fighters team mates were soon to follow, each one falling in the same way; with a single hit, leaving a gaping hole in the back and their organs splattered across the stadium. Cora felt biol rise in the back of her throat as the stench of blood made it's way up into the observation room. "I hope you better understand the situation that you are in, Miss Cora. To be quite honest, I feel a little bad for the deal we made; you can only obtain your freedom if your team is able to beat Toguro's. I now see that the terms are unfair." Sakyo said as Toguro finished off the largest of the opposing team, a man nearly four times his size, with a single blow that literally teared him in half. "So I have talked it over with the Toguro brothers, and they have agreed to make some changes with our deal." Cora, unable to look down into the stadium any longer for fear of loosing what little food was in her stomach, glanced worriedly up at Sakyo. Maybe keeping this situation a secret had been a bad idea. "I wouldn't try telling your team mates of our arrangement. If you do, we will know." Sakyo traced the contours of the choker with his eyes making Cora's breath hitch.
Cora reached up and attempted to rip the choker from her throat, only to feel a small zap of electricity shoot down her spine making her yelp. She reached around, looking for the clasp, and gasping when she found it missing, replaced by what felt to be a metal lock with a key hole punched into it. "W-What... I knew I shouldn't have put this thing on! What is it? What is it for?!"
"Consider it an insurance policy that one would place on an item of great value." Sakyo said as he flicked some of his ashes into a near by tray. "Should you utter a single word of this to anyone, this choker will notify us so that you may be retrieved before they have a chance to remove you from the island." Sakyo reaches into his inner breast pocket and pulls out a folded sheet of paper, handing it over to Cora who had given up on removing the choker. She opened it hastily, scanning over it with confused eyes. "It is important to the tournament that you remain here with your team."
"Its... a fight schedule for the final rounds?" She questioned. Looking over the paper, she is hardly surprised that her team was written down for four matches. The entire comity had it out for them. But she didn't understand the addition of a secondary final match, one scheduled to take place just before the grand finale. "What is this fight? Not happy with the carnage brought to you by the original tournament, so you decided to add another round just for the hell of it?"
"It is the alteration given to me by the Toguro brothers." Sakyo said, making Cora's eyes widen in shock. "Seeing as the previous arrangement had such a high chance of going in our favor, we have agreed to allow you the chance of deciding your own fate. That match is a little bit of an add on, something special just for you." Sakyo smashed the remainder of his cigarette into the tray, effectively putting it out. "It's a match that will be fought by the alternate fighters of both finalist teams... to the death."
Cora arrived back at the hotel room, glad to find that it was still void of the others; she hadn't quite figured out what she was going to tell them- nothing. She couldn't say a word to anyone about her predicament with Sakyo anymore. This damn choker- she knew better then to think that Sakyo would bluff when it came to his ability to know her every move. Even with out Cora having an energy signature to follow, Sakyo had somehow managed to track her down in the middle of Tokyo to order her attendance at this tournament. Somehow he knew that she would arrive a day early, meeting her at her hotel room door and giving her instructions for the next day. He knew her measurements, and mannerisms; Cora wouldn't be surprised, choker or no choker, if Sakyo could pick her out in a crowd when wearing a host skin. It was rather unnerving.
With a sigh of exhaustion Cora entered the room she was sharing with Hiei and Kurama, tearing off the dress and shoes Sakyo had provided for her and literally throwing them out the window; she wasn't interested in keeping anything given to her by that man. She watched the dress flutter down from her sixth story window, falling onto the head of an unsuspecting apparition who panicked when his vision was suddenly blocked by the dark red fabric. Not wanting to be spotted as the person to have thrown the garment, Cora pulled herself away from the window and dug through her suit case, hoping to find at least one pair of pant's that wouldn't be to short for Misaka's long legs. She settled for a pair of dark blue jean shorts and a green tank top, with all her other pants falling just an inch to short to be acceptable. She tossed Misaka's long hair up into a pony tail, the thick tresses getting on her last nerve as they fell over half of her face while she was putting on her shoes.
"Guess I should go find Kurama or Hiei..." she thought out loud as she inspected herself in the mirror. Misaka was pretty, and the green tank top really brought out the blue of her eyes. The shorts where a bit tight and short, as Misaka was a pant size bigger then her, but they would have to do for now; if anything they just made her muscular leg's look even longer and more toned. Cora tried to imagine herself with an athletic body like Misaka's, but the image eluded her; she just couldn't picture her tiny body having the same curves despite their similar body structures. Misaka defiantly had her beat in the chest department, as the tight fabric of the tank top suggested. Cora frowned, the reflection of Misaka frowning back at her; she loved this tank top and now it hardly fit... maybe she wasn't to envious of Misaka's curves after all. Shaking off her ridiculous thought's, Cora allowed Misaka's dark blue eyes to fall onto the equally blue pendant that sat in the hollow of her throat, narrowing in distaste. If only she could toss it out the window too...
Taking a final look at herself, Cora decided that the uncomfortably tight cloths would have to do until she could find a temporary keeper. With a last minute thought, she grabbed her hand gun out of her suitcase and strapped it (loaded) onto her thigh. Given the track record of being ambushed while wondering around, she figured she was better safe then sorry. It would be a lot harder for any of the boy's to find her if she got into any trouble. After a quick glance at the wall clock, Cora left the hotel room...it's one in the afternoon now... I should be able to at least find Kurama and get turned back into myself before four...
~The Following Morning~
Cora peeked out from beneath her chosen hiding spot, spying her latest stalker's feet as they disappeared into some near by brush. Remember how she believed she could find Kurama and/or Hiei before sundown? Yeah, that didn't happen. It didn't take long for her to become lost in the wood's and when a fragile 'human' girl becomes lost in the wood's on a island full of demons it takes even less time for said demon's to track her down. Lucky for her most of the demon's have been low level scum, easy to defend against and avoid by simply hiding out. But of all the demon's that she has come into contact with, she had yet to encounter one that had seen her red headed friend or the temperamental fire demon.
Not hearing her pursuer returning, Cora exited the brush and pulled a few sticks and leaves from her hosts thick hair; really, how did Misaka live with it?! The humidity in the air had made the hair course and frizzy, and it seemed to gravitate towards low hanging branches as if it had a mind of it's own. Was this the kind of behavior most human women had to deal with from their hair?! "Seriously, let go of the damn stick!" Cora growled out as she tugged one particularly stubborn twig from the crown of her head, flinching as a couple strands of hair came with it. "I need to find one of them before I chop this hair off..."
The rustling of leaves behind her made Cora blanch, a gold sweat beading on her forehead as two set's of heavy feet came to a stop behind her. "Well, looky here! Perhaps it's not to late for us to partake in some breakfast after all!" Cora looked over her shoulder to see two lizard like demon's standing behind her, both dressed in high wasted black pants and tucked in white tee-shirts. One had short, messy black hair on the crown of his head while the other had wiry white hair and a bushy mustache, giving him the appearance of an old man with scaly skin. The one to have spoken, the black haired demon, eyed Cora up and down, saliva dribbling down his chin. In short, Cora found them to be lacking in every department; they were low level scum.
"The match hasn't started just yet! A small snack couldn't possibly slow us down to much..." the old looking demon agreed readily. Cora growled at them, bearing her teeth. They blinked in surprise before laughing boisterously. "Such a silly human woman! Trying to act the part of a demon! Yes, I'm sure she will taste delicious!"
"Shit..." Cora said as she grabbed hold of her hand gun; through out the night, during her many encounters, Cora had fired a grand total of 8 bullets... her clip only held 10 shots. "I forgot that Misaka doesn't have fangs..." The two demons cackled darkly, their bodies sinking down into a creeping stance as they advanced on her, ready to pounce at any given moment. "I shouldn't waist these bullets on them..." With a quick glance around her, Cora spotted an area of dense foliage; if she was lucky, she could possibly make a run for it and loose them in the tree's. It had worked before, right?
With a grunt of annoyance, Cora bolted through the under brush, pushing Misaka's human body to its limits as she dodged through the tree's. She could hear the two demon's snarling and growling as they followed after her, crashing through the tree's like the clumsy, low level idiots she believed them to be on first glance. But Cora didn't dare stop; it didn't matter how low level they were. As she was now... as Misaka, she didn't stand a chance if they actually managed to gain the upper hand on her.
Cora pushed her way through a particularly thick patch of bushes, surprised to find herself falling into a small clearing. "AHH!" Cora cried out as she rolled across the ground, coming to an ungraceful stop on her back, staring up at the bright blue sky.
"A human?" She heard from somewhere past her feet.
"A human with a death wish. These wood's are no place for the weak." Said a second voice.
Cora sat up, starring open mouthed at Kurama and Hiei, who both stood some twenty feet away from her, look's of confusion, and in Hiei's case, annoyance covering their faces.
"Oh my god..." Cora said making Kurama's brow furrow for a moment of brief thought before recognition took over his face.
"I know you," he said making Hiei give him a side long glance. "We met the other day at the elevator," Kurama said in answer to Hiei's unspoken question. Hiei's eyes cleared of their confusion, remembrance coming to him as he recalled Kurama's encounter through what the fox had explained the other day when that stupid girl's energy had spiked. Kurama had spent the whole night (with some off hand help from Hiei) looking for her, but with little success.
"Oh my god!" Cora cried out, getting to her feet. "I've been looking everywhere for the two of you!" Cora pointed at them making Hiei's eyes narrow in mild disgust.
"Woman, you have two seconds to direct your stubby finger's else where unless you wish to be missing them." He growled out.
"Hiei, this is serious!" Cora exclaimed. "Come on, just use the contract already-AAAHHHH!" Cora cried out in surprise as she was suddenly lifted up by the back of her tank top by a large clawed hand. "HEY! PUT ME DOWN!"
Kurama and Hiei fell into fighting stances, eyeing the lizard demon's and the captured human girl wearily. "Hiei, I think we might have just found who we've been looking for..." Hiei grunted in agreement, his left hand coming up to rest on the hilt of his blade.
"Cora," Hiei called out, making Cora stop struggling long enough to look in his direction. "Your an idiot." Cora gapped at him as he drew his blade.
"Y-you- YOU ASS!" Cora screeched at him making Hiei smirk in mild triumph. "Oh yeah, smirk now, but just wait until I get over there! I hope your ready to clean up this mess you've made for me!" Hiei and Kurama furrowed their brow's in confusion; how was any of this Hiei's fault?!
"Are the three of you done with your little reunion? If so, we have some business to attend to!" The black haired demon, the one who happened to have hold of Cora, said with a sneer.
"It's seems our luck is truly high today; not only do we find a tasty human snack, but she just happened to lead us to our intended targets-GAH!" Cora, taking the demon's that held her by surprise, raised her hand's above her head, falling out of her tank top. She kicked the two demon's feet out from beneath them, incapacitating the black haired demon with a swift punch to his gut. The second demon Cora grabbed up by the scruff of his shirt, glaring down at him with burning dark blue eyes. Cora brought her right hand up to her mouth, her hand balled up into a fist. She whispered into it in such a low tone that not even the demon in her grasp could hear her.
"Now..." Cora growled out in Misaka's voice. "Call me "tasty" one more time!" Cora slam's the palm of her right hand into the demon's throat, squeezing it with enough force to draw small rivers of blood with her nails. The demon cried out in surprise, gagging and choking in her grasp.
"T-T-TTA-TASTY!" The demon gasped out, screaming the word over and over again at the top of his lungs. Cora's face split into a dark smile, her grip tightening around his throat.
"That's a good boy..." she said sweetly as a white light enveloped her. She felt her arms and leg's shorten, and was pleased when her black hair faded back into it's natural prism white.
Kurama watched all of this with bated breath. "Hiei enlighten me; I'm afraid my knowledge on Meimu demon's is very limited." Hiei, taking a moment from his glaring at the scene before him to glance Kurama's way, lowered his blade as Cora snapped the poor demon's neck and tossed his body aside.
"Cora has forced her contract onto the demon in order to revert back to her natural state." Hiei said as Cora snatched her tank top up from the ground, walking towards Kurama and Hiei with an irritated frown on her face. Kurama glanced between the two smaller demon's, the tension that rolled between them nearly visible with the naked eye.
"I'm afraid I still do not understand Cora. I was under the impression that you had a contract with Hiei; if I'm not mistaken, you can only have one keeper at at time." Cora glanced pointedly between her two companions.
"My contract with Hiei became void when he acquired the Darkness technique." Cora said making Hiei scoff and turn his head to the side in aggravation. "So, that left me with little choice but to take on a temporary keeper. Due to this keepers lack of focus, I was able to handle him swiftly after he activated the contract, though I believe I should have left the clean up to Hiei, as it's his fault entirely that a temporary keeper was necessary." Hiei gave her a side long sneer, while Kurama smirked in amusement.
"I shouldn't have to tell you again that I don't take orders woman." Cora glared right back, baring her tiny fangs at him.
"And I think that after all the shit you've put me through over the last twenty four hours I'm entitled to my attitude, ass."
"Hn." Cora's left brow twitched.
"Do you really think back sassing me is an appropriate response?"
Kurama clears his throat, capturing both smaller demon's attentions. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but it seems we still have some business to attend to..." he said, motioning with his head towards the remaining lizard demon who was starring down at his dead companion in shock.
"He should have attempted to escape while had the chance." Hiei said making Cora and Kurama nod in agreement.
"It's a good thing his team mate was as stupid as he is; I can't imagine how much of a pain it would have been to track him down and kill him." Cora said in a bored tone as the lizard demon turned his attention back to them, a nervous smirk coming to his leathery face.
"You should have left him alive; if he had gotten away, it might teach you to show more discretion when taking on a host and naming some random fool your keeper." Cora's brow ticked feverishly. Kurama coughed into his closed fist, trying hard to cover up his amused laughter.
"Maybe I wouldn't have to choose some random fool, if my original fool hadn't decided to just up and die for the sake of some overgrown lizards power!"
Kurama sighed, drawing his red rose from the depths of his thick red hair. With a flick of his wrist he transformed it into a lethal whip. "Hiei, perhaps it would be best to drop this little lovers spat for now? It seem's our remaining visitor is part of the Ichigaki team." Hiei glared daggers at Cora for a moment longer before returning his attention to the remaining opponent.
"Yes, what a horrible coincidence for us all." He said, raising his sword to point at the smug lizard man. "But seeing that your team mate was so weak that he fell at the hand's of our healer, I can't help but wonder if you have the guts to take us on alone."
The demon snickered darkly, his forked tongue flickering from between his fanged teeth. "Thank's for the invitation, but I'd rather not risk my own neck." He reached into the pocket of his high wasted jeans, producing a palm sized device with multiple button's on it's surface. Cora glanced worriedly at Kurama, the recent memory of his battle with Roto flashing across her mind. Was this another situation of black mail? "Death gives me the shivers. Lucky for me, the good Dr. sent me with some full prof back up." The lizard man pressed one of the many buttons, causing the device to flash and beep rapidly.
Cora, Kurama and Hiei as tensed up as the sound of wiring gears and snapping tree's erupted from some ten feet beyond the tree line behind their opposition. The creature that emerged from the tree line made all three of their eye's widen; this... thing was nearly two stories tall, with big hulking shoulders and arm's as big around as the tree's it was knocking down. What looked to be it's head consisted of a single, mechanical looking red eye. The strange creatures finger's, long and curved and seeming to be made of some metal alloy, flexed continuously, as if ready to latch onto anything that moved. The strange creature took big heavy steps until it came to the lizard demon's side, it's strange eye locked blindly on Cora and the two boy's that flanked her.
"Gatasubal is what we like to call him. One of the Dr.'s earlier projects. Part demon, mostly machine, equipped to feel no emotion or pain!" The lizard demon boasted making Cora grimace.
"That's disgusting, even by demon standards." Cora spat out, truly horrified that the strange creature before her had at one time been a living being with thoughts and emotions of their own. She couldn't imagine how terrifying it had been to have everything stripped form her mind, left a hollow shell that was incapable of feeling anything, or speaking if the lack of a mouth was any indication. "To put someone through such torture... this Dr. sound's like a true mad scientist."
"Yes, the Dr. seem's to be obsessed with altering his test subjects into mindless drones." Kurama said making Cora frown. Hiei grunted, uncaring for the details behind this creatures creation; all he cared about was destroying it and getting to the match. He knew that their absence wouldn't slow down the comity; they would force Yusuke and the other two on their team to fight.
"Hn. We've wasted enough time on these fool's; let's get this over with and move on to some real challenges." Hiei said, brandishing his sword once again. The lizard demon snickered, his smile growing so big that it was a wonder his face didn't split in half.
"I couldn't have said it better myself! Go Gatasubal! Kill these low life scums!" The lizard demon pressed another button on the controller, and faster then any of them could have ever thought, Gatasubal sprung to life, shooting his massive hand's out at Cora, Kurama and Hiei. The three of them dodged quickly, their eyes widening in shock at the robot's speed.
"Cora, step back; this might take a little longer then we first predicted." Kurama warned her over his shoulder. Cora frowned, but nodded in compliance, jumping back from the fight.
Gatasubal's arm's stretched every which way, with seemingly no end to the tendon like extensions. It's clawed hands smashed into the surrounding tree's as it attempted to capture Hiei and Kurama, who where narrowly dodging the well placed attacks. Kurama, thinking to tangle the robot's arms, leaped into the tree's. Hiei flickered in and out of sight, striking out with his sword when ever the opportunity presented it's self. Cora's brow furrowed in confused agitation; it didn't look as if any of the blows Hiei and Kurama were landing had any effect on Gatasubal's limbs. There wasn't a single scratch on him.
"Gatasubal's whole body is made of a special formula, a combination of his own living tissue and hydrolyzed metal; there is no other substance in the world that can break it!" Cora growled in frustration; not only did the task of taking down the large robot seem impossible, but she had little else that she could do aside from sit back and watch as Hiei and Kurama played an unfair game of tag. It hadn't been long enough since she transformed back for her to take on another host, and she honestly couldn't think of a single host she could take that would be effective anyways. "Yes, run away! It's all you can do when you are facing Gatasubal!" Cora felt her brow twitch. The lizard demon had turned around then, his back to her as he watched his robot continue it's chase. A mischievous smile came to Cora's face; she may not be able to help out with Gatasubal, but that didn't mean she couldn't take out this annoying lizard.
Sprinting out into the clearing, Cora jumped up and slammed her foot into the back of the lizard demon's skull, knocking him quite a few feet away where he landed flat on his face. "Did you forget that I was still here ass-munch?" She said cockily, racing to his side as he tried to pick himself up again and slamming her foot into his side, making him roll across the ground. The demon got back onto his feet, his yellow reptilian eyes glaring daggers at her. "You talk a lot of shit for someone who's scared to get his own hand's dirty in a fight."
"You scrawny little whore! I'll teach you to mess with me-"
"You shouldn't take your eyes off any of your opponents." The lizard demon tensed up as Hiei shouted at him from above. Using Cora's (reckless) distraction, Hiei decided to take out the lizard demon and was ready to strike him down with a single swipe of his blade. Just as Hiei was about to make his killing blow, that infuriating Robot caught sight of him, sending out one of his extendable arm's and knocking him off balance.
Being mid air, there was little Hiei could do but fall to the ground, subconsciously reaching out with his right arm to try and soften his landing. He noticed his mistake to late, the impact of the solid ground to his chard right palm nearly blinding him in pain. A gargled cry of pain escaped him as he forced himself into a roll, clutching his injured limb to his chest. His sword fell from his left hands grasp mid roll, and the crippling pain left him wide open for the oncoming attack by Gatasubal's monstrously clawed hand.
Cora, seeing the attack coming, ran ahead with out much thought. Just as Hiei had stumbled back to his feet, Cora jumped up and kicked him square in the chest. The force of her kick wasn't as strong as it could have been, but his lack of balance aided her in forcing him to slide back some four feet, narrowly missing being hit with the attacking arm. Instead, the humongous robotic hand slammed at full force into Cora before crashing into a far off tree, trapping her between it's cold metallic palm and the rough bark of the tree.
Hiei, having regained his balance, stared in shock at the gruesome sight. Blood dribbled from between the tree and the robotic hand, falling down and dripping off the foot that Cora had used to kick him to safety. It was all that could be seen of her, and the only indication that anything had been between the robotic hand and the tree.
"CORA!" Kurama shouted from some distance, having seen her kick Hiei out of the way of Gatasubal's attack. He dodged the robot's other arm, moving closer to the clearing in order to see what had become of his young friend. Kurama felt Hiei's energy spike dangerously high, the thirst for blood almost making him recoil. "Hiei don't! You could kill us all!" Kurama shouted as he entered the clearing. Gatasubal's arm followed closely after him, slamming into nearby tree's as it went. "Catch her!" Kurama said to Hiei as he raced towards the arm the held Cora prisoner, Gatasubal's unoccupied arm following him mere inches away.
Hiei, sensing what Kurama was about to attempt, forced his energy to dissipate. Kurama jumped onto the wrist of the arm the held Cora against the tree. A second later he leaped away, forcing Gatasubal's free arm to slam into the one holding Cora hostage and ripping it away. Hiei flitted under the tree, jumping up and catching Cora around the waist with his left arm before she had even begun to fall. He landed with mild difficulty, being unable to use his right hand to steady them.
Hiei had no sooner deposited Cora onto the ground then did he hear Kurama cry out in shock, followed by the sound of a huge collision. Hiei turned to see both Gatasubal's hand's had slammed down onto Kurama, kicking up a dust cloud so massive in size that Hiei could hardly see through it. "Kurama!" Hiei called out, hoping that his long time comrade would answer him. The lizard demon chuckled darkly, all his confidence returning to him as he witnessed the death of another target.
"Very good Gatasubal! Now, kill the last of them!" Hiei tensed up, ready to go on the offensive but not sure of what his next move should be. Kurama was seemingly down for the count, and Cora, while her shallow breathing was prof that she was still alive, was severely injured and unconscious. He couldn't just leave her laying here, but he couldn't just take off and leave Kurama behind either; what if he too was injured? Hiei heard the mechanics of the robot groan and readied himself for the attack he was sure was coming for him. When the robot didn't so much as flinch, the lizard demon began to show a little bit of panic. "What's the matter with you Gatasubal?! FINISH THEM OFF!"
"You were wrong on two counts." Hiei, though he was able to keep from showing it, felt immediate relief when his comrades voice came from the clearing cloud of dust. As Kurama became more visible, Hiei found that he hadn't suffered any damage, having dodged the attack just right in order to gain contact with the arm that had been chasing the fox demon before.
"I'm wrong? What do you mean?!" The lizard demon said, taking a few tentative steps away from them. "WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!" Kurama stood from his kneeling position, revealing a medium sized crack in one of Gatasubal's arms. Growing from that crack was a wildly wiggling vine; Kurama had managed to find a weak spot.
"Firstly, even the hardest substance can be broken when crashed into it's self." Kurama said as he willed the vine to extract causing Gatasubal to sag on his feet, no longer having the support of Kurama's deadly vine holding him up. "And secondly, the ability to feel pain isn't a weakness; it's a strength. Pain alerts a creature to a vulnerability, and tell's them not to expose it to further attack. Your robot is dead." Kurama said. Hiei, content that the danger has passed, moves to stand behind the lizard demon, blocking his escape. "And so, I'm afraid, are you."
There you go! Again, I am sooooo sorry that it took so long to get this out :/ I'll try harder to stay on top of things. So long as life keeps on going the way that it is going, I should have no problems with updating :)
P.S.- I now own all four seasons of Yu Yu Hakusho on BlueRay, so chapters should be a little easier to write since I won't have to hunt down the Manga or Anime online lol
