Here's 18- I had to go back and replace chapter 17, I accidentally posted the wrong one haha- so feel free to check it out! Otherwise this one might seem a bit odd to you.
"Oh goodness, we're running late!" Botan said as she hurried Keiko and Yukina out of the hotel. "Come on girls, I know a short cut!" Keiko pulled back, pointing over her shoulder.
"Wait, we're leaving Shizuru behind!"
Botan and Yukina turned to see Shizuru was still in the hotel lobby, buying an energy drink from a vending machine. Botan groaned. "Come one Shizuru, we don't have time for that your brother could be dyeing!"
At that moment Keiko made a shocked sound. "Oh no! I left Pu in the room, he doesn't even have any water! Hold on, I'll be right back!" Keiko said before dashing back into the hotel. Botan watched her go with a panicked look.
"W-wait! Keiki, the boys told us not to go any were alone!" Botan shouted, grabbing Yukina's wrist and taking off after Keiko. "Oh, POO!"
"Kurama VS Ura Urashima- begin!" Yuri shouted, bouncing on the balls of her feet like some cheerleader at a sporting event. Ura eye balled Kurama from the other side of the ring, swinging his fishing rod and line around and around above his head. Kurama watched Ura with a critical eye, his rose held at the ready in his right hand. With a flick of his wrist Kurama summoned his rose whip, and began mimicking Ura's movements by rotating it above his head like a lasso. "Looks like this match is going to be a dual of lashing weapons!" Yuri shouted just before Kurama and Ura moved in unison, their whips clashing with such intensity that they created sparks electricity. They continued this way, their movements nearly mirroring one another as they met each others attacks on par.
Kuwabara stared in open awe as the two fighters had it out, neither giving an inch in their resolve to win the match. "Whoa! Now this is a fight!" He exclaimed. Hiei, frustrated that he had been denied a third match, crossed his arms over his chest and glared irritably at the fighting duo.
"Kurama needs to start fight for real. We don't have time to fool around."
Back in the ring, nothing much had changed. Kurama watched Ura's movements carefully, his eyes narrowing in suspicion when he realized that Ura wasn't giving it his all. A prick of awareness hit the back of Kurama's skull, reminding him of the one time Hiei had ever dared to enter his mind some three four years ago on the night he left Cora in Kurama's care; was Hiei trying to listen in on his strategy-
...Kurama?...
Kurama nearly faltered in his steps, an act that could have proven fatal. The voice of Ura, his opponent, echoed through his head, putting him on edge...what's this about-
...Keep fighting as you listen to me!... Ura pleaded, his face breaking out in a slight sweat as he tried to concentrate between speaking to Kurama and fending of Kurama's attacks...I have a favor to ask of you...
Kurama narrowed his eyes discretely... telepathic communication; I don't believe thats legal in the ring-
...I'm BEGGING you, please, just kill me!
Kurama once again had to fix his footing, nearly calling off his whip's attacks in his shock.
...Don't stop fighting or they'll get suspicious!...
...B-but-why?...
Cora, frowned, her eyes watching the match bellow carefully. Kurama, while notorious for taking a while to come up with a plan, had been going back and forth with this Ura guy for nearly fifteen minutes. An abnormally long amount of time for him to make a game plan. "What are you doing Kurama...?" She mumbled to herself under her breath... this isn't like him, he should have gone on the offensive by now...
Kuwabara looked at Hiei like he had grown a second head. "What?! He's whip slinging like a maniac up there-"
"Haven't you learned anything from watching his matches?" Hiei asked in exasperation.
"Huh?"
"It's Kurama's obnoxious habit; he never creates his strategy until he fully understands his opponents." Hiei said, a small sneer falling onto his lips. "He's taking an abnormally long time to analyze his competition this time around. If he would strike to win, this match would already be over."
Kurama couldn't even hear the crowd around them, his conversation with Ura having stolen his attention...I'll help you, but not in death- this world has enough of that... the only way to redeem yourself is to change how you live your life... it's never to late, believe me... as for your grandmother's well being, we can fake your death... I can sting you with m rose whip in a manner which will knock you out temporarily...
Ura looked at Kurama with tear filled eyes; the eyes of a man who's burdens had been lifted... you are indeed a good man Kurama...
Hiei's eyes narrowed as he sensed a change in the battle that hadn't changed in nearly twenty minutes. As if plotted to happen, Ura suddenly lost his footing and was falling towards the ring floor. As would be expected, Kurama took the opportunity to strike. Hiei heard Ura shout "this is it", making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end; was he going to throw the match?
Just before Kurama's whip struck, Ura vanished into thin air, using Kurama's moment of shock to wrap the red head from head to toe in his fishing line. With a mighty tug on his fishing rod, Ura called the line back to him dragging the razor sharp fishing line against Kurama's body, causing hundreds of small cuts and gashes to appear simultaneously across Kurama's body.
Kuwabara shouted Kurama's name in shock, taking a step towards the edge of the ring. Hiei scowled at Ura's back, sensing foul play was at hand; Kurama would never fall for such a simple evasive tactic, and he sure wouldn't have been caught in such an easy trap. Hiei, being unable to use his Jagan to check in on his fox friends thoughts, could only speculate as to what had actually happened, but it was obvious that Kurama hadn't expected Ura to doge even if Kurama's attack had been so obvious.
Kurama fell face first into the ring, a small pool of blood accumulating beneath him from the multiple wounds he now sported. Kurama's whip reverted back into it's rose form landing some six feet away from it's fallen owner. Ura stepped upon it, smashing the delicate flower to a pulp with his foot as he looked down on Kurama with a smug grin.
"Kurama's down!" Yuri shouted before starting her count.
Botan and the other girls all glanced around the wooded path they had been following for quite some time. "Ummm, Botan, are you sure you know where your going? It feels like we've been walking for a long time..." Keiko said earning a nervous laugh from Botan. "What if we don't make it to the stadium in time?"
"Then we'll unfortunately miss a few more pulse pounding seconds of people slamming their fists into one another," Shizuru said, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "And then I might just have to stick my head in an oven."
Botan laughed and waved off their worry, pointing down a branch in the path to her right. "Don't worry, we'll be there in a jiff! This way-"
"We just went that way Botan." Shizuru said.
Yukina chimed in then. "Do you think that's the reason why we passed by the same rock formation three times already?"
Botan let out a defeated sigh. "Well, we just have to keep going in the direction that I'm pointing...?"
Shizuru shrugged, turning back towards the hotel. "If we go back and take the normal way we might make it by sundown." Everyone nodded, though they were obviously put off by the wasted time. "If Cora were here we could just have her sniff Kurama's hair brush- she could probably track him and the short one from miles away."
Keiko laughed uncertainly. "You make her out to be some kind of blood hound..."
Shizuru shrugged earning a small chuckle from Botan.
"We should head back now- we've probably miss a couple matches by now..." Yukina chimed in, earning nods from everyone.
"Yukina's right!" Botan cheered, taking a random turn and motioning for the other so to follow her. "Com on girls-"
"The hotels this way Botan." Shizuru said with an exasperated sigh.
Botan rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Ahahahahaha..."
"Kurama..." Kuwabara said worriedly as Kurama pushed himself up onto his feet.
Kurama glared with pure hatred at Ura who was still laughing as if hearing the greatest joke on earth. "HAHAHAHA! I studied your fighting style and found your only weakness is your kind, human heart!" Ura said, using the ring's floor to scrape the mangled remains of Kurama's rose form the bottom of his sandal. "You should follow your own advice and change the way you live!" Ura grasped his own head in exasperation. "But it's to late for you to fix your mistake- how could you put up with that goody-two-shoes crap?! I almost made myself blow chunks!"
Kurama growled, his jaw clenched so tightly he could almost swear his gums were starting to bleed. How could he have been so foolish?! Allowing the sob story of some stranger to sway him from his task; he had to win the match to ensure his team would advance in the tournament. Ura shifted his stance suddenly, making Kurama take half a step back.
"Now for the fun part!" Ura shouted, raising his fishing poll and whipping the line towards Kurama's feet, forcing him to run in order to avoid being struck down. "I'm gonna kill you-just like Grandma!"
Kurama grunted, having little other options at the moment other then to run as he tried to come up with another attack plan. If only his rose hadn't been reduced to plant pulp-! Kurama suddenly came to a stop some two feet from the true edge of the ring, his body suddenly hitting a strong force field. "What-?!"
"HAHAHA! Come on Kurama, me some credit here!" Ura shouted as he came to a stop, his fishing rod laying casually against his shoulder. "You didn't think I was really aiming for you with those attacks, did you?" Ura pointed his fishing rod at Kurama, smiling victoriously. "Hook, line and sinker, and you're the stupid fish!"
Kuwabara watched the one sided battle with worried eyes. "I don't like this Hiei, something's not right! Kurama should be able to take this guy out no problem, so why is he the one running?!" He asked his short team mate. Hiei frowned, his eyes narrowing in contempt at Ura.
His ape like companion was correct; Ura's energy was nearly undetectable even using his Jagan eye, there is no reason that Kurama should be struggling like he was currently. Surely Kurama had something up his sleeve. "Do you have such little faith in him? Kurama hasn't lost this battle, not by a long shot." Kuwabara gave Hiei an uncertain look. "Just watch. Any minute now and that weakling of a demon will be begging for mercy."
Back in the ring, Yuri was starting to have a mild panic attack. "Hey! This was not part of my job description!" She said, pushing against the force field wall, only to fall back with a yelp when she received a mild shock to her arms and legs. "Isn't there anybody who can break me out?! I'm not supposed to be in here!"
Ura snickered, taking pleasure in capturing two unsuspecting flies in his trap. "Don't think you can just break out of here like your team mates did with Ruka! In fact, it's impossible for anyone to break out from the inside, not even myself! Once you're trapped, that's it; game over!" Ura shrugs a his nap sack off his back, unwrapping it to unveil a strange box that Kurama had never seen before. It was made of dark cherry wood, and had a golden emblem painted on it's lid with a cherry red string keeping it tied together. A strange energy seeped from the innocent looking box, making the hair on Kurama's neck stand on end. "Let me introduce you to the Iden Box! Don't worry, this box can't kill you on it's own, but once you hear what it can do you'll wish it could. Anybody other then the owner who breaths in the fumes produced by this box will find themselves regressing in age. You'll revert back to those awkward adolescent years, the terrible twos or even as far back as infancy!" Kurama's eyes widened in shock, his body instantly falling into a defensive stance as Ura removed the string from around the box. "Once infected by the boxes fumes, you'll be easy pray; I'll kill you as you cry for your mommy!" Ura ripped off the lid. Kurama instantly held his breath as a noxious purple miasma erupted from the depths of the Iden box. Yuri screamed hysterically as she too was enveloped. "HAHAHA! YOU CAN'T HOLD YOUR BREATH FOREVER!"
Out side the ring, Kuwabara and Hiei searched for any sign of Kurama. They could feel his energy starting to plummet at an alarming rate. Kuwabara eyed the miasma cautiously. "Hey, why isn't that stuff coming any closer? Is it scared?"
Hiei growled irritably. "I am quickly losing my patients for your idiotic inquiries; surely your not so dumb as to not understand the concept of a force field."
Up in the observation box Cora was scanning the ring with just as much worry as her two remaining team mates at ring side. Her teeth sank into her lower lip, drawing blood as she chewed it nervously...this isn't good, I can't see a thing...where are you Kurama...
"His energy is fading..." Clayton said, his brow furrowing in confusion. Like everyone else, he'd never seen anything like the Iden box before, and as the minutes passed and the red heads energy began to fade away, Clayton became curious of the boxes strange abilities. "If Ura's telling the truth, there's no way Kurama can win this."
"Come on Fox boy..."
Kuwabara broke out in a nervous sweat. "K-Kurama- his spirit energy, it's-"
"Wait." Hiei barked, his eyes focusing in near the center of the ring. A torrent of demonic energy was starting to build, spreading out across the ring itself and clashing violently with the force field. A nervous shiver worked it's way down Kuwabara's spine as the energy washed over him
"W-what the- do you feel that too?" He asked Hiei who didn't bother to respond as the friction between the growing demonic energy and the force field started to produce such a great electric charge that small bolts of black lightning had started to discharge from it. "It's like a live thunderstorm in there- where's all that weird energy coming from?!"
Hiei smirked, a gleam of excitement entering his eyes. "It's all Kurama, down to the last drop."
In the thickness of the miasma Ura Urashima was trembling from head to toe as the horrific energy engulfed him. "Where did this come from? His power- It was completely gone!"
From the depths of the miasma, a sultry voice answered him making Ura's entire body stiffen up. "I think, perhaps, I have regressed further then you had intended..." A strong wind blew with in the force field, nearly knocking Ura over. "And just as I had come to accept my human captivity." Ura jumped in shock as the ominous voice suddenly seemed to come from right behind him. Turning on his heel, Ura came face to abdomen with a tall, silver haired, golden eyed fox demon who hadn't been present at the start of the match. The tall fox demon glared down at him with cold eyes, his lips pulled into a thin line of displeasure. "Thanks to you, Yoko has returned..."
Ura jumped back, all color draining from his face. "D-did you just say "Yoko"...?! What did you do with Kurama-"
Yoko smirked mischievously. "Oh he's here-he's me. Only now you've brought me out in full. Thank you for that."
Cora, now standing from her chair with her face nearly pushed against the window in front of her, watched the light show with wide eyes. The energy that spilled from the force field made every hair on her body stand on end, and as it continued to grow so did the ferocity of the lightning. It surged from the confines of the force field, reaching up so high that it struck the ceiling and surrounding structures of the arena, sending debris falling into the crowd. Suddenly Cora was grabbed by the back of her shirt and pulled away from the window by Clayton, mere seconds before a particularly strong bolt of black lightning struck the observation rooms window, shattering it into a million pieces. Cora felt a few shards imbed themselves into her legs, but was a little relieved that Clayton, while his actions were strange, had managed to block her from most of the explosion.
Sakyo remained un moved despite the shower of glass that rained down around him. He chuckled, coming to his feet as the lighting continued to take multiple hits around the now shattered window. With a couple flicks of his wrist he manage to shake the glass off his suit. "It would seem your friend has discovered that you are here." He said, taking another drag from his cigarette. Cora furrowed her brow in confusion; that wasn't a direct attack was it? Based on what Cora could see now that she was some distance from the window, the lightning was continuing to strike all around the stadium. "This booth is no longer safe."
Cora scoffed. "What's the matter Sakyo; scared of a getting a little shock?"
Sakyo chuckled again, a small smile coming to his face. "On the contrary, seeing such a display of power gives me high hopes for the final match." He said before motioning to Clayton over Cora's shoulder. "Please escort Miss Cora back to her room; I'd hate for her to receive any further injury."
"Yes sir." Clayton answered with unwavering loyalty, grabbing hold of Cora's upper arms. Cora instantly struggled, against the hold, her eyes spitting daggers at Sakyo.
"What's the big idea?! You brought me here so I could watch these fights, and now you're locking me up because Kurama's gone a little power crazy?!" Cora pulled against Clayton's hold, making the over all larger demon grunt in aggravation. "LET ME GO DAMN IT!"
Sakyo sighed, motioning for Clayton to take Cora. He easily pulled Cora from the room, though she kicked and screamed the whole way. Once they were out in the hall, Clayton lost his patients with her, slamming his head into the back of hers making her shout in pain. "Knock it off and do as your told! You're making this much harder then it needs to be!" Despite the abuse to her head Cora continued to struggle, earning many odd looks from the staff that roamed between the observation rooms. "Don't make me have to hurt you!" Cora managed to get one of her arms free, swinging it around and landing a solid hit to the side of Claytons face. It shocked him enough that she was able to wiggle free and made to run down the hall only to be snatched up and tossed over Clayton's shoulder like a sack of potato's. "Try and do that again and I'll break your damn legs!"
"Go ahead! In two day's we'll be fighting to the death, why not just get it over with?!" Cora spat at him, slamming her fists against his back.
"I already told you why." He said making Cora paused momentarily in her attempt to be let down. "I want a good fight from you, and until I get one, I'm not letting you out of my sight." Clayton stopped outside the elevator, hitting the down button forcefully. "Now shut up. We're going into the underground tunnels, and I don't want to deal with the scum that slinks around down there."
Hiei snickered, feeling as giddy a kid at Christmas as he watched the carnage unfold around the stadium. Kurama's released energy powered by his festering anger was wreaking havoc, taking out multiple rows of spectators and a few VIP boxes. Every part of Hiei hoped that Sakyo was standing inside one of the demolished rooms. Beside him, Kuwabara appeared to be terrified by the onslaught of vicious energy. "This... this doesn't feel like Kurama. It's dark and a lot more powerful!"
Hiei scoffed. "That fool and his box has turned Kurama back into his true demon self, before he was tainted by you humans. Fifteen years ago, Yoko Kurama was injured during a botched burglary, and took refuge inside an unborn human child within your world. He abided his time, recovering his energy. I stumbled across him some four years ago, and recruited him in my plot to over through spirit world." Kuwabara gave Hiei an uneasy side glance at the mention of Hiei's plans for world domination. "He was strong when I first found him, and he's only continued to grow in strength despite his human handicap. But now, we'll see what the purist form of Kurama can do."
Behind the miasma, Yoko stared Ura down with cold calculating eyes. "Let's see, how best shall I deal with you..." With slender fingers Yoko reached into his thick hair, pulling out a single seed and settling it into the palm of his hand. It glowed a brilliant blue, splitting in half and growing into a monstrous plant at an alarming rate. Ura took many shaky steps back, his eyes widening in horror as the demon plant continued to gain mass, branching off into many limbs and wrapping it's roots around Yoko's right arm. Each branch shivered and twitched, their end opening like flowers to reveal wide mouths armed with two rows of razor sharp teeth. Saliva dripped from the jaws, sizzling as it landed onto the tiled ring floor. "Each branch of this plant is equipped with a mouth, it's saliva so corrosive it can melt you bones in less then a minute." Yoko smirked a little as Ura took another step back just for his legs to give out, leaving him kneeling on the ground. "But the pain will make every second feel like its an eternity. Understand, you are not the direct cause for my foul mood. It's nothing personal between us; you just happen to be the unlucky fellow who has to bear the punishment for another's trespasses against my territory."
Ura screamed as the plant advanced onto him, shuffeling back on his hands and knees in a sad attempt to escape. "Please help me-please help me- PLEASE HELP MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" He screamed in desperation, his arms and legs giving out on him as the carnivorous plant started to gain on him. "Please, I'll do anything you ask! I'll f-fight for your team- just please don't melt meeeee!" Ura curled into a ball, his arms wrapping around his head in a fruitless attempt to protect himself from the plants corrosive saliva. When nothing happened, he peeked between his trembling arms to see that the plant had been halted some two feet away from him, it's mouths snapping open and closed in it's desperation to devour him.
"Tell me the secret of the Iden Box." Yoko demanded.
Ura whimpered, rolling onto his knees like a whipped dog, staring up at Yoko with tear filled eyes. "I-I don't know anything a-about that..." Yoko narrowed his eyes in contempt, sicking his plant onto Ura with a small twitch of his fingers. Ura let out a terrified squeal as he back peddled further, waving his arm's defensively. "No, PLEASE! I just took what was given to me! Ask Shishi, he's the only one that knows!"
Yoko barely bit back a growl, his patients running thin. "I can smell when your lying and it only serves to make my Death Plant ravenous with hunger." Yoko pumped more energy into his plant, allowing it to grow even larger and sprout more horrifying heads. They struck out towards Ura, who escaped death my mere inches. Ura screamed again, bowing submissively, tears streaming down his face.
"Ok, Ok I'll tell you- it's Onji and Shishiwakamaru! I was with Makintaro and Kuro when Shishi and Onji came to us and offered us anything we wanted so long as we fought!" Ura said, making Yoko pull his plant back a bit. "They gave us these special items and said that we could all be high class like them! And t-that's not all, I can tell you who really provided us with all the items-!"
Yoko's eyes widen'd in shock as a katana came through the miasma, stabbing into the back of Ura Urashima's neck, silencing what ever else he was about to tell the fox demon. Upon impact Ura let out an inhuman scream, his human flesh melting from his body revealing a bright red, devilish looking demon. The creature fell over dead, leaving Yoko glaring at the corpse. "Just a low class beast; the easiest of pawns." He bit out, aggravated that he had been denied the answers to his curiosity about the Iden Box. With it's owners death, it appeared that the miasma was clearing, allowing him to see through to the origins of the katana. Across the ring smirking smugly at him stood Shishiwakamaru. Yoko frowned, releasing the energy from his death plant and allowing it to return to it's dormant seed pod.
As the obscuring gasses started to subside, startled gasps and shouts of panic started to fill the arena as everyone caught a glimpse of the notorious Spirit Fox, back from the grave. Koto swooned into her microphone. "Wait a second people, I've just seen my personal fantasy! Sexy ears, a dreamy tail- who is this love god?! Shishiwakumaru's sword is there too, stabbed into a beast! Neither of the original combatants are even in the ring! How do we call this round?!"
"Whoa!" Kuwabara exclaimed, his eyes wide in shock. "Kurama really is a fox thing! And to think, I let him near my kitten..."
As Kuwabara spoke, Yoko felt his energy slipping steadily back into the recesses of his human containers mind. "It seems my time on the outside is short..." He said to himself before being engulfed by a blinding white light. When the light dispersed, Kurama was left standing in the middle of the ring, the injuries he had sustained from his fight with Ura still present.
"I can't explain it!" Koto shouted into her microphone, disappointment evident in her voice. "My silver haired hunk has transformed into a sadly tailless Kurama! My whole weekend's shot!"
On the other side of the ring, Yuri stood as her toddler self. Much like Kurama, she glowed a bright white before reappearing in her original state, fully grown and ready to call the match. "Kurama is the winner!" She shouted, earning disappointed shouts from the crowd.
"It's official and on the bored!" Koto shouted. " Team Urameshi keep's their lead over Team Uriyotoki 3 to 0!"
Shishi jumped into the ring, making his way over to his now dead team mate. "These primitives," he commented, grabbing the hilt of his sword and pulling it from the corpse. "Never reliable." Shishi flicked the blood from his blade before sheathing it, shooting Kurama another smug smirk. "But, we did neglect to tell him about the danger of that item with your particular case." He said. "Now, let's continue shall we?" Shishi produced the match up dice, flashing Kurama a devilish smile.
Hiei and Kuwabara appeared on either side of Kurama, both of them eyes Shishi suspiciously. Kurama sighed, tucking his hands into the pockets of his torn up pants. "Yes, lets."
Clayton opened the door to Cora's "room", tossing her unceremoniously onto the carpet from the hall. Cora growled, pushing herself up and turning to give him a piece of her mind. Before she could call him every name in the book, she was hit square in the face by some strange black triangle which Clayton and thrown at her. It clattered to the floor as she grabbed her head in pain and shock. "OW! WHAT THE HELL MAN?! You don't just throw shit at people!"
Clayton shrugged his shoulders in a nonchalant way. "That's the remote to the TV that's in the wall above the dresser." He said, moving to close the door. "You can watch the matches on channel 3." With that he slammed the door closed, and promptly locked it trapping Cora inside.
Cora pouted a little while getting to her feet. With tentative movements she reached for the door handle, only to feel the same burning pain she had felt the other night when she had tried to escape. Shit, the sutras were still in place. Her eyes glanced down at the remote, and with a shrug she bent down and picked it up. Looking it over she was relieved to find that it wasn't much different to the remote that worked the magic box at Shiori's house, and it didn't take her long to tune in on the fight. Or at least, it should have been a fight.
"...what the hell are they doing?" She asked, dumbfounded by what she was watching on the screen. This had to be some kind of joke; her team mates were on the screen all right, but they were currently locked in a battle between the three of them, playing a heated game of rock paper scissors. She could hear Koto's exasperated voice in the back round.
"Unbelievable! Team Urameshi seems to be deciding who will fight with a game of paper rock scissors! I can hardly see the strategy behind this!"
Cora groaned, grabbing a handful of bedding and tossing it onto the floor in front of the dresser, plopping down onto the pile with a grunt. "You and me both Koto- what a bunch of idiots... I can't believe I'm willingly associated with them..."
Kuwabara and the other two boys stared each other down, neither one willing to back down on their vicious fight. With a loud battle cry, Kuwabara threw his play in perfect synchronization with Hiei and Kurama. The entire area grew silent as they awaited the results of one of the highest stake matches to take place that day. "WOO-HOO! World champion!" Kuwabara shouted, pumping his "rock" in victory. "Read'em and weep you guys!" Hiei glared heatedly at his own hand, which was sporting scissors, while Kurama stood with crossed arms and a small frown.
Koto let out a relieved sigh into her microphone. "Well, based on their body language I think we finally have a winner- Shishiwakamaru will fight Kuwabara! It'll be steel sword VS Energy sword in this 4th match!"
Hiei and Kurama exited the ring reluctantly while Kuwabara rotated his shoulders in preparation for his match. "I've won every game of Janken I've ever played, and now I'm gonna win against you!" He shouted at Shishiwakumaru who simply snorted in mock amusement.
"I'd offer you some luck, but against me you'll be far more then that to land a single blow." Shishi said. The ladies in the crowd started screaming like fan girls, making Kuwabara frown and his other two team mates grimace.
"Yeah, Yeah just keep screaming ladies, I don't need you're stinkin' support! I've already got the best fan in the world, and so long as she's watching, I'm invincible!"
Yukina paused mid step as they neared the arena, turning her head to look over her shoulder. She could have sworn she just felt Kazuma's- "AAACHO!"
Botan giggled, poking Yukina in the nose. "OHHH~~ Sneezy sneezy, Acho! Someone special is thinking about you!"
Yukina blinked in surprise, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink before she let out a bashful giggle. Shizuru quirked a brow at the grim reaper. "Botan, you're one weird chick..."
"HURRY AND BEAT THAT UGLY DUDE!" A Shishi fan shouted from the crowd.
Kuwabara rolled his eyes, giving Shishi a dead panned look. "Wow Shishiwakamaru, those girls are really into you. To bad after I'm donw with you, you'll be Chop-Suiwakamaru!" Kuwabara laughed at his own joke, while the female crowd base gasped in shock and horror.
Cora pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "Oh my god Kuwabara that was so lame!" She shouted at the TV, wishing she could reach through it and slap him into gear. "Stop trying to be witty and start the damn fight!"
Hiei snorted in disgust at his supposed Team mates play at impressing the crowd. "Idiot; I give him five minutes."
"Such little faith." Kurama said chidingly.
"Hn."
"YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS THAT NO ONE WANT'S TO KISS YOU!" Another female screamed from the crowd, tripping Kuwabara's temper. He turned to the crowd, his face contorted in outrage as he rushed to defend himself.
"That's not true! I've got a girl who wan'ts to kiss me all day long and she's one hundred times cooler and prettier then you!" He shouted earning immature gestures from the crowd of Shishi fans.
Kurama snorted at Hiei's look of disgust, turning away in a failed attempt to hide his quiet laughing and to avoid the look of death sent his way by his short companion. "Kurama-"
Kurama cleared his throat, regaining most of his composure though he couldn't keep the knowing smile off his face. "I don't know what you mean."
"Don't make me kill you." Hiei growled out.
"Oh, look the match is starting." Kurama said, feigning innocence much to Hiei's annoyance.
Shishi chuckled, pulling a long transparent shawl out of the folds of his kimono where it hung in mid air around his shoulders. "Let's get started my defective friend; I've got fame to achieve."
Kuwabara turned from his frustrating shouting match with the crowd to face Shishi. "Oh, that is so it! You are totally going down!" Kuwabara manifests his spirit sword, brandishing it at Shishi who looked more amused then frightened. "Let's do this!"
"Ummmmm..." Keiko, Shizuru, Yukina and Botan all stood at the top of the stands in the stadium, looking out over the empty seats and strangely clean ring. "Not much of a turn out." Keiko said earning a nod from Yukina.
"What happened? Is it possible we've come to late?" Yukina asked Botan worriedly making Botan shake her nose.
"No, absolutly not! The one thing I'm 100% about is Three O'Clock sharp! That was less then an hour ago..." Botan said, her lower lip jutting out in confusion.
Yukina frowned a bit, looking out over the vacant stands. "Maybe it took less then an hour for the fights to end...?"
Keiko's brow furrowed in thought, thinking back on the announcement they had received concerning the Semi-Final battles. "Wait... these are the Semi-Finals, right? Weren't they supposed to be in a different place?"
As if a light bulb suddenly went off in her head, Botan perked up. "My goodness Keiko, you're right! We just have to go the new stadium!"
Shizuru took a puff of her cigarette, letting the smoke out slowly. "Great. And where is that?"
Botan deflated then, shooting them all a sheepish Cheshire cat grin. "Weeeeeelllll..."
Keiko sighed. "This is bad..."
Kuwabara took swing after swing at Shishi, but it seemed that the blue haired boy band demon was far to quick on his feet. The one time Kuwabara thought he had landed his killing blow, Shishi vanished, revealing the Kuwabara had only managed to take down Shishi's after image. "Damn! I thought I had'em!"
Shishi chuckled, eyes Kuwabara with an amused look. "Don't be ridiculous."
In his frustration, Kuwabara went after the taunting demon once again, and once again Shishi was able to easily dodge from side to side.
"And here's my brand of fighting! No tricks or troublesome fog, just an open neck and a sword!" Koto shouted, earning an appreciative shout from the crowd. Meanwhile in the ring, it was becoming obvious that Kuwabara needed to think up a new tactic. Shishi was just to fast.
"Shishi can read his every move. "Kurama said, feeling all hope for victory slipping through their fingers.
"Hn. You sound surprised."
As if to add insult to injury, Shishi dodged Kuwabara's final swing by jumping over the young mans head, using Kuwabara's skull as a spring board. Kuwabara fumed, turning in order to continue his assault. "That's it! Using my head as a trampoline is where I draw the line!"
Cora growled, punching one of the pillows beside her on the floor. "Damn it Kuwabara, let him have it!" She shouted, nearly ripping the abused pillow in half as she pretended it was Shishi's neck she was strangling. "POUND HIS PRETTY BOY FACE INTO THE GROUND!"
Outside the door, where Clayton stood on watch, he grimaced at Cora's loud shouting. "Maybe showing her the TV was a bad idea... she's going to blow my damn ear drums..."
Kuwabara re-assumed his assault, sending strike after strike at Shishi who dodged with the same speed as before. While his fan club seemed to enjoy watching him move gracefully out of the way of Kuwabara's cumbersome swings, Shishi was in fact becoming bored with playing this horrible game of tag. He jumped into the air, catching Kuwabara and all others in the arena off guard.
With a flick of his wrist, his long shawl began to spiral through the air, it's translucent fabric appearing to take on a rainbow of colors as it swooped down onto Kuwabara who yelped in surprise as it began to surround him. "W-wait- what are you doing to me?!" He shouted as the shawl covered him from head to toe, seemingly erasing him from existence. "I-I'LL BE OKAY-" As the shawl unraveled, it revealed that Kuwabara had vanished into seemingly thin air, his last words still echoing across the arena.
Hiei scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Nice last words."
Kurama stretched out his senses, hoping to catch a glimpse of Kuwabara's energy. "I've lost all trace of him, it's as if he ceased to exists."
"You were right Kurama, I should have had more faith in him. The Ape managed to survive for six minutes." Hiei said earning a chiding look from Kurama.
Cora sat in silence, just as shocked by what she just witnessed as the people who were in the stands. "What. The. Hell." She grabbed her head in frustration, cursing Kuwabara to the depths of hell. "YOU LOST TO A FREAKING BLANKET?! ARE YOU SHITTING ME RIGHT NOW KUWABARA?!" Cora flopped onto her stomach with a huff, burying her face into the pillow she had been tearing apart. "What the hell was that...?" she asked herself, trying hard to put the pieces together. Suddenly, the far off sound of someone screaming like a little girl started to reverberate around her room. Cora sat up, glancing at the TV; they were still deciding on the next round, and nobody seemed to be in a panic. "What the he- OOMPH!" What felt like a tone of bricks came crashing down onto Cora's back and head, pushing her face first into the pillows and blankets around her.
"-AAAAAAAAHHH I DON'T WANNA DIE-huh?" Kuwabara blinked owlishly as he took in the unfamiliar surroundings he had landed in. "What the hell happened?" Cora growled, pushing against Kuwabara's legs to gain his attention. "Holy cow! My bad, I didn't see you there-!?" Losing her patients and her breath, Cora shoved him unceremoniously off her, gasping for air dramatically when she was finally able to lift her head out of the pillow. "C-CORA?! What the hell- where did that thing drop me off?!"
Cora clamped her hand over his big mouth, eyeing the door cautiously. If Clayton, her warden, hadn't burst through the door then surely he hadn't noticed her guest. "Shut up you big lummox! Do you wan't to die?!" She hissed at him under her breath. Kuwabara made a noise of indignation at being called a lummox, making Cora sigh. "I'm going to let go of your mouth, but you have to be quite!" Kuwabara nodded in begrudging understanding. Cora sighed, removing her hand from his mouth much to his relief. "Good boy- now tell me, what the hell was that?! YOU LOST TO A BLANKET!"
"I DID NOT-" Kuwabara covered his own mouth, eyeballing the door worriedly. Again nothing happened making the two of them sigh. "I didn't lose to a damn blanket! I got teleported or something; it was weird! I was floating through this weird place that was all colorful and stuff, and then the next thing I knew I landed in this place!"
Cora pinched the bridge of her nose. "Well you can't stay here- I'm assuming you've all spoken to Koenma?" Kuwabara nodded, his lips falling into a grim line. "Then I don't have to tell you what will happen if they find you here."
"Um, where is here exactly?" Kuwabara asked as he pushed himself up to his feet. He looked around letting out a low whistle. "Damn, and I thought our room was fancy..."
Cora stood as well, crossing her arm's over her chest. "Not to bad for a jail cell." She said irritably making Kuwabara rub the back of his neck sheepishly. "You better get out of here before my warden comes to check on me."
"Ok-" Kuwabara paused, looking around the room. "Ummmm... how do I get out if I can't use the door?" Cora rolled her eyes and jabbed her thumb towards the window, making Kuwabara's eyes grow to the size of dinner plates. "Are you serious?!"
"Duh." Cora said, rolling her eyes. "The doors on lock down, so that leaves either the air vents or the windows, and I hate to break it to you Thumbalina but your ass is not fitting into the air vents." Kuwabara gave her a reproachful look, insulted by her nick name for him. "I'm not sure how high up we are, so you might want to look before you just jump from the top floor."
Kuwabara gulped, walking over to the window and pushing it open, finding a small balcony on the other side similar to the one attached to the boy's room. Looking down, he gave out a relieved sigh. "It's only on the third floor! Good, that means I wont die from the fall! Still gonna hurt though..."
Cora scowled. "Seriously? It's only on the third floor?! That just pisses me off even more!" Cora let out a huff, letting herself fall back to the floor, the pillows and blankets breaking her fall.
"How could you not know that?" Kuwabara asked as he climbed onto the balcony's railing, his legs wobbling as he tried to keep his balance. Cora sighed, looking at her left hand which she had injured just the other night from trying to reach the window. "I bet you could make this jump!"
"Bastards have this place covered in hidden sutras meant to keep my particular brand of demon at bay." Kuwabara frowned, looking over his shoulder. He could hardly see Cora due to the sheer amount of blankets she was laying in, but he could see the still tender flesh of her palm from his spot on the railing. "If I get within a foot of the windows, doors or air vents I get one hell of a shock..."
Kuwabara grunted, a new determination filling his heart. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry that you have to be locked up like some kind of animal..." Kuwabara grit his teeth, preparing himself to jump from the balcony. "But-we won't leave you here to rot! We'll win this round, and face Toguro head on- we won't let any of them get away with this Cora, I promise!"
Cora pushed herself up onto her elbows, shooting Kuwabara a taunting smile. "Goober," she said making him give her a highly offended look. "I already know all of that. What I don't understand is why your ass isn't back at the stadium already. Those two need the Janken World Champion there to root them on." Kuwabara blinked in mild shock before his face split into a cheesy smile, a goofy laugh escaping him.
"Hehe, your right! Well I'm off to save the day!" Kuwabara said, taking a leap off the balcony. Cora listened for his landing, laughing a little when she heard him curse out loud about not rolling enough.
"What an idiot." She said, laying back down on her blanket pile. "But he's a good guy..." Cora glanced up at the TV, noting that they had yet to choose the next combatants. With a resigned sigh, she sat back up; she might as well do what Hiei always told her she should do, and that try to learn something from these matches. Not like she had much else to do.
Outside the door Clayton stood with his ear pressed firmly against the door, a scowl on his face. A growl escaped his chest as he pulled his head back, leaning against the wall once again, a dark look caste upon his features. "Just little while longer..." He told himself, his shoulders shaking with furry as he listened to his charge shout at the TV again.
So there you have it- 18.
Don't worry, I know about the massive change I made at the end, but I promise it will be ok. There is a method to my madness. It might take me a while to write 19, cause some how all my notes and drafts for 19 have gone missing...? And I'm doing some touch up's to the previous chapters, so if you've been brave enough to venture this far, I am soooooo sorry... you know what I'm talking about.
So yeah, hold tight
R&R
