A/N: Welcome back everyone to the newest installment! Sorry for the long update, I was on vacation but I did manage to think up something after all. I went through the previous chapters and have EDITED them of all swear words, too dark paragraphs and most of Jin's dialogue so it's easier to understand. After seeing the episodes in the Raizen saga, I decided to have Jin speak more clearly like in the DVD's…just as an update notice. But anyway, just ignore me, enjoy this great new chapter and don't forget to REVIEW!
Chapter 9
Arrival/ Pyroblood vs. Kurama
-Midnight, Arriving Ship-
"Is that him again?" Touya asked groggily, the coughing and sound of disturbed water continuing outside the cabin door.
"He's been out there all night," Yusuke commented, rolling to the other side.
"I'll go take care of him," Hiei remarked impatiently, shutting the door behind him.
Kuwabara pulled back his flat, frizzy orange hair and took in another deep breath. Barfing over the ship's edge for more than four hours wasn't his idea to begin another adventure.
"Hey baka, we're trying to sleep! Keep it down," Hiei hissed, his hand clutching the sword in case of no cooperation from the sick idiot.
"Well, ex-cu-se me but maybe you should try puking for the next four hours and see how you-," he was cut off when Hiei took action with his sword.
"Taken care of," Hiei said quietly after he shut the cabin door.
"What did you do this time, Hiei?" Touya asked.
"Temporary silence," Hiei stated.
The Ice Shinobi got the idea of Hiei's action and turned back to the wall. Every competing demon in the tournament had to share a small room for the night. Snoring and deep breathing disturbed the atmosphere and the sea continued to rock the boat every few hours.
Around three hours later, a certain person became aroused from sleep by one of their companions walk out the door. Closing the door silently, the demon looked around for its companion. Turning the corner to see an unconscious Kuwabara, the demon looked upon the Night Maiden whispering to the sleeping Kuwabara.
"Must I have an escort when I leave a room?" Loreena asked irritably, setting Kuwabara by the door.
Giving no attention to her sudden visitor, she perched her tired arms onto the boat railing and let her eyes take in the sea's beautiful portrait. She could hear the soft footsteps approach behind her, but her plan of revenge, growing anger and past memories kept her well occupied.
'I know you all responsible for my broken pride and crushed heart! You feel a fiery pleasure in nothing more than seeing Death do your bloody masterpieces. But once fate gives me the chance, Death will take you instead,' Loreena promised herself proudly, feeling confident that this tournament was the key to unleash her anger and let her secret longing be known.
"Do you regret leaving your family behind?" her visitor asked.
"They died once they stepped into that deathtrap, but yes I do if that's what you want to hear," she snapped.
"Do you regret what's become of you since they took control?" he asked again.
"In a way yes, but their curse might help me get my own, shattered life back together. Eight hundred years of slavery and bloodshed has been enough for me," she explained, the crashing waves against the boat calming the snarling monster within her broken soul.
Once more the footsteps beckoned her to turn around, but Loreena still resisted gazing at her visitor's face.
"Why did you wish to accompany me this life changing night?" she asked suspiciously, desperately to decipher his unseen objective.
"Because I'm like you Night Maiden, I have lost someone close to me and I have as much fiery anger at those demon as-," he was cut off when she lashed around and backhanded his hidden face.
"YOU WILL NEVER SHARE MY ETERNAL ANGER FOR THEM! MY ANGER IS SO FLAMING AND TOXIC THAT ANYONE WHO LOVED ME WOULD DIE BY MY OWN HANDS!" she screamed, but she stopped and stared at her visitor.
His looked misty from a dreamful sleep, but he considered himself lucky not to have her know of his existence. He had watched her and her team since they stepped onto the ship and he knew that salvation to the Makai world was slowly approaching.
"I understand now what you intend to do Night Maiden and I will not stop you, though you must care for yourself if you wish to survive this trap," he warned her firmly, stepping further into the night's dark shield.
"Why an anonymous fighter suddenly care for my fate?" she questioned.
"Sometimes your advisers shouldn't be revealed to you," he shot back.
She squinted her eyes, just enough to see he had short, black spiky hair like her clothes but his face was still hiding from her pressing gaze. She turned back from him in defeat and sighed with relief at the ocean's calming colors.
"Fine, you win sir but don't think I might face you in the-," she was cut off when she heard him run off into the darkness, but she didn't even bother to stare after him when Kuwabara grunted and walked towards her.
"Uh…did I…fall asleep or something?" he asked groggily.
"In a way yes, but it doesn't matter Kuwabara. Do you feel better now after getting that stuff out of your system?" she asked calmly, still not bothering to look back at him.
"Who was that guy you were talkin' to?" he asked again.
"Like I said Kuwabara, don't worry about it. Just get some sleep before we arrive, you don't want to be slacking in that place," she warned and walked back into the cabin without another word.
-Next Day, Black Cross Fortress entrance-
"Man, this is place is huge!" Yusuke exclaimed as he examined the outside of the black marble castle.
"WELCOME ALL COMPETITORS!" a voice boomed from the balcony above the gates. Everyone looked up to see the leader, DarkEyes the ruthless vampire. "WE HAVE THE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE RIGHT INSIDE THE COURTYARD AND YOU ARE WELCOME TO GOT TO YOUR ROOMS TO REST. BUT AT DARK TONIGHT, THERE WILL BE A TOUR OF THE CASTLE, DON'T BE LATE! MEET IN THE COURTYARD FOR JACKKNIFE TO GIVE THE ORIENTATION. ONCE AGAIN, WELCOME TO BLACK CROSS FORTRESS AND ENJOY YOUR SHORT STAY," DarkEyes announced and most demons cheered for the vampire's short, simple speech.
The front gates opened with a lazy groaning noise, as if they were awoken from a peaceful sleep by their master's loud voice. All the demons ran to the schedule posted in the middle of the deserted courtyard, pinned securely to a tall wooden stake.
Yusuke and the others waited for Kurama to come back with information about their fights, but they all seemed uneasy about the feel of the castle's atmosphere.
"This place is really dark looking, I hope we don't run into anything," Botan said in a low, scared tone. She held onto her oar for comfort and Loreena couldn't help but roll her eyes through her hood at the easily terrified grim reaper.
"What did you expect you coward, you try living here for eight hundred years and see what you think," Loreena said slyly but in a rude voice, her annoyance from Botan increasing each time she spoke.
"My my, what's your problem?" Botan shot back.
"Just making a point is all…or did I hurt your perky feelings?" Loreena mocked the grim reaper, looking straight ahead to avoid the stares from everyone else.
Botan whispered to herself and folded her arms crossly, cursing herself for ever getting into this situation. But the stares were now turned to Kurama when he returned with the schedule information.
"None of us have the chance to fight until the day after tomorrow, so I guess that makes us lucky," he told them and they all sighed with relief of no sudden practices.
"Well that settles it, let's go find some empty rooms," Yusuke said flatly, following the already leaving Loreena.
No one was short of fascinated once they walked into the mouth of the black marble tower. The West and East Wings, both close to the lake held thousands of clean rooms for the competition. Swarms of tall, short, ugly or attractive demons traveled the long decorated halls to vacant rooms. Riots broke out for the most appealing spaces, but none of the four leaders paid any attention to the selfish fighters.
Kurama glanced at the mighty paintings that hung safely against the sleek marble, paintings of the past inheritors of the castle, most shared the same traits as the current ones only they didn't seem too inhuman in the eyes. He heard Kuwabara whisper to Yusuke about his scared comments on the place and for one strange reason; Yusuke agreed that the place seemed too large and dark for only four demons to live in.
"No one really knows of these rooms anymore, but they offer a rare view of the lake and the back courtyard of the castle," Loreena told as if she lived here as they all walked into the roomy and rich colored room. "My family and I shared two of these rooms the first several years we lived here, and for some reason I felt welcome within these walls."
Soon enough, they all began to understand Loreena's description of feelings. The room had two large bedrooms with two large beds, enough for two people to have their fair share of space. Crisp white sheets welcomed the weary visitors and the fluffed pillows gazed at their tired eyes with a hidden smile. The room between the bedrooms had a roomy crimson couch that matched the red tapestries substituting as shades from the beating sun.
Gold rimmed paintings of far away lands and spacious families of different races lit up the plain, wore out black stone with a strange comfort to them. A fairly large windowsill sat quietly behind the couch, two storage doors lying underneath a comforting gold carpet.
"Awesome job Loreena, I think I can sleep easier without all those stuck up demons causing a racket," Yusuke commented, jumping on the bed farthest to the window. Soon enough the detective and his sidekick argued over which one would have the window view at night.
"How did you come across such a room Loreena?" Botan asked curiously, her grudge against the Night Maiden somehow disappearing.
"I hardly remember, but I do know that free time can lead you anywhere in this mysterious castle Botan," Loreena answered, distracted from the next part of her speech when a familiar feeling hit her.
Faint colored images of a small family looking around with big smiles on their faces coursed through her mind as she no longer became a part of the reality that despised her so easily.
She could feel her fighting companions touch her and pull her away from where her mind was showing her that no one else was incapable of seeing with her. She didn't understand what she said to them as they called to her but as the images led her to one of the bedrooms, she didn't dare resisted what the answer might give her.
"What's wrong with her, she's not herself at all," Touya asked nervously.
"Is she being hypnotized?" Kuwabara asked dumbfounded.
"I think she's remembering something," Botan commented.
Everyone fell silent when they heard a bed being lifted and smashed into the opposite wall in the room to their right. They ran in just in time to see the entranced Night Maiden opening the floor from where the bed sat comfortably. They ran to the other bed for cover as a several variety of weapons shot out from her hands as if they flew for joy of being released from the cold, lifeless floor they had lived in.
"LOREENA, SNAP OUT OF IT! YOU MIGHT KILL SOMEONE!" Hiei shouted angrily, jumping out of the way of a big double sided axe found its way to the wall above his pinnacle of hair.
Moments of silence passed after the weapons had filed out of the floor when Loreena came back up from the secret place under the floor, holding a big book with an unknown language labeling it.
"I…found it…at last," she whispered, holding the book with shock.
Everyone but Hiei, who was unafraid of any kind of weapon, took a deep sigh of relief and joined her by the secret place only she knew of. The book had neatly written words on their large, story like pages, but the language was still unknown to their brains.
"What did you find exactly?" Yusuke asked with irritation in his voice.
"I found the journal I kept when I was a child, memories of my past and family. I had stashed this and our belongings in this floor when we were taken to the huts in the courtyard, hoping someday I would return to tell new things to this friend of mine," Loreena explained, still feeling entranced by the joy of her founding.
"But why were you acting all funny just a minute ago?" Kuwabara asked again, this time scratching his disaster of hair. "You really scared me for a minute."
Loreena helped herself out of the deep hole and looked around at everyone, the harsh reality suddenly returning to her still drugged mind. The old memories suddenly disappeared into the corners of her lost mind and she returned to her old self.
"How should I know, it's never happened from what I remember," she answered quickly, setting the journal on the other large windowsill then turned to put the thrown bed back into its original place.
The confused ice youkai helped Loreena place the disturbed resting place return to its spot and they walked out of the room to discuss the upcoming fights they were assigned.
"This tournament surely is different from the last one, what's a frickin' "Revenge Round"?" Yusuke asked in frustration as he took the empty spot on the couch next to Kurama.
"Must be when you fight one of those four leaders," Kurama concluded.
"Aye lad, but those demons look loik cheaters to me eyes," Jin spoke up, not moving from his floating spot. "But wha's at stake 'ere?"
"It's simple Jin, they want Loreena back for some kind of plan they've developed for hundreds of years," Hiei simply stated, the breeze from the opened window calming his "irritable senses."
"I kno' tha' Hiei, but why now to start a tournamen'?" Jin asked again.
"Once again it's simple, they enjoy nothing but seeing other demons be corrupted by violence. They need more slaves and alliances to put their plan into action," Botan said, but she was simply ignored when Loreena stood up and leaned against the wall.
"Cut the comments and listen with your ears," she snapped.
Everyone turned to the annoyed Night Maiden quickly, surprised by her random reaction to their obvious questions and more simple answers.
"I know them better than anyone on this island, but they aren't that stupid to plan a tournament just to get me back," she began, seeing they were interesting, but offended by her comment as she continued in a more calm voice. "They do have an objective yes, but I don't think we should discuss this matter just yet…for they have a way of knowing what we tell one another."
They all looked around in confusion and she was surprised even Kurama and Botan didn't sense the tight aura from inside the walls. She sighed and touched the walls with a normal index finger and sure to her surprise, a large black eye popped out from the wall.
"They have guards surrounding this entire castle," she stated.
Kurama took a quick examination of the walls and sure enough after a few seconds of viewing a simple room, he could see with his demon eyes that thousands of black eyes swarmed around the walls.
"She's right; they can see and expect every move we make. They did lure us here for one reason enough besides death," the red head explained.
"Con' we jus' kill 'em all?" Jin asked Loreena simply.
"More would take their place Jin," she admitted as if she admitted defeat.
"Can we leave to talk of our-," Kuwabara was interrupted by the door.
Touya got up from the worn crimson carpet and revealed another one of the leaders, Rathan behind their door. The moon apparition smiled at most of the surprised faces, but he simply introduced himself.
"Will you join us in the tour of our castle?" Rathan almost pleaded, using his left arm as a gesture to lead them out the door.
The fighters looked at each other, their looks exchanging a common feeling of distrust and suspicion, but they just shrugged and played along. Rathan left after Botan walked out the door and led them down the staircase to let them follow the large group of tourists in the courtyard.
"Ah welcome Spirit Detective and friends, you're just in time to follow me into the mouth of our sanctuary," Jacknife said calmly as Yusuke and the group stood in the back of the big group of fighters. "Now that we have everyone here, let's begin the orientation."
The ninja turned from the chattering fighters as they automatically followed him into the forest just a few feet from the castle walls. Most whisperings that could be heard were of actual excitement of exploring the most talked out place since the four leaders arrived 1,500 years before.
"This our well guarded forest to keep anyone from escaping the island, though we haven't found the proper name for it just yet," Jacknife began loudly so everyone could hear his booming voice.
All around them, the trees glared down at the fighters with a fiery passion as they walked by. Winding staircases of barbs curled around the trees and dead bushes, the sounds of growls fading into the distance. Thick leaves fought against the army of sun rays, leaving the demons to use their sharp senses to inform them on their whereabouts.
"This is where the Merciless Wolves live, deep in this forest," Loreena whispered while in the front of everyone else. "They are Jacknife's loyal pets and if you even come within 300 feet of even a baby, you might as well know how to fly or write your will on a tree."
Kuwabara looked around the forest, sensing they were being stalked and gave small whimpers, wishing he was back in the room with all the watching black eyes.
"Just how strong are these wolves, Night Maiden?" Hiei asked quietly.
"I don't dare speak of their power Hiei and neither should anyone, they have far more advanced hearing than even an S class demon," Loreena warned once more, feeling her own fear of the menacing pack creep around her words.
"Believe me lads, I 'ave seen these monsters jus' loik Loreena. No be messin' wid 'em ye should," Jin commented, shivers racing along his spine at the memory of their hungry eyes. "Notin' more dangerous than a lot o' 'em fer sure."
From that hour on until sunset came around, the tour progressed and everything wasn't so easy for Yusuke and his friends to see as they just walked by the certain places. The Wall of Afterlife caused Kuwabara to almost piss his pants and everyone else to look away as a fresh corpse was being taken away by a dozen small slaves.
"I can't believe how horrible this place is just by feeling the atmosphere, I guess most rumors don't lie," Botan whispered to herself as they walked back into the castle through a hidden path overrun with briar thorns.
"Here you'll find the entrance to the most secluded place in the castle, the Den of Night," Jacknife expressed as he let his left arm show a deep hole in the wall leading somewhere no one wanted to know. "No one is allowed to witness any event within this place except myself and my associates and selected slaves, so if you're caught wandering here, you might as well become best friends with this place quickly."
His warning just made Loreena let out a small hiss of anger, her own vague memory of the Den of Night creeping back to her. Everyone noticed her odd behavior since they walked out of the forest, but no one dared question her unpredictable mouth.
Once more, Jacknife led the unsuspecting demons up the staircase from the Den of Night and back up to the main entrance of the castle. He thanked everyone for enjoying the tour and advised training for everyone until the peak of the first fight tomorrow at the break of dawn, but Yusuke and his group just walked off at Jacknife's information about the first fights and explanation of the Revenge Rounds.
Before retreating for the night, they all stopped in the hall before the door of their room and decided to let their comments finally be expressed to one another.
"I want to go home now!" Botan whined.
"I never guessed they could be so barbaric," Kurama stated.
"Man this place pisses me off even more," was Yusuke's expected comment.
"Hopefully the area around the lake isn't infested with something," Touya hoped, desiring the scenery of the lake for sparring practice.
"I bet th' wind 'ere is thick wid blood doncha think?" Jin asked everyone, but they all just nodded heads instead of wasting words on the now watching eyes.
"At least we don't have to concern ourselves with those fools until the day after tomorrow," Hiei hissed, claiming the windowsill as his own spot.
"Let's just get some sleep and practice tomorrow," Loreena said and walked to the bedroom on the right of the window, while Touya, Jin and Kurama followed the distressed Night Maiden.
After claiming beds, change of clothes and last words to each other, everyone claimed their beds: Jin w/ Touya, Kurama on the bed next to the blank wall and Loreena just perched on the windowsill, deep in her written memories.
-Day of Tournament, Round 2-
Watching from a high box above the stadium and watching the big screen, Yusuke and the others just sat back and watch the obvious battles. Koto's annoying voice informed the viewers as a dark samurai lost to a female shadow dancer.
The next four battles were intense and suspenseful and only one demon had its life taken from its opponent and taken away by another dozen pair of slaves. The fifth and last battle was the leader Pyroblood versus Kurama, which the crowd cheered like there was no tomorrow.
"Kurama, I need to speak with you before you step down there," Loreena spoke up; her long died black hair softly swaying to her rising body.
"What's on your mind Loreena?" Kurama asked calmly after shutting the door.
"Just a word of advice for your fight: don't hold anything back, Kurama. These guys are ruthless and won't give you any time to prepare a plan, you have appear on the ring prepared for anything. But…just…be careful out there ok?" she asked, feeling a surge of worry carry out of her along with her voice.
Kurama just smiled and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, but he knew mentally that her warning was correct as his intentions. Youko might be the only way to living another day, so he just looked at her with a look of thankfulness.
"I know what you mean Loreena, my intentions are your exact words but thank you for informing me. I do hope I can live to see these tyrants brought to Justice at last," Kurama told her, then with a turn of his red mane he walked down into the stadium to begin.
"THE LAST BATTLE OF ROUND TWO IS UNDERWAY WITH THE LEADER PYROBLOOD VERSUS KURAMA!" Koto shouted to the ground, but she still shook when she glanced at the blind fire demon.
'Gwa hahaha, this pretty boy will be easy to add to my collection of heads! But then again he is the famous Youko Kurama but this still might be interestin',' Pyroblood told himself, tossing a stray lock of fiery orange hair from his open but blind eye.
Taking his axe out from underneath his flowing black and red robes, he gave a snarling smile of pointed yellow teeth and waited anxiously to get his hands dirty. Kurama pulled out his signature rose and also waited for Koto to start the fight, but his mental thoughts still told him he doubted a chance to survive with one of the four most ruthless demons known to time.
"BEGIN!" Koto yelled and the gong boomed into the distance.
"Does he have a chance of living through this fight Loreena?" Yusuke asked her curiously, since the two fighters were running around and talking to each other about something.
Loreena looked at him in front of her from the big screen and didn't answer immediately. She looked around to see everyone else was interested in what critical comment she might say, so she just gave up and expressed her most important opinion.
"Personally Yusuke, I can't say on his behalf but I do know that Pyroblood may be blind but he sure knows how detect someone planning an attack. I've never seen him fight anyone myself since I was too little to watch the fights, but I have a stabbing feeling in my gut that this battle isn't going to be anything short of violent," Loreena said grimly, looking back to the big screen ignoring Yusuke's still piercing look.
"But I do have faith that Kurama's intentions won't fail him," she concluded firmly and let her eyes just relax and watch the fight quickly progress.
"ROSE WHIP LASH!" Kurama commanded once more.
Pyroblood just grinned and swung his axe towards the whip, but strangely enough, the whip recoiled and wrapped around his axe with a stone like grip. But it was only a few moments when the axe's secret ability came into appearance as it burst into the flames and Kurama's whip and plan was turned to ashes.
"Come on lad; show me what you really got!" Pyroblood challenged, picking his axe back up and giving a fake yawn of disappointment. "I expected better from a heartless demon that never held back."
Kurama hissed in a low tone at the intimidating fire leader, but soon enough he felt his gut take the axe's swinging blade. The impact knocked his conscious away for a few moments and his body was thrown into the stone wall behind him. Blood colored the sharp, thorn like grass and Kurama suddenly realized now was his time to take the action that Pyroblood desires.
"FIRE SHIELD!" Pyroblood's booming voice commanded and a blazing ring of fire surrounded the ring, leaving Kurama out of harm's way but his plants would have to sit out on this fight.
Without another word being said, Kurama's unstable energy suddenly exploded from his body, causing a thick fog around the entire stadium, only leaving the audience cheering for the approaching fox.
"So you're finally showing your true self lad, I see your death won't be in vain after all, Gwa ha ha ha ha ha!" Pyroblood exploded, his axe resting against his shoulder as he awaited his more powerful opponent.
"WELL FOLKS, IT APPEARS KURAMA IS TAKING HIS TIME TRANSFORMING INTO YOUKO KURAMA. BUT WELL AT LEAST WE GOT OURSELVES A REAL FIGHT IN NO TIME AT ALL!" Koto shouted into the microphone, her insides just jumping for joy as the mist of spirit energy faded to reveal a smiling Youko Kurama.
"So I finally get to fight the legendary thief in the flesh, this is goin' to be quite bloody fun! Welcome Youko Kurama, to my ring of fiery hell!" Pyroblood shouted over the crackling flames as Youko appeared into the ring just as quickly as the leader had expected.
"Same to you Pyroblood, this will be fun after all," Youko agreed, than vanished without giving second thoughts of a plan.
The leader grunted and tried to focus on the fox's movements over the crackling flames, but his ears picked up his energy too soon. Youko grabbed and slammed the edge of the blade into the leader's head, causing the short demon to yelp in pain, but the fox wasn't done yet.
Punches, slashing claws and kicks came like the speed of light for the surprised leader as he swung his axe as a substitute shield. But as young as the fox was, he knocked Pyroblood's axe out of the ring into the fire's ring and slashed at his face.
"Looks like he's winning after all! GO KURAMA!" cheered Botan.
The screen displayed Youko laughing insanely while Pyroblood searched desperately for his axe, one hand protecting his bloody face from the dancing flames.
"Uh…is he tryin' to kill himself?" Kuwabara asked randomly.
'Don't play with him Kurama, he's not as stupid as you think he is!' Loreena told herself, watching as the fox dragged the demon from his precious flames and began a death escapade.
"I guess he's doin' good without all those plants after all," Yusuke said to himself, but he stopped and looked carefully at the screen.
A dark object was rising from the fire…
"Wha' moight tha' be there? Kurama better stop 'fore tha' thing hits 'im or somethin'!" Jin shouted at the screen, still floating than using the provided furniture.
'Just as I thought, Pyroblood's dirty tricks never end. Kurama, you're dead if you don't stop celebrating your simple tricks,' Touya thought grimly, knowing the fight might as well be over.
"WELL FOLKS, IT APPEARS KURAMA HAS THE UPPER HAND AS HE CONTINUES TO BEAT PYROBLOOD TO A PULP! BUT WAIT…WHAT'S THAT OBJECT IN THE FIRE?" Koto asked the audience, squinting her eyes to see the full view of the mysterious object.
"This little party's over now, sorry you can't stay Kurama," Pyroblood whispered as he rammed his fist into Kurama's face and stood up. "I really enjoyed your little party though…BLOODY AXE!"
Faster than Kurama could conclude the demon's trick, the object flew from the fire's protective embrace and landed straight in his back! The axe's blade soon became blazing with fire and the fox hissed as he fell to his knees in defeat, feeling the axe drain his spirit energy.
"GWA HA HA HA HA HA, sorry pretty boy but I don't take no beating from no one without giving them somethin' in return!" Pyroblood laughed as he walked around Kurama to claim his axe.
"OH MY FOLKS, WHAT A COMEBACK FROM PYROBLOOD! USING AN ACT TO FOOL HIS OPPONENT, HE MUST'VE CHANTED A SPELL TO BRING HIS AXE TO LIFE! NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL TRUE POWER DON'T YOU?" Koto asked the audience, the roaring cheers and chants answering her obvious question.
"Rose…Whip-," Kurama whispered, but his hand was crushed by the demon's black boot. He grabbed the demon's cloak and tried use his body as a solid surface to perform a flip out of harm's way, but the demon just laughed and sent straight into the fire ring!
Kurama brought his arms up to protect his eyes from the licking flames, but he was already blinded by the fire's heat and he finally found the wall the hard way, landing against it back first.
Rows of unsuspecting demons crumbled as the wall collapsed from the massive impact of Youko's body. The cheering continued and Pyroblood finally let his ring of fire fade into the grass, but he remained in the ring staring down at the fallen fox.
"COME ON KURAMA, GET UP DAMN IT!" Yusuke screamed at the screen, smashing his fists into the indestructible glass. The shock of the fight had surprised them all, but the Revenge Round might turn things around if the fox did survive.
"YOUKO KURAMA HAS BEEN SENT OUT OF THE RING! ONE…TWO…THREE…!" Koto chanted.
Kurama slowly opened his eyes and saw that his body was slightly burnt by the fire's sudden attack. He heard the referee's count to five and could barely see Pyroblood's grinning face, but he ignored the demon's shattering laughs as he slowly got to his feet.
'The fire is down but I can't summon my power without my energy, not since that axe was hurled at me from behind,' he thought to himself as he heard seven as he approached the ring.
"AND WITH SEVEN COUNTS, KURAMA HAS SURPRISINGLY GOT BACK INTO THE RING FOR MORE PAIN! THAT'S DEDICATION FOLKS!" Koto informed as she stepped back to let the fighter's continue.
"I admit you make an edible fighter Kurama," Pyroblood commented.
"Yes…the same with you Pyroblood," Kurama said back.
"Let's get this party back into-ah!" Pyroblood said, cut off by a sharp object plunging into his back. Looking around, he saw plants start to rise from the ring's stone floor.
"Have you ever suffered a hallucination before?" Kurama asked slyly.
Before the demon could answer back, the plant curled around his entire securely making him drop his useless axe. A throbbing pain engulfed his head as his worst nightmare slowly started taking form, his screams causing the audience to cover their ears.
"OH MY, PYROBLOOD APPEARS UNABLE TO MOVE WHILE KURAMA STANDS HERE AND LETS HIS PLANTS DO THE JOB FOR HIM! MY WHAT A CLEVER MOVE FOR KURAMA!" Koto said with excitement, but she suddenly yelped as the ring suddenly exploded with fire.
"KURAMA, GET OUT OF THERE!" Yusuke and Kuwabara shouted at the screen, not seeing the fox in sight.
"E's a goner, doncha think Loreena?" Jin asked sadly.
"I don't know Jin…" was all she could say as she stared at him beside her.
"Wha's supposed t' happen if 'e dies Loreena, do yu kno' a' all?" Jin pressed quietly, floating down to the chair beside her. His once dancing sky blue eyes were now clouded with question and doubt as he stared back at her.
"I don't know of that either, but I do know it's worse than what will happen to Kurama. Someone might be taking the easy but painful way out early, and everyone will enjoy what they might see," Loreena said painfully, looking down from the Wind Shinobi's piercing gaze.
"It's already too late for salvation…"
TO BE CONTINUED…
A/N: I did good right, I hope I satisfied you guys with this new twist! REVIEW and you will see if Kurama lives or if they meet an easy fate.