Chapter 5

City of Ghosts and Apparitions

The air was foggy and green, giving the stone city a dreary look, like Count Dracula's castle. The last time the Tantei had come to this city, two of them were nearly killed by the Fugaki, or gutter imps. Now, the lowly creatures crowded around the five, but scuttled around in a ten-foot radius, moving out of their way when the Tantei came forward. The dark mist made the air chilly and stuffy at the same time. A small wind blew across the land, taking the scents of the detectives with it.

The imps instantly began to chatter amongst themselves. "Kurama and Hiei are back, yes, yes. But who is this fawn they have with them?" Gabi looked over her shoulder at the muttering Fugaki; she could feel their eyes on her back. Shaking of a funny feeling, she turned back to the group. Detecting her unrest, Yusuke slowed his pace and took a place slightly behind her left side to protect her. He raised his reiki, letting it wash over the gutter imps; they growled and scuttled farther away, almost disappearing behind the fog.

The city was very quiet and empty. Occasionally, one of the Fugaki was seen scrambling about in the alleys, or darting across the street. "What's with this place? It was crawling with yokai last time we were here! Where is everyone?" Kuwabara mused aloud. Kurama raised his head and smelled the air. "There is no scent of blood in the air, nor of any other beings but the Fugaki. There was no struggle here."

"Why did Koenma send us here to check out a 'disturbance' when there isn't anyone here to make one?" Yusuke kicked a tin can in the gutter, sending it clanging down the street.

"Maybe the disturbance was that every one left here." Gabi wandered into the middle of the intersection of two streets. She had changed her attire from her school uniform, as did the rest of the Tantei, save Hiei. Each of them wore jeans and a t-shirt. The belt around Gabi's waist had curious looking holsters on them; they held a weapon, but a flap concealed what they were. "Well, nothing really seems out of place here." Thunder rumbled in the distance; a storm was moving in.

Hiei leapt to the top of a two-story building, unmasking his Jagan eye. "There's some one in the castle, the only thing here that's not a Fugaki."

Gabi turned in a circle, surveying her surroundings. The streets were empty. The rest of the Tantei shifted restlessly. Steam rose from a manhole; Gabi approached and stomped on the edge, flipping it up into the air. Catching the heavy metal disk, she put it on the ground and peered into the steam. Some squishing sounds were heard. A slimy, clawed hand shot out of the fog towards her. A sewer dwelling Fugaki seized her around the throat; she fell backwards with the monster on top of her. "Gabi!" Yusuke charged forward to help his friend; he stopped short at the sound of a gunshot and a flash of familiar blue light. The monster slumped and was pushed off. Gabi sat up, one hand behind her for support, the other holding a glock with the barrel pointed upwards.

"Jesus tap-dancing Christ!" he said, "what are you doing with a freakin' gun!"

"Like your spirit gun is any different. This isn't a normal gun, Yusuke." She said, pulling herself up.

"Explain."

"This can use clips charged with spirit energy instead of bullets. It's just like a spirit gun; only each shot is more contained and more accurate. Though, unlike a spirit gun, the clips are like a battery, so they don't take energy from me, they take it from the clip; if I was with out any spirit energy in my body, there would some in the clip, so I could use it. Literally, a rei-gun."

"….Where did you get something like that?"

"A friend of mine makes weapons for me, named Suzuka; old family friend. I have a glock, and a berretta, and a 12 gauge-"

"Hey, didn't Suzuka compete in the Dark Tournament?" Kuwabara approached them, scratching his head.

"Dark Tournament? He never told me anything about being a fighter; I only knew him as a weapon crafter." Gabi replaced the firearm in her belt holster.

The Fugaki, ignored to this point, attempted to sneak back into the sewer. Gabi stomped on the edge of his filthy robe. "Just where do you think you're going? Why did you jump out at me like that, huh?" the imp trembled under her stare, holding the spirit bullet wound in his shoulder. "Heh heh, I was sooo hungry, and the flesh of a human is a treat-"

"What are you doing, trying to eat my friend?" Yusuke roared, "Get out of here before I blow your head off with a real spirit gun!"

The imp squeaked and skittered into the hole, pulling the man hole cover over the entrance. Kurama gave the detective a disapproving look, "That was unwise, Yusuke, we might have been able to get some information out of him."

"Yeah Urameshi, screwing up is my job!" Kuwabara said defensively.

"If you all are done wasting time, we can continue." Hiei spoke from the rooftop. The Tantei turned towards him, "There is some one in the castle." He leapt down, landing neatly with a stoic expression.

They began to trek toward the stone fortress, reminiscing on not so pleasant memories of their previous visit. "Is that little eyeball freak gonna pop out at us and make the ceiling drop?" Yusuke said, stopping at the skull-shaped entrance.

"No," Hiei tread onward, "There is only one person here, now." he said, replacing the ward to his Jagan. The journey through the slightly crumbling castle was quiet and relatively uneventful. Genbu's lair was devoid of anything but broken rock from the ceiling and walls. The Den of Fire, Byakko's lair, was no longer fiery. The lava had long since cooled, turning into a rich soil, as molten rock tends to do. Several small plants found their way into the castle and took root in the Den of Fire. The many doors leading to traps and dead ends were all boarded up or caved in; only one door remained accessible. The bronze doors to Seryu's domain were hanging from their hinges, tinted green with rust.

The final tower, Suzaku's domain, was waiting for them. The roof of the room was completely destroyed; weather worn debris littered the ground. No one was there, or in any other part of the castle. "Well, who ever was here, isn't here anymore. Are you sure there was someone here, Hiei?" Gabi prodded a piece of unrecognizable rubble with her foot. The fire yokai glared at her, "Yes, I am." He said calmly but with difficulty. She straightened, closing her eyes to give strength to her other senses. "It's here...but not here; like seeing a shadow, but not being able to turn around to see who's it is."

A small drizzle came from the sky and a warning rumble from the sky to get inside. A tongue of amethyst smoke reached out from between the cracks on the ground and wrapped around Gabi's form, a similar wisp of evil broke away and twisted around the person closest to her; Yusuke. At this moment, two things happened and go as follows: "Hey, I can't move!" Kuwabara yelled. His paralyzed body slowly tipped forward, "Not the face! Not the face!" plunk! He landed on his chin, biting his tongue. "It appears I too cannot move." Kurama remained frozen while standing, tipping over in the breeze but landing on his back. "What the hell is going on?" Hiei growled from the ground, just as helpless as the others. The next thing to happen was the appearance of a monster in front of Gabi.

First perspective

A stone colored gargoyle eyed her with yellow eyes. Pebbly skin covered his body, save his membranous wings and dinosaur like feet. The monster backed away from her in surprise, and then took a fighting stance. Yusuke was nowhere to be found. "Monster! Where is Yusuke?" she snarled, drawing her glock 9. "Gabi, what the hell are you doing!" Kuwabara yelled. The creature gave an incoherent cry, shrill and garbled. She fired a round straight toward him. The beast took to the sky to dodge her miniscule, but devastating spirit bullet. Landing back on the ground, the remainder of the clip was spent shooting after the creature. He barely managed to dodge the shots. He charged her and landed a punch in her stomach.

Gabi was hurled back, slamming painfully into the remainder of a wall. She drew the berretta from her other holster and put the glock away. The glock was stronger, but the berretta was faster. The gargoyle's fist was centimeters from her face when a Reitama pierced his shoulder. He fell back and shrieked. Gabi scurried away, holding her stomach. She skidded over to where Hiei was standing and snatched his katana out of the sheath. "Borrowing! Please and thank you!"

"Damn it, onna, get back here!" he snarled. The rain poured down harder.

A ball of spirit energy came hurtling towards her head; she tilted the katana and deflected it with the mirror edge. "You anus-dwelling octo-pussy! That almost took my head off!" (potty mouth!)Gabi charged and made a thrust at the beast. Dodging with only a scrape, the gargoyle ran to the side and jumped onto a pile of debris, picking up a wooden beam. The wood was soft from being out in the open for over five years, but it suited his needs nicely. She made a horizontal arc, intending to take his head off. He rolled away and held up the beam like a weapon. "Like that rotted bit of wood would do you any good." She scoffed, narrowing her eyes. With a sprint, the katana pierced easily through the beam to the hilt. "Uh-oh." He spun the beam like the hand of a clock, ripping the hilt of the blade out of her hands; letting it fall, he attacked with both hands.

Gabi parried his blows with her own, slamming knuckle on knuckle. Their fighting techniques were similar, making it easy to predict each other, but easy to dodge as well. She knew they could go on forever like this; she had to get the sword back! Turning, she ran away, jumping over the paralyzed bodies of her comrades. The gargoyle followed her, shrieking in its incomprehensible voice. She led him in a circle and headed for the katana. In a blur, the beast was in front of her again, with a ball of energy waiting for her. She locked up and prepared herself for a jump; this would be embarrassing, but at least the others were separated from her by a pile of rubble. She hurtled, making herself intangible, and passed through the foul creatures body… leaving her clothes behind.

Tumbling in her underwear, she picked up the stuck katana by the hilt, turned, let her self fall back, and kicked hard on the piece of wood. It slid off easily and smacked the creature in the back of the head. He fell forward, rubbing his head and snarling in his own jagged language. Gabe stood in the rain, with the katana held to the side with the tip pointing up. Her eyes reflected off the blade dangerously. The gargoyle stared at her, then froze, alarmed. Maybe it was because she was standing in her undies in the rain like a Victoria's Secret model. She let out a battle cry and attacked. The beast made no move to defend him self and she slammed him against the remnants of a wall with the blade against his throat. "You get one last chance, where is Yusuke?" she whispered dangerously. He pointed calmly to a nearby puddle; she glanced at the rippling image within and gasped, dropping the sword.

Second perspective

Yusuke saw his comrades fall down. He stared at them in confusion before a red monster caught his eye. He jumped back in surprise. It was like a bug, with wiry hairs lining the edges of its arms and legs. The huge glassy eyes spotted him. It waved its whip-like antennae and made a squeaky, clicking sound through its mandibles. The bug then raised its arm to fire a small bead of amethyst-colored energy. "Gabi, what the hell are you doing!" Kuwabara said. "Gabi? Where is she? I don't see her!" Yusuke said. The small shot of energy barely grazed his leg as he jumped high into the air to dodge it. A dozen more beads followed him when he landed. He managed to dodge them all with some difficulty and charged the freaky cricket. He landed a solid punch in the stomach, sending the creature into a shattered wall.

It remained still as he continued to charge at it. His fist almost hit its face when a bead of white-hot pain tore through his shoulder. He fell backwards while the insect skittered away towards Hiei. He aimed with his good arm and fired his spirit gun at it. The bug stole Hiei's katana and ran with it. "Damn it onna, get back here!" the koorime snarled. The sky was crying. Using the reflective edge of the sword, his spirit gun blast was deflected. Squeaking angrily with several clicks, the bug charged at him with the sword.

Yusuke dodged the katana, only scratching his side. He couldn't fight a sword with his bare hands; he needed a weapon. Jumping on top of a pile of aged rubble, he picked of an old beam of wood. The wood was soft from being exposed to the elements, but that was the point. He rolled away from the rubble, just in time to keep his head on his shoulders. When the bug thrust the sword at him, he used the beam as a shield, letting the sharp blade pierce the wood. Turning the beam, he pulled the katana out of its grasp. He proceeded to shower the bug with punches and kicks; but each one was matched perfectly. It was as if they had the exact same moves.

Suddenly, the giant roach turned tail and ran. He followed it as it ran and jumped over the bodies of his friends and made a circle back to where it had dropped the katana. "Oh, no you don't." with a burst of speed, he came between the bug and the sword with his spirit gun charged. He gasped as the insect tumbled straight through him as if he were air. He stood dumbfounded as a piece of wood smacked him in the back of the head. "OW! You S.O.B. that fing hurt!" he turned to glare at the bug. It stood with Hiei's katana out to the side, reflecting its face. He saw a flash of green in contrast to the red of the bug's skin; Gabi's eyes glared angrily at him. He looked back at the bug, only to see his friend standing in the rain…in her drawers? He froze, realizing what had happened. He had been fighting her under the illusion of a monster; if she was still fighting him, she didn't realize who he was…

Gabi charged with a battle cry; Yusuke remained still and let her slam him into a wall. With Hiei's sword pressed to his throat, she glared hatefully at him, "You get one last chance, where is Yusuke?" she growled. He pointed to a nearby puddle with his reflection rippling in the water. She glanced at the reflection in it and gasped, dropping the sword.

Joined

Yusuke rubbed his neck with his good arm as she backed away, "Damn, that gun fing hurts!" he laughed at her confused expression.

"Yusuke, I- oh!" her hands went to cover herself, realizing she was in her underwear in front of him. She ran to pick up her clothes and looked back at him. "You won't-"

"Naw," he said, shaking his head, "as long as you never shoot me again. She smiled, "Thanks." Running behind a fragment of wall to dress, Gabi left Yusuke to see to the others as the rain had stopped. They had been freed from their paralysis and stood up. Hiei retrieved his sword with a 'hn,' while Kurama and Kuwabara helped Yusuke piece together what happened. "Dude, she was like, 'Where's Yusuke!' and then pow pow pow pow!" Kuwabara illustrated, shaping his hands like a gun.

"And then you attacked her and sent her into a wall." Kurama added with grammatical grace.

"Then she capped you in the arm and stole the shrimp's sword!"

"After you disarmed her with that old rotten beam, she led you around the tower and disappeared behind that large pile there."

"What happened, Urameshi? We couldn't see or hear anything after that!" Yusuke scratched his nose with his good arm and smiled.

"Well, she hit me with that beam and pinned me against a wall with Hiei's sword. I saw her reflection in the edge, and the illusion wore off. She still thought I was a monster though, so I showed her my reflection in a puddle and the spell broke on her too." Gabi walked out from behind the wall, "Sorry I shot you Yusuke, we ought to get that looked at. I don't think I hit the major artery, because there isn't a lot of blood, but I may have severed a ligament in your shoulder."

Yusuke dismissed her by waving his hand, "First lets find who ever cast that spell or whatever. Koenma will give us an earful if we come back empty handed."

"Found it." Hiei said, kicking up a piece of the roof.