AbhorsenSabriel87: Hey everyone! I'm back yet again with another chapter of Second Chance!
Hiei: --sarcasm-- Oh joy.
AS87: --fwaps him-- Anywho, this is chapter three, and now onto reviewer responses.
Hiei: I thought you did those at the end.
AS87: Meh, I wanna get it over with. Now gimme my list!
Hiei: --hands her list--
AS87: Thank you. Ahem…
Russian Hillbilly – Thanks for the compliments! The plot gets thicker later on, so don't worry much! Also, when Hiei says "what" at the end, he's talking to Koenma. In my stories, Hiei is… well, let's just say a lot older than Koenma.
Hiei: Feh. Not as much as you think.
AS87: Oh really? You call a few centuries -
Hiei: Shut up!
AS87: Oh fine.
K.C. Whitestar – Thank you, I shall.
Ds Dark Rose – Glad to hear it! Here it is!
animefreak54 – YOU aren't an angry reviewer, are you? Hmph, thought not. Anywho, the technique is… Hiei, the answer?
Hiei: You'll find out later.
AS87: Hah! Read and find out!
trenity170 – Ya know, the helpful crits work, Tren, but I happen to like all of my unnecessary detail, so mleh! --authoress just stuck tongue out at reviewer--
Hiei: --sweatdrop--
another hiei lover – Yay! You like Hiei too! You rock!
Hiei: --sweatdrop--
Sabriel: Anywho, the technique will come up later, as I said, but thanks for the confidence booster!
AS87: That it?
Hiei: Thank the mother goddess.
AS87: Shut up pygmy.
Hiei: Evil wench.
AS87: Baka youkai.
Hiei: Baka ningen!
AS87: Jii-san!
Hiei: Kodomo!
(fight goes on and on and on and on and on……………..)
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There is no one who does not carry scars on his heart. If there were someone in the world like that, he would be a shallow soul.
Hiei Wallpaper, Anonymous
---An alley stood empty and quiet for a moment, but in the blink of an eye, the entire area was flooded with spiritual light as a white portal opened up. This shining circle of energy was seen by none who passed by, and the people who appeared seemed to have come out of the rusted metal door on the building to the left. What indeed had happened was the portal of spirit energy, created specialty of Botan, had transported Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei into that alley. Now all they had to do was find the building where their target was stationed…
---Hiei flipped open the pocket communicator they had all been given after the Dark Tournament and pressed a light blue button. The image on the front was hazy, and there was a lot of static, but they were still able to hear Botan's 'yes' response. "We're in Chicago," Hiei said calmly. "Where do we go from here?"
---Botan's message was garbled, but the important part came through clearly. "You….to… Sears Tower…. Eighth….Twelfth Avenue. Be safe… we'll be-" Suddenly, the message cut off and the screen went dark. Hiei sighed and shoved the communicator back inside his cloak as he began walking. "Hold up now," Yusuke said. "In case you hadn't noticed, we have a few problems here!" Hiei turned around to give the taller teen an annoyed look. "Like what?" he asked calmly. "We know where our target is. What's the problem?"
---"Well, first of all," Yusuke started, "we're in Chicago. We don't know our way around!"
---"This attack has most likely been called to the attention of the police," Kurama stated bluntly. "Surely the sirens and police cars will be able to help us locate the building."
---"Yeah, but…" Yusuke drifted off and looked a little uncomfortable about something, as did Kuwabara. "What?" Hiei asked coldly. "Was there something else?"
---"Yusuke and I didn't take English this year," Kuwabara said sheepishly. (AN: --laughs at the two idiots--) Hiei rubbed his temples slightly while glaring at the two humans before him. "Did you forget that Kurama knows every language in this pathetic realm?" he muttered coldly, just loud enough for Yusuke and Kuwabara to hear. "Even I know English, you two are the ones required to learn it to pass high school." Kurama sniggered slightly, then returned to is former composure. "What Hiei is trying to say," he added, "is that we have it under control. Anything else?" When the two boys shook their heads, Hiei sighed and started walking down the alley.
---"Let's go then," he said. "Our aim is to save these ningens and we won't do it standing around here all day."
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---Unknown to the four detectives, the Chicago police had tried to infiltrate the building already, unsuccessfully. After the massacre of their squad, the department instead covered all the exits with snipers and a full retrieval squad outside the building in case the hostages were released. The captain, a tall man of around his forties with pitch black hair and cobalt blue eyes, stood outside the building behind the front line staring intensely at the Sears Tower in front of him. This had been one of the more favorite tourist attractions, as the Tower was one of the tallest buildings in the world. But now, it was sign of great despair as over six hundred hostages had been captured and sealed inside the building. As the detectives surveyed the building from the crowd, the police tried their best to contain the situation, also to very little success.
---"What're we dealing with guys?" Yusuke whispered just loud enough for the two demons to overhear. Hiei paused a moment and lifted his bandana just enough so that his Jagan Eye could open and not be seen. A slight amount of demonic aura came from him as he used the Eye to probe around the inside of the building.
---"Over fifteen hundred and fifty demons," he muttered. "About fourteen demons per level then?" Kurama asked. Hiei shook his head slightly. "No, only about ten."
---"Well, what happened to the other four hundred?" Yusuke hissed into Hiei's ear. Hiei only glared at him slightly while Kurama smiled. 'At least he's getting better at math,' Hiei told Kurama telekinetically. Kurama shook his head, still smiling. "Actually Yusuke," he said, "you are very close, but there are almost exactly four hundred and fifty demons unaccounted for. Most likely they'll be guarding the hostages while the others slaughter anyone who tries to come into the building." Kurama turned back to Hiei. "Can you locate the AWOL demons, Hiei?" The fire demons smirked. "Easily," he replied. "They're all on the nineties floors, as well as about six hundred humans on the ninety- fifth."
---"Let's go then!" Yusuke whispered, only just keeping his voice down. "We only have another half an hour before the kill another eight kids!" Hiei closed his Jagan Eye, lowered his bandana to cover it, and glared slightly at Yusuke. "We need a plan before we charge in recklessly. Personally, I don't care if any of you live or die today, but I would rather not be caught off-guard by a bunch of C- and D-class demons."
---"Hiei has a point," Kurama stated. "If we just go charging in, we'll be at even more of a risk, as will the hostages. If we find a way to sneak in, it'll not only be easier for us, but we have a higher success rate." Yusuke turned back to Hiei, whose eyes were set on the 110-story building in front of them.
---"So," Yusuke asked, "how do we get in, Shorty?"
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---"I had to ask," Yusuke grumbled. At the moment, the four young detectives had entered underground to get inside the building… in English that means they're walking in a sewer under the building. "It reeks down here!" Yusuke complained again. "Couldn't we have found another way?"
---"Unless you want to be a government testing for their new sniper rifles," Hiei retorted, also covering his nose with one hand, "no. This is the only way to get in undetected with you two in tow."
---"What about if we weren't here?" Kuwabara asked. "How would you get in then?" Hiei only rolled his eyes and continued to walk until they reach the entrance to the service tunnels. He motioned up the ladder and quickly climbed to check if anyone was guarding the area. He waved his hand at the other three, peering through the steel grate and holding his companions back from climbing up. Two demonic guards walked past talking in hushed voices, and Hiei stood his ground and held his breath until they walked around the corner. Quietly releasing that bated breath, he motioned for the others to follow him and lifted the grate with ease, careful not to make a sound as he set it on the ground. After the others had caught up with him, he closed the grate and looked around the unfamiliar and complex set of tunnels. "Where do we go now?" Kuwabara asked, voicing everyone's thoughts.
---'Where to, indeed?' Hiei thought, looking around. He knew from experience that blueprints were never always completely correct, and the ones Koenma had for this building dated back to its original creation. Hopeful that his memory (and the blueprints he memorized) were indeed correct, he indicated them to follow him through the tunnels.
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---After finding their way out of the tunnels (which took only twenty minutes since those hadn't been changed since the building was built), the Spirit Detectives had "dealt with" eight lower-class demons, and had reached the ground floor. Now they ran quickly up the stairs, Yusuke making a smart-ass comment about how the place needed and escalator. Kurama shut him up with a look of warning, and Hiei in the lead reaching the end of this particular stairwell. Being on the twentieth floor, the group still had a ways to go in the half hour they had left until eight more hostages were "sacrificed" at their expense.
---After killing all the demons on the floor, Hiei lead them through his plan, taking out the spare set of blueprints he had "acquired" from one of the demons and laying them out on the floor. "All right," he said quietly. "The most direct path to the ningens is heavily guarded and therefore highly dangerous. There is a back route here in the elevator shafts, which at the moment are under construction." He traced one finger along the pathway leading to the ninety-fifth floor. "You'll find the humans here, provided that we have not yet been detected, which will be a fair chance to a miracle. However, one of us must make a distraction along the main path because I could sense various forms of air-borne demons flying in the shafts."
---"I'll do it!" Yusuke said, standing. "You and Kurama can talk to them and it'll help to have Kuwabara with you since he can tell how close these demons are." Hiei just glared at him before rolling up the blueprints and tucking them safely in his cloak. "Hn," he replied, "as much as I'd like to, no. The mission would be suicidal and Koenma would void my contract if either of you died by my plans and I would be charged with treason. Personally, I don't wish to spend the rest of my life in a maximum security prison. I'm going, and that's it."
---"But you said that it would be suicidal," Kurama protested. "Then won't it mean that you die young while we live to say we lost a friend and ally?" Hiei gave him a look and began walking towards the stairways. "Then I'll die a somewhat noble death," he snapped icily. "Besides, I've lived twice the years you have, Kurama. I think I've lived long enough." Suddenly he stopped and turned around, giving the kitsune a look of shock and slight anger. "Did you just say that I would die at the hands of some pathetic low-level demons?" he exclaimed, making his friend chuckle quietly. "That I did," he replied, "But you were the one who confirmed your fear." Hiei gave yet another sarcastic 'hn' and smirked.
---"What fear?" Hiei commented, giving a sense of dismissal as he nodded to them and pointed towards the elevator shaft, still open from being under construction. "Get going," he added ominously. "We won't remain undetected for long." Nodding at their companion's words, three ran towards the empty shaft as Hiei himself darted through the hall and up the main stair.
---As he had expected, demons lined the halls so that none may pass by their defenses and reach the captive humans. Grinning in his sinister way, Hiei ran straight into plain view and began his heavenward massacre. Higher and higher up the ever rising stair, Hiei darted among tens of demons, swarming and increasing in number with every floor, slashing and using his superior swordsmanship to slaughter them all. Nothing could stop him, and he knew it, even if his opponents didn't.
---As he finally neared the ninetieth floor, the demon swarm stopped. Suspicious of an ambush, Hiei slowly walked up, his feet moving silently across the tile flooring. With no apparitions eminent, the slight demon made his way quickly to the ninety-fifth floor, where he hoped the humans no longer were.
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Sabriel: Baka sempai!
Hiei: Baka... --trails off--
Sabriel: --gasps-- You almost said it, didn't you!
Hiei:...
Sabriel: It's on now, demon boy! Baka no yaro!
Hiei: What did you say?!
Sabriel: You heard me, youkai... Oh, wait, the fic is over, isn't it? Where's my mallet?
Hiei: I think Kurama stole it, as he is almost constantly afraid that you're going to hit him over the head with it.
Sabriel: Aw, I don't always hit him over the head with it!
Hiei: You have the last hundred times you've seen him.
Sabriel:... Hundred and six.
Hiei: My point is made.
Sabriel: --sighs-- Sayonara readers. Enjoy the story and please review as I find my mallet. --walks off, looking depressed--
Hiei: --waits until she's out of earshot-- It's in her closet. Ja ne ningens, until we meet again. --disappears with a very clichéd exit always seen in the movies from the dark and mysterious people.--