Demons and Fairies
Chapter 7
A Great Loss
That night, Hiei and Bloom were hanging out with the other Winx as they were introducing themselves to Yukina. "Hi, I'm Flora, the fairy of nature," Flora introduced herself first with a small bow, all that time with Kurama was sure helping.
"I'm Stella, princess of Solaria and fairy of the shining sun," Stella said in a chipper tone and a wave of her hand.
"I'm Musa, fairy of music," Musa said with a wave as well.
"I'm Tecna, fairy of technology," Tecna simply stated.
"I'm Bloom Jaganshi, fairy of the dragon's flame, your brother's wife, but you already knew that, sorry it took so long to meet," Bloom reintroduced herself with a bow.
"I'm Yukina of the ice maidens, sister to Hiei, it's nice to meet you all," Yukina said with a bow to all of them.
"So, what was it like to grow up with Hiei as a brother, he never talks about his childhood," Stella asked.
"I never grew up with him, in fact, I only felt small tingles that he was even watching over me at all when I was growing up, I only learned he was my brother two years ago," Yukina admitted.
"Oh, I didn't know that, why didn't you tell her, since you are her brother you should have sensed that she wanted to know," Musa said to Hiei.
"I'm an only child but even I know that if you are a sibling, you need to let the other one know that you are," Tecna stated.
"Yeah, it's not right to hold information that she wanted to know, and I'm sure that she wanted to know," Stella guessed and got her answer when Yukina nodded.
"They do have a point, but it was still your decision to make if you wanted to tell her or not, but I'd still go with whatever you wanted," Bloom stated.
"Why do I feel like I'm being scolded by more wives than I have," Hiei muttered to himself from the window's ledge.
"What was that," Bloom said in a sweet voice but sounded like a nightmare to Hiei.
"Nothing dear," he said quickly, he may be a demon, but even he knows not to anger his wife.
"I'm going to Kazuma's room to have a few drinks with them, would any of you ladies like to join me," Yukina asked the Winx.
"No thank you, we have to have a club meeting anyways, have fun though," Bloom said before they all waved Yukina out. "Now, the day after tomorrow is the semi-finals of the tournament, meaning the fights will be tougher and we will be worried more, so they need our support now more than ever."
"Right, I'll start to make some signs," Stella offered before going right to making said signs for them to use as the others joined her.
"You know that isn't what's going to win," Hiei asked his wife quietly.
"True, but they need to think it'll help, moral support is the only thing they can offer and it might not be enough with what's coming," Bloom said back just as quietly.
"Let us take care of the fighting, we'll win for sure as long as you girls don't get in the way of the fighting," he said.
"You know I can take care of myself, don't you," she rhetorically asked.
"That's not what I meant Bloom, I want you to stay safe, and the best way to do that is for you to keep your guard up at all times and make sure to stay out of these fights," Hiei said with something in his eyes, care.
"When you say it like that, and with those eyes, how is a girl supposed to deny her husband," Bloom stated before taking his hand with hers and just sat there and watched as the girls made signs.
Next day
Hiei, Bloom, Kurama, and Flora were all watching the match that would determine their opponents in the semi-finals. Or rather, they were watching the match that lasted not even all of two minutes before it was over and the ref called it for team Uraotogi and their opponents for the semi-finals were decided. Then one of their members said something about Team Urameshi being just practice before leaving the arena in victory.
"What an arrogant fool," Hiei commented in his observation.
"Well, well, well, look who it is, guess you guys have the same idea we did about scoping out the competition for the semi-finals," Kuwabara said as he, Yusuke, and Botan came from the hallway.
"Had the same idea, the fight is over," Kurama stated factually.
"Whoa, I can't believe we missed the entire fight because I took an extra couple minutes to brush my teeth," the fool stated.
"It was an impressive sight to behold," the fox stated.
"Though I'm sure your minty fresh breath was well worth the delay," Hiei said before noticing the creature on Yusuke's head, "what is that ridiculous appendage growing out of your head all about?"
"It's just a puberty thing, okay," Yusuke said.
"He looks quite cute," Flora said before snatching the blue creature from off his head and started to play with it, along with Bloom.
"So Kurama, how's your wound treating you," the detective asked to change the subject.
"It will be fine, I'll be fighting again tomorrow," Kurama answered with closed eyes.
"Hn, seems it's not as bad as you made us think," Hiei said.
"Compared to your energy loss, no it seems it's not," the fox shot right back.
They then heard chuckling and snickering and looked over to see Yusuke and Kuwabara whispering about something that he was sure was going to come back to bite him if he asked, but curiosity won out. "What are you fools over there snickering about," he demanded with a small glare.
"Oh nothing, just laughing about what you said about that thing your wife is holding now," Yusuke answered pathetically in an attempt to lie.
"Nice try, but we both know what he said wasn't that funny, now what is it you two," Kurama asked.
"Fine, we were just thinking about how you used to say that you hated ferry girls, now you're married to a fairy, kind of funny," the detective said with a snicker.
"I get it, because ferry and fairy are pronounced the same but spelled differently, it is a little comical though, isn't it Hiei," the fox asked and they all shared a laugh about it.
"How far is it that you've come in your relationship with your girl detective, because I snagged mine," Hiei shot back with a smirk.
"That's for me to know and you to find out," Yusuke cryptically said.
"So none, in all of two years you have not gotten anywhere with your girl, pathetic," he commented and had a nice dark chuckle along with everyone else.
Until Yusuke noticed that the masked fighter was staring at him with intense eyes, "hello, what's your problem," he asked before sensing something staring at him, it was Team Toguro. Both Toguro brothers were there, one man that wore a suit of armor and another guy dressed in all black with a mask over his face. The younger Toguro motioned that him and Yusuke were going to fight to the death and Yusuke motioned that the Toguro was going down before the group disappeared into the opposite hallway.
"At least your act is tough," the masked fighter commented.
"Hey, I work hard at it," Yusuke argued.
"No, this can't be, how could I have missed it for so long, they must have shielded their energy from detection, I feel so light headed, we can't compete with these guys Urameshi, what are we going to do," Kuwabara said.
In a locker room
The team was gathered together in spots you would usually find them in, Hiei and Bloom were sitting in the window, Kurama and Flora was leaning on a wall beside their respective friend. Kuwabara was still realing from the energy from Toguro's team, Yusuke was standing straight with the masked fighter standing straight as well on the other side of the room across the table.
"I'm just saying that it's not that big of a deal Kuwabara, and us bitching about it isn't going to help, probably feel their power now because your senses got better. Come one, Toguro is the guy that made us come to this tournament, none of us thought it would be a joy ride but we can beat him okay," Yusuke stated.
The door to the room opened and the team saw their next opponents, Team Uraotogi and the one with pale purple hair was the first to speak, "tsk, tsk, tsk, don't you all think you're forgetting about somebody."
"No one of real importance," Kurama jibed first.
"Who's that," Kuwabara stupidly asked.
"My guess is the freak show rejects," Yusuke insulted.
"I am Kuro Momotaro," the one chewing gum stated.
"Makintaro," the brown skinned one stated for an introduction.
"Ura Urashima," the one with a fishing pole said.
"Shishiwakamaru," was the pale purple haired one's name.
"and you can just call me Onji," the old man said.
"If you're looking for us to go easy on you, you're wasting your, and more importantly our, precious time," Yusuke stated.
"No, it's the exact opposite, we want a good fight," Kuro Momotaro stated.
"We will be famous, but we'll need more than two minutes of exposure to get that way," Shishiwakamaru said before turning around to head out.
"Arrogant little prick, don't you think," Yusuke stated.
"You could say that again," Kuwabara said.
Shishiwakamaru stopped and turned back with an ugly face on, "we'll get ugly soon enough Urameshi, just you wait," he said before walking out.
"Those guys aren't even worth two minutes, their power is nothing compared to what Toguro was giving off," the fool mentioned.
"We could always wear blindfolds, at least that way it would be more amusing," Yusuke joked.
"Pride is for the week, Yusuke," the masked fighter stated with an intense stare at him.
"Leave me alone, stop looking at me like that you masked freak," Yusuke said before punching the wall beside the door, "if you got something to say, say it."
"It's quite simple, if the leader of Team Toguro is Toguro, then the leader of Team Urameshi should be Yusuke Urameshi, the question I'm proposing is do you have what it takes to beat Toguro all by yourself, Yusuke Urameshi," she said.
Yusuke's temper was starting to skyrocket and that is where Kuwabara decided to intervene, "guys, break it up and try to get along."
"Kuwabara's right, can we please talk this through peacefully," Botan affirmed.
"You think you should lead the team instead of me," Yusuke asked.
"If necessary, follow me," the masked fighter ordered before walking out the room with Yusuke following close behind.
"Yusuke, don't be stupid," Botan yelled after them.
"Let them be, they will have to settle this themselves," Hiei stated with Bloom, Kurama, and Flora nodding as well.
"Yeah, that's what we're afraid might happen, those two are so strong and so mad that they'll settle this all the way to the death and that's no good," Kuwabara theorized.
"It's a shame, but there's nothing we can do," Hiei stated again.
"And if there is anything that could be done, it's hardly our place to interfere with their affairs," Kurama stated.
"How can you possibly say those things, can't you see that they could tear this team apart," Botan exclaimed but nobody made a move, "and none of you even seem bothered enough to care," she exclaimed before running out of the room with the blue creature in hand.
"Are you sure it's right to not interfere," Flora asked the rest of the group.
"Yes, they have something important to do, and all of us with high spiritual awareness can sense it," Kurama answered her.
"Let us head back, we need to prepare for tomorrow," Hiei stated before they all left.
The next day
It was time for the third round to start and in a new and bigger stadium than the old one, and boy was it a sight to behold to the girls, creepy, but quite the sight. "Sorry to keep you waiting all you demons out there, hello everybody, it's so great to meet you, my name's Juri and I'll be the referee, it's my first time so be friendly, okay," a dark skinned, fish looking creature announced.
"That's right you pain enthusiasts, the semi-finals of the dark tournament are poised to begin, for reasons I can't talk about I've been moved out of the ring and into the measly broadcast booth, not that I'm bitter of course," Koto commented.
"First let's have everyone locate their nearest emergency exit just in case thing get rough," Juri advised. "Now it's with great honor that I get this ceremony started, the four surviving semi-final teams," she announced before a screen was unfolded from a wall. "Team Gorenja, of course Team Toguro, Team Uraotogi, and Team Urameshi, now let's review how those teams will match up in the semi-final round. The pairings run from top to bottom, first up, Team Urameshi vs Team Uraotogi, let's get it started guys." Light was shown on the two entrances, one opened up and revealed only three fighters, Hiei, Kurama, and Kuwabara, while the other door opened and revealed all of their fighters.
"I was not exactly expecting to fight this round three against five," Hiei stated.
"Whatever cause that is delaying them must be important, we'll simply have to work around it," Kurama stated.
"I don't know why you all are stressing, I'll just beat them all myself," Kuwabara stated as he puffed out his chest and marched to the ring with the others in tow.
All the lights came on and lit up the arena as the groups of fighters stared the other group down. "What magnificent images of destruction and misery must be swimming through these competitor's heads as they stare down their enemies in the ring. But as the countdown reaches zero, Yusuke and the masked fighter still have not entered the stadium, leaving their teammates mismatched three to five. Does this mean the controversial demons, Hiei and Kurama, will each have to fight twice to keep their team alive," Koto commented.
"What's that supposed to mean, I said I'll take them all myself," Kuwabara shouted back at her.
"I thought we agreed on a good fight, what has happened to the rest of your team," Shishiwakamaru asked.
"Oh, they just said you guys weren't worth their time," Kuwabara taunted with a smirk.
"It is now time to choose the conditions for your fight," Juri announced.
"It doesn't matter, let's just see who wins," Hiei stated stoically.
"You're a hasty one, aren't you boy, I take it you're fighting first," Kuro Momotaro guessed.
"That's right I am, first, last, and only, I've been under too much stress lately, killing you all should be a good remedy," Hiei stated as the energy in his hand leaked a little.
"We're all anxious to fight Hiei, why don't we let an outside party decide the parings," Shishiwakamaru stated as he pulled dice out from inside his kimono. "Each six-sided dice represents one team, with one team member's name on each side, the sixth is a free space and anyone can fight when it comes up. You must fight as many times as your name appears, as long as you're still alive."
"Doesn't bother me, but one thing, whenever it's the name of someone not around, I will be fighting in their place," Hiei stated with a small smirk.
"Okay, matches will be decided by rolling of dice, multiple turns are aloud, and as always in the semi-finals, five wins will advance," Juri announced.
"Fate makes her choice," Shishiwakamaru said before throwing the dice on the ground where they roled a bit before announcing it to be Hiei vs Makintaro.
"Looks like you got Makintaro Hiei," Kuwabara commented the obvious.
"Hugh, your desperate plan has backfired," Hiei commented himself.
"You talk way to big little man," Makintaro stated.
"Alright Winx, pull out the signs," Stella pronounced proudly as they held up various signs that said different things such as, 'GO TEAM URAMESHI', 'GO KURAMA GO', and 'SLICE THEM OPEN HIEI'. You know, stuff to help encourage the team and improve team moral, and no sign for Kuwabara that didn't go amiss by the fool.
"Alright fans, it's the first match-up of the semi-finals, Hiei vs the big man Makintaro, begin," Juri announced.
Hiei made the first move by simply unsheathing his sword, seemingly at least, "that's very impressive," Kurama commented as he saw what happened.
A few drops of blood dropped from behind Hiei and Makintaro thought the fire demon wet himself, "what's wrong, did we have a little accident in our trousers?"
"Your whole nervous system, it leaves a lot to be desired," Hiei said with a smirk as his opponent was just confused at what happened.
"What are you talking about, my nervous system, come on, just give me your best shot," he exclaimed.
"Fool, I already have," the fire demon stated before holding up Makintaro's severed arm for all to see, and made Stella actually gag on puke that threatened to come up. The demon himself was freaking out about the loss of his arm as the blood sprayed everywhere, "you're lucky I'm generous," Hiei stated before throwing the arm at the ref who squeaked at the arm.
"Hey, where are you going, I'm not done with you," Makintaro said as Hiei continued to walk away, "I said I'm not done with you yet." An ax formed from his severed arm and he ran for Hiei and for a split second seemed to cut him in half, but it was only his cloak.
The actual Hiei was on Makintaro's head with his sword pointing down, "your eyes are rather slow, too bad," he said emotionlessly before plunging the sword through Makintaro's head and killing the brute instantly.
"Hiei, we can't keep replacing your cloak, try and refrain from destroying them if you can," Bloom said in Hiei's head.
"Fine, but tell me why you can't just repair them with your magic again," Hiei asked as he was announced the winner by death.
"Because we haven't gotten that far in our studies yet, it's only the first year and that's for the second half of the second year," she replied back.
"That's idiotic, but fine," he said as he returned to his team as Koto finished saying something about decapitation being her favorite thing, he didn't care. "Go ahead and role Shishi, I have a feeling it's going to be me once more," Hiei declared openly to him.
"Can we get a cleanup crew to remove the body, that isn't part of the referee's job, is it," Juri asked unsure.
"Again, I loved the brutality but next time let's try and drag it out, we mustn't forget our torturing," Koto announced.
"Role, I told you to hurry, I'd like a chance to finish warming up," Hiei goaded.
"Careful, fate may have a sense of humor," Shishiwakamaru stated before tossing the dice again and revealing it to be anyone versus Kuro Momotaro.
"This might be my lucky day after all, if we can choose anybody from our team to fight in this match, then of course it's going to be me," he stated.
"The second match of the semi-finals will be Hiei vs Kuro Momotaro," Juri announced.
Onji and Kuro began to talk and made Hiei get a little impatient about the fight not already underway, "sorry to interrupt you talk but I'd like to fight," he said plainly.
"What are you jokers whispering about over there for so long, if you got something so important to say, why don't you share it with the rest of the group," Kuwabara exclaimed.
"Yes, if you wouldn't mind, we'd like to start the next match soon," Juri commented before she was glared at, "or not, we can wait until whenever you think you might be ready."
"Never have been a lady's man have you Kuro, I should give you some pointers, I was a real performer you know. Hiei puts on a brave front even though he's hurt, sure he's no pushover, but once your body has done its little specialty, we'll be well on our way to fighting Toguro. Just be sure you hold off until your body can memorize his special attacks, that's how you'll defeat him," Onji informed.
"You're wasting your breath, I'm going to shew him up, spit him out, and stick him under a desk," Kuro stated.
"Both fighters please step forward," Juri ordered so she could hurry up and begin the fight, they did and stopped in front of Makintaro's body.
"If I were you little man, I wouldn't let that last victory go to my head, he may have been the biggest on our team but he was also the weakest, let me get him off your sword." Kuro said as he took the sword from Makintaro's head and kicking him away from the two and out of the ring. "I think you'll find I'm a little tougher than Makintaro was," he began before licking the sword, "yes, sweet sword."
"Hate to say, but that's hardly hygienic, you have no idea how many creatures that sword has cut through," Hiei stated bluntly as he heard the girls cringe at that.
"Oh, I'm sure, let me add one more," Kuro began before doing a stupid thing, he brought the sword up and cut his arm and handicapping himself. "Oh yeah, that's it, it hurts so good, oh yeah baby, now we're talking," he encouraged the pain as blood splattered from the wound.
"This is definitely one of the more unconventional moves," Koto commented.
"Sharp, not that it'll do you any good now," Kuro Momotaro said before taking a sphere from his belt and crushing it and releasing the gas inside the sphere. He then proceeded to inhale said gas and his wounds began to heal and skin turned hairy, "beast armor, armor of the ape, what do you think Hiei."
"Those spheres must contain some animalistic properties that transform him once consumed," Kurama surmised.
"Kuro Momotaro's body is now covered in hair, so much for those freshly waxed washboard abs I love so dearly," Koto commented.
"Well I won't be needing this scrap medal anymore and I can honestly say neither will you," Kuro said before throwing the sword at Hiei who knocked it away before catching it with ease.
"We'll see about that, let's put this armor to the test," Hiei said before spinning the sword in his hands a little and launching himself at Kuro at blinding speed only to faint the attack and attack from the side. He struck at Kuro Momotaro as the beast armor clad demon brought up his arm and stopped the attack, and the sword struggled till the point that it couldn't hold up and broke. Hiei retreated a safe distance for a moment as he stared at his grinning and chuckling opponent, he wanted to drive something sharp in that man's skull so bad right now. "I'd rather destroy you with my own hands anyway," he said before jumping up to fight the beast who met him halfway.
Kuro sent a kick that Hiei dodged, as well as an uppercut, then a left cross then right cross, and finally Hiei got hit with a left fist to the gut before getting a double ax handle to the head. That sent him crashing to the ground and making him slide out of the ring and into the wall of the arena as the girls looked on in worry. Hiei stayed there for a few moments, embedded in the wall as Kuro spoke, "you still there, I guess you were probably wondering how I was able to fend off your attack so easily. Simple really, my body does this neat trick where it remembers the pain of my opponent's attack. All I have to do to get immunity is to expose myself to a little dose of my enemy's offence, kind of like a flu shot, once my body knows what attack to look for, it's time for a good ole steaming sphere. Think of it as a catalyst for my beast armor which makes me invincible to my opponent's attack and much more handsome to boot."
"Yeah right, I wouldn't go anywhere near that guy especially with a beast armor on," Stella commented.
"To the matter at hand, how is Hiei supposed to beat somebody invincible, it's not like he can use the dragon of the darkness flame right now," Tecna mentioned.
"Don't count him out yet guys, I'm sure that he can pull this off, if anybody can, it's Hiei and his will to never quit until he's dead," Bloom stated as she watched.
Hiei slowly got back up and was staring at Kuro as he walked calmly back to the ring with clearly focused eyes and stopped at the ring.
"Come on, what're you waiting for, where's your famous dark dragon crap," Kuro goaded the fire demon.
"You want it," Hiei asked with a sharp look in his eyes.
"As soon as my body memorizes your most powerful attacks, i can squash you with the palm of my hand," Kuro stated.
Hiei removed the band that covered his jagan eye and let it open fully, "who am I to turn down a fan's request, just remember, you brought this upon yourself," he said as dark flames engulfed his form.
"Oh no, it looks like Hiei's going to call on the dragon of the darkness flame again, get ready to duck and cover," Koto called out.
"Hey, what's the hold up here, you too weak to do it," Kuro yelled out since it was taking a little longer than he thought it should.
"True pain takes time my friend, just try and keep yourself amused," Hiei stated as energy crackled around his right arm.
"You show them Hiei, his memories not so sharp after all, obviously he's forgotten what that attack did to the last guy," Kuwabara exclaimed.
"Not just him, the flame took its toll on Hiei, to summon the dragon, Hiei must use his own spirit energy as bait to lure it from the pits of spirit world, this technique only works if he can emit a tremendous amount for a prolonged period. Hiei was in Pique condition when he used the darkness flame against Zeru, and even that wasn't enough power for him to control it, beast nearly took the hook along with the bait. Who knows how it will fair now operating with little over half his energy," Kurama informed him about the technique.
"That's half, you're telling me he's making that much energy at half his normal strength," Kuwabara questioned.
"Regardless, he doesn't have enough energy to unleash it, at our friend's current levels, the dragon will devour our friend in his entirety," Kurama informed.
"Hiei, where is it," Kuro yelled out as he was getting impatient.
"Here," Hiei said before making a dash for Kuro and in a surprising turn of events, used a different attack altogether, "fist of the mortal flame," before coating a fist with a dark flame, but not the dragon of the darkness flame. While dark, it was nothing like the dragon's flames, but at the same time was effective enough to deal some serious damage on Kuro Momotaro when it connected with his face.
"Whoa, hold on, that doesn't look like a dragon," Kuwabara noted.
"It's a related flame, but of the human world," Kurama informed.
"Hiei seems to have hit Kuro Momotaro with some sort of terrible attack," Juri noted as Kuro screamed in pain.
"I decided why waist the flame of the underworld on the likes of you when the more mundane one of the humans would suffice," Hiei stated, then noticed something, Kuro was smiling and chuckling.
"I really had you going there for a second, didn't I," Kuro said as he stood up straight and seemed to be fine.
"It's an unlikely reversal, Kuro is back on his feet, that fist of the mortal flame would have sent lesser fighters running for their mommies, but not this brick wall," Koto commented.
"And now I've memorized this pain too," he said before crushing another beast armor sphere and inhaling the gas that it released.
"Kuro is squeezing another one of those steaming spheres, I wonder what he's doing that for, could he possibly get any tougher," Juri asked into the microphone.
Kuro's body began to turn blue with scale looking skin for texture while feathers began to grow from his arms and hair turned a golden color. "Your little fist technique is completely useless against me now that I'm protected by the second beast, the armor of the phoenix," Kuro informed in a new screechy voice.
"This new competitor can't seem to stay in one body for more than a few minutes," Juri announced.
"He's transformed into some kind of giant bird, this sequel to his beast armor is even bigger and badder than the first one," Koto commented.
"What a rip off, this guy's too chicken to stick around and fight in his own skin for a while," Kuwabara exclaimed.
"Nicely put," Kurama said as he watched what was going on.
"Colorful getup you got there, but it doesn't look so tough," Hiei said coolly with his guard fully up.
"Want to see what it can do," Kuro Momotaro asked before taking flight into the air and hovering for a moment before swooping down and hitting Hiei with left fist to his cheek. Kuro flew in front of Hiei and hit him in the face again and sent Hiei flying, only for said fire demon to land on his feet, from there Hiei started to run. "You're trying to confuse me and it's not working, and I can see that you are in fact right here," he said before punching to his left with his right fist.
Only for Hiei to duck at high speeds and was under his fist in Kuro's open area, "left yourself open, how about double fists of the mortal flame," Hiei said. What followed was a huge succession of fists from both of his fists at blinding speeds before ending the barrage with a huge right to Kuro's gut leaving the beast armor demon with burn marks on his torso.
He seemed to be in pain for a few moments before he grinned and moved to strike at Hiei in a moment and forcing him to dodge as Kuro appeared with a fist embedded into the concrete ring. As Hiei was dodging the punch that would've flattened him, Kuro moved behind Hiei and when Hiei turned to block or dodge, was kicked in the face. As he was flying back from the kick, Kuro moved in and punched Hiei in the gut, then a knee to the back, then a kick to the stomach, and then finally a punch to his face that sent him to the ground. He landed with a huge thud and slid a little on his face with his arms outstretched to the side before finally stopping as Kuro came down from the air.
"You convinced yet, there's nothing you can do to beat me, you might as well stay on the ground and think of a nice way to beg," Kuro recommended.
Hiei struggled to get up, "never, you'll have to rip my limbs off to keep me down," he stated.
"You shouldn't give him anymore suggestions Hiei," Kurama advised.
"Yeah, that's a good point," Kuwabara put his two cents in.
"It appears Hiei is simply unable to compete with the strength and power of the new and approved Kuro, amputation seems to be guaranteed," Koto commented.
"I'm really starting to not like that woman, but Hiei can do this, I know he can," Bloom said with certainty, but you could tell that she was worried.
"Too bad you can't call up that little dragon, I'd like to show the world I could beat you even with a level playing field, but then again it might just be fun to go all the way. Prepare yourself for the next Kuro Momotaro, now I'll take great pleasure in killing you," Kuro said as he took a beast armor sphere from his belt and crushed it and inhaled the gas like the others.
"First, he was an ape, then a phoenix, what will Kuro transform into now, could it possibly a purple hippopotamus," Koto guessed.
Kuro's feathers and scales receded, and instead brown fur took its place, his ears elongated, as did his fingernails, his hair turned white and he formed a snout with elongated teeth. "Now I'm protected by the third beast armor, the armor of the wolf, I'm a hell of a lot stronger than before and as you can see. I have a few sharp new toys on my hand that I'd love to share with you if you're in the mood to play," Kuro said proudly. He charged at Hiei and attempted to strike at the fire demon with his claws, but Hiei was able to dodge as Kuro tore through some of the ring's concrete. When Hiei turned around, Kuro sliced the front of his sky-blue shirt with four claw marks that made him stumble back. "Hugh, I promise I won't miss your flesh again, just needed a moment to get use to this body," Kuro said before taking a step forward.
Hiei took a step back when he did, "I've never known Hiei to back away from a challenger," Kurama said.
"Well, he does have a lot of teeth," Kuwabara joked nervously.
Hiei backed up another step and his foot touched the hilt of his broken sword, he looked down and looked at it for a moment before shrugging, "what the hell."
"Does that mean the great Hiei is ready to quit," Kuro asked.
Hiei stomped on the hilt of the sword and as it flipped up, he caught it before saying, "no you incompetent, but I will give you one last chance too."
"That's very sporting of you, I think I'll pass however, your memory isn't like mine, so I'll give you a hint, if your sword didn't work on my first beast armor it sure won't work on the third," Kuro informed.
"I know, I hate to use this attack, I find it totally devoid of any taste or artistry," Hiei informed.
"Well that's hard to believe, there's actually a move too barbaric for Hiei," Kuwabara exclaimed.
"Then it's probably going to be very messy," Kurama guessed.
"Hugh, don't hold back on me because something's offensive, I'm no snob, i was planning on a vulgar move myself," Kuro said before jumping up and sinking his teeth into Hiei making blood splatter everywhere.
"He's not dead, he's not dead, he's not dead," Bloom chanted and making all of the Winx look at her before they heard a sound.
The sound came from the ring and when the girls all looked, they saw that the blood stopped before a blade made of black fire shot through Kuro Momotaro's gut. "Sword of the darkness flame," Hiei said before Kuro's body turned to pieces and burst into flames that turned it to ash.
"Now I understand, Hiei did summon the darkness flame from the pits of spirit world, only this time, he didn't use his arm, he transferred his energy into his sword to lure the darkness flame. This contained it apart from his body, it wasn't as strong, but Hiei's weapon became powerful enough to pierce the beast armor, Kuro was dead before his teeth sank in, ingenious," Kurama explained.
"I don't know about all this genius business, it's not all that different from what I do with my spirit sword and nobody calls that genius," Kuwabara said and then widened his eyes as if realizing something. "Hey, wait a second, were you saying back there that my spirit sword didn't have any taste or artistry."
"Huh, of course I did," Hiei said as he through the sword handle away and ignored the fool's yelling about his insult, instead he sent a message to Bloom. 'Don't worry, told you I'd win, now all that's left is to take care of the other losers, and tell the other girls to stop crying, I'm not dead.'
"You know how emotional they get when they think one of their boyfriends gets hurt, no different from now with me as your wife, I'll let them cry it out, who knows, maybe they'll make another scene," Bloom said with a smirk.
'I could teach you how to summon a sword with your dragon's flame, never know when it'll come in handy,' Hiei said.
"Fine, I'll make them stop, but you also have to give me the secret to summon my own dragon's flame in dragon form," she reasoned as she saw him walk back to his team after his victory had been called.
"Deal," he said as his and the other team decided to join him in the ring instead of Shishiwakamaru just rolling the dice. "Come on, roll the dice again, I have an urge for three in a row," he said loud enough for the other team to hear.
Shishiwakamaru threw the dice and as they landed, everyone was thinking the same thing, except for Kuwabara who was hoping the opposite, that the dice would land on them.
"After rolling the dice, both fighters are in place for the third match of the semi-finals, now fighting for Team Urameshi, Kurama, and for Team Uraotogi, Ura Urashima, you may begin," Juri announced.
Kurama and Ura each took out a whip like weapon, "it looks like this match will be a duel of flashing weapons with Ura Urashima whirling his fishing line and Kurama wielding his trademark rose whip, this one's going to be all about skill," Koto commented. Both fighters began their movements, Ura using his fishing line and Kurama with his rose whip, both slashed and hacked at the other, only to be blocked by the other as well. "Wow, this is an incredible display of equally matched talents, and while there is no blood to speak of yet, those sparks keep me hopeful."
The two fighters continued to move about and clash in their whips as everyone watched the impressive amount of control over each weapon. "Kurama needs to stop fooling around and start fighting for real," Hiei commented.
"What, he's whip swinging like a maniac," Kuwabara noted.
"Have you learned anything, It's Kurama's obnoxious habit, he never creates his own strategy until he fully understands his opponent's," Hiei informed. Both fighters continued to slash away at each other as everyone looked on, then Hiei saw a single eye-blink of hesitation from them before continuing to fight. Ura seemed to slip at one point before Kurama made a move to knock the fighter out, only for said boy to disappear and tangle Kurama in his fishing wire before pulling and cutting the fox deeply.
"Hahahaha, I studied your fighting and found that your only weakness is your kindness, in that regard, I suggest you change the way you live your life, but it's too late now. How did you put up with this goody-to-shoes crap, I had to choke back some serious chunks while pretending to be an upstanding citizen, but does it feel good to be bad again," Ura said. "You're going to die just like grandma," he said again before he started to chase Kurama while swinging his fishing line. Kurama tried to run to the edge of the stage, but found his path blocked by string, "come on Kurama, give me some credit here, you didn't really think I was trying to hit you with those attacks did you, hook, line, and sinker, and you're the stupid fish."
"This was not part of my job description, isn't there anybody who can break me out of this thing, I'm not supposed to be in here," Juri commented herself quite fearfully.
"And before you get any ideas, know that my force field won't be shredded nearly as easily as that enchantress Ruka's, in fact it's impossible to break out from the inside. So, get comfortable, and let me introduce you to the Idunn Box," Ura said as he brought out a red box with gold markings on it. "Anybody other than the possessor who breaths it's air will quickly return to their younger age, back to those awkward adolescent years, the terrible two's, or even infancy. Once infected, you'll be so tiny and inexperienced, it'll be like taking candy from a, oh well, there's no point in cliché expressions, you'll see soon enough what I mean."
Ura opened the box and out came a white smoky mist that instantly enveloped the ring, and making Kurama hold his breath for as long as he could.
"You can't hold your breath forever," Ura said the obvious as the smoke stopped at the edge of the ring and didn't leave.
"Why isn't that stuff coming any closer, is it scared," Kuwabara asked.
"Maybe you don't understand the concept of force field," Hiei said as he noticed the girls all face palmed at the fool's stupidity, even Stella.
"Now I get why he's called the fool by everyone," Tecna commented.
"Wait to go Ura, I totally did it, I can feel I can feel his spirit energy getting weaker," Ura said from inside the barrier. "Maybe I went a little too far this time, hold on, his spirit energy completely vanished, that's not supposed to happen." Soon, a massive surge of spirit energy shot forth and soon a white fox-like shape came from the smoke before a humanoid form took its place. "Where in the world did this power surge come from, could have sworn that I felt his power weakening as he regressed all the way back," he obviously couldn't see the humanoid figure.
"I think, perhaps, I've regressed further than you intended, and just as I have come to accept my human captivity," a deep voice stated, "Yoko has returned, they cry."
Ura backed away in fear while exclaiming, "did you say Yoko, Yoko the spirit fox, Yoko the legendary bandit Yoko, what did you do with Kurama, I liked him a lot better."
"Oh, he's here, he's me, only now you've brought me out in full, thank you for that," Yoko Kurama stated and confirming the girl's and Hiei's suspicions.
"Yes, the ring is shrouded in fog, and with Jura MIA, who knows what fantastic action is happening within those cloudy walls," Koto commented.
"This has to be a nightmare," Ura said to himself.
"There is no room for fantasies or denial, you little vermin, be assured, I am alive," Yoko said to Ura as he appeared behind him.
"But the stories all say you're dead, you were caught, you were killed," Ura exclaimed in fear.
"Yes, I'm so flattered you've heard of me, but as you see, the stories were incorrect," Yoko said.
"It's like a thunderstorm in there, where's all that weird energy I feel coming from," Kuwabara asked.
"It's all Kurama, down to the last drop," Hiei stated with a vicious smirk on his face.
"But it's different somehow and a heck of a lot more powerful," the fool noted.
"Seems that fool he was fighting turned him back into his demon form before he was tainted by you humans, fifteen years ago, the spirit fox, Yoko Kurama, was thought to have been killed while escaping from a batched burglary. In desperation he hid himself in your world, using a human body to slowly recover his energy, he thought no one would find him, I did, and now we'll see what the purist form of Kurama can do," Hiei informed.
"Hiei, could you tell Kurama to knock it off or something, Flora is drooling all over the place up here," Bloom asked inside of his head.
"I can't not until the effects wear off, so you'll need to summon a bucket," Hiei replied as he watched or listened to what he could.
"Let's see, how best shall I deal with my pray," Yoko taunted.
"I'm barely making out two silhouettes in the center of the ring, which I can only assume is the combatants, but the voice I've just picked up with my ears doesn't sound like either of them. What in the world is going on, has another fighter entered the ring now, and what about Juri, she's still not reporting. Has she been a casualty in this shrouded fight, will I be forced to replace her in the ring," Koto commented.
"Wait I'm here, is it snack time yet mama," a young sounding Juri asked.
"Okay people, this is ridiculous, in addition to a new fighter, there seems to be a small child in the ring too," she commented again.
Yoko took a seed from behind his head and put spirit energy into it, it glowed for a moment before it grew and a red plant-like thing with red tentacles was around his arm. "Each branch of this tree has a mouth, and each mouth has saliva that will melt your bones in under a minute, though the pain will make each second seem like it's an eternity to you. I never take anything in battle personally you realize, it's only that I do not stand for trespassers, and that my death tree enjoys a good meal," Yoko informed.
Ura was now scare to death, "please help me, please help me, please help me, I'll do anything you ask me to, I'll fight for your team, don't melt me."
"Tell me the secret of the Idunn Box," Yoko ordered.
"Well, uh, I don't know about that," he said before the branches began to encroach upon him, "I just took what they gave me, ask Shishi, he's the only one who knows."
"I can smell when you're lying, it makes my tree want to eat you more," the fox said intimidatingly.
"Okay, I'll tell you everything, it's Onji, he and Shishiwakamaru, they came to us and said they'd give us anything if we fought, I'm not even Ura Urashima. We were all together, Makintaro, Kuro and me, they came to us and gave us special items and said we could all be high class like them, and that's not all, I can tell you who really gave us all the items." That was as far as Ura got before a sword entered the barrier and impaled him through the side of the neck.
"Just a lower-class beast, always the easiest of pawns," Yoko stated as the smoke began to clear up and revealed Yoko to the world.
"Hold up people, I've just seen my personal fantasy, sexy ears, a dreamy tail, who is this love god, Shishiwakamaru's sword is there too, stabbed in a beast. None of the original combatants are even in the ring, how in the world do we call this thing," Koto questioned.
"What did she just say, if she thinks she can make a move on my Kurama, she has another thing coming," Flora growled as her own killer intent was radiating off her.
"Kurama really is a fox thing, gee, and to think I let him near my kitten," Kuwabara mentioned.
Before much else could even be said, Yoko Kurama turned from the white-haired demon that had Koto staring at him, to the red haired Kurama that had Koto pouting and Flora staring at him.
"I can't explain it, my silver haired hunk has transformed into a, sadly, tailless Kurama, my whole weekend is shot," Koto commented and earned a glare from Flora that made her shiver a little.
"Kurama is the winner," Juri announced and earned another win for Team Urameshi.
"It's official and on the board, Team Urameshi keeps the lead over Team Uraotogi in the semi-final round three to zero," Koto commented.
What came next were really stupid to the girls, Kuwabara winning at rock paper scissors, then the fool losing to Shishiwakamaru going through something called the cape of no return. Then came the match between Shishiwakamaru and the masked fighter when she appeared, but then it was revealed the masked fighter to be the psychic, Genkai. Then the match got really interesting, especially when Shishi's banshee shriek attacked the audience, and forced Hiei to run up and stop it from hitting the girls with his own spirit energy. Then Shishi brought up a cage to fight Genkai, only for him to have his own energy used against him for Genkai's win.
Then Onji stepping in and taking on Kuwabara who appeared to fight the match, only to disappear again in a similar way as before. Then Genkai stepped up to fight with Onji, then she revealed he wasn't an old man to everyone and forced him to shed his disguise. He revealed himself to be someone wearing clown makeup named Suzuka, I'm sorry, the beautiful Suzuak. Then he lost pathetically to Genkai who used nothing but physical strength to take him down, and so the final match of the semi-finals went to Team Urameshi.
"That wasn't a very good win when you think about it, they opposing team only won twice, both against Kuwabara," Tecna pointed out.
"True, but that last fight against Suzuka was interesting, did you hear someone say featherweight when his shirt was ripped off," Musa asked.
"I think that was just you thanks to your advanced ears, I liked the look on Kuwabara's face when he learned that he was beat by not an old guy but a clown," Stella commented.
"Let's go join the others, we should celebrate getting this far," Bloom suggested before they all got up and went to where the others are walking down the hall in time to hear Botan say something about winning.
"I got a kick out of watching you fight Kazuma," Yukina said from his side.
"Why thank you Yukina, it's nice to see that someone appreciates my strategy, you see there was nobody worth wasting my energy on so I had the bad guys reveal their weaknesses so Genkai could knock them down," Kuwabara lied.
"More like you made a mess and Genkai had to clean up after you like someone always does" Shizuru corrected.
"Hey that stung, you take that back sis," he exclaimed.
"Just the truth bro," she replied back.
"Well no one cares," Kuwabara guessed.
"Actually, I'd like to hear it," Hiei spoke up.
"I would like to as well," Bloom said coming up from behind Hiei and hugging him.
"Stay out of this you two," Kuwabara ordered.
"Now children, behave," Botan chided nervously.
"I'm leaving," Genkai stated before walking off.
"It took all of us working as a team to make it this far," Kurama stated as Flora stood next to him.
"Not him," Hiei jibed.
"I fought just as many fights as you did," Kuwabara pointed out.
"And lost them both," he replied before taking Bloom by the hand and deciding to go for a walk with alone with her.
Cliff edge
Hiei and Bloom were by a cliff's edge with a fire ignited before them, it wasn't a campfire either, it was a pretty good-sized fire at the edge of the cliff overlooking the ocean. "I'm not sure how I'm going to teach you how to pull a dragon from your own dragon's fire Bloom, but at least for the tournament, I know that you can help me with something else," Hiei said.
"What would that be, I know that thanks to that Ruka woman that your arm is healed to the point where our two dragons aren't at constant war with each other when I heal you. What then could you need my help with, our dragon's fires are two different entities, mine is for life and yours's for death," Bloom inquired.
"We're going to combine them, your dragon's fire is closer to a deity in fairy society, while mine is on par with your dragon, yours was meant to bring life and not destruction like mine is. So, we combine your dragon, fairy magic, and my fires of the mortal flame to create a binding to contain the dragon within my arm, this should build my body to the point of withstanding the dragon. Not only that, but make the dragon more powerful for the final round of the tournament," Hiei explained.
"That's a wonderful idea, let's do it, it's not like we have much choice do we," Bloom said as Hiei ignited his hand with black fire and she ignited hers with her dragon's flame. They plunged their hands into the fire and watched as both fires mixed and shot forth from the bonfire and into the sky a little way before spreading out into four snakelike forms. They continued to merge their flames until it was almost perfected within a few hours, and just as it was close to perfection, a power surge came through the air.
"What was that," Bloom asked as she was knocked off balance by it and therefore canceled the flame findings.
"That felt like Toguro's energy, and I can sense a smaller energy, that of Genkai, they're fighting each other," Hiei stated.
"What will happen," she asked him, and then she saw the deep frown on his face, and she knew what that meant, "I see."
"Yes, Genkai will die, leaving us to face off on a four on four match-up, we'll have to get a substitute to fill the gap, as will Team Toguro," he surmised.
"I guess I could be the fifth member, Its not like I'll actually have to fight with the rest of you fighting," Bloom guessed.
"No, you can't be our fifth member, even if it'll be just a place holder in the end, you will only be a spectator. I won't allow you to participate, a stray energy blast can always be blocked, but I will not allow you to be in harm's way like that," Hiei declared.
"If I'm asked to be the fifth member, if as a place holder, I will be if I so choose," Bloom retorted.
"No, you will not, even if I have to knock you out and have the other girls take you back to Alfea before the fight, I will not hesitate to do so, I will not have you killed or risk it," he exclaimed with a glare and look in his eyes that not many see, care.
"Fine, I won't be the fifth member, but please don't die, I don't know what I'd do if I lost you," she said as they embraced each other.
Then the energy from Gankai completely disappeared, "Genkai has been finished," Hiei said when he noticed the change.
"I didn't really know her, but we could have learned a lot from her I bet, too bad we won't ever get to now," Bloom mentioned.
"Yes, it is a little saddening, but I have a feeling that she knew this was going to happen, but we need to practice, let's continue," he said and she nodded.