RAWR: Heya people! Thanks to my reviewers you all get another chapter :D Please forgive me if this seems slow paced, it will pick up soon I promise!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho, trust me.
Claimer: I own this plot and Gabriel, yeah, she's mine too.
"Papa, what is that?" The sharp gleam of a needle in an otherwise black world.
"This will make you perfect, my child," a nod, a scream of pain and then nothing.
"My prefect killing machine,"
Gabriel wakes up, her eyelids opening in a normal, almost lazy manner. Her breathing is normal as well, and nothing gives away the horrifiyingly real dream- memory- she woke from.
Deep within her, however, past the barrier upon barrier of absolute nothingness beat a strange, unfamiliar feeling. It could be hurt, maybe remorse, even fear was a possiblity but Gabriel could not identify it. Emotions, they were useless, they get in the way of orders.
It's better to snuff them out before they even develope.
She sits up in her bed, still clad in her clothing from yesterday. From her long sleeve she draws a needle, full of a purple tinged clear liquid. She raises the sleeve on her right arm exposing skin so white that it's developed a sickly hue. It's litter with imperfections, self-made, and another is added to it as the needle finds a vein and injects its liquid.
The feeling that bubbled in Gabriel's cold heart was snuffed out rather fantastically. Her heart returned to its usual state of apathy and beat a regular, steady tune.
She didn't bother to seal the hole in her arm, the skin had already began to knit itself together. It would scar. She didn't care.
She didn't care about anything, anyone, the purple poison flowing through her veins saw to that.
She brushed her long, ragged hair with her fingers absentmindely. The side effect of the injection was a temporary dullness of the mind so that the brain could get use to the absence of emotions.
Her cloak was a bit wrinkled but seemed to be no worse for wear. It had miraculously attained no bloodstains on the boat battle. Its collar still held high and it clasped securely so no percentage of her body could be seen.
Her pointed ears twitched at the sound of grumbling, singaling the human Kuwabara was awake. Both demons had been up since Gabriel, she sensed their prescences lounging about in the living area. Hiei's aura was tinged with blood lust while Kurama held a distinct calm, calculating air about him.
Good, she probably would not need to look out so much for the two of them. The humans would be her top priority then, though Yusuke's life was more important than Kuwabara's. At least, that's what she had been ordered. Gabriel didn't care much either way. A force inside her, antsied by the shot, whispered in her mind.
There will be so much blood. It will rain from the sky and blacken the arena.
Yes, there will be blood.
The stadium was packed fully of ugly demons who screamed and ranted, raving for blood and bits of flesh to fly into the air. Gabriel thought them disgusting, worthless creatures whose only purpose was to provide food for the higher ranking demons.
Yusuke was still knocked conscious, recovering from his turmulous training. Against Kuwabara's wishes, Gabriel carried him into the arena, slung over her shoulder like a satchel.
Koto announced both teams presences and their's received a parade of insults and boos. Gabriel ignored them and made her way onto the platform, where Team Rykuukai stood across from them. Her eyes met their blonde leader's and he narrowed them in hatred.
Apparentally getting thrown out on his ass by a girl was bad for his image.
Koto declared that the two team leaders would have to decide the procedure of the battles.
Well, this presents a dilemna. You can solve it, just slit all their throats.
"Well Kuwabara, seems like you'll have to make the call," Kurama stated much to Kuwabara's delight. When Yusuke mumbled some inane things in agreement it seemed set and Kuwabara walked forward to stand across the blonde fighter.
"I don't care how we fight this thing," he drawled out, seeming to sneer lightly at Kuwabara. "It won't make any difference in the end."
Kuwabara grit his teeth, "Fine. One-on-one, that's how real men fight after all." His voice was slightly mocking.
Koto announced their final decision and Kuwabara turned away. The other team had already exited the stage, all except Ziiru. He looked with narrowed eyes at the sleeping form now propped up against Gabriel's shoulder.
All of a sudden flames erupted from around him, spiraling around their master and putting on a fantastic show of spiritual energy.
Someone of his class with the power of fire, interesting. Kurama thought as he narrowed his own eyes at the flames. He also kept an eye on the female standing next to him. He felt the tension of her muscles increase subtly, as they never truly relaxed, and noticed that she slightly, ever so slightly, shifted her body. This positioned Yusuke further away from the male in front of them and also would allow her a better offensive while protecting their sleeping leader.
Curious.
"Hiei, we had better be careful with this one," he told his friend, only because he knew that the chances of him going against the blonde were high. Hiei himself was a fire apparation, he would leap at the chance to go after somebody in control of his element.
Kuwabara stole Yusuke from Gabriel's grip, though only because she allowed him to. He started shaking the boy, yelling at him to wake up. His attention was snapped to Gabriel though when she stepped in front of the group, cold grey eyes narrowed on the flames.
"What the..." He mumbled just as the fire came torwards them.
It came to Gabriel first but, with the slightest hint of flaring purple, it was deflected; instead it was sent tearing through the demons in the stands.
The flesh blisters and burns so prettily.
Kuwabara once again starting yelling at his captain while Hiei and Kurama regarded their new teammate.
"She seems to be quite firm in protecting us," the kitsune said.
"Hmph, as long as she doesn't intefere I won't have to kill her," Hiei replied, crossing his arms. He firmly ignored his curiosity while Kurama perked up even more at the challenge. Within him Youko growled, irritated at the familiar presence that he could not place.
They left after and waited to see who the team would send up first. It was the child, Rinku, who walked with such an air of confidence that even Gabriel wanted to taste his blood.
It would feel us so nicely, please make him bleed.
No, she told herself, not yet. Our orders are clear. Protect outside the ring. We'll have our turn soon enough with the fools seeking glory.
"Ch, that brat's definitely mine," Kuwabara muttered, walking onto the ring with his own swagger about him.
The fight that ensued was spectacular. The human was being brutalized, yet he did not give up and seemed to even gain some strength through either sheer determination or stupidity. Gabriel was inclined to believe the latter and watched the fight with bored eyes.
Her aura though, Kurama noticed, became slightly darker as the fight progressed. Like any other demon it was plausible that she was affected by the same kind of blood lust. For some reason, however, the lust had tinged her more quickly than the others.
He narrowed his eyes at her. Was it possible that she was easier effected by the more primal instincts compared to other demons? It seemed implausible, given her emotionless demeanor, yet something in Kurama told him that that was the case.
Inside him Youko continued to shift uneasily. He scented another predator like himself and it made him eager in only the way that fighting another being like himself could.
His attention was brought back to the fight when Kuwabara was announced the loser. He wish he could say he was surprised, but his calculating mind had already come up with the outcome. It's not that he didn't have faith in his teammate, it was just that he, or rather the being inside him, was just too experienced to not have a sixth sense about those kind of things.
The next creature to step up with purple skinned with an air that screamed treachory. He would not be playing by the rules, if there were such a thing in the tournament, and he already had something up his sleeve. His voice reminded Gabriel of a character from a movie she had once overheard the Ogres watching. It was a Transylvanian assistant to a mad doctor who ended up betraying him for a vampire lord. (1)
Kurama smirked before stating he would handle this one. As he passed her he made eyes with Gabriel, who regarded him with the look akin to that of a detached stranger.
Something in those thunder eyes made him internally shiver and Youko paced restlessly.
"We can't afford to take chances Kurama. Don't leave the stadium with him still breathing," Hiei told his crimson haired teammate. Kurama nodded before going to stand on the stage, regarding his opponent with a calm air.
Gabriel looked over when Botan jumped down into the pit with them. She had sensed the girl earlier, along with two human females and Koenma. She had been counting the seconds that the girl would make herself known. She wasn't known for her patience after all.
"All right boys I'm here. Now let's get this started," the peppy girl announced.
Kuwabara looked at her confused while Hiei just sneered, "Leave before you end up getting yourself killed."
The girl humphed lightly to herself, "Well, that's not a polite thing to say to someone who is here to help you." Hiei dismissed her words but Kuwabara did not.
"Wha? You mean you're gonna' fight for Urameshi?" The expression on his face was incredulous. Botan gave him a look.
"No silly boy! You see," she tore off her kimono to reveal another outfit, this one somehow more athletic, than the last, "in addition to Detective's Assistant and Piloter of the River Styx I am also a certified trainer!"
Kuwabara quickly brightened at the news while both demons gave her deadpanned stares.
"Good! So maybe you can take a look at-" Botan ignored the wounded human in favor of going over to the still unconscious Urameshi.
"Spirit World to Yusuke! Wake up!" She slapped him across the face mutliple times untill a pale, deathly cold hand stopped her. She looked up confused into the cold eyes of Gabriel.
She knew the girl's orders, yet she still accosted the human while he was asleep. Gabriel didn't care who she was, she would kill the Reaper if she interefered with orders.
Botan gulped, while Hiei just observed from his peripheral vision.
"None of that will work, the boy is determined to stay unconscious," he told the girl who was still looking at Gabriel with wide frightened eyes.
"R-right, well I'll just move him in that case," she grabbed the boy's ankles but was stopped by Gabriel, who merely picked the boy up before laying him up against the wall of the stadium. She would stick near him to ensure his safety should any of the pairs' attacks stray his way.
The match started as everyone on the team had assumed, well, the two demons anyway. They watched Kurama nimbly dodge the oaf's attacks with a smirk on his face.
"Hm, it's a pity you couldn't be pitted against this imbecile, he's clearly no match for Kurama," Hiei taunted Kuwabara. "Kurama then could have dealt with the little child and his toys."
Kuwabara growled back, "Hey! I got cheated shrimp!"
His attention soon reverted back to Kurama.
"Hey, where does Kurama keep his rose whip? It's pretty big and all the places I can think of sound pretty uncomfortable," he directed his questions down to the demon next to him, whose attention never wavered from the fight in front of him.
"Kurama simply keeps a regular rose hidden in his hair. It becomes a whip when Kurama feeds it his spirit energy. Even simple weeds will become deadly weapons when in Kurama's hands."
Gabriel ignored them, keeping her eyes on the fight before her. Her eyes narrowed when the demon unveiled his trickery, threatening the life of Kurama's earthly mother. It caused Kurama to hesitate for a brief second and the demon managed to slice thinly on his cheek.
Hiei and Kuwabara looked on, flabbergasted at the sudden role change. They listened with rising anger as the demon reveiled his plan.
Hmm, of course a demon of such low class would have this trick up his sleeve, Gabriel thought off-handedly. Famial bonds meant nothing to her anymore so she had no idea about the anguish that Kurama was no doubt dealing with. She could, however, read the conflicting emotions in his green eyes.
What will you do fox? Forfeit your life and that of your teammate's, or condemn the woman who bore your earthly body. Better pick quick fox before the arena becomes stained with your beautiful blood.
She got her answer when Kurama abruptly stopped moving, allowing the demon to clobber him as he pleased. His attacks were still weak, as he was a weak demon, but they accomplished their mission of humilating the fox beyond recognition.
All the while the demon taunted him, gloating now that he possessed the upper hand in their little match.
Gabriel briefly contemplated just killing the demon outright, but she wasn't allowed to intefere in any battle not her own. What a pity, it was always pleasant to hear the screams of weak demons as she stole the power from their grasps.
It wasn't long until Kurama threw a seemingly harmless pebble at the demon. Nobody seemed to have saw the real intention behind it. Nobody save for Hiei and Gabriel saw the almost unseeable seed that burrowed itself into the demon's chest.
The pebble did its job of distracting the idiotic demon.
"Ha! Did you really think a little pebble would do anything to me?" The demon laughed out, stopping his attacks momentarily to laugh at Kurama.
"You were warned! When I press this button your mother will meet her unsightly death!" The demon exclaimed. "But I won't press it if you fold your arms and let me do with you as I please."
Kurama did as the demon said but his calm look never wavered for even an instant. The demon grinned in satisfaction.
"Wow, for some reason Kurama has become completely obedient to his opponent," Koto announced, causing Gabriel to turn to her with a strange glint in her stare. The vixen was so close to the battle, yet she didn't even glimpse the trick Kurama had pulled on his opponent.
How pathetic.
"What the hell? Kurama!" Kuwabara screamed at his teammate.
"Quiet fool," Hiei stated calmly, eyes intent on the fox's actions.
Gabriel looked on as a wave of cheers sounded from the stands, all the demons exclaiming that the demon that brainwashed his 'human' opponent. Something inside her itched at the knowledge that someone was going to die soon in a very bloody manner, and it wasn't going to be Kurama.
The demon continued to taunt Kurama, punching him and kicking him around like a puppet. Soon enough he got angered over the boy's calm stare.
"I hate that look," he said as he sliced a line into Kurama's cheek. "Despite humiliating you, you still have that look like you're better than me."
That's because he is. Swine like you don't last too long with the big demons that go bump in the night.
Only when the demon told Kurama to lick the scum off his shoes did the redhead finally break his helpless persona. Dusting the dirt of his shoulders he told the demon to press the button, he could do it any time he wished.
"Ha! Your true nature shows. You're nothing special, just a low-class demon like the rest of us!"
"Push it," Kurama demanded, leveling him with that same calm, infuriating stare. The demon went to do as told when he became immobile, arm raised in preparation to push the button. The smirk returned to Kurama's face as he walked up to the demon's frozen figure, smacking the remote out of his hand and catching it just as quickly.
"Relying on one trick isn't too smart. What if I didn't care or," his smirk took on a devilish quality, "what if I could just make you immobile."
"Wow folks, I don't know what just happened but it seems like Kurama has taken back control!" Koto exclaimed in her microphone while the demon stuttered, confused.
"I've sewn the seed of the Death Plant into your body," Kurama explained, his stance nonchalent and emerald eyes victorious, "it's had plenty of time to take root."
The demon gasped in shock once he realized that a small, almost unnoticable bud had sprouted from his chest. The area around it was irriated and red and made something within Gabriel claw and rage.
The demon quickly began to pleade for mercy as Kurama exited the stadium.
"Come on, I never would have pressed the button! You believe in mercy, don't you?" The demon's words caused Kurama to pause and glance back over his shoulder with cold green eyes.
"No," and a beautiful plant burst forth from the demon's body. He dropped dead to the ground, the flowers sprouting from him like beautiful weeds from a grave.
Gabriel's hand unnoticably twitched and she became aware of something akin to anticipation burning in her veins.
What? Something is in here, something unwelcome.
The holes in her arm began to burn softly and she had to keep her brow from furrowing.
Before anymore could be said she exited the pit, hiding herself in the shadows of the hallway leading to the arena. After making sure she was hidden from view she drew another needle, still full of liquid, from her sleeve. She raised said sleeve up to the crook of her elbow, still covering the majority of her scars.
Quickly she injected herself with the substance. It reacted quickly, blocking off the bubble of emotion that had began to bubble inside of her. She waited against the wall for the side effect to pass, realizing subconsciously that the two demons would notice if her mind became dull.
Memories flashed in her mind, flitting away before she could full catch them in her grasp. Deep inside her worry took root. Two injections so close to one another were not good, something must be wrong.
After years of subjecting herself to the needle her body must have developed an immunity to the regular doses. She would need to talk to Koenma as soon as possible.
Once she regained her clarity she made her way back into the arena, just in time to witness Hiei obliterate his competition with the use of the Dragon of the Darkness. Something within her would have usually stirred at the power, but since nothing did the medication must have been working once more.
She stood once again off from her teammates, aware that Yusuke would soon awaken. So she stood by herself, merely observing the going ons around her.
She was completely unware of the green eyes trained upon her, watching her since her little adventure into the hallway.
Hmm, it seems theres more to this than meets the eye.
We must find koenma soon.
Agreed.
RAWR: Soooo, watcha think? Review people!
(1) Reference to Van Helsing, which I do not own... It's an effing amazing movie though XD