A/N: It's really hard to write good fight scenes, I should know: I have done a few. It's so much easier just to be able to see it, like when you watch it in the yuyu anime, or read it in the manga. And there is no way I could ever draw that sort of stuff. What makes it so hard is that you have to describe everything that happens and sometimes words just don't cut it. Despite that, I do enjoy typing them and I hope you enjoy reading them.
I have to put this because I forgot it in the last chapter: Adominai's name is pronounced A-dome-in-I (the 'A' being pronounced like it is in 'fat' meaning rhyme the two)
O/C13: Kurama looses to a vampire youkai named Adominai, who manages not to kill him but makes it seem so by taking almost all of his energy; thus Kurama is pretty much out. Hiei wins his match against another of the Shadow Rider's team, someone by the name of Vamp who really doesn't get much face time as Hiei takes him out rather quickly. And now, it's Misaki vs. Carlisle.
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"Match Three, deciding fight for Bracket One. Begin."
Misaki started powering up her spirit energy, knowing full well that she was a beacon in the darkness for The Shadow Rider.
She heard Carlisle chuckle, a deep sinister chuckle that had rampaged freely across her mind, "Do you wish to die so quickly?"
"Try me." Misaki dared. She flexed the fingers of her right arm to loosen up the bandages covering it.
"As you wish." He hurtled towards her, powering up at the last instant.
Misaki barely had time to cross her arms over her face to block the blow. He tried to break through her defenses a moment longer, but he dropped his attack, falling back a few steps.
They could see each other now, purposefully. Their energy streamed from them, lighting the darkness and making it obsolete.
Carlisle's eyes flicked to her arm, them back to her face, "I'm glad to see that you've pulled yourself together."
Misaki scowled at him fiercely, lowering her hands a little but constantly vigilant for his next move.
They both lashed out at each other with their spirit energy and it contacted in the small space between them, crackling and fighting in mid-air.
Carlisle flew forwards again, their central auras surrounding their bodies clashing loudly.
Misaki fought back with both energy and body, blocking Carlisle's strikes and retaliating with her own.
They both struggled to engulf the other, prodding constantly to try and find a weak point in the energy around them.
Everyone who had any spirit awareness at all fixed their eyes on that half of the arena.
Ike's opponent stopped in mid-attack to gape open-mouthed at the other side.
"Come on, Misaki." Ike encouraged quietly.
Up at the highest point in the stands, three fair, blonde haired beings with heron wings watched the battle unfold below.
"Please Misaki..." Leanne whispered so that the other two couldn't hear her, "Please lose..." She looked over at her companions and shuddered, but they hadn't heard her.
"How can they see each other?" Kuwabara asked, able to easily see their energy but unable to follow their physical movements.
The huge clashes of their energy would spark and fight on contact, echoing throughout the coliseum.
"You can see them, why can't they see each other?" Genkai had trouble catching all of the punches and kicks the two titans threw.
Yusuke was silent for once, in awe at the power of might of what he was witnessing.
Carlisle grabbed Misaki's bandaged arm and turned it outwards. Misaki bit her lip. Holding back a shout of pain she used his grip as momentum for twisting about and kicking him aside. His hand slipped down her arm until he let go as he was throttled into the air, but his recovery was almost instantaneous and he rebounded quickly, going for her again, giving Misaki only a moment to clutch at her arm before she was forced to use it to block.
As the physical battle wore on, the two of them fought on other levels. Their energy dodged and slammed together, fighting as much as they did. But there was even a third level they battled on.
Carlisle struck at her again with his mind, but she pulled herself back mentally, retreating instantly behind the rock-solid barrier where he could not pursue her. He followed the strike up with a physically blow to her side, landing four good solid punches to various points on her body before she realized it. He delivered a kick to end the combo into her stomach and she was sent flying backwards head over heels. She latched into the ground with her hand, skidding then slowing and finally stopping seconds later, a long line of the floor pulled up by her fingers. She pushed off with that hand for momentum and she came at him again.
Even in the moments when they weren't in contact physically, the constant presence of their energy split the air with deadly precision, aimed hard and true at the other. But they were not ones to have such easy weaknesses and so the energy was only used to try and distract. The cracking noise coming from such attempts continued to echo in the ears of all who watched.
Everyone's eyes were transfixed on the two for minutes, hours, they didn't know. No one could tell how long the opponents ravaged against one another.
But they were equals in every way. These two could not gain an upper hand through any means they so devised. Punch, strike, block, slice, contact, pull back, recover, kick, slice, dodge, roll, hit, attack, counterattack; the effect was almost mesmerizing. These two could seemingly fight for eternity and no one would even notice that an instant of it had gone by.
There was still one weapon Misaki hadn't used. But for the first time in forever, she was hesitant, fearful almost. On the mental front, she remained completely defensive, only blocking his attacks, never striking out with her own.
The Shadow Rider had leant Amureo only a fraction of his power in order to be able to invade her mind. And even then she alone had not been able to find the strength to prevent the intrusion, to prevent him from tearing through her like Hiei's katana through Vamp's flesh.
"You are not alone." Hiei surged through her, the connection running deep within them. He knew the situation. He also knew that the two of them would in fact be fighting for practically eternity until one of them dropped dead from exhaustion unless Misaki overpowered him. And there was one last thing she could use. She was still hesitant.
Standing in the pool of light, the Jagan burned away Hiei's bandana as he released its power. It opened and stared forward into the darkness.
A vast amount of telepathic power coursed through Misaki. With the complete strength of Hiei and the Jagan, Misaki unleashed her mind fully and Carlisle reeled back, holding his head briefly in his hands. She struck him again, coming forward with a fist too that connected with his jaw as he looked up at her. His neck popped with the strain.
Misaki sent a barrage of punches towards him but after the first one he blocked the rest. But he was completely on the defensive, on all levels, concentrating on not being overwhelmed.
While keeping him busy physically and mentally, Misaki began gathering every bit of spirit energy within her.
The gathering coliseum crowds had never felt that much power before. And the signature of the energy was unmistakable at such a great concentration. One name started to pass over everyone's lips.
Abruptly the building shook with the torrent of cheers for the infamous being they all knew.
Ike bowed his head and smirked, "She couldn't keep it a secret forever."
"Do you hear that Misaki?" Carlisle laughed.
Faintly over the din of battle, Misaki began to hear the roar of the watchers; the roar that was of her name. Her legend would not be swayed and their shouts grew in number as word spread like wildfire through the tournament grounds.
Adrenaline already rushing with the pulse of the fight, Misaki continued to find new strength with the crowd's chant.
She smiled dazzlingly, "Carlisle dear, you are beaten." She took a step forward, driving him back with her presence, energy and mind, "I intend on wiping that silly little smirk off of your face even if I'm forced to pummel your head into the ground."
"Oh but I have you figured out, Misaki sweetheart."
Their pet names for each other came not from any romantic background; it was more like a taunting phrase.
Misaki pushed her form to the limits, feeling her molecules dancing farther and farther apart. They sang to her, buzzing with almost maximized energy; at least the max energy they could take and still keep her substantial. She found that the newfound power that was locked away which she had accidentally released on Amureo was in fact at her beck and call. She delved into it, not wondering for an instant why The Shadow Rider was withstanding her assault.
Two entities whose names she'd never forgotten pulsated within her, lending her their limitless power. They had died for her the second time she had come to the Tournament of Threes, dying to give her their strength.
Misaki's atoms threatened to pull apart her solid form and yet she continued to let the energy flow out into the air around her.
The crowd grew hushed as the power continued growing. They felt the foundations of the coliseum shifting and quaking beneath them but they were frozen to their seats.
In just a split second of time, Hiei questioned how much good he was doing. He realized that he was in fact Misaki's anchor to her human form, keeping her from completely pulling apart. He felt separated from the absolute force with which she was attacking Carlisle. The answer came to him that if he was connected to that force, it would utterly consume him and he would no longer exist; with just a slight adjustment, such a thing could happen.
Carlisle laughed again and his eyes began to glow a throbbing red color.
Misaki knew she was triumphant; her spirit energy was encircling and choking his away.
She drew back her arm and landing a blow to his chest with such force that his black trench coat ripped along the bottom and on the cuffs, rippling madly behind him.
His clothes flapped and waved as though he was standing up against a torrential wind storm, feet planted firmly in the ground and forearms crossed in front of his face.
"You always make one fatal mistake, Ansat." He spat.
Misaki's anger erupted at the insulting abbreviation of her name, her might responding in kind and shooting higher. She paused briefly though at his unstrained statement. He was not being affected.
"You have a tendency to create ties to this world that you do not belong in." He went on acidly but with a sense of success in his words.
The Elements were not meant to be of the world, they could not interfere. She and Hiei's mind rushed thinking of people of the human, spirit and youkai world that she knew and cared for over the years. And eventually lost. There was sound reasoning behind Elements not becoming involved. They left behind those they became close to, moving on but oftentimes outliving them. The pain and sorrow greatly outweighed what little good they could do by concerning themselves with those who were not of their own.
Misaki didn't notice Carlisle's eyes flicking over to where Hiei stood. She almost had him covered completely, his defenses breaking off.
The Shadow Rider took the meld between Hiei and Misaki in his mental grasp and snapped them apart.
Time seemed to stop as the effect of the sudden split took its toll.
Hiei dropped lifeless to the ground, his mind completely empty. The Jagan's howl rang throughout the minds of all within a ten mile radius and then it fell silent. Hiei's brain was no longer able to tell his lungs to breath or his heart to beat so entwined had his mind been in hers.
The people in the stands weren't able to focus because of the Jagan's screech which rattled them to the core.
After that, time unfroze and Misaki's hand was around Carlisle's throat. Her eyes were white again and her hair billowed around her head.
"And you always make the same fatal mistake, Shadow Rider." Three voices spoke out of Misaki's lips.
Carlisle realized that his move did not have the effect on Misaki that he had thought it would.
Misaki's molecules were no longer cheering with joy in their power; they screamed in agony and longed to rip themselves apart.
"Underestimating me." She engulfed his energy.
Hellfire, The Shadow Rider. Carlisle. He was being burned by Misaki's anger. And yet, she was unable to find a desire within herself to kill him. She held on, taxing his strength, making him helpless. She felt her molecules begin to drift around her and her substantiality wavered.
What had changed him? She did not know. At one time, The Shadow Rider had been a completely different person, though still just as much trouble.
Carlisle would be out for a few days, but he would survive.
Misaki released him and he fell face down, immobile.
"Bracket One, match over. Team Koenma victors. Bracket Two, match over. Team Ike victors."
The lights came back on and a gasp went up from the crowd. Misaki Ansatsusha lay defeated on the floor.
--
Holy cow. Okay so I've found that all of the chapters in the ToT series are like three thousand words long...my average in Ansatsusha was like 2500...no wonder this series is going to be shorter. Therefore, I have ended the chapter here. Yes it is a lot shorter but I mean come on, the cliffhanger is perfect. Too perfect. So I had to end this chapter here. Haha.
It's a big insult for Carlisle to shorten Misaki's title to simply 'Ansat'. Why? Well Ansatsusha means assassin and so ansat... Do you get it now? Right. And shortening a title to produce such an insulting term is a big deal. Because I say it is.
-lotsm