A/N: Man, I wish I was able to update every day like I had been, but I haven't been allowed such a luxury. Meh. Anyway, enjoy!

O/C20: Kurama, Misaki and Hiei find their way through the maze, finishing second place behind Team Lanora while Kuwabara, Yusuke, and Genkai find themselves facing off with Tie Ups...a strange bunch of clones that have the odd ability of regenerating times four for each one hit. They have to find the real one and take the key from him in order to move on through the maze.

--

"Stop!"

Kuwabara and Yusuke whipped around, looking for the danger that they heard in Genkai's voice. But they saw nothing. That wasn't exactly true. They saw a lot of copies, clones. In fact it was rather cramped in the room now.

"What are we supposed to be doing again?" Kuwabara shifted in a circle, completely surrounded by imitations and same-faces.

"We need the key to the exit baka." Genkai snapped, annoyed that she didn't see the happenstances sooner, "And this is getting us nowhere. There are over four hundred of them now."

"Why didn't you tell us you'd multiply?" Kuwabara sounded miffed.

"You didn't ask." They all responded.

"I hate that answer." Kuwabara mumbled. "So what now?" He asked in a louder voice.

"Oh man that felt good." Yusuke finally spoke up, enclosed like the other two by the Tie Ups. All of the mental strain without a chance to let off some steam the whole day had made his head hurt. But the pain was released with the fight and his mind was clear.

His face thoughtful, Yusuke peered into the faces of those around him, "Which one of you is it? Which one of you has the key?"

Rapidly the copies were sucked inward towards a singular point.

"Me." The other copies gone, one man stood alone in the center of the room. A grey key dangled from a chain tangled about his fingers.

Kuwabara's jaw fell agape. "You mean that was it? That's how we were supposed to find out which one of you had the key? Why didn't you say that in the first place?! ...Wait," Kuwabara shook his head, knowing what the answer was even as the man opened his mouth, "Don't tell me. We didn't ask."

The man smiled, tossing the key to Yusuke who caught it and twirled the chain in the air.

"Urameshi!! How did you know that's what you were supposed to do??" Kuwabara demanded.

Yusuke shrugged, "It was a rhetorical question. I didn't actually think he'd answer."

An irked expression lined the man's face as he realized he'd been duped. "You mean you just happened to ask that question out loud?" He scoffed.

Genkai shook her head, "Dumb luck as usual, Yusuke. I'm not surprised."

"Hey, it's me." Yusuke grinned.

The man vanished as the trio made their way to the door. The key fit perfectly and with a deft twist, the door opened outwards into another hall.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Yusuke groaned, "Whadwe do? Take the long way around?"

"It appears so. Stop your whining, slacker."

"Hey! I'm the one that figured out that last puzzle, grandma!"

"By sheer dumb luck, baka. Now move it! We don't know how much time we've wasted with that little stunt back there."

The two boys quickly followed after Genkai as she ran down the pathway.

--

"My legs are killing me!" Yusuke announced.

They had no idea how long they'd been running.

"I could run for a lot longer!" Kuwabara declared proudly.

"Shut up, Kuwabara, your legs are shaking."

"Are not!"

"Yes they are, look at 'em!"

"Quiet!" Genkai ordered, eyes shifting around the hallway.

The other two fell silent as they felt something surge up.

"You feel that?" Kuwabara asked softly.

"Yeah..." Yusuke stood with his hands in his pockets, scanning the area behind them. "Why is it that I get the feeling that standing in the middle of a long hallway is not the best idea right now?"

The ground under them shifted erratically and they fought to keep their balance. From the passage they just came out of, a huge rumbling noise, rocking and shaking, steadily grew louder.

"Run!" Genkai shouted, taking off in the direction they had been heading.

"Suddenly my legs don't hurt anymore!" Yusuke took off after her.

The three ran as a wall behind them turned the corner and chased after them.

"Not good!" Kuwabara yelled as he looked back.

"Keep running!" Genkai told him.

The wall gained, coming closer and closing in on them.

Genkai skidded to a stop as she noticed several hundred feet in front of them that a wall was moving forward, intending to smash the three together.

"Definitely not good!!" Kuwabara's head snapped back and forth between the two walls.

"Shut up and run!" Genkai advised, grabbing the two boys and shoving them into another hallway to their right. She ran behind them, glancing back to see the walls ram into one another at full speed, leaving them no escape route back.

The force with which the walls collided sent a huge shockwave outwards which caused the passageway to shake harder.

As the trio left the danger behind, the shaking lessened, though never quite receding completely.

"Is it just me or is it getting cramped in here?" Yusuke asked, continuing at a slight jog.

"Wait." Genkai halted, checking their surroundings.

The other two paused a little further on.

"No I don't think it's just you...it's definitely getting cramped." Kuwabara rapped on the hallway floor with his toe absently.

Genkai peered back down the hallway they just left, something irregular about the shadows. "Well I hope you've caught your breath."

"Not really, no. Why?" Kuwabara's gaze trailed after hers.

"Because the walls are closing in from either side."

"I don't see anything."

"Hey Kuwabara, come here." Yusuke was standing with one palm flat against one of the walls and he held his other out.

"You know, I really don't want to hold your hand, Urameshi." Kuwabara crossed his arms.

"Just get over here, numbskull." Yusuke said crossly, motioning that Kuwabara mimic his stance on the far wall.

Hesitantly, Kuwabara complied, one palm on the opposite wall and the other reaching towards Yusuke, but unable to touch his fingers. Within seconds their hands crossed.

"So how long do you think this hallway is, grandma?" Yusuke wanted to know.

"Longer than we'd like. Let's go."

They all took off running again and it seemed that the faster they ran, the more the walls closed in on them, cutting off their path. Soon, Yusuke and Kuwabara dropped back behind Genkai, not able to three abreast any longer.

"Yusuke, get in front of me." Genkai commanded as she hurtled along the corridor.

"Why do I have to get in front??"

"Just do it, dimwit!"

"Alright, alright."

They ran single file now.

"Hey why do I have to be in the back?!" Kuwabara shouted as the walls came closer.

"Think you can run as fast as a bullet?" Genkai asked Yusuke.

"Well I can certainly try!" Yusuke lifted his hands and pointed his finger down the passageway. "Spirit Gun!!"

The blue orb expanded at his finger tip, shooting off and making a clear path in front of them. The walls continued closing.

"Again!" Genkai saw that the hall was still too big for the attack to have an effect, "But wait for the right time!"

"Uh guys I really don't think I can run much longer!"

"This is no time to start being honest, Kuwabara!" Yusuke yelled back.

"I'm not kidding! This path's gonna be too small for me to fit!"

"Wait...wait..." Genkai eyed the walls on either side.

"Spirit Gun!!"

This time the shot echoed down the route, forcing the walls aside. The three raced behind it, keeping up as close as they could.

"I see a door!" Yusuke told them.

"Oh no not another one." Kuwabara groaned.

"I'll take a room over getting squished any day." Genkai informed him.

Yusuke burst through the doorway which had been blown apart by his two previous spirit guns, followed closely by Genkai.

"I can't make it, it's too small!!" Kuwabara panicked, his shoulders caught on either side.

Genkai reached around and grabbed his shirt sleeve, jerking his body sideways so that it would fit. He fell out from between the walls into the room, pulling his foot back just as they snapped shut inches from his toes.

Genkai, Yusuke and Kuwabara warily eyed the room, unsure if these walls were going to remain in place.

"Team Urameshi!" A large voice bounced off of the air, "Fourth and last place finishers of the maze. Time elapsed: thirteen hours, fifty nine minutes and fifty nine seconds. Time remaining: one second."

"Holy cow! That was cutting it close." Yusuke dropped to the floor panting.

"I didn't expect that being 'eliminated' meant the maze would go haywire." Genkai admitted, "But I suppose that's a good enough reason."

"Look we can talk about this later, okay?" Kuwabara interrupted, "But can we just get out of here? I really need a nap."

--

Every team was transported back to the center of the arena on completion of the maze and told that they would stay within the fighting ring until all teams came through the maze or were otherwise disposed of. So when Team Urameshi appeared at the center, the other three teams were scattered about, each sticking to their own group.

"Are you guys okay?" Misaki ran up to them, seeing the worn out look in their eyes and noticing the slight tremble in Kuwabara's step. In spite of herself and her silent promise, Misaki apprehension had remained as Kuwabara, Yusuke and Genkai did not appear in the arena.

"Oh yes, we're perfectly fine." Yusuke's voice dripped with sarcasm, "Despite the fact that we almost got squashed by moving walls and practically ran ourselves to death, we're doing just great! What about you?"

"Moving walls?" Kurama came up behind Misaki, Hiei trailing after.

"Apparently once past a certain point in the time limit, the maze begins to close up no matter who is still inside." Genkai explained.

"Thus eliminating whoever remains." Kurama finished, nodding. He closed his eyes, looking thoughtful though he was attempting to hide a grimace. The bite on his neck kept flaring up and each twinge came faster and stayed longer than the one before.

"Let's go." Misaki pointed to the exit, "They're letting us out now."

The two other teams were already making their way out of the coliseum, Team Urameshi and Team Koenma following.

On the way back to their room, they recounted to one other what happened after they split up.

"Nothing was as bad as the mirrors though." Kuwabara said at the end of the story telling.

"Says the one who couldn't find the exit." Hiei replied.

"Shut up half-pint!"

"What are you going to do about it? You weren't even fast enough to escape harmless little walls."

"I did so!"

"And with all of your body parts intact. That disappoints me. I would have bet you'd lose a leg if I had known about it. Maybe two."

"Do these guys ever stop?" Yusuke asked no one in particular.

"If they did, I would assume something was terribly wrong." Misaki answered.

Kurama smiled, agreeing. His shoulder involuntarily twitched as a stab of pain spiked over his neck.

Misaki noticed but didn't say anything, opening the door of the apartment.

"I never thought seeing this place would make me feel at home." Kuwabara marched straight to his room, Yusuke right behind him. They promptly collapsed on their beds and fell asleep.

"I'd better get going." Genkai turned to leave as Misaki shut their door, if only to block out a little of the snoring that went on beyond it. "I'll be here in time for the matches tomorrow."

"Well you're more than welcome to but there won't be any matches."

Genkai raised an eyebrow questioningly at Misaki, already partially in the hallway.

"They wouldn't want us to be worn out." She acted as though she was quoting someone, albeit mockingly. Her voice returned to normal, "So I guarantee that there won't be any matches. Well have a day to rest." She grinned, "Better be ready the next day, old girl, you've made it into the semi-finals."

"Oh I'll be ready, Misaki." Genkai retorted as she left, the door shutting behind her.

As soon as she was gone, Misaki turned on Kurama.

"Out! Out! Go!" She shoved him towards the door.

"Wha...I..." Kurama's face revealed his confusion.

"I saw that little twitch you had going. That bite is still bothering you! I thought Koenma took care of it! I would go and chew him out personally if I didn't think Tweedledee and Tweedledum in there could get into any trouble by themselves." She jerked her head towards Kuwabara and Yusuke's room. "And I will chew him out the next time I see him! Go, go, go!"

Kurama didn't have the chance to argue as Misaki bustled him out the door and on his way down the hall. He submitted to her pushing, letting himself be corralled towards the exit.

Knowing he was perfectly able to reach Koenma on his own, Misaki turned back as soon as she was sure he would go, returning to the apartment.

"Won't have him giving out on me." She mumbled as she stepped into the room, "And now he's got more than twenty-four hours to heal."

Hiei was gone by the time Misaki returned and she settled down on the couch, staring at the closed door behind which the two humans slept.

--

It's a little bit shorter than I like, but if I had gone on, the only good stopping place is a LOT longer than I want a chapter to be. And this way you don't end in a cliffhanger, heheh; if I had gone to the other point and stopped, it would have been this big cliffhanger. Ah well. I'm sure there will be plenty more of such opportunities.

-lotsm