Disclaimer – "Yu Yu Hakusho" and all known related characters do not belong to me. I get no monetary benefit from this. My benefit is the enjoyment of dealing with beloved characters.
"What Goes Around . . . "
by DragonDancer5150
Chapter 19 – Dungeon Run
At last, all four had successfully gained the ledge into what appeared to be an old lava tube, with active magma still burning somewhere beyond. The glow came from the ceiling of the new tunnel in which the foursome found themselves. The rock was igneous in nature, black and more porous than sea sponge, which did not bode them any better. The air was unbearably hot and stuffy, so that breathing was difficult. The only redeeming quality was that the intense heat started to melt the goo from their clothes. Yusuke glanced over his friends and shook his head. They would look almost comical if he weren't feeling so sick all of a sudden from the overwhelming heat. "Come on, guys," he muttered, the intolerable temperature sapping his strength. "The sooner we get moving, the sooner we get out of this oven - I hope." The others nodded wearily.
The trek might have been only forty or fifty yards, the glow slowly fading from the ceiling as they went, but it felt like hundreds as the small group trudged along as fast as they could bring themselves to do. At length, a side tunnel yawned open and the group gladly took it. They followed it for another hundred yards or more, the heat dying quickly to return to the chill of the deep underground.
Yusuke paused to squeegee white slime from his arms as he allowed the group to take a break. He growled silently at the chief admin, wondering for the millionth time how the bastard expected Kurama and Hiei to survive a fight with this Bokuma guy. Hiei leaned against the porous wall, eyes closed, a pinched expression on his face. Kurama stood rubbing his shoulder, absently working his injured hand.
Kurama's eyes raised to meet Yusuke's and he managed a small grin, reading his friend's worried brown eyes. "We will be fine. Fortune has been with us so far."
Yusuke scowled deeply, not wanting to think what would happen if Fortune decided to change her fickle mind on them. With a deep sigh, he leaned back on the igneous wall.
Click.
8 8 8 8 8
The sound was so soft, Kurama almost missed it, though Hiei's sharp hearing caught it. "Down!" Hiei barked, shoving Kuwabara to the porous ground. Yusuke and Kurama obeyed instantly, ducking just in time not to lose their sight to the tiny darts that suddenly filled the air.
Kurama dared not raise his face to see how the others fared. They were being pounded from all sides, it seemed. No, not all sides, Kurama corrected, just the ceiling and two walls. This entire stretch of corridor is filled with convenient holes for missiles. I just hope the floor - ! He jumped as a barrage of thorns pelted him in the belly and other tender regions. A shriek of "What the hell - !" from Yusuke confirmed that the others were suffering the same - and the attack was not letting up. "Damn! Everyone, move!" Kurama ordered. Throwing one arm over his face, he reached out for his nearest companion. Hiei hissed in pain as Kurama jerked on his unstable arm but the thief decided he could apologize later. Slowly he crawled, dragging Hiei, to a bend in the corridor several yards further along the tunnel. Rounding the corner, he escaped the punishing assault. He dropped Hiei and turned to catch Yusuke as he stumbled past. Kuwabara joined them a second later, growling as he pulled inch-long needles from his arms and face.
"Great," Yusuke grumbled as he, too, turned to the task of clearing the darts from his flesh, "now Bokuma wants to turn us into a bunch of freakin' pincushions! Ouch!"
"Thankfully, they are not poisoned . . . nor are they designed to penetrate too deeply," Kurama observed, plucking one from the back of his neck and studying it. "It would seem that they are meant to be an irritant more than anything."
"Well, kudos for him! I'm successfully irritated!" Yusuke snapped. "Can you quit admiring Bokuma's handiwork long enough to help me dig it out of my damned shoulder blades? They hurt like hell!"
Kuwabara summoned his Spirit Sword for better light and the foursome spent the next several minutes cleaning themselves and each other of the barbed darts, Kurama pocketing a handful. "They may yet prove to be of use" was his only explanation. No one bothered to disagree.
Kuwabara was the first to notice the faint light tinting the wall opposite another bend in the tunnel beyond their resting point. They approached cautiously, rounding the corner to yet another chasm splitting an enormous cavern. This one was about as wide as the first where the stone bridge had given way from under Hiei and Kurama. Torches burned atop low poles at either end of a wooden bridge spanning the chasm. Rather than having a frame to anchor it to the rock ledges, the bridge seemed to be suspended from thick cables attached to the ends of the handrails, the top ends of the cables disappearing into the shadows among the stalactites. The bottom of the chasm was farther than even Hiei's darkvision could see. The rock here was still the same rough, porous igneous as the tunnel behind them. There were no other ways off this small shelf of rock upon which they stood, except to climb down the rock face an uncertain distance, slicing their hands open on the unforgiving stone. Kurama was the first to approach and inspect the bridge.
"Trap," Hiei muttered sardonically.
"Hey, if that ladder fell over back there," Kuwabara reasoned, "a bridge isn't gonna go up on its end and dump us down that hole or anything, is it?"
Kurama shook his head. "I would be willing to bet that it is not rigged quite that way. The bridge almost seems to hang from these cables at either end. There is no center fulcrum that I can tell. Even if all the cables snapped, there is enough of each end of the bridge resting across the lip of the rock . . ." His voice died out as he continued to consider alternatives.
"Only one way to find out," Yusuke growled, "unless anyone's up for going back through that friggin' dart tunnel to find another way out of the lava tube." When no one commented, he deliberately stepped onto the bridge and strode out, his gait and posture seeming to dare the bridge to spring some foul trick on him. It obliged.
He did not make it halfway across, the others close on his heels, when something snapped under his foot. What happened next was almost too fast for anyone's mind to register. The bridge folded up around them, hinged in five sections. The center stretch, upon which most of them stood, stayed level beneath them but the sections just fore and aft folded upright, pitching Kurama - who had been playing rearguard - off his feet into Kuwabara and Hiei. The ends of the bridge met smoothly over the group's heads. The bridge's handrails had also broken into sections, overlapping into a lattice-work configuration to make the last two walls of the newly-formed hanging cage.
Stunned silence dominated the cage for just an instant before Yusuke bellowed in sudden, ranting frustration. "AARRRGGGHHHH! Stupid bridge! Stupid traps! STUPID MAZE!"
"Uh, Urameshi - ?"
"No, Yusuke, don't - !"
"SPIRIT GUN!"
The foursome grabbed at the walls and each other as the blast sent the cage spinning in a crazy, mid-air dance. In spite of going almost green with the nausea from his concussion, Hiei managed to spit out, "Nice work, detective. Feel any better?"
"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do, Hiei."
"I'm . . . gonna be . . . sick . . . " Kuwabara warned them.
"Please," Kurama implored, turning a slight shade of green himself, "do it out the window Yusuke just provided us!" He had yet to pick himself up off the floor of the cage.
The bridge-cage had no sooner begun to slow its sickening caper when it dropped without warning. The four yelped in unison as their pen descended in a freefall for at least a dozen yards before bouncing to a halt at the end of the cables once again. However, it continued to drop, the rock faces zipping upward past them at an alarming rate.
"N-now what?" Yusuke stammered, his heart in his throat.
"I dunno," Kuwabara responded, equally shaken. "Maybe you pissed somethin' off with yer Spirit Gun!"
Kurama had managed to struggle to his feet. "We need to stop our fall somehow!" He was forced to yell to be heard over the wind rushing past their ears.
"Sorry, buddy!" Yusuke hollered back. "This model of elevator didn't come with an emergency brake - !"
The cage came to a violent halt. All four were thrown off their feet to the wooden floor only to smash right through. They dropped a short distance into water below and came up gasping and hissing in pain. Kurama's first impression was that they had fallen into acid but he quickly recognized the thick reek of brine in his nose. The burning sensation came from salt water irritating the multitude of dart wounds that covered him. He followed his companions as Kuwabara once again lit his Spirit Sword and they splashed their way noisily to the shore of the small lake, muttering curses under their breaths.
Yusuke staggered up the rocks, panting from exertion. "Is everyone all right?"
"Depends on your definition," Hiei growled through clenched teeth. Kurama reset his shoulder again.
"As long as we are still in one piece so far - " Kurama felt Hiei tense suddenly under his hands, as though remembering something. "What is it?"
Hiei did not answer right away, listening intently. "I find," he commented slowly, "that after a trap that draws blood, Bokuma likes to follow up with blood beetles."
Kurama stiffened. "That would not be good."
"Eww," Kuwabara uttered in disgust. "I don't think I like the sound of that."
"Me, neither," Yusuke agreed, watching the thief and assassin closely. "Kurama, you've heard of these things?"
Kurama nodded, lips tight in a frown. "A blood beetle is an animal of the Demon Realm. They are the size of small housecats and can be found in large numbers in dark, dank places - "
"Like a cave," Yusuke growled. "Perfect."
"Such as caves, yes. They feed on . . . well, I know that they feed on Yoki. They may or may not be drawn to Reiki as well. I have never known a human to come across a blood beetle. They are blind but they are drawn by sound . . . and by blood. It is through blood that they feed on one's energies. Another thing - their bite causes pain and swelling - and paralysis of the affected limb. It is only temporary . . . but lasts long enough."
"Dammit!" Yusuke swore. "This place just doesn't let up, does it?"
"You were expecting anything less?" Hiei queried caustically. "I tried to warn you. You're the one who insisted on coming along anyway."
"Yeah, yeah - whatever," Yusuke huffed unhappily, waving him off. "So, how long does it take for these things to show up?"
The foursome surveyed their surroundings. They stood at the edge of a large subterranean lake, the other side far beyond reach of the light from Kuwabara's sword. The shore was a few dozen yards to the rock face, ground and wall both filled with crags and broken hidey-holes among the rocks. Four doorways pierced the long rock face.
"Bets on which one leads outta here?" Yusuke muttered sarcastically.
"Prepare yourselves," Hiei warned tightly, his sharp ears finally catching the sounds for which he had been listening. His sword was already drawn.
A skittering sound filled their ears as numerous black shapes flowed from the crags in the rocks, quickly filling the space between them and the doorways. The creatures were a nightmarish cross between rats and insects, with long jumping legs ending in clawed feet, ears like antennae, and wicked, spider-like fangs under a fur-coated carapace. A long, whippy tail dragged along behind them, lashing back and forth in anticipation.
"Hey, quick!" Kuwabara gasped. "They're blockin' the way to those doors!"
The blood beetles made the first move, swarming at the four. Yusuke concentrated Reiki into his fists and punched at those that leaped for him, the closest victim. He grimaced as their armored bodies burst open and their ichor washed over him. "Oh, the hell with that! Shotgun!" Kuwabara and Hiei slashed through the creatures, swords carving a ready path to the nearest doorway. Kurama barely got his rose in hand and transformed before the quickest beasts were upon him. The Rose Whip cut through them easily enough, clearing those immediately around him, but there were many and he was tiring. He could think of only one option. As the others pressed forward, he retreated, hissing as his foot went back into the stinging water.
Hiei turned to locate his friend, surprised at the distance Kurama had allowed to come between himself and the others. "Kurama - !"
"No!" Kurama insisted as Hiei started to cross back to him. He turned his whip to swing over his head. "Stay where you are!" Hiei and Kuwabara were out of range. He could only hope Yusuke would make the last few feet in a moment. He hesitated as long as he dared as more creatures closed in around him, allowing Yusuke to escape his area of effect. "Rose Whip Thorn Wheel!" he called.
8 8 8 8 8
Yusuke dove forward with a cry as the edge of a deadly energy barrage washed past him. A shockwave of rose petals erupted from the whip, destroying most of the remaining blood beetles in the wide radius around Kurama. One snuck in under Kurama's defenses, leaping at him from behind in the water. Kurama was forced to ignore it for the moment as it latched on, not daring to end his technique until it had finished all of the monsters within its attack range.
"Kurama!" Yusuke hollered.
"Urameshi, look out!"
Yusuke turned just as several new beetles pulled themselves up over the rocks in front of him. He kicked away the first but another leaped onto his arm. Yusuke cried out as long fangs pierced his elbow. No! Dammit! My Spirit Gun - ! The creature did not seem able to feed on his Reiki and dropped off but not before a numbing pain shot up and down his arm from the bite wound. Kuwabara was at his side in an instant, skewering the offending creature. Yusuke gasped. "Kuwabara, behind you!" He leaped to his feet as a creature latched onto the back of Kuwabara's shoulder, punching it away with a Reiki-enhanced fist. "Did it get you?" he asked worriedly.
Kuwabara was grimacing in pain. "Yeah, it did. Hey, where are Hiei and Kurama?"
8 8 8 8 8
Kurama had pulled his damaged rose, forming a rosewood dagger to cut the blood beetle from his hip. He looked up as Hiei approached. Hiei was frowning but whatever he might have been about to say in scolding was cut off. Two beetles leaped at him from a crevice at his feet. He stumbled in his dodge and Kurama frowned as he closed to assist. His reaction time is shot. Must be from the concussion and other complications. This does not bode us well!
Hiei ran the first through but would not be able to bring his sword to bear in time for the second. He twisted his shoulders hard, throwing out his already-paralyzed left arm in sacrifice. The creature latched on, sucking hungrily on his Yoki, before Kurama cracked the Rose Whip on it. Hiei spat as the monster's ichor sprayed him.
"That's a pretty impressive attack ya got there, Kurama," Yusuke commented as he and Kuwabara approached. "I think we finished off what you missed so coast is clear."
Kurama frowned in concern at Kuwabara who was rubbing the back of his left shoulder. Kuwabara waved him off. "Naw, don't worry about me. I can still use my hand. See?" He opened and closed his fist but Kurama could read the pain in his eyes.
Kurama also noted the fresh blood running down Yusuke's hand from a bite wound to his arm. He knew that the pain in his side and shooting down his leg from his own injury would be yet another hindrance. He shook his head. "We must find Bokuma soon. His traps are picking us apart, I'm afraid."
"They're meant to," Hiei muttered sourly.
"Dunno about the other doorways but that one's got an empty room with some more doors in it," Kuwabara suggested, pointing at the second from the right, the one he and Hiei had originally reached.
Yusuke shrugged with a sigh. "One's as good as any others, I guess. Come on, gang."
Before following, Kurama picked up one of the more intact beetle carcasses and cut into the throat, carefully removing the venom sac. Kuwabara looked on in revulsion but Hiei nodded his approval.
The space behind the doorway was indeed a manmade room rather than a natural cave, with worked walls and a flagstone floor. Two doorways opened on the far wall, one on the left-hand wall near the opposite corner, a forth on the center of the right-hand wall. "One of those's gotta lead back up to the upper levels," Yusuke reasoned.
The group spread out to check out the doors but was barely a quarter of the way across when a sound stopped them in their tracks.
Crack - splort!
"W-what the - !" Kuwabara sputtered in exasperation.
Kurama turned to see that Kuwabara's foot had broken through one of the flagstones. He pulled it back up to floor level and the group saw that it was stuck in what looked like a plant pot, bronze and perfectly round-bottomed. It was filled to the rim with a deep brown goo of some kind. Kurama caught a whiff that seemed like a cross between honey and glue. He could feel the faint traces of magic emanating it.
"Ya know," Yusuke laughed, "I've seen you stick your foot in your mouth enough times but this takes the cake!"
"Aw, shut up, Urameshi, an' help me get this stupid thing off." Kuwabara had already tried to pull his foot free, hopping around as he tried to maintain his balance. Kurama grabbed him for support, afraid he would put his other foot through another false flagstone with all his hopping. "Thanks, Kurama." Kuwabara leaned back into the thief as Yusuke tried to pull the pot from his foot.
Kurama had once watched an old American western movie with his to-be stepbrother and now he chuckled inwardly as he was reminded of a scene where two cowboys were trying to help a third get his big boots off. He shook his head, thinking how ridiculous they must look at that moment.
From his expression, Hiei knew exactly how ridiculous they looked. One could almost see a sweatdrop run down the side of his face as he watched them. No matter how hard Yusuke pulled, the goo-filled pot showed no sign of releasing its captive.
"Woah, woah, ow, hey, stop!" Kuwabara cried. "You're gonna rip my foot off or somethin'!"
"Not likely," Kurama assured him, "but he may dislocate your ankle or your knee. Yusuke - " He shook his head, signaling that he did not believe attempting any further would be of use. With a huff, Yusuke dropped Kuwabara's foot. It hit the floor with a resounding, metallic clang!
Had he been able to, Kurama did not doubt that Hiei would have folded his arms at what he considered to be the human's "unending incompetence." "Human or youkai, you are the only idiot I know who could manage to find such a frivolous and inane trap."
"Well, that's a roundabout way to give a compliment," Kuwabara griped. He leaned down over to Kurama and whispered, "Uh, what's 'inane' mean?"
Kurama had knelt to inspect the broken flagstone, finding it to be a false replica of thin plaster. He shook his head at Kuwabara with a bemused grin, feeling it best not to respond this time.
Hiei growled impatiently, "If you're finished wasting my time, I'd like to get moving again." He turned to continue across the room.
Crack - splort!
Hiei froze, then turned stiffly to his companions. "Not . . . a . . . word!" he snarled, his voice low with repressed fury.
Kurama elbowed Kuwabara before he could make a reply, though he himself was finding it difficult to keep a straight face as he watched Hiei pull his leg out of a calf-deep hole, a matching pot attached firmly to his boot. Like Kuwabara, the pot raised the bottom of his foot a few inches off the ground, unbalancing him.
Kurama pulled his damaged rose, forming a rosewood cane, and moved to take the lead. "Apparently, this room is trapped with plaster facades over a number of these pots. Step only where I indicate." With that, he began a slow path across the room, tapping each flagstone first to listen for solidity. He suppressed another grin of amusement as he listened to the clunk-step, clunk-step sounds behind him as Kuwabara and Hiei limped along. Hiei was irritated enough that he was not even trying to be quiet.
Nearly every other stone, it seemed, covered a pot-trap and their path led them to only one door with any safety. The door on the left-hand wall had a staircase leading steeply upward. A rushing sound could be heard from an indiscernible source somewhere above.
Yusuke nodded. "Like I said, one's gotta lead back up."
The long flight of stairs led to a room similar to the one below. The mysterious rushing noise was now almost deafening. There were no other doors but a small alcove interrupted the far wall. A statue filled the space, tiny writing visible on its squat pedestal.
Yusuke was the first to step into the room, crossing cautiously to the alcove. "Hey, isn't that your Bokuma guy?"
Clunk-step, clunk-step - the rest followed him into the room. They were less than halfway across when a heavy stone slab dropped into place with a loud BOOM!, sealing off the only door. The group jumped at the sound, startled, but no one was overly surprised.
Kurama studied the statue, frowning in disgust. It was indeed a figure of Bokuma. Kurama was all too familiar with the confident smirk on the statue's face as it leered at them with its arms crossed. The words on the base read, "The only way out is through me."
"Hn, figures," Hiei groaned.
"Well, what's that supposed to mean?" Kuwabara wondered.
"Simple," Yusuke commented. "Must be a hole under the statue or something."
"Yusuke, that might not be wise - " Kurama tried to warn but it was too late. Yusuke had grabbed the statue, trying to lift it. A high-pitched cackling laugh - Kurama was reminded of Dog - filled the room as the statue swiveled in Yusuke's hands, showing the back of the figure. Dog stood grinning and waving at them, the words on the base reading, "Hope you can swim, little fishies!"
"The floor - !" Hiei warned. A seam broke apart from the door to the alcove and the floor pieces slid rapidly away from one another, disappearing into the walls. They realized the source of the rushing sound a split-second before falling into it - the wild rapids of a swift underground river raged below their feet. They plunged into the violent water and were swept away before they could catch their breaths.
Author's Notes: Please be sure to check my bio page for any updates, etc. Thanks!