Chapter Six: House of Wolves

"Okay, so this is the fifth voicemail I've left you, you fucking diva. I swear to God, Clara if you do not answer me I'm going to take your precious bleaching kit and you know what I'm going to bleach? Your insides because I'm going to pour it down your throat, so get back to me before you die."

I huffed aggressively and repeatedly pressed the 'end call' button as if my sister was going to feel my rage through the device. My breathing was elevated; I could feel my cheeks radiate heat and my stomach was churning. After finding out the news about who our enemy was I quickly left in a panic to try and contact my sister; thankfully no one seemed to notice me rush off without an explanation. Something just didn't feel right, and no matter how many times I kept calling the feeling of uneasiness grew. I shook my head and used my heel to pivot away from the front balcony.

Once I entered the house I went straight to the room where I knew everyone had gathered for this meeting that Koenma and Kurama had set up. I could hear Kuwabara interrogate the others as I rounded the corner and entered the room.

"Alright, let's get the down and dirty on this guy. Like, what circus of freaks was he raised by to grow up as traitor?"

I snorted while sitting between Kuwabara and Genkai, plopping into the chair and leaning back.

"Yeah, was he just not hugged enough as a child?" I mumbled. Kuwabara chuckled while nudging me and earning a smile from me; I was glad to see that he was feeling a lot better and that he was feeling like his old self.

"I know you must've taken great care to commission him as Spirit Detective, Koenma." Kurama moved the conversation along to a more serious tone. "How did he turn from humanities greatest protector to its greatest threat?"

I was wondering the same thing; how could someone change so rapidly from a defender to a cult leader?

I licked my lips and propped my elbows up on the table to rest my head in my hands while I listened.

"Exactly," Kuwabara cut in. "Or in other words, how did you manage to mess up so bad the whole worlds in danger?—Ah! It stings…" Flinching from his still fresh wounds, Kuwabara rubbed the area on his cheek.

I shook my head and chuckled. Genkai ordered us to shut up so Koenma could speak. I was inclined to agree that it was time to settle down and to listen to what the great Prince of Spirit World had to say. Koenma cleared his throat, and as he did so I took in his image.

Even though he was sitting I could tell that he was rather tall in this teenage or young adult form. His shaggy hair had a healthy sheen and was milk chocolate brown. The 'Jr.' tattoo was still bolded perfectly in the center of his forehead, and his eyes were a bright honey color.

"In all my reign," His voice was deeper, a hint of manliness to it, but I could still hear the strange pitch of it from his toddler form. "nothing had seemed more natural than choosing Shinobu Sensui."

(*)(*)(*)

Koenma had explained to us that this man, a man who had an extraordinary gift to destroy apparitions, had a decent into madness. After a mission to try and close the tunnel to Demon World, which of course was the same thing we're doing, and finding out that not everything was black and white. He explained the association with the Black, Black Club, and how it was using the small portal to ensnare lower class demons. Koenma was ready to capture these crooked people and stop the demon trade, so he sent his current Spirit Detective and his assistant, Itsuki, to do so.

That is when his world flipped upside down.

Koenma explained that there was a malevolent practice the highly privileged, and in my opinion highly sick, humans divulged in. Torturing lower level demons for no other purpose other than their own pleasure, and for Sensui it was too much of a flip that his mind could not process it. He then slaughtered every human there. Koenma proceeded to explain how Sensui became obsessed with The Chapter Black tape and soon he and the tape disappeared.

"See," Yusuke began. "that's why I always half-ass, Grandma; never take yourself too seriously and you won't turn into a freakin' fanatic."

I rolled my eyes yet I kept a small smile on my face. Even in the worst of situations it was good to have a little comical break here and there.

"Precisely why I chose you after Sensui failed; I wanted someone who wouldn't think too much."

I definitely saw how Yusuke's little joke back fired on him, causing a mischievous smile to creep on to my face. This also caused Yusuke to narrow his eyes at me.

"Yes, of course!" Kurama seemed to have a realization that this was the perfect solution. Yusuke quickly warned the garnet hair young man that he shouldn't be too quick to defend him. Kurama apologized while chucking nervously. I giggled at the two and their moment.

"I don't know where Sensui's been all this time, or why he waited for now. I let myself believe he lost his mind, and was harmless. I should've tracked him better… One thing I know about Sensui is that he'll never stop. Not till he's accomplished his goal."

Koenma's words had repeated over in my head until the shiver of a familiar energy washed over myself. I immediately shot my gaze forward just as Yusuke and Kurama jolted around in the same direction. My eyes caught sight instantly of three figures on the opposite building.

"We're not alone…" Yusuke grumbled. Both boys shot up and hurried over to the window.

"It's him!" Yusuke exclaimed causing me to stand instantly. I could barely make out the taller figure, but I figured it was Sensui himself. The other two were still hard to make out.

"No…" Kurama mutter. "Impossible!"

"What?!" I yelled while rounding the table to get a better look out there. I ignored Kurama's warnings and came up beside Yusuke. When I recognized who was standing there all I could do was gasp at the sight. It all connected in my mind now, everything made perfect sense as to why I couldn't get in contact with her, late nights out and about, and the sudden change in her was the cherry on top.

"Clara…?" I whimpered and put a hand to my mouth. Her name merely escaped my lips. Even from where I was standing I could see a smug look of satisfaction on her pale face.

"Wait—" Yusuke looked back and forth between me and the triad rapidly. "You don't mean that's your sister, right?!"

"That's the only Clara I know in fucking Japan, Yusuke!" I snapped before stepping back a couple of feet. I watched as Sensui looked to the both of them and nodded. The other figure, a male that looked a little older than me, held up his palm and aimed not directly at us, but to the side. It was weird until it finally clicked that he was aiming at the other room.

Once I had realized what was going on apparently so did Kuwabara.

"They're after Mitarai!" He shouted while running to the other room. I followed after him to stop at the door way just as he had pushed and covered Mitarai on the ground. Immediately afterward the sound of glass breaking came along with the sound of something whizzing by. I recoiled back and hid within the hallway, watching as Botan and Shizuru took cover as well.

My heart was within my throat at this point, I was shaking and I literally felt as if I was on fire and about to puke. We were under attack.

How did they find us here? Did someone follow Kuwabara after last night? Did one of their psychic's track them?

As Kuwabara ordered for everyone to take cover he started to lift himself up from Mitari who paused for a moment before his hand went straight to his pocket. I watched as he started to fish something out of said pocket and held it out. It was a small chip with an even smaller antenna attached to it.

"They fucking bugged you, Mitari!" I snarled as my eyes widened in this revelation.

"What kind of guy is this?!" Botan exclaimed while sitting back on her knees, clutching her fists and started yelling toward the glass door. "Planting that on his own men?!—"

Before anything else could be said the sound of glass breaking once again interrupted her causing all of us to either shrink down to the ground, or for me in this case, shrink back behind the safety of the hallway wall. I looked over to try and see what exactly this guy was shooting at us, and as I inspected the wall I noticed they were simple rolling dice.

'This guy is shooting at us with… dice?!' I shrieked in my mind while shaking my head. I tried peaking around the corner to see if I could spot my sister and her terrible choice of alley's but the angle would've put me in the direct line of sight for this guy to hit me. Reluctantly I stayed behind.

"Is everyone alright?" I asked, receiving a few nods and affirmations that they hadn't been hurt.

Yet, of course, because nothing ever went smoothly for us in these situations.

I watched as Kazuma straightened himself up a bit and heard him grumble about something that I couldn't exactly hear. Before I knew it he was on his feet and sprinting out of the room.

"You son of a bitch!" He belted while running, more glass breaking as Shizuru called out for her younger brother. I didn't have time to register what Mitari had said because as soon as Kuwabara rounded on me instinct took over. I couldn't just let him go out there blindly without even a bit of spiritual awareness let alone defenseless, and I was definitely not going to waste time in confronting my sister.

As I followed Kuwabara I heard Yusuke's voice calling out for us to stop, but also the sound of him running after us. Neither of us was stopping at this rate and kept going. Even though Yusuke was fretfully yelling about how Kuwabara lacked spirit powers (like I mentioned) and about how I needed to keep a cool head, it did not slow either of us down.

"I haven't told you yet, have I?!" Kuwabara called back to Yusuke. Even though it was meant for the current Spirit Detective I tuned in on the conversation as well.

"Thanks to Mitari I've been powered-up and returned to normal!"

Skipping down the steps as Kuwabara took giant ones, I scrunched up my face in an effort to both keep the conversation up and make sure I wouldn't fall.

"What do you mean 'powered-up'?!" Both Yusuke and I asked as he finally caught up to my speed and side checked me a couple of times to me.

"I don't understand it too well myself…" Kuwabara spoke a bit softer now, breathing a bit heavier with his words as he continued. "The shape of my sword had changed somewhat, or it has to mean that I've powered-up!"

I looked to Yusuke who was also in a state of bewilderment as much as I was. After one more flight of stairs we watched as Kuwabara jumped the rest of the way down by flinging himself over the ledge. Honestly I understood he was impatient to kick some ass; however I didn't see how two more flights would've really affected him. I watched as Yusuke readied himself to jump, but paused to look at me.

"Think you can do it?" He asked.

I blinked a couple of times before sighing and shrugging, taking a few steps back before running and tossing myself over the ledge. I landed almost with perfect grace, but stumbled a bit. I didn't notice that Yusuke had also jumped until I heard the thud to my left.

With Yusuke to my left and Kuwabara to my right we stood in front of the triad now. All of a sudden they were all there within seconds. I watched all three of them in amazement while trying to catch my breath. If I were to live through this, I was really going to have to consider quitting the smokes.

"When did they…?" Yusuke mumbled, though I'm sure it was to himself.

Sensui looked exactly the same when I first met him, and when Murota was attacked. The same Devil-may-care smile played upon his lips, violet eyes reflecting a cool and calm demeanor. He seemed so relaxed even as we stood in front of him, and ready to attack at a moment's notice.

The young man next to him seemed to be the same way, too. He wasn't fazed with us being there, and neither was Clara. I kept my gaze on her the longest, and with each moment passing I felt the hot sting of betrayal creep over every part of me.

The way she had a slight arch to her dark eye-brow, her head cocked to the side so nonchalantly, and the playful yet wicked smirk that played on her full pink lips made want to walk straight over there and beat some sense into her. My kin, my flesh and blood, was standing on the opposing side in our mission and yet I could not find a way in this picture to see that she was as manipulated as Mitari was. From where I was standing it looked as if she truly believed she was on the correct side of the battle against good and evil.

How could she honestly think what she was doing was okay? Did she not think of our Grandmother, or me, or Hell even her own self? Could this Chapter Black really be that persuasive, or was it the team work of Sensui and that wretched movie to fully convince her to join the bandwagon of this early apocalypse?

I almost didn't notice the sudden movement of Shinobu Sensui because I was so wrapped up in trying to decipher her motives. He stood there and held up his hand and created a peace sign with it.

I blinked while furrowing my eye-brows while glancing at the boys on both sides.

"What?"

"Why are you… flashing the Victory sign? Don't go messin' around with us, you jerks!" Kuwabara followed Yusuke's question with his own threat. I merely blinked a few more times out of confusion.

Sensui held his two fingers out a bit more, emphasizing the importance of the two fingers and chuckling at our obliviousness to what he was trying to convey.

"Two more days until the portal to Demon World is completely open."

I took a step back at these words, and it honestly took everything in me not to show them how afraid I was and trying to contain my fear. I balled my hands into fists to try and steady them as they started to shake; I kept swallowing bile build up but couldn't get the taste of panic out of my mouth. There was no possible way to warn anyone about this, and the possibility of us losing was becoming more and more of a reality with these updates.

"Two days!?" Yusuke yelled, but I couldn't see what he was doing. At this point I had my head down and tried to keep calm and focus on keeping my composure.

I heard another deep chuckle that finally got me to look up at Sensui. He was looking directly at me this time.

"That's a surprised look on your face, Yusuke. Even yours, Kuwabara; Natalie looks more panicked than you two. Did you think it would be later?"

I clenched my jaw along with my fists; he was toying with us like little mice and he was the cat.

"You mean it's not going to take another week?!" Yusuke stepped up, moving me out of the view line just a bit.

"That's how much the speed of opening the tunnel has increased…" Sensui offered.

I shook my head slightly in disbelief that this was truly happening. If the tunnel's opening was increasing this much who knows if it'll truly be opened in two days.

It might even be open in a few hours with the rate it was going.

I was cut out of my thoughts quickly as I felt the rush of wind come from my right side before a hand rested itself on my shoulder. I glanced up to see Kurama staring down the trio in front of us, but not once looking down to me. I gulped and watched as Genkai and Koenma joined him in reuniting with us before looking back to the others.

"Oh my, God! Well, hello Kurama! It's so nice to see you again!" Clara brightly greeted while taking a step closer and eccentrically waving her hand. "Except… not really!" She added with a tight giggle.

Kurama made no attempts to speak or take any action against Clara, but simply stared her down. I took this opportunity to take a step forward, letting his hand drop from my shoulder, and speak.

"Clara, what the actual fuck are you doing?" My voice was louder than I expected, but I was completely fine with that. I wanted her to know that I was being firm, and I wasn't going to let this just pass.

She tilted her head to the other side, blinking and looking around.

"Uhm, jump starting the end of times; I mean I figured that was pretty obvious from where I'm standing?" She retorted while scoffing, putting a hand on her hip while the other relaxed at her side.

"Don't be fucking coy, you twat!—"

"Excuse me? If I were I'd be careful, Miss. Natalie Ivy…" Her voice wasn't as perky anymore, and in fact I knew all too well the edge she was putting into her words. I acted the same way when I was threatening someone with a snarky reply, like I did when Kaito, Yana, Kido and I had set up the trap for the Rekai Tentai. It was kind of a Montgomery thing.

"… We both know you're just not that great with your powers compared to mine."

I sneered while glaring heatedly at her, but all this did was fuel the sinister smirk on her face that grew wider. My reaction was exactly how she wanted it to go, and at this point I didn't care to provide so long as I would make it known she was wrong.

"Clara," Sensui broke our staring contest and brought us back to the real world. The older Montgomery sibling looked over her shoulder back at her leader. "In due time you'll have your chance to prove yourself."

With that being said Clara looked down like a disappointed child would before throwing one last mischievous look my way.

"Can't wait to play, Sis!" Clara then pranced back to her original spot. It wasn't until Sensui spoke that the silence was broken.

"It's been a while, Koenma…"

"Is that anyway to greet me?" Koenma snapped but Sensui made no effort to retaliate. There was silence within the air once again, but it was neither awkward nor serious this time. Instead it was like we were waiting for the bomb to go off, something to set off either one of our groups into motion. One word, maybe one movement, to get everything started.

Within a matter of days everything boiled down to this moment where the battle of our world, the battle for our humanity, started.

This revelation of a moment was cut off by the sounds of footsteps smacking against the ground that caught my attention. I looked out of the corners of my eyes to see who was coming, and unfortunately it was one person I knew neither I nor Yusuke wanted to get mixed up in this mess.

Keiko came to a halt with Puu cradled in her arms. Both the girl and the Spirit Beast (more like Spirit Plushy) had concerned looks on their faces.

"Yusuke…?" Keiko meekly called out. A spike of worry flashed over me as I glanced back and forth between her and Sensui.

"Get back against the wall, now." Yusuke's voice was soft but firm. I could tell he did not want to scare her, but he needed her to know how seriously dangerous it was right now for her to be there. If anything went astray, I'd probably end up staying back and making sure she'd be protected.

Mainly so Yusuke doesn't lose his shit mid fight.

Keiko did as she was instructed and inched her way behind the building, her back against the wall. I only glanced for a moment to see a worried expression on her face before looking back to the three fighters ahead of us.

"Alright, it's time I show them what I'm made of—"

"Dumbass," Yusuke interrupted Kuwabara's claim to lay out the trio. "you stay back too!"

"How come?!" Like a fussy little toddler not getting his way, Kuwabara huffed at Yusuke even though he was behind him.

"You're still recovering," Kurama supplied. "You should stay out of this."

"They're right, Kazuma." I affirmed. "Try to save as much energy as you can."

Kuwabara grumbled before huffing once more and looking away. I felt bad that he wasn't exactly up to par with us on this fight, but we couldn't risk him getting injured more than what he was. He was either gonna have to sit this one out completely, or become a last resort.

"Yusuke!" Koenma called out. I looked over to where the Prince was standing and noted the seriousness in his expression. A few drops of sweat ran down the side of his temple, but not once did he break eye contact.

"Don't step any closer to him. He can store up his Reiki and shoot it, just like you."

Our opponents did nothing but stare at us as this information was revealed. I watched as my sister raised her eye-brows for a quick seconds, as if taunting us to say that it didn't matter if we knew this information or not. He was still going to kick our asses.

"So, our opponent can shoot too, can he?" Kuwabara mocked.

"How's his force?" Genkai questioned Koenma. I heard the sigh as if he was debating on what to say next.

"Considerable. I don't know how it's changed these last ten years, though…" Koenma replied.

"So it's basically a toss-up, huh?" I asked quietly, earning a curt nod from the Toddler Prince.

Kuwabara gestured with his own nod to Yusuke. "You got that, Urameshi?"

Yusuke's once serious expression quickly turned into what appeared to be determination with a smirk.

"Sounds like fun."

(-)(-)(-)

He called it the Reiko Resshuken.

What Shinobu Sensui did was create his own technique combining his spirit energy and a very powerful martial arts which honestly was a curve ball for us all. Not to make a pun or anything, but in his "demonstration" he literally preformed this technique where his spirit energy blast was heading straight for us but curved at the last moment.

Of course we were all a bit confused considering you'd think that Sensui would try and at least aim for his targets, but I guess everyone has their off days.

Soon, however, it was apparent that we weren't his targets.

In the middle of Yusuke and Sensui's fight we had somehow accumulated farther away from Yusuke's apartment. I had noticed, but was too focused on their fight to really say anything. Once that curve ball of spirit energy flew past Kuwabara, Kurama, Koenma, Genkai and I it clicked in my mind where exactly it was heading toward.

"Guess all the training in the world—"

"The apartment!" I interrupted before taking off back into the direction of where Yusuke's apartment was.

"Natalie, stop!—"

"Mitari is there!" I yelled over my shoulder at Kurama. I had no time to listen to reason at the moment, but that didn't stop him from running after me to grab me and spin me around.

"We can't split ourselves farther apart—"

"They could be hurt, Kurama, someone needs to make sure they're okay!—"

"Kurama."

Genkai's voice interrupted our argument while giving a single nod to my foxy friend. "She's right. Someone needs to make sure they're safe. It'll also ensure that they'll have at least some kind of defense as well."

Kurama took one last look at me, but this look I hadn't seen before from him. I saw the slight furrow of his brows that showed concern and maybe worry, but also the firm stare that reminded me that I better be on my toes and to be safe. I smiled softly to reassure I understood the silent promise I made to him that I would be alright.

"I'll find you all when I know they're okay."

"Please, and don't let your guard down either, Natalie."

I nodded curtly before I realized he still had his hand around my arm. I was hyper aware of this until I felt the warmth of his hand gone and replaced with the slight chill in the area. I took off in that instant before halting once again. The sound of the blast was powerful, and the black smoke that came billowing out was more terrifying than that. I kicked it into high gear and ignored whatever shouting was behind me.

I heard the sound of footsteps clapping on the pavement right behind me, and suddenly Yusuke's voice was all I heard.

"Kuwabara, Nat, head's up!"

I stopped—once a-fucking-gain—and whirled around just in time to see Kuwabara stumble backwards and Sensui descend in front of him and behind me. The force of his landing created a small pothole before he jumped once again, flipped in the air and landed about three feet away from me.

Frozen in my place I couldn't register anything else other than this very tall man in front of me. He looked down at me which instantly sent my body into shivers. That critical look of his turned into amusement, accompanied by an all knowing smirk.

"Your sister tells me you have this little trick up your sleeve, Natalie." He spoke.

My eyes widened, my heart was stuck in my throat, and yet I did not have it in me to try and hide my fear of him. This seemed to amuse him even more.

"Natalie, MOVE!" Yusuke commanded but to no avail. I was the one with the mind control, and unfortunately my own mind couldn't even comprehend to get out of the way.

"She told me…" Sensui continued. "that it's activated when you're faced with a situation you can't personally handle…" With a chuckle he finished. "You and I have a lot in common."

I gasped and finally was able to move back a few steps. I wanted to accept what he had to say as something that I knew right off the bat, which I was all too familiar with what he was saying, but at the same time I couldn't possibly believe that was true. I had never met anyone else in my entire life that dealt with what I had to deal with, and yet here this malevolent man was; playing mind games with me.

"We… are nothing alike…" Was all I could muster up to say.

Another amused grin played on his lips before side stepping out of my way. Without any warning my fight vs. flight instinct took over and I bolted out of there.

It didn't take me too long to run toward the smoke signal considering I was terrified Sensui was going to do something now that I fled, or that someone was extremely hurt. Both scenarios kept me sprinting toward the apartment and soon enough I had rounded the corner just in time to see Keiko peeking around the wall where we left her.

Before I said anything she had already started to run to the apartment as well, which was great for me since I was going to need a bit of help attending to whatever injury the others may have.

"Keiko!" I called out. She quickly halted and turned toward me, relief washing over her features for a split second before suddenly Clara had appeared, jumping from somewhere and landing directly between me and Keiko.

I dug my heels into the ground and skidded to a halt, gasping a quick intake of breath while panic washed over me.

"We're not done yet, sweetie." With a sickly sweet smile Clara raised her arm and pointed it behind her.

There was no time to think; my territory automatically opened as my hand shot up. I watched as my sister's once entertained expression turn completely sour with the weight of the anchor my psychic grip had on her hand. I mustered all my might to make her lower her arm further down, and even though I was succeeding I could tell it wouldn't last long with the flinches of her arm.

"Keiko, run!" I shouted at the brunette girl, not once taking my eyes of Clara but watching through my peripheral's that she had made it behind the stair case wall.

"This will not hold me, you know…"

"It doesn't have to be like this, Clara—"

"Says you!" Clara snarled while balling up her free hand into a fist before flinging it toward me.

Of course I didn't even think about the fact that all human bodies have two arms and not one. This mistake on my behalf is utterly my fault, and I take full responsibility for this. I feel like the punishment was fitting too.

A single flash of bright and hot green light was sent my way, creating a zapping sound right before striking me in the arm. I shrieked as soon as I felt the pain; it was instant and unforgiving as I recoiled my hand to my chest. It stung like thousands of tiny bees poking me all at once and my arm could not stop shaking no matter how much I tried to hide it or how many times I squeezed it into a fist. It felt as if I was freezing, but also very hot at the same time. At this point the pain had brought me to my knees and near tears.

I heard the clicks of heels approach me which brought my attention back up to my sister. As she stood over me, her hands on her hips and devious grin on her lips, I felt the rage build up inside of me that it nearly made me forget about the agony I was in right now.

"Why… are you doing… th-this?" I stuttered. Although my face was contorted into such a loathing expression it did not fool my sister in knowing that I was injured.

"Because, Ivy…" The nickname she had for me was only really ever used when she was trying to defend herself, and needed for me to sympathize with her. A guilt trip, if you will.

"Humans… people… are diseased, and their only cure is death." Her words were light and even though she was speaking of annihilating the entire human race, the tone in her voice almost made me believe she had actually no idea what she was getting into. Maybe she actually didn't understand the consequences of her actions. I stared at her, shocked at how detached she was toward our species.

I honestly didn't even think this was my sister anymore.

But at that moment from the corner of my eye I caught sight of Keiko's brunette hair, and Puu's blue fur as they watched us with both anticipation and worry. Thanks to my incredibly idiotic self, I was not discrete in looking her way. Clara glanced back for a second, but that left me enough time to kick her shin.

The blonde belted out in pain while doubling over; it didn't help that I was still in defense mode from earlier. I sprung up while trying to ignore the pain in my left arm and shouted for Keiko to run for help.

I didn't have to say much because the next thing I knew she was off with her fuzzy comrade in her arms. I sighed lightly as the image of her was lost within the alley way heading back to the last place I knew anyone was at. The relief didn't last long when I felt the same wicked hot sting shot through the middle of my back.

The impact caused me to double over, a scream tearing apart my lips. The pain in my muscles along with the violent shaking of the rest of my body was nearly too much. I braced my fall as much as I could but it did little for the when I landed. I was starting to twist and struggle with muscle spasms throughout my back, and though I'm embarrassed to say that I whimpered and clawed at the pavement so hard some of my nails where chipping and breaking, you can't possibly blame me due to the pain.

"What a cheap shot for a cheap bitch…" Clara spat while dusting herself off and limping to stand in front of me again.

Even in the middle of the painful torture my body was going through I wondered how exactly I was cheap. My sister and her comebacks were never really that great.

I tried my best to look back up at her, struggling to catch my breath and calm myself down as the pain started to subside.

"Mr. Sensui said he wanted to keep you alive because you 'interest' him…" Clara hissed while sneering at me. "I'll let you live only because I don't wanna get on the bosses bad side, ya know?"

I scoffed lightly. "You're not gonna kill me… 'Cause you're a fuckin' pussy."

I didn't pay attention to whatever hateful spew of words Clara was screaming at me this time, because a familiar feeling of disconnection started to spread through my body. The feeling of letting go and of being dazed washed over me. The last thing I saw right before I blacked out was of Clara's disgusted face and her bringing up her black high heeled boot.

(-)(-)(-)

As quickly as this feeling came it was gone. As strange as it was I was more preoccupied with what I was now looking at.

There I was standing over Clara's unconscious body and looking at her face that now sported a busted lip and a bloodied nose. I blinked once, twice and by the third time I realized I wasn't imagining this. Looking around I saw we were about a yard away from where we first were, and after a moment I realized the pain in my body was completely gone.

Looking back at my sister I shook my head lightly, sighed and closed my eyes while lowering my head down.

This, unfortunately, meant that another episode had happened but it also had saved my life… again.

I took a deep breath before opening my eyes and started to advance through the same way Keiko did to try and catch up to her. I wasn't sure how long I had been gone, but I only hoped it wasn't long enough for things to have drastically changed.

I also didn't mind to leave my older sibling lying in the middle of the street unconscious. She was a big, evil, bitchy girl; she could handle herself.

Winding my way through the alley I ended up about two streets over where a lot of people had been gathered around. It was really busy for a Saturday, but on a beautiful day like this it was to be expected. Standing on my tip toes, and to go as far as to try and lean down to spot a pink dress within the crowd, it was almost useless at this point. I even started calling her name out to try and see if she could find me first. As I frantically searched my panicked prayers were answered when I spotted Keiko on the next street over.

I didn't even look both ways for traffic as I sprinted over to her.

"Keiko! Hey, Keiko!" I called out to her. Once again her surprised gazed shot over to me and was relieved to see me as I came to a stop at her side.

"Natalie, are you alright!?" She asked in a panic while reaching for my hand. I had momentarily forgotten about my arm, and how Clara had zapped it all to Hell with her weird energy power.

"Uh…" I started but had no time to respond. Keiko pushed the sleeve of my leather jacket up and gasped at the sight. It wasn't bloody or gory, but I did have bright red lightning shaped markings all over my fingers and arm. In complicated designs the lightning lines wrapped around my arm like a very messy spider web. It even shot up father than my sleeve would let us see. There was no more pain, but from the looks of it I should've still have been hurt.

"Yeah, hun, I'm fine. It'll heal and probably scar, but we don't have time for that right now." I insisted while taking my arm back and sliding the sleeve down. I looked over to where Keiko was first looking and spoke again.

"What's going on up there?" I had actually answered my own question by noticing the garnet haired friend of mine and the same guy who attacked us with his fucking Monopoly playing dice. They were both standing on the transit bridge that was filled with on lookers. I almost wasn't able to spot Kurama as people started to shuffle around the two.

"I'm not sure, but we have to get to the others." Keiko hastily grabbed me by my upper arm and started to run toward Kurama and the mystery shooter.

"Why, is something else going on?!" I exclaimed as we reached the stairs and started up them. She did not respond to me in time and before I was able to press further she was ahead of me on the stairs and finally on the bridge.

"Kurama!" She called out as I took my last step onto the bridge. As soon as I spotted what my foxy demonic friend and our enemy was doing, I knew instantly we had interrupted at the wrong time.

Kurama, who was closest to us, was wielding his Rose Whip and ready to attack at a moment's notice. The Mystery Guy, who was straddling a blue and very nice looking motor cycle, was aiming more of what I guessed were dice right at him. Unfortunately there was enough space for him to make an easy shot at not only myself, but for Keiko.

"It's Kuwabara, we have to warn Yusuke!—"

"Stay back!" Kurama commanded. I didn't waste any time as I noticed that the Mystery guy position his aim and flicked his little dice directly at Keiko. I leapt forward and grabbed Keiko around the shoulders before falling down, but even as I was trying to be heroic and save the day it was actually Puu who had wrangled himself from Keiko's grip to fly in front of the make shift bullet.

I winced and eased myself onto my elbow of my good arm while looking over to watch the Mystery Guy kick his motor cycle into gear before driving off of the bridge; something snapping caught my attention as I watched Kurama sling his whip back to where he was. I could hear the people around us speak in hushed voices, or even exclaim something about movie stunts. Thankfully no one was hurt during the boys' interaction.

I lightly rolled my eyes at this bad boy wanna-be while turning to Keiko to make sure she was alright. When she confirmed that she was, and how thankful she was as well, Keiko instantly went to the small Spirit Beast's side to make sure he was alright. To be honest I was a little worried about Yusuke's personal Pillow Pet and his condition.

"Oh, Puu!" Keiko cried while lightly shaking the animal. I winced at how all the little guy was doing was rolling his eyes and trying to stay conscious. "Puu, please, wake up, please!"

After a moment we were both grateful and relieved to hear the cooing of Puu's voice. I then watched as Keiko warmly hugged Puu and I even joined in to scratch his rustled up hair.

"Keiko, Natalie," Kurama ran toward us while kneeling down to eye level. "are you injured?"

"No, but we absolutely have to get to Kuwabara before they do." Yukimora answered earnestly.

"Why?"

"Yeah, what Kurama said…" I added.

Keiko looked back to me to explain. "They're after Kuwabara. They're trying to recruit him so they can use him to cut down the gate between the Demon and Human World."

At this point I didn't intentionally roll my eyes anymore, they were just wired to automatically start turning at the slightest inconvenience or annoyance.

"You got me fucked up if you think that we're gonna let that happen, c'mon!"

(-)(-)(-)

All three (four if you really, truly wanted to count Puu) of us started heading toward the direction that Kurama figured the others had ran off to. As Keiko explained more of how Shizuru was told that Kuwabara was in danger the more I wanted to slap myself. This was all a ploy to separate us and to capture one of our teammates and if we didn't get there soon enough than they were surely going to accomplish their mission.

Though as we rounded the corner our worst fears were confirmed in the most interesting of ways as a green truck came whizzing and screeching around the corner up ahead.

As the truck passed us I was only able to get a clear image of a few things. The first being that Sensui was stationed in the back of the truck and hanging onto one of the over head lights installed onto the truck, standing with perfect ease in a moving vehicle. The other was Kuwabara being tied up and right by Sensui's side. The last being Kuwabara was tied up with… something attached to another guys fingers.

"Oh no, we're too late…" Keiko said as we watched the truck speed off.

"Look out below!" Yet instead of looking out I instantly looked up and was amazed, not really surprised, by Yusuke Urameshi jumping from one of the parking levels of the building. Gracefully he landed and instantly went into a stance with both feet spread apart, one hand out with his finger pointed like a gun while the other hand held it in place.

"Your cars about to be impounded," Yusuke shouted while the light blue spirit energy started to form at his finger tip. "Spirit Gun!"

My breath hitched as I screamed for Yusuke to stop, but it was far too late for that. The blast was way too big and he had already shot it by the time I had cried out.

Without a second thought I stomped my way up to Yusuke's side and ignored his foolish outburst about how he finally remembered that our dear friend and ally, you know Kuwabara, was in fact still on the truck.

"You—"I slapped him hard on his shoulder with my good arm once, causing a flinch. "stupid—" Again with the back side of my hand which earned a yelp from Urameshi. "idiot!" I made sure to hit him extra hard before he finally took a few steps away and rubbed his arm.

"How could you forget about him!?"

"Really, Yusuke, how could you shoot off a blast that big without thinking it would kill everyone on that truck including Kuwabara?" Kurama voiced his own concern, and maybe even a bit of annoyance as he came up to stand behind me.

"I-I was mad!" Yusuke defended. I let out a frustrated growl while running my hands through my hair, gripping at the roots as I watched the spirit energy close in on them. I couldn't exactly hear what Kuwabara said, but I knew that was it was a well deserved threat to Yusuke.

However I was distracted by the small glimmer of neon purple light that was suddenly heading toward Yusuke's blast. Sensui's own blast wasn't exactly that at all, but more like the size of a dodge ball. This both caused a bit of panic and bit of astonishment to me.

Once the two energies collided it surely proved that my panic was not misplaced. The small energy ball completely stopped Yusuke's giant sized blast and caused an explosion of its own. It was so strong that it almost knocked me down. I wasn't prepared for that sort of impact, but thankfully I felt a strong hand steady me as I shielded myself. Automatically I recoiled into his chest and felt safer there in that moment.

I wondered if this made him uncomfortable, or if he thought I wasn't being strong enough. I didn't want him to think I was weak and fragile, and I certainly didn't want him to ever see me vulnerable again. However this moment, for a split second, I did not care. I found it comforting that he had to try and reassure me that anything as small as the after math of an energy blast, or thinking someone was following me and my sister in the middle of the night, or rescuing me after I dissociated, he was going to protect me.

Once the after blast had stopped I eased up a little while momentarily looking at him. I caught him looking back at me as well, and yet I was unable to read his expression at that moment. I decided to redirect my attention back to the speeding truck that carried off our friend and watched as Sensui sent us a casual wave of his hand before disappearing down the road.

"On the bright side…" Kurama spoke solemnly. "at least Kuwabara survived."

Though he was right next to me I didn't actually care for his words; I was more preoccupied with Yusuke's frustration and anger visibly bubbling over his features.

"Yeah," he started as he suddenly ran over to the bike rack on our left. "and they got away!"

Yusuke then started looking over each bike as Keiko ran over to him and started berating him about how the certain orange bicycle wasn't his in the first place.

"It is now!" He retorted while lifting the entire bike over his head and slamming the bike down on the ground before straddling it in one swift motion.

"Keiko, you know I can't let them hurt Kuwabara—stupid bike lock!—and don't tell me not to save him, it's what he would do…"

Once Yusuke was finished with his argument it became apparent that no one was going to change his mind let alone his girlfriend. Yusuke then took off after the car before Keiko could even get a chance to warn him about the information we knew. I ran a few steps after him but it was too late.

Our first battle was over, but I knew the war had just started.

Authors Note:

Surprise! I am a piece of shit writer that went on a sudden hiatus for months! hahaha...haha...ha...

I am totes sorry that I did that to you guys. Honestly I am appalled with myself, but I promise that I have a very good reason for my absence. You see, my lovely readers, I am what is known to a lot of people as a "Trash bag of a human being" which means that I suffer from periods of complete and utter apathy to finish a series. However, on a serious note, I went through and re-read the reviews for this story and decided I needed to finish it. It's been the most successful story I've published and I love it dearly. You all gave me the inspiration to continue on. I'd like to thank the following:

Anon
Sarah No Account
OwlLoveYou
Aly Goode
Counting Sinful Stars
ClaireShepardHKKY

I know some of you had a few questions about previous chapters and I'm not sure if I explained them to you all via PM's or not, so I'll go ahead and answer them here for you all:

Aly Goode: Nat's power may be broad and, if fallen into strong and wrong hands, be very deadly. She's really good with being able to control other's actions, but of course to an extent. For example, it's easy for her to smack someone because it usually involves little to no effort. With that being said the way we just saw her with Clara and having difficulty restraining her sister shows that it's hard for her to control someone who has a higher ranking in spirit energy/power/ability ect. Difficult, and even with some people, not impossible. With implanting memories and what not, it's stated that it's a bit harder to do because it's more about a creativity thing as well as being able to cover the tracks.
Side note: yes, it does definitely hint toward dissociation, and just a little hint for you guys, it goes way deeper than you guys are prepared for. *insert evil and hysteric cackle here*

Counting Sinful Stars:
If you'd like to PM me I'd be more than happy to explain anything that you're wondering about!

ClaireShepardHKKY:
I know you didn't exactly ask a question but I wanted to thank you for pointing out the few errors that I've made! I really do appreciate it and encourage you as well as others to point these out to me. I want everyone to be able to enjoy this series and I know how troublesome it can be if there are errors within the chapters.

Alright guys! If you'd like I'd really love it if you review this chapter, tell me what you think about it and I swear to you I will get off my lazy ass more often to try and finish this series!