The Rescue and Disappearance
Lights aura: Hello everyone! Here's a new chappie for you!
Amu: Freshly baked and just out of the oven.
Lights aura: Wow, that made me hungry…
Amu: It should, cookies are yummy.
Lights aura: (wipes drool away from mouth) Erm, anyway, I hope you enjoy the chappie!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. I only own my characters.
"Hey watch where you're going!" someone yelled as she rushed by. That was about the seventh time she had run into someone but at the moment, Sira didn't care. She couldn't think clearly since her mind was cluttered by the images of Tori's kidnapping. It kept replaying over and over into her mind. Tears were streaming down her face, but she had long since given up trying to wipe them away. She knew she was hysterical at the moment and shouldn't be running aimlessly around but she felt the need to be productive. She once again ran into someone. The person grabbed her shoulders before she could run away.
"Woah wait a minute! Sira, hey are you okay?"
Sira glanced up into the warm kind eyes of Kuwabara. "She's gone," Sira said as she tried to fight back another batch of tears. "She's gone and I couldn't stop the creature from taking her." At that point, she completely broke down.
"Urameshi," Kuwabara called as he held Sira protectively. "Get over here."
Yusuke quickly walked over. "What's up?" His expression turned to concern when he saw Sira. "Sira? What happened?"
"Tori's been kidnapped," Kuwabara said. "We need to see Koenma and quickly."
Hiei and Kurama were already in the office when Kuwabara, Yusuke, and Sira arrived. By then, Sira had finally calmed down. The only remnants of her hysteria were her red eyes and tear stained cheeks. Kurama immediately went over to make sure she was alright while Hiei regarded her with annoyance.
"I am already well aware of what has happened," Koenma said as he shuffled a couple of papers. "It turns out that Tori's kidnapper is one of the creatures from the other dimension who has been wreaking havoc."
"Really?" Yusuke asked in surprise. "Who is he?"
"His name is Akatsuki, a bat creature who can control and manipulate bats. He was the cause of the Makai bat epidemic a couple of weeks ago."
"Hiei and I have been tracking the Makai bats for the last few weeks," Kurama said, "we had hope that they would lead us to who was controlling them."
"After the recent stunt he's pulled though tracking him was easy," Koenma said with a slight laugh. "Bringing a human into Makai can attract a lot of attention." He cleared his throat before he continued. "Anyway, I am having the coordinates printed out for you. I can send you through but you're on your own after that."
"I'm going," Sira said quietly. She hadn't spoken the entire time so they were all startled when she did.
After recovering, Yusuke frowned, "What did you say?"
"I said I'm going," Sira said, her voice filled with determination.
Hiei groaned. "You can't come…"
Sira turned on him, her eyes flashing angrily. "Frankly, I don't give a shit what you think Hiei. I don't care if I am useless and there is a good chance that I might die. My best friend needs me and I don't let down my friends." She took a deep breath before adding. "Plus, I am very hysterical and pissed off at the moment. If anyone tries to stop me, I swear that I will beat the crap out of them."
The room was silent for a couple of seconds.
Koenma sighed as he paged his assistant. "Ogre?"
"Yes Lord Koenma?"
"Inform Botan that one more is going to Makai."
Tori woke up with a stiff neck and a sore arm. What happened? She thought as she slowly sat up. She was in a human sized bird cage dangling a couple of feet from the ground. She grimaced as she stood up. "Where the hell am I?" She whispered.
"Ah, my little birdie has woken up," Akatsuki said as he stepped out of the shadows.
Tori frowned as she grasped the iron bars. "I'm not your little birdie and I swear when I get out of here you are so going to regret kidnapping me."
Akatsuki smirked. "I highly doubt it. You're just a little human. You have no powers."
Tori growled as she clinched the iron bars tightly. She hated feeling insignificant and powerless. And this stupid birdcage wasn't helping her mood either.
A beep came from a monitor to the right. Eagerly, Akatsuki raced over and turned it on.
"I've captured the girl who was bitten by the makai bats" Akatsuki said proudly.
"Good, and the other girl?" the monitor asked. The voice was smooth and deep, yet there was something about it that made her want to shiver.
Akatsuki seemed hesitant to answer. "She is still with the spirit detectives."
"We need both girls or our plans are ruined" the voice hissed angrily causing Akatsuki to wince.
Tori craned her neck in an attempt to see who was talking but Akatsuki was in the way. She let out a sigh as she continued to listen.
"I don't see what is so important about those girls," Akatsuki said haughtily. "There just humans, what could they possibly do?"
The voice laughed. "Those girls are a lot more dangerous than you can imagine." The voice became serious again. "Get the other girl."
The connection quickly terminated leaving both Tori and Akatsuki in thought.
"Aw, look" Tori said sarcastically, "Akatsuki is nothing but a puppet."
Akatsuki whirled around with a glare. "Shut up you stupid human or my bats might decide to take another bite out of you." He pointed to the ceiling where around fifty bats were watching her hungrily.
Tori frowned as she flopped down in her cage.
Akatsuki grinned, "Don't be so sad, little birdie. Soon, your friend will join you in that cage." He began to walk away. "I have to go prepare for your rescue team. Now be a good birdie and stay. If you try to escape, my bats would be more than happy to eat a finger or two." With a laugh, he left.
Tori let out a sigh as she crossed her arms. She hated to be told what to do, especially from some stupid mutant reject. She glanced at the bats again. Still, she wasn't in the position to waltz out of there. As she leaned against the bars, she let her mind drift back to the conversation that she had overheard.
Who had been talking and more importantly, why did he want Sira and her? They weren't some super powerful demons who could destroy the world with a flip of a finger. They were humans, for Pete's sake. What the heck could they do? Tori let out a sigh. Something was up and it had nothing to do with the bats who were currently contemplating her as their next meal.
"Lord Koenma!" Botan yelled as she burst into Koenma's office, startling him. Her usually cheerful expression was replaced with one of anger. "Is it true that you allowed Sira to go to Makai? She could be…"
"Killed, I know." He said holding Botan's gaze with his.
Botan quickly looked away and said quietly, "But why…"
"Because," Koenma said seriously, "I have a hunch and if it is correct, then we could be one step closer to solving this problem."
"But what if you're wrong?" Botan asked as she met his gaze again.
Koenma smiled. "She's in good hands. They all care about Tori and Sira. Even Hiei is wise enough to realize he has to protect them. They will not let anything happen to her."
Botan let out a sigh as a faraway look appeared in her eyes. "I hope you're right."
Sira's eyes widened as she gazed at the scenery that surrounded her. "Makai is so…grey…and depressing. No wonder Hiei loves it here."
"I still can't believe, the toddler let you come," Yusuke said in disbelief.
Sira shrugged. "I didn't really matter to me. I was going to find a way regardless of his decision."
"Hn," Hiei grumbled before averting his eyes.
Sira sighed. "Yeah, I know you're not going to save my ass. Don't worry I don't want you saving me anyway."
"So," Kuwabara said quickly, "how far away are we?"
"The place where Tori is being kept should be over this hill," Kurama said, pointing to the giant mound of earth that loomed before them.
Sira wrinkled her nose in annoyance. "Oh joy. Hills."
"You could have stayed back with Koenma," Yusuke reminded her.
Sira's expression changed to one of determination. "Nope, I'm going to save my best friend. I'm coming Tori!" She walked a couple of feet ahead of the group before stopping. Looking back, she rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, "Um, maybe I should let you guys lead since I have no idea where I'm going."
The boys nearly face vaulted.
Tori's eye twitched as she sat up. The cage was really starting to grate on her nerves. She wondered what the others were doing at that moment. She wasn't sure how the boys would react but she had a feeling Sira was making a fool of herself. She was probably trying to lead the search and rescue team herself. Tori laughed slightly. Sira was a stubborn loyal friend but sometimes she didn't always think things through.
Tori let out another sigh as she fiddled with the end of her shirt. She was bored out of her mind. All she could do was wait to be rescued like every other damsel in distress.
Tori frowned. "I am not some stupid damsel." She glanced around the room as a decision became clear in her mind. "I'm getting the hell out of here." Looking up at the bats again, she noticed one of them was holding a shiny familiar looking object, the key to her cage.
"I hope they are as dumb as they look" Tori muttered as she stuck an arm outside her cage. "Hey bat with the key!" She yelled. It cocked its head at her irritably. "I've got a nice juicy arm you can bite!" She waved her arm up and down. The bat watched her arm hungrily.
"You know you want it," She said as she motioned the bat to come with her index finger. "So come and get it."
The bat unlatched itself from the ceiling and dived for her arm. I have to time this perfectly, she thought as she watched the bat fly towards her. Just as it was about to reach her arm, she pulled her arm back into the cage. The bat realized too late and slammed into the cage. Tori grinned as she pried the key from the stupefied bat. She unlocked her cage then jumped to the ground.
"Stupid bat," She mumbled as she fixed her clothes. A loud squeak reminded her of one tiny factor she had forgotten to take into account. The forty-nine other bats still latched onto the ceiling.
Tori's shoulders slumped as she let out a sigh. "Aw, hell." She ran out of the room screaming followed by the bats.
"Why is it that every bad guy has to have a creepy gothic looking castle?" Sira said to no one in particular. They had entered the grounds where Akatsuki and Tori were only to find a castle looming before them.
"I dunno," Kuwabara said with a shrug, "It must make them feel cool or something."
"Stupid cliché villains," Sira muttered, "when I write my stories, my villains are going to live somewhere crazy…like a yacht…or Dr. Seuss land. Yeah, that place could give anyone nightmares."
"It's strange," Kurama said as they walked down the stone hallways, "we haven't encountered any adversity so far."
A high pitch scream filled the air. Because of their excellent hearing, Kurama and Hiei winced as they covered their ears.
Sira grinned. "That sounded an awful lot like Tori."
"STUPID GOD DAMN BATS! WHY WON'T YOU JUST DROP DEAD ALREADY?" Tori yelled from up ahead.
"It seems Tori has run into some trouble" Kurama said slightly amused.
As they rounded the corner, they were greeted by the sight of Tori standing in the middle of a swarm of bats, defending herself with what appeared to be a coat rack.
"How did she get a coat rack?" Yusuke asked as they all stared at her curiously.
Seeing their stupor, Tori let out a groan. "Hey stop gawking at my coat rack and kill these stupid bats already."
The boys snapped out of their stupor and quickly took action. Within moments, the bats were defeated.
"I killed ten" Kuwabara said proudly as he glanced at Yusuke. "What about you Urameshi?"
"Twelve."
Kuwabara's mouth dropped. "What? You're lying."
As Kuwabara and Yusuke continued to fight, Sira raced over to her exhausted friend and hugged her. "Tori! You're alive!" She said, "and why do you have a coat rack?"
"Can't…breathe…" Tori said trying to loosen Sira's strangling grip.
"Whoops," Sira quickly let go and grinned sheepishly.
Tori glared at her as she wacked the side of Sira's head. "Are you nuts? We're in Makai. You could have died coming here."
"Hn, at least one of them has some sense," Hiei commented.
Sira glared at Hiei. "Shut up or I swear I will start quoting lines from Elf." She turned her attention back to Tori. "And you know I'm stubborn. There was no way I was going to let these guys save you without me here." She grinned again. "Besides you never answered my question about the coat rack."
Tori glanced at the coat rack in mild interest. "You know, I have no idea when I picked this up." She suddenly felt exhausted. She stumbled slightly as images began to blur.
"Hey, are you okay?" Sira asked. To Tori, her voice sounded as if it were far away.
Tori frowned. "I'm sleepy." She felt herself being lifted onto someone back. The smell of roses engulfed her senses.
"You smell like roses," Tori mumbled as she nuzzled into her new pillow. "I always liked the smell of roses."
Sira, Yusuke, and Kuwabara snickered as a pink tinge appeared on Kurama's face.
"Aw, ain't that cute," Yusuke smirked.
"She's just out of it," Sira said as she rolled her eyes.
A loud rumbling sound echoed through the castle. The group became alert as they watched their surroundings carefully.
"You think you can escape?" Akatsuki's voice boomed through the hallway. "Ha! I don't think so."
The ground beneath them collapsed. The guys reacted quickly and jumped to solid ground. Sira, who wasn't as skilled as they, wasn't so fortunate. She let out a scream as she fell into the hole beneath her.
Glancing back, Hiei noticed the girl falling. He grimaced. He knew what he had to do, but he wasn't at all pleased in doing it. "Stupid girl," he muttered as he jumped in after her.
Lights aura: Well, I wonder what will happen next…
Amu: Geez, you are really mean to your characters.
Lights aura: I know, isn't marvelous?
Amu: (shakes head)
Lights aura: Anyway, you know what to do. Review and I'll write some more.
