I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the rights to any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.
Chapter 79: Dark Tourney 2: Side of Evil
Verto followed the huge Toguro back through the hotel, grabbing a look or two from Piccolo and Frieza.
"Friends of yours?" Toguro asked.
"One of them is," Verto replied. Toguro motioned them both to follow, to which Verto was unsure how to react. He had kind of hoped that he would be able to handle it all himself, but then again, having Piccolo's support was helpful.
"How did it go?" Piccolo asked first.
"Kinda depends on what you expect out of him," Toguro answered, "I trust you are of some relation to this boy?" Piccolo and Toguro locked eyes in a deep stare off, each trying to read the other.
"His teacher if you must know, my name is Piccolo."
"I don't recognize your class of demon, nor the pale one," Toguro said as he glanced at Frieza.
"I wouldn't worry about that if I were you," Piccolo suggested.
"Fair enough, what is your name boy?" Toguro asked.
Verto hesitated, as he was about to say what it was, but the stern feeling he got from Piccolo told him to reconsider. Damn, using my Saiyan name might be a bad idea since Chal knows it. Even if he isn't here, the others might recognize it or it might draw too much attention. As long as the demons think I'm one of them, the Renegades might too, as long as I keep my power suppressed until the time is right.
"You can call me 'D'," Verto said. Piccolo emitted a sort of satisfaction, while Frieza chuckled slightly.
Toguro adjusted his sunglasses, "D? Is that your real name?"
"No, but that's what you'll call me unless I have reason to tell you otherwise," Verto answered carefully.
"Very well, follow me," Toguro said as he walked towards the nearest elevator.
Frieza wasn't quite sure of what to make of Toguro, seeing as he was quite a bit bigger than even Piccolo. Hmph, not like it matters. I'm sure the brat is going to kill me anyway, perhaps I should just let him get it over with. But seeing him and the Namek under pressure will likely provide amusement. The elevator ride was quiet and still as the floor number rapidly climbed into the thirties. It stopped at thirty-eight and the doors opened. Toguro took the lead to the first room on the right, labeled three-thousand and six. Inside, there were a few chairs and couches to sit on, though one of them was occupied. It was the dark haired, slim man from Koenma's video, Sakyo.
"And what do we have here, Toguro?" Sakyo asked as he looked all three of his guests over. Verto's eyes narrowed slightly at his icy cool voice, recognizing the evil intentions behind it.
"Potentially a fifth team member. I haven't decided yet," Toguro replied.
"Which one, the green one?"
"No, the small boy. He calls himself D."
Sakyo eyed Verto carefully, "He looks a little young for this type of game. I hope he is at least capable of providing some entertainment."
"If you're expecting a clown suit with a barrel of bad jokes, I suggest you look elsewhere," Verto snapped back.
"Easy kid," Piccolo rasped.
"Not exactly. Personally, only gambling provides real entertainment for me. Gambling on a life and death struggle in the ring for example. Show me what you can do," Sakyo ordered.
"Against you? That's hardly fair," Verto claimed.
Sakyo's fingers folded, "Fair doesn't exist down here. But you're right, I am not a suitable challenger. Show me against Toguro." Verto glanced up at the big man, though he didn't seem very interested, despite seeing how Verto had wiped out his small band of cronies.
He grinned slightly without looking back, "It wasn't me he was talking about." The hair on the back of Verto's neck stood up when his danger sense went off. He ducked down just as a pale lance-like weapon tried to take his head off. Verto spun to the side and immediately formed his Psi sword, slicing the weapon clean. What remained pulled back to a much smaller, pale man in blue with greasy dark hair. It literally became part of his arm and reshaped into a hand with a small bloodied cut. Verto decided not to ponder who or what this newcomer was and charged him, sending him flailing into the nearest wall with one powerful punch.
"That will do," Sakyo said. Piccolo and Frieza stared back in surprise while the small man laughed evilly as he pulled himself out of the wall and left the room.
"Who or what was that?" Verto asked.
"My older brother. As you might have noticed, he can reshape and manipulate his body to his desire. There are not many demons like him," Toguro explained.
Verto glanced up at the towering menace, "And what are your talents?"
"Brute force, a lot of it."
"And the other team members?"
Sakyo cleared his throat, "Not so fast. Tell me, what is it you want out of this tournament?"
Verto hesitated, but took it in stride, "I'm looking for someone, actually several people. They are very powerful and they are here. I don't know what they look like exactly, not yet anyway. Past that, I have no real goal besides fighting them."
"Oh? Interesting. And that someone obviously isn't Toguro. Is it the Spirit Detective and his team?" Sakyo asked.
Verto paused as he turned his head slightly in confusion, "No, never heard of them."
Sakyo looked noticeably surprised, "Then who is it?"
"You'll know them when you see them, they'll most likely resemble me to an extent. Like I said, I haven't seen them before, but we are similar in both appearance and genetics," Verto explained.
"They're children too?" Sakyo asked in a mocking tone.
"No, just monkeys," Frieza cut in.
Verto resisted the urge to answer Frieza directly, "No, they're probably not children. And for the record, I'm not a child either, despite how I look. Don't treat me like one." Frieza laughed aloud, drawing a growl from Piccolo.
Sakyo folded his hands, "Very well, I'll look into it with the other team owners. In return for this small favor, you will help our team to win the tournament, no matter who you're facing out in that ring. Is that an acceptable agreement?" Verto paused again, but this time only to rethink how he would carry the rest of the conversation.
"Yes, provided that if and when we come across these people I'm looking for, you allow me to fight them alone. I don't care about the rest of the tournament, nor do I have any real idea of what their intentions are here, but I have a feeling they may be targeting this Spirit Detective you mentioned," Verto lied carefully. Piccolo picked up on it, but said nothing.
Sakyo frowned immediately, "You wish to fight them alone? Normally I would have no argument for that, but if they are after Yusuke Urameshi, then we have a common problem. You see, Toguro wishes to fight Yusuke after throwing a match to him a few months ago. He and his team have the potential to make it to the finals, but not if he is assassinated ahead of time. The other demons and greedy humans are unlikely to attempt that outside of the ring, but these new challengers likely won't follow any such honor, will they?"
Verto was unsure how to answer that since he didn't know, Well that backfired.
"These fighters may or may not be honorable, we don't really know that much about them. However, if they are not scheduled to come up against this Yusuke's team, then it is very possible," Piccolo added, saving Verto the trouble.
"Hmph, Saiyans have never been anything but bloodthirsty," Frieza added. Verto phased out and backhanded Frieza in an instant, making an identical hole in the wall.
"When will you learn to just shut up? Give me a reason and I'll rip out your tongue!" Verto shouted.
Piccolo held him off, "I'll deal with him kid, this is your mission, remember?" Verto sighed and nodded, returning his attention to Sakyo.
"Very well, I want you to watch the first match today between Team Urameshi and Team Rokuyukai and tell me what you think. This may give you a better idea on the issue of whether these...Saiyans, may attack or not. Return here alone in a few hours, until then, I leave you to your own musings. Your friends may watch the matches from the stadium," Sakyo finished as he bowed his head slightly.
"Question before I leave, what are the tournament rules?" Verto asked.
"Kill or be killed, fairly simple," Toguro said, "If that doesn't happen, submission. And if you are down or out of the ring for ten counts, you are disqualified. Other than that, anything goes once the fight has started, except for outside interference of course."
"Straight forward, and I have to say I like the ring-out rule," Verto replied.
"I don't, I prefer to finish the battle one way or another," Toguro grumbled.
"Try playing with no count on the ring out rule and you'll understand what I mean. I'll be back," Verto declared as he turned for the door. Piccolo shoved Frieza ahead of him, causing a small protest. Inside, Sakyo waited for them to leave before saying another word.
"He came across a bit over the top didn't he? Clearly several years ahead of his apparent age. What do you think?" Sakyo asked.
"That kid is very powerful, and he was suppressing a great deal of his energy. I couldn't accurately gauge his Spirit energy, nor the green one. The pale one is very strong as well, but I sensed a huge difference between him and the other two. There was almost no noticeable increase in the boy's strength when he attacked his friend without warning, and that one felt nearly as powerful as Bui and Karasu. At the same time, I sensed both hesitation and a deeper rage, he is definitely not an ordinary kid," Toguro claimed.
Sakyo frowned, "Are you saying that they are a potential threat to us?"
Toguro adjusted his shades, "Unknown. They were hiding something, but it was probably more directed at these strangers he spoke of. The green one is probably the most trustworthy out of all of them, the pale one the least."
"Well, he did bring up something I wanted to inform you about since it may involve us. All five members of Team Gorenja were killed a week ago," Sakyo said.
"Interesting, especially since the tournament bracket is setup for them to potentially face us in the semi-finals. They were checked in as of yesterday. We may have some imposters amongst the competition," Toguro replied as he rubbed his chin a bit.
"Their owner denies everything, but he was not forthcoming about it. It may be prudent to allow the boy to take care of his own problems until they become ours. After all, he is very strong," Sakyo commented as he lit a cigarette.
Toguro snorted a bit, "I doubt there is much to worry about Sakyo. But if these imposters want in on the fights, let them come. In the meantime, we will make use of our powerful new allies."
Verto returned to Sakyo and Toguro as instructed a few hours later while Piccolo and Frieza joined the hordes of demons in the stands. Almost immediately there was an incident when Frieza killed a weaker demon for blocking his sight.
"God damn it, I just knew it was a mistake having him along," Verto muttered.
"I thought he was a friend of yours?" Toguro asked as he watched a few of the demons scatter.
"Did it look like I was friends with that freak?" Verto retorted.
"It doesn't matter, the weaker apparitions will learn to stay away if they wish to live. Of course there is no rule regarding violence against the crowd, nor within it," Sakyo said. Just as he finished saying that, Piccolo blasted another demon as Frieza ducked out of the way. The larger Namek shook with frustration upon apparently missing while Frieza had the nerve to stick his tongue out at him. Verto slapped his head slightly before glancing around the stadium for any signs of the Renegades. The crowds were rather thick, and the demons were so numerous and varied that he couldn't tell. His senses were picking up all kinds of power levels, but nothing overly powerful aside from Piccolo and Frieza. He also detected another problem, the demons were all emitting a similar Psi signal to his own when enraged. That meant that his senses couldn't be relied upon until someone cranked up their power level high enough to be considered a threat. There were enough other signatures that felt seemingly normal enough to throw him off as well. Which means I won't be able to detect them until they give themselves a reason to be detected. Guess I'm stuck until that time.
The first match of the tournament left Verto somewhat unimpressed initially, but that did change slightly. He didn't really care about what Sakyo or Toguro thought when it came to their objectives, as he had no real intention to stay any longer than necessary. Team Urameshi took on Team Rokuyukai to begin the tournament and it did have its entertaining moments. There were two things that caught Verto's eye right off the bat. The other team's leader, Zeru, apparently liked to impose his will on others through intimidation. He used his flame-like energy to incinerate part of the crowd to attempt to scare his opponents. The only thing was, Yusuke slept through all of it and didn't even stir. Verto wasn't sure if he was truly that tired, or if he was simply not affected enough to wake up. Kuwabara had gone first, taking on a kid named Rinku that liked to play with yoyos. While seemingly evenly matched, the kid could outmaneuver him, yet had made the mistake of underestimating the older teen as well. Kuwabara's tough hide kept him alive while Rinku threw him around the ring with his possessed yoyos. He even managed to live through one dramatic fall from the top of the arena by using his Spirit Sword to catch himself and then counterattack. It ended when both fighters had landed out of the ring and Rinku had used his energy to tie his toys around Kuwabara. This prevented him from getting back into the ring by the time the referee had counted to ten. Kuwabara was very unhappy about the ending and demanded a rematch; though Rinku wanted no part of him anymore. The referee reminded Verto of the other ones from the previous tournaments he had been in; annoying. The only difference was that it was a female humanoid that had the tail and ears of a fox. Her name was Koto.
For the second fight, Kurama had stepped in against a dark skinned demon named Roto. Roto liked to talk a lot, but he did have one notable ability, the power to make a blade extend from his wrist. It was a little odd since the blade was also covered in his own skin, but it was still a weapon. It was oddly similar to Kaon's ability with her arm whip, without the heat. Other than that, he was nothing worth mentioning compared to his opponent. Kurama dodged his blows effortlessly to begin the match and got behind him to finish him off when he suddenly stopped. Verto couldn't hear what they were saying over Koto's annoying babbling and the random cursing from the crowd, but it was clear that Roto said something that had threatened Kurama in some way that forced him to stop fighting him completely. He even folded his arms behind his back and didn't bother to dodge when Roto ruthlessly punched him repeatedly. Verto saw that Roto was holding some sort of object with a button, and apparently that was the cause of his inaction. He thought it to be a bit cheap since the demon had no real power other than his little sword trick. Kurama let him land a few more blows before Roto suddenly froze up. Kurama easily took the object away and smashed it, whereas Roto stood completely still in the ring. A video camera angle revealed that at some point, Kurama had planted a plant seed in Roto's chest, and it was apparently the cause of the matches' sudden reversal. Kurama walked away for a moment before turning back. Verto barely sensed the energy he used on Roto afterwards, but one thing was clear; the plant powers that Kurama possessed were not easy to deal with. Green vines and flowers suddenly burst out of Roto's body as he collapsed and died.
With the score one to one, the Rokuyukai leader Zeru came back out for the third match against Hiei. It was then that Verto got to witness one of the most devastating attacks he had ever seen. Things started off hot when Zeru powered up and launched dozens of fireballs at Hiei, who simply dodged them all while moving randomly around the arena. This took out some more of the crowd and had even gotten a little close to the booth Verto was in. Zeru tried a different strategy and powered up so much that his skin actually turned fiery red. It was eerily similar to what Lenz's inner demon Kaon had done. Verto didn't sense that much more power out of him at that point, but he was nearly even with Hiei as far as he could tell. He launched forward and actually struck Hiei in the stomach, which set him on fire as he was flung into the air. Zeru blasted him as hard as he could, which for the moment appeared to have fried Hiei. This was not the case though as Hiei shook it off a moment later with little damage despite the fact that he was still smoldering. Being a fire-based demon probably had something to do with it, but Verto wasn't sure. Then he had sensed it, a latent evil energy gathering from not only Hiei, but also the surrounding area. Hiei's bandana burned off to reveal an opening third eye that flashed brightly as this energy gathered into Hiei's right arm. Black flames erupted from his hand and his power exploded outwards. Beams of black energy crackled all around the island as Hiei conjured his attack. Zeru attempted to back off, but he was too scared to dodge what was coming. Toguro and Sakyo were both intrigued by this new turn of events after Hiei announced the attack as the 'Dragon of the Darkness Flame.' A black, flaming dragon emerged from Hiei's blast and swallowed Zeru, pushing him into the stadium wall before it exploded and vanished. When the area cleared, only a smoking silhouette from Zeru's body remained on the wall. While this dragon attack was not on the same raw power level as some of the attacks Verto had seen and performed, it was still very impressive. He could only imagine what someone could do with that attack if they could control it, not to mention in a place where it would be much stronger. Hiei didn't look like he was in complete control when he fired it, and it showed when his right arm was in terrible shape afterwards.
The remaining weaklings on Team Rokuyukai ran for the exit once Zeru was erased from sight, leaving Rinku on his own. However, a new fighter emerged from the tunnel, claiming to be both the alternate fighter and the true leader, Chu. He stumbled into the ring slowly, downing a large bottle of booze while he was at it. Verto didn't think of him as more than an idiotic drunk, and the crowd agreed. He did sense something strange about his power signal though, as if it was much more than he was putting on with his staggering. He even got on the mic and declared how great he was, slurring his words the entire time. The Urameshi team wasn't sure on whom to send in, and the masked fighter declined to even move. Just as Kuwabara attempted to wake up Yusuke, he jumped right into the ring, completely awake. As he stretched a little, he started taunting the demon crowd. If his wish was to get them riled up, it certainly worked, because a 'Kill Yusuke' chant started, and didn't end for quite some time. It was both amusing and a little intimidating for Verto to hear that many voices shouting their hatred at one person. He understood it though; the Spirit Detective's reputation for killing demons had apparently earned him that sort of disrespect. The taunting and chanting continued for several minutes while Chu babbled on how great he was, in-between full bottles of sake. He even jumped into the crowd and beat up someone who had the nerve to call him a pathetic drunk. As he came back, he claimed to be a master at drunken fighting.
"Is this crazy drunk for real?" Verto asked Sakyo. Sakyo only nodded and rolled his eyes slightly as the apparent team owner rambled on about his backup fighter. When the match finally got going, Chu seemed to quickly sober up, though Verto sensed that he was still very tipsy. His energy seemed to harness it and increase his focus for short bursts. The early sprawl saw Yusuke struggling to keep up with Chu's strange movement and decent speed. While they both knocked each other down, Chu came out on top when he recovered and sent Yusuke into the stadium wall with one strong kick. He fell over as his blood alcohol level seemed to return him to his drunken daze, and this caused the referee, Koto, to delay her count by quite a bit. This also gave Yusuke plenty of time to recover outside the ring. He jumped back in with determination, and demonstrated his special attack for Chu, the Spirit Gun. While it was a little on the weak side, it was strong enough to make Chu sweat a little bit and start drinking some more. Chu powered up from whatever he had drank and then demonstrated his own blast, which he threw like a baseball at Yusuke. Yusuke avoided the first one, and shot the second one down with his Spirit Gun. The two blasts collided in the middle of the ring and struggled with each other before canceling out. Once the blasts were gone, both fighters rushed the other and beat the living daylights out of each other. Hits rained in very quickly as neither fighter bothered to block the other. It was obvious that both were going for the opening to deliver the deciding blow.
In the midst of the fight, one of Verto's apparent teammates entered. Though before he had, Verto had heard a distinct explosion from just outside the VIP booth. He looked sadistic to a degree that Verto hadn't seen in awhile. He bore mostly black with a cape and a mask covering his mouth and chin.
"Karasu, it'll be awhile before it's your turn to fight," Toguro greeted him.
Karasu glanced Verto over before nodded to Toguro, "I heard there was someone decent here, I was wondering who it was."
"You mean Urameshi, that's him fighting now."
"So I've been watching," Karasu replied, not sounding completely interested.
"Well, what do you think?" Toguro asked. Karasu's eyes narrowed, but he didn't answer.
"Hmph, I thought you wanted to fight that kid Yusuke so badly," Verto said as he glanced upward. Toguro seemed indifferent about his remark, but it was difficult to tell.
"And who are you supposed to be, a peasant boy?" Karasu asked.
"You wish," Verto replied coolly.
"His business is his own. However, he is with us, for now," Toguro briefly explained. Sakyo asked for silence as the brutal slugfest in the ring came closer to its climax. Chu got the first real opening when he managed to knock Yusuke away with a well-timed blow to the head. Chu charged up a much bigger blast with all of his remaining power and fired it right away. Yusuke landed in a bad position and was unable to dodge. Instead, he fired his Spirit Gun twice in a row, using a rapid-fire type of attack. The two blue blasts went right through Chu's orange ball and hit dead on, though Chu's blast also hit Yusuke. Both fighters survived, but were completely drained and missing half their clothes. Verto sensed that Yusuke still had a little to give, but his energy had fluctuated rather violently after the attack and had all but vanished. Thus the fight came down to whoever could beat the other one's head in first. Chu requested a particular stipulation involving knives for maximum and endless violence to conclude the match. He had stuck them into the ring and then placed his own foot in front of the blade while beckoning for Yusuke to do the same. After about five to six minutes of constant punching, Chu and Yusuke both head butted each other at the same time, and Chu went down for the full ten count. The demons in the crowd hated this, but hated it even more when Yusuke didn't finish Chu off for good upon their request. Yusuke's team won the round and became the first team to advance. The fights had taken so long that the officials elected to end the festivities for the day, causing Verto to scowl with impatience.
"So Karasu, you never told me what you think of him? Will he be worth your time?" Toguro asked once the round was over.
"As long as he keeps winning, we'll see," Karasu claimed, uninterested.
"And you?" Toguro asked me.
"I'm not overly impressed if that's what you mean, however they do have potential. They are decent fighters for their level, and that Yusuke kid is probably the most impressive if he hasn't been doing this for even a year,' Verto replied.
"You must be rather impressive too if Toguro allowed you to be on our team," Karasu claimed as he dared to reach for Verto's hair. Just as he made contact, Verto suddenly spun around and snatched his arm out of the air. Their eyes met and Verto's flashed with red intensity. Karasu did well to hide his fear, but Verto still sensed it and responded accordingly.
"Don't touch me again, ever," he rasped as his eyes faded to blue again. Toguro expressed brief concern, but let things slide.
Sakyo had other ideas, "Perhaps you should proceed back to the hotel with your companions. Then, we will require your services tomorrow in a few different ways."
"How so?" Verto asked.
"I want you to keep an eye on Yusuke Urameshi until it is time for our matches. If those people you're after are going to attempt assassination, it will be when they are not in the ring. Our match is last tomorrow against the Spirit Warriors Team, and I wish for you to fight them as well. Do this and I will acquire the information you seek," Sakyo purposed.
Verto sensed a partial bit of deception but let it slide. That might actually work out better. While I would prefer to flush them out quickly, I can protect Yusuke and have Piccolo scout for me. If all else fails, I can have him keep an eye on Yusuke while I fight.
"I take it that isn't against the rules around here," Verto guessed.
"No, but most demons probably won't try to murder him outside of the arena. It would be a waste for him to come here if that could happen," Toguro said.
"All right, I can do that," Verto agreed.
"Oh, and let the green one know that he will be the substitute fighter if one of us dies," Sakyo added.
"Hmph, that's hardly necessary," Toguro claimed.
"I have a hunch Toguro," Sakyo replied.
Verto rolled his eyes and left, but suddenly had a realization. We should have asked Koenma to do that from the beginning. Piccolo could have been their fifth and I could have gone over to Yusuke's team as the substitute, that way all the bases are covered. Though I suppose it doesn't matter that much, and there's always the chance that Piccolo would end up fighting the Saiyans instead of me. But as far as the final rounds go, I really don't care. We're outta here once the Renegades are dealt with.