Cheza watched onward as the battle unfolded. Kuronue sent a blast of energy Kurama's way, but he dodged with ease. Kurama was not attacking Kuronue...and it was angering the bat. "Fight back!" he growled. Kuronue lunged with his scythe, slashing into Kurama's shoulder. Cheza averted her gaze from the fight after hearing a familiar voice. "What the hell is going on out there!". It was Yusuke. He opened his apartment door, one of Kuronue's scythes whizzed by him, lodging itself in it "Jeese!". Keiko stuck her head out from the door, along with Alice. "Alice!" Cheza exclaimed. Keiko looked down spotting cheza, "oh my gosh! What happened to you!" Kuronue and Kurama had jumped off the balcony and were now fighting by the outskirts of the creepy forest near the apartments. Alice began to wine as Yusuke watched the two friends go at it. "Im okay..dont worry about me" Cheza assured. Yusuke tore his eyes off the fight and turned to Cheza, "why are they fighting?". "I..I don't really know…I went outside to look for Alice..and..Kuronue…attacked me…somethings wrong with him! Hes not himself!"
Yusuke crossed his arms, " Kurama isn't fighting back..hes gonna get himself killed!". Everyone turned their attention back to the fight , "Im gonna have to go help him if he doesn't do something soon!"
/\/\/\/\/\/\
Hiei watched in a tree from afar, his fist clinched in anger. Why wasn't the fox fighting back! If he wouldn't kill the bat..then he would take matters into his own hands. No…he had a better idea. As much as he disliked the bat..he disliked seeing his friend in pain even more. He would never admit it but Kurama was sort of like a best friend to him. He knew the bat meant a lot to his fox friend…and he also knew a way to save him. He vanished in a black blur..hoping he would be back in time before too much damage had been done.
/\/\/\/\/\/\
Hiei turned into a dark alley, his destination only minutes away. "Well well look what we got here..hand over your cash and I wont kick your ass!" Hiei narrowed his eyes, glaring daggers at three men in front of him. They emerged from the shadows, one was holding a bat, the other a knife..and the third was cracking his knuckles. The three exchanged glances…they appeared hesitant to fight the little fire demon after seeing the pissed off look on his face. In a flash Hiei had knocked the guy with the bat out, the other two guys began to panic, "st..sta…stay away from me you freak!" Hiei lunged forward slamming the guy with the knife into a trashcan. A raccoon appeared from the fallen trashcan and proceeded to charge at the third guy. It attached itself to his face, he was screaming like a little girl. The racket had awoken people in the apartments nearby, dogs were barking..it was utter pandemonium. Hiei simply shoved his hands into his pockets and continued to walk deeper into the ally, as the guy continued to scream and the raccoon continued to attack. "Chaos..panic..and disorder..my work here is done" Hiei remarked. He soon approached a brick wall…he placed his hand on it..it went right through. The wall was a portal that lead to a very old psychic demon's home. He entered and soon found himself standing inside the psychic's living room . "Hello Hiei…I've been expecting you. He turned, his crimson orbs falling upon an old woman with long gray hair. "Then I assume you know why I am here" she nodded, "yes…follow me"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Kurama's vision was beginning to blur, he was growing weaker by the second. He collapsed to the ground, "Kuronue..please I don't want to fight you". Kuronue showed no compassion for his friend whatsoever, "That's it! Im gonna have to step in! Kurama doesn't have the heart to hurt him" Yusuke exclaimed averting his gaze to Keiko. "Wait Yusuke..look". An eerie mist began to engulf Kurama, Cheza knew what this meant. He was transforming into the infamous Yoko, Kurama. The mist soon faded and there stood Yoko, his golden orbs locked onto his old partner in crime. "You must stop this sensless act Kuronue! There's nothing I could have done to prevent your death!" Kuronue seemed to grow even angrier after seeing Yoko, he flooded spirit energy into one of his scythes and went on the offense. Yoko dodged every attack with ease, he had always been much stronger and faster than Kuronue. Kuronue threw a left hook at Yoko, but Yoko caught it in his hand. "You will not win this fight, think about what youre doing!"
Kuronue didn't listen…once again he lunged forward and attempted to strike his silver haired friend. This time the fox fought back. His fist slammed into Kuronue's jaw sending him slamming into the ground. "You've left me no choice" Kuronue quickly got to his feet and sent a blast of energy at the fox. He evaded the attack and pulled a rose from his hair. The rose transformed into his notorious rose whip. "Detective". Yusuke averted his gaze from Kurama to see Hiei standing beside him. Hiei had startled him a bit, "Ya know I hate it when you pop up out of nowhere!" Hiei ignored his remark, "I have found a way to save the bat..but it will require your assistance"
"Alright, what do you need me to do". Hiei unsheathed an ancient looking sword, the hilt had strange symbols engraved in it. "I need you to distract the fox..he will try to stop me". Hiei disappeared in flash, soon appearing in front of Kuronue. Yusuke ran down the apartment stairs and over to Yoko. Hiei lunged forward at Kuronue with the sword, sure enough, Yoko tried to stop him. Yusuke tackled the fox to the ground as Hiei plunged the sword into Kuronue's chest. He quickly pulled it out and Kuronue fell to the ground lifeless. "KURONUE!" Yoko yelled. Yoko ran over to his friend's lifeless body, painfilled memories of his previous death flooding his mind. "No…you cant be dead..not again" Yoko grabbed Kuronue's shirt and proceeded to shake him, "wake up damnit!"
Yusuke looked over at Hiei, "I thought you said you found a way to save him!" Hiei continued to stare at Yoko, not responding to Yusuke's comment. A few minutes passed, Yoko got to his feet. His golden orbs shadowed by his bangs. Cheza ran down the stairs and to his side, "Im sorry" she whispered. He remained silent..everyone did. "Look" Hiei pointed towards Kuronue. Everyone turned their attention to Kuronue's limp form. A weird purple orb was hovering over him…it soon began to take form. A pair of wings emerged on each side of the orb, a mouth…bat ears..and a big pair of indigo eyes appeared soon after. "uhh…Hiei what did you do to Kuronue!"
"It's the bat's spirit beast baka" Hiei replied. "Spirit beast? That doesn't make any sense..how…"
"The sword.." Yoko interrupted turning his attention to it. " When cut by that sword..it doesn't kill you..it…heals you"
"uhh…no offense..by Kuronue looks pretty dead to me" Yusuke commented.
"The sword forced the bad energy out of him which transformed into his spirit beast thus stabilizing his soul….." Hiei explained. "so the little guy is the evil in Kuronue? Its not going to devour him..us is it?". "no you fool! It didn't hatch from an egg!" Hiei retorted. Yusuke went to pet the mini bat, "he doesn't look evil at all". The bat latched onto Yusuke's finger, "oww! Get off my finger you little bastard!" The bat growled then began to shake his finger violently. A groan escaped Kuronue's mouth as he slowly sat up and took in his surroundings. "what the….what happened! Am I drunk?" His indigo orbs met with the spirit-beasts, "what the hell are you supposed to be!". "Your spirit beast apparently…" Yusuke stated. "spirit beast?"
"You remember Puu, hes my spirit beast….this is yours". Kuronue had a confused look on his face, "I never had an egg and…". "Doesn't make sense to me either..but screw it! Your alive and you seem to be back to your old self! that's what matters right?" Yusuke interupted. "Back to my old self?" Kuronue's eyes met with Yoko's…he quickly noted Yoko had a deep wound on his shoulder…the bat looked down to his chest to see his clothes blood soaked. "Did I….." A sad look fell upon his features after he spotted Cheza, "I…caused all this?"
Yoko placed a hand on his shoulder, "its alright Kuro..you weren't yourself…"
\/\/\/\/\/
The night had come and gone. Kuronue had stayed the night at Kuramas.
Cheza was awoken to the sound of something banging against the wall in the vacant apartment next door. Her eyes widened a bit..she hoped it wasn't a demon. "WOOF!" Alice was barking at the wall, Cheza decided to investigate. She quietly crept to her front door and silently unlocked it . She stuck her head out and saw the apartment door next to her wide open. Hesitantly she stepped outside and peered into the vacant room….