Hello once again! Been plugging away at the PS and some Inuyasha concepts I have in my head as well!

The next Poll Stories summary for (what is actually a totally overhauled 'A Light in the Dark', for anyone who caught that while it was up) "The Lights".

Summary: When the new Ningenkai Spirit Detective turns up dead, Koenma re-enlists help from the former Detective and his old crew to track down the culprits; but once they finally find them, more and more questions continue to pop up as they're led on a dangerous hunt for their real enemy - whoever that may be. But can they truly trust these killer women to lead them in the right direction..?

Chapter 25: A Reason to Fight

Kirazuki couldn't help the unceremonious grin that tugged at the corners of her mouth; she knew she was going to beat Hiei to the cave, she had also realized she somehow missed this bickering, "It's what I do!" She shouted over her shoulder as she crested the archway; pausing only for a moment to take in the scene before she jumped from the pathway, "This is my fight too!"

Kurama's eyes widened as he saw the glow of her hands while she fell, "Guard yourselves!" He shouted out to the others, quickly encasing himself in a protective barrier from his own Spirit Energy.

As Kira crashed into the ground, her palms slamming down into dirt, a tidal wave of energy poured out of her, freezing some of the lower class reptilians in it's wake, colliding into Tobikuma and Tatsumi (and an unguarded Kuwabara) hard enough to knock them back into the caverns wall; the floor now glistening with ice. Hiei gave a heavy sigh from the top of the path, glancing cautiously towards the fox who simply smiled at him with understanding before he disappeared into the battle - she was far too persistent for her own good, and he already knew it.

"Welcome back," Taryuu smirked in her direction, his massive fists lunging and pounding through the crowd - his raw strength was an obvious advantage for this battle.

Kanami's jaw tightened from behind her lavender dome of protection, 'She's free…' She thought anxiously to herself, her large crystal eyes following Kira's movements, 'Maybe I'll still be alive to rip your head from your body-' The wolf's words echoed in her head. She had to keep her barrier strong, and needed to make sure the hoard killed them off if she wanted to survive this.

Kira grinned as she stood, her body ached more than she would have hoped, but she had no time to be concerned for the miniscule aches and pains right now as she flickered away into the crowd - she and Hiei had taken out the last hoard with ease, these would be a simple bump in the road to their goal - Tobikuma, who looked quite displeased with her arrival to the battle; Tatsumi, who still had a look of amusement across her horrid, scaled face; and Kanami, who was clearly worried, and with good reason, Kira could feel the fear radiating from her, and after the last few days it excited her to no end.

Kuwabara seemed to be holding his own quite well; although he did have quite a few close calls with the reptiles mouths, he still managed to avoid them (or accidently slid on the ice out of their jaws). Yusuke appeared to be having the time of his life - using brute strength (and his vast knowledge of street justice) to overpower the demons who crossed his path - he may have used up Spirit Gun for the day - but he could always rely on his fists.

Kurama tore his emerald eyes from his comrades battles - the extra help from Kira in this fight would be imperative, but the sheer amount of controlled reptiles was overwhelming, to say the least. It seemed as though for every 4 he or anyone else killed, 8 more were ready to take their place; his eyes searched the area for a solution before it finally clicked. Kanami was the source. 'Hiei,' He reached out mentally, having absolutely no visual on the fire demon's current whereabouts.

'What, fox?' Even in his thoughts his voice sounded quite irritable; Kurama assumed he was having the same thoughts about the hoard as he was.

'Kanami, she's the one controlling them. Take her out, and the hoard will cease,'

A smirk found it's way onto Hiei's lips - that genius fox, at least he remembered that the psychic was his. Slowly but surely he began slashing and weaving his way towards Kanami; she still had her barrier up, but he could tell it was quite weakened - she was putting too much focus into the hoard, and the Jagan should take care of it effortlessly. A thought crossed his mind, and his crimson eyes swept the area briefly for the little mutt, 'Kira,'

"Over here!" Kira shouted from somewhere across the cavern, he could see a single clawed hand raised and waving in the air, bobbing up and down as she continued to fight off the reptiles.

Hiei sighed quietly to himself as he shook his head, she had absolutely no discretion whatsoever.. 'Move for Kanami,' He said simply; she would probably want to take part in dismantling the psychic.

Kira's ears gave a small, curious twitch to this statement before her eyes widened with realization: Yes, she surely wanted to join in that endeavor - or at least watch - how thoughtful of the fire demon, "I don't have time for you!" She hissed, slamming her palms into the icy floor as rough spikes of ice exploded from the ground around her.

Panic erupted through Kanami as she saw Hiei striding his way in her direction, his crimson eyes meticulously locked onto her own, his blood-coated blade hanging at his side and the mysterious third eye upon his forehead glowing as he moved.

"Give me one reason I shouldn't," Hiei's voice was laced with malice as the lavender barrier around the psychic disintegrated under his Jagan; she was able to catch him off guard when he believed her to be an ally, but he wouldn't underestimate her treachery a second time; and she was severely weakened by her lack of rest. He may have been as well from exerting the Jagan's power over the last few days, but he had waited for this very moment.

Kanami's crystal eyes widened, a look of pure terror reflecting back into crimson; she tried to shuffle her way backwards, away from the impending wrath, but there was a sudden rush of air and a firm grip in her long wavy hair, "Me too," Kira whispered in her ear, her fingers twisting into the white-blue locks from where she was crouched directly behind her.

"I was just following orders!" She shouted, her eyes welling with tears; she hadn't even realized the wolf had been coming for her, too.

"Orders to lie? Orders to deceive those who gave you the opportunity to live?" Kira hissed, her anger on a swift rise; she had been deceived by this woman in more ways than one, and despite her once soft dislike of the psychic, she had chosen to trust her, "I trusted you,"

"Kira, please! We did this for all of us!" Kanami tried to reason desperately, "I thought we were doing the right thing! We don't deserve to be locked up like animals!"

"But I deserved to be hung up and tortured like one?" Kira laughed mockingly, her brown eyes casting up towards Hiei's until they locked, and he could clearly see the ill-intent in the chocolate orbs, "That was the right thing to do?"

"No!" She sputtered quickly, trying to jerk her head to no avail, "We needed you on our side! It was all Tobi and Sumi's idea to take those actions!" She pleaded, kicking her legs out at the fire demon, "Please, it won't happen again! Let me come back with you!"

Another cruel laugh from the ice demoness, "Again.. You can't even be loyal on your deathbed," She whispered, swinging her free hand around and clamping it down underneath Kanami's chin, her fingers squeezing at the sides of her jaw where it joined her skull, "Open,"

"No!" She shrieked; but Kira only put more pressure on the jointure until it was forced agape. Kanami began to make indistinguishable pleads, but they ceased when there was a fine clink of metal against her bottom teeth, Hiei's blade resting atop her lower jaw.

"Hurry up shorties!" Kuwabara shouted through his pants for air, mentally damning their mutual fondness for cruelty; he was getting overwhelmed by the hoard at this point, he felt as if he were beginning to drown in them.

And with one clean flick of the wrist, he severed the majority of Kanami's head from the rest of her; a brilliant electric shockwave of lavender erupting from her corpse, dropping the reptiles in it's spreading wake.

Kurama exhaled a sigh of relief, casting another smile towards Hiei, who had finally gotten his wish; but the fire demon simply scowled at him as he wiped the psychics blood from his blade onto the bottom of his cloak.

Kira winced, hastily unravelling her own claws from the psychics blood-splattered hair before her eyes instinctively snapped towards the sounds of Tobikuma's rhythmically clapping palms, which she had gotten quite attuned to over the last few days, it must have been a habit of his she hadn't noticed back in the Reikai.

"Well done, little Dark Moon and company," Tobi chuckled, his wings giving a deafening snap outwards, "Now your true tests," He smiled that grotesque smile Kira hated so, the air around them uplifting and spinning about the circular cavern as his hands rose into the air; it was like being trapped inside a tornado with nowhere to go, it almost felt as if the air was being pulled from their lungs. Tatsumi's markings began to glow, her body twisting and her bones breaking down in sickening cracks as she began to transform, just as Tobi had once, before slithering and coiling her scaly snake form around one of his legs.

"Kira, ice shards!" Kurama shouted in gasps, a plan crossing his mind as he struggled against the wind, removing a second rose from his hair and giving it a violent twist, the razor sharp petals spinning off of it and into the erratic air current. Kira nodded dutifully, her palms glowing as she thrust them outwards, releasing hundreds of tiny fragments of ice into cyclone.

'Guide them,' Hiei's voice rang in the wolf's head, picking up on Kurama's thoughts as he jammed his blade into a nearby pillar with a grunt to avoid being uplifted. Kira gave another nod, her ears folded flushly with her skull as she attempted to focus her energy on each individual shard.

"You fools," Tobi grinned, giving his wings a massive flap as Tatsumi began to glow from where she was coiled around his leg, her fanged mouth opening as water began to practically pour out of it into the cyclone, "You are just as susceptible to them as we are!" He chuckled cruelly.

"No you don't!" Taryuu yelled out, bending his hands as if he were holding an invisible sphere, the water spouting from Tatsumi balling it's way in waves between his palms just as quickly as it was being produced, a poor choice on the serpents part.

Kira gritted her teeth together, the pressure of the funnel beginning to drag her while she concentrated on targeting her shards, Kurama seemed to be having just as much difficulty doing so with his petals, his eyes traced his comrades, everyone, including their true enemies, were being shredded by he and the wolf's attack. Kuwabara let out a shrill shriek as the massive wind currents finally lifted him from the ground, sending him spiralling about the cavern.

"Kuwabara, you moron!" Yusuke shouted from where he clung to a large boulder by the edge of a wall, Kira gave a loud panicked squeal as she, too, was finally uplifted from the icy ground, "Really, you too?!" He groaned, shaking his head as his raven hair whipped around wildly - they certainly didn't look like they'd be able to defeat these two; flying about in the air helplessly...

Kurama could have chuckled at the scene, if their lives weren't in danger; with a quick flick of his wrist he coiled his Rose Whip around Kira's calf, reeling her in like a fish before she got too far away from him and wrapping a protective arm around her shoulders to keep her grounded, "Thanks, fox," She smirked up at him, her hands still aglow as she tried to guide her shards.

"Shut it Urameshi!" Kuwabara screamed, trying desperately to reach out and cling to something as he was tossed about the cave like a helpless ragdoll. An idea crossed his mind in that moment; albeit an insane idea, but still a better plan than just swirling around in the wind, "Spirit Sword!"

"You fool," Tobikuma let out a confident chuckle, "You'll never get close enough to hit me," He let out another gust from his expanded wings, picking up the pace of the wind.

Kuwabara gritted his teeth together, waiting and spinning, and fending off a large wave of vertigo as he went - he still had one trick up his sleeve, he could do this… His eyes widened, giving a weighted kick to the air in hopes of getting just a fraction closer, this was it.. "Get long!"

"Wha-" Tobikuma stopped abruptly, his blackened eyes wide as they moved from Kuwabara, tracing his sword of spirit energy, down to his chest; where blood was already beginning to trail down his muscular torso, "You.." He stopped abruptly with a sputter.

'That had to be dumb luck,' Hiei smirked to himself, jerking his blade from the pillar as every particle of ice and petal fell to floor simultaneously. Kuwabara dropped to the ground, his Spirit Sword dragging downwards as he went; blood seeped from Tobikuma's mouth, his muscular body dropping onto his knees with a crashing 'thud'.

"He did it…" Yusuke balked as he rose away from his rock, his chocolate eyes wide while he attempted to regain his composure, "Alright, Kuwabara!" He pounded a single fist in the air, his chest swelling with pride for his orange-haired friend.

"Now it's your turn!" Taryuu shouted as he blasted his collection of Tatsumi's water straight back at her, while she was trying to hastily unravel from Tobikuma's collapsed body, the pressure of the pounding blast sending her feeble snake form into the caves wall, "Kira, do your thing!"

Kira smirked, one of her hands beginning to glow yet again as she flickered away from the safety of Kurama towards the massive stream of water. With one single touch of her gentle palm the cascade of liquid began freezing into solid ice - including Tatsumi. It almost looked like a brilliant ice sculpture, "Just to be safe.." The ice demoness flipped up onto the frozen pathway, disappearing to the very end where the dark snake was encased, placing two palms upon the jagged ice. With one final surge of energy she shattered everything - as well as the serpent.

"...Is it over?" Kuwabara questioned as he lifted himself shakily from the ground by Kira with a few strained grunts, his breathing in labored pants - the battle had taken it's toll on him.

Yusuke's eyes swept over the scene; Tobikuma lay on the floor, motionless, in a still-pooling puddle of his own blood. Kanami, once their ally, beheaded on the ground by the shattered chains that once bound Kira, the now-frozen towels they had used on her thrown randomly about the floor. Tatsumi was now splintered into hundreds of pieces - surely there was no way she was coming back from that; everything else, the corpses of hundreds, if not thousands of reptiles, covered in glass-like shards of ice and tattered rose petals. All else was still, "I think so…"

Kira gave a weak smile towards the Spirit Detective, her ears drooping lamely as she placed a hand against the wall to try to steady herself, "I think.." She muttered, her chocolate eyes quickly clouding as she swayed weightlessly, "I'm gonna pass out.."

Kuwabara panicked with a small scream, rushing towards her as she finally collapsed; but halted to a stop clumsily as Hiei sighed from where Kira had just stood, the little wolf folded up in his arms, totally unconscious. Kuwabara blinked a few times, giving a great exhale of relief, "Good save.."

Kurama smiled towards the unconscious ice demoness: she had fought right alongside them despite her severe injuries - she deserved the rest; once she awoke, he would finally be able to deliver his desperately needed apology, and everything had worked out for them yet again.

Yusuke stretched his arms above his head with a large yawn, his eyelids drooping as he slouched his shoulders lazily, "Let's go home,"

"Where is she!?" Koenma shouted as he barged in the front doors of Genkai's temple, Botan shuffling in nervously behind him, his face positively red with anger. Oh, he had certainly gotten word of the happenings. She had been kidnapped? After intentionally running away? She killed Kanami!? He couldn't wait to knock some sense into that girl.

Instead, he was met with 4 sets of very dark glares, from 4 very roughed up, dirty, and clearly agitated men.

"She's sleeping, binky breath, what the hell do you want?" Yusuke questioned irritably, clapping his palms down upon his knees as he stood.

Koenma blinked a few times in surprise at his tone before narrowing his eyes, "I guess I'll wait, then," He spoke evenly, huffing as he sat upon the floor.

"You'll be waiting quite some time," Kurama stated coldly, raising an eyebrow at the Reikai ruler, "Once she awakes she needs to be cleaned up, stitched and bandaged,"

"That's fine," Koenma stated stubbornly, crossing his arms over his puffed out chest.

"Just come back later, Koenma," Kuwabara mumbled from where he was laying on the floor, glancing towards the toddler from the corner of his eye, "She's had a rough couple days,"

"I certainly will not!" Koenma shouted, "She intentionally ran away! She ended up kidnapped!"

"She was set up!" Taryuu boomed from where he was seated, a growl working it's way from his chest as his tail whipped through the air irritably, "She can tell you everything later, now leave,"

"Koenma, Sir.." Botan cleared her throat, placing a hand on his small shoulder, "I'll let you know when she's ready, perhaps you should,"

Koenma narrowed his eyes, flicking them between Kuwabara, Taryuu, Yusuke and Kurama, who were all glaring at him in their own ways. With a defeated sigh he stood, raising a pointed finger, "I want an explanation for this,"

I just couldn't resist Kuwabara's shining moment ;P He's one of my favorite characters - he deserves it! This chapter is shorter than they have been but I couldn't merge it with the next or it would be a giant super-chapter of doom.

So, keep your eyes peeled for Lone Wolf 'Chapter 26: The All-Seeing Eye'!

-B.J.