Chapter 6 - Ree's Fight

Your POV
"I'm never gonna give up on this fight." Kuwabara started. He was breathing hard and Byakko was just getting bigger. Kuwabara's spirit sword was barely big enough to be a dagger now. He was almost completely out of spirit energy. "No matter how big you get." He said as Byakko took a step towards him.
"So, are you sure?" Yusuke asked. Kurama gasped.
"Positive. Kuwabara is helping him." He answered.
"This doesn't make any sense." Kuwabara stated looking at his sword that was barely big enough to be a dagger. Byakko laughed.
"Why is it so hard to understand, human? Your weapon is made of pure energy and it's feeding my spirits apatite like a fresh slab of red meat. Unless you want to keep making me bigger and stronger then I suggest you throw down your sword." Byakko said.
"No way." Kuwabara said confidently while making his sword full sized again.
'What a fool.' You thought watching Kuwabara.
"So, this is your plan, to feed me?" Byakko asked sarcastically.
"That's right." Kuwabara answered charging at Byakko with his sword again.
"Let's go!" Byakko said going after Kuwabara. Kuwabara stabbed his sword into Byakko's mouth when he roared.
"All right." Yusuke said.
"This may...Not be good." Kurama said watching the battle. Byakko started sucking up Kuwabara's spirit energy.
"No, he can't." Kuwabara said not wanting to face the fact that Byakko was taking his spirit energy.
"Just let go." Yusuke said to no one in particular. A few moments later Kuwabara's spirit sword was completely gone. Byakko had taken all of his spirit energy. Kuwabara fell to the ground. Byakko laughed as Kuwabara tried to stand up.
"Thanks." Byakko said rubbing his stomach. "You had more spirit energy on your bones then I thought. Eating all of it nearly got me full." He said as Kuwabara sat up.
"I'm not done yet." Kuwabara said trying to make his sword and stand up.
"Oh, man. This looks bad. It looks like his spirit sword had a down size." Yusuke said.
"I dare you to come closer." Kuwabara said holding up his spirit sword which was more like a spirit dagger.
"Ha! You can't even stand up anymore. You are nothing but a wounded animal." Byakko said lifting up his huge foot and kicking Kuwabara. Kuwabara flow through the air and landed a few feet away from the edge of the ground. If he went too much further he would fall of and onto the trees far below. "Crushing you will be the perfect exercise after my giant meal." Byakko stated walking up to where Kuwabara lay on the ground. "As soon as there's room in my stomach that's where you'll go!" he said laughing.
"I'm not so sure I can crack jokes about this. Kuwabara's really gonna get killed now." Yusuke stated his eyes never leaving Kuwabara.
"No, there is a way." Kurama stepped in still watching the fight.
"Well then say it." Yusuke said looking at Kurama.
"Byakko's body stopped expanding half way through that attack. That indicates vulnerability." Kurama explained.
"So you mean he has a weakness."
"Don't get the boys hopes up, Kurama." Hiei butted in.
"I am simply saying there is a chance."
"Yes Kurama, maybe if you were the one fighting. But that fool will never be able to see it." Hiei retorted as Byakko picked Kuwabara up by the front of his shirt.
"You once said you wanted to die." Byakko started while punching Kuwabara and letting him go so that he could fly and crash into the ground. Kuwabara tried to get up.
"Darn." Kuwabara said sitting up again panting.
"You told your puny human friend that you'd never stop fighting until I came down here and killed you myself, remember?" Byakko asked walking up to Kuwabara again. "In the end you'll get exactly what you asked for. Remember that when I claw you into shreds."
"No, it turns out I have something else on my mind." Kuwabara said making his spirit sword again.
'What is he thinking? Has he realized how to defeat Byakko?' you thought curiously.
"Don't be worried. I'm quick to the kill!" Byakko yelled getting ready to bring his claws down on Kuwabara. Kuwabara quickly stood up and charged at him with his full sized spirit sword in hand. Byakko grabbed Kuwabara's sword but Kuwabara was able to get it out of Byakko's grasp. Kuwabara stepped to the side and put more sprit energy into his sword and charged at Byakko again with his spirit sword in front of him. Kuwabara stabbed Byakko in his stomach. Spirit energy was spilling out of Byakko where the sword pierced.
"Wait Kuwabara, don't be stupid! Kurama says there's still a way to beat him!" Yusuke yelled as all of Kuwabara's energy was taken by Byakko. Kuwabara fell to the ground no longer having any energy to keep himself on his feet. "Kuwabara." Yusuke said upon watching this. Byakko groaned rubbing his stomach as he looked down at Kuwabara who lay motionless on the ground in front of him.
"You filled me up so much with your energy I don't think I have enough room to eat your body. Oh, well, I'll just crush you into pulp for later!" Byakko said about to kick Kuwabara. Yusuke was about ready to fire his spirit gun but Kurama stopped in.
"No wait, it is not necessary." He said stopping yusuke before he could shoot his sprit gun. Byakko stepped back groaning. His stomach started getting bigger then back over and over again. Kuwabara pushed himself up to see Byakko.
"Looks like it worked." He said chuckling. Byakko groaned again putting his hands on his stomach.
"What...Worked?" he asked as Kuwabara sat up.
"It's like my sister always says, it's not good to eat a whole bunch of food in one sitting." He answered with a smirk.
"Sister huh? That explains a lot." Yusuke said smiling.
"Why you." Byakko said walking up to Kuwabara but stopped suddenly. Byakko started to glow gold-ish yellow, he grabbed his stomach, and energy started bursting out of him going in every direction before completely engulfing Byakko. The ground under him broke and he fell to the ground below.
"Down he goes." Yusuke said triumphantly.
"The amount of sprit energy Kuwabara transferred created a force bigger then what Byakko's body could contain." Kurama explained.
"Sounds like an awful case of gas if you ask me." Yusuke said laughing.
"Quiet Urameshi!" Kuwabara yelled breathing in the air around him. "I'm trying to concentrate here, ok? I have to breathe in the guys fumes it's filled with my sprit energy." Kuwabara explained.
"Actually, your energy returned automatically." Kurama said as we walked up to him.
"Oh, a well, you can never be to safe right?" Kuwabara said embarrassed.
"Hey, I don't know why you're still on the ground Kuwabara; I haven't even broken a sweat." Yusuke teased.
"Very funny, Urameshi, you're taking the next one." Kuwabara said back as yusuke communication mirror started to go off. Yusuke pulled it out and answered it.
"Yusuke this is Boton do you copy?" Boton asked.
"Sure." Yusuke answered as Kuwabara quickly stood up.
"Hey, tell her I say 'hi'." Kuwabara butts in.
"How are things in Maze Castle? Please tell me you've defeated three out of the four saint beasts by now." she begged.
"What? Are you crazy, Boton? We've barely beaten two. These guys aren't easy." Yusuke pointed out.
"I understand, Yusuke. But that's not fast enough. The city is loosing its grip. The mayor declared a riot alert thinking these people are just insane. So far the police detained most of those people taken over by the Makai. But it won't be long before the police are infected as well.
"Ok, I get it." Yusuke said annoyed.
"I hope you do, Yusuke, I really do." Boton said as another person controlled by the Makai insects attacked her. She jumped out of the way before the man could grab her though. She pulled out bug spray and spayed the man in the eyes then she spun around and kicked him in the face. The man fell to the ground and she looked back at the communication mirror again. "Sorry about that, boys. As you can see I'm busy here too." She said hanging up. Kuwabara grabbed the mirror.
"See ya later, Boton." He said smiling.
"She hung up. Stupid. You can't be too injured if you're still flirting." Yusuke said taking back the compact.
"Shut up." Kuwabara said.
"Well, shall we go?" Kurama asked with a smile. Suddenly we heard Byakko's roar again. We all looked around to see where exactly it was coming from.
"Don't tell me..." Yusuke started. Kurama gasped.
"He's alive." He said as the flooring began to break from under us. "Hurry, it's collapsing." He said and we all began to run into the passage to the staircase behind the pillar Byakko had been standing on just in time before the flooring collapsed and fell down to the trees below. We all heard Byakko laugh from further up the staircase.
"So human, you've proven to be quite a worthy pray." Byakko said.
"Hey, aren't you dead yet?" Kuwabara asked.
"Ha! Very much alive. So much that I'm inviting you into my lair; my room of hell." He answered.
"What if we say no?" Kurama asked. Byakko laughed at the question.
"You don't want to say no." he answered.
"Just lead the way, Byakko. I'll go where ever you want." Kuwabara said. We walked up the staircase. When we reached the told there was a door. Yusuke and Kuwabara opened it. On the other side was a cave like passage was. Heat rushed at us as we opened the door.
"Oh, that's just great. Now we're walking into a preheated oven." Yusuke joked.
"Who cares, as long as it leads to Byakko." Kuwabara said seriously.
"Ok, you go first." Yusuke suggested.
"Come on." Kurama said and started walking into the cave with the rest of us fallowing. When we reached the end of the cave we were in an open room with rock pillars everywhere. Under the rock pillars was molten lava.
"Give me a break." Yusuke said taking a step back away from the lava. "Ha, ha, guess room of hell wasn't just a clever name." He joked. "That's..." he started.
"Lava." Kuwabara finished ripping off a piece of his shirt sleeve and throwing it into the lava. The small piece of clothe never even touched the lava before it turned into nothing but a small puff of smoke.
"Wow." Yusuke said upon seeing that.
"We better not fall into that, guys." Kuwabara said.
"A fine view isn't it?" Byakko asked. We all look towards him. He was stand on one of the pillars in the lava. "This is my private chamber. I come here to 'play'." He said laughing evilly with his arms crossed.
"No way, he's back to normal." Kuwabara said taken back.
"Monster, you piss me off." Yusuke said angrily.
"As you have already discovered, this room is filled with lava that will melt anything it touches. So, does anyone have the courage to come and challenge me?" Byakko asked with an evil smirk.
Kurama's POV
Ree stepped forward. Her face showed no emotion and neither did her eyes. She put her right hand out behind her as if holding something. Then her scythe appeared in her hand, the top end facing the ground ad the bottom end facing up.
"You bet I do circus freak! You think you got so much power?" Yusuke yelled not noticing Ree had stepped up. Kuwabara put his hand on Yusuke's shoulder.
"Hey, leave him to me, Urameshi." Kuwabara said confidently.
"Kuwabara." Yusuke said.
"No, I will be fighting." Ree stepped in, her voice cold and distant. She never took her eyes off of Byakko.
"What? No way! I'm fighting him!" Kuwabara yelled angrily.
"Have you forgotten?" she started turning her cold, distant gaze upon Kuwabara. "We agreed that if you lost I would fight." He said coldly. I could tell she was angry though she tried not to let it show.
"But...It's my fight!" Kuwabara argued.
"No. You had your chance. Now, it is my turn. If you don't like it then shoot me." She said angrily. Kuwabara took a step back.
"Let the human girl come. She must be dying to fight." Byakko stated. Ree smirked taking a step forward and gracefully jumping onto the nearest pillar.
Hiei's POV
'Does she really intend to fight? Well, at least she has an actual weapon instead of one made purely out of spirit energy.' I thought watching Ree gracefully jump onto a pillar in the lava.
"Shall we begin?" she asked with a smirk. Her voice was different. It was filled with...Blood lust. It wasn't common for a normal human to be able to sound this way.
"Ha! Just so you know I'm planning on using a different kind of attack then I did on your puny friend." Byakko said.
"Go for it." She said her voice still filled with blood lust. Byakko began to roar while tightening his hands into fists. He was gathering his spirit energy. Then he put his hands to his throat and aimed at Ree.
"What is that?" Yusuke asked watching as spirit energy gathered in Byakko's mouth.
"Something powerful." Kurama answered.
"Very." I added as I too watched Byakko. I glanced at Ree. She seemed to not notice the amazing energy Byakko was giving off. Either that or she wasn't afraid. I looked back at Byakko just in time to see the attack. It was green and it came from his mouth. "So, it does exist." I stated out loud.
"You mustn't touch it, Ree! Get away!" Kurama yelled as she dodged.
"Yes, I know." She said calmly. We all looked at where the green ball of energy hit. The pillar she had been on had been disincarnated. Byakko laughed.
"You like it? I call it my tiger scream. Everything it touches turns into a pile of ashes." Byakko explained.
"Interesting, I'm not stupid you know. I am perfectly capable of seeing, thank you very much." Ree stated with her normal attitude.
"For years, I have heard of a fighter who could destroy molecular bonds with the vibrations of his voice. I never thought I'd meet him." I explained.
"So she can't use any spirit powers on it?" Yusuke asked.
"No, the spirit energy would cause as train reaction which would destroy her entire spirit or soul." I explained to Yusuke.
"The only thing you can do now is run." Byakko said creating another Tiger Scream. Ree quickly looked at the pillars around her clearly deciding which she should choose.
'She's planning ahead. She's seeing where the best places would be to go as quickly as she can. It's surprising; even in this kind of situation she can still remain completely calm. She doesn't even look nervous or afraid.' I thought watching her as she gracefully dodged another one for Byakko's Tigers Screams. Byakko quickly created another. He was creating them more quickly now. She kept jumping from pillar to pillar never missing a beat. I took a step forward kicking something. I looked down to see that Ree had taken off her back 4in. high heel sandals.
'What the? When did she do that? A better question; why did she do that?' I asked myself. I looked at her again. She was doing flips and jumps easily dodging each of Byakko's Tiger Screams. And from the looks of it she wasn't even breaking a sweat. I saw her eyes advert from Byakko's attacking to the places around her. She was planning ahead again, until Byakko did something different.
"Tiger Claw!" he said as three needle-like objects appeared in between his four fingers. He threw them at her. Her eyes widened for a quick second before returning to normal again. From that I knew that she hadn't planned for him to have any other attacks or that she knew he did but didn't think that he was going to use them yet. She barely dodged the new attack.
"What the?" Yusuke yelled upon seeing Byakko's new attack.
"This isn't as hard as I thought it would be." Ree said with a smirk.
"You surprise me. You keep fighting despite your frail human body." Byakko said.
"Hn, get used to it. I'm not one to give up or back down." Ree said with a smirk again.
"That's very noble, but the trueth is you've already lost. Like all the victims before you my Tiger Scream has proven to be too much." He said to her.
"Think what you wish; cause either way you're gonna think what you believe." Ree said coldly. Byakko growled angrily. He obviously didn't like the fact that she was so confident and calm. Byakko made his Tiger Scream again and fired it at Ree. She easily dodged it. Byakko kept attacking Ree with his Tiger Scream and his Tiger Claws while Ree kept dodging. I could tell by the way she was dodging and her eyes that she was up to something.
'She's doing flips and spins while she's dodging. She's making it look like she's just dodging but really she's looking around. She's planning something. Although she's trying to make it seem like she's not. She's making it look like she's just doing tricks while dodging.' I thought watching her. Her speed suddenly increased and she jumped on a pillar then quickly went back to the pillar she had just been on before doing it over again. She was moving so fast that she was leaving her image behind.
'Humans can't move that fast!' I thought. 'What or who is she?' I thought suspiciously as I watched. 'She's trying to confuse Byakko. It looks like it's working too.' I thought. Byakko kept firing where she was then she finally decided to go after him. She quickly jumped towards him and he fired at her instead of her image.
'He had tricked her into thinking that he couldn't follow her when he could. Then when she went after him he made his move. If she get's hit head on she dead.' I thought watching the battle intensely. I saw Ree's eyes get wide when she realized that he had tricked her. She tried to dodge in midair but couldn't. She got hit in the right leg. She screamed an ear piercing scream.
"Ree!" Yusuke yelled panicking. Ree barely made it to another pillar. She was lying on the pillar clearly fighting to stay conscious. I looked at her leg, it was covered in blood. Ree tried to stand up but quickly fell back down. She was biting her lower lip so hard that it to was bleeding.
"Ree! Let me take over for you! Please, Ree!" Yusuke begged.
"No!" she growled out trying to stand up again. This time she succeeded moving most of her body weight to her left leg.
"Look, see, give up. Your going to die anyways. Why die a slow and painful death when I can just kill you quickly?" Byakko asked with a laugh. Ree growled.
"Either way, you won't be living to see tomorrow. Whether I die today or not doesn't matter, as long as I take you with me. Besides, what the hell have I got to live for anyways? I have no family, no friends, nothing. The only reason I'm here is because I was asked to by Koenma and the only reason I said yes was because I had nothing better to do." Ree explained through gritted teeth. It was clear that she was in a lot of pain. Byakko growled then quickly made another Tigers Scream. Ree couldn't dodge so instead she held her scythe up in front of her with both hands. She was holding it sideways. Byakko's Tiger Scream hit and Ree screamed in pain again. We all waited till the smoke cleared to see if there was anything left of her.
'What? She's still alive? That's not possible! No human could have survived that!' I thought upon seeing her still alive. She was on her knees her scythe still held firmly out in front of her. She was sitting in a pool of her own blood. She was bleeding from her arms, legs, just below her right eye, her left cheek, the right side of her forehead, and her stomach and sides had multiple gashes. She looked like she was about to pass.
'She must have created a small barrier at the last minute. That is the only thing that could explain this.' I thought.
"Ree, please, just give up and switch places with me! Look at you; you're going to bleed to death at this rate! Please, just switch with me!" Yusuke yelled begging.
"I...Said no." She said sternly. "I...Will...N – Not." She grasped out. She was about to pass out when she suddenly started glowing. She was glowing a mixture of white and black. It kept changing from white to black. Then suddenly angel wings materialized on her back. Her left wing was white and her right wing was black.
"She's a...Angel apparition?" Kurama asked confused.
"A what?" Kuwabara asked.
"How can a demon be an angel, I'm lost?" Yusuke asked.
"An angel apparition is the rarest kind of demon. There are less then 10 in the world." Kurama began.
"But what is it?" Yusuke butted in.
"I was getting to that. An angel apparition is actually the purest yet cruelest demon alive. They say that they can be cruel and cold one minute and sweet and loving the next. That explains why she was nice earlier and distant normally." Kurama paused.
"But how can she be 'the purest yet the cruelest'?" Yusuke asked confused.
"She can be both because she is both angel and demon. Her cruel side is the more demonic side of he, while the more pure side is her more angelic side." Kurama explained. "Angel apparitions are automatically labeled as A or S class demons only because they are that strong at birth though they may not seem like it. Her being an angel apparition also explains why she is so graceful in everything she does." Kurama continued looking towards Ree again. Byakko had made another Tiger Scream and fired it at her. Ree leaned in and her eyes glowed red. The attack vanished upon hitting Ree although it did not hurt her. Ree laid her scythe down next to her and held her hands straight out in front of her. Her left hand held over the right.
"Angel Fire!" Ree yelled as a red ball of fire came from her hands and hit Byakko. Byakko fell into the lava. Ree's wings disappeared and a small, faint smile appeared on her face as she fell forward on the pillar.
"Ree!" Yusuke yelled jumping from pillar to pillar to get to her. Kurama, Kuwabara and I fallowed after him.
Yusuke's POV
Kurama looked at her broken, frail body as it bled. She was unconscious obviously. Kurama quickly wrapped up her wounds and was about to pick her up and put her on his back when Hiei took her from him. Hiei put her on his back and nobody argued against it. After that we jumped across the pillars to the exit across the room. We walked down a hall way until we made it to a flight of stairs.
'Damn, there sure are a lot of stairs in this place.' I thought as we ran up then. Hiei was still carrying Ree on his back. I was kinda surprised when he had just offered to carry her. It was kinda unlike him. We reached the top of the stairs and came to a room filled with doors.
"What? You've got to be kidding me." I said looking at all of the doors.
"Hn, it appears we have found a maze in maze Castle." Hiei said sarcastically.
"Well, I guess that makes sense." I said looking at Hiei.
"We must beware; it's something of a legend. In the beginning, before the barrier wall was erected around the city, hundreds of bounty hunters came in search of the beasts, none succeeded. But the beasts never left their tower, letting anyone who made it in forfeit their lives to this maze. There are 15 doors, all but one leads to a dead end, there are no second attempts. In avoidable traps lay in the wrong passage ways, so you see a poor choice seals our fate." Kurama explained.
"Ok, Mr. Sensitive, this ones all yours." I said looking at Kuwabara. Kuwabara looked at each of the doors for a few moments. Suddenly upon laying eyes on one of the doors he gasped.
"The second door on the left." Kuwabara said.
"You heard the man, lets go." I said.
"How do we know he's not making a mistake?" Hiei asked. Kuwabara walked up to the door he had chosen.
"I'm sorry shorty, maybe it's not your thing but your just going to have to truest me on this one. I know there's something big behind that door." Kuwabara said putting his hand on the doorknob.
Hiei's POV
"...Something scary." He continued opening the door. There was a small mouse looking up at him when the door opened completely. Kuwabara screamed and backed away from the door. "I hate mice!"
"Gee Kuwabara, and that speech of yours was getting so dramatic." A girl said behind so. I turned around and looked back at Ree who I was carrying on my back.
"Ree!" Kuwabara and Yusuke said at the same time both running up to me and Ree at the same time.
"Your awake!" Kuwabara stated the obvious.
"How are you feeling?" Yusuke asked.
"Like shoot in some parts and other parts like my legs I can't feel." She said. It didn't sound like her though. It did, but it didn't. Her voice was the same but it wasn't cold and distant but it wasn't sweet and kind either. It was normal; relaxed; calm. "Anyways, are we going through the happy door or not?" she asked with a smirk.
"Yeah, let's go!" Yusuke yelled and walked through the door. The rest of us fallowed. I stayed in the back still carrying Ree. I felt her move a little and then gasp in pain as we walked down the hall.
We finally reach the end of the hall, to see two large blue double doors, with two different blue dragons on each side of the doors.
"Are we supposed to be scared?" I asked.
"I think so, but hey, what do I know? I'm not a freak." Ree answered.
"Perhaps. That is the mark of the blue dragon. And judging from the odor I'd say the beasts is inside." Kurama answered.
"Yeah, and he doesn't feel very nice." Kuwabara added. Then there was a sound coming from inside the door. After a minute the doors opened by themselves a blue mist coming out as well. Yusuke put his hands in his pockets and walked in. The rest of us fallowing. After we entered the room the doors closed themselves again.
"This fogs alive." Kurama stated.
"Must be a form of spirit energy coming from our beast's body." I suggested.
"You have done very well to come this far. But I shall no longer allow you to decrease my master." A man's voice said.
"Where's that voice coming from?" Kuwabara asked stupidly.
"I don't know. Come out now, dragon. This whole hide and seek thing is getting pretty lame." Yusuke stated annoyed. After Yusuke said that lightning struck a particular part in the middle of the room and there was a bright blue light. Ree ducked behind me as I held her. The mist cleared and there stood a 12 foot tall man wearing blue.
"As you request." The man said.

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