Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Fighting Back ❯ Hypnotized ( Chapter 12 )

Tori the Hanyou: Ok, I'm starting this one right now just so you guys don't get all huffy about me putting ANOTHER cliffhanger. I'm sorry, but I just do that sometimes. I'm a very suspenseful writer, in case you haven't noticed, lol. Well, anywho, let's just get on with the chappie, ok?

DISCLAIMER: No

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Fighting Back

Chapter 12: Hypnotized

Kurama followed Kagome's scent as best as he could, but it was hard with all of the awful warehouse smells around him. Botan was using her detector. Apparently, the warehouse was somewhere near the water.

Yusuke wandered through the warehouses, randomly picking one and looking inside. Kuwabara was practicing his spirit sword techniques on an unsuspecting trash can, and Hiei scanned the area from his position on top of one of the warehouses. His mind began to wander, and he thought about going to check on Tori. He heard wheels, they stopped, and after a while, they started again, and he flew off toward the area to see a silver limo drive away. He sensed Tori's energy, suddenly gone.

"Strange…" he muttered to himself. He gave a suspicious stare after the limo before flying off to find Kurama. Something was nagging at him, though. An urgent feeling was in his stomach, and he continued looking back at the direction the limousine had gone. He found Kurama after a while. "Have you seen Tori?" he asked.

"No, I said she'd be looking along the roads, didn't I?" asked Kurama.

"Yes, but I just checked there. She's nowhere in sight, and when I traced her energy there, it had vanished. Just like that," said Hiei. Kurama gazed at him with a troubled look.

"Did you see anything other than warehouse things?" he asked.

"Yes, a limousine…" He froze in mid-speech. "GODDAMNIT!!!" he yelled, taking off. Kurama flew off after him.

"Wait! Hiei, we don't even know what's going on, who kidnapped her, or where she is!" he said, stopping him. Hiei glared at him.

"Tori's in trouble, I'm not stopping until I find her," he snarled.

"You know, that's similar to what I said when Tori told me not to go after Kagome, and you reasoned with me," said Kurama.

Hiei stopped. Glaring at the ground, he turned to Kurama.

"Fine, so now what? We've lost two of our group to drive-by kidnappers, and one of those two I happen to care a LOT about, so what do we do?"

"First off, we shouldn't get angry. That other someone was one I cared deeply for, too, Hiei. We mustn't be hasty. Tori and Kagome need our help, and we're not going to let their kidnappers get the best of them OR us, are we?"

Hiei continued to glare, but he answered,

"No."

"Good. So, since we're already here, I suggest we look for Kagome," said Kurama.

"Right."

*Meanwhile*…

Marik stood looking at his newest mind slave. Kagome's normally cheerful brown eyes had, like Tori's, become empty and dull. She stared into space, awaiting the orders of her master.

"Yes, her power is exactly what we need," he said, holding up his Millennium Rod and twirling it in his hand. "Odion, bring her with us. We're going to pay a visit to the last of our Egyptian God Card holders."

"Aye, sir."

Their black car drove away just as Kurama and Hiei reached the warehouse.

Kurama opened the door and peered inside. He gestured to Hiei to follow. They went in.

"This is where her scent ends, I'm sure of it," said Kurama. They went out of the front hallway into the main part of the warehouse. Kurama was looking around at the boxes stacked up, wondering if any enemies could be behind them, when he bumped into a frozen Hiei. He looked where Hiei was looking, and up on the wall hung three teenage boys by their wrists in large, metal manacles.

"Are they alive?" asked Hiei sarcastically. Kurama rolled his eyes and went up to them. He could smell their life, they definitely weren't dead.

Hiei came up to the middle one, the boy with blonde spiked hair with red tips. `This is that guy Tori always talks about. What was his name, Yugi, Yuji, something like that…'

"Hiei, look at these. They're those things that Tori wears around her arm." Kurama pointed to two duel disks sitting on a crate.

"Hmm…" said Hiei as he examined them. "I wonder where the guy is who runs this joint."

"Are you two gonna stand there, or help us out?" snapped a voice. Hiei and Kurama spun around to see the boy with the hair styled to make a point in front glaring at them. Hiei glared back.

"I don't know. Should we help someone who's going to be rude to us, Kurama?" he asked.

"Hiei, quit it. Of course we'll help," said Kurama. He took out one of his roses and stuck it in the lock of the manacle holding the boy up. It broke, and he undid the other one, freeing him. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Tristan."

"Well, Tristan, we've been, well, sent here by a friend of ours. She's very eager to see all three of you alive, so here we are," explained Kurama.

"You talking about Tea?" asked Tristan.

"Umm, no…"

"Is she ok?"

"Yes, she's fine, I assure you."

"Good. So, who sent you?" asked Tristan suspiciously.

"Her name is Tori," said Hiei smartly, "Perhaps you know her…"

"Tori? You serious?" asked Tristan. "That girl wants us alive? She's STILL alive?"

"Yes, she is. Very MUCH alive," said Hiei angrily.

"Well, we thought that, with those powers of hers, she'd kill herself with them eventually," he snickered. Hiei was in his face in a split second.

"Tori's quite capable of handling her powers, thank you," he snarled.

"Oh, really? Last time I checked she couldn't control that ligress-thingy of hers! It was like her Hulk. Always came out whenever she threw the smallest hissy-fit," smirked Tristan.

"Well, apparently you haven't checked with her recently. She and the ligress are just fine. They work like a team, now," snapped Hiei.

"Hiei, this really isn't the time…" started Kurama.

"Quiet!"

"Sheesh, if you were nicer to your friends, maybe you'd have more," said Tristan.

"First off, you don't even know how many friends I have, second, why don't you go MAKE some friends, and then you can talk to me about mine," said Hiei smartly. Tristan glared.

"Whatever."

The other two boys groaned and moved. Kurama approached them warily. If they were anything like this other one, he and Hiei would be having a lot of trouble.

"Wha…where am I?" asked the boy with the messy blonde hair. He turned to see his companion. "Yug? You awake?" he asked.

"Yeah…I'm awake, and now I wish I wasn't. My head hurts like crap," moaned Yugi, opening his eyes to see Kurama in front of him, with Hiei and Tristan looking like they were about to kill each other, giving one another death glares.

"I'd like to see you take me on," said Tristan threateningly.

"You don't know who the hell who you're messing with, do you?"

"I could care less. No one disses me like that!"

"Listen, you big oaf, I'd kill you in the blink of an eye right now, if I wasn't trying to help a friend here," snapped Hiei.

"You'd better listen, Tristan, Hiei's pretty fast," warned Kurama, turning to the fighting pair.

"Yeah, right."

At that instant, Hiei was at his throat, his sword pressed against the skin, giving a glare filled with hatred.

"Kurama's right. I've fought more demons than there are thugs in this city, so you'd better watch your back, got it?"

Tristan growled. Hiei withdrew, putting his sword in its sheath and hiding it in his cloak. Yugi had been watching with worry for his friend.

"Umm…" he looked at Kurama, "can you let us down? My hands hurt."

"Oh, right, sorry," said Kurama, unlocking their manacles with his rose. Joey gave him strange looks.

"What kind of guy uses roses? You gay or something?" he asked. Kurama stared at him with a perplexed look, while Hiei rolled his eyes.

"It's his weapon of choice. Rose thorns are quite deadly when used the right way," hinted Hiei. Joey took it, and shut up. "He's not gay, either," added Hiei as an afterthought.

"Sorry, I just thought…"

"Joey, don't think, it gets us in trouble," joked Tristan. Joey glared.

"Anyway, who are you two?" asked Yugi.

"I'm Kurama, and that's Hiei. And what are your names?"

"I'm Yugi, you've obviously met Tristan, and this is Joey," said Yugi, gesturing to the blonde next to him. "What're you doing in this part of the city? No one ever comes down here."

"We're actually here because of a girl Tristan claims you three know. Her name is Tori."

Yugi froze on the spot. Joey looked at him.

"T-Tori?"

"Umm, yes."

Yugi looked to the floor, apparently thinking. Joey turned to them.

"She's alive?"

"Yes," said Hiei with a rather annoyed tone.

"Like I said, we thought she and the ligress would kill each other," said Tristan with a snicker. Hiei shut him up with a warning glare.

"Listen, we're on other business. You three were only part of the reason we're here. Now that you're free, maybe you can fill us in on a friend of ours. Have you seen a girl of about fifteen, with black hair and brown eyes?"

"Nope, we've been out since a few days ago," said Joey, checking the date on his watch. "And boy, am I starved!"

"That'll have to wait, Joey," said Yugi. He turned back to the demons. "Where is she? Tori, I mean," he asked.

Hiei stepped up defensively.

"She…got kidnapped…"

"What? Not by Marik, right?" asked Yugi worriedly.

"No, not by him. He's the one who got that girl we described earlier. Tori was kidnapped by a guy in a silver limousine," said Hiei.

"We've gotta find her!" said Yugi.

"First things first, where's Kagome?" asked Kurama urgently.

They gave him a questioning look. "The girl we described. That's her name," said Kurama hurriedly.

"We told you, we've been out for a few days. If Marik's gotten any new slaves, we won't have known about them," said Yugi.

"Slaves?"

"Whoever he kidnaps, he puts under mind control with his Millennium Rod. Most likely this girl Kagome's his newest puppet," Yugi explained. Kurama's eyes widened with worry. `Kagome…' he thought.

They searched the warehouse, Kurama insisting that Hiei stay with him and Tristan stay with Joey. Kagome, Marik and Odion were nowhere to be found.

"You three had better come with us. We have no idea where Kagome is, but maybe we can find Tori," said Kurama. Hiei looked at him with annoyance.

"We have to bring that oaf? He replaces Kuwabara altogether. Not even he's that rude," he said. Kurama sighed.

"Don't be difficult about this, Hiei. The sooner we find both of them, the sooner we can stop whatever is going on here, got it?"

Hiei reluctantly agreed. They went out of the warehouse to find Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Botan.

They found Botan fiddling with her detector.

"What's wrong?" asked Kurama.

"It's funny. I picked up the use of one of the artifacts nearby, but then it vanished. I can't trace it. So did that signal you were looking for," she explained. She looked behind them at the three new boys. "Why, hello there!" she said. They looked at her like she was crazy.

"What's with the blue hair? And PINK eyes? Please tell me that's dye and contacts!" laughed Joey. Botan frowned at him.

"Don't mess with her, either," said Kurama boredly.

"And why not? Is she gonna slit my throat?" asked Tristan.

"I'm the Grim Reaper, but you can call me Botan!" she said cheerfully, trying to be nice. Now they REALLY thought she was crazy.

"Okay…so where's your skeleton face and black cloak?"

"Oh, goodness me…that's SO overrated of people!" said Botan, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, back to business," said Kurama. "We're heading back to KaibaCorp, Botan. We've still got to find Yusuke and Kuwabara."

"They're having a trash can war over in that alley three houses down," said Botan in a bored manner.

Almost as if in answer, a large clang was heard, followed by, "I WIN!! HAHA! THAT'S THE THIRD TIME NOW!!" in Yusuke's voice.

"No way! You cheated! How could I have known you were behind me?"

"You're supposed to use your stupid ears, moron!"

The group headed over to find Kuwabara pulling a trash can off himself. Yusuke had a pole in one hand. Apparently, he'd crammed the can over Kuwabara and banged it with the pole to make it ring.

"Idiots…" muttered Hiei.

"At least they can keep themselves entertained," said Kurama with a sweat drop.

They walked to the nearest bus stop, and jumped on a bus to KaibaCorp. As soon as they got off, though, their search was over as people were crowded around an area. They walked up to see Kaiba standing in front of the large building. A figure cloaked in royal blue stood next to him. A black car was parked across from him. In front of it stood none other than Odion, accompanied by a figure cloaked in black.

(A/N: For this scene, imagine Bring Me to Life, by Evanescence, playing as background music)

"Kaiba, I have come for your Egyptian God Card!" declared Odion, holding the Millennium Rod in his left hand. (If you watch the show, remember, it's a fake! ~.O)

Yugi tried to peer into the car behind him. The windows were filled with blackness, he couldn't see into it.

"You'll have to fight my friend here if you want it so badly," said Kaiba, gesturing to the figure.

"Fine. How about your friend fights my mind slave?" asked Odion, pointing to his companion.

"Done. Get them!" Kaiba called out. The figure leapt onto the floor, giving a low growl.

"Go, my puppet!" cried Odion. Inside the car, the real Millennium Rod went to work as the black came out to greet its opponent.

Immediately, the two went at it, with punches and kicks so fiercely matched, you'd think the two had sparred together to practice.

Soon, after realizing the punches weren't doing too much, Kaiba issued a deadly order.

"Bring out the claws!" he called. Hiei's eyes widened as the blue held its hands out, and flexed them, revealing long, deadly claws in place of the fingernails.

"It…can't be…" he muttered to himself. Yugi was thinking the same thing. The two came after each other again, except the blue seemed to move with a lot more dexterity, and it shot forward, dicing through the hood of the black with its claws.

The shreds fell to the ground, and Kurama's eyes widened with horror.

Kagome stood there, staring emptily at her opponent as it prepared to strike again. Her black hair fell gently to her shoulders as she just barely missed the next attack.

"Kagome!" cried Kurama, about to run out to her, but Hiei grabbed him by the arms.

"She can't hear you! She'll kill you!" he argued.

"I've…gotta help her, though…" said Kurama helplessly as he watched his beautiful Kagome nearly getting killed by this stranger.

Unknown to him, when he'd called out to her, Kagome's sleeping mind had stirred for a minute, before the Rod's power took over again.

"Puppet! Show this coward your true power!" called Odion, tossing a green bow to Kagome. She nodded blankly at him, turning back to the blue.

"You…shall…die," she muttered. She drew the string of the bow, and an arrow appeared, seeming to come straight out of the sunlight.

"Kurama!" hissed Botan, pulling on his sleeve.

"Don't, Botan. He's worried sick right now," said Hiei. "What is it?"

"That's a demon artifact!" she whispered. "The Hyper Bow!"

Hiei's eyes widened as he turned back to the battle scene. The arrow shot, with deadly accuracy towards the blue. It jumped at the last minute, leaping much too high for normal human capacity, before landing on the other side of the ground. This gave the priestess more than enough time to fill the next light arrow with her power, and she fired again. The arrow was now yellow and pink striped as it shot towards its target, which was just landing.

The blue tried to move, but the arrow moved, too, and shot straight through its hood, shredding it.

Now it was Hiei's turn to try to run out. Standing there was none other than Tori, the same lifeless shadows in her gaze.

"Oh, dear!" cried Botan. "They're best friends, they shouldn't be fighting like this! This isn't human, it's DISGUSTING!" she cried, hiding her face. Meanwhile, Kuwabara and Yusuke were both trying to restrain the two demons that were fighting to get to the girls and stop them.

"They're gonna kill each other!" yelled Hiei. "We've gotta do something, you idiots! Let me go!"

Yugi started to rush forward, but Joey held him back.

"No way, man. You'll be destroyed," he said. Yugi's shoulders slumped as he watched painfully as Tori got hit in her right leg by one of Kagome's arrows. She staggered, for a second returning to normal, but she was soon back under the Blade's power. Joey and Tristan dragged Yugi away from the fight, and vanished into the crowd.

"Tori, get out your creature! Have it destroy all of them!" cried Kaiba.

"Yes…master…" replied Tori, leaping on top of the hanging of the KaibaCorp entrance and holding her arms out. The normally sunny day was suddenly turned dark as storm clouds were conjured up by the fury of the ligress's power. Lightning flashed as she let out her battle cry, and the girl fully transformed into the powerful cat.

People screamed and ran for it as she leapt gracefully, landing lightly on the battleground on all fours, facing her opponent with a deadly snarl, her ears back. Rain began pouring down instantly, soaking the battlefield.

Kagome shot again, conjuring another arrow, and the ligress easily evaded it, leaping at the girl, knocking her down with a swipe of her mighty claws, pinning her to the ground with a muscular paw.

The mind slave stared into the ligress's face, and lightning flashed again and thunder rolled as the big cat let out a victory roar, water dripping off her fangs.

Kagome suddenly heard the familiar cry, the voice,

"Kagome! Wake up!" It was Kurama. In her head, she heard another.

`Kagome! Can you hear me?'

"Wha…"

`Use that extra arrow you made! You've gotta kill me! Before all these people die!'

"Tori?"

`My ligress is out of control! Kaiba's unleashed her completely! Please! I'm asking you as a friend! Kill me! It's the only way to stop her!'

"But…"

`Do it now!'

"Tori…I can't…"

`Yes, you…'

"No, you don't get it, Tori. You can stop her yourself. I seriously can't. She's got my arm pinned down."

Suddenly, a huge force came, knocking the ligress off, just before she sank her fangs into Kagome's throat.

Kagome fully opened her eyes. Kurama was in the ligress's place, standing protectively over her. Yusuke was on his back, a bruise starting to form on his eye. "Kurama…" she muttered weakly. Kurama knelt down, clasping her hands in his, and closing his eyes tightly.

"Kagome…if I die protecting you…so be it…but I won't allow you to be killed so outright like that. I'll be killed first!" he declared through gritted teeth, pulling her into his arms, shielding her from the furious animal behind them. Kagome rested her head wearily on his shoulder.

"Kurama…" she muttered again.

The ligress roared angrily, irate to be disturbed from her kill. She leapt for the couple, when a black bullet collided with her, sending her off course. She landed on her feet, staring daggers at her new opponent. Hiei stood between her and Kurama and Kagome.

"Tori, control it," he said calmly. Tori cried out to him.

`Hiei! Please! Kagome wouldn't do it, so I'm asking you; you've got to destroy me. The ligress will go with me if you do!'

"Not a chance, Tori. You and the ligress are a team. She's under his mind control, carrying out his orders, which were to destroy us. If you can free her from him, she'll stop. I will not kill you. I won't!" he said defiantly.

The ligress snarled and leapt for him, claws extended. Hiei disappeared, and reappeared across the area. "You can do it, Tori," he whispered. He stood firm as the ligress approached him, utmost death in her eyes. He closed his eyes tightly as it came within striking distance.

It approached until it was so close, Hiei could feel its power, and anger.

He held his ground. He wasn't running away. He trusted Tori.

The ligress opened her mouth, fangs ready to strike. Kaiba watched with utmost interest.

"She's gonna kill him…" he muttered. Suddenly, the powerful body started trembling. It wouldn't go any farther. It backed away from Hiei, shaking its head.

"S…STOP IT!!!!" cried Tori's voice out of the ligress's throat. The cat regained control for only a moment more, as it leapt for Hiei, claws out; it dug them into his shoulder, flinging him to the ground, tearing the skin. The cat let out one last mighty roar, collapsed, and, slowly, became an exhausted girl again.

Odion quickly turned and climbed back into the car, driving away. Kaiba turned and left as Kurama and Kagome turned to see both of their friends lying on the ground, blood seeping from each.

"Tori…Hiei…" gasped Kagome, standing to walk over to them. Tori's leg was gashed from her arrow, and Hiei's shoulder was a mess. Trembling violently, Kagome fell to her knees. Kurama came over to her, wrapping her in his arms as he stared sadly at his lifelong friend, and the new one he had gotten to know so well. They stood, and Kurama noticed Kagome's forearm.

"Kagome, she got you," he said. The cuts weren't very deep. Taking another painful look at their fallen friends, the two walked back to the other three. Rain continued to pour, thunder rumbled. (NOT THE END OF THE STORY!!!!)

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Tori the Hanyou: NO! THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE STORY!!!!!!!!! They've still gotta get all the artifacts, DUH!!! Lol! Well, that's about the saddest chappie I've ever written. Well, had to be done! Tee hee! Well, cya guys next chappie! The preview should make you feel better (hint, hint):

CHAPTER TITLE PREVIEW: Alive