Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Forever Fornever Tantei ❯ In Which the Tantei Do Some Detective Work ( Chapter 20 )

Author's Note: This is the sequel to Between Death and Reality. While it isn't required that you read that first, some things referenced here may not make a whole lot of sense.

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. I am not making any money from writing this. I do, however, own my plotline.

 

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Chapter 20

 

In Which the Tantei Do Some Detective Work

 

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“What is it?” Yusuke asked.

 

“A thirty-foot killing machine,” Hiei replied, narrowing his eyes. “Gattasval.”

 

“Just what we needed,” Yusuke grumbled.

 

“I thought you guys got rid of this ugly thing,” Kuwabara said, “unless my memory is really bad or something.”

 

Hiei shook his head, fighting down the urge to say something snippy to the orange-haired teen. “No, we killed it. Well, more accurately, Kurama did.”

 

“You killed it?” Yusuke asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

“It is an artificial life form,” Hiei replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Hence we killed it.”

 

“Well, it sure looks alive now,” Kuwabara said, watching the metallic behemoth warily. It hadn't moved since arriving at the edge of the clearing, but the entire group was ready for any move it might make.

 

“Whatever it is, it's in our way,” Yusuke growled, taking a familiar stance. “We don't have time to mess around here.” He lifted his index finger, which had started glowing, and pointed it at the robot. “I'll take care of this.”

 

“That won't-” Hiei began, but the former head Detective had already sent a large energy blast flying through the forest, “-work.”

 

There was a loud crash and a wall of dust rose in the air at the impact. Yusuke smirked.

 

“How was that, Hiei?”

 

“Idiot,” the fire demon growled.

 

Yusuke blinked. “What? I got it.”

 

“No. You didn't.”

 

Yusuke exchanged a confused glance with Kuwabara before his eyes widened in surprise. The dust wall was dissipating and Gattasval still stood.

 

“Wha- How?” Yusuke gaped.

 

“I told you that wouldn't work,” Hiei growled. “Its armor is made of the hardest metal. You can't break it like that.”

 

Gattasval took a step forward and the ground shook slightly beneath the small group's feet.

 

“Great Urameshi, now you've made it mad,” Kuwabara groaned.

 

“Shut up, Kuwabara,” Yusuke retorted, though he had completely deflated after the failure of his favorite attack.

 

“So how did you beat it before” Kuwabara asked, taking a step back as the leviathan took another step forward.

 

“Kurama caused one of its arms to crash into the other and rewired it with his Rose Whip,” Hiei replied, eyeing the robot warily. Something seemed different about it, though it had been years since he had seen the thing so it might be nothing.

 

“Arms?” Yusuke asked, looking over the robot.

 

As if the robot had heard the question - who knows, maybe it had, Hiei mused - its arms shot out towards the stationary group.

 

Instinctively Hiei dodged the projectile, heading for a high tree branch. Looking back down, he saw Yusuke and Kuwabara take separate directions and the arms follow them. The fire demon cursed under his breath. He closed his eyes and the Jagan began to glow.

 

Yusuke, Kuwabara, he called out telepathically.

 

Hiei? came the surprised responses.

 

Run towards each other.

 

What? Kuwabara exclaimed.

 

Wha- Oh, I get it, Yusuke agreed. Let's do it.

 

Okay Urameshi…

 

Hiei watched as the two teens changed their directions and made a beeline for each other.

 

Make sure to get out of the way in time, the fire demon reminded them.

 

Thanks, Yusuke grumbled irritably.

 

Never would have thought of that, Kuwabara added sarcastically.

 

Sometimes I have to wonder, Hiei replied with a slight smirk.

 

Inaudible mutterings of agitation flashed through both boys' minds, but thankfully they concentrated on their task. Closer and closer they came to one another. It looked as though they would collide…

 

Until they jumped to opposite sides at the last instant.

 

Gattasval's arms followed.

 

“Damn.” This time Hiei didn't bother hiding it under his breath. The robot hadn't been able to do that before.

 

“Uh, Hiei?” Yusuke called from below the fire demon, still running from the never-tiring beast.

 

“What do we do now?” Kuwabara called from the other side of the clearing.

 

“Be quiet and let me think,” Hiei growled.

 

“Think fast!” Yusuke called, disappearing into the brush, the robots arm still following him.

 

Damn. It seems the doctor made some upgrades after we defeated it last time. Its armor is still too tough to penetrate… but the only way to defeat it is to reach its wiring on the inside. But how do we get in it? It looks like it's going to take a little more thought than last time if it's not going to fall for the same trick.

 

Hiei studied the robot and its surroundings.

 

I've got an idea, he called out telepathically.

 

`bout time, Yusuke grumbled.

 

Just shut up and listen.

 

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

 

Kurama coughed and could still taste the tangy-sting of blood in his mouth. He was bruised all over his body and wondered if a few of his ribs weren't broken. His wrists were bloody and scabbed up from all the jerking against his bondage that had amounted to nothing. His head was groggy as Ichigaki and his cronies were making sure to keep him drugged at all times. He knew the demon doctor was worried about him getting his thoughts together - thought at this point, the fox wasn't sure it would matter if his mind was working to its full extent anyway. He was in a very bad situation.

 

But with all of these problems, there was something that concerned the fox more at this point. There was a dull aching in his chest and was growing stronger as time passed. He was starting to feel the effects of withdrawal; he had been long away from any plant life for too long and now it was beginning to cause him physical pain. In the case of a plant master to Kurama's extent, the wielder established a vital link with the flora around him. The fox's affinity for plants was so strong that if he went too long without being exposed to any plant life, he would die.

 

And he was beginning to feel the effects of it. The stronger a plant master was, the shorter the time became that he could remain away from the plants without any consequences due to the link becoming stronger as the wielder did.

 

The fox assessed that he would probably last between two weeks to a month before the withdrawal would slowly and painfully kill him. For an elemental spirit, there was no death more painful than withdrawal from their element; it was their lifeblood in a matter of speaking.

 

He idly wondered if Ichigaki knew the consequences of keeping him away from plants. Even the seeds he carried in his hair would have kept the withdrawal from afflicting him for a much longer period of time - especially considering most of them were demonic in origin. But the doctor had been aware enough to remove them during his capture.

 

Kurama shook his head and flinched at a throbbing pain in his skull. This was no good. He was in a really bad spot.

 

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

 

Risho walked into Ichigaki's office unannounced only to find the doctor sitting behind a large pile of books. His head was bowed as he read one volume especially closely. Risho blinked. What could the doctor be reading this much in depth on?

 

The earth master cleared his throat and the doctor looked up. His eyes glinted in irritation at the interruption for a moment before returning to their normal glare.

 

“What do you want, Risho?”

 

Risho quirked an eyebrow. “What are you studying?”

 

“I believe I asked first.”

 

Risho shrugged. The doctor sighed and closed the book he had been reading. He watched the earth master with a level gaze. The two demons remained motionless, neither willing to look away before the other; but Ichigaki's gaze finally became too much for the former Shinobi lead and he turned away. Ichigaki smiled in satisfaction.

 

“Why are you here, Risho?”

 

“Are you having any luck breaching the fox's mental barriers?”

 

Ichigaki sighed and shook his head. “None. His mind is too well fortified.”

 

“He's much older than we are; older and more experienced,” Risho put in.

 

Ichigaki pursed his lips. “And that's why I need his brains.”

 

“Are you sure you're going about this the right way?” the earth master asked delicately.

 

“What are you saying?” Ichigaki demanded irritably.

 

“Instead of taking his power for yourself as you have done with the weaker demons, wouldn't it work better to just gain control of the fox himself?”

 

Ichigaki blinked, though said nothing. Risho took that as a sign to continue.

 

“The other demons we have captured have all been to weak to put up too much of a struggle when it comes to your methods,” the former Shinobi continued, “but Kurama - and all of the other Tantei and their allies - are too strong willed for that. That, and their powers are so great, we may not be able to control them to the precision that they have through their years of training.”

 

“Make your point, Risho,” the demon doctor ordered, though he seemed interested.

 

“Break the fox - and the Tantei - and take control of their minds. Make them your puppets to head your army.”

 

“Thinking and fighting puppets that are mine to control,” Ichigaki mused. “Now that's an idea, Risho.”

 

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

 

Are you ready? Hiei asked the teens.

 

Let's get this over with, Yusuke grumbled.

 

This better work, Shorty, Kuwabara added.

 

I don't see you too idiots coming up with anything better, the fire demon retorted. The other two fell silent, much to Hiei's relief. The timing has to be precise.

 

We know, we know, Yusuke grumbled.

 

Just tell us when to go; we're wasting time here.

 

Hiei spared a glare for the orange-haired teen before setting his plan into motion. Alright, go!

 

Yusuke and Kuwabara burst from the underbrush with Gattasval's arms following them like robotic shadows. They ran straight for the robot's main body. Hiei's leg muscles tensed as he waited for his turn. The two teens made leaps for tree branches overlooking the leviathan's body; with only one look back to make sure they were still being followed, they simultaneously jumped down towards the ground, the arms following.

 

Come on, Hiei urged under his breath.

 

Yusuke and Kuwabara made sure to land next to each other and they looked up to see the arms barreling down at them.

 

Three, Hiei counted.

 

Two, Kuwabara continued, watching the arms coming.

 

One.

 

Yusuke and Kuwabara bent their knees as they made ready to make their escape.

 

Go! was the simultaneous cry.

 

There was a massive crash as the arms hit the ground and a cloud of dust rose. Hiei's Jagan flared to life and he vanished in a blur of black, only to appear in front of the stumbling Gattasval. Demon energy flaring to life on his katana, Hiei thrust his blade as hard as he could at the unstable robot's body.

 

Yusuke and Kuwabara had jumped out of the way right before the arms had hit them; they both came back down to the ground to see the dust cloud dissipating. When the screen cleared, they were greeted with the sight of Gattasval upturned in a giant crater made when the arms had hit the ground. On top of the robot, Hiei sat with his katana crackling with dark energy imbedded in the robot's main body. The arms had fallen to the ground limp when Hiei's enhanced sword had made contact.

 

Yusuke and Kuwabara exchanged grins before running over to their demon friend. Hiei pulled out his sword, studied it for scratches and winced when he found several. He then sheathed the deadly blade and looked up at the two teens standing at the edge of the hole.

 

“Nice Hiei!” Yusuke called out.

 

“It actually worked,” Kuwabara said in amazement.

 

“You sound surprised,” Hiei commented with distaste.

 

“Of course I am,” Kuwabara shot back. “Facing something like that without Kurama to-” he stopped at the fox's name as if he had just realized what he had said. Yusuke's face had lost a shade of color while Hiei's lips were pursed in a straight line.

 

“Let's go,” the fire demon growled. “We're wasting time.”

 

Yusuke and Kuwabara nodded silently, following the fire demon - who had hopped from the hole without the other two noticing - towards the empty building.

 

Let's just hope there aren't any more surprises inside, Hiei thought.

 

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

 

The laboratory turned out to be a deserted maze of static white walls and eerily echoing hallways. The three former Tantei wandered warily through the building, not sure which way to go to find what they were looking for. The fact was, Yusuke realized irritably, they had no idea what they were looking for. He supposed they would know it when they found it; but that made looking for it very difficult.

 

The lack of traps was surprising to the former head detective, though, he supposed, not much was going to get past that robotic monster they had left outside if there ever were any intruders.

 

“What are we looking for?” Kuwabara asked, his voice echoing in the empty halls.

 

Hiei shot the orange-haired teen a glare and moved on ahead. Kuwabara looked over at Yusuke and the former head detective shrugged.

 

“Come on,” he said to his friend.

 

Kuwabara sighed and nodded. They followed Hiei further into the labyrinth, coming across nothing.

 

“Do you think he took everything with him when he abandoned this place?” Yusuke asked after coming out of the seemingly hundredth empty room.

 

“Assuming that he abandoned it,” Hiei replied, coming out of another empty room.

 

Kuwabara blinked and looked back into the room he had come out of. “I think it's pretty obvious there's no one here.”

 

“We haven't found the actual lab yet, though,” Yusuke said with a frown. “All we've found are offices. Where would it be?”

 

“The center of the building,” Hiei said immediately.

 

Yusuke and Kuwabara blinked and looked at each other in surprise.

 

“How did you know that?” Kuwabara asked.

 

Hiei fixed him with a level stare before stalking off down the hallway. Kuwabara looked back at Yusuke.

 

“Was it something I said?”

 

Yusuke allowed himself a grin. “It's always something you say, Kuwabara.”

 

“Shut up, Urameshi.”

 

“Are you idiots coming or not?” Hiei called from down the hall.

 

“We're coming,” Yusuke called through his smile. It was the first time he had smiled in what seemed like forever; it almost felt foreign to his face but at this point he would take anything to lighten his mood for a few moments before reality sunk in again.

 

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

 

At the end of the hallway stood a large pair of double doors. It had taken almost an hour to navigate the different hallways to get to this point, but now that they were there, there was no doubt in any of their minds that they had found the lab.

 

Yusuke took a deep breath before stepping up and pushing the doors open. He stepped into the room, followed by Hiei and Kuwabara. He looked around and blinked. The room was circumscribed by a continuous counter with overhanging cabinets. One large window hung directly opposite the entrance. The room held close to ten tables with restraints on them.

 

Yusuke clenched his hands into fists as he studied the room. “Come on, this is what we've been looking for,” he said.

 

He stepped forward to study the tables while Kuwabara headed for the cabinets and shelves under the counters while Hiei made a beeline for the back where there appeared to be an office. Kuwabara opened up a cabinet door and pulled out a bottle.

 

“Hey Urameshi, check this out…”

 

Yusuke looked up from the table and walked over his friend. “What is it?”

 

“Pills.”

 

“So?”

 

Kuwabara opened the next cabinet and that was filled with pill bottles as well. He frowned. He opened the next and found dosages from syringes. The next two held different color dosages. The ones after that held other drugs.

 

“This is a lot of drugs.”

 

“I wonder how many he tested.”

 

Kuwabara shrugged. “You don't think he mixed them, do you?”

 

Yusuke blinked. “I wouldn't put it past the bastard.” He knelt down and opened one of the cabinets under the counter. Inside were surgical tools.

 

“Kuwabara…”

 

“What is i- oh man. That's a lot of tools.”

 

The next cabinet held more tools and the one after that held anatomy books. The two teens searched through the lab and in the end were disturbed with what they found, having seen some of the outcomes of the doctor's research.

 

“Can you imagine what those guys went through back then?” Kuwabara asked as they closed the last cabinet disgustedly.

 

“I don't know if I want to try,” Yusuke replied with a shudder, looking over at the restraints on the tables.

 

I found something, Hiei called.

 

Yusuke and Kuwabara immediately headed for the back office, which turned out to be more like a library than an office. Kuwabara whistled in an impressed fashion. Hiei was sitting at one of the desks, reading something.

 

“What's up, Hiei?” Yusuke asked.

 

He lazily flicked the paper at the two and Yusuke caught it. He blinked. “But this is-”

 

“Stuff about us,” Kuwabara finished.

 

“Look at the dates.”

 

All down the paper next to notes about each of the Tantei stood dates that started two days after Yusuke had received his first case. Down the line the data was updated to include the others, the others from the Dark Tournament, the Seven, and even…

 

“Raizen?”

 

“And Mukuro. And Yomi,” Hiei added, his arms crossed across his chest.

 

“My god,” Kuwabara whispered.

 

“All these books and notes have to do with anatomy, psychology, humans, demons, and combining the two,” the fire demon said.

 

Yusuke looked around the room once more. The walls were packed with books and files. “Doc is sure prepared,” was all he could come up with to say.

 

“In there are all his tools and drugs,” Kuwabara said, indicating back towards the lab.

 

Hiei picked up a folder and added it to a large pile on the desk. “Case studies.”

 

Yusuke picked up the top one and read over the beginning of the file before closing it disgustedly. “He was using demons and humans as lab rats long before he ever entered the Tournament.”

 

“And since he left,” Hiei replied. “There are a few vague notes about what he's currently up to, but nothing specific.”

 

“So did you find anything worthwhile?” Kuwabara asked. “Anything to help Kurama?”

 

Hiei smirked.

 

“What, what did you find, Hiei?” Yusuke demanded.

 

“Their location.”

 

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