Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Mission Impossible ❯ Epilogue ( Chapter 12 )

Disclaimer: After this many chapters, I'm sure you all know the drill by now. Nothing belongs to me except the muses and the storyline.

Kagome: Last chapter, okay? I mean it this time.

Raven: Uh huh. Whatever you say, boss. *stage whisper* She doesn't really mean it, you know.

Kagome: What's that supposed to mean?!

Raven: Just that if people really want you to, you'll do a sequel.

Kagome: *pauses* Yeah, I guess you're right about that. *smiles sheepishly* I should know better than to be caught off-guard by my own muses by now, don't you think?

Nathaniel: Yeah, but if we couldn't surprise you every once in a while, or irritate you, or confuse you, or irritate you, or make you smile, or irritate you, or--*being strangled*

Kagome: *strangling Nathaniel* I get the gist already, got it?!

Nathaniel: *gurgle*

Raven: See? He just irritated you.

Kagome: *snarls* I noticed.

Raven: *prying authoresses fingers from around muses neck* Shouldn't you be typing the next chapter now?

Kagome: Nah. I type my chapters impromptu. Before I begin typing, I have no idea what's going to happen.

Raven: Oh. Well, you should still probably try to finish this story.

Kagome: Okay, okay already. Here's the epilogue. Please read, enjoy, and review, all right?

Chapter Twelve: Epilogue

Yusuke stared at the scene in front of him, overwhelmed by memories of an event that had transpired nearly three months ago. The bodies before him were ripped to shreds, blood coating the ground, bits and pieces of ningens spread throughout the alleyway. The few parts that were still intact showed evidence of death by a dangerous animal, covered in jagged claw marks. On all the bodies, there were four claw marks on one side of the body, and only one on the opposite, but that one was often deeper than the other four. The cops were at a loss to explain it.

Yusuke tried to refrain from throwing up all over the crime scene. Beside him, Kuwabara appeared to be having the same problem. Kurama was a bit pale, but neither he nor Hiei appeared to be too horrified by the macabre vision before them, which caused Yusuke to wonder how often they had been witness to similar cases, or if they had created any themselves.

Koenma had sent them to investigate the slaughter, since it was obvious that whatever had done this was not human, but it didn't appear to be any animal that the cops could name, either. They had been ordered to catch the trail of the beast who had committed the massacre and to kill him without delay.

Before they had left for their mission, the little prince gazed pointedly at Yusuke, who determinedly ignored the brat. He knew that Koenma was still upset about the Ashitaka incident, but that wasn't his problem, now was it?

Now, as they stood on a low roof overlooking the alley, Yusuke wondered if perhaps it hadn't been Ashitaka after all. Shaking his head to rid himself of the notion, he concentrated on the scene below, waiting until Kuwabara picked up a ki signal that stood out of place.

Due to Kuwabara's enhanced spirit awareness, he was often used to track down demons that had already left the scene of the crime. The ningen often complained that he hated being used like some type of bloodhound to track down the monsters, but Yukina had overheard him once and pointed out that he was actually saving people's lives by doing so. After that, he quit complaining and went about his job with barely restrained anticipation, anxious to share his newest heroic acts with the koorime love of his life.

Kuwabara jolted as he picked up a signature ki that felt out of place, and pointed down the street. Being forced to rely on the stupid ningen's skills, such as they were, made Hiei testy, and the little jaganshi let his dissatisfaction at these circumstances be known. "I see the big oaf's finally found the demon's ki. I sensed it several minutes ago."

His statement had the desired effect, and Kuwabara whirled on him, intent on teaching the little shrimp a lesson. However, as usual, the fire demon was much too quick on him, and he was face down in the dirt in no time flat, having been knocked off the roof and into the garden below.

Hiei, satisfied at last that the baka ningen was right where he belonged, he headed off in the indicated direction. A few minutes later, Kuwabara caught up to them. Wisely, he decided to remain silent as he led, so as not to raise the little koorime's ire any further.

He led them directly to a portal into the devil world. Well, direct was a bit of a stretch………okay, a really, really big stretch. Following the unknown demon's trail, he led them all over the city, sometimes being forced to double back when the trail ended and they could go no further.

As dusk approached, they reached the portal. When Yusuke saw its location, he tapped on Kuwabara's shoulder. As soon as his friend had turned around, Yusuke pounded him. The portal was only a block away from the murder scene in the opposite direction from where they started.

Shaking his head, Kurama leapt through the portal, figuring the others would follow at their own pace. When he reached the other end of the portal, however, he immediately regretted his decision. Apparently the demon had known that they were coming and was waiting for them. Kurama didn't even time to whirl around and see his attacker before he was knocked unconscious.

It was well past midnight in the devil world when the leader of the Reikai Tantei awoke again. Groaning, Yusuke sat up, then clutched his head as agonizing waves of pain shot through his skull. Damn, he must've been struck hard if he was feeling that much pain.

The first thing he noticed was that he was no longer outside. Instead, he appeared to be a room of some sort. There were no windows, and the entire room was painted a glaring white. There was no furniture except, Yusuke realized with a start, the bed he was on. The room was completely barren and gave no indication that anybody even lived there.

Wondering where the rest of his teammates were, Yusuke slowly climbed out of bed, taking care not to further jostle his head, as it only caused more pain. Heading for the door in the far wall, he opened it and stepped out into a hallway. This was also done in a plain white, and the only things that broke the monotonous color were the doors in the hallway, all made of solid oak and colored naturally.

Unsure of where he was or why he was still alive, Yusuke slowly crept across the hallway, alert for hidden danger. Reaching the doorway across from his own, he reached out slowly and grasped the handle. Ever so gently, he began to turn the handle.

Suddenly, he was sent flying backwards as the door burst open and a very confused Kuwabara stood there. "Where the hell are we?! Are we dead yet?"

Yusuke stood up slowly, rubbing his sore bottom and hoping for his headache to go away. When it ignored him, he sighed and answered his friend's questions. "I don't know where we are, and no we aren't dead. I've been dead before, remember? More than once. This isn't a place for the dead."

Kuwabara just nodded, then turned his head as two more doors opened up and a silver youko and green eye-covered demon entered the hallway. Kuwabara jumped upon seeing Hiei's other form, which appeared to give the koorime no end of satisfaction.

Kurama looked at Yusuke questioningly. The teenager shook his head. "I don't know where we are, but I believe whoever brought us here isn't an enemy, and means us no harm. In fact, it feels as if I've known our host before, and rather intimately at that," he pondered out loud, contemplating.

"You are correct on all accounts," spoke a familiar voice from directly behind them. Whirling around, the Reikai Tantei found themselves face to face with none other than Ashitaka. Yusuke relaxed in relief. Kurama and Hiei, noticing their leader's reaction, powered down into their regular forms.

The inu youkai smiled at them, then turned around and began walking back down the hall, beckoning for them to follow. It was a good idea to do so, since all the hallways they traveled down looked exactly the same. If they had tried to find their own way out, they would've been lost within the first five minutes of their escape attempt.

Ashitaka led them down a set of stairs and outside into a courtyard, where a number of other youkai appeared to be guarding a cage containing something rather noisy, and vicious if the way they were standing was any indication.

Ashitaka just continued forward, parting the guards with a small wave of his hand. Apparently, being second-in-command to Yusuke came naturally to him, for it was obvious that these youkai respected him almost as much as they respected their king.

In the cage was another youkai, one that appeared to be a wolf of some sort. The monster was currently attempting to bite and claw his way out of the cage and the surrounding force field, with little luck. The teeth were reminiscent of great big carving knives, but it was the claws that drew their attention.

There were five claws on each paw of the imprisoned creature-four up front and one hooked one in the back. The hooked claw worked almost like an opposable thumb, gripping at the bars and trying to cleave them into splinters.

Suddenly, everything clicked. The four claw marks on the front of the bodies; the deeper piercings in the backs. The pieces of corpses strewn about the ground, various innards missing. This monster had run rampant down an alley of ningens and feasted on them, eating the more `delectable' bits.

It was only with a great show of will that Yusuke managed not to throw up at the images his thoughts had produced for his viewing pleasure. Kuwabara, however, was not so lucky, and ended up on his knees in the grass, dry heaving when nothing else would come up.

Even Kurama and Hiei looked ill, which provided the hanyou lord with a small sense of grim satisfaction. They weren't impervious to butchery after all.

Ashitaka turned to them and explained that rumor had reached him of a creature that was going around slaughtering people in the Ningenkai. As Yusuke's second-in-command, it was his job to keep the people that he ruled over safe and happy, so he had led a hunting party in search of the creature.

He had been cresting a hill when he saw Kurama step through a portal and rendered unconscious by the monster, which had snarled, and would have ripped him apart if the others hadn't decided to show up at that exact moment. As they exited the portal one by one, Ashitaka and his hunting party ran towards the beast, hoping that the members of the Reikai Tantei would distract the monster enough that it didn't notice their approach.

Apparently, his prayers were answered, and the creature never saw them coming. They managed to knock it out and cage it, then picked up the fallen team members and headed back home. They decided that since Yusuke had obviously been hunting the creature, they'd let him decide what to do with it. After all, he was the king.

Yusuke just smirked at his leading general and replied, "You needn't have worried about it. Our orders from Koenma were to kill it, then bring the body back to Reikei for study. That's all."

Ashitaka nodded, then invited them to do the honors of slaying the beast. After all, it was their mission, right? Yusuke just nodded and killed the thing with one shot of his Rei Gun. Then they thanked Ashitaka for his hospitality-Yusuke promised to return soon for a little while, since he was the local ruler-and headed for the Reikei with their prize.

They delivered the beast to Koenma personally, and Yusuke smirked at him. It hadn't been Ashitaka after all, and he planned on pointing that out to the little prince every chance he got. Pity he already knew the brat wasn't infallible, or it would have been even more fun to rub in.

Mission accomplished, Yusuke headed back to the devil world to take care of his kingdom, while the others headed for home. Well, Kurama and Kuwabara headed for home at any rate. Hiei went with the fox to his house for a private celebration. After all, they couldn't very well let Yusuke have all the fun, now could they?

Kagome: Yes, I know it's a bad ending, but tough. That's the end of my story. There isn't any more. Anyhow, it's late and my muses are sleeping, so this'll be quick. Review please. It's greatly appreciated. Thanks!