Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Wandering Souls ❯ Nowhere to Run ( Chapter 10 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

The Menboku Yaiba have found out where there Aka Doragon and Supaida no Yoru are holding the hostages.

During the rescue, Kuwabara and Hiei accidentally form a psychic merger, bringing Yusuke and Kurama along for the ride. They view the memories of the two Spiders that tortured Okubo to death.

Anime/Manga: Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Mystery / Drama | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 02.24.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 5.1K | Visits: 218 | Status: Work In Progress

---'Thoughts' ---{Telepathy}
WARNING!== This chapter is an emotional roller coaster. There are some laughs in the middle with the guys, then it goes into a flashback. I'm warning you now, it will contain a scene of graphic torture at the end of the chapter. Keep a barf bag near.

Nowhere to Run

Only a short time after Kuwabara delivered the news about the hostages that the Menboku Yaiba now find themselves on the on the very outskirts of the opposite side of town. Everyone's nerves are tightly bound with trepidation and anticipation. Street gangs don't take hostages everyday. Why would they still be holding the other seven as hostages? What advantage would it give them? Normally street gangs function on a hit and run basis. If any enemy forces are taken, they are questioned and killed quickly. However hostages--- a hostage is when someone is a prisoner to be used to get something in return. The choice of victim of the hostage depends on whether the target they are opposing is hooked up or if he's from nowhere.
If the target is from nowhere, has no gang affiliation, law officers for instance, then any by-stander could be a hostage. This is the very rare times that a gang member may grab the old lady from the grocery store or a bus of children; demanding the police to release of a fellow gang member from custody. The movies makes grabbing the citizen thing seem that this a common occurrence but it's not. It's very rare for this to happen. If he's 'hooked up', affiliated with a gang that is, then the victim of choice to hold over him is usually the people close to him, family or friends. If it's a gang leader that they are opposing, then the leader's inner circle is the best choice. There is where the confusion is coming from. The Dragons and the Spiders have left Elder Kuwabara alone. No one dares to mess with her, even if she doesn't fly any colors. Kuwabara Shizuru did spend her teen years being trained by the legendary Akeno Michiro. Trained not only how to fight, according to the street tales. Rumors say that the Kuwabara siblings have psychic power similar to Akeno and he trained them in that regard as well. Okubo, Kirishima and Sawamura were, not only aniki of the gang but Kuwabara's closest friends and tha majority of his inner circle. They were killed the same day they were captured. The seven other hostages are of lower ranks than those three. By all standards of gang activity, the seven should be dead already, while the three used as hostages. So why are the Dragons and Spiders still holding them and keeping the seven alive---for now.
All of the Menboku Yaiba have heard of the rumors that say that Samejima and Tachikawa both have been reading and exploring the supernatural lately. A bookkeeper gave a list to an informant of books that Samejima had bought in the last six months. The book-list include various and wide-ranging topics such as ESP, psychic travel,channeling, animal familiars and shamanism. There were a variety of different types of magic books as well = white, earth, elemental, black and blood. It was the last two type of books that has everyone nervous. Not all blood magic was evil, but with the reputation of the Dragons and Spiders, nothing good would be practiced. Kuwabara sent the command for everyone to take their positions. The ghost of Okubo walked through the first floor wall while Kirishima flew into the second floor. Sawamura and Akeno scouted the alley that was to be used for the ambush. Other ghosts of the Menboku Yaiba were scouting as well. They were glad that even if they were dead, they still were able to help their gang.
Okubo and Kirishima confirmed that the blueprints were up to date. There was only two guards in the pre-ordained alley and were easy to dispatch without raising the alarm. From what the ghosts overheard the Aka Doragon are expecting an attack but think it's in a few days. While they are on alert, they think the possibility of attack is low for the next few days. The fools are on guard, but not full alert.
Minutes seemed to drag for hours as the Menboku Yaiba waited for signal that everyone is position. After eleven minutes, Kuwabara confirmed that everyone was ready. {All right, all blades are ready to strike. Attack!}, was the telepathic command that reached everyone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~On a nearby rooftop, a few minutes earlier~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Hey guys, it looks like we decided to watch the fun just in time. They're getting in position right now. Oh yeah, we get to see the fight!" Yusuke cried out in delight as they watched. Hiei and Kurama just shook their heads at his childish zeal over a potentially deadly street fight. "Why are you two hanging back there for? I thought you wanted to see how street gangs fight? After all, that is why you woke me up!" Kurama sweatdropped as he leaned back some from the intensity of Yusuke's glare. "We are curious about the street gangs in Ningenkai. We've noticed there are some similarities with the thieves gangs in the Makai."
"Shut up, they are in position." Hiei shot a bored look at Yusuke when he ask how he knew that. "Simple, they are no longer moving about and are standing still. Even a junior detective should be able to figure that out. "
"Ouch, now that hurt!" Quipped Yusuke as he kept watch over the up-coming battle. However, he was taken by surprise when as one, all members of Kuwabara's gang suddenly sprung into action. "Hey, I never took my eye off of them, especially Kuwabara. How in the hell did I miss the signal? I know you may not know much about the gangs and the specific signals, but did you guys see anything?"
"There was nothing to see, Yusuke." Hiei commented as he scanned the alley below with his Jagan. "Hn, I caught it. I suspected this since earlier when his gang started to arrive shortly after Kuwabara decided to hold a meeting."
With an eyebrow raised, Kurama faced the fire demon. "Then Kuwabara is using telepathy to communicate with his gang?' Scratching the back of his head, Yusuke turned to face the others. "What do you mean?"
"Mind to mind communication, Detective." Hiei jibed at Yusuke's expense. "They should have called you the spirit world bouncer or enforcer, you don't have the making for deductive occupations."
"Hey, I'm still a former detective. Remember that Enma is only reviewing my case, the execution order is only on hold, it's not been withdrawn yet." Yusuke grew somber at the thought of King Enma most likely not stopping the order for his death."To think, that I'm fifteen and a half, I've spent the last year facing all sort of crazy and powerful threats. I risked my life how many times being the hero, and this is the thanks I get."
Kurama looked down at the scene of the gang watching as some of the fight spilled back out to the ally. "If Kuwabara-kun was here right now, Yusuke, he would ask if you want some cheese with that whine. Let's jump down to the balcony so we can get a better view."
As they landed, Hiei smirked at Yusuke's frown as he placed his hands behind his back."You're wrong Kurama. If Kuwabara was here he would do something remarkably stupid, like holding up the index finger and thumb of one hand only an inch apart while the other hand is acting as if he's pinching something while dragging it back and forth. When asked what he is doing he would say that he's playing the world's smallest fiddle."
"I can't believe you two are ganging up on me and using Kuwabara antics while you're at it", wailed the former detective. "And I do know what telepathy is. Genkai used it a few times to yell at me. But Kuwabara---" Yusuke cut himself off, remembering two previous times. "The only times I know of him using telepathy is when we rescued Yukina and then when he was saying goodbye to us as he was planning on dragging Risho into death with him. I didn't think he could use it unless the situation was desperate. He's never used it on other occasions."
"I have to admit this much, Kuwabara is a master at annoying people. I think he does it on purpose. There are some generals that have used such tactics to unnerve their opponents." Kurama grinned as he glanced at the other two as the sounds of battle continued on below. His grin grew at the scowl on Yusuke's face while Hiei made it a point to continue watching the fight below.
"The oaf doesn't get to me." Hiei replied in a stoical voice.
"Yeah, sure whatever you say Hiei." Yusuke countered with a wave of his hand. "That's why you argue with him so often. But getting back on topic--- So Kuwabara does have telepathy and can use it on the average. I learned from Genkai that psychics are trained early on not to use telepathy on day to day basis. Has something to do with keeping them grounded in the physical world somehow."
"You were doing so good until then." Kurama softly said as Hiei jumped off into the dark. "It because if young psychics rely to much on telepathy, they risk loosing the skills to communicate vocally. Not loosing their voice per say, but forget the 'rules' that govern spoken communication. That is why psychic children often learn to talk later than children without psychic powers."
Still frowning, Yusuke glanced up from the battle. "You know, couldn't you just say they would have lost their manners?"
Blinking, Kurama replied, "But I did say that."
"I've located Kuwabara." With those three words, Hiei stopped another stupid argument. "Let's move to this other roof, we can see through a window to where there are two enemies that Kuwabara is stalking."
~~~~back to Kuwabara~~
He could feel their terror as he marched down the corridor, Tamae, Manzo and Roka trailing behind him. "This way, two of the ones that were on the raid are at the end of this hall. I can smell their guilt. They played a major part of it in some way." The other tantai thought that since Kuwabara was ningen that mens that he had the physical senses as ordinary ningens. Kuwabara may not be able to pick up individual scents but his spirit awareness allows him to pick up other information. Yusuke has long forgotten that at Genkai's Tournament, Kuwabara could see the events in the room of darkness, and could tell there was an evil being there by the scent in the air before Yusuke said that the demon Rando was there. Today Kuwabara is using that odd ability to sniff the out the guilty. With a mighty kick, Kuwabara demolished the door that stood between him and his prey. The three Blades rushed in with their leader. Tamae sent a kink into the smaller one, Joro, that sprawled him on the ground. Roka tackled the other one as Manzo pulled out some ropes.
"Joro and Tadashi, both aniki of the Aka Doragon." Roka identified the captives that were cowering in front of a window. Although Kuwabara most likely knew them, the other two Blades present did not know the faces to go along with the names.
"The two of you played a major role in that raid against my people that started this whole mess." The captives cowered as Kuwabara stood above them. They have heard of the states of the bodies of Benjiro and Chiko were in when finally found. "I can smell that you are murderers, it's a coppery scent, like blood." Kuwabara glanced at the far wall, where Okubo just appeared and stopped. Kuwabara could feel the fear, then the hatred that emanated from the ghost. "Okubo, you okay?"
"No." The reply came not from Okubo but from Kirishima. "Those two-- while Tachikawa was working on me those two are the ones that tortured Okubo!"
"They are, huh? Well , it seems that we got lucky with these two." Kuwabara told his three present gang members.
Jumping to his feet, Joro demanded, "What is that suppose to mean?"
"It means that you have been recognized by the ghosts of my friends that you've tortured to death." The gang leader replied.
"Ghosts?", scoffed Tadashi, making it clear that he didn't believe in the supernatural. He's heard of the tales that say Kuwabara can see ghosts and what not. Tadashi never believed such talk, not even when the Dragon's own leader began to investigate into such matters.
"Where's that draft coming from?"
Within seconds the temperature dropped until everyone in the room could see their breath. A swishing sound drew their gazes above head. Manzo grinned as he pointed to the swinging light fixture. "Hah, now you went ticked off the ghosts!"
"Look over there!" Off near the far wall two forms seemed to be taking shape. "Uh, boss, what was it you said about ghosts when normal folks like me can see them?" Roka stumbled over his words but he wasn't like Kuwabara, he's never seena ghost. All Roka has experienced was a few items moving by themselves, never the actual manifestation of a ghost. "Calm down, Roka. It's simple actually yet frightening as well. A ghost's powers are directly linked to it's emotions. The stronger they feel then stronger the power they have at that time. That's what's happening to Kirishima and Okubo right now. They are remembering the torture session that led to their deaths, that fear and the hatred for their killers are giving them enough juice to materialize enough where non-psychics, like you, can see them." Kuwabara replied in his low voice. It was misleading, his voice, for Kuwabara wasn't calm at all. He wanted to rip the hearts out of the two dragons, but first---first he needed more information. "I'm going inside his head while he's distracted with fear. Watch over my body while I'm gone."
Although he had telepathy, it was not so easy to enter another's mind. It was not how so many pictured it as if he could just wish it and then he was in the mind of another. No, mind-reading was far more complex than that. A contest of will is first conducted, if the target fails, then contact with his mind is made. Then there is the maze of memories to deal with. What most people take as mind-reading is merely catching a a whisper of a surface thought, it's like if you're in a crowded room and hear snips of conversation. True mind-reading, getting behind the surface and deep into the mind, that takes effort and skill. If a target is distracted where he can't concentrate then it is easier to penetrate deep into the mind.
Contact was made and Kuwabara began to enter the mind of Tadashi when something unexpected happened. As an array of lights exploded Kuwabara could feel the presence of the other tantai. "What the!"
As Yusuke opened his eyes he noticed that Kurama was trying to climb to his feet while both Hiei and Kuwabara were standing off on opposite sides. "Okay, why do I feel like I have a hangover and why are you two looking so morbid?"
"Both you and Kurama are nursing major headaches because you were caught in a psychic merger. While you may have spiritual energies, they're on the 'physical' side of the powers, not actual mental powers. That why you suffered worse than Kurama, while me and Hiei are fine." Kuwabara grumbled as he glared at Hiei.
"Psychic merger? How did that happen?" "What's a psychic merger?" Both Kurama and Yusuke asked at the same time.
"A psychic merger is when two or more psychics unite in using the same technique at the same time, think of it as a team effort. A accidental merger can also happen then two psychics are trying to use similar or related powers on the same target, which is what happened here." Kuwabara waved an arm at the scene before them. It looks like an old wherehouse. There were people around but were not moving, they seemed to be frozen in place. "Hiei tried to use his Jagan at the same time I was entering the mind of a captive that I believe was personally involved in the torture of Okubo."
"So how the hell did me and Kurama get in here? Where is here anyway?" Grumbled Yusuke, why did they have to give a long explanation?
"Ah, I see." Kurama mused softly. "When Hiei attempted to see what was going on, since you two have worked together and know each other's spirit energies, a link sprang up at the time that you both used your mental techniques. The sudden surge dragged both Yusuke and myself into the link since we all have worked together for so long now."
"Yeah, that's how you got in there. This is the psychic manifestation of the wherehouse where the murders took place. I was searching for these memories when Hiei butted in. The flare up of power dragged not only you guys but both of the captives that played part of the torture, since I was grazing both minds to see which would be the easiest to enter first." Kuwabara explained as he walked towards the crowd of people . "This is the event, since we were distracted with talking to each other, the scene went automatically on pause. We will have to wait until it plays out unlit we can leave."
"What are you saying?" Not liking the implications, Yusuke demanded for it to be clarified. "Are you saying that we have to watch them get tortured and killed?! Why can't you just 'pull out'?"
"If it was only one mind we entered, that could be done. However, there were two prisoners whose memories create this mind-scape and then there is the fact of the psychic merger." Hiei finally spoke up.
"I suggest we be quiet and get it over with ." Kurama suggested as they walked to the front of the unmoving throng.
The crowd started to move as silence gave way to cries of fear, rage and bloodlust. In the front there were seven people tied to chairs. Some had a tattoo of a blade, while others wore a pin or a jacket with the picture of the same blade. They were seven of the ten captured Menboku Yaiba Several were crying as they stared ahead. There on the narrow tables the other three captives were tied down in a 'spread-eagle' position, with arms and legs wide apart.
"We won't tell you idiots anything! "Kirishima hollered, making it known that they would never betray Kuwabara.
A large brute started to laugh. "We don't want info from you." He said as he cracked his knuckles.
"As always, Tachikawa, you don't like to waste words." The voice was followed by the scraping of a chair as someone stood up to walk over to the tables. He was shorter than his colleague but the air about Samejima showed he was even more malicious than Tachikawa. "No, we are not after information right now. What we are after is your fear. Let's begin."
Suddenly everything seem to go dark except one area . "That's Okubo! Those two standing next to him, are the the ones that you cornered? Why did everything go dim? Somehow I don't think they put a spotlight on the poor guy." Looking past Yusuke's pointing finger, Kuwabara found the two faces he knew would be in here.
"Yeah, that's Joro and Tadashi. And things look this way because this is the combined memories of those two, They were busy with Okubo, their attention was centered on him, so you can say that everything else is in the background." Kuwabara looked on with dread.
Okubo tried to jerk his hands free again as Joro approached with a baseball bat. "He he he, time to break a Blade." Cackled the scrawny thug as he hefted the bat over his head in preparation to club his victim. "Hey fatso, do you know what it feels like to have a broken bone stick through your skin? You don't? I'll help ya out then!" With that sadistic remark he brought the bat down "IIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
"Okubo!" Yusuke ran forward as the bat was raised from the now broken right arm. Yusuke threw a punch that simply sailed right through Joro's face. Sent off balance, Yusuke fell to the floor. "What the hell! The last time that happened was when I was a ghost!"
"I told you, Urameshi, this is a memory, nothing more. You can't touch them since this is a replay of past events." Kuwabara shook his head with sorrow in his eyes. "The only thing we can do is watch."
In the darkness to they could hear the cries of pain from Sawamura and Kirishima. But the sound to the left, where Kirishima's screams are coming from they also heard some brutal crunching sounds. The screams and the smashing seem to excite Tadashi as he joined in. He raised his bat without a word and brought it down on Okubo's legs.
"Hah! You call that a hit, Tadashi? That didn't break any bones." Joro called out as he punched the helpless victim in the side.
"Neither did that punch, pip-squeak. Remember we can't kill them straight out, they have ta suffer first. The bosses wants them ta be afraid so bad they piss themselves." Tadashi reminded his partner as his bat hit Okubo's already broken right arm, breaking it in another spot. His grin grew bigger at the wail of agony that escaped Okubo "Hey lets make a hit at the same time on tha feet."
The cruel grin on Joro's face showed that he truly enjoyed the sound of that idea. Both torturers took a stance on either side of Okubo as the rose their tools of injury high. The wooden bats came down slicing though the air with such viciousness that it broke several bones in his feet. Okubo continues to scream as Tadashi grabbed his foot. "Hey Joro, we broke it. " He laughed as he roughed up the mangled appendage. "But there are some bones in here that's not broken, how about we try it again?" The Dragons laughed as they rained down more blows to the bound and helpless Blade . As they worked their way up the legs they made certain to shatter the kneecaps. "He's nearly ready, Tadashi. Wait a minute I want to take his left hand off and send it to his mommy!" Joro laughed as he opted for a butcher knife. Dragging out the fear as long as possible, Joro slowly inched the knife down Okubo's arm, leaving a shallow trail of red until it stopped at the wrist. dangling the knife over the pulse point, Joro grinned at his victim. With a sudden movement he raised the blade enough to get some momentum as he forced the blade through the flesh.
Right after his partner cut the hand off, Tadashi swung his bat with the intention of hitting Okubo's face. Okubo was able to move somewhat since when they cut off his hand it also cut the ropes on that arm. True it was only one limb that was freed and his injuries will not allow Okubo to run. However when one is being tortured such facts do not register, there is only pain and the instinct to flee. Okubo moved on instinct, trying to sit up,. The brutal bat landed only a glancing blow to his jaw, if Okubo was in any state of rationale, he would have realized that it was cracked. When he again tried to move and raised the left shoulder, Tadashi's next blow hit him in the back, breaking his spine.
Everything faded to black.
Kurama opened his eyes, looking at his friends. They were still on the one-story rooftop, their bodies were safe as they were traipsing in the memories of the guilty gang members. Yusuke had angry tears trailing down his face. Even Hiei was disturbed by the events. The sound of glass shattering drew their attention to the room where their teammate stood. They watched as Joro's body fell from the second story window. They could see Kuwabara 's bloody hand as he ran it through Tadashi's chest, only to pull out his heart and then throw the body out the window.

~~~~~~~~TBC~~~~~~~~
stoical=marked by a calm, austere fortitude (fancy dictionary way of saying to be impassive)
here are some slang words I used plus their meaning slang = meaning = example
'Hooked up' == affiliated with a gang. = Kuwabara, Yusuke Even if he's not a gang member, Yusuke hangs around w/them (there's the affiliation) in the manga and he was incensed when Okubo, Kirishima & Sawamura got trashed by thugs, enough that he went to fight the Kanse thugs although he was still in agony and out of spirit energy - the chapter I'm referring to is = "The Hellhousing Projects" set between the two story-arcs 'Saint Beasts' and 'Rescue Yukina'.
'He's from nowhere'= no gang affiliation = Kurama , Kieko Although they are friends with Kuwabara they are not part of the street gang, nor do they spend time around the gang like Yusuke has.
'50/50'= = neutral; non-gang members = the other students of Sara Jr. High. Why do I say Yusuke is hooked up instead of 50/50? Why is Kurama is from nowhere instead of 50/50? It's simple. First word is neutral. That means that Yusuke & Kurama do not fit in the 50/50 description. They both are friends with Kuwabara, therefor not neutral.
'Flying your colors' = demonstrating that you belong to a particular gang. = when members a gang wears the same color or emblem ,Wearing the code in clothing= a baseball cap turned to the left while a rival turns to right. The left pant leg is rolled half up the calf etc. (While I don't see anything in the show suggesting that Kuwabara does any of that except wear white; it does make clear to us that everyone knows who is part of Kuwabara's posse. Therefor in some form they might be flying their colors.)