Dry Country

A/N: Hey. I know its been a while, but I assure you I haven’t forgotten about my readers. Thing is, I got hornswaggled into another one of my mother’s DIY projects. Sorry, when she started showing me paint swatches I should have run for the hills. But my neglect has nothing to do with reviews. If I let the number of reviews I got keep me from writing I would have stopped after writing Mating Season(man did that one flop!). I LIKE getting reviews, but unlike some writers(cough) I don’t threaten to withhold the conclusion if I don’t get X amount of reviews. I like to believe I have more dignity than that. (Says the girl with spackle in her hair.) Well here’s the fic. I hope it was worth the wait.

Dry Country By: boysluvcraft
Part five…

About one and half hours earlier, Yusuke had parted from his friends and headed north to meet Toguro-- and possibly his fate. He slowed down as he approached the entrance to the communications building. He drew his laser-gun out of the breast of his coveralls and checked to make sure the safety was turned off. It wouldn’t have fired if the safety were on. As he was doing that he briefly wondered if he should have mentioned the safety to his friends. He dismissed the idea. Surly Hiei and Kurama were smart enough to remember guns had safety switches.

He crept into the building and down the hall. As expected he could hear footsteps, pacing back and froth in the reception area. That would have to be Risho. Yusuke watched him for a minute from around the corner. The man looked sick with worry. Was he worried about Yusuke and his crew taking out his claim jumping buddies? Or was it something else? Risho paced toward the far wall, turned and then paced back. A moment after he passed the corner where Yusuke was crouching, Yusuke fell in behind him. Noiselessly, he slipped his hand over Risho’s mouth.

“Don’t make a sound,” Yusuke whispered. He showed Risho his gun to insure the man decided not to scream. Risho looked at the laser and then nodded with a nervous swallow.

Yusuke took a step back, keeping his gun on Risho. He bent down to check on doctor Shigure, who was laid out on the floor. He had been unconscious when they saw him on the serenity cameras, now he was awake, but still seemed a little out of it.

Yusuke removed the man‘s gag, asking “You alright doc?”

Risho answered for him in hushed tones, “They were afraid he may have had some knifes or drugs or something in his room, you know, being a doctor and all. So they used some knock out gas on him. He‘s already coming out of it. He‘ll be up soon.”

Yusuke looked up at him sharply, making Risho flinch. Then inexplicably Yusuke’s expression softened. “Karasu was a spy the whole time he was here,” Yusuke said, “but you weren’t, were you?”

“I caught Karasu earlier tonight night while he was sneaking out of the base to meet his fellow conspirators. I heard them talking on his radio phone and learned of the coming attack. I could have sounded an alarm then. We could have been ready, locked the base down. But you see, I listened too long and he caught me. He said that if I stayed quiet and did what they said they’d give me a share of the reward for capturing the base. Not that that was the swaying point.”

“Let me guess,” Yusuke finished it for him, “If you said no, he would have killed you on the spot.”

“They would have come anyway, you see,” Risho said defensively, “What good would it have been to refuse and die?”

“Did you know that it’s legal on undeveloped planets to execute someone for treason? You don’t even got to have a trial, first.” Yusuke told him dryly. “But I can understand where you’re coming from. You’re not evil or greedy or nothing. You’re scared and you‘ll do whatever you have to stay alive.” Yusuke paused, “Unfortunately, that’s why I can’t trust you.”

Yusuke touched the muzzle of his gun to Risho and squeezed the trigger. Risho gurgled and twitched for a second and then laid motionless, save for the steady raising and falling of his chest. Yusuke had set his gun on stunning strength for Risho. The man, after all, was just a coward. There was no reason why he had to die. Yusuke quickly relieved the fully roused doctor of his bindings and instructed him to take Risho somewhere secure.

After Shigure was gone, Yusuke turned to the door to Koenma’s office. He opened then door and strolled in as casually as if it were his own room. He figured there was no point trying to be slick about it. Toguro was already expecting him.

Sure enough, Toguro was watching the door expectedly, yet calmly. He looked none-too surprised when Yusuke walked through the door. He greeted Yusuke with a curt nod, “Mr. Urameshi.”

“Toguro,” Yusuke responded levelly despite how nervous he felt.

Toguro was settled on the opposite side of the couch from Koenma. His baring was completely casual and relaxed, not a trace of aggression was evident. If not for the hang cuffs on Koenma the two would have just looked like a couple of guys sitting down to football or something. The peace was actually more unnerving to Yusuke than it would have been if Toguro had attacked him the moment he walked in the door. At least in that circumstance he would have known how to react. Yusuke walked farther into the room eyeing the massive man warily.

“You act as if you expect me to spontaneously explode,” Toguro said dryly.

Yusuke smirked, “Wishful thinking.”

“You’re very funny,” An unfamiliar voice sounded behind Yusuke. He jumped and whirled around with his laser-gun raised, believing some unknown person had snuck up on him. He then felt foolish when he realized the voice had come from the video screen on the wall. The visual feed was of a white screen with the dark silhouette of a man projecting though it. He may have had board shoulders, a slim frame, and long hair; it was hard to tell just from the silhouette. Yusuke could tell that the man smoked, from the glowing red cherry that could be seen though the screen and the thin streamers of smoke that danced around his form.

“Let me guess,” Yusuke drawled, “Sakyo?”

“Am I?” The man was playing coy.

“Cut the crap already. Your goons spilled the beans, after we glued them to the wall,” Yusuke told him.

The figure was silent for a moment and then he said, “Very well.” One of his hands reached over as if to flip a switch. With a mechanical whirl, the screen lifted. Yusuke could see the man now. He wasn’t nearly as old as Yusuke thought he’d be, in fact, he was relatively young for a man of his status, early thirties at most. He was handsome too, with a thin angular face, prominent cheek bones, fine nose, pointed chin, and broad brow that suggested intellect. The only real flaw was the long pale scar that ran from eyebrow down over the eye all the way to the cheek, though it did little to detract from his overall beauty.

Piercing cold blue eyes fastened on Yusuke as the man continued to speak. “I have to say I’m rather impressed. To my knowledge the Apparition Gang has never had such problems with subduing and containing their hostages before. Is that correct Mr. Toguro?”

“That’s true,” Toguro confirmed, “We have had a few runaways in the past, but we’ve always been able to capture them with relative ease.”

“You must have a unique bunch on your hands then,” Sakyo mused.

“Perhaps, but I think the case is that my men have gotten sloppy,” Toguro grunted, “I really must apologize to both you and Mr. Urameshi here. Because of this grossly unprofessional behavior the assignment has been complicated and as a result hostages--your men, Mr. Urameshi--will have to suffer greatly. I am sorry.”

“You‘re sorry?!” Yusuke was taken aback. “You assholes come up in here raising hell, raping my friends-- and you gave them permission to do it. I heard you! Now you say you’re sorry for it?!”

“Not for that,” Toguro clarified, “Having their use of you was their right as vicious invaders. In the end you would have all died quickly and painlessly when we detonated the complex with the explosives that Karasu has already laid. However as I said my men were unprofessional, leaving you unattended while you were not properly locked down, allowing you to escape. Because of that you will all have to suffer greatly before you meet your end.”

“Why don’t you show us a sample of this suffering?” Sakyo suggested, a smile curling up on his cruel thin lips.

“If you insist,” Toguro conceded with the same level of interest that could be expected from a mid-night shift waitress at Denny’s. He moved to the computer consol and keyed in the command. A panel on the wall slid open to reveal the office security monitor. Toguro keyed in a few more commands. The screen blinked on. It showed Hiei in the hall with Bui. The towering man delivered a hard punch to the side Hiei’s face. The scene cut away to the former drill site where Kuwabara was obviously screaming in pain as a power drill was pressed into his side by the elder Toguro. The scene changed again to a lab in shambles. Karasu was causing the carnage invisibly with some sort of weapon. Kurama was barley staying ahead of it.

“Enough!” Yusuke had seen just about enough. As his last nerve snapped, he brought his gun up level to Toguro‘s chest. He howled as he fired, “BASTARD!”

Since his encounter with Risho, Yusuke had turned up the intensity of the laser to full. The laser was much more powerful than he had anticipated. The light that resulted from the discharge was so bright that it blinded Yusuke momentary. Yusuke blinked his eyes. He half expected to see a pile of dust where Toguro had been standing. But when his vision cleared he still saw Toguro standing, unharmed save for a scorch mark on the hand he’d used to block the shot.

“T-that’s not possible,” Yusuke stammered. Lasers less powerful than his were capable of cutting through solid steel. How could this man block it with his bare hand?

Toguro studied his hand half interestedly. Almost as if he’d read Yusuke’s thoughts, he said, “It’s simple really. Quite a few years ago I had my flesh replaced with a highly dense flexible graphite shell. It was about at the same time I had my more vulnerable organs replaced with artificial ones, my bones coated with metallic-calcium alloy and hydraulics implanted within my muscle tissue.”

“Cyborg…” Koenma gasped from his seat on the couch. The procedures in question were considered unethical and highly illegal. However, he had heard of black market surgeons who would perform them. In theory with enough money and the right connections a man could become almost immortal and virtually indestructible.

“So you see, boy,” Toguro told Yusuke, “That little toy of yours is completely useless.”

Yusuke grinned, “Well, not completely.” He dashed past Toguro to skid to a stop just behind Koenma. Before the director could exclaim or ask questions, Yusuke jammed the muzzle of his laser against the chain that connected to two bracelet halves of his handcuffs and fired. With a metallic ping, the chain split and then Koenma’s hands were free. Without skipping a beat, Yusuke hauled Koenma up off the couch. He barked, “Come on, out the window!”

Half dragging a stunned Koenma toward the window, Yusuke raised his weapon again. This time he discharged it at the window. The laser heated the glass causing it to glow red and melt like plastic in the microwave. It cooled so quickly it was solid before Yusuke and Koenma reached it. On Yusuke’s command Koenma jumped headlong out the window. Yusuke followed soon after. They both landed, rolling in the thankfully soft sand.

“Yusuke!” Koenma called out, rushing to his love’s side. Franticly he helped Yusuke sit up, brushing the dirt off of him. “Yusuke, you insane, wonderful thing!” He pressed his lips to Yusuke’s with such desperation; it was almost as if he where afraid that Yusuke would vanish from under his fingertips.

Unbeknownst to him, Yusuke was feeling the same anxiety. He leaned into Koenma’s kiss, wrapping his arms securely around the man’s shoulders. However reluctantly, he had to break the kiss. With a backward glance at the window they’d just gone through, Yusuke told him, “I think he’s too big fit through that way, but that won’t keep him off us for long. Koenma, I want you to go to the secret bunker and hide out there.”

“Yusuke…,” Koenma shook his head in the beginnings of a refusal, but Yusuke silenced him with another deep, but brief kiss.

“Listen,” Yusuke implored him, “That guy will rip this whole place apart looking for us. I have to fight him to protect you and everyone else, but I can’t do that if I’m too busy worrying about you getting caught in the cross fire.”

Koenma opened his mouth as if he were about to argue again, but at that moment a loud boom rang out in the other-wise silent pre-dawn desert air. Both Yusuke and Koenma’s eyes shot back toward the outer wall of the communications building, where the sound had originated from. The wall now sported a network of thick, ugly cracks. Another boom and the wall bowed outward, expanding the cracks and forming new ones. The wall was crumbling down. Toguro was breaking his way through the wall!

Yusuke shot back to Koenma, this time his tone left no room fro argument, “Go NOW.”

Koenma grasped at him, bringing their lips together one more time. He gasped out, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Yusuke said using all his will not to let his voice break.

Koenma moved back to arms’ length, his hand still clutching onto Yusuke’s. He let his hand slip out of Yusuke’s with a sorrowful wince. Koenma spun on his heel and ran off into to the distance. Yusuke watched him go. He could almost feel the reluctance that Koenma had experienced, tingling on his palm where the man had touched him.

Boom! Yusuke’s attention was yanked back to the fracturing wall as it finally crumbled away, leaving a ragged hole framing Toguro.

Toguro spotted him right away and was quick to notice Koenma’s absence. There was a slight twitch in his cheek which Yusuke interpreted as annoyance-- or gas. If he even gets gas with all those allegedly false organs.

“Okay, so you’re strong and really tough,” Yusuke taunted the massive mechanized man, “But you’re kinda slow aren’t ya?”

Yusuke was sure that this was his key to victory. If he could just stay ahead of Toguro, he’d have enough time to find and exploit his weak spots. But then, quick as a flash Toguro’s hand whipped out and snapped off a big piece of the cement board from the wall and hurled it at Yusuke. It all happened so fast that Yusuke, try as he might, couldn’t get completely out of the way in time. The edge of the thing clipped his shoulder. Yusuke lost his balance and toppled to the ground. He opened his eyes in time to see Toguro charging at him. Before he could even think to react, Toguro delivered a brutal kick to his jaw. The attack actually scooped Yusuke off the ground and propelled him up in the air, only to fall again about six feet back and much harder.

“I…stand… corrected,” Yusuke ground out, “Ya ain’t slow.” Yusuke tried to get up, but failed. He was amazed that his jaw was not broken by the blow. The bastard must have aimed the kick just right so that it wouldn’t cause any damage. It sure hurt like a bitch though. “You could have killed me with the hit, easily. Way did you hold back?” Yusuke snapped at him.

“Because, believe it or not Mr. Urameshi, I do not enjoy killing creatures that are weaker than me,” Toguro told him, “But in my line of work there are a lot of things that I have to do that I don’t necessarily like.” Toguro reached down and lifted Yusuke up by his collar, “I will kill you if I must.”

Yusuke ground out between clinched teeth, “Well, if we’re letting go of our scruples…,” He brought foot up abruptly between the larger man’s legs. But the only thing his foot encountered was a hard, smooth surface and a pain like he’d just kicked a steel plate. He yelped, “Yhoewch!”

Toguro looked down blandly at the place where Yusuke had kicked him. A semblance of amusement ghosted across his face. At the same time a combination of what-the-hell and oh-shit crossed Yusuke’s face.

“I told you,” Toguro reminded him, “I had most of my vulnerable organs removed.”

Yusuke’s eyes went wide. The very idea that this man was so determined to make himself invulnerable that he was willing to give up the very thing that identify him as a man… it was just too much!

“Now Mr. Urameshi,” Toguro continued, “As cute as that little stunt was, I can not permit my hostages free reign of the complex. Tell me where your little director has run off to.”

“Like hell I’m gonna tell you!” Yusuke hissed.

“Very well, I’ll just have to go find him myself,” Toguro said, “But first I’ll have to make sure you will no longer be a nuisance.”

A wave of panic rushed through Yusuke as Toguro’s fist rushed toward his face. But just then there was a small beeping noise. Yusuke hadn’t noticed it. He was more occupied by the painful end that was rushing upon him. Toguro noticed it though. His fist stopped a hairs width from Yusuke’s nose. Toguro glanced down that a device on his belt that looked very much like a toy walkie-talkie. Toguro lowered his fist so that he could retrieve the device. His other hand still effortlessly held Yusuke aloft as if he were no more than a grocery sack full of marshmallows. Toguro lifted the device to his eyelevel with a grunt. He frowned as he examined the screen.

“Bui’s neural link is offline,” He muttered to no one particular.

Yusuke sort of had an idea of what he was talking about though. Neural links were tiny microchips that were inserted under the skin, near the base of the skull. They were typically used for mining operations, so the work coordinators could keep track of all the men while they were underground. The devise also doubled a status indicator. It measured the electric actively in the nervous system, so the coordinators could tell if a man was okay, unconscious, or dead. The reading Toguro was getting was not that conclusive though. In short, the readings weren’t making any sense at all, thus it was a malfunction. That did not mean there was no cause for concern. Neural links were very sturdy and well made. It would take a considerable amount of damage to cause it to malfunction. Yusuke recollected the last time he’d seen Bui. He was squaring off against Hiei. Yusuke couldn’t help the swelling of pride for has small compatriot, if he was the cause of the aforementioned malfunction. It reminded Yusuke that his friends were out there fighting for their lives, giving it all that they had. He had to give his all too.

Toguro was now on the walkie-talkie, trying to get in contact with Bui, “Bui, this is Toguro, come in Bui, what is your status? I repeat, what is your status?” Toguro frowned deeply at the box. There was no answer on the box, but static.

Yusuke took Toguro’s momentary distraction as his opportunity. He kicked out both his feet. They came to land solidly on Toguro’s firm, broad chest. The blow didn’t seem to disturb the man, Yusuke hadn’t expected it to. Next with his feet solidly planted, Yusuke jerked his upper body back. His shirt ripped and he fell flat on his back on the ground. The fall knocked wind out of him, but he had no time to lie on his back sucking air. He rolled and scurried way, leaving Toguro standing there with Yusuke’s torn collar in his hand.

Yusuke managed to put some space between him and the lethal mechanical man. Toguro tossed the ragged piece of fabric to one side. There was a small twitch in his cheek that may have been a smile. He said, “You are a very entertaining young man, you know that? It’s a shame we hadn’t met under other circumstances. I could have used a man like you in my ranks.”

“Pssh, give me a break. If I wanted to join a freak show, I’d have gone to the circus,” Yusuke spat.

Toguro shrugged as if Yusuke’s comment was of no consequence to him. Not wasting any more time with pointless banter, he charged at Yusuke. He was much faster than anyone would have expected a man of his sized to be. Yusuke chalked it up to the advantage of his cybernetic implants. The technology in the thug was impressive, Yusuke had to admit, but he knew it must have a flaw and he willing to bet he knew exactly were it was. He stood his ground against the charging Toguro. The massive man threw a straight jab that should have taken Yusuke’s head off. But Yusuke had already sprung to the left and jumped up in the air at just the last moment. He somersaulted over Toguro’s back and landed gracefully behind him. Yusuke’s move wasn’t just to avoid the punch. He had a second motive, which he had succeeded in. The proof was the pair of dark, triangular glasses that he now clutched in his right hand. As Toguro rounded on him, pale machine sensor eyes flashing, Yusuke raised his laser-gun and fired it point blank into his face.

Yusuke was sure that he had his own eyes closed so as not to be blinded by his own shot. When he opened his eyes, Toguro was stumbling back, blinded, his limb twitching out of control. Yusuke had figured that laser shot would have disrupted the cyborg’s sensors, rendering him temporarily blind. But he hadn’t expected it to jack up his entire system. That was a bonus, and a very helpful one at that. It wouldn’t last long though. Already Toguro’s appendages were coming under control.

Yusuke made a mad dash for the hole in the wall of the commutations building. His mind was racing as fast as his feet. He could beat Toguro. He just needed a stronger signal to do it. Inside Koenma’s office Yusuke rushed around looking for something, anything he could use. All he accomplished was to get flustered when he realized that he did not know how to go about amplifying a laser. The Apparition Gang’s employer Sakyo was still on the video-phone. He was disinterestedly reading a copy of the Wall Street Journal, until he spotted Yusuke.

“Still alive?” He tossed his paper to one side, “My, this is interesting. How did you mange to get away from Mr. Toguro in one piece?”

“Damn it old man, get a life!” Yusuke yelled at the screen, “Don’t you got anything better to do than tie up our com lines!” That’s when it occurred to him; the communication officer’s! They played with tech stuff day in and day out. If anyone would know how to do it they would! But they were all the way down in the labs and Yusuke knew that Toguro would be bearing down on his ass real soon. There was no other way. He decided that he’d better get moving.

Meanwhile outside, Toguro’s limbs had stopped jerking and he had them completely under control. He was only waiting for his visual sensors to realign themselves. His ears picked up the sound of the neural link device’s beeping. It may have been going off for a while, but his hearing had been offline. His eyes were still out of commission, so Toguro felt around pulled out the connection cord on the devise. He plugged the other end into the port hidden just under his collarbone. Soon the data was fed directly into his neural systems. The signal was from his brother’s neural link. It showed that recently he had unreasonably high levels of dopamine and adrenaline. That was nothing new. His brother was a raving lunatic. But there was a sudden crash in his levels, immediately followed by unconsciousness. Something had gone wrong for his brother. Then only moments later the devise sounded again. This time the prognosis was clear. Karasu was dead. Out of the all men he’d brought with him to this planet, four were out of commission and worthless, one was MIA, and another was dead. Needless to say, Toguro was a tad irritated.

Inside, Yusuke was sprinting past the opening to the north-south corridor. He didn’t even glance down that hall. He planned on getting to the labs via the north-east hall, which connected the lab directly to the communication building. It would be faster that way. But as he passed the north-south corridor, a hoarse but friendly voice hailed out to him, “Hey Urameshi-- ouch!”

“Take it easy there, Kuwabara,” Jin’s Irish tones warned, “ya got more holes in ya than Swiss cheese.”

“Ahh, the doc just said I didn’t get no organs hit,” Kuwabara whined.

“That doesn’t mean ya’s not gonna reopen your wounds and bleed to death,” Chu pointed out.

Yusuke stopped and looked down the hall, seeing the three aforementioned men. Chu and Jin where helping Kuwabara along. Yusuke cheered, “Hey hey, you guys made it!”

“What? You think I was gonna mess this up, too?” Kuwabara puffed up like a young cock in a hen yard.

“Nah, I knew you could do it,” Yusuke grinned meeting his friends, “Otherwise I wouldn’t have sent ya out there.”

“Of course I could do it,” Kuwabara bayed goofily, “I am the Great Kazuma Kuwabara, after all!”

Yusuke laughed. Then in more serous tone he inquired, “You wouldn’t have seen any of the other’s would ya?”

“We just passed Doc Shigure a minute ago,” Jin put in, “He had Risho slung over his shoulder, sleeping like a babe. He said he was taking him down to the barracks to lock him down. He wanted to take Kuwabara with him too, cuz he was hurt so bad. But Mr. Stubbornness here keeps saying, ‘Gotta get to Urameshi. Men don‘t leave their friends hanging’ and stuff like that. Didn’t ya, ya overgrown teddy bear.” Jin poked Kuwabara who was now scowling at his ginger friend.

“Yeah, I know about the Doc,” Yusuke dismissed the meandering Jin-ish monologue, “Anyone else?”

Chu answered, “Hiei and Toya were with us out on the site, but they took off for the labs when the greenhouse collapsed.”

“Collapsed?!” Yusuke exclaimed. “Is Kurama--”

“Don’t know, Urameshi,” Kuwabara cut him off, “That’s why Shorty took off, I guess, to see if he was alright. He seemed real upset. Hey, uh Urameshi?”

“Yeah?” Yusuke prompted him to continue.

“Do you think there’s, like… ya know, uh, something going on between those two?” A blush spread all the way up Kuwabara’s ears. If the word adorable could ever apply to such a big guy, this would be the time. It was so funny, Yusuke almost killed over laughing. Kuwabara protested, “Knock it off Urameshi! We don’t even know if he’s okay or not. Though I guess we got plenty of time to look for him and stuff now that you took out the bad guy’s boss.”

“Huh?” Yusuke suddenly sobered with an oh-shit passing over on his face.

“You did take their boss out right?” Kuwabara squawked.

The answer was given by a thunderous boom. Chalky white dust plumbed in the hall. Yusuke could see the great ominous shape coming through the haze. It was Toguro. He was back. He was pissed. And he was… bigger? Yes, he was, Yusuke was sure of it. Even through the white hazed that hung in the air, he could tell that Toguro’s muscles had gotten bigger. Yusuke cursed.

“Listen up,” He told his friends, “A minute ago I found out this guy is a cyborg, and when I shot him in the eye with my laser thingy his body when all coo-coo on him, so I think I glitch him out for good, or something, if I make the laser stronger, or something, but I don’t know how to do that, but com guys might be able to and they’re all the why in labs.”

Kuwabara and Chu could only stare blankly at Yusuke’s faster-than-the-speed-of-light explanation. Jin said, “I got it.” And took the gun Yusuke thrust toward him.

Yusuke shot at them, “Go, hurry. I’ll see if I can keep this goon off of ya.”

The three nodded and passed Yusuke. Kuwabara shrugged Chu and Jin away so that they all could move faster. The demanding pace probably wasn’t very good for Kuwabara‘s health, as injured as he was. But getting caught by the monster Toguro would have been less good for his health.

Alright genius, what now? Yusuke thought to himself as he squared up to the even more massive Toguro. He just had to buy time-- but how? This guy could snap him like a twig, if he got a hold of him. There was one thing, he could run.

“Hey, electro-breath!” Yusuke hollered, picking up a piece of fallen drywall. He lobbed the thing at Toguro as hard as he could. It hit him in the head and became dust on impact. Yusuke definitely had his attention now. Toguro dropped his shoulders and his bulging muscles tensed. He looked like a bull about to charge-- in fact that was what he was about to do.

Yusuke epped and spun on his heel as he took off down the hall. As fast as Yusuke ran, Toguro was on his tail and gaining. Yusuke had to do something fast. A flash of red appeared in the corner of Yusuke’s vision; it was a red painted steal fire door. He could almost feel Toguro’s breath on the his neck. On impulse, Yusuke reached out and grabbed the fire door, swinging it out, just as Toguro was bearing down on him. With a big metallic “wang,” Toguro connected with the door so hard that it wrapped around him. It was almost like one of those old Tom and Jerry cartoons. Toguro lurched and pulled at the metal surrounding him. He was stuck. Yusuke would have laughed if he wasn’t so scared.

While Yusuke had the titanic Toguro preoccupied, Jin, Chu, and Kuwabara had traversed the connecting hallway from the communications building to the north side of the labs. As the entered they were distantly aware of acid smell of smoke. It was a cause of concern, until they heard hushed voices ahead. They couldn’t make out what they were saying, but it was certain who those voices belonged to, Hiei and Kurama.

“They’re okay!” Kuwabara cheered so excitedly that he forgot about his injuries and ran ahead to meet his friends. When he came flying into the room, Kuwabara stopped dead. Suzuki and Shishi had Toya sandwiched between them. Toya’s face was tipped up to allow Shishi to pilfer his mouth with his tongue. At the same time Suzuki was behind Toya, laving his neck with little lingering kisses.

“Eek!” Kuwabara voiced and he suddenly became the center of attention. He scratched the back of his head, feeling a bit embarrassed with everyone staring at him. “Uh sorry, I didn’t mean to react like that. Heh, I guess I was just surprised is all.”

“It is mighty surprising,” Jin popped up behind Kuwabara, “To think our shy little Toya’s been playing doubles in the wee hour of the night. Ha ha! I guess ya never know, right Kuwabara? And you thought Hiei and Kurama were the ones fishing in man pond!”

“Fishing in the man pond?” Hiei raised an eyebrow.

“I think that means they think you’re a couple,” Chu translated.

“Oh,” Hiei nodded, “Well, we are.”

“Hiei!” Kurama shouted aghast.

“We might as well just put it out in the open,” Hiei shrugged, “I mean there’s not much point in keeping secrets from these guys after all… this.”

Kurama seemed to think for a second. Then a soft smile alighted his lips, “You’re right, we’re all friends here. Besides, it would be nice to be able to show you off in public. I’m very proud of you, ya know.”

“So guys really are?” Kuwabara was a bit dazed by now.

Hiei spared his brother-in-law a mischievous glance, before tipping his face up put a kiss on Kurama’s lips. And if farther proof was needed, Kurama provided it by melting into Hiei’s embrace with a happy moan.

“Well, I’ll be,” Kuwabara muttered, “Is there anything else I should know?!”

“Yusuke’s romancing the boss man,” Hiei told him point blank.

“What?!” Kuwabara looked like he was about to faint now.

“Wow, that’s great,” Jin jabbered, “I bet they make a real cute couple. Koenma’s rich too. It’s like Yusuke’s caught himself a wealthy bride. And--

“Urameshi!” Kuwabara snapped out of his stupor. “Jin, remember he wanted us to ask Suzuki and Shishi about the laser thingy!”

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot,” Jin ruffed his hair.

“Well, spit it out already. Yusuke’s waiting on us!” Kuwabara bellowed.

Jin then conveyed everything that Yusuke told him onto the two communication officers. They considered everything he said carefully, trying to make sense of it.

Suzuki explained, “The thing is, a laser itself would not have that kind of affect. It’s only concentrated heat and light-- wait! What color is the laser’s lens, the color of the light it produces?”

“Blue, I think,” Kurama remembered that was the color the laser made when Karasu shot it.

Suzuki slapped his fist into his palm, “That’s it. Toguro’s sensors must be sensitive to blue wavelengths. A flash of strong blue light can send false commands into his neural systems. It’s sort of like how the flash of light from a TV remote sends a command to a TV set.”

Kuwabara asked, “So can you program it to shut Toguro off or something?”

“It’s not exactly like a TV remote,” Shishi told him, “The laser isn’t sending out actual signals. Toguro’s systems are just confusing it for signals.”

“I think we can use this to our advantage though,” Suzuki took it up. “It’s just a matter concentrating the wavelength and boosting the power. But to do that I’ll need a power source that is compatible to the laser‘s.”

“What about another laser’s battery?” Hiei asked.

“Technically its capacitor, not a battery,” Suzuki corrected him, “But yes. Do you have some?”

“Oh ya, I got one.” Kuwabara took his laser out of his coveralls. “I didn’t use it none either, so it’s got a full charge.”

“I, um, picked this one up,” Hiei produced a laser. When no one was looking he had slipped back out to the greenhouse and found Kurama’s lost laser. “I also picked this up, if it helps.” He showed Suzuki Karasu’s sonic cannon.

“Ah-ha that’s perfect!” Suzuki cheered as he started taking the various devises apart. “I can use the sonic’s flux conductor unit to conduct the energy from all three capacitor units into one big shot. Now we just need something to focus the signal. Shishi can you go get me a J-52 type microwave dish?”

Shishi gave him a funny look. Then he apparently figured out what his lover was at. He smiled, “You’re mad.” He kissed him, “But you’re brilliant!”

Shishi scurried off to find the part Suzuki had asked for. While he was gone, Suzuki went to work putting the together bits and pieces from the three lasers and the sonic cannon. The job had only taken a few minutes. Suzuki had just finished the thing off by wrapping it in duct tape, when Shishi came back with a satellite dish that was about the size of a dinner plate. Suzuki took the dish and popped the little red ball, which was the receiving antenna, off the dish and jammed it onto the end of the gun.

“There we go,” Suzuki grinned, obviously proud of his handiwork, “If that doesn’t do it nothing will.”

“Great,” Kuwabara snatched up the modified weapon, “We better hurry up and get this to Urameshi. Who knows what kind of trouble he’d in right now.”

Kuwabara was not too far from the mark. Yusuke had taken advantage of Toguro getting stuck in the metal fire door, by putting some distance and a few walls between him and the mechanized monster. Even with all the distance between them, Yusuke could still hear the twisting and rending sounds that the metal made as Toguro peeled his way out of it. When he was out of that predicament, Toguro went looking for Yusuke. He didn’t bother looking down halls and opening doors. He just punched his way through anything that got in his way. Yusuke almost thought he could the feel of the building shutter after every blow, or maybe it was just him. On the bright side, at least he knew exactly where Toguro was. It was when the crashes stopped that he really began to worry.

It’s quiet too quiet, Yusuke thought it was a cliché phase, but Yusuke could appreciate it at that moment. His ears were straining to detect any sound, any cue, but none came. Each silent moment rang in his ears like a scream that can not be voiced, fraying his nerves down to the bone. And then out of nowhere, the calm was broken by mellow and deep “Boo.”

“Ghawaha!” Yusuke almost jumped ten feet, he was so started. He spun to find a bemused Toguro in his presence.

“You really are an amusing person,” Toguro told him. “I don’t think I’ve ever had so much trouble with one person. I dare I’m even enjoying this.”

“Well, that’s what I’m here for; to bring joy and happiness to psychopaths everywhere.” Yusuke was using the only weapon left to him; sarcasm. “And damn it I am I going nuts are you getting bigger?!” It was true. Toguro looked as if he were twice the size he had been when they’d first met.”

The corner of the man‘s lip curled in a cruel grin, “Another advantage of my cybernetic implants. In addition to the main hydraulic systems supporting my muscles, there is also a system micro-hydraulics that amplifies my strength tenfold. As a result my muscles actually become bigger when I need them to be.”

“You make no sense, man,” said Yusuke.

“I suppose advanced bionics is a bit over your head,” Toguro replied.

“I’m not talking about your lingo,” Yusuke raked his hand through the air, “I’m talking about you, what you’ve done to yourself. I mean… Why?”

“Simple to be the stronger,” Toguro answered point blank.

“What for?” Yusuke spat.

Toguro didn’t have a response for that. Yusuke had been trying to buy more time by bating the man into doing the whole comic book villain monologue thing. But now seeing the fuming look on Toguro’s face, Yusuke thought he may have hit a nerve better left untouched. Without warning Toguro rushed at Yusuke. Hit fist flew at Yusuke’s core. Yusuke didn’t have enough time to dodge it, so he did the only thing he could. He blocked it. Force of the blow sent him flying back into the wall. The plaster cracked on impact.

“Interesting, I should have known you had martial arts in your background,” Toguro said calmly as if all his anger had been vented by that last punch. “I can tell from the way you handled that punch. You blocked it with both arms crossed to distribute the shock, as well as backing up as the blow connected. I’d say nearly eighty percent of the power I put into that punch was wasted.”

“If it’s any consolation it still hurt like hell,” Yusuke hissed. He was pretty sure he now had a fracture in his left arm.

“No matter,” Toguro stalked Yusuke, “I’ll make sure the next one connects properly. Farewell.” Toguro was ready to attack again, and for the final time because this time he would kill Yusuke.

Just then Kuwabara charged onto the scene, yelling, “Urameshi!”

Yusuke saw Kuwabara and the modified weapon he was bearing. He bolted to meet Kuwabara. Toguro also saw the gun. He rushed to intercept them with his superior speed. He swung his great clubbed fist catching Kuwabara square in chest. The blow sent him hurling backward-- but not before he tossed the modified laser-gun to Yusuke. Yusuke jumped through the air, grabbing it mid-tumble. He did a quick check; devise charged, safety off. He whistled. Toguro turned.

“So long!” Yusuke pulled the trigger. The bright blue light seemed to cling to the end of the muzzle as it swelled before discharging. Laser-guns typically don’t have a kick back, but this one did now. It was like he’d just fired an old fashioned sawed-off shotgun.
And the beam that came out of it was so massive; it nearly filled the entire hall. Yusuke wasn’t going to have to worry about his aim. The blue light caught Toguro. The reaction was markedly different from the last time. Last time only his limbs were out of control, now every fiber of his body seemed to be seizing. His muscles swelled up to ridiculous proportions and contorted to the point where he didn’t even look human anymore. He was huge, monstrous. The muscular cording in his neck was so engorged it almost swallowed his face. His skin started to tinge blue and grey-- were his muscles growing so big they were cutting off circulation? And then he cracked, literally, a fracture appeared on his skin across his face. The next second seemed to last forever as if time itself was holding it’s breath in anticipation of what was to come next. Then all at once Toguro’s graphite skin shattered like fragile crystal glass. It was over.

In the sudden calm after the battle, Yusuke sat propped against the wall, shaken to the core, but alive. He could not take his eyes off the creature that lay facedown before him. It was a machine. A broken machine, that should never have been, with its casing cracked and its wires hanging bare to the world. It was a man. A thin, fragile looking man who had been crushed by the world. He made a sound, a sigh or a grunt. It was a weak sound.

“My god he’s still alive,” Yusuke shuddered.

“Urameshi,” it called him.

Yusuke moved toward Toguro. Kuwabara called out to Yusuke, “Careful Urameshi, it could be a trick.”

Yusuke shook his head, “I don’t think he’s got much fight left in him.” He knelt over Toguro, gently turning him over. Toguro’s mechanical eyes stared up blindly at Yusuke. It was strange, for all the wires and bared mechanical parts; Toguro looked so human at that moment.

“You asked me…. why I did it,” Toguro spoke with effort, “It was… because…. because I wasn’t strong enough…”

“Yusuke!” Koenma suddenly appeared, running down the hall toward them, “I was watching on the monitor. I saw everything. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine babe,” Yusuke breathed.

“Yusuke, Yusuke,” a chorus of voices came down to him. It was Chu, Jin, Toya, Shishi, Suzuki, Hiei and Kurama, all come to see what had passed.

“You are… strong enough,” Toguro reclaim Yusuke’s attention.

“What?” Yusuke frowned, “I don’t understand.”

Toguro’s mechanical eyes seemed to scan over all those who had gathered around. He sighed, a content smile playing on his lips, “You are without a doubt, strong enough, Yusuke Urameshi.” With that Toguro closed his, never to open them again.

Nobody really spoke much after Toguro’s passing. They dutifully carried on with whatever must be done. Hiei took Suzuki and Jin out to retrieve the three henchmen, Inmaki, Miyuki, and Gokumonki, form the place were they had been glued to the wall. The sun was up, it was getting hot, and Koenma said that the company would frown upon it if they allowed the three die of exposure. Likewise, Chu had gone out to gather the elder Toguro from the drill site. But when he got out there he found the man floating facedown dead in the water. It appeared that he had drowned himself. It may have been a suicide, or perhaps he had gotten up after they had left, disorientated from a concussion and stumbled into the water by mistake. The truth may never be known. Chu dragged the body out so as not to foul the water. On his way back to the barracks he discovered Bui, who was surprisingly still alive, but badly burned. He took him back with him. He was treated by the doctor and then put away with the other would-be claim jumpers.

The crew had gathered back in the barracks building, the mess hall where they were given a check up and first aid by Dr. Shigure. After passing their exams, Shishi and Toya took the liberty of to heating up some rations and serving it to the crew. It was well past sunrise and they would all be starving, even if they didn’t feel like eating.

“So what now?” Jin was the one to break the gloom that had settled over the group.

“Now,” Koenma addressed the group, “We rest and recuperate the best we can. I’ve been in contact with home office and they know the situation. While you good men were taking back the base I was hacking into the phone lines. Everything that had happened, everything that had been said since those people had set foot in our complex had been recorded and sent to the SDF. I’m sure you’ll all be pleased to hear that they’ve already frozen their employer, Sakyo’s accounts and there is a warrant out for his arrest. Also as we speak the SDF is sending emergency evacuation team to take us home. They should be here in twelve to fourteen hours.”

“What? We’re leaving the base?” Chu blurted.

“We have to” Koenma told him. “This base is no longer fit for us to stay in, what with most of the buildings being in shambles and many of our systems down as a result. The damage is too much us to handle with our limited resources.”

“We were about done here anyway,” Yusuke toned in. It was the first time he’d spoken since thing had calmed down. “We came out here to dig a hole and find water-- well, we did that. Now we go home… back to our old lives.”

“Oh yeah,” Chu shrugged, “I guess I sort of imaged us going out of here with a bang. With things like as they is… it feels more like a whimper.”

“Non-sense,” Koenma put a hand on the man’s shoulder, “You’re just tired right now, that’s all. You’re heroes, all of you.” He paused and moved to the mopping Yusuke. He whispered, “Especially you, Yusuke. You’re MY hero. And I hate to break it to you, but you won’t be just going back to your old life. Because I don‘t plan on letting you go so easily.”

“Ko-Koenma,” Yusuke blushed.

“Kiss him!” Jin called to them.

Yusuke jumped and Koenma blushed.

“Go on Urameshi!” Chu goaded, “You saved the day, so give him a smooth!”

“Yeah, kiss, kiss, kiss,” Suzuki cheered. It was infectious and soon nearly everyone-- Hiei included was chanting for a, “kiss, kiss, kiss!”

Yusuke shrugged and put his arms around Koenma. Koenma allowed himself to be drawn down to Yusuke’s lips. The moment their lips touched a fevered cheer rolled through the crew, “Yeaahhh!” In all the excitement Toya jumped up into Suzuki’s arms and kissed him. With out missing a beat Shishi joined them. Hiei and Kurama looked from the three-way tongue roulette going on between Toya, Shishi, and Suzuki, to Yusuke and Koenma, who were now in a world of their one. They smiled in a to-hell-with-it fashion and embrace one another.

Kuwabara however could only stare aghast at the widespread display of boy-love. He turned to say something to his two fellow straight men, Chu and Jin-- only to find the two engaged in a their own spit swapping session. Kuwabara howled, “Ahhh! You guy’s too?”

“Not really, but everyone else was getting a snog, we was just feeling a bit left out, is all.” Jin gave him a wink, “You want one too Kuwabara?”

“Naah!” Kuwabara waved his hands in front him as if to ward them off, “Keep your weirdness away from me. I got a wife and stuff!”

Chu grinned, “Aw, I think he think’s we’ve got the cooties.”

Kuwabara sagged. Chu and Jin laughed. Doc Shigure rolled his eyes and decided to go guard the bad guys for awhile. In while Kuwabara said to the other two, “I was thinking about that stuff Toguro said before he died, about Urameshi being strong enough, I think I know what he meant by it. He had Urameshi out gunned all over the place, power, intelligence, experience. It was like that for all of us really, but we be we had what really counts.”

“Oh,” Jin tilted his head, “What would that be?”

Kuwabara looked out over his friends. The couples all cuddled up with one another, looking as if they could not be happier. Kuwabara smiled, “Something worth fighting for. Our friends, our loved ones, each other.”

“Ahh Kuwa, that‘s the sweetest thing I‘ve ever heard.” Jin chortled, “You sure you don’t wanna kiss?”

“Dang it, Jin, I was being serious!” Kuwabara yowled.

From across the room, Yusuke had heard their conversation-- or bickering, whatever. In any case, he too had been thinking about Toguro’s words. He had wondered if they had just been gibberish from a crashing system. But Kuwabara’s interpretation sounded a lot better. It rang true too. If not for his friends, Yusuke would have given up long ago. He would never have made it without them. And he wasn’t just thinking about that night, but his entire stay on Planet 364. When they were drilling he knew he could count on his men to the job. When he was mooning over Koenma, he had Kurama and Hiei to comfort him. And then he had Koenma…Something worth fighting for… He looked down at Koenma. He had fallen asleep curled up at his side, head resting on his shoulder. He had told Yusuke, “I don‘t plan on letting you go so easily.”

Something worth fighting for… Mentally Yusuke promised, I not going to let you go either.

TBC…
A/N: Yusuke has slain the monster and kissed his prince, but is it happily ever after? Come along on one last trip to Planet 364 and find out. Next time.