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By Rose Thorne
A Rainbow Brite/YYH crossover
~~STANDARD DISCLAIMERS APPLY!!~~
Chapter Three
Kurama frowned as he felt the warp in the plane. He carefully probed the warp with his ki, then quickly jumped back as the warp changed into a portal. Yuusuke frowned at the redhead. "What'd you do?"
The fox was silent for a moment. "That gate was already here. I just found it." He paused. "That's where we're going next."
Yuusuke stared at him. "What?! We don't have the time to make side trips!"
Kurama glared vemonously, then sighed. He pointed toward a distant range of mountains. "What do you see?"
Yuusuke shrugged. "Mountains."
Yukina interrupted. "They're not crystallized. If we needed to go farther, they'd be like big prisms."
Kurama smiled grimly, nodding. "Exactly. Let's go."
Yuusuke still frowned. "But what if you're wrong?"
The fox's lips thinned and he uncovered Hiei enough to reveal that, below the waist, the Jaganshi was entirely crystallized. Kurama shot Yuusuke a meaningful look. "If I'm wrong, he'll die. If you're wrong, he'll die. If we continue to stand here and debate this, he'll die. You choose."
Yuusuke bit his lip, glancing at Hiei, then at the mountains, brown topped with white against the clear sky. Then he decided.
Lurky covered his ears as Murky cackled insanely. The portal had brought them to Earth, where Murky had proceeded to crystallize everyone and everything in sight. Even human children and helpless animals. The humans had resisted at first, sending out uniformed people with weapons. Now they were running away, screaming in terror. Lurky was well aware that his former friend had totally lost control and was now totally insane.
"Lurky! Get over here, Banana Brain!"
Lurky cringed, but scuttled over. He knew that Murky was so far gone that he wouldn't hesitate to crystallize him. "Yes, Murky?"
Murky scowled at the furry brown creature. "Do you think you can drive a human car?" Lurky swallowed hard and nodded. Murky smirked. "Good." He activated the crystallizer and crystallized Starlite. Lurky stared at the green-skinned man, feeling totally betrayed. "Taking him with us would have slowed us down." Murky spoke as if Lurky was a small child. "And he'd have starved to death if we hadn't crystallized him. We'll uncrystallize him later. Get in the car."
Lurky knew that Murky had no intention of uncrystallizing Starlite. If he were brave, Lurky knew he would have refused to obey. But he was a coward, so he got into the car and figured out how to start it. "I got it, Murky." A tear slid down Lurky's cheek as he drove away.
Kurama smiled triumphantly as he saw what lay beyond the portal. He had been right; the land was made entirely of diamond.
The feeling of triumph disappeared as Hiei woke suddenly and coughed up the meager contents of his stomach. Kurama quickly turned the fire youkai over so he wouldn't choke, holding Hiei's face off the ground as he vomitted blood. A blue glow surrounded Yukina's hand as she healed him. Hiei finally collapsed, trembling in agony. Kurama didn't even have to look to know that Hiei was more than halfway crystalized.
"Hiei, go back to sleep," Boton whispered, tears in her eyes.
The Jaganshi coughed weakly. "Won't wake up..."
Boton flinched. Yukina sobbed softly. Kuwabara looked away. Yuusuke looked helplessly at Kurama. "What now?"
Kurama sighed, his heart sinking. The fox scanned their surroundings briefly before pointing. "That castle. Right now, it's our best bet."
Brian groaned as he regained consciousness. The boy remembered where he was and sat up. The move proved to be a mistake as he became very dizzy. He vaguely heard voices through his nausea. Somebody touched him and the pain in his head disappeared. He sat still for a few moments before opening his eyes.
Kurama smiled at the ningen boy. "Ohayo. Kurama desu yo." He frowned as the boy stared at him uncomprehendingly.
Brian wanted to cry. These people didn't speak English. "My name's Brian," he whispered pointlessly.
The taller girl smiled. "Hello, Brian. I'm Boton." As Brian grinned in relief, she turned to the others. "He's American," she informed them.
Kurama nodded and smiled at Brian. "I am Kurama. Do you know what happened here?"
Brian frowned. "I think it was Murky..." He trailed off.
Yuusuke spoke up. "Who or what is Murky?" The others stared in surprise at his flawless English and he grinned. "I like foreign languages. So what?"
Brian ignored their banter. "Murky is kinda like...the local bad guy. You know, like in comic books. He invents things and tries to beat Rainbow Brite." Brian sighed. "I guess he finally did."
"Great. An evil genius," Hiei muttered weakly. They looked at him strangely and he sighed. "What the hell was I supposed to do in the Ningenkai for all those years?! Twiddle my thumbs?!"
Kurama sighed as he saw that both Yukina and Kuwabara were looking very confused. "You mentioned somebody named Rainbow Brite. Who is that?"
Rainbow Brite fills the universe with color," Brian explained. Yuusuke smirked slightly as Hiei growled in annoyance. "It's her job. Murky hates color, so he hates her." The boy frowned. "Or it used to be that way..."
Boton winced. "She was crystallized?"
She winced again as Brian nodded. "The whole universe will die without her and the Color Kids!"
Starting with Hiei. Yuusuke swallowed hard at the thought of losing a friend and teammate. "Could we see her?"
Brian nodded and pointed at the doorway. "She's throught there."
Kurama glanced at Yuusuke and spoke in Japanese. "Why don't you check it out with Kuwabara and Boton. Maybe you can figure something out." Kurama knew that nothing would come of it; he was just getting rid of them so Hiei could die in peace. But, deep down, he hoped beyond hope that something would happen.
Yuusuke looked at Hiei for a moment, catching the youkai's gaze and holding it. Then he nodded."Come on, you two. Maybe we can find something useful." He looked at Brian. "You too. Maybe you can help us." Yuusuke left the room with the American boy in tow. Boton's eyes filled with tears as she looked at Hiei, and she ran from the room, sobbing.
Kuwabara frowned, looking at his rival. "Goodbye, Hiei." He turned to leave.
"Take care of my sister, Fool."
Kuwabara smiled sadly. "Sure." He left the room.
The room was very silent for a moment. Kurama cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, Hiei."
Hiei shrugged. "I've been expecting to die for years. I just thought it would be in battle. Not like this..."
Yukina sobbed. "Oh, 'Niisan..." She trailed off.
Kurama sighed. "No one wants to die this way, Hiei." The fox swallowed hard, his nose burning as he fought back tears. "You're my best friend, Hiei...What will I do without you?"
"Live out your ningen life. You have plenty of friends. You'll eventually forget me..." It doesn't matter. It's not like my life means anything. I've accomplished nothing. My presence has only hurt people...The bringer of death...
"Don't talk like that!" Kurama whispered, cursing the tears that flowed against his will. The last time he'd cried was when Kuronue had been killed. "You're like a brother to me! Like Kuronue! Have I ever forgotten him?!" The redhead wiped tears from his face. Pointless because his cheeks were rewet by fresh ones. "I could never forget you..."
"Kurama..." The fire demon winced as fire filled his chest, coughing weakly.
Kurama turned the Jaganshi over as he coughed up blood. Yukina healed the youkai's wounded lungs, only to have them tear open again the next time Hiei took a breath. Frustrated tears slid down her cheeks. "I can't heal him!" She tried again.
Hiei grabbed her hand. "Don't waste your energy, Yukina...It's too late..." He coughed again and agony filled his chest.
Tears slid down Kurama's cheeks as Hiei passed out, knowing that his friend would never open his eyes again. He hugged Yukina and they held each other as they cried together, listening as Hiei's breathing became shallower and shallower. Neither noticed the shouting coming from the other room until the door burst open.
A strange blonde girl in a blue dress ran past them and touched the star on her red belt. A rainbow shot from it, enveloping Hiei. After a few seconds it disappeared, taking the diamond from Hiei's body with it.
Yukina hurried to her brother's side, scanning him for injuries. "He's been healed!"
Kurama stared at the girl, numb with confusion. "Who are you?!"
The girl smiled, augmenting the gold star on her cheek that stood out like a dimple. "I'm Rainbow Brite."
Ahem...Third chapter completed. It took me this long to bring Rainbow Brite into it. And she was in it for about five seconds. Unfortunately, this is the last thing I have totally written out.
Chapter Four does not yet exist...
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