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Chapter Text

2000
"Yes, this is it... this is what I've been looking for..." A grating voice hissed out from under its darkened cloak as a gray, leathery hand reached out to gently caress a pulsing red orb just slightly with gnarled fingertips.

A pair of sinister eyes glowed to life under the hood, as a pair of Spirit World guards ran into the room behind the figure.

"Stop right there! Back away from the Orb and surrender!" One of the guards shouted, as he raised a baton in an attempted threat.

"Hehehe..." The cloaked figure chuckled in a high pitched voice; almost a squeal of delight.

The figure quickly moved his hand away from the orb and turned half way to facing the pair of guards.

"Not so fast! Raise your hands! No sudden movements!" The other guard demanded.

"Oh? Raise my hands? Like... this?!" The voice said.

In a flash that neither guard could follow, projectiles launched from under the cloak and pierced their bodies. With sprays of blood, the two guards collapsed to the ground, dead. The cloaked figure turned back to face the orb and, reaching out his hand, removed it from its pedestal.

"I've finally found you... the Tempis Orb. The third and final piece of the puzzle. This will do nicely..."

***
August, 1993
On Hanging Neck Island, the site of the infamous Dark Tournament, crimson lightning began to arc through the air and surge forth amidst the dense foliage. From the blood-red lightning ripped a hole, a portal, to another place. And, from that portal, stepped the cloaked figure. With a wicked smile, barely cloaked by shadows, the figure began walking toward the arena that hosted the tournament's final round.

He stepped through the walkway of the arena, until he found himself ringside. Fishing into his cloak, he withdrew another orb, this one black and pulsating, its rhythmic undulations almost mimicking those of a human heart. He watched with wide eyes as Yusuke Urameshi, the fifteen year old psychic prodigy, charged up an enormous sphere of energy, his ultimate Spirit Gun.

"Wait, who's that?" Kurama asked in shock.

"Haaaa!!!" The cloaked figure tossed the pulsing black orb past Yusuke and toward Yusuke's opponent, Younger Toguro.

Toguro, now a hulking, gray-skinned demon with massive protrusions growing from his shoulders, looked on in shock as the item struck him in the chest. But, rather than injure him, the item sank into Toguro's flesh, until only part of its surface remained visible at the center of his chest. Suddenly, Toguro's body pulsed anew with demonic energy and his muscles violently expanded. Unable to hold back any longer, Yusuke fired his large Spirit Gun at Toguro. Toguro ran directly toward the spirit gun and pulled back, throwing a powerful punch directly at the orb of energy.

In a flash, Toguro disappeared into the sphere of spirit energy, as the ground beneath them quaked. The Spirit Gun erupted in a violent explosion, sending dust and debris into the air. From the dust and smoke emerged a large fist, which connected with Yusuke's face. With a sickening crunch of bones, his neck snapped and his head spun clean around, before separating from his body. A spray of blood accompanied the display, before both halves of his body fell to the floor.

Suddenly, the orb in Toguro's chest shattered from the strain of the battle and the excess energy vanished along with it. Toguro looked shocked at his blood covered fist, before turning to look at the cloaked man.

"Yusuke!!!" A voice called out and Keiko, Yusuke's love, collapsed beside his body, weeping in anguish; but Toguro only looked furious.

"You'd better have a good reason for robbing me of my prize." Toguro uttered coldly.

"But I helped you win, brother. Despite how you treated me." The voice said and pulled back the hood, revealing the face of Elder Toguro.

"You..." Kurama uttered in shock.

"How?" Hiei chimed in, as he took a fighting pose.

"No... Urameshi... you can't be... I'm going to finish what I started!" Kuwabara suddenly declared, standing to his feet and igniting his Spirit Sword with an influx of new spirit energy.

"I doubt we could take either of them alone, even with our combined efforts." Kurama pointed out.

"It's better than standing here and waiting to die." Hiei said sharply.

"I've no intention of fighting alongside my brother. I had one chance to test myself." Younger Toguro said, taking a step toward his elder brother.

"Sorry, but I can't scrap with you today, dear brother, I have much bigger plans in the works. I'll see you later!" Elder Toguro said and withdrew the red orb.

"That can't be..." Kurama uttered in shock, as the red lightning once again suffused the entire area.

Behind Elder Toguro, a rift once again appeared.

"Not so fast, Toguro!" Kuwabara shouted and ran toward the elder brother.

"Sorry, but you're not a part of this story." Elder Toguro said as he began stepping backwards into the rift.

"We're done when I say we're done, you bastard!!!" Kuwabara shouted in pure anger and thrust his sword into the ground.

With an influx of energy, he elongated his sword and used it to propel himself through the air. Once he was airborne, he turned the sword back toward Elder Toguro.

"What?! Agh!" Elder Toguro hissed as the sword struck out, cutting the red orb in two.

At once, the pair plummeted into the rift, before it collapsed behind them.

***
Kuwabara pushed himself up off the ground, off of his stomach, before turning over to lay on his back. His vision began to blur as a figure moved to loom over his head. Before he could make out who it was, his vision went to black and he lost consciousness.

Chapter Text

Kuwabara shot up from his bed, and immediately gripped his side in pain. He turned his head up and looked across the room as a figure approached. Kuwabara was immediately put at ease when he recognized a familiar face.

"Hey, Kurama, am I glad to see you!" He said with a smile, before wincing as another wave of pain racked his body.

"Easy there, you're still unwell. It's good to see you as well, Kuwabara. It's been some time." Kurama told him, returning the smile with one of his own.

"What do you mean 'some time'? It's been like thirty minutes! Wait... how long was I out?!" Kuwabara asked.

"Since we found you, about three days. But that isn't what I meant." Kurama continued.

"What do you mean?! And... what's with the hair? Didn't like being a redhead?" Kuwabara's sight was drawn to Kurama's hair, which was now jet black in color.

"That's a long story, I'm afraid. Your first question is far more simple. You've been missing since the Dark Tournament. We thought you had died. From our frame of reference, that fight took place nearly seven years ago now." Kurama told him, a pensive look coming across his face.

"What?! No, that's not possible! Well, you do look... older." Kuwabara said as his reality sank in.

"And you do not. You look the exact same as the last time we had spoken. Which has helped me to formulate a theory as to what happened to you. Can you walk?" Kurama asked.

"Yeah, no problem!" Kuwabara leapt from the bed and nearly keeled over, before catching himself.

Kurama held out a hand, offering to help him move; but Kuwabara brushed away his efforts to assist. "I got it! I'm not some invalid!"

"Very well. Follow me." Kurama said with a soft smile.

He led Kuwabara out of the room and down a long corridor, before the pair found themselves in a much larger room. This room was filled with people, all milling about. In addition to an abundance of people, there were also a number of crates filled to the brim with weaponry. The weapons looked to be anywhere from ordinary human weaponry, to ancient relics, to even more advanced and technological armaments. Kurama led Kurabara to a simple cork board that had been placed in the middle of the room, on which a number of images were placed.

"Whoa... what is this place?" Kuwabara asked.

"A last bastion of hope for the human world. THIS is what I wanted you to see. Have you ever heard Yusuke tell the story of how he met Hiei and myself? And the ancient relics he recovered in doing so?" Kurama asked.

"Uh, yeah, once. Like a mirror, a weird sword and some orb thingy." Kuwabara responded.

"Very good. The Spirit World dubbed them the 'Artifacts of Darkness' due to their destructive potential. There was also a running theory that the same now long dead demon blacksmith forged all of the items. But recent evidence of his works we've uncovered have led us to realize that the three items were never meant to be part of the same set. And two more artifacts have since resurfaced."

Kurama explained, before pointing to a photograph of an ancient-looking etching on a tablet. The image showed three spherical objects of varying design and coloration.

"What are those?" Kuwabara asked.

"The green orb is the orb Yusuke recovered from our brief ally Gokumonki. He was a Kyukonki, a fiendish demon that fed on souls. The orb he stole was the 'Orb of Baast'. It allowed for the manipulation of weaker souls, which he used to facilitate easier extraction and feeding." Kurama informed him.

"But the 'Orb of Baast' was only one of three in the writings we recovered. The others were referred to as the 'Tempis Orb' and the 'Nituki Orb'. I believe the orb that amplified Toguro's power level seven years ago was the Nituki Orb, which can augment the flesh. And the item that brought you here, seven years into your future, was the 'Tempis Orb', which can manipulate the flow of time." Kurama said, before finally turning to look at Kuwabara.

"Holy shit! So I'm really... in the future?" Kuwabara uttered.

"Yes, you are. Well, OUR present. But YOUR future. Without you in the normal flow of time, you were absent from history until you reappeared at this point in time." Kurama explained.

"But that flesh orb thingy shattered and I cut the time orb in two! So we only have one left to find!" Kuwabara said confidently.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple. The elder of the Toguro brothers was not from the time in which he arrived. He brought the orbs with him. And after the two of you traveled to this alternate future, he must have relocated this timeline's orbs. We tried to stop him in our time, but he used the Tempis Orb to return to the past and merge with his younger self. With his foreknowledge of the future and new abilities he's learned, we were no match for him. And he plunged the human world into chaos." Kurama told Kuwabara.

Kurama placed a video tape into a VCR directly below a television and turned the TV on. In an instant, footage of massive demons attacking various military forces around the globe flickered to life before his very eyes.

"It's the same everywhere. Wanton death and destruction. At least in demon world, the threat of retaliation kept most apparitions in check. But, here, the power imbalance has caused a vacuum, which has caused the deaths of untold millions." Kurama said glumly.

"H-how did this happen?" Kuwabara asked in shock.

"Toguro stole an artifact from Koenma before murdering him. With the item, he destroyed the Kakai barrier that divided the human and demon worlds. Without that barrier, the most terrible of beasts attacked without mercy. My mother... she was among the lost." Tears poured down Kurama's cheek and he covered his face to try and hide his shattered spirit.

"Hey... we're gonna fix this." Kuwabara said, placing a hand reassuringly on Kurama's shoulder.

"People underestimate you Kazuma. And not just your strength or fighting spirit. They underestimate your heart." Kurama said, smiling through his waning tears.

Chapter Text

"So there's one thing I don't get. I mean, there's a lot I don't get. But, well... I don't like the idea, but why doesn't Toguro just keep going back in time until there's like a hundred of him or somethin'?" Kuwabara asked.

"You sell yourself too short, Kuwabara. It's a good question. And the answer for it is simple. According to notes from the artifact's creator, he experimented with that himself. The orb has a way of correcting for some of the potential paradoxes. After a short time, the person will merge with their past self regardless of their desire. They will then share their memories as one and be free to change events without the ramifications of a second version of yourself complicating the timeline. The more instances of one person in the same time period hastens this effect. In short, Toguro can't duplicate himself in that way. Thankfully." Kurama told him.

"Well, that's something at least. One more question. Why IS your hair black anyway?"Kuwabara asked, pointing confusedly at Kurama, who only smiled at him.

"I suppose you deserve to know. As you may remember, I am reincarnated from my early days as the bandit thief Yoko Kurama. Unfortunately, the Nikutai Orb, the orb that can manipulate the body, is quite potent on demons. Don't get me wrong, it can control and influence anyone. And even the space around the user. But on human psychics, they tend to resist and, if forced, create rebellious servants. On normal humans, it creates mindless zombies, not unlike the cultivated humans we once faced during our fight with the 'Saint Beasts' or those controlled by the Makai insects. But on demons, they are able to control them fully. Something about our- their- demon energy. When it came time, I chose to relinquish my demon side fully." Kurama told him.

"Whoa, so you became fully human? That must've been a lot ta give up..." Kuwabara said, admiration in his voice.

"I appreciate your concern. But I was raised human. The hardest part was acclimating my body to the lack of energy. I may have a trace of spirit awareness, but it's nowhere near that of yours or even Genkai's." Kurama added.

"Genkai..." Kuwabara said, mournfully.

"I know how you feel. And you won't like this much either. But you deserve to know." Kurama said, before walking again, prompting Kuwabara to follow him.

Soon, the pair arrived at a door and Kurama slowly opened it, allowing Kuwabara to peer inside. When Kuwabara's eyes focused on the contents of the room, his eyes widened in shock and horror.

"T-Toguro!!!" Kuwabara shouted with anger in his eyes.

It was true. In the room, sitting on a cot, was Toguro. But not the elder of the brothers. No, this was the Younger Toguro brother.

"Hello, Kuwabara." Toguro said calmly, eyeing Kuwabara from behind his black shades.

"Why the hell's he here?!" Kuwabara asked Kurama.

"I don't like it either. But I feel it's best if he explains." Kurama told him.

"Fine, talk. But if I don't like it, I'm slicin' ya up for what you did to Yusuke!" Kuwabara threatened.

"Fair enough. I never intended on killing Urameshi the way I did. Not with the help of another. Ours was a fight between titans. And I had my ending stripped from me. If I had won, my goal was to use the portal my victory would have brought to travel to demon world. To find stronger opponents, to hone myself, and maybe even to die for my sins. I never cared for this world once I became a demon. But leaving has become a useless venture now that my brother has enacted his plan of conquest. And I hope that, in defeating him, I'll at least be able to make up for his interference in mine and Yusuke's fight." Younger Toguro explained.

"So why ain't ya under your brother's power right now?" Kuwabara demanded.

"I have a feeling he wants me to witness his conquest. To stand in observance of his glory. He always was a narcissist." Younger Toguro answered honestly.

"Ugh... fine... but if you cross a line, I'm still dicin' ya!" Kuwabara said.

"I'd expect nothing less." Younger Toguro said with a smile.

Kuwabara stormed out of the room and down the hall, followed by Kurama.

"Look, I know you must be upset..." Kurama began.

"Nah, I get it. Desperate times and all that. But it doesn't mean I like it." Kuwabara answered, more calmly.

The pair was distracted by another two figures walking into the room.

"So it is true." A familiar voice called out.

Kuwabara immediately recognized both the sound and sight of his older sister, Shizuru. And standing beside her was Keiko. Keiko now looked to be in her early twenties, while Shizuru appeared to be closer to her thirties. Much like Kurama, everyone around him had aged, while he remained just the same. But, despite this, he was happy to see more familiar faces.

"Shizuru! You're so old now!" Kuwabara teased, prompting his sister to punch him across the face; Kuwabara just rubbed his cheek and smiled.

"And you haven't changed one bit." Shizuru said with a smile of her own.

"Oh, hey Keiko." Kuwabara greeted Keiko with a wave.

"Hi Kazuma. It's good to see you. We thought you were..." Keiko began.

"I know. But we'll make it alright. We'll use the orbs to bring Yusuke back and fix this whole demon mess. Or I'll die trying." Kuwabara said.

"Really?" Keiko said, hope creeping into her voice and tears into her eyes.

"Really. On my honor as a man. And I never break my promises." Kuwabara declared.

"Problem is: the other option is your death." Shizuru pointed out.

"Yeah... there's that..." Kurama admitted.

***
"He's here. I can sense it. It's time to drag Kuwabara kicking and screaming into my new world. Are you ready? I want you to take a band of low-class demons and do what you do best. Lay waste to the humans." Elder Toguro said maniacally, the red pulsing of the Nikutai Orb emanating from his gnarled fingers.

Kneeling before him were two robed figures. The taller of the two looked up at Toguro, eyes glowing red as he smiled.

"Your will be done, my master." He said in a low voice, its apparent calm betrayed by a sadistic edge.

"Hahahahahahahaha...!!!" Elder Toguro's maniacal laugh echoed through the walls of his darkened lair; through the corridors and into the dungeons below his feet.

Would any escape Elder Toguro's sinister grasp?