Mizuko's last four words brought a beaming smile to Rin's face as she replied excitedly, "Exactly! Full head-on combat--no holds-bar!! As for battles...hm..."

Pausing momentarily, Rin pondered and calculated, counting out numbers on her fingers silently. After trying this a few times, she frowned and dropped her hands to her sides.

"Aw, who cares about counting! I was never very good at math, anyway! You decide, Mizuko, but lets make it an even number. The odd ones bother me," she commented, shrugging her shoulders. "Depending on the number of matches, I'll choose how many I'll bring in. Sound like a plan?"

"Sure!" Mizuko said happily, watching as the stands magically filled with rows and rows of their original characters. "Hmm... six is a good number... but that might be too little. Eight's a nice even number too, but... it's kind of big. Six or eight, what do you think?

"And don't even try thinking of escaping," she added to her present creations, who were looking about for the closest exit. Mizuko tapped her forehead. "I'LL KNOW WHERE YOU AAAAARE!!!"

Mei Huo gulped and inched away. "All right... " she murmured, "The lady's lost it..."

"What makes you think she even had it in the first place? I know I never did," Rin grinned.

"Back to the matter at hand! Hm...let's see, let's see..."

Tilting her head in thought, Rin debated on which amount to choose. She held up her hands once more, counting to six and then to eight mentally. Furrowing her brow in concentration, she mumbled something under her breath and began to count on her fingers again.

"Screw it! I still can't count!! Eight it is!" she snapped, throwing her arms into the air. "Eight's the perfect number anyway. Everything requires eight; Eight musical notes, eight hours of sleep, and most of all--EIGHT MEALS A DAY!"

"But enough of that, this audience is a little one-sided. Let's even this up a bit," Rin grinned, watching as her original characters appeared in the stands as well.

They all exchanged worried glances and turned to stare at her with terrified eyes.

"Oh, God! It's her again!! I thought we were free!!" one of the characters cried out in horror.

"Free? Never! Mwahaha!!!" Rin laughed maniacally, terrifying the characters even more. "You'd have to kill me first!!"

"That could be arranged..." replied a young boy with black hair.

"Shut up, Xander, before I change your cause of death!!" Rin retorted, tossing a shoe into the stands. "Stupid Loony Toon!!"

"Eight it is!!" Mizuko cried gleefully. "A nice group we have here!! I haven't seen some of these OCs in ages..."

A girl with long silver hair looked around, as if surprised to see that, well, that she existed. "What am I doing here?" she wondered aloud, looking panicked. "I'm from the fifth grade! I shouldn't be here!!"

"I'm glad to be here!" a poorly drawn boy sitting next to her said. "Woo, Jason's making a come back!"

"Nah," Mizuko told him, pretending to brush an imaginary speck of dust from her sleeve, "We just needed a bigger audience. The fighters will be the newer, cooler OCs that Rin and I have created.

"So! Whom shall we send up next..." the blue-haired girl said, looking around at her collection of OCs. Her gaze slowly came to rest upon Mei Huo, who, upon noticing, promptly hid behind Inazuma.

"Uh... I think she's looking at you..." the girl said, peeking over his shoulder. Inazuma scowled and stepped away from her, making sure there was plenty of distance between them.

"Don't drag me into this. I am thoroughly against this idea," he said.

"I don't think we have much of a choice," Amane murmured, although she personally didn't believe that Mizuko would send her up to fight.

"I pick..." Mizuko spun around in circles, making sure that her finger pointed toward Mei despite the girl's attempts to escape it. "Mei Huo!"

Somehow Mei's pale face became a shade whiter. She slowly turned towards Rin, hoping that whomever she chose was weak... very, very weak...

Unfortunately, she had no such luck.

Spinning around to look at her creations, Rin inspected each individual carefully. As her eyes fell upon a certain familiar redhead, Rin's expression brightened.

"Ah! I know, I know!! You!" she exclaimed, pointing to a small, bored-looking girl. "Hi-Ko-Rin, you're up!! Get your butt down here!"

The demonic princess glowered at her creator, crossing her arms over her chest in defiance.

"Just who do you think you are--commanding me!! Show respect, Flesh-Monkey!" Hi-Ko-Rin sneered, earning an equally disgusted reaction from her creator.

"I think I'm the one who holds your fate in my hands, and unless you want to be stuck forever in fictional limbo--drinking milk by the gallon--I'd be a good girl and listen..." Rin hissed, pointing at the ground as she glared at the young demon.

Hi-Ko-Rin swore under her breath, standing from her seat. She cast a threatening look at her opponent, a fanged grin creeping onto her features as she asked, "Ever been up against a demon, little girl?"

Mei gulped before smiling in the way she did when she was nervous. "No," she replied, "but I've been up against a dragon!" Well, technically it was a man who was called Dragon, but the girl didn't need to know all the details.

"Awesome!" Mizuko said happily, looking from one girl to the other, wondering what the outcome would be for this interesting match. With a snap of her fingers, the two fighters were magically transported to the center of the dueling hall, standing several yards apart from one another. With another snap, Mizuko and Rin were transported to the commentator's stands that overlooked the hall.

"Welcome to the Super Epic Battle of Ultimate Epicness!!" the blue-haired girl said, her voice magnified so all could hear. "For our first battle, we have Hua Mei Huo, the Scarlet Salamander of the East, destroyer of Dragons, wielder of the legendary war fans of Shan Guo Shi!"

Mei Huo blinked, wondering how the commentator had come up with those ridiculous titles... Legendary war fans of Shan Guo Shi? She was sure they were just ordinary war fans...

Mizuko leaned over to whisper to Rin. "Um... maybe you should introduce Hi-Ko-Rin," she said.

Smiling, Rin nodded. "Sure, no problem," she whispered back.

Taking a deep breath, she announced in a booming voice, "She will be going up against The Child of Darkness herself, merciless slayer of human and demon alike--Hi-Ko-Rin!!!"

The demoness scoffed at her introduction and raised her head proudly, grinning dangerously at her prey.

"That is...if someone deems this situation appropriate enough to release her seal. If not, then she's just a boring little human girl with an superiority complex..." Rin announced as an afterthought, glancing at a teenage boy in the stands. "What do you say, Daisuke?"

Hi-Ko-Rin's eyes widened as she realized she was still in her human form and at the mercy of her contract partner. Cringing, she hoped that just this once he would be understanding enough to cooperate.

In the stands, Daisuke mused over his decision. With a satisfied grin, he leaned back and replied, "Nah, lets see how she does as a human first. Then give it more thought."

Suppressing an angry growl in her throat, Hi-Ko-Rin cursed her luck and began to prepare for the match, stretching this way and that. All she could think about was how she was going kill Daisuke in his sleep after all of this was over.

Turning to Mizuko, Rin grinned impishly and whispered, "We're planning to let her sweat a bit first. Don't worry, this match will be an interesting one. So, should we get started?"

Mizuko clapped her hands excitedly. "Yessss," she said, grinning.

"All right!" Her voice boomed over the dueling hall. "When I count to three, our duelists will begin their battle! One... Two... Three!"

Mei Huo looked up at the commentator's seats before her gaze settled upon her opponent. The girl was rather small... although she couldn't say much herself, being only 5'3" and quite thin. Still, she didn't look demonic. She seemed a bit rude although that was no reason to start a battle with someone. Mei was unsure if she could fight unprovoked.

Drawing her war fans, she faced the girl, settling down into a fighting stance and hoping this 'Hi-ko-Rin' would provoke her so they could get this fight over with.

Mizuko frowned and sank back into her seat. "Bleh... why did I have to make my characters so... non-aggressive?" She looked pointedly at Rin. "She's probably not going to fight unless someone gives her a reason to... maybe I should threaten her brother... yeah..."

Rin turned to Mizuko and smiled, replying, "You don't have to worry about that. I doubt it'll take long for my little demon to provoke her..."

Hi-Ko-Rin gulped, trepidation quickly flashing in her eyes and leaving just as rapidly.

The girl before her wasn't radiating any blood-lust like she was used to. In fact, the girl didn't seem to want to fight at all. She merely stood, about as tall as Rin, in her fighting stance and waited.

This might not be too hard at all, Hi-Ko-Rin thought, a smug grin pulling at her lips. I might be able to handle this as a human after all...

"What's wrong, little human? Scared? Are those your teeth I hear chattering, or is it your trembling knees?" the demoness taunted, leaning back in a lazy stance. She never was much for tense battle stances. "So are you going to fight or just stand there quivering?"

Mei Huo tilted her head at the girl, frowning. She straightened. "Afraid? Of what? You?" She laughed. "From what I've seen so far, you're not exactly terrifying, and believe me- I've seen terrifying."

Hi-Ko-Rin pouted, upset at her failed attempts to aggrivate her opponent. The pout was soon replaced with a coy smirk as she retorted, "Oh? You mean that thing you see every morning when you look in a mirror? I understand, that must be terrifying!"

A muscle in Mei's cheek twitched as she smiled, her ever present temper starting to get the better of her. "Huh. Did you think of that all on your own?" she asked, crossing her arms tighter.

Mizuko leaned forward in her seat, looking slightly impatient. "Aaaany moment now..." she muttered.

Yawning lackadaisically, Hi-Ko-Rin shrugged and replied dryly, "Nah, that one was so easy I didn't even have to think. I wouldn't have wasted my time thinking about someone as insignificant as you anyway, Flesh-Monkey. You, however, seem to have no better come-backs, apparently. Maybe I overestimated your intelligence?"

Raising an eyebrow, Hi-Ko-Rin watched her opponent patiently, smiling all the while.

Rin smacked her head into hand, grumbling, "C'mon! Fight already!!"

Mei swung her arms down to her side, gripping the fans so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. "Fine, little girl! You want to fight so much? I'll fight!" she said through clenched teeth.

In a blink of an eye she had started running toward the girl, clearing the distance between them with quick, even strides. When she was only a few feet away, she launched herself into the air with the grace of a well trained dancer, aiming a kick toward the little demon's chest.

Mizuko threw her hands into the air. "Woo! And so it begins!" she exclaimed happily.

Hi-Ko-Rin's eyes widened as her opponent surprised her with a sudden charged. All the color draining from her face, she watched as the human female leapt into the air with astounding speed and agility.

Before her opponent's attack could connect, the small demoness dropped to the ground backwards and rolled a few feet to her right in hopes of escaping the angered female's wrath.

The girl who now opposed her was nothing like the one standing there a few minutes ago. Hi-Ko-Rin could now feel the chilling thirst that she knew so well--the thirst for violence and blood--radiating from her opponents.

She was surprised. Hi-Ko-Rin didn't know humans could be so scary.

Whipping her head to scan the audience in the stands, the demon princess saught out her human partner.

Panicked, she stammered, "D-Damn it, Daisuke!! This isn't funny!! S-stop messing around!!"

Daisuke smirked and cupped his hand behind his ear, gesturing as if he couldn't hear her. Feigning a frown, he shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

Hi-Ko-Rin gaped at her contract partner, and then turned a worried gaze to her opponent. The only thing she could do was wait for the next move and just hope that she was quick enough to dodge.

Mei was surprised when the girl dodged her attack. Hmm... this Hi-ko-Rin was quicker than she'd expected. She whirled around, lashing out with one of her steel war fans. It was folded shut. Mei aimed for the soft spot under the ribs, using the fan as an extension of her own arm. She didn't want to hurt the girl... badly.

Up in the commentator's stands, Mizuko squealed with excitement. "Mei's doing pretty well!" she said happily. "I honestly didn't expect her to fight like this," she added seriously. "Then again... Rin's kinda helpless at the moment, isn't she?" The blue-haired girl wasn't sure if it was a good thing that her character could beat up a defenseless person...

Before she could react, Hi-Ko-Rin felt something against her side. Although she couldn't avoid the attack, she moved slightly to lessen the damage.

The demon princess winced as she was thrown back by the blow. After a few seconds, the pain finally made itself known.

Beside Mizuko, Rin sighed and shook her head disapprovingly as she complained, "Even for a human, this is sad. Rin should be able to do better than this...this isn't much fun to watch at all..."

She looked to find Daisuke had lost his smug smirk and now adorned a forlorn expression. Worry was written all over his face.

"D-damn...Damn you..." Hi-Ko-Rin groaned, holding her side. "Daisuke! C'mon, Daisuke! Release the seal already!!"

The young demoness looked to the stands with angry eyes, but Daisuke could tell that she was afraid of losing. She was very confident in her human strength.

Nodding in approval, he began to release the seal. Pressing his fingers to the mark on the back of his shoulder, he whispered something under his breath, and the mark began to glow.

Similar markings began to glow on Hi-Ko-Rin as well. They spread along her limbs and down her back as an unbearable heat enveloped the arena.

Torrents of hot air blew around both combatants. Most of her hair was blown into her face, obscuring her expression. All that could be seen was the dangerous fanged grin gleaming from beneath the crimson tresses.

Large obsidian horns emerged from just above her ears, and two black masses ripped from her shoulderblades, tearing the cloth from her back.

"I think things just got a little more interesting," Rin smiled, watching her creation intently.

Mizuko rubbed her hands together in anticipation. "C'mon..." she murmured, eyes glued to the fighters below.

Mei Huo stumbled back, raising her arms in front of her face to protect it from the upswell of hot air. She looked at the girl through narrowed eyes, pushing long strands of black hair away from her face. Confusion and fear gleamed in her eyes at the girl's sudden transformation- so this was what she had meant by 'demon'?

Mei lowered her arms to her side, a look of hard determination crossing her features. She knew of demons, had heard legends told of them in her home country. She knew that they had unbelievable and horrific powers. Whether the same was true for this being she did not know, but it wouldn't hurt to be cautious.

The woman tensed, falling into a loose defensive stance as she watched the girl warily.

The now-transformed demoness stood motionless as the stifeling air swirled around her. Her stance was slouched, limp, as if she had fallen asleep.

Slowly, she tilted her head to the side and looked at her opponent with one searing red eye. The once large human eye had been replaced with a smaller, slitted one like that of a cat.

Raising one clawed hand, Hi-Ko-Rin beckoned her opponent forth. The small claws on her beckoning hand then shot upwards, becoming large blade-like talons.

Hi-Ko-Rin smiled, admiring her released powers. Turning her attention back to the one called Mei Huo, she grinned and inquired, "So...are you ready to fight a real demon, now?"

"..."

Mei didn't like the look of those talons. Surprisingly, anger boiled up within her, along with something that seemed a lot like pride... She hadn't needed special gifts to defeat the girl. The woman shook her head slightly as if the physical motion would clear her thoughts. She didn't need to think that way. This... demon was a real threat now.

Still, she didn't know how to act. If she attacked first, it would be easier for the girl... demon... to surprise her. There was no guarantee, however, that going on the defense would help her either. Calm down, Mei told herself, She hasn't done anything yet... except for the claws, but those are just like swords... swords that happen to come out of her fingers...

"Are you going to fight back now?" the Inukan woman said, tilting her head slightly. "I'm waiting." Her heart pounded faster within her chest as she waited for the demon's response.

Hi-Ko-Rin released an exasperated sigh as she replied, "Fine. If you're too scared to come to me, I guess I'll come to you..."

Within an instant, the demoness disappeared from view. The torrent of humid air mellowed, dying out with her absence, only to return with vigor as she appeared mere inches from her opponent's back, talons pressed gently to her shoulder.

"Tag, you're it," she said with a false smile, a dangerous gleam in her eye.

A cold chill seemed to wash over Mei as she felt the sharp points of the girl's talons on her shoulder. If it wasn't bad enough to have her enemy at her back, this particular one could disappear and reappear wherever, whenever she wished. The demon could have easily killed her in a second flat, of that Mei had no doubts.

She acted on pure instinct, whirling around to knock the girl's arm away with her closed fan, holding the other one, opened, in front of herself. Her hazel eyes were wide; her heart pounded quickly within her chest as she tried to think of how to act next. Mei did not fight offensively very often- she was a 'defend yourself and flee' type of person.

Hi-Ko-Rin was not shocked that her opponent had been able to push her away and guard. After all, she had purposely given her enough time to. At the moment, she was just toying with her prey, seeing what the girl was capable of.

Smiling, the young demoness closed her eyes and allowed herself to fall backwards. Surprisingly, she did not hit the ground like the laws of gravity predicted. The ground below her, cast black with her shadow, enveloped her in a shroud of darkness.

As the last glimpse of her form entered the black void, both Hi-Ko-Rin and her shadow disappeared from sight.

The only remaining sign of her presence was the low chuckle that echoed throughout the arena.

Mei turned, her eyes flashing as she looked around frantically, trying to see where the demoness had disappeared to. She clenched her fans tightly, her breathing quickening as fear clawed its way up through her.

Stop panicking, she told herself. Stop... She quit turning and took a deep breath through her mouth before exhaling through her nose. She did this several times until her heart had stopped beating so hard, and she could actually think.

What would be the smartest thing to do right now? Mei had an idea of what that would be...

While in the shadowy void within the confines of the arena, Hi-Ko-Rin watched her opponent with intense red eyes. If anyone from above could have seen her, she would have looked like she were walking upside down--the arena scene appearing as a reflection under her feet.

She chuckled, watching her opponent think of a battle strategy. She always liked this part best--like a cat with a mouse--but it would have to end sometime. To her chagrin, that would most likely have to be sooner rather than later due to the short span of her released state.

Sighing, she walked over to stand below (or would it be above, she wondered) her opponent's feet. She kneeled and pressed her fingers to the water-like surface of the shadow void.

Stopping just before her fingers penetrated the surface, Hi-Ko-Rin remained still and waited for her opponent to make her next move before attacking.