Team Urameshi Vs. Team Mashou IV

Human World, Hanging Neck Island.

Just outside a forest near the stadium, Erza stood in front of the tree line with a longsword drawn and stabbed into the ground in front of her while her hands rested on the sword's pommel. As she stood there, she glared at any demon thinking that she would be an easy target with enough intensity to scare them out of any of those thoughts before they ran away in fear.

"Why did we come out here to do this?" A female voice asked from behind Erza.

"Well, would you want to use a toilet that demons use?" Another, nonchalant, female voice asked in response.

"I... see your point." The first voice replied.

Accompanying the two voices were the sound of footsteps. A moment later, Shizuru and Keiko appeared from the forest. While Shizuru was casually smoking a cigarette, Keiko was looking around nervously, a hint of embarrassment marring her face.

At the sound of her companions' footsteps, Erza looked back over her shoulder. Verifying that they were indeed Shizuru and Keiko's footsteps, she put away her sword using her [Requip Magic].

"Thank you for keeping watch for us, Erza-San." Keiko said with a slight bow of her head.

"Don't mention it." Erza replied in her usual tone. "I will never hesitate to do anything to help my comrades."

Not knowing how to respond to such an earnest response, Keiko smiled awkwardly while Shizuru simply nodded her head in acknowledgement. Then, after a few more steps, Erza joined the other two on their way back to the stadium.

Less than a minute later, the three returned to the stadium's entrance. As they arrived, however, Shizuru stopped in her tracks and looked to the side.

"Is something wrong?" Erza asked curiously, looking in the same direction as Shizuru.

"No, nothing is wrong." Shizuru replied but her eyes stayed glued on someone she had seen. A moment later, she continued. "Hey, Keiko, go inside and tell Botan to come out here."

"Huh? But why?" Keiko asked curiously.

"Just hurry." Shizuru replied without answering the question. "Tell her that I need her for something."

Though she had no idea what Shizuru wanted, Keiko ran into the stadium promptly. Meanwhile, Shizuru, with Erza following behind her, walked in the direction she had been looking.

At the end of Shizuru's gaze, a beautiful, short, petite, mint-green-haired female demon with red eyes wearing a light blue, long-sleeved kimono with a darker blue obi tied behind her was talking to a tall, fat, dark brown skinned, male demon with buck teeth and a shifty smile.

"Are there really no more tickets to the tournament?" The female demon asked in disappointment.

"Yeah right, lady." the male demon replied. "The tickets have been sold out for weeks. And you think you can just come up on the third day expecting to get a ticket?"

"What should I do?" I need to go in and see the tournament." The female demon said in a tone filled with desperation as she lowered her head sadly.

"Well... If you really need to go inside..." The male demon said with a lust filled gaze. "I might be able to---."

"Yukina!" A second female voice shouted from behind the male demon.

Both demons reacted when hearing that voice. While the male showed a look of annoyance at being interrupted, the female, Yukina, looked up to see who had called her name. Either way, both demons looked to see who it was that interrupted their conversation.

"Hey, can't you see we were in the middle of a conversation?" The male demon asked in annoyance. "If you can, then fuck off."

Before he could make a shooing gesture, however, the demon froze when a sword was lodged into his mouth, its sharp tip resting on his tongue. When he looked into the utterly unimpressed brown eyes and saw the flowing red scarlet hair of his attacker, the demon lost all will to fight back.

"I would suggest being more prudent with your words when talking to a lady." Erza, the one holding the sword, said in a chivalrous tone.

Doing his best to nod in understanding, without getting his tongue skewered, the crotch of the male demon's pants darkened. He had lost control of his bladder due to the fear he was feeling. Meanwhile, Shizuru walked past the male demon as if she had not even noticed him. Then, she stopped in front of the petite female demon. At the same time, Erza pulled her sword out of the male demon's mouth.

As soon as he could no longer feel the cold metal in his mouth, the male demon ran away from the three women as quickly as his legs would carry him.

"Umm... I'm sorry." Yukina said after the male demon ran away. "But have we met before?"

"No, we haven't." Shizuru replied with a rare smile. "But I have a younger brother who won't shut up about you."

Yukina had met Kuwabara a little over three months ago. She had been kidnapped by a human crime boss after it was found out that her tears turned into highly valuable gemstones. Though she was more than strong enough to kill her captors and escape, her gentle nature stopped her from doing so.

After Spirit World found out about her kidnapping, they gave Yusuke the mission to rescue her. And Kuwabara was present when Yusuke received the mission. When Kuwabara saw the mission target, he fell in love at first sight, rushing off to save her without caring if Yusuke was following him, or waiting to see the rest of the missions details.

Although it was true Spirit World wanted to get her out of the clutches of the crime boss, the more important reason was that they wanted to avoid another outcome. And that outcome was Hiei killing all the humans involved, as it is absolutely forbidden for demons in the Human world to take human life under any circumstances.

One would wonder why Hiei would go on a killing spree. Well, the answer is quite simple. Yukina is Hiei's younger twin sister, though she did not know that.

Meanwhile, in the stadium, James was standing in the ring looking at the last remaining member of Team Mashou with a smile on his face. However, his gaze shifted to the stands when he heard Keiko's voice.

"Hey, Botan, come with me to the entrance of the stadium." Keiko shouted from the wall separating the stands from the ring area. "Shizuru said she needs you for something."

Though she was confused, Botan rushed into the tunnel. She was worried that something was wrong after hearing Keiko's message.

'Yukina must be here.' James thought to himself. 'Now I kinda feel bad for stealing Kuwabara's thunder. But it is what it is.'

While James was having those thoughts, A portly older gentleman wearing an expensive looking blue suit, white shirt, red tie, and white leather shoes ran out of Team Mashou's tunnel. Then, when he arrived near the last member of Team Mashou, he took a few deep breaths before speaking.

"Risho, you better have a way to win this round." The portly man, Butajiri, said in a huff. "I bet a fortune on you this time."

Chuckling softly, the hooded member of Team Mashou did not even look at Butajiri. Instead, he started walking toward the ring. Then, he spoke quietly.

"You'll have to think of a way to get rid of the other one, but if you..." Risho began to speak.

Risho then explained his plan, intending to use Butajiri's position on the committee to have James disqualified.

"Right, that's a great idea." Butajiri said excitedly before turning to return to his VIP box, where he would call together the members of the tournament committee.

Before Butajiri could get too far, however, James' voice rang out from the ring.

"That really is a good plan, but it won't work." James said, drawing both Butajiri and Risho's attention to himself. "I mean, if you check the replay, I never actually touched anything other than the ring. So, accusing Kuto of not counting me out properly won't work."

As soon as he finished, James vanished from his spot, leaving an after image in his place. Then, he appeared behind Butajiri just as he opened his mouth to speak. At the same tine, Kuto's panicked voice could be heard as she searched for her microphone.

"How is this possible?" Butajiri asked in a panic. "Did he really hear our plan to get him disqualified using my position on the tournament committee?"

As Butajiri spoke, his voice was broadcast all around the stadium, surprising both himself and Risho. Then, they saw the James, who had been standing in the ring disappearing slowly. They also noticed that Kuto seemed to be looking for something and that her microphone was not in her hand.

A moment later, Butajiri looked down in horror. Then, he saw the missing microphone being held, by a caramel colored hand, right below his chin.

"Oh my, was there a conspiracy to have me disqualified even though I had done nothing to deserve it?" James asked in a playful tone. "Does that mean that I'm just that much stronger than the last member of Team Mashou?"

Though the tone of James' voice was playful, the look in his eyes was predatory. It was clear to Butajiri that James was holding himself back from killing the dishonorable business man on the spot.

"Ha, do you really think you could defeat me?" Risho asked contemptuously. "I'm much stronger than that fool Jin."

"Oh, so are you gonna tell me that you had nothing to do with this fat sack of shit getting the committee to have us fight twice in a row?" James asked playfully. "Because if you're as strong as you claim to be, you wouldn't need to do that, right?"

When James spoke, he mockingly emphasized the word strong, causing Risho to grit his teeth.

"The truth as I see it is more along the lines of; you saw me beat the last team effortlessly." James continued. "So, you started quaking in your boots. Then in fear, you came up with a plan that would cause one or more of my teammates to be ineligible to take part in this round. Right?"

James then [Flash Stepped] away from Butafiri, appearing next to Kuto.

"Sorry for borrowing this without permission." James said as he handed her the microphone.

Then, without waiting for Kuto to respond, James returned to his starting position and looked at Risho mockingly.

"Oh, and your little enchantress?" James said, gesturing at Ruka who was looking at Hiei in fear. "Her barrier has almost healed our boy, Hiei, to full health. So, I suggest you get in the ring, so you can lose quickly. Before Hiei rips his way out of that barrier and kills you in a much crueler way than I will."

Gritting his teeth loud enough so that he could be heard from the first few rows of seats, Risho grabbed his robe and ripped it off. Then, he jumped into the ring with anger clear on his face.

With his robe removed, it could be seen that Risho was a tall, lanky demon with shiny, shoulder-length, black hair that was parted down the middle and narrow brown eyes. He wore a black body suit with an orange sash draped over his shoulders and a brown sash tied around his waist.

"Soon, you'll learn the consequences of humiliating me." Risho spat through gritted teeth. "I'll show you why an imitation should stay quiet in front of a real demon."

Hearing that statement, James raised an eyebrow. He wondered how true it was, since demons and devils were the only two species of supernatural beings that used demonic energy.

'I'll have to do some research about that later.' James thought to himself.

"Both fighters have entered the ring!" Kuto shouted. "From Team Mashou, Risho. And from team Urameshi, J. Now, let the battle begin!"

"[Armor of Clay]." Risho said as soon as the signal to begin was given.

A moment later, earth from outside the ring flew toward Risho and created a greyish-brown armor around him. Then, he rushed at James and engaged in hand to hand combat. Throwing punches, kicks, elbow strikes, and knee strikes, Risho was unable to land a single blow as James effortlessly dodged and parried all of the incoming attacks.

"I'll admit it, you're physically stronger than Jin." James said in a bored tone. "But you're too slow. What good is all that power if you can't' hit anything with it?"

"[Stalagmite]!" Risho shouted while attacking.

In the next instant, an earth spike shot out from the ground directly under James. To Risho's surprise, however, James simply jumped over it. Then, with a flip of his body, he landed on the earth spike's tip and held himself aloft by one finger.

"How did you know I train my demonic power control like this?" James asked in feigned curiosity. "Either way, I really appreciate you giving me something that I can train with. Thanks, man. I guess you're not as bad as I thought you were."

"Damn you, you'll pay for mocking me!" Risho shouted as he jumped out of the ring.

"[Armor of Clay]!" Risho shouted hysterically when he landed outside the ring.

A moment later, much more earth piled onto Risho's armor. The new, thicker, armor looked much more sinister than it did before with sharp spikes poking out from the joints.

Then, Risho leapt high into the air. At the same time, James flipped off the earth spike, materializing Ochiru Sakura on his left hip. Risho then curled up into a ball of earth as his demonic energy enveloped him in mid-air. Meanwhile, James dropped into an iaido stance.

"[Meteor Strike]!" Risho shouted as he propelled himself down into the ring at James.

With focus, James watched as Risho approached at high speed. Then, when he was in range, James stepped forward and drew his sword, that was covered in cherry blossom-colored flames.

"[Inferno Blade Dragon's Sweeping Claw]." James said calmly, chanting the name of his [Dragon Slayer Magic] spell.

An instant later, Risho uncurled himself and landed on the ring. Meanwhile, with his back to his opponent, James slowly sheathed his sword. Then, as the handguard clicked against the sheath, Risho's armor shattered, blood gushed out of a wound that stretched from his right hip to his left shoulder, then, the right half of his torso slid off the rest of his body while his lower body and the left half of his torso remained standing.

"I don't' think there's any need for a count on this one!" Kuto exclaimed excitedly. "The winner of the fifth match, and the round is Team Urameshi!"