The Dark Tournament Begins

Human World, Hanging Neck Island.

The next day, in a large, stone stadium, all the seats were full, and the crowd's excitement could be felt throughout the stadium. In the middle of the stadium was a large circular fighting ring with a brown haired woman standing in the middle.

This brown-haired woman, Kuto, the Dark Martial Arts Tournament's referee wore a white and yellow sailor-type short sleeved shirt with a blue ascot, a pink skirt, black leggings, and pink short boots. Also, from her rear end hung a tail the same color as her hair with white fur at its tip. Holding a microphone, she was addressing the crowd energetically.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the moment we have all been waiting for is finally here.!" Kuto screamed into the microphone. "The blood, the death, the carnage! In a few moments, it will all come crashing down in this ring! Are you ready?"

As Kuto's voice reverberated through the stadium, the demons making up the majority of the audience went wild. Their screams nearly drowned out Kuto's voice. Meanwhile, a group of three women were walking down one of the aisles, searching for seats.

"Are these demons?" Keiko asked, looking around at all the strange humanoids in the stands.

"That's right." Botan replied with a nod. "But be careful. Most of them would love nothing more than to devour humans like you two."

"I'd like to see them try." Shizuru said before taking a drag from a cigarette. "I'll be sure to show them that humans aren't so easy to mess with."

"Oh really?" A dark grey skinned demon with ghastly green eyes said, standing up from its seat after hearing Shizuru's statement. "Why don't you show me then?"

After speaking, the demon walked up to the group of three menacingly. Seeing him up close, the three women could see that he was over eight feet (2.4 m) tall. Then, when he was right in front of Shizuru, he opened his mouth wide, showing off his long sharp teeth and blood-red tongue.

Before he could get any closer, Shizuru put out her cigarette on the demon's tongue.

"Argh!" The demon screamed, letting his tongue hang out of his mouth, trying to cool off the burned spot.

However, before he could feel any relief, Shizuru threw her cigarette butt down the demon's throat. Once again, caught off guard, the demon brought his hands to his throat while making a weird combination of screaming and choking noises.

While suffering from pain and difficulty breathing, the demon made eye contact with Shizuru. Seeing the total indifference in her eyes, for the first time in his life, he felt fear for a human. Before long, he found himself running away. Both from fear of the human woman he just encountered and in hopes of finding a place to dislodge the cigarette butt stuck in his throat.

"Shizuru, that was amazing." Keiko said in awe.

"Yeah, remind me to never piss you off." Botan added.

"Yeah." Shizuru said nonchalantly, pulling out another cigarette.

At the same time, another group of three women was watching what just happened.

"That woman is quite gallant." Erza said, impressed by what she witnessed.

"Is that them, Master Genkai?" Irene asked, more of a confirmation than a question.

"Yes, the girl with short brown hair is the dimwit's little girlfriend." Genkai said with a nod. "The blue-haired one is his assistant. And the one with long hair is Kuwabara's older sister."

"I see." Irene said with a nod. "Though the long haired one doesn't have much in the way of magical power, her spiritual awareness seems to be off the charts."

"Yes, she's even more talented than her brother in that regard." Genkai added. Then, she stood up and waved at the three women looking for seats. "Botan, over here."

"Master Genkai?" Botan asked in disbelief.

Seeing Genkai in the crowd, Botan was thoroughly surprised. Based on the speculations of Koenma, her superior, she expected that Genkai would hide her identity and participate in the tournament on Yusuke's team.

Pulling Keiko and Shizuru along with her, Botan made her way over to Genkai. Then, the three took a seat next to them, after Erza put pressure on the demons sitting near them, causing those unfortunate demons to run away.

Before Botan could barrage Genkai with questions, however, Kuto's voice rang throughout the stadium again.

"Now, let's welcome the competitors for our first match." Kuto shouted excited.ly. "First, One of the most popular teams in this year's tournament, Team Rokuyukai!"

"Yeah! Team Rokuyukai!" Many demons in the crowd cheered.

"Rinku! I love you!" A female demons shouted with lust in her tone.

"Zeru! Show them you're the strongest!" A male demon shouted excitedly.

With that, the five members of Team Rokuyukai entered the stadium. While Rinku was waving to the fans, the rest of the team walked calmly toward the ring.

"These people love us." Rinku said happily. Then, he blew a kiss to a particularly attractive female demon.

"Stay focused, Rinku." Zeru said coldly. "I don't want to see you losing due to over confidence."

"Yeah, I know." Rinku said, some of the wind taken out of his sails.

Meanwhile, up in one of the VIP booths, three men were seated together watching the match.

The first, Gondawara Sukezo, was a shady looking middle aged man wearing a green suit with black hair parted on the left and combed to the right.

The second, Sakyo, was an extremely handsome man in his late twenties or early thirties wearing a black suit with long, slicked back, black hair and a few bangs that cover the left side of his forehead and scars that go from his forehead to his cheek over both eyes.

The third, the younger of the Toguro Brothers, and the one who delivered the invitation to participate in the tournament to Yusuke, wore a pair of sun glasses and a green trench coat, and had black hair.

"Look at that, Sakyo." Gondawara said with a smile. "To win a tournament like this, a team needs overwhelming support from the crowd. And if I were a betting man, this is the kind of team I would bet my money on."

Glancing at Gondawara from the corner of his eye, Sakyo returned his sight to the ring.

"What good is crowd support if they aren't strong enough?" Sakyo asked nonchalantly. Then, he glanced at Toguro.

Though Toguro was looking down at the stadium, he was not paying attention to the ring. Instead, his eyes were focused on Genkai, who was seated with five other women.

"Is something wrong, Toguro?" Sakyo asked curiously.

"No, nothing is wrong." Toguro replied, shifting his gaze away from Genkai.

In fact, Toguro was so caught off guard that Genkai was not participating in the tournament on Yusuke's team that he did not even notice Irene and Erza sitting next to her.

"And now, for this year's special guests, Team Urameshi!" Kuto shouted as Team Rokuyukai arrived at the side of the ring.

From the opposite entrance to the stadium, James, Hiei, Kurama, and Kuwabara with Yusuke on his back entered the stadium. However, the welcome they received was in stark contrast to that of Team Rokuyukai.

"Boo~~~~~~~~~~~!" The demons jeered.

"Kill the Spirit Detective!" One demon shouted.

"Kill the humans!" Another demon shouted.

"Wow, such a warm welcome." James said with a smile.

"That's all these weaklings can do." Hiei said disdainfully.

Though Kurama did not comment, he was also not affected by the jeering from the crowd.

"How are you three so calm?" Kuwabara asked with amazement in his tone. Then, he looked at Yusuke. "And how can he sleep with all this noise."

Meanwhile, in the crowd, Keiko, Shizuru, and Botan were relieved to see that Yusuke and Kuwabara were okay. However, Keiko and Botan found themselves annoyed and at a loss seeing Yusuke sleeping on Kuwabara's back.

"Is Yusuke asleep? Keiko asked in confusion.

"How can he be sleeping at a time like this?" Botan asked in an irritated tone.

"You shouldn't get so upset." Genkai said while looking away from the two irritated girls. "His training was a bit more intense than usual for the last three months."

Seeing Genkai's somewhat bashful expression, Keiko and Botan were curious what Yusuke went through during his training, Botan more than Keiko. Especially since Botan had met the hard as nails Genkai in the past. However, Botan shook her head and rushed toward the edge of the audience stands.

"Yusuke, what are you doing?" Botan asked angrily. "Now is not the time to be sleeping."

Hearing Botan's voice, the members of Team Urameshi, minus Yusuke for obvious reasons, looked back.

"Oh, it's Botan." Kuwabara said with a smile. However, when he saw the other women, more specifically his sister, near Botan, he paled immediately. "My big sis is here, too?"

"We're gonna have a nice, long talk when this is over, little brother." Shizuru said, cracking her knuckles.

'Botan is hotter than I expected in real life.' James thought as he looked at Botan who was wearing a yellow long sleeved shirt and maroon overalls. 'And I can feel something special from Shizuru, is that because of her spiritual awareness? I wonder what she would become with demonic energy. Something to ponder over later, I guess.'

At the same time, Shizuru felt James gaze, causing her to shift her attention toward him. Noticing Shizuru's attention change to someone she did not recognize, Keiko also looked in James' direction.

"Hey, Shizuru, do you know that guy?" Keiko asked, she had seen and met Kurama, Hiei, and Kuwabara before, but James was an unfamiliar face.

"You mean the black guy?" Shizuru asked nonchalantly. "No clue. But he's pretty good looking, though."

"He is." Keiko replied with a nod. However, her attention did not linger on James for long. Instead, she turned her attention back to Yusuke quickly.

"We don't have time for this." Hiei said in an annoyed tone. "Let's go."

At Hiei's urging, the team made their way to the ring side.

"Is that guy sleeping?" Rinku asked.

"He must be quite confident to be sleeping in a situation like this." Zerus replied.

"Or maybe he's just an idiot."

Before Zeru could respond, Kuto's voice rang through the stadium.

"Now, would the team captains please come up to the ring to decide the match rules." Kuto said with a smile.

Immediately, Zeru jumped up onto the ring and began walking toward its center.

"Umm... We've got a little problem here." Kuwabara said, looking at Yusuke who was hanging over his shoulder. "Our captain is still asleep."

"Why don't you go, then." Kurama said.

"Me?" Kuwabara asked while pointing at his own nose.

"Sounds good to me." James added.

"Just hurry up." Hiei barked.

"Uh... Okay." Kuwabara said, leaning Yusuke against the side of the ring.

After setting Yusuke down, Kuwabara jumped up onto the stadium and walked toward Zeru and Kuto.

"How would you gentlemen like to fight this round." Kuto asked curiously.

"It doesn't matter when they'll all be dead at the end." Zeru said.

"How about fighting one on one, like men?" Kuwabara said in a serious tone. "First team to win three fights is the winner."

"Like I said, it doesn't matter." Zeru said before turning away.

"I hope you're not just blowing hot air." Kuwabara said before turning away like Zerus.

"Hot air?" Zeru asked, turning around. "I'll show you what heat feels like."

A moment later, a line of fire, originating from Zeru, lit up on the ring and headed for Kuwabara.

Kuwabara, feeling the incoming heat, turned around and took a fighting stance.

'Oh, crap, did I make him mad?' Kuwabara thought to himself.

However, before the flames reached him, they split and circled around him before continuing toward the edge of the ring, where Yusuke was sleeping. Then, once they reached the edge, they split again and lit up the edge of the ring, creating a wall of scorching hot flames around the ring.

"So, he's a fire demon." Hiei said, narrowing his eyes. "But his control is sloppy."

While Kurama nodded in agreement, James just smiled.

A moment later, the flames died down and Zeru walked off the ring, returning to his team. Kuwabara did the same, however, it was clear that he was a bit more determined.

'Maybe Rinku was right.' Zeru thought to himself, looking over his shouder as he walked. Noticing that Yusuke did not react in the slightest, he continued his thought. 'He may really be just an idiot.'

"Wow did you see that fiery display?" Kuto asked excitedly. "Fireworks like those are the perfect way to start off the Dark Tournament. Now, the time is almost here! Teams, please send up your first fighters."