The End of the First Round

Human World, Hanging Neck Island.

Lowering himself from the one finger hand stand, James looked in the direction the sneak attack on Yusuke came from. When he did, he saw a dead demon lying on the ground with a paper thin hole in his forehead oozing blood.

Approaching the corpse, James and Yusuke saw it was a demon with a skeletal face wearing a yellow visor with dark magenta, almost black, hair. His body, contrary to his skeletal face, was quite muscular. On his shoulders and elbows, he wore grey Shoulder pads and elbow pads, respectively, while he wore gloves in the same color. On his lower body, he wore a pair of green army fatigues, blue knee pads, and blue boots.

"Wow, that's an ugly mother fucker, huh?" James said, examining the recently deceased demon.

"Yeah, but who is he?" Yusuke asked with a frown on his face.

"Probably a member of another team who thought he could get famous, fast, by killing you in a sneak attack." James replied with a shrug.

"If he's a member of another team, won't we be in trouble for killing him?" Yusuke asked, his frown deepening.

"You don't have to worry about that, Spirit Detective." An unfamiliar voice said from not too far away.

Looking in the direction the voice came from, James and Yusuke saw a large dark skinned demon who stood at 9'8" (3 m) tall with yellowish eyes, a protruding stomach, and a bald head. Around his neck and waist, he wore gold, spiked hoops. Also, he wore no shirt, had steel grey colored armbands, brown pants, and black boots. On top of all that, he carried a pair of gigantic double-bladed axes on his back.

"So, I guess he was on your team then, right Tubby?" James asked with a smile.

Ignoring James' jab, the demon stared at Yusuke intently.

"I think he has a crush on you." James said, whispering into Yusuke's ear.

In response, Yusuke simply looked at James incredulously.

"That fool, Rugby, disobeyed my orders and tried to kill you before we had the chance to fight in the ring." The demon said, seemingly not hearing James. "And for that he deserved to die. Had you not killed him, I would have killed him with my own hands."

"Why would you kill your teammate for attacking an enemy team?" Yusuke asked curiously.

"Because, only I can have the honor of killing the Spirit Detective." The demon said in a solemn tone. "Remember this, Spirit Detective. I, Topaz, leader of the Spirit Warrior Team will kill you when our teams meet in the tournament."

After speaking his peace, the large demon, Topaz, turned around and walked away with a confident stride.

"Well, that happened." James said with a shrug and a smile.

"Yeah." Yusuke replied, unsure of what to say about that encounter.

Shortly after Topaz was no longer in sight, Kuwabara walked up to James and Yusuke. Since he had not seen the encounters between the duo and the demons, he was confused when he saw that they were just staring off into the distance.

"Hey, guys." Kuwabara said, getting the attention of his teammates. "Is something wrong?"

"No, we were just attacked by some small fry." James said, downplaying the entire event. "Then, his boss... Let's call him the boss of the small fries... Told Yusuke that he was going to kill him. Normal stuff for a Wednesday morning, right?"

"What kind of life do you live where death threats are normal?" Kuwabara asked curiously.

"The kind that's worth living?" James replied.

"Why does that sound like you're not sure?" Kuwabara asked.

"Anyway, let's get back to training." James said, changing the subject. "Oh, but first..."

James then tapped the ground with his left heel. A moment later, the ground underneath Rugby's body turned cherry blossom pink. Then, Rugby seemingly sank into the ground. A moment later, the ground returned to normal.

"Okay, let's go." James said, turning around with a smile.

"What just happened?" Kuwabara asked in a state of confusion. "And what is that smell?"

The smell Kuwabara was referring to was the scent of blood after James minced Rugby's body by turning the ground under the corpse into petal-blades.

"Trust me, Kuwabara, you don't want to know." Yusuke said, following James to another spot where they could train.

Confused, Kuwabara followed them. Then, he joined them in their energy control training. Though, his training was not the crazy stuff Scathach put James and Yusuke through. Instead, James asked the hotel's kitchen for a large bowl that he filled up with water. Then, he showed Kuwabara the old training method he and the others back in Kuoh used to use.

Like that, for the next few hours, James, Yusuke, and Kuwabara worked on their energy control. Meanwhile, Hiei, who had been watching James and Yusuke since they left the suite, thought back to the powers James showed when he intercepted the sneak attack for Yusuke.

"That ability looks familiar." Hiei said to himself. "It looks like the Alaverus devils' bloodline ability [Senbonzakura]. But I thought they needed to imprint a spiritual mark to use it. Maybe he's a bastard with a mutation?"

Naturally, James knew that Hiei had been spying on him ever since he left the suite. However, since he used [Senbonzakura] in a way that only he could, there was no way that Hiei would be able to put together his identity. Because not even his father knew that the need for the spiritual mark would disappear after reaching major god-rank and gaining a Super Devil form.

"This really is a bad habit of yours, Hiei." Kurama said, walking onto the rooftop. "You don't have to spy on our allies, you know."

"Don't presume to lecture me, Kurama." Hiei said, walking away from Kurama and leaving the roof briskly.

"Not that leaving the roof will stop him from spying." Kurama said with a shake of his head. "The Jagan is great for information gathering."

Shortly before noon, James called an end to his training with Yusuke and Kuwabara. Then, he told them to go back to their room and get cleaned up. Once they were all showered and ready to go, James dragged them to the stadium. He said it would be a good idea to watch the matches of their possible opponents.

In reality, James started to fan boy a little bit. He just wanted to see Team Mashou and Younger Toguro's fights. If things followed the canon as they had so far, that is.

Just as James expected, all the matches in the first round ended quickly. All the winning teams were vastly superior to their opponents. He also got to see Team Mashou, Team Ichigaki, and Team Uraotogi, the three teams his team would face off against if things played out the way he expected them to.

"Hey, are those humans?" Kuwabara asked, pointing at three of the members of Team Ichigaki.

"Now that you mention it, they do feel like humans." Yusuke said with confusion in his tone. "I thought our team was supposed to be the only one with humans in this tournament."

"Usually that would be correct." James said with a smile. Then, he pointed at Team Ichigaki.

Following James' finger, Yusuke and Kuwabara saw a short, balding demon with long, messy green hair only on the sides of his head, pointy ears, narrow eyes, high, overly pronounced cheekbones and a creepy grin wearing a typical scientist's attire emphasized by the white lab coat he wore over his clothing.

"That's Dr. Ichigaki." James said. "He's the backer for that team, Team Ichigaki. And from what I can tell, he's brainwashing or controlling those humans to fight for him."

"Damn, I hate people like that." Yusuke spat in disgust.

"Isn't that against the rules, or something?" Kuwabara asked.

"Seriously?" James replied to Kuwabara's question with a question of his own. "Haven't you realized what kinda place this is yet? Anything goes here. As long as you can win and make a profit from it, there are no rules against it. The only thing you have to worry about is cutting off a piece of the pie that's too big for you to swallow."

Hearing that, Kuwabara started to shiver. And James couldn't blame him. He was only a fourteen year old, middle school kid that did not even know about the supernatural world less than a year ago.

However, instead of consoling him, James allowed him to stew in what he was feeling right now. If he planned to continue helping Yusuke with his work as Spirit Detective, he would have to get used to these kind of things. Because things could get much worse.

"Now, let's jump right into the last match of the first round!" Kuto shouted into her microphone. "Let's hear it for the Spirit Warriors Team and the favorites to win the whole tournament, Team Toguro!"

From the entrance opposite James and the other's seats, five tall extremely heavy demons with Topaz in the center of the group entered the ring area. Then, from the other entrance, a single, tall, lanky-looking demon entered the stadium.

Seeing the lanky demon, Younger Toguro, Yusuke and Kuwabara tensed. However, James simply continued to smile as he watched the two teams enter the ring.

"So, that's the guy who forced you to participate, huh?" James asked.

"Yeah." Yusuke replied, nodding in response.

"Well, I gotta admit, he's probably the strongest demon I've seen on this island." James said with a smile. "But don't worry, we'll make sure you're strong enough to put him down, just you wait."

"Right..." Yusuke said unsurely.

Yusuke knew that James was strong. Much stronger than Toguro, in fact. However, it was still a bit surreal to see someone not taking the man who gave him nightmares seriously. While Kuwabara thought that James was so lax because he was simply unaware of how strong Toguro really was.

Before they could think or speak any further, however, the two teams began deciding the rules for the match. In the end, it was decided that Toguro would fight all five opponents simultaneously. Naturally, this angered the members of the Spirit Warriors Team, and they flared their demonic energy in a show of force.

"I see that you have pride in your strength." Toguro said as he removed his trench coat. "And with such power, you should be proud. So, to honor your strength, I'll use forty-five percent of my power."

After his statement, the members of the Spirit Warrior Team, other than Topaz moved, surrounding Toguro from the front, back, left, and right. Meanwhile, Toguro began to tense his muscles. As he did, his entire physique began to bulk up. After a few seconds, his muscles were big enough to give any former Mr. Universe a run for his money.

"Now, let the match begin!" Kuto shouted before running away from the center of the ring like she always does.

However, there was not much of a show to be seen during this fight. The four members of the Spirit Warriors Team all rushed Toguro simultaneously. But without moving, Toguro was able to land a punch on each of their chests that blew a large hole in their torsos.

Seeing the members of his team die in front of him did not cause Topaz's expression to change. Instead, he drew one of the axes on his back and began walking toward Toguro confidently.

"You may be strong, but I am destined to defeat the Spirit Detective, Urameshi Yusuke." Topaz said. "So, you'll have to die here to pave my way to my destiny."

"Sorry." Toguro said in a dry tone. "But that boy is reserved for me."

As Toguro spoke, Topaz swung his axe, cleaving into Toguro's left shoulder. However, to his surprise, the axe got stuck before it could reach Toguro's bone. Toguro then flexed his shoulder muscle, causing the axe head to rebound, revealing Toguro's uninjured shoulder.

Before Topaz could react to this turn of events, however, he was punched in his chest. Like his teammates, a large hole opened up in his torso. A hole large enough that the scenery on the other side could be seen without issue.

Without listening to Kuto's announcement of the end of the match, Toguro returned to his lanky appearance. Then, he picked up his trench coat and slung it over his shoulder. Then, he looked up to where James, Yusuke, and Kuwabara were watching the match from. A moment later, while making eye contact with Yusuke from a distance, Toguro made a gesture of slitting his throat before walking into the tunnel from which he entered the stadium.