Human World, Hanging Neck Island.
The following morning, just as the sun had risen, the sun's light peaked through the window in James' bedroom. Laying in his bed, James' eyelids twitch as the ray of sunshine brightens his face. Waking up slowly, James felt two soft bodies pressing against him.
A bit disoriented due to just waking up, James gropes the soft sensation that his left hand is holding. A moment later, he hears a soft moan. Opening his eyes, while still gently squeezing the object in his right hand, he notices a head of scarlet red hair on either side of him.
"What the hell is going on?" James muttered to himself, having forgotten that he was in bed with Irene and Erza due to shutting off his brain before climbing in bed.
Looking more closely, he sees that Irene is laying on his right in her bra and T-back thong with her hair cascading over the bed and pillow. On his left, Erza is practically laying on him, with more than half of her body on top of his own. With his left arm wrapped around her shoulders, his hand his gently fondling her left breast.
"Damn, her tits are much bigger than they look in her armor." James whispers quietly.
On top of that, the morning wood in his boxers was being softly pressed between Irene's right calf and thigh, adding a lot more stimulation to an already stimulating morning.
"Well, I know why this happened, but I still wasn't expecting to wake up this way." James whispers to himself again as he carefully peels the two women off him, careful not to wake them up.
After about thirty seconds, James separated himself from the tempting soft flesh of the mother-daughter pair. A few moments later, James was out of bed and making his way into his room's bathroom.
"I'm starting to understand all that stuff Auntie Venelana has been spouting about Oyakodon." James mutters with a slightly perverted grin on his face.
Human World, Japan, Kuoh.
"*Sneeze* I wonder if James is thinking about me..." Venelana said to herself with a smile as she steps into the bathroom in her room in the Alaverus Estate to take care of her morning routine. "If he is, I hope it's something good."
Human World, Hanging Neck Island.
While James was getting himself ready for the day, Hiei had already left the hotel. Standing in a forest not too far away from the hotel, Hiei is doing his best to move the arm that he injured in his fight with Zeru on the tournament's first day.
"Damn it!" Hiei exclaims angrily after failing to hold the hilt of his sword with his right hand. Picking up the sword he just dropped with his left hand, Hiei looks to his right as he sheaths his blade. "Voyeurism is an unbecoming hobby, Kurama."
"Says the guy who got a Jagan implanted for the sole purpose of watching his sister from a distance." Kurama replied as he stepped out from behind a rather large tree.
"Hmph!" Hiei snorted while adjusting the bandages that were wrapped around his injured right arm.
"Is it necessary to be so stubborn?" Kurama asked, gazing at Hiei's injured arm. "According to what J has told us about his abilities, he has the means to heal your arm. I'm sure you would only have to ask, and he would help you."
"I refuse to receive pity from that annoying fool." Hiei said sharply in response.
"That's your decision to make, I suppose." Kurama said.
In the next instant both Kurama and Hiei's gazes turned to the side, where two demons appeared from the tree line.
"What a coincidence running into you two." one of the demons, a male with blond hair, said with a sadistic smile on his face.
"Yeah, a coincidence that will result in both of you missing this morning's match and your deaths." The other demon, a male with blue hair, said with a similar smile on his face.
"Are these two stupid?" Hiei asked, not interested in what the demons had to say.
"I would guess they intend to ambush us so that our team will only have three members for the match." Kurama replied. "They are from Team Ichigaki, after all."
"So, you recognize us. The blond demon asked.
"Then that will make this that much easier." The blue-haired demon added. "Now, die."
With that, the blue-haired demon rushed toward the duo to attack.
"They really are stupid." Hiei said, flickering in place for a moment.
In the next moment, the blue-haired demon fell to the ground with the same sadistic smile on his face. However, now there was a circular hole in his chest, the diameter of which was the same as the width of Hiei's sword.
"And then there was one." Hiei said, walking calmly toward the blond demon.
"I'll admit I'm not as strong as either of you." The blond demon said, not losing his sadistic smile. "But I won't be the one fighting you."
An instant later, many trees were either knocked down or sent flying by a large demon that appeared to be wearing a metal exoskeleton.
"This is one of Dr. Ichigaki's greatest creations." The blond demon said smugly. "This bio-organic demon robot is the one who will take your lives."
"So, it's not wearing armor, but it has been fused into the armor." Kurama said, studying the large metal demon.
"That's not what's important right now, Kurama." Hiei said, watching the robot's movements "We have to kill that thing. Then, we can kill the other one."
"Agreed." Kurama said as he and Hiei split up to attack the robot from different directions.
Meanwhile, the time for Team Urameshi's second round match was nearing. Standing in the ring, James, Yusuke, and Kuwabara were positioned opposite Dr. Ichigaki and his team of three humans with Kuto holding her microphone between both sides.
"It would seem that two members of each team are not present." Kuto said. "I have to remind you both, if they are not here when the match starts, they will not be eligible to participate after the match begins."
"I doubt they will arrive before then." Dr. Ichigaki said with a creepy smile in a scratchy voice. "So, why don't we start the match."
"That's fine with us." Yusuke replied with no hesitation in his tone.
Before they came out to the ring area, James had already informed Yusuke and Kuwabara that Hiei and Kurama had been attacked in the forest between the stadium and the hotel. He also let them knowthat the two demons would have no problem defeating their attackers, calming the two middle schoolers down quite a bit.
Naturally, Kuwabara questioned the validity of James' statement. James then explained that his sensing range was large enough to cover the entirety of Hanging Neck Island, a fact that Yusuke corroborated. So, Kuwabara decided to trust in what James had to say, even if the scale was too big for him to fathom at the moment.
"Since there will only be six fighters in this match, why don't we make it a three on three free for all?" James suggested.
Hearing that, Dr. Ichigaki reached into his lab coat and pulled out a very advanced calculator. After punching in a formula, he smiled widely.
'According to my calculations, the chances of my team winning are 99.95% using this battle format.' Dr. Ichigaki thought to himself with glee.
'That's a good idea.' Kuwabara thought to himself after hearing James' idea. 'That way we can watch each other's backs if we get in any sticky situations.'
"Although I'd rather allow my team to fight individually, in order to maximize their potential." Dr. Ichigaki said in a feigned tone of struggle. "I can agree if you agree to the stakes I set forth for this battle."
Resisting his impulse to roll his eyes, James waited for the conversation to continue.
"What do you want, you little freak?" Yusuke asked in a harsh tone.
"If I win, I want you." Dr. Ichigaki said, pointing at Yusuke. "Or to be more specific, I want your body, Urameshi Yusuke. With a human body as powerful as yours, I could advance my research by decades."
"Sure." Yusuke agreed instantly. "And if I win, I'm gonna knock at least that nasty grin off your ugly face."
"I can agree to those terms." Dr. Ichigaki said, chuckling in a creepy manner as he finished speaking.
"Then, with the agreement of both teams, round two will be a three on three free for all type match." Kuto said. "Once both teams are ready, the match will begin immediately."
With Kuto's announcement, the crowd cheered loudly.
Meanwhile, Genkai, Irene, Erza, Shizuru, and Keiko were seated among all the rowdy demons.
"Will they be, okay?" Keiko asked after hearing the rules for the match.
"I'm sure they will be fine." Shizuru replied. "They will be able to watch out for each other if anything goes wrong."
Like her younger brother, Shizuru was thinking that they would be able to use teamwork to overcome this opponent.
"You don't have to worry about them." Genkai said, gaining Keiko and Shizuru's attention. "J will probably end this match quickly."
"Yes, in the several months I've known him, I've never seen him this angry before." Erza added.
"What do you mean he's angry?" Keiko asked with confusion in her tone. "He's smiling so brightly right now."
Looking down into the ring, the five women could see that James was smiling bright enough to illuminate the entire stadium. Unfortunately, James' smile did not reflect his current state of mind in the slightest.
"Since you haven't known him very long, I can understand your misunderstanding." Irne said. "But J is royally pissed off right now."
"But why?" Keiko asked curiously.
"Because of the ugly little guy over there." Irene said, pointing at Dr. Ichigaki who was now standing next to the ring with his creepy smile plastered on his face. "He's using some way to force those three to do his bidding. And since J is very sensitive to the souls of others, he can probably tell that they are suffering."
Although what Irene said was true. James really only wanted to kill him because of the wretched character Dr. Ichigaki displayed in the anime. The same reason he said that he would be killing Elder Toguro as well.
Hearing Irene's reason for James' current rage, Keiko and Shizuru, who already had a decent opinion of James' character, saw him in an even more positive light.
"Now that both teams are ready!" Kuto's voice sounded through the stadium at that moment. "Let the first match of the second round of the Dark Tournament, between Team urameshi and Team Ichigaki... Begin!"
"Okay, guys, how are we gonna play this?" Kuwabara asked.
"Sorry, you two, but I'm gonna handle this myself." James said, after materializing his sword, Mangetsu no Shita de, on his left hip.
Then, James began walking forward, leaving a confused Yusuke and Kuwabara behind.
While James walked calmly toward the three humans of Team Ichigaki, he could hear them muttering to themselves.
"Kill... Kil... Kill... Kill us." The three controlled humans muttered quietly as they flew into action.
The first to attack was a brown-haired young man. Lunging at James with his magic power converging in his palm, he tried to claw at James, who was walking leisurely toward the members of Team Ichigaki.
"[Grizzly Claw]." The brown-haired man said, naming his technique.
Casually turning to the side, James avoided the claw strike that was aimed at his chest. Then, as he walked past the brown haired young man, he drew his sword, slashed him on the back, then sheathed his sword again.
A moment later, the brown-haired man fell face first, bleeding all over the ring from the wound left on his back.
"I thought he was mad that those people were being controlled." Keiko said in a horrified tone. "Then why did he kill him?"
Shizuru was also interested to hear the answer to that question. However, neither Genkai, Irene, nor Erza had any intention of answering as they continued to watch the match.
Realizing that she was not going to get a response, Keiko stood up and shouted toward the ring.
"Yusuke, stop him!" Keiko shouted. "He's killing humans. You can't let him do that."
Although Yusuke was caught off guard by the seemingly lethal attack James just landed, he knew that James probably had a reason for what he was doing. Kuwabara, on the other hand, did not know James very well at all. So, he rushed forward to stop him.
Unfortunately, his timing was horrible.
Meanwhile, the other two members of Team Ichigaki continue their attack. Both the remaining fighters seemed to have ranged attack techniques. The first, an orange-haired boy with a messy mop of hair on his head that covered his eyes, created razor-sharp rings of energy that he hurled at James. The other, a middle-aged man wearing pink Mandarin style clothing made energy javelins that he threw.
Casually weaving through the ranged attacks, James quickly noticed that Kuwabara was seemingly unable to see the attacks. So, before one of the attacks could hit and seriously injure him, James [Flash Stepped to Kuwabara's side. Then, using the sheath of his sword, he knocked Kuwabara away at the last possible moment.
Due to his annoyance at Kuwabara's attempt to interfere, however, James may have used a bit more force than necessary to get Kuwabara out of the way. if anyone asked him about it, he would deny that fact vehemently.
After sending Kuwabara out of the ring with a few bone fractures, James returned to the fight. However, he was even more annoyed that now he would have to make up for the lost ground from saving Kuwabara.
"Why would he do that?" Keiko shouted, her opinion of James taking a couple major hits in a row. Then, she looked at Shizuru to see her reaction to her brother getting knocked out. "And why are you so calm, Shizuru-San? You even look relieved."
"That's because he just saved my brother's life." Shizuru said in a relieved tone. "That guy I pink is throwing around energy javelins and Kazuma was about to get pierced through the chest."
Hearing that, Keiko was shocked. Unlike every other person in the stands, she was just a normal human. She had no magic power or spiritual awareness. So, to her it looked like James just attacked Kuwabara for no reason.
Back in the ring, James had grown tired of dodging the attacks to show Dr. Ichigaki how outclassed he was in this tournament. So, with three [flash Steps], he brought the match to an end. First, he appeared behind the middle-aged man and slashed his back, dropping him to the ring. Then, he did the same to the orange haired boy. And with his final [Flash Step], he appeared next to Yusuke with his sword sheathed.
"Okay, I'm done." James said nonchalantly.
"Did you kill them?" Yusuke asked, alternating his gaze between James and the members of Team Ichigaki.
"No, but I did get rid of those disgusting pieces of bio-engineering sticking to their backs." James replied.
A moment later, several petal-shaped blades flew out of the slashes in the members of Team Ichigaki's shirts. After that, James' partially unsheathed Mangetsu no Shita de and those petal blades combined with the sword.
Around this time, Kuto began her ten count. And to no one in the stadium's surprise, neither of the three stood before Kuto reached ten.
However, just after the ten count ended, and before the demons in the crowd could start cheering the death of the humans, the members of Team Ichigaki started to stir. A few moments later, they were all standing, confused that they had control of their bodies again.
"How is this...?" The brown-haired young man began to ask.
"How is this possible!?" Dr. Ichigaki shouted, noticing that the devices he was using to control the three humans had fallen out from the bottom of their shirts.
"Well, your team lost." Yusuke said, cracking his knuckles as he walked toward Dr. Ichigaki. "Time to pay up."
"Ha... Do you think I'll just let you kill me?" Dr. Ichigaki asked, pulling out a syringe from his lab coat. "I've experimented so much with altering the body. Do you think I didn't leave anything for myself?"
Dr. Ichigaki then plunged the syringe toward his own neck. However, instead of feeling the needle pierce his skin, he heard the sound of a glass vial shattering. Looking down, he could see the shattered remains of his syringe along with the hand that was holding it.
Then, he looked at his arm, an arm that was missing everything below the wrist. After seeing the bleeding stump, the pain finally registered.
"MY hand! You cut off my hand." Dr. Ichigaki screamed.
"Yup." James said from behind Dr. Ichigaki. "I felt like you were about to go back on your bet. And that's a big no-no."
Hearing that, Dr. Ichigaki looked back and saw James smiling at him. Then, he turned back to his front and saw Yusuke standing directly in front of him with his arm cocked back, prepared to throw a devastating right hook into his face.
On top of that, Dr. Ichigaki saw how strong Yusuke was in his fight with Chu. So, he was under no illusion that he would survive this punch in his current state.
"Wait, you can't kill me." Dr. Ichigaki pleaded.
"Oh, I'm willing to test that theory." Yusuke said with an evil grin on his face.
"No, wait." Dr. Ichigaki shouted. He then pointed at the members of his team who were standing in the ring. "If you kill me, who will cure their master?"
Hearing that, the three human members of Team Ichigaki snapped to their senses. However, before they could ask Yusuke to spare the doctor, a voice interrupted them from the entrance to the ring area.
"You don't have to worry about that." Kurama said, helping an elderly man walk into the ring area. "Hiei and I found him after we were attacked by the other members of the team. And I was able to cure his illness easily."
"Yeah, and after a bit of persuasion, they told us exactly where he was." Hiei added with his Jagan glowing ominously through the headband on his forehead.
"So, got any other reasons why I should let you live?" Yusuke asked.
However, Dr. Ichigaki could only hang his head with a defeated expression on his face. A moment later, Yusuke swung his fist and the doctor's head popped like a water balloon. Then, Kuto finally declared Team Urameshi the winners of the match.