Koenma taps his foot impatiently, pacing the room. The fifth Makai tournament was approaching fast and Koenma felt a rebellion stirring. Yusuke would be his ace in the hole, but calling upon Yusuke should only be done if absolutely nessicary. After all, he fought hard for retirement. Koenma leaps into his desk chair as the door to his office opens. Joerge runs in with a manila folder in his hand. Koenma looks across his desk at the ogre standing across it "The other three candidates don't have the heart I am looking for. Sure they are strong… but I've screwed up in the past with Sensui and I don't intend on making that mistake again." Jeorge nods "Well, then good news sir. I have the perfect candidate for you." He hands over the file to Koenma who looks it over "Hmm, she's 19. She's already planning to enter the Makai tournament. Her power is low, but it says she trained with Kaito? She must have a psychic power of some kind." Jeorge smiles "She could be perfect, once she is trained up enough." Koenma nods "Botan." Botan appears next to Koenma's desk, smiling over at him "Yes Koenma sir?" Koenma hands her the file "Lead her to Chu. Then we can see from there where her moral compass lies. We may have our new Spirit Detective."
Artemis balances her big toe on the large spike, her spirit energy keeping her up as she holds her arms out to her side, weights hanging from them. Her brown curly hair falls around her face which is drenched in sweat, her green eyes closed tightly as she concentrates. She wears a white shirt with black pants and a red gi with gold trim. Chu chuckles as he walks around her "Genkai taught me this little training technique. I'll be honest, I'm surprised you have stayed up there that long." Artemis grunts "I don't want to let you down master Chu." Chu chuckles "You really want into this tournament, don't you?" She nods "The fifth Makai tournament is what I need to ensure my mother continues to live. I need the prize money." Chu whistles "You realize you are going to be fighting some upper class fighters." Artemis smirks "Then you best prepare me for the fight ahead, wouldn't you agree?" Chu smiles "Fair enough. Alright, lets run you through some drills." Artemis drops the weights, leaping up in the air and flipping backward as the weights crash to the floor, landing on her feet and smiling "As you wish."
Artemis stands across the training room from Chu, with black shoes on now and black tape wrapped around her knuckles. She gets in her ready fighting stance and Chu picks up a handful of rocks. Artemis motions for him to bring it, and he begins to throw them at her at an alarming rate. Artemis generates spirit energy at the tips of her two index fingers, vaporizing the rocks as they get close, but she struggles to keep pace with Chu. One flies right at her head and she narrowly dodges it, the rock leaving a small scratch on her cheek. She doesn't allow this to break her concentration and continues to vaporize the projectiles. Chu throws a handful of them and Artemis thrusts out her hand, creating a barrier that protects her entire front. She grins "Let's try that again, but with the sword this time." Chu throws her a sheathed sword and she straps it to her waist, smiling "Now then, let's see you try to overwhelm me with your little pebbles." He smirks and begins to chuck pebbles at her, surprised at how effortlessly she uses simple motions with her blade to compensate for her lack of speed. Chu throws a handful and Artemis tosses her sword in the air, striking the palms of her hands against each other twice before thrusting her right hand forward "Static Bolt!" Her right index and middle finger fire a lightning bolt that hits the first projectile and arcs between the others, vaporizing them. She catches her sword as it falls, sheathing it in one smooth motion.
Artemis takes a swig of her beer. She had been training with Chu for 4 months, and he proved to be quite the tutor. It was by chance Artemis overheard of the demon who had taken up Genkai's position as master martial arts trainer. He was quite the powerhouse, though he lacked a lot of Genkai's famed finesse, something that would forever be lost it would seem. What a shame. Artemis finishes the bottle and throws it at Chu, who wakes up from his nap. He rubs the back of his head, then brushes glass shards off his shirt "The hell was that for Sheila?" She stands and saunters towards the door "I wanna fight, you drunk bastard." He chuckles "That's just the booze talking love, sit back down and have another." She cracks her knuckles "Now, Chu. Let's trade fists for a while, I'm bored." He stands "Well, if you insist." Chu wraps his fists and stretches before their fight, grinning "Limber up, I don't want to hear any excuses about you not stretching or something." Artemis runs towards Chu and their right fists clash as she laughs "Shut up and fight me." Chu smirks and they throw lefts, rights and elbows, each strike connecting with each other. They both hit each other in the gut, doubling over a little but not letting up one bit, Artemis using her speed to hit Chu with rapid strikes to the stomach and chest. She grins and he retaliates with an uppercut, knocking her back. She frowns, wiping blood from her lip "I can't believe you would hit a woman." She pouts and he walks over to her, holding his arm out to her and she grabs his arm with her legs and forces him to the ground in an armbar, laughing "Never let your guard down!"
2 more months pass, the Makai tournament is a month away. Artemis kicks open the door to Chu's bedroom, waking him and his partner for the night from their slumber. The female demon groans softly and slowly gets on her clothes. As she tries to pass Artemis, Artemis gives her a hard slap on the behind "Get a move on, I need Chu to myself." The female demon sticks her tongue out at Artemis and jogs out the door. Artemis kicks the bed "Get your ass up Chu. I want to know what this special training is." Chu grunts "Get me a cup a joe and I'll be right with ya love." Artemis giggles "Fine, have it your way." She comes back with a fresh cup of coffee and Chu smiles "Thank ya Sheila." Chu takes a sip and sighs "Ahh. Coffee. With just the right amount of booze." Artemis nods "Yeah, I know how you like your coffee. Now, what do you have in mind for me today?" He smiles "I think you are powerful enough to accept a gift I had passed down to me. Ya see, Genkai had created an orb of Spirit energy that was both a part of her, and separate. Drawing off it made her much stronger as a result. She passed it to her pupil Yusuke and Yusuke passed it on to me in honor of her, since I have taken up the role of trainer. It didn't harmonize with my demon energy as well as I would of liked. I'll warn you, this test will be agonizingly painful, and you will hate every moment. If you are not strong willed enough, it will kill you." Artemis grins "If you could survive, I could too, I'm at least twice as hard headed as you are."
Artemis was afraid she might have to eat her own words. She had no idea how much pain this orb would cause her. As she writhed around in pain on the floor, screaming in agony, Chu drinks his whiskey and watches her struggle with the orb, sighing "Damn, poor bird is dyin and I can't do a damn thing to ease her pain." As Artemis' control slips, her Spirit Chains bind her body. Now, not only is she struggling against the orb, but her body is bound in a vice stronger than the simple spirit cuff incantation. Chu sits back and watches over her as her screams steadily become whimpers and her cuts begin to heal. She regains control of her spirit energy and forces her weakened body to stand. She looks outside, seeing that the sun is beginning to set, meaning she was writhing in pain for at least 5 hours. Chu walks over to her, surprising her with a hug "I'm glad you didn't give up little bird, I was afraid I might lose ya. Now, you look like you need a drink." She grins "Or several." Chu puts an arm around her, squeezing her softly "That's my bird!"
Artemis looks across the training hall at her four tournament partners. The first was Kaedan Kuwabara, son of Kasuma Kuwabara. He wears a white robe similar to the robe worn by his father during their participation in the Makai tournament.. The second was a female demon named Kiokai, who wears a black halter top and a black battle skirt that is parted on one side, showing off her leg. Her white hair falls past her shoulders and her black eyes gleam as she smiles at Chu. The third and fourth was Gin and Rinku, who Artemis was already familiar with. Chu smiles "Your team Shiela. Kaedan, Kiokai, Jin and Rinku. I'll be there to support ya but I won't be competing. You guys got a month to get familiar with each other." Artemis cracks her knuckles "Which means we are going to fight. A lot." Chu chuckles "Now now, don't break your new toys. I'm going to get you guys an alternate, don't you worry." Artemis smiles and looks around at her new teammates "Lets get to know each other then."
Chu leads Artemis through the forest and she looks up at him "With two weeks until the tournament, we should use spare time for training not leisurely walks." Chu puts a finger to his lips "Quiet. And do not disrespect the being I am about to introduce you to." Artemis nods, understanding that it is time to get serious. As they enter the clearing she sees a man in red blue and white robes, next to a woman who is floating on an oar and wearing a pink robe. The man's otherwise beautiful appearance is made bizarre by the pacifier in his mouth. Chu motions to him casually "Artemis, this is the ruler of Spirit World, Koenma." Chu walks closer and looks Koenma over "You look different sir. The Jr on your forehead is gone." He folds his arms and narrows his eyes "Chu, that's the third time you made that observation. I told you that I no longer have Jr as a title since I overthrew my father." Chu nods "Right, right." Artemis sighs "Okay, I'll bite, what's with the pacifier?" Koenma looks over at Artemis and smiles "It is one of my greatest weapons." She folds her arms "Nonsense." He shakes his head "Not at all. It is a vessel for my spirit energy and it slowly builds in power as I feed my energy to it." Artemis nods her head a little "That sounds pretty genius. Mind getting me something like that, but in sword form?" Koenma smirks "I'll look into it. Now onto business. I need you for an important mission. I understand you want to enter the Makai tournament, and I'm pulling for you to win. But this year the tournament should prove to be more dangerous than ever. Demon radicals are opposing the rule of the demon king Enki and if he is overthrown, this could cause a rebellion to enslave the Human Realm. This sudden surge in radical demon activity is directly connected to the Makai tournament, and they may use a show of force there in order to kickstart their rebellion."
Botan smiles "It's not all dark clouds and thunder, I'll be travelling with you." Artemis tilts her head "Who are you?" She smiles "I'm Botan and I will be your guide as you become a Spirit Detective." Artemis smiles "That sounds good. Can you fight?" She blushes "Well, I can swing a bat pretty hard. And I can use the Spirit Gun." Koenma chuckles "Come now Botan. In terms of power, you are about as strong as a lower C-class demon." She folds her arms and Artemis giggles a little "There is a demon rating system? Where am I, relatively speaking?" Koenma puts a finger to his chin "Based on my analysis of your abilities up to this point, you are an A-Class." Artemis puffs out her chest and smirks "That's right, I am an A." Chu chuckles "Don't get a big head Shiela, I'm S class." Artemis frowns "S is the highest rank?" Koenma nods and Artemis folds her arms "Damn. Oh well. So how strong is the competition?" Koenma looks away and whistles and Artemis pokes his arm "I asked you a question." Botan stammers a little "Well, you see… most of the competitors in the tournament are upper A class or lower S class. But don't worry, I believe in you guys." Artemis glares at Botan "Seriously? So I'm outclassed and I'm just finding this out? I could of trained more!" Botan shrinks away a little, and Artemis notices this, calming herself "Nope. I refuse to let some rating system get me all worked up. You haven't seen my true power yet."
