Phenomenon

Written by Illuminatus

Disclaimer: I don't own Lord of the Rings or YuYu Hakusho.

Summary: When Koenma sends Yusuke and Kurama to investigate spiritual energy anomalies, the two Spirit Detectives expected just another boring mission. In, out, minimal conflict. What they find is a rip in the dimensional barrier—and their mission has just gotten a lot more complicated. Just how will two demons cope in Middle-Earth? Lord of the Rings crossover.

Pairings: None

Warnings: Some violence and language, but nothing over PG-13.

A/N: Something I wrote one or two years ago. Dug it up from the depths of my PC, reread it, and thought I might as well post it. xP May or may not continue this. Check my profile for story status.
Chapter I: Stranded "Are you sure this is the place?" grumbled Yusuke irritably.

On a nice Saturday afternoon, this was not what he wanted to be stuck doing—running another errand for the God of the Dead Junior. Hiei was in Makai taking care of some business with Mukuro, and Kuwabara was helping out at Genkai's shrine, so that left him and Kurama to cater to the damn toddler's every whim.

Nor was he particularly happy about being awoken rather rudely that morning by Botan flying through his window and finding out that he had to drag himself to Koenma's office.

The toddler deity had told them that there was some highly suspicious demonic activity going on, and that he had picked up some rather unusual energy signals nearby. He wanted the Detectives to investigate, and report back to him so that they could determine what needed to be done.

They were in an old abandoned warehouse, a run-down place overrun by rats and filled with stacks of cardboard boxes. It was a shady place that most people avoided, with the exception of the city's drug addicts who gathered here to get high.

Kurama nodded. "I'm sure. This is what Botan and Koenma told us about. The residual energy traces…it's unmistakable."

Yusuke scowled darkly. "I don't see anything. Although…" He paused, scowl fading, and closed his eyes. Kurama was right – something definitely felt wrong about this place. "I do feel something strange."

"Yusuke, look at this."

Yusuke's eyes snapped open to see his companion standing behind him, staring at nothing in particular, it appeared.

"What are you—" He stopped mid-sentence as he approached the fox demon. The energy signature here was bizarre in a way he could not describe. It was chaotic, wild…

"Weird." Yusuke scanned the area carefully, frowning when nothing out of the ordinary appeared. "Where is it coming from?"

Kurama made a gesturing motion at the space in front of him. "Look closely. It is certainly odd."

The dark-haired boy narrowed his eyes. There was a…ripple in the air, for lack of a better word, a horizontal seam approximately ten feet across and no more than a few inches in width. The air shimmered, almost like a mirage. He could sense tendrils of reiki and even some faint traces of youki, evidence of recent demonic presences. If Kurama hadn't pointed it out to him, Yusuke would have missed it altogether.

He knelt cautiously, and held one hand out and poked through the wrinkle in the air, and promptly jerked it back out when part of his hand disappeared through. "Is that what I think it is?"

"The veil is thin here." Kurama was disturbed. If the barrier separating the Ningenkai, Makai, and the Reikai was damaged, demons could easily pass from one realm to another. This needed to be repaired as soon as possible.

Yusuke straightened up resolutely and grinned. "Alright, we've figured out the problem. Let's go tell the toddler and get on with our lives." He turned to leave when Kurama grabbed his arm.

"Wait."

He froze, subconsciously drawing from his reserves of reiki in a pre-fight preparation. He sensed faint demon energy signatures nearby, warped slightly. From the other side of the barrier, he realized. "We have company," he said, slipping back into a cocky stance and a smirk fixed on his face.

"Wonderful." Kurama chuckled, reaching into his hair and locating a single rose seed. The energy signatures were growing clearer with each passing second.

The two Detectives stood back, eyeing the damaged barrier apprehensively. Suddenly, the rip stretched and lengthened, and two dark blurs hurdled through.

Spying Yusuke and Kurama, they hissed venomously, forked tongues flickering in the air. Yusuke noticed that their skin was covered with dull brownish-yellow scales. He took a quick evaluation of their youki. Both exhibited relatively weak energy levels, no higher than upper D class.

One of them narrowed his eyes – mere yellow slits – and leapt towards Kurama, mouth wide open to reveal two long fangs. Something long, thin, and green slashed through him effortlessly, cutting the body neatly into two halves.

Yusuke dispatched the other demon with a well-aimed punch from one reiki-charged fist. Kurama was coiling up his Rose Whip, blood dripping from its thorns.

"Is that all?" he asked in mock-disappointment.

Yusuke held his fist ready and smirked. "You speak too soon, Fox."

Indeed, no sooner had the words left his mouth than more scale-covered figures leapt through the opening, hissing viciously. The pair soon had more than enough to keep them busy.

It wasn't too difficult, the kitsune thought, as his Rose Whip cut through another body with fluid ease. These snake demons had the unfortunate habit of plastering their intent on their bodies…one only needed to know how to read their body language to predict their moves.

Too easy, Yusuke thought irritably. Since his leisurely Saturday was a lost cause, he'd been hoping for something that was at least worth his time. He sensed before he heard the demon approaching him from behind. A crack of a whip, and that particular threat was removed. Yusuke finished off his current opponent and turned to thank Kurama for covering him…just in time to watch two youkai tackle the kitsune, sending him hurling backwards into the dimensional rip.

"Shit! Kurama!" Should he go after him? What if he needed help on the other side? Ah, damn you, Fox! Yusuke snarled and kicked a snake demon out of his way before running and vaulting through the torn barrier.

He landed roughly, face down. When he opened his eyes, he noticed that he was in a forest of some sort. Kurama was nowhere in sight, but one of the demon that had tackled him was lying not too far away, a puddle of blood collecting underneath the body.

Groaning, he sat up, wiping the dirt off his face and clothes. Something coiled around his torso. With a startled yelp, Yusuke felt himself being lifted off the ground and into the air. Before he had time to free himself, he had been pulled into the treetops. The hold on him slackened and released. He landed straddling a thick tree bough, and only then did he notice that he had been lifted by some sort of vine—dark green, with heart-shaped leaves. Vines? That could only mean…

"Kurama."

A low chuckling met his ears, and he felt before he saw the fox demon sitting leisurely with his back to the trunk of the tree.

"Mind telling me what that was for?" Yusuke growled. He was aching all over, first from his not-too-gentle arrival through the barrier, and then getting tossed up into a tree. There were sure to be at least a few bruises to show for his troubles by tomorrow.

For an answer, Kurama pointed down at the ground below them. A few seconds passed in silence before several dark shapes flitted through the undergrowth, disappearing through what could only be the rip in the barrier.

When the coast was clear, Kurama summoned the vines again and let them carry him down.

"Hey, what about me?" came an indignant cry from above.

He looked up at Yusuke through the foliage and smiled wryly. "I though you didn't like my vines."

Yusuke rolled his eyes at the teasing and began climbing down, muttering something about 'the damn fox and his plants.'

"Any ideas where we are?" he asked, when his feet finally touched the ground again. The forest floor was dappled with shafts of sunlight and shadow, shifting and dancing as a zephyr rustled the forest canopy.

Kurama closed his eyes and relaxed. He breathed in the scents of the plants around him, basking in the ki of the vegetation around him. He was brought out of his semi-trance by Yusuke's irritated growl. "I apologize, Yusuke. You wouldn't understand, but this forest….it is ancient. The energy is saturated in the very earth. It is exhilarating to me."

Yusuke could see that this was bringing out the Youko side of Kurama's persona, and snorted. "Whatever."

"As for your question, the plant life here bears a strong resemblance to that of the Ningenkai."

"We're not in the Ningenkai."

Kurama sniffed discretely. "This place doesn't smell like Makai either, nor Reikai, for that matter."

"Well, wherever the hell we are, I'm going back."

Kurama turned when he heard a sharp agitated hiss coming from Yusuke. "What?"

"The portal! It—fucking—disappeared!"

Wow, my first update in…16 months. oo Just to reacquaint myself with submitting stuff on this site.

Reviews appreciated, as always. Remember, story progress can be found in my profile.