Chapter 1

The Warriors Reunited

"Damn, I'm bored…" yawned a restless Corey Kartana. The young man, seventeen years of age, was trying his hardest not to fall asleep in his History class. As the teacher rambled on about something to do with the Civil War, Corey couldn't help but let is eyes trail off towards the open window. It didn't help his mood to find rain pouring down outside school.

Corey Kartana was wearing his usual garments: a black t-shirt, a pair of jeans, tennis shoes, and a leather jacket. His brown hair was slicked back into spikes, and he had a brown goatee, as well, with a hint of Irish red on the sides of it. His palm was supporting his chin, and his elbow was pressed against the desktop. His eyes wandered over to the clock.

2:20…only five minutes left of class…come on, you bastard…change! As time slowly clicked on, Corey thought he was going to go insane of boredom, until finally, after what seemed an eternity, the bell rang. Grinning, Corey grabbed his backpack and ran out the door and into the parking lot of the school. He walked through the aisles of cars until he found his Subaru. It was a white car, small, but at least it was decent and got good gas mileage. He got in and as quickly as he could leave the parking lot of his high school.

Not much has changed since that day six months ago…when we beat Shura and saved the world… Corey often found himself reminiscing about the past and his "case" against Shura. The boy was still the Spirit Detective of Earth, along with his best friend Derek Maison, who was also a demon. Normally their missions involved destroying demons, but there were always exceptions to demons. They could be good or bad.

Once they had defeated Shura, life went back to normal for the most part. Every so often, Kurama would inform them of a case, but they were all so simple compared to the world changing adventure they had when they fought the demon dictator.

Corey felt himself getting bored as time went by. He figured it was because he had all this new power that he had received from Yusuke to defeat the Demon Lord, and nothing to use it against. It also didn't help that Derek was spending a lot of time with the demon thief, Jade. Although he had not seen them actually do anything except kiss, he wondered if they were dating or not. Neither of the two demons told him anything, which was beginning to piss him off.

Whatever…I gotta meet Derek anyways back at the old meeting spot. We have to figure out what were going to do concerning the tournament.

There had been one condition for Corey receiving the spiritual energy of the half demon Yusuke Urameshi, and that was that both he and Derek had to participate in what was called the Demon Realm Tournament. Since he was part demon thanks to an ancestor named Raizen, Corey was allowed to join the fight. Derek was full demon, so there was no problem there.

I just wonder what our chances are… there's going to be demons just like Shura there and stronger, and we barely beat Shura. Things are going to get interesting fast, I can tell.

******

Corey arrived at the base of Mt. Solo, and climbed out of his car slamming the door as he got out. He climbed the beat down trail that he and Derek had created years ago, hands in his pockets as he does. It wasn't to steep so he didn't have to worry about falling backwards. The path up was quite beautiful. Greenery everywhere the eye could see. Trees, bushes, plants; everything one would expect from a Northwest town.

Corey made it up the hill and was heading over to the point when he spotted Derek, but he wasn't alone. In fact, it was Jade who was with him. Go figure. The two had been glued together ever since they got back from Spirit World.

"Sorry, am I interrupting?" he asked loudly. Even though the two were just holding hands and sitting, they still jumped up and looked at him.

"Corey!" Derek exclaimed, as if surprised to see his friend there. Derek was wearing street clothes just like Corey was. A blue t-shirt and jeans, a pair of tennis shoes, and a backwards baseball cap. Jade was wearing clothes that a normal human would be wearing. A white blouse, pair of cargo pants, tennis shoes, and her hair was up in a ponytail.

"Hello, Corey." She said with that usual mischievous smile.

"Hey there, Thief." Corey replied, calling her by his usual nickname towards her. He then looked over at Derek, "Bringing thieves up to the spot, eh?"

Derek turned slightly red. It still embarrassed him when Corey dissed him about Jade, for whatever reason. He didn't mind Jade at all anymore, but it was still enjoyable to make fun of them.

"Shut up, Corey. What are you doing here?" he asked hastily.

"What do you mean? We're supposed to go meet Kurama about the tournament! Do you honestly think we'd stand a chance against the demons there as we are now?" Corey smirked, "Well…I might, but you…well, you'd be screwed."

"What!?" Derek yelled, tightening his grip into a fist, "Without me, you would have been dead because of Shura!"

"You cheap-shotted him! I could have easily beaten him!"

"Bull-shit! You would have been killed!"

"You'd have died first!"

"Boys, boys!" Jade interrupted, stepping between us. Through out the insults, the two had moved right up towards each other, and if Jade hadn't step in, there would have been flying fists in a moment, "You both beat Shura, okay?"

"Hmph…" Derek said, crossing his arms a crossed his chest.

"Anyways…" Corey said, frowning, hands in his pockets, "We have to go meet Kurama in like an hour. He's going to explain our training conditions to us. I told you this."

"Oh…right. Well, lets go." Derek replied, seeming completely clueless about the whole thing. He and Jade then began to walk down the hill.

"You love sick dumb ass…" Corey said quietly, rubbing in between his eyes in annoyance and following after them.

******

Corey pulled up to an apartment building in the middle of the town, and got out of the car. Derek was pulling in next to him, and he and Jade then got out as well. The three walked up to the apartments, and went over to room number 8. Corey held out his hand and knocked on the front of the door, and they all waited.

"Come in." Came a voice from inside, and they did just that. The apartment was fairly decent sized. There were two couches against the wall in the living room, and what looked to be a 30" TV in an entertainment system. The blinds were closed, and a single light was on above the room. It looked like there was a kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom as well, but it was unseen at the moment. Sitting on the couch was Kurama. The red-haired demon was wearing a sports jacket and slacks, and a white button shirt. He smiled at the three of them. It had been about three months since they were in contact with each other.

"Corey, Derek, Jade. Nice to see you three again." He said, smiling and standing up from the couch, shaking each of their hands as he said their names.

"Hey, Kurama. How's it going?" Corey asked, also smiling.

"Everything's well. I assume you three got your paychecks for the month?" he asked, and the three nodded. Jade was also made Spirit Detective, since Koenma did not want her to go back to a life of crime. Koenma was the prince of the Spirit World, son to King Yama.

Spirit World paid pretty well, especially since for the past two months they haven't even had a single case. The last one was hardly even worth the effort. A C-Class demon was starting a rebellion group, so Derek and Corey easily took care of that. Still, getting paid nearly $3000 a month was pretty good for a seventeen and an eighteen year old.

"Okay, Kurama, we've waited long enough. From what you've told me, the Demon World Tournament is happening in a year, and we haven't lifted a finger to train!" Corey complained, and then grinned, "I'm going there to win it after all. I'm gonna be king of the demons!" He crossed his arms over his chest and nodded.

Derek laughed, "Yeah right. You're a human. You can't be a demon king. I don't even know why you're even allowed in this competition."

"What?! They asked me because I'm related to Yusuke, that's why! That makes me demon enough!" Corey replied, glaring over at Derek.

"It's true," said Kurama, "Corey is a distant relative of Yusuke, and a descendent of Raizen, making him a partial demon. Also, considering his strength, I doubt many will complain. All the strong demons in the tournament are always looking for a good challenge." He smirked at all of them.

"So who're we training with? Am I with you and Corey with Gero again?" Derek asked, glancing over at Corey and Jade, and then back at Kurama, who actually shook his head.

"No. Actually, Corey will train with Yusuke." He replied.

"Really?" Corey asked, blinking. "Is he up for it? I mean he did give me all of his spiritual power." To his surprise, Kurama began to chuckle, "What's so funny?"

"You forget, Corey, Yusuke is pure demon now. He will be more then a good teacher for you…there is a condition, though."

"What?" Corey asked, frowning again. The last condition Yusuke had given him got him stuck into fighting in this tournament in the first place.

"He didn't tell me, but I'm sure it is fair." Kurama informed him, causing the young man to grumble.

"What about me?" Derek asked again. Kurama turned his attention onto him now, and smiled.

"You will be training with Hiei Jaganshi and Mukuro, and their son, Dia."

"Whoa. Wait. Who the hell is Hiei?" Derek asked. Jade looked at him as though he was insane.

"You're kidding me! You don't know who Hiei is?!" she asked quickly. Both Corey and Derek shook there heads, "You two are crazy! How can you not know Hiei??"

"Sounds like you're his groupie, Thief…" Corey commented, grinning a bit as Jade glared at him.

"He and Mukuro are two of the strongest demons in all of Demon World!" she yelled at him. Corey gave her a blank look.

"Who?"

"You don't even know who Mukuro is?!"

"Eh…doesn't ring a bell…"

"Corey, I explained who she was to you…" Kurama told him.

"Like I remember…" Corey said, moving from the front of the door and sitting down on the couch. Derek followed in suit, and they left an infuriated Jade to grumble and lean against a wall.

"Anyways…" Kurama said, getting their attention to him, "Everything is all set up for you three to leave in three days."

"Three days?!" Derek asked in a hurry.

"Us three?!" Corey said right after, looking over at Jade. "Don't tell me she's going, too!"

"Of course I am!" Jade said, smirking at him now, "I will be training with my old teacher, so don't worry about me bugging you, Corey." Corey grumbled and then looked back at Kurama.

"So…what? Are you doing that exchange student shit again like you did when I trained with Gero?" Corey asked, and Kurama nodded his head.

"Yes. You two did so well that the institute you were at before wants you to come back. Spirit World has already cleared it with the school, and your mother will have received the message in the mail today." He moved over and looked at the three of them carefully,

"You three are going to be competing in one of the most dangerous competitions ever known. I don't have to tell you to be careful." The three nodded, "Good. Now, go home and rest. Corey, I will actually be meeting at your house tonight with your mother to explain the situation. I'll see you there."

They all nodded, and shook hands with Kurama again and then left the apartment. After a short good-bye from Derek and Jade, Corey went to his car and started to drive home.

"Like I said…it's going to get interesting pretty fast…" he said as he drove down the road.

******

Two days went by quickly for Corey. His mother was just as excited for him as she was the first time. Kurama made an excellent "teacher" for her, so she of course agreed. Corey was the one who had to tell Liz about what was going on. She, too, was a Spirit Detective, and wasn't happy that she was being left out of the tournament. It took Kurama to finally get her to realize that there was no way she could go since, well, she wasn't a demon. It also worked out so that she could continue to protect the city while they were away for the next twelve months.

******

As his last day lagged on slowly though school, Corey found himself with the urge to just not go to his last class, which was Spanish. His mother had finally made him take a foreign language, and he wasn't too happy about it.

"Not like I need it where I'm going…" He mumbled as he began to walk off campus. He figured maybe a burger would help him get back on the subject of fighting demons, so he started walking to the local burger joint. As he walked down the sidewalk, he suddenly felt the urge to stop. He glanced around slowly, a serious look on his face.

I'm being followed? By who? He thought to himself. A demon? No…I would have been able to sense him…unless he was a lot stronger then the normal trash that come around here. Damn…

He slowly put his hands in his pockets and walked in a different direction then the burger place. He took a few odd routes into the city, all the while feeling eyes upon him. It made his spine shiver, since he couldn't pin point where or what it was. He finally made his way into an ally, and headed to the very back of it, where a wall was. He stopped and turned around, and winced as he saw a man draped in black robes behind him.

"Can I help you?" Corey asked, hands still in his pockets and a glare in his eyes. The figure didn't move, but held up a hand. He pointed at Corey, and just the way he did it made his skin crawl.

"You…" came a raspy voice from the robes. His face was covered as well, so there was no way for Corey to decipher what kind of demon or human this guy was, "You are Corey Kartana, are you not?"

"Yea…who wants to know?" Corey snapped at him. This guy creeped him out, and he honestly did not want to be there at the moment. The man then began to laugh hoarsely.

"Corey Kartana…good luck, in the Demon World Tournament." He started to laugh again. Never one for patience, or an annoying laugh, Corey had had enough.

"Okay, pal, if you don't start answering my questions, I'm gonna kick your ass!" The being did not stop his laughter. Corey then ran at him, fists balled up. He stopped inches away from the man and brought up his fist in a motion to punch him right where his face should be, but at the moment the contact should have been delivered, all Corey felt was air.

"What?!" he asked, stumbling a bit, but quickly regaining his balance. He looked around quickly, trying to find the hooded man, but could not.

Who the hell was that? How'd he know me? With one final shiver, Corey left the ally way, unsure on what had just happened, or how it was going to affect him later.

******

"Are you all ready to go?" Asked Kurama, smiling. It was later that day, and Corey, Derek, and Jade were all back in Kurama's apartment, standing and waiting for instructions.

Corey hadn't told anyone about the incident from earlier, not even Derek. Something about it just seemed to weird. They had all packed lightly; Corey with the training Gi that he used to train with Gero in, Derek had his robes from the fight with Shura, and Jade had a backpack filled with who knew what. She wouldn't tell any of them, not that Corey cared. Kurama then stood and nodded,

"All right. I will now open the portal to the Demon Realm. I believe that representatives of both Yusuke and Hiei will be waiting for you two, Corey and Derek. Jade, I assume you know where you're going." She nodded, "Good. Well, here we go."

The red haired demon turned around and went to a nearby closet and opened it. What was in it wasn't a coat, but a blue and black vortex. The colors spiraled around each other quickly. A slight suction was felt coming from the portal, as well.

"So…that's the entrance to Demon World…" Corey repeated, and looked over at Derek and Jade, smirking, "Ready for a fun ride?"

"Yea…let's do this." Derek said, pounding his fist into his palm, grinning. Jade smirked and went over to him, giving him a kiss on the cheek, causing him to turn red. Corey sighed and shook his head.

"What was that for?" Derek asked after a few moments. She smiled at him,

"Because…I wont see you for twelve months. That's why." She winked, grabbed her bag, and leapt into the portal. Once entering, she quickly disappeared. Derek gave a sad look to Corey, who returned it with a punch in the arm.

"Quit whining! We're fighting in a tournament of demons. Get pumped!" he grinned at him. Derek laughed and nodded,

"Good point. See you on the other side!" and with that he grabbed his own things and leapt in, disappearing just as quickly as Jade had. Corey looked over at Kurama and grinned, giving him a half salute.

"Catch ya later, Kurama." He said.

"Good luck, Corey. Give Yusuke my regards." Kurama replied, and Corey nodded. He grabbed his own bag, took a breath, and then leapt into the portal.