Okay! I'm going to stop making promises of any sort because things just keep coming up and I can never keep them, plus I don't want to make anyone upset by breaking them. The one thing I still maintain is that whenever I do update, there will need to be at least six reviews. Honestly, I really am sorry, it's my last year of high school and prom is coming up and projects are due and exams are coming up for three weeks and things are pretty overwhelming. So yeah.

Thanks to all my reviewers, but I'll let you get to the next chap right away. I love you all for your continued support, even though I'm being an idiot and not updating when I should. I hope I can count on your continued support, because you are the reason I keep writing. But to answer Vitanie Tora's question, Hiei can't sense it with his Jagan because Doctor Clone is blocking him. He does sense something iffy, but that's it.

Disclaimer: You all know the drill...and six reviews...

For now, just enjoy this chapter. It's not one of my favorites, but I like the fight scene.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN – ROUND TWO

The next day, Tamora woke up and switched off the headpiece, discreetly slipping it under her pillow when Catalyn wasn't looking. She felt so much better after a long night of training.

"Good morning, Tamora!" Catalyn said cheerfully, flashing a smile as she tied up her hair. Tamora made her no reply.

Catalyn's morning mood faded fairly quickly during the short walk to the stadium. Tamora supposed it was finally sinking in that she would have to sit out the final round due to Kuwabara's injury, for he and Kurama would not accompany the gang today. Kurama agreed with Yukina and Catalyn that he needed a good rest, and though Kuwabara had wanted to watch the matches, as soon as he heard Yukina would be staying with Kurama, he opted to spend the day resting as well. Hiei had actually voiced an objection to this, but even Yukina agreed that rest would help the burn heal faster, even though it looked almost completely healed already.

Yukina also mentioned that a surprise would be awaiting Yusuke at the entrance to the stadium. Apparently it was something that would give him a real push. She also said that Koenma would be looking for Tamora before the matches started. This surprised everyone, for no one knew what the toddler would want with her. Frankly though, Tamora couldn't care less.

At the entrance, the gang finally discovered Yusuke's surprise. It was a young woman with short brown hair and large, sparkling eyes. She waved when she spotted them.

"Yusuke!" she called, hurrying towards them.

Yusuke stared incredulously as she came his way. "Keiko?" he gasped. "What are you doing –?"

And Keiko smacked him across the face.

Hiei snickered and Catalyn began to laugh. Tamora merely stared. So he has a girlfriend who can sock him, no problem, she thought. It suits a dork like him.

Yusuke rubbed his cheek gingerly, glaring at Keiko. "What the hell was that for?" he demanded.

Keiko glared, positively murderous. "How many times do I have to tell you!" she roared furiously. "Next time you go on a mission, let me know! Is that so much to ask?"

Yusuke held up his hands in resignation. "I forgot! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Yeesh!"

Catalyn grinned. "It's good to see you again, Keiko! Come to cheer us on?"

Keiko gave the thumbs up. "You bet! Shizuru was going to come to, but something came up. I'll be sitting with Botan and Koenma."

"Someone say my name?"

Tamora turned around to see Koenma in his teenage form making his way through the crowds towards them, with Botan at his heels. He carried in his hands a long parcel.

"Hey, everyone," Koenma said through his pacifier. "I guess Kurama and Kuwabara's injuries are healing still? Well, I'd better get down to business. Tamora, this is for you." He handed her the parcel.

Tamora stared at it suspiciously and unwrapped it, revealing a sword similar to Hiei's. It was just what she needed for her next fight, considering how Hiei had been loath to hand over his own katana.

"I saw your fight in the first round, and I decided you'd be better off with a sword of your own rather than Hiei's," Koenma explained. He stopped, as if expecting a thank-you of some sort, but Tamora wasn't about to give it to him. So he said, "Well, we'd better go in and get some good seats." He turned to go.

"Good luck, you guys!" Botan called over her shoulder.

Keiko followed her. "Don't lose, Yusuke!" she added.

Yusuke grinned after her retreating figure. Tamora scowled. A teenager in love. Typical.

They entered the arena a few minutes later to face their opponents, four members of The Fists of Doom. All were muscled, tough-looking men, but Tamora didn't care. She kept her eye on the tallest one, the one who wielded a sword. He had long hair in a ponytail and wore the outfit of a samurai. No one else mattered.

This time, the commentator was Juri, Koto's partner in tournaments. "Both teams appear to have left their two spares at home!" she said into the microphone. "Therefore, the first match will start right away! Both teams, please send your first contestant!"

A slim but well-built, broad-shouldered man stepped forward. He wore sunglasses and his thin lips were set in a firm line. He wore fighting gear similar to Catalyn's.

"None of them have very strong demonic powers," Catalyn noted, speaking to Tamora. "So I guess it won't matter who you fight. Would you like to take the first round?"

Tamora shook her head. "No," she muttered.

"No?" asked Yusuke. "Why not?"

"Fine, then, I'll take this one," Catalyn said, straightening her stance. "It might be just me, but these guys seem more like humans than demons. Plus I can tell this one might have a style similar to mine. I'd like to take this guy on."

"Be my guest," Yusuke said. "I think I'm gonna go for Muscles over there." Tamora followed his gaze and noticed a man with massive muscles unlike anything she'd ever seen. She scowled.

Catalyn leaped into the ring, propelling herself forward with her tail and using it to steady her smooth landing. She took a few more steps forward until she and her opponent were equal distances away from Juri, which wasn't very far.

"Okay!" Juri yelled. "The Fists of Doom have sent the famous martial artist Holden out first! As for team Urameshi, they're starting with the skilled feline warrior, Catalyn!"

Yusuke frowned. "Holden?" he repeated. "I've heard that name before. Back home." Tamora had recognized the man as well, but she said nothing. "I'm almost positive – he's a human!"

"Hn. Took you long enough to figure it out," Hiei muttered. "Isn't it obvious, Yusuke? Their lack of demonic energy, replaced instead with some spiritual awareness? Oh, I forgot. You're just as clueless as that dimwit Kuwabara."

"Shaddup, you little runt!" Yusuke seethed, waving his fists menacingly.

"Hn."

Juri's voice startled him back to attention. "And – begin!"

Catalyn took up a common neutral pose, ready to strike or defend at any moment. Her ears were twitching. Tamora knew what that meant from the notes Doctor Clone had given her. Her ears were very keen at sensing any kind of energy or abilities. She was studying her opponent before she acted, just like Kurama. She sighed. No wonder they were such a pair.

While focusing on Catalyn, Tamora also wondered about their opponents. Sure, they looked like humans, but so did Hiei and Kurama, who were most definitely demons. Even Catalyn was human enough except for her feline features. But their lack in demonic energy meant that they were indeed human after all. So that raised another question: If this tournament, taking place in the demon realm, is for demons, how did a team of humans besides Team Urameshi get involved? Was this another case like that of the Dark Tournament? When Tamora had read up on Yusuke and Kuwabara's combat skills, she had looked into their encounter with the three humans controlled by a demon. However, after studying her current opponents hard, she noticed no signs of them being under something's control. Or were they just power-hungry humans wanting to be stronger?

Holden made the first move. He rushed at Catalyn with lightning-quick steps. Catalyn immediately sidestepped, and he pivoted on one foot while kicking with the other. She raised her own leg to block the attack, using her tail to keep herself balanced. He grabbed her foot to pull her down. She went down easily, pressing her palms to the ground. Then her free foot swung around and took his legs out from under him. At the same time, they both pushed themselves off the ground with their hands and into the air.

They had pushed off close to each other. As they reached the height of their jumps, they swung their legs around to deliver a bone-shattering kick. Their legs collided as a parry and they quickly separated once again, only to lash out with their opposite legs, blocking each other once more.

"Would you look at that!" Juri was yelling into the microphone. "This is martial arts at its best! They're timing their attacks perfectly, yet preventing each other from managing even one single hit!"

Holden landed first. The moment he did, he charged for Catalyn, who still hadn't reached the ground. He sent a terrifying kick her way. Quickly, Catalyn bent towards the foot and held it off with the back of her palm, pushing it away. Then she leaned back again and landed, always maintaining her balance.

She and Holden collided in a flurry of fists and feet. They were so close together, moving so rapidly, that Tamora almost couldn't keep up. Still, she forced her eyes to focus on every little detail of their movements, studying the patterns and memorizing them. After all, the more patterns she could give Doctor Clone, the more of an advantage his clone would gain over Hiei. She knew Hiei liked to stick to his own style. That would be partly responsible for his own demise.

Finally, the two fighters separated. Holden's sunglasses cracked down the middle and slid off his face, revealing pale, sinister eyes, full of focus and contempt.

"Hmph," he said, speaking for the first time. His voice was smooth and deep. "You managed one hit."

Catalyn grinned, rotating and stretching her shoulder as a fist-sized red mark began to form an ugly bruise. "So did you," she pointed out with a wicked grin, her golden eyes flashing. "It's a draw. Looks like you can't beat me."

"It will hurt you to be so cocky," Holden replied. "Allow me to show you what I mean!" He charged, his speed twice that of before.

Catalyn barely had time to dodge. At the last possible second, her tail propelled her into the air. It positioned her to block the incoming fist with her left foot. Her right leg straight in the air, she swung it downwards to crush into the space between Holden's neck and shoulder.

Yusuke cried out in shock. Before she could land the hit, Holden had closed his fists around her left foot and used the grip to swing his leg up to block the kick. With his hands and feet trapping her legs, he easily swung her around and threw her out of the ring.

Catalyn braced herself for impact as she flew towards the wall just below the stands. Her eyes widened as she saw Holden zooming towards her, positioned to strike.

"Holden's done it!" Juri exclaimed. "He created an opening, and now Catalyn's defenseless! What will hit her first – the wall or the opponent?"

As Catalyn hurtled towards the wall, she forced her body to turn so that her back would collide with it. Just as Holden closed in on her, there was a resounding crash. Concrete flew in all directions and dust swept up to cover the scene. Suddenly, a body flew out of the chaos and landed headfirst into the ring.

Juri rushed over to see what it was. Tamora squinted to identify the fallen body. It was –

"It's Holden!" Juri announced. "And from the looks of it, he's unconscious! But where's Catalyn?"

The dust cleared, and everyone saw what happened to Catalyn. She had used her tail to defend her back from the wall as she delivered the kick that would defeat Holden, but the force of her flight could not keep her from crashing through the concrete. She stumbled out from the hole in the wall and instantly pitched downwards. She tried to get up again but her ankle gave way. Tamora could tell from the funny angle that she had fractured it.

Still on the ground, Catalyn held a palm over her injury. She healed the fracture by transferring some of her healing energy from her hand to her ankle until it was fixed. Then she got up again, this time with no problems. She leaped back onto the ring.

"And Catalyn wins the first fight!" Juri exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air. "That's one win for Team Urameshi!"

"Hold on a second!" came Koto's voice from upstairs. "This is Koto here, upstairs with the instant replay! It seems that Juri did not take a proper count when Catalyn left the ring! Yes, Holden was unconscious and therefore beaten, but Catalyn took more than ten seconds to return to the ring! Therefore, this match has been declared a draw!"

"What?" Yusuke yelled.

Catalyn groaned but grinned at him. "It's the truth, Yusuke. I was kinda hoping they wouldn't notice." She returned to them and scowled. Tamora had never seen such fury in her face before. "Damn! I almost had it, too!"

"Well, you sure put up a good fight," Yusuke said. "Were those some new moves you were pulling there?"

Catalyn grinned again. "Ah, so you noticed," she said.

"Hn. Even with new moves, you still lost," Hiei said. Catalyn glared at him.

"Okay, everybody!" Juri announced. "It's time for the next contestants to step forward!"

The man Yusuke had dubbed as Muscles stepped up to the ring.

"Your turn!" Catalyn told him, turning her back to Hiei.

"Don't you lose too," Hiei muttered, and Catalyn once again had to glare.

Yusuke chuckled a little and hopped forward. He faced his large, muscular opponent with a grin. "Hey, big guy, ready for some action?"

His opponent looked down at him with beady black eyes. "You're excited," he said in a low grumble. "That's good."

"It's Yusuke Urameshi himself versus Marcus!" Juri cried. "On my count…begin!"

Juri immediately gave a shriek into the microphone and leaped back, for Marcus had already begun his assault. Yusuke prepared to parry.

Tamora watched suspiciously as Marcus closed in, his arm winding up for a spectacular punch. When Catalyn screamed, "Yusuke, watch out!" she knew that the others had noticed as well.

Yusuke leaped back, startled, and stared as Marcus' punch hit the ground. Enormous slabs of concrete flew everywhere. Some even flew into the stands, squashing demons. When things settled down, it became clear why it was imperative that Yusuke avoid the blow.

The ground where Marcus had hit had completely caved in and out again around his fist, creating a huge fissure in the concrete that he had smashed in all directions. It was astounding that a human's punch could cause so much damage.

"There was definitely a large amount of spirit energy involved in that punch," Catalyn affirmed. "These guys aren't ordinary humans, that's for sure."

Tamora could only stare ahead of her. Though her expression didn't show it, her thoughts were racing. What she had just seen…she'd never seen anything like it before. Was it a sign of things to come? She didn't know if she even wanted to find the answer to that question.

Yusuke surveyed the damage with a surprised expression. Then he relaxed into a grin. His eyes sparked with excitement as he cracked his knuckles.

"Hoo boy," he said. "This is gonna be good!"