Chapter One: The Portal
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"What in the HELL is taking so goddamn long?!"
Yusuke Urameshi stomped his foot hard on the ground. He and his three Spirit Detective partners, Kazuma Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei were standing just outside of town. Botan had asked them to wait there for her, as she had important news from Koenma to bring them.
"Relax, Yusuke," said Kurama in his smooth, soft voice. "She'll get here."
"She said she'd be here at 5:00. It's 5:45! I missed wrestling…"
"Urameshi's right, this really sucks!" said Kuwabara. Just as he finished speaking, a girl with blue hair and wearing a pink kimono appeared on a floating oar. Botan. Her face was marred with sweat.
"I'm sorry…I'm sorry!" she wheezed.
Yusuke frowned at her. "Botan, what the hell kept you?"
"It's the spirit world. Everything's in a huge rush up there. I had to fight my way through swarms of servant ogres both ways!" She sighed.
"Whatever is causing it must be pretty bad," said Kurama.
Botan nodded. "It is. We've detected a strange rip in the fabric of our universe. We don't know exactly where it is, but it's somewhere in the woods outside of town."
"A rip, eh?" said Yusuke. "Another demon invasion?"
"That's just it. We're not sure WHERE this rip goes. It could be a portal to the Makai, but it could just as easily be something else entirely. We want you to find this rip."
Hiei scoffed. "A scavenger hunt? This is hardly worthy of my time!"
"Hey, shut it, shrimp!" snarled Kuwabara. "I mean, Koenma wouldn't send us if it wasn't mega-important…right, Urameshi?"
Yusuke raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "How should I know?"
Botan rolled her eyes, chuckling quietly. "Anyway…Koenma also wanted me to tell you he said that under NO circumstances are you to go through that portal. As I've already said, we don't know what's on the other side of it. You could be lost to us forever. I'd better hurry back now. Good luck, Spirit Detectives!" With that, she disappeared.
Yusuke sighed. "Sounds simple enough. Find hole, don't fall in. Let's get started, guys." Yusuke turned and left, followed by Kuwabara.
"Are you going to come, Hiei?" asked Kurama.
"Hn. I might as well," said the small fire demon after a pause. "These 'simple' assignments have a habit of becoming interesting. Especially with those two…" They followed after the two humans.
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"Kuwabara, you feeling anything with your Spirit Awareness?"
Kuwabara looked around for a bit. "I'm…not quite sure. There's definitely something in these woods…and we ARE getting closer to it, whatever it is. To tell you the truth, Urameshi, it's making me uncomfortable."
Yusuke chuckled. "Getting a little scared, Kuwabara?" he said in a mocking tone.
Kuwabara scowled. "No way!!! I'm not scared, just…uncomfortable…"
Yusuke stifled a laugh, then turned to Kurama and Hiei. "What about you two?"
Hiei had taken his headband off, revealing the Jagan eye in the middle of his forehead. "For once, the big ox is right. There IS something nearby that we're getting closer to with every step. But I can't get a solid fix on it…!"
Kuwabara growled. "Maybe if you put some eye drops in that thing, you could find it!"
"Up yours, human!"
"Squirt!"
"Fool!"
"Dumbass!"
"Weakling!"
Yusuke threw up his hands. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!!! Knock it off! We DON'T need this! Let's just find this stupid rip and get this over with!" Kuwabara and Hiei stopped fighting, but still glared at one another.
They continued on for another ten minutes. Kuwabara began feeling more and more strange as they advanced. Suddenly, Hiei spoke up.
"Hold it." Everybody stopped. "…It's here!"
Everybody looked around. There didn't seem to be anything wrong. The forest around them looked perfectly normal.
"Hiei, is your brain fried or something?" said Yusuke. "There's nothing here!"
Hiei scowled. "You think I'd waste our time with a joke?! If you don't feel it, surely Kurama and Moron do!"
"Yeah, I CAN feel it…" started Kuwabara before his brain processed the entirety of what Hiei said. "…HEY!"
"Yes, I believe you as well, Hiei. It's here, no doubt," said Kurama.
Yusuke raised an eyebrow, and laughed. "Guess I'm outvoted. I figured there'd be like a big, blinding light or something…anyway, can you tell EXACTLY where it is?"
Hiei scanned around for a minute, then stopped and faced one direction. "Right there. Not five meters in front of where I'm facing."
Yusuke looked in the same direction. As he did, he noticed something odd. At first, he wasn't sure what it was, but when he squinted his eyes a bit, he saw it. The forest in that direction seemed to warp slightly. Yusuke's eyes widened.
"Whoa…I can see it! Sorry I doubted you, Hiei!"
"Hn," came the fire demon's reply.
They approached to within a couple of meters. Yusuke wiped some sweat off of his brow.
"All right, now that we found it, what in the hell do we DO with the thing?"
Kurama spoke up. "Do you still have the Communication Mirror?"
"Nah, I forgot the damned-Kuwabara!! What the hell are you doing!?" The tall boy was standing right in front of the warped area.
"Whoa…Urameshi, I'm feeling all kinds of wacky spiritual stuff coming from this spot…" Suddenly, a soft glow began emanating from the rip.
Yusuke's eyes grew huge. "Kuwabara! GET AWAY FROM THERE, QUICK!!!" But it was too late. The glow intensified, and Kuwabara felt himself unable to pull away. It was drawing him in!
"AAH! Help me, guys!"
"I'm coming!" cried Yusuke as he rushed over to the aid of his friend. He grabbed Kuwabara's waist and pulled with all his might. It didn't work. He, too, was being drawn in.
"Damn it…Kurama, Hiei! We could do with some help here!!"
"Right!" Kurama ran up and grabbed Yusuke's midsection. He dug in his heels and tried his best to pull them free. Still nothing. He was becoming trapped as well.
"HIEI! Get your thumb out of your ass and help-" The rest of Yusuke's sentence was cut off as the rip engulfed his head.
Kurama turned towards his friend. "Hiei, please! Help out!"
Hiei rolled his eyes, then swallowed his pride and ran over. He grabbed onto Kurama, and pulled. To his surprise, it had no effect. Soon, they were pulled in.
"Damn it…remind me to kill Kuwabara if we all survive this…!" cried Hiei just before he went in all the way…
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Yusuke was in blackness. Silent blackness. He couldn't see or hear a thing.
"Whoa…too weird! Where am I…?"
The blackness seemed to last for an eternity. He felt as though he were floating, not unlike when he had been a ghost. Suddenly, he had a feeling like his body had slammed into something hard.
"Oof! What the hell is this…?"
Yusuke felt totally drained, like he could sleep for a thousand years. But he remembered what had happened. He remembered the portal and what it did to Kuwabara. Yes…his friends had all been sucked in. He had to wake up!
"GAH!" Yusuke's eyes flew open. The world was a blur for a moment, and then swiftly came into focus. He was still in the middle of the forest…but something was different about it. This forest seemed…richer, healthier, and greener than the one they had been in. Yusuke gasped suddenly. Where were the others? He quickly looked around him, and gave a sigh of relief as he saw his three teammates lying down near him.
"Guys? Yo, guys! Wake up!"
That did the trick. Slowly, they all awoke.
"Where…are we?" asked Kuwabara.
"Dunno. It looks like the woods, but…different."
Kurama looked up at the treetops. "Yes…this is not where we were. Most definitely not."
"Then…where are we?" asked Kuwabara, his voice quavering.
Yusuke sighed. "Lost. We're all lost…"
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Author's Note: Just so you know, here's what attacks the YYH characters will have in this story:
Yusuke: Spirit Gun, Shotgun, Spirit Wave
Kuwabara: Spirit Sword, Spiritual Strike, Aggression
Kurama: Rose Whiplash, Petal Protector, Demon Plant, Seed of Destruction
Hiei: Black Flaming Sword, Black Dragon Spirit, Black Dragon Devour