Wooden Sword V.S. Spirit Sword

(Rio V.S. Kuwabara)

By Jimidamaru

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Shaman King or YuYu Hakusho so don't sue me!

In the bustling streets of Tokyo, a lone man walks though the crowd. Armed with his trademark bokuto (A.C. Bokuto Wooden Sword) his training of the mean streets, he continues down the path that will lead him to his new sacred hang, his happy place. He stops at a crosswalk, letting the cars pass him. "The sky's so blue," he sighs. "I never thought I would see a day like this. I wonder if this is a sign. A sign that will bring forth my sacred hang. With it, I will be king in my own right, along with my queen…if I could find her first!" He then crosses the street, continuing his thoughts.

Elsewhere, a school bell rings. Teenagers began exiting the school known as Saryashiki Junior High. Just then, a familiar red haired hoodlum turned hero walks out. "Man, that was tiresome." He sighed. He then looks up to the deep blue sky and thinks. I never thought the sky would be this blue. Well least there no demon terrorizing, or no Koenma sending any new missions Someone calling him then interrupted his thoughts. "Kazuma, Hey Kazuma!" On the inside, he blushes and turns around. "YUKINA!" A hand then stops him in his face. "Get real!" "Oh it's you Keiko. Nice way to get my HOPES UP!" he said yelling at her. "Ok, Sorry! Well where are you going today. I don't see the usual gang you hang with, and as usual, Yusuke ditched school." "Well I think things are a little to peaceful. I'm gonna head to the arcade, I need some action." He then walks off towards the nearest arcade. Keiko looks on at him thinking Poor Kazuma, he must still be hung over Yukina.

Lying down on a tree branch, the wooden sword fellow looks up to the sky. "This is a really serene day, wouldn't you say Tokageroh?" Just then a, lizard like man apparition appears. "Yes, it truly is master." "Ah, so you think so too. Well to make it better for you, how about going on a little adventure on your own." The apparition was surprised at this command. "Wha…are you sure of this, Master? You're not sick in the head or something?" "Nah, go ahead. Besides, you are an apparition; people can't see you. Go on, enjoy the things life er…. the afterlife has to offer." "Well, there was a samurai movie I wanted to go see." "Now THAT'S the spirit." Tokageroh then floats off to the movies. The wooden sword guy calls out to Tokageroh, "Hey, you know where you can find me!"

As Kazuma walks away from the arcade, he begins to think. Well, that worked well. I'm still feeling a little restless though. Man what I would give for a good ole fight right about now! He then crosses the street to go to the park, but just then, he gets a feeling that he haven't had in a while. He freezes up and his body gets chills. "Aww…man…the tickle…feeling." Kazuma then begins to shake it off and regains his composure. "Man a ghost was nearby. I felt it." At that moment, Tokageroh who was just floating pass stops and looks back. "Nah," Tokageroh thought. "He must be thinking of something." Kazuma focuses himself. "It's a…a lizard thing!" "Oh no, he senses me, I've got to get out of here." He says as he goes back the same direction he came." Kazuma then points it out. "It's THAT!!! Better go follow it, this might lead me to some action here!" Kazuma said as he chases after Tokageroh leading him to the deeper into the park.

"Master…Master…MASTER!!!" "ugh….What is it…can't you see I'm enjoying the day?" the wooden sword guy exclaimed. "Master… some body was able to spot me." "Huh… Please, the only other shaman here in Tokyo are the other Funbari Onsen members here so you wave nothing to worry about." Tokageroh looks over and sees Kazuma. "Oh no, that's him." "Oooooh…. Now he looks like fun. You sure it was him?" "Yes, Master!" "He looks like a regular guy, but lets see what he's about, shall we?"

Kazuma is still in high pursuit of the apparition. A voice then calls out to him. "Hey, what's the hurry?" Kazuma then stops to see who call out to him. "Over here!" the voice calls out again. Kazuma looks to his left and sees the wooden sword guy. "Yo, what's the rush?" "Uuuuh ….I have no time to explain, I'm in the middle of something." "Go ahead, I think I could understand your reason," said the bokuto guy. "Don't know why I'm saying this to you but, I'm chasing a lizard-like ghost." Kazuma answered. The bokuto guy then hops of the tree. "Well my friend, search no more. He's right here," he said, pointing a thumb to Tokageroh. Kazuma points at the apparition. "You…. have that…that LIZARD THING!?" "Yes, he's a good friend of mine, Tokageroh." "You realize he is a ghost right?" "Well DUH!" Kazuma then thinks to himself, This is whacked, gotta report this to Koenma. The wooden sword guy thinks He must be good if he can see ghosts as pain as day like that. Well a good old fight would settle this. "Hey, hand over the ghost now so it could go to his home in spirit realm." Kazuma said. "Nah," the bokuto guy said, "can't do that, Tokageroh hangs with me so he can't go. But let have some fun. Let's have a sparring match!" Kazuma perks up. "Shouldn't have challenge me, I love smashing people's faces in." "We will see who faces will be getting smashed!" Kazuma then dashes towards the bokuto guy. "YOUR MISTAKE!!!"

The wooden sword guy then puts his weapon of choice away and readies himself for the impending attack. Kazuma jumps into the air and punches the wooden sword guy. At the same time the bokuto guy goes for a kick to Kazuma's sides. They then backed away and rushed towards each other, clashing against one another as they traded each other blows. The both of them threw a punch and their knuckles meet, giving each other a test of strength, trying to push the other back. Man thought Kazuma. He's matching me, blow for blow. He doesn't even have a scratch on him He's good thought the wooden sword guy. He's no shaman, he's strong all right "That's IT!!" Kazuma shouted as he charges forth a punch filled with spirit energy, knocking the guy to a tree.

"Nice punch there," said the bokuto guy, getting up from the punch that decked him. He wiped the blood away from his mouth. "Good energy flowing through your hands. That really caused some damage there. But ya know… I get the feeling that you're holding back!" Kazuma looks in astonishment. "Wha…. how…. did… you…" "I had a feeling that there was something more that meets the eye." He can see my spirit energy…but …HOW Kazuma thought. He then speaks out "Hey you don't use to work for…" "No, no, no. I'm just a guy that likes to see a fair fight is all. I can see that you possess energy beyond human capacity. But why…why you held back?!" "I didn't want to hurt you. I don't usually use my abilities in fights against humans. It's dishonorable." "A honorable man, I see. Well, in the interest of fairness, I say use it. I think it will be most promising!" "WHAT!!!…. You want me to…." "Si, mi amigo (A.C. Spanish for "Yes my friend!"), Tekagen nashi da ze (A.C. Look at what Kazuma says for the translation.)" "Don't hold back huh? Guess I gotta oblige, but it's YOUR DEATH!!!" Kazuma steps back and begin to charge his spirit energy. "I didn't want to do this but here goes…. SPIRIT SWORD!" The bokuto guy looks in amazement. "Ok," said Kazuma, "if this is a fair fight, then you're fighting with?" "My good old bokuto would do!" "YOU'RE GONNA USE THAT PUNY LITTLE STICK TO FIGHT!" Kazuma falls down laughing. "Uh Master, he's laughing! I don't think he takes us seriously." Tokageroh said. "Trust me, Tokageroh," said the bokuto guy, "he won't be laughing for long." He then raises his hand and Tokageroh turns into a little ghost in the palm of the bokuto guy's hand. "Now, Tokageroh, INTO THE WOODEN SWORD!!!" Kazuma stops laughing and looks. "Hey where'd your lizard friend go?" "Don't about him, he's helping me." Kazuma looks at the wooden sword. "AAAAAHHH…THAT THING IS IN THE SWORD!!!" "And that's the reason why you cannot take Tokageroh!"

Both the wooden sword guy and Kazuma have a stare down, looking at each other's respective weapons. "What your name? I like to know the name of my opponents," Kazuma asked. "Funny you should ask, I was going to say the same thing. Well I guess there's no harm in telling you. I'm Ryonosuke Delgato Umemiya but you can call me Rio. And I go to Bansho High!" "I'm Kazuma Kuwabara, the #1 thug of Saryashiki High…. well #2 that is. How in the HELL you can do that?" Rio smiles at Kuwabara. "I like the fact that you want to know about your opponent, truly honorable. You see, I'm a friend of these people that can communicate with ghosts. At first I didn't believe it, but I ended up getting a crash course when I was possessed. My amigo freed me of that ghost and because the ghost didn't really have any good friends, I took him in as my guardian ghost. It's been Tokageroh and me since then." "It's funny that I'm going against a bokuto, that's how I got my powers." Kuwabara began. "I've always has spirit awareness since I was a kid, that's why I could sense and sometimes see your lizard friend. When I was in a tournament, I was going against a bokuto guy and he whacked me with it, causing it to break. Out of desperation, I picked up the chunk and to my surprise, an energy blade formed from the chunk of wood. It was then that I became a spirit detective, scoping out the unnatural. I ended up having to leave my former friends behind and team up with my rival." "Say," said Rio, "that's what happened to me when I became a shaman. I was a leader of a gang called the Dead Enders. When Tokageroh possessed me, my friends helped me to overcome him. But when I realized that I was a shaman, a link to the next world, I knew I had a greater purpose, so I had to leave the Dead Enders to find my sacred hang." "But wasn't your sacred hang was with the gang?" Kuwabara asked. "Yes, but when I accepted Tokageroh as my guardian ghost, part of my happy place is with me now, along with my other shaman friends." "I thought shamans existed only in history books. I deal with demons so this is different."

The night sky is above them now with the moon gleaming over the park. "Well," Rio said. "We're not so different after all, it must be fate that we was able to cross paths." "Yeah, you're a noble man, Rio. It's as if we were long lost brothers." "Well maybe we could catch a burger or something after our little fight!" "Sweet! Sooo, how are we going to settle this thing?" "I don't like fights to the death so the first one that runs out of energy loses, fair?" "Yeah, I like your style Rio, that's fine with me!" said Kuwabara excitingly. "Let's do this, mi amigo. Just hope that you can be able to best my blade!" "I won't best it…I'LL BREAK IT!"

Kuwabara jumps into the air with a battle cry. Rio waits until the last second to swiftly move out of the way, letting Kuwabara smash the ground. "Man, where is he?" "RIGHT HERE!" said Rio as he tries to sweep Kuwabara off his feet. Kuwabara does a back flip and flip-flops away from Rio. Rio crouches down in a weird stance like a billiards playwer and then rushes forward, thrusting the bokuto forward (A.C. Anyone care to guess what THAT move is! See bottom (p)). Kuwabara sees this coming and he parries the thrust. Rio starts to thrust more and more to Kuwabara then comes in for a swipe across, nearly cutting the chest. Kuwabara then thrusted his sword to Rio, but he backs up. They both dashed to each other and the swords clash! They started to push their weight forward, trying to push the other one back. Kuwabara then goes for a kick and Rio ducks under it. Kuwabara comes in for a slash, but again, Rio moves out the way, letting Kuwabara smash the ground. Kuwabara look around "DON'T TRY TO HIDE YOURSELF NOW, RIO!" Rio comes behind him again. "Who said that I was hiding?" he says as he grips the sword tightly. He did teach me this move so here goes…. "SHOCKWAVE BUDDHA-GIRI!!!" Rio then whips the sword fast, creating a wave, penetrating through Kuwabara's body. He flies and hits the grass, face first. "Man, I hate the taste of grass!" He said as he got up. "Nice attack there but HERE'S MINE." He charges the spirit sword. "SPIRIT DOUBLE SWORD," he yelled out and takes it into both hands and splits it in 2. "Try this on for size," Kuwabara said as he dashed to Rio. He gets to him and he starts swinging both swords at him. Rio dodges but then gets hit but the sword, leaving him open. The swords bombard him. "RAAAAA DOUBLE SLASH!!!" shouted Kuwabara as he made an energy slash in the form of an X, slicing Rio's chest open. The force of the slash blows him back to a tree. "Master… master… Genki desu ka?" " I'm Ok, Tokageroh." Rio gets up looking at Kuwabara. He got some gumption. He thought.

I haven't had a good challenge since Lyserg joined the X Laws. He's really good…for a guy that's not a shaman thought Rio. Kuwabara thinks to himself, Man, were on the same level. I haven't had a good challenge since that Shishiwakamaru punk. "Hey Kuwabara," Rio called out. "That's a nice attack you got there!" "Hey your attack's pretty cool too!" "No, that's not my attack, my friend taught me that. But here, HERE'S AN ATTACK OF MY OWN!" Rio screamed as he makes a dash for Kuwabara. As soon as he get an inch closer, Kuwabara swings both arms at Rio (A.C. Like Zolo's Onigiri, without the third sword). Rio ducks low to the ground. " "Tokage-Ryu…." Rio upper slashes him to the air! Rio then goes into another weird pose like a sailor, putting two fingers by his head, shouting out "DEWLAP ATTACK!" and jumps to the air, meeting Kuwabara at eye level. He gives Kuwabara a barrage of hits and with one final SMACK Kuwabara hits the ground hard! "That's it… NOW I'M PISSED! SWORD GET LONG," he shouted as the 2 swords, merge together and he sticks the sword into the ground. Kuwabara pulls back on the sword and it springboards him into the air and he flips over the hilt of his sword. Rio lands on the ground looking at Kuwabara in the air. "Huh … Que tal? (A.C. what's up? In Spanish) "Take this… SPIRIT JAVELIN!!!" Kuwabara shouted as a BIG energy blade comes down at Rio. He braces himself for the attack but to no avail as the force knocks him back, allowing him to take the bladed energy, smacking him to the ground.

30 seconds passes and Rio gets up from the rubble on top of him. A little blood running on his head and puts his hand there. "Oh my aching cabeza!" "Glad that you're ok Rio. I was getting a little worried there." Said Kuwabara. Rio then looks on his oracle bell to see the time. "Oh…no… it can't be… NOOOOOOOOO!" "What's wrong, missing a hot date?" asked Kuwabara. Anger settles in the countenance of Rio. "Damn it, it's Wednesday, 7:00 p.m. Do you know what that means!" "uhhh… that you missed a hot date?" "Wrong you punto (A.C. Bitch in Spanish)! You are making me miss America's Top Model. I'm missing out on some quality lingerie scoping." Kuwabara laughs… "YOU LIKE AMERICA'S TOP MODEL!!!!" "THAT IS NOTHING TO LAUGH ABOUT!!" Rio exclaimed as he channeled his oversoul into his bokuto. Tokageroh feels the energy coming into the sword. "Master Rio, Nani desu ka! (A.C. What is it? In Japanese. I hope you guys are learning from this!) "You make fun of the fact that I like it, and your making me miss Tyra Bank's tight little ass and YOU WANT TO LAUGH?!" "Dude, calm down, there's always reruns." "Wrong! Now you have fully PISSED ME OFF!!! No longer you have the nice guy Rio, for now you are dealing with BOKUTO NO RIO OF THE DEAD ENDERS!!!!"

"Ooohhh…. Ore ga kawai desu ne?" "Si, you should be scared, for the attack that I will unleash on you will have you running home crying to your mommy!" "Honki da ze! Kakatekoi! (A.C. Be serious and bring it on! In Japanese :)" "LAST MISTAKE!" Rio said and he jumped into the air. Kuwabara joins him for another clash, but Rio kicks him back down. Kuwabara rolls back and looks up. "What in the BLUE HELL….!!" Rio in midair, charges almost to the limit of his oversoul. "Let's do it Tokageroh!" Kuwabara looks into night sky at Rio. "Oh… man, I got a bad feeling about this!" "Come to me now, spirit of nature…" "Man… I got an idea. This gotta work!" "THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS… YAMATANO OROCHIIIIII!!!!" As Rio gives the battle cry, snake-like beams "slithered" to the ground, aiming for Kuwabara. In time, the beams created an explosion. Rio lands to the ground, with the smoke obscuring his vision. He closes his eyes, smiling. I guess did over do it but he got what was coming to him. But just then, Rio hears shouting charge! "Huh, but I thought…" "YOU THOUGHT WRONG!" said Kuwabara coming out the smoke in samurai fashion. "Oh… mommy!" "DIMENSION SLASH!!!!" The powered up spirit sword, slices off the rest of the jacket Rio was wearing, cutting his chest! Kuwabara then falls to his knees, breathing hard. Man, that took a lot out of me… I really had to reach for my bag of tricks! That Yamatano Orochi is no joke! Just then Rio staggers up to his feet. "Resilient, I see!" stated Kuwabara. "You can't bury honor, mi amigo!"

"Looks like this is the home stretch!" said Kuwabara, jacketless. "I don't think I want to call it quits yet, do you, senor Kuwabara?" asked a chest exposed Rio. Kuwabara answers, "It's called Warrior's pride. It's not over till the fat lady sings! But I can see that you have the eyes of a warrior, Rio." "So let's end this, right now, compadre!" Both of them began charging the last of their energies. Rio smiles at Kuwabara, as does Kuwabara to Rio. "Kuwabara, no matter what happened moment, we are considered friends, you and I." "Yeah, I agree, Rio. And I'll hold you up to that burger." "Nah, better make it Tacos!" They both laugh at that comment. "Funny man, Rio, but you won't be laughing when you taste my BLADE!" Kuwabara said going for a final rush! "Oh yeah, well my lizard friend don't THINK SO!!!" They hopped up into the air. "EAT THIS… YAMATANO OROOCHIIIII!!!!" "DIMENSION SPIRIT SWORD!!!!!" Both of their respective energies collided with each other creating a bright light, blinding the sword wielders. Knowing that they are at their limits, the release a final battle cry, as they disappear into the light.

"rio….rio…Rio….RIO!!!" Who is that calling me? "He's not answering!" "We gotta do it together guys! 1…2…3!!!!!" All the voices joined together. "RIO" A startled Rio wakes up. "Mommy…more milk for mi gato, por favor. Oh uhhh!" A kid with an Afro speaks. "RIO… thank goodness. We thought you bought the farm back there. Along with the 40 acres and a mule!" "Yoh, Lenny, Trey, Joco… you guys are all here!" "I would have to sadly agree with our Afro-puffed friend here!" said Lenny, referring to Joco. "We found your pathetic carcass on the ground!" "What cone-head's trying to say is that Tokageroh lead us to you." Said Trey the snowboarder. "You were laying next to some red headed guy!" "Yes, I remember it clearly, guys. I was in a fight that had some type of spirit energy!" Trey asked, "And the guardian ghost…" "NO… nada guardian ghost! He had his own powers and had a spirit sword of some sorts. We were equal in all ways, speed, power, and abilities. It was freaky, like I was going against myself or an evil twin or something! But I can tell you this, if I was a spectator, that was better than a match on WWE SMACKDOWN!" "Well," said a kid with the headphones. "I'm glad you're okay, Rio!" "No, thank you Yoh, for letting me in the Funbari Onsen." "So do you remember the guys name…and who won?" asked Trey. "To tell the truth I think he won! His name is Kazuma Kuwabara, and the next time we meet, he'll fall to me and Tokageroh!" Rio said as he clenched his fist.

Elsewhere, a small circle of friends surround the bed ridden Kuwabara. A guy with a black cloak on speaks out. " The fool seems to be ok." "Yes, naturally," said a blue haired woman. Then a long red haired guy speaks. "Whatever Kuwabara was doing, it surely knocked him out." At that moment, a certain black haired troublemaker walks in the door. "OK WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON!" "SHH!" said Kuwabara's sister, Chizuru. "Kazuma's sleeping." "Yes, Yusuke!" the blue haired girl said. "I don't give a damn! Out of my way, Botan!" Yusuke said, pushing her out of his way. He then stood over Kuwabara's bed, with a look of anger. "WAKE YOUR STUPID ASS UP!!!" he shouted as he proceeded to slap him silly. "That is not going to wake up my baby brother, Yusuke, believe me, I've done it before." Chizuru said as she pushed Yusuke to the side. "Watch this!" and she took in a deep breath. "PANCAKES!" At that moment, Kuwabara hops up and sweat drops then appears on their foreheads! "Who…wha…where…." Kuwabara said, confused. "Oh! Yusuke, Kurama, Botan, Chizuru, Keiko, shrimpy!" "Hey, jelly-roll head, I DO have a NAME ya know!" said the cloaked guy. "Ok, Ok…Hiei. Man I really must've been out of it if you guys are here surrounding me!" said Kuwabara as he sat up in his bed. Kurama speaks. "Yes, you were out of it when I found you unconscious next to some guy with a wooden sword." "Oh…oh yeah… that's my newfound friend I was fighting." Kuwabara said. "Did I hear correctly?" Yusuke asked. "Stupid fool can't even figure out who his enemies are." Hiei sarcastically said. "NO, IT'S NOT THAT! I was in a fight with this guy that had a bokuto and he used some kind of lizard-man ghost thing to fuse it with the bokuto." "Integration… a shaman perhaps?" the inquisitive Kurama thought loudly. "Yeah, that's what he said he was!" Kuwabara replied. "I thought so. So shamans are still in existence, being the link to the next world." "But somehow, the guy I fought was different. He had that warrior's pride, like it was emotional battle scars or something." "Wow," Keiko thought. "So was he that strong?" "Oh yeah! But him and me were so different but we were on the same level. I thought that he was gonna be wimpy but when he fused the ghost with the bokuto, we were evenly matched. Even my dimension sword was diverted away by this attack that has snake-like beams coming right at you!" "Enough about the fight," Yusuke yelled. "What was the name of this tree stick guy…. and who the hell won the fight?!" "Well I remember his name all right, I remember it just as clear as his Spanish accent. He was Rio Umemiya of the Wooden Sword." "And who won the battle?" Kurama asked. "Well in all honesty, I think he won. That attack was too much for me. But the next time I see him…" Kuwabara smacks a palm into his fist. "I will be the winner…BECAUSE I'M KUWABARA AND I'VE GOT A SWORD!" All of the gang (minus Kurama) shot a palm to their heads, holding it in despair of Kuwabara's cheesy determination. "Like that's gonna happen anytime soon!" Yusuke taunted! "Hey, I GOING TO GET HIM NEXT TIME!!" Kuwabara said, reassuring Yusuke.

And so the battle between the 2 warriors ends, with one thinking the other one won. While no one's the wiser, we can all be assured; there WILL be a rematch. Now waking up to a new day, Rio of the Wooden Sword and Kuwabara now have reached a new level, with a new sense of pride, and a new sense of HONOR!

The End…..

(A.C. So how'd y'all like it? If y'all really like it and wanna see a real rematch, or any other fights in the anime universe y'all wanna see, hit me up at I accept anything! SEE YA!

P.S. That attack I had Rio do… If y'all don't know, you should kick yourself in the ass! It's Hajime Saitou's Gatotsu from Rurouni Kenshin! HA HA!)