A Grave Mistake

"Yoh-kun!"

"Faust let him go!"

"Don't worry… there is no pain."

"Yoh… gaaaaacck!"

"I said let him go!"

"Will you ever stop babbling about that?"

"Yoh-kun…"

"I won't forgive you Faust!"

"Now then… let's begin an examination of the brain."

"No… stop… please!"

"LET HIM GO!"

The cemetery echoed with the crunching of bones and screams of pain. Yoh Asakura never imagined that things would get out of hand so quickly. Damn that Faust! The normally calm shaman thought to himself. If I never underestimated him in the first place none of this would've happened. Now he has Manta…and he's hurting him. He's hurting my best friend…I won't forgive him. That basterd! I won't forgive him! Yoh then attacked the wall of bones in front of him. He slashed furiously and screamed until he felt his lungs ache.

"Eh? What's this?" asked Silver Wing, Silver's eagle spirit.

"He's attacking without even thinking!" exclaimed Silver Shell the turtle spirit.

"Does he want to die?" asked Silver Rod the snake spirit as she coiled herself around Silver's waist.

"Moo?" said Silver Horn the buffalo spirit.

"Yoh is obviously blinded by rage. Isn't that right Silver?" asked the Coyote spirit Silver Tail to his master.

"Yes." Replied Silver. "It's all apart of Faust's plan."

"His plan?" said Silver Rod.

"Faust wanted to deplete Yoh's furyoku from the start… but to do that he needed bait."

"Manta?" suggested Silver Shell.

"That is correct." Said Silver with a sigh. "With Manta as his captive, Faust could easily irritate Yoh. Normally, Yoh would calmly handle a situation with a smile… but for some reason… he gets really upset seeing Manta being tortured like this."

"That's because Manta is Yoh's best friend… in fact, Yoh's only human friend." Explained Anna who was stood beside Silver.

"My, my… how amusing." Chuckled Faust as his hand entered Manta's stomach again. Manta was too exhausted to cry out in pain. He just flinched and whimpered as the necromancer played around with his internal organs.

"Faust, I told you to stop hurting Manta!" shouted Yoh. "Let him go!" Faust smiled as he ceased torturing Manta then crossed his arms. "Damn you!" snarled Yoh as stopped attacking to rest for a moment. "Stop hurting him!"

"Stop hurting Manta? But I was just starting to have fun with my research." Said Faust with a grin. He then looked down at his oracle bell. "Very well." The smug doctor snapped his fingers then all the skeletons fell apart.

"What is this?" asked Amidamaru's oversouled state.

"Now what is he up to?" murmured Yoh.

"Look at your oracle bell." Said Faust. "The real fight is about to start." Damn him! Thought Yoh. I forgot about that! That must've been his plan all along. I'm almost out of furyoku… and Manta is still in his possession. Only two minutes until the fight starts… I have no chance… or do I?

"Come back to me… Eliza!" called Faust as he focused his energy on his main oversoul. "This is where you die Asakura Yoh!"

"Hey look! Faust has stopped using the skeletons!" exclaimed Silver Wing.

"Oh no…" gasped Silver as he fell onto one knee in shock. "I can feel it…"

"Yoh's furyoku?" asked Silver Rod. "Or is it Faust's?"

"Not that…" grunted Silver. The shaman priest held himself as an unusual chill went down his spine. An echo could be heard in his mind… it wasn't very clear, but it still meant something.

"What's wrong?" asked Anna with her eyes still focused on Yoh's fight. "You seem to be making a huge fuss over this."

"Your so called boyfriend is gonna die!" Squawked Silver Wing angrily. "Wouldn't you consider fussing over this?"

"Yoh will win." Anna said calmly. "Just because Faust is focusing all his energy into Eliza, doesn't mean it's over."

"Is that so?" mumbled Silver Tail. Suddenly everyone's attention was drawn to the fight as a huge explosion of bones spread across the cemetery.

"What on earth?" shouted Silver Wing.

"How'd that happen?" asked Silver Rod worryingly.

"I don't know. I wasn't paying attention!" panicked Silver Shell.

"Moo!" Cried Silver Horn.

"Silver are you sure you're ok?" asked Silver Tail.

"It's happening…" Grunted Silver as he felt a warm and powerful presence.

"Yes we know Silver." Said Silver Shell. "We can see…"

"Not that!" Spat Silver. "The Great Spirit… has sent a message…"

"How dare you insult my beautiful Eliza!" screamed Faust as his furyoku reached its limit. "Atone your sins of insulting her… with your life!" The bones of the graveyard came together in a flash of green energy to form a giant skeleton. Faust snickered psychotically as he towered over Yoh who at this point ran out of energy, furyoku… and the will to go on.

"Manta…" groaned Yoh in complete agony. "Anna… Amidamaru… everyone…" Yoh weakly let go of Harusame and closed his eyes as the grim skeletal monstrosity came closer. "I'm sorry." He collapsed then gazed at the danger approaching him. Finally, a blast of bones and furyoku filled the arena with devastating results. Yoh flinched as he felt his bones breaking and his flesh tearing.

"Yoh-Dono!" cried Amidamaru as his spirit was pulled away from the battle by Anna's Itako beads.

"You only saved the samurai!" squawked Silver Wing. "I thought you cared about Yoh!"

"I… I…" Anna murmured as what appeared to be tears ran down her face. "That idiot." Silva ordered his spirits back into their mediums and let out a heavy sigh. The Great Spirit has told me… and I don't like it. But what the Great Spirit says… is the truth itself. Silva tried to collect his thoughts together calmly… but found it difficult. In the end, he had to announce the outcome of the fight.

"Asakura Yoh… killed. Faust advances."

To be continued…

In part two- Anna breaks the news to Ryu and Horo Horo while Faust brings a souvenir home to Germany.