Disclaimer: What can I say?

Well, for those of you reading, welcome. In the first chapter of Shaman King: UndisputedRemix we delved into some of Kikyo's reflections, along with a taste of the mysterious lord Satoshi, who seems to know Kikyo very well indeed.

Chapter 2 fast forwards us to a much more complicated era, where a certain Shaman King is about to come face to face with a being that is unrivaled in power, along with that being's true nemesis.

Let's go on with this and see what we can do!

Chapter 2: Within Every Star Lies a Black Hole

Modern Era, A Small House

For many a century, the greatest prophets and wise men have tried and failed to determine who the final Shaman King would be. It was certain that such an event would transpire, for all who studied the fights knew that one of those who won them would eventually come to realize their futility. This theory served as the focus of great debate for years, each new philosopher contributing a different perspective. Some believed it would be an all-powerful warrior who was seeking vengeance. Others took the side of a wise sage who could see the world in its truest splendor. Depending on the opinions of who spoke, the last Shaman King could range from a tyrannical demigod to a quasi-sentient mantisthat just happened to have a scorpion tail.

In none of these debates, however, rose the possibility that the last victor would be a slacker whose definition of a cultural zenith was listening to American pop and consuming infinite amounts of double-decker cheeseburgers.

Yes, if one were to look at the boy named Yoh Asakura, one would not even begin to consider him to be a shaman in the first place. A borderline juvenile delinquent was he, to hear any of his teachers say it, often dozing off during classes and yet somehow able to escape with a passing grade, if but barely. Mounted onto his head night and day was a set of bright orange headphones, to snap into a radio system at a moment's notice, and even as he walked one could see a perpetual state of half-focused boredom on his face.

Irony does indeed have a warped sense of humor, for it was this boy, this seemingly pointless youth whose life would otherwise have no direction, that a year prior had swept the Shaman Fights, and ended them as well. Most could not have believed it without seeing it, and even Anna, his fiancée by arranged engagement, had a hard time accepting that the sluggard she was betrothed to had emerged victorious.

The thing that she was fully ready to accept was that he would certainly not be the world's greatest husband.

"Here, Yoh, more cheeseburgers to munch on."

Anna looked at her soon to be husband with a strange mixture of hate and love blending quite messily all over her face as she placed in front a plate loaded down with seven burgers fixed to his exacting specifications. It was true that he had earned this-he had earned a lot of things-but she was starting to think he was taking advantage of the situation. Sure, he had saved humanity from Zeke's delusions of grandeur, but still…

"Thanks, Anna, they smell great."

"Yoh, are you forgetting something?"

The happy idiot looked at his affianced very carefully; he was fairly certain he had missed something important, but he was not certain what.

Think, think! What does she want? Come on, THINK!

He racked his brain desperately, hunting through the deep recesses of his mind that had not seen the light of day in years, very much aware that if he did not remember what she wanted something horrible would happen to him.

"Let me save you the trouble, Yoh. I believe our arrangement was that you would call me 'honey' from now on."

"Well, honey, we're not married yet, are we?"

"And your point is?"

"No point. Just noting the obvious."

"Good. Now, that reminds me…"

From out of nowhere Anna produced a lengthy scroll of paper, and in his mind Yoh was smacking himself in the head.

Fast-forward, Grocery Store

"Hm. What kind of bread did Anna want again?"

It was a very strange sight, the high and mighty Shaman King of Earth, destroyer of villains and their plots, controller of the legendary swordsman Amidamaru, now reduced to selecting a loaf of bread from the local grocer. Times had certainly changed, for everyone.

The loaf he selected fell to the top of the cart's pile of foodstuffs, and for a minute Yoh thought he heard something cry in the distance. He ignored the feeling; it was not uncommon to have it, Anna had said. She spoke of the warrior's spirit, the unending hunger for a shaman battle which fueled his restlessness at all times of night. Nowadays life was, to be honest, boring, and so that spirit was starving to death, begging to be released.

But then, thought Yoh, maybe it was the spiritual connection with Amidamaru talking. Besides, those days were behind him. Zeke was dead and the Shaman Council had disbanded. There was nothing left to talk about. He was a warrior no longer, and that was the way it was.

You know you don't mean that, Asakura.

A fell voice rang in Yoh's ears, a deep and wicked voice that would long ago have commanded fear from entire armies. The very essence of it sent shivers down his spine, and he felt as though the Reaper had come to harvest his soul… But as quickly as the phantom voice had come, it just as swiftly vanished.

Okay, that was weird.

Not since his first encounter with the Tome of the Shaman had Yoh felt something so clearly evil flow throughout his entire form, and yet this encounter was different. For when he had faced the text of Zeke, there had been a sort of purity to that intent.

The voice he had heard seemed to be darkness itself.

Eh, it's probably nothing. Just some remnant of the Shaman Fights coming back to haunt me…

The bread having been located, Yohrealized that his quest-buying groceries so that Anna wouldn't make him bench press Mt. Hakurei- was at last accomplished.

Yes, life had truly fallen into a steady routine these days. He didn't want to admit it to himself, but there was a part of him that wished to get back into the fray of the battles, the conflicts, the Grecian dramatics of his battles with his brother. It was a thrilling time in his life, and there was a piece of him that wanted to relieve it.

"You're thinking about the Fights again, aren't you, Amidamaru?"

The seperation of Yoh's guardian ghost- a white-haired yet youthful samurai known as Amidamaru, who in his younger days had slain thousands as the Fiend -was so commonplace now that he did not even notice.

"Why, yes I am."

"Let me ask you something. Why? Why do you think about the Shaman Fights so often? Don't you ever just want to let it go?"

The ghost of the infamous warrior, befitting the mannerisms of a wandering samurai spirit, gained a sort of distance as he looked up to the ceiling. "I suppose it is how I lived in my life. Raised in the Warring States Era and sworn to the code of bushido, I grew to fall in love with the battle. And with the absence of the Shaman Fights, it is as though there is an absence of purpose in my death…"

Yoh had learned quite a ways back that he could only stand to listen to Amidamaru's introspective speeches for a certain length of time, and so he saw fit to zone out for a while.

Even without Amidamaru's spirit sharing his body, Yoh did have to admit that he enjoyed the feel of a sword beneath his palms- the vibrations it caused as it rang against the enemy, the sweet smell of sword polish-but most of all he missed the excitement and the uncertainty of the Fights. He and Amidamaru were almost exactly alike in this way- both were warriors seeking a sense of purpose as they did battle for king and country, or in this case emperor and country.

And yet, thought Yoh, I like the peace and quiet of not having to battle a bunch of deranged shaman who want to take over the world or kill everyone in it. It felt so good to walk through a park without the constant fear of death hanging overhead. Most importantly, the weight of the world no longer resting on his shoulders.

There was a sense of tranquility as the final Shaman King. And Yoh would not trade that for all the excitement in the world, though he wouldn't mind seeing the friends he had made along the way.

"Yoh, Yoh! There you are!"

The nasal squeak of someone calling to him brought Yoh back to the real world, in which Amidamaru's speech about bushido had somehow derailed into an in-depth article about where the best sake-flavored rice balls were sold. However, he tried not to focus too much on that and more on the source of the noise.

And just as he expected, the minute form of one Morty Manta, his best friend and basically the person in whom he placed the most trust. Granted, this trust did not extend to the battlefield; even Yoh knew not to depend too heavily on someone under three feet tall, even if he was a shaman.

"Hey, Morty. What's up?"

"Not much, just came to pick up some snacks. What about you?"

With a single motion Yoh whipped out Anna's shopping list, and all was explained.

"Ah, so Anna's still giving you a hard time, eh?"

"I guess you could say that." In truth, Yoh would gladly take grocery shopping and laundry over the "boot camp from Hell" of previous years. This was Paradise in comparison.

"Well, I suppose she loves you. Anyway, what's left on the list?"

"Just got the last part of it, so I guess I'm headed home. You wanna come with?"

"Yeah, why not?"

These were times to be remembered indeed. Not so much as a peep of ghost or psychopath for miles and miles, the air was fresh, and the apples Yoh had selected were sweet-smelling and delicious. Or at least this was the case with the one he had bitten into just now.

"Are you sure that you should do that?"

"I'm paying for it, aren't I?" And in spite of the fact that his friend's mouth was half full of masticated fruit Morty had to admit it made sense.

After paying for the groceries and covertly discarding the apple core, the Shaman King and his vertically challenged compatriot excused themselves from the store, basking in the glow of late afternoon. There was a light fragrance of cherries upon the air, and even the town square looked beautiful enough to warrant a landscape painting.

"These are the days, aren't they, Morty?"

"You'd better believe it. So, whaddya wanna do?"

"Well, I don't think Anna's got anything planned for me tonight. We could listen to a record or two."

The conversation continued on as the two sauntered over to Yoh's house, and was eventually intruded by Amidamaru and Mosuke, the latter being Morty's guardian ghost and a long time companion of the samurai. In fact, Mosuke had even forged the Sword of Light which Yoh used as a primary medium. As was the way of shaman and familiars in times of peace, the four spoke at great length about varying topics whose significance was borderline nonexistant.

The entire day seemed to have a sort of dreamlike quality to it, with no real sense of time or location. Nothing seemed remotely out of place, and all was in perfect harmony.

But nothing, not even harmony, can be maintained forever.

It was as Yoh and the others drew near to his part of town that he noticed someone standing a good distance away from the road. More specifically, that someone was female, and was quite frankly the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She had a face that seemed as flawless as porcelain, which was framed by cascading tresses of sable hair that tumbled down her back, and was bedecked in the robes of a Feudal Era priestess. On her back was a quiver of arrows and in her left hand was held a bow.

But in spite of her beauty, the woman did not seem to be very happy. Her expression was one of deep contemplation, and even deeper sadness, and Yoh felt sorry for her immediately. In fact, he almost left the path to speak to her, but after a moment he realized that she desired solitude at that point, and thusly let her be.

However, as he continued he could have sworn she mouthed his name.

The mood changed for Yoh Asakura at that point. Where once was happiness and ecstasy was now a strong sense of foreboding, and the happy banter of his friends was lost on him. He was now focused on two very different incidents that had happened on that day: the sighting of this woman, and the disembodied voice that came to him in the store.

For whatever reason, he had a very strong hunch that the two incidents were connected somehow. But that was impossible; the sensation that he had received from the voice was one of absolute terror, an embodiment of darkness itself, whereas the female's presence had lifted his spirits. The two were polar opposites, so how could they possibly stem from the same source?

He would regret asking that question later on.

"Hey, Yoh, are you alright? You look troubled."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking about something, that's all."

Why can't I shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen? It's like those people today were…omens…

From that point on Yoh was increasingly racked with apprehension. He did not know what to expect after this, but he did know that it would be horrific.

"Yoh…what's that?"

"What's what?"

"That light up above. I think it's falling"

The shaman followed Morty's finger, which was pointed at a single orb of glowing energy that was hurtling at unthinkable speeds towards the earth. For a moment it didn't register with him, until…

"Oh my God…it's the Destiny Star!"

"What!"

Amidamaru and Mosuke also looked at the light, recognizing immediately the herald of the Shaman Fights. But this was simply not possible; even if the Spirits had not dismantled them, the last Fight had taken place only a year previously. How could this have happened? Was it a twist of fate, or had the council resurrected the Shaman Fights once more?

But Amidamaru immediately realized that why the Star was here was the least of their worries.

"Yoh, the Star isn't stopping! It's going to crash!"

"You've got to be kidding me!"

What once was a leisurely stroll now became a breakneck race for home. They had to make certain that no one would be hurt.

"This doesn't make any sense! Why is the Destiny Star falling from the sky!"

"Less talking, more sprinting!"

Yoh and Amidamaru were leading the pack, with Morty hanging onto the former's neck desperately as they pursued the plummeting celestial being, and in the back of his head the slacker was glad for his fiancée's training.

And it was then that he realized it, as he saw his house only a few yards away.

"No!"

At that moment, Anna stepped out the door, seemingly annoyed that Yoh had taken so long.

"Anna, run! Get out of there!"

She was not aware of the Star hurtling towards her until he spoke those words. But as she looked up at the orb of light, her eyes widened in a mixture of confusion and terror.

"What the hell are you doing? Run!"

But she remained rooted to the spot, unable tospeak ormoveas the Destiny Star fell towards her home.

She managed to draw breath once, however,and closed her eyes.

The next thing any of them knew, the Star collided.

The resulting explosion of the Destiny Star is beyond description, beyond any words at all. There was no sound, no yells. There was only a grim silence, as a detonation of unspeakable horror laid waste the Asakura home and everything around it. The light ripped through everything, including the gas main, which in turn ignited a second detonation, and the combined explosions levelled the entire property.

And when the smoke and dust cleared, there was nothing but a smoldering crater, alight with fire on all sides. The wreckage of his home and what little remained of the foundation lined the sides, and there were absolutely no signs of life. It was like Hiroshima, only on a much smaller scale.

"NO!"

Yoh's voice cracked as he shrieked aloud and ran towards the impact site.

"Yoh, what are you doing? It's too dangerous out there! You could be killed!"

"Let me go, Amidamaru! I won't let her die!"

His eyes were brimming with tears when he reached the impact site. With no other plans in mind he began to tunnel desperately into the wreckage, searching for the woman he had come to love.

"Anna, can you hear me! Anna! ANNA!"

He felt nothing. Not the heat, not the hard steel and concrete. He only felt fear at that point, a fear which fueled his pointless searching through the rubble. Blood flowed from his fingertips, but he cared not.

He needed to find her, even if it meant giving up his own life.

"ANNA!"

Off in the distance, forgotten and left to herself, the lonely woman stood and watched as a plume of smoke rose into the emerging twilight.

"So it has begun."

With a grim sort of precision, the Lady Kikyo began to move towards the wreckage, hand at the ready to draw a bolt if need be.

And indeed she would need to let fly her powers, for the crash and its devastation was naught compared to the being that it had summoned…

To Be Continued

Man, I'm a bastard, leaving you at a cliff like that. But rest assured, you'll like what's coming.

Anyway, next chapter finally introduces the infamous Satoshi. Can Yoh survive his deific fury? How is Kikyo still alive? And what does she know about the Prince and his intentions?

Well, that'll be explained next chap. Until then read, review, critique!