Hey everyone, long time no see! Sorry about the late update once again! I really didn't intend to take so long to write this, but I got a bit stuck so if this chapter really sucks I apologise XD. Thank you A-b-san, anto, SakuraTenshi36092, tifa2001, girlfun, starless-ocean, RiverOfTheWolf, NekoKitty13 and whoever the person who reviewed as 'guest' is for helping me get to 104 reviews! I was so excited to see that I finally got into triple digits that I did a little happy dance when I found out =D Cookies for everyone! Lol. I'm really sorry for leaving you all on a cliff hanger for so long, it was a little mean of me to end it that way, but hey, at least the new chapter is here now =D So I'll stop talking now and let you read lol =]

Chapter 36- Hells gate

The sudden brightness of the space around her made Shinji cover her eyes, and stare blindly through squinting eyes into the light. Everything felt a little disorientating, like her head was ringing. Had the gunshot been that loud? She had heard something about when bullets were fired in a small space people can be momentarily stunned from the noise. Did it make them blind? She wasn't sure, but she would have thought that the room was a little too big for that to have been an issue anyway. Maybe the bullet had nicked her head or something, that could have knocked out her senses, right? But that was another issue, she didn't feel injured, in fact, she couldn't feel anything at all.

Slowly, her vision cleared, and as it did a growing sense of dread clutched at her chest. The gates of hell stood unapologetically in front of her, its large wooden doors sealed shut, and all around was a naked landscape of floating rocks. This was the last place Shinji wanted to be, and she cured loudly at her bad luck.

"Oh shit, Hao is going to kill me." She groaned, pressing her fingers to her temple as if to fight off a headache that didn't exist. Somehow a headache would have been welcomed at that moment. At least that would have meant she was still alive. She tried to remember exactly what had just happened, thinking that she should have at least felt something before she died, but there really wasn't anything. As far as deaths go it was pretty painless, so much so that if she wasn't familiar with the area she wouldn't have realized she was dead at all. Out of all of her past lives this had been the shortest of them all. So much for growing old this time around. It looked like she would be stuck with this childish body forever, or at least until she decided to be reborn again. She could already hear Hao's nagging voice in her head. He had told her not to go off on her own, and now she was dead. Of course, the small fact that she had ended up that way was by saving his life, so at least she had a good argument to go with. It didn't make the situation any less humiliating though. She had been shot. Shot! By a weasily librarian lookalike wanna-be villain! She was a shaman for crying out loud, shaman do not get shot! It just didn't happen. Only a little while ago she was blocking bullets from a helicopter with her armour oversoul, this was just ridiculous! Why was it every time she died it was stupidly? A groan escaped her as she remembered the lecture she had given Hao earlier on not underestimating guns. This one was defiantly going to come back to haunt her. Not only that, but now there was nothing to stop Hao from becoming shaman king. The idea of what might happen if she lost hadn't really sunken in until now, and it was a sour taste. She could only hope that Yoh's plan was a good one, because there wasn't anything she could do now.

"Oh god, Yoh." Just as she had finally gained the respect she deserved as a powerful shaman from Yoh and the others at the beach, she just had to go and blow it by dying.

Death sucked.

She wondered how they would take the news. Would they be sad about her death? Or would they only be afraid for themselves and their futures? She had seen it in their eyes when Hao had fought alone before she had joined in. They were terrified of his power. She didn't really need to think about Hao's reaction. No doubt he was going on a crazy pyromaniac rampage and cursing her for her immense stupidity. No doubt the master would be popping up beside her any moment now, looking like a disgustingly charred mess. She highly doubted that man would end up anywhere but in the deepest pits of hell. She probably should have felt bad for wishing bad things on someone, but to be honest that guy really didn't deserve her pity. She only regretted that he had been human, because the fact that a human had killed her would not be lost on Hao, and it would defiantly do nothing to help humanity. It would take a miracle to change Hao's mind now.

"Shinji!" The horribly familiar voice of Nindie snapped at her, and Shinji silently cursed to herself as she turned around to face the terrifying glare of the water spirit as she flew towards her. She was sure that if she wasn't already dead the look Nindie was shooting her would have killed her anyway. The particularly weird thing was that now they were in the spirit world Shinji could feel the force of Nindie's strength pressing down on her shoulders from her anger. Here in the spirit world Nindie was the all powerful spirit of rain, and Shinji was just the dead ghost of a once powerful shaman. Still, it was all about will power here, and Shinji sure had a lot of that to spare. Even in the land of the living Nindie's temper could be a little frightening though, and she sure had a lot to be mad about now. "I cannot believe you could be so stupid! How on earth could you let yourself be shot?!"

"Well, I would hardly say that I let myself get shot." Shinji replied, in the futile and foolish attempt at explaining herself.

"You jumped in front of a bullet! How can that be anything but self inflicted?"Nindie spat back.

"Well, it was sort of instinct." Shinji replied sheepishly, already wincing slightly from the explosion her friend was surely about to have.

"Instinct. Instinct! Are you bloody suicidal or something? How is taking a bullet to the brain instinct? You just got yourself killed, and for Hao of all people!"

"Now hang on," The shaman interrupted with a frown, "Why shouldn't I try and protect Hao when a crazy ass bastard is trying to shoot him? He would do the same for me."

"Maybe, but he wouldn't get himself killed for you. I'm sorry, but its true and you know it. All Hao would have done is melt that bullet before it hit you, because that's all he would need to do. That is all that you should have done. For crying out loud, Shinji, what the hell were you thinking?!"

"That's exactly it you moron, I wasn't thinking. I saw that bastard point the gun at Hao and I just reacted. I know it was stupid, I know I should have just blocked it or something but to be honest after being attacked by those zombie things I'm surprised I had even managed to do that much, so don't you dare go judging me on the only reaction I had in a desperate situation. And you know what? I don't even regret it. If it we're to happen again then I would gladly take another bullet for him, because I love him! So I don't give a damn what you think. Besides," She continued, crossing her arms and glaring at the water spirit, "It's not as if this is the end for me. So what if I'm dead? It's not like I won't see everyone again. It's no big deal."

"Hao seems to think it is." Nindie replied stonily, but Shinji waved her off.

"Hao always over reacts, when he calms down he'll realize that it doesn't really matter that I'm dead. He's got an easy path to being shaman king now, and then he'll be able to see me all he wants. He'll get over it."

"No, Shinji, you just don't get it. If he was ranting and raving I wouldn't give a damn, but he isn't doing anything. He's just kind of sat there holding onto you, well, your body anyway; I couldn't even get a response out of him when I said I was coming here to speak to you. He didn't even move to deal with that stupid Master guy, Fire was the one that killed him, though I have a feeling he knew what to do because he even burned the guy's soul. I would have tried to stop him but honestly I think the world is better off without that bastard around, even as a spirit. But anyway, Hao is definitely taking your death pretty badly, and it's a little scary."

Shinji sighed and thought for a moment. She really hadn't expected this, and she didn't quite understand it. Why wasn't Hao freaking out? He was acting like a crazy person, and not the normal kind. Why couldn't he see that death was nothing to them, they were shaman, shaman could speak to ghosts all the time. Hell Shinji still spoke to her family every now and then, and she would always visit them whenever she was in the spirit world. Her mother would kill her if she didn't.

Mother.

Oh man, how could she be so stupid? Of course he was reacting so badly to her death. Every person he had ever loved and trusted had died, and he had never seen them again. Just like with his mother, and the little demon Ochiyo. Now he had somehow gotten it into his head that it would be the same for her. That was probably why he always overreacted whenever she got in to trouble, because he was afraid that she would die and he would be alone again. By saving his life Shinji had accidentally caused him even more suffering, which was ironically what she had wanted to protect him from in the first place when she refused to kill him. This wasn't a betrayal, but it was just as painful. She laughed bitterly at the thought. She had to see him somehow, to smack him upside the head and him not to worry, she hadn't abandoned. And then she remembered it, resurrection, Hao could revive the dead. Why hadn't she thought of it sooner?

"Nindie, I need you to do me a favour." She said anxiously, turning her attention back to her ghost friend.

"You want me to go back there don't you." Nindie replied with a small frown, which grew when Shinji nodded.

"Hao's not thinking straight, I think he's forgotten that he's not a kid anymore, that he has power now. He's forgotten that he can bring me back to life. I need you to go and snap him out of it."

Nindie paused for a moment, and then laughed, "How can he even forget something like that? He's a bigger idiot that you are! Alright, I'll go. But wait, what do you mean 'not a kid anymore'? "

Shinji shook her head, "I'll explain it later; just make sure he listens to you okay? Beat him up if you have to."

Nindie grinned, "Oh I'm going to enjoy this. But why aren't you coming down to do it yourself?"

"There's something I have to do first." The shaman replied, and Nindie didn't miss the glance towards Hell's gate as she said it. "beside's, I'm not one hundred percent sure the resurrection would work from down there, I can imagine bringing back an earth bound spirit would be a lot more complicated than one in the spirit world. There's that whole attachment thing, and honestly I don't want to risk it. I'm sure you'll do fine without me."

"Alright, just be careful in there, okay?"

"Eye eye mon capitan." Shinji replied with a mock salute.

Nindie laughed and rolled her eyes, and then disappeared without a word in the usual ghostly fashion.

Shinji sighed as she turned her attention back to hells gate. Though she didn't really want to it made sense to go back inside, take out the biggest demon in there, and gain the extra mana she needed to stand on equal ground to Hao before he pulled her back to the world of the living. It wouldn't take her too long, even without a spirit ally, but somehow it felt wrong to be doing this, even if it was necessary. She would get more mana just by being revived from death, but the real power came from hell, and that was what she needed. This guilty feeling really sucked. She was getting tired of being torn between fighting Hao and being with him. It seemed that every time something started to go right between someone would remind her that in the end they had to fight. She didn't know how Yoh could stand it, because it was obvious the peaceful boy didn't want to fight his brother even though everyone told him he had to. Shinji really wished she had got to talk to him more, because Yoh probably knew how she felt more than anyone. No matter what happened, the way it looked now at least one person would end up broken. It was a bitter thought. She couldn't even remember why she had wanted to be the shaman king herself anymore. Begrudgingly she walked slowly towards Hells gate, though every step was like a heavy weight. She really didn't want to do this, but she couldn't see any other way, though she was almost certain that if she did win their relationship wouldn't be able to handle the strain.

'He'll probably hate me forever,' she thought to herself miserably as she reached the doors, 'but I can't sit by and do nothing." Her hands touched the wood with only the sense that she was touching it, but without any real solid feeling, and before she could get her hand to push they swung inside, beckoning her into the darkness.

"Shinji."

At first she didn't hear the voice, so wrapped up in her own miserable thoughts, but then her ears pulled her away from herself. For a moment she wondered if she had really heard it, but as she turned around she spotted him, facing her from across the ravine, perched on one of the large rocks that littered the ground around the edge of the floating isle.

"Matamune?"

The small two tailed cat smiled at her, his eyes glowing an almost eerie green from the shadows, and he leapt from the rock to move towards her with all the grace that only a feline could posses.

"Hello, Shinji." He said pleasantly, stopping a little way in front of her.

"Wow, how are you?" Shinji asked, a grin spreading across her face, "It's been years since I saw you last."

"Five hundred and two if I'm correct, and it seems that you've been getting into trouble once again." He replied.

She laughed, "You can blame your former master for that one."

"Though not in the same way as before I see, new lives certainly are full of surprises." He said with a knowing look in his eyes.

"You can say that again." She grinned.

Matamune laughed slightly at that, but then a small frown crossed his face, and he paused for a moment before speaking, "Shinji, after everything you have been through and done for Hao-sama I hate to ask more of you."

The new spirit shot him a confused look, and he continued awkwardly, unsure of exactly how to word his request. "I'm afraid you have a choice to make, and as much as I would like for you to help us I will not hold it against us if you choose a different path."

"I don't understand," Shinji replied, "You know I'll do anything I can if you really need me, but what do you mean a choice?"

"Right now your plan is to go into hell and gain the extra bit of mana from death to stand an equal chance of defeating Hao-sama in battle before you are revived by him. That is one path, though if you choose it you must do so full heartedly, fighting in the spirit world is about your will to succeed, if there is even a hint of doubt in your mind you will lose, and as you are now I am not sure you could win."

Shinji wanted to tell him he was wrong, that she had gone into hell a thousand times and come out completely fine and that it would be no different this time, but if she really thought about it she wasn't so sure. It was true what he had said, fighting in hell was all about will power and while she doubted if it was really the right thing to do she could never win. She couldn't risk her soul like that, because if she lost it would be destroyed.

"Alright," she said finally, "you said two paths, what's the other one?"

"The other is to stay here in the spirit world."

Shinji frowned, "Okay, now I'm really confused. What use can I be if I stay dead? Even if I went back without going through hell we'd have a better chance than if I just did nothing. Who would fight Hao if I wasn't alive to do it? I mean, Yoh and his friends are strong as a group and stuff, but they wouldn't be able to fight Hao alone, they need me."

Matamune smiled slightly at the mention of Yoh, "Do you know about Yoh's plan?"

"I only know what Lyserg told me, which wasn't really all that much to be honest, and I feel like he was missing parts of it."

"Yoh is an easy person to understand, though so many people have difficulty with it. You are correct though; there is more to his plan than what Lyserg knows. Yoh plans to fight the ten patch officials to get to Hao-sama, not to beat him but to make him change. He hopes to show Hao-sama that he's not alone anymore. You actually played a part in giving him the idea."

She blinked in confusion, "Me?"

The cat nodded, "You are proof that Hao-sama is not made of stone. That he does have a heart. It made Yoh think that if you managed to bring out a softer side to Hao then perhaps he can as well, with the help of everyone else from the tournament."

"Alright, let's say I get all of this. What would you need me to do?"

"There will be a woman arriving soon, her name is Sati. She is the leader of the Ganahandra team participating in the tournament. You will need to assist her in obtaining the remaining three high spirits, and bring them to the five warriors when the time comes."

The name Ganahandra was familiar to her, they were one of the teams that made it into the finals of the tournament, but Shinji had never met anyone called Sati.

"Sorry, I'm kind of confused again. Who exactly needs the high spirits? And who are the five warriors?"

"I suppose Hao-sama would not have told you any of this, so it's not surprising that you are confused. I apologise for not making it clearer, though you have met them before. Yoh and four of his friends have obtained the power to control one of the five elemental spirits each." Matamune explained patiently, " It was a dangerous task for them, they all had to die and fight through their own personal hell to gain this ability. Lady Sati was the one who gave them the opportunity, though they were not aware of what they were in for at the time. She was also the one that brought them back. The high spirits are needed to fight Hao-sama once he becomes the shaman king, because their own spirits would be no match against the power of the great spirits Hao-sama will obtain."

Shinji listened with a growing feeling of irritation. How could all of this be happening behind her back? Why did no one seem to think that she was trustworthy enough to be told anything? It seemed that no one expected her to beat Hao anyway if they were already planning to use Nindie in their plot, because it was clear that five high spirits were needed for the five warriors, and Nindie was one of the high spirits as the spirit of rain. If she had lived did they just expect her to hand Nindie over? And how did they expect to get their hands on the spirit of fire? Actually knowing Hao he probably would just give him to them when he became king, confident that he was unbeatable. Hao obviously knew everything that had been going on, it would be hard not to know with his mind reading. Apparently even he didn't think it was important to keep her in the loop. Asshole. Now all she wanted to do was go back down to earth, kick his ass, and make everyone beg for forgiveness of their ignorance. Of course, she knew she couldn't make the decision based on her wounded pride, but that didn't mean she wasn't debating on it anyway. She needed to calm down and take a moment to think things over properly.

A sharp, harsh tug to her soul almost brought her to her knees, and she felt herself gasp for the pain of it. She looked over at matamune with wide eyes, and the look of panic on his face did nothing to reassure her.

"We're almost out of time, Hao-sama has begun the resurrection process. You must decide now Shinji, will you stay here or go back?" The cat asked hastily, urging her to answer quickly.

Another sharp pull made Shinji wince, and she had to fight to stay standing, "I-I don't know, I need more time. Damn it Hao don't be so bloody impatient! I didn't know this would hurt so much. How can this even hurt anyway, I'm dead!"

"Shinji you have to decide now, it only hurts because you're resisting, but if you don't make a choice you will be dragged back to the living before you can make up your mind. You must choose."

She felt like she was suffocating, drowning in the waves of emotion rolling into her from Hao's pull. The pain in his own soul brought tears to her eyes, it was intense, the feeling of sorrow and despair. He was desperate, clinging to her soul relentlessly. Her anger had died under his grief, and now all she wanted to do was go down to him, tell him it was alright and never hurt him like that again. She didn't want to abandon him, but she didn't want to fight anymore.

"What if Yoh's plan doesn't work?" she asked through the pain.

The cat smiled sympathetically, "You have to trust him."

She did trust Yoh, but could she really leave him to do everything without her? Then again, Matamune said that he needed her. Would this Sati person be able to get the high spirits without her? There were just too many ways this could go. If she could she would do everything herself, but she couldn't, she had to make a choice, and she had to think of the bigger picture. As much as she hated it she had to stay, for Hao's sake.

"Alright, I'm staying. You hear that Hao? Now let go already!" stubbornly, she wrenched her soul out of his grip and fell to her knees, panting for the strain on her spirit. She closed her eyes against the hollow feeling that grew in her stomach. What had she done? A breath of a touch brushed against her arm, and she shuddered against it. He was still there. She wasn't sure how, but she could feel it. There was a lingering consciousness surrounding her, a small sensation of being embrace calmed her fears and wiped away her guilt. And then it was gone. Her watery eyes opened and she pulled herself back to her feet with more confidence than she had felt in a long time. Matamune smiled at her. He had felt it too. She smiled back.

"Okay, so how do we do this?"

Personally I prefer how this version ended compared to the other. I wasn't originally planning to change the whole ending of the chapter, just fix the few mistakes that didn't quite line up with the actual shaman king manga after I re-read it (Hao's followers had actually been revived when I thought they were still dead). Luckily I found something else Shinji could do in the spirit world to replace rounding up people who aren't even dead at that point. Sorry if this is confusing to the people who haven't read the manga, but you should totally read it at some point, it is so worth it!

Anywayz, to clarify a things for those of you who either haven't read or have just forgotten bits like I did, Matamune is an abandoned cat from Hao's first life that Hao decided to looked after. They understood eachother because of Hao's mind reading, and then when Matamune died Hao turned him into a Goryoushin so that the cat could stay by his side and guard him against bad spirits and deamons, and gave him a portion of his own mana to give the cat a solid body. Eventually Hao went a bit nuts with the killing all humans thing so Matamune turned against him and sided with the Asakura's, and 500 years later helped Yohken kill Hao in his second life, though Matamune always regretted it because he really liked Hao and blamed himself for his masters madness. He also had a bit of a past with Yoh and Anna when the two first met. Anna was tormented by her own mind reading powers and was constantly creating Oni (some demon things) against her own will. Yoh and Matamune teamed up and fought against one huge ass Oni to save Anna, which then used up all the mana Hao had given Matamune and he was forced to return to the spirit world. He also gave Yoh the bear claw necklace that originally belonged to Hao. Yeah that about sums him up I think lol. Oh, and Anna loses her mind reading after the Oni is defeated and she's not crazy anymore =D

Anywayz, thanks for reading and please review! =D