Disclaimer: Shaman King and its characters belong to Hiroyuki Takei, not me. Ranma 1/2 and its characters, specifically one Ryoga Hibiki, belong to Rumiko Takahashi.
Author's Notes: At this point in time I have seen the entire Shaman King anime in Japanese with English subtitles and scattered episodes of the dubbed first season. I have read the first four volumes of the English manga and await the release of volume 5. I have visited countless spoiler sites and a lot of the information just doesn't agree from site to site. Most of my background information is based on the manga, such as the fact that the official start of the Shaman Fight was January 1, 1999. The rest of the information, such as the outcome of the Shaman Fight, is based on the anime. The reason behind this is mostly because my mind organized the information that way and it just seems to fit in well with my plans for this fanfic.
WARNING! There be spoilers ahead!
In Response to Reviews
To wingweaver22: It was either the napalm or the gasoline canister with the box of matches.
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To Sara Stronhold: It's nice to know that there are actually people enjoying this project.
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To Nicole: I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying the story so far. Not to worry, there is plenty more scheduled ahead.
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To unholy-blaze: A dragon scale frying pan, huh? I dunno where the dragon scales would come from in this day and age, but whatever. The Spirit of Fire already made an appearence, so you really don't have to worry about that.
Chapter Five, Part One: Meanwhile, At Funbari Onsen
Nothing of particular interest had really been happening since Lyserg, Horohoro and Ryu had returned to Funbari Onsen after that one brief encounter with Hao while trying to learn more about Crystal. Coincidentally, the same day that Hao requested that Crystal return to challenge Yoh was also the day that the current residents of Funbari Onsen had planned a party for Yoh and Lyserg, being as their birthdays were within days of each other and it would be easiest to throw a party on the weekend somewhere in the middle.
It was a perfectly ordinary party except for the part when Horohoro, with the help of Kororo, filled the backyard with snow and somehow managed to drag everyone else into a huge snowball fight. Even Anna got caught up in the brawl. It was all well and good until Horohoro made some comment about Ren throwing like a girl which resulted in Ren drawing his Kwan Dao and actually trying to slice the Ainu in half.
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Some odd hours later the boys had retreated to the bath/hot spring. A few minutes into their bath, the boys fell into a confused silence. For no readily apparent reason, a small black piglet with a yellow bandana covered in scattered black checkerboard patterns crawled over to the bath/hot spring and dove in without hesitation. The boys exchanged confused glances, but no one was entirely certain what was going on.
Where the piglet had landed in the bath/hot spring there was now a naked teenage boy wearing the same bandana that had been around the piglet's neck around his forehead. He appeared to be roughly the same age as most of the boys present in the bath/hot spring. At this point in the timeline Yoh has just turned fifteen, so it should be easy to guess about how old the others in his group should be. The silence that had fallen over everyone was suddenly broken by Ren.
"What the hell just happened?!"
"It would appear that the piglet transformed into a teenage boy," supplied Chocolove.
"I can see that!" exclaimed Ren. "What I want to know is how that happened!"
The teenage boy that had joined them looked slightly embarassed, "It's kind of a long story. I am Hibiki Ryoga, and I'm looking for the Tendo Dojo."
"That doesn't explain the part about the pig," noted Horohoro.
Ryoga went into the epic tale of how his curse was all Ranma's doing and that he was looking for the Tendo Dojo to teach Ranma a lesson. To the confusion of everyone else, when they all went to change into their clothes Ryoga's normal outfit along with his backpack had somehow materialized in the changing room. They kindly gave Ryoga directions to get to Nerima where he believed he was certain to find someone who would be able to direct him to the Tendo Dojo. Ryoga started off in the opposite direction.
"No sense of direction?" commented Yoh.
Horohoro nodded, "It sure seems like it."
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After the hotel had been cleaned up after the party, Yoh and Manta headed out to visit the Funbari Hill Cemetery so Yoh could get in a little stargazing before it was time to call it a night.
Chapter Five, Part Two: Not an Average Challenge
Arriving in Tokyo had been a relatively simple matter. Taki had already made the trip once before and had memorized the route to Funbari Hill Cemetery. Even with the addition of Tyriel and Midnight this had not drawn much attention to them. This was also partly because they had chosen to travel in such a way that it would be dark when they got there.
The combination of traveling into a different timezone and burning her Furyoku the entire trip to maintain the Takiryuu Oversoul left Crystal rather exhausted. Add to this the fact that neither Crystal nor Taki could remember the route to Funbari Onsen and that was where the problem started to arise. Taki hadn't been paying attention to where Yoh was leading them because she had been too busy freaking out about the fact that Crystal hadn't been able to tell that he was the twin brother Hao had sent her to find. Crystal had only been there once and her hadn't exactly memorized the route either.
"Not to worry. I figure we'll probably run into Yoh here again," Crystal didn't seem particularly concerned about being hopelessly lost in a strange city. She was already up the tree looking up at the stars. Midnight let out a low growl which cause Taki to squeak before turning into her kitten form and scurrying up the tree to join Crystal.
Tyriel couldn't resist asking, "How did you reach that conclusion?"
"He probably comes here to stargaze on a regular basis," replied Crystal.
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Five minutes later Yoh and Manta strolled into the cemetary. Yoh took in the sight of Crystal and Takikoneko in the tree, with Tyriel and Midnight seemingly guarding them from the base of the tree in his usual calm manner. Manta had to double-take to make sure the guy at the base of the tree was actually human. He had an almost demonic look to him with the way he seemed to shift in and out of the shadows without even moving.
"Hm... I've met Crystal already, so you must be the Tyriel I heard about from the others," Yoh decided to start the conversation.
Tyriel grinned, causing Manta to flinch involuntarily. Crystal waved from where she was perched in the tree, "It's certainly an excellent night to look at the stars."
"I'm wondering... what brings you back to Tokyo?" asked Yoh.
Crystal sighed, "Hao wants me to fight you. Not a real fight actually, more like a sparring match. I think it could prove to be a fun experiment, so long as no one has to get seriously hurt."
Yoh nodded, "It sounds perfectly reasonable. Tomorrow then?"
"I like the sound of that," replied Crystal.
Yoh took his usual spot at the base of the tree and started looking at a particularly bright section of the night sky. Manta settled down next to him before suddenly realizing the agreement that Yoh and Crystal had just made with a few short sentences.
"You two are seriously going to fight?!"
Tyriel slipped around the opposite side of the tree, "Is there a problem with that?"
Manta gulped, "Not at all." There was definitely something very unnerving about that guy.
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Once the group had finished stargazing, it was time for Manta to head home. Yoh then went about the other task of leading the rest of the group to Funbari Onsen. If he was lucky, Anna wouldn't get too upset about the situation that had presented itself. I'm sure Crystal has no intention of bringing harm to me or any of the others. I'm not so sure about that guy Tyriel though. Does he actually intend to attack someone or does he just like to scare people?
"We really need to stop meeting like this," noted Crystal. As an afterthought she added, "Although I am glad I got a chance to meet you and some of your friends, although I'd prefer if it had been on more positive terms."
Yoh was still a little uncomfortable with the way Tyriel seemed to be making a point of lurking behind them in the shadows, but he got the impression that as long as Crystal was there Tyriel wouldn't get to harm anyone. Yoh nodded, "I don't think Ren is mad about what happened the first time we met anymore. Hopefully this will all resolve itself before anyone has to get hurt."
"Anything is possible as long you believe it is," replied Crystal with an optimistic expression on her face. Her expression shifted to one of mild annoyance as she turned around to face Tyriel, "That's quite enough of that. Do you want the entirety of Tokyo to think they've got a werewolf problem?"
Tyriel smiled an innocent and yet completely devious smile, "I think it would be fun."
I really hope he keeps his mouth shut around Anna. They continued walking in silence as Yoh led the way to Funbari Onsen.
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Such was not the case. Before Yoh could explain anything after entering Funbari Onsen, Tyriel's deathwish had already taken control again.
"Who's that evil looking witch?" Tyriel was looking directly at Anna.
When Anna slapped him and nothing happened, she honestly looked shocked. The same could be said for Ren, Horohoro, Lyserg and Chocolove. This did not apply to Ryu who had left for a "guys night out" with his gang which meant he might not be back for several days. Faust was on the roof with Eliza and as such did not get to witness this scene. Horohoro was the one that broke the stunned silence.
"Anna's slap had no effect?"
There was a faint crackling in the air as electricity seemed to condense in the air around Crystal's right hand. Her expression darkened, although she still didn't really look all that intimidating.
"... Tyriel, just what do you think you're doing?"
A fearful look appeared on Tyriel's face, although it was slightly masked by his amusement at having gotten to Anna like that. Crystal raised her hand and a bolt of lightning struck Tyriel, causing him to collapse in a charred heap on the floor. She relaxed and lowered her hand, before laughing nervously as she returned her attention to Anna.
"Sorry about the mess."
There was an exchange of sweatdrops around the room.
Chapter Five, Part Three: Wind, Water and Fire
The next morning Crystal was in her room, having decided that the best way to stay on Anna's good side was as a paying customer. She had changed her clothes so that she was now wearing black martial arts style pants and a black tank-top with a silver dragon pattern on the front. She still had the bracelet Hao had given her around her left wrist and she was still wearing her silver dragon pendant around her neck. Her trusty plastic sword was strapped over her shoulder and she was having a last minute tactics discussion with Taki.
"This is the first time we're going to fight a battle without taking the easy way out. In any event, you're better at illusions than real combat so just lend me your power and I'll do the fighting."
Taki nodded, "And yet you still don't know the full extent of your own power."
Crystal shrugged, "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."
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Several hours later, Yoh and Crystal were ready to face off at the cemetery. The audience consisted of those who had been at Funbari Onsen to witness Crystal's ability to manipulate electricity and Manta, not about to miss one of Yoh's fights even if it wasn't necessarily a real fight. Yoh had already gotten into his Spirit of Sword double media and everyone was waiting on Crystal.
Crystal unclasped the necklace from around her neck and held it by the chain so the dragon pendant was dangling in front of her. In her other hand she drew her plastic sword. She looked to Taki, "Ready?"
"As I'll ever be," replied Taki.
Crystal nodded, "Taki into the plastic sword, into the dragon pendant!" The was a quick flash of light before the two objects combined with the pyromaniacal waterfall spirit to form a double-bladed sword that seemed to have blades made of fire. Crystal held onto the central shaft with both hands with a rather surprised look on her face.
"Wow. I didn't know I could do anything like this."
Ren sweatdropped, "You mean to say that you're still making up these abilities as you go along?"
"This should be interesting," said Yoh.
"Shall we get started then?" Crystal got into a battle ready pose.
Without any further hesitation, Yoh decided to open things with the Shockwave Buddhagiri, "Amidaryu Shinkuu Buttagiri!" When the dust cleared, the attack appeared to have hit its mark except for the fact that Crystal was no longer standing there. She had somehow timed it so that when she jumped to dodge she could use the explosion to launch herself into the air.
"Thanks for the lift. Now I believe it's my turn."
Crystal slashed her weapon across the air in front of her creating a crescent of flames to form her Burning Wind Slash, "Yoen-Uindo Surasshu!" Her attack also appeared to land its mark, but when the dust cleared Yoh was several feet off to the side having completely dodged it.
"This could go on for a while," Horohoro sweatdropped.
Chocolove decided to ask the question that had been nagging at everyone since the fight started, "If Crystal's spirit is that of a waterfall, then what's with all the fire attacks?"
"It would appear that how she attacks is completely up to her and that spirit of hers," commented Lyserg.
Ren nodded, "It is remarkable use of teamwork. Still, we have to remember that she did challenge Yoh."
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The fight continued for the next hour with Yoh and Crystal dodging or blocking each other's attacks while launching off their own. It was entertaining at first, but after an hour of watching them it was actually getting boring. However, an hour of ceaselessly burning up Furyoku in attacks was starting to show in the way Yoh's attacks were becoming less forceful. Crystal seemed to have a somewhat deeper energy well to draw from, but even she was starting to lose force.
As was often the case, Hao along with Opacho and the Hanagumi appeared from nowhere near where Tyriel was standing. Hao stepped forward as the Spirit of Fire manifested itself ominously behind him. He glanced to Crystal briefly, "I can take over from here."
"Huh?!" Crystal was obviously surprised, but she wasn't about to move. Something about the feel of the situation didn't seem right.
Amidamaru appeared beside Yoh as the Spirit of Sword collapsed. Hao was smirking rather maniacally, "It would appear that you've burned most of your Furyoku. This will make the task of killing you much easier."
To Be Continued...
A Word From the Characters
Horohoro: Oh great, now Hao is starting to sound like his old self again.
Lyserg: I figured he couldn't maintain the nice act very long before he'd finally reveal his true colors.
Ren: Well, this is only the first arc of the fanfic.
Taki: Yeah, things only get better from here on in. (rolls a disco ball in front of Crystal)
Crystal: (dives for it and crashes into a tree, joining Yoh and Hao)
Ren: Just how long do you plan to keep this up?
Taki: Until I run out of random objects to distract people with. Anyway, since Crystal is presently out of commission... the insane authoress feels more inspired to write when she gets reviews, the sillier the better. Threats from Anna usually work too.