Disclaimer: Shaman King and its characters belong to Hiroyuki Takei, not me.

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 SailorLoneStar: The reason I called that chapter a second prologue as opposed to a real chapter is because it was intended to set things up for the start of the next arc of the story, which officially begins this chapter.

Hao: I might not attack her, but I happen to know that Anna seems to have a talent for persuasion.

------------------------

To Black Dragon: Taki can't move that fast with a physical body. Since she and Crystal are presently free of that little complication, making it to Japan quickly is a simple matter.

The Original Characters

Hex

Age 19

Birthday: Unknown

Star Sign: Unknown

Blood Type: Unknown

Details: All that is known about him is that he is an incredibly powerful Shaman who is determined to take over the world. Even without trying to attain the powers of the Great Spirit, his spirit partner could be plenty to accomplish his goal. However, Hex appears to have unfinished business with Hao and seems more interested in dealing with him first. Hex is a character created and based on my younger brother.

Chapter Seven, Part One: Unconquered Determination

The fight was beginning to seem a little one-sided. This was primarily because Crystal was the one that was doing all the attacking while Yoh, Horohoro and Hao were constantly on the defensive. Something had to be done to stop Crystal, but there was still the question of exactly what could be done.

"We need to break the control of whoever is manipulating her," Hao spoke as though this would be an easy task.

"And just what do you have in mind for figuring out who is behind this?" asked Yoh.

Hao sweatdropped, "I never said it was a perfect plan."

"You know guys... if I stop her from moving, she shouldn't be able to attack us for a little while," noted Horohoro.

"Make with the ice then," suggested Hao.

Once Crystal was frozen in place, the three boys were able to start thinking more about who was behind this attack. The skills she had used as well as the nature of her fighting style were the same as they had been two years ago. By all accounts it seemed like Crystal really was launching the attack, except that the Crystal they all knew would not be trying to bring harm to them.

"You two can take over from here. I don't have anymore ideas," said Horohoro.

Hao frowned, "This would be a lot easier if we knew who was controlling her."

"I wouldn't mind knowing why they are using her to attack us," commented Yoh.

There was an audible cracking sound as the ice surrounding Crystal shattered. In the past few seconds flames had surrounded the blade of her plastic sword and she had managed to free herself from her prison. She appeared to be ready to go on the offensive again.

"I almost forgot that she was that good at manipulating fire," commented Hao.

"Now is not the time to be impressed!" exclaimed Yoh and Horohoro together.

"Chuuka Zanmai!" All eyes turned to the source of the new voice as Ren descended from the general area of the roof. He was targeting Crystal's weapon with such precision, that within a few more seconds the plastic blade had been sliced cleanly into several dozen pieces. The handle, now completely useless, remained in Crystal's hand. He landed easily near where the others had assembled, "Care to explain what is going on here?"

Yoh answered based on what he knew, "It would appear that someone else is in control of Crystal's body. Of course, now that she doesn't have a weapon it should be easier make her normal again."

"You'd like it if it was that easy." A stranger's voice spoke from Crystal's mouth.

Crystal's voice came from up in a nearby tree, "Isn't it though? You've been in my body long enough... get out now, or I'll just have to dive in there and pound you out."

"Now I'm confused," Horohoro looked between the place where Crystal's body was standing and the transparent figure of the girl in the tree. "If Crystal isn't in her body, then who the heck is?!"

Hao, if you would kindly vaporize that spirit ward on my back... I can take care of the rest. Hao was surprised to hear Crystal's voice inside his head, as he normally was unable to read her thoughts. Apparently if she let him, he could read her thoughts. It took a few more seconds for Hao to cause the spirit ward that had been on Crystal's back to burst into flames, quickly dismantling the barrier that was keeping Crystal's spirit out of her physical body.

The transparent version of Crystal in the tree, literally dived down from the branch she had been standing on and dived into the solid one standing in the middle of the backyard of Funbari Onsen. Several moments slipped by in silence as Crystal regained dominance over the control of her own body.

"Taki! Now!" Taki, who also descended from the treebranch, took on the form of a spirit flame. She moved into a ready position in Crystal's waiting hand, "Spirittou Ball! Hyoi Gattai!" Crystal brought the spirit flame inside her body, which immediately collapsed. The strain from having three spirits inside had obviously won out.

Yoh stared in shock, "What in the world is she thinking?"

"She seemed to have a plan in mind," replied Hao. "I'm not worried."

"Does anyone actually know what's going on here?" demanded Ren.

Horohoro shook his head, "Not in the least."

Several more minutes passed in silence. Then a rather dazed looking half angel, half devil ghost was sent flying from Crystal's body. Crystal stood up, taking off her headphones and gripping the cable in one hand. She made a horizontal motion with the headset, improvising her weapon to use the Windblade Strike.

"Kaze-ken Dageki!"

Hex emerged from where he had been hidden behind the tree, catching the seemingly invisible windblade in one hand with a dangerous grin on his face. He sent the attack back at Crystal, only to see it blocked by Horohoro's ice shield. Crystal looked back at him defiantly, "... Hex was it? Don't expect the same trick to work on me twice. I won't permit you to use my body to hurt my friends anymore." Having exhausted herself from the effort, Crystal collapsed into unconsciousness.

"This one could prove to be an interesting opponent," Hex commented to the half angel, half devil ghost that had finally recovered from the beating he had taken inside of Crystal's subconscious. "I suppose we'll let her live for now."

Yoh stood defensively in front of where Crystal had collapsed along with Horohoro, "She said your name is Hex... just what are you trying to pull here?"

"Why don't you ask your brother? I have better things to do than to explain my motives to a little goody-goody like you," replied Hex indifferently. "I will tell you one thing though... I beat Hao 1000 years ago and nothing will get in my way of taking over this pathetic excuse for a world." The half angel, half devil ghost seemed to disappear as Hex manifested his frightening pair of feathery, demonic wings and took to the sky. He vanished beyond the horizon before anyone had a chance to stop him.

Chapter Seven, Part Two: Okamiryuu

Crystal opened her eyes to find herself in a room inside of Funbari Onsen. She pulled her right hand out from under the blanket that was over her and stared at it for a moment before resting it at her side. Her plan had been a success and she had gotten her body back. That certainly seemed like a good sign.

"You're finally awake." Hao was sitting cross-legged on the floor several feet away from her, apparently watching over her. "Are you feeling ok?"

Crystal attempted to sit up and winced, "Aside from the headache and the fact that it hurts to move, I guess I'm fine. How long was I out?"

"Two days," answered Hao. "It's amazing you're conscious this soon after that ordeal."

A hollow laugh escaped Crystal, "If I hadn't been totally overwhelmed by that guy's malicious emotional energy... it wouldn't have happened that way."

"It's ok. You can't expect to be prepared for every situation life faces you with," replied Hao reassuringly. It had been two years since he had seen Crystal. Many things had changed in that time, but it had been her continued belief that he was a good person that had finally shown him that he could come to terms with his own humanity. "Anyway, it's nice to have you back."

Crystal managed her usual smile, "It's good to be back."

------------------------

On the third day, Crystal was back to her old self. She and the others were assembled in the living room of Funbari Onsen to discuss what they knew about what had happened. Ren had made a point of staying, saying that he wouldn't leave until someone told him what was happening.

"Where shall I begin?" Hao asked the assembled group.

Horohoro suggested, "Why don't you start by telling us who this guy, Hex, is. Then you can explain why he wanted to attack you using Crystal's body as an Oversoul."

"We already know that the lunatic plans on taking over the world," said Yoh.

Ren smirked, "As if he could possibly succeed."

"He certainly had me at a huge disadvantage," grumbled Crystal. She was still frustrated with having been completely helpless like that in the face of an enemy who was threatening the life of one of her friends. That feeling didn't rest too well with her.

Hao frowned, "I do vaguely remember fighting someone named Hex 1000 years ago. He didn't have the same spirit partner as the guy who attacked us three days ago, but then again I didn't have the Spirit of Fire back then either."

"Did he seriously defeat you?" asked Yoh.

Hao shrugged, "He had me at a disadvantage and left me to be finished off by the Asakura family. My guess is that he was some kind of mercenary at that time."

"And his reason for attacking you with Crystal's body?" asked Horohoro.

"You heard what he said. The guy is after world domination. He probably thinks a Shaman as powerful as me will get in his way in the future. He probably figured it would effect me more to be attacked by a friend," replied Hao in a bitter tone.

Ren raised an eyebrow, "How exactly did you know Crystal wasn't in control of her body?"

"I can't normally read her mind," answered Hao.

"Unless I allow him to," added Crystal.

Hao continued, "The thoughts I heard where Crystal's blocked consciousness should have been, belonged to Hex's spirit partner."

------------------------

"You have a lot to accomplish today, so it's time to get up."

Crystal heard Anna's voice from the doorway and sat up rubbing the sleep from her eyes, "Out of curiousity... what time is it?"

"5:00 a.m. Is that a problem?" replied Anna.

Crystal shook her head. "Not really, no. What exactly do you want me to do anyway?"

"I have some special training for you. You might want to change into some clothes you don't mind getting sweaty," answered Anna.

------------------------

Crystal stood leaning against the tree in the backyard as Anna explained what she was expected to do. She had changed from her normal pajamas to a pair of blue jeans and a black tank-top. Crystal didn't really mind being awake so early, but she was still curious about what kind of training Anna had in mind for her.

"You're going to learn how to summon Shikigami," Anna stated simply.

Crystal blinked, "You want me to master that in a day?"

"That's the plan," replied Anna. "You already have remarkable control over your spiritual powers, so this should be easy. I know for a fact that there is a massive well of Furyoku available to you, but as long as Taki remains your choice of spirit partners, you'll never be able to use it to its full potential."

Takikoneko appeared and spoke indignantly to Anna, "Are you calling me weak?"

"You aren't a fighting class spirit, therefore you are practically useless in a real combat situation," replied Anna indifferently.

Takikoneko scowled at Anna before turning on her heel and stalking off toward the Inn to join Hao on the roof. That was one distraction out of the way, nevermind what Hao was doing awake at this time or why he was on the roof.

"So, basically... I need to pick a suitable medium and a physical manifestation for my spiritual energy?" asked Crystal suddenly.

Anna nodded, "You catch on fast."

"I've been wanting to try this for a while," replied Crystal. Her focus shifted to the droplets of water that had collected on the grass in the yard during the night. About a minute later, there was a creature that looked like a mix between a wolf and dragon taking up a considerable portion of the backyard. It had blue-white fur that almost seemed to glow in the light from the sunrise. Crystal grinned, "I call it Okamiryuu."

Anna honestly looked surprised for a moment before she found her voice again. "In that case, you'll keep working on this until you can summon your Okamiryuu in less than ten seconds."

Crystal facevaulted. "... understood."

To Be Continued...

A Word From the Characters

Taki: (dangles a container of industrial strength hair gel in front of Ren)

Ren: (points his Kwan Dao threateningly at Taki) Did you honestly expect that to work on me?

Taki: Um... yes?

Ren: You thought wrong. Chuuka Zanmai!

Taki: Eek! (runs)

Manta: While Taki is busy running away from Ren, I guess I'll manage things here. The insane authoress feels more inspired to write when she gets reviews, the sillier the better.