Happy New Year!

Wow, it's 2005 already. Did you all have a good Christmas? And how quickly did 2004 go by? Have you all got a new year's resolution? I have! Mine is 'to concentrate more on school work', though I doubt I'll be able to last long since I'm always on this computer!

Thank you to the people who reviewed the last chapter, they brightened up my Christmas.

Important: Please help the people in Asia by donating money. It doesn't have to be a lot, but please help them survive.

'thoughts'

"speaking"

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, so do ask me to get you merchandise cause there seems to be a shortage here in the UK…

-I-

Changes: A Yona fic

Chapter 5: The 'New' Yoh

-I-

"Anna, are you OK?"

Jun waved her hand in front of Anna's eyes. Anna had spaced out, and just when she was going to explain something very important. After trying the 'hand in front of the eyes' trick for 5 minutes and ending up failing, she tried plan B. She clicked her fingers in front of Anna's eyes.

"Huh? Did you say something Jun?" Anna asked

'Works every time,' thought Jun, smiling

"Actually I did. I finally figured out what's wrong with Yoh and I think I know how to stop it. Did you want me to tell the others?"

Anna looked around the room. All of Yoh's friends, whether they were living or dead, were gathered around a large table in the Asakura household. Manta had arranged a group meeting so that they could figure out what was wrong with Yoh. Jun was about to tell them what she had discovered, but found that Anna wasn't listening, and it was important that she did, for Jun knew that she was to play a key part in bringing Yoh back to normal.

"Err…yeah. Go ahead and tell them Jun," replied Anna, still in a bit of a daze. She was sure that the aura she felt was Yoh's, but she wasn't 100 certain. From what she could tell, the aura was growing further and further away from the house. She made sure that she could still feel the aura as Jun spoke about their 'problem'.

Jun cleared her throat, causing a silence to fill the room, and addressed the group.

"Now, as you probably noticed, Yoh's been acting a little…differently these last few weeks…"

"You can say that again," muttered Manta

"Well, Anna and I have been doing a bit of research about what could be causing this, and we may have found the answer."

The tension in the room thickened. Everyone leaned in closer, making sure that they didn't miss a word.

"All the things that have been happening these last few weeks: Yoh's temper, the pain in his heart, the way he looks so different lately, all adds up to one thing…Dark Soul Control."

"Dark Soul Control?" the group said in unison.

Anna tried to sense Yoh's aura in the house, but she couldn't find it anywhere. She already knew about 'Dark Soul Control', and she had a feeling someone else other that Jun did too. After all, beside herself, they were the closest person to Yoh.

"Amidamaru," Anna whispered to the Samurai ghost, "can you go up and see if Yoh's OK?"

"Err…of course miss Anna," said Amidamaru, surprised that Anna was asking for his help. "But why do you-"

"Just do it!" Anna said in a loud hiss. Amidamaru gave a small bow to Anna, then disappeared. Anna turned back to the rest of the group. She knew something was wrong, she could feel it.

"…Dark Soul Control takes and destroys a person's soul," Jun continued. "The darkness slowly eats away at the innocent soul, changing them, as you can see from Yoh's behaviour. They become more angry, more frustrated, and more evil. They also receive pain from the part of the body where the dark soul was forced into the body.

"Forced?" asked Manta. "You mean, someone forced this 'thing' into Yoh's body, just to take control of him?"

"Yes. The dark soul is forced into the body, but only by someone with strong powers. They control the dark soul. For example, they control how long it will take for the 'transformation' to be complete, and they control when and where the victim will get the pain in their body."

"But who would do such a thing?" asked Horo Horo, completely clueless.

"Who do you think, Boro?" asked Ren, a little annoyed

Horo ignored the comment from the Chinese Shaman and thought very, very hard.

"Oh don't hurt yourself," said Anna, who too was annoyed, "it was Hao."

"Hao?!" the group said in unison. Anna sighed. People can be so dumb sometimes.

"Yes," Jun continued, "but there is a way we can stop it-"

"Anna!"

Amidamaru appeared in the room. His face showed panic and worry.

"Yoh is gone! He was not in his room!"

Anna stood up. She was right, it was Yoh's aura she felt, and she knew exactly where he was heading.

"He's going to the graveyard!" Anna shouted at them, making her way to the door.

"The graveyard?" Horo asked. "But how did you-"

"This is no time for questions!" Anna shouted back, "we have to stop him now! Amidamaru, you go on ahead and see if you can stop him. The rest of us will catch up. Now MOVE!"

The gang looked at each other for a second, then quickly got up and followed Anna out the door.

-I-

Yoh stopped in his tracks, harusame in his hand. Just in front of him, staring down at him from a tree, was his brother, Hao. This was it. The final showdown. Yoh was sick a tried of Hao's 'dark soul' trick. He wanted his life back, and he wanted it now.

"Well well well, if it isn't my dear little brother," said Hao, jumping down from the tree. "I'm actually surprised you showed up. Does Ana know you're here?"

"Shut up Hao!" said Yoh, gripping his sword tighter. "I am sick and tired of your games. I want my life back, and I want it now!"

"Your life? Ha! And just what do you plan to do with that excuse of a sword and no guardian ghost to help you?"

Yoh growled slightly. Hao was right, what could he do without Amidamaru? He needed him to help defeat his brother.

"Master Yoh!"

Yoh looked up. Amidamaru? But how? Wasn't he back at the house with Anna and the others? How did he find him so quickly?

"Amidamaru, what are you doing here?"

Amidamaru came down and stood in front of Yoh, as if blocking him from going any further.

"Master Yoh I can not let you do this! If you do, you'll be sinking to his level." He gave Hao an evil glare.

"My level? Now that's not a very nice thing so say," said Hao, smiling.

"Amidamaru, I have to do this."

"No you don't Yoh. There must be another way."

"There isn't! He stole my life, he stole my soul! And I need to get it back, so I can be normal again! Do you have any idea how much it hurts me when I shouted at Anna, when I shout at you, when I shout at the others? Do you?!"

Amidamaru stepped back slightly, and looked down at the floor, not answering.

"You don't, do you? Thanks to him, I've changed for the worse. I'm turning into the very thing I don't want to be. The very thing that I hate. And the only way to stop it, is to defeat him once and for all. Now, are you with me, or not?"

Amidamaru didn't know what to do. He was loyal to Yoh yes, but violence wasn't the answer. He didn't want Yoh to get hurt. But, like Yoh said, there wasn't anything else they could do.

He sighed, as if to surrender to Yoh, then went inside harusame. Yoh smiled and looked down at the sword.

"Thank you, my friend."

"Aww, how cute," said Hao, walking towards Yoh. "The two friends are back together."

"Shut up Hao! Because these 'to friends' are going to kick your ass!"

Yoh started charging towards Hao, his sword reading to strike. But Hao wasn't worried. It was time for the final stage of his plan.

"I don't think so Yoh," he said, raising his hand at Yoh.

Yoh stopped. What was Hao up to? But he didn't have to wait long to find out. The pain in his heart suddenly came back, only this time it was worse than ever. He feel down to his knees and screamed out in pain. He heard Amidamaru calling out to him from Harusame, but he couldn't do anything. The pain was too much.

"…Amidamaru…help…me…" Yoh struggled to say

"Try calling out to your dim-witted ghost, he can't do anything, for during the last stage of Dark Soul Control, it's not only you that becomes evil, your guardian ghost is affected too."

Yoh continued to try and fight the pain. He felt his body changing again, the last of his soul being eaten at by the evil inside of him. This was it. Hao had won, and there was nothing anyone could do. He screamed out as the pain began to get worse and worse. It was like a fire was burning inside his body, inside his heart.

"Yoh!"

'Anna? Oh no, what's she doing here? It's too dangerous!'

"Hello? What do we have here?" asked Hao, starting at the group running in their direction, before disappearing.

-I-

Anna ran and ran, seeing Yoh on the floor. He was in pain. She could feel it. She had to help him. She was only a few metres away, when she felt someone grab her hand. She looked up and saw that the person, who had grabbed her, was none other than Hao himself.

"And where do you think you're going?" he said, looking down at the itako.

Anna pulled her hand away from Hao's grip, and indicated to the other's behind her to stop. She glared into Hao's eyes.

"What have you done to Yoh now?" she demanded

Hao only laughed, and started to step back slightly.

"Me? I haven't done anything little Anna. I'm only making a few changes to help Yoh become stronger. Take a look for yourself."

Anna looked at Yoh, and gasped at the sight before her. She felt the others behind her gasped too.

Yoh was struggling to stand up, one hand still on his heart, the other gripped around harusame. He was no longer screaming, and his hair hid his face. A dark aura could be seen around his body. His oversoul was not the usual blue-white colour it always was, but a dark red.

"I'd like you to meet, the new Yoh." Hao announced

Anna couldn't believe her eyes. It had happened. The old Yoh was gone, pushed out by the darkness. She felt the tears build up in her eyes.

The rest of the gang were as gob-smacked as Anna was. They stood there, frozen by the sight before them. Their friend was gone. He had been replaced by evil and darkness. A few tears fell down their eyes.

Anna wiped away the tears in her eyes, and began to walk towards Yoh. Hao watched her, jumping up into the tree again, not wanting to miss a second of this.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he spoke, "isn't that right Yoh?"

Anna didn't listen. She kept on walking towards her fiancé, towards the future Shaman King, towards the person she loved.

"Yoh?"

Yoh's head shot up. Anna gave a small scream when she saw Yoh's face. His eyes were no longer filled with love, care, or happiness. Instead they bore hatred, darkness. They were no longer the chocolate brown colour Anna had known and loved, they were blood red. His month was smiling an evil grin.

Suddenly, without warning, Yoh charged towards Anna, ready to strike. Luckily, Anna was quick enough to dodge the attack, but land hard on the ground, bruising her arm.

"Anna!" screamed Jun, "are you alright?"

"Yeah" Anna answered, slowly standing up, "I'm fine. But we have to stop Yoh, and save him."

"But how are we suppose to do that?" asked Horo Horo as he dodged an attack from Yoh. "If we attack him, we'll hurt him. We can't do that to a friend."

"Horo's right," said Ren. He jumped in the air to dodge another attack from Yoh, and landed back on the ground. "We made a promise to protect and to not hurt our friends."

"There must be something we can do!" cried Pirika

"There is a way," said Jun. She turned to face Anna. "I told you, I've found a way to save Yoh, and to do it, we need you, Anna."

"Me?" Anna asked, shocked, "what can I do?"

"There's nothing you can do!" Hao called from the tree, "The new Yoh is under my control, and there's nothing you can do about it! Now Yoh, attack and finish them once and for all."

Yoh nodded at his new master, acknowledging the command. He held up his weapon, and began to charge at the group that he used to call his friends.

-I-

To be continued

-I-

Please R&R this chapter. The last chapter will probably be posted the day before I go back to school (which will be Tuesday) but I'm not making any promises. This will probably be my last Shaman King fic for a while since I have really important exams this year and I wasn't to concentrate on them, but I may do another one if I have any good ideas!