And another chappie in my SK FIC! YAY! you have a lot of time for this when on summer vacation, AND I GOT OUT YESTERDAY!
Disclaimer: Standard
Thank you to all who reviewed! I think this is gonna be the second to last chapter. I know I said that in the last chapter, but then I ended with the cliffhanger. And I'm really sorry about that, ...kinda. I like to write cliffies, I don't like to read them, so I know how you people who wait for my next chapters must feel.
And so, I updated sooner!
Onto the fic!
The crowd gasped. The boy had sliced his fiancee in half! In the stands, Tamora sat with her hands over her eyes, Trey sat with his over his ears, and Pilica sat with hers over her mouth. (They kinda looked like those monkey things with see-no-evil, hear-no-evil, etc.)
"How could Yoh do that!" Tamora finally said, still not daring to look.
"Don't you see?" Len said back, "You know he wouldn't do that unless he knew it was absolutely safe. He's got a plan,"
End of the Battle
On the field, Hao looked horrified.
Yoh dropped his sword, holding his hands out expectantly.
The flames around Anna vanished and she fell limply into the awaiting arms of her fiancee.
Yoh carefully lowered her to the ground, then turned to face Hao. "It's called Ghost Cutter. It's a power that Anna taught me while training. I didn't get the hang of it until just the other day. It's an amazing power. It cuts things... that can't be cut,"
He let this statement hang in the air for a little while, then continued.
"See?" he picked up the sword, now emanating blue flames, and ran it through his arm.
It passed through without making a scratch.
Everybody gasped, with the exception of Hao.
"Very good, little brother," Hao said. "I never expected you to learn that. Shows you can exceed my expectations, and how much I actually need your power. So I'll be taking it,"
Hao charged. Yoh took the defensive and blocked the attack. He couldn't have Hao getting Anna again could he?
"And I see now that she is your greatest weapon. This will be interesting,"
Hao charged again, and again Yoh took the defensive.
"Come now, Yoh. You can't expect to defeat me by just being defensive, can you?"
Yoh didn't reply
"He's biding his time," Trey said, almost absently up in the stands.
"What? Why?" Tamora asked.
"He's waiting for something. Whether it's for Hao to tire out or for someone to get Anna away I don't know, but I do know he's waiting,"
"How do you know?"
"How can you not? He's been waiting all this time to get back at Hao, and now he decides to be defensive? I don't think so,"
"Trey has a point," Len said. Pilica looked startled as the last person who would agree with her brother, actually did. "It is a bit odd that Yoh would wait now that he has his chance to get back at Hao. But with Anna there it's too risky. Hao knows how much Anna means to Yoh. He's not going to let an asset like her go wasted. And Yoh will be trying his best to spoil that for Hao. All in all, I think this is his only choice until someone gets Anna off the field,"
"I see," Tamora replied.
They returned to silently watching the match.
Hao had landed a few scratches on Yoh, but nothing too damaging. He paused now, stopping his onslaught.
"I didn't think I'd battle anyone who would wear me out. I underestimated you, Yoh. Something I will never do again,"
"But, how do you plan to beat me? Your undying source of energy has been taken away. I doubt that you will try that again. It's a whole new battle now, Hao. And this battle would call for a new strategy,"
"True, brother. But fear not! I shall come up with one. I didn't make it this far in 1500 years for nothing,"
Hao raised his arm. Before him appeared a sword.
"Do you know what this is, brother?... No? I didn't think so. It is the dreaded Sword of Kings. The very sword with which the first Shaman King won the first Shaman Tournament. It has been re-forged and remade thousands of times in its lifespan, making it the most durable sword there is. A whole lineage of shamans was assembled just to keep this sword safe. I happened upon it in my first life, where I earned the Keeper's trust, and he gave it to me for safekeeping. This sword has been infused with the powers of thousands of generations. Do you now think I need a new strategy, brother?"
Yoh appeared nervous. He had heard of the Sword of Kings. The first Shaman King was undoubtedly the most powerful of all Shaman Kings. His sword was rumored to have survived past his death, but Yoh never knew that the rumors were true. This was the sword that singlehandedly knocked all of the other shamans out of the tourney (Granted, back then it wasn't really a tourney. What with complications and rules, present-day shaman tourneys are much different than the very first shaman tournament, which consisted of a one-round free for all). It had been wielded by the most powerful shamans in all of history, and it was now in the hands of his enemy. Things were looking very grave for Yoh indeed.
That is, until something behind him stirred.
Anna was trapped inside her own mind, and had to admit, things looked very bleak there. Ever since Hao had put that...spell...on her, she couldn't arise to consciousness. And so, stuck in the confines of her mind, she was left to think.
All sorts of topics occurred to Anna, such as Hao's earlier ambush and spell ('What was that anyway?'), How to get out of here ('Not much hope of that, seeing as I don't know what got me here anyway...or where here is'), and Yoh.
She was thinking of the latter when a sharp pain racked through her body.
For the next few minutes, Anna's body was throbbing with onslaughts of pain. She didn't know where it was coming from, but she did know that it wasn't caused by herself.
The throbbing pain dulled for a few minutes. Anna was finally beginning to think it was over. Then the next onslaught attacked.
Twisting and turning, Anna fought hard to keep herself conscious (within the confines of her mind, that is).
Then suddenly, a gentle breeze brought with it immense relief and salvation. A warmth spread throughout Anna's body, completely obliterating the pain.
She moaned, groggily sitting up, only to find herself out of her own bleak mind, but into another nightmare.
"Anna!" Yoh said, stumbling over to where his fiancee had shown signs of life.
"Nggg,... Yoh?" she asked, finally getting her head straightened.
The smile Yoh showed was enough to brighten her senses. She noticed she was in one of the Shaman King Tournament's colosseums. Across the way, looking very annoyed, was Hao. Then full realisation hit her. She had been set free. Free from Hao's wrath and...other things. Her attention then fell to the object in Hao's hands, and her mind once again turned over.
"Yoh," she said slowly, "Tell- me- that isn't- the Sword of Kings,"
Yoh looked slightly sheepish. He put a hand behind his neck, "Well, I would. But then I'd be lying,"
Anna seemed to go paler. 'He has it? Oh, this is bad. This is very, very bad.' she thought, keeping her thoughts to herself. Yoh, however, seemed to know what she was thinking anyway.
"Don't worry, Anna. I'll find a way to beat it," he gave her a fake-reassured smile. This, of course, Anna saw right through, having been exposed to all of his smiles almost every day since... well, since they met. She gave him a look, as if to say don't-try-to-give-me-false-hope-Asakura.
"Yoh," she asked again, "What am I doing here?"
"Hao was using your energy in battle. I saved you. Hao pulled his weapon. You woke up," he said, relaying all the events straight to the point, without elaboration.
"And nobody thought to remove me from the battlefield? It's standard rules, Yoh. Nobody but contestants are allowed on the field,"
"I dunno, Anna. Nobody said anything,"
"If you two are quite finished," Hao interjected, "I'd like to get on with the battle I was winning,"
Yoh and Anna stopped talking. Anna tried to get up, but this proved fruitless. Apparently, she was staying put for the time being. Yoh turned back to Hao, sword raised.
"Alright, Hao. If that's the way you want it,"
Hao charged, powering up his sword with the Spirit of Fire.
The two swords clashed in a tumult of red and blue fire. Neither one budged, nor let up their attack.
"I thought- you said- this was- the most powerful sword in the world," Yoh said through gritted teeth.
"It- is!" Hao replied, also with teeth gritted, pushing Yoh back.
They parted, jumping back a few feet toward their side. Each teammate watched the twins battle in awe, silently nursing their own wounds.
"Have you even used it before!" Yoh asked, sounding disappointed.
Hao remained silent.
Yoh looked flabberghasted (!). "Do you mean to say, that you're trying to use a weapon you've never used before!"
Anna shook her head in disappointment. "I expected more of you, Master Hao," she said the last part with loathing.
"It is the most powerful sword, and I am the most powerful shaman! We are a perfect entity together. Nobody can stop us!" Hao said, going into denial. He utterly refused to believe that the sword was not obeying him. Yoh and Anna watched in horror as they witnessed Hao's crazed transformation into a madman.
"You're going down little brother!" Hao called, raising the sword above his head.
Yoh and Anna shared a look. Each believed that the new Hao would be even tougher to beat than the old. The crazed madman was under total obedience to his emotions. And right now, he was angry.
Yoh jumped aside as the Sword of Kings came crashing down to earth. Dust rose from the spot, enveloping the immobile Anna and the dodging Yoh.
A huge crater was left in the wake, stopping just before it got to the spot where Anna was sitting.
Hao turned around, smiling madly at Yoh. Yoh stepped back, slightly nervous.
"What's the matter, brother? Don't you want to play?" Hao swung the sword over his head again.
This time, Yoh couldn't run. The crater the sword would make put his teammates, as well as Hao's, in danger. He flinched, but then put his sword in a defensive stance.
Hao's sword came down upon his.
Yoh's sword shattered.
The flying pieces cut into his flesh and fell harmlessly to the ground around him.
Yoh fell to his knees.
The twins froze there for a minute. One kneeling in shards of broken metal, the other looming over his brother, sword outstreched.
Then Hao raised the sword to strike the now defenseless Yoh.
"YOH!" Anna shouted, surprising everyone.
Anna's voice triggered something inside Yoh. He sprang and rolled away from the descending blade, arising and quickly hitting Hao in a pressure point on the back of the neck.
And Hao fell.
Just like that, the Destroyer was defeated. By a flick of the hand in a bad spot. A spot all humans had.
And in this one moment, everyone present was reminded just how human Hao the destroyer actually was.
Silva, startled at the abrupt end, stuttered out, "The battle is over... Yoh Asakura is the winner!"
And the crowd erupted into a thunderous applause as Yoh Asakura stood disbelievingly on the battlefield.
TBConcluded!
YAYNESS! I finished the battle. How'd everyone like it! Good! I hope so.
I kinda just felt that this was a good place to end the chapter, so more on the way!
Thanks to all who reviewed... again!
animebookworm
