Immediately, the room was flooded with an overwhelming presence.
The pandas began wailing all over the estate in unison. They had not the control to keep their fear to themselves, like Ren and Anna did.
Only Anna could have predicted what was to come.
The ominous bearing wasn't entirely, visibly manifest to Ren, though, until Yoh peeked out from under his bangs.
His pupils had dilated to beyond the edge of his irises. A dark void had come out from within Yoh's spirit to form within his eyes. It was terrible to see, yet no one could ever have coaxed their vision away from the otherworldly gaze.
His wide, pitch-black orbs probed the room on another level—from another dimension, while his expression mangled itself from one of innocent charm to sheer, scary power. His smile...a chilling crocodilian grin, every tooth visible and pointed. His ears were perked and sharp, acute; they were ready to respond to any sound directed at him.
Yoh's white cloak rippled at the force, billowing up as though a rush of wind surged upward from under it. His huge pants whipped around his legs, also being bowled over by absolute power.
Anyone could have been horrified at the sight of Yoh at that moment.
Stray, oily black hairs of Ren's brushed his face now and then, unable to hold their slicked position against the rush of Yoh's sudden surge in furyoku. Losing focus and beginning to wonder if his steadfast weapon over Anna's neck was important enough, he quickly pulled his hand away from the Shaman Queen.
He had what he wanted now, anyway.
"Heh," he laughed against the wind. "This was almost...unbelievably easy."
Yoh clenched his fists at his sides, white wrap still flying all around him, and then clenched his teeth. Through a tightly closed jaw, he uttered, "How was it 'unbelievably easy'?" This comment was unnecessary for him, for he could answer any question that he had in this state. But he wanted to keep Anna up to speed on what was going to happen.
Ren lowered his head at an angle that twisted his features. He looked truly scary as well. "I knew it. I knew that this whole thing was unstable. And to think that I could have been the Shaman King, sparing us all from all of this."
Anna's hands were plastered to the lucullan red armchair, each keeping a tight hold on the fabric. She felt very in danger, but then Yoh turned toward her.
"Keep anchored to your chair," echoed his voice in her mind. Now levitating just a little bit off of the ground, he turned his eyes away to keep his focus on Ren.
Tch, she thought to herself loudly, so that he could hear her. Easy for you to say...
Although her maternal instincts told her to cradle her center in protection, she reminded herself that she was better off securing herself to her seat no matter what.
As the tension did nothing but build, a loud rumble sounded through the sky outside. Their position in the uppermost level of Tao Ren's domain made the noise deafening, and Anna released one hand off of the chair to cover her right ear.
"Yoh, fight me."
-VEEN-
"I don't think you should be so pushy about that," he told his friend in reply, only an inch away from his face in a matter of a millisecond.
Ren's face was getting very hot since Yoh teleported so close to him.
It was because Harusame was poised across Ren's Adam's apple, and it was engulfed in an infrared blaze.
"Wha—!!?" Ren accidentally sputtered. He grew impatient and cursed, "Get away from me right now!! Chikushou yo..."
Yoh tore the katana away from him, a flame grazing Ren's pointy beard. The tacky goatee vanished in undetectable ash instantly.
"I've had enough!!! You won't FIGHT ME?!!" Ren yelled impatiently. A smile circumstantially dispersed itself across his lips. "You...you seemed very eager for me to get my...'FILTHY,' WEAPON...away from your precious Anna!"
"Why so eager?" Yoh shrugged. He appeared silly, so lax and abated in his overwhelmingly powerful state. "I would like to hear, from you, exactly what is troubling you so much about me. About why you attacked Anna, without the intent to even hurt her."
"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!" Ren lept to his chair, the distinctive pointed hairdo growing sharper. His cape had begun to flap from the growing might of its own master, who wielded not just his shining kwan dao. It was now accompanied by another weapon.
"Meet something," Ren declared, smirking, "...that even you cannot compete against."
Yoh, hovering in the air calmly, looked on with his haunting black eyes.
"This is my Lungchuan Wushu. It is an instrument of death that is comprised of nothing. Nothing, that is, except for a long, straight, pointed, double-sided blade. It is made of the finest golden Pudao, and it can pierce through even your 'Great' heart."
As in a threat, the extraordinarily long blade whipped toward Yoh's throat in Ren's deft grip.
"YOH!!!!" Anna screamed in shock. The wind rattled all of the windows violently, but she only worried for her husband.
"Don't...Anna..." Yoh told her. "I'll be fine."
"LIKE HELL YOU'LL BE! PREPARE TO PERISH, IF YOU ARE WISE ENOU—!!!!"
"Shut. Up."
"Guh...I..."
Ren gasped. Yoh had made his sword to float on its own, and he grasped the Tao's throat as though circling around to his back, around his fifteen-foot Lungchuan Wushu, and catching the cunning warrior by his neck was but one step.
Anna shivered in her chair, but kept her gaze steady. Thunder roared outside, pressuring the already force-filled room that they all shared.
What? Ren thought. Can you...can you read my mind...?!
Yes.
How?
You know, you are actually calmer when you are safe from others' eyes. Like here, in your consciousness.
You...you don't sound like Yoh...
That's because I'm not Yoh.
What are you talking about? Ren was biting his lip, hoping for more air than what he was receiving through his constricted windpipe. I can feel your expression bend along with your thoughts behind me. I know that your voice is coming from Yoh's spirit.
My spirit is one and the same as Yoh's. Now calm it down; you're a little tense and you know that I came here for a reason.
First, tell me who you are.
Then, Ren, you have to say everything aloud. Tell, out loud, why you wanted to test me and my constancy; what you noticed about Manta's whereabouts; why you were expecting such an easy fight from me...all that good stuff...
Tell me WHO—!
Asakura Hao. And Asakura Yoh. But you know, we are, collectively, one person. Asakura Hao.
Ren gulped unsuccessfully through the searing grip. His body grew tense.
Anna had never seen Ren so obviously nervous, and wondered what Yoh was choking him so long for.
Yeah, right...kono yarou...
It's true. Can't you tell? How else would you like to try and explain it?
Tao Ren felt Hao's mouth smile mischieviously...as if he was relaxing, as if this was going to turn into a game. It made Ren emotions flare inside, but he simply smirked in return. He was going to be the one to make it interesting...
Asakura, why in hell would you want me to spill all of this stuff out loud? I know now that you can read minds.
Anna must hear it all. Now if you think anymore without saying anything, I will make sure to give you a battle that you won't forget.
...That...is what I wanted.
With a gigantic whoosh, Yoh lept back and grabbed hold of Harusame's hilt.
"You're not the only one who can use a double medium—!" Ren exclaimed, still smirking. "Keh!!"
The "Asakura" man wore an expression of complete confidence and coolness. His slake attitude was all Yoh...but then again, it was all Hao, too.
"BASON!!!!" Ren beckoned to his spirit, already in the kwan dao, "INTO THE LUNGCHUAN WUSHU!!!!!!!
"OVERSOUL!!!!!!" He lunged toward Yoh with marvelous speed, his thin body cutting the air with grace. His weapons danced and clanged against the ablaze Harusame, which simply deflected the two glowing blades."Oh? Not going to keep this interesting?" Ren asked, panting only slightly.
"I'm just going to wait and see how long you'll actually last," he responded.
"Fu...you act like you're not even trying."
"I don't need to. We should all realize now that I have combined furyoku. I'm not even using a double medium."
Ren blinked. "Don't...need to...????"
"HEY!!! YOH!!!!" Anna snapped angrily. "YOU TOLD HIM ALREADY?!?!?! ABOUT THE SHARED BODY—"
Yoh turned his head to Anna as Ren continuously lashed one weapon, then the other, mercilessly against poor Harusame in rage. "DON'T...NEED...TO..!?!?!?!??!!?!?!!??!" The Tao ground his sharp teeth so hard that they were sanded against each other.
"-yawn- Uh, yeah," Yoh told her sheepishly, taking one hand off of Harusame's hilt to scratch behind his neck. Those deep, dilated black pupils of his hid behind closed lids from his wife. "Suman, Anna."
"'SORRY'?!!" Anna practically jumped out of her chair. (Ren was still venting on Harusame, by the way.) "OH-HOH, NOW YOU'RE JUST SHOWING OFF!!! READING MINDS WHENEVER YOU PLEASE?!! YOU'LL GET IT!!!!!"
"Anna, I'm kinda busy right now..."
"Well, I told you he'd be this immature." With another sigh, Anna slipped down into her chair, breathing hard. Her cloak whipped around her face in all directions, from the windows being thrown open and pushing gusts of wind past her to the clashing titans battling in the room.
"God, where is the aspirin when you need it?" she groaned. Thunder roared outside once more, shaking the pagoda.
Yoh flew up and sprawled at the ceiling to avoid anymore damage to his beloved sword. He IS powerful. I mean, he cuts through the flames at every swipe. But...
He can't reach the blade itself.
"Oi, Ren," Yoh asked. "Um...can you stop it? This is getting kind of old, and I did come here to help."
"Well," Ren replied. He stopped thrashing his halberd and his lungchuan wushu, but kept them steady for a continued assault after Yoh quit ticking him off. Spitting off to the side before speaking, he resumed with, "That's sure not what your little alternate personality told me. If you want an interrogation, you're gonna force it out."
"It's not an alternate personality..." Yoh told him quietly. He frowned and scratched his head. "I'm not sure if you get it. We are the same person now."
"DON'T MOCK ME, YOU TWISTED—"
"To fully defeat Hao, he had to complete his incarnation," came Anna's voice from the armchair.
"What on earth..." Ren's weapons sunk slightly towards the ground. "...are you talking about?"
"Are you deaf?" she snapped. She wouldn't stay quiet any longer; she could say anything more forcefully than Yoh, and she wanted this to be clear. "You are aware that Hao's soul was split in two when he was last reincarnated, twenty-two years ago. Hao's sheer power in that incarnation became so great, so immense through his early life that if he was not stopped, our world would be worse off than it had ever been. He had learned throughout time the key to manipulation—of everything. The elements and the people of our world. Nothing could stop him in the Shaman Tournament that began nearly ten years ago."
With a deep breath, she pushed against the arms of the chair and stood upright.
"But the Great Spirit works in unusual ways. If Hao was born whole in this life, he would have gained even more power than half of himself did. So, the power of infinite souls, the animated combination of all living beings, decided the destiny of Hao's spirit the best it could. Hao's soul split and created Yoh Asakura—the part of Hao with no memories of his past lives, no drive, no elemental control, and no cruel mind-reading ability.
"But there was something there that helped Yoh defeat Hao."
"Yoh didn't defeat Hao!" Ren exclaimed. "That bastard is right here in front of us, with monstrous black eyes!!"
Yoh blinked sadly. "Monstrous"...?
"He did. WAIT until I explain."
Ren became quiet and scoffed.
"Yoh was born with Hao's heart and happiness. He had inexhaustible forgiveness, and also stole Hao's ability to cleanse. There is power in Innocence.
"Of course, the Great Spirit had no way of controlling whether or not Yoh used that power to 'defeat' Hao. That is why I was incarnated once again to guide him. It wasn't just a coincidence that I was Hao's mother, Asano-Ha, in the life of his earliest memories. I gave Yoh the training and support he needed at all times, without ultimately knowing how he would have to conclude the Shaman Tournament.
"By separating Hao into two people, the half fueled by the Spirit of Fire grew to be empty emotionally, and tried to control everything. The half that was Yoh became able to take in the goodness in life, without the biases of power-hunger and the hurt that Hao endured in his past lives. He didn't develop his furyoku as much, but gained friendship, direction, and love.
"When it came time for the final fight of the Shaman Tournament, Hao was in control of all that would happen. Yoh won because...
Hao wanted it that way."
She paused to glance quickly her husband. His pupils were slowly returning to their natural size, and Anna took this as a signal of Yoh's growing ease.
Knowing that this comfort meant Ren would not attack again during their visit, she continued her speech with a sigh.
Why was life after life after life so complicated?
"While Hao might have been the greatest form of absolute power on Earth, save for the Great Spirit, this did not blind his supernatural intelligence. He realized himself that he needed to be stopped.
"Hao's complexity failed him; he simply wanted Yoh to become strong enough to cleanse him. If Hao couldn't purify his jaded soul, he knew that he'd end the world with the hate of more than a thousand years. And that would have been utterly pointless.
"This is why, time after time, Hao constantly wanted Yoh to become stronger. He prayed that, when the time came, he could finally be dominated. He was ruined, drowned in hate; he cried for the peace that he was unable to reach inside.
"So, because Yoh didn't develop his ability to kill, but cleanse, he overcame Hao's evil and freed him. But...it was all because, ultimately, Hao urged for it to happen."
Anna huffed. The END.
Ren wore a blank look, bowled over by the woman's explanation. She had made Hao sound like the more helpless of the two twins.
"How could you explain all of that as though you're the narrator of your own life?"
She tucked her hair into the black hood over her head. "It isn't my life; it's Yoh's. And besides, anything I didn't figure out myself, I could surely have gotten out of Yoh."
More in the mood for talk now, he disengaged his Oversoul. The Tao skeptically asked, "Then how come the voice that comes through to my mind is Hao's, Yoh?"
Eyes almost fully within the borders of his irises now, Yoh looked at the room on this plane of existence. "Because the part of my spirit that is Yoh could never read minds."
"But Yoh still dominates Hao, yes?"
"You know, I don't like to be talked about as two separate people..."
"Answer me, Asakura, and I'll stop asking!"
"...I guess. So?"
"I'm just checking, that's all."
Yoh smiled. His teeth didn't appear quite as pointy as they had been. "Were you scared, Ren?"
"NO I WAS NOT."
"Shut UP, kono bakatachi!"
Ren's lips closed, and his mouth became small at Anna's command. Yoh responded promptly with a "Hai!"
Strolling to the place in-between them, still wincing at indiscernible pain, the woman engulfed in black tapped a finger to her lips.
"To think that the first Legendary Warrior was freed seven years ago." She pursed her lips. "And now, we shall attempt to free the fourth."