I am not Shonen Jump or Hiroyuki Takei and I do not own Shaman King. I am just using the characters for my twisted little stories.

A/N:Sorry I kept you guys waiting so long! Enjoy!

The Shaman Switch

Chapter 4

The Action Begins

It was late in the day and the group had been pedaling vigorously in hopes of soon reaching the next rest stop. Yoh and Manta had been contemplating possible means of inversing the swap between the shaman and ghost.

"Well, maybe if you formed spirit unity and--"

"No, that wouldn't work."

"Do you think if--"

"We already tried that."

"Would you at least let me finish--"

"I just want to eat again..."

"Huff!"

"What's wrong with you?"

"Oh, nothing."

"Would you two cut it out? You sound like an old married couple!" HoroHoro cut in.

He had been listening to their attempts for some time, and wished that they would change to a more interesting conversational subject.

"You know what?" Amidamaru started. "Something's strange. You know when Anna came with me last night when I went to get some water? It was as if she knew the Li's were there."

"That is strange," Commented Manta, squinting with concentration.

"And," Yoh added, "What did she trade to get these bikes? She didn't have anything to trade."

Anna caught wind of their conversation and shouted at them suddenly, "Less talk, more pedal!"

They all groaned, but followed her orders.

After a while, the assemblage entered a place much lusher than the previous scenery. There were small shrubs and flowers flourishing alongside the road amongst hearty amounts of grass. Soon a huge, stone mansion was in plain view. Suddenly Anna said,

"That mansion probably has air conditioning. Let's stop there for a short brake."

The others all exchanged puzzled glances. Anna was never that nice. But since they were all tired, they decided to hold no suspicions.

Anna approached the large, wooden door of the mansion and lifted the big, brass knocker, but before she could do anything an extremely cheery voice answered, "Oh, do come in! I just love company. It's been so lonely ever since—"suddenly the voice stopped with a short sniff, then returned, "Oh, do come in!" With some difficulty, Anna pushed open the large door and ushered them all inside. A tall woman was standing beside the door watering a pot of begonias. She was wearing a huge, puffy pink dress with purple bunnies all over it, quite an eyesore to anyone who was looking at it. She had long, black hair that reached down to her waist, and dark skin. "Hello, hello, hello!" she coursed, looking over the group. "Well, let's go to the parlor! We can have some tea and cakes! You can ask about this dress I bought marked 99 off! You can complement my beautiful mansion! You can ask me why I'm acting this way! I'll tell you! I'm an optimist! I'm not on drugs! " The woman's voice started to show a hint of annoyance. "Why would you think I'm on drugs? Can't a person act like they want? I could put you on trial for that! I could sue the pants off of you! But I don't have any evidence! Well, I'm sure you wouldn't want to be sued anyhow." The woman then went back to normal, if you could call that normal. "Oh my, I'm ranting again," she said. "Well, let's go to the parlor! We can have tea and cakes! Let's go!" And she led the way to the parlor. "I am a little scared," whispered Ryu to the others.

Once seated in the parlor, although a bit uneasily, the assemblage began to enjoy themselves, thanks to the cable tv. The woman's name was Mari, and Anna was conversing rather smoothly with her.

"Look, boys! We're out of teacakes!" Mari exclaimed. "You, with the jacket, and you, with the funny purple hair spike? Yes, will you go get some more? The cakes are just inside the kitchen on the counter." She directed.

"Get more tea, too." Demanded Anna. Though unwanting to part with the tv or be any nearer to each other than opposite sides of the room, Horo and Ren got up and shuffled off to the kitchen to avoid the looming wrath of Anna.

Because it was such a huge mansion, HoroHoro and Ren obviously got lost on the way to the kitchen, and, both seeing an excuse to get the hell away from each other, decided to split up. Let's take a look at Horo's expedition………….

"At my house, the kitchen is next to the front door, so this kitchen must be right—aargh!" HoroHoro had been gone from the main room of the mansion for quite some time in his attempts to find the kitchen, which so far he had come up empty. Here he continued to grumble to himself until he heard a faint Ding! In the distance. "A microwave!" Horo exclaimed, and ran off in the direction of the noise. In no time at all he had reached the kitchen, throwing himself at the microwave, hugging it and crying and telling it how much he loved it, until some thing grabbed him from behind and jerked him backward. Someone slid a bag over his head, his vision being reduced to nothing but blackness, and someone else had knotted up his hands and feet into a hogtie. HoroHoro tried to yell for help, but before he could manage to do so, he falt a hand being clapped over his mouth. He struggled to get free, but he was bound tight, and couldn't even shake the bag off of his head. He heard a squeak and realized they had captured Kori, which really made him mad. He struggled harder, but before he could get himself free, he felt a pinprick on his right leg. Quickly he bagan to feel extremely tired and stopped struggling. Soon sleep overtook him, and he saw no more.

Gee, that was, erm…interesting. Let's see how Ren's doing, shall we?

Ren, of course, had no luck whatsoever in finding the kitchen, and contrary to what he had been thinking, he had terrible navigational skills, for he had been going in a circle for half an hour.

"Hurrrrgh….this is so boring," said Ren as he leaned against the wall. "Bason!" he called. Out of nowhere his faithful guardian ghost appeared. "Yes, Master Ren?"

"Bason, since I am having no luck whatsoever in the manner, would you find the kitchen?"

"Only if you say please."

"Okay, please."

"With sugar on it?"

"With sugar on it."

"And a cherry?"

"And a—BASON, QUIT THAT!"

"Fine. But I won't do anything if you don't put a cherry on it."

"NO!"

"Fine."

"Urrrrrgh…Okay, with a cherry on it."

"And sprinkles?"

"BASON, GO!"

(gloomily) "Okay.."

"Ungh, allright, with sprinkles."

"Yay!"

As Bason glides cheerily through the wall, Ren wonders if he has lost his mind. Suddenely Ren hears strange sounds quite near, sounds of something being dragged. He darts around the corner, searching frantically for a closet. He comes upon two identical doors and opens one. In it is a man taking a shower. He says, "LEARN TO KNOCK!" and slams the door in Ren's face. Ren tries the other door and almost cries out of joy and relief: he found a broom closet. In it he jumps and closes the door, leaving it open a crack so he can see and hear what is passing. Soon two men with black sheets draped over themselves pass in front of the door, dragging someone that is tied up, and at Ren's closer inspection, he finds that it is Horo. He almost dies trying not to laugh. Then "He Who Has Very Big Ego" finally realizes that if they have hurt Horo, then they probably hurt the others, too. When the two men are out of eye and earshot, Ren flies out the door and rushes for the end of the hall, thinking, I must find the others.