Shaman King Fan Fiction ❯ A Gift of Love ❯ The Ire of Tao Ren ( Chapter 11 )

In this chapter, I wanted Ren to just lose it. I wanted him to act sort of like how he did the early episodes; totally effin' insane. I wanted him to be cold and merciless again, and even a little cold to Pin-Mei. However, it was hard for me to decide to do this or not. The idea of him snapping over her could lead to some Mary-Sue type qualities (he likes her much that he's willing to be like he was before in order to protect her, because she's “special”). Hopefully the aftermath will make up for that.

 

The next two chapters are ones that I am very excited to write. Very emotionally heavy/romantic (at least in my head). What am I talking about? Well… you'll see -winks-

 

Note: Since there won't be a lot of conflicting dialogue, I'm keeping all the text regular. Pin-Mei's not going to do a lot of talking during this action sequence anyways.

 

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A Gift of Love - Chapter Eleven: The Ire of Tao Ren

 

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“What did you just say?”

 

“Get out of here I'll kill you all.” He raised his Kwan Dao. “Don't make me repeat it again.”

 

Some of the men chuckled. “He's bluffing,” one of them said.

 

Ren's eyes flared. “Oh, am I?”

 

He suddenly appeared next to a man who still had his hands on Pin-Mei, and slashed him across the back with his blade. He severed the ropes on her wrists as the man cried out in pain and fell to the side. Ren picked her up from the floor and put his right hand on her hip, pulling her close to him.

 

“If any of you dirty bastards even THINK about touching her, I will make sure you regret it.”

 

The gang encircled them. Many by now had grabbed weapons; clubs, pipes, bokkens, and chains. The Don stuck with his gun.

 

Ren allowed Pin-Mei to cling to him for a moment in order to calm her down before releasing her. He looked to his right and saw a small double-door closet. Without warning, he opened it, shoved her inside, then closed it again.

 

“Niisama!”

 

He placed a bar through the handles to keep it closed.

 

“Stay in there. Don't come out until I tell you to.” His voice was cold.

 

Pin-Mei backed farther into the closet. What was that voice?

 

Ren turned back to the mob. “If you wish to die, then come and attack me.”

 

A large man in black leather pants and a vest with a bokken approached him. “Feh. Kid, I don't think you know what you're getting yourself into. I think we should be the ones giving you one last chance to run away.” He tapped the bokken against his neck and sneered.

 

Ren was not shaken in the least. “Does this make you the first?” he asked.

 

The man laughed. “Wo-ho! All business! I like you, kid!” He readied himself.

 

No matter how ready he thought he was, he never saw Ren coming.

 

“Dude! He just got Akira!”

 

He pulled his Kwan Dao from the fallen man's back. “Which one of you vermin is next?”

 

Another man stepped forward. Ren quickly disposed of him. The whole group finally charged at him. He easily sliced through them. They flew everywhere; against the walls, on the floor, out the windows.

 

When the dust cleared, Ren was standing in the center of a circle of bodies. He glared across the room at the only person left- The Don.

 

The syndicate boss was cowering in the corner like a coward. As Ren began a slow walk toward him, stepping over and on the bodies along the way, he pushed himself up against the wall more, not even thinking of running away. By the time he stopped in front of him, The Don was reduced to a sniveling crybaby. Ren scoffed at him.

 

“It's because of people like you that I wanted to cleanse the world,” he said. “You don't even deserve to be called human.”

 

He raised his Kwan Dao high.

 

“You can think about your sins…IN HELL!”

 

He brought the blade down to end it all.

 

But it never made contact. Ren looked behind him to see Yoh holding the back of the handle.

 

“That's enough, Ren,” he said calmly.

 

His friend only glared at him. “Let go, Yoh.”

 

“Sorry, but I refuse.”

 

“You don't know what this guy has done, and what he tried to do!”

 

“So it makes it alright to kill him?”

 

He said nothing. Saying “YES” wasn't really an option. He just kept giving him a cold stare.

 

“Ren, look at yourself. Look at what you're doing. There are potentially dead bodies all around the room. Even a couple in the streets. I think it's time you stopped.”

 

Ren whirled around and looked at him angrily. “I'm doing this for HER! He was going to violate her if I didn't do something! All of this was for HER!”

 

Yoh sighed. “Did you ever wonder how she felt about this?” He turned in the direction of the closet, where Horo Horo was looking inside.

 

HoroHoro turned to the other two. “She won't come out.”

 

Ren suddenly softened as he ran over to the hiding place. He pushed the blue haired boy out of the way and entered. HoroHoro looked down at his shirt, where Ren had pushed him.

 

“Dude, this is never going to come out!”

 

Inside the closet, which was actually large behind the doors, Pin-Mei was huddled in the corner, covering her ears. It was still dark, regardless. Ren could see her outline, and that was all he needed. He knelt down and touched her face.

 

“Everything's okay now, they're all gone,” he said.

 

“Oi! I found a light!” Horo called from the room. He flicked on a switch and the closet lit up.

 

Pin-Mei screamed.

 

Where Ren had touched her face, there was a large blood mark. She had felt that it was slimy and touched it. Now it was on her hand. When she looked at him, she screamed even more and assumed a fetal position in the corner.

 

Her screams had surprised him. He looked behind him quickly, thinking that an enemy was there. Seeing none, he turned back to her. He tried to reach for her again to touch her.

 

“Mei-Mei, what--,”

 

When his hand got close, she looked up and saw it. She flinched and huddled again, shaking.

 

“What… I… I don't understand…”

 

Yoh walked in behind him. “Ren…look in the mirror.”

 

Ren looked to the wall mirror on his left. Now he understood.

 

Blotches of blood were all over his face, body, and clothes. Even parts of his hair were dyed a dark crimson. He stared at his hands. They were soaked in it. He stared at the floor before standing.

 

“I'm sorry.”