Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King. If I did, Ren would be a demented doll who Mari would carry around forever...

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Somewhere in an abandoned warehouse, in the dead of the night, under a beautiful full moon, Marion Phauna was holding a conversation with her loyal Chuck.

"Mari likes Tao Ren," the girl said flatly. She was sitting in a completely empty room, with nothing in it but her and Chuck, confiding her feelings to the doll.

Her blank emerald eyes stared at the doll, surveying its messy limp hair, raggedy body, and unsightly gun. She no longer felt a need for the doll she had carried around for so many long years. Instead, she had other plans, which she slowly began to reveal to the demented doll.

She had no expression as she continued to speak. "Chuck is boring."

The doll acknowledged the blond-pigtailed girl by sitting straight, propped up against the wall.

Mari folded her hands and placed them on her knees, which were covered by the skirt of a black, lace-trimmed dress.

Again, there was no expression or emotion. "Mari wants to make Ren her doll," she explained. "Unlike Chuck, Tao Ren is strong."

And Chuck listened.

"Tao Ren is a nice boy," Mari continued. "Mari likes him. Mari wants him. And he will be Mari's doll."

And Chuck listened, looking slightly limper than he had before.

Mari's emotionless eyes seemed not to notice.

"Tao Ren will fight for Mari. He will not leave Mari. He will always destroy for Mari. He will be stained with the blood of Mari's victims, and Mari will think he looks nice. He will be hers, and only hers."

Chuck's head sagged.

"He is wonderful. Mari will never let him leave. He is more fun than Chuck."

Chuck's cloth body slumped limply onto the floor.

"Mari will hold him by the hair. His wonderful, dark purple hair. He will be with Mari always. He will never escape. He will be loyal, and he will fight for Mari. He will do what Mari tells him. Mari will keep him forever."

Chuck listened.

"And he will obey Mari, and no one but Mari. He will never leave Mari. Mari likes Tao Ren. Mari doesn't like Chuck. Chuck isn't fun."

Chuck's head rolled off and stopped at her feet. The girl scooped it up and dangled it in the air. It did nothing. It did not glow purple, it did not shoot its gun, it did not obey her. It was just like an ordinary, normal doll. Chuck was, in short...boring.

"Tao Ren is Mari's property. He belongs to Mari. He is Mari's doll. He will not obey anyone but Mari. Mari likes that. Everyone is boring except for Tao Ren. They don't deserve to live. Tao Ren will show Mari their blood. He will show Mari their pain. He will show Mari their deaths. And Mari will love her new doll. Tao Ren is Mari's doll. Mari's doll, and no one else's."

She tossed Chuck's head aside.

"Tao Ren is Mari's puppet. Tao Ren is Mari's servant. And he will change Mari's boring life."

She gazed coldly out the broken window, a chilled breeze ruffling her thin blond hair.

"Mari will wait for Tao Ren. She will not eat. She will not sleep. Mari will wait until he comes."

Chuck's lifeless head began rolling again, as if to ask what would happen if Ren never came.

"He will come. Mari knows he will come. If he does not...Mari will catch him herself. Mari won't let him get away."

In the pale moonlight, she could see a small group of people approaching, chattering excitedly about the Shaman Fight. The group consisted of Yoh, Ryu, Faust, Horohoro, Chocolove, and of course, Tao Ren.

Mari watched them, and her eyes flickered to the side and rested upon the innocent, unsuspecting Ren.

"He is here. He will be Mari's now. And the rest of them will perish."

Another night breeze swooped through the night. In an instant, a dark cloud passed over the moon, plunging the world into darkness.

A smile appeared at her lips.

"Mari is happy."