Disclaimer: We don't own Ukyou Kuonji, Half Life, or Star Trek. So get over it. Oh, and get your grubby paws off of our own creations!
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| Budoka no Jinsei:
| EPISODE 3:
| Demons Released
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| The heroic adventures in this episode are brought to you by:
| Spam_BIT
| The unrealistic characters in this episode brought to you by:
| Nabiki, opaj, Nemesis, & Cain
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Shimitsu was living the good life.
About two weeks following the "Jem'Hadar" incident, Fuante Kyojin and Ukyou Kuonji were happily married Western style at the local church. It was a great ceremony. Shinichi was the best man and his fianc� Chouchou was the maid of honor. Even Fuyuitai and Fuante's old rival Hiroshi Geppu showed up.
Then, three months later, Ukyou became pregnant. That was six months ago. Ukyou was still looking great and Fuante was tripping over himself tending to her, much to everyone's amusement. Yes, Shimitsu was a lucky father, and in three months, he'd be a lucky grandfather.
As Shimitsu helped Ryoko in preparing dinner, he looked out the window. Outside was Fuante, diligently practicing. Shimitsu chuckled to himself.
Fuante ran through a few basic katas to warm up. After moving to more advanced techniques like the Dobu no Kami Ha and Sen Ryu Boki, he decided to up the ante. Cupping his hands in front of him, he began to concentrate. Soon, white electricity was crackling around his body and a ball of equally white ki was forming in his palms. Sensing that the blast was sufficiently powerful, he released it. The Shinsei na Kyuu flew forward at amazing speeds, eventually crashing into the side of a hill. Fuante had made sure that the blast wasn't powerful enough to tear the hill apart, but gave it just enough energy to leave an impressive mark. As he moved forward to inspect his handywork, he noticed something sticking out of the crater. It was a small chest. Fuante pulled it out and broke the lock. What he found inside surprised him. It was a piece of parchment. Most of it was caked in dirt, but he managed to make out the word "akuma". {"Demon"?} he thought to himself.
Just as he was about to dust it off and read the whole scroll, someone from behind him coughed. Spinning around, Fuante saw a gaijin man about his age in a white gi. The man had his hands behind his back and was smiling, though the smile made Fuante uncomfortable. "Can I help you?" Fuante asked as he tucked the parchment into his gi.
"Are you the heir to the Kyojin school?" the man asked calmly.
"That's right." The man's smile broadened.
"Excellent, then I challenge you. If you manage to beat me, I shall grace you by telling you my name."
Fuante smirked. "Challenge accepted." The two bowed and Fuante wasted no time in charging. The man simply brought his hands in front of him, palms facing forward. Dark energy began to gather there.
When Fuante was less than three feet away, the man cried out, "Dark Pillar!" Sure enough, a thick pillar of energy was released and slammed into Fuante, knocking him to the ground.
Fuante was in hell. The world around him faded, then he saw blood. The blood was everywhere. Then, some of the blood formed into figures, which turned out to be rotting corpses. Suddenly, he heard screaming. This was not the scream of someone in pain, but of someone in absolute terror. It was blood-curdling. Then, the screams became Fuante's as his rational mind snapped and his terror consumed him.
Shimitsu had felt the dark energy and rushed out of the house toward his son. The man was no longer there, but Fuante was writhing on the grass. Shimitsu cradled his shivering son and tried to calm him. Feeling desperate, he sent out a telepathic cry, praying that someone, anyone would hear it. It consisted of only one word. {Help!}
***Iturup Island***
Luke Masterson stood in the middle of a circle of large, heavy, wooden blocks. He was adorned in a spring-loaded brace, constricting the movement of his arms and legs. Drenched in sweat from the strain of merely holding his battle stance, he nodded to someone in the shadows.
In an instant, the block directly behind him flew straight for him. With considerable effort, he lurched forward, sending his foot back with enough force to shatter it. The block to his left, however, was more persistent, and clipped him right on the head, sending him right into another block that slammed him with it's angular side, and another one came from above, pounding him into the ground.
A few moments passed by, and the block was lifted. Luke looked up to see his master, Mirsky, frowning down on him. "You only broke one."
"B- but..." Luke's eye twitched. "That was the first time I've ever been able to do that in the first place! I've gotten better, you old fool!"
Mirsky stomped on Luke's face. "Don't ever think that you've improved! You have no potential; I only chose you by chance, and I am cursed to carry through until your training is complete. It is by honor, not choice, that I keep you here to train with me." Mirsky's face contorted ferociously. "No matter how strong you get, Kenji will always be beyond your reach. Kenji, the one who humiliated you in front of thousands, is forever above you!"
Mirsky unlatched the brace, and lifted Luke to his feet. "Go, clean yourself up, you disgrace." He turned his back to his pupil.
When Luke was out of sight, Mirsky's ancient face cracked into a dark grin. {Just you wait, Kenji. When I unleash the darkness inside of this one, you're gonna beg for mer-}
At that moment, a dark wave hit him from the south. He scanned to try and find the exact coordinates, but it was too disappated by the time it reached him. He couldn't tell it's exact strength, but whatever it was, it was potent. Just as he reached this conclusion, he was hit by another energy. {Help.} This time, Mirsky was prepared. He smiled. Someone was doing something to that accursed Kyojin family, and there was no way that he was going to miss it.
***Just outside of Naha, Okinawa***
Nicole sat alone in the tent. Kenji and Tiger had gone off early that morning, and told her to go to her exercises. She had already completed her workout and katas, and usually this time was reserved for Kenji's instruction. She didn't know what to do.
Nicole finally decided that if he wasn't going to show up, she might as well enjoy herself. She had spent the last few months in Japan, and she didn't speak any Japanese. Okinawa was said to have the highest concentration of English-speakers in all of Japan, because of the American bases. It would be a great relief to have someone else to talk to besides Kenji and old businessmen trying to practice their shattered English (Broken isn't strong enough a word).
As she stepped out of her tent, she saw Kenji and Tiger striding straight towards her.
"Pack up," he said. "I have to go visit an old friend."
***Back at the Kyojin Dojo***
Mirsky met Kenji, Tiger, and Nicole at the door at the exact same time. Mirsky and Kenji simply glared at each other.
Shimitsu opened the porch door and silently motioned the four traveling fighters into the house, a tired expression on his face. Nicole and Kenji politely removed their shoes upon entering, but Mirsky and Tiger did not stop (Tiger's reason being obvious).
Mirsky soon found his face at the business end of a very painful-looking katana. Ryoko Kyojin was at the other end, and she did not look happy. "So," she growled at Mirsky, "you're the Russian, eh? Hmph! Well, my husband has told me a lot about you."
"Is that so?" Mirsky retorted. He tried to push the katana aside, but it would not budge. {Who is this woman?}
"OH, NO YOU DON'T! You may think you're pretty tough, mister, but when you're in my house, YOU TAKE YOUR FREAKING MUDDY SHOES OFF WHEN ENTERING! I SPEND A GOOD PORTION OF MY WEEK CLEANING THIS HOUSE AND I DON'T NEED YOU MAKING THE MESSES ANY WORSE! NOW GET OUT AND TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES! SHINSEI NA KYUU!" A very familiar white blast of ki shot from her left hand and slammed itself into the Russian's chest, throwing him out the open door.
Ryoko then whirled on Nicole, Kenji, and Tiger, who instantly recoiled against the wall. However, Ryoko's face changed into a sweet smile. "Hello, there. Won't you come in and have a cup of tea?" Smiling nervously (except for Tiger), the three followed her into the living room.
Outside, Mirsky just sat in the dirt and stared straight ahead. {I, the great Mirsky, master of the heavy fist, was just taken down by a housewife...... crap.}
***In another plane of existence***
Kyo was practicing her katas when a sudden twinge tweeked in her mind. She could see her... rival... in pain... agony. Somewhere in the human world and a dark presence hovering around him. A cry echoed through her mind... {Help.} This vision interested her. There was nothing she liked more then the thought of Fuante getting a taste of what he deserved. He had made her weak again and papa did not allow weakness. Papa was interested in him now too. That disturbed her. Papa hated humans. She frowned.
"Oh what the hell... He can throw a fit if he wants." Kyo grabbed her crystal and headed to the gates of the palace. Good thing Kaimettsu was... busy elsewhere. The guards attempted to stop her as always but a quick twist and their necks snapped easily. Once away from the energy field surrounding their domain, she summoned a portal to the human world, in the country of Japan... Unknown to her, Kaimettsu was watching and smiling to himself...
***Los Angeles, CA, two years earlier***
Corianna woke up in a state of confusion and immense hunger... but not for food... for blood... Where the hell was Sean? Desperate and hungry she pulled herself weakly up and stared into the darkness of her apartment. Then she smelled the air... it smelled like warm blood. On the table beside her sofa there was a cup of warm blood and a note that said, "Welcome to my world! I hope you can survive... drink this, you'll need it. Cheers!" Without thinking of how strange this looked Cori grabbed the glass and drank.
"Ahhh..."
***Three nights later on a Scottish moor***
"Hi stranger!" said a voice Cori didn't recognize. She had been wandering the dark forests of this place since that night she'd been bitten.
"Hello. Are you Travis Head of the Grengrel Nomads?"
"Yes. How can I help you little lady?"
Cori glowered at him and shrieked, "I HATE BEING CALLED THAT YOU BASTARD!" and then stuck a claw under his chin. "Got it?" she hissed.
"Yeah, yeah, ok," said Travis with a smile as he backed away.
"Good. Now... I need sanctuary and I was told to come here. My disgusting rat of a boyfriend left me after he bit me. Can I stay here until I find out how to... well, I'm not sure what being a vampire entails."
"You can, if you promise you're not a spy and want to cooperate with us."
"NO I'm not! What makes you think I am! I just told you I don't know what I'm doing!" she said in exasperation.
"Chill out... err... what is your name?"
"Corianna. Corianna MacNullen. You can call me Cori."
"Okay Cori! Welcome to our pack."
***A year later in an Asian jungle***
Cori muttered to herself under her breath cursing the pack and cursing herself for never being able to find a suitable coffin to go in at night. She curled up under a tree and closed her eyes to recall the last few weeks. They hadn't been feeding her when it was their turn to hunt and they never left her any when it was her turn. After confronting them and simply losing her temper she had stabbed them all in the chest and ate them. {Shows them that shorter doesn't mean weaker,} Cori thought violently. Eating her pack had been the best meal she had had in a year. Suddenly she felt like she was being watched and quickly opened her eyes. Standing across from her staring intently at her was a beautiful black panther.
"Hello," it growled.
"Hello," she growled back. It was thin and rather malnutritioned.
"Do you have anything to eat?" begged the panther, a look of fear and hunger in his eyes.
"I have," said Cori offering a bit of her meat she was cooking on her fire. The panther followed her after that and they became incredible hunting partners, as panthers are also night hunters. Then one night as Cori was hanging from the tree in her bat form she sensed a cry or plea reaching her. She envisioned a man trembling on the ground. It made her shudder, and it moved her. She sensed his aura and focused on it to find that it came from a place called the Kyojin household, on the outskirts of Hakadate, a city in Hokkaido, Japan. She had known this bit of suffering once...
{Hmmm...} thought Cori. {Perhaps if I help this man I may find sanctuary and shelter instead of living like a primate.} Something she felt she didn't deserve after the 2 years of hell she'd gone through. (No pun intended it just sucks to have friends that back stab you and starve you.)
"Hime," she called to the branch where her panther slept... but Hime had sensed the aura too...
"We must go," said Hime.
*****
Ten years after the Black Mesa Research Facility was destroyed by an accidental nuclear explosion, survivors of the Facility were hired by a private corporation conducting experiments "for the better of mankind". The survivors, eager to once again contribute to society, took the offered jobs.
Now, Agent Nemesis, a retired Black Operations Assassin of the Marine Corps, worked diligently on new stealth technology.
Colonel Mark O�Brian, a yet-to-be-reactivated Colonel of the Marine Corps Special Forces, helped perfect new weapons.
Dr. Walter Franz, a previous scientist at the Black Mesa Research Facility, worked on developing new technology for the corporation.
Security Guard Barney Calhoun did what he did best: guarding.
But now, all four people had been rounded up and told that they were to have special assignments, and all four were placed in solitary confinement as preperation.
When all four emerged and saw each other, every single one of them raised hands at each other, pointing demanding fingers.
Colonel Mark O�Brian, staring at Agent Nemesis, was the first to speak.
"You freak of nature..." he muttered in rage.
Nemesis glared back. "Freak of nature, am I? Then what does that make you: the perfection of nature?"
"You killed my friends!" barked O�Brian.
"What do you think you did?!" shot back Nemesis.
"Why do those two bicker so much," questioned Dr. W. Franz. "We all did horrible things, after all."
Security Guard B. Calhoun nodded his head. "Yeah... I killed a good number of Marines myself... not something I'm proud of, not by a long shot..."
Franz whipped his head around. "What? Egads, Calhoun! Is that you?!"
Calhoun's right eyebrow raised, and then the other. "Walter... Walter Franz! You're the guy that got us out of that mess!"
Franz laughed joyfully. "You can thank Dr. R for that: it was HIS idea after all!"
Calhoun nodded, then, "Ah, but you certainly provided quite a bit of support during the whole operation."
Franz smiled. "I won't disagree with that."
"I should kill you where you stand," growled O�Brian.
"It was my job. I realize that I killed your brother; in fact, it was the first sniper shot I made during that whole opera..." Nemesis abrubtly stopped as O�Brian lunged for his throat.
In an instant, both men were fighting to the death with Calhoun and Franz trying to break up the mess.
All the action stopped when a door opened.
The four all stood, O�Brian with a black eye.
The figure emerged from out of the light, the door slamming shut behind. And suddenly...
"THE ADMINISTRATOR!" yelled Franz.
"THE TRAIN GUY!" yelled Calhoun.
"THE GMAN!" yelled O�Brian.
"NEMESIS!" screamed Nemesis, and once again lunged, this time at the "Gman".
With a feint and a wack of the briefcase, Agent Nemesis was down, leaving only the Gman standing and Nemesis on the ground, grabbing his head and moaning.
"I...apologize for any...inconvienince...or...issues this...operation...has caused...you...all." The Gman spoke paratically, almost non-human like.
"However...it was...required...for...one of...our...psychic beacons have picked...up...a distress...call...from a different...dimension..."
Agent Nemesis, by this time, had been picked up and dragged back to a good distance to where the other three were standing (picked up by Calhoun).
"We...well be...equipping you...with standard weaponry...and other...specialized...armament...that...has...been developed at this small coroporation."
A strange sound, most like a beetle dying, screamed out, green flashes erupted, and an array of junk appeared in the center of the room. Nemesis continued to quietly moan about something about another Nemesis.
"Now...then if...you would use...the facilities one...last time...we...will send you on...your way."
All four employees stood, their equipment at ready and nerves solidified. Agent Nemsis continued to stare at the oddly pale Gman.
"Good...luck," said the Gman, and all four persons were caught up in another teleportation gate...
*****
Hakadate, a city in Hokkaido, Japan, was where the four emerged. O�Brian took out his Assault Rifle, Agent Nemesis prepared his silenced pistol, Calhoun loaded his 9mm Pistol, and Franz fiddled with some sort of weapon.
O�Brian strode over Franz. "Whatcha got there, Egghead?" the Marine said casually.
"Well, Apebrain, I call this the Gluon Phaser."
Ignoring the rebuttal comment, O�Brian continued questioning. "How's that little diddy different from the Gluon Gun we all know and love?"
Franz smiled as he pushed a few buttons on the palm-sized weapon. "Smaller, obviously, and auto-recharges. It is slightly less powerful, but, naturally, can deal just as much damage. Very stable, too, just like the other weapon I'm 'packing', the Tau Cannon Mk. 2."
O�Brian, bored with the technobable, looked up, and instantly spotted their more than obvious target. Nemesis checked some instruments, then, "Psychic beacon's going haywire. Looks like that's where we stride, people."
Calhoun raised his pistol. "Ready when you are, folks." Pointing his Assault Rifle, O�Brian led the way, with three battle-ready figures trailing...
*****
Shimitsu opened the door and beckoned the rest of the guests to enter. He nodded at each of them, except Corianna, whom he glared at for some unknown reason. As the last of the bunch came in, some professional-looking gaijin, his hands flashed as he took their weapons. "I'm sorry, but projectile weapons are not allowed in the house," he explained as he threw the offending weapons outside.
Corianna glared back but said nothing. She knew better than to mess with the master of the house. Only last month she was in Santa Barbara, CA and always addressed the Archbishop as 'His Excellency,' even against her pride. While Shimitsu started to explain about his son's danger Corianna debated whether she should really be here or not.
As all took their seats in the living room, Shimitsu calmly began. "Listen, please, to what I have to say. I would not have called you all here unless I desperately needed your help. My son," as he pointed to the figure lying asleep on the couch, "has been attacked by an ancient demon named Golem. Golem first appeared to challenge my ancestor, Satoshi Kyojin, but Satoshi ultimately banished the monster to his own realm. Somehow, Golem has managed to escape, and it is obvious he is out for revenge." Shimitsu paused. "I know my reasons are completely selfish, but please, help us. Golem will attack again, and it might not be our family he goes after next. It could be yours."
Without warning, Ukyou Kyojin burst into the room and bowed with her face to the ground (or as close as she could get with a pregnant belly) in front of them. "Please, help my Fuante!"
Kenji watched Ukyo's impassioned plea, and with a quick look to Fuante's pitiful form, nodded to Shimitsu. "Of course I will assist you, friend. Any enemy of the Kyojin family is an enemy of mine."
Mirsky frowned. This wasn't as interesting as he thought it would be. He looked over the group assembled with them all. A group of Caucasian men. {No way they have any fighting power,} Mirsky thought. An odd woman and a panther. {There is something unholy about her. Definitely not human,} Mirsky noted. Kyorei, the warrior from the Omega Tournament. {I wonder how she feels now that I've killed Ma'ang?} he thought gleefully, until he realized that he had no recollection of ever actually killing the boy.
Finally, he decided to nod to Shimitsu as well. He went all this way, might as well see if there wasn't anything he could glean off of this experience.
Kyorei looked disdainfully at the kneeling woman. {Such a simpering pathetic creature. Should be dead. Wonder how much she'd scream and cry if her Fuante was to die. Mmm, such pleasant thoughts.}
The other fighters present seemed to be agreeing to help. Spotting the Russian a wave of anger flashed through her. She wanted that one dead. She'd delight in making him suffer. Ma'ang was dead and he had killed him... but how she or why she could not recollect.
{Hmm... I suppose I can go along with this little game... for now...}
Corianna glanced at Hime and shrugged. She was about to say no until a sort of dumpy (until Corianna realized she was actually pregnant, which made it even more pitiful looking) woman came in and bowed, pleading for help. Never in her life had she been so touched. Even before she had been embraced. But she wasn't sure she wanted to help. Shimitsu had been hostile from her arrival. She got that a lot. Her weapon was taken away (at least Hime wasn't). This meant they didn't trust her. She remained silent and listened to what others said in response to this plea. Maybe they didn't really want her help if they were going to be so untrusting. Still... the woman had been kind in her gesture...
"Fine. I'll help you," said Corianna looking slightly coldly at Shimitsu. "But I'm going to demand some respect," she added looking at him directly.
If Shimitsu wasn't begging for her help, he would have "explained" a few things to Corianna about where her place was. The girl was a vampire, her aura gave her "dead" away (Author's Note: pardon the pun). Vampires were feeders of the blood, the physical source of life. There unholy natures were an abomination to this world. If it had been under different circumstances, she would have never made it in the house alive.
However, being the courteous host that he was, Shimitsu merely gave a sarcastic, apologetic grunt in her direction.
When the request was made of the New Mesa employees, O�Brian stopped in his tracks. "Golem?" he muttered. Looking up, Franz walked over to the confused Colonel.
"A being of extreme strength, as far as my scanners go. We could really use their help if we are to resolve this problem."
O�Brian nodded. Calhoun scoffed at the nodding O�Brian as he wiped blood away from his mouth.
"The big doofus... no wonder not many of them survived Black Mesa." Agent Nemesis' eyes glinted. "They were smart... very smart... but they were veritable killing machines, nothing more."
Calhoun turned to Nemesis. "You wouldn't know. I saw your copters flying around... killed plenty of Marines. What would you know about hand-to-hand combat? What would you know of the horrors of the alien infestation?"
Nemesis' glint turned to fire. "Plenty... and more than you would ever want to know..."
Shimitsu took the gaijins' mutterings for affirmative answers. "Thank you all. All of you have my family's most sincere thanks. ALL of you." He gave a look to Corianna. Ukyou also expressed her gratitude between sobs. Yawning, Shimitsu looked up at a clock on the wall. The time said 12:45 AM. "Well, it is getting late. We all should get some sleep. I shall explain the rest in the morning. I am afraid that we do not have many places for you all to sleep. There are some futons in this room and we have a guest room, but that's about it. Ukyou, will you show these two ladies to the guest room, please?"
Ukyou nodded silently and walked off, Kyorei, Corianna, and Hime following. Kenji and Nicole prepared their futons while Tiger dropped his body onto the carpet. Mirsky and the Mesa agents went through the front door to find places to sleep outside.
*****
Corianna looked cautiously at Kyo and Hime gave a menacing stare, almost warning Kyo to not do anything rash. "Calm down," Cori hissed at Hime. Cori decided it might be better to sleep in her bat form so once they got into the room Hime leapt lightly on the bed and Cori transformed into her vampire bat form and hung on the windowsill.
Kyo leaned against the wall and frowned at her surroundings. She did not like the... girl here with her. The impudent thing. Though her lil' pet might make a tasty meal. It annoyed her, vampires. Soulless creatures for the most part. Nothing to feed on. For now she would have to make the best of things. Kyo closed her eyes and sank into deep meditation, for who knew what the next day would bring.
*****
As Nicole prepared for bed, Kenji made a point of meeting Shimitsu in the hall. "Is there any way I can console you, friend?" he inquired. Nodding to himself, he added, "I am sure that if we combine our powers, we can defeat this evil that threatens your family."
Shimitsu got up from his seat at the kitchen table and stared at Kenji with a more tired expression than earlier. "Unfortunately, I will not be joining you this time." Noticing Kenji's confused expression, Shimitsu explained. "Golem has challenged my family, more specifically the heir to our school, which is Fuante. There are complications concerning the ancient feud between Golem and the Kyojin which demand that Fuante challenge Golem to a rematch."
"Complications?" Kenji inquired. "It sounds like mere revenge to me." He fought back a smirk in light of the seriousness of the evening.
"It is more than revenge," Shimitsu replied gravely. "I will explain these complications tomorrow when I explain who Golem is." Shimitsu paused and sighed. "Since this is a formal challenge, I am forbidden in interfering. Plus, I must stay here in case some of Golem's old accomplices decide to come for the rest of the Kyojin." Taking another deep sigh, Shimitsu reclaimed his seat at the table, where Kenji joined him.
"If this is a formal challenge, then wouldn't the rest of us be restricted from assisting the boy as well?"
"Yes, but the others must be prepared to ward off Golem's lackeys if they try to prevent Kyojin from challenging Golem. You, on the other hand, have a different task."
Kenji looked amused. "You want me to train your boy in the Heavy Fist?"
"Yes, but just the basics. There is no way that Fuante could defeat Golem as he is now." The two stared in silence for a few moments. "We should get some sleep."
"Indeed."
*****
The New Mesa Employees camped outside the household for the night. At around 3 AM, a howling erupted from O�Brian's tent. Calhoun and Franz leapt out of their tents in shock, but Nemesis sauntered out, grunting all the while. The Black Ops Agent wandered into O�Brian's tent, and dully kicked the Marine. O�Brian instantly woke up, and grabbed Nemesis by his throat.
"Why the hell did you do that?!" he demanded. Nemesis flung his fist, connecting with his attacker's head. O�Brian, dazed, let go of Nemesis.
"Why do you think, you dolt? You were having the Black Mesa dreams again. No doubt, if I hadn't done that, you would have come out of there foaming at the mouth, screaming nonsense about killing Black Mesa, and you would have stabbed us where we slept."
O�Brian's eyes flared, then calmed. "For once, Black Ops, you're right. Although, chances are, I would have given you a very slow and painful death."
Nemesis rubbed his neck. "Hey, likewise..."
*****
The Kyojin household and its visitors were woken up the next morning at the perky hour of 4 AM by Shimitsu. This caused a lot of grumbling to emanate from the forementioned residents. Gradually, they all made their way to the kitchen table, where Shimitsu and Ryoko had cooked up some bacon and eggs.
Once they had all arrived, Shimitsu began to explain. "I apologize for the ice cold water, but some of you are heavy sleepers." He smirked at Kyorei and Nemesis, who were hugging blankets to their soaking bodies. "There is a reason to this early morning wake-up call. As some of you may know, we have a vampire among us." He motioned to Corianna. "Vampires are incapable of functioning in the daylight, and so I had to wake you all up before sunrise."
Nicole glanced in surprise at the vampire. Until now, in Nicole's mind, vampires didn't even exist.
"Won't her weakness hinder us?" Kenji inquired. His expression was emotionless, but inwards he was smirking. He loved teasing the youngsters. Corianna glared at the tailed martial arts master. {No one calls me weak!} she thought to herself as she vowed a subtle revenge.
"That is why I am loaning her this." Shimitsu produced from a silverware drawer a simple, leather necklace with a hooked fang tied onto it. "Many generations ago, an ancestor of mine slew a powerful vampire by the name of Kinyaku. This vampire had developed this necklace, which allowed him to continue his 'feasting' in the daytime. My family has kept it as a trophy ever since." He then handed the necklace to Corianna. "Keep in mind, my dear, that you are only borrowing this. I expect it back when this is all over."
"Indeed," Corianna replied flatly as she donned the necklace.
Hime looked suspiciously at Tiger. {Tiger,} she thought. {What a silly name for a panther. I wonder if he's as weird as his name. I hate approaching boys though... especially ones of my species... they get all hot and bothered and then...} She lay down next to Cori's chair and looked at Tiger. Then again, she hadn't seen another panther in a long time and she was rather lonely for one... a feeling she kept from Corianna. But Shimitsu didn't give her enough to really let her say anything at the moment because he was talking so much. After breakfast she cautiously (she'd been taught by Cori to never just walk up to someone) approached Tiger and growled a "Hey."
"Hi there," said Tiger, glad to see that Hime was actually socialable, and that she wasn't as psychotic as her master.
A short pause insued. It had been at least twenty years since Tiger himself had encountered another panther, and Tiger happened to know more about human culture than that of his own adopted species. Finally, he decided to break the silence.
"So, how long have you been a panther?" A second later, he realized his mistake. Most panthers were born that way.
Hime stared at the absurd questions Tiger was asking... "Um, I've always been a panther..."
"I mean, how old are you?"
"I'm seven... What about you?"
Tiger raised his head. "I'm somewhere in my early hundreds..." Again, a social error. Under normal circumstances, panthers don't live that long.
Corianna slipped her bacon and eggs to Hime and took her flask of blood recently collected a week before and finished it. She wondered if this necklace still allowed her her bat form. Changing into one at the table and hanging by the chair she found it shrunk with her and stayed on. {Excellent,} she thought.
Shimitsu waited a few more minutes while everyone finished their breakfast. Afterwards, he got up from the table and cleared his throat. "Come with me," he stated simply as he walked out into the backyard.
"Ummm..." Tiger said to Hime, as the others walked behind Shimitsu. "We should follow them." He looked the panther over, than looked over the vampire-turned-bat as it flew out into the yard. "I guess it's good that your friend will be able to accompany us during the day..."
Hime looked at him strangely as they trotted out to the yard. "What do you mean?"
Tiger again cursed to himself. Panthers normally don't understand human languages. "Nothing," he simply replied.
The rest of them noticed that Fuante, Ukyou, Shinichi, and Shinichi's wife Chouchou (they had been married about a month and a half after Fuante and Ukyou) were already there waiting for them. As the party continued to look around, they were amazed at the sheer size of the Kyojin "backyard". A better word for it would probably be "forest". Hundreds of trees were spread out over hills that rolled off into the horizon. Needless to say, the Kyojin had a nice view.
Shimitsu then broke the silence. "You are all here for a reason. As I said last night, the demon Golem is loose. What I have only mentioned to Kenji is that he has most likely summoned some of his friends from the demon realm, using his presence here as a dimensional anchor, as it were. You are all here to keep these demons busy so that Fuante can fight Golem undistracted. Please keep in mind that this is not just a quest for revenge. If Golem is allowed to reach his full power, we are all dead. Any questions?"
Mirsky spoke up. "And just how are we supposed to know where to find Golem? You don't expect him to show up here, do you?"
"There exists a race of creatures called the tengu. Throughout the ages they have kept a close eye on the demons and their whereabouts. I am quite confident that they will be able to assist you all. That is why I have brought you out here." He motioned to Shinichi, who came closer. "Using Shinichi's mystic powers as a guide, I intend to send you all to the tengu plane."
Everyone gathered stared at Shimitsu, trying to digest his words. While they were pondering them, Shimitsu and Shinichi pressed their palms together and began to concentrate. Suddenly, a purple ring of energy shot out from them and continued to grow until it had a ten-foot diameter. Several jumped back in shock, while others cocked an eyebrow at the circle. Shinichi then turned his head and spoke. "Please step inside the ring."
Kenji led Nicole into the ring, shortly followed by Tiger. Mirsky frowned. He disdained magic. Little matter, they really needed his strength, so he felt safe following his nemesis.
Kyorei scoweled. She didnt trust these pathetic humans and here they were asking her to enter a ring of magic? They must be joking. The Russian seemed to be hesitating and as unhappily as she was. Again she wondered why she was helping this rag tag lot. {I must be going crazy,} she thought as she stepped inside.
Corianna flapped right above Hime as the circle appeared and backed away slightly. Then with a small glance at Hime she looked suspiciously at the circle... {What the hell are they doing?} she thought. She wasn't stepping anywhere she didn't know about. She'd already had bad luck with this sort of thing... of course she had promised to help so she beckoned Hime to follow her and they stepped inside.
Nicole took more than a glance at the now-bat. It seemed like every time she met with these people, strange things happened. First, she saw the amazing powers of demons and men. The next time, she saw an amazing world of technology. {Wait,} she thought, {When did that happen?} Now, she was looking right at a real, live vampire! When Corianna started glaring back at her, she decided to avert her gaze.
Colonel Mark O�Brian stepped into the ring, eyes wary of any enemy. Agent Nemesis strode in non-chalantly, not seeming to pay attention. The Security Guard and the Professor walked in very slowly, both afraid of what may lie ahead, but Calhoun being a lot more confident.
Fuante and Ukyou shared a brief embrace and a few whispered words of assurance before the young martial artist joined the others in the mystic circle.
Shimitsu, seeing that everyone was ready, prepared for the final step of the translocation spell. "Get ready, everyone," he said quietly. After a few seconds of stillness, the circle exploded in a flash of gold light, engulfing the entire party in its glow.
From somewhere within the blinding light, Fuante faintly heard Shinichi say, "Take care, bro."
The light vanished as soon as it had appeared and the party found themselves standing suddenly in a beautiful marble courtyard, with a fountain in the middle and exotic trees and flowers surrounding the walkways. There was one thing, however, that disturbed this atmosphere of tranquility. It was the assembly of katanas being directed at the party from all sides. At the end of said katanas were soldiers in chain-mail kendo outfits, sporting half-nervous half-angry expressions and a pair of bluish-white wings sprouting from each of their backs.
After a few moments of uneasiness, one of the soldiers, clearly the one in charge, spoke up. "I don't know who you all are or how you managed that entrance, but you're all dead." He was about to give the order to exterminate the intruders when an idea came to him. "On second thought, my men have been missing the sweet pain of combat ever since we crushed the last remnants of the Kurotori vampires." He earned himself a dark look from Corianna, but didn't notice. "How about this? You will all join my soldiers in the arena. If you ALL win, I will allow you safe passage out of our realm. I don't have to mention what happens if you lose." After pausing to examine the expressions of the intruders, he continued. "Do we have a deal? Or do I kill you now?"
Kenji looked over the threatening group. He nodded; statistically, they had an advantage in what their potential enemies were proposing.
Mirsky, however, had other ideas. He turned to the vampire, and, looking her in the eyes, said, "We can take them." He turned back to them, and a dark, heavy aura started to seep from his body.
Cori nodded to Mirsky and drew up her claws and a red aura formed around Hime and Cori... they were ready.
Kyo grinned. Playtime. Her aura swirled and sparked in her hand. Kyo licked her lips and beckoned at the warriors. "Here lil birdies... this cat wants to play."
Nemesis stared at the new, sneering threat. Raising his assault rifle, Nemesis let loose a warning Combat Grenade. The soaring grenade exploded on impact, sending dirty mounds of burning dirt into the faces of the enemy. Sneering in turn, Nemesis shouted, "Just try it, you freaks of nature!" O�Brian raised his eyebrow, then quietly took out his Sniper Rifle and stood a few feet behind the Black Ops agent. Franz fumbled hopelessly with a funky invention, which beeped at random. Calhoun took out his newly assigned Colt Magnum, and stood to the side of the Colonel. The New Mesa squad was ready.
The tengu warriors were about to retaliate, but their commander waved them back. "No," he commanded calmly. "I shall handle the upstart." Pointing his right palm at Nemesis, he conjured a cocky smile onto his face. "So, human, you want to fight me? Very well, then taste my Hane Hashira technique." Before Nemesis could react, a strong gust of wind slammed into him, sending him sprawling to the ground and clutching his chest in pain. O'Brian was also taken down when Nemesis fell backwards into him.
Fuante, Kenji, and Mirsky simultaneously cocked their eyebrows at this display of power. The commander's aura right before he had released the Hane Hashira was familiar, but hard to place.
"You," the commander said as he lifted Nemesis to his fight via grabbing his right shoulder, "shall fight me in the arena... alone. I like you." After giving Nemesis an appraising stare, he continued. "All of you, come with me to the arena." He then proceeded down the main path of the courtyard. The rest of the tengu prodded the party with the hilts of their blades, urging them forward.
Fuante spared Mirsky a warning glance that said, "Just do as your told."
The party soon reached the "arena". It was... different. The city they were in must have been constructed in the air, because as they looked out into the distance, the majority of what they saw was clouds and several miles down of nothing. The only other things out there were square, stone platforms about 6 feet in length and 3 feet apart, arranged in a chess formation. What it meant to fall from these platforms was obvious.
The commander pointed to Kenji and Mirsky, indicating that they were first up. Then, he turned to one of the more slender tengu warriors. "Aoashi, take these landlings down."
"Yes, sir," tengu replied emotionlessly and came to hover above the "chess set".
Seeing that the three fighters were ready, the commander raised his hand in the air. "Hajime!"
Kenji and Mirsky jumped into the ring, and stared down their opponent. After a few moments of intense concentration, Mirsky chuckled and jumped to a stone at the edge of the ring. "Kenji, you can have this one," he said as he sat down to watch the battle.
Kenji "Hmphed," then turned to his opponent just as a blast of ice flew at him. He ducked just in time.
"Ha, foolish human," Aoashi taunted as he released another blast at Kenji. Kenji responded by jumping to the adjacent stone, and taking a air stance.
"Don't make me hurt you," he said, as his dark aura started to seep from his body. As Kenji did this, Aoashi swooped down at him, almost as if to ram his opponent. Kenji threw his force forward, and totally halted Aoashi's attack.
"Wh- what is this?" Aoashi cried, as he felt his power begin to drain. Kenji responded with a head-butt, sending Aoashi hurtling down for several moments before he came to his senses and came back to the arena. Narrowing his eyes, he landed on the step right in front of Kenji's and took tiger stance. "You're pretty good, but not good enough." He jumped forward, and as Kenji threw a direct punch, Aoashi grabbed Kenji's arm. With a cry of "Zentai Koori!" Ice began to spread from Aoashi's body onto Kenji's, slowly freezing him.
However, at the same time, Kenji's own heavy ki was seeping into Aoashi's, poisoning the tengu's aura. After several moments, both collapsed. A few moments after that, Kenji got up again, and dusted the ice off of his body.
As the tailed Japanese returned to a more solid foot-hold, carrying the unconscious Aoashi, Mirsky frowned. By his calculations, Aoashi should have been no problem for Kenji. Mirsky shrugged and stood up. As he rejoined the others, he pocketed three oversized, golden rings.
The commander grunted in annoyment. It had been a while since he had seen the Heavy Fist used. It was truly a technique to behold.
Silently, he motioned to Tiger and Nicole that it was their turn. "Assate, you're next," he said flatly. A burly tengu, shirtless and weilding a large, iron hammer, grunted his acknowledgement and flew to the closest platform.
As Tiger and Nicole made their way to the fighting platforms, Hime walked up the to the panther. "Be careful," she warned in Nekogo ("Nekogo" being the word for cat-speech).
Tiger grinned as well as he could, being a cat and all. "Don't worry. If Kenji can beat these penguins then so can I." Proudly, he leaped onto one of the platforms.
"Hajime!"
Tiger looked his opponent up and down, as Nicole looked over the edge of the arena and nearly passed out. Assate landed on the square right between Tiger and Nicole, facing the latter and giving Tiger no notice.
Nicole screamed as Assate's hammer smashed her square, sending her flying two squares away. As he leapt into the air after her, he felt the pain of having a panther bite his rear end. He turned his head to find the large cat, clamped onto his butt like the large cat that was attached to his butt. He swung his hammer at Tiger's head, but Tiger leapt out of the way, onto a nearby platform, and Assate only succeeded in slamming his hammer into himself.
"You worthless cat! I'll show you!!!" As the tengu said this, Tiger gave him his stearnest feline-frown. The panther opened is his mouth, and a bolt of pitch-black energy shot out of it at his opponent.
Assate was thrown back, and when he caught himself, he found that he could barely support his weight on his wings. He fluttered down, and squared off against his feline opponent.
Tiger slashed out at the tengu, who just barely dodged, then followed with a head-ram. The cat didn't notice the upward-flight of the tengu's hammer until it was to late, however.
Assate stood over his victim, intending to finish it before Tiger had a chance to awaken. He lifted his war-hammer in the air, then dropped it. A few seconds later, he fell right next to the panther, and behind him stood Nicole, holding a piece of her destroyed platform in her hand.
Hime took this chance to jump into the ring and swipe and claw at the face of the unconscious tengu. She went over to Tiger and growled and nudged him, purring.
Tiger looked up to Hime as he came to his senses. Blushing as much as a panther could blush, he thanked her for helping him. He then pulled away from her, and taking the badly-beaten tengu in his jaws, he drags it off the arena.
"Midoko!" the commander barked out as Nicole and Tiger departed the arena. "Take the demon!"
A tall, lanky tengu woman who was standing in the back of the group of soldiers bowed deeply and flew into the fighting area silently. Her cold, emotionless eyes stared into Kyorei's, challenging the demon to a duel of darkness.
Kyorei stepped into the ring appraising the woman before her. This would turn out to be an interesting match and she needed the energy. It had been far too long since she had "fed." She lengthend her nails and tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Mmm... Little birdies shouldn't play with the alley cat. They are liable to get their wings clipped," she sang. Midoko replied by just staring calmly at the demon. "Shall we dance?"
She lept into the air and attacked the tengu. Fist matched fist. Kick matched kick. Their ki hummed and filled the air with its dark melody.
Midoko unleashed wave after wave of dark energy at the girl. {This demon must like pain, for she returns not my attacks} Unknown to her, Kyo was putting her plan into action. She had to get the woman close enough for she was not strong enough to do her "spell" at the moment from a distance.
Catching the demon offguard Midoko grabbed her and slammed her into the ground, preparing to end her pathetic existence. And the girl laughed. Her steely blue eyes flashed and she smiled, showing her fangs. Kyo thrust her hand forward, piercing the tengu womans chest as her hand wrapped around her heart. Silvery energy gatherd on the smaller demons lips as she bent forward and "kissed" the other. Life energy poured between them and Midoko gasped trying to break contact.
Struggle was pointless as Kyo slowly pulled herself to her feet, still clutching the womans heart, lifting her over her head. From inside, two sparks of her own darkness flooded into the woman sizzling her. As Midoko screamed in pain, Kyo "kissed" her again, stealing her soul. Before long nothing remained of the warrior save a few charred feathers. The demon girl brought her fingers to her lips and licked the warm blood of them. Nothing tasted better than a freshly slain soul.
Fuante watched the uncensored display of cruelty and his stomach turned. Suddenly, he was hit with a vertigo wave and Golem's grinning face appeared in his mind's eye, laughing at him. He grabbed his head in pain and fear, trying in vain to ward the evil image from his head. Losing his balance, he toppled over and crashed into Hime, knocking the feline to the ground with him.
After thrashing for a few seconds, earning strange looks from those gathered, his mind's eye cleared and he was filled with only one emotion: hatred. He wanted to kill. His memory raced back to the scroll he had found buried in the hill. {Akuma no Ikari...?}
The tengu commander was about to walk over to Fuante and comfort the boy, but then thought better of it when he saw the dark aura spring around his body. {Poor boy.} the commander thought. {Even if he defeats Golem, this will kill him.} Shaking his head sadly, he turned back to his warriors. Looking them over, he carefully made his choice. These offworlders were powerful, and that vampire was dangerous.
He pointed at a well-built female standing proudly at the front of the assembly of tengu. "Kinme, the vampire and her pet are yours."
The girl bowed with a smirk. Flying over to Hime, she grabbed the panther by the neck and flung her onto one of the platforms. Pulling out a nodachi (Japanese longsword), she advanced onto the cat. "Tell me, life-hater," she taunted Corianna, "do you like cat steaks?"
Hime hissed and roared at the ugly being in front of her. As Cori watched her friend be flung onto the ground she flapped out her cape and her red aura turned her into a huge wolf with claws the size of a velociraptor's and fangs so hideous Kinme shuddered hissed at her and in a raspy voice as she clawed the air. "No, but I love my dishes RAW!"
Kinme swung her nodachi and slashed Hime in the stomach. "Hime!" Cori screamed as she stayed focused on the tengu. "Attack!"
Hime lept with her great speed to the back of the tengu, who tried to swing at her again as she jumped but missed this time, and clung onto her back. The tengu screamed in pain as Hime sank her teeth into her back, but then flung the cat down with all her might. As she slammed the cat into the ground Cori heard the crunch of the Hime's bones. The tengu advanced on Hime but Cori lept over her and slashed her face with her claws. The tengu stumbled back, startled but barely hurt. The half-woman, half-wolf of a vampire stood on her hind legs and contracted her claws. "Come get me, bitch," Cori taunted as she waved the tengu with her middle claw. "No one does that to my friends."
The tengu smiled. "With pleasure, vampire." A blue aura formed around her. "I'll tear you down, you inhuman creep!" she exclaimed. Then Kinme swung her sword at Cori so fast that Cori's Alacrity (her red aura) didn't tune in and she was too late to block the slash. It hit her arm, taking off a bit of skin and muscle. {Damn it! That'll take forever to grow back!} she thought.
"What are you trying to do... tickle me?" she said out loud, and with the speed of her training she swung down at the tengu's legs, sending her crashing to the ground. Cori swung again and tore at the tengu's stomach, where blood flowed out...
{MMmmm... food...} Cori thought, and as she bent over to drink, the tengu drew her sword and swung one last time, slashing off Corianna's head. "Friggin' life haters," Kinme grumbled.
The sounds of agony broke Fuante out of his stupor. Looking over to the fighting area, he was greeted with the sight of a mauled tengu, a whimpering panther, and a headless vampire. At the last item, something within him snapped and clicked at the same time. Giving an almost inhuman roar, he got up and charged the tengu commander.
Two tengu warriors moved to block his path, but were quickly tossed aside by what looked like bursts of dark energy emanating from Fuante's outstretched palms. The three Heavy Fist fighters quirked their respective eyebrows at this.
"You bastard!" Fuante bellowed as he launched a super-sonic punch at the commander's face, which was followed by a loud boom. The commander deftly caught the fist in his left hand, but his smirk of amusement turned to pain as he felt the life being drained from his body.
Kenji smiled at this. The boy was a quick study. Kyorei also smiled, but with a more evil tint and for a completely different reason.
The commander decided he had best stop the young man's Heavy Fist before it killed him. Using his free hand, he tapped the sleeper spot on Fuante's neck, rendering him unconscious. The commander then picked up Fuante's prone form and placed it on a bench near the edge of the arena. He then motioned to a young, skinny tengu who was standing near the edge of the fighting area. He was donned in yellow silk robes instead of the armor worn by his brethren. He gave a slight nod and flew to where the bodies lay. Saying a prayer, he pushed Kinme and Corianna's corpses off the platforms, sending them hurtling into the infinite depths below. Then, he picked up Hime and gently carried her out of the arena and into a medical tent.
The commander turned to the gathered fighters. "The cat will be fine," he reassured. He spared a quick glance over at Fuante's sleeping form and gave a small smile. "The humans with the guns will fight Kuroban now." A slender yet very well-built tengu with a bow in his hand and a quiver on his back bowed low and flew to the center of the fighting area. "All of you will fight him except for you." He pointed to Nemesis. "You will fight me here on the ground, or are you afraid to test your skills against Shiroten?" he taunted as he drew his blade. Nemesis simply glared at the arrogant tengu.
As Nemesis� companions moved onto the platforms, careful not to fall as they jumped, Shiroten and Nemesis were given a wide birth by those gathered. A black-haired tengu with a katana on his back stepped forward and with a loud voice cried, "Hajime!"
At last, the New Mesa employees readied themselves for battle. The "tengu" being named Kuroban grinned manically at the three gathered fighters. Unable to contain his anticipation, Dr. Walter Franz whipped out a huge weapon.
A look of confusion and interest appeared on Kuroban's face. "GO TO XEN, FREAK OF NATURE!" screamed the scientist, and hit the trigger.
Nothing happened.
"Oops..." muttered Franz.
A sweat drop appeared on Calhoun's brow in embarrassment. O'Brian just stared. Then, all at once, a huge flash erupted, releasing an insane explosion that tore O�Brian and Calhoun off the platforms. The same eruption knocked Kuroban unconscious, hurtling his twitching body into the abyss.
(NOTE: The explosion messes with your brain synapses, which is basically your mind. In a word, Kuroban is brain dead, along with Calhoun's and O'Brian's)
A scream burst forth from the ground zero from the glowing Dr. Franz. In a gurgle and a twitch, a ripping explosion destroyed the platform, Franz's body parts (GIB!!!!!!!!) flying everywhere.
Agent Nemesis, far separated from the random conflict, stared in horror. Shiroten smirked. "You won that battle, care to try this one on?"
Nemesis whisked out his Sniper Rifle, aiming carefully at the tengu's head. "Bring it on..." he muttered.
"Come on, little one," Shiroten taunted. "Let's see what that little toy can do." As if to aggravate the Mesa agent further, he sheathed his katana and turned to his right, not even doing Nemesis the honor of facing his opponent.
Nemesis had had enough. There was no way he was going to sit by and take this kind of humiliation. Letting out a yell of rage, he let his weapon fire. However, the bullet never reached its intended target as it was intercepted by the second and third fingers of Shiroten's left hand.
"What?" Nemesis stammered, not believing his own eyes. "That's impossible!"
"Impossible? Just like a man with wings is impossible?" With a steely gaze and the smile gone from his face, Shiroten turned again to face his opponent. With a quick flick of his fingers, the bullet was sent flying back towards its point of origin (i.e. the gunbarrel). With a loud crack, the sniper rifle snapped in Nemesis' hands, falling to the ground.
Nemesis simply stared at the remains of his weapon. After a few moments of silence, he humbly got down on his knees and closed his eyes. "I submit."
Shiroten smiled. However, it was not a smirk. It was just a smile. "You have learned something here, human. Something that many warriors, including tengu, go throughout their entire lives without learning. You have learned how to give up." He then got on his knees as well and bowed to Nemesis. All the gathered tengu soon followed his example. Shiroten then walked over to Nemesis and offered his hand. Nemesis took it and stood up. Shiroten turned and with a loud voice addressed those in the arena. "We tengu respect courage in all its forms. One of those forms is humility. Let it therefore be known that he is forever welcome in our realm, and among us he shall be known as Tsuyoro." With that, Shiroten unsheathed his weapon and handed it to the newly-dubbed Tsuyoro with small bow, which was returned.
As the cheering echoed throughout the arena, Fuante silently rose and jumped onto one of the platforms, assuming his tiger stance. He knew he was next and he awaited his fate.
Kenji frowned. So far, while they had won the first three bouts, the last three were ties and defeats, and they had lost four of their rank already.
He locked eyes with Fuante, and they nodded to each other.
As Fuante stood locked in his fighting stance, he thought back to his most recent "training." During Kenji's fight, the tailed martial arts master had not only been using the Heavy Fist, but he had been emitting a faint corona, or energy splash. Fuante knew that that was Kenji's way of training him in the Heavy Fist, and so he had matched his aura with the corona, shaping the dark energy that was coursing through his body.
Shiroten turned towards the fighting area and saw the young man standing in the middle, a steeled expression on his face. Smirking, he turned towards the young tengu that had began his fight with Nemesis. "Akayama!" he yelled. The youth turned to face the commander. "You're up!"
Akayama bowed low. "Yes, sir." He then flew towards Fuante, landing two platforms over. Surprisingly, he assumed a stance identical to Fuante's.
Shiroten looked over the two fighters and examined their respective. Fuante was emitting a dark aura, very similar to the fighter with the tail. Akayama was apparently unaware of this danger and was emitting his usual blind confidence. {I'll have to work on that in the boy's training... if he survives. I should have known better than to pit those two together. Fuante's aura is frightening to say the least. Shimitsu, what has happened to your son? What will happen to mine?}
Shaking the fear out of his mind, he began the fight. "Hajime!"
Before Fuante could react, Akayama thrust his hand forward and a strong burst of wind shot out, knocking Fuante to the platform behind him. As he got up, Fuante sensed a strong aura coming from his left and up. With reflexes developed from the deadliest of battles, he launched a flying kick into the air, which connected with Akayama's stomach. The tengu wasted no time in grabbing the offending limb and hurtling it and its master towards one of the platforms. Akayama grabbed his stomach and noticed that some of his energy had beend drained from the attack.
Kenji watched in admiration at Fuante's ease with the heavy fist. After only one day of training, Fuante had mastered the deadly art; it had taken a long time for the Kenji of days past to master it, three years he hated to so much as think of. Even after factoring the impressive "aura" that Golem had infused him with, Fuante was a fighting genius to have learned it so quickly.
Fuante landed hard on the stone and grimaced. While he had managed to land on his feet, the impact had sent a painful vibration through his legs. He had to ignore the pain though as Akayama fired off a white ki blast. Fuante barely managed to leap onto the next platform as the one he was currently standing on was destroyed. His leaping didn't stop as Akayama started to fire off throwing knives, too fast and too many to deflect.
"Give up, human!" Akayama taunted. "You can't dodge forever! No one can defeat my aerial assault!"
{He's right,} Fuante thought. {He's very skilled and his ability to fly is giving him and added advantage. If I can just bring him to the ground...}
Fuante then leaped into the air. Just as he was about to pass over Akayama, he sent his aura down and to the right, trying to trick Akayama into thinking he was behind him.
The trick worked. Akayama spun around, expecting to see his opponent. Instead, he saw nothing but felt his left shoulder dislocate as Fuante landed on it. With the weight pressing down on him, Akayama could no longer fly and plummeted to one of the platforms, landing face first into the stone. When he got up, Fuante had already leaped to an adjacent platform.
"You... you..." Akayama stuttered in rage. "Die!" With his shoulder and left wing crushed, he could no longer fly. But he could jump. Leaping onto Fuante's platform, he lashed out with a barrage of vicious kicks. "SEN RYUU BOKI!"
Needless to say, Fuante was surprised by having one of his own techniques used against him. His surprise left him completely open and he flew off the platform and into the abyss below.
{Now!} Shiroten thought as he sent an invisible burst of magic to where Fuante had fallen.
Akayama widely grinned. The human had been trouble but eventually he was not enough to stand up to the tengu. Akayama's grin faded as he heard a flapping sound coming from under the platforms. What emerged shocked him, to say the least.
It was Fuante, with a few changes. Such changes included talons on his hands and feet, wings, and a really pissed off look on his face. To sum it all up, he was a tengu. Said tengu cupped his hands in front of him and yelled, "SHINSEI NA KYUU!"
A familiar white burst of ki (with a few strands of dark ki mixed in) shot forth and nailed Akayama in the chest, sending him flying out of the fighting area and onto the sidelines, unconscious.
After a few seconds of staring, Fuante looked down at himself. {Dad's got some explaining to do.}
Mirsky gawked at Fuante's new tengu form. To think; this boy, whose profeciency in the Heavy Fist had surpassed Mirsky's own student of over a year and a half in a single night, could have been Mirsky's! He frowned, thinking of the power he almost had.
With a nervous jerk to his movements, Fuante lowly hovered off the fighting area and landed next to Shiroten. Everyone gave the two a lot of space. Shaking, Fuante managed to speak. "Wha...a... what am I?"
Shiroten sighed. "You are a tengu." Seeing Fuante's confused and shocked look, he continued. "Your father, Shimitsu, is my younger brother. My name is Shiroten Kyojin. When you were born, we were still at war the vampires. The vampires had set up a military base near your house and your mother feared for your safety. After much debating, your mother and father decided to set up a temporary residence on Earth. After a few years, we had managed to eradicate most of the vampires' front line forces and it was safe for you three to return to our realm. But you had already begun to believe that you were human and it was believed that the shock of returning would be too much for your young mind. It was thus decided that you would stay on Earth until you were old enough to learn the truth. And here you are." Shiroten ended his story with a small smile.
***Meanwhile, in the medical tent***
Hime remembered that in the ancient books she and Corianna studied during the nights in the villages on the outskirts of the Indian jungles, there was an ancient Indian vampire that found a way to overcome death if one had the correct amount of alacrity, path level, and powers. Corianna had reached this Siamara as the ancient book had called this. But the vampire could only rise on the new moon.
Even though they were more powerful, the vampires that had been able to rise again fled for fear of the tengu and most settled in Europe and the ancient books were lost in the battles. Now they were hidden in various parts of the world, written in 50 different languages for both man and beasts of the night to read.
Hime squinted into the darkness as Fuante was revealed his past. There was no light coming in from the windows. She pulled her aching body, hope rising in her, and crept to the window. It was a new moon! Just as this synopsis crossed her mind a dark maroon fire and then black aura shot out of the floor and a beautiful woman with a sword with a silver blade and a black panther with rubies for eyes over the handle appeared. Her eyes were a glowing red and her black cape flapped as she rose out of the flame. Her eyes glowed red, and then icy blue. Corianna had recieved the sword of her path and the ability to use fire. Her body slowly came down and she stood beside Hime nodded at her for reassurance, then glared at Shiroten. Hime cowarded a bit, but approached when she noticed the scar on her neck where the tengu had slashed her. The scar wrapped around her neck and glowed green as Cori continued to stare at the tengu...
After tearing her cold stare away from Shiroten, Corianna looked back at the panther. (Author�s Note: this is all said in a nekogo) "Now Hime, you will take your place as a master vampire-beast by my side. You've shown me nothing but loyalty."
"You mean embracement with powers?" asked Hime, her eyes sparkling.
"Yes," replied Corianna. She then leaned down and softly bit the panther on the neck. Hime felt herself go paralyzed then the warmth of her fire swept her body and she felt her fangs lengthen and a similar red aura formed around her body. She grew two times her original size.
"Feel okay?" asked Cori.
"Never better!" hissed Hime.
***Back to our confused hero***
Fuante stared in disbelief. If it had not been for the talons on his hands and feet and the wings on his back, he would have thought the man was sniffing something strong. Assembling his thoughts, he took a breath and spoke. "Why did you arrest us then? If you knew I was your nephew, why didn't you help us from the beginning?"
"I didn't know. Fuante, the last time I saw you was 23 years ago. You were almost three years old then. It was only when you unleashed that ki attack at me that I recognized your aura... Although it was hard to recognize with all that darkness clouding it." He quirked his eyebrow at Kenji and Mirsky.
"Then help us now. Where is Golem?"
Shiroten's expression hardened. "I knew that was why you came. Golem and his friends are on their way to Tokyo. I know you don't have much time, so we will send you on your way immediately." He motioned to one of the yellow-robed tengus, who was quickly at his side. Fuante and the non-tengus took their cue and assembled around Shiroten. Fuante focused his energy for a moment and once again he assumed human form.
Corianna, Hime, and Tiger walked out of the medical room and quietly joined the rest in the circle. Needless to say, there were a lot of quirked eyebrows.
Shiroten walked over to Kenji and whispered in his ear. "If your technique kills my nephew, you're next."
"Talk to your brother about that," Kenji replied calmly. Shiroten raised his eyebrow in curiosity but resumed his position at the center of the circle. Like Shimitsu and Shinichi, he and the other tengu clasped hands and a similar circle of energy formed around the group.
As the energy grew, Shiroten addressed the group. "Above all, it is imperative that none of you help Fuante in his fight with Golem. This is an ancient blood feud between him and our family and he has picked Fuante to be his opponent. Only by Fuante's hand can Golem be defeated." With that, there was a flash of light and the surroundings disappeared.
After a few seconds of disorientation, the group felt cement under their feet. As they looked around, they noticed a large construct to their right. Looking up, most of them recognized it immediately.
***Tokyo Tower***
Agent Nemesis scratched his masked chin, his nearly covered eyes moving into slits. With some unknown burst of energy, the entire group he was with had somehow been transported to the bottom of Tokyo Tower...
{Or so it seems...} thought Nemesis.
In fact, the supposed Tokyo Tower was not the one he had seen before in his travels around the world. This Tower existed in a seemingly parallel dimension (or another one entirely). The setting was different, but oddly enough, the Tower remained virtually identical, right down to the bullet nick he had fired at a terrorist years before.
{Frighteningly the same...} thought Nemesis.
Why, if it was a different or parallel dimension, would it have the same bullet nick that he put in his dimension? Did that mean that he existed in this dimension as well?
{Best not to speculate on it...} thought Nemesis.
Taking out, polishing, and holstering his 9mm Silenced Pistol, Nemesis thought about what had happened before...
In a ludicrous battle with a tengu warrior, Dr. Franz had managed to blow himself, Calhoun, and O'Brian to kingdom come. Luckily, G-man (Nemesis... thought the Agent) had shown up and set all their minds to ease: Xen technology only creates a kind of "dimensional clone" for each person dimension hopping. If the "cloned" person dies in a different dimension, they are "resurrected" in their original one.
{But I'm no rocket scientist...} thought Nemesis.
Shaking off the memories from his pathetic battle with the tengu master warrior, Nemesis wandered over to another person that was standing around.
The subject was named Corianna...
Looking into the supposed vampire's eyes, Nemesis said, "Care to do battle? No weapons, of course..."
Corianna raised an eyebrow at the handsome human male.
"You mean you put down your gun, I'll put down my sword, and we'll kill each other like civilized people?"
"Of course," said Nemesis.
"Put down your gun first then," Corianna demanded.
"Fine," and laid his weapon down. Corianna kicked it away and then sheathed her sword and placed it by the gun. They circled each other. Coriana stared hungrily at his neck. I wonder what this one tastes like, she thought. Probably too tough...
Fuante's form suddenly flashed between them. With an elbow to Corianna's gut and a palm strike to Nemesis' shoulder, he easily felled the two fighters and stopped the fight. "We are here to fight Golem, not each other. You will stop this immediately," he said in a calm voice.
Corianna glared at Fuante and her eyes turned to ice. She shot at him with her cold stare and his knee was frozen for a bit. He grimaced but easily shook the ice off.
"You know, tengu, I came to help you and this is how you treat me. I really don't appreciate it." With that she lashed a flame of fire at Nemesis for starting this whole thing. It seared his upper arm but missed otherwise. {I better not lash out in anger... my aim sucks,} she thought.
Nemesis winced in pain at the flame that had hit him. He cocked his gun(From another, previously unnoticed holster) and pointed it at Corianna. "Let's see how many times an evil beast can rise!" he yelled. But Fuante held out his hand and the gun turned on Nemesis.
"No, Nemesis! As much as I hate vampires, she did come to help," Fuante warned the agent. Nemesis and Corianna glared at each other.
Meanwhile, Kenji and Tiger looked around. A crowd was forming. This wouldn't do; any innocent bystanders would certainly be killed in this battle.
Kenji locked eyes with Tiger. They glared, almost hatefully, at each other for several moments, and suddenly, the wind started flowing around them violently. Electricity crackled between them, and for a split second, all of the bystanders saw a hideous monster: Standing on two legs, covered in thick, black fur, razor-sharp teeth, and long, extended claws. A wave of fear pervaded them, and even though the image had dissapated, they found themselves involuntarily running for their lives.
*****
Xiao Wa Lu watched from the shadows. He was the lead scout under Golem, a tiny, pitch-black demon, who was even more inconspicuous under the cloak of his magic. He had been told to expect the Kyojin boy and maybe his friend with the sword, no more. Little matter; Golem had the majority of his minions on the way, and of course, the dark master would be there himself. {These guys don't have a chance,} Xiao thought to himself with an evil smirk.
*****
After a few minutes of silent waiting, Fuante realized that the demons weren't going to be the ones to initiate the battle. He quickly gathered his trademark green aura around his body, although it was still tainted with the black tendrils. "Everyone," he spoke in a hauntingly serious voice, "it's time to go. Follow me. Corianna, carry Nemesis." With that, he took off down the street and hopped onto the nearest rooftop.
Corianna looked at Fuante like he'd just asked her to lift the Empire State Building and balance it on top of the Eiffel Tower. But instead of complaining, she turned into the dragon form she had acquired in her resurrection, and with Hime on her back, grasped Nemesis by under the arms and flew after the rest of them after collecting their discarded weapons. The rest followed Fuante on the rooftops.
"Oh goody, more playmates..." Kyo said, bored. She shrugged and walked towards the tower, fading into air only to reappear at the top. Being a demon does have its benefits, you know. Besides, she did not feel like showing off just quite yet.
Kyo opened her hand and her "little friend" appeared. "Ah, my beloved Bardy, I've missed you. We bring so much death and bloodshed. Such a beautiful team." She smiled and hugged her bardiche, acting childish, giggling a high-pitched giggle. She always was a bit giddy after devouring souls. Sort of like a few gallons of caffeine at once. Lovely stuff.
As they approached the largest source of ki they could find, they hopped onto the ground. What they found froze Fuante to the core. His legs locked up, a cold sweat broke across his skin, and his breathing sped up. It was standing in the middle of the street. Golem...
Kyorei flashed a peace sign at the so-called Golem creature everyone seemed scared of. "Hello there! We're unfortunately here to help bird boy kick your ass, so I hope you don't mind dying. Tee, hee!" {Memo to self: I shouldn't wait so long between feeding...}
"Damn..." muttered Nemesis as he hit the ground next to Fuante and the being called Golem. The vampire/dragon being known as Corianna had picked up Nemesis in order to deliver him to the battlegrounds, but now that they were there, she unceremoniously had dropped him. The Black Ops Agent hadn't expected what he saw at the current moment. A horribly well-built humanoid, Golem stood rather tall and very buff against the smaller figure of Fuante. In fact, the martial artist seemed to almost cower before Golem ("Understandably," muttered Nemesis), sweat gleaming and literally pouring off his head.
Golem smiled gleefully as a look of absolute horror pervaded Fuante's face. He took a step forward, and Fuante matched it with a step back. "Why, if it isn't the Kyojin boy. Now, whatever could he be here for?" Golem jumped forward, and Fuante stumbled straight onto his backside, two frightened to make a sound. "Why, you couldn't be here to challenge me, would you?" With that, he burst into derisive laughter.
Shaking off any apprehension or fear, Nemesis darted from the shifting Corianna to Fuante's side. "You take him on, you take us both on, Golem." Golem simply stared at the Agent. Nemesis spread out his hands, palms upward. "You don't know me, freak. But I know you. YOU'RE the cause of all this dimensional imbalance; you and your horridly powerful 'ki.' I understand now why those bullet nicks were in the Tokyo Tower. You caused them. Because of the Xen testing in Black Mesa, combined with your training, have caused such... which is no doubt why I'm here."
(NEMESIS� NOTE: This also explains just how the guys ended up on the USS Life.)
Golem stared some more. Nemesis formed his hands into fists, then stanced next to Fuante again. "Our dimensions are literally shifting at this point, and they won't stop doing so until you die. So, DIE already!" With that, Nemesis closed his eyes, and vanished...
A thin smile spread on Golem's face as he raised his hand and snapped his fingers. A pale humanoid being with a bloated, featureless head appeared from the shadows, standing upright and trotting over to an apparently random spot. It swung its arm as if to backhand the air, and caught Nemesis completely by surprise, sending him sprawling on the floor.
An unearthly laugh came from the creature, and a look of pure mirth appeared on Golem. Looking straight at the invisible soldier, Golem said, "That's a nice trick." He nodded to the being. "Now let me show you one of mine."
The creature lifted its left arm, and a ball of dark-violet energy started to form above its open palm.
Fuante saw the ball in the demon's hand, but he was powerless to move and intercept it. Golem seemed to be radiating fear. Fuante was terrified. Suddenly, another wave of visions hit him. He saw Golem laughing all around him. Golem was large and everywhere. The sounds penetrated Fuante's very soul. Fuante fell to his knees and began to spasm violently. He prayed that he would die soon.
*****
Back in Hokkaido, Ukyou Kyojin began to spasm as well, her soul perfectly in sync with her husband's. Shinichi and Chouchou rushed to her side. After the girl managed to settle down, Shinichi stood up with a determined look on his face.
"Cho, take care of her." The two girls looked at him in confusion. After a few moments of concentration, a gold light gathered around Shinichi's body. Then, he was gone.
Shimitsu sat at the kitchen table and smiled. {He has learned to teleport by himself already? Ah, Kirin, my old friend, your son has grown up.}
*****
Back in Tokyo, Golem was distracted by a gold flash coming to his right. Turning, he saw Shinichi standing there with his first clenched at his sides.
Laughing, Golem taunted Shinichi. "You want to fight me, boy? So sorry, but only this one can touch me, if he could stand." He motioned to the gasping Fuante. "However, if you would like to entertain yourself with... urk!" The demon's sentence was cut short as Shinichi removed his foot from Golem's groin.
"I'm a holy fighter, demon," Shinichi stated seriously. "Your rules don't apply to me. Let's tango." With that, he assumed the cat stance.
Golem nodded slightly to his companion, without taking his eyes off of Shinichi. His eyes narrowed as he said, "You're descended from that damn priest." He straightened his stance. "It's a shame that your family line ends with you."
Suddenly, a scimitar-wielding demon jumped down between Golem and Shinichi, taking a threatening stance towards the holy warrior. "Watch your step, Akuto. He has holy magic," Golem ordered, returning his attention to Fuante.
Meanwhile, the blind creature completed charging for his attack. It swung its arm at Nemesis, sending the ball of energy hurtling at him. Just before it hit its target, however, it veered off course. The being craned its blank head towards Kenji, who was pointing his open palm at the smoking crater where the ki had hit.
Nemesis charged, taking aim and fired, a shot that the creature took squarely in the chest. An inhuman scream came from appearently nowhere. Nemesis landed next to the... thing... and immediately opened fire. "C'mon you damn freak of nature," muttered the Agent, "make your move..." The bullets smashed into the blind being...
Two figures stepped up from the shadows (Geez, how many people can fit in these shadows?) and stood next to Golem. "Master," one of the figures said, "May I kill that one?" He motioned to Corianna.
The figure next to him pointed at Kyorei. "I wish to destroy her."
"Do as you please."
The first man was pale, and had slick black hair. As he walked up to Corianna, he lifted one hand and unsheathed his claws- vampire claws.
Corianna unsheathed her claws of one hand and her sword in the other. The sword glowed the green of her scar and she hissed at the vampire. The vampires circled each other.
"Ah, a City Grengral. I can tell by the stench," the Golem henchman hissed.
"That's not the worst part about me! You country bumpkins sicken me," she hissed back. Hime growled and circled to the back of the vampire. He swung around only to have Corianna sear off four of the claws on his right hand... fingers and all. The vampire screamed and lunged at Cori, digging his claws into her stomach, then kicked her, knocking her to the ground. Corianna was flung across the ground, stones and debris digging into her skin causing superficial wounds.
Hime snarled loudly and her eyes glowed red. She wanted to prove to Corianna that she could fight. Hime lashed out a flame of fire that seared the arm of the other Beast of the Night. Cori hissed at the other Night Walker in defiance and anger. He was tough, but she, Queen of the Damned, was tougher.
Gathering her senses, biting through the pain, she attacked without mercy. As he leered back in pain from the flame of fire, Corianna swung at him with her sword, slashing and thrashing him. The vampire screamed in agony Corianna laughed and got up. Her stomach closed and healed with a flame of fire as she sneered at the other Lost Soul. Her black eyes grew red and she cackled at the vampire. He got up weakly, but with a look of determination and shear evilness.
"So, you think you're the shit, don't you, City Grengral!?" With that, he lunged for Corianna again. This time her red aura blocked him. She hissed loudly bearing her fangs and grabbed him by the neck,lifting him high off the ground. The Queen sunk her claws into his heart and ripped it out. Corianna engulfed it in a fire that seared the body of the other Dark creature. He flailed in her grip, kicking her and screaming. He raised his good-clawed hand and slashed at her arm, making her lose her grip. She sunk to the ground howling in pain but looked up quick enough to find the other Night Walker standing over her with his claws outstretched. But before the Beast could get up to finish her off, Hime leaped out and sunk her teeth into the vampire and body slammed him. Flashes of flesh and claws followed as the panther held on tightly with her jaws of steel and the Vampire slashed at her with his free hand.
Corianna collected herself, angry and in pain, unsheathed her sword. In one well-aimed swing she stabbed the Night Creature through the heart, and again.
He wailed and then turned to dust. Bloody and tired, Hime walked over to Corianna, who smiled and touched her.
"Good work, Hime-san."
"Thank you," growled the panther.
Corianna closed her eyes, summoning a blue aura of healing to their wounds.
The second demon, who had firey red hair and crimson red eyes that were not unlike Kyorei's before Fuante "exorcised" her demons, opened a portal and appeared behind her.
Kyorei and the fire demon eyed each other with a smirk. Leveling her bardy at the creature, she phased out and reappeared behind him, aiming at his flaming head. The demon similarly vanished and Kyorei ended up driving the weapon down into the steel beams, wedging it effectively to her dismay. "Where the fuck did he go?!" She had forgotten that demons are tricky creatures and this one was no exception. Suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and she found herself being held tight against him, pinned.
His hand lay over her heart, he whispered into her ear. "Well sweetheart, seems I have caught myself a lil' bitch. Move and I kill you. Mmm, now what to do with you..." He spoke condescendingly and twisted her head to his and kissed her lips with a searing kiss, burning her cold ones. The heat caused her skin to blister at the sheer contact. Then grabbing her by the neck, in the blink of an eye, he threw her into a steel column and pummeled her repeatedly. Blinding pain shot through Kyo's body, her being caught unaware by her first kiss. Then anger formed and lashed out, knee contacting with said fire demons groin.
The demon growled and drew back as collective males alike winced in pain. "Well babe, that wasn't very nice. I'm going to have to kill you now." Kyorei's eyes narrowed down to slits.
"First off, I can only be killed by one man and that certainly isn't you. Second off, don't you fucking call me babe!" She cupped her hands together drawing in a chilling wind and crystalline snow swirled around her. "Ice tornado!" The fire demon found himself airborne with thousands of needle sharp shards digging into his flesh.
The torrent continued until Kyo thrust her hands towards a beam and he was smashed into it, breaking the beam in two. She placed a hand on her hip and smirked, "Takes more than the likes of a pathetic creature like you to defeat me." But now the fire demon was mad, very mad. It was one thing having a mere woman kick him in the crotch, but ice daggers and smashing into pillars didn't rest well with him either. Top it off, the bitch was gloating over his misfortune.
"Hate to ruin your fun, girly, but its time to say bye-bye now." He raised his hand to sky then smashed it down into the beam beneath her feet. Nothing happened, and for a moment Kyo thought he'd messed up his attack until burning pain ripped inside her. A rage of inferno burst back up through the beam, weaving around her body, lashing and sizzling her skin. The fire then burned inside her body, twisting throughout her until she was caught in a network of flaming, scorching heat... the base of the fire had melted the metal on lower and higher beam leaving her at suspended in air, entrapped.
He sauntered up to her and stroked her cheek. "Ah ma cheri, parting is such sweet sorrow." He laughed savagely. "I will grace you with my name, as it has been awhile since I have had such an enthralling fight! You may call me Toshifumi." Kyo forced her eyes open even as her blood dripped from her wounds to sizzle in the flames. She weakly laughed.
"Well... Toshifumi... you forget one minor detail... Even though you are a fire demon, your chemical makeup is similar to that of a human's... You should know by now that I am an ice demon and I just learned a new attack. I don't even have to touch you, to kill you..." she broke off coughing up blood.
Toshifumi crossed his arms and stared at her mockingly. "Oh do tell. Well babe, show me then. I'm wait-" He was cut off as he gagged, shards of ice pushing out from his mouth. His hands grabbed at his throat as it was being torn apart, horror and shock evident. He stared at her in disbelief, falling to his knees, desperately trying to melt or break the ice, anything to get rid of it.
"You see, Toshifumi... about 90% of the human body is made of water and just like them, so is yours... And if I can create ice from water..."
His eyes bulged before bursting as more deadly crystals erupted, his body twisting and contorting, flesh ripping off bones. A gush of warm blood sprayed geyser like and yet he still lived. One really shouldn't piss Kyo off. With a whoosh and a dying scream, the mass of frozen water erupted, tearing apart his body into pieces until only a blood streaked, chillingly beautiful ice formation remained.
With the fire demon Toshifumi dead and beyond recognition, the chains of fire dissipated and Kyorei fell to the ground, alive but very much hurt. "Bastard..." She crawled over to her bardy and, prying it loose, used it to push herself to her feet, the mere act causing her to bite back the pain which enslaved her body. She hoped Fuante would gather his senses and kill this demon soon.
Golem ignored the other fighters and put all of his attention on Fuante. He smirked and stepped towards the cowering warrior, and, grabbing Fuante by his hair, threw him into a wall. "What's wrong?" Golem mocked, stepping up to Fuante and kicking him in the stomach. "You call yourself a tengu?" He tossed Fuante straight up into the air, seemingly effortlessly. "You're just a cowering baby!" He enunciated that with an upward fist, again hitting Fuante in the gut.
Fuante managed to drag his body off the ground and shakily get to his feet. He was breathing in hacks and coughing up unpleasant amounts of blood. He wasn't standing for long, however, as Golem summoned his battle-axe and brought the flat down upon Fuante's back, nearly breaking his spine. Too tired to scream, Fuante just lay there on the ground, the horrible images never leaving his mind... the darkness growing stronger...
Golem glanced at Toshifumi's corpse, then up at Kyorei. Smirking, he vanished, reappearing next to the wounded ice demon. "You have quite some potential," he started. "I could use someone like you." He looked over the other warriors that had heeded the Kyojin family's cry for help. "With all of this power at your fingertips, what are you doing with the likes of them?"
"What are you saying?" Kyorei shot back.
Golem smiled, almost warmly, and replied, "I'm saying you should join me."
Kyo narrowed her eyes at the creature named Golem, tense as she was wounded and he could probably cause massive damage to her being. Putting on a haughty pose she replied, "And why should I join the ranks of you? Furthermore, what do you intend to do if I refuse?"
Golem cocked an eyebrow. "What will we do to you? Nothing, of course." He averted his gaze again to the remains of his once-minion. "My kind aren't exactly as... brutal... as others." He looked back to her. "Join me, and Ningenkai can be yours. I can see it in you. You need power, and that is what I can give you."
"One thing I have learned throughout my training is never to accept words at face value. If you are so powerful as to kill Fuante, who beat me in battle before, shouldn't you seek him and not me? And if I join you, Golem, just what do you require of me?" Kyorei was no fool, but after seeing his minions she knew he could not be trusted. If he was any sort of creature like she was... well, she didn't even trust herself anymore.
Golem shrugged. "Just thought I could use someone like you. If you don't want it, you don't have to take it." With that, he jumped back to Fuante, showering the martial artist with a new wave of fear.
"Now, where were we?"
Shinichi glanced over to watch the discourse between Golem and Kyorei. This distraction was all the time Akuto needed to catch the priest off guard with a slash to the belly. Shinichi barely managed to dodge the slash, but his gi was less fortunate. He sighed and discarded the damaged item of clothing.
Akuto was grinning widely. "Don't keep your eyes off this baby, son." He patted his LARGE blade. "She'll take your head clean off if you do."
Shinichi's smile matched his opponent's. "We'll see." For a moment, an understanding passed between the two fighters. Nodding to each other, their swords clashed.
At the moment of contact, the powers of the two fighters were channeled through their respective blades and began to discharge. Soon, the two were surrounded by a gold and red dome of pure mystical energy, sending wind and dirt flying in all directions.
Nemesis stopped attacking the seemingly invulnerable creature and observed the strange and very violent scene before him. "Wha?" muttered Nemesis, only to jump as a messy robe suddenly appeared.
"I require your skills, Agent Nemesis" it said.
"Like h-" screamed Nemesis, then all at once both disappeared.
Kenji stared at the empty space where his comrade used to occupy. However, he was snapped back to reality as his invisible opponent tried to hit him with a jump kick. Kenji focused in on the demon's energy signature and lodged a fist into his chest. He then quickly withdrew the fist, and the demon was immediately ripped apart by the Bernoulli effect.
Meanwhile, Fuante was nearing his breaking point. Every time the Golem creature came near him, a cold darkness spread throughout his body. As the demon taunted him, Fuante could feel the Heavy Fist activating automatically. But it wasn't enough. He needed something more. The scroll he had read came to mind.
Golem sneered at the cowering warrior and kicked him in the ribs, earning a grunt of pain from said warrior. Laughing, Golem leaned over and placed his hands on Fuante's face. "So, the Kyojin line ends with you, little boy. It's hard to imagine that you are the descendant of Satoshi Kyojin, the man who stranded me between the tengu and demon realms all those centuries ago. He was a true warrior, one of the greatest the multiverse has ever seen. He wasn't like you, a sniveling coward." With that, Golem spit on Fuante's right eye. He then got up and started to walk away.
After taking a few paces, he stopped and turned back to face Fuante. "Wait a minute," he said with a hungry look on his face. "You're not the last of your line... are you?" Fuante said nothing. Golem let out an evil laugh. "Hah, hah, hah! I thought so! That bitch you sleep with is pregnant, isn't she? Maybe after you all are finished, I'll pay a visit to the ol' Kyojin house. What do you think, Fuante?" Still laughing, he once more turned to walk away.
"No... Ukyou..." Fuante managed to squeak out. With one final lurch, the darkness overtook him. {No... Ukyou... Golem... stop... it... don't... please... Golem... Satoshi... Shinichi... Darkness... ... ... YES} Snap.
Golem was caught completely unaware by the searing hot pain that scorched his back and sent him flying into a minivan. As he got up, he was greeted by the sight of Fuante standing six feet away, fists clenched at his sides, a look of pure hatred on his face, and one impressive purple battle aura covering his body.
"Kyojin School Forbidden Technique: Akuma no Ikari. You're dead, Golem."
Kenji glanced to the side, and grabbing Nicole as he went, ran to a safe distance. Tiger followed shortly.
Mirsky cocked an eyebrow, but did not move. He didn't particularly feel like running from something he could just as easily block.
The mystic dome surrounding Shinichi and Akuto began to crackle with energy as the gold began to swallow up the red. When it had turned completely gold, the dome dissipated in a flash of light. Shinichi was standing, his sword embedded in Akuto's chest. Said demon was spread out on the ground, his claymore sliced in two and lying next to him.
Shinichi sighed in relief and exhaustion. Looking around, he almost fell over in shock as he witnessed the power being emanated by his brother. "Oh, crap," were the only words that came to his lips. He then remembered in horror what happened last time an aura of this magnitude was created at the Omega Tournament. "Oh, CRAP!" Looking wildly around, he spotted the three closest people: Mirsky, Corianna, and Hime. Kyorei was looking too beaten and exhausted to help. "Yo! Mirsky! Cor... whatever the heck your name is! Cat! Get over here, now!"
Reluctantly, the three made there way over to the priest. He explained his plan.
"What?" Mirsky growled.
"You heard me. Look, if you don't want to become a Russian souffl� any time soon I suggest that you cooperate." Shinichi sighed. This man could be so difficult!
Corianna strode over with a look of tiredness but determination. She and Hime were ready to kick some more ass!
Mirsky grumbled as he took position and started releasing his dampening energy.
Kyorei stared at the energy flux, disturbingly familiar to the one that had happened between her and Fuante back at the Omega Tournament. The other fighters seemed to be assembling to try and quarantine the deadly power, but she just didn't have the strength anymore. Fire demon and ice demon... her two personalities could not handle onslaught she had taken at once. {Fire and ice didn't mix... wonder if Fuante will live... Papa...}
Shinichi moved to the opposite side of the street as Mirsky, Corianna, and Hime, thereby creating a triangle. Satisfied with the configuration, he began to summon forth his holy powers once more. This time, however, there was no aura surrounding his body. Instead, a mystic symbol appeared in front of his face. It was shaped like a semi-circle with a vertical line going through the middle; the ancient rune for life.
Mirsky reached down into the depths of his soul and tapped into the energy that lay dormant there. A cross surrounded by a circle manifested itself in front of Mirsky; the ancient rune for death.
Corianna and Hime's souls reached out and connected with each other, forming a spiritual link. One symbol flashed before their eyes. It was two parallel vertical lines with a small circle in between them; the ancient rune for the nosferatu.
There was a loud humming for a few seconds, and then their energies were released. Ancient magic coursed through the air, appearing as blue electricity. Soon, a sound barrier was formed round Golem and Fuante.
The shield came up just in time as several bolts of purple ki slammed against it. Fuante was on a rampage, fueled by the darkness that was burning within him. With a scream of pure fury, he launched himself at Golem, connecting the demon's head with a flying kick. Golem flew several feet back, getting up just in time to see Fuante's fist crush into his face, followed by a knee to the chin. Golem, semi-blinded by the blood dripping into his eyes, lashed out with a wild punch. Fuante simply grabbed the offending limb and twisted it until he heard a satisfying pop. He dropped the arm and it fell dead at Golem's side.
"Now, demon," Fuante said, his voice almost chilling the air around him, "I'm going to kill you." The aura around him then began to build. All the residual ki that was floating within the triangular shield also began to gather around Fuante's body. More specifically, into his right fist.
Shinichi saw what was happening. {Oh, crap!} Suddenly breaking the connection with the others, he yelled out in panic. "Run! Get out of here!" With that, he turned and got to a very safe distance.
Hime and Corianna quickly broke their aura and Corianna flew the panther to the farthest rooftop.
Mirsky frowned as he jumped to a nearby rooftop. The boy obviously wasn't brave enough to try and block the blast; not exactly what Mirsky would call martial artist material. {It doesn't matter,} Mirsky thought as he braced himself for the oncoming shockwave.
Golem, his body pummeled and bleeding, lacked the strength to run away. Looking at the glowing Kyojin, he knew what was coming.
Fuante Kyojin wasn't entirely glowing. Only his right fist, raised in front of his chest, was emitting the purple light. When his energy had reached its maximum, Fuante leaped at his opponent, his hand extended. "Kyojin School Final Attack: KI KEN!" The energy that had simply been glowing before now erupted in a wave of sheer power.
Right before the fist embedded itself in his throat, Golem's memory was triggered. He remembered hovering in mid-air, about a mile above the ground. Looking down, he had seen a golden spear of ki hurtling itself upwards. Then...
"Satoshi..." was all Golem muttered as Fuante's dark energy ripped his body to shreds. The street and its surroundings quickly followed suit.
Shinichi leaped into the blast site after the dust had cleared. The street had been totally destroyed. A good portion of the ground was missing, showing the sewers underneath. Water was shooting out of the remains of a fire hydrant. The surrounding shops and restaurants were beyond repair. On the ground, he saw Fuante lying unconscious. Gently, he picked up his brother.
The others slowly made their way to where the fight had been. Shinichi turned to them and spoke. "Golem is dead and Fuante is dying. That Akuma no Ikari technique is slowly eating him from the inside." Shinichi noted the trace of a smile on Mirsky's lips. What surprised him was that there was no such trace on Kyorei's. {Interesting.} "Using my holy powers, I will do what I can for him. It may not be too late." Shinichi gave a deep sigh, indicating his exhaustion. "I want to thank you all for your help. You didn't have to come, but you did. Take care."
With that, the very familiar gold aura began to gather around Shinichi. With an equally familiar flash of light, everyone was gone.
*****
Kenji looked around. He was standing just outside of Naha, with Tiger and Nicole on either side of him.
He took a step towards the town, averting his eyes to the ground. "I was interrupted in my... business... by Kyojin's call for help..." He glanced up at her. "Take the rest of the day off." With that, he walked purposefully into town, tailed by Tiger.
*****
Mirsky brushed the dirt off of his coat as he materialized in front of a bruised and bleeding Luke. Glancing around, he cocked an eyebrow at the remains of several dozen blocks. Picking up his beaten student, he asked, "How have you been wasting your time?"
Luke opened his good eye (the other swollen shut), and replied, "I've been training, master..." He smiled slightly. "I've broken all of the blocks..."
Mirsky examined his trainee's brace, then threw him to the floor, hard. "You fool! You've loosened your training suit! It's less than half the resistance it was before!" Punctuating his last statement with a kick, he added, "Go clean up! You will have no meals today!" With that, he took the brace off. "And when we begin again, I am doubling the strength!"
As Luke dragged himself to the shack, Mirsky stared at the brace in his hand. It was set at twice of what it was when he had left...
*****
Corianna and Hime found themselves on the docks of Hong Kong's Harbor. She stared out at the fishing vessels, rocking the dark harbor. "Come Hime," she bid, "let's go rest a bit." They walked up the pier as the night began to melt away and slipped into an old discarded packaging crate with the word SCOTLAND on it.
*****
Kyorei found herself lying on the ground outside Kaimettsu's dark citadel. She was still bleeding profusely and her head swam. An ill forboding filled her and, using her bardy for support, she struggled up from the ground.
Something was amiss. It was quiet. It was never quiet in her fathers land. The screams of the damned and tortured constantly echoed throughout his domain yet there was an unearthly stillness. The sky, always a dark smoky haze, was filling with reddish clouds. In Kyorei's experience, her father was up to something and things did not bode well.
A hand grabbed her and she whirled, staring upwards into the dead burnt red eyes of her father. He smiled darkly as his hand placed its self onto her chest filling her with wave after wave of negative ki.
She collapsed into her father's arms, as he picked her up gingerly and vanished back into the castle carrying his daughter. The clouds rumbled and in the other plane, the Reiki, an infantile looking youth talked worriedly with his father. Kaimettsu's day of reckoning with the world was approaching.
*****
Several months had passed since the death of the demon known as Golem. With a lot of luck, Shinichi had managed to cure Fuante's body of the self-induced infestation. Everything had gone back to normal and remained that way until one fateful day in the hospital.
"All right, Mrs. Kyojin. I just need one last push," the doctor said calmly. {Please, just push that baby out so I can go home! This has been the weirdest couple I have ever seen. The woman keeps on screaming out death threats, most of them involving sharp objects and vampires.}
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ukyou Kyojin screamed. Fuante said nothing, as the grip his wife had around his neck was tightening.
***In the Tengu Realm***
"I don't get it, dad," Akayama said to Shiroten.
"Don't get what?"
"That whole deal with Fuante and Golem. Golem was one of the most powerful demons who ever lived, and Fuante beat him around like a redheaded stepchild."
Shiroten stared at his son. "Where did you hear an expression like that?"
"Heard it on the Earth plane somewhere in California."
"Ah." {Makes sense. Those Californians scare even me sometimes.}
"Anyway, how could Fuante have become so powerful? The prophet said that Satoshi's power would be reborn in a female."
"Well, Fuante only gained that power by focusing the dark energy that Golem had put in him. By his own power, Golem would have killed him."
"Oh." Akayama sighed. "I wonder when we're going to see Satoshi's skill again?"
"Who knows?"
***Back in the hospital***
"It's a girl!"
***EDITOR'S NOTES***
The characters Mirsky, Kenji, Tiger, Nicole, and Luke were created by opaj.
The Mesa crew was created by Nemesis.
The characters Kyorei and Kaimettsu were created by Nabiki.
The characters Fuante Kyojin, Shinichi Mamono, Shimitsu Kyojin, Satoshi Kyojin, Chouchou Shison, Golem, Hiroshi Geppu, Samuike Fuyuitai, and the rest of the tengu and demon crew were created by Spam_BIT.
The characters Corianna and Hime were created by Cain.
The character Ukyou Kuonji was created by Rumiko Takahashi.
On to Episode 4: Satsujin(Part 1)
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