Disclaimer: DIE, ENSIEGNS, DIE! Oh, and we don't own Star Trek, but Nemesis owns the individual characters.
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| Budoka no Jinsei:
| SIDE STORY 12:
| Perfection
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| Old Ends and New Beginnings by:
| Spam_BIT
| Guy Who Shouldn't Take Credit For Anything:
| opaj
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Satoshi stood silently, his eyes carefully gazing over the burning remains of the village. Beside him stood Uraga, the Shinto priest who had saved him and his daughter those seventeen years ago.
"He will be here," said Uraga, breaking the silence. Yesterday, a mutilated corpse had been left on the doorsteps of Uraga's temple. Burned into the dead man's back was a map, showing the location of a small village, obviously the man's home. Satoshi interpreted the "present" as a challenge from Golem, the demon who was on a mission to wipe out Satoshi's family.
"He is already here," Satoshi replied, surprisingly calm. "Watch." Sure enough, the two men were greeted with a flash of black light just outside the remains of the village gates. As the light faded, a familiar figure was seen at the center. However, there were a few differences. Golem's body had shrunk a bit, making him look almost human and less like an ogre. Said body was tattooed all over with black, jagged symbols, all of them pulsating with an eerie glow.
Uraga growled. "That is demon tongue."
Golem chuckled. "Close, priest. These are the symbols of the great demon lords. It seems that they want you dead more than I do."
"So," began Satoshi, "you sold yourself to the Akuma for a little power? I expected more of you, Golem." He snorted. "Feh, it makes little difference. I can learn nothing more from you. Therefore you die today." He then motioned to Uraga, who nodded and teleported to a safe distance.
Golem was fuming with rage. "Little... power?" His battle axe formed in his hand, although this time it was burning with black flame. "I have one last lesson to teach you... Kyojin!" He spat the name like it was a curse. "You do not challenge the Akuma!" With that, he thrusted his axe forward, a torrent of its dark power spewing forth. Unfortunately, the blast had not gone thirty feet when it slammed against an energy barrier, rendering the attack useless. Golem was in shock. {What? No way could he have erected a barrier at that range!}
Satoshi allowed himself a small smirk. "No, Golem. I have learned everything. I am perfect." Although he did not yell, his voice boomed across the plain with that lst word. "Behold." Without warning, the ground shook violently as a great chasm opened up.
Golem had to leap to the side to avoid behind devoured. "Insolent tengu! I'll teach you some respect!" Truthfully, he was scared out of his mind. Satoshi was utilizing a control of his ki beyond mortal comprehension. Only the gods and the Akuma had such power. Still, he refused to be beaten again. A long, coily tattoo on his arm flared green as Golem released his next attack. The tattoo then literally lept from his body and burrowed into the ground.
Satoshi raised an eyebrow in curiousity. That was until the ground shook once more and a giant serpent emerged, emitting a deafening roar. The serpent fixed its gaze on Satoshi for a moment, and then lunged. Satoshi quickly drew his blade and leapt over the beast, just barely missing being snake food.
The serpent whipped its head around, searching desperately for its prey. It then screamed in pain as its back was skewered by Satoshi's blade. Satoshi was not pleased with the attack himself. {This snake's hide is strong.} He grunted in exertion. {I can't seem to get my blade in all the way.}
He was just about to alter his strategy when the serpent's head appeared in his peripheral vision. He didn't have time to react as he was swallowed.
Golem cackled in delight. "That's it, my pet. Hold him for just a second more." On his chest, a hideous symbol that disturbingly resembled a skull glowed red. "Blood Storm!" Golem yelled. The skies then darkened as the clouds turned a sickening blood-red. "Goodbye, Satoshi! You were a good martial artist. But, in the end, that's all you were. How could you ever hope to battle a demon?"
With that, a huge column, tainted with the same color as the clouds descended upon the serpent. The poor beast shrieked as its body was instantly incinerated. However, what Golem did not anticipate was a second column to appear. This one was emerging from the ground and was glowing a bright gold as it fought against the Blood Storm and finally forced it back into the sky.
Golem gasped in shock. There was no way that Satoshi could have survived that. His ponderings were cut short, however, as a beam of cold, blue energy shot from ground zero, heading directly at Golem. He acted reflexively and soared off into the sky. He was relieved to have dodged the blast, but became a little unnerved as burning remains of the village were quickly annihilated. {That was almost me!}
Then, a voice like the roar of thunder shot out. "I told you before, Golem! I am beyond martial arts! I am beyond ki! I am perfection!" The smoke where the pillars had met was ripped apart by a sudden gale force. Still standing was Satoshi, who was sporting a furious glare and a sinister blue aura. Golem could also see that the ground around Satoshi was frozen solid.
"Your time ends now, demon! Shimo Ya!" An impressive beam of the same cold energy was fired from Satoshi's outstretched hands.
Golem, now hovering a good few hundred feet above the ground, watched in horror as his doom sped towards him. Then, at the last minute, he broke through his stupor and tapped into all of his remaining tattoos at the same time. His body flared with demonic energy, turning him into a dark supernova. It appeared that he was not quick enough, as the Shimo Ya promptly ripped his body from existence.
Down on the ground, Satoshi smiled. He never had any doubts on the outcome of this fight. No demon would dare now to stand in his way. He was a god. He was perfect.
Epilogue:
Golem's spirit roared in anger as he floated powerless through Limbo. "I still live, Kyojin!" he shouted to no one. "Do you hear me? I will claim your blood someday!"
Many centuries later, Golem smiled in a way only disembodied spirits can. Over the years, he had been slowly sapping the power out of the other lost souls that inhabited this place. He had even enough power now to summon back the remains of his old body and reform them. He was greatly surprised that one of the tattoos still remained... the one from Kaimettsu. He wondered why the greatest of all Akuma had left him this last spell. {Oh, well. Best not to complain.}
With a great surge of spritual energy, Golem cracked through the barriers seperating the mortal world from the Limbo. Picking his body up from the grass, he looked around to gauge his surroundings. It was night time, that much was obvious. Then he spotted it. At the base of a nearby hill lay a reasonably impressive house. From it, he sensed a somewhat familiar presence. "Kyojin." He grinned maliciously and decided to introduce himself.
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