Chapter one
'What ever happened to this beautiful green world?' Kenshiro thought to himself as he looked at the barren wasteland before him. The sight of nuclear war for centuries, everything was flat, desert looking land. HE could see a small village in the distance. It was run down like most small villages in the middle of nowhere. It had round top huts made of dirt and mud and a poorly built fence around it. This always amazed Kenshiro, how a village in such a modern time can live off of such old principals and no technology. As he began to walk up to the wall, he realized that both doors were shut. He took a few steps to the right to where there were parts of the wall missing and simply walked in.
"Hey!" a deep voice shouted. "This is our village, get out!" He looked over at the man. He was a typical thug, overpowering the poor and weaker for what he wanted.
"This will be your village no longer. The people here do not deserve to be governed by a dictator in such hard times!" Kenshiro replied.
"Oh really, what are you going to do to stop me?" the thug questioned.
"I am the man with seven scars," Kenshiro mentioned.
"Hey guys!" the man yelled, "get a load of this guy, he says he's the man with seven scars!"
About twenty more thugs appeared from various areas and buildings in the village. They were making remarks that it was impossible, some were simply laughing at Kenshiro.
One of them, that looked smaller and weaker then the others yelled, "Even I could kill this punk!" The others continued to laugh. He ran up to Kenshiro and began swinging his fists furiously. Kenshiro pushed him away but he grabbed Kenshiro's shirt. It was torn in the front as the thug hit the ground. Seven scars on the chest of Kenshiro were now visible. Everyone's jaw dropped in amazement. They could not believe that Kenshiro was actually the man with seven scars. The short one stood in front of him looking up at him in fright.
Kenshiro placed 2 fingers gently on each sides of the short ones head. Suddenly he yelled, very loudly and began to push. His fingers suddenly appeared to slip and everything went black. The short one's scull collapsed from the force. He fell to the ground in a pool of his own blood.
Kenshiro looked up at the remaining thugs. Their eyes were wide in fear. He walked up to one and hit him in the leg gently then he ran over to another and hit him in the stomach, once again very gently. Now he returned to his beginning position.
Neither of them seemed phased by this attack. Neither of them showed any sign of pain either. They looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. Then they turned to the other thugs. They all started to walk towards him muttering things like, "lets get him!"
Kenshiro took the arm of the first thug that got close and twisted it until it cracked, and then he threw the man on the ground. The thugs once again feared Kenshiro, and they began to back up. The two thugs from before suddenly began to scream in pain. They exploded without warning, and the only part of them remaining was their bones in a small pool of blood. The remaining thugs looked at each other, then back at Kenshiro, then down to the bones, they looked at each other once again, then they ran. Some ran out of the village on foot, others jumped in jeeps and drove into the horizon.
The people of the village slowly began to walk out of the shadows and buildings. One child escaped his mother's grasp and ran to Kenshiro's feet. He looked up in a feared manner.
"What is your name?" the child asked.
"Kenshiro, but you may call me Ken." He replied.
"Thank you for saving us Mr. Ke……" His mom grabbing him cut off his words. She apologized to Kenshiro and began to walk back to the crowd with her child.
"I'm not here to hurt you, nor to steal your village." Kenshiro announced to the crowd. "I was simply passing by. I came for food, water, and a place to stay for the night. I will leave at sunrise and you will never see me again."
An older man stepped forward. "I own a small inn here, I'll let you stay free tonight as a token of my appreciation for you saving our village." Kenshiro followed the old man through the village. They stopped at the only two story building in the village.
"Here it is, its not much to look at, but it is a place to stay." The man mentioned. "Your room is already ready for you, just walk upstairs to get to it."
"Thank you" Kenshiro replied. He walked in to the small lobby of the inn. Then he saw the small wooden staircase that lead up. He looked around at the counter and the door leading to the back that was covered with a large piece of cloth. He then walked up the stairs to his room. There was a bucket of water and fruit placed on a small table next to his bed. He grabbed an apple and walked out the small hole in the wall, used for a window, onto the roof.
He laid down on the roof top and stared at the stars. He took a bite of his apple. 'These stars remind me of my days with Julia.' He thought to himself. 'Why did Shin backstab me and steal her?' he wondered. A tear rolled down the side of his face as he recalled all the memories with his love.
"I WILL FIND HIM!" he yelled out loud. "I WILL GET HER BACK!"
"Are you ok?" the old man asked from the window. "I herd shouting."
"I am fine." Kenshiro replied. "I just need some sleep." He climbed back into the inn and walked over to his bed. He laid on his back and was soon asleep.
When he awoke, he could see the sun was high in the east from the window. 'I slept in.' he said to himself. He got out of his bed and walked downstairs to the lobby.
"I thought you were leaving early." The old man said as he swept the floor. "It almost afternoon now."
"I slept in I guess." Kenshiro replied. "I guess I better get going then." He said as he walked out the door.
He could hear the voice of the man as he left. "Good, you don't want to keep him waiting."
'Who is he' Kenshiro wondered. His thoughts were quickly interrupted as he noticed massive change in the village. It had large new age buildings and a large palace at the end of it.
A man walking down the street stopped in front of Kenshiro. "He's waiting for you." The man said as he pointed at the palace.
Kenshiro turned and looked at it. He turned back and asked, "Who's he?" but the man was gone.
By the time he had reached the palace it was raining. He looked up at the large wooden doors. He clenched his hand into a fist and began to pound on the doors. After a minute the doors opened. He walked in a few steps and they closed. It was too dark to see anything inside. Suddenly, people from every direction grabbed him and a bag was placed on his head.
When the bag was lifted off of his head, he was quick to observe his love's presence.
"Julia!" he yelled. He tried to run to her, but familiar people held him back. He could not do anything to get free. All he could do was look at her.
"The man with seven scars…" a voice mentioned from a distance.
'Shin' Kenshiro thought to himself.
"It looks as thought we meet again." Shin said as he walked in from a curtain in the back of the room. "And yet again, you're helpless. However today I shall not pierce you with seven scars to haunt you the rest of you life. I plan to cut you much deeper." He began to walk forward with his hands behind his back. "I have enjoyed having Julia present. I have enjoyed knowing how much you missed her, and how you knew that I had her. But, I have become bored with her. She is useless."
He glanced at the men holding Kenshiro. They quickly began to punch and kick him until he could no long stand and was on the ground.
"Say goodbye," Shin said. He pulled a long blade from behind his back and began to walk towards Julia.
"NO!!!" Kenshiro yelled as Shin placed a hand over Julia's mouth. "DON'T! STOP!" he kept yelling.
Shin carefully placed the blade across he neck. Kenshiro looked down. He could not bear to see what was happening. Suddenly a streak of blood appeared in front of his face. He covered his face with his hands and rolled over onto his back. There was so much pain running through his body. Tears rapidly ran down his face and hit the floor.
"I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS SHIN!" he yelled as he sat up in his bed. "What? Where am I?" He looked around the small room. He saw fruit on the table next to him. He stood up and walked over to the window. It was still dark, but the sun was beginning to spread light in the east.
He walked down the stairs. Much to his surprise, the old man was not in the lobby. As he walked outside he noticed all of the people of the village had gathered around.
One man stepped forward, "Thank you for saving us Kenshiro. We will do whatever we can to help you on your journey to the next village."
"That will not be necessary." Kenshiro replied.
There was a humming noise coming from the west. He began to walk to the side of the village and the crowd followed him. He could see that it was making dust and come up from the ground. And whatever it was, it was coming fast.
As it came closer he began to notice it was a motorcycle. It came closer and closer, then to the broken wall. The man got off and placed his helmet on the ground.
"I come to receive information for master Shin. He asks: Is the man with seven scars present in your village?" The man said.
Kenshiro's eyes filled with rage. He grabbed the man and violently grabbed the man and threw him on the ground. He gently placed his hand on his back and felt around, and then he began to push.
"AHHH!!!" the man cried in pain. "Release me! I'm only a messenger!"
Kenshiro laid off a bit, "Where did you come from?"
"The city of master Shin's palace." The man replied.
He pushed harder, "What city!"
"SENTU!" he gasped with his last breath. His head hit the ground as his body went limp.
Kenshiro turned to the crowd of people behind him. "Does anybody know where I can find the city of Sentu?"
An old man stepped forward. "Yes, I have been there before." He said slowly. "It is a long trail to the west. You must cross through the Califonte Mountains and more wastelands."
"Thank you," Kenshiro said. "Thank all of you," He said as he looked at the innkeeper. "Good bye."
He jumped on the motorcycle and placed the helmet on head. He began to look for a place to start it. Frustrated he frantically pushed buttons. One near the throttle started it. He gave it gas and he was soon off. Before he knew it the village was no longer visible and the faint outline of mountains was ahead of him.