DISCLAIMER: I've taken inspiration and copied many parts of the comic "Shogun of Steel by Ben Raab" and Rumiko Takahasi's Ranma1/2. Please don't sue me... I just needed a vent for this merger... it's been boiling in my brain for sometime now. I hope you readers enjoy it.

Shogun of Steel 1/2

by: Li Kune Xin

Centuries of territorial disputes, interracial hatred and internecine warfare ended with a ravaged world. The islands of Japan were no exception. The countries were divided. The people, fractured. Vulnerable.

To this place of chaos a shadow came from beyond. Like the night, it descended upon the face of the world and eclipsed the light of the rising sun. All was darkness. Faced with annihilation, the most powerful countries at last agreed to put aside their differences and ally their warring factions under a single banner. Perhaps united as one they might stand where alone they would most certainly fall. But their union was far too little, far too late. For mighty though their armies were... Far mightier was the dread Lord Zunou, the shogun of Steel. One by one, the leaders died. And with them, the spirit of this proud people. All that was once theirs now belonged to the Shogun. Their lands. Their homes. Their women, Their children. And as it seemed for fifteen seemingly endless years... their future...

--

The night sky was a deep royal blue mixed with the orange glow of light pollution. No stars shone in this inky blanket. It overlooked the war scarred island of Japan. In a shadowy back-alley of suburban Tokyo, a woman stood staring at the busy little lives of the people. She faced a dilapidated shack that called itself a bar. Couples walked hand in hand but quickly and without drawing any attention, drunkards laid passed out in the dirt in their own vomit.

"A creature of Magic? In a bar?" she asked the shadow behind her. The moon came out of hiding and illuminated the face a cute but battle worn youth. He had long brown hair, held back in a ponytail with a blue ribbon. On his back he carried a giant Spatula.

"An unlikely place for such a being, I know..." he replied.

"According to the rumors circulating about him, he likes to keep a low profile. Can't get any lower that this, I imagine..."

The woman's eyes frowned and her lips pursed. She said, "And you're certain he'll be of use to us? You've seen what he can do?"

With conviction and a bit of admiration the youth replied, "What I've seen was nothing short of miraculous."

"Good." said the woman, "We could use a miracle..."

As the pair entered the establishment, they could smell the odor of liquor mixed with urine. The place was roaring with cheers and cantankerous laughter. The woman's eyes roamed the room like a hunter looking for her prey. With a nudge from her companion she looked to the shadows and saw a small person sitting alone with a long cloth-wrapped bundle on the table in front of him. She headed to the bar and heard her friend order two beers. Two dirty glasses with some warm yellow fluid was slammed in front of her. She drank it slowly while trying not to look at the man in the shadows.

Suddenly the bar went silent. At the entrance of the bar stood a group of what passes for law enforcement these days. Six uniformed men, armed to the teeth with all sorts of weapons came in. They were lead by a large muscular man with a huge gut. He walked towards the back of the room as the sea of patrons parted in fear. Even then many were shoved out of the way for being too slow, their drink crashing to the sticky floors. These men had a reputation for terrible violence in this prefecture.

"You there! In the hood!" grunted the leader, "You have something that belongs to me!"

The stranger replied in a sweet innocent voice, "I'm afraid you have me confused with someone else, friend."

"Like hell I do!" shouted the rotund officer.

He pointed to the bundle and said, "That sword! I stole it from some old couple back in Juuban, after Lord Zunou's men torched the place! Someone stole it from me while I was passed out last night! I think it was you, and I want it back!"

In a cool voice, the hooded person replied, "If you're so confident it's yours, why don't you just take it? I'll even count to three so you know when to reach for it."

"One...two..."

The lumbering giant of a man lunged for it. He was surprisingly fast for a man of his size. His hand grasped the sword, but the cloth fell limply in his hand. He looked up in front of him and the thief in the shadows was gone. He quickly turned around and saw his foe a few paces behind him with the sword in his hand. It was a simple katana with a dark leather grip. The pommel was simple, but for the serpentine ruby dragon embedded into its surface.

The portly officer said, "Hey!" With a schrrip, his pants pooled around his ankles.

The crowd began to murmur, "How the hell...?! didn't even see him move...! No man's that fast...!"

The hooded man, dangled the sword by his fingers and taunted, "I never said Three."

The fat policeman grimaced with embarrassment and hate and tried to pull his pants back up. "That smart mouth of yours is gonna get you killed boy! Kill him!"

One of his pocy in sunglasses pulled a sword and charged the man. Quick, vicious strokes rained towards his opponent. But all were dodged with a fluid grace that seemed unreal. He did all this while maneuvering around chairs and other obstacles. Suddenly he was within the swordsman's guard and he tossed the officer through the wooded walls of the bar.

Two other henchmen pulled out their semi-automatic pistols and opened fire. With a sweep of the sword, the small thief deflected their bullets. The men looked on in horror and fear and bolted out of the bar. On their way out they rushed pass the lady and her associate.

The spatula shinobi asked, "Impressed?"

"Not yet." replied the woman in an impassive voice.

With a scream another policeman leapt at the thief with a giant hammer. With but a stare, the hammer head melted and through the man off balance. The thief then nudged his assailant into a wall.

The remaining henchman looked on in apprehension with sweat dripping from his forehead. He finally pulled together his courage and pulled out his sai's. The thief cocked his head and smirked. Soon after, the sai-weilding henchman was sent crashing through the bar windows.

Now the thief had the bossman pinned to the wall by the tip of the katana. He gazed at the fat man and said, "That "OLD COUPLE" from Juuban...? The ones you stole this from...? They raised me like their SON."

"She forge forged this sword for me with her own two hands. Just like he made me the person I am today."

And in a gust of wind, the fat man was thrown into the air. All he heard while falling was, "And as you can see...I'm not ORDINARY."

The fat man looked down and he saw that he was suspended by his shirt fifteen feet off the ground, while the bar crowd stared agap from below. All of a sudden the crowd sucummed to their fear and the tavern was cleared out amist screams of "AIIIEEE!", "He's a DEMON!", and "Ruuun!!"

All that was left was the lady and her shinobi looking up with grins. The lady covered her mouth and said, "OhHohohoho! Now I'm impressed."