Chapter 3: General Zen
The heads of several nearby guards all immediately turned toward the loud explosion that echoed throughout the city. They quickly flocked to the scene. Shocked by this blatant act of defiance, they were speechless. A relatively short swordsman, about 5'3, made his way through the crowd.
"Out of my way! What are you all standing around staring at?!" the small swordsman fell silent when he saw the collapsed wall. After surveying the damage, he came to a startling conclusion "No scorch marks? That means there was no bomb, but then how?" His attention was quickly redirected to the injured guard on the ground before him, shivering, still clutching his broken katana. "Get him to the infirmary."
"Yes sir!" responded two of the guards simultaneously.
"Inform me the very instant he regains consciousness."
"Yes sir, General Zen!"
Meanwhile, Taiki was still plotting his way through the back-alleys, unaware of the powerful enemy he had just made. One thing he was aware of, was that they knew he was coming. Sirens could be heard all across the city.
The sound of the alarms caught the attention of every man, woman, and child. It had been a year since they had heard that sound, and they all remembered what had happened. One woman in particular, feared that sound most of all. She knew what was about to be unleashed upon the city. Taiki's mother, halted her tears for a moment, just long enough to stare out the window and whisper "Be safe."
Taiki could see that he was getting closer to the tower that beckoned him. He could make out the windows of the lower levels clearly now, the higher ups would probably remain undefined until he was at the base of the tower. He could hear hundreds of footsteps, scurrying about the nearby streets. The soldiers were most likely gathering at the tower's entrance.
Zen made his way into the infirmary with great haste. He wanted to solve this matter without delay. "You said that he was awake?"
"Oh, yes sir he was." Responded the doctor "I'll wake him again immediately."
"Good, I want to know who did this."
The doctor shook the injured soldier's shoulder, waking him from his exhausted slumber. "Wake up, the General is here to speak with you."
"Huh?" the man responded groggily. "What?! Did you say the General?!" he turned and faced Zen. "Uh! General Zen sir, my apologies. I failed you, and yet you have honored me with your presence. I am humbly, ever so grateful." he said jumping off the bed, standing straight, with a cringe of pain.
"Stop kissing my ass, you're too injured to be doing that. Lay down."
"Yes sir. Thank you sir."
"Now tell me what happened, Subaru, who is responsible?"
"Yes sir. It was a young boy, maybe fourteen years old, but..." he paused at what he said, thinking of his next words very carefully. "..but sir, I assure you, he was no ordinary child. He was able to catch my katana, break it in half, and he even killed Kenji, with a kick that never touched him. He was inhuman." he waited nervously for Zen's reaction.
"What did he look like?"
Surprised by the calmness of Zen voice, the man hesitated, "He had spiky auburn hair, pale brown eyes, as well as an orange and blue martial arts outfit of some kind. Also sir, Kenji seemed to recognize the boy, he mentioned something about the boy's father, but he was killed before he could say anything useful."
Zen stared out the window, toward the onyx tower 'So Taiki, you've come to avenge your father. This explains everything. How foolish!'
"I'm sorry I can't be of much help sir. If there is anything I can…" his sucking up was cut short when Zen spoke.
"No, you've been very helpful. I know exactly who we're dealing with."
"You do sir, how?"
"You only moved here three months ago, am I correct?"
"Uh, yes sir. Three months, that's correct."
"That's why you don't know about what happened on this day, one year ago." A moment of silence, a tension so heavy, it could have crushed them both. "That boy's father tried to start a revolution one year ago. However he was killed, by our great leader. It seems that Taiki has come to take his vengeance against Master Yoshimitsu."
"What?! That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! Even I know that no one can beat Yoshimits… ugh."
"That's Master Yoshimitsu!" Zen exclaimed as he removed his silver katana from the man's throat. Swinging his blade, cleaning the blood from it with the speed of his stroke, he turned and walked out the door. "Taiki, if you wish to fight Master Yoshimitsu, then like your father, you'll have to defeat me first…" '…and please, don't go easy on me.'
Taiki could now see the soldiers standing guard at the gate. Hundreds of them, but he didn't seem worried. He smirked, and walked out of the alley, into the courtyard.
One of the guards spotted him, "Hey! Over there! That must be him!"
"But he's only a kid?"
"Don't underestimate him, if it is him, well you all saw what he did."
Taiki smirked once again, "Huh? This'll be fun."