Chapter 10

Demon

1 Year Later, In the Canyons of Mongolia

The dusty winds blew across the Mongolian canyons and created a small cloud which made it difficult for anyone to keep their eyes open. But there was one individual that managed to stay out in this inhospitable weather, and that individual was a male South China Tiger with unusual black fur patches surrounding his amber eyes. He was out on this harsh day in the middle of a large training arena while absolutely demolishing a wooden training manikin. Every punch he landed chipped and broke off splinters and wooden pieces and sent them in nearly every direction. Pretty soon, the once mint training dummy was turned into a heap of firewood.

And with his final blow, the Tiger launched an almighty two handed punch right to the center of the manikin and this interaction completely obliterated it, sending wooden shards flying across the arena he trained in. After having finished it off, the Tiger took a deep breath and sighed. He then wiped off the sweat that had accumulated on his brow and thought to himself, 'That is exactly what I will do to you Sister… When I return…'

Unbeknownst to him, the Tiger was being watched the during his entire training session. For far off on the other side of the arena were several figures who had been spying on him intently. An older Male Asiatic Lion accompanied by a cloaked Lioness, it was Lord Jian and one of his personal guards.

"My Lord, he has been at this for several hours." His guard told him as they watched the Tiger begin to head back to his new living quarters in the camp.

"Hmm, indeed, I fear that our Tiger friend is becoming a great threat." Lord Jian answered to his guard as he stroked his chin, clearly in deep thought at the present moment.

The guard then looked at him and asked, "What do you plan to do about this, my Lord?"

He sighed and responded, "Nothing, for now. He has done a remarkable job in reforming our army and inspiring the soldiers, so long as he remains loyal to me, I shall make no move against him."

Jian kept on stroking his chin as he watched the Tiger retreat back to his quarters, this prompted his guard to ask, "My Lord? Is something wrong?"

Jian shook his head and replied, "There's something about our friend that seems quite familiar… He seems to remind me of someone I have fought before, someone I haven't fought since…"

And with this, Jian suddenly and quickly left in direction of his personal quarters, leaving his surprised guard behind. She then ran after him to catch up and she asked, "My Lord, is everything alright?"

To which he replied, "No, I must get to the bottom of this, there is something troubling about our Tiger friend. For now, keep a close eye on Akuma and report any suspicious activity to me."

The guard knelt in understanding and set off to adhere to her master's wishes.

Genji arrived at his personal quarters not long after leaving the arena, this room had been given to him not long after he was salvaged by Jian. It was a large room built into the side of a canyon which he had lived in for the year, and in Genji's opinion, it wasn't half bad. Ever since Jian had appointed him to his second in command he had been busy aiding the Lion in reforming the old Mongolian army. And when he wasn't busy challenging the leaders of the other clans and running errands for Jian, he was busy keeping up his training and also training the soldiers in small bits of martial arts.

After having trained hard for the last hour, Genji was quite dirty and sweaty from the physical exertion not to mention also quite tired. So he removed his black qipao vest and set it in a wet bucket where he would wash it later. Ironically, this was the same vest that he had worn when he was banished from his home by his father. The only reason why he even kept the vest was because it reminded him of his Mother who had gifted it to him. In truth, he didn't hate his Mother, she had been the only one who he had grown to love in his life, and was the only person who he ever really respected. Though Genji felt agitated that she had gone along with his father when he had been banished, he didn't blame her for it.

But just as he was about to lie down to rest after his intensive training, Genji picked up on a disturbance from in the dark hallway leading to his room. He could sense that someone was at the entrance to his quarters who was keeping a low profile. But he wasn't so easily fooled, and he didn't appreciate being watched, so he piped up in an agitated tone, "I know you're there, so you can come out and show yourself!"

At this, he heard what sounded like scurrying from where the person was, and immediately Genji reacted and back flipped to land directly in front of the person who was trying to get away. This stopped them in their tracks, and they looked like they were about to try to sneak around him, but he didn't give them the chance. He pinned the person to the wall of the hallway and examined them more closely. It was one of Jian's guards, a female Lioness who looked to be around his age, she looked nervous and also shocked.

"What are you doing spying on me?" He asked, his anger having been suppressed a little.

But when the Lioness refused to answer his question, he began to get impatient, so he pushed her away from the wall and into the hallway. "Fine, you can avoid my question. Now go tell your Master that I am doing just fine." And with this, he left to head back to his room, this time closing the door behind him.

Meanwhile, in a Dimly Lit Cave

Jian was busy searching through the scrolls in his archives, he was flustered at the moment. Obsessed to find out the true origin of his second in command, and also where the Tiger got such unnatural strength and fighting prowess.

"There's something about that Tiger that has had me bothered the second I appointed him to my second in command..." Jian said to himself as he read through a scroll detailing a certain timeline in his life.

"I know he has been crucial in reforming my army, but something about him rubs me the wrong way..." He said to himself again as he rolled the scroll down further, reading every word and paying attention to every little detail.

The scroll was a log that Jian had written shortly after his first encounter with the Tiger when Akuma had woken up on the table which he had been healed on. It depicted everything from the Tiger's odd appearance to his short patience and dangerous demeanor.

"Aha! Here it is..." Jian exclaimed as he found what he was looking for.

In the log read:

"Upon meeting the Tiger, I was impressed to have heard how he managed to nearly traverse the entire Gobi desert completely by himself without any food or water. And what impressed me even more was his warrior-like attitude. Now that he has allied with us, he will be crucial in helping to reform my army.

Although, there is something about him that seems quite familiar, for upon finding him lying in the sands of the desert, I picked up on a strange smell which came from him, it was that of another animal. It almost smelled like, a Panda? What puzzled me even more were the odd black fur patches surrounding both of his eyes. Though I have only ever met a handful of other Tigers, I have never seen one with patches like those surrounding their eyes like his.

When he awoke on the table in the cave, I questioned him about his origin, where he came from, and why he had those patches. Though he only vaguely answered these questions, he claims he came from China, though he did not specify where, and as for the patches, he claimed they were a genetic defect.

But this still bothers me, for when I witnessed him fight… Destroy my best warriors, he dispatched them with absolute ease. And to my knowledge there has only been one person who has ever presented such skills, and that was the Dragon Warrior who I fought many years ago.

At first I thought that this Tiger may have been related to the Dragon Warrior, but I quickly dismissed this fact as they are of different species', thus making it impossible. Though as time grows on, I will need to remain cautious of this Tiger, for he seems to have the greatest ferocity of anyone I've ever met."

Jian remained in deep thought, pondering what the text read and also thinking about something else. "Strange, he claims that his master banished him from China, and when he was telling me about his master, he seemed to stutter, as if he was going to say something, but held it back..."

But just then, Jian remembered a very important detail from the past, "Wait! That's it! I can't believe I didn't notice it at the time… That Panda had the aroma of another Tiger when I fought him in Wu fortress!"

Jian then stood up from his chair and slammed his fist into the table, nearly cracking it in the process. "So that Tiger is related to the Dragon Warrior after all… His father is a Panda, and his Mother is a Tigress!"

But just as Jian said this, he heard a voice come from down the cave, "Lord Jian!"

"What is it!?" He asked in an agitated tone.

"My Lord, the Tiger is just in his quarters, but something about him seems off…" The guard explained.

"I see. Well, if you would be so kind, could you get the rest of my guards and follow me up to the Tiger's room? I seem to have discovered just where our striped friend got his skills from." Jian answered as he went over to a collection of his many displayed artifacts.

"As you wish, my Lord." The guard answered and then left to carry out her Master's orders.

"It is time for me to make an example out of those who would breach my trust and to show my reformed army what is done with those who are related to the Dragon Warrior…" He said deviously as he picked up a special sword which was held in a case on his display.

Genji's room was quiet, the only faint sounds that could be heard were the small breaths that he took every so often. At the moment he was in a meditative pose, and he seemed fairly calm on the outside, but inside his mind was a different story.

~"You are nearly finished in assembling an army, now all you need to do is to overthrow their leader"

Genji internally nodded, but replied to the voice, "I will, but I still feel I must grow more powerful if I am to defeat him and claim his title for myself."

~"You must learn to hone your control over your Dark Chi Genji Ping, I will teach you how to do this."~

"What do you mean? What is Dark Chi?" He asked, eagerly willing to know what this new technique was.

~"Why, you already used this technique before Genji, do you not remember?"~

Genji internally shook his head signifying he did not recall this event.

~"You used it when you last fought your sister."~

This prompted Genji to flash back to the event a year ago, the day he had brutally beaten and defeated his sister in combat. He remembered that it had almost been comically easy to defeat her, and he hadn't even used the full extent of his power. His vision had been changed a deep red color and he felt an enormous amount of raw emotion and rage.

"How do I learn how to control this?" Genji asked the voice, seeking more power.

~"It's simple, you must focus on destroying that which you hate in this world, once you do that, you will discover the true power of Dark Chi"~

"That's it? I just focus on the things that I hate?" Genji asked anxious to begin discovering this new power.

~"Yes, but it is not merely about focusing on these things Genji Ping, but of using them as a motivator. Hate, anger, and fear are all essential in bringing out one's Dark Chi and are the gateway to unlocking one's true potential."~

But just then, Genji's meditation and internal conversation were interrupted when he sensed a disturbance at his door. He opened his eyes and stood up, only to then watch as his door was busted open tearing the wooden door off of its hinges. And then all of a sudden, multiple cloaked figures rushed into his room and surrounded him. Genji counted around 15 of them, all of whom were armed with daggers and knives, and each of them were part of Jian's personal guard. Genji then heard a chuckling coming from his doorway, and he already knew who it was.

Sure enough right on cue, the Male Lion Jian entered his room slowly while chuckling and now clapping for reasons Genji could only guess. He wore much more elegant attire than usual, a black qipao vest with silver trim not unlike Genji's own, and also a thick royal red cape.

Genji then got into a fighting stance, preparing to take on all of them on his own. As he growled and snarled, he noticed that the guards were not as intimidated as most people would be at his feral behavior.

~"Patience my friend, I suggest you save your energy for when you need it, you are outnumbered and outmatched. You will need to learn the true power of Dark Chi to be able to take on this many."~

Listening to the voice in his head, he agreed and restrained himself, folding his arms and waiting for the Lion to explain this madness.

"Foolish young Tiger… For how long did you think you could deceive me…" The Lion said, walking almost right up to face the Tiger.

When Genji refused to answer this Jian got agitated and said, "Well unfortunately for you, I know who you are, Dragon child."

Genji again didn't reply to this, and instead gave a discontent scowl. But this also angered the Lion who wasn't getting the reaction he wanted out of the Tiger. "Alright then, if you intend on ignoring me then I guess I can show MY new army how we treat anyone related to that devil Dragon Warrior!"

After he said this, one of Jian's personal guards brought a heavy set of 8 point acupuncture cuffs and locked them to Genji's wrists. And then, just after this, Jian used a foot to push Genji to the ground, and then he unsheathed a hidden sword from behind his back and held the tip of the blade up to the Tiger's nose, just an inch away from his face.

"At first, I contemplated whether to kill you myself and use your fur as a wall decoration or to keep your head as a trophy, but now I think I will subject you to a different type of death. Tomorrow I will allow my warriors to witness your public execution in our glorified arena." The Lion explained as he still held the blade up to the Tiger's nose.

Jian then took the blade away from Genji's face and sheathed it in its scabbard. "Oh don't worry, I'll still honor our deal, the Mongolians will take over China, and we will kill your Master. Or should I say, your father?"

Jian then signaled for two of his guards to pick up the Tiger and bring him along where they would lock him up for him to stay until his execution the next day.

1 Hour Later, In a Dark Jail Cell

Genji had been in this cell for nearly an hour now, and he was beginning to like it less and less by the minute. With his patience running as thin as it was, something was bound to happen sooner or later. He walked up to the bars and looked like he was going to punch a dent in them before the voice in his head spoke,

~"Do not worry my friend, you will shortly be out of this cell. Once you manage to control your Dark Chi, you will be unstoppable."~

Genji then brought his hadn back and sat down on the cold stone floor. "Okay Akuma, I am ready to learn." He said as he closed his eyes and internally spoke to the voice.

~"Good, now I want you to imagine the one thing that you hate the most in this world. Whether that be a person, or something else..."~

The first thought that came to Genji's mind was exactly what Akuma expected, the thing Genji hated the most was a person, and not just any person, but his twin sister Mariko. She was the largest image in his mind, and soon, smaller images formed in the Tiger's mind, one being his father, the next being his technical brother Hao, and lastly, the jade palace itself.

~"Good, now, I want you to imagine destroying each and every one of those things until it satisfies you, think of all the suffering they have caused you and imagine paying all of this back to them and then some!"~

At this, Genji began to do just that, thinking about all the possible scenarios where he would accomplish his goal of riding himself of what troubled him and wrong him in the past. And unbeknownst to him, a wicked and menacing aura slowly began to emanate from him as he did this.

Seconds later footsteps could be heard approaching the Tiger's cell coming from down the hallway of this would be prison. It was the guard, a strong bull who was doing a patrol to make sure everything was in order, but when they reached Genji's cell, the Bull was surprised to see the Tiger directly facing him with his eyes closed. What made it even more unnerving was the fact that even after a couple of seconds staring at the Tiger, his eyelids refused to open, almost as if he was meditating while standing.

The Bull inched up closer to the bars and examined the Tiger for any potential problem, he then asked, "What are you doing-"

But before the bull could finish, he watched as the Tiger suddenly opened his eyelids which exposed a hideous and wicked blood red aura emanating from his eyes. As well as a sickening grin forming on the Tiger's face. This shocked the Bull, and the guard stumbled back into the wall behind him in sudden fear.

But then, the Bull began to get overconfident, "Hah! Nice try Tiger! If you we're locked behind the strongest steel bars in this whole place then that might actually scare me!"

However, the Bull did not expect what would happen next, as if it were the perfect type of karma, the Tiger began to bend the iron bindings on the 8 point acupuncture cuffs with his own arms. And before the Bull knew it, the cuffs gave away to the monstrous strength of the Tiger, and fell to the ground in pieces.

The Bull's jaw lay agape as he couldn't comprehend what the Tiger had just done. "You-What the hell are you!?" The Bull fearfully questioned as he again backed up from the bars and away from the demon-like Tiger.

Genji didn't reply, and instead walked right up the bars and placed his paws on them and began to push them away from each other with such force that they actually began to bend, almost forming a doorway out of the cell. The Bull began to run, seeing what was unfolding before his eyes. As he was running through the hallway, he heard a loud and menacing roar come from down the hall which he could only assume was the Tiger.

He was drawing near the exit to this prison, and he looked back to see if the Tiger had escaped or if it was following him. But when he turned his head back, his eyes immediately met those of the Tiger, it was standing directly behind him, having somehow caught up to him without him noticing. He was just about to shout in fear before the Tiger grabbed his throat preventing him from speaking and making him gasp for air.

Genji made a gesture with his free hand that looked as if he was going, "Shhh." With a sadistic grin as he did so. The Bull struggled desperately to get out of the Tiger's hold, but to no avail. Akuma had now been released on the world, a true demon.

A/N: Halfway through! And golly was this chapter fun for me to write. What will Genji, or rather Akuma do next? Tune in for the next chapter to find out! As always, if you're enjoying this story so far, favorite and follow! Also,

Review!