I AM ALIVE!

But seriously guys, I am back. And this time, I am here to stay. I am sorry for the absences, but a lot of things been going one. If you want a clear definition of the things I had to go through all this time, look at 'I HAVE RETURNED' on my Profile in FanFiction. Once you read that, as well as a test to see if I still got my writing skills, you will see why.

Anyway, I have the newest chapter of New Life with me, but before you read. I have to say a few things. First off, thanks a ton to Thunder Crush, who has helped me with the story and even became my Beta reader on New Life. You are the best, dood.

Second, thank you to Euphonemes, who helped Thunder Crush with being another beta reader on the story. I will message you later after I am back from school.

And finally, to all of the readers who have been concerned and even worried about me during my absence. You guys are really fantastic, truly you all are. I am so sorry for the wait, and I promise that from here on out, you will hear from me and at least get any updates on these stories. It readers like you that make me want to write and continue these stories. Truly, thank you.

Now, on with the story!

(Also, just to note. Jin will speak in Japanese in a few parts of this chapter. Due to there being a good number of forms on how to say something in Japanese, keep in mind that it may or may not be accurate. If it's wrong, then i apologize.)

The sounds of blades clashing were heard, as Jin and Doku began their fight under the moonlight. Sparks could be seen from miles as they moved at rapid speed, causing smoke to seep off their blades and onto the grass beneath them.

Jin backed away from one of Doku's swings, and then rushed forward with one of his own aimed for his head. He blocked it though, with one of his blades, and went for a stab to the body with the other. However, it failed, as Jin jumped above him, spinning forward and landing behind him while scoring a kick to his back.

Doku stopped himself from falling, and spun around, clashing his sword with Jin's blades. 'He's fast, I'll give him that.'

He pushed into his attack more, knocking Jin off his feet and to the ground. Jin stood up, and saw Doku dashing at him ready to slash him to the right.

"Too slow," He sneered, making another swing at his foe, but was shocked to see his blade go right through him and slashing the ground instead. "Wha-"

*SHWIFT!*

He felt a small cut on his arm and saw Jin standing at his left, the opposite direction of where he went. 'How the hell did he get there?' he thought, jumping back to a safe distance, examining the wound on his arm, but saw the cut wasn't deep.

"Those scales protect you well," Jin said, "I was trying to cut your arm to the point where you couldn't use it, but it seems my blades aren't strong enough."

"Heh, well just that means you're going to have to work harder to kill me."

He was silent, getting into his offensive stance, while Doku got into his own.

Jin attacked first, extending two of his fingers forward, "Ea bakuhatsu! (Air Explosion!)"

Suddenly, a blast of air smashed into him directly, causing Doku to slam his foot down hard to stop himself from getting pushed back. He sheathed his swords, having a feeling they wouldn't be needed at this point, before turning his attention back on Jin.

"What was that?"

"Just a small piece of what you will expect in this fight. Now..." Jin said as he made an open palm, while faint glows of energy stemmed from it. "Take this, Fukusū no ea bakuhatsu! (Multiple Air Explosion!)"

Doku reacted fast, leaping into the air, and was glad he did since some of the ground below was now missing a decent about of dirt and grass, almost as if it was blown off by a high powered force.

'That's quiet the trick.' he thought landing on the ground, but when Doku saw Jin preparing for another series of Air Explosions, he decided to stop him with a move of his own.

Raising his right hand, a flare of green energy began coursing through it. He then fired a broad blast of neon green liquid at Jin. He saw it coming, and took flight quickly, dodging the attack. Once he did, he looked at the ground, and saw it was scorched.

'What power. I've got to stay alert, and avoid that move as much as possible, or it could spell trouble.'

"If you think you can save yourself just by flying then, you're dead wrong!" He exclaimed, firing blast after blast, but each one missed as Jin maneuvered away from them with ease.

After his last attack, he turned, and dove right towards him, spinning forward, going for an ax-kick. As a response Doku just raised his arm, blocking the attack, giving him the chance to grab the leg with his free hand.

He yanked Jin to the ground, and was ready to stomp his head into the dirt, but missed as he rolled to the side and rose with a rising punch. However, it only met air, giving Doku a chance to counter with a hard knee to his ribs causing him to back off a bit, leading him to press on with a straight punch to his head, but, it didn't connect as he ducked below, going for his legs with a sweep.

The sweep did its job, Doku fell, but he was fast enough to use his left hand to bounce back to his feet.

As he did though, he was hit from behind with a swift punch by Jin. After that, he followed up with a kick to his side. The attacks would have been strong enough to knock a normal Moebian to the ground, but Doku was able to keep standing, shifting his weight against the blow, lessening its power. Once he did that, he turned and went for a swift back hand, but only brushing against some of Jin's feathers as he jumped away from him.

"I knew a fight with you would be good, but if I had known it was going to be like this, I would have just killed that hedgehog and went right for you when we first met. But then again since you promised me he would get stronger once he finished training, I really can't complain."

Jin kept silent as Doku spoke. However, his mind wasn't so quiet...

'Something doesn't feel right. I know I can keep this up, but I can't shake this feeling he's hiding something. Either way, it seems best for me to keep my distance. If we continued fighting hand-to-hand, I might get some hits in for sure, but if he hits me with more of those blows, I doubt I would be able to keep going.'

He then took notice of his ribs as he still felt some pain from it. 'He really knows how to fight. That attack to my ribs was accurate. If it kept hitting with the same force, then they would have shattered for sure. I guess that means he was training since his fight with Johnny. Though, he's been winning every other fight he's been in with minimal effort and is fighting on par with me? I can only imagine what he must have gone through to get to this level.'

However, his train of thoughts was interrupted as he saw Doku getting ready to attack.

"Come on, already let's keep going. I'm just getting started."

He shortened the distance between them in mere moments and went in for a quick punch, but missed as Jin dodged and gained some distance with a back dash. As he did though, Doku followed, coming at him with a series of quick punches and kicks forcing him to stay on the defensive as he kept dodging.

"What's wrong? Don't tell me you're afraid to fight ba-"

*WHAM!*

His words got cut off with a clear punch to the face. It almost made him fall back, but he was able to regain enough balance to jump back, narrowly avoiding another attack.

Once he had some distance, he took some time to think about the attack. 'That punch, it was stronger than any of his last attacks, but how could he-' Just, then his eyes widened, seeming to have found his answer. 'Don't tell me he's one of those fighters?'

He moved his feet forward a bit, seeing Jin still holding his ground, 'One way to find out.'

With that settled, Doku rushed in with a hook punch.

Jin just stood still as he was ready for him, but Doku shifted tactics, bending down at the last second, ready to go for an uppercut. However, right when he was ready to go through with it, he halted. As soon as he did, he saw Jin's elbow, ready to make contact with his forehead, but his fist wasn't even close to his chin.

'Just as I thought,' He thought, jumping back to a safe distance.

Jin glared at him, realizing he had caught on to his plan. 'Damn. I wasn't expecting him to catch on so quickly. He's probably familiar with this type of fighting.'

His suspicions were confirmed as Doku chuckled a bit. "You sly bastard, no wonder you were so defensive. You're a counter based martial artist, aren't you?"

He cursed under his breath, "So, you did, figure it out."

"Of course I did, and I have to say, you picked a good style to fight me with." Doku spoke, beginning to recall the tactics of counters based fighters. "Counter martial artists are fighters who rely on defense more than they do offense. Normally, they would wait for a moment to present themselves in the attack of the enemy, and then take the opportunity to punish them with a harsh attack of their own."

His emerald green eyes focused on Jin after he spoke out the last part. "However, if the enemy is too strong for them to counter normally, they take the next best thing to hit them with: Their own force. If the attacker would hit with a powerful strike built up with speed, they could use that as a perfect timing to counter. That power, mixed with the force from the attacker, would increase the damage dealt, so much so it would be like a car smashing against a stone wall and if used right, would not only damage the person their fighting, but if mastered, can even shorten their life or worse, kill them."

Once his explanation was done, silence was practically hanging in the air for what felt like hours, but he broke this silence as he was starting to get impatient.

"It's a good strategy, honestly. While my hardened scales would make it difficult, I'm sure, you would be able to make me reach the point of agony by using the force of my attacks against me. Not only that, but I can tell you were going to aim at my head for all of those attacks, weren't you?"

He looked to his foe, who finally spoke.

"Correct." Jin replied, simply. "I knew fighting you head on wasn't a good idea, so I thought of attacking your head with each counter. The force from each attack would cause your brain to smack your skull, so much I'm positive you would suffer from concussions, and if continued, brain damage."

To this, Doku laughed which made Jin's nerves spike.

"Even I have to admit, I might have a tough time fighting if I was brain dead." He then got into another one of his stances, having grown tired of talking. "Now, where were we?"

Taking it as a sign to continue, Jin went back to his stance as Doku charged at him. He went for a roundhouse kick, but missed as Jin jumped over him, and was ready to deliver an elbow to his head, but once he tried, Doku shifted to the left, dodging the attack by mere inches.

Jin sailed past him, which is when he wrapped his forearm across the front of his neck and used his free hand to grab its wrist and went for a sleeper hold.

Using his incredible strength Doku squeezed hard and saw Jin unable to escape. Just as he was sure of it though, he failed to notice the falcon focusing some power in his palm and slamming it to the ground, unleashing a torrent of wind.

The torrent was so strong, it sent both of them flying high in the air, causing Doku to lessen his hold and allowing Jin to escape. "Now you're in my domain! Prepare to see why snakes should always fear those with the gift of flight!"

With the freedom of the air, he took flight at high speeds, soaring towards to Doku.

Summoning his blades once again, he zoomed in on Doku who was able to unsheathe his swords before clashing with him. This action proved fruitful for him, as his swords were only thing keeping him from being cut by Jin's lighting fast slashes. Each strike was strong and steadily getting faster, even to the point where he felt some of the attacks getting closer to slashing through his scales after missing a few strikes.

'Damn it, he's too fast and his blades are close to cutting through to my skin. Got to take this back to the ground.'

Jin clashed with him a few more times until noticing he was getting closer to the ground, "Oh no you don't."

Raising his hand, and aiming at the ground beneath Doku, "Geiruraijingu! (Rising Gale!)"

With his technique performed, a blast of wind shot up and Doku felt himself rising back into the sky.

"Damn." he mumbled, knowing he was at a huge disadvantage while in the air.

Scanning the skies looking for where Jin might be getting ready to strike, but he was nowhere in sight. 'Where did he go?' he thought, feeling disturbed by his opponent's disappearance. He made an attempt to hear him out. As he did, he heard the faint sound of wings flapping and looked to where it was coming from, and saw the shape of his enemy's shadow, high above him.

"Now prepare yourself, Doku!"

With his eyes focused on his target, the airborne falcon began glowing with shining power. Lightning and electricity covered his body, giving off a bright light that was practically blinding to the snake, "Sandāsupia! (Thunder Spear!)"

The light shifted quickly as it moved straight towards the snake at blinding speeds, as Jin had become one with the lightning, his attack hit its mark and Doku felt a jolt of pain crashing into him.

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

The attack forced him out from the sky, sending him to the floor with a hard and loud crack, leaving an imprint of his body on the ground.

Jin landed on the ground softly, slowly looking behind him, 'Seems that attack worked.' He thought, keeping his eyes on Doku, waiting for him to get up, however, as he remained motionless, he felt something was off. 'That was too easy. There's no way he should have gone down by something like tha- Wh-What the?!'

Suddenly, he felt his body going a bit numb. He tried moving; but found it difficult, almost as if he was being restricted. Even his legs weren't responding properly.

'Why can't I move my body properly?' He thought, feeling distress beginning to overtake him. 'Did something happen during my attack?'

He had no idea what, was happening, but it was then he heard the sound of laughter. Jin looked at the source, and saw Doku back on his feet, though with noticeable damage.

"It might be hard fighting at my best after an attack like that." He said, as he held his arm. With a hard push, a crack was heard, making him flinch as his shoulder was relocated. "But, you weren't prepared for the effects of my Toxic Armor, so it hardly matters. For someone so strong, you're pretty easy to outmaneuver."

Jin glared at him, beginning to understand. "So when I attacked you..." he trailed off to let Doku explain further.

"Correct." He answered. "As soon as you touched my invisible armor of poisons, your body suffered some heavy paralysis."

Feeling his body in the state it's in now, he knew Doku was right. The way he saw it, he could still fight. However, thanks to the paralysis, he will be rigid. Not only that, but it was only a small dosage. If he touched him again while he had that armor up, there's no way he would be moving too much.

'He has me backed into a corner and I'm low on options. The only thing that I can think of is that technique, but should I really do it? Once I do, I'll be a sitting duck once it's done. If I was still at one hundred percent, I might be able to buy some time to get some energy back, but I can't even move my arms, let alone the rest of my body properly.'

His thoughts were cut off upon hearing the sound of feet running towards him. He acted fast and tried getting out of the way, but was unable to move to safety fast enough with the condition of his body. Doku's knee smashed into his ribs, making him lose his footing.

"Oh no, I still have much more to give you!" Doku shouted, gripping Jin's arm before he could fall, and delivered a punch to his gut.

The blow forced him a foot or two off the ground, allowing Doku to continue his assault, following with a head butt, and then grabbing his foot and slamming him to the ground.

"Gah," Jin screamed, coughing up blood, but he didn't have time to think about it, as he rolled over, narrowly avoiding a heavy stomp by pushing on the ground with his good arm.

Once he stopped, he got back to his feet, as fast as he could manage in his current state, feeling completely ragged as he did so.

"Look at you. You can't even fight back anymore. Though, I should congratulate you for lasting this long."

Doku's laughter was loud as he felt that Jin was no longer a threat. His movements had been cut down considerably, and his own counter strategy is useless since his body can't react and obey properly, then there were his wounds. Judging from the blows he had just given him, he was sure that he had a concussion, as well as a few broken ribs and a few fractured ones. There's no way he can even hope to win now.

Sadly though, he was unaware Jin still had one trick up his sleeve.

'This is it, I have no choice. My only hope is to use it.' He thought, clenching his good hand tightly, he closed his eyes and raised his hand near his face. 'Please body, just hold up.'

He raised his good hand into the air, with traces of his own energy flowing from its palm, "Watashinochichi raiden to chichi fūjin o kikimasu. Watashi Jin Sora wa, watashinokazoku no saidai no pawā o yobimasu! (Hear me father Raiden and father Fujin. I Jin Sora, call upon my family's greatest power!)"

Doku looked at him strangely, thinking he must have lost his mind. 'Maybe I knocked him harder than-'

*KA-THOOM!*

The sudden sound of thunder erupting interrupted his thoughts and causing him to look up. The once clear sky covered with light from the moon was now clouded with storm cloud dancing from above, as wind started to pick up speed.

"Arashi no kanōsei ga ari,-fū no jinsoku-sei wa, subete no aku o hakai suru tame ni, watashinokazoku no korera no chikara ga tokihanata rete mimashou! (The might of the storm, and the swiftness of the wind, let these powers of my family be let loose, to destroy all evil!)"

The storms were now fully above Jin, and the wind seemed to be drawing towards him as well.

To keep himself from losing his footing, Doku pulled out his swords and stabbed them through the ground. 'What the hell is this? How can even he do this in his condition?'

"Kami no arashi: RELEASE! (Divine Storm: RELEASE!)"

Immediately, the storm hit Jin with full force, causing light to flash throughout the area.

Doku shielded his eyes from the light, as it was close to blinding him. Once it died down, he opened his eyes and saw two things that were dramatically different. The first thing was the sky, as the clouds seemed to be golden, with the wind blowing softly, yet with a feeling of ferocity and the second...

The falcon standing before him was no longer tired or beaten as he was a few seconds before. He now stood tall, looking at him with a glare of determination and no fear. But what made him more bewildered however, was that now; he was giving off a powerful sense of energy. His body was shining with sparking golden energy dancing like electricity, while green energy swirled around him as if it was the wind.

"What is this?" He asked, rather cautious of Jin's new form, but not showing a hint of distress.

Jin took a step forward, as the wind became stronger.

"I have done what I have tried to avoid doing: Unlocked and released my true power. This is an honor though, as you're one of the very few who have forced me to go this far. So prepare yourself, for you are no longer facing me as Jin Sora, the Lightning Falcon," He went into fighting pose as the power of the storm flared up in his eyes. "But as Jin Sora, the Wielder of the Divine Storm!"

(Okay, so this is something I always wanted to try, which is to give a theme to some chapters. This is mostly rare, so it won't be a normal thing for all the chapters as it will follow important events.)

(The song here is focused on Jin, and it is titled "Dream War" by Demetori. It's a bit of an odd title and it's for a game, but I chose this song mostly because I thought it fits Jin perfectly...that, and I saw a video with it that was focused on ninja based characters with this song on it so yeah.)

Once he was done talking, he disappeared faster than Doku could follow, only to appear in front of him.

With one swift move, the empowered falcon warrior gave him a devastating punch to his abdomen. The attack was strong, but with his now empowered body, it gave the snake an electric shock, as he fell to the ground, sliding a good distance away.

Doku regained his footing, but was thrown off balance as a force of wind slammed him from the back, sending him flying towards Jin, who flew towards him and gave a rising knee to his chin. The blow sent him into the air, only for him to get slammed by another force of wind, sending him back to the ground with a large thud upon impact.

"I'm not done!"

He raised his hand and pointed at Doku, causing lighting to descend from the sky aiming at him. It missed though, as he was able to jump to his feet and dodge them just in time, but slid back from the force it had caused.

'What's this?' he thought, narrowing his eyes at the new version of Jin. 'There's no way he got this strong by spouting some gibberish. Just what the hell happened?'

While his thoughts ran wild, Jin kept his composure, though on the inside, he felt terrible. The wounds he had taken from Doku were doing fine, but he felt a minor annoyance, as if they were starting to come back.

'I should have used this from the start, but like a fool, I underestimated my opponent and decided to try to fight without it.'

His mind faded back to the words of his father, remembering how he was told of the great benefits of this power.

"The ability to control the very power of wind and lightning, two elements of destruction foretold to be given to our family through the grace of Raiden and Fujin, we, the Sora family has been blessed to use this power for the good and righteous of all. With it, we can turn the tides of battle, heal from all injury and illness affecting us, and perform feats considered impossible. However..."

He closed his eyes, grimacing on what his father had said next.

"Like all things, there are limitations. Our bodies, while strong, can only use this power for so long. If we were to use it at the best state of our bodies, then we could maintain it for five, maybe even ten minutes. However, if we overextend it, then we will suffer, feeling the state of fatigue and even experience extreme pain. What's worse, if our bodies are wounded, the time gets cut dramatically, and the wounds will return once the power fades away. This son is what is called a double-edged sword: This power is our greatest strength, yet also, our greatest weakness."

'I have to put an end to this now, or I won't be able to fight for much longer.' Jin concluded.

"I don't know what type of power this is, but it won't change the outcome of our battle." Doku grinned. "All this does is make tormenting you more of a challenge that I can and will overcome."

"Really, then, by all means, come and try."

"No problem."

With his swords at the ready, he dashed towards Jin as fast as he could, leaping into the air with his blades above his head.

Seeing this, Jin responded by wrapping his wings in front of him, as green energy began to swell around them, "Denki hayate! (Electric Gale!)" He exclaimed, as he spread his wings and released a wave of energy that slammed into Doku.

He felt lightning coursing through his veins as he fell to the ground. However, Doku was able to use his tail to counter, as it transformed into a coral snake who charged a great deal of power in its mouth before firing a destructive, black, yellow and red ringed beam at Jin.

Thinking fast, Jin flew towards the attack and made a cutting motion with his hands, "Gurandoeakattā! (Grand Air Cutter!)" After he performed the motion, a green crescent energy projectile shot forward meeting the blast head on. Once it did, they canceled one another out, giving him an opportunity to move forward without worry.

He grabbed Doku and threw him to the sky then flew upward at top speed, stopping once he was above him, resting in the golden sky. "Now be gone!" Jin shouted, his power rising as he dove towards him. His speed increased, making him look like a thunderbolt falling from the heavens. "Shinpi-tekina sandāboruto! (Mystical Thunderbolt!)"

*KRACK-THOOM!*

The attack hit him directly, causing a loud crackle of thunder to echo throughout the field.

"GRAHHH," Doku screamed, as he slammed to the ground, forming a massive crater big enough for its own zip code in his place. No sooner, Jin landed a good distance away and looked at the crater, keeping his eyes focused on it just in case Doku was still alive, but there were no signs of movement.

'It is done.' He thought, breathing in relief.

He closed his eyes and bowed forward, showing respect for his fallen adversary. 'It's a shame you were filled with such evil. Your skills and desire for combat would have made you a strong and reliable ally if you had fought for what, was right. Still, you were a powerful and worthy opponent. I hope Johnny has become just as great a warrior as you once he returns.'

He turned away and got ready to cease the Divine Storm. His body was practically screaming in pain. While using the power of this mighty technique does heals his wounds, it still reminds the user of the pain that will come once it ceases.

'My best option is to head to Kintober's before stopping this technique. If I did it here, I doubt I would have enough strength to walk, let alone fly. I still can't believe I had to use my full capabilities. Heh, Yama will be furious at me if he heard this.'

A few chuckles escaped his mouth as prepared for flight.

"SORA!"

Jin turned around as fast as he could, his green eyes widened in utter shock, seeing a hand creeping out the crater and grabbing the ledge.

'It can't be. How could he have survive that? Can he heal from fatal wounds?'

His thoughts were racing wildly, continuing to stare at the hand, but then he noticed something that made him question if he was really seeing Doku. The hand flared of darkly violent, yet, cold aura, so much so that it was hard to see it clearly.

Then, without warning, a similar aura rose high like a pillar, causing him to jump back from the force. He slid back, but used his hand to stop himself. Once he came to a halt, he looked up and saw Doku…

But the thing is, what he saw, was something that couldn't be described as Doku.

"D-Doku?"

Flying above him was a monster, with pointed teeth about two feet taller than Doku. His large and broad body had dull red, yellow, and black banded scales and a pair of giant, fined, hand-like wings on its back. His sclera and irises were yellow and green, had three snake tails, an extra mouth on his cheek, and a fanged mouth where his stomach should be. Twin scimitar swords were popping out from his shoulders with only their handles and part of the blades completely visible. His hands and feet were fined and fish-like. However, his most notable aspect was the aura surrounding him; it was so cold it felt like something straight out of a nightmare.

It looked down, staring at Jin, who stood his ground even as the pain in his body grew.

Clenching his chest and covering his mouth as he coughed, only to feel something splatter on his hand. He looked at it, and saw the color of his own blood.

'My time in this form is running out and I can't keep it together much longer.' He thought, 'Either way, I can't afford to go down without at least trying. I have to stop Doku, or at least, wound him to the point where it might buy enough time for Johnny to come back. I have to do this, no matter what it takes.'

The monster roared loudly, continuing to stare at him.

"I know, you want to end this as much as I do don't you," he said, preparing for flight. "Well, let's continue!"