I just came back to see the We Are Marshall movie: while it's a great movie, it could have been a lot better. I still recommend it to anyone who likes movies in general, though!

This is probably the last chapter I'll put up before winter break, so have fun!

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Twenty-one days…

It had been twenty-one days since I had sent Astaroth on his first assignment to wreak havoc upon the Marunouchi building and assault the minor company Genesat, which was a subsidiary of its larger parent: the genetics firm G-Corporation. My plan was simple: by working behind the scenes, I could attack my ex-benefactors at G-Corporation at will without having to worry about being bothered by some of my more troublesome allies.

It had also been twenty-one days since the Tekkenshu Sentai Shinkenger also made their presence known to the world by interfering with Astaroth's mission. Originally the team consisted of three young martial artists, but within the two days following their premiere, had added two more to their ranks. These five consisted of the Tae Kwan Do practitioner known only as "Hwoarang," my "niece" Asuka Kazama, the English boxer Steve Fox, the lithe Chinese martial artist Ling Xiaoyu, and my son Jin Kazama.

After the first three Shinkenger appeared, I began fiddling around with the same book that I had used to summon Astaroth to create a rather bizarre array of lieutenants. Each of these "kaiju" had their own unique attributes that ranged from the martial art they used to the personality they possessed. I have often theorized about why these personality quirks appear, such as Drill Sergeant's accent and Gal's questionable preferences, but so far I have drawn blanks.

Regardless, all of my creations were fierce warriors that stood beside Astaroth and his Lizard-man horde to combat the Shinkenger all across Tokyo. At one point, the chaos had spread to Kyoto, where Jin and his compatriots grew suspicious of the pattern of my attacks. As if to answer my challenge, yet another Shinkenger made himself a player in my little game: Kenichi Masamune, the son of one of my late bodyguards.

Not long after Kenichi joined the team, the Chinese Kenpo master Feng Wei crushed another one of my plans as ShinkenBronze, although his joining the Shinkenger group would be delayed by his own agenda. After Astaroth executed my renegade lieutenant Dragoon, however, Feng was much more willing to cooperate with the team.

Normally this would not bode well for me, but instead it gave way to my greatest triumph. The very next day after Dragoon's demise, G-Corporation made their move by revealing the power of ShinkenSlayer and tearing through the team like a tornado, kidnapping Asuka and Xiaoyu to force my son into a showdown with my own enemy Jean Sorel. Jin succeeded in defeating Sorel, but the true victor would be myself, as one of my Lizard-man would fetch me a most interesting souvenir: the ShinkenSlayer morpher.

The Shinkenger were unaware of this at that time, but they knew full well that very soon I would be returning every defeat that had given me in kind. As such, they formulated a plan…

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"Here's the map you asked for," Xiaoyu pulled out a long roll of paper from one of the shelves in the library and walked into the lobby where Jin and the rest of her comrades sat waiting for her. Even though Jin was still feeling the after-effects of his bout with the insidious Jean Sorel, he refused to let that stop him from continuing his quest to eliminate Astaroth's threat to the city. There was no more time to waste: the Shinkenger had to locate the golem before he could strike again.

And to do that, he would need everyone's cooperation.

"Thank you, Xiao," Jin nodded his head in thanks as Xiaoyu handed him the map and he rolled it out onto the coffee table. "I think that it's time nip this in the bud once and for all." The karateka pointed at a certain area on the map and then lifted his head to make eye contact with his comrades. "If we're going to stop Astaroth, we'll have to find out where his base is, and that means we'll have to trace where he keeps retreating." Taking out a red pen from his pocket, Jin removed the cap and drew a line from where he was pointing. "When Astaroth attacked the Marunouchi building, he retreated in the direction I'm drawing now."

"So basically your plan is to figure out which way he keeps running, and then sweep the area from there," Hwoarang observed as he rubbed his chin in contemplation. "I'm impressed, Kazama. Too bad you didn't think of it from the get-go." The Korean youth reached out for a black marker that was sitting on the table and picked it up, removing its cap before placing the tip on its own line. "I may have been little non-sober at the time, but I remember clearly that Astaroth was heading in this direction…" Running the tip down the map, Hwoarang's line eventually crossed paths with Jin, forming a long "x" shape.

Jin and Hwoarang looked at where their paths crossed and smiled. Simply by drawing the two lines, they had begun to narrow down the number of places where Astaroth could have retreated. Granted, the land that had now been singled out was still massive, but it was a decent start.

"I also remember when we first found Steve," Asuka butted in and took out a pink highlighter from her pockets and placed the now uncovered tip at the point on the map that denoted the Tokyo National Museum where the Shinkenger battled Polevolt the Escrima Magnet. "After we showed up, ol' Asty bolted down this street…" In the same fashion as Jin and Hwoarang drew their lines, so Asuka drew hers, running the line across the street that she claimed to see Astaroth run through. The street had many different twists and turns, and she often had to stop and think what direction the golem might have taken that would support the lines that her comrades drew.

Finally, Asuka decided which turns Astaroth might have taken and represented the routes with broken lines. "I'm doing it like this because he might have taken either one of these roads to get to where he was going with what happened at the Marunouchi and his run-in with Hwoarang," she explained as she capped her highlighter and admired her handiwork.

"Oh!" Xiaoyu exclaimed as she took out a yellow highlighter and placed the uncapped tip on the part of the map that represented where they ran into Mong Kong the Muay Thai Gorilla: Mishima High School. "That reminds me: Asuka and I saw Astaroth go down this direction when we first met up with Hwoarang!" The Chinese woman ran the marker down the map, stopping occasionally to think of any turns just as Asuka had done. After a while, Xiaoyu completed her line by crossing paths with all of the previous lines drawn.

Suddenly, a snicker came from Steve's mouth as he covered his face in slight embarrassment. Noticing that his comrades were giving him strange looks, the blonde man pushed up his nosepinch glasses and regained his composure. "I know it sounds weird of me saying this during a business meeting but…" Steve took out a blue pen and started snickering again, "…have you noticed something peculiar about the choice of pens we've been using?"

Hwoarang, Jin, Asuka, and Xiaoyu all looked at their writing utensils and raised their eyebrows in curiosity. By a sheer stroke of coincidence, all four of them had picked out pens or writing utensils that had to do with their respective Shinkenger color. The quartet was silent for a few seconds, as if noticing this brought about a paradox that they felt obliged to solve. The silence was broken when Asuka quickly let go her highlighter in disgust and shouted, "EWW! I hate pink!"

"Uh, Steve," Hwoarang said without breaking gaze with his pen, "is there any reason WHY you're talking about this?"

"Not really," Steve said while pulling out a blue ink pen and removing its cap. "Just some food for that." Steve shook his pen violently to make sure that its ink would flow accordingly before placing the exposed tip on yet another location: the Asakusa Hanayashiki theme park. "Not long after Hwoarang and Asuka swapped bodies at the hands of those tigers, Astaroth ran off in this direction." As Steve charted where Astaroth might have retreated to by following the pattern his comrades discovered, he looked up to Asuka and smirked. "Never had a chance to ask, luv: how did it feel to be one of the guys?"

"Will you shut up about that?" Asuka leaned over and lightly whacked Steve over his head before sitting back down in a normal position. "That's something I'd like to keep buried in my head." Suddenly, Feng stood up from the couch he was sitting on to get an overhead view of the map that the Shinkenger had been marking shamelessly. Asuka noticed her ex-nemesis's action and asked, "Is something wrong, big guy?"

"I'm just thinking about where all of this is going," Feng reached over to grab an orange marker and placed a mark just next the Tokyo Summerland. "When Dragoon hurled Astaroth away in order to save the lives of myself and a young woman, he tossed the monster in the same direction that all these other lines seem to be heading." Unlike the lines that his comrades had drawn, the course of Feng's marker was straight as a needle.

The marker went past the other lines to stop somewhere on the outskirts of Tokyo. Feng lifted his marker and joined his comrades in contemplation of what they had created: the lines they had drawn formed a "V" that opened up to the north of the city: a place that was relatively rural.

"There aren't many places he can hide in that area," Kenichi finally spoke after what seemed like an eternity of him being silent. "There would have at least been reports of him being sighted if it was in one of the suburban parts of northern Tokyo…" Kenichi stroked his chin and then snapped his fingers. "Wait a moment…when I defeated that vulture character, I managed to make contact with the mysterious leader who has been ordering Astaroth."

"And you didn't tell us?" Hwoarang exclaimed with a hint of rage. "If you had any information that could have helped us track these guys down, you should've spoken up!"

"I couldn't make anything conclusive so I didn't bother saying anything," Kenichi replied calmly. "All he said is that he knew my father…which means he might have been connected to the Zaibatsu at one point."

"There are a few places that the Zaibatsu own or once owned in this area," Jin pulled out a pencil and circled a total of five areas. "Two of these are part of Mishima Heavy Industries, and the other three have been condemned after Heihachi won the King of Iron Fist Tournament 2…" To everyone's surprise, Jin took the map off the table before saying, "I think that's enough for today. Tomorrow morning we'll check out those two areas. In the meantime, I'm giving you guys the day off: we need to be fully rested if we're going to track down that monster to his lair…"

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Meanwhile…

"…Interesting"

Kazuya mumbled to himself as he sat at his desk reading the book that he had taken from his father's library. For the past three weeks, he had immersed himself in the book while Astaroth or one of the many lieutenants he created for him were off doing errands for him. The more he read into the book, the more powerful his sorcery would become. Kazuya was almost certain that he had long surpassed Jean's level of supernatural technique, but there was always one problem: he could never create a body completely from scratch. Everything he had created, he had done with an object to work with.

However, Kazuya was no fool: he knew that there was an answer as to why he couldn't create something completely fresh. The reason was simple: he simply wasn't powerful enough. Even with all of his fearsome might, Kazuya's mortal body could not harness the type of energy required for such a task.

With the power of ShinkenSlayer, though, this obstacle was now overcome. All that remained was that Kazuya learned just what he would have to do in order to summon the soul that would be worthy enough to inhabit a completely artificial body. For that, Kazuya required more extensive research.

"Hey boss!"

Kazuya looked up from his book to see Astaroth walking into his "office" within the abandoned laboratory they were stationed in. Placing his ax over his shoulder, the golem said with a voice full of arrogance and boredom, "There's someone outside who wants to speak to you. She's a woman…"

"…as opposed to a man?" Kazuya replied as he raised an eyebrow but refusing to break his gaze on the book, "did she state her name?"

"As a matter of fact, I did," a female voice added as a lithe figure slowly walked up from behind Astaroth and to the door of Kazuya's office. At the sound of that familiar voice, Kazuya looked up to see a stunning beautiful Asian woman with short black hair held together with a white headband wearing a strapless silver dress and black trenchcoat. "I told him my name was Jun Kazama."

"Jun Kazama," Astaroth slowly turned around and looked down at the woman while scratching his chin. "Kazuya told me about you…I was under the impression that you were dead from how he mentioned about how you were mauled by that God of Fighting."

"…I was dead," she said quietly while stepping into the office and slowly walking towards Kazuya. "However, to put it lightly, I got better…"

Astaroth burst out laughing in that awful voice of his, and then turned back around to ask Kazuya, "Is she OK to come in?" After Kazuya nodded, Astaroth resumed laughing (albeit quieter) as he repeated Jun's "I got better" line out loud before laughing at higher volumes once again. Once Astaroth was out of earshot, Kazuya resumed reading his book while Jun approached him.

"I see you have associated yourself with some…interesting bedfellows, Kazuya," she said in her normal clam and collected voice as she stopped in front of Kazuya's desk. "I am curious as to the reptilian creatures that I have been hearing about…"

"They were like that when I found them," Kazuya retorted with a hint of amusement while he finally closed his book and placed it down on the desk. "The last thing I need is the WWWC breathing down my neck again. How was your trip with my brother?"

"…it was uneventful," she replied truthfully. "I missed you, Kazuya…but I see that you have found ways to keep yourself preoccupied…"

"You no longer require the veil of ignorance," the Japanese man got out of his seat and began to head out the door. "Are you here to stop me?"

"I know that I cannot. The chain of events has already been set into motion, and you have always been one to follow your own path…all I can do is watch as they unfold, and try to show you the best way to your destiny…"

"You will do nothing? That is so unlike you," Kazuya stopped in his tracks and turned around. "What reason do you have for taking such action, or the lack thereof?"

Jun was silent, and Kazuya raised an eyebrow in curiosity, wondering why she didn't have a counter right off hand. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Jun answered with a surprising simple reply. "A month ago, I told you that I would stay by your side: if I stood against you, all it would do is create more hatred."

Kazuya paused for a moment before taking a deep breath and walking out of the office, leaving Jun with simple but truthful words, "I will take that to heart, Jun…in the meantime, sit back and marvel at the wonders that I am about to invoke…"

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Ten minutes later…

Most peculiar indeed, Kazuya thought to himself while he strapped on his newly acquired ShinkenSlayer morpher. Jun is highly psychic, to be sure, but not even she could have been able to track me here in the course of just one day…unless she knew about it well in advance. As his mind continued to be ripe with contemplation, Kazuya's ki crackled across his body and flowed directly into his morpher until it uttered in a feminine voice, "Standing by…"

Even if she did know where I was, it is unlike her to just say nothing even though she probably knew what would ensue after she left for America thanks to her precognitive skills…is it possible that she has her own agenda for wanting me to continue with my plan? Kazuya lifted up his wrist to his face and whispered that fateful word which the morpher repeated.

"Henshin."

As Kazuya's body became engulfed in dark purple ki, he walked over to the operating table that was adorned with paper talismans marked with various kanji. Hearing footsteps, Kazuya turned around to see Jun approaching the door of the main laboratory and walking next to him. She said nothing as she watched Kazuya complete his transformation and admire his new form.

Kazuya's torso was now adorned with dark gray armor with two large spiked shoulder pads of the same color attached to it. Embedded in the body armor was a single black cherry-colored jewel that shone as he took deep, concentrated breaths. His gloves were dark red with his trademark silver beaded embedded into the back of his hands. The rest of the body was covered with a dark purple body suit. Around the waist was a black belt, bound together with a gray buckle bearing the two kanji "Tekken." Two arm guards of the same color were wrapped around his wrists, and his boots shared the same pigment as the armguards, while his kneepads had the design of a demonic diamond skull. Kazuya's face, as well as his entire head, was masked with a purple helmet save for a dark red visor that was placed where his eyes would be so that he would be allowed to see, and on each side of the helmet was a stylized golden "s."

Kazuya marveled at his armor, the armor of ShinkenSlayer, before turning to Jun. "I suggest you take a few steps back, my dear," he said before turning back around to face the operating table that was in front of him. "I don't know what kind of power output this will generate!"

As he said that, Kazuya's body became aflame with the same dark purple energy that engulfed him prior to completing henshin with the talisman glowed with a wicked light as if to challenge his malicious power with their own. After a couple of seconds, Jun felt a chill run down her spine. She instantly recognized the reaction for what it was: the gates of the underworld were opening up in this very room, and the spirits within were now guests in this lab.

"Spirits of the dead, listen to your host," Kazuya finally spoke and raised his burning hand. "Bring to me the most powerful and vengeful soul in your pack!" The Japanese man watched in astonishment as the talismans began to burn and let off white smoke that howled like a pack of ravenous wolves. Quickly regaining control of himself, Kazuya's fingers glowly like miniature stars as each finger fired off a beam of ki that carved itself into the operating table. Like a puppeteer moving his strings, Kazuya's fingers danced in the air as the beams carved a pentagram.

"And now I shall grant this spirit a body worthy of its wrath…ASTAROTH!" Kazuya called out to his golem, who came rushing into the room with loud thundering footsteps. Following Kazuya's example, Astaroth lifted his own hand, which began to spew blue fire. The two of them poured their ki into the pentagram, and the howling began to increase.

Kazuya gritted his teeth as he continued to give every ounce of his near-unfathomable power into the pentragram, watching as it bubbled and oozed to form a crimson liquid that smelled like, and could only have been, blood. Even with the power of ShinkenSlayer, a process such as this demanded every iota of ki in his body, and it was not, in any way shape or form, something to be taken lightly. It's as if my soul is being drained, he thought while he quickly shook off the dizziness that was beginning to take hold. I had no idea it required THIS much power!

Suddenly, Kazuya felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning to his left, he watched as Jun held his hand and then outstretched her own free hand to funnel her own ki into the mix: a firework-like combination of purple and yellow. Kazuya looked at her with astonishment, but she simply turned to him and responded with a simple nod before turning back to the bubbling blood, which was now beginning to take solid form. So, she truly is sincere about this, he thought as he regained control of himself and resumed bombarding the ooze with his power. How very interesting…

It wasn't until Jun silently put her hand down that Kazuya noticed that the ooze was now completely solid, and that any further ki would be unnecessary. Motioning Astaroth to stop bombarding the now-solid figure, Kazuya backed away to hear the summoned creature groan and look at its humanoid body.

The creature was definitely human, a man that was well over six feet in height with a build that was almost as impressive as Astaroth's, his skin being a sickly green color and his long stringy hair as chalky as a piece of paper: almost a very light blue. There was absolutely nothing clothing him save for a white towel that Kazuya had placed on the operating table earlier that he had used to clean it off. "Aw crap," the man said as he slowly sat up, making his oriental features more visible to the surprised trio that helped bring him into the world. "I was revived without clothes…that sucks."

The man slowly turned his head to Kazuya and Jun, the former with a shocked look on his face and the latter with a strange sense of calm. "Hey Jun, thanks for helping me back into the land of the living," he said while gripping the towel protecting his modesty and placing his feet on the ground. "You've done your old man proud…and this strapping young man must be Kazuya."

" 'Done your old man proud'?" Kazuya repeated with confusion as he took a step forward. "Just who are you, anyway?"

The man chuckled with a hint of sinister intent before answering Kazuya's question with a most startling answer, "My name is Ryoku Kazama…and I am Jun's father."

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And at that moment, I thought to myself, "What sort of curve has fate thrown me this time?"