Legacy of the Flame, Heritage of Frost

by The accident waiting to happen

Formerly known as Love, War, Hate. An Esdeath and Tatsumi fic in which Esdeath is given the Tatsumi she always wanted. There will also be OCs that will be a large part of the plot.

13. Chapter 10: BtOLfB

Author's Note: Alrighty guys, as promised here is the much anticipated, by me, Chapter Ten. This chapter was far and away the proudest I've felt at the completion of a chapter and sincerely hope you guys enjoy it because of that. As I've stated before when I first started this story four years ago this, along with the next one, was the chapter(s) that I could not wait to get started on and I hope my writing reflects that. As always please keep the reviews, follows and favorites coming and expect the next chapter, which of course I've already started on, to be released within the next two months. Once again more special thanks to Alein Zigur, FlappyDuck, Grannster10, .Z and killerkid396 for having since beginning to follow. Special thanks to Charles Chaffin, Hangmans217, WLU1430. and jff0123 for having since beginning to follow. With VERY special thanks to Grimstein, Hyakki Yako, Kitashi-Solaris, Kelvin Wong Jun Sheng, metanoiazerro and rcp. colagmail. com for having since beginning to both follow and favorite my story, again, it means more to me than you guys will probably ever know.

Chapter 10: Burn through Our Lust for Battle

Later, in the middle of that following night, after Kyouta had returned Bulat's body to Night Raid's headquarters, Yoryu, now being unable to rest, would then think, as he walked the halls in his pajamas,

"Man I'm so heated to fuck SOMETHING up after that way we lost Bulat, I can't even fucking sleep, maybe it's something in here that'll help put me out...", before entering the kitchen only to find Akame at the other end of it, coming out of it's prep area, in her pajamas, consisting of a silken pink sleeveless button up top with a white frill trim and matching night shorts, carrying a plate with sweets on it.

"Oh, Akame!" Yoryu then said, surprised to see her.

"Yoryu" Akame then replied while looking at him with an absent look upon her face as he then noticed her plate.

"Ah, same reason why I'm in here huh, late night snack, eh" he said while standing still, as if he were cautious to approach her.

"They were Bulat's favorite, I'd figure I'd have them as a tribute to him tonight and to help me sleep" Akame said before slowly walking over to the table and placing the plate down on it, while giving Yoryu a look before walking back into the prep area.

Yoryu would then correctly translate this look as Akame telling him to sit where she had placed the plate as he did just that before saying,

"That is such a beautiful thing for you to do, just like the way that you have been caring for both Mine and Sheele lately and the way that you keep placing flowers at the grave we made for that couple from Aria's house. You really are one AMAZING woman...," which then caused her to begin to blush as he continued.

"I couldn't ask for a more perfect girl, while you're two closest friends have been on the shelf you've been an ABSOLUTE pillar for them, not to mention how you've ALWAYS kept your composure despite all the hell we've been through recently. I will thank the Gods everyday for being in love with a woman that isn't phased by ANYTHING, including m..." was all Yoryu could say before he instantly noticed a sudden change in Akame's mood as she then suddenly dropped the new plate that she had made.

"No-not phased... by anything" she would then say in a completely emotionless tone, something that truly sent a chill up Yoryu's spine coming from Akame.

She would then, without warning, bolt quickly towards him and tackle him to the ground while straddling his waist before she buried her face into his chest while vigorously gripping the collar of his tank top before saying,

"Now of course I've both caused and witnessed more deaths in my life than I can count but..." she said in an emotionally distressed tone before looking him directly in the eyes with hers full of tears, instantly melting Yoryu's heart, and continuing,

"HOW DARE YOU say something like that, I've just lost one of my closest teammates, I'M BARELY HOLDING IT TOGETHER, if it weren't for my duty to Sheele and Mine, I'd have LONG since lost it. I AM the world's most deadliest assassin, I CAN'T afford to EVER show any weakness EVER, MOST especially during missions, it's the way that I've lived my ENTIRE life" she said as her weeping escalated.

"I thought that you, of all people, would understand, being naturally gifted assassins, we can never show our emotions, I'M FALLING APART" she said as she continued to weep.

"I'M SUCH A FUCKING IDIOT" Yoryu then said before punching himself in the face as hard as he could, leaving a red mark in it's wake, and saying,

"I'm so sorry Akame, I now know that I'll NEVER truly be as good of an assassin as you are, I COULDN'T tell that this was bothering you at, Bulat has been your teammate for years I should've never made that DUMBASS assumption" he said as he then wrapped his arms around her and began to softly stroke her back before saying,

"All's that I can say is that I'll NEVER hurt you like this, including letting myself get kill..." he said before Akame quickly interrupted him by pressing her lips into his in a passionate kiss.

Having initiated the kiss Akame would then quickly increase her aggressiveness before ripping Yoryu's shirt open while throwing off her shorts. Within the next few moments after this, and before Yoryu could make ANY protest, not that he had wanted to anyway, Akame had inserted Yoryu into her and the two young lovers were engaged in an aggressively intense bout of expressing their love for one another. This session would then go on to end as quickly as it started as the two assassins high level of stress and urge to please eachother lead them both to early respected climaxes to loud and unhindered screams. Upon the completion of their love making the two would then remain on the kitchen floor, within each others embrace and not wanting to move before first Yoryu had passed out following almost immediately by Akame as it would then be revealed that Leone had been watching them the entire time. As soon as she was sure that they were both well asleep, Leone would then go to the Nandeya brothers bedroom before sneaking in and tiptoeing towards Kyouta's bedside. Once there, she would then seductively lick his right earlobe, covering his mouth IMMEDIATELY as she did so and stifling what would've been a loud moan from the waking Kyouta. Once he had realized exactly what had happened to him and who had done it Leone would then remove her hand from his face, allowing him to immediately whisper to her,

"LEONE, WHAT THE HELL", annoyed from being awakened.

Then, without moving from his ear, Leone would lean more towards him before whispering,

"Something you gotta to see", before playfully nibbling his ear and grabbing his hand before she led him into the kitchen.

Upon his arrival in the kitchen, Kyouta would then immediately gasp in utter shock with his mouth agape at the sight that laid before him. What he had saw before him was the sight of his younger brother being straddled by Akame as they both slept upon the kitchen floor, with Akame using Yoryu's face and neck area as a pillow with her arms tucked under his head. Once Kyouta had consciously grasped exactly what he was looking at he'd then immediately burst into a loud and uncontrollable laughter which would then instantly awaken both of the young lovers. Akame would then be the first to awaken as she then quickly attempted to jump off of Yoryu in a hurry only for Yoryu, being in the same rush that she was in, to jump up as quick as she did causing their heads to crash into each other with a loud whack. This collision would then leave both of them bleeding and, only momentarily, stunned before they both separated from eachother with great haste and reclothed themselves. With the two shocked lovers still being bewildered at this revelation, Kyouta would then remark, before they'd have the chance to think of anything to say.

"Well, well, well, whaat DOO we have hyah, somebody wanna pick up the phone because it looks I fucking CALLED IT", he said before continuing his laughter.

Then, once again, before either of the young assassins could respond, Leone would then say,

"YOU called it!? HA, I could tell these two wanted to jump each other damn near the moment we all met, you forget, I can smell it on them" she replied, interjecting Akame.

Just as Akame had prepared to rebut she'd then find herself interrupted again as Kyouta then said.

"Well, I think I should get more credit for it anyway seeing as how I don't have an ability that gives me a leg up plus the fact that my little brother hadn't even had a girlfriend before", before Yoryu then quickly said,

"WHAT THE HELL MAN", angrily, before Akame then also quickly stated,

"QUIET", to Yoryu with an uncharacteristically highly upset look upon her face.

This act would then elicit a giggle from both Leone and Kyouta, thus increasing Akame's frustration, before she then tried to say,

"Look, listen, I can explain this...", she then nervously said before quickly being cut off by Kyouta, who then said.

"What, you tripped and fell on top of him", he said before beginning to laugh again, with him also causing the same reaction out of Leone.

With this now frustrating her even further Akame would then say, through gritted teeth,

"I had been thinking of Bulat, here in my sorrow, when Yoryu came in and began to console me out of sympathy, like ANY GOOD teammate would" she said, clearly frustrated, before Leone then said.

"HAA, who the hell do you think you're fooling, you also must not be paying attention either because I JUST said I can smell it, PLUS, I've been here since long before that cute little scene between you two, almost mad me cry honestly" she replied before quickly hugging Akame from behind, before she could react, before beginning to affectionately pet her.

This would then cause the now defeated Akame to wearily sigh, now surrendering her defense, before Kyouta then said.

"Check and mate, but for real, I'm so proud of y'all bruh, you couldn't be any more perfect for each other, AND I really don't think y'all would do something stupid like let your relationship get either of you killed" he said before giving his brother a tight single arm hug around his shoulders before Leone then said, while similarly grasping Akame around her right arm.

"Girl, you're gonna HAVE to tell me how it happened, I NEED to know, we'll talk about it over a drink to help you sleep" before dragging Akame off to her room before Kyouta then said.

"Maan, AREN'T we lucky bruh, comon, you can tell me ALL about it" he said before holding up a pipe to his brother's face.

"Maaan, FUCK you" Yoryu then replied before snatching the pipe from his brother and making his way back to their room, being closely followed by Kyouta.

Several mornings later, after everyone had awaken for the day and after they had their breakfast, with both Kyouta and Leone having shared with them what they had discovered that night prior to this as a way to help take their minds off of their fallen teammate, Mine would then quickly make her way to a nearby hot springs. Once there she would then began to bathe herself before consciously noticing how easy it had been for her to cleanse herself with her supposedly injured arm. Upon her discovery, in astonishment, she would then cautiously flex her hand before throwing several punches into the air with no pain, to her surprise, before she then "said",

"YES, my arm's all healed", before she then immediately jumped out of the spring and quickly beginning to sprint back to the mansion.

Once she had arrived, she would then quickly make her way to her room before grabbing her clothes and immediately heading right back out. As she then sprinted through the halls she'd then think to herself,

"It WAS real nice to not to have to go out into the field while my arm healed, but now it's time to get back to work, with Bulat gone and Sheele out I'll HAVE to be TWICE as tough", with renewed vigor while she completed dressing herself as she ran through the halls.

Once she had arrived at her destination, which would be their training grounds, she'd find all of her current teammates beginning to warm up with the exception of Sheele, who had been observing them from her new wheelchair. The team would be using push-ups to warm up for the day with Leone sitting on Kyouta's back, Akame sitting on Yoryu's, Matoko doing handstand push-ups on Lubbock's back as he did push-ups while Tatsumi had Sheele and her wheelchair set atop a platform that was strapped to his back while doing his.

"ALL RIGHT, who's gonna train with me today" Mine then asked with her hands on her hips, making sure that everyone had heard her.

"Oh WOW, hey Mine, back already" Tatsumi then said.

"It's good to see that you've fully recovered Mine" said Akame.

"And just what're you guys doing" Mine then asked before thinking,

"GOD, you guys STINK", to herself before Leone then replied.

"Oh, we just figured that we'd help the guys out with their training, especially Kyo here" she said.

"Oh yeah, big time, Bulat, rest his sweet soul, forgot to mention how physically taxing Incursio is on you ESPECIALLY when using it's invisibility" then said a heavily perspiring Kyouta before Tatsumi then said.

"Not such a blessing, having an Imperial Arms now, is it bruh, least you can take yours off" he said while panting and sweating heavier than his brothers.

Tatsumi would then continue to hold Mine's attention for several more moments as he continued after he had finished speaking, with her face having since curiously turning red, before she then turned to Lubbock and said.

"Since when have you become one to train so much" she asked.

"Well, especially with how strong the Nandeya brothers are, I just feel it wouldn't be doing Bulat's memory any justice NOT to go all out, I've GOT to keep up" he said before Leone then said.

"I'm glad that's the way you feel, but you should still be doing more, my Kyo is STILL doing more than you despite the fact he's still getting used to Incursio" she said before Akame then remarked,

"It makes it even MORE impressive considering that Tatsumi is the only one that's carrying as much weight" she said to the collective gasp of everyone there, most especially Kyouta and Yoryu, who shared looks of pure horror upon their faces.

Then promptly, before any of them could recover from their shock, Leone would then quickly move upon Akame and hit her with a lightning fast punch to the back of her head that even she couldn't react to in time. For her troubles Akame would now sport a large lump where Leone had struck her with her making a feint weeping noise as Leone's fist seemingly steamed before, right at that moment, Najenda had arrived, as she then walked up to them and said,

"Oh great, you're all here", while dressed in traveling gear complete with a backpack twice her size strapped to her back.

"Hey Boss, what's up, are you leaving us" Leone then asked.

"I'm headed to the Revolutionary Army's Central Headquarters to deliver to them the Imperial Arms that Kyouta acquired from our fight with the Three Beasts, I expect that they'll need it more than we would" she replied before Matoko then said.

"You're going out all by yourself lugging all that, you sure you'll be alright boss" she asked.

"Oh I'll be FINE, this is far and away the heaviest thing here..." she said as she then pulled Belvaac out of her backpack before continuing,

"...and as you can CLEARLY see I have no problem carrying it around" she said as she, seemingly effortlessly, swung the large axe around with a smile on her face before Matoko then replied.

"Oh yeah, duh, TOTALLY forgot you used to be a General yourself too" she said before Najenda then turned to Akame and said.

"Akame, you'll be in charge while I'm gone, the only orders that I'll leave you with is that everyone is to keep up with their training in the meantime" she commanded.

"Sure, whatever" Akame then replied rather nonchalantly with the look to match.

"Wow, that's grade A enthusiasm out of our stand in leader right there" then said the blatantly sarcastic Kyouta with a chuckle.

"Oh don't read too much into it, Akame's always like that but she's NEVER failed us in that role" Lubbock then claimed in her defense before Najenda then continued after lighting her cigarette.

"The other reason that I'm going back to home base for is that I hope the army has some recruits available for us that are capable enough for our upcoming battles, although I'd highly doubt it" she said before Tatsumi then said.

"WOW, you REALLY don't think that we have enough right now, Boss Lady" he asked before his eldest brother then quickly interjected.

"What THEE hell bruh, you know GODDAMN well you can NEVER have enough weapons, plus we just lost Bulat, AND, even though I've taken GREAT to it, I'm still only getting used to Incursio, we're about as vulnerable as we can be right now" then claimed Kyouta before Najenda then said.

"And you're absolutely right Kyouta, the soldiers that you fought, the legendary Three Beasts, were the strongest soldiers in Esdeath's army. The very fact that you were able to defeat them in what was essentially your first battle strengthens the fact that we may have already lost by now if we hadn't been blessed with you four, I'm sure you're very presence here have already saved the lives of countless revolutionary soldiers" she said before Leone said,

"Just like Bulat had predicted", prompting Kyouta to then immediately ask,

"What are you talking about Ne" before she then replied.

"Well, I didn't want to stroke you guy's, umm, 'egos' any furthur, as if you're cocky asses needed it, but Bulat would ALWAYS go on about, despite you guys already INCREDIBLE strength, how green EACH and every one of you were. That if you guys continued to train with REAL assassins like us everyday we'd ALL eventually be unstoppable, especially Tatsu, who he said could one day make even him look like a walk in the park" she said.

"Wow, Bro said THAT about us, don't think there could be a much better endorsement than that" Kyouta said before walking up to Tatsumi and grabbing him around his neck and head area with his right arm before saying,

"ESPECIALLY this little shit here" he said causing Tatsumi to put an annoyed look on his face before Yoryu then said.

"Yeah, what makes this asshole so special, no one trained with Bulat half as much as me" he said.

"Second place to me yet again, story of yo life ain't it bruh" Tatsumi then jokingly asked his younger brother.

"EAT A DICK" Yoryu then replied before the departing Najenda then said.

"At any rate, it has now become you all's solemn duty to become EVERY bit the warriors that he had envisioned you to be, see to it that you do, if you wish to make it up to him" she said before departing after the entirety of Night Raid then gave her an affirmative nod.

Several moments later, after traveling a good distance from the mansion, Najenda would then think to herself,

"Even though we are growing stronger everyday, we still have a desperate need for new backup teammates, to make matters even worse, according to Leone's report, Esdeath's new 'project' will be an elite team made up entirely of Imperial Arms users. This is so disheartening, this could be devastating for us if I do not proceed with extreme caution" she thought as she continued about her long trip.

Elsewhere, within the Imperial Capitol, at it's cemetery for military veterans, General Esdeath had paid a visit to the newly created graves of her Three Beasts before saying upon her arrival,

"River, Nyau, Daidara, It's hard to believe that all three of you showed such ineptitude in failing me, so pitiful. In the end, you three just weren't strong enough to be my subordinates, such weaklings" she said before lovingly caressing Nyau's grave and continuing,

"It is now because of you weaklings that I must now be the one to see to it that the ones responsible for your deaths meet the same fate, just pathetic" she said before she turned her back to their graves and recalled a conversation that she had just recently had with Prime Minister Honest,

"Will my new squaron of Imperial Arms users be arriving today" she had asked the Prime Minister.

"Yes, all six of them have recently arrived within the Capitol and will be introduced to you later in the day, although I MUST warn you. They are all lower class citizens and, despite their supposed capabilities, they all seem to have known personalities deemed unusually difficult to work with, my apologies on that part" he then replied.

As she then continued to depart the cemetery, after her personal recollection, she would then think to herself,

"Based off of what I've been told, my new team, and their individual personalities, should be a most exhilarating experience, this will be exciting to say the least" she said with a devious smile upon her face as she then departed the cemetery.

Later in the day, at the gates of Capital City, a lone young male traveler would arrive, dressed in the unfamiliar blue uniform of the Imperial Navy, matching short blue hair as well as a crimson hued scarf with an anchor symbol embroidered upon it as he carried a large sack full of fresh fish, with some of their heads even seeping out through holes in it. This young traveler's name would be Wave La'nakawai of the Imperial Navy, who'd be highly excited over his recent arrival, as he then thought to himself,

"Okay Wave, all those years out on those treacherous seas should've WELL prepared you for this promotion to the Empire's new special police force, it's the biggest opportunity of your life", upon his arrival at Main Street of the capital and began to look around.

"Now, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't VERY nervous about today but I'm dressed in my Navy uniform so I should fit in just fine, just like back at home, plus Mom even sent me off with some of the highest quality of fish our region is most famous for to help make a good first impression" he thought as he remembered his mother's parting words of,

"You're the pride of our village son", before he began to notice several shady looks from several members of the city's common populace.

"Now, I hope I'm wrong but it looks as if everyone here is instantly distrustful of me, is it because of something I'm doing" he then thought before overhearing several of them say things like,

"What's that country bumpkin doing here",

"Why is this hillbilly in the capital" and

"Ughh, he TOTALLY smells like fish gone bad" among other offensive words directed towards him before he then thought.

"Oh well, whatever, it can't be helped I guess and besides, after all the deadly naval fleets and sea monsters that I've encountered, I can't let a few petty insults get to me" he thought now with renewed vigor.

Once he had arrived within the Imperial Palace he'd then quickly make his way to it's Conference Room's door where he'd then think,

"Alright, all of my new teammates are waiting for me right behind this door, I MUST be certain that I make a good first impression, first impressions are critical, they MUST know that I can be depended upon" he thought before placing his hand upon the door handle and recalling his father's parting words to him of,

"Give em hell son, see to it that they NEVER forget the La'nakawai name", reinvigorating his confidence before he then bursted into the room and said,

"Honored to meet you, my new teammates, I'm from our Imperial Na..." he said before stopping himself short while noticing the rooms sole occupant, a silent, tall, muscular and heavily scarred man wearing a white executioner's mask.

"...vy" he then finished before a long and uncomfortable silence, before he then quickly regained his senses and said,

"TERRIBLY SORRY SIR, I MUST HAVE THE WRONG SPOT", before hastily exiting the room.

"WHOA MAN, that guy HAD to have been one of the Empire's torture masters that I've been hearing about, I must've gotten the wrong room" he then thought to himself in a seated panic before looking up at the room label above the door only for him to read the same thing that he had thought he'd read originally before he thought to himself,

"So this IS the Imperial Conference Room...", before removing a letter from his pocket, reading it and thinking,

"NO WAY, THAT guy is going to be one of my new teammates, he's creepy as all get out...", in another panic, before taking a sigh to help relieve himself and thinking,

"But still, I MUST keep my composure", as he then re-entered the room.

Once he was inside the room again Wave would then quickly make his way to the seat, at the table of six, situated furthest from his new teammate while thinking,

"I should probably try my best NOT to get on that guy's bad side", before sitting down and refraining from making eye contact with him, but still feeling a piercing gaze upon him through his mask.

"Why on EARTH is this weirdo CONSTANTLY staring at me like that, is it something that I said, MAN, I've already had enough of this place, I hope Mom won't be too disappointed with me if I want to come home already", he then thought in a nervous sweat before being snapped out of his inner turmoil by the sound of the room door being opened.

Now walking in would be the Imperial Assassin known as Kurome, who then silently walked to the seat positioned directly across from Wave and placed a small sack labeled "Kurome's Snax" upon the table, in front of her, as Wave then thought,

"Alright, she doesn't look so strange", before getting up and walking over to her to say,

"Hello there, you must be another Imperial Arms user that was summoned here, pleasure to meet you, my name is WaAAAVE", while being startled by her abruptly saying,

"Don't you DARE even THINK about my cookies", in a very threatening tone.

"Oh great, she's a weirdo too" he then thought while dumbfounded before saying,

"I'm sorry to have disturbed you", to her before walking back to his seat, while her eyes slowly followed him, before thinking,

"Man, they're BOTH nuts, I sure pray that it gets better from here", instantly before the room's rear double doors came crashing open to reveal Seryu, with shorter, shoulder length hair and now two metal prosthetic limbs for her severed arms, who then shouted,

"GRRREETTINGS MY NEW COMRADES" before saluting them and saying,

"I am Seryu Ubiquitous, formerly of the Imperial Guard, and this is my good friend Koro" she said.

"Okay so SHE'S probably crazy but she CAN'T be THAT crazy right" Wave then asked himself rhetorically before Seryu then unexpectedly created a shower rose petals before kneeling as if to announce a grandiose arrival before saying,

"The stage is now set for you, Dr. Stylish" she said before a tall and semi slender man wearing a brown suit and tie, lab coat, black bottom frame glasses as well as well styled black hair with a single gray streak on most of it's left side.

"Splendidly done Seryu, an entrance only befitting of the stylish, such as myself" then said this "Dr. Stylish" as he walked into the room while girlishly resting his hand upon his cheek.

"Oh GREAT, a weirdo that's ALSO apparently a scientist, THAT'S a recipe for a psychopath if I EVER seen one" Wave then thought before the Doctor then said.

"Ohhh, what do we have here, a cute little country boy, aren't you just the most adorable little thing ever, you just let me get my hands on you and you'll be stunning" he then said with a wink.

"Terrific, now he seems to have taken a special liking only to me of all people" Wave then thought now more distraught over his new teammates personalities as he then wearily laid his head upon the table while another inhabitant then entered the room.

This person would be a man between the heights of Wave and Stylish and slightly older than wave with mid length blonde hair with a white dove feather on its's left side that was dressed in an elaborate white robe with a casual black under jacket underneath as he then said.

"Good afternoon everyone, it seems as though I'm the last one to arrive here" he said politely only now catching the attention of the still demoralized Wave who then picked his head up from the table and said,

"Eh, nice meeting you, name's Wave", in a downtrodden tone.

"Well hello Wave, my name is Run Nerotich, it is a pleasure meeting" the man then replied which then immediately heightened Wave's spirits before he then quickly ran up to him and then appreciatively, and quite uncomfortably, held his hands within his own while thinking,

"YEESS, there IS at least one person here that's isn't completely out of their mind", before the large masked man approached them while carrying a serving tray before saying,

"Ummm, excuse me everyone, the tea that I've prepared is ready now, if anyone would like" he said before placing the tray on the table and serving each of the six cups before saying,

"Uhhh, I'm uh..., terribly sorry about not saying anything any sooner, I'm woefully unsure of myself around new people, I apologize, as likely the most senior officer here that is behavior most unbecoming. I really hope that we can all still become close companions, my name is Bols Bokarnov, from the Combustion Unit" he then said while nervously holding the serving tray to his chest as Wave then thought,

"Wow, find it real hard to believe that a guy that incinerates people for a living REALLY has a fear of people, especially with how huge he is" he thought before Dr. Stylish then thought,

"So, the combustion unit, huh, that stylish unit that is used to completely incinerate all of our enemies, that would explain the outfit. Thanks but no thanks, this one is POSITIVELY NOT my type, NO HOW", he thought while shaking his head before being alerted to another entering the room.

This person would then turn out to be none other then their new commanding officer General Esdeath, wearing a white torture master's mask similar to Bols', as she then thought,

"So, they've all arrived here at a very punctual time, impressive" while approaching them before Wave then asked,

"And you are", before Esdeath then unexpectedly shouted,

"THIS is a CONFIDENTIAL meeting room, NONE of you FOOLS are authorized to be in here", while pointing at them accusingly.

This would then prompt Wave to reply instantly, in an annoyed tone, with,

"WHAT are YOU talking about, we were invited hee..." he said before being interrupted by an unexpected, and devastating, front kick to the center of his sternum, knocking all the air from his lungs and sending him careening into the wall on the opposite side of the room head first, rendering him unconscious.

With this action now instantly grabbing the ire of the rest of the room's occupants Esdeath would then immediately say,

"You all were brought here to deal with the assassins that have been plaguing our capital, you CANNOT EVER afford to lower your defences anymore", in a disappointed and lecturing tone.

She would then, instantly following her lecture, move in on Run and throw a blindingly quick combination of, in sequence, two punches and a kick all aimed for his head, of which he'd be able to block the first two before, nearly dodging but, being struck on the right side of his face by her kick being immediately knocked unconscious as she then thought,

"Ooh nice, this one has VERY good battle reflexes", right before Seryu had attempted to attack her from behind with the aid of Koro.

Just as Seryu's mechanical right fist seemed poised to connect with the back of the General's head, she'd then quickly sidestep and grab Seryu's attacking arm and crushingly slam her into the ground by it, creating a crater in the room floor and also rendering her unconscious, as she also used a conjured ice block to fill the transformed Koro's jaws, preventing any attack from it before she then said,

"I could sense your bloodlust from MILES away, you'll NEVER succeed against ANY skilled warrior with an attack from behind that way" she disappointedly scolded.

Within the next instant Kurome would then advance upon Esdeath with several slashes of her sword at blinding speeds, of which the remaining conscious members of the room couldn't follow, all of which were then seemingly easily dodged by Esdeath while Kurome calmly thought,

"I CANNOT afford to hold back on you AT ALL, even if this is some sort of test", with one of her cookies still in her mouth.

As Kurome then continued to slash, Esdeath would find an opening in her attacks and strike Kurome with a simple backhand to her head that would send her crashing into the ground. Esdeath would then remove her mask, now revealing her face to her new subordinates for the first time, before saying,

"That would be the Imperial Arms Yatsufusa, JUST as sharp as I had thought it'd be" before a seam had bursted open in it from one of Kurome's attacks.

"Guuhh, GENERAL ESDEATH" Bols then said in shock just as Wave, Run and Kurome had all slowly began to regain consciousness as Frisis then "said",

"Such PATHETIC WEAKLINGS, even with you, for whatever reason, intentionally holding yourself back, they still were NO match for you", before Esdeath then replied.

"MY subordinates SHOULDN'T be a challenge for me, need I remind you of how you always harp on me NEVER being able to find a suitable challenge. Besides, I MUST build morale" she said before Frisis then replied.

"Hmph, Morale, such a weakling's crutch", she said as Wave then slowly, and painfully, made his way to his feet and thought,

"Maan, it looks like our leader is the CRAZIEST one", while holding his now concussed head.

Several hours later, now with a chilling smile on her face, and after dressing them all in black business suits and ties with white formal shirts, Esdeath would then lead her new team out of the room for a walk along the long corridors of the Imperial Palace before she then said,

"I sincerely hope that my exciting little "induction ceremony" wasn't too taxing on any of you, because being in this unit will only become more difficult from this point" she stated unapologetically before Wave then replied,

"No Ma'am, I was raised in one of the roughest parts of the Empire, I'm used to it by now" he said while finding himself unable to keep himself from dreading at the thought of his future before Seryu then said,

"That was an invaluable learning experience, thank you very much Milady", graciously.

"That is encouraging to hear, as such, once we are finished with our presentation to our Emperor we shall properly celebrate the forming of this team which shall NEVER fail in it's missions" she said with complete determination before Wave then quickly thought,

"HUH-WHAA, the Emperor, NOW!", in shock before Run then said,

"We're meeting the Emperor already, but we've only just formed Milady"

"I would prefer to attend to these more bureaucratic matters before ANYTHING else, that way we can all do what we enjoy the most unabated" she then replied sternly before Dr. Stylish then said,

"I WAS wondering by the way General, have we decided on an elegant nom de guerre that would perfectly fit our beautiful style" he said prompting Esdeath to then have the thought of,

"Oh, I thought you'd never ask", with an excited smile on her face before saying,

"Of course, we are an independently operated and free roaming law enforcement unit branched from the military tasked with relentlessly hunting down the most deadliest organization of terrorist that our empire has ever seen. Therefore..." she said as her excited smile then turned into a malicious one,

"...we shall henceforth be named, The Jägers" she said in complete satisfaction.

Several hours later, within their personal barracks' kitchen, both Wave and Bols would be preparing a large multi course seafood dinner for their celebration when Wave would then think to himself.

"While it is nice knowing that we're using the seafood I brought with me here, it's a crying out loud shame that us two are the only ones here that can cook" he thought with a somber expression upon his face just as he was about to put a piece of spinach into a seafood boil before being stopped by Bols' saying of,

"Wait a second Wave, you'll want to put the spinach in last, it'll be soggy if you put it in there now", before Wave then quickly replied,

"Oh that's right, sorry about that, I zoned out there for a second. Thanks Bols, you know, I've been meaning to say to you how nice it is to know that at least you're the only one of my teammates that seems to actually be a good person" he said.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, I am NOT a nice person by any means at all" Bols then replied in a somber tone while removing a fish head again making Wave uncomfortable.

Meanwhile at the barracks' dining room table would be where the rest of the team had been located as Kurome played with Koro while using a weed before Seryu then said, apart of their conversation,

"So General, what type of things do you like to do in your free time" she asked.

"Well mainly my first true passion, hunting, as well as torturing my many enemies while also learning new methods and techniques of torture. But only here recently have I begun to have a longing to fall in love with someone" she replied while swirling her wine glass which would then cause immediate shock from every occupant of the room before Seryu then said.

"LOVE, that is quite surprising coming from you General, I would have never thought you'd be interested in something like that" she said.

"Honestly I'm even astonished by this feeling in me as well, I've even sent my list of requirements for a perfect mate to our great Emperor after he informed me he'd be honored to serve as my matchmaker" Esdeath then replied, causing Seryu to then reply with,

"My word, Emperor Makoto himself, YOU must honored" she said while beaming.

"The Emperor has assured me that he will handle this, he has even told me that has set up several upcoming activities around the Empire with the main intent behind them being to draw out my perfect mate. I will only allow myself to be proud of this ONLY after Emperor Makoto has fulfilled my desire" she said with her same devious grin upon her face before Frisis then said,

"He will NEVER find ANYONE worthy of you", to no outward reaction from Esdeath.

Several hours after this, the four Nandeya siblings would then be walking down one of the main streets of Capital City when they'd meet Lubbock, who be dressed as a shopkeeper, at the storefront of an old bookstore. Once there, he would then lead them inside to an old, rustic and dusty shop full of withered books and bookshelves before walking to a bookshelf located behind it's mainly desk and pressing in a row of three books located in the middle of it. The entire shelf would then move and slide to it's right revealing a secret passage located behind it with stairs leading down before he then said,

"Watch your step", to them causing Matoko to then reply with,

"WOW, a secret passage, secret bases DON'T get much more secret than that", before Tatsumi then stated,

"Man, you ain't kiddin little sis", in amazement before Lubbock then said,

"One of my proudest accomplishments", before Tatsumi then quickly said,

"Like you fucking built it" with a laugh before each of them would then be suddenly greeted by the presence of an intoxicated Leone, who then yelled,

"WHAT'S UP GUYS, WELCOME TO THE SECRET HIDEOUT", before running over to them and tackling Kyouta to the ground while wrapping her arms around his neck and rubbing her cheek into his before Yoryu then said,

"Won't be a secret for long with yo loud ass", while flustered as Matoko, Lubbock and Kyouta all then laughed.

Once the laughter had calmed Lubbock would then say,

"Alright, alright guys, down to the business at hand...", he said before showing a wanted poster of Mine and continuing,

"Now that they have posters of Mine we're the only ones that can walk around the city freely, so keep that in mind" he said before Kyouta then said,

"That's bad enough but even worse is that all's that the city has been talking about recently is this special police unit called the Jägers that was apparently created with the sole purpose of destroying us" he said.

"Bitches can try" Tatsumi then said before initiating a fist bump with Yoryu, creating a giggle out of Kyouta before Lubbock then said,

"Well that popularity is simply because General Esdeath is their leader, that bloodlust she has, has made her quite popular amongst the capital's citizens. We would MOST certainly want to avoid her at all costs, she's easily the most dangerous person in the capital" he said while downtrodden before Tatsumi would then interrupt both he and his mood with a giggle before saying,

"See there y'all go again gassing up this bitch, I swear I can't wait to meet her because she CANT be as devastating as y'all crack her up to be. I mean you guys have already overhyped EVERY body that we've faced so, even that BITCH that got Bulat ONLY got Bro because that was his former fucking commander and he didn't expect him to use such a punk ass tactic" he said before Lubbock then replied,

"Well then you be the judge of that then Tatsumi, because I don't know how you can overly gas up someone who almost singlehandedly wiped out the entire Ban Tribe. I mean, for crying out loud, she had the entire tribe slaughtered except for their leaders and made them watch while her soldiers tortured and raped the rest. It was that type of brutality that was the main reason that Najenda and I left the military" he said slightly annoyed before Leone then said,

"Yeah, you guys just DONT know, I've actually seen her up close in personal, I could FEEL her power AND bloodlust, it TRUTHFULLY is frightening. I REALLY made the right choice not attacking her then, there is no way I could take her on all by myself, I mean, she does take GREAT pride in the fact that she's killed literal millions" she said while laying back onto the couch she had been sitting on, with her now serious tone drawing legitimate concern from Kyouta before Tatsumi then said,

"Oh HELL YEAH, she's even got YOU shook like THIS sis, you ain't afraid of SHIT, MAN I've GOT to see this bitch" Tatsumi then reiterated and reinforced before Lubbock then said,

"Well, if you really wanna see her THAT bad here's your chance", while handing Tatsumi a poster and saying,

"A fighting tournament well be held in her honor where the winner gets any wish within the Emperor's power granted to them" he said which would then immediately pique the interest of both of his brothers before Kyouta then said,

"FUCKING yes", before snatching the poster from Tatsumi prompting Yoryu to then quickly reply,

"I already know what you thinking bro", which in turn then caused Tatsumi to say,

"What!?, I'll get a crack at this bitch earlier then we would've thought, I know right", he asked.

"NO YOU IDIOT" Kyouta then angrily yelled before continuing,

"This would be the PERFECT opportunity for us to sneak into that punk ass military, you win that tournament and then demand that they let all of us into the military at the rank of AT LEAST captain. Hell, with how strong you're going to show these bitches you are, they'll damn near, if not, make you colonel" he said before Tatsumi then replied.

"No shit man, I didn't even think of that, now that you put it that way that WOULD be the perfect chance for us to make our move, I guess I was just too focused on that Esdeath bitch" he said.

"Well DUUHH" Yoryu then quickly replied,

"Fuck off Yo" Tatsumi then immediately shot back causing the two bickering brothers to then get into a wrestling match with eachother to the amusement of every other occupant of the room.

Near the end of the day, within the Imperial Palace, both the Emperor and the Prime Minister would be enjoying dinner within each other's company when Emperor Makoto would then say,

"Prime Minister, would you by any chance know why General Esdeath has become so deadset upon falling in love all of a sudden" he asked in a timid and curious voice.

"Well nearly everyone begins to develop those type of feelings within themselves upon reaching near her age, it's only natural. The General has spent her entire life as a hardened warrior with her only love being for the thrill of fighting, now it finally seems as if her true womenly desires have finally began to awaken within her" he said in between bites.

"Well then that would then leave us having to use our vast resources in assisting her" replied the Emperor.

"She has always been a woman that's extremely proud of herself, she will not settle for anything that doesn't meet her expectations down to the letter" replied the Prime Minister before the Emperor then quickly held up a large unrolled scroll and said,

"But, Prime Minister, how can we ever find a man that fits these exact qualifications, as the list then read,

---

Imperial Military General Esdeath Eisläin Lover Requirements

I

He MUST, ABOVE ALL ELSE, have massive potential as a warrior, I would

personally like to train with him myself so that he will one day be General

Yamamoto's successor.

II

He MUST be a COMPLETELY fearless person and have no qualms with hunting

the world's deadliest Danger Beasts with me.

III

He MUST not have been raised ANYWHERE near the Imperial Capital's jurisdiction, just as I was

---

It listed before both Prime Minister Honest and Emperor Makoto each read numbers four and five aloud respectively,

"Number Four: He MUST be younger than me, I WILL ALWAYS HAVE AND MAINTAIN dominance in our relationship" said Honest.

"And Number Five: He must be one with a pure and innocent smile" the Emperor then said before letting out an exasperated groan and saying,

"Ugh, it'll nearly be an impossible task JUST to find someone that meets the first criterion" he said.

"Yes, yes, there aren't many men even with enough potential to become one of our generals, let alone ones that would be able to survive Esdeath's brutal training, GODS help us" the Prime Minister then said as both he and the Emperor both sunk their heads in despair.

Upon the next afternoon, The 21st annual Imperial Martial Arts Open Tournament would begin, this time being held in General Esdeath's honor. The General in question would be situated in her own personal suite, which oversaw the entire stadium, being accompanied by General Yamamoto, Prime Minister Honest and Emperor Makoto. With the Emperor and Prime Minister both having the ulterior motive of hopefully finding the lover that the General had been looking for out of the winner of the tournament. After Esdeath had sat through and watched the tournament preliminaries, she'd find herself completely underwhelmed with the level of strength found amongst the fighters. Just before the tournament's official opening ceremony General Yamamoto would then say,

"Esdeath my dear, it is such a wonderful thing to finally see you again since you've returned, I would've thought that I wouldn't have still mattered that much to you at this point" he said.

"Well I've been busy protecting the capital and assembling a task force that was specifically created with bringing down Night Raid. You, however, I will always remain grateful to you and Mrs. Yamamoto for as long as I live for your vital aide in crafting me into the greatest warrior this world has ever seen. The fact of the matter is that my first priority will always be my duty to the empire" Esdeath then replied.

"False" Frisis then said to Esdeath in a disrespected tone which Esdeath would then promptly dismiss.

"I would expect no less from, 'The Empire's Strongest', but I do wish you'd come around more, Ayako certainly misses you" Yamamoto then replied.

"Perhaps after I've dealt with Night Raid" she replied bluntly before the Prime Minister then said,

"So, General Esdeath, have you found any of the preliminaries entertaining" he asked.

"For a tournament that is meant to be held in my honor, it has shown ONLY grossly underwhelming fighters. If I don't see much better performances in the official tournament I may torture these men for being such a disgraces" she then said in a disappointed tone, drawing the then immediately shock of every other occupant of her suite.

Several moments later, the four Nandeya siblings would be gathered in one of the long halls of the stadium when Kyouta, who would be dressed in an all white business suit and tie with a black shirt, would then say to Tatsumi,

"Alright just so we're clear, what are we doing here" he said before he then aggressively grabbed his brother on his shoulders and stared him in the eyes.

"No matter what, give these fuckers a show at ALL costs, no matter how much I have to hold myself back" Tatsumi then replied while being uncharacteristially dressed in all white before Yoryu then said,

"I just hope this works", before Kyouta then replied,

"OF COURSE it will, if she loves fighting HALF as much as they say she does, AND giving all the competition I've seen so far, this'll be a no brainer" he said before Tatsumi then said,

"If not I'll just get my wish a whole hell of a lot earlier" he said in an eager tone then causing each of his siblings to smack their palms into their faces before he began to depart from them as Matoko then said,

"Please take care of yourself out there Tatsu" she said in a slightly worried tone.

"Piece of cake lil sis" he said before departing his siblings and leaving them each with an uneasy feeling within them that was shown on their faces.

Several moments later, Wave would make his way to the middle of the stadium's large ring, located in it's center, as the tournament's Master of Ceremonies before bringing his microphone to his face and saying,

"Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen, I am your host, Wave of the Imperial Police Force and WELCOME to the 21ST annual Imperial Martial Arts Open" he said before an array of fireworks and theatrics signifying the opening to the grand event.

As the pageantry of the tournament's opening ceremony continued Emperor Makoto would then say to Esdeath,

"Ah, it looks as if the tournament is finally about to commence, I SURELY do hope you'd enjoy it more than you did the preliminaries" he the replied in an optimistic yet downtrodden tone.

"I would as well Your Highness but unless if a number of those fighters were holding back their true strength, I'd greatly doubt it" she replied coldly and bluntly.

Meanwhile, within the corridor leading into the arena Kyouta would find himself in a long winded conversation with the stadium's gruff head of security as the security head then said,

"I don't know mate, I think they'd have me head for this one, I've got a family to consider y'know" he said.

"Yeah I get that, and I also understand that your empire can be QUITE brutal at times, but this tournament has been a TOTAL shitshow. Now for a a tournament that's SUPPOSED to be held in the honor of 'The Empire's Strongest" it has sholl had some pretty lackluster competition. Now if this General Esdeath is anything resembling her reputation she'll appreciate our ambition and possibly reward you for it, in addition to what we'll be giving you" said Kyouta.

"And how much would that be again" the head then asked before Kyouta then produced a large twenty pound sack of gold and said,

"This" as the security head then continued to meander.

Severel moments later, after the tournament's official opening ceremony had concluded, Wave would then again make his way to the center of the ring, with intents on introducing the tournament's opening bout to the audience before saying,

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment that you have ALL been waiting for, LET'S..." he said before being suddenly being interrupted by Kyouta who would now be speaking on a microphone himself as he then said,

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, may I have your attention please, my name is Kyouta Ragyokuro, and I am the self advocate for a team of three of the world's most deadliest assassins. I am here today because we were erroneously denied entry into your military by it's foolish recruiting staff, now we will make sure that, that error will be rectified" he said before snapping his fingers and causing a carriage being move by a horse filled to past it's brim with gold and jewels into the arena before he said,

"I AM WILLING TO WAGER THIS ENTIRE WAGON FULL OF RICHES THAT THE FIGHTER IN WHICH I REPRESENT WILL DEFEAT EVERY SINGLE PARTICIPANT OF THIS TOURNAMENT...ALL AT ONCE. THE MAN THAT WOULD DELIVER THE FINISHING BLOW WOULD RECEIVE THESE WINNINGS" Kyouta then boldly proclaimed before a still shocked Wave then replied,

"Well sir, to say the least I will say that I admire your courage, but YOU or whoever you may 'represent' ARE NOT official participants of the tournament and I MUST ask you to leave" he then said in a commanding tone before Kyouta then replied,

"But must you though..." he said before pleading his defense.

Concurrently with this, within Esdeath's suite and at the moment that Kyouta had made his proclamation the Prime Minister would then say,

"Such a disrespectfully brazen act, I shall have him and whoever allowed this fallacy executed IMMEDIATELY" he said before aggressively standing from his seat, poised to issue the command, before being quickly preempted by Esdeath who then said,

"But wait Prime Minister, perhaps we should hear them out, they may be able to provide this tournament with actual entertainment where the rest of the field has failed miserably. We've nothing to lose either way we may as well, if he fails we'll execute him anyway but if he succeeds, we will have just gained a powerful new recruit for our great military" she claimed before the Prime Minister then replied,

"Well, if it is what you wish General, I will trust your judgement as I always have, you have never failed me" he replied before sending his messenger.

Back within the arena as Kyouta had continued to plead himself to Wave,

"...this tournament has been pretty lackluster thus far with no signs of improving in sight, now from what the person I've been led to believe that the General is she'll appreciate this display of fighting prowess" Kyouta said before Wave then thought.

"Well he's not wrong about that one" before bringing his microphone to his lips to rebut.

Just before Wave would have the chance to speak he would be halted by an Imperial Messenger who would nudge his side to grab his attention before handing him a folded note. Wave would then unfold and read the note before putting a surprised look upon his face from reading the note before he'd then regain his composure and announce,

"Well ladies and gentlemen, it seems, per the order of Prime Minister Honest, this new development will be allowed to stand with the official winner of the tournament being decided in a battle royale following this ordeal" he then said to the astonishment of the crowd and the excitement Kyouta who then yelled,

"OH HELL YEAH" while pumping his right fist in success before saying,

"Well then, let's get this show on the road then", before announcing to the crowd, "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY, ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE TO YOU, MY CLIENT... TATSUMI "THE WHITE DRAGON" YANDENA", he said before pyrotechnics erupted from the roof of the stadium as Tatsumi then entered the arena from it's main entrance to stunned reactions from the crowd.

With the hood to his jacket mostly obscuring his face Tatsumi would then only walk several yards into the long arena walkway leading to it's stage before intentionally falling to his knees and outlining his grandfather's name into the walkway floor and jumping back to his feet while quickly flipping his hood back and revealing his face before yelling his native war cry, which then reverberated throughout the stadium, with the aide of his hands. He would then proceed to throw two pantomime punches before taking a large step into a third one while yelling,

"BOOM", before continuing his march, with a determined look upon his face, to the stage after walking his next few steps in reverse to observe more of the crowd.

As Tatsumi would then continue to make his entrance into the arena the Prime Minister would then say,

"So General, what DO you think of these two, they certainly have a penchant for unnecessary theatrics" he asked.

"I don't think that necessarily Prime Minister, one of them had announced themselves as an advocate while the other looked as if he had been doing a prebattle routine I've seen practiced by several indigenous peoples including my own clan. Other than that I can easily tell already that both of them have massive potential and look to be far stronger than anyone else concerning this tournament" then replied an eager Esdeath as she had felt an unexplained excitement course through her body the moment that she had laid her eyes upon Tatsumi.

It would be an eager feeling within her that she could feel Frisis also having before Frisis then said to her,

"Why are you having this feeling, it's causing ME to feel uneasy as well, do you know one of those boys" she asked in an uncharacteristially curious tone.

"I've never met either of those boys before, it is just something about that younger boy that has really grabbed my attention which I cannot explain. I KNOW that you feel it too" she replied.

"That is why I asked you" Frisis then replied in a sarcastic tone as they both then continued to watch Tatsumi's entrance.

As Tatsumi then reached one of the stage's four sets of stairs leading onto it's elevated platform he'd then leap into the arena in a single bound before raising both of his hands straight into the air before extending to his full wingspan and finally bringing his fist into his chest to form an x gesture while yelling,

"IT'S KAAAARRRRUUUSSSHHHIIIIINNGG TIIIIIIMME", before sitting onto the middle of the stage and calmly facing towards the arena entrance before Kyouta then annouced,

"Well then, now that that's over, how many of you tournament participants wish to take us up on our offer" he then said, now drawing cheers from the crowd.

Within only mere moments the tournament's entire sixteen man roster would then make their way to the stage with identically determined looks upon their faces. Staring down Tatsumi on their way to the ring would be, in order, most of which being twice Tatsumi's height, a tall pink skinned hulking man whose entire body and face would be covered in thick black body hair including his face with the exception of the top of his head which would be completely bald. He would then be dressed in red brief like trunks with matching boots and eyes. Another tall and hulking man with pale skin and an orange afro hairstyle wearing a black short sleeved singlet and brown working gloves and boots. Another man, comparatively slightly taller than Tatsumi, with long and bushy black hair tied into a messy ponytail and a scruffy beard and mustache. He would be dressed from just below his head to his feet in red, black and green feudal style samurai armor complete with a sheathed katana strapped to his waist. Another man of similar height as the former with a darker skin complexion than Kyouta and a long gray haired dreadlock style tied in an intracate way around his neck reminiscent of a scarf. This man would then be dressed in a silk button up shirt that would be completely open with no undershirt, revealing a row of several gold chains draped around his neck. His look would then be complete with black business style slacks, dress shoes and sunglasses with a host of gold and silver rings on each of his hands. The next man would be another tall and hulking man whose entire body and head would be entirely covered in a heavy and black knight style armor, completely concealing his identity, as he carried a great axe which would have a head that would be bigger than Tatsumi's entire body. Another clean shaven man, not as tall as most the others but still much taller than Tatsumi, who would be of a portly yet muscular build that had his long black hair tied into a chonmage. He would have his face painted into an intricate black and white style with the left half being white with black lips and eyebrow and the other half being the exact opposite. He would be dressed in a simple white tank top and black jeans with a golden dragon emblazoned upon it's right leg as he wore wooden elevated sandals and white wrist tape. Another tall man of imposing height who's skin tone would be a shade between Tatsumi and Kyouta's that had no hair on his body whatsoever save for dark black side burns going the full length of his jawline with his only attire being short white boxing style trunks. The next man would actually be a dwarf of a man with pointed ears, curly red hair and goatee with emerald green eyes, who'd be dressed in black ninja like attire with a red metal chest protector and small gold ninjato on his back. The next man would be a tall gray skinned man with long black hair and ice blue eyes who's entire scarred upper body would be covered in serpent like tattoos. He would also have gauntlets with four, five inch, metal claws on each hand as he wore a not so baggy purple hakama with brown tabi. An older man with no hair on the top of his head but shoulder length gray hair sprouting from it's sides along with white soulless eyes as he would be dressed in a dark blue business suit, shoes and tie with a white shirt underneath while being armed with a black cricket bat that'd be coated heavily with greatly rusted nails. A giant and bald green skinned man with a third red eye located directly above the bridge of his nose that would be dressed only in a brown tunic as a dark purple tuft of chest hair protruded from its top as he wielded an enormous brown club. The next man would likewise be another tall and hulking man wearing a golden luchador's mask with green trim surrounding it's exposed eyes, nose, mouth and ears. Spilling out of the it's rear would be sparkling golden hair down to his waist as he also wore long black tights as well as calf high laced up black boots and white wrist tape. The next would be a man who covered the left half of his face with an intricate black mask with the other half showing pale skin, a blue eye, a gray goatee and short gray hair. His attire would consist of a mercenary style outfit with a black turtleneck, black fingerless gloves, a black utility vest, black cargo pants as well as black combat boots. The next would be another giant of a man with an orange skin tone who would nearly be as large wide as he was tall as he wore an ornate crown of unknown bones atop his head full of wild black hair and, matching full beard. The remainder of his attire would consist of a necklace that would be likewise decorated with skeletal remains of an unknown creature, a lavalava made of sewn together weeds as well as him wearing onyx coated skulls, also from an unknown creature, on each of his fists. Another man a bit taller than Kyouta that would be dressed in a pink Wushu tai chi style outfit with pale skin that would be completely bald with the exception of a black braided ponytail in the back of his head going down to the middle of his back with a purple butterfly accessory at it's tip and a neatly trimmed mustache and goatee. The final man would be an older man who's complexion would be in between the shades of Yoryu and Tatsumi's who would be dressed in a Kasaya style single looped robe with prayer beads draped around his neck. He would have a long gray beard that would reach his upper chest along with a religious head wrapping concealing any hair he would have as well as simple wooden sandles upon his feet as he and the rest of the fighters then entered the ring.

Amongst the large mass of individuals which served as the event's audience Leone, Lubbock, Yoryu and Makoto all had gathered in seats hidden amongst the crowd to view their teammate's assumed success in the tournament as Leone then said,

"Ahh, so that was Kyo's plan this whole time, PRETTY badass if I do say so myself", with a sly grin upon her face before Lubbock then said.

"Badass!? Well, yeah it was pretty well thought out but, given how sadistic and unpredictable this empire can be, they ran the risk of getting themselves killed", he said with a worried look on his face before Yoryu then said,

"Don't worry, Kyo knows what he's doing, besides if it came to something like that, I'm sure Tatsu could fight his way out of it, I mean at least to escape, he's not that stupid enough to where he'd actually try to fight someone like General Esdeath right in the middle of the capital" he said with a noticeable lack of confidence in his voice before Makoto then said,

"My big bro is gonna crush them ALL, oooh I can't wait", in an eager tone as the four of them then directed their attention back towards the ring.

With each of the tournament's contestants now all standing within the stadium arena's massive stage, with most of them giving Tatsumi extremely disapproving looks, Wave would then walk over to them while saying,

"Well ladies and gentlemen now that we seem to be going with a new format for the tournament let us introduced our fighters, starting from left to right before walking to the pink skinned man and saying,

"Here we have Yannief Greweska" while this "Greweska" then began to flex and pose obnoxiously before saying, in a heavy Eastern European accent,

"YEEEAAAAH, I SHALL WIN TOURNAMENT AND BRING GREAT GLORY TO MOTHERLAND", excitedly before Wave then moved on to the samurai and said,

"Moritsune Miyamoto", while "Moritsune" stood silently with his hands folded over his chest and his eyes shut.

Wave would then walk over to the tall orange haired man and say,

"Ramoon Gulyanna", who then started to do a strange clapping dance before saying,

"My name is Ramoon, it rhymes with BOOM, and you'll be FINISHED all to soon", before obnoxiously laughing causing Wave to put a nervous look upon his face before continuing.

Walking to the next contender, now the dreadlocked man, he'd then announce,

"Demetrius Johnson Jr.", before the man would then do a frontwards style no hands cartwheel before clapping his hands and pointing with his ringed right index finger.

Wave would then move over to the next man, the hulking heavily armored knight, and say,

"Ser Bobery Stragant Knight of our allies from the far west Bayleon Kingdom", while the knight remained unmoving and silent causing Wave to have an uncomfortable look upon his face before he would then walk over to the portly man and point his microphone to him while saying,

"Much esteemed Grand Sumo World Champion Takahonda 'Kaabakyo' Ganahashi", before "Kaabakyo" then snatched the microphone from Wave and shouted,

"DOOOOOOSUKOOIII, I shall show the Man Empire and the entire world that us Sumotori make the greatest warriors", before tossing the microphone into the air, leaving Wave to then clumsily catch it before it hit the ground as Kaabakyo then thunderously clapped his hands together.

After first breathing a sigh of relief over not dropping the microphone Wave would then move on over to the man in boxing trunks and say,

"World Boxing Champion Haltam Osman IV", who would then simply remained silent before Wave then moved on to the next contestant.

"Lord Kuryiun of the noble house Lancaster", he said while holding the microphone to the dwarf man before the crowd then erupted in boos while this "Kuryiun" repeatedly bowed graciously as Wave then thought,

"Wow, the capital sure loves it's nobles", before he continued on to the gray skinned man and said,

"Rankuro the Merchant", with "Rankuro's" only response being sticking his unusually long and forked tongue out of his mouth in a suggestive manner while smiling deviously.

This would then cause Wave's face to turn nervously blue before he then shook himself to regain his composure before moving on to the man in the business suit as he then said,

"Entrepreneur, 'Mr.' John Arthur McCants", as "Mr. McCants then authoritatively gripped the lapels of his jacket.

With an acknowledging nod Wave would then move on to the next man, the green skinned man with the beastly appearance, and said, with his face blue from nervousness,

"Makoor 'The Terror'", before this "Makoor" then howled loudly, in turn increasing Wave's nervousness.

With him now steadying himself to regain his composure Wave would then walk to the luchador and say,

"El Tormento Furioso", before the luchador would then make a cutthroat gesture immediately followed by a thumbs down gesture.

Now moving on again, Wave would then introduce the mercenary saying,

"Agent Black, The Bounty Hunter", while the man remained completely silent as he did so.

With these actions coming of no surprise to Wave since it was coming from the well known and discreet bounty hunter he would then seemlessly transition to the next entrant, the orange skinned savage man, and say,

"King Boolu, of the Hippan Tribe", before "Boolu" raised both of his fist into the air in celebration while yelling,

"YEEEEAAAHH", which would then make most of his fellow contestants, including Tatsumi, cringe from the smell eminating from his armpits.

Wave would then instantly back away from the King when that happened while his face turned green and he quickly became sickly. With the tribal king now noticing Wave's reaction to him he would then smile before saying,

"HAAA, CANT TAKE THAT REAL MAN MUST, CAN YA NOW BOY", before laughing jovially causing Wave to snear at him before thinking,

"Disgusting", while Tatsumi then simultaneously thought,

"HAAA, Dude's fuckin HILARIOUS".

Wave would then move on to the Wushu style fighter before saying,

"Grandmaster Tsung Lee of the Crane House", before "Grandmaster Lee" then did a traditional martial arts bow as Wave then moved to the final competitor, the older man wearing religious garb, and said,

"... And finally we have the 'Elder Monk' Mori", who simply stood still with a determined look upon his face as he continuously stared at Tatsumi without blinking.

By the time that Wave had finished introducing all of the tournament's participants Tatsumi had already removed his shirt, thus revealing his chiseled physique to the crowd consequently eliciting a wave of cheerful screams from it's female members, causing him to then blush ferociously before he then nervously performed a few stretches and think to himself,

"Alright, just like Kyo said, I've got to beat ALL these chumps asses but I have to do it in a way that it won't be so quick where everyone can't follow it. That means using my powers is a no go", he thought before Kairyu then said to him,

"Why the hell not, you're tryna tell me you can't restrain my powers enough NOT to turning everyone to dust unintentionally", he asked in an irritated tone.

"Hey, these guys may not be in MY league by themselves but together their gonna be a hassle for me to take them on at once. I mean I COULD just incinerate them all in less then a second but what fun would that be" Tatsumi then said as he then finished his stretches and went into his fighting stance.

"So, needlessly make this fight ten times more difficult for you just to showboat", Kairyu then asked while annoyed.

"That's the plan" Tatsumi then replied before Kairyu then said,

"Stupid ass humans" causing Tatsumi to laugh before he then began to prepare himself in anticipation for his battle.

Just as Wave was about to officially start the battle Esdeath would then think to herself upon seeing Tatsumi's naked upper torso,

"That mark upon that boy's chest, it looks so familiar, like I have a long connection with it that I don't remember", before Frisis then "said",

"IT'S HIM, how CAN that BE, I felt the life leave his..., of course, if I was able to remain in this world so could he", before Esdeath then replied,

"So if I am to understand you correctly, you're saying that it is THAT boy that has acquired the demon that slayed you in the same manner that I acquired you", with an intrigued look upon her face.

"I am certain of it, BECAUSE of that mark upon his chest, it is the mark of the Fire Dragon Clan, just as MY clan's mark rests upon your busom", Frisis then replied.

"Inexcusable, for you to allow yourself to be destroyed by this, from what I sense from this boy, he'll only be able to defeat a maximum of three of his opponents before he is completely overwhelmed. Unless they are all holding back considerably, and most likely even if they were, I would CERTAINLY be able to accomplish this feat he's attempting with minimal difficulty even without using the power that I've acquired from you. It's even unacceptable that as powerful as you've led me to believe this demon was that he'd even allow himself to be under the control of such an unworthy vessel, he's too cute to be anyway competent as a warrior." Esdeath then replied in a dismissive tone before finishing,

"At the conclusion of this farcical attempt to impress us I shall personally relieve this unworthy pretender of his Imperial Arms in you're name, and find a worthy candidate for it, along with my search for a lover" she proclaimed before Frisis then abruptly replied.

"You cannot possibly mean that, if I am to understand YOU correctly you intend to have the person that you fall in love with ALSO be Kairyu's host" Frisis then replied in a disgusted tone.

"And what if I did, I feel it's a sign to me that this Imperial Arms would fall into my hands at this moment, right as the feelings deep within me desire to find the one I will spend the rest of my life with. It'll also prove once and for all that I am more powerful than you when, unlike you, I shall remain in dominance with my lover for the rest of our lives" she said with a small grin upon her face.

"DISGUSTING" Frisis then replied with her tone matching the word.

"REEEAADDDY...AAAND...FIGHT!" Wave then shouted signifying the official opening to the tournament after raising and dropping his right hand causing nearly every fighter there to drop into a defensive stance.

Just then Greweska would slowy step forward and say, while making his way towards Tatsumi.

"HAAA, who does this puny man think he is, my daily breakfast is bigger than him" before he then stood toe to toe with an unflinching Tatsumi as he stood unfazed with his arms now folded over his chest before continuing,

"Now you'd best just go on and surrender that money comrade before you wind up getting hu..." was all he'd then been able to say before he found himself abruptly punched in his abdomen by Tatsumi, to the surprise of nearly every inhabitant of the stadium including all of his opponents and Esdeath.

This would then cause Greweska to instantly fall to his knees doubled over as Tatsumi then said,

"Shut THEE fuck up" before patting his back as he fell to the ground unconscious.

"Who's got next" Tatsumi then eagerly said while in his fighting stance.

At this moment Ramoon, Kaabakyo, Haltam, Rankuro, Mr. McCants, Makoor, El Tormento and King Boolu would all then relentlessly charge towards an eager, fully prepared and grinning Tatsumi. With Haltam being the first to reach Tatsumi, he would then unless a lightning fast barrage of punches at blinding speeds, leaving Tatsumi only able to dodge his strikes before both Rankuro and Kaabakyo would then join in on the assault with just claw slashes and palm thrusts of similar but not as fast speeds respectively, all of which the audience would barely be able to keep up with. As their ongoing assault continued on the focused Tatsumi he would then find an opening where he would use the momentum of a dodged claw slash from Rankuro and cause Haltam to be cut across the chest with it. With Tatsumi then using this slight distraction and free space, he'd then administer a devastating backfist to Rankuro's left temple just as he turned back toward him which sent him into Haltam and colliding with him. Just as this was happening, Kaabakyo had come soaring through the air, rear end first, in an attempt to squash Tatsumi who would then only find himself able to escape at the very last moment. The impact of this splash would then create a several meter wide crater in the ring as Tatsumi would then be immediately attacked by Makoor who had managed to curl his body into a rolling sphere with his club wedged into his center of gravity as he hurled himself directly into Tatsumi. He would then again seemingly be able to barely dodge this attack by slightly sidestepping as he then used a powerful right hook to send the still rolling Makoor into the now standing Kaabakyo causing a heavy collision. Almost instantly following this however Ramoon, Mr. McCants, and El Tormento would then quickly attack Tatsumi with a drop kick aimed for his torso, a swing of a spiked bat aimed for his head and a dashing leg sweep respectively. To counter this Tatsumi would then quickly jump over and then behind McCants and hit him with a strong elbow to the back of his head, rendering him unconscious and sending him hurtling towards both and the still in mid attack Ramoon and Tormento causing them all to smash into the ground and create another large crater as King Boolu began an individual barrage of ground shattering punches on a dodging Tatsumi. It would then be only seconds after this that Ramoon would then forcefully throw the unconscious body of McCants off of him and be back on his feet to continue his attack on Tatsumi being joined by a recovered yet groggy Haltam. While still fully engaged with Boolu and now seeing the incoming attacks of both Haltam and Ramoon now recognizing his potential peril, Tatsumi would then find an opening in the tribal king's attacks and grab ahold of his right arm, during another pound attempt, and use his own momentum to send Boolu flying into his two oncoming attackers and creating a devastating collision now seemingly rendering all men involved unconscious. Without a moment in between, the now recovered Makoor had then began a wild assault of lightning quick club swings that Tatsumi would then be forced to match speed with in order to dodge to the collective astonishment of the audience. As Tatsumi continued to dodge these attacks Makoor would soon be joined in this assault by a now surprisingly recovered Haltam prompting Tatsumi to then say,

"How the HELL aren't you dead", as he continued to dodge.

"HAAA, this is NOTHING little man, if I hadn't been poisoned during this fight I'd have already claimed victory by now", Haltam then replied in his heavy Eastern European Arab accent.

"Hmph, not likely on that, you must've gotten poisoned by that guy with the claws, that's EXACTLY why you never let a blade cut you, you'll never know what type of shit people put on their blades to get ahead in a fight" Tatsumi then replied before leaping back while narrowly avoiding a horizontal club swing before bringing his right fist directly into the barrel of the incoming club which would then shatter the club completely causing it's razor sharp shards of wood to then jut out in every direction.

With Tatsumi now only using a small but still considerably significant fraction of his true speed for the first time during this fight he would then dodge the array of wood fragments, where only his teammates and few audience members could even detect his motions, before using the distraction that preoccupied his opponents with temporarily shielding themselves to immediately move upon them. He would then first quickly grab Makoor, who had went into a completely kneeling crouch as he covered the entire front of his body while on the ground, while facing him before, while using his body as a fulcrum point, flipping himself over his body and behind him before jumping twenty feet into the air with Makoor held high above his head before crashing him down hard into the ring floor, sending another shockwave throughout the stadium and creating a large dust cloud enveloping both of them. Once the dust had settled there would then be a large crater three times his size where the now unconscious and heavily bloodied Makoor would lay as Tatsumi had already begun his renewed attack on Haltam who would appear to be using all of his strength to block and dodge Tatsumi's punches as he sweated profusely while appearing to be heavily fatigued while Tatsumi's strength only seemed to grow as the battle wore on. This would then prove to be true when Tatsumi would then breach his defenses and land a right counter fist on Haltam's left jaw just when he had thrown a right cross which would then temporarily stun him, Tatsumi would then continued to follow through with his punch while turning into a devastating left back fist to the same location, this time with enough force to where it would send him flying into the stone wall audience barrier, destroying the section he crashed in to and now rendering him unconscious. Immediately following this Tatsumi would then say,

"Alright, who's next", while facing his remaining opponents with a determined look upon his face while in his fighting stance.

As for his opponents, who hadn't engaged him at this point, with them having done so either to get a good visual gauge of Tatsumi's strength in proportion to theirs, their want to fight him in a one on one fight or as a strategy to lower his stamina as Kuryiun then said in his old english accent,

"Gentlemen, gentlemen this is NOT the type of battle that I believe any of us are going to win unless we develop a strategic plan of attack, this is far too powerful of an opponent for us to have any hope of defeating otherwise" he said before Agent Black then aggressively stepped forward and said,

"Hmph, speak for yourself half man, I am a hardened warrior of over fifty wars. I've killed more men in my sleep than years this little shit has been alive, I've killed hundreds of all brawn and no brain berserkers like him and he ISN'T ANYTHING special" he said while making his way towards Tatsumi while Tatsumi had also heard everything that he had said in reference to him,

"Really now, all those checks you just signed with ya mouth I SURE hope your ass can cash them, you BETTER be HEAD and SHOULDERS above what I've fought so far" he said before Black then replied,

"You'll just have to...", before being intstantly interrupted by Tatsumi who had aimed a right fist at him which he would then be able to alertly dodge, to Tatsumi's clear and obvious surprise.

With him now using Tatsumi's momentary lapse to his advantage he would then quickly aim a right fist towards Tatsumi's corresponding side of his face which Tatsumi would only be able to block at the last second as he then grabbed the Agent's attacking fist and used his momentum to throw him several yards away. With Tatsumi having intended to throw the Agent much further he'd be shocked as he watched him remanuver himself in middair and not only decrease the distance that Tatsumi had thrown him but also land on his feet to the collective and audible awe of most of the spectators. At the very moment that Black's feet had touched the ground landed he'd then quickly attempt to resume his attack on Tatsumi as he then immediately took off rushing towards him. As Tatsumi anticipated his oncoming attack with his guard up the Agent would then suddenly throw a dagger that he had produced from his boot directly in between Tatsumi's eyes, surprising him, and forcing him to duck under it at the last possible moment. With him using this to his advantage, as he had planned, Black would then use Tatsumi's momentarily distracted state to deliver a full force thrust kick to the crouching Tatsumi, with the impact producing a sound and shockwave that reverberated throughout the arena as a small explosion of dust would then quickly shroud the combatants from it's viewers. With him thinking that he had struck Tatsumi initially, Black would then quickly find that Tatsumi had caught his leg in it's momentum before quickly hammer fisting his knee area and brutally breaking his leg. This would then cause the normally stoic and collected mercenary to let out a horrible scream in agony, as the sounds of his bones breaking then echoed throughout the stadium, before, without letting go of his leg, Tatsumi would then quickly, and seemingly effortlessly, lift the Agent completely off the ground by his leg before slamming him back into it on his opposite side a creating a loud crashing sound. This would thus create yet another large crater within the ring's floor as well as a large pool of blood which had spilled out of the Agent's body as he now lay there unconscious as Tatsumi then released his grip on his leg. Tatsumi would then do a few quick stretches of his arms and neck before saying,

"This ALL you guys got", in a sarcastic tone while pounding his fist into his palm.

With now only Moritsune, Demetrius Johnson "Junior", Lord Kuryiun, Grandmaster Lee, Monk Mori and Ser Bobery remaining, Lord Kuryiun would then say,

"Is there any other fool that wishes rush in blindly like a blithering idiot" he then asked rhetorically before waiting for a response in which he would soon receive from Johnson, who then said,

"Well, what do you suggest then, little dude" he asked.

"Well..." he said as the remainder of them, with the exception of Ser Bobery and the elder monk, gathered around him in a huddle,

"...it seems as if we have no chance to defeat him in unarmed combat which works well with me because I'm a swordsman. Now, luckily for us I've well scouted all of you in the preliminaries and suspect that, for the most part, you've all been holding yourselves back as to not reveal your true strength. Now, if I'm correct, and if we all work as one cohesive unit, we may stand a good chance at defeating him, we just need to develop the correct attack pattern. Now do I have all of your collective cooperation?" he then asked them.

"Maaan, I ain't ever seen a fighter THAT bad in my WHOLE life, HELL YEAH you have mine" "Junior" then said before Moritsune then said,

"I'd normally NEVER gang up upon an opponent, but I could REALLY use that money and honestly DON'T see any other way around this" he said as the Grandmaster then said,

"This would be the most dishonorable way in which I've ever competed in, but my reputation as grandmaster of the Imperial Fists Temple is at stake and I MUST teach my students to attain victory at ANY costs" before Kuryiun then turned his attention to the still silent and stoic Ser Bobery and Mori and said,

"Our greatest chance of success here is if we all band together, especially with such a powerful swordsman such as yourself, you'd certainly be a handful for him just by yourself by the look of things. Also, you Master Monk, being such a vaunted and seasoned warrior such as yourself, you're experience would be a most valuable asset to our battle" he said.

"I would never so much as think to disgrace myself or my highly regarded shrine of origin by including myself in an uneven battle, there is no honor in that" then replied Mori before Kuryiun quickly replied,

"No honor, but quite a bit of gold, DO NOT be a fool master monk, with this amount of riches, your venerable shrine wouldn't require another red cent for generations" he said.

"And it would be riches tainted with bad karma, which for all it's purposes, may as well be the Devil's profit" the monk then replied with resolution.

With him beginning to concede his argument Kuryiun would then say,

"And I suppose you would feel the same way then, Ser Bobery" he asked as the large knight would then continue to remain silent and unmoving.

"As I expected, oh well, we'll just have to attempt this as best as we can with what we have at our disposal, now..." he said before then gathering his constituents and relaying his strategy them.

As his opponents then continued to delegate their strategy against him Tatsumi would then continue to stand in anticipation, intentionally allowing them to formulate their best opportunity of defeating him before, after impatiently waiting on them for several moments, saying,

"COMOON you miserable fucks, it doesn't take that long to figure out how you're gonna get your ass beat" he said in a frustrated tone.

No sooner then when these words had escaped Tatsumi's mouth would the four men then suddenly disperse their huddle as Johnson would then quickly, at speeds faster than Tatsumi had seen before during this tournament, charge Tatsumi. When Junior had reached him he'd then rear his fist back as if he were attempting to throw a punch, which Tatsumi would then anticipate, before quickly flipping behind Tatsumi and surprising him before aiming a kick, that had been apart of his flipping motion, for the back of Tatsumi's head. Then to make matters even worse for Tatsumi, at this exact moment, Kuryiun had rushed in, at a speed faster than Johnson's, with a quick draw slash of his ninjato aimed for his shins while simultaneously, Lee, from overhead, aimed an even faster downward slash, going from his right to his left at him. With him then telegraphing these three attacks at the last possible moment, Tatsumi would then be able to perform a high arcing jumping somersault where he narrowly avoid both being cut by Lee, as it would almost seem as if his blade would lightly brush Tatsumi along his abdomen down to the crotch of his pants, even slicing through a few of it's fibers, as he soared through the air while also narrow missing being kicked by Junior as the kick would actually succeed in dislodging a few fibers of both his hair and war feathers. As he continued his motion after narrowly dodging those attacks he would then see Moritsune soar directly down upon him, aiming to bisect him, with a slash of his sword. Just as this sword came to within a foot of him Tatsumi would then punch the blade on it's side causing it to shatter into near dust like particles up to just below it's hilt, and completely shocking Moritsune, before continuing to quickly rotate his body into an elbow directly into Moritsune's chin now rendering him unconscious. Just as his body had begun to fly away from him, as each of them continued to fall towards the ground, Tatsumi would then quickly grab ahold of him from the collar of his clothes while saying,

"Where the hell do ya think YOU'RE going, Sleep Man", before throwing him at the incoming Lee as a way to shield himself from his oncoming attack as he landed.

The very moment that Tatsumi's first foot had hit the ground he'd still find himself bombarded upon with more strikes from Kuryiun, who would again slash at him low, and Junior, who would aim at him high again with a rolling spin kick, while Lee had been preoccupied with hop kicking Moritsune's body out of his way. Tatsumi would then block Junior's kick, causing a massive shockwave to once again reverberate throughout the stadium, before grabbing ahold of his leg, spinning once, to narrowly evade Kuryiun's oncoming attack while also temporarily dazing Junior as he then ended up behind him, before throwing Junior's body directly into Kuryiun's back thus rendering them both unconscious as their bodies would then skid and tumble along the arena floor. With him now sweating profusely and beginning to pant heavily Tatsumi would then look towards the shocked Grandmaster and say,

"What's the matter, plan didn't pan out the way you thought it would", with a confident grin upon his face.

"It was a good plan, we just had no idea you were THIS powerful" he then nervously replied in awe.

"WELL EVERYONE'S got a plan until they get punched in the face", Tatsumi then said before quickly rushing in and attempting to do just that as Lee would then block the strike with his right forearm.

He would retaliate with a right hook of his own in which Tatsumi would dodge by dashing backwards from him before countering with a kick aimed for the Grandmaster's head. The Grandmaster would then dodge under this kick and attempt to counter with a strong uppercut to Tatsumi's chin which would then prompt him to perform another backwards flip to narrowly dodge the punch while also simultaneously executing a flipping kick which would hit Lee directly on his chin and lift him off the ground. Tatsumi would then follow this up with a sharp kick directly to the stunned warrior's abdomen which would then render him unconscious before sending him crashing into the arena barricade located at the opposite end of the arena from them. Tatsumi would then dramatically leave his attacking leg in it's striking position for moments before slowly lowering it to the ground and turning to his final two combatants before saying,

"Alright, you two are the two last standing asses, COOMOON, the quicker we get this over with the quicker you two can go back to being chumps", before the elder monk then replied,

"Absolutely not, even before I had the chance to see you move one muscle, I knew that you were greatly masking your true strength and even then I stood no chance against you. The only chance that I've ever had of even coming close to winning this fight is by some miracle another competitor would either be able to weaken you enough for me or even defeating you altogether", he said.

This would then cause Tatsumi to burst into a short fit of laughter before saying,

"Wow old man, can't say I blame ya, so, I guess that'll just leave you and m...", while turning towards the large knight only for him to be cut off mid sentence by him charging in while displaying surprisingly blinding speed and attempting to split him in half with his great axe.

Tatsumi would then be able to flip away from this, as the axe would then create a giant fault line in the ring and stadium floor traveling completely out of the stadium. This would thus disrupt Tatsumi's motion and cause him to lose his balance and fall as he flipped backward while the aggressive Ser Bobery had already been in mid swing on his next strike from below Tatsumi before he had even hit the ground on his less than three foot fall. At the very last possible moment Tatsumi would then maneuver and contort his body, at great physical strain from himself, to where he could kick himself with precision off of the knight's incoming hands and catapult himself away before the axe could catch up with him. Yet again, as he soared through the air after his evasion, he'd be again imposed upon by the knight with great speed before he could come close to the ground as he then attempted another horizontal slash of his axe. At this brief moment in time Tatsumi would then think,

"OH, punk ass ain't gonna let me get to the ground are you, GOTCHA", before yet again catching the large axe at the precise millisecond that he could in order to use it as a springboard to catapult himself overhead of the large knight leading him into a flipping kick to the back of his protective helmet, completely shattering it while knocking it off, as it sent his body skidding for several yards, leaving a small trail of blood and debris in it's wake.

With him now believing him to be defeated, Tatsumi would then turn his attention toward the elder monk and say,

"Alright, I think...", before he'd yet again be cut off by Ser Bobery who had quickly made it back to his feet and had attempted to decapitate him. Tatsumi would then be able to duck under this and land a mule style kick to his abdomen and knock him to the ground.

Tatsumi would then quickly follow up on his downed, with him assumedly thinking not for long, with a leaping punch onto his opponent only for the large knight to dodge it causing Tatsumi to leave a large crater in his place as Tatsumi now had the chance to see the knight's face for the first time. What Tatsumi, and the entire audience, would see for the first time was a hideously disfigured face with gray decaying skin and white soulless eyes as he sported the fresh head wound that Tatsumi had just created trickling down his face.

"WOW, you sholl is one UGLY muffucka", Tatsumi then remarked before Ser Bobery then quickly rushed in on him again with an enraged look upon his face as if Tatsumi's words had greatly annoyed him.

He would rush in with his axe scraping along the ground before bringing it into an upwardly slash that Tatsumi would then hop step backward from. Once again before Tatsumi's feet could touch the ground from his hop the large knight would quickly follow up with a downward follow up slash leaving Tatsumi no time to maneuver around it all. In order to spare himself from possibly being cut Tatsumi would then catch the incoming ax from above his head in between his two palms before the momentum then continued to carry him into the ground where it would create another large crater as he continued to hold the large weapon back. Ser Bobery would then attempt to use all of his strength, weight and leverage to force his he blade through Tatsumi in a desperate struggle. The two would then continue to battle with eachother over position before it would appear as if Ser Bobery had the upper hand as the blade of his axe then came to within mere centimeters of Tatsumi's face. Right at this moment Tatsumi would then shout with all his might, as it echoed throughout the arena, before visibly straining, with several of his veins appearing to nearly burst through his skin, and pushing back against the large knight, catapulting him into the air at a sonic pace. Tatsumi would then quickly follow this up by jumping into the air at a much faster rate than Ser Bobery before delivering a devastating two fisted strike to the back of the knight's head, completely destroying it in an explosion of blood, bone and brain matter, before the remainder of his body then immediately crashed into the ring with a lifeless thud.

"Well, that takes care of this big lousy fuck, now...", Tatsumi then said after lightly landing in front of the crater that he had created before turning to the elder monk and saying,

"Now old man, what do ya sa...", he said before again stopping himself short while widening his eyes in shock before turning back towards the crater and saying,

"OH, you have GOT to be SHITTING ME", before, to the very audible shock and fright of most of the entire audience, the now headless body of the large knight then quickly emerged from the crater and began to blindly attack Tatsumi.

Although these attacks would be much faster and stronger than any of the knight's previous strikes, they'd all be wild and aimless attacks without any direction as Tatsumi would find himself being able to dodge and block these strikes with a modest degree of difficulty before he then nervously said,

"What in fuck's name are you", as he found himself at genuine unease at the knight's monsterous ability.

This uneasiness from Tatsumi would then only remain for the next few moments as he continued to study his attacks before finding an opening under one of Ser Bobery's wild fists and landing a devastating uppercut into his mid section, again shattering through his armor. This would then again launch the knight's body high into the air at a supersonic speed as Tatsumi then jumped after his body and grabbed ahold of it around the waist before redirecting it and soaring back down with it into the ring at an even faster pace. This would then cause a devastating impact which would in turn cause a massive quake and shockwave throughout the stadium which which jar most of the audience from their seats as it would also create a massive dust cloud and cause the unflappable General Esdeath to put a look of surprise upon her face. Almost immediately after he had planted the knight's body into the mat Tatsumi would then quickly turn to the monk and say,

"Alright old man, seen enough because I'm still only getting started", he asked in an aggravated and excited tone.

"Most definitely young man, I've never seen a warrior quite as gifted as you, I could never hope to possibly beat you. I would only humbly ask that you strive to accomplish the most that that great strength will allow you to" the elder monk then modestly said before quietly exiting the arena with his arms folded behind his back.

Soon afterward the dust that had shrouded the arena had faded away to reveal a nearly completely destroyed ring along with Tatsumi standing over the now shattered into several pieces broken body of the fallen knight. This would then cause the large crowd to then remain in stunned silence for several seconds before suddenly erupting into a thunderous ovation as most of them soon began chanting,

"TAT-SU-MI, TAT-SU-MI, TAT-SU-MI...", as General Yamamoto then said.

"Oh my heavens, such INCREDIBLE ability and potential, such a truly impressive specimen, nearly as impressive as you were my dear", he said.

"Perhaps", Esdeath then replied emotionlessly with the bill of her hat hiding her eyes.

Meanwhile, back within the stadium's audience Kyouta had just located his fellow teammates as he then said upon joining them with his arms filled with arena snacks,

"WOW, guys, it's hard as SHIT getting around this bitch, what'd I miss", while handing them out before turning his full attention to the stadium floor to find that his brother had already won before saying,

"GODAMMIT TATSUMI, YA COULD'NT EVEN WAIT UNTIL I GOT THE DAMN SNACKS, he COULD'NT have been holding back", in pure frustration before Yoryu then said,

"Oh yeah he was, and it woulda BEEN over if that fucking knight wasn't practically immortal", he said before Kyouta replied,

"Damn, that boy's gotten ALOT stronger", he said before placing a sympathetic hand upon his little sister's shoulder before saying,

"I'm SO sorry for what he's MUSTA been doing to you in training if he's THIS strong now Koko", he said.

"How else do you guys think I KNEW my big bro was gonna do this NO SWEAT", Matoko then replied with a wink while smiling before Yoryu then said,

"Well he IS sweating, don't think I'd be after that", in a sarcastic tone before Kyouta then said,

"Oh, quit your bellyaching Yo, you know damn well Tatsu is better suited for these types of fights, plus they DON'T recognize HIS Imperial Arms", he said.

"Yeah, I fucking know, DON'T mean I gotta like it" Yoryu then angrily replied causing a bout of laughter out of his teammates.

Once the shocked Wave had saw that the knight's body was now in pieces and that the monk had already left the arena he'd then quickly turn to Tatsumi, raise his right hand towards him while lifting the microphone in his other to his face and saying,

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT WOULD APPEAR AS IF OUR GREAT TOURNAMENT HAS BEEN SETTLED,... YOUR WINNER AND TWENTY FIRST TOURNAMENT CHAMPION... TAAATSUMI 'THEEE WHITE DRAGOOON' YAAAANNDENA", he said in an excited tone while feeding off of the large crowd's enthusiasm.

With Tatsumi now no longer solely focused on his fight he'd now notice, for the first time since the battle started, the stadium's audience's deafening ovation for him which had only intensified since the moment that he had been declared winner. This would then genuinely leave him taken aback as he had only ever known approval of any kind from his brothers and his great grandfather as the ovation swelled him with pride in himself that he had never experienced before as he then thought,

"Is ALL this cheering..., for me", he said while turning his head, surveying the entire crowd in awe, before Kairyu then said to him,

"Nah, they're applauding the guys that you just floored in rapid succession", in an obviously sarcastic tone before Tatsumi became completely overcome with pride as he then jumped high into the air while pumping his fist into the air while he then put a child like, fully excited and brimming smile on his face before shouting,

"HEEEELLLL YEEEEEAAH", as Wave then presented him with the tournament's gold plated and black leather strapped championship belt prompting him to hold it high above his head in his right hand with the same adolescent smile upon his face.

Within her personal suite and at the very moment that Tatsumi had smiled in celebration of his victory, Esdeath would be left in an uncharacteristially catatonic state, with her eyes fixated squarely on Tatsumi as her face then became flush before she then said,

"It's him, I KNOW IT", as she could feel her heart almost seemingly feel as if it would burst through her chest before the Prime Minister then said,

"Do you know this gifted young man General, he'd be an invaluable asset to our forces" he asked.

"I have never seen this boy a day in my life but he now belongs to me" she replied in a casual tone while standing up from her seat before she slowly began to make her way down the stairs that led directly to the arena's stage as Frisis then said,

"OH NO", in an uncharacteristially panicked tone while being completely ignored by her host as some of the audience's older members began to slowly file out of the stadium upon seeing this.

As Tatsumi continued to celebrate his victory, he'd soon begin to join in with the audience as he then slung his championship belt over his shoulder and began to show his appreciation to the audience, especially it's children, as he gave high fives to as many as he could as they continued to chant his name. He would then continue his adulation of the fans until a few of them froze in state from apparent fear while others further away from him began to attempt to get him to look behind himself via pointing. Now heeding there advice, Tatsumi would then quickly turn himself around to see what they had been trying to point out to him. The moment that he did his eyes would then completely widen in surprise at the sight that stood before him as he would then immediately know, from the descriptions he had been given of her appearance and the nearly immeasurable strength he could sense from her, that this had to have been the "General Esdeath" that he been exhaustingly informed about. As the two of them would then lock eyes with eachother it would seem as if time had slowed to a crawl and every other person that had occupied the stadium had vanished as a result of their intense focus upon one another as Esdeath continued to methodically pace towards him. As she continued to approach him Tatsumi could barely contain his excitement as he then thought to himself before beginning to pace towards her,

"So THIS is the very top of the mountain here, huh, the only thing standing between me and everything that I ever wanted", before then "saying" to Kairyu,

"So you're really gonna tell me that it was this fairy looking bitch that had you all scared and shit" he then asked.

"WITHOUT A DOUBT, there is NO ONE else with that chilling aura and that AWFUL smell, THAT is DEFINITELY Frisis" he said as Tatsumi could notice the clear pain and worry in his tone before they both came to a stop only a few yards away from eachother.

The two of them would then stand there silently staring at eachother without breaking eye contact with on eachother as Tatsumi then thought,

"So what could you POSSIBLY want with me", while being unable to hide his excitement over the possibility of him having the fight that he had been waiting most of life for as a small right leaning grin found its way on his face as he then continued to noticeably sweat considerably, this time from excitement, before Esdeath then suddenly said,

"So, Tatsumi, was it right!? Such a wonderful name" she said with a bright smile on her face.

"Well uh.., thanks, I guess" Tatsumi then replied while being unable to hide his confusion over not only the compliment that she had given him but also her seemingly blissful disposition towards him despite everything he had heard about her being the most ruthless person in the world before she continued.

"You claimed that your objective was to bring excitement to this otherwise dull and dreary exhibition, as the person who's honor this tournament was held in, I'd say that you have accomplished that ten fold and I would now like to reward you for your brilliant effort just for me" she said before reaching into the top part of her military jacket, just above her breasts.

"O...kaay, thanks" he replied still in an uneasy tone before thinking,

"Well, this shit show of a tournament WAS going nowhere fast, I'd say I've fucking earned it", before preparing himself to accept whatever gift that she had in store for him.

Meanwhile, within the now decreasing audience, the remainder of Night Raid had all put both worried and nervous looks upon their faces as Kyouta then quickly said,

"OH FUCK, PLEASE DON'T DO ANYTHING FUCKING STUPID TATSUMI", with a panicked expression upon his face before Lubbock then said,

"He WONT, NOT after everything we've told him about her", in uneasy confidence before Yoryu then said,

"Then you CLEARLY DON'T know that fucking IDIOT, he's probably close to creaming his pants at the thought of this fight, it's all he's been talking about" he said before Matoko then finished for him,

"RELIGIOUSLY", while sharing her brothers visual concerns.

Esdeath would then remove the as of yet unseen item from her busom before lifting her hands along with it up to his neck as Tatsumi could only partially see the item enough to determine that it was some sort of metal looped mechanism with him believing it to be some sort of awards medal. Esdeath would then clasp what had turned out to be a metal prisoner's collar, with Frisis' symbol engraved unto it's front, around his neck before quickly grabbing hold of the long chain attached to it. This would then cause Tatsumi to become a mixture of confused and angry before saying,

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS", with a matching look upon his face.

"From this day forth, you will belong ONLY to me" she then replied to him in a contrastingly calm demeanor with the same welcoming smile towards him.

"THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN" he then replied with increasing confusion.

"Come, we'll go to my personal quarters where we can be by ourselves, there are far too many unwelcome eyes here" she then replied to him while tugging on the chain, only slightly pulling him forward in his shock, before he then fully resisted, stopping her before saying,

"And why in FUCK'S name would I do that" he said before quickly grasping the collar and easily snapping it in half, slightly shocking Esdeath, before quickly composing herself and saying.

"Are you disobeying me" in a calm and collected tone with her hands now resting on her hips and a determined look upon her face.

"OH GOD, JUST like fucking Frisis, thinking she owns EVERYone and thing" Kairyu then said.

"Well, NOT fucking me" Tatsumi then replied before Kairyu then quickly said to him in a heartbroken tone,

"No kid, don't make the same mistakes we did, use this to your advantage" only on deaf ears seemingly as Tatsumi then said,

"Fuck off you crazy skank", to Esdeath.

"Oooh, so I see I am going to have my work cut out for me taming you, but understand this MY Tatsumi, I WILL ALWAYS REMAIN DOMINANT" she said as her expression then quickly morphed from an intrigued smile into a murderous glare before instantly rushing in on Tatsumi.

Although he had been on his guard since she had entered the arena he would be completely taken by surprise from her speed before she landed a right roundhouse kick on Tatsumi's head sending him spinning into the ground several yards away before landing face first. The very moment that her foot had connected with his face he'd realize just how strong she was as he had never been hit that hard before in his life, even during his grandfather's brutal training sessions as she then said.

"Let this be your one and only lesson"

She then said while slowly lowering her leg to the ground, now fully expecting him to be unconscious due to the fact that she hadn't held back on her kick despite her desire to do such. As she then slowly began to make her way to him to gather him up, She would then be, for the first time since she had been a child, completely taken aback, as she then stopped in her tracks in amazement, when Tatsumi began to slowly raise himself from the ground before turning to her and saying with an excited smile upon his face.

"I sure hope you can hit harder than that because my grandfather hits harder than that" before quickly charging in on her while also revealing the laceration that she had caused, now shrouding nearly half of his face with the blood seeping out of it as now nearly every occupant of the stadium had either departed or were hastily making their ways towards the exit.

The moment that Esdeath would then lay her eyes on Tatsumi's now bloodied face she'd find herself even more attracted to him causing her to blush even more and now with a devious grin upon her face as he then attempted to land a right hook in it. She'd then block this strike with her left forearm before responding with a right cross of her own intended for his nose that he'd then be able to barely dodge to his right as her fist would then create a small cut on his left cheek before his face would then collide with her now recovering right fist. This would then yet again send his body flying for several feet in that direction before his body crashed into the already heavily damaged ring floor before Esdeath quickly followed her strike with an axe kick while he was still downed. Tatsumi would then recover just in time to both telegraph and dodge this attack just before it struck him as it would then leave a crater three times the size of his body in it's place. This would then only slow Esdeath's assault momentarily, as such, by the time that Tatsumi's feet had hit the ground after leaping out of the way she'd be charging towards him again. She would then attempt to hit him with a jumping and slashing kick aimed for the right side of his face again before she then made contact which would then cause another, even larger, shockwave to reverberate throughout the stadium as it would knock most of the stadium's remaining inhabitants from their seats. With her having initially thinking that she had landed a successful strike upon him, Esdeath would then quickly notice, to both her extreme surprise and visual pleasure, that Tatsumi had managed to catch her foot with both of his hands only mere centimeters away from his face while the sheer power from catching it rendered him immobile. Without her smile of excitement wavering and before Tatsumi could recover from the unexpected shock of catching her kick Esdeath would then quickly spin and contorted her highly flexible body into a mule kick directly into Tatsumi's sternum causing him to then immediately cough blood onto her before being launched away by her kick while releasing his grip on her. Tatsumi would then land several yards away from her after soaring through the air before landing with a thud on his back while Esdeath then gracefully landed on her feet as she then took a moment to assess the damage that she had inflicted on him thus far as she was certain with herself that her last strike had cracked a few of his ribs before she then said,

"Are you ready to be a good boy and submit to me now, my little Tatsumi" with her same fully confident smile as her hands rested on her hips.

Having heard her very clearly dispite his injuries Tatsumi would then slowly begin to make his way to his feet while clutching his torso before saying,

"You're outta your FUCKING mind if you think I'm going to quit that easy, you ain't even did shit yet you crazy ass bitch", before charging her again as he then thought,

"WHY THE HELL didn't you tell me this bitch was THIS BAD", before Kairyu then replied,

"SHUT THEE FUCK UP with THAT bullshit Tatsumi, GODAMMIT, this bitch has widened the gap AGAIN", while being the most frustrated he had been since Tatsumi had become his host.

"No YOU shut the fuck up, I still got this" Tatsumi then replied with renewed determination before aiming a punch directly at her ribcage.

"Such impertinence, you truthfully are a wild beast of a man, I'll truly enjoy myself while subjugating you" Esdeath then replied before quickly spinning her body and blocking his incoming fist with the sole of her left boot, to Tatsumi's then immediately astonishment, before she quickly pushed his fist away with her foot forcing his entire body back in the process as well.

She'd then follow this up by quickly following after him and attempting another slashing kick of her right leg only for him to then quickly recover and come to a skidded landing just in time to flip himself backwards and narrowly avoid her kick. Tatsumi would then attempt to counter her with an uppercut as her previously thrown kick's momentum had carried her to where her back would be facing him only for her to then continue her momentum into another slashing kick now with her left leg. Tatsumi would then barely be able to dodge under this kick by bending himself backwards, again to Esdeath's visual surprise, before quickly springing back forth and attempt to land a straight right on to her nose. She'd then seemingly barely dodge this to her right before he'd then immediately follow this punch with another from his left. Esdeath would then similarly dodge this strike before Tatsumi would then begin to unleash a barrage of lightning quick punches aimed for her face that she would then proceed to gracefully and dance like dodge. It would be during this barrage of attacks that Esdeath would then notice something about Tatsumi as she then thought,

"Impressive, it seems as if he is getting stronger the longer this battle goes on", before Frisis then said,

"Just as Kairyu had always seemed to do, but in the end, it NEVER mattered much against me", in an annoyed tone.

"Wonderful, then once I break him, he would be the PERFECT training partner, he already has the most impressive strength that I've EVER seen out of an opponent and if we continue to train with eachother then we'll only push eachothers power to immeasurable heights, we truly ARE meant for each other" Esdeath then declared to herself and Frisis before blocking an uppercut meant for her mid section with her booted heel, to Tatsumi's immediate visual astonishment.

Now seeing the shocked look on Tatsumi's face, in reaction to her unorthodox and difficult block, would then cause her to then put a loving look upon her face as she felt the strength from Tatsumi's punch through her leg that had been intended for her, then causing them both to then blush, before she then thrust her leg forward from his fist which would then again propel his body backward causing his feet to dig long trenches into the stone floor. Then, giving him minimal time to recover, she'd then quickly be on him again with another leaping slash kick of her right leg which Tatsumi would then be able to barely dash backward from to dodge only for Esdeath to then quickly plant her kicking leg to immediately spin her body around and connect with a kick to his abdomen that he didn't see coming which would then yet again send his body flying while blood flew out his mouth. With her almost desperately wanting to end this fight so that she could take her new found love back and have him all to herself she'd then quickly follow her strike with a kick to his abdomen as he lay on his right side. Just as the toe of her boot then came to within less of an inch of his chest he then be able to catch it only for the resulting force to then still catapult him upward, causing him to release his grip, as she then continued her assault. She would then quickly rush him again and plant a knee square in his abdomen, knocking all the wind from his lungs, and yet again sending him airborne before quickly jumping up behind him to deliver a sharp elbow to his spine, yet again sending him plummeting into the ground and creating a crater. She would then land gracefully on her feet right in front of him while now believing yet again that she had rendered him unconscious from her knowing of the fact that few could even LIVE through what she had just done to him as she then slowly paced toward him to collect her well earned prized. She would then yet again find herself in a, rare for her, astonished state as she then froze in her tracks as Tatsumi then, yet again, began to slowly pull himself to his feet with an excited smile on his face before saying,

"That ALL ya got", before putting his fist up in defense, prompting the now swooning Esdeath to then say.

"My, my, all the punishment that I've given you and you actually seem to be even enjoying it, we are most certainly meant for each other, NOW, be a good little boy and spare yourself more devastation and come with me" she then said while slowly approaching him, unconsciously swaying her hips as she did so, something Tatsumi couldn't help but to be mesmerized by as he found himself unable to concentrate on anything else until the very moment that he had seen Esdeath attempt to aim a punch for his left eye.

As her punch then made it's way towards him, time would then seem to slow far more than it had to him at any point prior to this in his life in battle as he would then find himself able to dogde under her punch while simultaneously moving towards her before he then delivered a right fist to the left side of her face, connecting with it to the collective surprise of every occupant of the arena, causing time to then seemingly freeze for not only the two of them but for every other occupant of the arena that could track the lightning fast battle as well. The punch, having obviously caught her by surprise, would then knock her on to the ground face first with her hat flying off of her head as the momentum from it would cause Tatsumi to stumble forward as he then thought,

"GOT YO ASS, I don't even know where the hell that came from", before looking at his hands in amazement at the strength that he had displayed in his desperation.

By the time that he had looked up from his hands however, Esdeath had already made it back to her feet and had revealed her face to have been slightly swollen where his fist had landed as well as a bloody lip while the bangs of her hair concealed her still lowered face. The very moment that Tatsumi would regain a stable footing he'd then quickly attempt to follow up his attack as he moved towards her only for him to be frozen in his tracks by Esdeath now looking up to reveal a murderous grin upon her face as he could swear he saw her eyes flash with red. Seeing this look upon her face would then immediately put him on guard as she then quickly dashed towards him at a speed that he hadn't been prepared for before firing a right kick almost meant to behead him as he'd then bring his left forearm up to block it at the last possible moment. The velocity of this kick, despite his block, would then force his arm back onto his body, essentially kicking through his arm into his ribs, breaking several of his bones along the way, most importantly being the ones in his arm, before it sent him soaring yet again before tumbling and rolling several times upon his landing. Without wasting any time she'd then quickly try to attack him while he was down with an axe kick that he'd barely be able to dodge only for her to quickly turn her body around after planting her foot to connect with a spinning kick to the left side of his face, again launching his body in that direction. She would then follow this by rushing past him and reaching where his trajectory was sending him, before he did, to deliver a fist to the opposite side of his face, immediately halting his momentum, and causing him to hit the ground at a blistering pace, face up, before the velocity that he collided into the ground with caused his body to roll over backward until he ended up face down. With her now being positive that she had not only rendered him unconscious but had aslo nearly killed him, as she had unintentionally lost control of herself during the fight due to the combined reasons of how much she had truthfully enjoyed it, as it had been the closest fight that she could remember herself taking part in despite her clear advantage, along with the fact that she desperately didn't want to disappoint her new lover, she'd then yet again make her towards his body slowly. She'd then yet again find herself unfamiliarly surprised, and stopping in her tracks in amazement, when Tatsumi then slowly moved his hands up from his face down position to lift himself up. He would then, at an even slower pace, lift himself up from the crater that his body had created as blood then flowed at an alarming rate from him before slowly lifting his head to reveal yet another excited smile. The very moment that Esdeath had eyed his face this time her heart would then immediately melt for several reasons with one of the most prominent being that, short of her using her Imperial Arms, which she knew that he also wasn't using, she had fought him without restraining herself, despite her intentions to do so, something that she knew few would be able to even live through let alone be able to absorb. Also particularly intriguing her, included in on the fact that she had wished to hold herself back, was the fact that despite her full forced blows, she hadn't overly damaged his "beautiful" face as she had blacked and swollen his already scarred eye, busted his nose and created several lacerations and scrapes of indeterminate locations along his forehead or scalp as his face would be nearly shrouded in blood. Despite all of this, what would have her MOST intrigued in this situation was despite all the punishment she subjected him to AND despite the fact that it was clear he could not beat her, he still had the same zeal for battle that he had started with. Once he had fully made it to his feet in a stable manner again Tatsumi would then put his guard up in his fighting stance again before saying,

"I can do this ALL FUCKING DAY", with seemingly renewed determination before she replied with her hands on her hips,

"My this IS impressive My Tatsumi, you have given me such a beautiful battle, a battle that I'm sure no one else walking the planet could give me. Not only that but you have a love for battle that burns just as much as mine's does, I now know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this feeling in my heart is correct, you ARE who I was MEANT to spend the rest of my life with", she said with her left hand on her heart and a genuine smile upon her now red face.

With this now taking him aback as he thought that this was some twisted game that the sadistic general was playing with him, Tatsumi would then reply with,

"FUCK OFF, I'll be a cold and decaying corpse LONG before I ever become one of your little toys", before he then began to advance upon her as Esdeath would then do the same.

The moment that he then took his first step towards her however Tatsumi would then quickly lose consciousness while thinking,

"Fuuuuuuckkkkk...", before slowly collapsing to the ground.

His body would then not complete a full quarter of it's decent towards the ground before Esdeath had quickly rushed in and caught him with the utmost delicate touch before hugging his body close to hers, feeling his heart beating close to her own, before whispering into his ear,

"We'll discuss ourselves privately later in my chambers, my love, only you and I", she said with a flush face.

Concurrently, within the stands of the stadium, the remainder of Tatsumi's Night Raid teammates had been observing the battle with nervous anticipation over their collective fear of the high probability that, who many of them felt was the strongest member of their team, could easily lose his life. Their fears would then be exasperated even more as they continued their observations up until the moment that Esdeath had rendered Tatsumi unconscious where, at that moment, both Yoryu and Kyouta would then simultaneously say,

"AWW HELL NAW", before each of them then unsheathed their respective swords.

As if they had prior knowledge to what Kyouta and Yoryu had on their minds both Leone and Lubbock had already moved on them respectively to restrain them as Lubbock used Cross Tail's wire while Leone used Leonelle added strength to aid her.

"GET THE FUCK OFF ME LEONE, THAT'S MY LITTLE FUCKING BROTHER OUT THERE" Kyouta then said while Yoryu then simultaneously said,

"LET ME THE FUCK GO LUB, THAT'S TATSUMI IN THERE" as they then each struggled against their respective restraints before Lubbock then quickly said,

"COMON KYO, THINK RATIONALLY, IF SHE WAS GONNA KILL HIM, OR KNEW SOMETHING THAT WE DIDN'T WANT HER TO KNOW, THEY WOULD'VE TAKEN YOU TOO AND WOULD HAVE NEVER LET HIM FIGHT IN THIS TOURNAMENT", he said as he continued to struggle with restraining Yoryu.

Upon hearing this Kyouta would then slowly settle himself as if in deep thought while Leone then gave him as lovingly a look as she could offer before saying,

"Please Kyo, we could all end up dead behind this AND possibly make it even worse for Tatsumi if we do something about it now, we should at least regroup with Akame first", softly before he then took a deep breath while slowly shutting and opening his eyes before saying,

"He's right Yo, if it was something we should be worried about they'd have taken me, at the very most they're going to interrogate him and Tatsumi ain't no bitch which should give us time to figure out what's the best thing for us to do right now", he said.

Upon hearing this Yoryu would then cease his resistance reluctantly before, just as reluctantly, nodding his head in acknowledgement of his brother before he then began to frantically search his surroundings before looking at Kyouta and saying,

"Wait a minute...", as Kyouta then surmised his brother's intentions before each of them nearly simultaneously said,

"Where's Koko", before turning their attention towards the ring and immediately becoming aghast at the sight before them.

Within the ring, and after Esdeath had rendered Tatsumi unconscious, she would then tuck him under her left arm before she began to collect the items that he had scattered throughout the ring including his shirt, sweater, hoodie and championship medal. Once she had collected these items she'd then begin to make her way out of the arena before she suddenly be halted by someone saying,

"YOU PUT MY BIG BROTHER DOWN, YOU BIG BOOBED BIMBO", turning out to be an uncharacteristically angered Matoko, grabbing her attention as Kyouta and Yoryu then simultaneously said from in the stands,

"NOO, KOKOOO!", in anguish as their teammates matched their worried faces before Esdeath then said while gently placing Tatsumi's body back first onto the ground,

"Ah, do you speak the truth when you say that girl, is this honestly your flesh and blood brother", she asked with a determined smile on her face.

"You're darn tootin' I am, and I was ALWAYS raised to protect my siblings from ANYBODY that's not one of us, ESPECIALLY a dairy cow like you" she said while pointing Extase at Esdeath causing even more worried faces from her teammates.

"Ohh, well then, that would now make US sisters, I've always wanted a little sister but there is one thing I'd like you to know..." Esdeath then replied while blushing before immediately darkening her expression.

She would then quickly rush in on her and land a knee directly to her mid section causing her to cough up blood before quickly falling to her knees while clutching her mid section.

"... Don't you EVER insult your big sister in that manner again, I WILL NOT TOLERATE DISRESPECT" Esdeath then finished while standing over her with her arms resting upon her hips.

Matoko would then take several moments to recover from this strike before slowly raising to her feet with the aide of Extase before attempting to slice Esdeath vertically only for her to then quickly flip away. Matoko would then quickly follow her slash with another while saying,

"You're not my sister, Cow Tits", By the time that Matoko's slash had reached her Esdeath had already drew her rapier and had coated it with a thick layer of her strongest ice before blocking her attack with it.

Esdeath would then thrust Matoko off of her sending her flying several feet away before quickly following with a leaping downward slash of her sword which Matoko would then find herself being barely able to block with Extase before being cut in half. Then, before Matoko could even react, Esdeath would then quickly land a kick to Matoko's open ribs, yet again sending her flying in the opposite direction, before again following after her. The very moment that Matoko's body would hit the ring floor Esdeath's foot would then be planted into her mid section causing her to again cough up blood before she then said.

"Well, if disrespect is your choice then by all means, just understand that your choices have consequences and that I WILL NOT, under any circumstances, tolerate disrespect from my younger sister" she said before propping her foot onto her body and then forcefully leaning onto it.

With Esdeath now sure that she had, at bare minimum, rendered Matoko immobile, due to the broken bones that she had felt inflicting upon her, Esdeath would then forcefully kick her foot off of Matoko before saying,

"Now, let this be an invaluable lesson to you little sister, NOW", she said before holding up her finger and continuing to say,

"I have a new lover to enjoy", before turning away from her and starting towards Tatsumi.

She would then only take two steps before sensing Matoko quickly jumping to her feet while clutching her Imperial Arms before then instantly turning her attention behind her to see Matoko attempting behead her.

"HOW!?" Esdeath then quickly thought to herself with visual surprise on her face before ducking under Matoko's slash and quickly countering with a quick slash of her own in a fit of unbridled rage which would then promptly sever Matoko's left arm, the arm holding Extase, from her body just below her shoulder.

"AAAAHHHHHHHHH" Matoko would then screamed in agony in an uncharacteristically high pitched and shrill tone while clutching at the stump where her arm had used to be as a fountain of blood then gushed from it.

The sight of Matoko flailing in her anguish, combined with the shower of blood bursting from her and nearly covering the entire ring would then cause Esdeath to enter an almost euphoric state as she held her hands out in a wanting motion with her mouth agape as Matoko's blood rained upon. Esdeath would then continue this trance like state all while Matoko screamed in agony until her screaming came to an abrupt end as she then lost consciousness due to severe blood loss. The very moment that she did Esdeath would then snap out of her trance before then slowly beginning to walk towards her with a sadistic smile on her face while veiled in blood before slowly kneeling over her and grabbing the stump she had just created before covering it with a thin layer of ice.

"Now I truly hope that you have learned from this experience my little sister, now if you truly are worthy of that title, you will survive this, regain your strength and reclaim your Imperial Arms" she said before slowly walking over to where Matoko had dropped Extase and bending over to pick it up.

It was at this point in time that several of the Imperial Guard would then approach Esdeath as the captain of the squad would then say,

"General Esdeath, Ma'am, what would you like us to do with these miscreants that were foolish enough to dare challenge you", he said.

Esdeath would then immediately respond to him with a death glare upon her face before quickly saying,

"TATSUMI IS MINE, NO ONE WILL EVER BE ALLOWED TO LAY A FINGER ON HIM WITHOUT MY COMMAND", in deadly tone which would shake the soldiers to their very cores before then continuing in a much softer yet still stern tone,

"As for the other, leave her there and see to it that she isn't disturbed or aided in any way, if she is strong she'll find a way to live, if not she isn't worthy of being MY little sister and will die right here. Also, unless in case of extreme emergency from the Prime Minister himself, I AM NOT to be disturbed for the next twenty four hours, I shall be in my personal barracks, understood", she said before collecting her hat and placing it back atop her head before sliding her right index fingers across it's brim.

"YES MA'AM" the soldiers then replied while saluting.

Esdeath would then walk along the ring to collect Tatsumi's belongings before picking him up and tucking him under her arm.

"I CANNOT wait until I get you back to my room, you and I will have a long discussion about our lovely future together" Esdeath would then think to herself while blushing heavily before Frisis then said to her,

"And in that disgusting talk you'll have you must ABSOLUTELY make clear of the fact that you WILL ALWAYS remain dominant over him, that you WILL NEVER allow him to even be your equal as he kisses your feet", in a vigilant tone before Esdeath then replied,

"I told you, I WILL NOT repeat your mistakes, this was just his first lesson of MANY more to come judging from this level of impertinence, he WILL know obedience", before leaving the arena.

"As it always SHOULD be" Frisis then finished.

Again, within the stands of the stadium, the remaining members of Night Raid would be left with perplexed looks upon their face as the members of the Imperial Military then announced the General's orders before Kyouta then said,

"Alright, something here just don't add up, not that I'm not EXTREMELY grateful, but why is she leaving them alive or AT THE VERY LEAST not taking them to some dungeon somewhere", he said before Yoryu then said,

"I AM GOING TO KILL THAT BITCH" before trying to follow after Esdeath only to be immediately and physically halted by his older brother who then said.

"DON'T BE AS STUPID AS TATSUMI OR MATOKO BRO, you really wanna go do something as stupid as blow our cover already" he said.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, LOOK what the fuck she just did to our brother and sister" Yoryu then replied angrily.

"YEAH I seen, and I also saw that she didn't kill them, DESPITE the fact that she could've done so SEVERAL times over. Now I know Koko may never be the same again but she'll live, this could be something that could work to our advantage" Kyouta then replied.

"How do you know she isn't on her way to torture Tatsu right now" Yoryu then replied defensively.

"Because she said she wouldn't be disturbed for a full day, my guess is she's got some type of plan for him. That's the ONLY reason I can imagine why they both aren't already dead, she MUST have some type of weird admiration for their strength. At any rate we should all at least regroup with Akame and the others about what our plan. One things FOR DAMN sure though, all of us combined AREN'T fucking with her, ESPECIALLY here, she wasn't even using her Imperial Arms" Kyouta then said, before Yoryu then replied.

"But what about Koko, we just gone leave her there" he said.

"Well yeah, the General said no one is to aide her, AND NOBODY TOLD HER STUPID ASS TO GO FIGHT HER. If we were seen helping her it could jeopardize us, plus Koko is made outta tougher stuff then that. She definitely recover enough to at least make it back to us, in fact, once we've regrouped and figure out what we'll do, I plan on coming back for her immediately, we just can't do it now with this many people here" Kyouta then said now causing Yoryu to then reluctantly relent as both Leone and Lubbock then nodded in agreement before the four of them then quickly began to make their way back to the Night Raid headquarters with the utmost haste.

Once they had arrived back at their compound they quickly make their way to the meeting room where they'd find Akame, Mine and Sheele discussing contingency plans while looming over a large map before they quickly relayed to them what had happened in the capital. The moment that they had completed their briefing Akame would then quickly spring from her chair while pounding the table before shouting,

"BOTH TATSUMI AND MATOKO HAVE BEEN TAKEN AS ESDEATH'S PERSONAL PRISONERS!" Before Mine then said,

"Did she somehow find out that they're a part of Night Raid", she asked before Kyouta then answered.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT, he'd be dead and then we'd be dead trying to avenge him, what I believe is that she admired both of their strengths so much that she's now going to try to mentally break Tatsumi until he joins the military under her command, which she probably believes would lead to Matoko being more inclined to join her as well" he said before Leone then said,

"The last I saw her she was headed towards the Imperial Palace with Tatsumi", she said before Kyouta then finished.

"And the only reason why we are even here right now, instead of rescuing Koko, is because the General warned everyone there away from disturbing her, saying that she should be well strong enough to recover and see to herself. I figured since I know my little sister is tough as nails and that she wouldn't be attacked again because of how much everyone CLEARLY fears General Esdeath that it'd be easier to snatch her up out of there while under the veil of night. Also, since you're our acting commander I wanted to go over that with you first and see what you think about it" he said before Mine then quickly interjected,

"Oh please don't say something dumb like we should try to go in there and rescue Tatsumi too because that isn't gonna work, we'd be throwing our lives away" she said before Sheele then quickly said,

"MINE!" in a scolding manner before Yoryu then abruptly said,

"Oh NOW I see the pussy ass, bitch made attitude that nearly got Sheele killed, just because you're useless as all fuck and wouldn't be worth rescuing AT ALL doesn't mean that LITERALLY ANYONE else is", he then angrily shouted while being calmly held back by Leone and Lubbock as he instantly earned the visible and red faced ire of Mine before Kyouta then said,

"C'mon bro, now that DEFINITELY was a bitch ass comment she made, but you didn't have to do her like that", before Yoryu then replied,

"Naw man, FUCK HER, THAT'S my muffuckin brother out there" he yelled while still being held back before Mine then angrily replied,

"FINE THEN, GO AHEAD AND GET YOURSELVES KILLED LIKE SOME IDIOTS, SEE IF I CARE", she shouted before angrily turning and stomping back to her room with unseen tears welling up in her eyes before Yoryu then said,

"None of us are a waste of space like the piece of trash you are, NOT gonna fucking happen", he said while still enraged as Akame then held her hand over her heart before thinking,

"I'm so sorry Yoryu, I KNOW this isn't you, you're just hurting so much from OUR brother being taken that you lashed out on Mine. I WISH that I could just wrapped my arms around you, comfort you and PROMISE you that we WILL get him back", with an unseen sorrowful look on her face before saying with a now stern look upon her face,

"ENOUGH YORYU, we CANNOT afford to behave like children and turn on eachother now, we are ALL professionals and WILL conduct ourselves as such", she said while grinding her nails into the meeting room table's wooden top.

Yoryu would then instantly notice this and thus sense how serious and mentally distressed she was which would then instantly calm him due to his overwhelming desire to not cause her any further stress as she then continued,

"Now, the first thing we need to do is to temporarily relocate our headquarters further away from the city", she said before Kyouta then said,

"Yeah that would be smart with all the increased military activity within the city, it would be much easier for them to find us now, but what about Tatsumi. I really believe that the only reason that the General took such an interest in him was because of his strength, I really believe we could use this to our advantage", he said before she replied.

"Even if that WEREN'T the case Tatsumi and Matoko are both highly valuable assets to Night Raid, even if we must risk our lives it is our duty to atleast attempt to rescue them from the Empire's clutches", she then said in a more determined tone then ever before each of her teammates then collectively nodded in agreement.

Later that night, within the capital, the stadium that had been filled to it's brim with eager participants and spectators had now gone completely desolate save for a slew of Imperial Guardsman stationed at it's entrances and within it's arena. Within the arena's now mostly destroyed ring Matoko had still remained unconscious in the middle of it as the military sentries continued to pace back and forth while guarding her body. Suddenly and one by one, while being veiled by the nighttime darkness that covered the arena, each and every one of the sentries would be methodically and silently dispatched by an unknown assailant before any of them had knew what was happening. Once all of the Guardsmen had been killed two shadowy figures would then slowly approach Matoko's body before revealing themselves to be Akame and Yoryu before Akame then said,

"It appears as if that was all of them, you guys were right, this type of behavior does not fit Esdeath at all, which makes me weary", while cautiously approaching Matoko.

"I'm SURE you know you're not alone on that but that's why we have everybody else outside, in case any unforeseen shit jumps off, we'll be ready. Now, let's hurry and grab my baby sis before they DO have time to set something up on us" Yoryu then said, prompting an affirmative nod from Akame, before reaching his sister motionless form and immediately checking her pulse with a fearful look upon his face.

Once he had, he'd then slowly close his eyes in relief before reopening them and saying, "I'm sorry it took us so long lil sis, but you wouldn't really be a Nandeya if you couldn't handle this", before slinging her over his shoulder and hastily exiting the stadium with Akame and before regrouping with the remainder of Night Raid and just as hastily exiting the entire city.

Once they had returned to their headquarters Sheele would then put an uncharacteristically mortified look upon her face before saying,

"KOKO", in a panicked tone while covering her mouth in shock the moment that she observed her injuries and unconscious state before they'd then quickly take Matoko to their infirmary, laying her upon it's bed before each of them would then noticed, in shock, an unsettling detail about her severed arm as Kyouta then said,

"Her arm..., I was POSITIVE that, that General had cut it off just below her shoulder, NOW all of a sudden not only is her wound completely healed but now it looks as if she's ONLY missing her hand and a little bit of her forearm, WHAT THE HELL", he said in an astonished tone before Yoryu then quickly stated,

"Yeah I saw the same damn thing, their is definitely something weird as hell about this...", he said while all of them seemed to be in deep thought before they'd all then be alerted by the loud crash of the doors to mansion being exploded open.

The moment that they all heard the door being blasted open Kyouta would then immediately say,

"GODDAMMIT, I FUCKING KNEW IT", before instantly activating his Imperial Arms along with each of his eligible teammates before each of them then charged toward the source of the explosion leaving Mine, Yoryu's body and Sheele in her wheelchair behind with Matoko.

Once the fully battle ready team of Leone, Kyouta, Lubbock, Akame and Yoryu's avatar had reached the exploded door they'd find no one there, to their confusion, before then instantly hearing a loud scream from Mine followed by a gasp from Sheele and then a large explosion. This would then prompt them all to quickly turn and race back into the infirmary with Akame arriving first followed firmly by Yoryu then Leone, Kyouta and Lubbock in order as each of them would then be greatly taken aback at the sight that stood before them. Once they had arrived they'd find Mine unconscious with a large lump on the back of her head with Pumpkin having been dropped on to the floor, a completely undisturbed Yoryu in the exact position he was left in as well as Sheele seated at Matoko's left bedside completely surprised at the site that now drew all attention in the room. What stood before them on Matoko's right bedside would be a seemingly young, 4'11" tall and petite of frame girl with green eyes and a skin tone between Yoryu and Matoko's shade, long hair that would be the same color as Yoryu's that was tied into two long pigtails on each side of her head reaching her knees with ox horns braided into their origins with a pink war eagle feather tied into each of their tips. She'd then be wearing a long brown dress very similar to Sheele's however with no decrotive art upon it, long sleeves that would frill out at the wrists, long slits on each side of her dress that would showcase her abnormally wide and muscular hips, a high collar with a drooping neck line that revealed much of her breasts which were of similar but slightly smaller size than Mine's, long brown high heeled sandles which wrapped around her calf muscles as well as pink lipstick, eye shadow and nail polish on both hands and feet. They would find this girl sobbing heavily with her head burried into Matoko's lap while saying,

"Oh Koko, what happened to you, I'll never let you out of my sight again", before suddenly raising her head up and just now noticing the other occupants of the room before instantly becoming angry and forcefully standing up while turning to them and saying,

"YOU, WHAT HAVE YOU ALL DONE TO MY KOKO", in an enraged tone with a matching face.

Kyouta would then immediately step forward and say,

"Hol up, what makes you think my little sister belongs to you", in a highly defensive tone.

In response the girl would then lift her left hand to reveal a crimson ring with the "Dragon's eye" at it's center in the form of and orange gem before saying,

"Because SHE IS MY HUSBAND" in an even more defensive tone to the immediate shock and audible gasp of every other person occupying the room as her face remained ever the more defiant.

Quick Original Character Description Guide:

Matoko Nandeya's "Wife": Will be based off of Tatsumaki from One Punch Man, Chun Li and Ling Xiaoyu in appearance while being based off of Mako Mankanshoku, Chi Chi and Miu Furinji in personality and mannerisms

Authors Note: Alrighty guys I SURELY hope you guys have had as much fun reading this as I had writing it. I'd say that I've had more fun writing this particular chapter than the rest of the story combined and I would sure hope that it's words would reflect on that. This chapter turned out to be well over twice as long than I had expected to be and it came very close to being separated into two but in the end I decided against it. So once again I'd like to thank you all for your continued support and ask that you all please continue to review, follow and favorite, it's means EVERYTHING to me. Just like this chapter the next chapter will be another particular chapter that I couldn't wait until I began to work on. Although I predict the chapter to be another long chapter I DO NOT expect it to be nearly as long as this one so you should expect it's release by two months from now. Until then CANNOT THANK YOU GUYS ENOUGH FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT.

-TAWTH