Bloody Roar III: Reunited by Chance, a Reflection of the Past
By Tiger5913
Chapter 4
A Seemingly Endless Struggle
The small glimpse of hope
Briefly flared up in her caring eyes.
But it smothered and started to die
When he looks to her again
With cold red pupils of fury.
Foolish boy, struggling against me.
A figure sat, clothed in the darkness of the room, watching displeased as Uriko went to help the young man stand up. An evil smile formed when sighting Kenji looking coolly at her as he rejected her assistance.
Their bond is stronger than I thought…hrmp, perhaps he was not ready. The figure concluded, sneering his disapproval. That stupid teenage boy, I ordered him to bring the girl to me. Why hasn't he done so?
Rising, the silver-haired man absentmindedly flipped aside the excess portion of his long, red outer coat.
I will take action myself, he decided as he quickly left his current location.
*****
"What is this damned influence that you have over me?!" The ninja yelled out, directing his anger at Uriko. He growled when she didn't answer him and grabbed her arms, holding them in a tight grip.
He remembered… She thought to herself. Even if it was just for a minute, he remembered… "Kenji…"
"Go away. Leave now." He ordered, shoving her a few feet back.
"I will not!" Uriko replied doggedly.
"I said leave, damn it!!" Kenji shouted.
"And I said fuck no!" She yelled back defiantly.
His eyes flashing furiously, he started slowly and menacingly stepping toward her, hissing each word as he said in a low voice, "You don't realize the position that you are in, do you? If you do not leave now, my master will come soon and have the pleasure of killing you himself."
"And who the hell is that?" The high school graduate questioned. "I know it can't be Busuzima; Stun killed him over two years ago. And Shenlong killed himself, according to Master Long."
"No, it's not either of those pathetic weaklings!" The ninja answered.
Oh sheesh, here we go with the 'weakling' labels again. She rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"This is a harder opponent… a stronger zoanthrope… That is, if you want to refer to him as one of…our…kind."
"…What's that supposed to mean…?" She asked.
"I can't explain now," he told her. "You have to go."
"And why don't you want me here so that your master can destroy me? Isn't that what he wants?"
He opened his mouth to answer, but suddenly, the ring vibrated again and his body shuddered violently.
"You know what? I'm seriously getting annoyed by that stupid thing!" Uriko cried out, narrowing her eyes.
Sharp claws started growing from the young woman's fingers, the mere beginning of her transformation. She stopped morphing after her cat claws had formed, and before Kenji could protest, she pounced and pinned him to the ground. After that, she slashed viciously at the black ring; marks were engraved into the circular object, but it didn't break.
Frustrated, Uriko ignored the look and the resistance that she was receiving from the ninja and slashed at the ring again, harder this time. The force she put into the blow sliced through the thick material and the two broken pieces fell to the ground with a couple of dull clunks.
"Finally!" Uriko exclaimed triumphantly as her claws disappeared back into her normal fingernails.
"Uhhh…" the seventeen-year-old lying under her moaned.
"Oh!" she cried, getting up from him. "Kenji, are you alright?"
"Uriko…" he murmured faintly, shaking his head slightly.
The young woman trustingly took a hold of his hand and helped him up to a shaky standing position. She glanced cautiously at him, trying to decide if he was still under the spell of his master. As he looked up into her eyes, she saw the familiar shade of brown and light orange in them.
"Y-you're back!" She said gleefully.
"Yeah… ugh, my neck hurts…" he groaned.
"Oh man, I'm sorry about that… I… I didn't intend to hurt you or anything," Uriko apologized.
"F-forget it…" Kenji assured her with a weak smile. "I, I am just glad to see you… Riko."
Grinning happily, she leaned foreword and hugged his thin form, her hands splaying against the flesh of his naked back. "I'm glad to see you too, Kenji. It's been too long…"
"Umm… about three years?" he asked, looking a bit uncertain.
"Yes…unfortunately." She replied with a sigh. "Oh, I missed you so much…"
"I missed you too…" he told her sincerely. Backing away, the ninja looked at her meaningfully and all of sudden spotted a red welt on her bare shoulder. He touched the bump gently as a pained expression came over his face. "Uriko, I… I… didn't…"
"You don't need to explain," she answered.
"No… I do," Kenji insisted, taking her hand and making eye contact with her. "I have to let you know that I would never hurt you like that…not ever willingly… I apologize…"
"Trust me, Kenji, I know you better than that," Uriko said. "Hey, we have been going together for quite a while. I'm sure that… that incident… was because of that 'master' of yours."
His eyes flared. "Him… Uriko, sweetie… you gotta get out of here."
"What?" She exclaimed. "Yeah right, I'm not gonna leave you to face him alone!"
"Please, go!" the dark-haired ninja pleaded, gripping a tight hold on her hand. "You don't get it, he's very powerful and manipulative with mind games; I care about you too much to risk him messing around with you!"
"Hmm, touching. How disgusting." They heard a voice spit out, interrupting them. Startled, the couple snapped back and both turned in unison to face the intruder.
A tall figure was several feet away from them, levitating a couple of inches off the ground in front of the pathway leading out, blocking the weak pale rays of sunlight fighting to get inside the room. Strands of long silver hair flowed loosely from the sides of the stranger's shadowy, hidden face. Clothed in a white linen shirt, dark pants and wrapped by an oversized red coat, the look of disgust in his glowing red eyes was unmistakable. At the sight of him, Kenji started to tremble slightly; sensing his discomfort, Uriko gripped his hand in reassurance as she eyed the figure carefully.
"Xion…" the name escaped from the ninja's mouth in a low, shaken tone of voice.
"That's his name…?" the lone female in the room quietly whispered her question out of the corner of her mouth.
"Yes," came the weary answer.
"Foolish ninja… foolish boy," the dark stranger sneered conceitedly.
The young woman felt her companion stiffen at the words.
"So premature, so easy to confuse," Xion continued in a hypnotic tone of voice, slowly striding over to the couple, fixating his flashing blood-red eyes on Kenji. "What a poor, pathetic boy. Do you really believe that the girl isn't just toying with you again?"
"Shut up!" Uriko shouted, feeling irritated at his manipulation, while the ninja stayed silent.
The silver-haired man turned his attention to her, snarling as he hissed, "Stay out of this, you little brat."
"Not when you're trying to mess with his mind I'm not!" She replied, shooting him a defiant look.
The blue-haired boy's head lowered slightly, hanging 'casually' as his eyes were cast to the ground. "Uriko…"
"Yeah?" she asked, turning to look at him.
"He's lying… …isn't he?"
Xion smiled maliciously at his small point of triumph.
"Kenji… you doubt me…?" There was a bit of surprise and disbelief in her voice.
He didn't answer, just lowered his head a little so that he was looking toward the ground.
"Do you…? …Kenji?"
Persistent, the young woman placed her hand on his chin and turned him to face her. When she was peering at him and was opening her mouth to comment further, she suddenly noticed the dull, lifeless look in his eyes. Her own eyes widening in shock, she retracted her hand a few inches away from him.
W-what's going on? What happened to Kenji? She wondered. Just then, she cast a quick look at Xion, who was carefully watching the both of them, but eyed Kenji with what appeared like an expression of deep concentration. Wait, I bet he's trying to put Kenji in a trance!
Gently but firmly shaking her compatriot, Uriko whispered a frantic, "Kenji, don't let him get to you!"
"I tire of this nonsense." The silver-haired intruder remarked bluntly.
Still watching Kenji, he raised his hand at the female teenager; at that moment, Uriko felt something push forcefully at her chest. Before she could try to deflect or fight it off, her back roughly met the wall and surprisingly stayed attached. Struggling against the invisible hold, she gritted her teeth in frustration after several futile attempts. While she was hanging a few feet off the ground, stuck to the wall, Kenji remained in his crouched position, eyes still looking to the floor. Smiling in satisfaction, Xion snapped his fingers and the ninja slowly rose to face him.
Watching the events that were happening, Uriko yelled out, "Don't give in, Kenji! Fight it! You've got to!"
He turned to look at her and she gasped when spotting his eyes start to faintly glow with a dark shade of maroon.
"R…Riko… I'm…sorry…" was all he could manage before the blue-haired teenager vanished.
Sneering at Uriko, Xion muttered, "Don't try to find us…my other zoanthrope warriors and I will find you… and your precious friends…"
…What other zoanthrope warriors? She wondered.
"…You all will have to deal with each and every one of us, and I'll leave you to your weak-minded boyfriend." With a cruel laugh, he disappeared too.
As soon as they were gone, the young woman felt the hold release and she stumbled to the floor. Staying in her crouched position for a few seconds, she murmured a few choice words under her breath in anger. Standing up again, she knew that she had to go tell the others about the discoveries of Kenji and…this Xion protagonist.
The brown-haired girl darted out of the room and into the cold, chilly air of nighttime. Although she felt tired, she still morphed, knowing full well that she wouldn't stay in that form very long. When the changes had completed, the young zoanthrope noticed yet another thing different. Her fur was long and silky, and the color was now light beige, instead of her usual brown-stripped shade.
"Mrrowl…" the cat in her mewed in confusion.
This really is not my night… she thought as she sprinted off to find her way home.
*****
"Where did they go?!"
Wincing slightly at his tone of voice, Uriko turned away and answered quietly, "I don't know, okay… they just disappeared…"
Frustratedly running a hand through his hair, Yugo continued his pacing on the pathway in the setting sun. Alice shot him a stern look as she went over to side with her younger sister; the others were scattered around the small area in the center of the park. It had been a day since Uriko had arrived back at her house to a worried Mitsuko. When her mother had gruffly questioned her about where she stayed without telling her, Uriko had simply replied, "I found him."
At that, the boar zoanthrope immediately knew whom her daughter was talking about. After calling everyone up, they all agreed to meet at the park near dusk, where people usually didn't hang around at night. The brown-haired girl had told them to be cautious, and that it would be best to bring their selected weapons, just in case. Before leaving by herself to go meet her comrades - Mitsuko felt that she probably wouldn't have been much of help - Uriko had grabbed her own weapon.
Looking around now and spotting the various items her friends were carrying, she was glad that they'd taken her advice.
"I wonder just who is this Xion guy…" Jane mused.
"Uriko, you believe that he used an invisible attack on you?" Long questioned, sounding a bit dubious.
"Yes," his disciple answered. "It was like…magic or something…"
"Magic??" everyone in the group except her asked.
"…The hell? What is he, some kind of sorcerer?" Yugo inquired.
"Do you think Xion's a zoanthrope, Uriko?" Alice asked reasonably.
"Maybe…um, I think Kenji might have mentioned something about him being one of 'our kind'," her sister replied with uncertainty.
"So what are we going to do about this?" Jenny chimed in.
Uriko frowned. "Xion told me not to find him… that he and his 'other zoanthrope warriors' would find us instead…"
"A manipulative and provoking remark," Alan said disapprovingly. "It sounds like he would be good at mind games."
"Ugh… who knows what he'd do to Kenji…" the high school graduate sighed worriedly. "After all, Busuzima managed to brainwash Kenji twice; Xion is probably more… experienced than Busuzima."
"No good, lousy bastard," Yugo hissed. "When I find that guy and those lousy troops of his I'm gonna-"
"You're going to what, hmm?" A voice smirked from behind the group. Seven heads turned toward the direction of the voice and saw nothing but the shadows of trees dancing around. A frown came over Long's face, as he sensed the familiar essence of a zoanthrope…
"It's him…" he whispered, taking a few steps back as his eyes hastily scanned the area.
"Who?" his girlfriend questioned.
Before he could answer, a figure jumped swiftly down from the tree that was closest to him. Startled, Long stumbled back and Jane grabbed his arms to support him while everyone turned at the noise. Cloaked in the darkness of the night, the figure walked tantalizingly toward the Kenpo master and the blonde-haired woman.
"Xion…" Jane spat.
"No, it's not him…" the Asian man told her as he held up both fists in a defensive position.
Smiling coldly at their reaction, the figure stepped into one of the lit areas provided by the numerous lamps in the park; the zoanthropes all went to place a hand on their weapons. Jane looked questioningly at her boyfriend, but then turned her attention back to the stranger. Cautiously, she inspected the person, noting the dark blue Chinese outfit with red and gold trimmings, along with the small braids tied around a long ponytail of black hair.
"Shenlong…" Uriko said, the loathing in her voice for the man that had kidnapped her mother a couple of years back was unmistakable.
"Wait… I thought you said that he killed himself, Long…" Jane murmured, speaking for everyone. The evil clone laughed at the confused expressions on their faces, keeping his fierce red eyes on Long.
"He almost did, but then I fixed up right back up!" a snotty-sounding voice piped up. As the sky was growing darker still, Uriko's eyes began to glow and she spotted a faint shadow stalking up to Shenlong. Oh man; don't tell me he's here too-
The shadow quickly lost its cover and from it appeared a tall, gangly man with lizard-like features. Paying no heed to the weather with his neon green shirt and dark green pants, the zoanthrope's small, beady red eyes twinkled in delight when he received numerous looks of disgust from Uriko and the others.
Gross, it's the freaking pervert! Uriko realized as her elder sister murmured, "Ick, Busuzima…" But then, the brown-haired girl remembered something; she shouted to the chameleon zoanthrope in confusion, "Wait a minute…I thought Stun killed you!"
He smirked. "None of y'all give me any credit! I created that big lug; do ya really think that he could kill me that easily?"
The others looked at the two of them, unsure at the topic of their conversation.
"What the hell is going on??" Yugo inquired finally.
"Uriko, is there something that you forgot to tell us?" Long asked his young disciple.
"What do you mean you thought that Steven killed him?" Alan added.
"I'll explain later," she replied apologetically.
"Well, speaking of the insect boy…" Busuzima trailed off, looking over his shoulder as someone else appeared from behind a couple of trees.
Stun too?? Uriko's eyes widened when she saw the tall figure wrapped in beige-colored bandages.
"Steven? How did they get to you?" Alan questioned, but of course, he didn't get an answer.
Where are Kenji and Xion? The young woman wondered.
As she was thinking that, she felt something sharp dig penetrate the skin of her right shoulder. Letting out a noise of discomfort, she turned her head and slowly pulled out the object while the others asked her what was wrong. Wincing slightly, Uriko held the cold item in her hand and looked at it closely; it was a small, pointy shuriken.
Geez, does he have an infinite supply of these stupid things or what… She frowned at it, then realized… Wait, this means that…
"Kenji!" she heard Yugo cry out.
Quickly tucking the shuriken into her pocket, Uriko looked up, and saw the blue-haired ninja crouching on a tall tree branch nearby. After spotting him, she raised her right arm up, preventing the boxer from running to his younger brother as she warned, "Don't go near him!"
"What? Why the hell-?!"
"Trust me!" the girl persisted firmly; reluctantly, he backed off. To the ninja, she asked, "Where is he??"
With a fake smile, he replied, "You don't need to know, since that is none of your business…"
"Don't give me none of that bullshit," Uriko said, narrowing her eyes at him. "I know he has to be here somewhere!"
"Heh, heh, heh… Looking for me?" she heard someone sneer nearby.
"That… that's gotta be Xion," she whispered to her comrades.
The steel haired man slowly came into view as he floated down from above, levitating at Kenji's level with his arms crossed over his chest. The young woman could hear shifting as her friends started to reach for their weapons at the newcomer's arrival.
"So it was you! What did you do to Kenji, you son of a bitch?!" Yugo angrily yelled his question at Xion as he tugged on his punching gloves more tightly.
"And what did you do to the others??" Alice asked, slipping four small black darts into the palm of her hand.
"I don't have to answer to you inferior creatures," Xion answered conceitedly, smirking at the dark-haired nurse.
"Inferior?? Who the hell you calling inferior, you spineless bastard!" the inflamed boxer shouted.
Smiling, Xion didn't answer; he just turned to his warriors and commanded, "Dispose of them. Now."
At his order, the villains nodded briefly and went to carry it out. Shenlong grabbed the arm of the Kenpo master and tucked it behind his back. With both hands, he shoved his opponent a few feet into the forestry and went after him. Seeing what had happened, Jane gritted her teeth angrily and followed her boyfriend and the clone, her spear clutched tightly in her hands.
After one of his allies had lured two of the opposition away, Stun eyed Alan coldly before darting off. Accepting the challenge, the lion zoanthrope ran to follow the insectoid man, Jenny running closely behind. While Alice had her back turned to Busuzima, he slunk an arm around her waist and flung the pigtailed woman far into a few shrubs of another area, then darted after the blue-haired nurse.
Feeling really ticked off, Yugo ran to help his girlfriend face the green, spiky-haired zoanthrope, yelling to Uriko as he darted off, "We'll be back as soon as we can!"
Left alone in the center of the park, Uriko went to face her own foe, as well as her beloved boyfriend. She looked around for Xion, but he was floating high above her, his feet resting upon the tip of a tall pine tree. Grumbling in irritation, she murmured, "Coward…" at the steel-haired man and then glanced at the blue headed ninja.
"I wish that we didn't have to fight…" the young woman whispered to him as she stood her ground.
"You may think of this as a test of your fighting… skills," he answered with an arrogant smirk, hopping down from the tree branch. "Well that is… assuming you have any…"
Holding up her fists while watching him carefully, the high school graduate said quietly, "I definitely like you better when you are yourself."
End of Chapter 4