Even though warlords are missing in action, the onslaught between the clans continued to rage on. Both sides could smell the rotting carcasses lying next to them, but none of them could do anything to get rid of the putrid smell of dead flesh. Besides, if they tried to toss away their dead comrades, they'll only be open to enemy fire.

Kari was doing her best to keep the enemy at bay with the rest of the Kamiyas while Izzy did what he could to stop the bleeding from Takato's shoulder. Takato let out a grunt when Izzy tightened the wrapping around his wound, but he refused to scream in pain.

"Why the hell did Tai leave like that?! This is not the right time to go AWOL!" Izzy stated, wrapping the last wrap around Takato's wound.

"I'm as clueless as you are, Izzy, but whatever the reason it is, it had better be a good one!" Kari said, firing another round at any visible enemy.

Suddenly, the entire Steel Factory started to rock. The rocking intensified, making both of the clans lose their balance and fighting momentum. Kari stumbled onto her back and lost her gun when a violent quake rushed through the Factory.

"WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON?!" Kari asked, trying to get back up. As she finally got back on her feet, she saw red and blue lightning spreading throughout the factory, looking like a lightning storm bursted right in. Standing in great awe, the Kamiyas and the Ishidas lowered their weapons and were dazzled by the light-spectacle. Those who were too close to the monstrous electricity were fried beyond recognition.

"... what in Heaven's name is going on here?" Joe asked himself.

Everyone saw where the red and blue lightning was coming from: two bright comets, clashing into each other like a pair of poweful rams fighting for territory! Every clash they made in mid-air shook the entire factory, showing the how much power the blue comet and the red comet possessed. Surging with lightning, the comets were heading straight down the battlefield! Screaming for their lives, the clans started running for cover from the flying pair of annihilators. Carrying Takato, Kari and Izzy jumped for whatever cover they could find, assuming that the impact from the meteor will be equivalent to a laser-guided bomb. One the other side, Joe and Lee leaped for whatever cover was available.

When everybody tucked their heads inbetween their knees and covered their heads with their arms, the comets flew to the battlefield and collided, decimating everything in their 40-yard radius. Everyone felt the tremendous impact, along with a warm light that illuminated from the collision.

Slowly, Kari opened her eyes.

"Are... are we alive?" Kari asked. Izzy and Takato opened their eyes, too.

"Well, it seems like we are," Izzy said. Kari, Izzy, and everyone else in the factory started to hear something from the explosion the comets made. To their ears, it sounded like a fistfight.

Slowly, Kari peeked out of her hiding place to see what was going on. When she took a look at an enormous crater, her eyes widened like crazy. Where the comets collided looked almost like Ground Zero. What Kari and everybody else saw were not two comets but a pair of bizarre warriors trading fists with one another! The incredible clash between the two warriors was so fast that nobody could keep up with how the warriors were fighting. To the naked eye, the two mighty forces were moving like a pair of blurs!

All of a sudden, their fists connected to their enemies' faces at the same time. The black-armored monster's left fist smashed into the blonde warrior's face while the blonde's right fist found its target on the armored one's jaw. Feeling each other's might, both fighters knocked each other away and ended up eating dirt. Shaking off the dizziness, the powerful forces slowly got up from the dirt and faced each other once more, refusing to show how much pain they were in. Both clans were awestruck not only by the appearance of the newcomers, but also from how much magnitude they put in to pulverize each other. The Kamiyas and the Ishidas started to form a ring around the two warriors, but they still stood away from their enemies, whispered among themselves and wondering who the mystical creatures were.

One warrior was a huge, black-armored monster studded with blades on his forearms and long spikes on his shoulders, looking like a hellish knight that came from the Dark Ages. His huge wings on his back were insect-like, looking similar to that of a wasp's. He may be part metal, but his his biceps, thighs and abs still show how ripped the dark one was. His helmet had a razor-sharp horn on the forehead, and his stringy purple hair flowed out behind his neck from underneath the helmet.

The other warrior was a very well-chiseled man with long blonde hair and a pair of metallic wings. Wearing a strange, white outfit with a blue ribbon wrapped around his right arm, he looked like he fell from the Heavens to battle the legions of Hell single-handedly! The angelic wings let out a glimmer, showing not a hint of rust. His helmet covered much of his upper skull, leaving only his lower jaw to be seen. Having no eye-holes, the front of the hemlet had the shape of a crucifix.

"Son of a bitch. They looked like they jumped out of a Digimon card game. Who are those two?" Takato asked.

"Man, I'm just as clueless as you are." Izzy raised a brow at Takato.

"What the heck is Digimon??" Izzy asked.

"Well, you know, it a card game where we get to use these... uhhhhh... Digital Monsters to battle one another. Different Digimons need different tactics to fight and- I'll explain it to you later, " Takato said.

The Ishidas were just as awed as the Kamiyas were.

"Dude, check out that metallic freak. With him on our side, we'd take Tokyo by storm!" Lee said excitedly. Joe started to rub his chin when he set his focus on the black warrior.

"Wait a sec. That heavily armored one looks familiar... HEY, THAT'S KEN!!" Joe shouted.

Kari covered her mouth in shock. Slowly she took a few steps closer to the mighty forces. Izzy quickly grabbed her by the arm.

"Kari, are you nuts? You could get killed!" Izzy said.

"I know who the winged one is," Kari said softly, setting her lovely eyes on the one with angel wings. Izzy slowly took his hand off of Kari's arm.

"Who?" Izzy asked.

".... it's T.K...." Kari whispered, feeling warm to see her soldier of fortune.

Kari and Izzy heard somebody shouting from the other side of the ring. When they heard that person more clearly, he sounded like he was cheering.

"GET 'IM, KEN! BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF THAT BASTARD!" Lee shouted. The adrenaline rush spread through the other Ishidas. Every Ishida clansman (except Joe) raised their fists and gave Ken their support. Refusing to let Ken get his momentum built up by that gang, Kari started to shout as well.

"YOU CAN DO IT, T.K.! TEAR THAT FUCKER'S HEAD OFF!!" Kari screamed. All of the Kamiyas were screaming for blood, screaming for their champion to defeat the King of Blades once and for all!

The great forces felt the support given by the opposing clans, watching the clans transform from gun-toting badasses to their #1 fans.

"/It's too bad you're going to die, T.K. We could have ruled all of Tokyo like gods! You've got to be a really stupid to turn down such an opportunity,/" Ken said with a mechanical voice. Quickly, Ken got into his Eagle-Claw kung-fu stance.

".................." T.K. raised his fists and shuffled around a bit like a Jeet Kune Do fighter, looking similar to Bruce Lee.

"Just shut up and fight," T.K. rasped.


--------------------


Leaving a trail of blood and smoke, Matt Ishida limped down the halls of Level 3. Glad he was out of the battle, he covered his bloodstained left leg with a rag. When Kari launched T.K.'s motorcycle at Matt, he got out of the monstrous chain gun and started to run off. But when he was only a few feet away from the abandoned weapon, the chain gun exploded from the cycle and blew into thousands of pieces. Matt almost got consumed by the fire, and some of the shrapnel dug deep into Matt's leg and caused it to bleed like crazy.

After a few more steps, Matt stopped at his tracks and screamed from how the shrapnel tore his muscles from within. The warlord of the Ishidas leaned against the rail and let out a swear by the time the metal inside stopped tearing his thigh up any further.

When he opened his eyes and turned to the right, he saw the clans far below surrounding two warriors and cheering for their champions. The warriors were fighting like never before, constantly changing roles of attacker and defender. Matt didn't catch on to who was wearing the bladed black armor far below, but he recognized the winged warrior facing the armored one.

"T.K. you idiot. If you only did your job, none of this shit would be happening! You have disrespected me for the last time..." Matt slowly opened his jacket and whipped out his .45 caliber. With cold eyes on T.K., Matt aimed his gun at the back of T.K.' s skull far below.

"I'm going to end this bullshit once and for all, and all it's gonna take is a bullet! Give my regards to dad, Takeru. It's a shame you'll have to die the same way he did..."

Slowly, Matt Ishida started to squeeze the trigger.

All of a sudden, a gut-wrenching pain sunk its fangs into Matt Ishida's chest. Losing his aim, Matt felt warm blood slowly pouring out of his mouth and down his shirt. Shaking violently from the pain, Matt looked down at where the pain was coming from. What he saw was the the tip of a sword sticking right out of his chest. In a flash, the sword slipped right out of his body, causing even greater pain to erupt from within.

Matt let out a blood-curdling scream from his release from the blade and staggered to a nearby wall. When he shut his eyes from the pain, Matt leaned his bloodsoaked back against the wall, trying his best to stay in the physical world. Slowly, Matt opened his eyes to see who made a crack in his gate of life. When he got a good look at him, his very soul crumbled with fear.

Standing in front of Matt was his arch-rival, Tai Kamiya, armed with a red-handled, bloodsoaked katana. Staring coldly at his mortal enemy, a tear came down Tai's eye and rolled down his cheek.

"I've waited a long time for this, Matt..." Tai whispered. Not bothering to wipe his tear away, Tai's right grip on the sword started to tighten. Feeling his soul getting torn away from his body, Matt slowly tried to aim his gun at Tai and once and for all end the feud. Matt coughed out more blood as his gun was about to aim right for Tai's heart.

In a blink of an eye, Tai rammed his right fist into Matt's jaw. Blood splashed out of Matt's mouth and splattered all over the wall he was leaning on. When Matt felt Tai's fatal blow, Matt's body collapsed before the victor. Matt Ishida laid in his pool of blood, soaking his clothes and his face. More tears streamed down Tai's eyes as he stared at the corpse with a face of stone. Tai said very slowly:

"That was for Sora, you murderous son of a bitch."


---------------------


T.K. and Ken stood before one another, beatened and bloodied up from the their duel. T.K. felt his blood trickling down the edge of his mouth and he felt his ribs a bit sore from letting Ken ram his fist into it. Ken felt some blood trickling down his nose from underneath his helmet, and his breast plate had some dents from T.K.'s strikes. Both warriors were breathing heavily, but neither one was willing to give up.

Ken started to form a hidden smile.

"/Hey, Angel of Death, do you know what's stronger than flesh?/"

"It's the fighting spirit," T.K. whispered.

"/Wrong. It's STEEL!/" In a flash, Ken whipped out his trusty katana, Masamune. As he raised his sword high in the air, the sword transformed from a beautiful blade to a monstrous sword of pure destruction, looking just as hideous as its wielder. Stretching his wings, Ken flew right for T.K. with Masamune resting well in his hands. Ken swung the sword at T.K., going for the head. Quickly, T.K. flew away from Ken's attack. With eyes eager for blood, Ken flew after him. T.K. did his best to evade Ken and fly through any tight spots, but all Ken did was slice his way through the obstacles. Having his wasp wings beat faster, Ken caught up with T.K. Flying above T.K., Ken swung his sword down on him. With evasive action, T.K. flew downwards and avoided the blade, but in doing so he crashed right back to the ground, right back into the ring.

Ken landed lightly right in front of T.K., towering over the vulnerable Angel of Death. With a grin, tested the sharpness of his blade with his thumb. As he raised his sword over his head to end T.K.'s life, pointing his blade right for T.K.'s heart, the Ishidas chanted Ken's name. The sword started to glow hot-orange, feeling the dark powers from Ken strengthening it.

"/SPIKING STRIKE!!/" Ken shouted. The sword was heading for T.K., coming at frightening speed. Having no way to defend it and feeling the fear get the best of him, T.K. shielded his eyes with his arms. T.K. heard the sword hit something metallic. Soon after, he heard Ken's sword eating through flesh.

But it wasn't his flesh the sword was eating through.

Confused, T.K. took his arms off his face to see what happened. Before his eyes was Kari, impaled by Ken's sword. Feeling blood pouring out of her mouth, Kari looked into T.K.'s eyes with tears streaming down her cheeks. The huge pipe she used to deflect Ken's attack slipped out of her hands.

"I'm sorry... I couldn't let him win. I love you, T.K... I-"

Letting out a snort, Ken swung his sword to the side and flung Kari off his blade. T.K.'s very heart felt a sudden chill from watching how Ken mutilated his beloved. Grinning, Ken set his attention back on T.K.

"/Don't worry, T.K. You'll be joining her soon enough,/" Ken said nicely.

With a trembling jaw, T.K.'s tearful eyes saw Kari lying motionless on the ground. Bleeding horribly, Kari closed her eyes peacefully after she set her lovely eyes on her love one last time. Slowly, Kari smiled to herself.

"Ai.... ai shiteru... Takeru..."

Those 3 words were her last.

"KAARIIIIIII !! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"



... to be continued.