- TOH SHIN DEN: To Challenge Fate -

a Battle Arena Toshinden fanfiction by Athena Asamiya and Kasumi Todoh


CHAPTER TWO: Warriors



Translations:
niisan
 - informal version of oniisan, elder brother
saa
 - now
-chan
 - honourific used on the end of names, usually children or close friends
hai
 - yes
komusume
 - little girl
baka
 - idiot


***********


"You two guys are lucky," the man at the door said to Eiji and Kayin. "You're the first ones here, so you get first choice of sleeping cabins."
After looking at several cabins, Eiji chose one while Kayin chose another not far away. Before they parted to unpack, Eiji commented, "It looks like we both got good cabins. It appears we both have a private room to ourselves, ne?"
"Yeah," Kayin replied, but he was lost in his own thoughts at the moment.

***********

But both Eiji and Kayin couldn't have been more wrong. The cabins definitely were not private. When they looked the cabins over, they both failed to notice small and cleverly set cameras in each of the rooms, recording what they said and did. A set of computers read off their names, ages, and other general information. Sitting behind these computers and scrolling through the shots and info was a large man wearing a lot of heavy dark armour. Two claw-type appendages swayed slightly as there was a rush of air behind him. Another person, clad in the white 'Angel Armour', came up behind him. She had the appearance of an angel, descended from heaven, yet to those who knew her, it was more likely ascended from hell. "Well, Gaia?"
Gaia turned around in his chair. "I think you'll be quite impressed with the fighters of this tournament, Uranusu," he answered in a deep voice, amplified to a low booming sound by his black 'Devil Armour'.
Uranus looked quite unimpressed. "Gaia, the rest of the Himitsu Kessha most definitely will not be very happy when they find out you organized this tournament without their authorization. Be thankful I'm helping you at all. And don't forget, it's only because I was put in charge of the tournament."
"Tell the Himitsu I'm doing this for them."
"Oh, all right, tell me what you have discovered." Uranus sounded slightly bored, as if she had something better to do.
Gaia turned back to his computer and pressed a few buttons. "Well, first there's Rungo Iron. North American, 30 years old. Clearly one of the strongest and most muscle-built fighters we've had so far. He entered to find his wife and son, who are currently being ransomed by us for a rare type of mineral he mined, 'uranium'." Uranus acknowledged this by nodding tersely, and Gaia continued. "Next, we have Tracy, also North American, 21 years old, a feisty yet agile police officer from New York, one of our newest competitors. Then we have Sofia--"
"Sofia?!?" Uranus interrupted quickly. "Wasn't she the Russian spy we encountered a few years back?"
"Yes, she is," Gaia replied. "She's entered to unravel her unclear past, but I don't think she knows her memory loss is our doing."
"Good. Let's see that it stays that way," Uranus pointed to the screen. "And what about these two?"
Under his dark layer of armour, Gaia smiled coldly. "I thought those two would interest you," he answered. "The one on the right is Kayin Amoh. He's here looking for the murderer of his father, one of the contenders from a past tournament who - ahem - lost. To the winner of that year's Toshindaibukai."
Uranus smugly smiled. "I seriously doubt anyone could defeat our current champion."
Nodding and going on, not wishing to comment any further, Gaia started to describe the other person. And the one on the left is Eiji Shinjo--"
"Eiji Shinjo??" Uranus interrupted again. She quickly gained recomposure of herself and nodded smartly. "I knew he would come. Things shall now get...interesting. To say the least. The younger and only brother of Sho. Not quite as powerful, not quite...but he will do. Nicely. Saa...does he know?"
"I don't think he knows the whole story," Gaia turned to Uranus. "It will be quite ironic for him, after all these years..." Gaia looked over at the computer screen. "And here's the best part: both Eiji and Kayin have trained with Sho, and have mastered many of the same moves he has. Their fighting style is almost equal to his. Almost."
"Well, now," Uranus commented quietly. "This 'Kayin Amoh'...even if he does not know who he's looking for, he will find him, soon enough." She lowered her voice for effect. "It will come as quite a...shock, ne?" Before Gaia could answer, Uranus continued. "Ah, then this is perfect. They shall both be our next subjects in our project."
"But they will not willingly be our warriors," Gaia reminded Uranus. "Unlike him."
Uranus sighed, but with a hint of a cruel smile. "I can be very persuasive, can I not?"
"And there are still four more contestants which I haven't mentioned yet." Gaia added. "Duke Rambert, a knight and master swordsman. I've heard he even faced off against Eiji once. Also, a Yaki-Clan warrior named Mondo, a magician named Fo-Fai, and a gypsy girl named Ellis. This Ellis is said to be very good. She has a lot of experience as a dancer, and is very agile and has the most moves of all the contenders."
"Very well. Focus our project on these three fighters: Eiji, Kayin, and Ellis." Uranus turned around, stretched her gossamer white feathered wings, and left, high heels tapping in fluid motion that quickly faded into nothingness. Gaia turned back to his computer solemnly. Not even Uranus, the angel of death of the Himitsu Kessha, knew the true reason for his suddenly assembly of the next Toshinden tournament. He had organized the tournament in hopes of attracting one girl...Ellis.

***********

That afternoon, Eiji and Kayin met outside their cabins, and practiced some of their moves on each other, just to see how strong they had gotten.
"Rekkuzan!"
"Sonic Slash!"
Again.
The fireballs cancelled each other out yet again, in a small explosion of red and yellow sparks. Eiji dashed towards Kayin quickly and tried to throw a few quick slashes, but Kayin sidestepped and kicked Eiji's feet out from under him.
"Now, what was that you were saying about always kicking my ass?" Kayin laughed.
Eiji sprung back up quickly. "Oh, just this!" He leaped backwards, away from Kayin, and with a yell of, "Ryuseikyaku!!" Eiji shot towards his friend, foot trailing flame and blazing a fiery path. Kayin was not expecting this and hit the ground, but got back up and retaliated with a Shoulder Crush, which was hastily blocked. The fight went much like that, blocking and countering.
"We're too evenly matched, Kayin-chan!" Eiji observed while dodging a snap kick.
"Are you saying that you're giving up?" Kayin questioned after parrying a high slash.
"Give up? To you? I seriously doubt that!"
"So be it, Eiji-chan! Prepare to lose!"
It turned out to be--what else?--a tie (much to Kayin's chagrin), since their skills were too evenly matched. They bowed, shook hands and nodded, breathing heavily. Eiji and Kayin decided not to go back to their cabins for a bit, but to see some of the other fighters taking part in the tournament. There was a winding stone path that led through the surrounding forest to the various cabins, and most of the warriors were taking that way to their dormatories. First came a rather heavy-set man toting a large stone club. "Wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley," Kayin muttered, half to Eiji, half to himself. Next came a solemn-looking man with a long spear, his long dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. Eiji drew in his breath.
"A Yaki-Clan warrior!"
"A what?"
"A Yaki-Clan warrior. The Yaki-Ichizoku. A very ancient, very honourable, and unfortunately, very formidable band of Japanese warriors. Not exactly the friendly type."
"So I see."
Just then, the sound of clicking heels against stone could be heard. Another fighter appeared, this one quite different from the previous ones. Eiji and Kayin stared.
"A woman???" Kayin said incrediously.
"And wow, what a woman!" exclaimed Eiji.
The young woman was very thin and extremely buxom, and, well, rather scantily-clad in black leather, with stiletto heels, big pink triangle-shaped earrings, elbow-length leather gloves, and blond hair tied in a ponytail. Hanging off of her waist was a long, thin, mauve-coloured bullwhip. She, unlike the others, noticed the two regarding her with interest, and, with a small smile on her ruby-coloured lips, sauntered over to Eiji.
"Well, you are cute one, no?" she said tauntingly.
Eiji was speechless.
"The strong, silent type, I see. Just the way I like them."
"Hey, no fair! How come you get all the girls, Eiji?" Kayin protested in annoyance.
"Well, I simply must be on my way, boys. How nice to meet you two. Oh, and by the way...the name is Sofia. Remember it."
Eiji and Kayin noticed at the same time that she spoke with a strong Russian accent. She continued down the path, all the while in her swaying gait with the whip dangling from her slender hips.
"Who...who...was that?" asked Eiji finally.
"My, quite shy around women, aren't you, Eiji?"
"Shut up."
"She said her name was Sofia. She sure does like you though."
"Fighting first, romance second. That's what I say."
"Funny, never heard you say that before."
"Oh, never mind."
"You know, you really ought to work on actually talking to girls. It's not that hard."
"I said shut up."
Just then, another female contender came down the path. This one looked feisty, with a ball cap reading Police jammed backwards over her past- shoulder-length blue hair. She wore a small green tube top and tight black bike shorts under a pair of green cropped ones. A large, rather gaudy gold star-shaped badge gleamed in the sun, and she relentlessly twirled a pair of tonfas in her hands.
"Ah. Okay. Watch the master and learn," said Kayin confidently.
"Better watch it, Kayin-chan. Those sticks are gonna hurt when she beats you over the head with them."
"Hah. Better than your hooker-babe back there. At least I can talk to girls. Just watch this." With his usual look of overconfidence on his face, Kayin walked up to her.
Not a smart thing.
And especially not to this particular type of girl.
Eiji buried his head in his hands. Baka.
"Yo, miss. Here to enter the tournament?"
"No, I'm here to sightsee," she said sarcastically. "Screw off, pretty boy." She walked off down the path, leaving Kayin dumbfounded. Eiji snickered.
"The master, ne? Of what, embarrassment?"
"Well...uh...she must be in a hurry."
Eiji snickered again. "Yeah, right. Teach me more, oh master of women."
Before Kayin could retort (and he was planning a good one), a sudden voice came from behind them. "Eiji Shinjo! How...nice...to see you again."
Eiji groaned. He knew that voice all too well. Turning around, he saw exactly who he expected to see. Duke B. Rambert, a French swordsman he had met in a match a couple years ago. Not only had Eiji beaten Duke, he had broken Duke's beloved two-handed sword, the Dernier Vancour, as well. Now, it looked like Duke had fixed his sword and was out to get revenge. And sworn vengeance from a guy with a sword that big was not a good thing. Eiji secretly hoped he didn't believe in beheading as well.
"Well, well, well. Isn't this a surprise!" Duke said, coming over to Eiji, his armour clanking, a slight but rather forced grin on his face. "I do hope we get to fight again. Then I could show you that I don't make the same mistakes twice!"
Eiji grit his teeth in annoyance and was in mid-rebuttal when another voice from behind them said, "Excuse me. Is this where the Toshinden tournament is being held?"
Everybody turned around. A young girl stood on the path, suitcase in hand, green hair blowing slightly in the breeze, blue eyes big and sparkling. Nobody knew who she was, save for Eiji. It was the same girl who had crashed into him at the airport. She bowed to the group. "Hi. I'm Ellis, and I'm here to enter the tournament. I'm pleased to meet all of you."
Duke laughed, and said in a mocking tone, "Aren't you a bit young to be in the tournament?"
She immediately turned on him. "I happen to be sixteen years old, you walking tin can!" Then she noticed Eiji. "Hey, haven't I seen you before?"
"Hai, we met at the airport," said Eiji, "but I seriously don't think you should be entering the tournament. You might get hurt."
"And why is that? Because I'm a little girl??" she shot back coldly.
"Well, uh...yeah."
Ellis's eyes narrowed, and a smile started to form on her face. "Huh. I expected as much. I'm not afraid to get hurt. And I can take on any one of you."
Eiji laughed. "Oh yeah? Let's put it to the test, komusume!"
He rushed towards her, planning to do his patented foot-sweep, the Shugekidan, but Ellis jumped over him and kicked him in the back. Eiji lost his balance and landed face-first in the dirt. Muttering a few very colourful Japanese obscenities, he got to his feet, blood boiling and face flaming with humiliation, to see Ellis standing, laughing at him, without a hair out of place! Duke snickered and said, "Couldn't have done it better myself."
"Look!" he shouted at Ellis. "this is no place for kids! Or girls for that matter! I'd leave if I were you!!" Eiji stormed off angrily. Kayin hastily followed, but not until he shot Ellis a "you-really-shouldn't-have- done-that" look.
"Just a girl, am I??" Ellis shouted after Eiji. "Well, I'll show you how good we girls are, baka!! I'm staying in the tournament, whether you or anyone else likes it or not!!!"

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