Toh Shin Den III: Walking Into Ruin

by Athena Asamiya

A new organization arises from the ashes of the Himitsu Kessha, and once again, amidst new allies and enemies, the Toshindaibukai warriors must fight to prevent the resurrection of the God of Fight itself. Based off of Toshinden 3.

5. Chapter Four: Approach

In a world of darkness sanctioned by evil,
where the only light of hope is a group of unlikely heroes,
the legend's final chapter is about to begin...

- TOH SHIN DEN III: Walking Into Ruin -

a Battle Arena Toshinden 3 fanfiction by Athena Asamiya and Kasumi Todoh

CHAPTER FOUR: Approach

Translations:

otousan - father

minna, Kayin-chan wa doko da? - everyone, where is Kayin?

maa - well

ano bakayaro - that stupid bastard

nani yo? - what is it?


***************

"...And as we mourn his passing and lay his soul to rest, we pray that God, in all His power, shall protect him and watch over him always. Amen."

A scattered amount of hushed "amen"s were heard floating through the black-clad crowd of mourners. As the coffin was laid into the newly-dug plot in the graveyard, whatever eyes that were not watching it being lowered were on one young man, standing apart from the crowd. He was at the very front, near the headstone, and dressed in a jet-black suit, contrasted by his mane of long red-blond hair and the silver cross that hung around his neck. He was staring blankly at the hole in the ground, with almost empty, detached aqua eyes. A few whispers passing through the crowd could be heard, to those who would listen.

"Is that Amoh's boy?"

"Aye, that it is. He's only nineteen, poor lad."

"Heard he just got 'imself back from Japan too."

"What a shock it must have been for him. But look, his face is so emotionless."

"That's the way those Amohs be. If he's anything like his father was, he'll be a rogue, still living by the old clan ways of the sword."

These words did nothing to arouse a response from the teenager, who continued to only watch the hole below him. He didn't even lift his gaze to see the casket being lowered. Didn't move, and hardly breathed. Some of the members of the mourners cast quick glances at him, trying to read the emotion on his face, in his eyes, but there was none. Nothing at all. No sadness, no anger, just nothing. It was almost as if he was far away from all of them, uncomprehending, unknowing.

After it was over, the burial procession moved past him, some touching his shoulder gently and whispering kind words, but there was still no acknowledgement. In his mind, it was over. Completely. Everyone left, and there was only him, and the light rain that had just begun to fall.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of being still, he turned, forcing his eyes to look away and his feet to move. But he did nothing to stop the vengeful thoughts that now raged through his mind, scourging it like wildfire.

Just wait, you motherfucking MURDERER. This is not over. When I get to you, you'll be dead before you can even scream for mercy.

He walked off, away from the grave, the graveyard, into the darkness that awaited him.

I will see justice done, no matter what it takes.

What had followed after was far more vivid, and more easily remembered now, if he tried. Anger. Bitterness. Sadness. Rage. And always, the pain. More pain than he ever thought he could feel, any human could feel. There had been a time of relentless searching...concluded by a horrible realization. Nothing could reverse those painful moments in time. They left festering sores on one's soul, eventually burning down into scars that may never fully heal. Not even he, one of the best fighters on earth, could battle with his desolate past forever. The unyielding search, the fury and the mourn, had ended in nothing but sorrow. Denial was of no use. There was no denial left in him. He had left it all behind, but had not forgiven, and he knew, deep in his soul, that he never would. For the one named Kayin Amoh, also known as the Scottish bounty hunter Storm, forgiveness was, like so many other things, far beyond him now.

That afternoon's sun shone brightly over the clifftop where a single gravestone stood, and parked nearby, a motorcycle. Kayin Amoh walked slowly up to the headstone, a bunch of flowers in one hand, and a guitar case in the other. He felt stupid carrying his sword in the case, but he was also tired of all the strange looks people gave him when he carried it out in the open. At least this way he could avoid all the strange looks, and at least pretend he was half-normal. Kayin was fiercely proud of his differences that separated him from the common 24-year old Scot, but still, this lifestyle had brought him nothing but pain and sorrow, as he could sadly remember. Standing before his father's resting place made him feel worse, but strangely calmer than he usually was. Kayin still had his daughter though, and they loved each other dearly. But it really couldn't be the same, now that both his real father and foster father were gone. Kayin cast a glance over his shoulder with a small smile. Trailing behind him, in a little pink striped dress with her blond hair tied in corkscrew pigtails with matching pink ribbons, was Kayin's six-year-old adopted daughter Naru. She slowly walked in Kayin's footsteps, almost overshadowed by him -- and that was basically the story of their relationship: Naru following behind the greatness of her 'father'. The details as to why Kayin had adopted her were still shadowed even now, even after last year's Toshindaibukai when he had admitted, for the first time, that he had killed her true father. Wisely, he hadn't decided to tell her the truth just yet. She was too young, Kayin thought, and probably wouldn't understand. Even so, the two thought of themselves as father and daughter, no more, no less. Her little feet picked up in their footsteps, and she ran up to Kayin's side.

"Otousan..." she started, using her pet nickname for Kayin, "you're okay, right?"

Kayin smiled down at his young daughter, ruffling her hair. "I'm fine, Naru. Don't you be worrying about your ol' dad."

Naru giggled and nodded. She was indeed an extremely cute child, and she really did look like Kayin's true daughter, surprisingly enough. "It's just that you always look so sad when we visit Grandpa's grave, otousan."

"Do I now," Kayin answered thoughfully. "That's pretty observant of you."

She grinned happily at his praise. "I already do better in class than most of the mean boys at school. I just tell them that MY daddy saved the world."

"Um, sweetheart? I wouldn't be telling anybody else about that...okay?"

"Why, otousan?"

"Because...people aren't really supposed to know."

"Oh. Okay."

Kayin smiled warmly at her. "That's my lass. Wait here for a second."

Brushing the usual thoughts aside as he approached the grave, Kayin laid the flowers on his father's grave, and spoke in a hushed whisper so that Naru wouldn't hear. "Looks like something's up, Dad. None of us know what's coming, but Eiji's got one of his feelings again...you know how that always works out..." Kayin sighed, and continued. "And now we're all gathering at this girl Shizuku's house, so who know's what's gonna happen next...and it seems that no matter what we do, we can't shake them. There's no escape. Guess we sealed our fates that day three years ago."

Unknownst to Kayin, a shadowy eavesdropper was listening.

Shizuku...Fuji Shizuku...so that's where they've been hiding.

"Trae's got a new partner, there's some chainsaw-wielding loony kid who thinks we can't beat the new organization, the Soshiki or whatever the hell they're called...am I just being daft, or is it maybe something else...?" Kayin closed his eyes for a second.

A second was all Zola needed.

"Otousan, watch out!" Naru screamed behind him.

The slinky Australian cat-girl pulled out her spike-barbed whip, licked it, and charged towards Kayin. One whip-slash to the back got his attention.

"What in bloody hell--??" Kayin exclaimed as he dodged a rake from her claws. He rolled out of the way and glared at her. Zola grinned devilishly but said nothing, and as she raised her whip over her head, it started to sparkle with ki. She pulled back, then channeled the ki through the thin whip, tossing the energy forwards in the shape of a glowing green ring. "Flash Ring!!"

Kayin growled and deftly avoided it with speed only Ellis could match, ripping his sword out of the guitar case and dashing at Zola, flipping over in an overhead axe kick and following up with a pair of slashes to the midsection. Zola went down hard but recovered quickly, faster than had been anticipated by Kayin, and raked her claws down his torso, drawing blood as Naru covered her eyes. The catwoman then continued her assault by yelling "Oshioki da yo!", flinging her whip forwards as it cracked out again and again on its own, the stinging barbs repeatedly striking Kayin. The swordsman was thrown backwards to the ground in front of Naru, who looked down on her fallen father with tears in her young eyes. "Otousan, what should I do??"

Kayin, smiling through the pain in his side, held the sword out to her. "Time to put your training...to use."

Naru's emerald green eyes widened, as she accepted the blade, which was practically two times the size of her. "But otousan, I'm not good enough yet! I haven't learned enough!"

"You are...if you believe you are," he answered seriously. "Just give me...a minute..." here he winced, seeing the blood that was seeping from a gash in his stomach, "and I'll be fine."

"All right. I'll try, otousan, and I'll do my best." The little girl held the broadsword by two hands and walked up to Zola, who was regarding her with a look that was a cross between mockery and pity.

"You are going to fight me?" she sneered. "Poor child. This will be very unfair."

"Don't count on it! I'm going to make otousan proud!!" Naru cried. With that, she swung the sword back, then forwards again, sparks of yellow ki flying out of the slash. "Sonic Slash!!"

Zola, who wasn't expecting this in the least, was forced to take the energy attack head on. Before she could recover, the blond girl shot towards her, surrounded by flame. "Yattana!!" The hit connected, setting the catwoman aflame with ki. Finished up her string of attacks, Naru hopped onto one foot and pirhouetted around and around, sword held out, ripping into Zola's defences and midsection, before ending with a fierce slash that sent Zola back and away, landing on her face. Naru couldn't have been more happy at this, her first actual fight won. She winked and made a thumbs-up, in a smaller rendition of her father's famous quote. "Jigoku de au ze, baby!!"

"Good work, lass," Kayin said from behind her, slowly walking up to her, almost half-limping.

"Thank you, otousan!" Naru cried in her childish excitement. "I did really really good, right otousan? I did, didn't I? Huh?"

"You did extremely well. I'm proud of you." Naru held out his sword, as Kayin took it gratefully. "Now, honey, please step back and don't come near here, all right?"

"Okay, otousan." Naru hopped back to where Kayin's motorcycle stood, watching with wide eyes, eager to see what her father was going to do next.

As Zola was trying to get her bruised body off the ground, Kayin snarled at her, "So ya wanna play tough, huh, Cat-bitch?? Let's see what you think of this!!" Kayin tightened his grip on Excalibur, as he held it out in front of him, the sword itself starting to glow slightly. A smile started to play on his lips and his eyes closed with concentration, as he held out Excalibur in front of him. Great masses of energy began to gather in its wide blade. Zola had only enough time to think of one thing.

Oh, shit.

A blinding flash ensued, and a colossal blast of the gathered ki-energy surged out of Kayin's blade, and shot towards Zola. Such a monumental fire-blast would have easily killed Zola where she now stood.

If she hadn't moved out of the way, with a speed that seemed almost inhuman.

"Goddammit!!" yelled Kayin angrily, seeing his opponent standing to the left, perfectly fine. And Zola sneered at him. "You and all your little Toshinden fighter mates...prepare yourselves!! We're coming for all of you!!"

And with that, Zola turned, and...disappeared. Kayin blinked, but no. She was gone. Entirely.

"What was that all about?" he muttered to himself, putting a hand to his forehead. A whip...that projectile...it looked so much like-- Kayin shook his head, placed Excalibur back in the case, and turned towards his motorcycle and his young daughter, who was clapping her hands with glee.

"You did great, otousan! Really great! Can I learn that someday?"

"Maybe someday, Naru. For now, we're going to have to get you back to my friend's place."

"Awwww!" she moaned. "I get to miss the rest of the fun! Kick their asses for me, would you, otousan?"

"Naru!" Kayin exclaimed, shocked. "Where did you learn that word?"

"From you. You say it all the time."

"Um...well...just don't use it in the future, okay?"

"Yep! Okay!"

As they prepared to leave, Kayin took one more look at his father's grave.

"Wish me luck, Dad. If this is just a preview of what's to come, it looks like we're all gonna need it..."

***************

Eiji paced into the main room with one hand on his head, where Shizuku was with a glaring David, and Ellis and Sofia were talking quietly amongst themselves about plans for protecting David from the Soshiki. "Minna, Kayin-chan wa doko da? Hasn't he come back yet?"

Sofia looked up briefly and shook her head. "Not yet, Eiji. It is strange."

"He should have been back by now, Eiji-kun..." Ellis added, sounding worried.

"Tracy's not back yet either," Nagisa said, shifting through some police files. Eiji glanced around at all of them and sighed. "Kayin's probably just gone off again...maa, he'll be back soon, I guess..."

But why do I feel so uneasy, then? What's about to happen...?

Just then, the sound of a motorcycle pulling up could be heard, and, in one of his usual flamboyant entries (though it wasn't planned this time), Kayin burst into the house with a loud bang and almost enough force to rip the door from its hinges.

"Okay, there is something bloody well SCREWED going on here!!"

****************

Unknown to all, he was watching. The small house settled deeply in the mountains was not very hard to find -- and find it he did. He had made it a habit to check on them every now and again -- though he couldn't exactly decide why. Now that the Soshiki was here, putting their little plans into motion, it was more important than ever that the warriors, especially Eiji and Kayin, knew that they were marked for death. And he knew all this, had known all this before it even began. Abel, ano bakayaro, he thought to himself angrily, he WOULD try to kill them first, before they got in the way. Little does he know what power they possess. He'll find out soon enough, and I'll be there to see it. Watching and laughing as he takes his last breath, and this will all finally be finished. He smiled to himself, but warily. Things may not have changed, but this is the way it is supposed to be. And they'll know it, soon enough, no matter how painful it is. The stranger turned, looked back at the house, and then glanced at the sword-hilt at his side, that reminded him of a figure in his past.

Eiji...

***************

"You blundering fool of a catwoman!!!" boomed Abel, rising out of his throne in rage. Zola flinched, kneeling before her master with her head bowed, turned so that she could avoid his dagger glare.

"Forgive me, Abel-sama. I agree that what I did was rash and did not realize that he held such power. I thought I could defeat him easily."

"...And you sure found out the hard way, didn't you? You are quite the dense one."

Zola stiffened at the sound of her commander's voice, but did not reply to Vermilion. Unlike that rebellious idiot, Rachael, she thought to herself, I know enough to keep quiet when he is around. Vermilion-sama is our superior, after all, and has more than enough power to blow all of us away in one second.

Vermilion walked slowly up to them out of the shadows, a cold look on his crimson-marked face, his namesake. "We didn't give you Agon Teos' sacred blood for nothing, Zola. Your job is to take care of your original, Sofia, not that Amoh boy!!"

Zola hung her head and quickly said, "Forgive me, Vermilion-sama, I thought that eliminating at least one of them could have proven to be useful--"

Vermilion pulled out one of his guns and waved it at her cautiously. Zola's face went white under her headpiece, and her slit cat-like eyes followed the gun's trail. "If you had destroyed him, it would have risen the alarm amongst the others. The one you attacked happened to be the training partner and best friend of Eiji Shinjo."

Zola's eyes widened; she was struck dumb. "Shinjo?!? Not...is he...??"

It was here that Abel intervined. "No. But he's related to him. And you DO know how much power he has, do you not? You DO know what happened to the Himitsu Kessha after they crossed him and the other, do you not?? Answer me, fool!"

Zola only nodded slowly.

"Good. Do not try that again, or I shall be forced to rebuke you severely. Now, get out of here!!"

"Yes, Abel-sama!" Zola answered, hurrying (and glad) to get out of there. But halfway through her escape, she slowed and came to a halt. The former opera singer turned around. "Abel-sama..." she began, "I-I know where they are. The fighters we are looking for. And possibly the boy as well."

"WHAT?!?" Abel's voice rose considerably, not too easy a feat. Even the stoic Vermilion looked rather surprised that one of his henchmen, though they were all suitably trained, had managed to find out such important information.

"The...the one I attacked...this 'Kayin' said that they were meeting at the house of the woman Fuji Shizuku, the wandering gambler. Wasn't there a rumour that the woman had adopted the boy David? The woman we killed mentioned Shizuku's name, but didn't tell us anything."

Abel looked thoughtful. "Indeed, there was that rumour. So, it must have been true after all." He turned to Vermilion, who was waiting patiently for the expected order. "Vermilion, take Leon, Zola, Atahua, and Rachael, go capture the boy and destroy the others. See to it that they will not get in our way."

Vermilion smiled coldly. "Yes."

***************

"...And that's what happened. I'll be damned if she wasn't out to kill me, or at least one of us," Kayin finished. He had managed to catch his breath, at least, but now all the other fighters, who had gathered in the room to listen to his story, were looking rather concerned.

"So there's the first sign that something's up," Eiji murmured. "And now what? Tracy's hasn't got back yet--"

"You think she was attacked as well?" added in Ellis, sounding worried, but Nagisa shook his head. "She's a trained policewoman, and has obviously dealt with these kind before. She'll be fine, whatever happens."

Eiji didn't look so sure, remembering how large of an army these organizations could amass, but continued. "...Even so, what's going to happen next? They're definately out to get us again--"

"--Because you agreed to help us," interrupted Shizuku sadly. "I didn't wish any of this to happen, minna-san, and I'm afraid you are all in worse danger than before!"

"No," Eiji answered firmly. "We knew what we were up against when we agreed to help you two. This was all pretty much expected, and I doubt any of us really give a damn if they're up against us or not. We beat the Himitsu Kessha, and we can beat them too." That said, he turned back to his best friend. "So she was a catwoman, you said, Kayin-chan?"

Kayin nodded. "Some kinda cat-girl, yeah. And she had a bullwhip..."

"A bullwhip?" Sofia broke in. "She was using MY trademark weapon?" She snickered. "She has guts, trying to imitate my style."

"More than that, Sofi," Kayin said, "she performed YOUR Thunder Ring."

Sofia rose from her chair angrily. "MY Thunder Ring? That cannot be possible, my fighting style is mine alone!"

"Well...she called it the 'Flash Ring', and it looked identical to yours. I didn't really give much thought to it, but I noticed the whip, and so..." Kayin trailed off.

"My God," whispered Ellis is dismay. "Was she another clone, maybe?"

Kayin shook his head. "Don't think so. She wasn't exactly the same, but close enough. Glad it's not another clone too, we had enough problems last time."

Eiji pounded his gloved fist on the table. "That does it. I'm not going to sit around and wait for their next move. We need to take action, before anyone else gets hurt." Suddenly Kayin drew in his breath sharply. "Kayin-chan, nani yo?"

Kayin looked like he was going to be sick. "Oh, damn...I said that we were meeting here, and that cat-girl must have heard me, since she said that they were going to be coming for us..."

And, as if on cue, the sound of the house door being jarred loose was heard.

**********