Disclaimer: I do not own Bloody Roar. Shin and other characters are of my design though. But then you knew that already.

Chap. 6

And that's it. I need your help."

Shenlong took a gulp from his drink, "Hmm, let's see. Help you or stay here and drink." He took another gulp from his cup.

Long remained patient, "Can you please help me? I wouldn't have come here unless I really needed your help."

Shenlong gazed at him, "Look, I may not remember much, but I do remember that for a time I did not like you, Long."

Long sat back, "That's the understatement of the decade."

Shenlong looked at him weirdly and then laughed out loud. "Hahahaha! Who would have thought that Mr. Stiff here would get a sense of humor? Such a trait could not have come out of nowhere. It must be a woman. Anyone in particular?"

Long's face stayed neutral, "Please."

Shenlong took another drink, "Well, it has been pretty boring here lately. I'll help, but on two conditions. One, I'll work alone. I don't need you or the rest of your friends slowing me down. The last thing I need is to be stuck with that brat student of yours. She has an irritating voice."

Long remained still, "Fine. What's number two?"

Shenlong smiled, "Who's the she. The girl that…"

At that moment, several large men came up to them, pushing other out of their way. They stopped in front of their table. The man in the lead bellowed, "Move it, shrimps. This here is our table."

Both men didn't look at them, but Shenlong spoke, "Get lost. Me and my brother here was just discussing business."

The man walked forward and took out a knife, "You little punk. Move it or get hurt."

Long's eye shifted to the side, looking at him sidelong while Shenlong stretched his arms out, "Well, if you guys want this table that badly, you can have it."

Suddeny, Shenlong's foot lurched out, kicking the table upward. At the same time, Long's hand hit the table while in mid-air and it flew into the men. The group of men managed to get up and charged at the two fighters. Both fighter leapt into the air and fought the group, using their Kenpo skills to dominate. During the fight, the first man with the knife stabbed at Shenlong, but he dodged it, grabbed the man's arm, twisted it to his back, and used his energy to propel him into the wall. The duo then left the bar, now full of injured bodies. Shenlong laughed, "Hahaha. You know, I take it back. I'll work with you. It may be as fun as it was back there."

Long grimaced, "I call it trouble."

"Trouble, fun, it's all the same to me. Let's go."

____

In a dark alleyway, a large man strode. He looked aged somewhat, but he clearly had power. One of his eyes had a long thin scar on it. He walked with a certain pride. He approached another man, skinny and vastly smaller than the large one.

"Do you have the info?"

"Where's my money?"

"That wasn't the agreement."

The smaller man leaned back on the wall, "Well, I'm changing the agreement."

The large man stared down at the smaller one and began to walk away. The smaller man ran after him, "Hey, wait! Where are you going?"

The large man didn't stop, "I'm leaving. There's nothing here for me. Or is there"

The smaller one frowned, "Alright, alright. I was hoping I could get some money out of the deal."

The large man turned back, "If what I said to you was true, then Tylon is back and you are a marked man. Dead men don't ask for money."

The smaller one grimaced, "You don't change, you know that Gado. There have been rumors of an underground facility 5 miles west from here. People have been hearing strange noises around there."

"What kind of noises?"

"They couldn't tell. Like humans screaming like animals. Also, I been given some new info. Something about a project Z."

"Tell me."

"It's a classified project. It was incredible that I managed to get it unnoticed, but…"

"You didn't."

Suddenly, a pair of metallic hand appeared around the small man's neck and twisted, making a sickening crack. Gado stepped back as the small man slumped to the ground, revealing his killer.

"Kohryu."

"Alan Gado. You are sentenced to die as well."

"Hmph. We'll see."

The mechanized ninja got into stance and leapt at Gado, transforming into his iron mole form. Gado waited until he was close before transforming himself and slashing the mole aside. Kohryu rolled on the ground and stood up while the were-lion stood posed for attack. Kohryu was ready for another attack when…

"Stop."

Kohryu turned to see a man, dressed in a dark ninja uniform, standing atop the lamppost.

"Our orders have been changed."

Kohryu reverted back to his humanoid form, "Very well." Turning to Gado, "We'll finish this later." In a puff of smoke, both ninjas vanished, leaving Gado to his thoughts.

"Another ninja. Project Z. A secret facility. Looks like it's time to call the troops."

___

At the Nonomara residence, everyone was still waiting. Mitsuko was making tea for everyone and Alice was helping her. Outside, Jane and Yugo were sparring with each other due to the fact that both of them hated waiting. Inside, Uriko was talking to Kenji.

"I can't believe it. Shin is… an assassin."

"I was once too. But it's not over yet. Shin came back when I fought him. If I can do it once, I can do it again."

Uriko cringed, "But what if he…kills you the next time?"

Kenji smirked, a trait he learned from Yugo, "He won't. He only injured me because I was caught off guard. Next time, I'll be ready."

"What…what if he kills you? Or what if…you kill him?"

"Huh?"

Uriko began to cry again, "I don't want any of you to get hurt."

Kenji laid his hands on her shoulders, "Look, Uriko. I don't know how it will turn out, but I promise that I will do everything I can to save him. So don't cry, okay?"

A moment passed between them and their eyes locked. Both were full of unsaid emotions between them and for that moment, time seemed to stop.

Riiiiinnnngggggg.

The phone took them out of their trance and Yugo rushed in and picked up, "Hello."

"Yugo."

"Gado."

"Go five miles west of the Seaside town."

"What am I looking for?"

"You'll see when you get there. See ya."

"Wait." The phone clicked off.

I hate when he does that.

Jane came in, "Was that him?"

Yugo nodded, "Yeah. He told us to look 5 miles west of Seaside town."

Alice walked in, "That's not far from here."

"Alright, here's the deal. Me, Alice, and Jane will go there. Kenji, I want you and Uriko to stay here."

"What?"

"You heard me. You are staying."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want you getting involved in this."

"I'm already involved. You better come up with a better excuse than that."

"Alright. I don't want you going because I said so."

"Sorry, but I'm going. And you're not going to stop me."

"Kenji!"

"Stop it, both of you."

The voice belonged to Mitsuko.

"Listen, Kenji. You shouldn't talk back to Yugo like that. His is your guardian and you should show the proper respect. And Yugo, as much as you want to protect Kenji, you have to realize that he's not a kid. He should go with you since you will need our help."

Yugo sighed before realizing, "Huh? Our help?"

Mitsuko smiled, "That's right. We're all going."

Kenji interceded, "Mrs. Nonomara?"

"If Tylon is involved, then they will come after all off us. After all, we contributed to its fall. Plus, you're going to need all the help you can get."

Alice agreed, "She's right, Yugo."

Yugo looked helplessly at the group and saw no way out of this. "I guess I can't say no, huh?"

_____

In a dark room, a light shone in the center. There in the light, was Shin. He was unconscious and all sorts of wiring were attached to his skin.

"How is the subject?"

"Unit 2 is unconscious, but stable."

"The programming was ineffective. We should use a stronger program."

"One has just been developed. We can use it on him."

"Good. And how about units 0 and 3?"

"They are on their way back now. But I must warn you. Gado has been sighted nearby. He may be a problem."

"Not to worry. My only concern is unit 1. He may be the greatest threat."

"Unit 1. What was he named again?"

"Kenji."

"Ah yes. How about project Z?"

"It is going according to schedule. But we still need more data from unit 1 and 2 to complete it."

"No problem. We'll have them fight each other. By now, he and the others should be on their way here."

"The others. Does that include Yugo?"

"Definently.  His arrival was unavoidable."

"Not to worry. Once project unit Z is active, no force on Earth will stop us."