Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

A/N: This chapter required a few changes to certain elements: including the chapter title, dialogue, motivations and even a later beast form mentioned - though it plays out mostly in the same way.

Chapter 3: Fighting Spirit

Another area cordoned off; bleak and foreboding. The tremor had only been very minor, but it was enough to cause an old boiler to explode in a nearby shop. The damaged walkway was separated off by tape, keeping civilians back as fire-fighters dealt with the flames, not there were many people left around to spectate the scene. Most had long since gone home to seek safety. The air was rank with smoke and the scent of melted plastic, a rather macabre perfume in the evening air.

Yugo Ogami stood silently in the mostly abandoned neighbourhood. The chaos really had sucked the life out of the place. He knew he wasn't going to get any answers here, not any that he didn't already know.

With hands dug into his pockets, he let his eyes trail the somewhat smoky skyline. He was pretty certain that other areas of the city were smouldering that night, either from the effects of another earthquake or the aftermath of a Zoanthrope going out of control. He wasn't sure how he was going to make this right again, but he'd be damned if he was just going to sit back and do nothing.

One thing at a time... All these problems weren't going to be solved in a day. And right now, his mind was elsewhere. He wasn't out risking himself in unsettled territory for no reason. He was searching for someone.

Nagi Kirishima.

Her cousin was a W.O.C. volunteer regularly at the office doing odd jobs. Around the time of the XGC incident, Yugo had happened to be visiting the local hospital to learn more about the mark when he'd encountered the young man there, who was waiting to find out news about Nagi. It had been suspected she'd been stabbed by the same strange Zoanthrope that was going around massacring others affected by the mark. Yugo remembered seeing the young teen laying beneath the crisp white linen, hooked up to a ventilator to keep her fragile body stable. It didn't make sense why a human would be attacked. It had stuck with him for a while after the visit.

He got to speak to her months later after she'd left hospital. She was waiting to meet her cousin one evening to go for dinner. Their conversation hadn't been very long nor of any particular importance, but he just kept getting a weird vibe about her. That something had changed. There seemed to be a troubled glimmer in her eyes.

Now he found himself on the trail of 'The Black Shadow', one of the few supposed leads he had. He wasn't sure how it could relate to everything going on, but the fact he'd heard Nagi's name suspected in relation to it had drawn his attention. It all interrelated to random acts of violence, all perpetrated by one person – nothing quite as out of control of some of the other incidents. These were all premeditated assaults. It all seemed too eerily like the events of the XGC incident. But could it really have been to do with Nagi of all people?

Her cousin hadn't seen her for weeks. She'd disappeared after a strange incident where there was a bizarre explosion – if it could have even been called that. There were rumours saying it had come from her. As outlandish as it sounded, Yugo had to follow every lead.

He'd tried Nagi's address first. As expected, there was nobody home. Her neighbours hadn't seen her in a while, and if she had left, she had done so discreetly.

He had quickly picked up her scent trail, though had become temporarily distracted when he'd heard the explosion a few blocks away. He'd hoped the two incidents were interconnected, but alas they weren't. Yugo was determined to find her and see if she was okay, and maybe even debunk 'The Black Shadow' theory.

The scent was strong. She had been around here recently. Wherever she was going, it didn't seem like she was just out taking a stroll to the shops to get some milk. Besides, most shops were shutting up early out of fear of the violence. Whatever the case, he was going to keep following the trail until he finally found her. He at least wanted to know that she was safe, especially in these uncertain times.

As he followed her scent, he wasn't sure where it was going to take him. From the looks of it, she'd bypassed the main streets altogether, following the back passages probably to traverse a safer route.

Before long he was crossing through a dim tunnel that led under the overhead subway lines. The desolate area was nothing more than a large back alley space between the buildings and the concrete stanchions holding up the rail lines. As he stepped into the open area, he heard a pained groan. He couldn't quite work out its origins at first, until his eyes went to the trash cans near the right wall. He slowly walked over to investigate.

Amidst the trash piles was a young man, looking a little worse for wear. Yugo was about to ask him if he was okay but abruptly stopped, his nose catching a scent. He looked down sharply and he moved his foot across a clump of torn black feathers to reveal a piece of leather material, which looked like it might have come from a jacket sleeve. He knelt down, picking it up, bringing it to his nose to sniff.

It was definitely Nagi's scent alright.

Yugo was concerned. Jackets didn't just rip for no good reason. Something had happened to her. It was then he finally turned his attention to the man amongst the trash. He was in no doubt he had something to do with it. The silver haired youth moved forward to learn up on one knee, placing a hand back against the wall to steady himself. Reiji didn't care much about Yugo's presence to begin with; he was too busy focusing on how his back was stinging like a bitch. The slash was starting to scab over, but that didn't stop the pain. Every movement caused a spasm to rip through the muscles. He eventually looked over at the other man when he was suddenly noticed him standing over him.

"What do you want?" Reiji hissed, trying not to sound in too much pain.

Yugo presented the piece of leather to him. "I'm looking for a young woman. She's been here recently. This is a part of her jacket."

"Pfft, could be anyone's jacket," Reiji brushed off, trying to get up.

The wolf Zoanthrope rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it could be anyone's…" He couldn't help giving the younger man a mocking sneer. "… But it's not. It belongs to a girl called Nagi; pretty coincidental that I can smell her scent on you… that plus shit and garbage."

Reiji tentatively closed the distance between himself and Yugo, squaring up to him though the movement was feeble. He just didn't want to appear intimidated by the other man.

"Watch what you say, asshole," the crow Zoanthrope shot back lowly. "You want to know so badly if there was a girl here? Well, yeah, there was a girl, but she isn't here no more."

Yugo's hand grabbed Reiji's neck without even thinking. "WHERE IS SHE?!"

Reiji choked, lurching backwards, crying out in a strained hiss as the wound on his back burned agonisingly. One of his knees buckled and he would have fallen if not for Yugo keeping him up. It was then the wolf Zoanthrope noticed the long, torn wound on the stranger's back.

What the hell? Did she do this to him? Not that he could see how.

"What the fuck do you want from me?" Reiji snapped unsteadily.

"Just tell me what the hell happened here and where the girl went after," Yugo said, trying not to lose anymore of his patience.

"Fine, just let me breathe..."

Yugo released the young man, who almost face-planted the floor when he collapsed.

"Talk then," Yugo stiffly demanded.

Reiji rolled over and sat up, though did little more than that for the time being, not taking angry eyes off of the other man. "So the girl you're looking for, she walked onto my turf, maybe an hour or so ago. She left after our... match."

"So she beat you up and left you in the trash..."

Reiji huffed, touching his back. "She got lucky. Weirdest fucking Zoanthrope I've ever seen… had this weird blade arm; slashed me good."

"Zoanthrope?" Yugo was stunned to silence. But Nagi isn't a Zoanthrope... Is this even the same girl?

"Yeah! That's what I said! Am I talking in rhymes here?"

Yugo ignored him, looking at the piece of jacket in his hand. "But… this doesn't make sense. She's… there's no way it can be…"

"Got the wrong girl?"

Yugo couldn't deny it smelt of Nagi's scent, but maybe this was indeed another girl? But then he'd have smelt someone else's scent as well. This revelation was starting to confuse him.

But if this was Nagi, what the hell had happened to her?

"My fucking back…" Reiji grunted, breaking Yugo's train of thought.

"Ever heard of the 'Black Shadow'?" Yugo asked on a whim.

Reiji paused, glancing at his serious expression, and then burst out laughing. "Are they still calling me that?"

Yugo's brow furrowed. "What do you mean? You, the 'Black Shadow'?"

"It's lame. Not my choice."

So this punk was the trouble behind the whole 'Black Shadow' trouble. He almost had to laugh as well, having suddenly solved the mystery behind the name, with such little effort as well. Kenji and Alice would be pretty damn surprised when he filled them in later. He made a note to himself to report his discovery to the authorities when he got the chance. He doubted he'd get a name out of the guy now that he'd revealed himself as the 'Black Shadow'.

"You should get someone to look at that wound," Yugo said aside.

"I can deal with it myself! Now if you're done badgering me, push off!"

"Whatever." Yugo turned away, sniffing the air. According to his senses, she'd headed west, but even then he wasn't completely sure. There were other Zoanthrope scent trails lingering in the air, making it hard to decipher hers clearly. He left Reiji sat moping on the concrete as he decided what to do next.

Nagi had buttoned a shirt over her tattered skirt, ditching the remains of her jacket and top in a trash can some time back. She'd slipped on a pair of flat shoes, hoping not to ruin anymore of her good boots in case she ended up transforming again.

She was exhausted. That pointless battle had taken more out of her than she imagined and gave her some sores she would be nursing for a few days. She needed to find somewhere to settle down for the night and recharge her batteries. She almost felt like just going home and starting again tomorrow, but something told her to keep moving forward, to keep on the trail. She just kept having a horrible feeling that she would bring some kind of dark danger to her homestead if she kept going back there.

She noticed some public houses open along a small street, some advertising room vacancies. At least some places weren't fazed by the current chaos. Then again, where there was tension there was booze.

Deciding to put any thought of the violence aside for a little while, she chose the closest, least sleazy of the taverns and went inside. She found herself in a somewhat smoky and dimly lit space, packed out with people drinking and making loud chatter. A group of young men were gathered around a pool table in the midst of a game. They gave her the briefest of glances, more so to raise an eyebrow at her wrecked skirt before returning their attention to the game at hand. Nagi moved around a small group of older ladies hanging around an aging jukebox to make it to the long bar lined with slightly weathered stools, most of which were occupied.

Nagi managed to nab a seat right on the corner of the bar, looking a tad out of place against the bulking forms sat alongside her. A few leery eyes cast her way, taking in her exposed legs and peeping bust from where she hadn't done the buttons all the way up. She tried not to roll her eyes with disgust.

The bartender – a European-looking guy – didn't seem all that concerned with her attire. She could imagine he'd seen all sorts walk in, and probably plenty in a lot worse state.

"What can I get you?" He asked as he approached.

"You got any free rooms for the night?" She asked, having to raise her voice so he could hear her.

"Yeah, we have one, but its money up front and it's not cheap." He showed her a piece of paper blue-tacked to the wall showing the prices, most of which had been readjusted to more expensive rates. "With all the violence going on, I'm losing money, so I've had to make some changes."

"Don't worry, I can pay," she assured, retrieving some cash from her backpack.

The bartender took the money, counted the amount, and then tossed her a key from under the bar. "Room 5, 2nd floor. You can't miss it."

She caught it, nodded, and made her way to a side door which indicated the way to the rooms.

She opened it to enter a stairwell, following the way up the concrete steps until she eventually came to her assigned room. She'd expected something dingy, but in fact, it wasn't too bad – clean and simple. The carpet was a little sun-faded, but beyond that, she couldn't complain. It was definitely suitable for a night's sleep at least.

Dumping her bag, she tidied her appearance, properly buttoned her shirt up and ditched the skirt in favour of some denim hot pants. A bit more respectable, she put some cash into her pocket and retired down to the bar to take in a few drinks.

She retook her seat at the end of the bar, though found herself suddenly uneasy. A few people had left since she'd been upstairs, replaced by a few faces that didn't seem quite as friendly. They were lingering around the sides of the room, now and then glancing her way with a very grim stare. She ignored the looks as best she could, focusing instead on the soda she'd ordered and half watching a man sleeping at the bar halfway down, almost expecting him to fall off his stool any minute.

Playing with the glass aimlessly, she found herself looking about, taking in the different groups of people. The punters there were mostly men, many of whom were there for the sports playing on a large analogue TV shoved into one corner. A few older guys sat across the way gambling in a card game, with a few others peering in on the action. It seemed for the most part, people were there just to get away from the uncertainty of the world, salving themselves with alcohol and meaningless chatter. Despite the loudness, it was strangely peaceful. Not that she felt truly at peace herself.

A few giggles from another corner of the bar brought her attention over to a couple of young ladies. Scantily clad, almost losing the battle to keep their assets contained in their tops; they pandered salaciously over an athletic-looking Chinese man, who was more than willing to let these women paw at him. There was something almost pornographic about the way they touched him, hands slithering into his open silk shirt, whispering and cuddling against him as he simply smiled almost smugly at all the attention. He seemed to notice Nagi staring over, his eyes locking with hers across the bar. She turned away quickly from that enticing glance, feeling like another piece of eye candy.

His eyes though... They were a strange colour...

"And what do we have here... Some sweet meat perhaps?" Nagi turned to look up as a man leaned onto the bar next to her. His hair was raven black and gelled into messy waves, giving his hair a plastic shine from the excessive amount he'd used. His dark bottomless eyes stared at her hungrily, making her skin crawl as if covered in tiny insects. His aftershave was cheap and suffocating, his breath heavily laced with cigarettes and whisky, and she could tell whatever deodorant he'd decided to use, it clearly wasn't working. Something inside her told her to be cautious, her senses picking up for certain that he was a Zoanthrope.

"Not sweet meat," she tried to put off simply, hoping he would take the hint that she wasn't interested by her body language. Clearly he didn't, because he was suddenly snaking his arm around her. She went rigid at the touch, a tiny part of her wanting to wretch in response.

"Feeling cold and lonely?" He whispered in a failing attempt at seduction.

"No, not really…" She answered emotionlessly.

He continued anyway. "Well, I think you deserve my company anyway. A single girl like you needs a man to keep her feeling special."

Nagi pushed his arm away, turning her back to him. "I feel special enough without your help thank you very much."

Not taking kindly to her brush off, he spun her around on her seat, almost knocking her off. He pinned her back against the bar. "Now that wasn't very nice, especially after I so generously walked over here to show you a good time."

"Get your hands off me." She told him stiffly.

The bartender tried to intervene. "Look buddy, we don't want any trouble."

The sweaty miscreant shoved the bartender back the minute he touched his shoulder. "Keep out of this!"

Nagi seized the moment and rammed her knee straight into his crotch. He stumbled back, eyes almost bulging out of his head. He hunched over, nursing his bruised genitals. A group of men at a table by the jukebox – most likely his posse – started making their way over.

"You… bitch…" She heard him mutter.

"Well, what do you expect?" Nagi said, brushing her hair aside absently.

The man let out an infuriated yell, launching himself at her, aiming a fist directly at her face. She had a split second to move out the way, but as she was about to dodge, another hand suddenly caught the fist directly in front of her face.

Nagi turned with surprise to find the Chinese man stood there, having effortlessly caught the punch with little strain. He glanced at her for a moment, a smooth unparalleled smirk on his face, before turning slowly to lock eyes with the other man instead.

His eyes... they're red... She noted, finding herself in awe.

"What the fuck? Stay out of my business!" The other man snapped, trying to pull his fist back, but the strength behind this other man's hold was unbreakable.

The Chinese man chuckled. "You just had to go and ruin a nice quiet evening. Now, if you don't mind, take your ass out of here before I decide to rip you a new asshole." He applied pressure to the hand in his grasp and the other man was left squirming, a strangled cry in the back of his throat. His buddies began to swarm in at that point.

"Back down, ShenLong, before you get your face smashed in…" One of the other men said to him, cracking his fists.

The Chinese man, ShenLong, just laughed. "Let's just see whose face is the one to get smashed in."

The next few seconds were unreal. Nagi practically missed them by blinking. ShenLong had twisted the other man in his grasp around, releasing his hand to grab his wrist and launched the still closed fist into the face of the one who'd threatened him. His nose practically exploded on impact, blood flowing out like fine wine.

ShenLong shoved away the other man, who was now nursing a possibly broken hand, folding his arms smugly. "Now run along before I disfigure the lot of you."

The raven-haired man snapped furious eyes onto him. "Fuck you, ShenLong. You should have kept out of it!"

"Yeah right, not when I could smell an ass kicking on the horizon."

"Well then, if it's a fight you want, I'll give it to you…" Despite his injured hand, he let out a deep roar and his body began to shift from human to Zoanthrope form. Hard grey plating began to encase his back while the rest of his skin hardened to a thick leather. Each limb bulged until they became thicker and broader. Deadly horns appeared on his elongating face as the man transformed into a hulking rhino.

ShenLong didn't look impressed. "Having to morph to fight me? Pathetic!"

The rhino snorted, rolling its shoulders with menace.

ShenLong dropped into stance, smirking widely. "Alright then, I don't care what form you're in, you're still going to be picking up bits of your insides after this is over." A hand came to rest on his chest as Nagi came to stand in front of him. He raised a brow at her. "What are you doing?"

"This is my fight," she told him. "This bastard came on to me!"

ShenLong didn't like be muscled out of a fight, but she did have a point. He stepped back, despite the rhino making mocking sounds at him.

The large beast took a swipe at Nagi, intending to knock her clean out, but was shocked when she swiftly dodged. Narrowing its dark eyes, it launched at her, trying to impale her on the largest of its horns. She ducked the attack and shot forward, ramming her foot straight into his leathery stomach. The force of her attack was enough to wind him and he doubled over, just in time to receive a jaw-breaking uppercut, sending him flying backwards against the wall, cracking it in several places. The man instantly reverted back to normal as he slid down to the floor. It was over before it had even begun.

"What a weakling," ShenLong muttered with the shake of his head, though found himself casting an impressed glance over to the young woman.

The fallen man's friends stared down at their companion and then back at Nagi, who gave them a cold hard stare. Not wanting to end up the same way, they backed off, taking their leave.

Nagi dusted off her hands and went back to her stool. The room – which had been hanging on baited breath – eventually fell back into calm and everyone went back to what they were doing.

She noticed ShenLong had moved to take up the seat that had become available next to her. He was grinning from ear to ear.

"Well, well, not as fragile as I first thought," he commented.

"I'm far from fragile."

"Oh, I bet you're quite the durable little lady... I bet you could endure quite the pounding..." The sly look on his face was enough to make her groan with annoyance.

"Really, two perverts in one night..."

"Hey, I'll have you know I'm quite the gentleman." He leaned his back against the bar, elbows resting on the edge as he gave her a cocky smile. "Besides, why would I want to upset a girl after my own heart? I'd like to see you beat the shit out of people more often. You've got skill. Maybe we could even spar sometime. I promise not to hurt you too much. I wouldn't want to tear up a pretty little ass like yours."

"I don't know whether to hate you or kiss you," Nagi said, finishing the rest of her soda.

"I'm just that kind of guy," he answered, leaning a little closer. Nagi found herself initially compelled to lean against him as he closed the distance. Unlike the other guy, this one had an alluring musk. She shook off the thoughts, not wanting to let the beast inside lead her into a regrettable situation.

He seemed to sense something had stirred within her because his smirk suddenly grew. He lifted a hand to casually flick some stray hairs over her shoulder to join the rest of her auburn locks. "I was hoping you'd join me for a drink. Anyone with your strength is always welcome at my table. I'd like to find out a little more about you…" His voice lowered to a whisper, moving his face mere inches from her own. "… I sense something quite unique about you…"

Nagi swallowed a lump that had suddenly built in her throat. He knew what she was; maybe not entirely, but she knew that as a Zoanthrope he could also sense the power and essence of another. His expression seemed different now, almost as if he was in admiration of her.

She closed her eyes, looking away. "I'd like to remain a mystery. And besides, I'm sure your girlfriends would feel very threatened by my presence."

ShenLong cast a brief glance over his shoulder to the awaiting women, who were wondering what the heck he was doing with this stranger. He snorted. "They're nothing but a distraction. I have no real interest in them."

"And I would be the same…" She just shook her head and stood. "Sorry, I don't think I can handle being another distraction; and besides, I'm tired…"

He raised a brow. "Whoever said you'd…"

"It's all in your face," she whispered and turned towards the door back to the stairwell. "Goodnight… ShenLong…" Letting his name roll slowly off her tongue, she started to walk away.

"Hey!" He called after her. "At least tell me your name. It's only fair."

She stopped by the door, peering over her shoulder. "It's Nagi…" And with that, she left.