Chapter 2 : The Perfect Creation

Thanks for the reviews, I appreciate it.

Metal Overload - it's not necessary for you to tell me, I knew you were a fan of Ayane ages ago. You are Jamo in the Tecmo forums, right?

"What took you so long! Where did you go?" Hayate came out with a mouthful of questions at Ayane's arrival back at the Tenjinmon School.

"Shut up!" Ayane retorted rudely, "I have already told you, haven't I, that it's none of your business!" She said, her voice rising. She went back to her room and slammed the door shut. Just then, the door next to hers creaked open and Kasumi emerged, sleepy-eyed.

"What was that noise?" she asked, still half-asleep in her nightgown.

"Ayane. Out of her mind as usual." Hayate gave an unusually dull and unworried tone, "Oh yeah, by the way, since you are already awake, you don't mind taking care of this place for a while, right?" he asked pleadingly.

"For what?"

"I heard that the fourth DOA tournament is finally arriving and the committee has something new and obviously more challenging for us competitors. So I'll be heading to town to check the situation, see ya!" he grabbed some money and set off. Kasumi gave a deep sigh.

Soon he arrived at the nearest bookstore. He sauntered in and drew the newspaper from a nearby rack. He paid for it at the counter and exited the store. As he walked, he took a quick look at the hideous picture of a dragon-faced creature. It bewildered him such that he almost dropped his jaw. Hayate then shifted his glance to the newspaper headline at the top of the front page.

"DOATEC UNLEASHES NEW SUPERHUMAN PROJECT SPECIMEN, DONOVAN'S BEST EVER CREATION IN HISTORY"

"Wow... great... this should be interesting..." he sighed as he traveled a safe distance out of anyone's sight before vanishing into thin dust.

88888888888

"Hey, let me take a look at that." Kasumi went up to Hayate when he was back.

"Ayane, come out and see what I've got here!" Hayate called out as soon as he laid the newspaper on the table. Ayane came strolling from her room and stood beside Hayate and Kasumi.

"This thing sure looks gruesome. Who knows it may simply destroy the whole battle ring." Kasumi winced with distaste.

"You'd better hope it would. It'll be interesting to watch Donovan panic once in a while." Ayane taunted with a grin. However, that grin didn't last long for her.

"Part of it looks familiar..." Ayane thought silently

"'It is said that Donovan mixed the head of a crocodile..." Hayate read the article out loud.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"'...the whiskers of a lobster..."

"Is it ...?"

"'...horns of a rhino and a goat ..."

"!"

"'...wings of a bat ..."

"Huh! It can't be...! No way!"

"'And the body of the previous specimen," Hayate's expression changed drastically to serious, "Omega, together in his brand-new project specimen. He had waited for a long period of time, waiting for this horrifying creature, as commented by most reporters, to be born. Such a complicated combination would make Megido a perfect soldier. Donovan also reported that the more fearsome it looks the better. He has even allowed a two-on-one battle against Megido as this won't be just an ordinary battle...' oh, I can't read this any longer..." Hayate was overwhelmed with disgust and fear at the same time. His words seemed to be stuck in his throat.

"He's insane."said Kasumi.

As he shifted his gaze away from the newspaper, to his surprise and utter dismay, he noticed a pool of tears gathering in Ayane's deep amber eyes, threatening to flow down anytime. Ayane was shivering uncontrollably and her fists were clenched tight, face tightened and eyes ablaze.

"What happened? Are you alright?" Hayate asked her when tears finally made its way down Ayane's cheek.

"This... this..."Ayane was still shivering, "this is unforgivable..." she muttered through gritted teeth, "that mad scientist had gone too far. And worst of all, he turned my father into an animal. Not just an animal, a creature with looks so horrifying. He has used Genra as his weapon... twice. Donovan, you'll have it... you'll have revenge from me, I swear about that!" Her eyes narrowed and it felt as though they would burn right through her.

"Ayane, calm down, Donovan couldn't possibly give up that easy, I know he's being outrageous but Genra's already dead, please don't feel sad anymore." Hayate tried to console her.

"He sure has enough confidence to allow a 2 on 1 battle on it, it must be overloaded with power." Kasumi finally commented after watching Ayane's response.

Just then, Hayabusa appeared out of nowhere, littering the floor with dust and leaves.

"Here, letters for all of you... and me." He handed three of the envelopes to them and immediately tore his open. It read: As past participants of the previous Dead or Alive Tournament, DOATEC welcomes and invites you to participate in the upcoming Dead or Alive 4 Tournament held within a few days. If you are keen on participating again, please fill in your particulars for registration and send the form to the given address.

"I'll never miss one of these." Hayate reached for a pen.

"Count me in." Kasumi smiled at her brother.

"Hey, me too." Ryu said dully.

"I can never forgive myself if I don't win." Ayane sighed heavily and grabbed her form to register. Once the letters were posted, they went to Hayate's room and sat down. Usually, they did this whenever they felt they had to discuss about something, although Kasumi and Ayane never said a word to each other before. This made Hayate deeply concerned.

"So, I suggest we form tag teams for the tournament, what d'you say?" Hayate suggested.

"..." Ayane and Kasumi seemed to be dumb for a moment.

"Ryu, why don't you join up with Kasumi? Leave Ayane to me." Hayate requested when everyone refused to answer. Kasumi and Hayabusa faced each other. Her amber eyes met with Ryu's emerald green ones. He could somehow sense the strong desire she had not wanted to be Ayane's rival. Feeling quizzical, he then rested his eyes on another pair of amber eyes. Through Ayane's usually vicious glare, he could see anger, hatred, as well as sorrow and intense pain.

"Ayane would forever remain as mysterious as she is as long as I know. She must be suffering from all the heavy losses she had." Hayabusa inferred on what he had seen through her eyes.

He snapped out of his dreamy gaze when a kunai pierced through the door of Hayate's room. In the blink of an eye, Hayate caught it with his fingers before it touched his neck. Without hesitating, he removed the note attached to it. It read: Hahaa! Take a look outside, stinko! (If you're still alive)

"We've got company..." Hayate crushed the note in her hand and stood up.