Well, I'm back. And I still don't own Bloody Roar. Hmm, I wonder if Hudson will accept a lifetime supply of crushed Mountain Dew cans as a trade off for Bloody Roar? Or at the very least, Kenji and Uriko. You think? Maybe? Didn't think so.

Phooey.

The Assassin's Shadow

Chapter Six: The Dark Half

Frozen in horrifed disbelief, Kenji stared at the living, breathing, darkest version of himself. This couldn't be real. He was hallucinating again, or having a really screwed up dream. At least, he hoped it was merely a nightmare. Because, if it was real, he couldn't begin to imagine what this would mean for him, and the people he loved.

Bakuryu grinned, that cold familiar smirk Kenji despised so much, and punched him in the face. The pain was magnificent; Kenji tasted blood, and the force of the blow shattered any hope that this could be his imagination. No, this wasn't a dream, this was real; the agony resounding through his head destroyed any hope of that.

"You're not dreaming," Bakuryu stated, in a voice of eerie calm. Kenji felt the shiver all the way down his spine. They were so alike, in mind as well as physical stature. Bakuryu knew what he was thinking, because he was him. But, he wasn't supposed to be here, "on this side of the mirror," as he so eloquently put it. What was going on?

"Busuzima," he rasped, trying to collect his thoughts through the dizziness in his skull, "what have you done?"

"Simple, Kenji dear. I've made a clone. After all, you two are the same person, and Bakuryu was only too happy to have his own body returned to him. Now, the two of you are truly separated, in body and mind, forever. I have my assassin back, and you are finally free. Though I doubt you'll live much longer." Busuzima grinned evilly, and Bakuryu smiled. "So, enjoy it while you can."

"Well," he added cheerfully, rubbing his hands together. "I'm sure you two have a lot to talk about. Bakuryu, when you dispose of the body, use the back door, if you would. I'm afraid I've grown rather fond of the boy; I'd rather not see what you've done to him."

"As you wish, master."

"Well, Kenji dear, I'm afraid this is goodbye. I've promised your fate to Bakuryu, so I doubt I'll be seeing you again." Busuzima sniffed, and in a rare show of affection, patted Kenji on the head. "Have a good afterlife, my boy." He started to leave, but at the door he turned, smacking himself on the forehead. "Oh, and I almost forgot: happy real birthday. To both of you. Heeheehee."

He smiled a proud, watery smile, and sauntered out. The heavy iron door clanged as it shut behind him, and Kenji was alone with Bakuryu.

The teenager fought the despair crushing his soul to oblivion, and raised his head to meet Bakuryu's empty gaze head on. "Do your worst," he challenged.

One corner of the dark ninja's mouth lifted in a chilling smirk. "I will," he promised. "But not now. You've caused me a great deal of trouble, Kenji Ohgami, and I'm going to make you pay. Master has left your life in my hands, and I am going to make the rest of it as miserable as possible."

Kenji managed a hoarse chuckle. "If you can be as creative as Busuzima when it comes to torture, I'll be surprised."

"Oh, I'm not going to touch your body. Not yet, anyway. I want you to heal. Because, I'm going to face you one-on-one when you're fully prepared, and then we will see who truly deserves the title of Bakuryu. I'm going to enjoy ripping you apart, peice by peice. Until then, there are other ways to break you." Bakuryu stepped back and sneered. "Starting with that little girlfriend of yours."

Kenji felt a fist of ice plunge into his stomach, leaving him breathless and horrified. "You stay away from Uriko!" he snarled, lunging at his twin with a surge of hatred he had never felt before. The chains yanked him up short, and Kenji strained against his bonds, the tendons in his arms standing out, as he sought to reach the smirking face before him.

Bakuryu laughed, a cold, cruel sound. "What shall I tell her when I see her?" he taunted, as Kenji continued to fight the unyeilding chains, panting and glaring at his enemy. "Shall I crush her hopes and dreams, before I crush her delicate little body? Should I pretend to be you, only to stab her in the back when she feels secure? How long should I continue the game, Kenji? Perhaps you can tell me."

Kenji sagged against the wall, defeated. He had never felt so helpless in his life. "Bakuryu," he whispered, closing his eyes, "what do you want from me? I'll do anything, if you promise to leave Uriko and my family alone."

There was pressure on his neck, and he opened his eyes to see Bakuryu had him by the throat, pushing his head back into the wall. "I want you to bleed," the dark assassin whispered, his face very close to Kenji's. "I want your soul to bleed away and die. I want you to feel the same emptiness that I felt, trapped inside your head. And I want you to know the despair that comes from watching all that you care for ripped away in front of your eyes. I promised I would make you suffer, Kenji. And I always keep my promises."

Bakuryu released him and stepped back. There was no smirk on his face now. There was nothing but cold emptiness. "I'm off to meet your sweetheart," he said in a voice that was so completely dead of emotion, it sent a chill down Kenji's spine. "When I come back, I'll let you say goodbye...to her head. You're welcome to stop me, if you can." And with that, he turned and walked away, leaving Kenji to stare after him helplessly.

The teenager yanked desperately at his chains, but he was weak from pain, blood loss, and the drugs Busuzima kept pumping into his system. If only I could morph, he thought, but powerful sedatives prevented him from changing into his beast form, and he didn't have the energy for the transformation.

There was another way to change, however. When their human body took so much damage, the zoanthrope metabolism took over and transformed them automatically. It was a last ditch effort of self-preservation, which was why it was so difficult to kill a zoanthrope. When close to death, their healing and adrenaline kicked into high gear, often causing the host to beserk, entering the famed and deadly "hyperbeast mode." Kenji had been in hyperbeast mode only once before, when fighting a lunatic zoanthrope named Xion, who was just as fast as himself, and whose other form was a lethal combination of praying mantis and space alien. Kenji remembered the raw, wild power tearing through his body when he entered hyperbeast; he remembered losing himself in a whirlwind of emotion, and the numbing exhaution he felt when it was over. He never wanted to experience anything like that again, that horrible feeling of losing all control, being swept along in a storm of fear and rage. But to protect one's family, sacrifices were sometimes called for. Realizing what had to be done, Kenji closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Busuzima! You slimy, lying, forked tongued bastard! Get in here! I want to talk to you!"

There was no answer at first, so Kenji tried again. He yelled for the scientist several more times, before the door finally clanged open and Busuzima stood there, one hand on his hip, the other holding what looked like a vial of blood.

"You're certainly noisy for someone at death's door," the scientist remarked, mildly annoyed. Gazing around, he wrinkled his nose and sniffed. "Where is Bakuryu? I thought he wanted to do the honors."

"He changed his mind," Kenji said, with every ounce of insolence he could muster. "Said he didn't want to clean up after your little toys, since you're too much of a coward to do it yourself." Curling his lip in a very Bakuryu-like fashion, he added: "but then, I could have told him that."

"Cowardly, am I?" Putting down the vial, Busuzima stalked into the room. "Don't tempt me, dear boy, or I might finish Bakuryu's job after all."

"You? Don't make me laugh. You don't have the guts." Kenji sneered at the scientist's shocked expression. "That's why you've been after Bakuryu all this time; he's your little attack dog to off the people you don't have the balls to do yourself. You're"

He got no further, as Busuzima struck him a savage blow to the head with his long, windmilling arms. "Kenji dear, don't think that because I promised you to Bakuryu, I won't silence you myself," Busuzima warned with a silky, dangerous smile. "If I decide to kill you right in front of him, that's my business, and he will stand there and take it like a good boy. I am the master here, therefore I can do whatever I want. So, shut up before I crack open your hard little head and see what your brains look like."

Kenji's head was reeling. Busuzima could hit hard. But then, he wasn't just a creepy scientist, he was a zoanthrope, and he knew how to fight just like the rest of them. Kenji wished he could take the scientist's advice and shut up. This wasn't his style; it felt weird and awkward deliberately goading someone into a rage, and he was forcing himself to continue the chain of insults. But, continue he did, despite the strangeness of it all. Uriko was counting on him.

"You've gotten soft in your old age, Busu," Kenji went on, inwardly steeling himself for the hurt he knew was coming. "You call that little tap a punch? I didn't even feel it." He grunted as Busuzima kneed him in the stomach, biting back a gasp of pain.

"Shut up!" Busuzima snarled. "I'm warning you, boy..." His face now was very red. Kenji forced a smirk and continued.

"Pathetic," he sneered. "You're pathetic, Busu. Look at you; hiding out in this dump of a warehouse, afraid to show your face aboveground. You're nothing but a bullying, dim-witted, ugly freak of nature. I should have killed you two years ago; if you weren't such a cowardly sneak, I would have!"

"That's it!" Busuzima shrieked. Whirling, he stalked to the back of the room, reached beneath a counter and came up with, of all things, a baseball bat. Kenji's blood ran cold, and he took a deep breath to stop the violent trembling.

"Freak of nature, am I?" Busuzima screamed, brandishing the metal bat so it whuffed savagely through the air. "When I'm done with you, boy, we'll see who the freak of nature is!"

He charged, swinging the weapon in a vicious arc like he was hitting a baseball. Kenji braced himself as the bat smashed into his ribs with the force of a frieght train, taking his breath away. He heard a sickening crack, and couldn't hold back a howl of agony, as pain turned his world black for just a second. Dimly, he was aware of Busuzima raising the club for a second blow, and squeezed his eyes tightly shut. There was a roaring in his ears, a terrible pressure building in his chest. He lost track of how many times Busuzima hit him, his body jolting under the metal club. The scientist was screeching at him now, seeming to have gone completely insane. He couldn't talk, couldn't breathe, and for a moment, wondered if he was dying.

Then, the pressure erupted, and with a roar, Kenji was engulfed with power.

The iron manacles snapped and burst open, unable to hold the violent transformation, as the teenager erupted into a broad shouldered creature with dark brown fur and enormous slashing claws. With a shriek, Busuzima staggered back, as beady red eyes focused on him and narrowed, recognizing the source of it's torment.

"Oh, shi" was all Busuzima got out, before two nasty, claw tipped hands slammed into his chest, knocking him backwards into the wall. Bouncing to his feet, the scientist immedietely morphed into a seven-foot blue chameleon, who towered over his dark furred opponent. The lizard rose to his full imposing height, and abruptly disappeared.

Curling his lip, the mole darted forward, exhilerated at the rush of power coursing through his veins. His enemy had disappeared, but he didn't stop. He knew that trick, and slashed his claws at the place where the chameleon had vanished. There was a shriek, and a dark spray of blood.

A long red tongue appeared from nowhere, coiling around his leg. The mole was yanked off his feet and tossed through the air, crashing into a table, scattering vials and glass beakers to the floor. With a raspy snarl, he lunged to his feet, rage flooding through him like liquid fire, searching for his enemy.

A fist whipped through the air, directly for his face, and he blocked instinctively, feeling the crushing impact jar his bones. A second blow followed the first, but this time, it struck nothing but a cloud of smoke, passing through the wispy barrier and finding nothing but air.

Shrieking his hate, the mole dropped onto the chameleon from above, landing on the lizard's back and ripping into him with his claws. The chameleon flailed wildly, trying to dislodge his vengeful passanger, but the mole clung to him like a tick, while dark lizard blood spattered the floor and the walls. The chameleon was finally able to shake him off by falling backwards, intending to crush him with the weight of his body. But the mole vaulted off his enemy and landed on his feet a few yards away.

As soon as he hit the ground, the mole darted forward again, striking his opponent before he could regain his balance. The chameleon reeled back, and found himself surrounded in a ring of fire. He writhed in pain as flames roared around him, and was suddenly hit in two places at once, as if his opponent had split himself and attacked from either side. This final blow was too much. With a final screech, the chameleon fell, returning to Busuzima as he collapsed, barely conscious, on the cold stone floor.

Victorious, the mole was about to pounce on his prone enemy and rip him to shreds, when the hyperbeast mode abruptly wore off and with it, the adrenaline that had been keeping Kenji upright for most of the battle. Morphing back, his legs buckled under him and he sank to the floor, panting and gritting his teeth against the renewed agony resonating through his entire being. He was so drained he could barely move, the price you paid for Hyperbeast, and every muscle in his body screamed with the slightest movement.

But, I'm free. Glancing down at his wrists, Kenji winced at how raw and chafed they were, hanging from cruel manacles the past two months. Two months, he thought with a grimace. God, Yugo must be worried sick. Uriko...have you given up on me?

The thought of Uriko sent him into a near panic. Riko! I can't let that demon get to you! Please be all right! Please don't let me be too late. He struggled to his feet, biting his lip at the flare of pain, when he suddenly remembered Busuzima, lying where he had fallen. And, for a moment he paused, oddly torn, fighting a war within himself.

I should kill him, Kenji thought, that cold knot of hatred for his former master uncoiling with startling vehemence. He causes nothing but pain. His cruel experemints are a bane to humans and zoanthropes alike. Why shouldn't I kill him here? It would be so easy, and no one would ever know...

But then, he sighed, as Uriko's face swam before him, her beautiful eyes gazing into his so trustingly. I would know. And, Uriko would know. I could never hide this from her. He sighed again, raking his fingers through his filthy bangs. I'm not Bakuryu. I'm not a cold blooded killer. I'm...just me. Kenji Ohgami. And that is enough. Glancing down at the scientist, he found he could look at him without rage; he could finally release the dark hatred clutching at his heart.

"I'm not Bakuryu," he whispered to the half charred lump on the ground. Pale eyes stared at him blearily, as the scientist tried to move, whimpering in pain. Kenji turned away, not even looking at him, though his voice became stronger with every word. "You are not important to me anymore. When I leave this place, I will never think of you again. But, if you ever come near me or my family, I will make sure you die. That is a promise."

Holding his head high, Kenji turned and left the room, pushing his broken body on strength of will alone. Busuzima might have called out to him, but he didn't care. He did not stop, and he did not look back. His only thought now was getting to Uriko.

Before his twin did.

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Wow, this story is almost done. What a shock! Again, I'm ever so thankful for all you wonderful reviewers out there. You guys are the greatest. Thanks again!

Ja,

Silverkitsune