Yaa new chapter!
t was kinda hard to write, not because of muse... but because I was spending a lot of time on Destiny 2 stuff. Which will still be going on that grind. Oh well, Enjoy! Reminder, I have a pat reon, look up azndrgn making fanfic. Donators get perks!
This story has been beta by ZShaq and TheReader2011. Enjoy, leave a review for me to improve!
Woosh
Freya's staff slashed through the air as she continued to train herself. She began to juggle multiple plastic crates, a routine she always did to practice her accuracy and power.
'If you want to be a weapon's master, one must become the owner of yourself first!'
What the kimono woman had said rang in her mind.
'You look like you were close to it, but lost your way.'
Freya missed the crate she was aiming for, allowing to clatter on the ground. Frustrated, she stomped over to her water bottle and drank some water to allow her body some reprieve.
"Seems like you've lost your touch," rang a voice.
Freya glanced over to see Loki and Berserker coming into her practice area.
"I've heard from the grapevine that your Valkyries lost horribly to Valkyrie… now that I say that out loud, that's confusing," commented Loki, "Anyways, but your direct subgroup lost to not only Kisara, but even the Shinpaku Alliance Assault Commander and his girlfriend! Not only that, but I heard something about a girl in a kimono with a wooden spoon kicking all of your asses! Anything to say about that?"
"If you heard your sources clearly," glared Freya, "Then that 'woman' you speak of is on a higher class than any of us. Maybe within the realm of Kensei-sama himself."
"That's quite a thought," said Loki as he raised his eyebrow, "Bordering treason one might say, to compare her to the great Kensei. Your loyalty to Ragnarok seems to be wavering."
Freya merely ignored him as she got back to practice again. The only reason she even joined Ragnarok was that she wanted to meet Kensei and learn from him. So far it had been a false lead, and if Loki was right, only Odin was learning from him. Berserker had no real interest and just wanted to fight others. And speaking of Odin, he had momentarily come back to tell them all he had a new Fist in line before leaving again. He didn't even have a discussion with them about the newcomer.
Maybe... it was time to visit her grandfather once more. As crazy as he seemed, she knew he was skilled with the staff. However, she would stick around Ragnarok for a while longer. She would at least fulfill her loyalties to the gang.
"Hmph, boring," sighed Loki as he turned around to leave, "But seriously, Odin's been slacking off. First, he gets a new Fist without even talking to us, and he's been letting Shinpaku running loose instead of taking care of them. We already have a new gang that's been muscling in our turf named Yami, and from some rumors, they have a whole group of masters that are about Kensei-sama's level. To be honest, I think you'd be the better leader Berserker."
On that note, Loki left with a smile on his face, feeling as though his seeds of doubt that he had just planted was working.
The next early morning, the birds were chirping as the sun was slowly rising. Near the river, the water could be heard running as squirrels from nearby trees were chattering. All was silent...
"UWAAAAA!" cried Kenichi as he ran for his life as usual for his morning run. He was wearing multiple statues weighing him down made by Akisame as well as dragging not only him and the tire but also Niijima who wanted to talk to Kenichi later.
"Faster!" shouted Akisame as he used his whip on Kenichi.
"Yea, I have some plans I want to talk to you about," whistled Niijima as he was sorting through files in his PDA.
Another scream broke through that did not come from Kenichi.
"Hahaha, still wearing that unmanly mustache Akisame-cchi!?" rang a voice
"That voice," muttered Akisame, "Only one man has that voice... James Shiba-cchi!"
"Takeda-senpai!" gasped Kenichi as he managed to get closer to Takeda, who was also running for his life while carrying his new boxing master.
"Hey, there how you doing!?" screamed Takeda as he kept running, "Right now, I'm regretting my decision! Owowow, I was joking master!"
"Hmph, you better be," grinned Shiba as he finished flicking his disciple's forehead, "Still living as frugal as ever Akisame-cchi!?"
"I pity your disciple for having you as a master," replied Akisame, "Kenichi, change to your highest gear!"
"We're accelerating too!" said Shiba as he yanked Takeda's ponytail, causing him to squawk in pain.
Kenichi began pulling ahead, much to Shiba's displeasure and was about to cheat when he noticed Niijima was there. Much as he liked to fight dirty, he wouldn't risk injuring someone who wasn't in the martial arts world, and especially that damn alien.
"Takeda!" shouted out Niijima, "Shinpaku meeting after school!"
"Ok!" shouted Takeda as he desperately tried to catch up to Kenichi, only to fall short.
"Don't worry my disciple," said Shiba, "I'll have you caught up to Kenichi in no time!"
'I don't know if that's possible,' gulped Takeda, but didn't voice it aloud.
The next day after mind-numbing schooling, Kenichi, Miu, Niijima, Takeda, Ukita, Siegfried, Thor, and Kisara all met up at Kisara's home base. This was of course where Miu's new kitty was kept along with several others. Siegfried had purchased a large playpen for the kittens to live in, along with food and water.
"I declare this meeting open!" declared Niijima. Most of the boys were paying attention while Miu and Kisara were busy playing with the kittens, though they kept their ears open.
"So what's this meeting about?" asked Ukita curiously.
"About what Ragnarok will do next," proclaimed Niijima, while Siegfried threw glitter behind him. "I've got solid evidence that Ryuto Asamiya, aka Odin, has found a new... Fifth Fist technically? Anyways, he's chosen a girl name Rimi Kokorone."
Kenichi and Miu blinked in surprise at that name, surprised that she would be showing up so early on, but kept quiet.
"And it seems that Odin has issued a challenge, one specific to our very own Assault Commander Shirahama Kenichi!" Niijima added as he raised a note for him.
"When the hell did you get that!?" shouted Kenichi.
"Loki delivered it to me," cackled Niijma, "Of course he tried to ambush me again, but my loyal Siegfried dealt with them."
"As I should," sang Siegfried while spinning.
Ignoring that fact for now, Kenichi quickly read the letter while the others crowded over his shoulder in interest.
"Looks like he wants to meet up at the old shop where we had our promise," said Kenichi as he finished, "And he wants me to come with one other person only if I want someone."
"I'll go," said Miu without letting anyone argue.
"You sure about that honey?" asked Takeda.
Miu's face booked no arguments, so it was decided.
"Alright, but everyone be on high alert," finished Niijima, "Loki may decide to bring things into his own hands."
"What about Hermit?" asked Thor, "Is he not part of Shinpaku?"
"He's already been notified," Niijima replied, "As for joining Shinpaku... it's a work in progress. But be careful, Berserker may be on the loose soon."
"Roger," they all replied. Most of the males gave the Shinpaku salute before leaving.
"Wow this place really hasn't changed," noted Kenichi as he and Miu arrived at the shop where they had all met.
"It really hasn't," agreed Miu, looking at the vending machine with the pins that they had exchanged.
"It's been 10 years, hasn't it," said Ryuto as he stepped forward alone.
"Ryuto," said Kenichi gently, his mind flashing back to what he looked like in the old timeline. This Ryuto still had working legs, black hair, and white sclera instead of red, before he used the forbidden technique.
"So you do remember me," smiled Ryuto, "I was afraid you'd somehow forgotten me... and our promise. I thought I'd have to buy a bunch of stuff and show you old tricks that I used to show you or make you chug two sodas at once."
"Yea... that'd be funny," Kenichi chuckled weakly, knowing that was exactly what had happened last time, "So do I call you Ryuto, or Odin of Ragnarok?"
"For now, Ryuto will do," replied Ryuto as he raised his hands to reveal he had no gloves on, "I'm not wearing the gloves. I know I sent that challenge, but I thought we could talk for a bit."
Eager to do so, the trio bought some snacks from the old lady who owned the dagashiya (old Japanese snack shop), and quickly sat down.
They talked about the past a little before getting down to the part about the promised pin.
"Ryuto...," said Kenichi quietly, knowing this was the breaking point, "Why did you learn martial arts in the first place."
"Isn't it obvious? When the girl showed us how she could take down four men at once despite being our age, it showed that strength is everything! Fighting is a way to prove one's supremacy over another! Didn't you promise with me that day to become stronger to show supremacy!?"
"You're wrong," said Kenichi, "I learned martial arts and strove to be stronger to enforce justice, to protect those in need. To stop people from bullying others, just like Miu did!"
"Miu?" interrogated Ryuto.
"That's me," said Miu as she bowed, "I was the girl in the shop the other day. My full name is Furinji Miu."
Ryuto's eyes narrowed as he saw a small flashback of kid Miu and Kenichi beside the teenagers.
"I learned to fight because I wanted to protect others," continued Miu, "I continue to do so to this day, and will always do so in the future."
Ryuto stood up, his back facing towards them as he seemed to shake with anger.
"Ryuto," said Kenichi softly, "Is it possible for Ragnarok and Shinpaku Alliance to come to a cease-fire? To stop these battles?"
"... What is your relationship with the girl Miu?" demanded Ryuto, his back still towards them.
"We live in the same dojo," answered Kenichi truthfully, "We are both disciples of Ryozanpaku, and most importantly, my girlfriend."
Miu blushed at that last statement, but Ryuto seemed to shake his body in anger even more.
"I see," said Ryuto as his hands went into his coat pockets, "Well then, I will give you the proper response as the leader of Ragnarok and as the First Fist of Ragnarok, Odin!"
Ryuto put on his gloves with the Roman numeral one and turned around, "I, Odin, reject your request! Now come and fight me, just as we promised those many years ago!"
Kenichi sighed as he stood up to face Ryuto... or rather Odin as he called himself now. Lightning seemed to clash between them as their eyes met. Just as the fight seemed inevitable...
"Hey, old grandma! We're robbing this store, so you better stay out of the way!"
The trio peeked inside the dagashiya to see three gang members taking random items. One could say that the three gang members looked exactly like the same trio who had robbed the place when they were four.
"Does the concept of time not exist in this place?" pondered Kenichi out loud.
"I thought that maybe she was a witch considering how nothing's changed, but I'm starting to think you have something," said Odin in surprise.
"Stop talking and stop them!" said Miu as she jumped ahead and kicked one of the thieves.
"Right!" said Kenichi as he quickly jumped in and tackled the other while Odin remained behind to observe the two of them.
The two easily subdued the thieves and called the police to arrest them. Amusing enough, it seemed to be the exact some policemen that arrested them last time.
As Kenichi and Miu returned to where Odin had been just to see him gone.
"Weird, where did he go?" Kenichi wondered out loud.
"I would've thought he'd stay longer," noted Miu.
"Kekeke, most likely he didn't want to get in trouble with the police," cackled Niijima, surprising the hell out of the two of them, so much that they almost kicked him in the face.
"When the hell did you get here!?" shouted Kenichi as he tried to calm his heart.
"Oh shortly after you guys were buying snacks," snickered Niijima,
"So why didn't Ryuto stay?" asked Miu.
"Think about it," explained Niijima, "Ragnarok, despite all its talk, is a thug gang famous for their disregard for the law. Cops can't really do much as most of them are basically hiding in plain sight. They can't tell who's in Ragnarok and who's not. Odin probably didn't want to risk the police looking into him at all, considering who his master is."
"I guess that makes sense," nodded Miu and Kenichi, "But how did those three gangsters happen to rob the store?"
"Oh I prodded them," said Niijima with absolutely no guilt, "I didn't need you and Odin fighting right away, especially since you'd kick his butt."
"Why would you-" hissed Kenichi, angry that Niijima might've harmed the old lady.
"Relax, the old lady was in on it," cackled Niijima, "The whole thing was just a ploy. See?"
Niijima pointed to the police car a short distance away to show the police letting go of the three 'gangsters', laughing as they did so before they went your separate ways.
"And you convinced them all this... how?" asked Miu.
"Oh I have a couple favors," Niijima claimed as he looked at his nails and huffed at them.
'That, and a cousin who I've learned has a whole book of blackmail stuff,' added Niijima mentally.
Somewhere in a private school, the said cousin didn't sneeze as if someone was talking to him. Instead, he was busy drilling his new... players into some football drills while shooting dual M-60s with real bullets at his slaves... teammates feet.
"Ya Ha, come on go faster! We're aiming for the Christmas Bowl!" shouted the demon... cough the human with spiky blonde hair and pointed ears just like Niijima.
A week later after that meeting during club hours, Miu went to her shoe locker just to see a letter inside it.
"Hoo, a love letter," said Chihiro Takashima, the former ace of the gymnastics club, much to her displeasure, "Just who is this admirer?"
She was, of course, thinking of ways to sabotage Miu. It was a shame that Koryu High didn't have a no-dating policy, otherwise, she would have used that against her. However, a love triangle might help her out.
"Don't know, but not interested," shrugged Miu, "I'm with Kenichi."
She was about to dispose of the letter when she noticed a small sticker of the Norse god Odin on his horse, and instantly knew it was from Ryuto. Quickly opening it, she saw that it was a request to meet him alone.
"I better go see what he wants," said Miu before quickly leaving. Kenichi would be spending some time at the gardening club today as well as catching up with some Shinpaku stuff with Niijima.
Minutes later, Miu had already switched to her school clothes and was at an abandoned warehouse.
"Come out," said Miu, "I know you're here."
"So we meet one more," said Odin as he walked out from the shadows with his gloves on, signifying this was regarding with Ragnarok.
"What do you want?" asked Miu.
"I'll keep this simple. Dump Kenichi and his little band of friends, join me as one of my Fists and my girlfriend," proposed Odin, "I can offer you more power than he can. I can prove that I am stronger than him! I will destroy him and anyone whoever blocks my way and my empire! I, who am blessed with a master who has taught me so many ways to destroy my enemies!"
He lifted his hands towards Miu, "Join me, as my queen. As Frigg is to Odin, so shall your new code name be."
Miu lifted her hand towards Odin, who grew excited at the prospect of one-upping Kenichi at a love life and others, only to frown as Miu slapped his hand away.
"You're crazy if you think I'd dump Kenichi for you on your whim," glared Miu. Even if she did know Ryuto, she only knew the one that had calmed down and looked over his own life to see what he did wrong. This one was still arrogant and cocky.
"Hmph, once you see what I can do, you'll be sure to dump him," said Odin as he moved his glasses up.
"Unlikely," replied Miu as she turned to leave.
"Aaaahhhhaaa," sighed Odin, "I didn't want to do this, but if this method doesn't work, I'll just use the other. Join me as one of my Fist, and I promise I'll leave Shinpaku Alliance alive. They can work as a subgroup directly under you. I won't even have you break up with Kenichi."
Of course, Odin planned to consume all of Miu's time so she wouldn't be able to spend it with Kenichi until that bridge broke. Miu, for the most part, ignored Odin and kept walking away.
"Wait!" shouted Odin as he racked up for another plan, "That fight back when we were four! You owe me for saving your life! I blew that whistle to distract that thug while notifying you. At the very least, go out with me to see if we are truly meant to be!"
Miu stopped for a second and took a deep breath before turning around to Odin and stomping towards him.
"I-" started Odin, but he never got to finish as Miu slapped him in the face. She slapped so hard that Odin's glasses went flying off as he himself fell to the ground.
"I'm going to make one thing straight," said Miu as she put her foot on Odin's groin, much to his discomfort, "I'm not interested in you. Not now, and not in the future. I'm with Kenichi."
She raised her foot and slammed her foot down. Dust appeared upon impact, and as it settled down, it could be seen that Miu didn't actually stomp his groin, just the ground right under him.
With that, Miu began to walk out.
"Why?" shouted Odin, "Is it because he met you before I did? Is it just because of the timing!?"
"Even if I met you first," stated Miu, "I wouldn't be interested in you at all. Your views of martial arts are completely opposite of mine. I learned it to protect others, just as Kenichi did. We just wouldn't work."
After that, Miu left the abandoned warehouse. Odin left later in anger as he decided to devote all resources to crushing Shinpaku. What Odin didn't notice was another pair of eyes watching him leave.
"Ryuto-sama... why don't you like at Rimi like that? Is it because of that girl? Rimi will prove she is stronger than her!"
"He did what!?" shouted Kenichi as he was practicing with the meteor hammer, just to hit himself on the head with the bag of sand at the end of his rope.
"Concentrate," scolded Akisame as he was carving another statue, "You can talk after training. Look, Shigure is already pouting."
The two teens turned to see that Shigure was indeed pouting while playing with Tochumaru.
"Sorry, Shigure-sensei!" apologized Kenichi while he began the routine once more.
"Kenichi-kun, you'll be training with me after," said the Elder as he joined in the conversation, "If your friend intends to use that forbidden technique, you'll want to be able to control his Ki flow so it doesn't implode on itself."
Kenichi gulped at this but nodded, earning another bump to his head via his own weapon.
"You know, it's very rare for you to ask for me to come personally," commented Ogata as he was sitting in front of Ryuto, his disciple while drinking some tea. Or in this case, Odin as he was wearing the gloves.
"I asked you for a reason," replied Odin, "I am going to crush... no, kill my opponent in my next battle. I ask you to be a witness as I go down the path as a martial artist."
"Ooh, that should be interesting," grinned Ogata, "Just one thing. You are sure your opponent is deeply immersed in the martial arts world? And not just taking some karate class at some third-rate dojo as a hobby?"
"Why would it matter?" scoffed Odin, "He humiliated me, gave me victory when I lost! He-"
Odin didn't get to finish as an overwhelming bloodlust filled the area, all coming from Ogata.
"Ryuto," said Ogata slowly, "The path of Satsujinken for martial arts is to be able to improve from fighting a worthy foe and killing them, learning from your opponent. Whomever the loser is will always have their techniques are imprinted on the winner. And I've told you, only kill those who come at you with the intent to kill, or, those who practice Katsujinken, wish to subdue you, and are talented enough."
Ogata breathed out slowly to release his anger, "I almost killed a child that had yet to open its eyes to the world. Thankfully, that was prevented. I would have had no regrets in killing the mother as she came at me with the intent to kill, but to kill a child who hasn't even made its choice... it would have been something I would hate to bear."
His eyes snapped back to Odin and continued, "I will watch your match, my disciple. But if he is just some thug who isn't immersed within the dark side of the martial arts world, I will stop you from going too far. He would not be the appropriate fodder for you to grow, do you understand? Send your other members to fight first if you are not sure. After all, the final boss shouldn't be the one to step forward first, right?"
Odin nodded in agreement as he sipped on his tea.
"Kekekekeke!" laughed Niijima as Miu told him what had happened with Odin, "No wonder my sources said that he was sporting a palm print on his face. He disappeared for two days before coming back to Ragnarok!"
"And who are your sources alien?" asked Natsu as he had overheard the conversation.
"Secret," replied Niijima before switching topics, "In any case, Ragnarok will be coming at us in full force soon."
"We'll be ready," said Kenichi.
"Leave me out of this," scoffed Natsu, "I'm not part of your alliance."
"You really think Odin would leave any loose ends?" interrogated Niijima, causing Natsu to growl but silently agree that he would be next.
"It would be in your best interest to just... ally yourself to us," continued Niijima, "No, listen to me! You don't have to be a member of the Shinpaku Alliance, but rather an outsider who works with us, just like Kisara's troops currently are. I'm sure you want Loki for yourself, right? And perhaps you'll fight one of the Big Three, to show just how much stronger you are now."
Niijima began to use the more subtle version of his Niijima Brainwash that he had developed, piling logic and goals in front of Natsu, making it hard to resist.
"Wait, what about Berserker?" asked Natsu as he managed to partially resist the brainwash, "I hear that Odin's planning to release him on you guys."
"Oh, him?" said Niijima with a scoff, "I've already prepared a trap for him, courtesy of Koga."
"What's Koga got to do with this?" asked Kenichi.
"Easy, he'll betray us to Ragnarok," answered Niijima, "I've already gone over his profile, and deduced that he will give up our location in favor for one of our more... endowed members."
The glance towards Miu was enough to know what he meant, causing Miu to cover her chest with her hands while Kenichi and Natsu turned their attention back to Niijima.
"Which is why I've leaked false information about a meeting with all the captains at one of my many bases," cackled Niijima, "I've already rigged the whole room with humiliating traps and cameras to record the whole moment."
'The pinnacle of evil stands before us,' sweatdropped all three martial artists as Niijima cackled away.
After 5pm same day
"You sure it's here?" asked Loki as he and Berserker stood before a door.
"Positive," said Koga with glee.
"Hmph, I'll give the alien some credit," said Loki as he looked behind him. The door had been located in an alleyway with crates blocking both sides of the door so a glance down the alleyway made it impossible to know if a door was there.
"Whatever, I'm here to crush some bugs," said Berserker as he blew a bubble with his gum.
He lifted his leg, ready to kick down the door when Loki stopped him.
"Hold up, let's see if they're really there," said Loki as he pulled out a stethoscope from his jacket and pressed the head on the door. He could soon hear voices coming from the room inside.
"-need to deal with Ragnarok!"
"How do you-"
"They're inside," said Loki, "Go ahead."
Berserker kicked down the door and was about to step him when his instincts screamed at him.
"C'mon let's go!" said Koga, only for Berserker to grab him and hurl him inside while jumping back.
"Hmm? What's wrong?" asked Loki as two of his shadows went inside to get Koga.
The question was answered when an iron door slammed down in front of them.
"Hey what gives!" shouted Koga from inside.
"I can't see anything!" said another Shadow.
"Incoming!"
Berserker and Loki were treated with sounds of panic, something hitting flesh, a continuous cackling laughter, and crying for about half an hour.
The door slowly opened to reveal Koga and the two shadows flopping onto the floor in front of them with glue, feather, glitter, and a note on Koga's back.
Dear Ragnarok,
I hope you enjoyed my special Room of Horror! I knew Koga would try to betray us to you. As a special bonus, I've taken the liberty of recording and taking photographs through an automatic system that shall be sent to my personal computer, where I will decide to spread it or not. However, if you are interested in fighting us, then I suggest a little fighting tournament in a week's time at the abandoned warehouse at the given address behind the paper. One on one fights. Long live Shinpaku Alliance!
At the bottom of the paper was a picture of the Shinpaku Alliance logo.
"That bastard!" growled Loki as he gripped the paper.
"Hmm, this might be more fun than I thought," commented Berserker as he left.
Loki was left steaming before he realized that Berserker had effectively prevented both Fists from falling into the trap of humiliation with just gut instincts.
"I was right, he's certainly more suited to be the leader," grinned Loki as he began to make plans.
"So a week from today?" asked Kenichi.
"Yep," confirmed Niijima before turning to the other members of the Shinpaku Alliance.
They were actually at Kisara's base for their meeting, in order to trick Ragnarok. After all, who would think to even look at such an obvious spot? It was the first place Loki would think of and therefore he would dismiss it.
"I can't believe one of my own members would betray me like this," muttered Kisara as she laid back on her chair while petting one of the kittens.
"Koga has always been one who looked out more for himself," said Shiratori.
"Still leaves a bad taste," laughed Takeda, "Granted even during our trio group, I didn't like him much compared to Ukita."
"Alright enough," said Niijima, turning the subject back to the fight against Ragnarok, "We have a week to prepare. I took a look at the video and saw that only Koga and Loki's two shadows were humiliated, meaning Berserker and Loki are still up and running. Currently, Ragnarok still has only four Fists, possibly 5 if Rimi is officially inducted. Odin will want Kenichi, so that's one down."
"I'm taking Freya," stated Kisara, "I wanna prove to her that I can be as strong as her with my legs."
"Alright, two down," nodded Niijima, "Natsu, I suppose you want Loki?"
"It's Hermit," growled Natsu, leaning on the wall farthest away from them all, "And it's either him... or Berserker. I want to kick Loki's ass for what he did, but I know he's too weak for me."
"I'll take Loki then," smiled Takeda with his charming smile, "Shiba-sensei has been teaching me, and it'd be a great time to test out my skills."
"And you'll take on the new Fist if needed?" Niijima asked Miu.
"Only if it's needed," nodded Miu.
"Alright, everybody else, you're on grunt duty," announced Niijima, "Knowing Ragnarok, they'll be bringing in all their grunts in case things don't go their way."
"Bahahaha, I get to show off my combat sumo!" cheered Thor.
"Yea, yea, train hard," Niijima waved as he looked through his PDA, "And don't get caught alone. Berserker may still be on the prowl. If any of you guys see him, just run. Only the captains can take him on."
"Roger!" saluted Matsui and the others, knowing they weren't even close to the captain's levels.
Just a day later, while Niijima was walking home, he was ambushed by Loki and Berserker themselves.
"Well, well, what do the two Fists want with me?" pondered Niijima out loud without much worry, which was concerning to Loki. Berserker didn't really care.
"Quite simple, really," Loki boasted, "The annihilation of the Shinpaku Alliance. I can't believe I didn't see it, but in reality, you don't even know how to fight! Cut off the head and the whole thing is gone!"
"Congratulations for citing the obvious," teased Niijima, "Now then, are we still doing the whole tournament thing next week?"
"There won't be a tournament," chuckled Loki, "You'll be crushed before it can even happen. Berserker, take him out."
"This is boring," sighed Berserker, not even moving, "You want me to crush an insect that can't even fight?"
"Odin's orders," smirked Loki, "He wants Shinpaku crushed."
Berserker raised an eye and stared at Loki, "You sure you're not just lying now? You did that before."
"Feel free to call him to confirm," shrugged Loki, "He actually told me to try to crush Shinpaku before the whole tournament sham."
Berserker blew a bubble and turned towards Niijima with a bored look.
"Admittedly, when I first saw your picture, I thought someone had photoshopped it. Never thought someone with a face like that would be from this world. Now I'm looking at your weird face, I can say that it is not. Try to struggle a bit as I crush you."
Niijima smirked as he put his PDA in his shirt pocket, rolled up his school uniform sleeves, put his hands up in a boxing stance, and started hopping on the balls of his feet.
"Hoo, he's putting up resistance?" cackled Loki before he noticed the truth, "Wait he's just using it to run away!"
They just noticed that each hop Niijima took, he was getting further and further away from them.
Berserker dashed towards Niijima, causing him to abandon all pretense and run away. Loki decided to follow while carrying a camera in hope to record the humiliation.
Both found out that catching Niijima was much more difficult than they thought. The alien freak seemed to have an abundant amount of stamina and speed the defied logic. Even with Berserker taking shortcuts, Niijima was able to escape. Berserker had only managed to grab the uniform just for Niijima to slip out of it. Not only that, but as they were chasing, Niijima somehow found enough time to use his Insta-trap move, creating traps made of junks to delay his chasers.
"This is getting annoying," growled Loki as he tried to get more air into his tired lungs.
"I'm starting to have fun," grinned Berserker as he kicked some bricks away, "He's got no power or technique, but he's making me work for this."
When they hit another part of town, things started to get even stranger. Niijima's traps became more intricate, and it was harder to chase him down. Every time they turned a corner, they would see Niijima already turning at another corner.
"Is he getting faster!?" shouted Loki.
Berserker ignored Loki as he sped up, taking as many shortcuts as possible while leaving Loki behind. Suddenly, just as Berserker rounded another corner, Niijima disappeared from his sight.
"Shit, I lost him," muttered Berserker before walking back towards his home, "Well this Shinpaku alliance seems much more interesting now. I'm looking forward to crushing that cockroach in the tournament."
Just as he turned around a corner, he saw Loki running towards him just to suddenly fall into a pit trap. Seconds later, a bucket that had been placed on the building fell down and doused Loki with Matsui's super glue as well as feathers.
While Loki was cussing like mad, Berserker ignored him though he did kick a ladder down that he found, allowing Loki to climb up.
"Pesky alien," growled Loki as he climbed up, "We'll crush him tomorrow!"
"Iuno," shrugged Berserker, "I'm kind of interested in this little fighting tournament now. You can chase him all you want tomorrow. I'm going home to sleep and then talk to Odin about this tournament."
"You can't be serious!"
"It'll be amusing, at the least. These past few weeks have been just boring and with this, maybe I can get some excitement."
At that note, Berserker left a steaming Loki alone in his thoughts. The next day, Loki was ordered by Odin to leave the Shinpaku Alliance alone, as Ragnarok would be accepting this tournament to end it all.
"So are you all ready?" asked the Elder as Ryozanpaku prepared themselves to help out if Ogata intervened.
"It's time to see if we can change the flow of some things, or if some events are meant to stay the same," said Kenichi as he tied his belt over the Ryozanpaku uniform, with a minor addition of what seemed to be a small pouch bag attached on his waist. He was still wearing the karate/judo gi, Chinese Kung Fu pants, Muay Thai bandages, the chain mail made from Shigure, and finally the arm guards that was once worn by Fuurinji Saiga.
"I'm sure that when the dust settles, everything will be much better than last time," said Miu softly as she helped Kenichi buckle up the arm guards while clutching his hands, drawing strength from it.
"I hope... no I will change the flow of time to a better future," claimed Kenichi.
The masters could see the fire in Kenichi's eyes burn brightly and smiled.
Takeda was warming up on the punching bag while James Shiba was holding the punching bag.
"Ready for your big fight?" asked Shiba, "Give me a one-two finale!"
Takeda replied by doing so, ending it with his left fist stuck onto the punching bag.
"Good, maybe I'll come to see what's this all about," grinned Shiba as he tossed a towel to Takeda to wipe off his sweat.
"That would be cool," smiled Takeda as he put on his blue uniform, "I'm off!"
His hands were already in bandages to help protect his knuckles.
Natsu put on his Hermit gear, while a small change to his gloves. Instead of the Roman Numeral 7, it was now a star.
"Nii-chan, are you going off to fight?" asked Kaede as she saw the uniform.
"This time, I'm ending the fight so they won't endanger you once again," stated Hermit as he knelt down to his sister, "If I don't, there's a chance they'll aim for you again and that's a risk I'm not going to take."
Kaede pouted but nodded in understanding before raising her pinky up, "Then make a promise to me."
"Alright, what do you want?" said Natsu softly as he raised his pinky up, "A new toy? To go somewhere fun?"
"I want you to promise that you won't lose!" said Kaede forcefully, "That you'll never give up and win! And come back home to me safely!"
Natsu froze for a second before smiling at her, "Of course! That's a given."
"So it's time," said Kisara as she stretched her legs a bit, "Let's get going!"
"Right!" saluted Shiratori and the rest of the gang.
"My demon lord, your cape," said Siegfried as he held out a cape.
"Thank you, my loyal servant," said Niijima as he allowed Siegfried to put on his cloak, "Alright men, let's move out!"
"Osu!" shouted Thor, Ukita, and the others while Matsui proudly waved the Shinpaku flag, giving the Shinpaku salute.
All of Shinpaku members proudly marched towards the destined location, the abandoned warehouse at the same place as last time, though Niijima made sure all the gasoline drums were removed to another location. Since nobody had claimed them in the abandoned warehouse... Niijima had them removed for his personal use.
As soon as they arrived, they saw crowds of Ragnarok thugs with grins and cocky laughter. At the very end sat Odin on a makeshift throne on top of a junk pile, along with Berserker, Freya, Loki, and surprisingly Rimi. Standing near them were the Valkyries and Loki's Shadows.
"So you've come," declared Loki, "I was afraid you'd cower out."
"Did you like being dressed as a chicken?" fired back Niijima, causing Loki to anger.
"That's it, kill them all!" order Loki as the grunts yelled in reply, ready to charge. Before they could charge in, Odin shouted the order for all of them to halt.
"I will not have my personal duel with Kenichi be interfered by anybody," said Odin as his eyes narrowed, "Let them through to the middle of the slaughtering grounds."
A path was quickly made, with Ragnarok grunts jeering at them from every corner as they walked forward. As they made it to the clearing right before the throne, the path closed behind them.
"So then, who shall go first?" said Odin from his throne as he took a glance to a crane quite a bit of distance from them.
Sitting on top of the crane was Ogata himself, looking at the scene with curiosity. Though he noticed that the members of Ryozanpaku sitting at the river bank across from them all. All except for the Elder, who was curiously missing.
"Me," stated Kisara as she stepped forward, "I'm challenging you Freya!"
"You insolent betrayer!" shouted Ayazaki, "How dare you address Freya-sama like that!? Freya-sama, allow me to take on Kisara and deal the appropriate punishment for this betrayal!"
Before Ayazaki could pull out her tonfas, Freya raised her hand to stop her before walking forward, pulling her two sticks and combining them into her staff.
"Feels like my own pet coming back to bite me," commented Freya as she jumped down from the trash pile onto the flat floor, "In order to defeat a man, a woman must use a weapon. Is that something you find hard to accept?"
"Hmph, it's no longer about that," said Kisara as she got into a fighting stance, "I've said it before. I want to walk my own path and that's out of your shadow!"
With that statement, Kisara launched a barrage of Taekwondo kicks at Freya, who blocked them all with her staff.
"Hoo, not bad," praised Freya, "No wonder I chose you. But you're attacks are useless against me!"
Freya knocked one of the kicks away, forcing Kisara open before thrusting her staff into her stomach. Kisara coughed as she felt that impact before rolling away.
"Kisara-sama!" shouted Shiratori in fear.
"Why do you oppose me so strongly?" asked Freya as she readied her staff once more, "You used to be so loyal to me. Do you so want to be out of my shadow?"
"It's like Kenichi said," spat out Kisara as she got up, "I wanted to pursue my own ideals. He may be a fool that won't hit girls even if it kills him, but the way he stands up for his ideals, it makes me want to stand up for mine. I wanted out of the Valkyries, not because I saw weapons as cheating, but because I wanted to prove that I can become strong with my kicks! Just as kimono girl said, weapons are just extensions of your body, just like a fist to a karate practitioner or elbows to Muay Thai. My weapons and ideals are my kicks! I'm pursuing my own path!"
Back at the beach, Shigure blushed a little as the other masters praised her for her elegant speech.
Freya winced as she remembered Shigure's words, echoing in her brain before charging in anger. Kisara took advantage of this by deflecting Freya's staff, using the added momentum from pushing off the staff to spin so as to get behind Freya and knee her in the head with her left knee.
Freya blocked it, but before she could do anything else, Kisara spun once more and landed a kick to her back, sending her flying. Freya quickly recovered, slamming her pole into the ground to control her landing.
"This ain't a battle between Taekwondo or your staff. It's a battle between you and me!" said Kisara as she put her hand up, motioning Freya to come at her.
"Hmph, fine," stated Freya as she spun her staff before charging forward once more, sending swift strikes at Kisara.
Kisara was forced in a defensive position as she blocked them before closing the distance while trying to land a hammer kick. Freya easily blocked it, pushing it away before swinging her staff right into Kisara's face.
'Shit. Long, medium, and close range are all a bust,' thought Kisara as she took another hit to her arm. She swore she could hear her bone fracturing.
"Gotcha!" shouted Kisara as she predicted one move and tried to grab the staff.
Freya merely spun her staff, separating it into two, causing Kisara to lose hold of the staff and smacked her twice with it.
"Just as the kimono girl said, my staff is an extension of my body. I almost forgot all about that when I pursued power. But with this, you'll never defeat me," stated Freya as she swiftly put them back together, delivering a strike to the head.
'Powerful," thought Kisara, 'Is it impossible to defeat an armed opponent with just my bare hands and legs?'
As she was falling, her gaze landed on Miu and Kenichi. Her mind flashed back to how Miu easily defeated her opponents without a scratch while Kenichi, who didn't really do anything but dodge, had also come out without a scratch…. except from the eye poke from Miu.
Kisara stamped down on the ground hard, stopping herself from falling before glaring at Freya once more. It wasn't over yet!
"Still standing… impressive," noted Freya, "You've always been strong in that category."
Freya charged in, ready to deal the last strike to Kisara.
"Arara, seems like this is over," yawned Odin.
'If dairy cow can move like a feather in the wind… why can't I!?' pondered Kisara before her movement completely changed.
Everyone noticed this instantly as Kisara began to dodge all of Freya's attacks, her stiff movements seemingly gone. Miu smiled, knowing that Kisara was capable of this and more if she followed her own movements, as the ones she was using were still a bit stiff and unsuited for her. Still, it would be enough for this fight.
"Kisara, don't just think about dodging! You have to predict her movements as well!" advised Miu, "Don't think of kicks just like kicks, think of it like occupying her position!"
Kisara had no time to really think about it, instinctively dodging Freya's strike by jumping up. Suddenly, in her eyes, she could see Freya's domain, her area of attack, and noticed an opening at the top of her head.
Kisara quickly spun and launched an ax kick to Freya's head, but Freya managed to bring up her staff to block in time.
"I told you, this staff is my fist. There's no place I can't hit or defend," stated Freya as she began to push Kisara's leg off.
However, Kisara wasn't done yet.
"Then this is a battle between your fist and my legs!" shouted Kisara as she brought her other leg down
Double Hammer Kick!
Kisara's double kick broke Freya's staff in half while slamming the attack onto Freya's head.
"Freya-sama/Kisara!" said the voiced from both groups as both collapsed onto the ground, one from the attack and the other too focused on attacking that she forgot about the landing.
"Stay back," said Kisara as she got up, looking at Freya, "It's not over yet."
Freya slowly stood back up, both her hands holding the remains of her staff.
"Tch, I just made it more dangerous," said Kisara as she looked at the jagged staff, now capable of stabbing someone.
What happened next surprised her and everybody else except for the time travelers.
"I've lost," said Freya, throwing down her staff, "When a staff user's staff is broken... we must admit defeat."
"What do you mean!?" shouted Kisara, "You can still move!"
Miu picked up the remains of the staff before explaining that the way of the staff was not to kill and that if it became sharp, then it was no longer a staff. Freya confirmed her belief, saying that if she wanted to kill, she could easily just use a knife or a gun and that this was her ideals.
Before she could do anything else, a brick was thrown right into Freya's head, causing her to stumble once more.
"What a stupid ideal!" shouted Loki as he lifted another random junk to throw while descending down the junk pile, "Freya, you shouldn't put your ideals in front of Ragnarok's glorious vision! To create a lasting empire!"
"Hmph, not how I would've done it, but I will admit that you moved faster than what I wanted to do," sighed Odin to Loki, "Freya, the path to mastering martial arts is steeped with blood. Having such naive ideals will get you nowhere. Abandon that idea if you want to go further."
"I refuse," retorted Freya, "I may have joined Ragnarok, but only to seek guidance from Kensei, to which I never got to. I will never abandon the principle of the Kugatachi style!"
"So be it," said Loki at a whim, "Usually we hold private beating for losing to some other gang, but let's make this a public one. Beat her up!"
Freya glared as she managed to grab a lead pipe and held it up. The grunts seemed unwilling while the Valkyries fists tightened. The first to attack were Loki's shadows. Freya fended a few of them off until she made the mistake of blocking one of their attacks. The one attacking her used stun baton, causing the electricity to travel up the iron pipe and right into her.
"ARRGGG!" shouted Freya as she collapsed.
"Alright, let's shit stomp her!" shouted one of the Shadows until he got a kick to the head.
"Leave her alone!" shouted Kisara.
"Hmph, we'll take you on too," laughed another Shadow as the Ragnarok grunts began to gain confidence, "You must be tired from all that fightin-"
He didn't get to finish as a tonfa smacked him on the head, giving him a concussion.
"Valkyries, defensive formation!" shouted Ayazaki as the rest of the Valkyries made a perimeter with Freya and Kisara in the middle.
"Valkyries!" shouted Loki, "You dare defy Ragnarok's creed!?"
"Hmph," sneered Ayazaki, "We, the Valkyries, are Freya-sama's loyal members. We report to her directly, and if Ragnarok is going to hurt her, then you'll have to go through us!"
"Whatever, take them all down!" shouted Loki, "It's within my calculations!"
"I wonder if this is in your calculation," cackled Niijima as he snapped his fingers.
One of the grunts at the very back felt someone tap his shoulder. Before he could figure out who tapped him, he felt a palm strike slam into his stomach as he turned around.
Tanpa
He flew into a bunch of others gang members, knocked unconscious. Before anybody else could do anything, three people charged forward forcefully into where Shinpaku was.
"Ya ho, Renka is here!" waved Renka in her usual skimpy dress, along with Genson and Koan, "I came as soon as Niijima told me about this party!"
"Renka-sama, please be careful," said Koan as he kicked a thug away.
"What!?" shouted Loki, "My plans... are all falling apart due to random luck?"
"Kekeke, you haven't noticed, but you've been walking on the tracks I've set for you all this time," laughed Niijima while Loki growled in anger.
"This is getting tedious," yawned Odin as he stood up, "I'll end this now. Loki, for all your planning, you're quite useless as a strategist. After this is over, I'm eliminating your position as Ragnarok's strategist."
Loki's face twitched as he turned towards Odin, "Useless? And who's fault is it that our Eight Fists has turned into such a sad state?"
Loki turned towards the crowd while Number 20 Toko Amada grabbed a loudspeaker for Loki to use, "Everyone, listen up! Look at what is happening! Half of our fists defected from our organization, only to join our enemy without barely a fight! Freya of the Three Cards defeated! All this is a sure sign of failure from the lack of leadership by the First Fist, Odin! That's right, Ragnarok is dead!"
"Did Loki do this last time?" whispered Kenichi to Niijima.
"A little different, but basically the same," replied Niijima with a whisper, "It's not going to go his way, though. Just watch."
While the gang members of Ragnarok stood there confused, Loki whistled and summoned eight more people who he claimed were the new and more powerful Eight Fists, all trained by himself in secret. Loki took off his goggles before stating that he would be willing to be second in command if Berserker joined them.
In a surprise move that shocked a lot, Berserker moved to join them. Rimi was about to attack Berserker and deal punishment to those who betrayed her dear Ryuto when the man of the subject raised his hand to stop her.
Loki began to declare the formation of True Ragnarok, and all those that didn't join would be punished.
"Hey Loki," shouted Niijima, causing Loki to turn around towards him once more, "As a strategist, I have to say you severely miscalculated something."
"And what would that be alien?" snarked Loki.
"That miscalculation... is right next to you now," stated Niijima.
Before Loki could process that, Berserker backhanded him. Before the new Eight Fist could react, Berserker already laid waste to four of them at once.
"Berserker," coughed Loki as number 20 and his shadows quickly helped him up, "Didn't you want to join my side?"
"Join you?" scoffed Berserker, "I just came over so I would have a better shot at you!"
The rest of the new fists was easily knocked out by Berserker, who walked back to a now standing Odin.
"Loki," said Odin patronizingly, "I already saw through your plan for a while, but decided not to do anything, because Berserker is someone you can't control."
"Odin-sama you're so cool!" squealed Rimi.
"Berserker, don't you want to be number one!" shouted Loki in anger.
"Numbers don't interest me," yawned Berserker, "Plus, I'll only side with those I agree with."
"This farce has gone long enough," said Odin, "I will admit to one point that a few Fists left the company without even a note. But not for long. Everyone, surround the Shinpaku Alliance, Loki and his men, Freya and her Valkyries, the newcomers, and attack! But leave Kenichi alone, he is mine. I want to see him as his 'friends' are crushed."
With a commanding voice, the grunts all quickly left to obey his orders.
"I'll get the Chinese girl," said Berserker, "She looks like she could entertain me!"
With that note, Berserker jumped towards Renka, who saw Berserker coming and was prepared to fight when an arm swung towards Berserker. Seeing the strike, Berserker flipped away to see who had dared to attack him.
"Hermit," announced Odin from his throne, "Did you really think you could quit without consequences? And the same goes for you Siegfried, Thor, and Valkyrie."
"Odin-sama," whispered Rimi, "Rimi never understood why you call her Valkyrie and yet Freya's group is called Valkyries. Wouldn't that be confusing?"
Odin stood in silence for a second before coughing into his fist, "That'll be for a later time."
"Hmm, I guess you'll do," grinned Berserker, "I've wanted to fight you for a while."
"Don't you dare lose!" shouted Renka to Hermit, "The Ma family style resides in your fist, even if it is from Uncle Ba, and it would be shameful if you lost."
"You defeated me once," said Ryu as he punched a grunt, "If you lose, I'll keep taunting you."
"In your dreams," retorted Hermit as he prepared to fight Berserker.
"I won't go down here," shouted Loki as he began to run. However, as two of his front guards were trying to open a path, there was a voice along with a shining glint of teeth.
"Hey now, don't escape now."
Two swift punches knocked out the front guard to reveal Takeda with his fists up.
"The party's just getting started. Plus, I'm looking forward to beating you up for causing that injury of mine."
"Hmph, just because you joined Shinpaku and got your left arm back, you think you can defeat a Fist?" sneered Loki, "Just because I'm a strategist doesn't mean I don't know how to fight."
"We'll see about that," winked Takeda as he rushed forward.
Both fights take place simultaneously, first up Takeda vs. Loki
Loki threw several punches which Takeda dodged with some head weaving, coming closer and closer to Loki. Soon as he got close enough, Takeda began fire off right jabs at Loki, who did his best to block or dodge them. Dodging was a better decision as for when one of Takeda's punches landed on Loki's forearm, Loki was blasted back a few meters while trying to shake off the pain.
Loki swore that his left arm felt broken and closed in on Takeda.
"Bet you're not used to throws!" cackled Loki as he grabbed Takeda's arm and tried to do an overhand throw.
"Guess again!" said Takeda as he smashed his fist right into the back of Loki's head.
"Arr, what the hell!?" shouted Loki in pain as he rolled away, "That's illegal in boxing!"
"Maybe in regular boxing, but I'm following underground boxing rules," grinned Takeda, "In that, as long as it's your knuckles that hit, anywhere is a target!"
"Fine, but if that's the case," sneered Loki, "Boxing is weak to attacks like these!"
Loki did a few high attacks before ducking to do a reverse sweep kick. Before he could complete it, Takeda stepped in without hesitation, lowering his whole waist before bringing it up along with his left fist for a ferocious uppercut. The hit landed before Loki's sweep kick could land, sending Loki flying up in the air while flipping.
"Loki-sama!" cried out number 20 while Shadows 2 and 3 quickly caught Loki before he fell to the ground.
"Hmph, that wasn't much of a challenge," sighed Takeda, "Then again, not many can say they have masters on par with Shiba-sensei."
Unknownst to him, something changed within Ukita. In the last timeline, Ukita more or less gave up on being able to catch up with everyone, and yet still bravely charged in for the sake of his friends. He was shown just how far he was behind during the DFOD tournament and chose to accept that and learn at his judo place at his own pace.
Now, Ukita could see Takeda pulling away with just a few weeks of training under a master and desperately wanted to catch up. Niijima had introduced Takeda to a boxing master, so surely there was a judo master that Niijima knew! If not, then he was willing to learn jujutsu!
Now for Hermit vs Berserker
Berserker tried to do a high jump kick, just for Hermit to grab the foot and counter with a whip-like uppercut.
"Your movements are so slow I don't even need to dodge!" shouted Natsu as his counter landed.
"Oh, your movements have improved," noted Odin while Berserker stumbled back a bit.
"Don't think I'm still the same as before," stated Natsu, "I've been undergoing hellish training ever since I took my little sister to her doctor and I met my old master again!"
Berserker wiped off blood from his mouth and immediately tried to poke Natsu in the forehead as if to mark him and claim something. However, Hermit had been training and sparring with Kenichi a few times and secretly with Renka without anyone knowing. His reflexes were on par if not better than Berserker's.
Hermit caught the offending hand and twisted it without mercy to crack his wrist, but Berserker quickly spun with it to avoid such an injury.
"Not bad," laughed Berserker, "You're actually letting me have some fun!"
Berserker began to attack wildly, flipping through the air and attacking with just his instincts to fight.
"Damn, he has a good sense of his area," commented Genson as he punched another grunt, "Don't you lose brat!"
Berserker sent a right kick while still in the air while Hermit parried it. Before Hermit could do anything, he suddenly found himself caught between Berserker's leg, who quickly shifted his whole body with his waist as the fulcrum and threw Hermit into the air. Hermit landed on the ground feet first before attacking with his forearm aiming for Berserker's temple.
"Too slow, "commented Berserker before suddenly being hit in the back of his head by Hermit's two-step attack.
Wincing in pain, Berserker threw a left straight just for Hermit to dodge it and try to elbow his face. Berserker caught it, but was unprepared for Hermit to extend his arm out and punch him in the face, followed by a roundhouse fist while planting his leg behind Berserker to make him lose his footing.
"He's won!" shouted Matsui while waving the flag.
"No, not quite," admitted Niijima as he weaved through enemies trying to punch him.
Berserker quickly flipped over and performed a handstand on Hermit's shoulder. Hermit quickly tried to shake him off, only for Berserker to flip in the air and try to stomp his face. Hermit quickly rolled away, only to keep rolling as Berserker began to do back flips, trying to stomp Hermit's face.
"Are you scared of fighting!?" asked Berserker with a maniacal grin, "Everyone is bound to be! That's what it is to be normal! But compared to battling and losing, I'm more scared of being bored! Will you be like the others and bore me!?"
"Don't compare me to all those fake martial artists you fought," scoffed Hermit as he managed to get back up, "I'll defeat you!"
With a quick kick, he tripped Berserker and shoulder charged Berserker into the ground before quickly spinning to land an open palm strike on his neck.
Uryuu Banda
"I won't lose to someone who only fights as a hobby!" said Hermit as he kneed Berserker, "I made a promise that I would win! You, who has no stubbornness for victory! I was taught that losing was the same as dying, so I will never let my guard down! "
Before he could elbow Berserker to finish it, Berserker caught the offending elbow.
"Ara ara," said Odin, "Now you're in trouble."
Berserker Mode Activated!
"You're letting me have some fun!" roared Berserker as he threw a haymaker into Hermit, hitting his head..
"Shut up!" shouted Hermit as he recovered, only for Berserker to send a flurry of punches and kicks with no discernible pattern.
"His Ki, it's the same as mine, Dou Ki!" shouted Renka as she hurled two grunts away from her, "Pervert, be careful!"
"Shut up exhibitionist!" shouted Hermit back as he weathered the attacks, trying to find an opening before shifting his momentum to counter the barrage of attacks.
"Ho, then try this!" said Berserker as he suddenly turned his back towards Hermit.
This was a huge mistake on Berserker's part. In the past timeline, Hermit would've been surprised at this and would have taken the backwards kick Berserker was about to launch. But in this timeline, he had witnessed his own master fight his brother, another master of the same caliber. He had trained hellishly, sparred with someone stronger than him, including Ma Kensei when he was helping teach a move, and raised himself to a higher level.
Hermit stepped forward just as Berserker did a flip to kick Hermit in the head, and with his leg raised, fired a soccer kick right at Berserker's head while narrowly dodging the attack.
Berserker was stunned, but enough adrenaline was rushing through him that he got up quickly and began to attack with no pattern once more. However, he didn't notice his fist was slower than usual, allowing Hermit to charge through and break the momentum with a swing of both his arms. He got in close, hitting Berserker in his knee to force him to lose balance before catching another fist and twisting it behind his back.
"Give up, it's over," said Hermit.
"Aw come on, it's just getting fun!" shouted Berserker, only to twinge in pain as Hermit broke his elbow.
"Die!" shouted Berserk as he tried to kick Hermit and even attacked with his broken elbow.
"Sure talent can get you far," said Hermit as he dodged the attack, "Maybe even 100 parts of hard work can't overcome it."
Then Hermit began launching a series of attack that hit home each time, "But what about a thousand? Ten Thousand!? Martial arts can be passed down thousands of years ago to now! In the world of Martial Arts, in the end, Hardwork will overcome talent!"
Hermit ended the attack with an elbow to the chest before slamming a whip-like attack into Berserker's chest, sending him flying into the ground in front of Odin.
"My body... won't move," groaned Berserker as he tried to get up.
"Wow, he's quite durable," commented Renka, "Or maybe you're just weak."
"Shut it!" said Hermit as the two began to squabble again, causing much of the audience watching to sweatdrop.
"Don't ignore me!" shouted Berserker as he tried, again and again, to get up, just to fall, "What... is this feeling!?"
"It's called defeat," said Hermit as he put his hoodie back on.
"Damn, I didn't think he could win that well," said Thor as he launched someone flying with a palm thrust.
"Lalalalaaa that's the power of friendship and trust!" sang Siegfried as he countered someone with a spinning attack.
"Dammit he's a zombie!" cried out a grunt.
"Gahahahaha, look at that! Know the power of Hermit, one of Shinpaku Alliance captain!" said Niijima as Siegfried provided the background.
"Dammit, stop trying to include me into your damn alliance!" shouted Hermit, "I only came to fight Berserker! I never joined!"
"You've got to be kidding me!" shouted Berserker as he suddenly stood up once more, "Defeat... is a word that has never existed in my dictionary!"
Before he could do anything else, he began to fall back once more, only for Kenichi to catch him. Berserker tried to attack him, only for Kenichi to do nothing as a fist came flying towards his face. The fist stopped inches away from Kenichi as Berserker winced at all the damage he had taken.
"Defeat... is something I'm very familiar with," sighed Kenichi, "I used to live in defeat. But I understood that overcoming defeat is a way that one can become stronger! Accepting defeat can teach you more about yourself! You can look back to it and use it to improve yourself!"
"Hohoho, we have a philosopher," smiled Kensei from the riverbank, "Has he been spending more time with you Akisame?"
"Hardly. That sounds more like what Sakaki would say while drunk," commented Akisame.
"Hey, I heard that!" shouted Sakaki in anger while Apachai and Shigure continued watching. Nearby, James Shiba was brushing his mustache while cheering on for his disciple for ending the fight so easily.
As Kenichi continued to explain, Berserker sighed before finally accepting that he had been defeated. However, he noted that if defeat felt like this, then he had been defeated before without even fighting. His instincts had told him to avoid battling the said person. Before Berserker could tell Kenichi anything else, Kenichi grabbed him and moved him before blocking a seeping palm strike from Odin.
"Shirahama, there's no need to pretend to pity and defend the defeated," stated Odin, "Fighting is a holy act, where the winner can walk all over the loser in the end!"
"Stay back," said Kenichi as Odin walked towards the even lands, "This fight is mine."
Berserker could only nod and walk towards a junk pile to recover from his injuries. He didn't say anything, but just now, he felt the same feeling from Kenichi that he got from Odin when he defended him from the attack.
"This fight will be interesting," commented Berserker as he laid back.
Hope you've enjoyed this chapter! We're almost finished with the whole Ragnarok Arc!
As I said, I've been busy with Destiny 2, with all the new stuff, light level, and iron banner. Aka salty banner because of how much salt you either consume or toss to other people. In short, excuses everywhere. Its just gonna get worst when KH3 finally comes out.
That being said, I have already starting writing/visioned the fight between Odin and Kenichi. And for the most part... it ends up with Odin being shit stomped. Hey, like I said, Kenichi has years of training already ahead. Doesn't mean I'll make it easy for him, though.