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"Duck!"
The Shinpaku members did so, narrowly dodging a kick from Garyu X. That didn't stop the wind generated from the kick from blowing them away. Before they could do anything, Garyu X slammed a fist into all of them, sending them flying towards the edge.
"Punch after punch, hit after hit, the mysterious teenager Garyu X is showing no mercy, even towards his own comrades," shouted the announcer.
The crowd was stirred into a flurry of excitement, watching a master wailing on some kids.
"Stand up," hissed Freya as she managed to pick herself up, "We can't let ourselves be beaten like this. It's obvious he's holding back."
"Yea, otherwise we'd be space dust," admitted Kisara with a groan, "His damn eyes aren't even open."
The teenagers had noticed the glowing eyes that escaped out of the mask's eyepiece had slowly dimmed, as if a shutter was going over the source of light. It took them seconds to figure out that Garyu X was fighting with his eyes closed and still kicking their ass.
"Problem is how we're going to attack," grunted Tsuji.
"We could toughen up and take the attack?" suggested Thor.
"Lalalaa, that would be difficult," sang Siegfried, though he was rasping notes at this point, "Such a task would be rather dangerous."
"We don't have a choice," growled Kisara, "We can't win just by dodging or defending, especially since we can barely even dodge his attacks properly."
"Everyone, let's just charge in and attack!" exclaimed Tsuji.
As they all did so, they suddenly found themselves being punted away into different sides by Garyu X. Freya and Kisara were in one group on the left while the Siegfried, Tsuji, and Thor were on the right."
"Girls, your attacks still have weak points/Boys, two of you still have too much useless movements," said Garyu X, stating both sentences at the same time.
"Did he just speak two sentences at the same time?" blinked Kisara in surprise.
"That is one of the Invincible Superman's special abilities," explained Akisame from the booth, "Bi-vocal. He can divide his trachea, lungs, and vocal cords into two different sections, and then speak through them in different timings. He usually does it when he's singing karaoke. But that's not all he can do. He can also create an axis right in the middle of his body, allowing his left and right body to move separately from each other."
"That's not something a normal human is supposed to be able to do," sweated Takeda.
"Come girls, don't hold back!/Come boys, show me your strength," declared Garyu X, his left hand waving at the girls to come while his right hand was clenched in a fist and whirling around a little.
"Let's show him what we can do!" grinned Freya.
"Falala, the concert of friendship shall begin!" sang Siegfried as he ran up first before suddenly stopping right in front of Garyu X, ready to counter whatever he was going to do.
"You're a brave one, aren't you?" grinned Garyu X behind his mask.
"C'mon, we can't let him be the only one!" shouted Tsuji as he ran forward, as did everyone else.
Kugatachi Ryuu Gokui, First Technique: Rei Mei
Koppou no Tooshi
Thor's Hammer
Double Hammer Kick
The Shinpaku members all attacked at once, hoping to land a hit. Freya and Tsuji attacked the upper part of Garyu X while Kisara and Thor attacked the lower half. All of them looked to be clean hits, too until Garyu X suddenly became transparent.
Thor's Hammer/Double Hammer Kick
Suddenly, there were two Garyu X in the field. One used Kisara's move and slammed both Freya and Kisara back while the other copied Thor's hammer and hammered the boys away. Even Siegfried, who had done nothing, was blown away, and despite him trying to roll with it, was unsuccessful due to how fast the attack had hit him.
The remaining Shinpaku Alliance still in the booth gazed in traumatized awe while Yomi could barely believe their eyes. Diego Carlo was leaning on his hand, looking at the fight in interest. Even he admitted that this was a fight he could learn just from watching, even with Garyu X using only 0.0005%. Ma Sogetsu had sat down, earnestly watching the fight while sipping on his Baijiu. Natsu was sitting next to him, also unable to tear his eyes away from the spectacle.
'I still have a long way to go,' thought Kenichi as he watched his friends get pummeled by the Elder. He knew that in order to marry Miu, he would need to defeat the Elder in combat. Even with all his experience, he was nowhere close to even touching the Elder.
Kenichi felt a hand snake its way into his, grasping as it did so. Kenichi didn't need to look to know that it was Miu.
"You'll do it someday," whispered Miu as she placed her head onto his shoulder, "I know you will."
Renka turned her gaze from Garyu X to the couple, several emotions crashing against each other in conflict. On one hand, she wanted to interrupt their little lovey dovey session or claim Kenichi's other hand. On the other hand, she was wondering where the hell Natsu was and why he wasn't with her. That thought put a screeching halt to all processes for a bit.
The five fighters all landed in a heap close to each other in pain.
"Son of a... ow," groaned Tsuji as he tried to pick himself up.
"What the hell was that, a bushin?" growled Kisara as she laid flat on her back, trying to will away the pain.
"And to use just one of our attacks against us," said Freya as she leaned on her staff to try to get back up.
"Nonetheless, we won't give up!" shouted Thor as he grasped Siegfried's hand to help each other up.
"Falalala, the music of friendship has not ended yet!" sang Siegfried.
Suddenly, the ground split right in between the boys and girls, courtesy of Garyu X's punch. Even with 0.0005% of his power, he was able to do that with a simple punch.
"Judging from your current fighting abilities, you would be killed by Yomi even if I spared your miserable lives. If that's the case, then I shall personally send you both to heaven right now!"
The fighters gulped in fear at this statement, and were about to ask if he was serious when he let out of fierce roar that was both loud and loaded with his Ki. The fighters were sent stumbling back while the audience members shrunk back in fear. Yomi braced themselves against it, but they all had to take a step back to withstand the Ki. Niijima quickly put up his secret technique, Alien Barrier, to protect himself, Matsui and Shiratori. The rest of the competitors were pressing their backs to the wall, trying to get away from Garyu X as far as possible while still being able to see the fight. Renka and Natsu also had to take a step back to stabilize themselves. The only competitors who didn't really react were Kenichi and Miu, both taking the Ki shout head on, as well as the masters
"Oyoy, he's going a bit far, isn't he?" asked Sakaki, his eyes narrowed.
"Don't worry, he knows what he's doing," assuaged Akisame.
Meanwhile, Apachai had released his own Ki in excitement, causing the shirt he was wearing to shred into pieces for some reason. It was there that Jennifer brought plenty of clothes for Apachai to try on.
Kisara and the others had half the mind to jump out of the ring to escape Garyu X. The moment that thought passed through their minds, they all growled in anger at that thought. They would not flee in a fight like this! This was a rare chance to spar against the Invincible Superman that many in the underground world of martial arts would beg to have. Each one of them slowly stood back up, glaring at Garyu X in defiance before charging in once more. Yet each time they did so, Garyu X not only tricked them with the afterimage but sent them flying back again with their own moves. However, each time they were sent back, Garyu X used the Obstructive Lung Voice technique to give each fighter advice.
"Siegfried, you certainly have mastery of Go No Sen (Striking Last, but Hitting First), but sometimes, you must be the first to initiate the attack."
"Tsuji, you certainly are headstrong and stubborn, which is good. However, there are times when you must step back and think."
"Thor, you are the same as Tsuji. Your willingness to take attacks for your team is admirable, but you must minimize your movements, especially with your size."
"Freya, you certainly have begun to dive deeper in mastering your weapon. However, your reflexes need work. You must be able to analyze your opponent's movements better."
"Kisara, kicks are not simply just landing hits on your opponent. It's about taking over your opponent's territory."
Kisara growled as she managed to switch over to Miu's movements, but even with that, she was still easily taken down.
"Hmm, she copied her movements, but in the end, it's still a copy. They're a bit stiff," commented Sho as he watched the beatdown.
"Better Kisara, but not quite there," commented Garyu X.
"Kisara!" shouted a voice from the Shinpaku booth.
Kisara grunted as she turned her head to see Ukita struggling to keep himself up despite his injuries.
"You can do it!" shouted Ukita, straining himself, "You said it yourself, you'd find your own path!"
"Indeed, change those movements to your own style," lectured Freya as she stood up once more, "Find your own source of movements."
Garyu X charged, smacking away Thor and Tsuji as he threw a fist at Kisara once more when suddenly, she dodged it. Her movements completely changed, all the stiffness from earlier gone. In replacement of dancing like a feather in the wind, her movements became something similar to a cat.
"Oh, what's this? Has a cat spirit possessed the fighter Kisara?" joked the announcer as Kisara began to groom herself.
Back in Fortuna's booth, his hands started to eagerly shake in excitement. He so desperately wanted to collect the Shinpaku fighters into his collection, with Kenichi as the biggest prize.
"Alright, this'll be the last of our fight," declared Garyu X, "Show me what you've learned."
Each of them took a deep breath as their own Ki began to rise at their statement, willing to risk everything to land even a single hit on their opponent. The five surrounded Garyu X, who was waiting for them to come.
To everyone's surprise, the first to attack was Siegfried, who spun on his own to attempt to land a spinning kick at Garyu X's waist. Tsuji charged in, narrowly dodging a kick to his face. Thor took this time to trust Tsuji to dodge instead of trying to tank it for him and threw a dozen palm thrusts at Garyu X.
Freya jumped into the air, using Kugatachi Ryuu Gokui, Fourth Technique: Toufu, to strike at Garyu X's head. Once more, he disappeared into an afterimage, ready to strike them down when he noticed that only four had been there.
"Kisara now!" shouted Freya.
The Elder turned to hear Kisara jumping up, and turned to strike her with a back fist. Kisara barely dodged it, spinning as a cat would to dodge something, before using that momentum to lash out a kick to his face once more.
"Oh, it's a direct hit!" screamed the announcer as the kick seemed to land with a solid impact, "No wait, he's dodged it once more, leaving an afterimage!"
"Shit," cursed Kisara as she landed, "Go down already!"
"Ah, wait!" the announcer proclaimed as a small crack appeared on the mask, momentarily loosening the mask to reveal the Elder's smiling face with a tiny scratch mark on his cheek.
The Elder quickly put it back on before declaring that he had a transmission from Garyu Pink regarding important hero duties and that he had to forfeit. He even had a Super Sentai transmission watch to go along with his apparel.
"My youthful 19-year-old self must end the test of skills here. I can not delay any longer, farewell!" waved Garyu X to the crowd, receiving a rain of applause from the crowd. With a burst of speed, Garyu X jumped straight into the air before somehow kicking off in midair, changing directions, landed on the bleachers before climbing out of the Colosseum itself in a flash.
"Well, it looks like Garyu X has left the arena! Victory goes to the Shinpaku Alliance! They'll be in the finals on the Earth side!" declared a dazed announcer.
A light rain of applause poured over the Shinpaku Alliance as their fighters dragged themselves back to their booth. Though they had 'won', they certainly didn't feel like winners.
"C'mon, cheer up," said Miu.
"Easy for you to say," growled Kisara, "Even with all five of us and him using only 0.0005% of his power, we barely scratched him."
"Hey, that's still something," frowned Kenichi, "I sparred with the Elder before with him using only 0.0001%, and I still get wrecked."
"That makes me feel a little better," admitted Tsuji, "But I want a rematch!"
"I learned a lot in that fight," laughed Thor.
"Falala, indeed," sang Siegfried, "I wish to pursue him as my master!"
"What!?" shouted all of them.
"I wish to learn Bi-Vocal and Obstructive Lung Voice from him!" sang Siegfried, "Such skill would drastically improve my musical skills to new heights!"
"Oh," was the sigh of relief throughout them all.
"So... thoughts about that?" asked Sho.
"The grandmaster of Ryozanpaku is very... eccentric," stated Ryuto, pushing his glasses up.
"That's to say the least," snorted Rachel
"With him as the head, it's no wonder why Ryozanpaku stands as one of the pinnacle of martial arts," analyzed Boris calmly, "I have always wondered how they could stand in the way of Yami such little funds when compared to us, but I see now why our masters are wary of them."
"As for the other competitors, they are no match for us," stated Tirawit with cold logic.
"Indeed, they may be passable for this sort of competition, but against us, they will die," stated Chikage.
"That may be true," commented Ethan, who had been silent for awhile, "But if our information is correct, none of the fighters that went up just now have any real masters or formal training. All of them are self-study martial artists, and to be able to come this far is something to be noted."
Chikage frowned at Ethan defending them, but conceded to his point. To be able to reach this far in the world of martial arts by themselves was certainly something to note.
"Shinpaku Alliance huh," murmured Sho as he looked over to their booth. According to their source, the president of the said alliance was actually someone who had no martial arts skills whatsoever. However, it was noted that despite not having any fighting prowess, his analysis on people was on a whole nother level, perhaps on par with Tirawit, if not higher.
"Well that's something we can think about later, right now, it's my turn to shine!" proclaimed Rachel, reminding them that her match was next.
Seconds later, the announcement was made that the Gemini team would be fighting the Capoeria team.
Ma Kensei whistled a tune while he walked back from the Three Headed Dragon team. He had convinced them to run from the Black Tiger White Dragon Alliance, knowing that if they returned, they would be killed. He directed them towards Yokohama Chinatown, knowing Ryo Ma would be able to protect them.
While walking back, he paused before leaning against the wall to a corner, as if resting.
"So you convinced the brats to leave for your organization," grunted Ma Sogetsu, hidden in the shadow of the corner.
"If they went back, they would just die," replied Kensei.
"They chose their path," shot back Sogetsu with no real fire, "Well I suppose they did provide reasonable cannon fodder for my disciple to grow."
"What will you do now?" asked Kensei.
"Whatever I want to do," scoffed Sogetsu, "I have a shitty disciple that refuses to let go of me as well as another brat."
"That certainly sounds like you," chuckled Kensei, "Young Kaede still has you in the palm of her hands?"
"No!" whined Sogetsu before coughing, "I mean, I can't let her think she can beat me in Mah Jong so easily."
"Relax brother, both me and uncle Hakubi couldn't even hold a candle against her," sighed Kensei.
Sogetsu seemed to relax a little at that sentence before resuming his posture once more, "Your grandmaster is quite... eccentric. Though it was quite entertaining and educational for my disciple."
Sogetsu didn't add that he himself learned a thing or two, not willing to admit it.
"Yes, he is," smiled Kensei, "I should head back."
With that, Kensei continued to walk back to the others while Sogetsu himself disappeared from the shadows.
The arena was soon ready with the theme being the Mexican ruins. Once again, Diego's blatant favoritism could be seen here, but it was something they had long grown accustomed to. What surprised them was that Diego declared a battle royal despite the Gemini team being outnumbered. The Capoeria team wasn't a pushover like the New York Street Fighters were.
"Hmph, it doesn't matter," scoffed Rachel as she stood up, "We'll monopolize all the attention with this!"
Of course, another reason that Diego was doing so was to push the matches faster. Doing a 1v1 combat would be too time-consuming, and they wanted to have the tournament finished today.
As the teams were ready to fight, Shinobi managed to slide his way next to Aisha.
"Careful, I have a bad feeling about the guy," whispered Shinobi.
Aisha scoffed as she turned around to him, "Seriously? The girl is just a showoff. Take care of her and the brother will crumble easily. Plus we have our leader, he can easily handle this."
Shinobi bristled a bit before pushing that emotion away, "I'm serious. This is Yomi we're fighting against. Those two are direct disciples of Yami's One Shadow Nine Fist."
Aisha's face seem to soften as Shinobi's statement until their leader, Lucas, interrupted the moment, "I don't care."
Aisha's face turned to Lucas with adoration, "Leader, you're always so calm!"
Shinobi's face turned ugly before taking a few deep breaths, calming himself down. It wouldn't do well to get angry at his teammate now, especially since Aisha was slowly starting to notice him a little more. Not enough to steal her attention from their leader, who he grudgingly acknowledged was stronger and smarter than him. But that would change in the future!
"Shinobi, do your best!" cheered Kenichi, noticing Shinobi's grimace.
Shinobi turned around to Kenichi, giving a smile and a thumbs-up before turning his head back to the fight, just to see his teammates all staring at him.
"What?" asked Shinobi, a bit disturbed that they were all staring at him. Even the leader was staring at him, and he usually never did that.
"Silvio, you know him?" asked Aisha with amazement and shock in her eyes, calling him by his real name.
Shinobi, unused to Aisha staring at him like that, stuttered for a bit, "Uhhh yea. Kind of? I talked to him last night. Made some small talk and stuff, he's a nice guy."
"What did you talk about?" Lucas asked/demanded.
"Stuff," said Shinobi vaguely. He wasn't going to let them all know his little conversation with Kenichi about how to woo the girl of his dreams. "Let's just focus on the match now."
That seemed to assuage them all as they turned back to their opponent. They could pester Shinobi more about him knowing Kenichi later. How he was somehow acquaintances with possibly the strongest fighter in this entire tournament was something to come back to.
"Are you all ready!?" yelled Diego in his mic, "Let the next match of the D of D begin!"
The Capoeria team quickly surrounded the twins, trying to take advantage of having more people. As Lucas calmly analyzed the situation, he realized the Shinobi was quite right to be wary of the male. Shinobi, despite all his bluster within the team, had earned the right to be vice-captain of the team. He was the second strongest on the team, his analysis almost as good as his. His only problem was his constant attempts at wooing Aisha while trying to be subtle about it. The fact that Shinobi would challenge his views wasn't a problem, but rather a welcomed sight.
He didn't want to admit, but the fact that his teammates all obeyed his commands in blind obedience was boring. Shinobi, at least, had the guts to voice his opinions, no matter how annoying he got, but would follow orders... for the most part. Another flaw of his was that if he was angered and flustered, he had a tendency to ignore him. But such events were very rare.
Instead, one of his other teammates decided to initiate the attack, aiming for Ethan. It was a sensible tactic, as the kick wasn't head on where Ethan could see it, but from the side. Theoretically, it would be where Ethan would be the slowest to react.
They had vastly underestimated Ethan though. Without hesitation, Ethan grabbed the leg, threw his attacker into the ground, and began wailing into him. The others couldn't even move to help their teammate.
Ethan made sure his opponent was no longer a threat before tossing him away and taking his spot back against Rachel's back.
"Little brother, I told you to be more Lucha," hissed Rachel, elbowing him.
"Sorry sister, but my master told me to always finish off my opponent immediately when in a fight," replied Ethan.
Lucas began to quickly plan the attack. He would obviously take on Ethan, as this would be a fight to look forward to. Yet he also couldn't simply throw away the numbers advantage they had. Plus, he had to agree with Shinobi's analysis. These were direct disciples of Yami's One Shadow Nine Fist. The cream of the crop, a cut above all other disciples... except for those two monstrous people at Ryozanpaku. How they were so powerful despite being almost the same age was perplexing.
"Aisha, with me against the male. Shinobi and Eliot, take the girl," snapped Lucas. He chose Aisha to accompany him not because he was trying to woo her, but knew Shinobi would get distracted if the two were teamed up together. He easily pieced it together that Shinobi liked Aisha, though Aisha didn't know it yet. But the seeds of his effort was starting to grow back in their fight against the Black Force.
He also knew Aisha looked up to him with adoration, but he couldn't return the feelings. He just didn't have the same feelings for her. If it wasn't for the fact that winning this tournament was so important, Lucas would have helped pushed Aisha to Shinobi.
"Roger," replied all three of them. Even Shinobi didn't argue with his order.
Despite having the numbers advantage, the Capoeria team was quickly put down. Eliot was the first to be knocked out via pile driver from Rachel. Lucas used Jogo to try to find weak points in Ethan, but was unable to hit them. Especially when Ethan stabbed a pressure point in his leg, numbing it and disabling it at the same time. Despite that, Lucas tried his best to defend himself, only to fall down next from a well-timed cross chop. Aisha was next to fall to the ground when Ethan aimed a well-placed kick that dislocated her leg.
As she saw a fist aiming for her head, Aisha closed her eyes in fear, expecting the pain to come, when she heard Shinobi scream her name. Aisha heard flesh smacking into something, but didn't feel the pain or impact. Aisha slowly opened her eyes to see Shinobi standing in front of her protectively, glaring at Ethan.
Shinobi had managed to use Rachel's throw to boost himself towards Ethan, ignoring the stabbing pain that he had suffered from Rachel. Then, with a quick flip, he landed a dropkick right into Ethan's arm, who had raised it to block the attack. The impact sent Ethan skidding away a little, but standing upright.
"Shinobi?" breathed Aisha in pain.
"Get some rest," stated Shinobi as he stared down Ethan and Rachel, "I'll handle this as best I can."
"But-," started Aisha, but Shinobi interrupted her.
"I know I'm not a match against them. But we still have to show the world what we can still do. Plus, I made a promise to myself that I'd pro-... Just watch."
With a roar, Shinobi bravely charged forward towards a grinning Rachel and a serious faced Ethan while Aisha watched him. Strangely enough, Shinobi seemed to fight with ferocity and grace that seemed to match or even exceed their captain's ability. Sadly, that wasn't enough as Rachel managed to slide kick into Shinobi, tripping him forward just to be smacked into Ethan's lariat. Shinobi was sent flipping in the air before landing flat on his face, his eyes rolled up to his head.
"That's over," stated Rachel as she turned to deal with the only remaining member of the Capoeria team, Aisha.
Aisha whimpered as she tried to stand up, only to stumble once more. Rachel smiled as she suddenly used her little brother as a pillar to jump off, ready to body slam into Aisha. Just as she was still in the air, she noticed someone coming for her fast and quickly adjusted her position, quickly bringing her arms up to block the kick that was aiming for her head.
"Who dares interrupt my spotlight!?" growled Rachel as she landed.
Aisha looked up, thinking that the captain or one of the other members had managed to get up, only to see Shinobi standing once more in front of her.
"Silvio?" whispered Aisha in shock.
Shinobi didn't answer her despite standing up in front of her. Rachel was ready to jump onto Silvio and toss him around when Ethan's hand clasped onto her shoulder.
"It's over," said Ethan, pointing to Shinobi.
Aisha managed to drag herself to a position where she could see Shinobi's face only to see the white of his eyes and a blank look. Shinobi was unconscious, and yet standing to protect Aisha despite all the damages. She couldn't hold back the horrified gasp, and yet at the same time, felt something for him.
"It's over," stated Ethan, looking at Aisha, "If you want to continue, then be prepared to forfeit your lives."
Aisha shook her head, "We forfeit."
"And the winner is the Gemini team! As expected from the team Diego Carlo himself endorsed!" shouted the announcer as the audience began to clap. Rachel stood in the limelight, drinking up all the attention while the Capoeria team was carried. Aisha herself stayed with Shinobi the whole way when he was loaded up onto a stretcher.
"Wasn't that exciting folks!?" cheered the announcer, "Next up, we have the Mongolian Bufu team vs. the Pankration team!"
As Spartacus and his fellow brothers and sisters walked up to the arena, he paused to give Niijima a glance. Niijima gave a subtle nod back in response. Spartacus then continued forward, as if never having paused.
The fight between the two teams was quite brutal... for the Mongolian Bufu team. Despite being prepared knowing that the Pankration team would be tough, they never expected the girls and boys to fight 'dirty'. Dirty meaning double-teaming against one opponent, eye poke, or even aiming for a man's manhood. Once again, the Pankration team won the match without a single injury. Well almost without any injury, as Iris had a small scratch on her right arm from falling off her opponent. Spartacus quickly asked for a medic for the scratch, only to be met with derision from the attending guards. That attitude quickly changed when Spartacus began yelling at him, leaking killing intent as he did so.
"Don't act like that leader," cautioned Onemaus.
"That's right, it's only a scratch," said Iris gently.
"We won't ignore it, even if it's only a scratch," said Spartacus solemnly, "We will stay together until the day we acquire our freedom. Not when it's so close."
The Pankration team slowly walked towards their booth, knowing their chance to escape would be soon.
"Hmm," mused Fortuna as he watched his precious children walk off the stage.
"Something wrong?" asked Diego curiously, getting ready to announce the next fight. To be honest, this was one fight he wasn't sure he wanted his disciple to get in.
"My son's look... He has something planned," explained Fortuna, "Not to mention, they should have been able to end that fight much sooner. It was as if he purposely delayed the match far longer than required."
"Maybe to show off?" inquired Diego. He had done so before to entertain the crowd.
"Perhaps... but it's not like him to do so," frowned Fortuna, "He has always taken the shortest and safest path for the sake of his team. This time... didn't feel like it. What could possibly make him do so?"
"Something to think about another time," advised Diego as he coughed into the mic, making sure it was on, "Now, it's time for the next match! I'm sure you're all excited as I am for this next match! Up next, is team Ryozanpaku vs my favorite team of all, Team Gemini!"
"Hmph, now is the time for me to shine! We Stanley twins are like diamonds, and will crush you with the strength of it!" declared Rachel. However, behind her loud proclamation, Yomi could feel her unwavering confidence starting to shake a little. After all, she was about to fight two people who had reached Ki no Shouka.
Before anyone could say anything, though, a loud explosion shook the Coliseum. This was soon followed by airplanes flying over the island, deploying troops as they flew by. Nobody had noticed that most of the Ryozanpaku masters had left during the Pankration fight, all except for Shigure.
The raid to capture the underground criminals and Fortuna by the Allied forces had begun.
As the crowds began to flee, Kenichi looked towards Yomi, pondering what would happen next. Would Sho challenge him? That seemed unlikely as he had been told that he could not participate in the tournament. Would he have to fight Ethan? Or heaven forbid, fight Rachel? Yomi also stared off at Kenichi until the Coliseum grew silent. Most of the audience members had fled, leaving only Diego Carlo, Fortuna, Shigure, the Shinpaku Alliance members, Yomi, and Renka.
Carlo Diego took a look around to make sure that there was no audience members left before making his decision.
"Let's retreat, Castor!" declared Diego, surprising his disciple as well as everyone in Yomi.
"What are you talking about!?" asked Fortuna, "What about the match?"
Diego made a tsking noise while wagging his finger, "We don't fight if there's no audience!"
Rachel quickly looked around to confirm his words before slowly standing up once more. She knew she would have to confess to her Maestro later, but she was scared to fight Kenichi or Miu. She turned around to leave when she noticed her brother wasn't following her.
"What are you doing?" hissed Rachel, "Let's go."
"No," said Ethan calmly as he began to walk towards the arena, "In the end, someone has to fight. While your master called you back, I have a duty to challenge Shirahama Kenichi."
"You don't have to do it now," growled Rachel as she started to pull him back, "There's no audience! Plus, as much I hate to admit, he is much stronger than us!"
"Which is all the more reason to challenge him now," replied Ethan, "I will experience the depth of his strength. If needed, I will become the tool to which you all may grow from this fight."
"Ethan, I foresee the chance of you winning is... less than 2%," frowned Tirawit, "I advise you not to engage now. Retreat and fight another day. We can use the time to catch up to him."
"Will we be able to?" shot back Ethan, "He is far stronger than us all. In order to catch up, there must be a catalyst. I am willing to become that catalyst to make all of Yomi stronger."
"Ethan, I order you as leader of Yomi to stand down," said Sho, using his authority as leader of Yomi.
"I respectfully must disobey that order," Ethan responded, "This is one fight that must be fought. If you are afraid he will kill me, fear not. He is part of Katsujinken, meaning he will not kill. And unlike some master like Silkwat Junazard, my master will not throw me away just because of one loss. He is a kind master who will understand why I must do this."
Chikage didn't know what to say. Her master would most likely tell her to say nothing, to watch and learn from the match. However, Ethan was one of the more kinder people in Yomi, always willing to help. In fact, he and his master were probably the nicest in a place where they killed others for the sake of martial arts to the fact some people wondered why Cyril Rahman followed Satsujinken, given his personality. Ethan was very much like his master in the same regard.
"Ethan, as your older sister, I'm telling you to come with me!" said Rachel, almost shouting now.
Ethan ignored her as he walked forward.
"Shirahama Kenichi," declared Etahn, "I am Ethan Stanley of Yomi. And I-"
"Are going with the others," interrupted Diego, "I thought you might pull something like this, so I went ahead and got this."
Diego threw a letter at Ethan, to which he easily caught. Ethan quickly read through the letter and frowned. After finishing it, Ethan obediently walked back to the other members of Yomi. Diego had personally contacted Cyril yesterday to get that letter after watching Kenichi and Miu defeat Gorobe. In it stated from Cyril himself that he was to obey Diego's words as if he was the master. He knew Ethan might disobey orders... which was why he took it to himself to get that letter so as to keep Rachel happy. Anything to make his cute little disciple happy.
"Hmph, a word from your master and you suddenly obey," pouted Sho.
"Would you not do the same with your master?" asked Ethan.
"Ehehe, good point," sweatdropped Sho as he laughed nervously. Honestly, if it hadn't been a direct command from his master not to participate in any fights here, he would have challenged Kenichi right now. Still, they had to do something.
Tirawit, Sho, Boris, and Ethan looked at each other and nodded as one. Each one of them pulled out their Yomi emblem, with Sho taking an extra emblem that was Radin's emblem. Each one of them threw their emblem at Kenichi, who raised both hands to catch all five within the gaps of his fingers.
"Those are our Yomi emblems," stated Sho, "It's a Yomi style duel challenge. We will kill you to get those back! Maybe not now, but we will catch up and take those off your hands! And Miu, I'll show you that I'll be the one to protect you."
"I will analyze a winning pattern," murmured Tirawit.
Boris nodded in agreement, knowing that if he was ordered to take down Kenichi, he would do so without hesitation.
"Let's get to the boat before we get caught up in this whole mess," advised Ryuto as Rimi began to quickly push his chair towards the exit. As they left, Ryuto muttered a quick word to Ethan about last night's events. Ethan frowned but merely nodded, thanking Ryuto for his words.
"Hmm, disappointing," sighed Fortuna, "I was hoping to see more of the boy in action."
"Then maybe you shouldn't have pulled that stunt earlier," replied Diego before jumping off the booth.
"Perhaps, but the tournament will still continue as long as I'm still here! Shinpaku vs. my children, the Paktrion team! Com-"
"You won't be starting anything more," interrupted Jennifer, pointing her revolver at Fortuna's forehead, "How can you stay so calm if everyone's been arrested?"
Sakaki quickly caught up to Jennifer, trying to convince her to arrest him and not shoot him. However, her rage pushed her over the limits when Fortuna made a crass remark about the great Colonel Lancelord Grey being killed by his own gun. Sakaki quickly pushed Jennifer down to protect her as two needles suddenly shot off from Fortuna's seat. Sakaki quickly stopped them with his bare teeth while Jennifer shot Fortuna in the head and body, all lethal shots, with her powerful revolvers.
"You think this would've made your father happy?" lectured Sakaki in disappointment, "Your father was a great man who never killed anyone with a gun! Using Colorado Shots on him... what would've happened if you had hit a real person."
Jennifer looked at Sakaki in shock before looking at the body just to see mechanical parts spilling all over the body she had shot.
"Hahaha, no wonder you're a Grandmaster, Sakaki Shio! How could you tell this was a fake? I've spent a fortune creating this replica that has fooled so many!" laughed a warped voice of Fortuna.
"You'd never stay in a position where you could be sniped so easily," stated Sakaki as he lifted Jennifer up to his shoulder, "Let's go, we have the real one to find."
Meanwhile, the real Fortuna was standing over some rooftops with a grin. He slowly put on his goggles as he whispered a code into it.
"Code:Show Time!"
The Shinpaku Alliance members as well as Kenichi, Miu, and Renka, were making their way to the harbor. As they were running, a tank burst out in front of them all. It wasn't just them, though. All around the island, tanks were coming out from hidden tunnels, while soldiers poured out of vehicles to fight Allied soldiers, wearing NIJ Class 5 body armor, far beyond the Allied soldier's own armor. Not only were their weapons useless against the new threat, but Fortuna's soldiers were also carrying the latest assault rifles, ones that had only just been developed. The Allied forces had not been counting on such a devastating counter-attack, having chosen mobility over power for this operation.
Fortuna grinned as he saw his forces easily pushing back the Allied forces. Soon, he would have the chance to gain even more children, and perhaps he could take the biggest prizes of them all. Shirahama Kenichi and Miu Fuurinji, both young people who were already able to touch the realms of Ki no Shouka. Not even Yomi could boast having a disciple capable of doing so.
As a tank faced the fleeing Shinpaku Alliance, Shigure took it upon herself to deal with the tank as she drew her sword.
"I'll handle this," stated Shigure, "Head to the harbor. Kenichi... you're in charge with Miu and Niijima. Tochumaru, follow them."
"Right," nodded Kenichi.
"This way!" shouted Niijima, pointing to an alleyway, "We can take this shortcut!"
"Oh, you sure she's going to be alright by herself?" shouted Tsuji as he followed along, "She only has a sword!"
"Trust me, that's all she needs," chuckled Niijima.
"It might even be overkill," giggled Miu.
In a mighty fortress, the commander of Fortuna's forces was grinning like a maniac. Countless computers surrounded the room, filled with operators guiding Fortuna's troops.
"Since code 'show time' has been announced, those invading forces don't stand a chance," sneered the commander, "Everything is going according to Fortuna-sama's plans! Not only will our reputation rise as we repel the Allied forces, but our weapons and stock will also rise!"
"Sir, a small group is holding their position!" exclaimed an operator.
"What!?" shouted the commander as he quickly rushed over to the computer, "Send out the choppers then! Use the tanks! Isn't our enemy just lightly equipped infantry?"
"It's no use sir, we can't stop them!" panicked the operator.
"Impossible! What weapons are they using!? Armor-piercing bullets? Rocket launchers?" shouted the commander.
"They... They are... They're using!"
In the slaugh... battlefield.
"Fuurinji Human Shuriken!" shouted the Elder as he began tossing enemy soldiers into others like a projectile. The Elder was using their own men as weapons, mostly to amuse himself. With the armor, he could throw them without much care, causing many to fall unconscious due to impact, or in the unwilling human projectile's case, nausea.
While the Elder was enjoying himself, the other male members of Ryozanpaku charged forward into the battlefield, easily dodging all the bullets flying their way. Despite all their weapons, armor, or vehicles, Fortuna's men were no match for Ryozanpaku. Not even a tank stopped them as the Elder managed to kick one up before completely flipping over a 70-ton tank. Apachai himself dismantled a helicopter. Yet despite all this violence, they took no lives, showing just how much control they had.
The rest of the teenagers had made it to the door leading to the harbor. Niijima looked around for a bit before smiling.
"You can come out now," declared Niijima.
Seconds later, the Pankration revealed themselves from the shadow, causing most of the members of the Shinpaku Alliance to assume fighting positions once more.
"What are you guys doing here?" shouted Matsui, "Here to stop us?"
"Or maybe they wanna make a name for themselves," grinned Takeda, giving his nice smile, glancing at his friends.
Despite standing and looking all right now, he could tell Miu and Kenichi were still recovering from their fight against Gorobe. Ukita was still out of commission, as he was laying on a bed that they had hijacked, as was Mizunami. Tsuji and the others were also recovering from their fight with the Elder. The only real people capable of fighting right now was Renka and himself.
"Hahaha, well done my children!" laughed out Fortuna as he himself appeared before them all, dropping from the roof, "There are no boats in the harbor but mine. So why not take my boat and become my children! Children of Fortuna!"
Fortuna then began a small rant about how the most powerful weapon was the human body before declaring them all to be his children, as they had the potential to become masters, which was the most valuable thing in this world, and everything valuable belonged to him. Matsui tried to attack Fortuna, only to be easily blown away with a puff of his breath.
"I'm not interested in little minions," scoffed Fortuna, "I want those with talents. I want... you, you, you, you, you, you, you, maybe you, ... and why not, I'll take you too! But I especially want you two!"
Fortuna had pointed to Takeda, Kisara, Freya, Thor, Tsuji, Siegfried, Renka, Ukita, Niijima, Miu and Kenichi in that specific order.
"The hell, you think we're some sort of bargain sale?" growled Tsuji.
"We'll use this opportunity to escape while my soldiers are busy occupying Ryozanpaku's time. Hop onto my cruise ship, my children! Spartacus, show them the way!"
"No."
Fortuna blinked as he turned to his eldest son just to see him glaring at Fortuna, with his brothers and sisters by his side.
"Now's not the time to be rebellious, be a good son and obey my order," ordered Fortuna, "I have plenty of love for you all. And if you're worried about being replaced... well it's true that Ryozanpaku's disciple will take on the mantle as leader of all my children, but you can be his second in command with your charisma. So come!"
"I said no," growled Spartacus, adopting a fighting pose as did his brothers and sisters, "No longer will we be under your thumb! No longer will I have to see my brothers and sisters die before my eyes for your own pleasure! Today is the day that we regain our freedom or die trying!"
Fortuna looked at Spartacus before taking a deep breath, his hand holding a phone before crushing it in anger.
"Impertinent brat! Who was it who fed you, clothed you, gave you all your basic necessities when you had none!?" shouted Fortuna, "I gave you life, and this is how you repay me?"
"Better to die than to live a life as your slave for your own amusement," snarked Iris.
"Hmph, then die to my Poppy Knuckle," snarled Fortuna as he raised his fist, "I have plenty others to replace you brats."
"Not if we defeat you first," stated Spartacus, "Fellow members of Ryozanpaku and Shinpaku Alliance, you must flee. My brethren will hold him off."
"Hmph, and leave you fellows alone? Not a chance," grinned Takeda as he walked next to Spartacus, his fists raised, "I haven't had a decent fight since I've gotten here. I'm itching to test my skills on another dude who's asking for a butt whooping."
"I'm not injured enough that I can't fight," groaned Kisara as she stepped forward, "I've been looking for a suitable punching bag to perfect what I just learned."
Freya, Thor, Siegfried, Tsuji, all stood up in unison, ready to fight too. Ukita tried to push himself up, only for Shiratori to push him back down on his bed.
"You're still seriously injured," said Shiratori, "You go out there, and you'll aggravate your wounds even more."
Kenichi and Miu had also been ready to join in the fight, only for Renka to push them away.
"You two already had too much excitement, fighting that master and coming out on top. You need your rest," said Renka sternly, "With all of us, we can handle this."
"Hmph, it doesn't matter how many you bring, you can't win against a master," taunted Fortuna.
"That's for us to decide," threatened Tsuji.
"We can't say that without even trying," shouted Thor, stomping his leg into the ground, "This is for all the fat men in the world!"
"Exactly!" sang Siegfried, "We will not cooperate with a soloist who is playing for his own greed. This is... the concert of friendship!"
As they all surrounded Fortuna, Fortuna himself looked around before noticing Niijima was missing.
"Everyone, be careful," shouted Niijima, who had somehow managed to climb up a wall to look at the situation from above, "Even if he doesn't seem like it, his skills and strength are most likely similar to Gorobe, perhaps a tiny bit lower! Use extreme caution!"
"Hoo, able to analyze and estimate my skills," noted Fortuna, "Certainly a diamond in the rough within all these gifted youngsters."
Fortuna noted an alert in his electronic goggles, notifying him that Sakaki was rushing his way towards him, destroying everything in his way.
"Shit, someone from Ryozanpaku's coming over," cursed Fortuna, "Fortunately, I hired a small group of elite master class martial artists! If I send them out, then perhaps even Ryozanpaku will fall!"
Unfortunately for him, when he gave the order and switched the camera over to his hired goons, he found them all unconscious, possibly dead, with Ma Sogetsu standing on top of them with a grin. Taking a sip of his wine, Sogetsu taunted Fortuna, saying he had been amused with the hired help, and that he had been debating whether or not to annihilate Fortuna himself. In the end, he decided to let someone else do it.
"Grr, and he was my most expensive one," growled Fortuna, "I never thought he would betray me!"
"Ma Sogetsu is just that kind of guy," said a voice from above.
Everyone looked up to see Hermit standing on top of a statue, looking down at the crowd.
"Hermit, you came back to help!" cried Matsui.
"Don't be mistaken," huffed Hermit, "I'm merely following orders. My master, Ma Sogetsu, thought just fighting the Chinese team wasn't enough as cannon fodder. So he's ordered me to fight a master class!"
"You're his disciple!?" growled Fortuna in anger, "Then die!"
Fortuna punched the statue, causing it to collapse. Hermit responded by jumping into the air and landing safely next to Renka.
"About time you showed up," huffed Renka, "You have to take responsibility for earlier!"
"Earlier?" questioned Hermit before turning away, "Whatever you've cooked up in your mind, we can talk later. I have an order to follow through, and I'm eager to do so!"
Fortuna frowned as he did a quick count. Including his ex-children, there were thirteen of them against himself. Fifteen if the two children he wanted to claim the most joined in. This was not good odds, if he had to admit. Luckily, he always had a back up plan.
"Do it," whispered Fortuna into his communicator.
From a distance, a sniper belonging to Fortuna's elite soldiers had his scope targeting Miu. In his hand was a sniper rifle loaded with tranquilizers, enough to knock out grown men. Even if it failed to knock them out, it would surely hinder them, long enough for Fortuna to deal with the rest. The sniper had several darts next to him, ready to shoot down all the children, as ordered.
As his fingers began to curl, his breathing halted for the perfect shot, the sniper noticed something wrong. There was a shadow covering his scope.
'Shit' cursed the sniper, thinking someone had snuck up on him. He quickly rolled away, bringing up his pistol to deal with the intruder. Such a fast reaction and reflex showed that this sniper was indeed one of the best.
However, his opponent was just too much for him... especially since that opponent was Saiga Fuurinji.
"Don't you dare touch them," snarled Saiga as he quickly crushed the gun with his bare hands and knocked out the sniper. He then went over to the sniper rifle and broke it in half with his knee.
Nobody, especially Fortuna, would be taking his daughter. He would only reveal himself if necessary, but for now, he would remain in the shadows.
As he looked into the distance, he frowned as he noticed someone coming close to the group. Saiga sat down, debating on whether to intervene before deciding to stick closer to the group, and intervene only if necessary. This fight would certainly help them all grow.
"You!"
Kenichi and Miu quickly turned around and frowned. Standing behind them all was Gorobe himself, his face and chest covered in bandages. He was certainly limping, but the two knew he was still very dangerous.
"I'll kill you brats!" shouted Gorobe as he prepared to massacre them.
"Gorobe," said Fortuna sternly, "Remember our deal. I convinced Diego to let me handle your punishment, and let you off gently. If not for me, you would be in a worse position, if not dead. I let you off despite not following the rules, because your fight showed me the two brightest gems within this tournament. Take them out, but don't kill or maim them beyond healing. I still want them as my collection."
"Fine, fine, but I expect money," growled Gorobe as he clenched his fists.
'Shit, this didn't happen last time!' thought the time travelers. Then again, they didn't have the Pankration team with them. At least they saved them from certain death from Sho, or so they thought. The reality of it was that none of them knew that in the past timeline, Sho had been the one to free them.
Niijima quickly analyzed the whole situation before barking off commands.
"Kenichi, Miu, Tsuji, Siegfried, Freya, deal with Gorobe. Kenichi, you're lead position and center. Miu and Siegfried, move to his sides. Tsuji, right wing, Freya left wing! Everyone else, on Fortuna! Pankration team, center line! Hermit, lead position, Renka cover his side! Takeda serve as left wing. Thor and Kisara, cover Pankration team sides!"
Each one of them quickly moved in position, ready to fight not only for their freedom but for their lives.
"Exhibitionist, boxer, give me a chance to approach that guy," whispered Hermit, "I've got a new move that I learned from Ma Sogetsu, and I plan on using it on this guy! It's his ultimate technique!"
The two nodded and quickly passed the message around.
Kenichi narrowed his eyes against his opponent, "If I can get a good chance to use Korui Nuki, then he'll no longer be a threat. But I need a chance to do so."
"We'll get you that chance," said Takeda, "Just watch for it."
The two groups stared at their opponents for a few seconds before charging in.
Surprise! It's Gorobe once more, except this time he's taking it more seriously! I contemplated on the last part, and though having all Shinpaku Alliance and Pankration team vs Fortuna might be overkill, so I decided to chuck Gorobe back in. Not to mention, unlike the cannon, he hadn't been beaten the shit out of by the Elder.