A man is in the middle of the woods. He is in nothing but a pair of shorts. He is by a stream, and several trees that were knocked down. He is throwing punches, and kicks in the air. He is doing so in order to get his mind off of the horrible revelation, but it isn't working. He is feeling pain and regret over what happened the night prior and five years ago. Each strike is very powerful. His breathing was in sync with the pace of his strikes. Each release of breath was a strike. His mind, however, kept replaying images in his mind. Images he would rather forget.

Five Years Ago

Rain was pouring down upon two people. One was a male, and the other was female. The male was holding the female. Blood was all over the two, but only one of them was bleeding. The male pulled her closer into his chest. The female had bite's and scratches all over her body. Her skin was extremely pale due to the loss of blood. Her hair was black as night, eyes were brown, and wore camouflage shirt, pants, and brown combat boots.

"You'll be ok. I'll get you to a doctor, or healer. You'll be ok," spoke the man.

"I'm sorry we can't ride in the sunset together," she spoke.

"Don't leave me," cried the man.

"It's ok," rasped the female. "This is not your fault."

"If I had gotten to you sooner, I could have helped."

She lifted her hand to the man's cheek.

"We will be ok," she said.

"I can't do this without you," he cried.

"I love you, Tikanni." With that, Lyra's hand fell from his face and the life left her eyes."

"Lyra? Lyra? Baby!? No, no, no, no, wake up," cried Tikanni. "Please wake up." His tears flowed freely from his face, but his pleads were unanswered as Lyra had succumbed to her injuries. Tikanni held her as tight as possible. All this pain and sadness he held came out as he screamed "No!" What he did was a combination of a roar, cry, and howl to the heavens.

Back to the current time. Tikanni threw another punch, and it connected with a tree. The tree splintered and fell with the force. It landed by the river.

"We," he spoke.

He then sat on the newly killed tree and looked at his reflection in the river. Thoughts of last night came to his mind, roaring. That one word came back to his head. He felt horrible.

"Tikanni," asked a voice behind him.

"We found your clothes," spoke the feminine voice. "They were shredded and we wanted to check on you."

"What do you want, Kate," he whispered

"We want to know why our friend is in the middle of the forest with little clothes on, hitting trees and air.

"I am shadow fighting. It helps me keep my mind off things."

"Oh, what's on your mind?"

"I don't want to talk about it, so I shadow fight."

"Tikanni?"

"Look, just leave me alone. I will be back at the house in a minute."

"What if we don't," spoke Humphrey.

Tikanni turned his head to see everyone was behind him.

"Please," he whispered. "Just leave me alone."

Kate then walked next to him and stood on the log. He turned his head away.

"Tuffy, why won't you talk to us?"

"Because there's nothing to talk about."

Tikanni was staring into the water. He looked tired and hurt.

"Talking will help," spoke Kate.

"It won't help me."

"How do you know?"

"Because, unless it can make me forget everything I ever cared about being taken from me, then it won't help."

"Tuffy."

"I don't want pity. I don't want any sympathy. I want to find, Dean, so I can go home. This place brought nothing but pain."

"Tuffy, you're not making any sense. Just tell us why you are so upset."

"Why do you want to know?!"

"So you can be of sound mind to make sound decisions. Anger will blind you."

Tikanni then had a flashback. He was about twelve being told the same thing by Izem. He even remembers telling someone that.

He then looked into Kate's eyes. He saw concern.

"Why do you care so much," he spoke.

"You are apart of this family. Like it or not, and I will help my family."

He remained silent.

"She's right Tuffy," spoke Humphrey. "You came with us on so many adventures and helped us in some pretty hairy situations."

"Yeah," spoke Claudette. "You helped us with Daria, and, not to mention, you helped us the first time we met."

"You were also there to cheer us on during the games," spoke Stinky. "If that's not family, I don't know what is."

Runt was silent during this. He was saddened by what Tikanni has been dealing with.

Runt then walked up to him.

"You were the one who helped me train and become stronger. Now let us help you.

Everyone except Kate and Willow knew what Runt was talking about.

Tikanni's silence wasn't anger. It was exhaustion. He was tired of carrying this weight. He was still silent for a few minutes.

"When I left my team, it was Lyra who helped me do that. She was the one who taught me that I wasn't just a weapon, but a living creatures. I could love and feel joy. She was special." Tikanni then went silent. He then cleared his throat.

"I loved her. I loved her very much. The day we left the base, and she died was like losing a piece of myself. I held onto her so tightly."

Tears began leaving his eyes.

"As she bled out from her wounds sustained by Dead Meat."

"Every time I close my eyes, I can hear her last words echoing in my head."

He wiped a tear away.

"She said, We will be ok, and I love you, Tikanni." She then closed her eyes, and I pleaded. I pleaded with every fiber of my being, but she never woke up. I remember holding her and screaming at the top of my lungs into the sky."

Tikanni was silently shedding tears.

"Last night, I was looking through my team's files. A file shows the history of someone. It shows life and death. Before I did, I called Tex, and asked why he had files on us. Out of everything he said. He told me not to look through Lyra's file. I wish I had listened to him."

His throat became real shaky.

"He said it would only open old wounds, and he was right."

Everyone was silent, they were all trying to hold back tears, they could feel the sorrow Tikanni was feeling. Even Willow was holding back tears.

"What did you find," asked Kate.

Tikanni wiped more tears away and shakily began speaking.

"When Lyra said, "We would be ok," I thought she was talking about her and I, but I was wrong. When I looked into her file, it said she was pregnant. I was going to be a father."

"Pregnant."

That word, that horrible word shook the poor Amarock to his core. That was at the bottom of the file.

Tikanni couldn't hold it any longer. He began crying and holding himself.

"I was a father," he cried.

Everyone but Willow ran and began comforting him. She was too busy trying to comfort herself.

"He killed my babies!"

"I'm so sorry Tuffy," held Kate.

After a few more minutes of constant crying, Tuffy managed to get control of his emotions.

"I am going to find, Dean." He spoke. "I refuse to lose anyone else. All of you are my family. I see that now. I will not let any of you die on my watch. I am going to do everything in my power to keep you guy's safe."

"You have to keep yourself safe," spoke Humphrey.

"You're apart of this family, if you need to talk, just ask."

"I'll keep that in mind," spoke Tikanni. "I don't feel like shadow fighting anymore. I think I want to go an take a nap. I haven't slept in a while."

"You can do that," spoke Kate. "You need rest, if you're going to help us find Dean."

"Yeah, but I'm sure he's doing ok. How much trouble can that kid get into?" Everyone thought for a moment. The many adventures where Dean had near death experiences came to the minds of his family.

"On second thought let's not think about that," Tikanni spoke. "Let's head back to the house."

Everyone began walking back to the house, but the conversations were not over, and more secrets were about to be revealed.

"So, Runt," began Kate. "What did you mean when you were talking with Tuffy?"

Everyone was silent.

Runt then took a breath and began speaking.

"Well Mom, I realized that I wanted to be stronger, so, after I asked Dean to train me, but he brought me to Tuffy. Tuffy began helping me train and build muscle. I was actually hoping that since I do have muscle, and I have skill in fighting if I could go with my siblings to Alpha school."

"You want to be an Alpha," asked Kate.

"I want to protect everyone, but I just want to keep the peace. I want to do more than tell jokes to break up fights. No offense, Dad."

"None taken Son."

"Did you know about this," asked Kate. She looked at Humphrey.

"I found out about it, and I even asked Tikanni to help me train a little."

"You could have asked, Garth, or I," she said.

"You and Garth were too busy," spoke Humphrey.

"Why didn't you tell me you wanted to be stronger, Runt?"

"I kinda wanted Dean to be there. We were going to tell you together. He trained with Tikanni too."

"What sort of training did you put my pups through?"

"I had them pull heavy objects, as well as practicing balance techniques. I had researched many fights. I researched wolf fights, so I could help Dean. I saw the many things, and I found training exercises that would make you stronger, faster, provide you with more options than biting. More wrestling, and paw strikes, and biting. I just wanted to give Dean an edge. Runt wanted the edge, and then Humphrey. I just helped.

"So, the fight with Garth?" Kate was in utter shock.

"Was all Tuffy's help," spoke Runt.

"Yeah Runt, I've been meaning to bark at you for that fight. You could have finished it quicker."

"I thought I did good."

"You did, you looked for openings and exploited them. I'm just saying you could have done it quicker."

"I'll do better next time."

"I know because I'll help you be quicker. That is, if your mother will allow it."

Kate was silent.

"Mom," asked Runt.

"You can keep training. I'm proud you want to become stronger. I'm sorry Garth and I were busy. I would like to help you train once we get back, but I don't know if your grandfather would let you go to Alpha school."

"Thanks mom."

"I would like to see what Tuffy's methods of training in action though."

"You will, but I need a nap and to find Dean first."

"I look forward to it."

"We're home." Spoke Humphrey. "Or at least, our home away from home."

"Yes, if you need me, I'll be in my room," spoke Tikanni.

Tikanni then went to his room and closed the door.

He didn't even bother taking a shower. He laid on his king size bed. The covers and sheets were so cool, and white. In fact, the whole room aside from the wooden floor was white. The two windows lit up the room with the sunshine. Tikanni didn't care. He opened the windows, and a slight breeze swayed the white drapes. The breeze was very refreshing and he laid back down. He didn't even bother covering himself up. Soon, his eyes closed, and sleep took over.

As soon as sleep did take over however, Tikanni's eyes shot opened. He was in the middle of the forest. Snow was falling.

Tikanni looked, and saw the wolf and the beast from his last dream. The wolf was looking at Tikanni, and the beast stood up right on its hind legs.

"Oh, you are actually the beast I have been wanting to see," spoke Tikanni.

The beast gave him a devilish grin. It's crimson eyes remained fixated on the human and canine standing in front of it.

"I'm tired of this," spoke Tikanni. "For five years you have been haunting my dreams, and my hatred for you has only grown. I didn't understand why either of you were in my dreams, but, now, I think I understand it."

The beast began walking menacingly up the the two, but the wolf and man remained calm.

"I resented and hated you for not being strong enough, too wild to think, and mindless. I blamed you for my behavior with my team, for killing all those innocents, and for letting Lyra die."

The beast was now standing right in front of the two. It raised one hand, ready to strike the both down.

"I'm sorry," spoke Tikanni.

The beast's hand stopped centimeters from Tuffy's face.

"You aren't some beast inside me, you are me. You are apart of me, and I am sorry I neglected you. I created this horrible image of you to blame for all of our misdeeds, but it only hindered us. I can't keep holding onto Lyra's death as our fault. It wasn't our fault. No one could have foreseen what Dead Meat would do. It was just easier to blame you. I thought you would just get everyone I cared about killed, so I hid you away, resented you, kept you in a box, but you broke out of the box last night. You needed to come out, so you could hurt too.

"We all loved Lyra, and hate what Dead Meat had done, but we can't keep blaming ourselves for her death. The past is hindering us down. I'm ready to stop letting it hinder me. Lyra's death will hurt, and continue to hurt. I can accept that now."

"What I can't accept is if I don't use my full resources to protect my new family who is mostly alive and well. I can accept that what you are is apart of me, and you are not going away.

The beast looked down at the wolf and the wolf looked up at the beast. The two then began glowing. They were glowing a bright azure color. The two forms began to mix. Tikanni shielded his eyes. Once the light dimmed, he looked back, and he could see himself. The only difference was his counterpart was azure.

"Hey good lookin," spoke the real Tikanni. "Let's protect our family."

He then lifted his hand, and the counterpart took it. The azure then began disappearing and morphing itself into energy. That same energy was pulsating through Tikanni.

"That's that good stuff," spoke an energized Tuffy. He then heard a feminine giggle come from behind him. He turned and his eyes grew wide. What was once an everlasting winter was now a spring paradise, and in the middle of it all was Lyra."

"Took you long enough you idiot," she spoke.

"I am so sorry, baby," he said.

"Stop, you just forgave yourself for not being there. I want you to stop hating yourself. I knew the risk, I just didn't know Dead Meat would kill me."

"I will try to. You said it, I just forgave myself," spoke Tuffy.

"I want you to move on."

"I don't know if I'll be able to do that."

"I want you to be happy, and know that I will be with you."

"You always had my six."

"And I always will. Goodbye Tikanni."

"Goodbye Lyra."

Tikanni's eyes opened and he felt a comforting warmth all around him. He rose up from the white bed, and he looked out the windows. The sun was setting, he felt good, for a change. He went to the bathroom, and showered. What he didn't expect was the shower sounding so loud. He noticed that all his senses were enhanced. He then grabbed his spare, and went down stairs. He then stretched and saw everyone was looking at him.

"Good evening," spoke Tikanni.

"Good evening, how did you sleep," asked Kate.

"I slept good. I was a hypocrite, but I finally listened to my words."

"Which were," asked Humphrey.

"Let go of the past, and improve on the future."

"Wise words," spoke Willow. "You look better."

"Are you flirting with me?"

"What no, I wouldn't, I was just- grrrrrrr."

Her teeth bared at the Amarock. Her response had everybody laughing.

"Careful Willow, you might start drooling," joked Tikanni. "But honestly I do appreciate the comment. I do feel better."

"I'm glad to hear that Tikanni," spoke Runt. "What will you do now?"

"I'm going to watch a fight."

"Who's fighting," asked Kate.

"People."

Tikanni then walked down to the room, and grabbed the box labeled underground fight club. He brought it up top, and sat it in front of the chair. He then called Tex. Tex picked up the phone.

"Wolfman I-"

"Have the answers I need? Yes Tex, you do," spoke Tikanni. "I want to see a fight. I want to see the Shadow Fist. It might help me find someone if I get in with the underground."

"Well, you're not going to find anyone. Trust me, I know. All the links I have will allow me to watch it under the radar of their security softwares, but I can't track the location it's being broadcasted. The tournament starts tonight. All you have to do is turn the tv on, and there should be a flash drive in the box.

"Plug it into the port into the tv, and have fun watching it."

"Thanks Tex," spoke Tikanni.

"For what it's worth, Wolfman. I am truly sorry for not telling you."

"I understand why you didn't. It's ok, Tex. I'll talk to you in a few days. Later, Tex." Tikanni then hung up. He then opened the box, and pulled out the flash drive. He then plugged it into the TV. Tikanni then turned the TV on, and a clock was all that he saw on the screen.

"Ok, by the look of the clock on the screen, we have about 2 hours before the fight begins. It's 7 p.m now, so all we have to do is wait."

Somewhere in a 10 mile radius, Dean was being driven in an SUV by men in black suits with bull masks. Drew was on the left of him, and Ebbs was on the right. They were being driven to the location of the Shadow Fist tournament. The two main fighters had no idea what to expect. They both had one duffel bag. This was the fight for their lives, and Dean was going to treat it as such. They soon made it to a very large building with a dome over it. It looked very professional and not what Dean expected.

"I was expecting something a little more dirty, and with more health hazards," thought Dean.

The three were lead through the doors and into a small lobby.

"I will register you in," spoke one of the drivers. "My associate will lead you to your places."

The man then lead the three to three seats in the front. As they began to take their seats, the man stopped Dean.

"Lobo," spoke the man. "You are the first fight. I will lead you to your locker room."

Dean grabbed his duffel bag, and followed the man to the locker room. Once dean was there and alone, he began to change into his fighting gear. His gear was very simple. He wore grey, black, and white fighter shorts, his mask and nothing else. He didn't want to wear tape, and he didn't want to wear shoes. He then heard three knocks.

"Lobo, it's time," spoke one of the bull headed men that brought him here.

Dean opened the door and silently walked out. He followed the man to the entrance to the arena when he stopped. Dean stopped with him. Sykes then went into the arena. All the lights landed on him as he walked. Once he was in the center, a microphone dropped from the ceiling. Sykes took it in his hand and cleared his throat.

"Ladies and gentlemen," spoke the announcer. "Welcome to this year's ShadowFist Tournament!"

The crowd began to cheer. Once they quieted down, Sykes began to speak. This time, he turned to the camera that was being controlled from someone up above the crowd.

"I would like to personally welcome the viewers that couldn't make it in person. With that out of the way, the rules of the tournament are simple. No outside weapons can be used. You can only use your body, and what is in the arena. No whistleblowers, and no outside help. If you break any of these rules, you will be banned from the establishment permanently, and there will be other repercussions. There can only be one team that is victorious. You can only be deemed the victor if your opponent is unable to continue fighting."

"With the boring stuff out of the way, we can get the President of the Tournament's thumbs up, we can begin the tournament. The lights then peered to the man sitting at the very large throne above the far entrance. The sheep headed individual sat on his throne. His two bodyguards, Nyx and Ivory, sat on each side of their owner. Next to Nyx was another smaller throne. The owner decided not to sit however. He decided to stand. This displayed his intimidating aura to everyone. The seven foot Russian fighter, Pasti was standing right next to him. The sheep faced man raised his hand and his thumb raised up.

"I declare this years tournament Open," screamed Sykes. "Let's get ready to Rumble!!"

Everyone cheered at this.

"Let's start the tournament with a great fight. Our first fighter stands at six foot two weighing 175 pounds. Fighting for the Guerrero Corporation. I give you Lobo!"

Dean then walked out. People cheered for him, but he didn't care. He took this time to look at the arena. It was an actual arena. The ground was sand, and the onlookers were separated by a small wooden wall. It was just tall enough for the front row to see.

"And his opponent," spoke Sykes. "Standing at 5 foot 9, weighing 149 pounds, representing the Nightheart Corporation of Tanzania, from the deepest part of the Madagascar. I give you Chameleon!"

"Chameleon," thought Dean. "That can't be good."

He looked on as his opponent walked out. The first thing Dean caught was his scent. He smelled a very familiar scent he learned when his mother was alive.

"Magic," thought Dean. The skin of his opponent was ebony, and he wore green fighters shorts. His mask was a luchadore's. It was green and red. It had three horns poking out of the top. The mask was none other than that of a Jackson's Chameleon. People cheered and he waved.

The two met until there was 10 feet between the two.

"I will beat you," spoke Chameleon. "You won't even see me coming."

"I get it, you're a Chameleon. What are you going to do? Go invisible," joked Dean.

"Ok, Let's see who will move onto the next round," spoke Sykes. "FIGHT!"

Dean immediately backed up, and his opponent just stood there. Dean then caught the familiar scent again, and just like that, Chameleon had vanished. Most of the crowd were gasping, and gave confused looks.

Dean wasn't afraid. Being a Guardian's kid, and a wolf pup, taught him to use all his senses. Chameleon's scent remained, and Dean closed his eyes.

He listened and smelled. He heard slight footsteps coming to his left. He let his opponent get real close.

"On your-" spoke Chameleon. Before he could finish his taunt, he was grabbed by the arm and thrown. Dean heard him land on his feet right in front of him. Dean remained standing.

"How did you do that," spoke a Tanzanian accent.

"You thought I wouldn't know about an invisibility spell. You thought wrong. I know more magic than you ever could. I know how to use more than my eyes to win a fight. This will be easy."

"Oh really, well We'll see about that."

"I'll end this in my next attack," spoke Dean. He then heard feet running at him. He then moved his head to the left as a force moved swiftly passed it. Dean then grabbed the force by the head, and pushed it down. He then sent a punch with the other arm straight down on the head of the force. He heard a vicious snap, and Chameleon showed himself. He was laying on the ground motionless. Blood began to spill out of the nostril holes in his mask.

His nose was broken, and he was unconscious from the one strike from Dean. Sykes ran to the fallen fighter, and checked for a pulse. Chameleon was alive.

"He's Alive," he screamed. "He is unable to continue the winner is Lobo!"

People cheered, and Dean went back through the entrance he came from. Two men rushed past him. They were carrying a stretcher. Dean was heading back to his locker room. He went in, changed back, and heard a knock on the door.

He opened the door and, to his surprise, he saw Drew.

"Great fight, now, it's my turn to fight.

"Good luck," he spoke. He then took his bag, and exited the room only for Drew to slide in, and change into her fight gear.

As he was walking to the stands, he saw Chameleon sitting up in the stretcher.

"Good, fight," spoke Lobo.

"You surprised me, Lobo. You're a good fighter. I can see that now. I hope to see you again in the future. Maybe for a rematch?"

"Count on it."

The man smiled. He was then carried away.

He finally found his seat, and sat down.

"You did good, now you have to do it about 4 more times."

"That was easy," spoke Dean.

"It'll only get harder, Lobo."

"It always does. I just need to adapt and conquer. I take on whatever they throw at me."

Meanwhile, back with Tikanni and the wolves, they were silent. They were trying to wrap their heads around the fight they just saw:

"That guy is good," spoke Stinky. "He finished the fight so quickly."

"He definitely has skill spoke Tikanni. He definitely has a high chance of winning."

"I like his name," spoke Runt. "Lobo."

"It's Spanish," answered Tikanni. "It means wolf."

"Wow."

"Indeed, I think the next fight is about to start."

"Our next fighter is 6'2, 173 pounds, the second fighter representing the Guerrero corporation, she's an absolute beast in the ring, I give you, Predator."

Dean knew Drew got herself in a bad situation, but at this very moments, he beamed at her with pride.

"You got this, sis," he thougt to himself. "He then thought of an old memory.

Punch

Kick

Grapple

Two kids, one 16 years old, one 8, both with big smiles on their faces. They were sparring together. It was very evenly matched despite the age gap. That was, until the 16 year old tripped the 8 year old. The boy opened his eyes and a fist was centimeters from his face.

"I win little brother," spoke the female.

"You got me," pouted the boy. He stayed down.

"Hey, you had me on the ropes, Dee."

"Yeah, but I didn't beat you."

"You will, one of these days, and when you do, I'll be there to cheer you on. You will always be my little brother, and I will always have your back. You can do anything, you are still just a kid by the way, and on par with a sixteen year old."

"Thanks Dew."

Dean was taken out of his thoughts by Sykes screaming, "Fight!!" He missed the whole introduction of Drew's fighter. He looked down to see that she was fighting a man. The man looked to be 5'9 and had the mask of a rat. He had black pants, and a white tank top.

The two rushed at each other, and wrestled to the ground. Drew had the upper hand. It was about to be over, but Drew quickly jumped to the side, and away from her opponent.

This would have caused confusion to the regular person, but not to the trained eye. Not to Dean. He saw something that made his blood boil. It was faint, but Dean saw a blade come out of her opponent's pocket. Apparently he wasn't the only one.

He heard a snap of someone's fingers. He looked up, and saw Calian Teowulf on his throne holding his hand out. Where was Pasti? Dean then looked back in the ring, and he found his answer.

Towering over Drew's opponent was the seven foot giant, Pasti.