This is the week Playstation 3 comes out. So how many of you are getting it first month. And if so...where do you work, so I can apply there and maybe afford one! Sony angered me greatly when they shut down lik-sang, so it better blow me away so I can get one in like 2008!
Onto the show!
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6:00 PM
15th day since the Marunouchi incident
The Zozoji Temple, located in the Tokyo garden district, is one of the oldest known temples in Japan, built in the year 1393 and moved to its current location in 1590 by the Tokugawa Ieyasu. It is now the main temple of the Jodo Buddhist sect in the Kanto region of Japan. Being that it was once the main Buddhist temple of the Tokugawa Shogunate, a mausoleum of the Tokugawa family can still be found on the grounds of the temple, and the crest of the Tokugawa family still decorates the family temple.
Within the grounds of Zozoji temple was not only the graveyard of former Tokugawa family, but a beautiful flower garden and shrine as well as the great cedar tree planted in 1869 when President Ulysses S. Grant visited Japan. With numerous Buddha statues dotting the area, there was truly something spiritual about the garden, with the late afternoon sun amplifying the
One Korean by the name of Hwoarang didn't seem to agree with the serene setting as he kicked the massive cedar tree nearby the inner sanctum of the temple for the ninetieth time, continuing his rigorous training. Two days prior, Jin had fallen ill to a nasty fever after spending the day with Xiaoyu. Although Jin was feeling much better the day after, he was still not back to his full strength, so he roughly placed Hwoarang in charge until he was fully restored.
And on that very same day, a new Shinkenger appeared and handled the "monster of the day," as Asuka referred to them. However, when Steve arrived on the scene and offered the man a spot on the team, the newcomer repaid his kindness with a gratuitous freezing palm. This man, who Steve identified as the King of Iron Fist competitor Feng Wei, could have been every bit their enemy as the mysterious foe they had been combating for the past two weeks, and that meant more headaches for the Shinkengers.
With Jin still resting, Hwoarang was now their power player, and he intended to answer with flying colors when this Feng Wei decided to face the Shinkengers directly. He hadn't done any truly rigorous training since he left Seoul, so he went to the temple to work out by kicking the most powerful tree he could find and kick it one hundred times. It was a tried-and-true method of strengthening one's legs that was utilized by numerous other martial arts, and a trademark of Baek Doo San's particular brand of Tae Kwan Do.
And that's number one-hundred, Hwoarang screamed in his mind as he put his ki into his final kick and sent bark flying off the old tree, leaving his mark on the massive landmark and taking a deep breath. Kazama and the others should be here soon, and until he can top the one-hundred mark, I'm still going to be the one in charge. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm kind of hoping he does: pursuing vengeance and being a leader at the same time is tough…
"Hey there, mate!"
Hwoarang turned around as he heard a familiar voice while he picked up his water bottle. Coming up from behind was Steve, wearing his normal attire of navy blue leather pants, light blue knit shirt, and nose-pinch glasses. "Hey there, Steve," the Korean gave a nod to his English comrade before taking a swig of his water bottle. "Why are you here so early?"
"The others are waiting for you out in the front," Steve replied, "They sent me out to find you so we don't have to go running circles around this place trying to find you."
"Heh…too lazy to go out and find me by themselves, huh?" Hwoarang chuckled a bit before getting his feet in motion and casually making his way towards the entrance of the temple. "Are you coming, Steve?"
"In a bit, chum," The blonde boxer put his hands in his pockets as answered with an unspoken no. "I'm going to do some training in this tree myself. Tell the others I'll be with them shortly…"
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6:03 PM
It had gone according to plan.
As soon as Hwoarang had left its eyesight, the one who had been posing as Steve smiled as it began walking up the flight of stairs that led to the inner sanctum. Its master had given him the genetic code of the Shinkengers that would be absorbed into his being and served to his master. However, he had only given him enough to assume their appearance, so in order to be able to mimic the powers that its master wanted, it would need an extra power boost.
As the imposter swung the doors of the inner sanctum open, it stepped inside and took a deep whiff of the air. It had a faint scent of blood to it: it would seem that there had been a battle within this inner sanctum not too awfully long ago. In addition to the smell of human flesh that the shrine keepers had obviously attempted to wash away, there was an enormous amount of spiritual energy emanating from the large Buddha statue in the middle of the room.
Seeing that it was pointless at the moment to spend its energy on maintaining its disguise, the imposter's body began to twist and melt while it returned to its natural form: a gargantuan blue humanoid wearing silver armor with long dark red hair flowing from its helmet. The creature's voice was now completely devoid of emotion while it reminded itself of the name that its master had given him: False Ogre.
With its tall frame walking over to the Buddha statue, False Ogre put its large hand on the statue. Its red eyes glowed ominously as it soaked in the spiritual energy that lied within the golden idol. The statue glowed in unison with False Ogre's eyes, almost as if the statue was trying to ebb the flow of power. Absorb all you can muster, its master had told False Ogre before it left to go on its mission. You'll need every ounce of energy to combat this most worthy adversary. The doppelganger's skin pulsated while its power continued to increase, bringing it ever so closer to invincibility.
However, before it could complete its feeding process, it felt the presence of one of the Shinkengers coming closer to his position. False Ogre only needed two seconds to discover who it was: ShinkenSilver, who along with ShinkenWhite was the youngest member of the team at 18 years of age, but it made him no less dangerous a foe. When its master gave it the minor genetic samples of the Shinkengers, False Ogre also obtained some of its memories. There was one form in particular that would allow it to get close enough to the Japanese young man and dispose of him with little resistance. False Ogre's body once again began to change shape as the door of the inner sanctum slowly opened to reveal a Japanese young man with ruffled brown hair wearing a white knit shirt and a pair of gray khakis.
When the boy entered the sanctum, he saw not the abnormally tall figure of False Ogre, but instead a voluptuous teenage Japanese girl wearing a silver sleeveless jacket and shorts, and white sports bra. "How did you get here, Asuka," the boy asked the imposter as he took a step forward what he believed to be his longtime friend, Asuka Kazama. "I thought you were still with the others."
"…I guess I wanted to surprise you, Kenichi," the doppelganger said with a deceivingly warm smile as it didn't break it turned around to greet its first victim. "This place brings back a lot of memories…"
"Indeed," Kenichi's voice became solemn as he flashed back to a mere three weeks ago, where a madman by the name of Jean Sorel attacked the two of them at this very temple, and awakened a deadly and unstoppable force within Asuka that almost killed Kenichi if not for timely intervention from his current sensei, Yoshimitsu. "The scar on my back is a souvenir from this place that will follow me around forever…but I do not feel shame from it: it's a memento of the good things that happened that night…it serves as proof of our friendship…"
The doppelganger raised its eyebrow as the memories of those events were not very clear to it. "What do you mean?"
"…this is where we had our first kiss," Kenichi raised his own eyebrow in curiosity. "How could you forget?"
"…I didn't forget. I guess I just had my mind elsewhere." The doppelganger's disguise was wearing thin: Kenichi was a sharp boy, and he was certainly beginning to suspect something was amiss. If False Ogre didn't do something soon, it would be exposed far quicker than the doppelganger would have hoped.
Kiss him, its master's voice buzzed through the miniature radio in its ear, barking out that simple command. The sample of his blood I gave you was taken before he was bonded with the ShinkenSilver morpher; if you can acquire a saliva sample, then you can mimic some of its powers. Don't worry: a boy like Masamune will play like putty in your hands.
As the radio cut off, False Ogre quickly searched its mind, hoping to find a means of how to do so. After a couple of seconds, it used its feminine form to slowly walk towards Kenichi. "Kenichi…do you love me?"
The Japanese boy's cheek reddened significantly: just the reaction that the doppelganger was hoping for. "What…what do you mean?"
Continuing its ploy, False Ogre slowly backed its "boyfriend" into the wall and slowly wraps its arm around him. "It's just as I said: do you love me? Even after all of the things I've done to you?"
"Y-yeah," Kenichi stuttered his reply as he couldn't help but notice that "Asuka's" face was becoming gradually closer to his. "I…guess so."
"I'm glad you said that, Kenichi. Let me give you something to remember this visit to the temple." As it said that, the doppelganger shamelessly pressed its lips against his. Their lips remained locked for a good ten seconds as the doppelganger collected as much genetic samples as it could from this blushing and confused boy. However, Kenichi quickly pushed the doppelganger off after those ten seconds and assumed a fighting stance.
"Thank you for the kiss," he said with his trademark calm and collected tone, "but I'm afraid I'm spoken for. Just who are you, anyway?"
"What are you talking about, Kenichi? I'm your fri-"
"I suspected something when you started making advances, but what confirmed it was the kiss. Even if Asuka-chan did want to make an advance like that (which she wouldn't unless she had been drinking sake like she sometimes does even though she's not supposed to), her lips do not feel like yours. Now please answer my question: who are you?"
The doppelganger smiled as its skin began to darken. "You are certainly a bright one, Kenichi. It'll be a shame that I'll have to defeat you in a most painful manner." As it said that, its shape began to change…
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6:05 PM
Kenichi watched in shock he watched the stranger that had been posing as his friend and rival began to alter its shape. The imposter hissed and gargled while its skin liquefied and its bones melted until its body became a large glob of gelatinous goop, and then like the blob of clay that is was, reshaped itself into something much more sinister.
Its new form's mid-section was clothed in a gray loin cloth that was protected by a piece of silver armor. Shoulder and knee pads of the same cover clung to its joints, and stone armguards were buckled onto its wrists. The rest of its near-bare body was a deep shade of navy blue, its dark red hair flowing freely from its exotic silver hat. When its glowing crimson eyes found its way towards the boy, Kenichi's eyes widened. The aura this creature gave off was easily one of the most sinister he had ever witnessed, and being that he had once confronted Jean Sorel, known by his fellow martial artists as "the Face of Madness," that was saying an awful lot.
Before Kenichi could even react, the doppelganger's long leg kicked Kenichi in the head and sent him spiraling onto the floor. No one had ever hit him that hard: not Asuka, not Jean, and not even the mighty Craig Marduk. Remarkable, Kenichi thought as he quickly got back up to his feet and shook off the dizziness that such a kick inflicted. He's even more powerful than Kamikaze-san! And to think that he kissed me!
Kenichi realized that he didn't stand a chance against someone so powerful the way he was, and thus his activated his morpher by gathering his dark red ki, which quickly lost its pigment as his morpher transformed his energy into his ShinkenSilver suit. The Japanese youth narrowly avoided the doppelganger's lunging arm and resumed his fighting stance. "Come forth, demon. I accept your challenge!"
As if to acknowledge Kenichi's challenge, the doppelganger's upper leg began to change shape, as if something was coming out of it. After a couple of seconds, a thin hump was jutting out of the creature's knee. The doppelganger grabbed the hump and began to pull on it like a farmer would pull out produce from the ground. After a second of tugging, the doppelganger ripped out the spike and revealed it to be a dark purple katana with a flame-like design, just like Kenichi's…
Controlling his surprise, Kenichi quickly advanced towards the doppelganger with a horizontal slash, but he was stopped with a powerful punch to his stomach that caused him to crumple over. The Japanese youth coughed up blood underneath his helmet and quickly rolled away from what would have been a lethal stab from the doppelganger's katana. As he rose back up, Kenichi punched the eight-foot-tall doppelganger with a powerful straight punch. For anyone else, the opponent would have been knocked off their feet, but the doppelganger only took a few steps back and dropped its katana.
The Japanese youth continued the assault by running up the wall that he was next to as high up as he could, and then propelling himself off of it to hit the doppelganger in its blue face with a powerful diving kick that left a streak of white ki in his wake. However, the doppelganger seemed relatively unfazed as it shook off the blow as quickly as it had received it. Kenichi pressed onward with five left-handed punches to the creature's abdomen, followed by a powerful roundhouse kick to its midsection.
Unfortunately for Kenichi, the creature returned the assault in kind by bashing the boy in the chest with a powerful pair of knee strikes followed by a duo of low kicks and a vertical thrusting leg which sent Kenichi crashing into the ceiling. The doppelganger continued its onslaught by snatching the bishonen out of the air as he was about to fall and slamming him into the ground with a powerful choke slam, followed by a series of mounted punches. Kenichi used all of his might to kick the tall creature off and roll back onto his feet.
I have to end this now: I'm clearly outmatched, and I won't survive a prolonged fight with this…monster, Kenichi drew his katana and rotated it clockwise while the doppelganger picked up his own katana and mimicked the young man's actions. As the two completed their revolution, Kenichi's katana glowed bright green while the doppelganger's weapon shone with a dark red color. The two fighters readied their weapons as they eyed their opponent warily, with the doppelganger's red orbs burning into Kenichi's soul.
Kenichi's wings glowed bright blue as he suddenly dashed towards the doppelganger with blinding speed. To his surprise, the doppelganger ran towards Kenichi with equally impressive momentum. The two fighters passed each other with a shower of sparks marking that they had indeed hit their marks. They screeched to a halt with Kenichi facing the door and the doppelganger facing the great Buddha stature. Time seemed to stand still for a few seconds, until Kenichi roared in pain as he gripped where he had been slashed. It had cut right through his armor: he was bleeding, although it was nothing immediately fatal. How…can I stop this creature?
The Japanese boy turned around while still gripping his abdomen to see the doppelganger slowly turn around and walk towards Kenichi. It had a large gash on its chest where Kenichi had cut it, like a mark left in a blob of clay, but it was quickly closing up. The doppelganger remained silent as it reached Kenichi and sent him sailing out the door with a monstrous kick to his face.
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6:08 PM
"I'm telling you, Steve came up to me and said to meet you guys at the front," Hwoarang protested as he and the other Shinkengers approached the massive cedar tree that the Korean martial artist had been training under. When Hwoarang saw the others at the entrance, he was quite surprised to see Steve was there with them. As the group made their way towards the cedar tree, Hwoarang was shocked to learn that Steve had never even left their group.
"Hwoarang, while you were training…did you by any chance do head butt exercises?" Steve had asked jokingly. Hwoarang certainly did not find anything humorous about it, unlike Asuka and Xiaoyu. "I've been here the whole time, so maybe you just imagined it."
"I know what I saw," Hwoarang continued to make his case as they finally reached the cedar tree. "As sure as we're standing here, you came up to me and told me that you were going to stay here while I met the others up at the front."
Suddenly, the doors of the inner sanctum swung open and shot out the body of ShinkenSilver as if the sacred room was spitting him out. With his metallic wings shining in the sunset, Kenichi plummeted past the stairs and right into the five Shinkengers that saved him from crashing into the hard earth. The dark visor of Kenichi's helmet had been cracked, revealing the boy's shocked Prussian blue eyes, and his body armor had suffered a deep cut that revealed a thin gash into his flesh underneath.
"Oh my god," Asuka quickly unbuckled Kenichi's helmet and held him close to her. "Kenichi, what the hell happened? You look like you just went through a blender!"
The Japanese young man moaned as he regained his senses and tried to stand back up. "There's a monster in that temple. He can change his shape and mimic a person's every move, and even assume some of their powers." Kenichi pointed to the cut in his body armor. "He even reproduced my sword."
"So maybe what Hwoarang met was an imposter," Jin stroked his chin as he looked up to the open temple doors. "Come on, guys, time to go to-"
However, the Japanese man stopped in mid-sentence as he froze upon gazing at the creature standing at the top of the stairs that led to the inner sanctum. How can this be? Jin thought through a wave of panic that surged across his body. How can he still be alive? I killed him…I saw him die!
"Holy shit," Hwoarang murmured with shock as he slowly backed away until he was next to Jin. "I thought you beat him already…"
"Who the hell is he supposed be," Asuka shouted out arrogantly, oblvious to Jin and Hwoarang's horror, "the jolly blue giant? And what's with that armored bikini?"
"That's Ogre," Xiaoyu exclaimed, trying to contain her own panic. "That thing ramaged around the world three years ago killing and maiming martial artists everywhere. He almost killed Jin's mom and Hwoarang's sensei!" As she said that, Xiaoyu's morpher crackled with power, causing her ShinkenYellow suit to form across her body. Once her helmet had materialized, she assumed a fighting stance. "Come on, everyone! If we work as a team, we'll take him down for sure!"
Steve and Asuka quickly followed suit while Kenichi quickly picked up his helmet and clipped it back on. "Steve, Asuka," Kenichi nodded to his two friends as their ShinkenBlue and ShinkenWhite suits formed across their bodies. "Be very careful: it seems he can also regenerate any damage he sustains if you leave him alone long enough." As he warned his friends, "Ogre" jumped off of the top of the stairs with a massive leap and landed right in front of the Shinkenger team with a powerful slam that left a shallow crater in his wake.
"Kazama, this is our chance to take him out once and for all," Hwoarang regained his composure and morphed into ShinkenBlack. As he turned to face Jin, Hwoarang's helmet materialized over his face. "Are you with me?"
Jin nodded as he gathered his red ki, causing his morpher to overflow with crimson power. His ShinkenRed suit formed across his muscular frame as he and his rival took a few steps forward to join the others. "OK everyone, stay sharp," Jin and the others assumed a fighting stance as their enemy straightened itself and clenched its fists. "Let's take him down fast and hard!"
Before the sextet could strike, however, False Ogre reared back and sent all of them flying backwards in different directions with a sudden shockwave of energy that surrounded the shapeshifter's entire body. Once again using its impressive leaping ability (partially gained from obtaining Kenichi's saliva), False Ogre took to the air and plummeted down towards where Hwoarang and Kenichi had landed. The two young men roared in agony as each of them received a crushing foot to their backs as 350 pounds of muscle and bone landed on top of them. When Asuka and Xiaoyu came running to their aid, they were repelled by a stream of fire that erupted from the doppelganger's mouth.
When the creature looked down, it noticed that its two victims were gone. It wouldn't have to search far, as it was pounded in the back by a pair of kicks that caused it to teeter over like a tree in the wind. However, it quickly turned around to pound Kenichi in the head, shattering it and sending him spiraling into the ground. Kenichi, who had already been seriously wounded from facing the creature earlier, fell into unconsciousness as the blow hit the pressure point in his jaw while his suit dissipated in a flash of white light.
Hwoarang stepped over his partner and resumed his assault by bombarding False Ogre with a quartet of kicks, the last of which lifted the monster off the ground. The Korean's wrath continued to bombard the creature's body as Hwoarang jumped up into the air and hit the doppelganger with a series of spinning kicks. As he was about to conclude to barrage with an aerial axe kick, False Ogre's eyes glowed again as he righted himself in midair, catching the falling leg as the two fighters fell back down to the ground. The doppelganger's face remained devoid of emotion while it slammed Hwoarang into nearby rock with a fearsome power bomb. Hwoarang's helmet shattered as his blood trinkled down his face while he laid face-down onto the rock.
Before False Ogre could deliver a killing blow to the Korean Shinkenger as he struggled to get back up, He was hit in the face by an enraged Asuka. "Look what you've done to Kenichi," she shouted as she spun around three times before sending False Ogre reeling back in pain from her Spinning Heel Drop. "I'll never forgive you, monster!" As Asuka's hand reached the creature's chest, False Ogre grabbed her wrist that was mere centimeters away from his body. Ignoring how the hand was furiously flashing with light pink ki, False Ogre's own hand glowed bright red as rainbow-colored energy flowed from his body to Asuka's. The teenager screamed in pain for a few moments, and then suddenly slumped over into False Ogre's arms.
Remember, I would prefer if you took all of them alive, False Ogre's headset radio buzzed once again as it prepared to squeeze the life out of the voluptuous teenage girl. Just put her gently down next to the young Masamune and Hwoarang. Obeying its master's command, False Ogre kicked Hwoarang in the face as he was trying to grab onto his ankle, causing the Korean to finally fall into unconscious. Once it did that, it walked over to the fallen Kenichi and placed his fallen lover down next to him.
"Hwoarang-kun! Kenichi-kun," Xiaoyu cried out to her friends as she saw them sprawled out across False Ogre. "Asuka-san, too!" She was about to rush towards her fallen comrades when Steve put his hand on her shoulder. "What are you doing, Steve? Let me go, we have to help them!"
"We're going to in just a moment, luv," Steve said as he let go of Xiaoyu's shoulder and assumed a fighting stance. "First we need to think of some sort of plan-WHOA!" Steve's speech was interrupted as Jin came rushing past him with his fist raised and his ki crackling. To Jin, this was the very same creature that almost killed his mother: it deserved nothing less than complete and utter obliteration, in a swift but painful manner. Jin pummeled False Ogre with a series of punches and kicks, finishing with a low blow to the doppelganger's shin. Not giving False Ogre a chance to react, Jin sent the monster spiraling to the ground with a devastating Omen Wind Hook Fist.
Jin went running after False Ogre with Xiaoyu leaving Steve's side to join him. The two fighters' hands glowed in unison with red and yellow ki as they prepared to attack the doppelganger with their most devastating technique: the Tekkenshu Maelstrom. Unfortunately for them, False Ogre quickly regained its footing and evaded the two blasts by liquefying itself and slithering underneath the onslaught. Before Jin and Xiaoyu realized what was going on, their necks were wrapped in the python-like grip of False Ogre's clay-like arms as the creature liquefied in front of them with his limbs now in the form of tentacles. After a couple of seconds, they reformed into more humanoid arms, but its hands were still around its victims' necks.
Jin and Xiaoyu struggled to break free, pounding False Ogre's arms in vain while Steve tried to free them by attacking the creature's abdomen. However, the doppelganger did not flinch nor show any sign of pain as its lethal grip tightened, and Jin and Xiaoyu's struggling slowed…
…until False Ogre was suddenly sent flying forwards, dropping Jin and Xiaoyu but taking Steve with him as the two crashed into the ground as a result from a devastating blow from behind. Steve used the momentum to kick the gargantuan pale blue entity off of him as he landed on his back just as he hit the ground, preventing the creature from crushing him underneath its formidable weight and propelling False Ogre's flight further until it hit a brick temple wall.
Steve looked up at where Jin and Xiaoyu were lying unconscious but still breathing, and he saw a familiar sight: a bronze-clad figure with a long flowing maroon cape, wearing gold body armor with three different colored jewels on his chest, and three iron claws jutting from each wrist. It was none other than Feng Wei, the man who had encased Steve Fox in ice the day before. "Out of my way, Steve Fox," Feng said as he brushed back his cape and spun the chain jutting from his helmet around. "This is my fight now: interfere at your own peril!"
And with that, Feng ran past Steve and towards the stunned Ogre, who was already beginning to regain its footing…