PS3, Wii, and 360 are all officially out...as we bid a final farewell to the previous generation of gaming that consisted of the Dreamcast, Xbox, PS2, and Gamecube. (has a moment of silence).
Lucy Janairo is copyright of FeLo, one of the best spriters around. CvS style forever!
Enjoy Thanksgiving break everyone!
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Little by little, I was inching ever-so-closer to victory…
The doppelganger I had created was defeated by a combination of ShinkenBronze and ShinkenBlue, but the fact remained that my creature had come remarkably close to defeating the Shinkengers with little effort at all. The true reasoning behind its defeat was that it could only maintain a form for a certain amount of time. When that time has passed, the genes it carries become unstable, and it loses control of its integrity. This is why it unexpectedly mutated, and then reverted back to its original state of formlessness.
It was unaware of its own limits. My next creature, however, was just the opposite.
In the past, all of my monsters had been manufactured with ingredients that influence what my creature would become. For Mong Kong, I used ceremonial Muay Thai garments and a stuffed gorilla. For Polevolt, I used a powerful magnet and a pair of Escrima sticks. For Ricoshade, I used an electric guitar and a plastic bat. All of the objects I used had been made from, for the most part, inorganic material, and thus without any root to a living creature's basic instincts.
This next creature, on the other hand, was created from the blood of our mutual friend, Jun Kazama. When I had given up a sample my own vital fluids so that life would once again flow through her veins, I was wise enough to take a sample of her own blood, as well. I do not remember why I had saved that sample for so long, but it is a moot point. I still had it, and I intended to use it.
The resulting monster was a formidable warrior with sporting dark pink Chinese armor from head to toe, with the helmet in the shape of a dragon's head. The front of the helmet was left open to reveal a face paler than the moon and more beautiful than finest jade, while the back of the helmet unleashed his long flowing turquoise hair. Behind his effeminate appearance was the power of a Kazama, and that power was something to be feared.
However, it would seem that I had done my work a little too well: not only had I given him an advanced mind, I had also bestowed upon him a heart. And like all hearts, their loyalties are subject to change once the factor known as emotion is thrown into the mix…
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As Japan entered the third week that followed the Marunouchi building slaughter, the weather seemed to mimic the tensions that surrounded the city with an unusual heat wave. In a time of year where the sun began to set at 6:00 PM, it seemed odd that such abnormally high temperatures would bombard the city. However, the citizens of the massive city would be undeterred by this anomaly and used the heat wave to enjoy an early spring.
The Tokyo Summerland was an indoor water park that sported pools and water slides of all shapes and sizes. One of the most prominent of the attractions was the massive wave pool that had been rebuilt to hold up to 660,253.09 gallons of water. With its many aquatic rides, it was the perfect place to celebrate the coming of warmer weather…
…minus a certain golem attacking everyone in sight.
One day ago, the Tekkenshu Sentai Shinkenger had been severely weakened by the doppelganger monster that Kazuya had created. Astaroth figured that if he attacked a heavily populated area, the young fools would be certain to try and stop them despite their condition. Astaroth had been fighting the Shinkengers for some time now, and he knew that he was at least their equal when the team was at full strength.
But if the entire team is worn and tired, Astaroth thought as he chopped at a water slide with monstrous horizontal swings of his beloved ax Kutules, then they should be nothing more than insects to be squashed under my shoe! The water slide started to teeter dangerously as Astaroth continued to chop at the foundation like a lumberjack cutting down a great tree. People who were still on the slide fell off the top and came crashing down to the hard floor below, while others fell into the water that the slide led to.
However, before it could be toppled completely, it unexpectedly stopped wobbling. Astaroth watched in confusion as the slide remained to hang diagonally, and then returned to its original vertical position. The golem darted to where he had been chopping at the foundation and saw his armored ally using his ki to melt the metal together and thus keeping the slide steady.
"What are you doing, you fool?" Astaroth said as he grabbed onto his comrade and tossed him away. "We're here to cause destruction, so why are you doing the very opposite!?"
"Astaroth-sama, we are only here to bait our enemies into coming out into the open," the armor-clad warrior said with a calm voice. "We have made our mark: they will be coming here shortly and thus there is no longer any need to shed the blood of civilians. Besides, you wouldn't want to be tired out before we even have a chance to fight, would you?"
"Hmph…I suppose when you put it that way…" Astaroth said reluctantly as he walked away from the slide. "Let's go, Jeet Kune Do incubus Dragoon. I'm sure there are some constables that we can warm up with before our big fight." The golem pounded his ax onto the floor and from the pavement sprouted ten red-skinned Lizard-men, snarling and awaiting orders from their infamous commander. "Everyone, hunt down the humans in this building and slake your bloodlust. Once you have had your fill, herd the survivors into this area so that we have bargaining chips in case something goes wrong!"
The reptilian monsters let out a loud growl in acknowledgement while they separated and began to scour the area. Dragoon looked on and rubbed his chin in deep thought. His master Kazuya had given him the honorable assignment of defeating the Shinkengers in hand-to-hand combat, and he had every intention of proving his master's faith in him. However, for an unknown reason he had an unexplainable dislike to bloodshed. The least he could do was make sure that just one of the Lizard-men didn't go completely out of control. "Astaroth-sama, I too would like to scout this wondrous place."
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In the ten minutes that followed, Dragoon and the Lizard-man that he chose to follow behind the scenes searched the area for anyone who hadn't made it out of the Tokyo Summerland. Dragoon kept himself hidden as he secretly stemmed the Lizard-man's slaughter by using his superior speed to get many of the civilians out of harm's grasp and towards safety. Even though there was still a possibility that they would get killed anyway by the other lizard-men, the incubus was satisfied with prolonging their lives for just a little while.
However, the Lizard-men were a hard-working part of his lord's forces, and they did deserve to have some sort of fun. He'd let the reptilian savage have a bite or two, but Dragoon did everything he could to make sure it didn't turn into a complete bloodbath. Being a villain is so hard when you hate the sight of innocent blood, the incubus thought to himself as he once again thwarted the Lizard-man's attempt to devour more victims than necessary, much to the confusion of the reptile, but such is destiny, and I shall accept it.
"Come on, everyone out! I'll try to hold it off!"
Dragoon raised his head at the sound of the female voice shouting only a few meters away. The incubus' eyes lay upon on young, stunningly beautiful oriental woman wearing a black bikini with the design of a teal wave going across the cups, with matching wetsuit pants having the wave going across her upper leg area. Her long black hair flowed freely in the wind as she charged toward the Lizard-man while the people she had been talking to seconds ago made their escape. She's beautiful…
Once the woman was within striking distance, she lifted her leg and kicked the creature in the lower jaw with a lightning-like snapping kick. The creature reeled back in pain from the force of such a blow that came from so lithe a figure, and tried to counter the assault with a powerful tail whip. The woman narrowly ducked under the blow and leapt towards the creature with a flying kick. Dragoon watched on in curiosity: she didn't have the device on her wrist that his lord Kazuya said the Shinkenger would have, so she was just an ordinary civilian.
The incubus continued to stare at this beautiful fighter who grabbed onto the Lizard-man's neck and began to choke it with both hands. The reptile returned the pain in kind by biting her hand, forcing her to scream and let go of her opponent. Gripping her hand in pain, she fended off the attacking monster with a rapid series of kicks alternating between blows to the head and midsection. The Lizard-man dodged all but three of them, but those three were enough to let out a shrill cry of pain.
This martial art, Dragoon pondered while he watched the fight, I am almost certain that it's Kajukenbo. I guess that would explain her perfect English: she must be Hawaiian. Kajukenbo was a Hawaiian martial art that combined Karate, Judo, Kenpo, and Chinese Boxing. The way how the woman kicked the Lizard-man's feet off the ground to send it falling on its back certainly described one of the martial arts, with the shuttle punches she utilized a few seconds later represented another.
However, she was but a mere human. All that would be needed to take her down…was one lucky shot.
The Lizard-man found its lucky shot with a powerful tail whip to her temples, inducing upon the girl extreme dizziness. Finally seeing its opportunity, the Lizard-man rammed its head into the girl's, knocking her out by hitting her temples once again and causing her to topple over into the pool behind her. The reptile saw its chance: this woman actually caused it pain, and as such was probably a meat more delectable than the prey it had been stalking. It prepared to leap into the pool after her so that it may feed on her flesh underwater…when a piercing shout rang through the air.
"WA-TAAAA!!!"
The Lizard-man turned around just in time to see the devastating roundhouse kick that send it screeching across the ground, leaving a trail of blood in its wake from the massive blow that had slain it. Dragoon looked at the Lizard-man that he kicked worriedly. Oh no…if I killed it, then Astaroth-sama would consider it an act of treason. The incubus turned to the pool and saw the bubbles where the woman was sinking. I'll worry about it later; first I need to help that girl!
Dragoon dived in after the woman and propelled himself deeper and deeper into the water. Fortunately for him, his master had designed his eyes in a way that the sting of water and chlorine would be nothing to him, allowing him to see underwater. He spotted the woman and quickly swam towards her: the bubbles coming out of her mouth and nose were becoming less and less frequent by the second. Dragoon latched onto her and swam back up to the surface. When he got out of the water with her, he noticed that she wasn't breathing.
She will be dead if I don't do something soon, Dragoon began to despair as he tried to figure out what he could do to save this warrior who held her own against on of his master's vaunted Lizard-man. Perhaps if I gave her some of my own energy, it can help her regain consciousness. The incubus' hands glowed while he placed them on the woman's forehead. As he did so, Dragoon bent down and pressed his mouth against hers, attempting to breath life back into her. After a few attempts, the girl coughed up water and started to breathe again. Excellent, she's alive. Now to get back to-
"Uhhh," the woman groaned as she slowly opened her eyes and sat back up. She spotted Dragoon walking away and called out to him. "Hey you, did you save me just now?"
The incubus stopped where he was and turned around. "As a matter of fact I did, Miss…"
"It's Janiero, Lucy Janiero," the woman identified herself while she stood back up and dusted herself off. "I really appreciate what you did. Thanks a lot."
Dragoon felt his heart rate pick up speed as she mentioned her gratitude. "Oh it was nothing at all," the incubus replied as he turned around again and continued on his way. "It would be a shame for such a beautiful warrior like yourself to perish so prematurely."
Suddenly, the incubus detected another presence coming towards him: one that was immensely powerful, but not evil like Astaroth's. A Shinkenger is coming, he thought while he turned back around to face Lucy. I better make sure she doesn't have to see me take out one of the city's valiant defenders: she might get caught in the crossfire. "Everyone seems to be safely out of here: you'd better go tend to the wounded outside. By the way, my name is Dragoon." The incubus lowered the upper half of his body in an exaggerated bow, waving his arms accordingly.
"Heh, I guess you're just another superhero in this crazy city, judging from that outfit and that crazy name," the Hawaiian native chuckled as she walked up to Dragoon. "You're not so bad-looking yourself. Kick some ass for me, OK?" And with that, Lucy gave the incubus a quick peck on the cheek and ran for the exit. "Thanks again for the assist, 'Dragoon!'"
Dragoon lightly rubbed his cheek as he watched the captivating woman navigate the maze that was called the Tokyo Summerland and left his eyesight. His heart was still pounding like a jungle drum. This emotion, Dragoon's mind was ripe with confusion as his heart ached while he turned around to face what he believed to be a Shinkenger rapidly coming within range of his sight. What is the meaning of it? Why does my heart ache so?
Dragoon's quarry finally stepped out of the shadows and in front of him. The incubus recognized the warrior instantly from the debriefing that his lord Kazuya had given him: the renegade Kempo practitioner Feng Wei, in his guise of the seemingly all-powerful ShinkenBronze…
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"That was most interesting," Feng said as he stepped in front of Dragoon. "I've been monitoring you since you came to this part of the amusepark. I didn't henshin until you were busy with your 'comrade' that now bleeds lifelessly a few meters behind us, thus I remained undetected until a few seconds ago. That woman seems to have taken a liking to you and the two of you have only met for a couple of minutes…"
"Do you really think so?" Dragoon asked with sincerity as Feng Wei concluded his comments on what had transpired. "She called me a superhero…it is as if she had no idea that I played a role in this carnage. It is better that she left: I would not want her to feel lied to…"
Feng stroked his chin (or rather, the part of his helmet that covered his chin) for a few seconds as he pondered the incubus' tone of voice. Normally the creatures he and the Shinkengers had faced possessed voices that sounded arrogant to a fault. However, this one was an exception: it displayed guilt, and almost a sense of heartache. "You are not like the others," Feng finally stated out loud, causing Dragoon to dart his head towards Feng in surprise. "Why don't you tell me who you are working for? I could let you go free: you could pursue that woman and tell her about your concern for her."
"I am a loyal servant of my master who breathed life into my body. I will not sell him out simply because of an emotion that I cannot identify involving a human that I've only known for five minutes," Dragoon assumed a fighting stance and started to lightly bounce on the back of his feet. "However, if you defeat me in battle, then perhaps I will be more cooperative. If I win, though, you have to come with me without a fuss." The incubus quickly motioned his head towards the Lizard-man that he had slain moments ago. "If I capture the mighty ShinkenBronze, then perhaps Astaroth-sama will forgive me for striking down one of his soldiers."
"I wouldn't count on it, chump."
Feng and Dragoon darted around in surprise to see the source of the unknown fearsome voice: Astaroth with his battle-ax in one arm and a struggling Lucy in the other. The Hawaiian woman had an expression of surprise on her face when she saw Dragoon about to square off against Feng. "Dragoon…what are you doing? I thought you were one of the good guys!"
"Well, you thought wrong, wench," Astaroth yelled in the woman's ear before turning to Dragoon and Feng. "Jeet Kune Do Incubus Dragoon, I would like to raise the stakes in this battle: if you don't defeat him, then I'll break the neck of this human!"
"A-astaorth-sama," Dragoon stammered as he heard the golem threaten to end Lucy's life. "She is but a mere civilian: there would be no honor in killing her when she doesn't pose a threat!"
"She poses a threat when she works her charms and threatens to force a defection," the golem spat back with rage as his grip around Lucy tightened. "Now hurry up!"
The incubus hung his head down for a few moments, and then turned back to Feng and resumed his fighting stance. "My apologies, but now I must defeat you."
"We do what we must," Feng nodded as he assumed his own stance. "Come forth!"
However, before Feng could even take a step forward, he was sent careening backwards with a soaring Dragon kick. How did he move so fast without my noticing, Feng asked himself as he landed on his feet and once again assumed a fighting stance. This one seems much quicker than the other ones. I must be on my guard. The Kempo warrior quickly blocked a punch from Dragoon and countered with a palm to the incubus' face.
Seeing that his foe was temporarily stunned, Feng pressed onward with an arcing vertical kick that had the knocked the demon into the air, and quickly followed up with a second vertical kick to strike his foe again. Before Dragoon could even hit the ground, he was sent careening backwards with a shoulder strike.
Dragoon landed flat on his back but quickly scrambled back onto his feet to narrowly avoid a high soaring kick from Feng. As soon as the Chinese fighter landed, he was sent right back into the air with a powerful uppercut. The incubus pummeled his airborne opponent with a quartet of punches, the last of which had Feng tumbling to the ground with a devastating half-knuckle blow that Dragoon gave voice to with a bird-like shout.
Damn! This is foolishness, Feng cursed to himself while he got back onto his feet and tossed the oncoming Dragoon into the air, bombarding his abdomen with a rapid series of punches as he came down before snatching the incubus out of the air with his foot to push him down to the ground with his heel grinding into his foe's chest. This one clearly doesn't wish to hurt me, so why are we fighting like this? Is it possible that he actually did fall in love with that woman?
As that question burned in Feng's mind, his grip on Dragoon loosened unintentionally, giving the incubus the chance to roll away from Feng's foot and spring back up, kicking Feng in the chin and leaving a small crack in the bottom of his helmet. The Chinese man reeled back in surprise and was left vulnerable to a powerful forward kick to his chest, and a spiraling trip to the hard floor courtesy of an impressive spinning leg to his head.
Dragoon's body began to glow furiously with dark blue energy as Feng tried to get back up, planting his feet squarely on the ground and rear his left hand back. Interesting, Feng hopped back up while the emerald on the right side of his helmet shined brightly while his hand burned with green power, it would seem that he is going to use an energy attack. Let's see what is superior: his blast, or my God Fist style!
"You're prepared for my ultimate technique," Dragoon shouted as he saw Feng fire off a green burst of energy that was heralded by violent gusts of wind. "Now I won't have to worry about overkill!" With all of his ki now focused in his hand, Dragoon shot out his palm and unleashed a dark blue dragon composed entirely of power that rapidly slithered towards Feng. "Have a taste of my…DRAGON DESTABILIZER!"
The two beams of energy clashed furiously as Astaroth covered his eyes. As he did so, Lucy saw her chance and quickly slipped away from the golem's arm. "Hey, come back here, wench," Astaroth commanded while he ran after her. "Unless you want me to rend you in half right here, that is!
This did not escape the attention of the two combatants. Seeing that there was no longer any need to continue their fight, they redirected their blasts towards the golem, who was sent flying away with the bursts of ki propelling his journey, pushing him over the edge and into the nearby pool. As Astaroth struggled underwater with the weight of his axe pushing him down, Feng and Dragoon collapsed onto their knees and huffed feverishly. They had only battled for a little over two minutes, and they were already exhausted from the speed and power that each of them possessed.
"…so you were responsible for it all along…"
Dragoon looked up to see Lucy slowly walked towards him. Once she was standing in front of him, he lowered his head in shame. "I will not make excuses: indeed, I was responsible for all of this bloodshed. I was content with serving my masters to the best of my abilities, carrying out their orders with my flawless technique." The incubus slowly stood back up, but his head remained lowered. "And then I saw you…and all of my loyalties seemed trivial."
Lucy gulped as she listened to the incubus intently while Feng stood back up a few meters away and walked over to the group, ignoring the massive amount of bubbles emerging from the pool that Astaroth was struggling with.
"This feeling in my heart…it overrides all of my honor and loyalty," Dragoon quickly turned away and clenched his fist, almost as if he was angry with himself for abandoning his duty. "I have no right to call myself a martial artist. I've only known you for a little under eight minutes and yet…it's like I've known you forever."
"It is like I said, Dragoon," Feng commented as he put his arm on the incubus' shoulder. "You are different: you have a conscience. You did what you had to because you knew what was the right thing to do…"
"You saved people's lives, Dragoon, including mine," Lucy added while she reached over and put her hand to the demon's cheek, causing the pale warrior to turn back around. "There is nothing wrong with that. Martial arts are the way of self-defense, but that also includes the defense of others. You have every right to call yourself a martial artist…"
"…I can't explain it but," Dragoon said quietly as he touched Lucy's face. "Something tells me that you just so happen to be the one I want to protect…and I don't even know why…"
"Then let me show you."
As Lucy said that, she wrapped her arms around Dragoon and pressed her lips against his mouth. The incubus showed surprise at first, but soon relaxed as his heartbeat steadied while he accepted her kiss…
…before breaking it and roaring in pain. Lucy and Feng darted back in surprise, confused as to what was bothering him. It only took a couple of seconds to realize what: Astaroth's ax Kutules had just been lodged in his back. The ax glowed before removing itself from the incubus and floating back to Astaroth, who had finally gotten out of the pool. "The punishment for betrayal is destruction," the golem bellowed maliciously as Dragoon fell flat on his stomach. "You have only a few minutes left to live: may they be full of suffering and agony!"
Feng clenched his fist as he darted around and charged the golem. "You fiend! I will make you suffer and agonize far more than he shall!" With all three of the jewels on his chest glowing brightly, Feng lunged at Astaroth with his iron claws raised. Astaroth parried the swipes with his ax, and knocked Feng away with jumping knee, allowing the golem to get away from the pool and prepare for the Kempo expert's fury.
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Lucy felt tears well up in her eyes as she shook Dragoon's damaged body furiously, trying to awaken him from the spell of unconsciousness that had overtaken him. Merely ten minutes ago, this handsome fighter had saved her from drowning, and only thirty seconds ago, she had her mind set on spending the rest of her life with him. "Dragoon, please wake up! PLEASE!"
Suddenly, the armor covering Dragoon's fingers burst off, revealing dark black fingernails. The incubus groaned as he lifted his head and looked at Lucy with his yellow eyes. "Lucy…I finally understand what this feeling is," he said with a whisper as he groggily stood back up while his fingernails lengthened, creating claws that were at least six inches long. The opening in the armor on his back that was created from Astaroth's weapon sprouted out a pair of long, bat-like wings. As Lucy watched on in astonishment, her awe quickly turned to horror as Dragoon turned around and said with a grim smile:
"Take care, my love…I'm so glad that we met."
"Dragoon, no!"
Lucy cried out to him, but it was too late. With inhuman speed, Dragoon propelled himself with his newly grown wings and shoved Feng aside to latch onto Astaroth. Before the golem knew what was going on, he was being taken straight up into the air with Dragoon acting as his guide. The two crashed through the ceiling and left the Tokyo Summerland to enter the night sky. "Astaroth-sama, tell Kazuya-sama that I'm sorry for doing this," Dragoon apologized while he spun Astaroth around by his muscular leg. The two of them spun at cyclonic speeds, until Dragoon let go of Astaroth and hurled him far across the city of Tokyo.
And that takes care of that, he thought as his body began to shoot out sparks, knowing that his life was now coming to an end. He looked down at the hole he made in the Tokyo Summerland ceiling to see Feng and Lucy watching him. Dragoon smiled as his body finally was consumed in fire.
Lucy…ShinkenBronze…perhaps the next time we meet...I'll be human for you.
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Feng pounded the ground in rage and defiance while Lucy quietly sobbed for their loss as they watched Dragoon explode in great ball of blue fire. The Jeet Kune Do incubus that had become their friend was dead. "That monster struck down one of his own simply because he had a heart," Feng growled as he stared into the hole in the ceiling that Dragoon and Astaroth had created. "All I could do was watch helplessly. My hands of judgment were useless!"
The Chinese man felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned around to see Lucy, with her eyes still full with tears. "My apologies," Feng bowed his head slightly in apologize. "I must be upsetting you…"
"…no, it's quite alright," Lucy said with a smile as she looked up at the ceiling. "My father always told me that the least we can do is pick our heads up and move on…I'm sure Dragoon would have wanted us to do the same…" As if on cue, something fell from the hole in the ceiling and landed in the pool with a splash. As it floated up to the surface, Feng and Lucy realized what it was: the top half of Dragoon's helmet, shaped like the upper half of a Chinese dragon's head. Lucy dived into the pool to fetch it, swimming frantically to obtain the last memento of the wonderful ten minutes she had with Dragoon.
"Whoa…what happened here?"
Feng turned around at the familiar voice to face Steve, who was dressed in his ShinkenBlue suit. "Me and the others have been dealing with all of the Lizard-men, but we heard that bastard Astaroth and some new bloke were stirring up trouble, as well. I'm guessing they're all taken care of…"
"Astaroth is still on the loose: it's far from taken care of," Feng said solemnly as he powered down, his ShinkenBronze suit dissipating in orange light. When the light faded, Feng was unmasked and wearing his maroon Kung Fu uniform with his black hair braided in a long black ponytail. "That is why I have decided to join you."
Steve raised an eyebrow beneath his helmet, and then outstretched his hand. "Well that's just dandy! I'm glad you've finally come to your senses."
Feng turned to the pool to see Lucy climb out of the pool with Dragoon's helmet, holding it close to her heart. After a few moments, the Chinese man continued. "That monster killed a good friend of mine. I will do everything in my power to assist you in your quest to bring judgment upon him and the one who he calls his master!"