It's the final lap: this week is exam week, where in Calculus I am hanging on a prayer hoping to GOD that I pass this class. Everyone wish me luck: I'm going to need it.
Enjoy the beginning of what promises to be an awesome arc!
----------
Tokyo Tower: the world's tallest self-supporting tower at 333 meters. In the postwar boom of the 1950s, Japan was looking for a monument to symbolize its ascendancy as a global economic powerhouse. Looking to the Occident for inspiration, the Tokyo Government decided to erect its own Eiffel Tower. It was completed by the Takenaka Corporation in 1958 at a total cost of ¥2.8 billion. Although it chiefly functions as a radio and television broadcasting antenna, the Tower is best known as a tourist destination, though it is decried by some as overpriced and inconveniently located, and as having poor amenities.
The first floor houses an aquarium, home to 50,000 fish, while the third floor is a wax museum and an attraction called the Mysterious Walking Zone and the fourth floor a Trick Art Gallery. There are also two observatory floors, the main observatory (at 150 m) and the so-called "special observatory" (at 250 m). Both afford a spectacular 360 degree view of Tokyo and, if the weather is clear, Mt. Fuji.
Fortunately for a certain teenage by the name of Asuka Kazama, the weather had played in their favor. A little over an hour prior to arriving at the Tower, Asuka had spent a good deal of time arguing with her rival and boyfriend Kenichi about their latest addition to their Tekkenshu Sentai Shinkenger: Feng Wei. Feng had destroyed her father's dojo and sent him to the hospital a little over a year earlier, and the Chinese man's presence made her feel uncomfortable. While Kenichi agreed that it seemed strange, he had saved them from the clutches of False Ogre and Steve was willing to trust him with his life. Jin would have the final say, and he declared that Feng would be declared the seventh member of the team only if they voted in his favor.
The vote was six in favor to one against. Asuka wasn't at all pleased with the results, and left the Mishima mansion in a huff.
Stupid Kenichi, Asuka thought to herself angrily as she took a sip of her soda while looking out the window of the Observatory Deck. I thought he of all people would side with me: after all, he did help train with me to beat him in the last tournament. Some boyfriend he's turning out to be…
"Hey there, Asuka."
Asuka turned around at the sound of the all-to-familiar voice to see her close friend Ling Xiaoyu walking up to the table she was sitting at, wearing her usual attire consisting of a black sports bra, a yellow sweater jacket, and white sports pants. The Chinese girl lightly brushed back her pigtails as she took a seat and sat down. "I just wanted to make sure that you were OK."
"Yeah, I'm fine," Asuka said with a slightly depressed tone as she continued looking out the window. "I just needed some time to myself, although I'm still curious as to why all of you are so quick to trust that big-boobed asshole so much…"
"He did get us out of a tight spot a couple of days ago," Xiaoyu answered politely, trying her absolute best not to make Asuka feel like she was completely wrong in her stance on Feng's membership. "My Grandpa Jinrei says that he's not that bad, and he doesn't like many people who go around acting like Feng did back in that tournament."
"Maybe so, but I still don't like how he trashed my dad and called him weak, and then he just completely ignored Kenichi's dojo like it wasn't even worth his time," Asuka raised her voice ever so slightly, giving away her deep resentment towards Jin's decision. "Even if he has turned over a new leaf, I think it's still too early to trust my life to him in the heat of battle." The Japanese young woman turned around to face her friend. "Whatever, I'll just have to deal with it. I'm more ticked off at how Kenichi sided with the rest of you guys…"
Xiaoyu tilted her head in curiosity as Asuka added that last comment. "Is that really why you're upset with him?"
Asuka thought about that for a moment before shaking her head. "I guess not: he was just trying to think about the best way to defeat the enemy. But I was hoping that he'd at least consider my feelings before casting a vote…" After taking another sip of her soda, she continued by saying, "I was hoping our relationship would have built up a bit more by now."
A gentle laugh was heard as Asuka watched Xiaoyu giggle in amusement. Once she realized that Asuka didn't find it too funny, Xiaoyu explained her reason for laughing. "Asuka, you and I both know that he cares about you a lot: he wouldn't have voted in Feng's favor if he felt that it would be dangerous. It seems more like you're just getting impatient."
The Japanese youth was silent for a few seconds, as if what Xiaoyu had said struck a nerve that caused her to pause in deep consideration. "…I'm afraid that if I really show him how I feel, with all my heart…I might drive him away," Asuka finally commented after what seemed like an eternity. "He's never been good with expressing himself from his heart, especially after his father died. I'm sort of trying to get him to open up again, but I'm afraid that I'll mess things up."
"You won't know unless you try."
"Heh, with all this crap going on with Astaroth, I'm sure he'd be too busy to even respond if I came up and made a move." Asuka stood up out of her seat and left a few coins on the table for her waiter's tip. "I do want to tell him before I have to head back to Osaka, though. Thanks for talking with me, Xiao: let's head back to the others."
------
"Is this really such a good idea?" Feng asked Kenichi as the two of them left the vehicle they rode in and closed the doors. "She did not seem very happy with either of us when she left like that."
"There is no other way," Kenichi answered while they began their journey to the entrance of Tokyo Tower via the car-riddled plains that was its parking lot. "If she truly is angry at you for joining the team, then you will have to prove your sincerity. To be perfectly honest, I too wish to see just how far we can trust you."
"You intend to play peacemaker, and yet you remain skeptical of my loyalty despite your vote casting," Feng scoffed. "For the umpteenth time, I am sorry for my actions last year, and I intend to make amends. And as for my loyalty, Astaroth and his leader are as much an enemy of mine as they are of yours. Until they are defeated, you need not fear me."
"I only voted for you because we have a common foe like you said: I am still bitter with how you treated Asuka and called her father weak. I've known Kazama-sempai for a long time, and he is anything but weak," Kenichi replied with a hint of bitterness as the two martial artists finally made it to the elevator. "Furthermore, you attacked his students even though they were clearly not worth your attention, some of which happen to be classmates."
Feng paused for a moment, and answered as politely as he could without giving hint to his impatience, "If he wishes a rematch, I will answer it. The same applies for his student as well Asu-"
The Chinese man unexpectedly fell silent, much to Kenichi's confusion. Taking a look at his surroundings, Feng quietly scanned the area around him. After a few seconds, his Japanese counterpart raised an eyebrow and inquired, "What's wrong?"
"Someone is following us," Feng answered as he pointed to the parking lot, "an intensely sinister aura, almost as powerful as Astaroth and just as evil." Following Feng's finger and gaze, Kenichi turned to the lot to see who or what his elder comrade was referring to. A few moments later, however, Kenichi began to feel the malevolent aura for himself, as well as identify who Feng was pointing to.
The man's skin was incredibly pale, with his white hair cut short and revealing his sickly brow. His green eyes were in a sneer and a wide smirk adorned his face while his body was donned in a dark teal tuxedo with a white shirt and a red tie. It's the monster who destroyed my sensei's clan and injured his friend Dr. Boskonovitch, Kenichi thought in terror as Bryan continued to approach them, the monster called Bryan Fury!
"Afternoon, gents," Bryan said with a sick grin when he finally reached Feng and Kenichi. "It's a lovely day to go out and enjoy the view, wouldn't you say?"
Noticing that Kenichi was still paralyzed with rage and fear, Feng spoke up. "What is it you want, Fury?"
Bryan took out a cigarette and pulled out a lighter, burning the tip of the cigarette and taking deep puffs as it burned. As he did so, Kenichi finally regained enough composure to notice how Feng already knew Bryan. How is it that Feng-san is an acquaintance of that maniac?
"To be perfectly frank, I'm waiting for your two sexy ladies to come down. I have business with them," the kickboxing cyborg finally replied while blowing smoke in Kenichi's face even though he was responding to Feng's question. "I'm going to assume that this is Yoshi's new boy toy?"
The Japanese bishonen glared at Bryan chillingly. This man caused a man who had once saved his life great physical and emotional pain, and now he was rudely blowing cigarette smoke at him. Yoshimitsu had told Kenichi that should he run into Bryan Fury, go in the opposite direction: he was far too powerful for him to face alone, and it was Yoshimitsu's duty to bring justice upon him. Kenichi intended to respect his wishes, but if he was showing interest in Asuka, then he could not just leave him entirely alone. "Why do want to speak to Asuka and Xiaoyu?" He asked as he and Feng backed away, expecting Bryan to attack them as randomly as he came.
"You really want to know?" Bryan asked rhetorically with a crazed look in his eye while he rolled up one of his sleeves. "Boogie with me, and maybe I'll let you in on why I want to chat with your women." Feng and Kenichi's eyes widened in surprise as Bryan revealed a dark gray morpher with two kanji written in purple with the kanji "Tekken", strikingly similar to their own.
With a maniacal laugh, Bryan's ki flowed across his clothes like a stream, with the metaphorical river being his morpher that gave off a wickedly dark red aura. A feminine mechanical voice uttered from the device, "Standing by…" As Bryan tried to regain his composure and end the laughing fit that he entered, Feng quickly stomped his foot on the ground as his morpher echoed the statis, only with a male voice. While Kenichi's ki crackled across his body, Feng and Bryan simultaneously shouted out a single command while their morphers repeated it.
"HENSHIN!"
A bright light engulfed the three fighters, with Kenichi and Feng completing their respective ShinkenSilver and ShinkenBronze transformations, but Bryan's body contined to radiate with dark ki that made his body seem more like a silhouette of himself rather than his true physical manifestation. With no intention of giving Bryan a chance to complete his henshin, Feng and Kenichi rushed at him with violent intent. However, the shadow-like Bryan sent the two of them crashing to the ground with a single roundhouse kick. As he watched them soar uncontrollably to the pavement, Bryan's body became visible again while he lifted his knee up in the air and taunted his opponents, allowing them to see their conqueror's new form: a fearsome combination of purple, dark gray, and crimson.
Bryan's torso was now adorned with dark gray armor with two large spiked shoulder pads of the same color attached to it. Embedded in the body armor was a single black cherry-colored jewel that shone as man took deep, concentrated breaths. The rest of the body was covered with a dark purple body-suit. Around the waist was a black belt, a white holster connected to it on his right hip and bond together with a gray buckle bearing the two kanji "Tekken." Two arm guards of the same color were wrapped around his wrists, and his boots shared the same pigment as the armguards, while his knee-pads had the design of a demonic diamond skull. Bryan's face, as well as his entire head, was masked with a purple helmet save for a dark red visor that was placed where his eyes would be so that he would be allowed to see, and on each side of the helmet was a stylized golden "s."
Bryan rolled his head around and cracked his neck in anticipation while Feng and Kenichi got back up and renewed their assault. Kenichi would reach Bryan first and sent him rocketing straight up into the air with his trademark vertical straight punch. With his wings glowing bright blue, Kenichi soared up after him, flying so fast that he actually managed to be above Bryan's ascent. Once he was high enough, the Japanese youth planted his foot in Bryan's chest and let gravity do the rest while they went plummeting down to the ground with the American criminal hitting the pavement back-first and Kenichi completing his diving Falling Angel kick.
To Kenichi's surprise, Bryan managed to recovered quick enough to snatch Kenichi's leg with his arm before the boy could leap away. With Bryan's still lying on the ground, the kickboxing fiend twisted the bishonen's leg, causing him to cry out in pain while he tried to get away from the cyborg's impenetrable grip. The cyborg laughed while he was dragged along the ground as Kenichi's wings glowed again in the boy's attempt to shake him off. Once he had his fun, Bryan stood back up and spun Kenichi around four times before finally letting go and sending him crashing into one of the tower's foundations. If Kenichi hadn't used his wings to slow down his journey to the metal foundation, he would have certainly crushed his helmet, and his skull.
"Sorry about that, kiddo," Bryan apologized sarcastically before turning his attention to the oncoming Feng. "I wouldn't want to mess up your pretty face!" Feng attacked with a devastating leaping kick that hit his foe in his helmet, causing the cyborg to take a few steps back in pain. Feng landed gracefully and followed up with a monstrous palm thrust that glowed red in accordance with the ruby in the center of his chest. Unfortunately for the Chinese martial artist, Bryan caught his arm and countered with a powerful knee to the man's ribcage. Sparks flew off of Feng's armor as he gripped his abdomen in pain.
Turning his attention away from Feng, Bryan turned around to narrowly dodge Kenichi's horizontal chop that left a streak of white ki in its wake. Clenching his fist, Bryan came back up and pounded Kenichi in the head with it for a powerful counter-technique before following up with an uppercut that sent the boy skyward. With his opponent falling back down the ground, he pounded the bishonen with a pair of backhanded punches, finishing with a straight punch that sent the boy spiraling away.
Kenichi used his wings to right himself in mid-air and dash back to Bryan, tackling the crazed kickboxer and pushing him into another one of Tokyo Tower's metal foundations. Putting his feet back on the ground, Kenichi bombarded his foe with a sextet of left-handed punches, finishing with a roundhouse kick that pushed Bryan further into the foundation, squashing him between the metal and the force of the blow. The cyborg grunted in pain, and then made Kenichi do the same as he hit him in the neck with a swiping elbow.
"My turn," Bryan said quietly with sadistic glee as he began to pummel the stunned Kenichi's abdomen with his fists, alternating between left and right. It was slow at first, but quickly and gradually the barrage became faster and faster, sparking shooting out of Kenichi's armor with every blow. After a couple of seconds, it was as if Bryan's hands weren't even there, moving faster than the human eye could trace with sparking continuing to shoot from the boy's chest. After what seemed like an eternity of pain, the Japanese bishonen went sprawling backwards as Bryan concluded his barrage with a devastating knee.
Before Bryan could pursue, he was attacked with another burning palm courtesy of Feng. The Chinese man hit his mark this time, striking Bryan squarely in the jewel on his chest, creating massive electric discharge while Bryan roared in agony. The cyborg gritted his teeth while he grabbed onto Feng's wrist and stuggled to lift it away from his body. The fighters were at a stalemate for a few seconds, but Bryan eventually won out by pulling Feng's hand away and then gripping onto the iron claws on that hand. Feng was momentarily stunned in surprise when Bryan broke one of the claws off as easily as one would break a twig. The Chinese man tried to break loose of Bryan's hold, but fortunately Bryan would let go sooner than Feng would have thought…only to send him flying into an admission booth with a trio of kicks, the last of which being a forward thrust of Bryan's boot.
Watching Kenichi and Feng struggle to get back onto their feet, Bryan began to chuckle, but soon it erupted into an uncontrollable laughter that was so hard and forceful that he gripped his stomach in pain. "Oh man, you guys, you're giving me a heart-attack here," Bryan taunted while he tried to regain composure. "I thought you guys were unstoppable! At least try to give me a work-OUCH!"
Bryan's sentence was cut short as he was hit from behind with an unknown force. The kickboxing fiend quickly darted around to see his mysterious assailants, identifying them as his targets. Asuka and Xiaoyu, in their respective ShinkenWhite and ShinkenYellow suits, lowered their glowing hands and assumed a fighting stance. Beneath his helmet, the ex-policeman grinned with sadistic pleasure.
"Whoever you are, get away from my squeeze!" Asuka pointed an accusing finger at Bryan, not knowing the true identity of the fighter beneath the helmet. "Otherwise, we're gonna make sure you regret it!"
"No more fun? Awwww…," Bryan groaned before resuming his own fighting stance. "How about I play with you two foxy ladies for a bit, then?"
"That sounds good to me," Xiaoyu nodded her head before she and Asuka charged at Bryan. "We're going to show you that you don't mess with the Tekkenshu Sentai Shinken-"
Xiaoyu would not be able to complete her statement as she was sent rocketing away with a powerful straight punch that left blue sparks in its wake: the trademark of Bryan's Fury Mach Breaker. The Chinese young woman quickly flipped back onto her feet after she landed and resumed her advance while Asuka battled Bryan in her place. Asuka hit Bryan in the chin with a vertial elbow and knocked the kickboxer high into the air. Leaping off Asuka's shoulders after getting a good running start, Xiaoyu contined the assault on Bryan while he was still in mid-air, pummeling him with a rapid series of aerial kicks. The last of the kicks propelled the cyborg down the the ground while Xiaoyu landed gracefully.
Undaunted by such agility and grace, Bryan casually got back on his feet and dusted himself off, and then crossed his arms as Xiaoyu and Asuka came at him simultaneously. The two teenage women punched and kicked at Bryan, but the kickboxer dodged every one of their blows with almost little to no effort with simple movements of his head, upper body, and feet. However, he would be caught off-guard with the two of them moved with perfect symmetry and shot out this palms, hitting Bryan square in the chest and taking a few steps back in pain.
Unfortunately for the two girls however, Bryan was through playing around. "OK, ladies, you've forced my hand," he said with a much more serious tone as he reached for his holster and pulled out a dark purple sawed-off shotgun with dark red jewels on either side of the nozzle. "Say hello to my little friend!"
His firearm blazing with power, Bryan pulled the trigger and his weapon shot out numerous bursts of purple energy which ricocheted off the two girls in a huge shower of sparks, causing them to scream in raw agony. Unwilling to give them any sort of breather or respite, the murderous machine-man continued pulling the trigger of his weapons, with greater and more painful bolts of energy raining down on the hapless girls. Every few shots he would turn his attention back to Kenichi and Feng to shoot at them before they could renew their own assault, but it was clear that his targets were the women.
Finally, after what seemed like an endless array of suffering to the girls but was in reality a mere fifteen seconds, Bryan controlled his trigger-happy frenzy and quickly put his gun back in the holster at his hip, allowing the two girls to fall down onto their knees. Quickly running up to the two girls while they tried to stand back up, Bryan's fists shot out at each of them and hit them right in the solar plexus, knocking the wind out of them. As a result, the two of them passed out in his arms while their suits disappeared from their bodies in a flash of light.
"This is how you know that you've done a good job," Bryan said out loud as he picked up Xiaoyu and Asuka and held them in each arm. "You've got a date in both arms!" The cyborg saw that Feng and Kenichi were now back on their feet and ready to fight, but he jumped over them with a near impossible leap and made a mad dash for the parking lot with the two female Shinkengers in tow.
"NO! LET HER GO NOW!" Kenichi shouted in anger while his wings glowed once again as he dashed after Bryan. The Japanese boy would rarely make such violent gestures, even those that would do him harm, because he felt that actions spoke louder than words. However, this would be the first time that he would ever experience a berserker rage, where his judgment and reasoning would become drowned in anger and sorrow. Asuka was his angel and the crown jewel of his very being: he wasn't about to let some madman who was notorious for slaying innocent lives just for the sheer sport of it whisk her away.
Pulling out his sword, Kenichi raised his blade high above his head while he rocketed towards Bryan, who was throwing the two girls into a royal blue sports car. The American turned around just in time to pull out his gun again to parry Kenichi's blade. The two of them grinded their weapons together with Kenichi continued to remain off the ground and in the air with his wings propelling him further into Bryan. "You can have them back when I'm done with them, Romeo," he said mockingly before finally breaking the deadlock and uppercut the boy away. "In the meantime, just sit back, relax, and pray that I don't have to put a bullet in your girls' heads."
"Hold it right there, Fury," Feng commanded as he caught Kenichi and placed him down next to him. "What do you want with them?"
"That's none of your business, Feng Wuss," Bryan taunted as he opened over the driver's side door of his vehicle. "However, if you want them back, tell your friend and the pretty boy Kazama to meet me and my employer at the usual place tonight at 2100 hours. If you guys arrive early or bring too many people, I'll kill them slowly. You're allowed to go with them as a guide, but don't go butting in. You're in deep water with him as it is…"
"…tell him I will be there as planned," Feng answered quietly as Kenichi took deep breaths while listening to the conversation. Once Bryan drove away, the Japanese youth looked at Feng in confusion. The Chinese martial artist took note of this and simply answered Kenichi's question before he could even say it out loud. "I know that he will not harm them until we get there."
"Do you mind telling me how you know this monster?" Kenichi asked a different question than what Feng had expected, with his voice quiet but filled with a chilling sense of sorrow and rage. "I thought you were trustworthy, Feng: am I to assume that this was a ruse set up by you and that madman?"
"…I will explain everything when the others get here. For now, just sit down and catch your breath: if we are to save Asuka and Xiaoyu, then we must prepare for the oncoming storm. Unfortunately, it is a storm that I heralded…and that storm's name is ShinkenSlayer!"