I would like to apologize for the lack of action in this chapter: Heihachi's premiere should be much more intense, but I was battling with writer's block and homework overload. That being said, I hope to have completely shaken off the fetters of the block by this weekend.
Enjoy!
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The Mishima Estate is not limited to one specific area, but numerous tracks of land peppered across the island of Kanto. This included, but was not limited to, the premises of the Mishima Mansion and the grounds of Mishima High School. Numerous factories and buildings of business also contributed to the cluster of space that the Zaibatsu occupied. To an observer, it would seem that the Zaibatsu, and not the local government, was the true king of this land.
Even in the mountainous area of the island, the hand of the Zaibatsu reached into the area to bestow upon Heihachi Mishima, the current head of the massive conglomerate a personal training ground to temper his fists into lethal weapons. The mountainous area would be ideal for such a regimen so that when he would hold the King of Iron Fist Tournament, he would be ready to crush the competition that would think themselves worthy of his title.
However, not all in this area was as lush as most of the terrain.
There was one area that was completely desolate: five acres of soot and ash that left the area completely flat with absolutely no sign of vegetation. This area was called Honmaru. A little over a year prior, this place was the location of the Mishima Fighting Karate private dojo: it was here that the warrior clan of Mishima practiced their legendary martial art. A temple of magnificent standards that was decorated with glorious statues of Buddha, it would clear the minds of anyone who would go there and meditate.
However, all of that was now in the past. When a squadron of Jack-4s self-destructed in a failed attempt to slay Heihachi, they laid waste to the sacred place and reduced it to rubble. The statues of the Buddha were melted under the intense heat of the explosion, while the wood and steel that made up the structure of the place of training was scattered in the winds or placed broken on the charred earth.
However, a single battle cry could be heard in this place that was now called "Ground Zero."
"SEI-YA!!"
Ryoku tossed a sharp kick into the wind as he continued his kata in the barren wasteland that remained of Honmaru. It had been two days since Kazuya had breathed life back into his lifeless body and returned him to the mortal plane of existence. The day before, Kazuya's previous general, the golem Astaroth, was slain by the Tekkenshu Sentai Shinkenger. The Shinkenger, who had been hounding Kazuya for nearly a month, was led by none other than Ryoku's grandson Jin and also included his granddaughter Asuka.
If they were able to take down someone as powerful as Astaroth, Ryoku thought as he took a deep breath before doing a cartwheel kick, then they are indeed my grandchildren. I can't wait to see what they'll do when I come knocking!
With the anticipation of that showdown on his mind, the powerful martial artist told Kazuya that he would be out of town for the rest of the day to train. Being that the Shinkenger would probably use the day to lick their wounds and prepare, Kazuya and Ryoku both agreed that it would be wise to do the same. So while Kazuya trained in his lab, Ryoku decide to head a place a bit more nostalgic.
So Honmaru was destroyed in an explosion, Ryoku recalled while he charged his ki, I didn't think that would happen: this place was like a fortress of gods. At least, it was like that the last time I was here. Once his power had peaked, the martial arts master's body burned with power as he lifted his hands high in the air. Back in my day, Honmaru dojo could withstand any attack that someone could throw at it…except maybe THIS!
Throwing his hands down onto the ground with blinding speed, the charred earth beneath him erupted with a geyser of green energy as if to respond to his hands making contact with it. The radius of the explosion steadily increased as Ryoku continued to pour his ki into the ground, allowing his body to be encased like a cocoon. The geyser continued to rip through the earth, but the destruction only fueled his drive.
This technique is near impossible for any mortal man, he mused as he finally lifted his hands off the ground, thus cutting off the wave of destruction at its source. However, I am beyond that now: I have experienced death and have now learned techniques that the living can only hope to see in Tokusatsu programs!
Once he returned to full standing position, Ryoku looked at the aftermath of his newly-discovered technique: even though the spot he was standing in remained unaltered, the rest of the ground surrounding him in a ten-meter radius was now a crater what he estimated to be around five feet deep. "Not bad for my first try," Ryoku said out loud to no one in particular. "Maybe I can make it reach farther and deeper with more practice: I'll need it if I want to take on all seven of those guys."
Ryoku coughed as he inhaled the dust kicked up from the attack before dusting off his uniform. As he did so, he took the time to admire it. It was an Aikido uniform with dark teal pants and a gray vest, and on the back of the vest was the kanji "chikara." Chikara was the kanji for the term power: the definition of his own name. Being strong was nothing new for me, even in my past life. Ryoku flexed his arms and took the time to idolize his own build. But now, I am truly worthy of my namesake. Even my sister Yukie didn't have this kind of might!
Suddenly, Ryoku stopped flexing and tensed his body. There was someone close by: someone with an aura almost as powerful as his. Scanning his bleak surroundings for whatever it was that caught his attention, he heard a faint revving sound in the distance. Ryoku followed the sound until he spotted an object coming towards him. It was a navy blue car driving up next to the motorcycle that Ryoku had used to drive here. The blue car stopped next to the motorcycle, and its driver's side door opened.
And speaking of might…look who's come over to say hello!
The man that stepped out of the car was and elderly Japanese fellow wearing a tiger-striped fur coat, brown gloves, and purple dress pants. He was bald save for two stocks of gray hair growing from the back of his ears that stuck up like devilish horns, and a bushy gray mustache to go along with it. "So, that aura I felt wasn't just my imagination," he said as he began walking towards Ryoku. "It's been a long time, Kazama."
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"Heihachi Mishima," Ryoku crossed his arms as a sumg grin crept upon his face. "Indeed, it has been a long time. Look at you: you're almost bald on top and your hair is even grayer than the gi I'm wearing!" The Aiki-Jujitsu master let out a deep, manly laugh before continuing. "Father Time really gave you a thrashing, didn't he?"
"Unlike you, I never took any vacations from life," Heihachi retorted while crossing his own arms. "I have strived and lived through all hardships that have come my way: unfortunately you cannot say the same."
"…I can't argue with that, unfortunately," Ryoku's smile faded, but his arms continued to remained crossed. "What brings you all the way out here, old friend? Did you come to greet me after all these years?"
"I was going to ask you the very same question," Heihachi stroked his chin in contemplation as he evaluated Ryoku. "I was there at your funeral and watched your body go under: in all fairness, you should be dead."
"Well, guess what? I got better, and now I'm back to stay," Ryoku uncrossed his arms and cracked his neck before assuming a fighting stance. "Come on, Heihachi: I'm in the mood to show you what the afterlife has done for me!"
"That wasn't what I came for, believe it or not," Heihachi replied with a smirk as he too assumed a fighting stance. "However, I am interested to see if you've improved: all my other dead friends have yet to challenge me to a match after their demise."
The two of them slowly sidestepped, sizing up their foe like lions sizing up their prey. Even though it originally meant to be a circle, the direction they walked in more closely resembled a spiral as the two old warriors slowly advanced towards each other. When it had gotten to a point where they were a couple of steps away from one another, they stopped stalling and engaged in fierce battle.
Heihachi wasted no time, opening the fight with a horizontal chop to Ryoku's kidney. Momentarily stunning his foe, the elderly karateka sent him flying away with a powerful palm thrust to the chest. "You always fell for that in every opening blow we shared," Heihachi rubbed his chin while Ryoku screeched across the ground. "I suppose some things don't change, no matter how many lives one goes through."
"I just wanted to see if you learned any new openings: apparently, I was mistaken." Ryoku shouted as he flipped back onto his feet. Bending over backwards to avoid a spinning backhanded punch, Ryoku rose back up to deliver an elbow to Heihachi's chin. The Aikido expert took advantage of the successful hit by executing a second elbow in a forward spear-like motion. The resulting blow sent Heihachi soaring backwards and he landed on the ground with a thud.
With inhuman speed, Ryoku ran to Heihachi's fallen body and snatched him off the ground, only to drive him right back into it with a powerful body slam. The ash and soot kicked into the air as Heihachi's body crashed into the charred floor. Heihachi attempted to get back onto his feet, but Ryoku grabbed his ankle and then threw him right back down into the ground. "Third time's coming 'round, Hei," Ryoku taunted as he reached down once again. "Better get your butt in gear!"
Giving an unspoken answer, Heihachi successfully rolled away from an attempted third slam and sent Ryoku rocketing into the air with a fearsome Demon Uppercut. However, Heihachi wasn't going to let Ryoku fall to the ground so fast. Bashing his foe in midair with a spinning backhanded punch, Heihachi crouched down and began spinning like a top. Just as Ryoku would fall to the ground, he was kept barely hovering above it with a series of low spinning kicks. After the third kick, Heihachi rose back up with a jumping uppercut: his Thunder Godfist.
Ryoku landed on his head and then fell onto his back like a teetering tower that had its support knocked out from under it. Before he could roll back onto his feet, Ryoku was pinned to the ground as Heihachi's foot stomped on his chest. The pain was further amplified when Heihachi's lightning-like ki surged across his leg. "I may not have a body as freshly rested as yours, Ryoku," Heihachi growled as he grinded his heel into Ryoku's sternum, "but never tell me to 'get my butt in gear:' it's always ready for combat!"
When Heihachi lifted his foot for a second stomp, Ryoku's rolled away and scrambled back onto his feet just in time to parry his opponent's punch. Once he had gotten a good grip on Heihachi's arm, Ryoku tossed him over his shoulder with ease and send him spinning uncontrollably behind him: the Kazama-ryu's famed Vacuum Throw. Heihachi quickly scrambled back onto his feet, but was sent spiraling down to the ground with a jumping roundhouse kick.
Heihachi slowly got back up and dusted himself off while Ryoku did the same. The two of them breathed heavily and wiped the sweat off their brows. Before now, neither of them had seen nor spoken to each other for the past forty years. As warriors from a generation past, it was certainly a rush to have someone to combat who wasn't some young whippersnapper. The two of them soaked in the brief pause before preparing to resume…
…until Ryoku felt a slight buzzing in his pocket. The Aikido expert looked down, and then looked at Heihachi as he pulled his cell phone out. Heihachi nodded his head, and Ryoku answered the phone.
What is he up to? Heihachi thought to himself as he watched Ryoku talk on the phone, too quiet for him to hear. He has clearly changed since I last saw him, and not just in his appearance…I wonder what it means.
After a few seconds of murmuring and nodding, Ryoku hung up his cell phone and put it back in his pocket. "Sorry I have to cut this short, old buddy, but I need to start heading back to base. It'll take me a couple of hours to get there, so ta-ta."
"Hold it right there, Ryoku," Heihachi held out a hand as he gave that command. "How about you first tell me how you came back, and more importantly, if you had any help doing so."
"That's none of your business, Hei," Ryoku retorted as he put his thumb to his mouth and bit it, causing to bleed. "However, if you're still looking for a playmate…I think I can help you out there." Smearing his blood on the ground until he had etched the crimson kanji "metsu" onto the ground, Ryoku muttered something before stomping his foot on the earth. The ground itself began to shake violently as Heihachi looked around in confusion.
Suddenly, the ground erupted as blue-skinned reptilian creatures leapt out of the earth. The creatures bared their claws and let out a primal shrill as they turned to Heihachi, their mouths watering with bloodlust. "So, you know how to summon Lizard-men," the elder karateka stroked his chin in curiosity. "I heard there have been hordes of them attacking Tokyo while I was out of town: I must assume that you are in league with whoever has been terrorizing the city."
"Assume and you make an ass of you and me, Hei," Ryoku turned around and began to head for his motorcycle. "Have fun, Heihachi: maybe I'll see you around."
"Not so fast, Ryo," Heihachi once again caught Ryoku's attention as he rolled up his sleeve to reveal a gleaming device that shone in the light like a prism about the size of a computer mouse. Etched into the device in dark blue were the two kanji "Tekken." "Before you go, I have something to show you." Putting his hands to his side, Heihachi entered his Raijin Stance and gathered his gi. His morpher crackled as both his fists spewed out light blue sparks. Applying his fist to an oncoming Lizard-man, which promptly exploded in a fiery plume, Heihachi's body began to glow brightly.
When the light faded, Ryoku raised an eyebrow to see what now stood in Heihachi's face: yet another Shinkenger. This one's vest was platinum like most of the other ones, but it shone like a prism, giving off an awe-inspiring rainbow. Embedded in his chest were seven orange jewels arranged in a circle, and hanging across his back was a golden tenko, crackling with electricity as he took deep concentrated breaths. Black armguards protected his wrists, while the rest of his body was covered in a navy blue bodysuit. His helmet of that same color, which covered his entire head, had two fins growing out the side of it, as if to give room for his unique hair fashion. Sitting on his forehead was the symbol "infinity" while his eyes were masked with a black visor.
"Allow me to reintroduce myself, Ryoku," Heihachi said as he stomped his foot on the ground. "Obiliterating all foes, whether they be flesh, machine, or god!" Entering his Raijin stance and once again powering up, Heihachi shot his fist into the air and let out a war cry. "I am the King of the Iron Fists: ShinkenLord!"
After taking time to admire his new form (and he had to admit, he was a magnificent specimen of masculinity and power), Heihachi looked around and counted the Lizard-man horde that Ryoku had summoned. They had arranged themselves in a cluster, which made it hard to count. I estimate a little over one-hundred of them¸ Heihachi smiled under his helmet as he ran up the horde and began to scatter it with his fists. It should be an interesting workout!
A single Lizard-man began the onslaught by biting Heihachi's arm. The elder man laughed as he lifted it off his arm as easily as someone would remove a speck of dust and held it by its neck. Spinning around for momentum, Heihachi flung the Lizard-man into its comrades, knocking out three of them with the force at which he threw the reptile. Turning around just in time to avoid a swipe, Heihachi sent ten of them flying with an Omen Thunder Godfist that left blue sparks, and splatters of bodily fluids, in its wake.
Grabbing another Lizard-man by the tail, Heihachi used it as a bludgeon to send another five Lizard-men soaring through the hair. Once he had done that, he altered his grip on the living weapon he had created and now held him by the neck. Rearing his head back, Heihachi headbutted the Lizard-men and sent it screeching across the ground: the power of his mighty Stonehead.
Heihachi noticed that the Lizard-men were backing away from him, and took the opportunity to taunt them, even though he knew full well they couldn't understand a word he was saying. "Where do you think you're going, you leather-skinned fools!" Heihachi let out a hearty laugh before resuming his fighting stance. "There are still almost eighty of you remaining: try coming at me all at once!"
As if to answer Heihachi, twenty Lizard-men stepped forward and lined up. The insides of their mouth radiated green power, as if their mouth was full of fire. An instant later, it was revealed that they were holding just that, as they opened their mouths and emitted beams of green flame.
However, even though such a combined blast would burn flesh of anyone else, Heihachi was fully prepared to take the stream head-on. Instead, he slowly walked towards the Lizard-men as the stream pushed on his chest, as if the Lizard-men were trying to control an angry mob by hosing them away. Unfortunately, Heihachi wasn't an angry mob: he was the King of the Iron Fists.
Once he was within an arm's reach of the Lizard-man artillery, Heihachi reached out and grabbed on of the Lizard-men by the throat and pulled it towards him. Latching onto his tail, as well, he positioned the Lizard-man so that he was horizontal in the air with its head pointing towards its comrades. The Lizard-man fired off its blast of flame in an attempt to free itself, but instead only burned his comrades to a crisp. Heihachi laughed maliciously as he did so, occasionally giving his living flamethrower words of encouragement as it toasted its brethren.
When he felt that the Lizard-man had suffered enough, Heihachi hurled it into what comrades it had left, who then huddled together and quietly hissed as if they were collectively putting their heads together to form a plan. "Whatever you're planning over there, it's not going to work," Heihachi shouted out loud as ran towards the remaining fifty Lizard-men. "Allow me to make this simple for you: it's over!" With his fist crackling with neon-blue power, Heihachi's rapid advance became so fast that it seemed to any bystander (namely Ryoku) that he had transformed into a lightning bolt…
…a lighting bolt which ripped through four dozen Lizard-men as Heihachi finally came into contact with the horde. Two Lizard-men managed to get out of the way, but their comrades looked as if they were frozen in time. Heihachi, who had stopped in the very center of the horde, looked at all of frozen Lizard-men before snapping his fingers. As if they were following an audio cue, the four dozen Lizard-men fell to the ground, spasming violently before ceasing to move.
Heihachi turned around to see the final two Lizard-men shivering in fear. Heihachi took a step forward, and the Lizard-men promptly bent over and dig into the charred ground, burrowing themselves and retreating from the massacre. After a couple of minutes, Heihachi realized that they weren't coming back. It only took one minute to defeat all of them, he thought as he turned around to face Ryoku, it would seem that this device is worth the trouble spent creating it!
However, he noticed that Ryoku had already driven away, escaping his notice when the final two Lizard-men retreated into the ground. With his suit fading in a wide array of colored light, Heihachi took a deep breath and looked at his morpher. Ahmet told me that my grandson Jin and some of his cohorts have donned the Tekkenshu experimental armor morphers that I created years ago, he thought to himself as he looked into the cloudy sky. I suppose I should join the fray with them…but for now I'll put this little device aside and watch what happens.
As Heihachi removed his morpher from his wrist and placed it in his pocket, he felt his cell phone buzz in his jacket. Removing the phone, Heihachi flipped it open and a familiar voice was heard.
"Sorry I had to leave before you could show me what the power of ShinkenLord was really capable of," Ryoku's voice buzzed in Heihachi's ear. "My benefactor gets in a hissy fit when his partners are late for a meeting. I'm sure as the owner of the big bad Zaibatsu you could understand that."
"Of course, old friend," Heihachi replied truthfully. "Perhaps if our grandson and his compatriots don't slay you, we can have a more suitable rematch: do not assume that I was unaware that you were holding back."
"Heh," Ryoku chuckled over the phone before continuing. "I see that you're aware of the Shinkenger as well, which is probably why you're donning a morpher yourself. At any rate, are you going to try and stop my fun if it comes down to that?"
"…maybe. It will depend on what mood I'm in." the elderly karateka began to walk over to his vehicle before continuing. "I wish to see how this plays out, nothing more. However, that dark aura that you've developed does worry me. At any rate…tell my son that I congratulate him for staying under the radar for so long, and that I will be seeing him again soon."
"So you knew that all along, too, huh?" Ryoku let out a manly laugh before Heihachi hung up. "Whatever the case, old buddy, it was good to see you again…even if we'll probably be on the opposite ends on the battlefield when our paths cross again. Until next time…"